Windows 7 Backup Driver Utility Double Driver

Double Driver has a simple interface, and the program itself is very easy to use. Its noteable feature is that it can backup drivers from even an offline system. This is very useful in cases, where a system is unable to boot, for some reason. This feature, apart from others, gives it an edge over the other software. The only other software to have this feature in the category is DriverBackup!.

For backup, by default, non-Windows drivers are selected in the list. Options are available to invert this selection, to select all, or select none. Users may also select individual drivers of their choice, if they want. Drivers can be backed-up to structured folders(default option), as a compressed folder, or to a single self extract file. For the last option though, Double Driver crashed, when I tried to use it. Its a bug.

One other good thing about Double Driver is that it was able to back up drivers for devices which were not connected to the system at that time. My webcam was not connected, but even then, it backed up the driver files for that.



Restoration is also easy. Select the driver backup location, the folder where they were backed up previously, and it shows the list of drivers which can be restored. Again, options are available to choose which drivers to restore. The restoration process is quite fast too, and I will say its reliable.

Double Driver has the option to save the list of drivers in a text file. Option to print the list is also there. This feature is quite useful, to see which drivers have been installed on the system. The list is quite informational, providing name, version number, date, hardware ID etc.

Overall, Double Driver is simple, and very reliable, with some good features, making it the top choice in the category.
One of the tiny issues with windows 7 is the compatibility of hardware’s. In some cases you need to spend a really good amount of time googling for the compatible driver. So, after getting them its always a good idea to backup those important drivers as you wont need tosearch again for these in case a windows reinstall is needed.

Windows 7 doesn’t provide a specific option to backup the drivers alone. Double Driver lets you easily do it.

With Double Driver you could backup, view and restore the installed drivers in windows 7 quickly. The program usage is very easy.

After downloading Double Driver installation package, extract the contents and run the dd.exe file.
Features of Double Driver
List, save, and print drivers details
Backup drivers from current Windows
Backup drivers from non-live/non-booting Windows
Backup drivers to structured folders, compressed (zipped) folder, and self-extracting capability
Restore drivers from previous backup
Available in GUI and CLI application
Portable (no installation required)

The utility is small in size (2.03MB) and is easy to use.

Metro Internet Explorer 10 From Microsoft

Metro Internet Explorer

Click the Internet Explorer Metro pane and a full-screen version of the browser will appear. This is touch-friendly, and has some pluses for mouse users: right-clicking lets you pin a site to your Metro screen, for instance, or open a new browser tab or switch to an old one.

But if you prefer the old-style IE interface, that's available, too - open the desktop and launch it, or just hold down the Windows key and press 1.

Internet Explorer 10 is not currently available for Windows 7. The most recent release for Windows 7 was Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview Build 2, on June 29, 2011. Therefore, you will notice that the newer features mentioned in this guide are not yet available in the most recent version of IE10 Platform Preview for Windows 7. For a list of changes from Internet Explorer Platform Preview Build 2, see Revision History. For a comprehensive list of all new features, see below.



When it's released, Internet Explorer 10 will be available for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 8 Beta.

Listed here are new developer features for Internet Explorer 10. In addition to reading the guide, be sure to see the Release Notesfor installation information and known issues, as well as the Internet Explorer Test Drive site for new demos and examples. You can also obtain detailed technical information about developer features by visiting the Internet Explorer Developer Center and the MSDN Library.

