If you are windows vista user then you will be knowing thefile ownership and permissions related issues and now it is extended to windows 7 too, but Windows XP users experimenting with Windows 7 might not know about this.

Windows 7 has implemented addition security mechanism to prevent accidental or intentional file or folder modification by not allowing users other then owner of file or folder to access it. Hence incase if you need to access, modify or delete such files or folder you need to take ownership first then assign rights or permission to respective users. Here is Guide on How to take Ownership and Grant Permission in Window 7.

How to Take Ownership in Windows 7

1. Locate the file or folder on which you want to take ownership in windows explorer

2. Right click on file or folder and select “Properties” from Context Menu

3. Click on Security tab

4. Click on “Advance”

5. Now click on Owner tab in Advance Security Settings for User windows

6. Click on Edit Button and select user from given Change Owner to list if user or group is not in given list then click on other users or groups. Enter name of user/group and click ok.

8. Now select User/group and click apply and ok. (Check “Replace owner on subcontainers and objects” if you have files and folder within selected folder)

9. Click ok when Windows Security Prompt is displayed

10. Now Owner name must have changed.

11. Now click Ok to exist from Properties windows

Once you have taken the ownership of file or folder next part comes is Granting Permissions to that file/folder or object.

How to Grant Permissions in Windows 7

1. Locate the file or folder on which you want to take ownership in windows explorer

2. Right click on file or folder and select “Properties” from Context Menu

3. Click on Edit button in Properties windows Click ok to confirm UAC elevation request.

4. Select user/group from permission windows or click add to add other user or group.

5. Now under Permission section check the rights which you want to grant i.e check “Full Control” under the “Allow” column to assign full access rights control permissions to Administrators group.

6. Click Ok for changes to take effect and click ok final ok to exit from Properties window.

Now you can access files of folder in windows 7 with full permissions and take full control. Here is another simplest method to take ownership, Method to Add Take ownership Option in Right Click Menu.

You’ve heard you need a firewall to keep your computer’s identity “stealth” (hidden) while online so you can keep intruders and undesirable programs blocked out. But there are so many options. Not simply between software products, but hardware choices as well. How do you know which is right for you? Let’s look at the differences.

First of all, hardware is something you can see, like the monitor you are looking at to read this text right now. Typically hardware refers to the hard physical elements—the computer, the keyboard, the circuitry inside your computer—anything you can see and touch. (Hardware always includes some form of software, but you don’t see this. For example, your computer keyboard has a software program written into the circuitry that allows what you type to appear on the screen. But you don’t have to purchase this software for your keyboard. It’s already there.)

Software, on the other hand, is a computer program that tells the hardware exactly what to do. This webpage, for example, was written in a computer language called HTML. This HTML program tells your monitor how to display the text you are reading now. Software is the name for the instructions that tell the computer what to do. All software requires hardware to run.

A hardware firewall is a small metal box filled with plug openings, or ports. You hook your computer network into the box then set it up on your computer, just as you would a new printer or other peripheral.

Because it’s not physically on your machine, a hardware firewall is somewhat less vulnerable than a software firewall. You could look at a hardware firewall as a mini computer, and the price of hardware firewalls reflect this difference. Hardware firewalls are typically owned by larger businesses.

Software firewalls give you the level of protection you need to keep safe from hackers and other unwanted intrusions because software is far easier for computer novices to customize. The features are suited to smaller home networks.

Some top software firewall packages also include anti-spam, anti-virus, even anti-popup ad software. Some software firewalls are flexible enough to incorporate your existing anti-software into its firewall program. Some software firewalls also include parental controls to manage what kinds of websites your children visit. Some packages will also allow you to block photos and specific text content that you do not want your children to view.

Hardware firewalls are best suited to businesses and large networks; software firewalls are best suited for the home user who wants easy customization

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—> I hope you have enjoyed the posts that we continue to provide here at Solutions For Life. Our goal is to continually educate our users on the technology around us. We don’t write simply for our entertainment. Nope, our goal is to educate us all how to connect to the world around you…

Sincerely,

Ben Adams

SENIOR IT CONSULTANT

I have tried the AVG free anti-virus to protect my computer off-and-on for several years and on various operating systems that I have had at home. During this time, it used its own auto update every day to check for updates and download them so it should be fully updated at all times.

