Install XP Mode with VirtualBox Using the VMLite Plugin
Mar/100
Would you like to run XP Mode, but prefer Sun’s VirtualBox for virtualization?? Thanks to the free VMLite plugin, you can quickly and easily run XP Mode in or alongside VirtualBox.
Yesterday we showed you one method to install XP Mode in VirtualBox, unfortunately in that situation you lose XP’s activation, and it isn’t possible to reactivate it. Today we show you a tried and true method for running XP mode in VirtualBox and integrating it seamlessly with Windows 7.
Note: You need to have Windows 7 Professional or above to use XP Mode in this manner.
Install XP Mode
Make sure you’re logged in with Administrator rights for the entire process. The first thing you’ll want to do is install XP Mode on your system (link below). You don’t need to install Windows Virtual PC.
Go through and install XP Mode using the defaults.
Install VirtualBox
Next you’ll need to install VirtualBox 3.1.2 or higher if it isn’t installed already. If you have an older version of VirtualBox installed, make sure to update it.
During setup you’re notified that your network connection will be reset.
Check the box next to Always trust software from “Sun Microsystems, Inc.” then click Install.
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Setup only takes a couple of minutes, and does not require a reboot…which is always nice.
Install VMLite XP Mode Plugin
The next thing we’ll need to install is the VMLite XP Mode Plugin. Again Installation is simple following the install wizard.
During the install like with VirtualBox you’ll be asked to install the device software.
After it’s installed go to the Start menu and run VMLite Wizard as Administrator.
![sshot-2010-03-04-[18-04-11]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/38912bae2c180411.png.png "sshot-2010-03-04-[18-04-11]")
Select the location of the XP Mode Package which by default should be in C:Program FilesWindows XP Mode.
Accept the EULA…and notice that it’s meant for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.
Next, name the machine, choose the install folder, and type in a password.
Select if you want Automatic Updates turned on or not.
Wait while the process completes then click Finish.
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The VMLite XP Mode will set up to run the first time.
That is all there is to this section. You can run XP Mode from within the VMLite Workstation right away.
XP Mode is fully activated already, and the Guest Additions are already installed, so there’s nothing else you need to do!? XP Mode is the whole way ready to use.
![sshot-2010-03-04-[22-37-37]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/87c19eb2c7223737.png.png "sshot-2010-03-04-[22-37-37]")
Integration with VirtualBox
Since we installed the VMLite Plugin, when you open VirtualBox you’ll see it listed as one of your machines and you can start it up from here.
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Here we see VMLite XP Mode running in Sun VirtualBox.
Integrate with Windows 7
To integrate it with Windows 7 click on Machine Seamless Mode…
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Here you can see the XP menu and Taskbar will be placed on top of Windows 7. From here you can access what you need from XP Mode.
![sshot-2010-03-04-[18-28-56]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/4a1d6336eb182856.png.png "sshot-2010-03-04-[18-28-56]")
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Here we see XP running on Virtual Box in Seamless Mode. We have the old XP WordPad sitting next to the new Windows 7 version of WordPad.
![sshot-2010-03-03-[22-47-22]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/813caf39f6247221.png.png "sshot-2010-03-03-[22-47-22]")
This works so seamlessly you forget if your working in XP or Windows 7. In this example we have Windows Home Server Console running in Windows 7, while installing MSE from IE 6 in XP Mode.
![sshot-2010-03-04-[22-49-00]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ec48f0e07b224900.png.png "sshot-2010-03-04-[22-49-00]")
At the top of the screen you will still have access to the VMs controls.
![sshot-2010-03-04-[18-34-42]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/c1732663e8183442.png.png "sshot-2010-03-04-[18-34-42]")
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You can click the button to exit Seamless Mode, or simply hit the right “CTRL+L”
Conclusion
This is a very slick way to run XP Mode in VirtualBox on any machine that doesn’t have Hardware Virtualization. This method also doesn’t lose the XP Mode activation and is actually extremely easy to set up.
If you prefer VMware (like we do), Check out how to run XP Mode on machines without Hardware Virtualization capability, and also how to create an XP Mode for Vista and Windows 7 Home Premium.
