While ImgBurn isn’t exactly a “repair tool”, it does come in handy in the repair environment. ImgBurn is a small, freeware application for creating CD/DVDs and reading/writing image files.
Its small, simple and does the job well unlike Nero which is massively bloated now days. It also boasts great support for all the Windows OS’s and many different burners including HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. There is also the option to download a portable version of ImgBurn which makes it handy for backup work on a clients PC before a format.
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A Windows 7 website has been launched by Microsoft. According to the article at Information Week, the site hosted videos which features Microsoft programmers and engineers.

“IT professionals can listen as our engineers discuss why certain product decisions and feature trade-offs were made in Windows 7,” wrote Brandon LeBlanc of Microsoft on Monday.

The website is TalkingAboutWindows.com and it also has a Q & A section by the engineers of Windows 7.

“A great line-up of videos with the people behind Windows 7 can be found at Talking About Windows with more on the way,” he added.

Source: Information Week

ATI and Nvidia graphic processing units will speed both Apple’s Snow Leopard and Microsoft Windows 7 according to the product manager of Nvidia’s Tesla products.

He said, “…if your laptop has an Nvidia GPU or ATI (AMD) GPU, it will run the operating system faster because the operating system will essentially see two processors in the system. For the first time, the operating system is going to see the GPU both as a graphics chip and as a compute engine. Additionally, consumers using Windows 7 will see the GPU as a CPU in Task Manager.”

Source: Tom’s Hardware

The following is a paid review. However, it completely of my own opinion and is not influenced by being paid.

PaidSupport.com is a web platform that connects computer experts like us to customers who are in need of phone support. As a technician, you can supplement your existing income by signing up and listing the areas you specialize in like computer repair, hardware, software, wireless and PDAs. You then set the hours you are available to receive a call and then enter your real phone number. PaidSupport.com will give you a 800 number with an extension so people can call you directly. The PaidSupport.com website will list your details and will show you as available for help if its between the hours you set. If the customer calls while you are unavailable or outside your set hours, they have the option to schedule a future appointment with you.
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All netbooks will be capable on running Windows 7.

A Microsoft spokesperson told betanews.com that, “Any SKU of Windows 7 will be able to run on netbooks, which means that the hardware limitations of a netbook won’t affect the functionality of Windows 7 regardless of SKU. With Windows 7, Microsoft is on track to have a smaller OS footprint, an improved user interface that should allow for faster boot-up and shut-down times, improved power management for enhanced battery life, enhanced media capabilities and increased reliability, stability and security.”

The spokesperson also responded on the issue of the Windows 7 Starter edition that it limits users to opening only three programs at a time. He  says that this issue and other specific limitation should not be perceived as encumbered or “defeated”.

Source: Betanews.com

There is going to be an XP mode in Microsoft’s next operating system according to various websites. The XP mode will only be available to Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Windows 7.

The way the it works is that XP will run under a virtual processor and applications designed for Windows XP can run without booting a virtual machine.

The article at CrunchGear notes that the applications that users installed under XP will show up in the Windows 7 start menu.

Two screenshots are included in CrunchGear. The first is about the Windows Virtual PC. The other one shows the start menu which shows the XP applications that are installed.

Source: CrunchGear

It is the dream of many computer technicians is to start their own computer repair business. This dream is a great one to go for but before starting a business, you will need to face the realities of the businesses startup costs. In this article I will cover some of the startup costs one can expect.
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There is spam campaign about Amazon according to a blog entry at Sophos.

The message reads;
Your transaction has been processed by WorldPay, on behalf of Amazon Inc.
The invoice file is attached to this message.
This is not a tax receipt.
We processed your payment.
Amazon Inc has received your order,
and will inform you about delivery.
Sincerely,
Amazon Team

The attachment is a malware and it is detected as Mal/EncPk-HZ. The author of the article notes that regular shoppers of the online store will recognise that the email does not look the same as those that are sent by the ‘Amazon Team’.

Source: Sophos

Various websites have reported that Windows 7 has an ‘unfixable’ exploit and that two researchers have found it. They claimed that they can access to any Windows 7 computer undetected by using a program called VBootkit 2.0 which is 3 kb in size.

It gives the hacker the ability to do anything he or she wants on an exploited computer.

Virus scanners will struggle to detect it according to the article at Gizmondo. The article also notes that the program can’t be installed remotely.

Source: Gizmondo

Details are released for the next Windows operating system, Windows 7. According to the article at Tom’s Hardware, the five components are Multiple Active Firewall Policies, DirectAccess, BranchCache, BitLocker To Go, and AppLocker.

“We’re really excited about Windows 7’s new security features. This next OS is built upon the proven security technologies in Windows Vista and provides a fundamentally secure computing platform. We not only utilized enhanced Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) process during planning, development and testing but we also have worked to make the security features more discoverable, usable and manageable,” said Paul Cooke of Microsoft.

Source: Tom’s Hardware