Hardware and Sound

Tutorials and how-to guides about managing hardware and sound devices in Windows 7 and Windows 8

How to Set A Custom Icon & Label For Removable Drives in Windows 7 & 8

Geek or not, there is a time when you become bored with the standard icon used by your USB memory stick or your external hard disk drive. Each time you plug it into a new computer, the same boring icon and name are displayed? What about changing them to something fun and cool? What about using a Mario inspired name and icon? It is entirely possible and this tutorial will show how it is done.

Screen Resolution? Aspect Ratio? What do 720p, 1080i & 1080p Mean?

In days gone by, screen resolution (also called display resolution) wasn’t much of an issue. Windows came with a few preset options, and to get higher resolution or more colors (or both) you would install a driver for your video card. As time went on, you could choose better video cards and better monitors as well. Today we have lots of options when it comes to displays, their quality and the supported resolutions. In this article I would like to take you through a bit of history and explain all the important concepts.

Want to Stop Using the Safely Remove Hardware Notification Icon?

Do you want to know how to configure Windows so that you don’t have to use the Safely Remove Hardware notification icon, to unplug external USB devices such as flash memory sticks or hard disk drives? Is it safe to disable it and what is the performance impact of this choice? The answers to all these questions are covered in this article.

How to Set Up a Digital Photo Editing Environment in Windows

As film has given way to digital media, photographers have moved from the dark room to the computer. This transition has been going along for more than a decade and in that time professional photographers have been learning how to come up consistent and dramatic photos. Editing photos have become a much larger part of what a photographer does and, as a result, the pros have developed some best practices when it comes to setting up an environment that allows them to do their work easily, efficiently, and well. In this article I will try to share with you a few minimal best practices that you must do, to get yourself started in the right direction.

How to Tweak the Advanced Settings of a Power Plan in Windows 7

In previous articles we covered all the basic settings you can configure in a power plan. However, we barely scratched the surface of the subject, as Windows 7 (and Windows Vista) offers a lot of advanced configuration options, which can help get the best balance between performance and power saving. This article will cover all the important configuration items and help you customize power plans in detail.

Connecting Smartphones to a Windows 7 PC via Bluetooth Device Control

Bluetooth connections between computers and other devices are often tricky. The experience varies a lot depending on the Bluetooth chip on your computer, the drivers you installed for it and the device you are connecting via Bluetooth. For example, while most normal phones will connect to you computer as described in our previous tutorial, most modern smartphones will not connect that way. The connection is handled via a panel called Bluetooth Device Control which also ads functionality on top of the usual file transfer capabilities. This tutorial explains all the options found in Bluetooth Device Control, how to exchange files via Bluetooth and shares all the available configuration options

Why & How To Calibrate a Monitor in Windows 7

In the article How to Install a Color Profile, we covered installing the correct color profile for your monitor, so that it displays more realistic images. Windows 7 has also introduced a Calibrate color wizard that provides further help in configuring your monitor to display realistic colors. Let’s see how this wizard works and why you should use it.

Transfer Files via Bluetooth Between Phones & Windows 7 PCs

Bluetooth is a big topic on our website as lots of people are searching for a good guide on how to connect their computers with other Bluetooth devices such as mobile phones (smart or not), consoles (PSP) or music players. We had an old tutorial which, even though it aimed to be complete, it failed in helping many people. That’s why we decided to update it so that it works with the latest devices and also create a mini-series of articles which covers more Bluetooth devices and scenarios. This is the first article on Bluetooth connections, showing how to install and configure Bluetooth, pair your computer with a mobile phone, send or receive files and how to remove a Bluetooth pairing.

How to Install a Color Profile

One important element when working with images, video and even when playing games, is color. Every monitor model has a different color profile, rendering them slightly different to other models. It’s important to make sure that the colors your monitor displays are as close to reality as possible. That’s why, you should install your monitor’s correct color profile. In this tutorial I will explain what color profiles are, why they matter and how to install them. If I made you curios enough to learn more, don’t hesitate to read on.

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