Links
Download VMLite XP Mode Plugin for VirtualBox (Site Registration Required)
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Install XP Mode with VirtualBox Using the VMLite Plugin
Dual Boot Your Pre-Installed Windows 7 Computer with Ubuntu
Jan/100
You have a new computer that came with Windows 7 pre-installed on it, and you want to create a dual boot system so you can run Ubuntu Linux as well. Here we take you through the process to install Ubuntu on your pre-installed Windows 7 machine.
For this demonstration we’re using Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit) and Ubuntu 9.10 (32-bit)
Install Ubuntu
Here we will set up a basic dual boot system with the Ubuntu 9.10 disc that will create GRUB as your boot loader. On the Window 7 machine pop in the Ubuntu disc and boot from it.
If you experience a problem with the graphics with Ubuntu not displaying correctly, go back to the start screen, hit F4 and select Safe graphics mode.
Continue through the installation steps by selecting your language, time zone, and keyboard layout. When you get to the following screen (step 4 of 6), the easiest method for beginners is to select the first option– Install them side by side, choosing between them each startup. On the first bar you’ll see is the entire Windows 7 partition. Then on the second bar, you can slide it up or down to specify the amount of hard drive space you want for Ubuntu.
The green area represents the amount of space we’re leaving for Windows 7, and the brown is the space we’re allocating for Ubuntu.In this example we’re sliding it down to 10GB and leaving the rest for Windows.
Click continue to the verification dialog box.
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In the next step create your user name, password, and configure log in options.
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If everything looks good, go ahead and click Install. If you need to make any changes you can still go back and make them at this point.
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The installation will start showing a progress bar and display new features in Ubuntu 9.10.
The amount of time it takes to install will vary from system to system, and once it’s complete, go ahead and restart the machine.
When the machine reboots you’ll see the GRUB loader where you can boot to Ubuntu or Windows 7.
One thing to point out in my experience with this method is when you first boot into Windows 7, Check Disk runs, then reboots and you need to choose the Windows 7 option again from the bootloader.
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Conclusion
This should help get you started in enjoying a Windows 7 / Ubuntu Linux dual boot configuration. There are definitely other ways to get a Windows / Linux dual boot system, but if you want a quick method, so you can try out Ubuntu, this method works well.
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Dual Boot Your Pre-Installed Windows 7 Computer with Ubuntu
Add a Quick Launch Feature to Windows 7 the Easy Way
Dec/090
Do you miss having the Quick Launch Toolbar in Windows 7? Now you can get that functionality back with the highly customizable free utility SE-TrayMenu.
Note: SE-Tray Menu comes in exe file and portable versions.
Initial Look & Setting SE-TrayMenu Up
Installing SE-TrayMenu is quick and easy…once you have finished you will see a small “Light Bulb Icon” in the “System Tray Area”. Simply hold your mouse over it to see the default layout, theme, and apps available.
To keep it visible at all times you should open the “Notification Area Icons Window” and change the setting to “Show icon and notifications”.
To access the settings for SE-TrayMenu, right click on the “System Tray Icon”.
The first thing that you will probably want to do is decide if you would like for SE-TrayMenu to start with Windows each time, the type of layout that best suits your needs (you can personalize how SE-TrayMenu looks very nicely with this), and the color theme.
The next thing is to start adding in the apps that you want quick access to. Here you can see the default group along with their “Target Paths”.
Click on the arrow portion of the “Add Button” to access the “Drop Down Menu”. The quickest and most convenient option is to select “Add applications from Start Menu…”.
Once you have selected “Add applications from Start Menu…”, you will see the following window. Scroll through the list and select the apps that you would like to add to SE-TrayMenu. When you are finished click “OK”.
Now you can see your new app list. From here you can remove any apps that you do not need, add more apps, or edit the ones on the list. Click “Close” when you are finished.
With a new theme, layout, and additional apps, our setup turned out very nicely.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a way to add the Quick Launch feature to Windows 7, then SE-TrayMenu provides a quick and easy way to do it. It will also work with Windows 2000, XP and Vista. While this is an easy way to add Quick Launch functionality, make sure and read The Geek’s article on how to Add the Real Quick Launch Bar to Windows 7.
