Tezzo's Technology Blog

"If you're afraid of buying used technology, when it comes to a factory refurb, there isn't much to fear. Here's what you need to know. We've all had the experience of buying something expensive, getting it home, taking it out of the box, and finding that something just isn't right. Maybe it's scratched or dented. Maybe it lacks a feature you desperately wanted. Maybe the product in question just doesn't work properly. And in all of these cases, the natural thing to do is return it. So what happens to it then? When it comes to technology products like desktop and laptop PCs—even printers, phones, and more—unless they are beyond repair, the chances are that what you send back will ultimately end up going back on the shelves. And, it's likely you'll see it at a much better price." More at:  PCMag.com :

When buying a Desktop PC, you still need to make some choices when it comes to CPUs, memory, hard drive capacity and graphics technology. The good news is your money has never gone further. Does your PC take so long to start up you have time to go get a cup of coffee-and drink it? Tried installing the latest game only to find out your graphics card is six generations too old to play it? Or maybe you just want to take advantage of the speed and reliability of operating systems like Microsoft Windows 7 and Snow Leopard. If any of these are true, then it is time for you to buy a new desktop PC. And we can help you do it. Prices for desktop PCs start as low as $250 and range all the way up to $5,000, but most of us would be more than happy with an $800 box. You still need to make some choices when it comes to CPUs, memory, hard drive capacity and graphics technology, but the good news is your money has never gone further. And a PC you buy today could very well last you for four to six ye...

 "This article is an excerpt from our latest release, The SEO Business Guide. The entire chapter from which the article is drawn, along with two other chapters, is available as a free PDF download. It’s well worth checking out if you’re interested in learning more about conducting effective and best-practice SEO. Both Google and Bing offer a webmaster dashboard that gives insights into activity by the search engine on any site that has been registered and verified via the dashboard. These dashboards present a number of tools and insights to data unable to be gleaned by any other method. They provide the only way to gain an understanding of how the search engines “see” your site, and are the only way to identify critical crawling, indexing, and ranking issues with your site(s). " More at:  Sitepoint

"In the first two articles in this series, we explored how to restart your computer in Windows 7 Safe Mode when the F8 method won’t work and some of the options available to you on the Boot tab of the System Configuration window. There are, however, some other boot options that although not technically part of Safe Mode, complement the Safe Mode options to enhance troubleshooting and diagnosing your computer. These options are found right next to the Safe Mode options. To view these options, click on Start and then on Run. If you don’t have the Run command on your Start menu, hold down the Windows key on your keyboard and press the R key. Either method will bring up the Run dialog box. Type msconfig in the box and click the OK button." Read more at Online Tech Tips

"There are plenty of hidden features and goodies in the depth of Windows 7. We'll tell you where to find them. Everyone likes to find hidden stuff, whether it's loose change in the couch cushions or an Easter egg in your favorite video game. Windows 7 has its own hidden treasures. Yes, there are features and goodies to be uncovered—some obvious, some not. And you can access all of those listed here without downloading anything extra (well, mostly). Read on for 10 handy and largely-undocumented items in Windows 7 that you probably weren't aware of...and soon won't be able to live without. More at:  PCMag.com :

As Google Maps for Android becomes more powerful, buying a standalone GPS device becomes harder to justify. An update to Google Maps for Android, which will roll out in a matter of days  according to the New York Times , includes 3D building images in major cities and dynamic rendering for a smoother experience while panning and zooming. But the biggest new feature, and the one that poses the latest threat to dedicated GPS devices, is offline mapping and navigation. Previously, Google Maps Navigation would cache a single route when you looked up directions, so if you got lost in a dead zone, Android couldn't help out. After the update, Google Maps will store maps of your most-frequently searched locations locally. Although GigaOM reports that you won't be able to look up new locations when you're offline, you will be able to get turn-by-turn guidance after navigating off-course. Google Maps Navigation debuted  in October 2009, bringing turn-by-turn voice guidance to Androi...

"We've sifted through Apple's App Store to find you the best free and paid apps for Apple's iPad that will entertain, inform, and make you more productive. Apple reinvented tablet computing with its groundbreaking iPad. Although some critics have knocked the device for being nothing more than a giant iPod touch, it has gone on to sell a whopping 4.1 million units in the last quarter alone. One of the secrets to its success may be the thousands of apps available within the Apps Store to satisfy the legions of business users and entertainment-seekers that use the iPad on a regular basis. The sheer number of apps, unfortunately, can make it difficult for someone to find new software. Chew on this: Within the first seven days of the Apple iPad's release, over 3,000 apps appeared in the App Store—and that was in April. As a result, it may prove challenging to figure out which iPad apps are worth your time and hard-earned cash. So let us provide a helping hand." Mo...

