Traffic Circle 2.0

My tenth book, Unleashing Microsoft Windows Vista Media Center, has just been published by Que.

It’s a complete guide to the Windows Media Center feature in Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions. Special features include:

- How to connect standard and HDTVs and home theater systems to your PC

- How to watch and record TV and movies

- How to find your favorite actors, directors, and genres

- How to use WMC to help you with fantasy sports

- How to play both casual and high-performance 3D games from your WMC desktop

- How to access media on other PCs through WMC

- How to use an Xbox 360 as a Windows Media Extender

- How to use Windows Media Center, Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Live Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker to make WMC even more powerful

- Where to find the best third-party programs that make WMC even more powerful

- How to watch TV on your WMC PC, even if you don’t have a TV tuner

Hear my interview with Plugged In’s Justin Williams here. Read the Amazon.com reviews here.

Evansville Courier tech columnist and MacOS developer Justin Williams interviewed me for his weekly Plugged In radio show on WNIN-FM88, and you can listen to Episode 3 here. You’ll want to hear the entire show, but if you’re in a hurry, my segment starts at 18:17 into the program.

I’ll be appearing on the show again later this year to introduce my newest book Unleashing Microsoft Windows Vista Media Center after it hits bookstores in November. 

Many thanks to Justin and to WNIN-FM88 for the opportunity.

My “how-to” article on how to use the cool new vLite utility to create a lean, mean, customized, full-auto-install Vista SP1 installation can be found in the May 2008 issue of Maximum PC, now on newsstands. Enjoy!

Get a taste of what vLite can do from my original blog posting, which inspired the article.

It’s been a busy few days for me since Windows Vista Service Pack 1 was released. I’ve covered the following topics on my MaximumPC.com and InformIT.com (scroll down) blogs:

• How to get ready for Vista SP1, both for Vista users and for Windows XP users ready to upgrade.
• How to get Vista SP1  and other vital support files via the Windows Download Center.
• How to decide which way to get Vista SP1 (Windows Update or Windows Download Center).
• What to do if Windows Update doesn’t provide Vista SP1 .
• A comprehensive look at the features, benefits, and changes in Vista SP1, complete with plenty of background information.

Dive in and enjoy!

Thanks to the fine men and women of the Southwest Indiana PC Users Group, I’ll be talking about using styles and templates to make your documents easier to edit and better looking. Whether you use MS Word, OpenOffice, or WordPerfect to write your letters, grants, reports, or shopping lists, you’ll want to attend the meeting. Guests are welcome, and memberships are encouraged!

See you this Sunday, February 17, at 2PM at

Evansville Central Library’s Browning Events Room B

 200 SE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
Evansville, IN 47713

I’ll be signing copies of my latest book, Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed: an Insider’s Guide to Supercharging Windows Vista, and I’ll have copies of this book and others available at attractive prices. I hope to see you there!

The creator of nLite, which can be used to customize and shrink a Windows XP installation image, is at it again. This time, Vista gets the treatment with the new vLite utility. I take it for a spin here.

One user reported it was the only way he could install the 64-bit version of Vista to his nVidia 680i-based system. It’s an impressive utility!

Hardware Tip of the Day 

When you add more memory to your notebook computer, make sure you take into account the cut that integrated video takes from system memory.

Windows Tip of the Day

Different folders have different default views, but you can customize them to make them work the way you prefer.

I’ve just completed my “30 Hardware and Windows Tips in 30 Days” series at InformIT.com, the umbrella website for Que Publishing, Peachpit, and other book imprints in the Pearson Education family.

Most of these tips are self-contained, but a few of them are ‘to-be-continued’ two-parters. I’ll be featuring a hardware and a Windows tip each day over the next couple of weeks.

Hardware Tip of the Day

Have problems with slow writing speeds with some types of DVD or CD media? Poor system stability? Problems with your CD or DVD drive recognizing new types of media? The solution is simple: get a firmware upgrade for your DVD drive.

Windows Tip of the Day

Tired of Windows Update rebooting your system at the worst possible times? Don’t like removing updates you never asked for and never wanted anyway? Put yourself in charge of Windows Update (XP, Vista).

Tune in tomorrow for another hardware and another Windows tip.

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Speaking of Windows, you can now preview my forthcoming book Unleashing Microsoft Windows Vista Media Center. It’s available as a Rough Cut from the InformIT website. A Rough Cut is an unfinished version of the book that gives you an opportunity to see how the book is progressing. You can preview the book online or via PDF or preorder the book – all at a significant savings off the cover price.

The home networking chapter from my book Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed: an Insider’s Guide to Supercharging Windows Vista is now available online.

Windows Vista’s networking features are among the biggest changes compared to Windows XP, and this chapter will help you understand how to master new features like the Network Center, network mapping, setup and management of wireless networks, helping Windows XP and Windows Vista coexist on a single network, and network troubleshooting. Whether you’re already using Windows Vista or planning to take a look at it this year, it’s a must-read.

Q: What’s even better than Windows Vista SP1 RC?

A: Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh, of course!

Just days after being released to beta testers, Microsoft has now rolled out an improved version of Windows Vista SP1 RC, the Refresh version. Learn how to get it (available only via Windows Update) as easily as possible here.