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Add a Quick Launch Feature to Windows 7 the Easy Way
Access Cached Versions of Webpages When a Website is Down
Dec/090
Have you ever needed to access a webpage only to find that the entire website is down? Now you can access the most recent cached version from Google with the Gcache+ extension for Firefox.
Using Gcache+
When you install the extension there are no options for you to bother with. The only decision that you will need to make is whether you would like to add the “Toolbar Button” to your browser’s UI or not.
Here you can see the “access points” for the extension…”Toolbar Button, Context Menu, and Status Bar Icon”. If you access the extension from the webpage itself you can use either the “Gcache Page Command” in the “Context Menu” or use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + G).
Note: A single left click on the “Toolbar Button or Status Bar Icon” brings up the cached version. Clicking on either again will make the cached version disappear.
You can also access the extension when right clicking on a link using the “Gcache Link Command”.
If you access a cached version of a webpage this is what things should look like. At the top of the webpage you will see a “boxed off” area displaying the original webpage URL and the date that the “cache snapshot was taken”. Notice that you can also access a “Text-only version” of the webpage.
If you look at the “Address Bar” you will also see a “numerical URL/cache listing” prefix for the link…
Conclusion
If you have been needing an easy way to access a webpage if an entire website is down for some reason, then the Gcache+ extension will certainly be very helpful to you.
Links
Download the Gcache+ extension (Mozilla Add-ons)
Download the Gcache+ extension (Extension Homepage)
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The rest is here:
Access Cached Versions of Webpages When a Website is Down
Access Windows 7 System Settings the Easy Way
Dec/090
Are you looking for a quicker way to access your system settings without using the Control Panel? Then “Windows 7 in a Box” is a program that you should take a closer look at.
What “Windows 7 in a Box” Looks Like
Setting “Windows 7 in a Box” up is very quick and easy. Simply unzip the rar file, place the exe file in an appropriate “Program Files” folder, and create a shortcut. Once started the interface is easy to navigate and use with drop down menus.
Note: The main app window will be small.
![sshot-2009-12-02-[18-48-38]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/7b138ef1af1848381.png1.png)
The best thing to do once you have the program started is to look through the menus to become familiar with them. “System Settings” have been broken down into focused categories to help you find what you are looking for as quickly as possible.
For those who are curious, we have included screenshots for all six menus so that you can have a very good idea of all the settings available through the program. Here you can see the settings available under the “Functions Menu”…
And the items available in the “Folders Menu”.
The “Internet Settings Menu”.
You can access the more common apps included in Windows 7 (i.e. Windows Media Center, Snipping Tool, etc.) using the “Programs Menu”.
Note: This menu will not display user-installed programs added to Windows.
Use the “Tools Menu” to access “System Management Tools”.
Access often used “System Settings” such as “Screen Resolution, User Account Control, & Window Color and Appearance“ in the “Settings Menu”.
“Windows 7 in a Box” in Action
As a quick example, we used “Windows 7 in a Box” to access the “User Accounts” settings and they opened up very quickly.
Though not seen in our screenshot, “Windows 7 in a Box” is still open and running “behind the “User Accounts Window” ready for the next group of settings or program that you need quick access to.
Conclusion
If you have been wanting a quick way to access settings without going through the multiple layers of the Control Panel, then you will certainly enjoy “Windows 7 in a Box”.
Links
Note: Download link near bottom of page.
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| Latest Software Reviews | Super User Daily |
Access Windows 7 System Settings the Easy Way
Dec/090
Are you looking for a quicker way to access your system settings without using the Control Panel? Then “Windows 7 in a Box” is a program that you should take a closer look at.
What “Windows 7 in a Box” Looks Like
Setting “Windows 7 in a Box” up is very quick and easy. Simply unzip the rar file, place the exe file in an appropriate “Program Files” folder, and create a shortcut. Once started the interface is easy to navigate and use with drop down menus.
Note: The main app window will be small.
![sshot-2009-12-02-[18-48-38]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/7b138ef1af184838.png.png)
The best thing to do once you have the program started is to look through the menus to become familiar with them. “System Settings” have been broken down into focused categories to help you find what you are looking for as quickly as possible.
