Updated 05-24-2010 – THE UNTHINKABLE HAS FINALLY HAPPENED!  Ok, a bit dramatic, but this news really is pretty cool. Last week as I was rummaging around some online message boards, I ran across someone who had actually gotten Photo Story 3 to work in Windows 7. Now, this isn’t big news… or at least shouldn’t be. In this blog (see the original version below, dated 01-30-2010), we discussed how you CAN run Photo Story 3 in Windows 7, but only in Windows 7 Professional and above, using Virtual Windows XP.

But here’s the big news… Microsoft has apparently CHANGED Photo Story 3, and it now works in Windows 7 without Virtual Windows XP, meaning that if you have Windows 7 Home Edition, you can go back to using Photo Story 3.

What great news! But here’s what you need to do….

Visit Microsoft’s Photo Story 3 download page, and download the latest copy. Microsoft says NOTHING about anything being changed, but 5 different times that I’ve now either downloaded the latest installation file or had a friend do it, it installs and works fine in Windows 7.

I’ve left the original blog (below) on using Virutal Windows XP mode to run Photo Story 3, just in case you are interested, or Microsoft decides to change its mind. But for now… All you Windows 7 users now can again use Photo Story 3!

01-30-2010 ORIGINAL POST – In a previous post (No Photostory in Vista? How Do I Make Photo Slideshows?) we discussed running Microsoft’s Photo Story in Vista, and explained that it DOES work, even though Microsoft would lead you to believe that it won’t. But now we have Windows 7, and it’s my unfortunate duty to inform you that Photo Story, that simple to use, wonderful, free slide show program does NOT work in Windows 7… at least, not unless you have the right computer setup and are willing to put a bit of work into it.

At the end of the other Photo Story post, I updated you with these facts about about using Photo Story 3 in Windows 7:

• In many cases, Photo Story 3 will work with a fresh install of Windows 7, or a direct update to Windows 7 from Vista, but ONLY until you “activate” the copy of Windows 7. Once you’ve activated, and then also recieved some of the Microsoft Windows updates, when you start Photo Story 3, you get the following error message…

• If you try to run the program in Compatibility Mode (as we described doing for Vista), it will still not work, and gives you the same message.

• Some have reported that if you use the version of Photo Story 3.1 found in Microsoft Digital Imaging Starter Edition 2006 (you can download it from CNet), it WILL work with Windows 7. The problem is… this is a limited version that times out after 60 days. So unless you want to try setting your computer clock back, this is only a short-term solution.

• You can setup a dual-boot computer, running Windows 7 and Windows XP or Vista. If you are interested, here’s a link to a forum message that includes additional links on how to do it.

• Keep an old computer around with Windows XP or Windows Vista on it. As stupid as this sounds, it’s not a totally bad idea.  Rather than upgrade to Windows 7, I’ve run into lots of folks that are just purchasing a new computer with Windows 7 on it. Considering that an upgrade to Windows 7 costs about $120, and you can purchase a new laptop with Windows 7 for as little as $350 (from a place like Best Buy), it might make sense. Then, you can keep your old XP or Vista machine around and just run Photo Story on it. I’ll probably end up doing this.

And Finally, and this is what I really want to get to in this article,

• If your hardware supports it, you can run a copy of Windows XP using Virtual PC inside of Windows 7. Photo Story 3 will run inside of Virtual PC.

Yes, Photo Story 3 Does work using Windows 7 Virtual PC! But here’s the catch…  You’ll only be able to run Windows 7 Virtual PC if you have the right version of Windows 7 and the right hardware.

1. You must have Windows 7 Professional or above (NOT Home Premium).
2. You must have an Intel or AMD processor that supports VT (virtual technology).

In my case, I have a 1 year old HP Notebook running and Intel dual-core processor, and yet it doesn’t support Intel VT. However, I do have 3 year old, home-built, Intel quad-core machine that DOES support Intel VT. Needless to say, it was the quad machine that became my test bed for trying to get Photo Story 3 and Virtual PC to work.

Here’s what I had to do, and some hints to make your life a bit easier if you decide to give it a try too (remember, this won’t work with Windows 7 Home Premium, you must have at least the Professional version):

• The first thing you’ll want to do is visit the Microsoft Virtual PC site. Here, you’ll see lots of info about how great Virtual PC is, and what you can use it to do.

• Although there’s a lot of good info here, you’ll want to click the Downloads link at the top of the page. This takes you to a page that has 4-steps you’ll need to take in order to get Virtual PC up and running on your machine.

• The step to focus on here is #2 – Can my PC run Windows XP Mode (i.e. Virtual PC)?  This step has a link to a small tool you can download and run. It tells you if your machine supports VT. Here’s what the tool shows you if the test is successful:

• If you pass the test, and you have the right version of Windows 7 (Pro or above), you are ready for step #3 – Selecting your edition of Windows 7 and your language, and then step #4 – Downloading and installing Windows XP Mode. What you actually must do is download TWO files…  the Windows XP Mode file (which you install first) and the Virtual PC file (which you install next). Both installed with no problems on my quad machine, although it takes a reboot at the end. Here’s a screenshot…

• After you reboot, you go to the Start button and under Programs, look for the newly created Windows Virtual PC group. It will contain two entires, but you’ll want to run the Windows XP Mode program.

• The first time you run Windows XP Mode, it has you do some initial setup tasks you’ll only have to do once. Just follow the screen prompts, and when you finish, you’ll have a virtual copy of Windows XP SP3 running in a Window on your Windows 7 desktop. In the screenshots I show here, for demonstration purposes, I have the virtual window floating on the Windows 7 desktop rather than maximizing it.

• Before we continue with our installation of Photo Story 3, there are some things to know about running a virtual copy of Windows XP SP3.