Throughout the time, I have continually been disappointed with the results. A great example occurred last week while working with a company that I will leave unnamed.  Several of the computers were running slowly, so I ran a scan with the McAfee Stinger which can be downloaded here as well as the Trend Micro Housecall.  BOTH came up with tons of viruses ranging from Trojans to worms.  I also saw several occasions where AVG would find a virus but then have no fix.

I then discovered a huge gaping hole in AVG Free. AVG free runs regular complete scans via its own scheduler, if you do not have automatically heal infected files checked in the settings, AVG will not only leave the malicious files it detects alone. IT WILL NOT WARN YOU OR ALERT YOU IN ANY WAY THAT IT HAS DETECTED VIRUS ACTIVITY.  The scan will run until complete then close.

That is simply unacceptable!!  Obviously AVG Free was not detecting the main down-loader Trojan or going any way to stop its activity.  Did I mention we were PAYING for AVG?  What would we have gotten if we used the free version?  Obviously, we are now paying for Trend Micro.

I could spend a whole post complaining about AVG and some of the other free solutions out there, but instead, let me explain a couple of helpful tips.

One way that companies keep anti-virus and firewalls free is by depending on reports from customers and other IT Admins concerning security risk.  Although this is a great system, this reactive rather than proactive.  Many IT Professionals also choose “NO” when asked whether they want to participate in the feedback program, because they do not want an extra task.  You are also depending on people to give you a solution from their own free-will.  Some companies have a paid version for customers, and the free version is funded from the left-over R&D of the paid subscribers.  They obviously reach the least support.

When you pay for Anti-virus and go with a common name, you receive the millions of dollars that go in to proactive R&D.  You receive industry-standard support that is often based in your language.  Again, you get what you pay for.  Who do I use for Anti-Virus?  I personally use McAfee, and I recommend Trend-Micro.  Both are fairly priced, and do not leave a huge foot-print like F-Secure and Norton.  However, you can make your own decision.

When making a decision concerning open source or paid anti-virus, consider this: Do you really want to scrimp on security? Do you really want to put yourself at risk when it comes to your computer’s sensitive information?  That is all the motivation I need!!

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—> I hope you have enjoyed the posts that we continue to provide here at Solutions For Life. Our goal is to continually educate our users on the technology around us. We don’t write simply for our entertainment. Nope, our goal is to educate us all how to connect to the world around you…

Sincerely,

Ben Adams

SENIOR IT CONSULTANT

For those who have always imputed Windows Vista for its anomalies, may also denounce it’s security features. Well, it must have occurred to you that when you are trying to move or delete some files, Windows clogs you with an error. Either it gives an error message or prompts that the file is in use. Not only in Vista this even occurs with Windows XP. In order to tweak Vista’s system you have to modify some system files. Vista has these system files locked and you can’t access them. For this you require ownership of the file. You need to take ownership of the files and grant a username full control of the file. I’ll let you know how to take ownership of Vista system files.

In order to take ownership of Vista system files take the steps below

Step 1: First access the command prompt

Click the on the start button>All Programs>Accessories

Step 2: Right Click on the command prompt

Step 3: Select Run as administrator.

Step 4: When the UAC Prompt appears, click Continue.

Once you have your elevated command prompt, follow these steps:

For our example, we are going to use the Bubbles screensaver file (Bubbles.scr)

At the command prompt, input takeown /f filepath (takeown /f c:\windows\system32\Bubbles.scr).

Now, press Enter on the keyboard.

You will get a message displaying that this completed successfully.

Step 4: Now input icacls filepath /grant yourusername:f (icacls c:\windows\system32\Bubbles.scr /grant shamanstears:f).

Step 5: A message will be displayed that this completed successfully.

You are done, now you can modify or replace the file. When you are done, simply remove the permissions to keep the file secure.

