Sunday, February 23, 2014

Windows 8 Gets Negative Response From Enterprises

It is a fact that Windows 8, which was launched almost an year ago by Microsoft as the most sophisticated version of the operating system, has not been able to attract the users. Dubbed as the next big thing that would change the whole computing experience, Windows 8 was panned by the customers for the lack of user-friendly features in it. The fact that the enterprise version of Windows 8 hardly got any takers is a serious concern for Microsoft. The software giant had shipped in more than 100 million Windows 8 enterprise licenses, but most of the IT decision makers were satisfied with the older versions.

According to Johnson, who works as a Forrester research analyst, most of the IT firms feel that Windows 8 doesn’t comprise of worthy features as Microsoft claims it to have. He said, “Enterprises just don’t see Windows 8 having value. They don’t see the value in the changes in Windows 8.” Most of these firms have started to compare Windows 7 vs Windows 8 and are extremely satisfied with the older version. Several reasons have been cited for the negative response to Windows 8. One of them is the reliability issues with the new touch-centric Modern user interface. Another reason is the protracted procedures involved in the upgradation of the systems from Windows XP or 7 to 8. According to sources, it was revealed that for most of the IT decision makers, Windows 8 is an all or nothing upgrade. This is because it is not easily possible to effectively mix Windows 8 with older versions of Windows in a work setting, as compared to its predecessors.

Recent reports stated that most of the users prefer using Windows XP and Windows 7, both on the personal and professional front. Now, with Microsoft all set to stop providing services to Windows XP by this year, users are finding it difficult to get acquainted with Windows 8’s workings. Most prefer migrating to Windows 7, especially after comparing Windows 7 vs Windows 8. For them, the touch interface, along with the heavy emphasis on apps, is one thing that is preventing them from switching over to Windows 8.

Hence, it is quite certain that Windows 8 is a failure, at least in the enterprise sector. Now, it remains to be seen what new strategies Microsoft adopts to revive its customers base.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

How To Recover Corrupted PST Files In Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is the most popular email manager program. However, there are some issues in the program that you must be familiar with before you make the decision to get Microsoft Outlook. Often you find yourself in a dilemma that leads you to a situation in which the Outlook program stops responding. This is mainly caused when Outlook program is not able to read the PST files in it. The error may also occur if the size of the PST file exceeds the allotted 2GB space. However, before talking about how to fix the issues, you must know about PST files.

PST stands for personal storage table and it in these files that Outlook stores all the personal user related data. Your emails, contacts, calendar entries and schedules are all stored in the PST files. So if something goes wrong with these files, you will be in a lot of trouble as you will not be able to access your files anymore. If the Outlook PST files are unreadable, you will get an error message of the format, ‘Outlook.pst is no longer a personal files folder’.

If you are wondering how file corruption get Microsoft Outlook to not work properly, it is mainly due to the reason that Outlook will not able to read PST files as they are corrupted. File corruptions can occur due to a variety of reasons including errors occurred while transferring files to your system, an improper shut down of the Outlook application etc. Another reason for the corruption of Outlook PST files is the exceeding of memory allotted to the PST files as mentioned above.

There is nothing to worry if you are having corruption issues, as you can easily fix these issues by running an Outlook repair on your system files. The Outlook program in itself has one such program, known as Inbox repair tool. This utility can be launched by clicking on the file named Scanpst.exe found in the default Outlook folder. The utility when launched will scan the system files of Outlook program for corruptions and will fix all the issues that are found.

If you are still not able to run the Outlook program successfully after running the Outlook repair program, you need to download a professional Outlook repair tool that will fix all the issues found in the program. One of the catches on running professional repair tools is that you will need to pay for these pro tools for making them work on your computer.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Procedure To Fix The Audio Issues In Your Laptop Computer

You might know that most laptop computers come with in-built speakers, and this makes correcting the issues or inspecting the audio problems much more difficult. Mostly, the problem might be with your computer settings or an outdated or faulty driver and may not be with the speakers. Inspecting to see if any settings or drivers can fix the problem is a good idea before you attempt to open the laptop or plan to buy external speakers. Here are some laptop support instructions that would help you resolve some basic issues.

Laptop support instructions:
  • Test the audio in more than one program. In case the audio works in some programs and not in others, then the ‘mute’ setting might be on in one or more programs and this should be changed.
  • You need to turn up the volume on the external volume control. This may be on the side or on the front of your laptop, or on the keyboard. Some models have a touch-sensitive strip at the top of the keyboard that you might not have realized controls the volume. You can also look for any ‘mute’ shortcut keys you might have accidentally pressed and then try clicking it again for seeing if the sound is restored.
  • You can go to your volume controls. For this, click on ‘Start’, then ‘Control Panel,’ and then click on ‘Hardware and Sound,’, then click on ‘Audio Devices,’ and ‘Sound’ and finally adjust the volume using ‘Adjust System Volume’. Under ‘Main Volume’, ensure that the slider is up and that the volume is not set to ‘mute’.
  • You may have to reboot the computer, in case you have recently made any changes such as installing new updates or service packs. Sometimes, a restart needs to take place to reset devices such as speakers.
  • Just plug a pair of headphones into the headphone jack on the laptop and see if you can hear sound that way. In case you hear some noise in headphones or external speakers but not the built-in speakers, then either your drivers or the speakers are the problem. Then try uninstalling the drivers for your speakers in ‘Device Manager’ and then reinstall them by visiting your laptop maker’s website.
  • You can also reinstall your audio device drivers from your laptop company’s website in case a sound card is not detected. 
Also, it is possible that some recent changes removed the drivers and made your speakers undetectable, so reinstalling the drivers may very well fix the problem.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Steps To Fix Outlook Data Corruption Issues

In this era of rapidly advancing technology, we may not be able to think about a life without emails. Emails or electronic mails have in all respect replaced the traditional mailing system from the usage of personal purpose for sending greetings and pictures to official purposes for sending business proposals. Most of us have multiple emails addresses; one for official purpose and one for personal, and it might be really difficult for you to manage both accounts simultaneously with ease. This is where email clients come in view. Email clients are programs developed for helping the users manage their email accounts easily and efficiently.

Microsoft Outlook is the most popular email manager program in use now. It is a versatile program that allows the users to manage their multiple email accounts with ease. You will be able to send and receive emails using the Outlook email manager program easily. However, even though the program is much versatile and retro in nature, there is still a chance for the presence of errors in the program. One of the most possible errors found in the Outlook program is the corruption of data stored in the .pst file.

A PST file is a file in which Outlook stores all the personal data of the user like emails, calendar entries etc in the computer. Once the file is corrupted, the Outlook program will not work well and you will need to run an Outlook repair process for fixing the issue. Lucky for you, Outlook contains in it an inbox repair tool that will help you in fixing the data corruption issues in Outlook. Below we discuss the steps for fixing the issue.
  • Navigate to the default Outlook folder in the computer and then look for the Scanpst.exe file. Double click on the file for running the Outlook inbox repair utility.
  • Now a new window will appear in the screen, click on the Start button found in the window for scanning the system for Outlook errors and corruptions.
  • Once the program has successfully listed the corrupted Outlook data files, click on the Repair button found in the window for starting the Outlook repair process.
The inbox repair tool will now automatically fix all the corrupted Outlook files in your system and you will be able to use the program as if it is new without any issues. However if the issue was not solved by the inbox repair tool, you will have to contact the Outlook support team.