• First off, a virtual PC window acts as though it’s independent of the real operating system on your computer. In the case of Windows 7 Virtual PC running Windows XP, Windows XP has it’s own “C:” drive, and can only see your regular C: hard drive by using “remote access”. This means that if you want to run any programs, they have to be separately installed on the virtual machine. The virtual machine can’t see anything you already have installed on Windows 7. However, the virtual machine CAN use your Internet connection, and most of the hardware (printers, USB ports, etc.) of your computer.

• Second, although you are running Windows XP SP3, you still need to do regular Windows Updates INSIDE THE VIRTUAL MACHINE! In fact, the first thing I did was start up Internet Explorer, and head off to windowsupdate.microsoft.com and check for updates.

• Third, and I got this from a Windows tech board…  if you are going to do any type of Internet stuff inside your virtual machine, you need to install an Anti-Virus program. No, your existing AV program will not protect you inside the virtual machine. You have to install it there.

• With this in mind…  as soon as I had the Windows XP virtual pc window up and running, I (1) Installed an anti-virus program, (2) ran Windows update multiple times to make sure I got everything, (3) Upgraded Internet Explorer 6.0 (yuk!) to version 8.0, and (4) Upgraded Media Player 9.0 to version 11.0 (Photo Story needs at least version 10).

• With all the updates done, and after a few Windows XP virtual pc restarts, I was ready to install Photo Story 3. I had already downloaded the last published version of PS3 (you can do that here), but had to copy it from my regular hard drive to my “virtual C: drive”, because the Windows XP virtual PC would not let me install it “remotely”. I copied it to my virtual desktop, and started the installation program up. Guess what? IT WORKED! And when the installation was finished, I had the Photo Story 3 icon in my virtual Windows Start Menu, and to my surprise, also had it in my regular Windows 7 Start Menu. With the new version of Windows 7 Virtual PC, you can directly start programs that are “in” the virtual PC directly from your regular system. Pretty cool…

• Now for the final test… would Photo Story 3 really work? Yup, it sure did! The first screen shot is of the program running, and the second shows a small slide show I created. Both are inside the virtual PC window.

Needless to say, I was excited. And in testing all the normal features of Photo Story 3, including adding soundtracks and recording narration, everything seemed to work just fine.

But in closing let me say this…  I’m pretty disappointed that Microsoft decided to abandon Photo Story 3, and make us jump through hoops to keep the program running. I know they want us to start using Movie Maker and Windows DVD creator instead of PS3, but as nice as those programs are, they still don’t let you create as good looking of shows, so easily, as Photo Story does. And frankly, as it gets hard and harder to run PS3, I’ll probably start moving to alternatives, such as the slide show program that’s included with Photoshop Elements and other freeware programs such as Photo Film Strip. Microsoft, I really think you messed this one up.

UPDATED 5.24.2010 - (See new information on Windows 7 at the end of this post. You can now use Photo Story 3 in Windows 7 without virtual XP Mode!!! Click here to read the blog on Windows 7) –

One of our favorite things at the Senior Health Foundation Computer lab is to pass along creative things you can do with your photographs. We have lots of classes that involve your pictures (Using Your Digital Camera, Photoshop Elements Basics, More Photoshop Elements, Using Your Digital Pictures, Creative Word Processing, just to name a few… you can check out latest class schedule, here).  Of these, one of our favorites is Using Your Digital Pictures, and specifically, the class session where we teach you about one of the best FREE programs Microsoft ever developed, Photo Story 3.

The great thing about Photo Story 3 is that it lets you EASILY create slide shows from your photo’s. I know, I know… EASY is always a “relative” word. But honestly, this program is REALLY easy to use. It’s easy enough that we can teach you everything you’d ever want to know about Photo Story in ONE 2-hours class. Plus, the slideshows you get are very nice and can include some great “bells and whistles” (music, narration, transitions, pan-and-zoom, etc.). The program doesn’t not automatically come with Windows, so you have to download  and install it yourself, but hey… it’s still FREE!

The only down-side to Photo Story 3 is that it won’t let you directly create a set-top playable DVD. But there’s even an answer to that… for $19.95 you can download a great Photo Story add-on from Sonic (Roxio now owns them).

Ah, life is good, isn’t it.

But wait….  I have Windows Vista, and I don’t see that Vista is listed as a version of Windows that Photo Story will work with! What now?

Well the fact is… Photo Story 3 DOES work with Windows Vista. It’s just that Microsoft has decided to “give” you other slide show options rather than promote Photo Story 3. With Windows Vista Home Premium and and Vista Ultimate (but not with Vista Basic or Vista Business) you now get a “better” Windows Movie Maker, and Windows DVD Maker.

GREAT, you say… but wait….  these new programs are not really an improvement on Photo Story 3.

Without getting into a detailed comparison, let’s take a look at a few facts about all these programs.

• Movie Maker has been around a long time, and has always given you the ability to create photo slide shows. However, the program was really intended for VIDEO more than for still photographic images. It does give you transitions, soundtracks, and even a non-cusomizable pan effect, but it’s a lot more cumbersome to create photo shows than Photo Story is.

• Windows DVD Maker does let you create a photo show and put it on DVD, but offers a lot less than Photo Story does in how you can customiz your show.

What this is all leading me to say is….   Photo Story 3 is still my FREE slide-show program of choice, even if I have Windows Vista. And if you need to make DVD’s of your slide shows, the $19.95 you pay for the Sonic add-on program is definately worth it. Who knows, perhaps Windows 7 will have an awesome photo slide show maker that will make me finally abandon Photo Story 3, but if history is any lesson, I bet it won’t.