"The Windows registry is a mysterious place, but if you're comfortable editing it, you have the power to tweak nearly every Windows setting you can imagine. Here are 10 of our favorite registry tweaks that make life easier. All of these hacks work in Windows 7, even if not labeled as such. Many may work in Vista or earlier versions of Windows, but varies, so be sure to read up more on the tweak before you go meddling in Vista's registry. And, of course, be sure to make a backup of your registry before you start hacking away." More at Lifehacker

"The first thing most people do after buying an Apple iPad is head to iTunes and start downloading apps. But with thousands to choose from, where do you start. That is easy. Start with these 10 apps. Six of them are free, so there is no commitment there. The other 4 are well worth the money, I promise. Dazzling design aside, the iPad owes its remarkable success chiefly to the vast and varied library of applications it runs. Competitors like the Galaxy Tab fall short because they don't have an app library to match it. For the time being, HP's Slate is relying on Windows 7 massive number of apps, but that only matters to business users. For the average consumer, the AppStore is the only game in town. I had just a couple of requirements for this list. The apps had to have wide appeal among average users. Sketch for the iPad is certainly a killer app, but if your artistic abilities are like mine--the word "limited" comes to mind--it is useless to you. Likewise, the B...

This primer covers the current ebook ecosystem, from the hardware to the software to where to shop for freebies and best sellers. Once upon a time—like two years ago—electronic books (ebooks) were strictly for die-hard bibliophiles, those dedicated enough to spend extra time in front of a computer screen to read a book on the cheap, or to make an  investment  in an over-priced ebook reader. In the last year, apps for mobile phones and an explosion of ever-cheaper ebook  hardware  has changed all that, creating a hugely competitive ebook market. In the first eight months of 2010, ebooks made up 9 percent of total consumer book sales, according to the  Association of American Publishers  (AAP), and Amazon now sells more ebooks than hardcovers. It should come as no surprise that, spurred by this growth and the fact that downloading a books is cheaper than  printing  and shipping, book sellers want more ebook readers out there to facilitate selling ...

Via Steve Bass - Techbite  I added a second monitor years ago and it was sweller than swell. Click a link in an e-mail on the right monitor and watch it appear in the browser on the left monitor. Besides watching my productivity increase (I say that for you business types), it felt wildly cool seeing two screens at once. If you didn't realize, I like cool things. But my gut said, "If two's good, three's got to be better." It is. That's because with three, I'm on the middle screen, writing in Word, doing research in a browser on another screen, and trying out the app I'm reviewing in on the third window. Or if Judy's not around, watching a movie. Once you get used to spending money for the equipment, believe me, adding a second, third, or even fourth screen isn't difficult. Okay, that's the setup. Here's how to do it. The Nuts, Bolts, and Details In less time than it takes for your system to boot up, you can install a second or third mon...

Are you upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 or buying a new PC? In both cases, you face the same tedious chore: reinstalling all your apps. That means digging out a bunch of CDs and/or downloading programs from various sites, then installing them one at a time. I don't know about you, but I can think of better ways to spend several hours. The Ninite Web site creates a custom software installer with all the freeware and open-source apps you want. Just choose from the dozens of available programs--everything from AVG Anti-Virus Free and Dropbox to OpenOffice.org and uTorrent--and the service builds an installer that will download and load them all. Once you start the installer, you can sit back and relax: Ninite automates the entire process, meaning you don't have to sit around clicking Next a bunch of times. Even better, Ninite automatically chooses the proper version of each program--32- or 64-bit--and eliminates any toolbars that might try to sneak in during installatio...

