Hidden File View & Hosts file Editing in Windows Vista,7

TO SHOW HIDDEN FOLDERS IN WINDOWS 7

1.Open MY COMPUTER then Press the ALT key while in Explorer to bring up the File menu. Click on Tools and then Folder Options.

2.Click on the View tab and then click on the Show hidden files, folders, and drives radio button under Hidden files and folders.

The path to the Hosts file in Windows 7,Vista :

%systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\

Or

C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\

Now navigate to the directory above and open the hosts file and make your changes.

NOTE: This method for editing the Hosts file will not work. You will get a message saying you do not have permission to save in this location.

In order to edit it, you have to click on Start, type in Notepad and then right-click on Notepad and choose Run as Administrator.

In Notepad goto File->Open-> C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ folder again and make sure to choose all files for File Types otherwise you won’t see the Hosts file.

Make your changes to the Hosts file and click File and Save to save all changes. 

IMPORT AND EXPORT BOOKMARKS INTO BROWSERS

EXPORT BOOKMARKS FROM GOOGLE CHROME

1. Click the spanner icon on the browser toolbar.
2. Select Bookmark manager.
3. Click the Organize menu in the manager.
4. Select Export bookmarks.
5. Choose a location in which you want your exported file to be saved, then click Save.
6. Google Chrome will export your bookmarks as a HTML file.
7. Import bookmarks from Firefox or Internet Explorer

This feature isn't available on Chrome OS.

1. Click the spanner icon Wrench Menu on the browser toolbar.  
2. Select Bookmarks.
3.  Select Import Bookmarks and Settings.
4. Select the application that contains the settings you'd like to import.
5. Make sure that only the checkboxes for items you want to import are selected.

IMPORT BOOKMARKS FROM ANY BROWSER

1. Export bookmarks from any browser as a HTML file and save the file to your computer. 
2. Click the spanner icon on the browser toolbar in Google Chrome. 
3. Select Bookmark manager. 
4. Click the Organize menu in the manager. 
5. Select Import bookmarks. 
6. Open your saved HTML file.

CLIENT OS INSTALLATION OF WINDOWS 7 IN VMWARE SERVER

INSTALLING WINDOWS 7 IN VMWARE SERVER

To create a new VM in the VMware server console. You do this by logging in to the VMware Server Web Interface and creating a new VM by clicking the "Create Virtual Machine" link in the "Commands" action pane:

Give your new Virtual Machine a name, select your data store and click "next".

I downloaded the 64bit ISO of Windows 7 so I selected the 64bit version.

  

Windows 7 will install fine with 512MB, and it's even pretty usable after installation.

Create a new virtual disk and determine how much disk space you want to allocate to the Windows 7 installation. I created a 16GB partition

.

On the next screen, add a Network Adapter and then select "Network Connection: Bridge" in the Network Properties Page.

Next you will need the previously downloaded Windows 7 ISO file. In the CD/DVD drive dialogue box click on "Use an ISO Image" and browse to the ISO file and mount it as a CD-ROM. Unless you have set up a predefined data store for ISO files, you will need to copy the ISO into the location of your Virtual Machines (eg. your default data store) before you can browse to it.

 

Don't add a Floppy Drive, you don't need one.

I didn't add a USB Controller in my particular setup, but you can easily include one if you want to be able to connect to USB resources on your host machine, inside the guest. If you decide you don't need one now, don't worry. You can always add one later if you wish.

Review your settings and click on finish.

That's the finale of the Virtual Machine setup wizard. Now power on your newly created VM and go to the "console" tab on the top. You should be greeted with the Windows 7 Installer.

Go through the installer as you normally would on a physical machine, including accepting the EULA. Luckily the Windows 7 installed doesn't ask that many questions during install so it won't take that long. On my test computer the installation took about 30 minutes, but the actual time it takes depends on the hardware you run VMware Server on.

Now that the installation has finished you are almost ready to start using your virtual Windows 7 instance. I would advise that you install VMware Tools immediately though.

VMware Tools is a set of essential tools and drivers that will make your virtual experience much better, and in particular it will enable network connectivity in your Windows 7 install.

                          A couple of other great side-effects of installing the tools are that you will get much improved video performance, copy and paste between your host and guest as well as mouse synchronization.