TROULESHOOTING NOTE: If you install Photo Story 3 in Vista, and get a message saying that Vista can’t run the program, you need to run Photo Story 3 in compatibility mode. To do this, RIGHT click the Photo Story 3 icon and choose PROPERITES. In the properties window, choose the Compatibility tab, and then check the “Run this in compatibiltiy mode for” box. In the dropdown list, choose “Windows XP Service Pack 2″.  (See the screen show below). Then click OK. It should now run just fine in Vista.

UPDATE 01.20.2010 – Does Photo Story 3 Work with Windows 7?

I’ve had lots of students ask if Photo Story 3 works with Windows 7, and now that I’ve had some time to play around with it… I have some relatively bad news. Photo Story 3 does NOT work with Windows 7, without putting in some effort that you might not WANT to put in. Here are the facts that I’ve discovered in messing around with Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit) and Windows 7 Professional (32bit):

• In many cases, Photo Story 3 will work with a fresh install of Windows 7, or a direct update to Windows 7 from Vista, but ONLY until you “activate” the copy of Windows 7. Once you’ve activated, and then also recieved some of the Microsoft Windows updates, when you start Photo Story 3, you get the following error message…

• If you try to run the program in Compatibility Mode (as we described above for Vista), it will still not work, and gives you the same message.

• Some have reported that if you use the version of Photo Story 3.1 found in Microsoft Digital Imaging Starter Edition 2006 (you can download it from CNet), it WILL work with Windows 7. The problem is… this is a limited version that times out after 60 days. So unless you want to try setting your computer clock back, this is only a short-term solution.

• If your hardware supports it, you can run a copy of Windows XP using Virtual PC inside of Windows 7. Photo Story 3 will run inside of Virtual PC.  With Windows 7, Microsoft has changed their “Virtual PC” terminology to “Windows XP Mode”, but it’s basically the same thing. What you’re dong is running a “virtual” copy of Windows on top of Windows 7, and then running Photo Story 3 inside that virtual copy of Windows. It’s not as complicated as it sounds (visit the Microsoft Virtual PC page for more info), but your computer must have the right type of CPU that runs what’s called “hardware assisted virtualization”.  Even if your have a fairly new computer, it might not have this ability.BTW, my 1 year-old Intel dual-core HP notebook computer does NOT have hardware assisted virtualization, but my home-made  3 year-old Intel quad core desktop machine DOES! Go figure….
• By the way, I’ve just added a blog called Photo Story in Windows 7? Only in Virtual XP Mode that tells you all about using this method.

• You can setup a dual-boot computer, running Windows 7 and Windows XP or Vista. If you are interested, here’s a link to a forum message that includes additional links on how to do it.

• Keep an old computer around with Windows XP or Windows Vista on it. As stupid as this sounds, it’s not a totally bad idea.  Rather than upgrade to Windows 7, I’ve run into lots of folks that are just purchasing a new computer with Windows 7 on it. Considering that an upgrade to Windows 7 costs about $120, and you can purchase a new laptop with Windows 7 for as little as $350 (from a place like Best Buy), it might make sense. Then, you can keep your old XP or Vista machine around and just run Photo Story on it. I’ll probably end up doing this.

So you can see, there’s no totally easy solution to this. It really bums me out because I recommend Photo Story 3 to a LOT of my students that are looking for an easy to use, yet fairly powerful, photo slide show program. As my students upgrade to Windows 7, they will be forced to use alternatives such as Movie Maker and Microsoft DVD Maker… neither of which has the flexibility and power of Photo Story 3.

For you Windows 7 users, I’ll keep looking around at free photo slide show programs, and keep you posted if I find anything worthwhile.

UPDATE 05.03.2010 – I’ve settled on using Windows XP Mode in Windows 7!

The other day I taught another Photo Story 3 class, and now that I’m using Windows 7 on my “teaching” notebook, I had a decision to make. My notebook came with Windows 7 Home Premium, which as we’ve mentioned does NOT run Windows XP mode. I finally decided it was time to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional, just so I can run Windows XP mode and therefore, run Photo Story 3. The upgrade was easy (downloaded it via Anytime Upgrade from Microsoft), installing Windows XP mode was simple, and Photo Story 3 installed flawlessly.

Now that I’ve had some experience running Photo Story 3 in Windows 7 Windows XP mode, I’ve found no problems to report, other than some issues with recording narration. However, in messing around a bit, I was able to get Windows XP mode to recognize the ‘cheap’ audio hardware included on my notebook, and I’m now running Photo Story 3 in Windows 7 without issues.

I’d love to hear others experience with this. Just leave a comment….

]]> http://www.shf.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=157 2 http://www.shf.org/blog/?p=54 http://www.shf.org/blog/?p=54#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:36:37 +0000 John Lortz http://www.shf.org/blog/?p=54

We all have a love affair with our photos. Pictures are how we capture those moments in time that our memory soon forgets. And although our love of pictures started with negatives, slides, and prints, it’s now even more widespread as the world of digital imaging and image editing invades the lives of even the casual picture-taker.

“Image Editing” is what we call the process of fixing and enhancing your pictures using a computer. What use to be reserved for only those that were willing to spend hours in a darkroom, is now available to anyone with a home computer and the few minutes it can take to take an OK image and make it GREAT.

At the Senior Health Foundation computer lab, we offer a wide range of classes on digital imaging, from classes on how to use your digital camera, to sessons on using the popular image editor Photoshop Elements. And we offer the classes, not because it’s “trendy” to do so, but because we love photography and have been doing it ourselves for over 40 years. We really do practice what we preach.

In fact, this next week, on Thursday May 28th, at 1:00pm we are starting our popular Photoshop Elements Basics series, which consists of three classes that help you get stated with the image editing process. And a few weeks later, on June 25th at 1:00pm, we take the process even farther in our More Photoshop Elements series. (An example video of what we teach can be found here.)