Learn some basic flash-drive survival skills, like how to copy files to a USB drive and protect a drive from viruses. The other day, my wife asked me how to copy a PowerPoint presentation to a flash drive so she could take it with her to school. I was a little shocked. My very own wife doesn't know how to do this? I've failed as a husband! To make sure I don't fail you, dear readers, allow me to explain the process of copying files to flash drives. Most of you probably know how, but I'll wager it's a mystery to at least some users. There are two basic ways to go about this (both of which start with you plugging the drive into a USB port). First, you can open the document in whatever program you used to create it--Word, PowerPoint, etc.--then save that document to the flash drive by way of the Save As command. Basically, you're rerouting it to the drive . . . More at PC World

A discrete video card is a must for games, but will boost the performance of other applications as well. You can find one that matches your needs and your budget as long as you keep in mind these few simple things. Let's face it: Most of the time people buy a video card (also known as a graphics card) for a non-business PC, it's to play games. Oh sure, discrete video cards may offer additional benefits with video playback or transcoding (and, increasingly, Web browsing), but who are we fooling? The main reason discrete video remains such a huge and fiercely competitive market is because, when it comes to playing games that don't come from PopCap or Big Fish, integrated graphics just don't cut it. The ugly truth about buying a discrete card can be summed up in five sad words: The more expensive, the better. There's almost no way around the fact that the more money you're willing to drop on a video card, the better your gaming experience will be. So if you have...

The iPad's big screen and long battery life make it the perfect gadget for watching TV and movies. Here are the 10 best ways to do just that. When it was first released, many called the Apple iPad, "a big iPod touch." That's debatable, but it does describe one of the best things about the iPad: its big, bright 9.7-inch screen makes it ideal for movie and TV watching. Throw in the iPad's robust battery life and obvious portability, and you've got a top-notch on-the-go entertainment device. Plenty of developers and media companies have figured this out, so there has been a steady stream of new ways to watch TV and movies on your iPad that don't involve iTunes. Some, like Netflix and Hulu, are apps that you download, while others are iPad-optimized sites that help you find and watch the best TV and movies the Web has to offer. If you want to watch TV and movies from your own collection, there are apps for that, and there are even products that let you watch l...

As the use of virus attacks to target online bank accounts by cyber criminals increase, it is important that online banking customers know how to protect their accounts from malicious programs such as viruses and trojan attacks. Only recently there was a report about a ‘trojan’ virus which was described as ‘the most sophisticated and dangerous malware program ever created’ by security experts. Like other online attacks, the program operated discretely by secretly emptying customer accounts while showing them fake statements so that the scam was undetected. However, the following measures can be taken to ensure that your computer remains secured so that online transactions can be made in a safe and secure environment. - Keep your firewalls set to the highest level of security possible. - Ensure that your anti-virus software is operational and up to date. - Never open an e-mail attachment from people you do not know and scan with anti-virus, if you must. - Never double-click on an e-mail...

Why limit your on-the-go Web surfing to hot spots when you can get online almost anywhere with a cellular modem or MiFi-style hotspot? Here's how to pick the right service and device to bring mobile broadband to your laptop. It's an exciting time to get Internet on the go. Less-expensive 3G service plans and new 4G networks are making wireless cellular modems faster and more affordable than ever. In many cases, you don't even need to sign a contract. Wireless modems aren't just for PCs any more, either. Many connections will work other gadgets too, like your iPod Touch or iPad. (They can even turn those devices into phones, with the right voice-over-IP software.) Depending on your hardware, plan and usage, you'll pay anywhere from $20 to $60 a month for nationwide connectivity at speeds of up to 6Mbps, which is as fast as some cable connections. Here's what you need to know to pick the right service and hardware . . . More at: PC Mag

Sam asks, "How do I convert a PAL DVD made in Europe to NTSC?" I've experimented with a handful of ways to convert PAL format video to NTSC, with none of them yielding perfect results. If you have a friend in Europe who sends you a DVD created in the PAL format, you might have problems playing it back if you don't either have a DVD player with PAL support or a computer that knows how to playback PAL format content. One way around this is to convert the PAL DVD to either a digital file on your PC or converting the file to an NTSC compatible DVD. Making a PAL Video File The easy solution to your problem is to simply convert the PAL DVD to a digital file on your computer. While there are rules about DVD drives supporting multiple regions or both NTSC and PAL, software doesn't care what format a digital file is in, it simply plays the file. To convert the PAL DVD to a file, you need VLC Player. You can download VLC Player here. More at Jake Ludington's Digital Lif...