For those who are curious, we have included screenshots for all six menus so that you can have a very good idea of all the settings available through the program. Here you can see the settings available under the “Functions Menu”…
And the items available in the “Folders Menu”.
The “Internet Settings Menu”.
You can access the more common apps included in Windows 7 (i.e. Windows Media Center, Snipping Tool, etc.) using the “Programs Menu”.
Note: This menu will not display user-installed programs added to Windows.
Use the “Tools Menu” to access “System Management Tools”.
Access often used “System Settings” such as “Screen Resolution, User Account Control, & Window Color and Appearance“ in the “Settings Menu”.
“Windows 7 in a Box” in Action
As a quick example, we used “Windows 7 in a Box” to access the “User Accounts” settings and they opened up very quickly.
Though not seen in our screenshot, “Windows 7 in a Box” is still open and running “behind the “User Accounts Window” ready for the next group of settings or program that you need quick access to.
Conclusion
If you have been wanting a quick way to access settings without going through the multiple layers of the Control Panel, then you will certainly enjoy “Windows 7 in a Box”.
Links
Note: Download link near bottom of page.
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| Latest Software Reviews | Super User Daily |
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Access Windows 7 System Settings the Easy Way
Find Color Schemes Easily in Firefox or Your Favorite Browser
Nov/090
Have you ever seen a picture with great colors and wanted a color scheme based on that image? Now you can get those color schemes easily with the ColorSuckr extension for Firefox.
Note: For those using browsers other than Firefox, you can directly access the ColorSuckr website (link at bottom of article).
ColorSuckr in Action
Once you have the extension installed you are ready to go. There are no options or settings to worry with…just click and go goodness. We decided to use ColorSuckr on a recent blog image and see what the results were.
To use ColorSuckr on an image, “Right Click” on the image and select “Extract Image Colors”…
You will then be presented with a ColorSuckr webpage displaying the image in question and a color layout of the twelve most common colors in the image.
These are the twelve colors shown for our example image. There are three color codes presented for each color and then a link to see a color scheme for that particular color.
We decided to select this color from the original image…there are six color schemes available for this shade of blue.
Clicking on one of the color schemes will take you to “colourlovers.com” to show you the color palette and additional information for your selection.
Scrolling down the page will show more detailed information for each of the colors shown in the palette.
The ColorSuckr Website
What if you are not using Firefox though? Not a problem…simply go to the ColorSuckr website itself and proceed from there. You can enter the URL for the image that you are wanting to acquire a color scheme from or use one of the recommended images provided as examples. Notice that there is also a link available for searching Flickr…
For our example we decided to try one of the recommended photos.
These are the results for the example photo. As with the extension you can select the color that you like best and view the color schemes available for it.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a quick and easy way to get a color scheme from a beautiful image, then the ColorSuckr extension and homepage will easily provide excellent results.
Links
Download the ColorSuckr extension (Mozilla Add-ons)
Access and Use the ColorSuckr Website (for non-Firefox Browsers)
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Find Color Schemes Easily in Firefox or Your Favorite Browser
Beginner Geek: Delete User Accounts in Windows 7
Nov/090
If you have a user account on your Windows 7 machine that you don’t need anymore, you may want to get rid of it. Today we take a look at how to delete a user account and save their files.
We showed you how to create and manage user accounts in Windows 7 in a previous post. But what if you don’t need it anymore? The process of deleting an account is relatively easy, but you might want to save their files and / or settings in case you need it again.
Delete a User
To delete a user, type user accounts into the Start search bar and hit Enter.
Then click on Manage another account.
Select the user account you want to get rid of.
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Now click on Delete the account.
You are then given the option to keep the user files. You may want to do this if they need them for another machine or you want to store them if needed later.
If you choose to keep the files they will be saved in a folder on the desktop.
Then go ahead and delete the account.
This should help you get rid of users you no longer need on your machine, and save their files if needed.
