The last couple of weeks since the launch of Windows 7 has seen the release of some great tools, based on some great ideas, for Windows 7.  Lots of these will no doubt make the tips boxes of future editions of my book but why wait?  Here’s a quick roundup:

Paint.net has been around for a while, but it’s just entered version 3.5 final and it now looks lickably good!  This application is my image editing and drawing tool of choice, most of the graphics here have been created or tidied with it and frankly folks it’s the best image editor you can get for this price.  Free!  Seriously this is competition for Photoshop and that’s saying quite a lot!  Read the blog and get the latest version.

GMail backup a serious recommendation here folks, if you are 100% reliant on your web based email, make a backup!  My book explains a load of ways to do it, but this is new and worth a mention if you’re a Gmail user.  This tool will take a local copy to your PC of everthing in your Gmail account, great if something odd should happen to your account!  Get Gmail Backup here.

Windows Live SkyDrive gives you 25gb of free storage in the cloud but SkyDrive Explorer adds extra functionality by making it seem like the drive is local to your PC.  That makes it possible to do a whole load more with it, the fantastic application is also free and available here.

Close All Windows is a simple appication that does what it says on the tin.  One click and all your open apps close down, which can be really handy if you’ve got loads running but need to get out of them all in a hurry.  In Winodws 7 pin the shortcut to the start menu for fastest results.  Download from here.

[I’ve found and tried these tools over the past week from a variety of sources including various people on Twitter, AddictiveTips and Ghacks]

Last week I blogged about a new project I found on codeplex called WTVWatcher that delivers a fantastically simple process for decommercialising TV shows recorded in Windows Media Center with Windows 7.  Well a weeks rolled on and thanks in tiny part to encouragement from readers of this blog Paul has updated the tool, actually twice.  The new version includes a GUI rather than a console, runs in the notification area (which is sweet) and the GUI pops things up like toast.

I’m referring to this as the Toast with (gooey) honey version.  It’s nice, I think you’ll like it too.

At the top of this post is said GUI with toasts, it’s really clear to see what’s happening and Paul’s lost none of the simplicity.  The tools easier to work with now too.  There’s a wrench icon that lets you set the location of your recorded TV, that WTV Watcher will watch, and that’s about all there is to it.

The extra new feature is also handy, there’s now an installer with auto update.

So here are the new steps to getting it working, all 5 steps

1. Install the tool from here
2. Set your Recorded TV folder by clicking the wrench
3. Move the desktop shortcut to your Start > All Programs > Startup folder
4. Install Lifextender
5. Configure Lifextender as per the next image.

It’s possible to do the conversion your network and if you’ve got a fast network it can be quicker if your main Media Center isn’t a massive multi core system

A couple of days ago I posted Microsoft’s video on listening to their customers and it got me thinking…so I created this.

In this short (and very simple) video I take you through how to fire some music about your home using the Play To features of Windows 7.  I’m expecting to make this a short series so I hope you enjoy this one and look forward to the next.

There’s a whole lot of antivirus products out there, but the one I’m recommending right now is Microsoft Security Essentials.  I’m really, really pleased that it’s just won the award on the left too.

Along with my other current favourite, Symantec, it was one of three products to do exceptionally well however the other products that got the top award aren’t free.

I’m using Microsoft Security Essentials across my kit right now and I love it, for all these reasons here and this is how to check files super quickly.  It’s time for the other free antivirus vendors to step up!

I think I’ve found something too good to be true.  I was just looking about on codeplex and came across this project WTVWatcher by Paul Bruce.  It almost has me shaking in my seat for it’s simplicity and ease of use.

What Paul’s done is created a little tool that requires no installation (but we will do a little bit to make it even easier!) that watches your recorded TV folder for new WTV files, when it spots one it uses Windows 7’s built in WTV to DVRMS conversion (which is rapid) to convert the program to DVR-MS.  Very cool, nothing sexy, but brilliantly useful.

Okay, Okay, I know there are people screaming, but DVRMSToolbox does that and ShowAnalyzer can remove commercials without the need to convert them.  Personally I don’t get on with the former, I know it’s really well loved and super tool and if you want all singing all dancing its the best choice.  I however struggle with it, I’m simple like that.  Second ShowAnalyzer costs money, which again is well deserved because it’s an excellent application and lots of work’s gone into it, but not everyone can convince the Mrs that it’s required.

So here we go, get rid of commercials in Windows 7 recorded TV…

1. Get the tool from the project on Codeplex
2. Unzip it to your Recorded TV folder
3. Run WTVWatcherConsole.exe then copy it to the Startup group on the Start Menu
4. Download and install Lifextender (it’s a dead project, but still my favourite for this stuff)
5. Once Lifextender has started up (it’ll be a blue orb in the notification area) right click the orb and select Options… the tick Automated Library Scanning and Automatically scan when new files are detected, click save and your done.  Kick things off right away though by starting WTVWatcherConsole.exe

That really is it, files converted and commercials removed with no hassle.  Oh and it’s all free!  Oh yeah, and thanks to superbar goodness and using the built in converter you get a progress bar for conversions!

I love this little application already and I’ve only been using it for a couple of minutes!  There are tons of desktop gadgets for viewing resource use but if you’re like the majority of people you’ll keep at least one window maximized all the time then it’s hard to see your desktop.  Yeah sure you can Aero peak with the button in the bottom right of the screen or + space but being able see it on the task bar would be cool wouldn’t it?

Well now you can thanks to codeplex project Taskbar Meters.  Download and extract the Zip and run TaskbarCpuMeter.exe or TaskbarMemoryMeter.exe depending on which you want to watch and this is what you’ll get  a nice clean, always available view of usage.  Very handy.

Even better it’s possible to customize the thresholds for it going yellow and red for high and scary-high CPU and memory usage!  This app also has jump list access to Resource Monitor (for serious resource watching) and to Task Manager.

Task manager can also be used for something like this.  Once it’s running it’ll show a CPU chart in the notification area, the fastest way to start Task manager is with SHIFT + CTRL + ESC

[via Download Squad]

Through the course of my day job and having conversations with people about Windows 7 I was asked a question:

What’s the best thing in Windows 7 for an IT Pro

That was actually a really simple question to answer.  I’m all about customer focus in my day job.  Making their life easier is the thing that gets me going and when we can’t do that we have to workout what the problem is for them as quickly as possible.  That’s why I love the Problem Steps Recorder.

The Problem steps recorder is a great tool that lets anyone capture what they’re doing and package it as a file that can be replayed by any else, they don’t even have to be using Windows 7.  That means that an IT Pro can then take that, see exactly what’s causing the problem and provide a solution. 

The other alternative is often to take a remote control session.  That’s an interactive process though and it’s just not that convenient for the person with the problem.

Start the tool by typing problem steps into the Start menu search, and record the steps to recreate the problem.  It’s genius that this tools there, and it’ll make IT Pros everywhere very happy when they start to support Windows 7.

If of course you’re reading this thinking “I’m not an IT Pro, why do I care, well you’ll probably get use out of it helping your friends and family.  My book covers using the tool and helping people in more depth.