Mind It!

To prevent creation of the administrative shares on Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP do the following.

Create/Modify values for AutoShareServer and AutoShareWks:

1. In the registry, locate the following key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
2. On the Edit menu, click Add Value.
3. Type AutoShareServer, click REG_DWORD, and then click OK.
4. Type 0, and then click OK.
5. On the Edit menu, click Add Value.
6. Type AutoShareWks, click REG_DWORD, and then click OK.
7. Type 0, and then click OK.Note: Sometimes the values are already present, especially after use of a policy that affects these entries. In addition, on Windows 2000 you are not required to add the AutoShareWks value.
8. Quit the registry, and then restart the computer.

To re-enable those default shares change the value of AutoShareServer and AutoShareWks to 1.
This process can easily be done through a policy. The path for the system policy is System Policy Editor\Windows NT Network\Sharing\Create Hidden Drive Shares.

For more information refer to th following Microsoft KB articles :

1. Q245117 – Administrative Shares Do Not Appear on Server
2. Q288164 – How to Prevent the Creation of Administrative Shares on Windows NT Server 4.0

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP : PowerToys add fun and functionality to the Windows experience. What are they? PowerToys are additional programs that developers work on after a product has been released.

Current PowerToy options:

Color Control Panel Applet
Professional-level photographers and designers know that getting consistent, accurate color from file to screen to print and beyond is a requirement for great results. This new tool helps you manage Windows color settings in one place.
SyncToy
With new sources of files coming from every direction (such as digital cameras, e-mail, cell phones, portable media players, camcorders, PDAs, and laptops), SyncToy can help you copy, move, and synchronize different directories.
RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer
Are you a serious photographer? Now you can organize and work with digital RAW files in Windows Explorer (much as you can with JPEG images). This tool provides thumbnails, previews, printing, and metadata display for RAW images.
ClearType Tuner
(more…)

Windows Live Writer is a desktop application that makes it easier to compose compelling blog posts using Windows Live Spaces or your current blog service. It includes a WSYIWYG blog editor as well as tools for publishing photos, maps. An included SDK allows developers to extend the capabilities of Writer to publish additional content types. Windows Live Writer is a great client for Windows Live Spaces but also works with other weblogs including Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress (and many others).

Blogging has turned the web into a two-way communications medium. Our goal in creating Writer is to help make blogging more powerful, intuitive, and fun for everyone.

Writer has lots of features which we hope make for a better blogging experience such as WYSIWYG authoring and seamless photo and map publishing. You can also extend the types of rich content that can be inserted into your blog post by creating plug-ins using the Writer SDK.

Download : Windows Live Writer Beta

Overview
Microsoft Photo Info allows photographers to add, change and delete common “metadata” properties for digital photographs from inside Windows Explorer.

When installed, a new “Photo Info” item appears on the context menu for files selected in Windows Explorer. To use, simply select one or more image files, right-click and choose “Photo Info” to open the Photo Info properties editor. You can edit metadata for files individually, or all together as a batch. Photo Info reads and writes metadata in IPTC and XMP formats (depending on file type). It also provides enhanced “hover tips” and additional sort properties for digital photographs in Windows Explorer.

Microsoft Photo Info runs on 32-bit versions of Windows XP (with Service Pack 2 or later) and the Windows Vista operating systems.

System Requirements

* Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista; Windows XP

Microsoft Photo Info requires 32-bit versions of Windows Vista or Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or later and the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 runtime installed.

Download : Microsoft Photo Info 1.0

Grandpa and Grandma always got very excited when they recalled the old days they were together. They made a decision, one day to make it “yesterday once more“.

They made a date on the riverbank they used to go when they were young. The next day, Grandpa got up 6 a.m. in the morning, dashed to the bank, picked up a big bunch of wild flowers before sunrise, waited there for his sweetheart to come.

But grandpa ended in disappointment grandma never showed up even after sunset.

Grandpa went home in such anger. He opened the door, seeing grandma lying on the sofa with her pillow. He threw the flowers on the floor and questioned: “Why didn’t you come to our date?”

Grandma hid her head in the pillow and replied shyly: “Mom didn’t allow me to go…”