Microsoft has published many software Virtualization tools, so a good understanding which technology is appropriate is tricky. Yes its MS focused but this explores which solution is best for you.
Go here to learn more
In this webcast, we introduce the virtualization world, laying the ground work for the other webcasts in this series. We cover both the Microsoft products and solutions available to create a virtualization environment in your organization and the third-party virtualization options. We also answer the question: Why use virtualization in the first place and why use Microsoft technologies? While we are not aiming to cover every topic in depth in this webcast, you can get an understanding of what all your virtualization options are and understand the concepts discussed in later webcasts in the series.
IT Professional
Duration:
90 Minutes
Date:
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
This is a repost remember that Microsoft in the US give free 7 by 24 support if you computer has any of these issues you just need to call 1-866-pcsafety (yes more that 7 numbers buy you will remember the number that way)
CCleaner is a freeware PC optimization tool.
It combines a system cleaner that removes unused and temporary files from your system and also a fully featured registry cleaner!
CCleaner allows Windows to run faster, more efficiently and gives you more hard disk space.
The best part is that it’s Small, Fast and Free!
As well as cleaning up old files and settings left by standard Windows components, CCleaner also cleans temporary files and recent file lists for many applications. Including:
CCleaner uses an advanced Registry Cleaner to check for problems and inconsistencies. It can check the following:
CCleaner was designed from the ground to be safe and secure to use. It has multiple levels of checks in place to ensure that it cannot delete any useful information or documents you may still need. We also certify that it contains no Spyware or Adware.
For the super cautious users we also offer secure file erasing. By overwriting the files before deleting them, making it impossible to recover the data.
The product is free and you can download it here
Accidentally deleted an important file? Lost something important when your computer crashed? No problem! Recuva recovers files deleted from your Windows computer, Recycle Bin, digital camera card, or MP3 player.
So this will recover from all storage devices, USB sticks, Compaq flash drives etc.
Deleted a file by mistake? Recuva brings lost files on your computer, USB drive, camera or iPod.
Even if you’ve formatted a drive so that it looks blank, Recuva can still find your files on it.
Emptied your email trash and need it back? Recuva’s got you covered with full support for Microsoft Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, or Windows Live Mail.
Deleted music from your iPod or MP3 player? No problem, Recuva will get this back for you along with any additional track data.
Did Microsoft Word crash or did you forget to save that important Word document. No problem with Recuva! As it can intelligently rebuild Word documents from their temporary files.
If you need your files back right away without fiddling with options, Recuva’s Quick-Start Wizard is the answer.
Recuva can find most files within a minute. Or, set the Deep Scan to look for more deeply-buried results.
Want to protect your deleted files? Recuva also allows you to permanently erase any traces of deleted files.
Take Recuva with you wherever you go with the portable version.
Recuva has support for every modern version of Windows and 37+ languages.
And it’s free
Download it here
Do you want to know information about your cpu ? what about the Bios is the hardware ready for virtualization
HWiNFO™ and HWiNFO32™ are professional hardware information and diagnostic tools. Both tools are designed to collect and present the maximum amount of information possible about computer’s hardware which makes them suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufacturers, system integrators and technical experts as well. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports.
You can get them here
HWiNFO™ – A powerful system information tool for DOS is free for 14 days then is shareware get it here
HWiNFO32™ – A powerful system information tool for Windows FREEWARE get it here
Meanwhile the Office 2010 beta is generating record interest and use, surpassing the previous Office 2007 beta download rate. In just seven weeks, more than two million people around the world have downloaded and are using the Office 2010 beta. To get a better appreciation for that number, it’s a rate of more than 40,000 downloads per day. That’s approximately twice the number of people who run the Boston Marathon each year, or the entire population of Olympia, WA, or Annapolis, MD, downloading the Office 2010 beta every day!
Most importantly, 9 out of 10 beta users feel that the Office 2010 beta is an improvement over their current productivity suite.
In addition to the great momentum statistics, we are also releasing Office 2010 U.S. retail pricing today. Office 2010 will be offered in four versions, to make it easier to choose a version of Office that’s best for you – Office Home and Business, Office Professional, Office Home and Student, and Office Professional Academic.
Office Home and Student boxed product is available in a Family Pack, allowing usage on three PCs in one house
Go Here for more information
The maker of a great screen capture program for Windows has just announced Snagit for Mac beta . This should be in ever Mac user computer ! We’re working hard to make sure Snagit for Mac is everything you want and more, but we can’t do it without your help. Check out the beta version for Snagit for Mac and let us know what you like, what you don’t like and everything in between…
To download the beta go here
As part of the Blue Coat Community Outreach Program, K9 Web Protection is free for home use.
