Network Troubleshooting Tools in Windows

Windows Vista contains an assortment of utilities you can use to diagnose, monitor, and repair network connections. Here’s an overview of the key tools you’ll find in Windows Vista and what they’re used for.

SlideShare Lets Users Go Pro With Freemium Pricing

For many new Internet companies these days, “freemium” business models that hook users with free services and offer extra functionality at a price have become very popular. Today, presentation sharing service SlideShare is the latest to switch to this type of model with the announcement of its tiered PRO plans with new and advanced features starting at $19 per month.

Read full article on ReadWriteWeb.

Advertisers to Spend $1.7 Billion on Social Networks in 2010

The latest numbers from eMarketer project that advertisers will spend nearly $1.7 billion in the U.S. on social networking sites in 2010. Worldwide, spending will hit $3.3 billion according to the report.

The numbers represent a significant bump up from estimates published by the research firm at the end of last year, when it projected $1.3 billion would be spent on the space in the U.S.

Read full article on Mashable.

Memeo Connect 2.0 Makes GDrive A Reality (via TechCrunch)

This is pretty cool especially its integration with Google Docs.

Back in January, we wrote about the launch of Memeo Connect — a nifty application that debuted alongside the Google Docs 'upload any file' feature. The application makes it easy to sync documents between your computer's desktop and Google Docs account, but Memeo says that version 1.0 didn't match their full vision (they were trying to get the product out the door to meet the Google Docs feature launch). Today, Memeo is launching the 2.0 edition o … Read More

via TechCrunch

How MED-V v2 Helps You Manage Windows XP Mode

This post explains the differences between Windows XP Mode and MED-V and how specifically MED-V v2, a component of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), adds management to Windows XP Mode.

The main facts:

Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help small-business users to run their Windows XP applications on their Windows 7 desktop.

• Windows XP Mode is available for Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise customers.
• Windows XP Mode combines Windows Virtual PC and a pre-installed virtual Windows XP environment to allow users run many older applications.
• Windows Virtual PC will enable users to launch virtual applications seamlessly from the Windows 7 Start menu.
• Windows Virtual PC includes support for USB devices and is based on a new core that includes multi-threading support.

Create an Ad Hoc Wireless Network

If you want to share information stored on your computer with other people nearby and everyone’s computer has a wireless network adapter, a simple method of sharing is to set up an ad hoc wireless network.

Ad hoc networks are by definition temporary; they cease to exist when members disconnect from them, or when the computer from which the network was established moves beyond the 30-foot effective range of the others. You can share an Internet connection through an ad hoc network, but keep in mind that the Internet connection is then available to anyone logging on to a computer that is connected to the network, and thus is likely not very secure.

Delete Files Permanently with SDelete

When you delete a file, Windows removes the index for the file and prevents the operating system from accessing the file’s contents. However, an attacker with direct access to the disk can still recover the file’s contents until it has been overwritten by another file—which might never happen. Similarly, files that have been EFS-encrypted leave behind the unencrypted contents of the file on the disk.

With the SDelete tool, you can overwrite the contents of free space on your disk to prevent deleted or encrypted files from being recovered. Click here to download SDelete free from the Microsoft technet website.