This pre-release version of Internet Explorer 10—as well as Metro style apps using JavaScript—contains support for the following developer features. Except where noted, these features work identically in Internet Explorer 10 and Metro style apps using JavaScript.
Compatibility
User-agent String
Compatibility Modes
Interoperable Quirks Mode
CSS
Advanced Layout
CSS3 Exclusions
CSS3 Regions
CSS3 Multi-column Layout
CSS3 Flexible Box ("Flexbox") Layout
CSS3 Grid Alignment
CSS Device Adaptation
Visual Effects
CSS3 3-D Transforms
CSS3 Animations
CSS3 Fonts
CSS3 Gradients
CSS3 Transitions
CSS3 Text
Text Drop Shadows
Hyphenation
Panning and Zooming
Removal of Style Sheet Limits
DOM
Advanced hit-testing APIs
The createContextualFragment method
Floating-point values in CSSOM
Media query listeners
Pointer and gesture events
XMLHttpRequest enhancements
ECMAScript 5
ECMAScript 5 strict mode
F12 Developer Tools
Debugging Web Workers in F12 Developer Tools
HTML5
Asynchronous script execution
Application Cache API ("AppCache")
Drag-and-drop APIs
File API
Forms
History
Parsing
Sandbox
Spellcheck
Video
Web Workers
Channel messaging
WebSockets
IndexedDB
SVG
SVG Filters
Performance
The requestAnimationFrame method
Page Visibility
The setImmediate method
Navigation Timing
Windows 8 Integration
Link Preview
Connect Your Website to Your Metro style app
Revision History
Developer audience

Internet Explorer 10 Guide for Developers is written for use by Web developers and designers, plus those interested in developing for Metro style apps using JavaScript in Windows 8, to learn about the developer features coming to the next version of Internet Explorer.

Windows 8 Create a Windows To Go USB Drive

Windows To Go is a new feature of Windows 8 that allows enterprises to provision a full corporate environment that will boot from a USB drive. Once the instance of Windows 8 is booted it functions and is controlled by standard enterprise management tools such as SCCM and Active Directory group policies. Work at home and disaster recovery are the primary use cases as Windows To Go can transform any PC into a corporate PC with your application stack, all on a USB drive. Windows To Go is also perfect for trying out Windows 8 on your primary machine without destroying your current OS.
To begin you will need the following:
32 GB or larger USB Drive (It can be a USB Hard Drive)
A Windows 8 PC to build the USB drive on.
Windows 8 DVD ISO.
A copy of Imagex.exe from the Windows 7 Automated Installation Kit installed on Windows 7 or XP. ImageX can be found in C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64 or C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86.
Creating the Windows 8 To Go USB Device:
Windows To Go requires a specific partition setup in order to function. We will use diskpart to create the new partition setup. Launch an administrative level command prompt from the Start Screen.
Make sure that your USB Drive is plugged in and then type in diskpart and hit Enter.
Then list the available disks by running "list disk" and you should see your usb device.
Select your USB drive by typing "select disk #" and hit Enter.
Clean the partitions on the disk by typing "clean" and hit Enter.

Now create the partition by running the following command:

create partition primary

Select and format the new boot partition by running the following command:

format fs=ntfs quick
Set the partition active by typing "active" and hit Enter.

Exit Diskpart by typing Exit.

Now double click the Windows 8 ISO you downloaded to mount it in Windows 8. Browse to the ISO files in Windows Explorer and copy \sources\install.wim to the same folder as you copied Imagex.exe.

Identify the drive letter assigned to your USB drive by Windows Explorer and run the following command from the folder that contains Imagex.exe and install.wim:

imagex.exe /apply install.wim 1 d:\

Replace d with the drive letter of your USB drive.)

Once the image has applied you need to setup the boot record on the USB Drive. At the administrative level command prompt run:

bcdboot.exe d:\windows /s d: /f ALL

(Replace d with the drive letter of your USB drive.)

After the command has completed running you are ready to use your new Windows To Go USB device.

Cloud computing is rapidly growing hosting solutions

One of the most common concerns with cloud hosting is the idea that it is less secure and reliable than in-house hosting. In truth, cloud hosting is generally very secure, and far more data breaches take place in corporate data centres than among hosting providers. But nevertheless, there are instances where, for the time being, companies may wish to exercise a note of caution. For example, from small business hosting to larger corporations, a great many businesses avoid using public cloud computing for extremely sensitive financial information, or anything that requires compliance with the rules of the Payment Card Industry (PCI). Quite often, solutions which need to meet strict security and compliance specifications are best housed on private cloud solutions.

Cloud computing is at an early stage, with a motley crew of providers large and small delivering a slew of cloud-based services, from full-blown applications to storage services to spam filtering.  Today, for the most part, IT must plug into cloud-based services individually, but cloud computing aggregators and integrators are already emerging.

