Change the User Interface Language in Vista or Windows 7

Would you like to change the user interface language in any edition of Windows 7 or Vista on your computer?  Here’s a free app that can help you do this quickly and easily.

If your native language is not the one most spoken in your area, you’ve likely purchased a PC with Windows preinstalled with a language that is difficult or impossible for you to use.  Windows 7 and Vista Ultimate include the ability to install multiple user interface languages and switch between them. However, all other editions are stuck with the language they shipped with.  With the free Vistalizator app, you can add several different interface languages to any edition of Vista or Windows 7 and easily switch between them.

Note:  In this test, we used an US English copy of both Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows Vista Home Premium, and it works the same on any edition. The built-in language switching in the Ultimate Editions lets you set a user interface language for each user account, but this will only switch it for all users. 

Add a User Interface Language to Windows

To add an interface language to any edition of Windows 7 and Vista, first download Vistalizator (link below).  Then, from the same page, download the language pack of your choice.  The language packs are specific for each service pack of Windows, so make sure to choose the correct version and service pack you have installed.

Once the downloads are finished, launch the Vistalizator program. You do not need to install it; simply run it and you’re ready to go.  Click the Add languages button to add a language to Windows.

Select the user interface language pack you downloaded, and click Open.

Depending on the language you selected, it may not automatically update with Windows Update when a service pack is released.  If so, you will have to remove the language pack and reinstall the new one for that service pack at that time.  Click Ok to continue.

Make sure you’ve selected the correct language, and click Install language.

Vistalizator will extract and install the language pack.  This took around 5 to 10 minutes in our test.

Once the language pack is installed, click Yes to make it the default display language.

Now, you have two languages installed in Windows.  You may be prompted to check for updates to the language pack; if so, click Update languages and Vistalizator will automatically check for and install any updates.

When finished, exit Vistalizator to finish switching the language.  Click Yes to automatically reboot and apply the changes.

When you computer reboots, it will show your new language, which in our test is Thai.  Here’s our Windows 7 Home Premium machine with the Thai language pack installed and running.

You can even add a right to left language, such as Arabic, to Windows.  Simply repeat the steps to add another language pack. 

 

Vistalizator was originally designed for Windows Vista, and works great with Windows 7 too.  The language packs for Vista are larger downloads than their Windows 7 counterparts.  Here’s our Vista Home Premium in English…

And here’s how it looks after installing the Simplified Chinese language pack with Vistalizator.

Revert to Your Original Language

If you wish to return to the language that your computer shipped with, or want to switch to another language you’ve installed, run Vistalizator again.  Select the language you wish to use, and click Change language.  

When you close Vistalizator, you will again be asked to reboot.  Once you’ve rebooted, you’ll see your new (or original) language ready to use.  Here’s our Windows 7 Home Premium desktop, back in it’s original English interface.

Conclusion

This is a great way to change your computer’s language into your own native language, and is especially useful for expatriates around the world.  Also, if you’d like to simply change or add an input language instead of changing the language throughout your computer, check out our tutorial on How to Add Keyboard Languages to XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Download Vistalizator

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Boost Netbook Speed with an SD Card & ReadyBoost

Looking for a way to increase the performance of your netbook?  Here’s how you can use a standard SD memory card or a USB flash drive to boost performance with ReadyBoost.

Most netbooks ship with 1Gb of Ram, and many older netbooks shipped with even less.  Even if you want to add more ram, often they can only be upgraded to a max of 2GB.  With ReadyBoost in Windows 7, it’s easy to boost your system’s performance with flash memory.  If your netbook has an SD card slot, you can insert a memory card into it and just leave it there to always boost your netbook’s memory; otherwise, you can use a standard USB flash drive the same way. Also, you can use ReadyBoost on any desktop or laptop; ones with limited memory will see the most performance increase from using it.

Please Note:  ReadyBoost requires at least 256Mb of free space on your flash drive, and also requires minimum read/write speeds.  Most modern memory cards or flash drives meet these requirements, but be aware that an old card may not work with it.

Using ReadyBoost

Insert an SD card into your card reader, or connect a USB flash drive to a USB port on your computer.  Windows will automatically see if your flash memory is ReadyBoost capable, and if so, you can directly choose to speed up your computer with ReadyBoost.

The ReadyBoost settings dialog will open when you select this.  Choose “Use this device” and choose how much space you want ReadyBoost to use.

Click Ok, and Windows will setup ReadyBoost and start using it to speed up your computer.  It will automatically use ReadyBoost whenever the card is connected to the computer.

When you view your SD card or flash drive in Explorer, you will notice a ReadyBoost file the size you chose before.  This will be deleted when you eject your card or flash drive.

If you need to remove your drive to use elsewhere, simply eject as normal.

Windows will inform you that the drive is currently being used.  Make sure you have closed any programs or files you had open from the drive, and then press Continue to stop ReadyBoost and eject your drive.

If you remove the drive without ejecting it, the ReadyBoost file may still remain on the drive.  You can delete this to save space on the drive, and the cache will be recreated when you use ReadyBoost next time.