But what can you really accomplish on the computer with your pictures? Well, let’s take a look at a couple of Before and After examples.

Here’s a picture of my son Jack that came right off my digital camera.

Picture of Jack before the fixes

In this case, I turned the camera sideways, so back on my computer it needs to be rotated. No big deal, but in looking closely at this picture, Jack has a great expression on his face, which makes the image a candidate for more of a “portrait” look, which is exactly what we did.

Using our favorite image editor, Adobe Photoshop Elements, we took these editing steps:

• Rotate the picture 90 degrees left
• Adjust the brightness and contrast (levels)
• Whiten Jack’s teeth and remove a small blemish from his face.
• Remove background distractions (people) using the clone tool.
• Blur the background
• Sharpen Jack
• Boost the overall color

Here’s what we ended up with, and the entire process took about 5 minutes. No kidding.

Back in the days where we worked in a photography dark room, doing the same thing to this image would have taken hours. And even then, the results would probably not have been as good.

Sure, we’ve done this process a few times, but the fact is that once you learn some of the basic tools and techniques of image editing, just about every good picture that comes off your digital camera can be made to look even better.

And it’s not that hard to do!

But let’s see another example, this time with an older print that shows lots of wear and aging. In this case we had to scan the print (digitalize it) to get it onto the computer before we could work on it. Here is what the original picture looked like:

Whenever you’re intending to fix up an image, it helps to first analyze and even list out all the problems. This picture has lots of them, but we decided that the worst were:

• The image is dark and flat looking (lacks contrast)
• There is a jagged black border around the edge
• The image seems to have yellowed with age
• There are tears

Again using Photoshop Elements, we begin the fixup process. Here is what we do (also called our Worlkflow):

• Crop the image to remove the black border and uneven edge
• Remove the yellow color cast by turning the color saturation down
• Adjust the brightness and contrast (levels)
• Remove the tears using the Clone Tool

Here are the results of our effort.

Again, the process took only about 5 minutes of time. Had we wanted to, we could have spent even more time and removed some of the dirt and “noise” from the background, and brightened the girls faces even more. But today we were just going for a “quick fix”.

The point is, the ability to get your pictures digitalized onto your computer opens up an entire new realm of possibilities, even to those individuals that are not “photo-heads” or computer “nerds”.

As we mentioned earlier, starting next week and continuing on into June and July, we are offering a series of classes in how to use the popular image editor, Photoshop Elements, to make fixes such as those we’ve shown here, on your images.

We really do have a love affair with our pictures. And it can get even better with a little help from SHF.

Here is a short DiscoverSkills.com video tutorial on how we did the fixes…

I love it when I get wind of this kind of stuff!

Ok, this past week, as I was reading various CNet (www.cnet.com) articles about the Consumer Electronic Show, I ran across an article by Ina Fried entitled “Understanding Windows 7 GodMode“. Whenever I encounter the term”god” with anything computer, I’m intrigued…. so I clicked over to the article and discovered a powerful new little trick. Here’s the deal…

Folks that hack around in Windows, looking for shortcuts to it’s inner workings, have discovered that the Windows programmers often included tricky little ways to quickly access Windows utility features that you typically have to “drill down to” (i.e. click your way down through multiple menus to get to). Although these little tricks have only recently been discovered, it seems the programmers have been doing this for some time. (Fried talks about this in another follow up article on the GodMode).

Here’s how the trick works….  if you create a new folder, and name that folder in a very specific way, it becomes a special folder that groups together all the Windows control panel options into one place. No, it doesn’t give you anything new, but it does give you a birds-eye view of all the different, nifty little built-in utilities.

Now before I mention how to create a GodMode folder… one note of warning.  Hackers have found that the GodMode folder can be created in different versions of Windows besides Windows 7, including Windows Vista. However, with Windows Vista 64bit, some users have noted that creating the folder crashes their system. You can read more about this on Windows Valley. However, it seems to work just find in all versions of Windows 7, and in the 32bit version of Windows Vista.

If you want to give it a try, here’s what to do:

1. On the Windows Desktop (or really, in any other folder), RIGHT click and choose NEW / FOLDER
2. When the folder is created, and waiting for a name, type in       GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
   You can actually use any name you’d like, as long as you follow it with a period, and {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
3. The folder icon will to a special icon

When you open the folder, you’ll see a list of all the Windows control panel utilities, organized by type.

As I’ve mentioned, as you look down through the list of icons, you won’t see anything that’s not available somewhere in Windows. The cool thing is… they are all here organized in ONE PLACE. And to tell you the truth, as I browsed through this list I saw utilities that I never knew Windows included!

Needless to say, this new little folder has become a standard feature on all my home and work computers. If you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista 32bit, give it a try!

UPDATE: 01.20.2010

Since I originally wrote this article, I picked up a bit more information about GodMode I wanted to pass along. As I’ve mentioned, the icons you find when you open the God Mode window are all from the Windows Control Panel, they are just all shown at once, in one place, which can be very convenient. To expand on this… in a blog by Vishal Gupta, it’s explained that the code you see actually refers to a Windows registry key called “All Tasks”. It was created by Windows developers as the standard way to “search” the Control Panel.

For example, if you open the Control Panel in Windows 7 or Vista, and then use the Search box at the upper right to find a particular control panel command, behind the scenes, Windows takes your search term and compares it to the All Tasks page which is a cumulative listing of all the commands in the Control Panel. When you create a GodMode icon, what you are really doing is just creating a shortcut that opens the same All Tasks page that Windows uses for this search.

As proof of what I just said, try this: Open the Windows Control Panel, and in the Search box just type the letter “s”. The search results will be exactly the same window of icons you see in the GodMode window.

Now, having said all this….  the ability to create this icon is still pretty cool. No, it’s not a “secret hidden code” or what Windows hacks like to call an “easter egg”, but it is a useful trick that makes the Control Panel options more accessible.

