Well not only did they fail to see why the 64 bit player should be the default, they also locked the user’s ability to switch the default player.  They locked the registry keys that the old Vista command altered.  Their excuse for this is that it “adds security” so that malicious code cannot modify the WMP play/enqueue commands.  Fine, I can buy that, but then alter the tool so that it can change those keys.  Well apparently this wasn’t on the timetable, and I decided to find a way around this, because after all, who wants to have to install TWO sets of codecs to watch stuff in Media Player (x86 player used by default) and also watch stuff in Media Center (which is x64).

So for those of you who recognize that the 64 bit media player SHOULD be the default in Windows 7, I have made a script with the help of Kristan Kenney that automates the entire process for you.  It unlocks the necessary registry keys, and then uses the old vista command to make the switch.  We have also included a script that allows you to switch back to the 32 bit player if you choose to do so.

So Microsoft, specifically the WMP team, you guys didn’t want to fix it, so we did it for you.  Now users can have some consistency in their 64 bit user experience.

NOTE: After changing the default Media Player to x64, remove the media player shortcut from the taskbar, start media player via the start menu and then re-pin it.  If you don’t do this you will see 2 WMP icons on your taskbar.

If anyone has any other questions or comments, either post in the comments section or contact me privately and I will answer them.

Download: Windows Media Player x64 Switch Script

So firstly I should answer the million dollar question that some of you may have.  What is a VHD?  Well to put it simply, a VHD is the image file format used by Microsoft VirtualPC and Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization technologies.  Some of these builds leak in these forms because internally Microsoft does a lot of their staging/testing in Hyper-V environments.  One cool thing to note, is that these images are already staged, so all we have to do is capture the contents to a WIM file.

What you will need to follow this guide:

• Windows 7 Ultimate (we’re using the built in VHD mount utility)
• Windows 7 AIK RC
• UltraISO (Or another Utility to edit ISO Files)
• Windows 7 ISO (Any build 7100 or newer will work)

So, the first thing you need to do is obviously make sure you have your VHD downloaded to the desired location. Once you have done that, do the following:

1. Go to start and type compmgmt.msc and press enter.
2. Click on “Disk Management”
3. Go to the Action Menu and click “Attach VHD”
4. Browse to the location of your VHD, select it and click OK.
5. It will install a drive to your system, take note of the drive letter, you will need this later.
6. Install the Windows AIK and take note of the installation path.
7. Now start an instance of command prompt as administrator.
8. Navigate to X:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86 or X:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64 depending on your architecture. (X being the drive you installed the AIK to)
9. now type imagex.exe /compress maximum /flags “Ultimate” /capture L: D:\install.wim “Windows 7 Ultimate”
10. Let that process run (should take a few minutes) and you will have your WIM.

Now we need to put this shiny new WIM into an ISO.  For this do the following:

1. Open your ISO in UltraISO (make sure your ISO is the same architecture as what you downloaded)
2. navigate to the sources folder and delete install.wim
3. Drag your new install.wim into the sources folder.
4. Save the ISO with a new name.
5. Burn the ISO and install.

And that’s it, using the above method you can quickly convert a VHD into a WIM and insert it into an ISO and install it like any normal build of Windows.  The above can be accomplished in under 10 minutes, so it’s a pretty quick process as well.

Windows 7 is on a diet - Upon my initial boot, the first thing I noticed was that this build was only using about 30 processes, which is an improvement as 6801 has approximately 43 processes running without anything open or installed. This is definitely good news for those of you on older systems or netbooks.

Aero Peek - One of the goodies that was demoed at PDC yet was late to be uncovered in 6801 is Aero Peek. This nifty feature allows you to literally take a quick look at open windows by hovering over their taskbar preview. Then, other currently open windows will be temporarily “hidden”, and the window you have selected will be brought into view, as seen in Figure 01. You can also take a peek at the desktop by hovering over the button all the way to the right of the superbar. This feature comes naturally with the build, meaning that it doesn’t need any hacks in order to be accessed.

Figure 01 (click to enlarge)

GUI Changes  - This build is also filled with several minor UI changes. When hovering over a program in the superbar, the design is slightly different than what we saw in 6801. Along with that, there are also a few new icons. The Action Center (Solution Center in 6801) sports a new icon, along with Libraries, Windows Fax and Scan, and most of the Networking and Sharing center. Some of the new icons can be seen in Figures 2 and 3 below. Another GUI change is the Shut Down option in the start menu.

Figure 2 – (click to enlarge) Here are some of the new icons in 6956. From left to right: Libraries, Documents Library, Music Library, New Library (one that you create), Pictures Library, Video Library, Downloads Folder.

Figure 3 – New Action Center, Networking and Sound icons can be seen on the Superbar.

Windows Explorer Changes - Along with the general UI, Windows Explorer also has a few changes. There is now a new “Include in library” button, making life easier for everyone. When viewing a library, it also is more simplistic. There is no grey area anymore where the name of the library is.