A cloud service has three distinct characteristics that differentiate it from traditional hosting. It is sold on demand, typically by the minute or the hour; it is elastic -- a user can have as much or as little of a service as they want at any given time; and the service is fully managed by the provider (the consumer needs nothing but a personal computer and Internet access). Significant innovations in virtualization and distributed computing, as well as improved access to high-speed Internet and a weak economy, have accelerated interest in cloud computing

Cloud computing is rapidly growing in popularity and general awareness, to a point where businesses of all sizes are looking into whether the medium is appropriate for their needs. So, what sort of businesses can cloud hosting effectively and securely handle? The simple answer is - all of them. From small business hosting to larger corporations, cloud computing can make your business more affordable and versatile. However, this doesn't necessarily mean it should replace all of your existing hosting solutions.

The best way to approach cloud hosting is to see it not as an all-or-nothing proposition, but as a way to streamline your IT requirements at appropriate points. Examine all of the functions of your current hosting solution and think about whether it could benefit from multi-tenant cloud computing, in-house hosting or a combination of the two.
Another option is to combine multi-tenant cloud hosting with a broader kind of cloud computing - wherein traditional managed hosting is performed on servers that are dedicated to specific customers, but are owned and managed by a hosting provider. Top-line hosting providers are generally more reliable and secure than in-house data centres, and can still cut down your IT overheads significantly.

Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT's existing capabilities.

If you are interested in engaging with cloud hosting and would like some more information, talk to a dedicated and reputable hosting company to find out what package would be best suited to your business. The natural versatility of cloud hosting allows for a tailored hosting package to be constructed around the unique needs of your business, so don't be afraid to shop around to find out as much as you can before committing to a plan. It could be one of the most important decisions you make for your business.

Rackspace Hosting is the World's leader in hosting and cloud storage. Since 2001 Rackspace has been hosting and supporting mission critical websites, internet applications, email servers, security and storage services for 6,000 customers.

The author of this article has expertise in cloud hosting. The articles on small business hosting reveals the author's knowledge on the same. The author has written many articles on different types of hosting as well.


A major benefit of taking a hybrid approach to hosting is that you can cut your overheads on IT, storage and general maintenance, without taking too much of a risk. Until cloud computing evolves to a point where it is the norm, an innovative, open-minded approach to hybrid hosting could give you a significant advantage over your rivals who are slower to pick up on new opportunities.

Windows 8 smartphone slimmer, lighter, and energy efficient XPPhone

In Technology Group has seemingly dedicated itself to merging the Windows PC experience with the smartphone--something the company has dubbed the "post-smartphone." They started with phones running Windows XP a few years ago, and by earlier this year, ITG's XPPhone was available with Windows 7. Now it says a far slimmer, lighter, and energy efficient XPPhone 2 that will run both Windows 7 and the PC version of Windows 8 (once it's released) is in the works.

Though it seems doubtful to me that many consumers will find a need for so much Windows in their pocket, ITG has made sure to pack the XPPhone 2 with the meaty hardware to pull it off. This beast will boast a 1.6GHz processor and 2GB of RAM. ITG's Web site also mentions the possibility of an insane 2GHz model. There's also plenty of storage space to house Microsoft's notoriously bulky OSes, with 112GB on board.

ITG is billing the XPPhone 2 not just as a phone but as the "smallest notebook PC in the world," measuring 140mm X 73mm X 17.5mm. The pitch is basically that the phone is easily dockable and can stand in for a laptop, desktop and in-car navigation system.


The success of this kind of a device will likely depend on it being at least more usable than the English translation of its press release, which requires several aspirin to navigate, with sentences like: "The Editor considers that, presently it forms three camps of smart phone in the way of tripartite confrontation--The Apple, Google & Moto, and Intel & Microsoft & xpPhone, of which stands for three complete different technical orientations."

Let's hope they took the money they saved on their translator and put it into engineering.Engadget reports that we could see an XPPhone 2 release as soon as January.