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—> I hope you have enjoyed the posts that we continue to provide here at Solutions For Life. Our goal is to continually educate our users on the technology around us. We don’t write simply for our entertainment. Nope, our goal is to educate us all how to connect to the world around you…

Sincerely,

Ben Adams

SENIOR IT CONSULTANT

As the world’s population becomes more and more technically advanced, the desire to host one’s own website becomes less of a fantasy and more of a reality.  With easy to install programs such as WampServer readily accessible to all, anyone can quickly set up their own “homegrown” server on a desktop at home.  The problem then becomes a simple matter of DNS servers and domains – how do we get them to point to our newly setup home server?  This is where DynDNS.com steps in – an online service that enables you to create DNS records, register domains, setup mail servers and more.

Levels of DNS services

For those needing DNS services, there are three levels – Dynamic DNS Free, Dynamic DNS Pro, and Custom DNS.

The Dynamic DNS Free service allows you to choose up  to five hostnames from their current list of 88 at no charge.  These are perfect for those needing a forwarding account (for when you’re offline or experience downtime) or even configurable MX records for mail routing.

The Dynamic DNS Pro is available at a yearly cost of $15.00.  This service gives you an additional 25 hostnames, access to their premium domains, wildcard capabilities as well as the ability to point CNAME records.

The final DNS service offered is Custom DNS.  For this you will need to have your own domain name hosted at DynDNS.  With Custom DNS you are allowed up to 75 DNS records per domain and there is support for a variety of DNS record types.  The Custom DNS service is available for $29.95 a year per domain name.  The company also offers secondary DNS at $39.95 per year per domain.  There are quite a lot of DNS choices with DynDNS.

Managing your account

To manage your DNS records, DynDNS.com has “My Services” area that enables you to quickly make the changes you need.  Each section is tied in with a corresponding help section (signified by a “?”) should you need assistance.  All of your chosen services are separated into type-specific sections.  Additionally, your account level services are listed with options to add on more items should the need arise.  When working on different sections of your account, you can also click on the preferences button.  This button will take you to an area that allows you to choose whether you wish to set your interface to a novice or expert level, depending upon your technical level.  While not the most efficient design for controlling your records, it does make up for this with the active help links.

Support options

If you do require further assistance in managing your account, DynDNS has a support section in place.  There is an FAQ, tutorials, suggestions for supporting tools and a contact area for the company.  DynDNS.com offers phone support as well.  Regular customer phone support is from 9 am to 5 pm EST Monday through Friday.  If you want the convenience of 24×7×365 support, you can opt to purchase Premier support on a per case basis at $74.95 each.  A pretty hefty price all things considered and it’s probably a better bet to stay with the standard phone support, supplementing this with the other available online options.

Conclusion

All told, DynDNS is a pretty good alternative to hosting with an online web host.  You end up having complete control, can add on services as you need them and have access to support if you end up stumped.  DynDNS is a company to check out if and when you decide to self-host your web site.

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I hope you have enjoyed the posts that we continue to provide here at Solutions For Life.  Our goal is to continually educate our users on the technology around us.  We don’t write simply for our entertainment.  Nope, our goal is to educate us all how to connect to the world around you…

Sincerely,

Ben Adams

SENIOR IT CONSULTANT

This is one of those posts where I’m truly excited to be writing. I get to tell you when Windows 7 will be on store shelves! According to input from customers and partners we’ve made a lot of progress with Windows 7.

Our milestone-to-milestone approach for Windows 7 is built on a great deal of feedback from customers and testers. This has been pivotal to the development of Windows 7.

I blogged a few weeks ago that it’s looking like we’ll have Windows 7 ready in time for the holidays.

Since then we’ve made enough progress to feel really good about announcing today that Windows 7 will be in stores beginning October 22nd.

I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to see Windows 7 sitting on store shelves!

Some people may not be able to wait for Windows 7 to arrive before having to order a new PC (like parents who are sending their sons or daughters off to school who need of a PC to take with them). Fortunately, there is no need to wait. Soon, customers will be able to take advantage of the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program. This program enables participating retailers and OEMs to offer a special deal to upgrade to Windows 7 for customers purchasing a qualifying PC. I’ll be doing another blog post about this program with a date and more details when we get closer to availability.

