Virtual Desktop Manager for Windows 7

Feeling clumsy with a single desktop in Windows 7

There is a software app for Windows 7 called “Windows Pager” which will create 4 virtual desktops. (also called virtual workspaces). 

The latest changes to the new tool brings unlined integration into Windows 7.

Windows Pager sits perfectly in the Windows 7 taskbar ( also called superbar) with complete preview of apps running in virtual desktops. 

You can reach respective virtual desktop by clicking each icon.

You can switch the desktops by clicking the icons in the taskbar

The same can be obtained by right-clicking any Windows title bar and selecting the virtual desktops.

www.windows7port.com -virtual-desktops-taskbar

The preview of virtual desktops in the taskbar is live. 

You can see which windows are open in each desktop and where they are positioned.

 If you want to test this feature, hold and move any window, watching the preview in the taskbar.

Download Windows Pager

The software app works on Windows XP, Vista, 7. Exe’s for both 32-bit and 64-bit OS  are available inside the zip file. 

The size of the portable app is 500Kb and can be run straight from the USB drive.

Windows 7 Wallpaper: Changes on Weather Conditions

There is default weather gadget for Windows 7, by which you can know the weather conditions of your city. 

But if you want more, in the form of wallpaper, here is good software to do that. 

Weather Desktop Background Changer” is a better app for Windows 7.  It lets you pick up set of custom wallpapers.  They will be automatically applied to your desktop depending on the weather conditions of your state or city (US only).

Using this app, you can get the weather report in your taskbar and the weather forecast for the next couple of days. This will also show the current temperature, humidity and wind speed.

www.windows7port.com - windows 7 wallpaper weather conditions

The cons for this application is that you have to manually add the backgrounds and add each one individually. 

On the other side, the pro side is that it allows you to customize the background to your liking.

Download : Windows 7 Wallpaper

Windows 7! Library Icon Changer - Change your Library Icons

Windows 7 Libraries is an explicable feature in the Microsoft’s new OS. 

It makes saving locations very easy. Instead of browsing all through the drives and folders, you can have default folder locations to save your files or folders. 

But, Libraries have a default icon set, which aren’t so easily changeable just like the Explorer icons. So, if you want to change the Library icons, what is the solution?

To people who are interested in changing these Library icons, there is a free light-weight tool called Library Icon Changer which changes the Windows 7 Library icons very easily.

Library Icon Changer : Download

How does Library Icon Changer Work?

In order to change the Windows 7 Library icons.

select the particular library item from the right pane of Library Icon Changer software.

Then select the new icon on the left pane in the same window.

Library-Icon-Changer

Though, there are many default icons to change to, you can also have the option of changing to a custom icon

But the icon file, must be in .ico format, as a substitute for default icon.

 In order to make a custom icon, you can go here. After creating a custom icon, you can click the button which says “Select new Icon from file”.

You might have a corrupted icon set for your Windows 7 Library icons. Think, the icons you changed are not to your taste, you can restore them back using the “Restore default icon button.

 This tiny piece of software works on all versions of Windows 7 including 32 and 64 -bit OS.

Downgrade Windows 7 to Vista

If you are interested in downgrading Windows 7 to XP, you can read the following post. 

Presently, there is a similar solution as posted in the earlier post, on downgrading Windows 7 to Vista. The commands are common, while there may be small variations.

Pre-requisite: Windows.old folder should exist in the root of Windows 7 drive, with previous contents while upgrading from Vista to Windows 7.

I will detail the steps necessary in simple manner, while detailed screenshots and steps can be got from the source.

1. Sufficient free space must be available on the Windows 7 drive. This space should accommodate transferring Windows 7 contents to a folder and copy Vista contents from Windows.old folder.

2. Note the Windows 7 OS drive letter and DVD drive letter.

3. Insert the Windows 7 DVD installation disc and boot from the disc.

4. Select “Repair your Computer” and then your Windows 7 OS and click on Command Prompt.

5. Now type the following commands in the command windows and type Enter after each command.

C: ( Your Windows 7 drive letter)

Md Win7

Move Windows Win7\Windows

Move "Program Files" "Win7\Program Files"

Move Users Win7\Users

Attrib –h –s –r ProgramData

Move ProgramData Win7\ProgramData

Rd "Documents and Settings"

6. Now copy the contents of Windows.old folder to the drive.

move /y c:\Windows.old\Windows c:\

move /y "c:\Windows.old\Program Files" c:\

move /y c:\Windows.old\ProgramData c:\

move /y c:\Windows.old\Users c:\

move /y "c:\Windows.old\Documents and Settings" c:\

Here, C: is the Windows 7 drive letter.

7. Restore the boot-sector of your Vista OS by typing the following commands.

D:\boot\bootsect /nt60 C:

Here D: is the DVD drive letter and C: is the Windows 7 or root drive.

8. Exit and re-boot your computer. You can also delete the Win7 folder, to gain some disk space, present in the root of your Vista OS.

Pointing up Woohoo! Enjoy the post!