Conclusion

Although ReadyBoost may not make your netbook feel like a Core i7 laptop with 6GB of RAM, it will still help performance and make multitasking even easier.  Also, if you have, say, a memory stick and a flash drive, you can use both of them with ReadyBoost for the maximum benefit.  We have even noticed better battery life when multitasking with ReadyBoost, as it lets you use your hard drive less. 

SD cards and thumb drives are relatively cheap today, and many of us have several already, so this is a great way to improve netbook performance cheaply.

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Complete Guide to Networking Windows 7 with XP and Vista

Since there are three versions of Windows out in the field these days, chances are you need to share data between them. Today we show how to get each version to be share files and printers with one another.

In a perfect world, getting your computers with different Microsoft operating systems to network would be as easy as clicking a button. With the Windows 7 Homegroup feature, it’s almost that easy. However, getting all three of them to communicate with each other can be a bit of a challenge. Today we’ve put together a guide that will help you share files and printers in whatever scenario of the three versions you might encounter on your home network.

Sharing Between Windows 7 and XP

The most common scenario you’re probably going to run into is sharing between Windows 7 and XP.  Essentially you’ll want to make sure both machines are part of the same workgroup, set up the correct sharing settings, and making sure network discovery is enabled on Windows 7. The biggest problem you may run into is finding the correct printer drivers for both versions of Windows.

Share Files and Printers Between Windows 7 & XP 

Map a Network Drive

Another method of sharing data between XP and Windows 7 is mapping a network drive. If you don’t need to share a printer and only want to share a drive, then you can just map an XP drive to Windows 7. Although it might sound complicated, the process is not bad. The trickiest part is making sure you add the appropriate local user. This will allow you to share the contents of an XP drive to your Windows 7 computer.

Map a Network Drive from XP to Windows 7

Sharing between Vista and Windows 7

Another scenario you might run into is having to share files and printers between a Vista and Windows 7 machine. The process is a bit easier than sharing between XP and Windows 7, but takes a bit of work. The Homegroup feature isn’t compatible with Vista, so we need to go through a few different steps. Depending on what your printer is, sharing it should be easier as Vista and Windows 7 do a much better job of automatically locating the drivers.

How to Share Files and Printers Between Windows 7 and Vista

Sharing between Vista and XP

When Windows Vista came out, hardware requirements were intensive, drivers weren’t ready, and sharing between them was complicated due to the new Vista structure. The sharing process is pretty straight-forward if you’re not using password protection…as you just need to drop what you want to share into the Vista Public folder. On the other hand, sharing with password protection becomes a bit more difficult. Basically you need to add a user and set up sharing on the XP machine. But once again, we have a complete tutorial for that situation.

Share Files and Folders Between Vista and XP Machines

Sharing Between Windows 7 with Homegroup

If you have one or more Windows 7 machine, sharing files and devices becomes extremely easy with the Homegroup feature. It’s as simple as creating a Homegroup on on machine then joining the other to it. It allows you to stream media, control what data is shared, and can also be password protected. If you don’t want to make your Windows 7 machines part of the same Homegroup, you can still share files through the Public Folder, and setup a printer to be shared as well.

 

Use the Homegroup Feature in Windows 7 to Share Printers and Files

Create a Homegroup & Join a New Computer To It

Change which Files are Shared in a Homegroup

Windows Home Server

If you want an ultimate setup that creates a centralized location to share files between all systems on your home network, regardless of the operating system, then set up a Windows Home Server. It allows you to centralize your important documents and digital media files on one box and provides easy access to data and the ability to stream media to other machines on your network. Not only that, but it provides easy backup of all your machines to the server, in case disaster strikes.

How to Install and Setup Windows Home Server

How to Manage Shared Folders on Windows Home Server

Conclusion

The biggest annoyance is dealing with printers that have a different set of drivers for each OS. There is no real easy way to solve this problem. Our best advice is to try to connect it to one machine, and if the drivers won’t work, hook it up to the other computer and see if that works. Each printer manufacturer is different, and Windows doesn’t always automatically install the correct drivers for the device.

We hope this guide helps you share your data between whichever Microsoft OS scenario you might run into!

Here are some other articles that will help you accomplish your home networking needs:

Share a Printer on a Home Network from Vista or XP to Windows 7

How to Share a Folder the XP Way in Windows Vista

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Fix Windows Computer Problems with Microsoft Fix it Center

Fixing computer problems can often be difficult, but Microsoft is aiming to make it as simple as a couple clicks with.  Here’s how you can easily fix computer problems with Microsoft’s new Fix it Center Beta.

Last year Microsoft began offering small Fix it scripts that you could download and run to help solve common computer problems automatically.  These were added to some of the most visited Windows help pages, and helped fix problems with things such as printing errors and Aero glass support.  Now, the Fix it scripts have been bundled together with the Fix it Center, making fixing your computer even easier. 

This free tool works great on all editions of Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Note: The Fix it Center is currently in beta, so only run if you are comfortable running beta software.

Getting Started

Download the Fix it Center installer (link below), and install as normal.

The installer will download the remaining components, and then finish the installation.

In Windows XP, if you have not yet installed .NET 2.0, you may see the following prompt.  Click Yes to go to the download site, and once you’ve installed .NET 2.0, run the Fix it Center setup again.