You can pay a monthly fee to your cable provider for a time-shifting DVR, but if you prefer control and flexibility to DRM and, well, that monthly fee, you can roll your own DVR with a TV tuner for your PC. So you've set up a geeky media center that non-geeks can actually use, but you still have a separate method for watching and recording live TV. If you'd like to consolidate your devices, a TV tuner is the perfect add-on for your media center. We've briefly discussed TV tuners before, but the state of modern television can make the buying process a little overwhelming. There is no one-size-fits all solution to buying one, so we've created this guide to sorting out whether a TV tuner is right for you, and how to go about buying the right one. More at Lifehacker

Netbook makers are including more features, bigger screens and keyboards, and faster parts. We walk you through the latest trends and tell you what features really matter in a netbook. The first batch of netbook to hit the scene was greeted with awe and surprise. That tiny laptops, which were once sold at a premium, could be had for half the price of a typical system seemed incredible. Since then, the stakes have risen and the competition grown fiercer. Netbook makers are including more features, bigger screens and keyboards, and faster parts—all while slashing prices like a Walmart special. These devices, which are popping up in more and more households, are also becoming increasingly popular among small business professionals and college students who are about to head back to school. More at PC Mag

It won't cost you a penny to add voice calls and texting to Apple's tablet with these five apps. The Apple iPad performs several functions with aplomb—it's a wonderful media player, Web surfing device, and, thanks to a deep apps catalog, it can become an e-book reader, gaming system, or a myriad other devices much like the iPhone 4. There's one task that the iPad can't do out of the box that the iPhone 4 can: place calls and send texts. But even those functionalities are within reach if you download the right apps, some of which are designed with iPad in mind and others of which were originally designed for the iPhone. More at PC Mag

Are you upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 or buying a new PC? In both cases, you face the same tedious chore: reinstalling all your apps. That means digging out a bunch of CDs and/or downloading programs from various sites, then installing them one at a time. I don't know about you, but I can think of better ways to spend several hours. Ninite creates a custom software installer with all the freeware and open-source apps you want. Just choose from the dozens of available programs--everything from AVG Free Anti-Virus and Dropbox to OpenOffice and uTorrent--and the service builds an installer that will download and load them all. More at PC World

A few months back I explained how Windows 7 users can use built-in tools to create a system-repair disc--an important step to take given that few PCs these days come with one. A reader who uses Vista wrote to ask how he can accomplish the same thing. (Stop snickering. Plenty of people use Vista, and a few of them even like it.) The answer to your question, Dom, is another question: Have you been good about installing Windows updates? Because when Microsoft released Vista Service Pack 1 back in 2008, it included a recovery-disc builder very similar to the one bundled with Windows 7. To see if you have it, select Start, All Programs, Maintenance, Create a Recovery Disc. Then just follow the instructions. If for some reason you don't have SP1 or can't find the tool, try NeoSmart's Windows Vista Recovery Disc, which is available in both 32- and 64-bit versions. And what about XP users? Your best bet is UBCD4Win, a free boot-CD creator that provides a wide variety of tools for r...

Learn how to add memory to a laptop, turn an old laptop drive into external storage, and use your laptop's power settings most effectively. It's been almost a year since I served up some nice, hot laptop tips (see "Laptop Q&A: Power Off Quickly, Fix Sticky Keys")--and that's inexcusable. I'll make it up to you this week with some useful advice on adding memory to a laptop, turning an old laptop hard disc into an external drive, and using your laptop's power settings effectively. Add RAM to a Laptop So my dad was griping that his Acer Aspire 9300 laptop takes forever to boot. I inspected it for spyware, excessive startup programs, and the other usual suspects, but everything checked out. More at PCWorld

What can you do with a few gigabytes and a USB port? Quite a lot, with the right software. Learn how to encrypt your work, run whole systems, rescue Windows, and customize your thumb drive with these USB-geared tricks. 10. Give Your Drive a Custom Icon An "oldie" but goodie. If you use multiple USB drives, or just want to make your USB drive more recognizable at a glance, you can give it a custom icon. The root of the trick is keeping a .ico file on the drive—you can create one from any image with any number of tools, including the ConvertIcon webapp. Now when you plug in your USB drive, you'll know which one you're looking at on your desktop and explorer windows. More at Lifehacker

"Stream video content to your PC with Boxee, and play your favorite songs right away with GrooveSelect. Let's take a look at another media-related tool this week: Boxee, a free download that streams video content from Hulu, Netflix, and TV networks. I've also run across a fun little program that lets you play any song you want, instantly ". More at PC World

