Blog - windows 7 | bit-tech.net

It's time to bin your optical drive

Posted on 8th Feb 2013 at 09:37 by Antony Leather with 132 comments

I absolutely loathe the optical drive. The only times I've felt remotely attached to this historically flaky device is the first time I used one 20 years ago, when I got my first CD burner, and maybe when they finally started using SATA cables and not mile-wide IDE monstrosities.

RC1 time running out? Get yourself 90 more days Windows 7 for free

Posted on 25th Feb 2010 at 12:14 by Richard Swinburne with 24 comments

So your copy of Window 7 RC1 is running out and you're not yet ready to go for the full purchase? You are going to buy it after all, right, but this month's games have stretched the budget too thin and you'll have to wait until the March paycheck before you drop the 70-bob for a Windows 7 Home Premium disc?

So you just need a few more days time without Win 7 nagging you.

RC1 time running out? Get yourself 90 more days Windows 7 for free RC1 running out? Get yourself some more time on Windows 7 before purchase

That's where we can help.

If you borrow someone else's Windows 7 disc you can use the data to upgrade your RC1 to RTM status for up to 90 days longer, because a Windows 7 license status is determined not by its disc, but by its key. This is how IT managers roll out dozens of OS updates across a network from a 'single disc'.

As it stands though, just dropping in the Win 7 disc and hitting 'Upgrade' won't allow you to go from RC1 to RTM, but there is a hack involved to do this.

Before you start make sure you BACKUP EVERYTHING IMPORTANT and close your programs. I cannot stress this enough. It's not my fault if there are complications in the process and you lose a lifetime's worth of family photos and videos. I have personally done this twice now without issue, so it's highly unlikely anything bad will happen, but still, on your own head be it.

Why Software Companies Should Slash Their Prices

Posted on 4th Feb 2010 at 11:09 by Antony Leather with 26 comments

Value. It’s a funny word, and never more so when applied to the IT industry. In fact it’s so tricky to place in this fast-moving online world that it’s usually only spoken of as “perceived” value and that’s about as accurate as we can get. Saying a piece of software - be it a game or operating system - is good value is even more of a convoluted statement.

How do you compare one piece of software to another? Features? Price? The space it takes up on your hard drive? How would you predict how well a product might sell and factor that into the pricing?

For most of us it comes down to cold hard cash and whether we can find something that’s as good or better, for less, or even for free. However, only a handful of companies have grasped the fact that if you lower the price of software enough, sales will skyrocket so high, they’ll make many times more profit than if they priced it twice as much, however popular the software may be.

How to enable Windows 7 God Mode

Posted on 8th Jan 2010 at 10:09 by Alex Watson with 21 comments

Did you know Windows 7 has a God mode?

It sounds cooler than it is in reality - you're not invulnerable to BSODs, and the system doesn't play One of Us when it starts up.

That said, it's not completely useless either - it gives you a shortcut to all the options in Control Panel and allows you to easily get to usually buried controls.

Tags cheat, god mode, vista, windows 7

Handy Software: Ninite and WintoFlash

Posted on 24th Dec 2009 at 09:05 by Harry Butler with 9 comments

If you're like me you've probably had to install Windows 7 on more than one or two computers recently, either in your household or at work. Unless you're deploying using drive imaging though this can take a while, first waiting for Windows to install and then laboriously installing all the necessary software.

Luckily though there are tools out there which can massively speed up your re-installs and I've found that using WintoFlash and Ninite.com I can fully reinstall a system in as little as thirty minutes.

Tags ninite, windows 7, wintoflash

Hardware 8 - Many CPUs, Dream PCs and mobile gaming

Posted on 5th Nov 2009 at 18:17 by Podcast with 9 comments

We're back with another Hardware Podcast - so good it's spelled in capitals. Rich, Harry and Clive get together to talk about all the hot (and just power-efficient) hardware of the last fortnight. Tune in to hear what we think of Intel's Atom (clue - it's not very good, is it?) VIA's new Nano processor and news on what Intel's up to.

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Gaming Podcast 6 - IWNet, Windows 7 and Yak Meat

Posted on 29th Oct 2009 at 11:27 by Podcast with 11 comments

With Alex and Tim both available for a podcast this week, we sit down to discuss all the latest gaming news and controversies - from Activision's unveiling of IWNet for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to games compatibility in Windows 7.

That's not all we've got going on though - we also sit down for a quick snack of Chinese Yak meat live on tape and hand out the first of a new set of prizes in our Guess The Screenshot competition. Fun times!

On top of all that we've also got the usual Reader Mail and we finally talk about how good games packaging used to be when everything came in a huge cardboard box.

In the next podcast we'll be discussing how to get into the games industry and whether it's more important to have a recognised qualification or some experience in the real world. We'd love to hear your thoughts on all this, so drop your opinions in the forums or send them to the usual email address - Podcast@CustomPC.co.uk. Please be sure to mark your emails as 'Gaming Podcast'.

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Hardware Podcast 7 - this time it's loud!

Posted on 23rd Oct 2009 at 17:37 by Podcast with 11 comments

First off, apologies for not getting this up yesterday, and for it being so quiet the first time - the podcast fairy has been pretty slack this week. This is the seventh hardware podcast, and Rich, Harry and Tim are joined by Asus bod Iain Bristow. If any other manufacturers would like to join us for pod, please let us know and we'll try to organise it. Up for discussion are:

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Gaming Podcast 5 - Art, Advertising and Attitude

Posted on 15th Oct 2009 at 10:35 by Podcast with 12 comments

The fourth Gaming Pocast from the CustomPC and bit-tech team, again hosted by Joe and this time with Harry, Mark and Antony joining in for plenty of discussion about the latest events in the games industry across all platforms.

This week we talk about whether games journalists should have to develop games as a qualification, whether games can ever really be considered as an art form and why we've all been put off by the new advertising for Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2.

We also talk about the pending release of Windows 7 and why Joe isn't going to upgrade, as well as whether Valve might have a hidden dark side. Chilling stuff.

We've got a new prize to give away in the competition this week too, so listen closely and if you can guess the game we're describing then send your clearly labelled emails to Podcast@custompc.co.uk - and remember to put 'Gaming Podcast 5' in the subject line, or drop your thoughts in the forums.

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Hardware Podcast 5 - Core i5 and i7, Radeon HD 5870

Posted on 24th Sep 2009 at 17:32 by Podcast with 12 comments

The fifth (or first) Hardware Podcast sees the chaps talk about Intel's Core i5 and i7 LGA1156 processors and they're stupid naming convention. And discuss why maybe it won't seem so stupid in a few month's time. Also up for debate is the HD 5870, the Asus Mars graphics card and Nvidia's odd drivers.

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bit-tech.net

Archive for the ‘windows 7’ tag

It's time to bin your optical drive

RC1 time running out? Get yourself 90 more days Windows 7 for free

Why Software Companies Should Slash Their Prices

How to enable Windows 7 God Mode

Handy Software: Ninite and WintoFlash

Hardware 8 - Many CPUs, Dream PCs and mobile gaming

Gaming Podcast 6 - IWNet, Windows 7 and Yak Meat

Hardware Podcast 7 - this time it's loud!

Gaming Podcast 5 - Art, Advertising and Attitude

Hardware Podcast 5 - Core i5 and i7, Radeon HD 5870

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