Blue Coat® K9 Web Protection is a content filtering solution for your home computer. Its job is to provide you with a family-safe Internet experience, where YOU control the Internet content that enters your home. K9 Web Protection implements the same enterprise-class Web filtering technology used by Blue Coat’s Fortune 500 customers around the world, wrapped in simple, friendly, and reliable software for your Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista computer.
Blue Coat’s unique Web filtering technology divides Internet content into 60 distinct categories. These categories are stored in the master Blue Coat database, through which we maintain and update more than 15 million ratings of websites and domains. A Web site will fall into one or more of these categories, based on the content of the site. To meet your particular needs and preferences, you can configure the software to block or allow specific categories.
Unlike other filtering solutions, K9 Web Protection ensures the highest level of protection by building the most relevant ratings database available. Its effective coverage reaches more than one billion Web pages. With K9 Web Protection, you finally have a chance to build a family-safe Internet experience for your home, simply and easily.
This is great software to protect families with young children from bad or not appropriate sites.
To download the free software for home use please go Here
WASHINGTON— Dec. 1, 2009 — Baby boomers have a unique relationship to technology — different from any generation before or since — and they are actively shaping the devices, software and services of tomorrow by the choices they are making today, according to a new research report from AARP and Microsoft.
Curious to understand more clearly how baby boomers view and use technology, AARP and Microsoft decided to ask. In May 2009, the two organizations sponsored a series of focus group-like discussions with baby boomers in four U.S. cities: San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago and New York. Author and futurist Michael Rogers led the sessions as the baby boomers shared their technology-related experiences, insights and expectations — and how their personal values shape the way they choose and use technology. The result is “Boomers and Technology: An Extended Conversation” (http://www.aarp.org/boomertechnology), a report that offers fresh insights into a generation whose influence on technology is often overlooked, and creates a compelling picture of how boomers and other consumers will use technology in the near future.
“Baby boomers are savvy consumers who expect technology to be safe, easy to use and flexible enough to adapt to their individual needs,” said Rob Sinclair, director of Accessibility at Microsoft, who notes that many baby boomers came of age before most of the software applications and devices we now consider essential were invented. “When new technology products enter the market — products that are well-designed and can help create the life baby boomers want — they are enthusiastic early adopters who help lead the way.”
Baby boomers have the numbers and the economic clout to make their technology choices matter. By 2010, one-third of the U.S. population will be over 50. “That’s close to 106 million Americans controlling 50 percent of the country’s discretionary spending, and outspending younger adults by $1 trillion in 2010,” Rogers wrote in the report. “Consumers in their 50s show the highest intent to purchase consumer electronics among any age group.”
Yet, it is baby boomers’ values and ideals, more than their checkbooks, that are shaping the future of technology, according to Adam Sohn, director of Integrated Communications for AARP, a membership and advocacy organization for people age 50 and older.
“Baby boomers want technology that reflects their values and helps them express those values with greater purpose, meaning and impact,” Sohn said. “While boomers are heavy users of technology today — for everything from entertainment and news to online banking and social networking — what’s most exciting is the technology-assisted world they are helping to create.”
Rogers, a futurist, agrees: “Baby boomers see technology as a gift, not a given, so they are less likely than younger consumers to take it for granted. At the same time, baby boomers aren’t dazzled by every new gadget that comes along. Yet by embracing innovative new services and devices, and using them in unexpected ways to enhance their lifestyles and values, baby boomers are having a tremendous influence on emerging technologies.”
Based on his discussions with baby boomers, and his ongoing research into the relationship between society and technology and what’s currently in development, Rogers offers an exciting view of that world in 2019, just 10 years hence, when the youngest boomers will be turning 55 and Generation X will begin crossing the 50-year mark.
Within the decade, Rogers forecasts that some baby boomers and other consumers will be wearing sensor-equipped exercise clothing and GPS-enabled running shoes during workouts to monitor their physical condition, track the calories they burn, and upload the information automatically for storage and analysis. Other boomers will have prescription glasses that connect wirelessly to the Internet or other networks and display information in the lower half of the lens, or carry mobile devices that can function as electronic wallets, offer full telepresence and project large-format images on the wall.
Increasingly, baby boomers will use technology to help them care for their aging parents — employing sensors that alert them to changes in behaviors or routines that could signal problems — and to manage their own health with tools ranging from low-cost gene scans to implanted microchips that contain their health records. Boomers also will use computers to control energy use in their “green” homes and to redefine when, where and how they work. (For the complete forecast, see the full report and executive summary.)
“Baby boomers appreciate cool software and devices as much as anyone, but they also believe technology has the power to help bring about positive social change, and they want to make that happen,” Sohn said. “Boomers care deeply about social justice and individual freedoms, and they see technology as a tool that people can use to improve their lives and make the world a better place — from making society more democratic to helping all of us participate more fully and more directly in the decisions that affect us
This article is a repost form the Microsoft site but I felt this is so important that i posted it here.