Obviously, Release To Manufacturing (RTM) is an important milestone on the path to GA. We anticipate that we’ll be able to make the RTM code for Windows 7 available to our partners sometime in the 2^nd half of July. We also expect to be able to make RTM code for Windows Server 2008 R2 available to our partners in this time frame as well.

Google offers a lot of great services you can incorporate into your web site.  One such service that is sure to help out any web site owner in creative means of support communication is to offer Google Voice.

The problems

You’ve created a great web site.  All of your products and services are easily accessible on the web and you are starting to get quite a few customers.  As the web is global, many of your customers may be from halfway around the world.  Certainly you can’t be up twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.  So, how do you ensure you can help those customers who may be awake when you aren’t?  What if you have a land line and a cell phone and you need customers to be able to reach you no matter where you are and without having to publish yet another number?  While on the go, how do you easily listen to messages left by your existing or prospective customers?

The solution

All of these questions can be answered with one simple service – Google Voice.  This service packs quite a lot of features all into one neat little online package.  You utilize one number for all your numbers, thereby allowing customers the ability to reach you at one number.  Google Voice allows you to choose the number (including area code) you’d like to use as your official Google phone number.  Once this is set, you can then set your preferences according to how and when you want to be contacted.  You can opt to enable call screening and choose between screening unknown callers or blocked calls, completely block unwanted callers and even listen in on the call prior to deciding whether or not to take the call.  To even further configure how you receive phone calls, you can have the service set to ring specific phones based on who is calling – a family member is calling, route it to your land line or even route your teenager’s calls directly to their phone line.  This alone is perfect for those who have had to incorporate their business into their own home and eliminate the need for yet another phone line specifically for business.

Voice mail and transcribing

When it comes to the voice mail part of the service, Google Voice doesn’t skimp.  Not only can you listen to your voice mails online but you can also opt to read the transcribed voice mails online.  At the moment, the transcribing process is still a bit shaky as the voice recognition software does make some mistakes due to softly spoken or misunderstood/non-standard words.  However, this will improve over time and with usage.  Another fun feature added to this is personalized greetings.  You can vary your greetings to callers based on criteria you put in place.  This means you can have one friendly greeting for family and friends, another for business calls and yet another for unknown callers.  A very handy feature to help split your calls as needed.

Putting it all together

How do you incorporate this into your web site?  Simply log in, click on your settings and then select “Call Widgets.”  Once at the Call Widget screen, click on “Add a new Call Widget.”  Create a new Call Widget is a quick process.  You create a name for your new widget, select which numbers you would like for the widget to contact, choose your greeting and then decide whether you’d like for call presentation to be on (this announces the caller’s name and gives answering options).  Select “Save Changes” and, at the next screen, you’ll have a small piece of Flash coding to copy and paste into your web site where ever you wish to have the widget available.  Now you have a quick and easy way for your customers to contact you without even having to give out your new Google Voice number.

Conclusion

Google Voice offers some fantastic bundled up features all in one package when it comes to a unique voice mail service.  With its easy to use program and fun options, Google Voice is an excellent and simple way to add not only the perfect way for your customers to be able to reach you easily but also allows you to do so all without having to publish out a brand new number.

At this time, Google Voice is by invitation only.  You can request your invitation at https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/.  It should also be noted that this service is only available in the U.S. at this time.

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I hope you have enjoyed the posts that we continue to provide here at Solutions For Life. Our goal is to continually educate our users on the technology around us. We don’t write simply for our entertainment. Nope, our goal is to educate us all how to connect to the world around you…

Sincerely,

Ben Adams

SENIOR IT CONSULTANT

Many people found the new version of Office very frustrating.  There are so many changes that are supposed to make life “easier” but confuse those of us who have been using Office for years.  As you well know, stylish and cool are not always best!  Well, have no fear, there is a free add-in out there that brings back the classic menus.