Oh, and some readers have asked about the other codes that Ina Fried talked about in the follow-up article I link to above. Basically these other codes just reference specific sections of the control panel. One CNet reader tried some of these codes and came up with a list that describes what some of them are.

Remember, to use any of these, you create a new folder, and then name it using the syntax
YourName.{code}
Example:  CoolStuff.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
“godmode” – control panel

{00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
mode1 – location sensors

{0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
mode2 – biometric devices

{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
mode3 – power options

{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
mode4 – taskbar icons

{1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
mode5 – credentials

{15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
mode6 - install from network

{17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
mode7 – default programs

{1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
mode8 – public keys

{1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
mode9 – wifi networks

{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
network

{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
computer (window)

{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
printers

{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
workplace connections

{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
firewall

Growing up in Northeast Nebraska, especially in a small farming community, somehow instilled in me a fascination with the weather. As a kid in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, I can remember playing “weather guy” as my friends and I would sit in our treehouse (a REAL one, out in the grove behind our house), looking out at the sky through paper towel tubes we pretended were some type of weather instrument. After I got my drivers license, I can remember racing my car out to a high hill outside the town at any hint of a thunderstorm, just to watch the bad weather pass over the town of 600 and wait for a tornado to drop down. Oh, and don’t get me started about winter. Remember all those heavy snows from the 60’s and 70’s? (”Yes, and we walked 5 miles to and from school, with no shoes, uphill both ways”)

Ok, so my point is, I’ve always thought weather was pretty cool… which leads me to modern times. Now days, we have a 24 hour weather channel, 24 hour cable and local news with weather headlines, and tons of web sites devoted to telling you about your weather. But with all those choices, you know where I spend MOST of my “weather” time? At just one place…. NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration), otherwise known as the National Weather Service.

You know all those warnings and watches that are reported by the local weather guys on TV and radio? Guess where they come from… NOAA! Know where a lot of the local guys weather data comes from? NOAA! And the great thing is, here in Omaha we’re just a few miles away from one of the major NOAA stations in the region, at Valley, NE.

The past two weeks, as endured the first two major snow storms of the season, NOAA kept me up-to-date with what was going to happen, updating their forecasts 2 to 3 times per day, even on the weekends. Text forecasts, weather maps, snowfall maps, radar (typically 5 minutes old), and even their new “multi-media forecast” were all there, 24-7, just waiting for me to access them. And they were especially valuable over the weekend, when most of the local media outlets did (in my opinion) a spotty job of getting us the weather.

Another great thing was that I could access the same weather reports for Yankton, SD, where my folks live. In fact, you can get the weather of any town in the country, at any time of day.

To get started, go to www.noaa.gov, the main, national page. At the upper left, you can enter the name of a city and state to jump to a local forecast. In our example, we’ll use Omaha, Nebraska.

The local forecast page includes both a visual and text weather forecast that goes out over 5 days out, and also includes many links to other forecast and climate maps, as well as radar.

The radar map includes different types of radar, including loops that cover the previous hour. Typically, the radar is not more than about 7 minutes old.

If there is any type of threatening weather in the forecast (watches, warnings, etc.), the local page also includes special “red” links to the latest text narrative describing that forecast. These are the same warnings and watches that the local media stations pickup and use as part of their broadcasts.

At the top, left of the local page, there is a link to the local NOAA office page, that includes a map of the area the office covers. This is my favorite starting page, and is the page that I have bookmarked, since it lets me choose which local city I want to see the forecast for, and also includes links to summary maps, and the “Multimedia Briefings”. The briefings are typically done twice a day, and are provided as video with narration by one of the NOAA weather experts.

In the near future, perhaps even tomorrow, I’ll have a short video tutorial that walks through the site. In the meantime, for anyone who needs a good forecast, or just loves hearing about the weather, I highly recommend you spend some time on the NOAA site.

In the previous episodes (you can read Part One or Part Two here) of this series, I gave you an overview of my experiences in upgrading to Windows 7, including thoughts on if an upgrade made sense, and what to look for as you considered an upgrade. In this final installment, I want to pass along what I think are the best new features of Windows 7, so that you can decide for yourself if an upgrade is worth it or not.

Here in the blog itself, I’m going to give you just a brief list of new features, but I‘ve put together a 12 minute video overview of what you see with Windows 7, that you can view by clicking here.

First of all, you might find a basic comparison of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 helpful. Microsoft has provided us with a simple chart you can see by clicking here. Keep in mind that this chart really ONLY highlights the new features in Windows 7, and basically just shows you that the other versions of Windows don’ t have these features. Duh!

Ok, so what really IS new? Here’s a bullet list of my favorite new features (Remember, you can see all this stuff in a video, by clicking here):