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Beginner Geek: Delete User Accounts in Windows 7
Combine the Address Bar and Progress Bar Together in Firefox
Nov/090
Do you like the way that the Progress Bar is built into the Address Bar in Safari Browser? You can get the same functionality in Firefox with the Fission extension.
Before
Here you can see our example browser with the “Progress Bar” displaying as normal in the “Status Bar” and the “Throbber” spinning. We can do better than that though, right?
Options
Once you have installed the extension, you might want to take a quick look at Fission’s options. You can easily change the color that displays in the address bar or even use an image (which makes for a truly unique look). You may also activate any of the three “Address Bar Features” if desired. For our example we chose a blue color…
Note: The “Preview Feature” is extremely nice for seeing how a new color or image will look before finalizing your decision.
![sshot-2009-11-20-[15-04-40]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/613eff8176150440.png.png "sshot-2009-11-20-[15-04-40]")
After
You can see a very noticeable difference after we reloaded the webpage. No “Status Bar” or “Throbber” required to know how close the webpage is to finishing loading up.
Conclusion
If you love the combined Address and Progress Bars in Safari or have been wanting something like this to help minimize your UI, then Fission is a must-have extension for your Firefox Browser.
Links
Download the Fission extension (Mozilla Add-ons)
Download the Fission extension (Extension Homepage)
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Combine the Address Bar and Progress Bar Together in Firefox
Windows SteadyState
Nov/090
If you have a shared access computer, it can be aggravating when other users make a bunch of changes to the settings. Today we take a look at SteadyState for Windows Vista and XP which lets you return the computer to the original state after a user session.
Windows SteadyState
Not only does SteadyState return the PC back to its original state, but you can set it up to restrict what the user can access. You can lock down virtually every aspect of the computer from programs to websites and more. Of course you’ll need to be the administrator, and the first thing to do is install current drivers and Windows Updates. Then install programs and configure settings you want to how you want the machine to be every time it’s restored. Once everything is set up and you create different user account, you can let the public have at it. Any changes they make to the configuration will be undone just by restarting the machine. Here we take a look at SteadyState running on a Windows XP machine.
When you install SteadyState you’ll need to validate your copy of windows with Genuine Advantage. If you don’t have the WGA tool already on your machine you will be prompted to download and install it.
Add and Restrict a New User
When SteadyState starts you’ll get an overview of User Settings and Global Computer Settings. Now the fun part begins, you can make access as strict of lenient as you want.
In the first part of the SteadyState wizard, add the username, password, and picture. Notice you can create the user on the system drive or an alternate partition or drive.
In the next step you’ll start with General settings and adjust the time the user can spend on the system. Make sure to lock the profile so they can’t make permanent changes themselves.
In Windows Restrictions you can restrict them from several aspects of the OS. You can set the restrictions from High, Medium, Low, none or customize them according to your needs. You can hide certain drives from the user as well, so they can’t mess around with any data on them.
In Feature Restrictions you can lock down Internet access through IE and program menus and settings. The cool feature here is you can set the user home page and also create a Whitelist of sites they will have access to.
In the Block Programs section you determine which programs a user can access.
Windows Disk Protection helps protect system settings and data on the drive where the OS is installed. It is turned off by default and to turn it on click Protect the Hard disk.
In the next screen you can turn it on and to complete the process a restart is required.
After the restart you can choose a level of protection for the disk from always removing changes, retaining them temporarily, or allowing all changes.
You can change the cache file size if you need to free up disk space. The minimum amount of space you can use is 2GB.
Schedule Windows Updates and other program updates. You can also use your own script to schedule a time.
Getting this to work in Windows 7 is rather tricky. I installed it using compatibility mode on Windows 7 32-bit, however not everything worked. Right now I see no official support for it. They were going to include a similar feature but it was scrapped. If you still have a public XP or Vista machine however, it is still a great choice.
![2222-11-19-[21-15-56]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/68f550424d211556.png.png "2222-11-19-[21-15-56]")
Conclusion
This is a great program for a public computer at a coffee shop, at a school, a library or just from keeping your young ones messing things up. It officially works with XP and Vista…Maybe some of you have gotten it to work on Windows 7? Leave a comment and let us know.
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Continued here:
Windows SteadyState
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