Windows Server 8 :300 new and improved features

With Windows Server 8, Microsoft has outdone itself, from a revamped UI to hundreds of new features, including vastly improved virtualization management



Dynamic Access Control. Today's folder-centric model for access control makes it all too easy for permissions to get garbled -- and auditing is a horror. Dynamic Access Control doesn't replace your current file and folder permissions, but allows you to layer global policies and claims-based access controls on top of them. For example, you might create a rule to ensure that only members of the finance group can access finance department files and strictly from a managed device -- and this rule could be enforced by all Windows Server 8 file servers (and only Windows Server 8 file servers) in your organization.

Dynamic Access Control uses tags applied to the files by users, supporting applications (think Microsoft Office), and Windows Server 8 itself (automatic classification). To implement, you create claims definitions and file property definitions in Active Directory; any Active Directory attribute can be used for access control. Claims travel with the user's security token. In a nice touch, the system now goes beyond the annoying "access denied" message. Instead of the stone wall, denied users can be presented with a remediation link to open a help ticket or contact the administrator or file owner to request access.

Large Hyper-V clusters. Windows Server 8 leaps into VMware territory and beyond with support for as many as 63 hosts and 4,000 VMs per cluster. Backing up the raw numbers are a slew of features that improve performance, manageability, availability, and security in large environments: cluster-aware patching, storage resource pools, thin provisioning, storage offload for data transfers, BitLocker encryption for cluster volumes, data deduplication, and live storage migration.

Microsoft claims 300 new and improved features in Windows Server 8, but after a few days in Redmond watching demos and stepping through lab sessions, we wonder whether the marketing guys accidentally left off a zero. It's hard to name a Windows Server feature that hasn't been tweaked, streamlined, wizardized, or completely revamped. Whatever grudge you may hold against Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 8 will almost certainly make amends.

If you're a large shop struggling to manage hundreds of Windows servers, Windows Server 8 should ease the job. If you're a small shop trying to squeeze high-end capability from a low-end budget, Windows Server 8 has plenty for you, too. With Windows Server 8, everything from server deployment to high availability becomes smoother and more automated.

In fact, there's so much of note in the new OS, it's almost a crime to stop at the top 10, listed below in no particular order. Believe it or not, data deduplication for production file servers, native PowerShell support in Hyper-V, and virtual Active Directory didn't even make the list. Look at it this way: There will be even more surprises in store when you finally get your hands on a Windows Server 8 beta.

Multiserver management. Server Manager not only gets a face-lift in Windows Server 8, donning the superclean Metro look, but opens the management horizon to the entire server environment. Pull in new servers (physical or virtual) to manage through Active Directory or DNS lookup, and Server Manager will inventory the server and add a new tile to the dashboard displaying its state. Other tiles roll up aggregates of information across multiple servers by server role and various attributes.

Views are search driven, so it's easy to pull up matching values across all rows. Search filters can be saved, so it's easy to create personalized dashboards or standard views for selected sets of machines. Instead of reaching across the screen to ye olde Task pane (RIP), you perform all actions directly on specific elements, by right-clicking and choosing from a contextual menu. Naturally, all of this remote, multiserver management goodness is built on PowerShell and WMI (Windows Management Interface). Considering Microsoft's boasts of 2,300 new PowerShell cmdlets, wizards should become more commonplace throughout the Windows Server ecosystem.

Friction-free server deployment. Windows Server 8 inherits Windows Server 2008's wizards for installing roles and features, but combines them in what Microsoft calls "scenario-based deployment." Installs can target local machines, remote machines, or virtual hard disks, with deployment to multiple machines automated through PowerShell cmdlets, WMI APIs, and "workflows" that handle suspending and resuming batch operations. Plus, you no longer have to second-guess that Server Core install. Instead of starting over from scratch, Windows Server 8 lets you move between Server Core and a full server simply by installing or removing components. You can even install the full server without the graphical shell because real servers don't have GUIs.

IP address management. Odds are you're using a spreadsheet or homegrown cobbleware to track your IP address allocations, and it's no fun at all. Windows Server 8 introduces a full-featured IP address manager that combines network discovery, static and dynamic address allocation, DNS and DHCP monitoring, and network auditing capabilities all in one place. Logging actual address usage, identifying conflicts, cross-referencing with hardware inventory, and providing an audit trail of all changes, the Windows IP Address Management Center goes way beyond record keeping. It has the potential to eliminate a huge time-suck from your to-do list.