                       Installation is very easy, all you have to do is to navigate to VMware Server Console again, find your Windows 7 installation and click on the "Install VMware Tools" option. This will mount a virtual CD-Rom inside your Windows 7 installation and start the autorun procedure.

                           Switch to your Windows 7 console again and you should be able to start the setup procedure.  Accept the default installation options, and after a quick reboot your should be ready to go.

                              Your virtualized Windows 7 install is now finished, and you should be able to use it as if it were installed on a physical machine. As far as the user experience goes, it does depend on what kind of resources you have available, but there is one part of Windows 7 you will not be able to experience by using VMware Server.  

Download Windows 7 64Bit Beta: 

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/shop/download-windows-7

  

Client OS Windows Vista Installation on VMWare Server

Requirments:

Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise in an ISO file

VMware Server 1.0

Desktop PC with 2GB of RAM

Creating the Virtual Machine:

Before installation, you must create a virtual machine inside VMware to house the Vista system. To do this, I went to File->New->Virtual Machine. I clicked Next and took the default of Typical. I found that VMware does now have an option for Vista and Vista x64 as valid "machine types". I selected Vista from the drop down of machine type, like this:

From here, I clicked Next, typed a name for my new Vista Test machine (called "Vista Test", how original). I clicked Next and Next again to select bridging as my network connection.

Next, I took the default to allocate 16GB of disk space for the guest OS but chose not to allocate it now. This may cause some performance issues in the long run but is best for my disk space.

One more reason that this is a good time to use VMware with Vista is that the VMware Tools are available for the Vista operating system. Make sure that you load these VMware tools after you get Vista up and running.

Then, I clicked Finish.

Booting the Vista Install CD:

             

                                                To boot the ISO CD, I double clicked the CDROM drive and added the Vista ISO file as the virtual CDROM drive. Of course, you could also boot a physical Vista installation CDROM and map VMware to the CD Drive. In my case, I made sure that my virtual CD would be connected at startup, like this:

Next, I powered on the virtual machine, which was configured like this:

Once booted from the Vista install CD, you can choose your language, click Next, then, clickInstall Now.

Vista/VMware CD Driver Issue:

  

Immediately after clicking Install Now, I received this error:

I'm not saying that everyone will receive it but I did. It is discussed in the VMware forum at this link: http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=62141. Somehow, what this error is saying is that Vista recognized the CDROM drive when it booted from it and began the install but, at this point, it can't seem to recognize it any longer. I don't understand the cause for this but I have the solution. I read that other users have complained of this same error when using VMware ESX Server.

To get around this, you need to provide the drivers for the CDROM drive. I did this using a virtual floppy file (FLP). Here is a link to download my virtual floppy file:

Mitsumi CD-Rom Drivers:

To mount the floppy, go to the VM menu on the toolbar and click on Settings. Then click the floppy drive. Select the Virtual Floppy and enter the path to the FLP file. Make sure it isConnected and click OK.

Back in Vista, browse to find the drivers on the A: drive and click OK.

Next, you will see that you are installing the new driver, like this:

Click Next. From this point on, the installation of Vista will be as normal. (You can follow our article Install Windows Vista if you need help)

When you are done with the complete process, you should see your Vista screen inside VMware Server like this:

 Done:

WINDOWS SERVER 2008 R2 INSTALLATION & NETWOK CONFIGURATION

Windows Server 2008 R2 Full Installation

Windows Server 2008 R2 is the latest version of Microsoft’s Windows Server operating system. Microsoft tries their best to make each task as simple as possible, and Server 2008 R2 is a shining example of that goal in action. We’re going to take you through a basic install and show you just how easy it is.

A Basic Install

After booting up from your install disk, you will arrive at a language and preferences screen. Once you have chosen those options, you get to the Operating System Selection page. Depending on your license and the purpose of your server, there are a variety of options to choose from. For our purpose today, we are going to choose the Enterprise (Full Installation) version.

We get to read the standard End User License Agreement.

Since we’re doing a base install and not an upgrade, so we choose the Custom (advanced) option.

We’ve got a blank 24 GB disk, so we’re just going to install it there. If you want to create a partition out of the available drive space or reformat a drive, then choose Drive options (advanced).

Windows will take a little while with your install, and reboot a few times.