Necessity is the mother of invention and so someone thought up UBitMenu (and thankfully made it free!)

UBitMenu is a small plugin for Microsoft Office 2007 (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint) that makes Office 2007 look like Ofice 2003 by giving the menu – the Office2003 makeover. It gets added on as an additional menu tab in the three Office 2007 applications.

While you will get back your old usage habits, do also realize that the new Ribbon interface was designed keeping fluency in mind (take a look at the Quick Styles feature in the Ribbon). The Ribbon interface allows for first level access to the commands we use most often.

For instance, I personally find the Ribbon interface a better help in MS PowerPoint. One point to remember is that shortcut keys will continue to behave as they do in Office2007.

The add-on benefits…

• UBitMenu lets the bewildered switch back and forth at will between the older and newer style interfaces. That’s great because it doesn’t replace the newer feature rich menu with the classical one but merely adds an extra tab. And kilobyte-sized, it’s no extra flab.

• UBitMenu does not interfere with the new features of Office2007 in any way. The contextual tabs like the Mini-formatting toolbar works just as well with the classical menu active.

• UBitMenu also retains any extra features that may have been installed through other plug-ins. For instance, documents can still be saved to PDF or XPS from the File – Save As submenu.

• UBitMenu is based on standard Microsoft® Office-Add-in technology; therefore it seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Office2007.

This 359KB freeware application lets you keep the best of both worlds. UBitMenu is available for download in several languages from here.

Are you still one of those (Office2007 has been out for some while) who wished they could cut the ribbon and make Office 2007 look like the classic Office 2003 in Windows XP? Then you just might see the utility of this small software. Give us your freewheeling opinion in the comments below.

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I hope you have enjoyed the posts that we continue to provide here at Solutions For Life. Our goal is to continually educate our users on the technology around us. We don’t write simply for our entertainment. Nope, our goal is to educate us all how to connect to the world around you…

Sincerely,

Ben Adams

SENIOR IT CONSULTANT

I remember the first time I set my eyes on Microsoft Office2007. I really liked it because everything seemed so stylish. At second sight, I found myself a bit lost among the buttons of the new Ribbon menu. I knew there was a bit of a learning curve ahead of me. Though I mastered it in a short while, I must confess that it did take some getting used to. That was me…but then there were some (and still are) who found the learning curve a bit steeper. Accustomed to the older pre-2007 classical interface, they thrashed about with the new one. Baffling for most, I guess.

Necessity is the mother of invention and so someone thought up UBitMenu (and thankfully made it free!)

UBitMenu is a small plugin for Microsoft Office 2007 (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint) that makes Office 2007 look like Ofice 2003 by giving the menu – the Office2003 makeover. It gets added on as an additional menu tab in the three Office 2007 applications.

While you will get back your old usage habits, do also realize that the new Ribbon interface was designed keeping fluency in mind (take a look at the Quick Styles feature in the Ribbon). The Ribbon interface allows for first level access to the commands we use most often.

For instance, I personally find the Ribbon interface a better help in MS PowerPoint. One point to remember is that shortcut keys will continue to behave as they do in Office2007.

The add-on benefits…

• UBitMenu lets the bewildered switch back and forth at will between the older and newer style interfaces. That’s great because it doesn’t replace the newer feature rich menu with the classical one but merely adds an extra tab. And kilobyte-sized, it’s no extra flab.

• UBitMenu does not interfere with the new features of Office2007 in any way. The contextual tabs like the Mini-formatting toolbar works just as well with the classical menu active.

• UBitMenu also retains any extra features that may have been installed through other plug-ins. For instance, documents can still be saved to PDF or XPS from the File – Save As submenu.

• UBitMenu is based on standard Microsoft® Office-Add-in technology; therefore it seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Office2007.

This 359KB freeware application lets you keep the best of both worlds. UBitMenu is available for download in several languages from here.

Are you still one of those (Office2007 has been out for some while) who wished they could cut the ribbon and make Office 2007 look like the classic Office 2003 in Windows XP? Then you just might see the utility of this small software. Give us your freewheeling opinion in the comments below.