Make a YouTube video start at your favorite part, default to high-def playback, leave out related videos, and more. Download YouTube Videos for Offline Viewing Ever wish you could watch that piano-playing cat at 35,000 feet? Alas, YouTube requires a live Internet connection, and Wi-Fi is still pretty hard to find in the friendly skies. Fortunately, you can download YouTube videos to your PC for anytime, anywhere viewing, no Internet required. There are countless ways to "rip" YouTube vids, but I'm partial to Keep Tube. It's available as both a Firefox extension and a browser bookmarklet, the latter compatible with Chrome, Internet Explorer, and so on. What's more, Keep Tube works with not only YouTube, but also CollegeHumor, Facebook, Google Video, Metacafe, and countless other sites. More at: PC World

Whether it's home movies from your phone or slick HD productions, these video editing apps will help you get the most out of your video clips. If you can shoot video, you need video-editing software. And chances are, you've got something that shoots video. It's not just expensive digital camcorder that can shoot great digital video; digital cameras and even some cell phones can now record HD video. And with the rise of cool little dedicated devices like our Editors' Choice Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, along with the Sony Bloggie MHS-PM5, and Cisco Flip SlideHD HD recording is simpler and more fun than ever. But, as anyone who's ever had to sit through friends and family's unedited clips knows, even the highest quality unedited video can be painful to watch. That's where video-editing software comes in. More at: PCMag.com

Here's the shocking truth: dubious default settings, wrong configurations and wasteful processes are sapping many of your PC's valuable resources. And what's to blame? Windows. Windows is deceptive. After you've installed it, the OS happily connects to the internet, downloads all the necessary drivers, configures itself and there you go – one stable PC all ready to roll. It couldn't be easier or more convenient. Read more: Make Windows leaner, cleaner and faster | News | TechRadar UK

Computers are easier to use and more dependable with each new generation of hardware and operating system update, but that doesn't mean they're problem-free. Here's a look at the five most popular tools for troubleshooting your computer problems. Photo a composite of images by jimrhoda and Axonite. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite diagnostic tool. Below, we've rounded up the top five answers, and now we're back to highlight the most popular computer diagnostic tools among Lifehacker readers. More at Lifehacker

"It's a great time to buy a GPS. The category has matured and competition from nav-equipped smartphones has helped drive prices way down. As a result, you can get a capable stand-alone GPS that can do much more than just help you find your way for a lot less than you would have paid just last year. Still, there are several factors to consider when choosing the right GPS: Do I need a big display? Should I spring for a live traffic subscription? How about voice control? Should I even bother with a GPS, or can I just use my phone? Here's what you should consider when navigating the GPS market." More at PCMag How to Buy a GPS

"I am not a professional photographer, but I do share the same goal as a lot of travelers who tend to be amateur photographers: take good pictures that capture the mood of the people or atmosphere of the location in a unique and interesting way. I have taken a few courses in my life and many bad photos. I once attended a National Geographic Seminar on photography. The host, a true, professional photographer of the highest talent, made all the attendees feel better about our skills after informing us that many a professional photographer takes a heap of bad photos to get that one photo that is great enough to grace the pages of the world-renowned magazine. I have taken some of the tips I’ve learned from my courses, books, magazines and websites to come up with this simple list of how to compose some decent photographs. Of course, these tips won’t necessarily get you into the pages of a magazine, but perhaps you’ll be proud enough of the results to share your photos with your friend...

"FixWin One-Click Repairs Over Fifty Windows Annoyances Windows 7 & Vista: When something goes wrong in Windows, especially something maddening like the recycle bin vanishing or thumbnails failing to build properly, it's extremely frustrating. FixWin is a portable application that puts one-click repairs at your finger tips." More at Lifehacker

"If you want to backup your emails from Gmail to the local computer, enable POP3 access in your Gmail settings and then use a desktop mail client to download a copy of all your messages from the Google cloud to the local disk. That’s easy! Windows Live Mail, Outlook and Thunderbird are some nice email clients that can automatically and easily bring your entire archive of Gmail messages offline. Why you should backup Gmail to the cloud? If you are not a huge fan of desktop applications or if you think that setting up a Gmail backup plan involves way too much effort, you can consider creating a backup of your Gmail account in the cloud itself. Before we get into the details, here are three situations where an online backup of Gmail messages will come handy: Reason #1 – If your main Gmail account gets hacked (it happened to me), you will still have access to all your previous emails." More at Digital Inspiration