Downgrade Windows 7 to XP

If you have upgraded your PC to Windows 7 from XP and now you feel like downgrading the OS to the good old XP, there is a solution. But the solution is little tiresome and needs some commands to be implemented.

StarRequirements: You shouldn’t have deleted the Windows.old folder that you have created while installing Windows 7 on XP DRIVE. Without the help of Windows.old folder you will not be able to downgrade to XP from Windows 7.

Source: How to Downgrade from Windows 7 to XP ( Step by Step)

I will briefly detail the steps. If you are interested in detailed screenshots, you can check the source.

1. Check the size of Windows.old folder size.

The free space on the Windows 7 drive should be more than two times the size of Windows.old folder. In other words, Windows.old folder size should be less than 2 times the amount of free space available on Windows 7 drive.

2. Please note the Windows 7 drive letter and DVD drive letter.

3. Insert Windows 7 DVD installation disc and re-boot your PC.

4. In the Install Windows screen, select Repair your computer to open System Recovery options.

5. Select your Windows 7 OS and remember the drive letter.

6. Select Command Prompt in order to downgrade your PC from Windows 7 to XP.

8. Type the following commands in the command prompt window and press Enter after each command.

D: ( Your Windows 7 Drive letter)

Md Win7

Move Windows Win7\Windows

Move "Program Files" "Win7\Program Files"

Move Users Win7\Users

Attrib –h –s –r ProgramData

Move ProgramData Win7\ProgramData

Rd "Documents and Settings"

9. Next type the following commands and press Enter after each command.

move /y d:\Windows.old\Windows d:\

move /y "d:\Windows.old\Program Files" d:\

move /y "d:\Windows.old\Documents and Settings" d:\

10. The following command will restore the boot sector.

E:\boot\bootsect /nt52 D:

( where E is the DVD drive letter and D is OS drive letter)

11. Finally, restore the boot.ini file by typing the following commands.

Attrib –h –s –r boot.ini.saved

Copy boot.ini.saved boot.ini

12. Type exit and re-boot your PC. You are now in XP and can use it again. You can delete the Win7 folder, to regain some disk space in the root of your XP drive.

Thumbs up Enjoy the post!

 

Downgrade Windows 7 Enterprise edition to any other Windows 7 Version

Many users have heard about an Upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, or Vista to Windows 7. 

But after installing Windows 7 Enterprise edition you decided to downgrade to any other Windows 7 OS. 

There is a solution for it. 

DeviantArt comes with a solution, where you can downgrade your Windows 7 Enterprise edition to Ultimate or Professional or Home Premium.

This is an excellent portable application.

Windows7Downgrader

Perhaps, the most common and the only solution to downgrade Windows 7 Enterprise edition to any other Windows 7 OS, is just re-install or re-format your PC.

But with this downloader, your troubles are reduced very much. The Downgrader does the trick by changing some registry values.

Download Windows 7 Downgrader


Steps do Downgrade from Windows 7 Enterprise or Ultimate

1. Download the small application and select the version of Windows 7 OS you want to downgrade. You need to run the application with admin privileges.

2. Insert your Windows 7 DVD you bought from the store and run the setup (.exe). Do not boot using the DVD. During installation select the edition you want to downgrade and click on Upgrade.

3. Continue the usual Windows 7 installation procedure for the downgrade process.

“BOOTMGR is missing” while booting Windows 7 [Solved]

While trying to boot into your Windows 7 OS, if you encounter the message “BOOTMGR is missing”. 

There may be several reasons for it. 
But if it’s a software problem you can easily rectify it. 
You need a Windows 7 installation DVD and type a few commands. 

The major problem lies in the Windows 7 boot loader and you need to repair the MBR (Master Boot Record). 
This is the most common problem and solution. Other problems exist, and require different solutions.

The most general case is you’ve broken something and this error popped up.

The other major cause for this problem is when you’ve installed an older version of Windows like XP on the same PC. 

It has already Windows 7 installed. This wipes out the boot loader and you need to re-install it.

Boot from the Windows 7 Installation DVD


  • Change your BIOS settings to boot from CD/DVD and boot off the install disc. Click through until you see “Repair your computer” link in the lower left hand corner. 
  • Select the correct installation of Windows (if you’re multiple booting Windows or have more than 1 Windows installed) and click the Next button. 
  • There you’ll get the System Recovery Options, where you find the option of going to “Command Prompt”.

Repairing the Master Boot Record

  • To restore the master boot record, you can simply type in the following command.
bootrec /fixmbr
  • To write a new boot sector onto the system partition use this command. (more helpful)
bootrec /fixboot
  • To see the remaining options for the base command, you need to type
bootrec /?

Replacing Windows XP Boot loader with Windows 7

If you installed Windows 7 first and installed XP next, you’ll find that you can’t boot into Windows 7 anymore. You can use the following commands to restore the Windows 7 boot loader.

bootrec /FixMbr
bootrec /FixBoot
bootrec /RebuildBcd

Then re-boot. This will replace the XP boot loader and you can boot into Windows 7 again. This will also remove the dreaded “BOOTMGR is missing” message.

Pointing up WooHoo! Enjoy