Hackstacks » Microsoft

How to run older application in Windows 7 32 bit or 64 bit?

Renjith — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:07:48 +0000

Organizations are upgrading their workstation operating systems to Windows 7 since Windows XP’s expiry is almost close. Many companies will have their own developed tools and 3rd party utilities worked very well on Windows XP. But when moved to Windows 7 few of them has stopped working because of incompatibility. Microsoft has addressed this problem and they have extended the Compatibility Mode in Windows 7 Editions as well.

If you are unable to open any application on Windows 7 the compatibility mode will help to change the compatibility mode and let you set the compatibility for last worked Windows platform. Windows 7 is even smart enough to scan the executable file and advice you which compatibility mode should be used in order to run the application.
You can change the Compatibility mode in file Properties>Compatibility Tab.

Sometimes even the compatibility mode will not work if the file is 16-bit application. The best way to resolve this issue is loading the support files on Windows 7 for older applications. The support files called Libraryfiles and VB5-Runtime needs to be downloaded and installed on your Windows 7 to run such old applications.

By default the instalation will drop the support files under System32 folder, but there is a bit different in Windows 7 64 edition or any other 64-Bit edition of windows because the 64 Bit systems will have a subsystem folder called WOW64 (Under Windows folder). WOW64 will work as an emulator for 32 applications to provide support in 64-bit editions of Windows. If you wish to know more about WOW64 read here.

So while loading the support files in to a 64-bit operating system you will have to change the installation location to C:\Windows\WOW64\ because when you run any 32 bit application in 64-Bit Windows it will look for the emulator files under the WOW64 folder.

Let me know if you have any different way of fixing this issue?

Add-in for No Reply All and No Forward option on Outlook

Renjith — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:30:36 +0000

No Reply All add-in is developed in the Microsoft Research labs for the latest office suite (This utility is compatible with the 2007 and 2010 versions) Once you install this add-in it enables two new buttons called No Reply All and No Forward on the outlook ribbon. When you compose new emails you can enable this feature by simply clicking on these buttons on the ribbon. So when someone receives your emails after enabling this feature they will be unable to perform a Reply All or Forward email.

This will not come as default features in Microsoft Office because this is actually helpful in an organization were Exchange server and Microsoft Outlook is used for email communication. The add-in will prevent the users from resending the emails to others when the No Reply All and No Forward options are enabled on certain emails.

I have tested it on the Google apps account configured on my Outlook 2010 it works like a charm when I enable the options and send it to myself. Never expect to work this on a webmail as these functions will become active when the VB Scripts are running in the background.

Download this Microsoft Project file

Fixit Solution Center for every Microsoft Applications problems

Renjith — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 17:21:09 +0000

We have been following the Microsoft KB(Knowledge Base) articles from long time, KB will have the complete information regarding a particular problem with a few workaround/fixes. But you may have noticed a new icon came to this KB which says Fixit. Fixit actually an executable file which automates any manual tasks specified on the KB. Once you click on this icon it will download one installer and start to execute in your computer and fix relevant applications problems.

Fixit tool helps a common user to easily fix complicated problem in few of clicks. Microsoft has a dedicated page for fixit solutions. The page has categorized the solutions according to various Microsoft products which are Windows, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Entertainment (Includes Zune, Xbox and Windows Phone, Office applications and other major Microsoft enterprise products.

If you have a specific problem you can narrow down the search by selecting relevant product. Each solution will have complete problem description, Manual fixing methods and a Fixit tool download link.

A user can get up to date information from Fixit using a Windows 7 Gadget. Download it

Try Fixit Solutions

Microsoft Outlook Features Now Available on Hotmail

Renjith — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:45:52 +0000

Hotmail enhance the Hotmail experience by adding few features available on the Outlook application. Microsoft is using the HTML5 on Hotmail to deliver the latest features. With the new features, Hotmail is going one step ahead to Gmail and fortifies the war. The new feature allows you to Right Click on the window and do actions like Reply, Reply All and Forward options for the Email. Also it supports basic actions like Mark as unread, Delete, Junk, Move, and View message source etc.

Check it out these features in action

Apart from that you can use the Hotmail Shortcuts and do the tasks easier.

Windows 8 user experience-The First video from the Microsoft Lab

Renjith — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:28:46 +0000

Jensen Harris the director of program management for Windows 8 user experience has released the first video from the lab which demonstrates the user experience that you going to have in Windows 8 interface. Windows 8 has given more importance to touch screen navigation but that does n’t mean that it won’t work well in desktop. Microsoft say’s Windows 8 will work well with mouse and keyboards as well. Windows 8 more likely looks like a smartphone OS. Application multitasking is one of the attractive feature is added on Windows 8. Also the web apps powered with HTML 5 and Java Script has beefed up the operating system.

Check it out the demo and we shall wait more videos from Microsoft soon.

Search Commands Add-on for Office 2010 will help you to find commands quickly

Renjith — Thu, 12 May 2011 16:39:53 +0000

Microsoft Office Lab has released an add-on for Office 2010 to help the users to find the commands easier. It is indeed a great feature introduced by Microsoft to help the migrated users from Microsoft office 2003. Because the user will find the Office 2010 interface as new if they have not worked on Office 2007. So such users will have hard time to navigate on the Ribbon styled menu on the Office 2007 and Office 2010. The users will be able to remember the Command name they have used in previous version but will be hard to find it on the new menu.

Once the Microsoft’s Search Command add-on is installed on your Office 2007 or Office 2010 you will see a new tab on the Office menu Ribbon called “Search Commands” Click on the tab and Type in the command you want to launch. It will populate relevant command buttons on left side of the ribbon menu and you can easily launch the desired one.

I feel like this add-on should be included on the next Office Service Pack and made it available as a default feature. This feature can be enjoyed only by the English users and it will be applicable only on Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Download the Add-on from here.

How to launch Command Prompt window from any folder

Renjith — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:35:26 +0000

One of my favorite feature in Windows 7 operating system is to launch the Command Prompt window from any folder. This feature indeed made it easier to launch the CMD window anytime with just single click. Simply hold the Shift button and right click on any folder and click on “Open Command Window Here” and that will launch a command with that folder path on the CMD window.

Here is how you will launch it

The Command Prompt showing the path for the folder

Also See:How to customize Command Prompt Window