Once the install is finished, we’re prompted to change our password before logging in.

Windows requires that you have a strong password, seven characters long with at least three of the four following: uppercase letter, lowercase letter, numeral, or symbol. You’ll want to make sure you write it down somewhere for now, because if you forget it later, the entire install will have to be re-done.

The Initial Configuration Tasks window pops up as soon as you logon. You could also type in Oobe.exe in the Command Prompt to arrive here.

One of the first things we want to correct is the time, so choose Set time zone. Make sure that you set the time zone first, because the the date and time will shift after.

 

IP Configuration:

Next we want to choose Configure Networking. The first server installed in a network needs to be a Domain Controller, and since they require a static IP, we are going to need to set one up now. Double-click on Local Area Connection, and once the information box pops up, click on Properties .

Click on Internet Protocol Version 4 in the Networking box, then click Properties. Change the radial button to Use the following IP address: and then enter the settings for your specific server and network IP addresses. When you’re finished, click OK to save those settings.

Finished!

Link to Download Beta:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/2008-r2-trial.aspx






  

Dual Boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 in System

Dual-Boot Windows 7 and Windows 8

Creating the VHD:

To create the VHD, go to a run prompt by pressing Win+R, and type diskmgmt.msc

An MMC console will appear, and will have the Disk Management snap-in pre-loaded.

To create a new VHD, click on the ACTION button in the menu bar, and select Create VHD.

Now you need to choose a location for the VHD file and set the size, which should be no less than 20 GB. You should probably choose a fixed size for best performance.

Windows will then create the VHD, the progress of this can be viewed in the Status Bar of the MMC snap-in.

Once the disk is created it will be in the list of partitions in the Disk Management console. You’ll want to initialize the disk by clicking on it and selecting initialize.

Leave the partition style at MBR (Master Boot Record) and click ok.

Once the disk has been given a partition style, we now need to create an actual volume on the partition. To do this right click on the black space and select “New Simple Volume”.

A wizard will open, you can just accept all the defaults until you get to this screen. Here change the Volume label to “Windows 8”, then click next and finish.

Now you have a new VHD file that is acting like a real hard drive.

INSTALLING WINDOWS 8 ON THE VHD

The first thing you need to do is open PowerShell as an administrator by opening Start Menu->All Programs->Accessories->Windows PowerShell, right-clicking on the Windows PowerShell shortcut, and choosing Run as Administrator.

When PowerShell launches you will need to change the execution policy to allow you to run scripts. To do this, you need to type “Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned”. You will be given a security notice just type “Y” and press enter to accept. Once you have done this, leave the PowerShell window open as we will be using it again just now.

Next you need to download this script from MSDN, and then move it to the root of the C: Drive. Note that you could move it somewhere else if you want, but just change the rest of the instructions to use the alternate path.

Right-click on the file and select properties.  Click the unblock button in the bottom right hand corner.

Now you will need to mount the the .ISO file that you downloaded from the Windows Developer website.Once you have mounted the .ISO image switch back to the PowerShell  window. Now type “CD C:\” to switch to the root of the drive.

Now type  the following command into the shell window:

.\Install-WindowsImage.ps1 –WIM D:\Sources\Install.wim –Apply –Index 1 –Destination I:\

You should substitute the drive letter that comes after the –WIM for the drive of the mounted DVD image, and substitute the destination drive letter, in our case this is E:\ for the VHD that you created in the first section of this article. Then press enter.

Once it has completed you will be notified.

Now open an elevated command prompt, and type bcdboot.exe I:\Windows (assuming that I:\ is the drive with Windows 8 on it).

Now when you boot Windows you will be greeted with the new OS Choosing Screen.

Seamless File Sharing

  

The last thing you will want to do is make your files available to both operating systems. To do this boot into your new Windows 8 installation and navigate to:

C:\Users\[Your User Name]

Now right click on the Contacts folder and select Properties from the context menu. Switch over to the location tab and click on the move button.

Now navigate to the Contacts folder on your Windows 7 drive, this can be found at the same path, however your user name might be different to the one you used in Windows 8.

Click on the ok button and your good to go, repeat this for the following folders:

• Desktop
• Downloads
• Favorites
• Links
• My Documents
• My Music
• My Pictures
• My Videos

That’s all.Done.