Our devices often tell us of our dumb user errors in comically understated terms. ('Please insert a readable CD in the drive.') What would they sound like if they just gave it to us straight? More at PCWorld

Whether you're looking for a cheap LCD monitor or a high-end display, we walk you through the latest market trends and help you find your perfect monitor. The monitor you are using right now probably came bundled with your desktop PC. Since you spend a huge part of everyday looking at it, however, it pays to be picky when picking a LCD monitor. Price ranges vary widely, as do the quality of the panels. So how can you make an informed choice? Start buying reading this Buying Guide. We will walk you through the latest trends in the display market, as well as the specific features to look for when buying an LCD monitor." More at PC Magazine

Take a close look at your mouse. Chances are good it has at least three buttons: left, right, and middle. (Note: Your middle button might be your scroll wheel, which on most mice is clickable.) I've already talked about getting the most from your mouse, but this week I thought I'd home in on the middle button. Why would I want to do that? Well, I just took an informal poll of about ten people, and guess how many of them actually use that middle button? A grand total of one. One! People, people, people... More at PCWorld

New PC? Move programs, files & settings easily (ARA) - Now that Windows 7 is out, it's a great time to buy a new PC. Buying a new computer is exciting: the latest technology will give you more computing speed, stability, and enjoyment. But you can't enjoy that new computer without all the stuff that's on your old one - like e-mail, address books, Internet favorites, tax files, music, videos and pictures. And what about all your programs? More here: New PC? Move programs, files & settings easily

Tired of following people who don't know who the heck you are and don't interact with you? Forget Twitter's Suggested User List and try these methods. Mitch Wagner, Computerworld I hit a Twitter landmark today. As I write this, I'm following precisely 1,000 people. It's taken me more than three years to get to this point. I've tried various strategies to decide who to follow. Let me tell you about the methods I'm using now, which seem to be working well. More at PCWorld

Don't settle for anemic audio from your computer—pump it up with new speakers. Here's how to find the right set. "Tired of the sad sound coming from your computer? Buying PC speakers should be relatively painless, but to get the most bang for your buck, you should analyze your needs before pulling out your wallet. Options run the gamut from super-cheap, space-saving stereo speakers that sound just okay to pricey, bass-infused powerhouses that deliver loud, thumping beats. Since music lovers, movie addicts, and gamers have different sound agendas, first we'll explore the key points everyone should consider." More here: How to Buy PC Speakers - Reviews by PC Magazine

As the outcry over Google Buzz's privacy has shown us, it's smart to explore settings in Gmail, along with other places you're sharing data with the search giant. Let's take a look at 10 privacy, convenience, and annoyance fixers you should know. More at Google settings - Lifehacker

Ruption18 asked the Answer Line forum what regular chores will keep his PC healthy. Back in December, I recommended ways to remind yourself to do regular PC maintenance tasks. But I neglected to discuss the actual tasks. Here they are: Daily: Backup your data . You don't want to lose yesterday's work anymore than you want to lose last week's, so your documents, pictures, and application data should be backed up daily. For details, see 7 Backup Strategies for Your Data, Multimedia, and System Files , and consider one of the first three strategies. Weekly: Scan for malware . . . . More at PCWorld: PC Maintenance

Not everyone wants or needs an entire prefab security suite. At the very least, however, you've got to run antivirus software; we've got reviews of eight antivirus apps (including some free antivirus software) that can protect you against some of the Internet's nastiest malware." Reviews by PC Magazine

Here's a very simple and easy way to transform your XP into a Windows Se7en. 1. Go to JCXP.net and download the Seven Transformation Pack (STP). The alternate download links are here and here. 2. Install Seven Tranformation Pack in your Windows XP. There are two installation methods available: the manual and the automatic which requires no user intervention. Choose the method that's comfortable to you. 3. When done, you will see your Windows XP having a brand new look. Start the Windows 7 experience right away without having to upgrade your XP. Via COOLBUSTER.net

Last week I told you how to migrate to Windows 7 at your own pace--there's no need to jump into the deep end right away. Now that you've got Windows 7 up and running on your newly partitioned, dual-boot PC, it's time for the next big step in any OS migration: reinstalling your software. More at PC World

Unlike most electronic devices, which you can plug in and use instantly, PCs—particularly those with Windows—need some adjustment before they're ready for everyday use." Make the Most of Your New PC - Reviews by PC Magazine