• On the Desktop:
  • Live Preview, Pinning, and Jump Lists
    • The taskbar has bigger buttons and live previews (hover over a button to see a large thumbnail live preview)
      • Hover over a live preview to see a full-screen version of the document
      • Click preview to choose that document
    • Drag the buttons into order on the taskbar
    • Pin an icon to the taskbar, as a one-click shortcut. Do this by right-clicking the icon and choosing PIN to taskbar.
    • Right click a taskbar icon to see a Jump List (list of recently viewed/opened documents)
    • You can pin favorites to the taskbar by dragging them to an icon. They then become part of IE’s jump list
  • Aero Peak
    • Hoover over the button at the lower right corner of the desktop, all windows become transparent so you can see the desktop
    • Click the button to minimize all windows, and click again to restore all windows
  • Aero Shake
    • Drag a windows taskbar and give it a wiggle, all other windows are minimized. Shake again and all are restored.
  • Aero Snap
    • Drag two windows to opposite sides of screen to resize them automatically (note, they resize when your mouse cursor touches the edge)
    • Drag window to top of screen to maximize
    • Drag maximized window down to restore
    • Drag the top/bottom border down to dock the entire window at the top and bottom
    • NOTE: I’ve discovered that the Aero Snap feature does NOT work with ALL programs. Example: Photoshop Elements does not let you drag it up and down from the screen top to maximize or restore.
  • Gadgets
    • You can now move and resize them anywhere on desktop
    • RIGHT click the desktop and choose Gadgets
• Search
  • Start button / Search Programs and Files text box
    • Type in the beginning of what you are looking for and the search starts.
    • Programs and files are listed in groups, with programs at the top
    • You won’t ever have to search through the program menu again, just start typing it’s name
    • I LOVE THIS FEATURE!
  • In a folder window, use the search box in the upper right corner.
    • You can also use filters and options
  • Click on a found document, and click the preview pane button at the upper right corner.
• Libraries
  • You can see related files together in one place, no matter where they are stored
  • Comes with 4 pre-created libraries: Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos
  • RIGHT click a folder or device to add it to a Library
  • You can also create your own libraries.
    • Choose Library on the folder tree
    • Choose FILE / NEW / LIBRARY
    • Give it a name
    • Add folders to it

• Action Center
  • Displays a flag in tray area to alert you to system error messages
  • Shows any system messages or actions you need to take
  • Open the Action Center window to see current security settings
• Backup and Restore
  • Start / Search for Backup
  • Backup allows you to setup an automatic routine backup of any set of folders to any device you want.
  • Backup also includes doing an image copy of your entire hard drive.
• Other Fun Utilities
  • Sticky Notes: Allow you to add post-it notes of various colors to the screen
  • Snipping Tool: Select part of the screen for a screenshot (I LOVE THIS TOO!)
  • Calculator: Now you have multiple variations to choose from
  • Math Input Panel: draw mathematical equations and insert them into documents (My math-teacher wife loves this!)
  • Windows XP Mode: A special program that runs with Virtual PC to give you a way to run older Windows XP programs that don’t run in Windows 7. The program runs in a Virtual PC window on the screen. Windows XP Mode is only available for Windows 7 Pro and Ultimate.

  
  

  Ok, so now you’ve seen a long list of new features, some of which ARE really cool. BUT, the question is…. are these new features worth the upgrade price? I’d have to say….

  No… well…. maybe Yes….  it depends.

  How about that for a direct, no nonsense answer? The fact is, those of us who love to mess with the latest technology are going to upgrade with no questions asked. As are those who are having technical problems with Vista, or even with Windows XP. But if you are currently happy with Windows XP, or even Windows Vista, then it’s a much tougher call. I am certainly NOT going to be the one who tells you that you HAVE TO UPGRADE! If something works, why fix it?

  But when all is said and done… I will say that I think Windows 7 is going to be the best version of Windows ever released. I’m not sure what that means, but as a geek, I’m having a great time messing around with it… and I think you will too….   well, maybe.

In the previous episode (The Happy Tale of a Windows 7 Installation pt. 1) I got started with the “happy tale” of installing the newly released Windows 7 on my HP notebook computer. In that installment, we covered some first impressions, including what type of computer it really takes to run Win 7, how to get a copy (including a cheap $29.95 copy if you have access to a student email address), and whether we really thought you NEEDED Win7.

Now we’ve used it for 3 weeks (and installed it on yet another often-used computer), it’s time to continue the saga with a narrative on how the installations went, and a few of the new features we really like.

By the way, we are having a FREE WINDOWS 7 SEMINAR at the SHF Computer in Omaha, on Friday, November 20th at 10am. We’d love to have you join us and see what Windows 7 looks like, first-hand. That same day we’re also having some of our friends from InfiNet come in and demonstrate some amazing new touch-screen technology we’re hoping to put into the Florence Home. Plus, we’ll have the usual refreshments, door prizes, and guess what……  we will even have the Premiere of our first Video Tutorial Series. Really, you won’t want to miss this event. If you want to register, give us a call at 402.827.6090 (Omaha) or email me at jlortz@shf.org. And bring a friend!!!

Would you like to see a preview of what we’ll be covering at the seminar? CLICK HERE to see a short video segment.

Ok, back to business. Let’s talk about installing Windows 7, and specifically, how we installed it as an upgrade to Windows Vista.

When you first start the Windows 7 installation, you have to agree to the license screen, and then you have the option of running the the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. This program scans your computer and identifies any possible issues you might have with existing hardware or software. It’s basically the same program you can get from the Microsoft web site [you get it here]. In my case, the advisor first told me that I had the wrong Windows 7 version for the version of Windows Vista I had.

Here’s the deal….  on this particular machine, I had Windows Vista Business Edition (32bit) and the Windows 7 version I was trying to use was Windows 7 Home. No dice… unless I wanted to do a “clean install” (i.e. wipe out my computer completely and set everything up from scratch), I had to get Windows 7 Professional. Ok, so I did… (No worries, I just used the Windows 7 Home version on another of my computers).

I started the upgrade again (with the Windows 7 Pro disc) and again ran the advisor, and things were OK. It then went online and downloaded some needed updates to the installation program (some last minute things???) and then took me to a screen and asked if I wanted to do an Upgrade or a Custom installation. Since I didn’t want to go through the hassle of wiping off my machine, I chose Upgrade.

Next, it took about 15 minutes and did yet another “compatibility check“. This time it was checking for software that might interfere with the installation itself, and yes, it did find a couple of things…

• My anti-virus program (I use a program called ESET NOD32) was going to cause issues with the installation, so they asked that I uninstall it, and then reinstall it when the Windows 7 installation was complete.
• A disk defragmentation program I use called Perfect Disc was also going to cause issues, and they asked that I also uninstall and later reinstall it.
• They also warned that a couple games (I never play) that came with my HP Notebook MIGHT cause issues.