Also, the Fix it Center uses PowerShell to automate its fixes, but if it is not installed yet the installer will automatically download and install it.

Find Fixes for Your PC

Once Fix it Center is installed, you can personalize it for your computer.  Select Now, and the click Next.

It will scan your computer for problems with known solutions, and will offer to go ahead and install these troubleshooters.  If you choose to not install them, you can always download them from within the Fix it Center at a later time.

While those troubleshooters are downloading, you can create a Fix it account.  This will give you additional help and support, and let you review Fix it solutions for all your computers from an online dashboard.  You need a Windows Live ID to create an account.

Also, choose whether or not to send information to Microsoft about your hardware and software problems.

Get Problems Fixed

Now that the Fix it Center is installed and has identified issues on your computer, it’s time to get the problems fixed.  Here’s the default front screen in Windows 7, showing all of the available fixes.

And here’s the Fix it Center running in Windows XP.

Select one of the Troubleshooters to see more information about it, and click Run to start it.

You can choose to either detect problems and have them fixed automatically, or you can choose for the Fix it Center to show you the solutions and let you choose whether to apply them or not.  The defaults usually work good, and only take a couple minutes to apply the fixes, but you can select your own fixes if you’d rather be in control.

It will scan your computer for known problems in this area, and then will show you the results.  Here, Fix it determined that startup programs may be causing performance issues.  Select Start System Configuration,

and uncheck any of the programs you do not usually use.

Once you’ve run a troubleshooter, you can see the issues it checked for and any problems it discovered.

If you created the online account, you can also choose to view the details online.  This will show all of your computers with Fix it Center and the fixes you’ve run on them.

 

Conclusion

Whether you’re a power user or new to computers, sometimes it’s best to just get your problems fixed and go on with life instead of digging through the registry, forums, and hacking your way to a solution.  Remember the service is still in beta and may not work perfectly or solve your issues every time. But it’s something cool and worth a look.

Links

Download Microsoft Fix it Center Beta

Fix additional problems with Microsoft’s Fix it Center Online

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How to Restore the Real Internet Explorer Desktop Icon in Windows 7

Remember how previous versions of Windows had an Internet Explorer icon on the desktop, and you could right-click it to quickly access the Internet Options screen? It's completely gone in Windows 7, but a geeky hack can bring it back.

Microsoft removed this feature to comply with all those murky legal battles they've had, and their alternate suggestion is to create a standard shortcut to iexplore.exe on the Desktop, but it's not the same thing. We've got a registry hack to bring it back.

This guest article was written by Ramesh from the WinHelpOnline blog, where he's got loads of really geeky registry hacks.

Bring Back the Internet Explorer Namespace Icon in Windows 7 the Easy Way

If you just want the IE icon back, all you need to do is download the RealInternetExplorerIcon.zip file, extract the contents, and then double-click on the w7_ie_icon_restore.reg file. That's all you have to do.

There's also an undo registry file there if you want to get rid of it.

Download the Real Internet Explorer Icon Registry Hack

Manual Registry Hack

If you prefer doing things the manual way, or just really want to understand how this hack works, you can follow through the manual steps below to learn how it was done, but we'll have to warn you that it's a lot of steps.

Launch Regedit.exe using the Start Menu search box, and then navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ CLSID \ {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}

Right-click on the key on the left-hand pane, choose Export, and save it to a .REG file (say, ie-guid.reg)

Open up the REG file using Notepad…

From the Edit menu, click Replace, and replace every occurrence of the following GUID string

{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}

… with a custom GUID string, such as:

{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}

Save the REG file and close Notepad, and then double-click on the file to merge the contents to the registry. Either re-open the registry editor, or use the F5 key to reload everything with the new changes (this step is important).

Now you can navigate downto the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ CLSID \ {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D} \ Shellex \ ContextMenuHandlers \ ieframe

Double-click on the (default) key in the right-hand pane and set its data as:

{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}

With this done, press F5 on the desktop and you'll see the Internet Explorer icon that looks like this:

The icon appears incomplete without the Properties command in right click menu, so keep reading.

Final Registry Hack Adjustments

Click on the following key, which should still be viewable in your Registry editor window from the last step.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}

Double-click LocalizedString in the right-hand pane and type the following data to rename the icon.

Internet Explorer

Select the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\shell

Add a subkey and name it as Properties, then select the Properties key, double-click the (default) value and type the following:

P&roperties

Create a String value named Position, and type the following data

bottom

At this point the window should look something like this:

Under Properties, create a subkey and name it as Command, and then set its (default) value as follows:

control.exe inetcpl.cpl

Navigate down to the following key, and then delete the value named LegacyDisable

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ CLSID \ {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D} \ shell \ OpenHomePage

Now head to the this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Desktop \ NameSpace

Create a subkey named {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D} (which is the custom GUID that we used earlier in this article.)

Press F5 to refresh the Desktop, and here is how the Internet Explorer icon would look like, finally.

That's it! It only took 24 steps, but you made it through to the end—of course, you could just download the registry hack and get the icon back with a double-click.

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