Make My Technology Simple

Windows 7 and the Drivers that you Loved

Don’t necessarily work together any more. Just like the days of old, when a new version of Windows came out, the hardware industry had to play catchup.

Well, welcome Windows 7 on the scene and the story is the same. I have been working on installing a new Gateway PC into a professionals home network and it wasn’t any surprise that their old Dell wireless external adapter didn’t work with the new system. I went out and bought a few different kinds of adapter from Linksys, a USB stick adapter, a range booster and an internal card.

First I tried to install the internal card, but discovered that because the PC was a space saving slim line model, the full height card would not fit. OK let’s try the USB stick. Installed the accompanying software and barely got a signal from the Linksys router. OK remove the USB stick and try to get the range expander to work. After all the router is in the basement and the PC is in the 1st floor living room. BTW, the old PC didn’t have any problems getting a signal with this setup.

Spent way too much time trying to get a good signal, called Cablevision to troubleshoot. We got a great signal to the modem. I even put a laptop and connected it to the router via network cable. Worked great. So the problem is either the wireless signal or the adapter.

After much research I came upon a FAQ on Microsoft’s website that said that not all hardware would work yet with Windows 7. You would think that a company as big as Linksys would be one of the first to get the new drivers out, right?

Well not so. I now have to find another brand of adapter that is Windows 7 compliant and test it out. So much for keeping everything Linksys.

Word to the wise, Make sure that the box says Windows 7 compliant! It will save a lot of frustration on your part. For me it is too late!

Who is your Person of the Year?

With only 30 days left in 2009, our attention will be drawn to the Person of the Year lists that every channel, whether network or cable, whether TV or radio will be boasting.

Who is yours? I have always been enamored by the people that do things under the radar. The ones that don’t get the spotlight. Who do what they do because they have the passion.

Do you know of anyone like this?

Windows 7 Tips > Changing the Way a Program Starts

A cool new feature of Windows 7 (at least in this blogger’s mind) is a new way of configuring how a program starts.

Click on the Start Button, then left click the program that you want to work with. From the new resulting drop down menu you will see the following choices amongst others:

Pin to Task Bar
Pin to Start Menu

I like to keep my desktop as free of icons as possible, so I like to put my most used programs on the Task Bar.

To ‘Pin’ anything to the Task Bar, you must first make sure that it is ‘unlocked’. To do this, right click the task bar and make sure that the task bar is ‘unlocked’. If it says ‘task bar locked’, then left click it once and it was become unlocked.

By clicking ‘Pin to Task Bar’ the application sends a copy of itself to the Task Bar. Now instead of clicking Start>All programs>Program folder>program you can just single click the icon on the task bar.

If you have any questions about Windows 7, or any technology questions, please feel free to post it here and I will do the best I can to answer it.

A great Friday the 13th!

I attended the ExecuLeaders breakfast #39 this morning at Carlyle on the Green at the Bethpage State Park. Rich Kruse put together another great event. Met some very interesting people at the table that I facilitated at. Monique Zorn from Zorn’s Catering, James Fleming from First New YorkTitle Agency, Harry Jacobs of DJJ Technologies were just a few of the business owners that I spoke with. I look forward to networking with them further to see if we can help each other out with any leads or ideas.

Another smiling face at the breakfast was my friend and salesperson for the NY Islanders, Hank Jaroslawski. He is my main contact for all things Islanders. Helped me to find just the right jerseys for me and my daughter.

After the breakfast, I headed over to Charlie Razenson’s Unique Impressions shop to talk with him about getting some monogrammed shirts for my business and then as always catching up on the Islanders with him. Charlie is very involved with the Islanders and does a lot of work for them, so he is constantly talking with them, attends a ton of events, some as a member of the Islanders Business Club, of which I became a member of a few months ago. He was very gracious in giving me an autographed photo of one of my Islander favorites, Tim Jackman #28. That man gets on the ice and things happened!

Then after that I was back at the office, adding the people I met at the breakfast to my database and getting ready to contact them to set up appointments for next week.

Friday the 13th was a good day for this ‘Guy’. Hope it was for you too!

Networking Groups: Small Is Good

I went to a small free networking event at Panera Bread on Route 347 in Hauppauge. I met up with about 7 other business owners getting to know one another. Everyone drinking coffee. I understand that there are 4 or 5 of these events going on between Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Some bigger than others, all introducing people to each other, learning what each does and hopefully forming alliances along the way.

There is something to be said about this kind of forum. It definitely fills a void during these economic times.

(I actually picked up two key leads for work and am talking with a 3rd about using his services to promote my business.

I think the key thing is that we get out there, meet new people and see if we can get each other more contacts and perhaps work.

“People Do Business With People They Know.” Get to know someone new today and maybe do some business with them tomorrow!