Not wanting to anger the Microsoft gods, I did what the compatibility checker asked, and then for a THIRD TIME started the installation. This time I made it all the way in, and the actual installation started.

Knowing that actually watching the progress checklist on the screen always helps speed up the process, I sat with vigilance in front of my computer for the next 2 hourss as Windows 7 installed. Ok, so maybe I didn’t, but the fact is, the upgrade does take quite a while. I actually forgot to time it, but during the process my notebook computer was automatically restarted 4 times, and proceeded to ask for updates from Microsoft at least 3 times. So it did take awhile.

The end result? Did it work? Was all my stuff still there?

The answer is…  yes, it did work, and except for the two programs I uninstalled earlier, all my other stuff was still there, and still worked. Yes, I did actually go out and test my most-used programs (including a few that are pretty demanding on Windows and the computer).

Overall the Windows Vista to Windows 7 upgrade process was fairly painless. Compared to many of the other upgrades I’ve done over the years (Windows 3.1 to Windows 95, Windows 95 to 98SE, Windows 98SE to Windows ME – YUCK!, Windows 98SE to Vista), this was probably the easiest and best behaved. I can actually say that if you decide you want to go the route of a Vista to Win 7 upgrade, give it a try yourself.

Now, the next big question is… how as Windows 7 been working?

Well, truth be told… I really do like it. I’d throw “love” in there, but Microsoft has never produced something that I actually can say “I just love”. But I really do like many of the new features in Windows 7, and now that I have it on my two main computers, when I use a machine with Windows Vista or XP, I miss Windows 7. Here is a short list of my favorite things:

• The redesigned taskbar that includes live previews and icon pinning
• The ability  to maximize a window by just dragging it to the top of the screen, and then moving it again by dragging it down from the top
• The nice clock gadget that sits anywhere I want it on the screen
• The snipping tool that lets me do quick, easy, screenshots
• The search feature that lets you quickly find programs and documents
• The “library” concept, where you can “logically” group selected folders for display together in a window
• A much improved backup/restore system

As I’ve already said, next Friday, November 20th, we’ll be doing a seminar on Windows 7 and we’ll show you some of these features [CLICK HERE to see a short video demo of what I'll be covering]. I’ll also be posting one final blog in this Windows 7 trilogy, that will include my thoughts on how Windows 7 is working, and also have a link to the full version of our Windows 7 First Look video. Don’t turn that dial!

If you haven’t heard (chuckle, chuckle), Microsoft Windows 7 was released for public sale last week. Ok, so the fact is you ALL know it came out…. I mean how could you have missed it? Besides seeing a massive amount of articles at every “tech” site on the Internet, and even the main-stream press making a big deal about it, Apple Computer even immediately started running new versions of their cute PC versus Mac ads that made fun of Microsoft’s long history of mediocre Windows releases [You can see it on YouTube Here - I'm not a Mac fan, but this video is pretty funny].

I mentioned in another article that I’m a certified Windows pessimist, meaning that “I’ll believe all the hype about Windows when I see it for myself”. But even so, as a computer instructor and a geek, I was actually pretty excited for October 22nd (the release date) to come, and to grab a copy to try for myself. So, on the day of the release I grabbed a copy and decided to install it as a Vista upgrade on my notebook computer.

The rest of this blog and a sequel blog will relate my experiences and a few (maybe) helpful suggestions.

First, does your computer have the horsepower? (probably)

• 1 GHz CPU
• 1 GB RAM
• 16 GB available hard drive space
• Windows 7 doesn’t take quite the resources that Vista does, but in all honesty, you’re going to have more fun with it if your computer has at least a 2GHz CPU and 4GB of RAM. (NOTE: the most RAM that the 32bit versions of Windows can see is about 4GB, so any more than that is a waste. 64bit versions, however, can handle higher amounts of RAM.)

Next, what are the easiest ways to get Windows 7 on my computer?

• The easiest way (of course) is to just purchase a new PC with Windows 7 installed. That’s a non-brainer.
• If you have a computer running Vista, upgrading from Vista is the 2nd easiest way, since you can directly upgrade and still have all your documents and programs in place, without having to reinstall anything. NOTE: If you decide to upgrade, make sure your purchase the Windows 7 version that matches the Vista version you have (32bit versus 64bit) and the edition you have (Vista Home, Ultimate, Business versus Windows 7 Home, Pro, Ultimate).
• If you have a computer running Windows XP, life is tougher. You can’t do a direct upgrade from XP, meaning that you’ll need to backup all your documents, wipe out your hard drive, and then reinstall Windows 7 and all your software from scratch. This is something geeks do on a fairly regular basis to improve the performance of their computers, but is not the typical thing a home user will do. I’ve seen more than one tech writer say, ” the easiest way to upgrade an XP computer is to just purchase a new, inexpensive computer with Windows 7 installed”

Do I really need Windows 7?

• No, probably not. In all honesty, there is nothing so earth shattering in Windows 7 that you should drop everything you are doing and run to the store to get a copy. BUT, having said that, Windows 7 will probably go down in Windows history as one of the best versions Microsoft has released. One tech writer put it this way…. “Windows 7 is to Vista what Windows XP was to Windows ME”. In other words, Windows 7 is what Vista should have been, and will probably turn out to be just as reliable and tough-working as Windows XP was.
• Even if you don’t NEED Windows 7, it does have some pretty cool features that you might WANT.

Where can I get Windows 7? (and what I personally did)

• Just about everywhere. Microsoft has a lock on the pricing (Home Premium Upgrade – $199.99, Professional Upgrade – $199.99, Ultimate Upgrade – $219.99), but different stores such as Office Depot, Staples, Best Buy, etc. all have “extras” that they are throwing in or discounting to sweeten the deals. For example, one store was offering a $40 discount on Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0 if you purchased a copy of Windows 7.
• If you’ve purchased a new computer since July, you are probably eligible for a free Windows 7 upgrade. You’ll want to check your manufacturer to be sure. Sue (my wife) purchased a new HP notebook computer in August, and we registered for an upgrade copy that will be arriving mid-November.
• Now, I’m not one who likes to pay retail for Windows, and I can often get my Windows copies at a discount through my organizations site license agreements. BUT this time around, I HAD to have a copy of Windows 7 the day it came out. So in my searchings, I discovered that Microsoft is giving STEEP discounts to college students…  both the Home and Pro Windows 7 upgrades are just $29.95. All you need to have is a college email address. [To see this offer, visit Microsoft here, or the special site Microsoft has setup here.] Since I teach at a local college, I happen to have a college email address and was able to use it to purchase a copy of Windows 7 with no problem. (Do you happen to know any college people?)

Finally, before you take the big plunge, you should check your current computer setup using the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor [which you can download here]. This program checks your hardware and software for any compatibility issues, and gives you a heads-up. Microsoft even includes it as part of the Windows 7 setup, as the first thing it runs when you start the installation.

Now that I’ve set the stage, it’s time to relate my actual upgrade experience…. and that’s what I’ll be doing in Part 2 of this blog. And in Part 3 I’ll take you though what I think are the coolest new features. Stay tuned….

Digital Imaging (i.e. working with your pictures on the computer) has grown to the point that it’s now completely taken over the world of photography, and the days of film are now just a fond memory. We started teaching digital imaging classes at the SHF Computer Lab way back in 1998, mainly because I’m a photography nut and thought it might be fun to do so.  At first, we didn’t get a lot of students in those classes, but as more powerful computers became less expensive, and digital cameras hit the scene, our classes grew and now they are some of the most popular that we offer.

But what about home video? Has it followed the same popularity path? In a funny way, it has and yet hasn’t.

On the “has” side, video itself has become the mainstay of media on the Internet (see my blog from a few weeks ago entitled “Watching Online Videos: There’s a Lot to See”).  The combination of inexpensive digital video cameras, inexpensive powerful computers, cheap video editing software and broadband access to the Internet has spawned the phenomenalgrowth of video sharing sites such as YouTube, as amateur film-makers of all ages rush to upload their creations (some of which are GREAT, but many of which are… well, NOT great).

But on the “hasn’t” side, it seems that everyone still has a box-full of either old Super or Regular-8 movies (for you young folks, that’s actually a type of movie film), or VHS/Beta video tapes that they KNOW they should “digitalize”, but just aren’t quite sure how. Oh, there’s a few who have done it, but not without a lot of agonizing and teeth gnashing as they tried to figure it out and make everything work.

That’s where the dichotomy lies…. it’s not too tough to take a modern digital video camera and turn it into a YouTube video, but it takes a bit more know-how to take an older “analog” movie and turn it digital.

Ok, so why do we even care about all this?

The fact is, if you have home movies in any form other than “digital”, they are slowly deteriorating as we speak. Just as it’s important to “digitalize” (scan in) our old photo prints, slides, and negatives, it’s just as important that we “capture” our old movies and turn them into clips on our computer or DVDs we can play on our TV. Here’s why….   when you turn photos or movies “digital”, you are turning the information that makes up the photo/movie into a bunch of 1’s and 0’s. The great thing is, you can copy those 1’s and 0’s with NO quality loss as many times as you want, and store them on media that slows less aging over time. And as time does progress, you can take your photos/movies and recopy them to new media just to keep them preserved.

So it’s important to digitalize so that your precious photos/movies are saved for posterity.

But there’s even a side benefit. When you digitalize, you are creating photo/movie computer “files” that you can easily share with others by copying CD/DVD discs, or even just emailing them. You can even share those digital memories online through FREE photo sharing and video sharing services.

Ok, so now we know there are a lot of good reasons to get those movies digital… but we still have the issue of “how to best do it”.

Well, that’s where the Senior Health Foundation can help. Next week we are starting a 3-part series simply called Digital Video. The class goal is to teach you what’s going on with digital video (i.e. the jargon and technology you need to know), and to show you the best ways to take your old, or even new movies and get them on the computer so you can work with them, or even just copy them directly to DVD for sharing with others.

Right now we’re looking for a few more students to make the class go, so if you are interested, drop me a note (jlortz@shf.org) or give the SHF phone a call at (402) 827.6090 (Omaha) and tell us you want to sign up.

Yesterday, as it does every second Tuesday of the month, Microsoft released updates for it’s most popular products… Windows, Office, etc. But this particular Patch Tuesday (as it’s often called) was a BIG one. Microsoft set a new record of 13 bulletins (warnings) with patches for 34 vulnerabilities, including the first patch for Windows 7 (which isn’t even officially released yet).

Although most of you have your Windows computer’s set to “automatically” get updates (which you SHOULD be set to), those of us who like to “see” what we’re getting, and have their machines set to just notify us of updates and then let us choose, were greeted by this screen on Tuesday…

We could go through the laundry list of fixes and what they are for, but the reality is… you need these updates to stay secure, and should always do them. If you would like to see more details about Patch Day, there’s a good article at CNET you can check out by clicking this link.

And don’t forget, if you want to learn more about keeping your computer secure from all those nasty threats you run into on the Internet, we have a class coming up on November 10th at 1pm called Internet Security, which will answer all your questions about hackers, crackers, viruses, and spyware. Check out the SHF Class Calendar by clicking here, and/or drop me a note at jlortz@shf.org if you want to register.