Figure 4 – (click to enlarge) Easily integrate any folder that you encounter while browsing your files in a library; or add it in an all new library that you can create on the spot wherever you are in explorer.

Figure 5 – (click to enlarge) No grey in circled area.
Small Redefined - When you check the “Use small icons” box in the Taskbar Properties, it shrinks your taskbar down to an impractical size, making this more of a quirk than anything else in my opinion.

Figure 6 – (click to enlarge) No, your eyesight hasn’t been damaged or impacted in any way; its just the size of the icons.

New Windows Media Center Intro - When firing up Windows Media Center for the first time, you will now be greeted with a new “splash screen” which showcases the many features of Windows Media Center with a picture and a brief description. You can scroll from item to item using your mouse scrollwheel, keyboard, by clicking on each one (this brings the item next to it closer), or of course with your remote.

Figure 7 – (click to enlarge) First page. You can see both the “Internet TV” and “Television” options in the background. In the screenshot tour, we will go right and begin at “Television.

Figure 8 (click to enlarge)

Figure 9 (click to enlarge)

Figure 10 (click to enlarge)

Figure 11 (click to enlarge)

Figure 12 (click to enlarge)

Figure 13 – (click to enlarge) And… we’re back to Internet TV.
The Internet Games work! - If you’re an, ahem, diehard gamer, I’m sure you most likely missed Internet Backgammon, Internet Checkers, and Internet Spades which never survived to see the light of day in Vista. They have however made a comeback in Windows 7 Build 6801, but in that build they didn’t work. Now, they do work; if you can find more players. While I wasn’t patient enough to see what Internet Backgammon and Internet Spades looked like, I managed to get a peek at Internet Checkers, as seen in Figure 14.

Figure 14 – (click to enlarge) Internet Checkers with its fancy new look.

Now that we have covered most of the new stuff in Build 6956, lets move on to the guide.

Remove the Intrusive UAC Dialog Box - One of the first things that you may notice in this build is the return of the intrusive UAC Dialog Box; yeah, that’s right, the one that completely covers everything in a black blanket except for the UAC window. No need to panic however, as there is an easy fix to this. In this build, the level of protection that UAC provides is at default 1 level higher than that in 6801. So, in order to change this simply go to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Action Center, and to the left where there are links, there should be one to adjust UAC settings. From there, simply turn it down a notch as seen in Figure 15.

Figure 15 – (click to enlarge) Using the slider bar, simply turn it down a notch and you can say goodbye to UAC being intrusive.

Removing the Recycle Bin from your desktop - In and prior to 6801, you could simply right-click on the Recycle Bin, click on “Remove from desktop” and voila, it’s gone. In 6956, it’s a little different. In order to remove the Recycle Bin from your desktop, right click the desktop, click on “Personalize”, and, to the left of the personalization window there should be links. From there, click on “Change Desktop Icons”. As you can see in Figure 16, the Recycle Bin is checked. Uncheck it, and click OK.

Figure 16

Major App Compat Layer Bug – In this build, the entire application compatibility subsystem is broken.  If you try to run anything in compatibility mode, it will crash instantly with various error codes depending on what compatibility mode you were trying.  Judging by other builds in the same range as this, I’m not sure this is a bug with the build itself, but rather a symptom of the EXTREMELY poor job the leakers did with the vhd imaging process.

Anyway, that’s pretty much it, a little review and a few simple tips.  I would seriously recommend anyone that wants to use Windows 7 as their main OS to stick with 6801 if you’re using x86, and if you’re using x64, give 6936 a shot.  I will be doing some write-ups for that build in greater detail over the next few days.

This led us to do something that caused us to discover how it works internally.  We set our machine names and criteria to match the Microsoft criteria the build checks for and everything turned on, including Aero Peek.  After a little investigating, Rafael found code references to checks pointing to specific registry keys that when set to a certain value, will turn on the feature associated with said key.  So we dug up all the ID’s, compiled them together, set the proper attribute value, and voila, blue badge, the easy way.

So just to outline, here are the improvements in this revision of the Blue Badge tool:

• Completely Build Independent: Will work on any build of Windows 7 that contains protected features.  This version of the tool works perfectly on build 6801 as well as 6936.
• No Patching of System Files: This revision works its magic through the registry, no system files are altered in any way.
• Blue Badge on a Per-User Basis: since this tool applies the feature ID’s under HKCU, you can patch each account at your own discretion and compare.  So you can have users with all the features, and others without.
• Enables Aero Peek on 6801: After using this revision of the tool, users of build 6801 will be able to enjoy fully functioning aero peek on their machines.

That pretty much wraps it up, look below for download links for the tool as well as a link to Rafael’s post about the new tool (where he even includes a new flowchart).

Download: Revision 3 for x86 and x64

View: Rafael’s Post

Fortunately we can remove this link pretty easily.  It just involves a simple registry edit.  For the sake of easiness I will post the reg code below, all you have to do is copy/paste it into notepad and save it as feedback.reg.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"FeedbackToolEnabled"=dword:00000000

 

Merge the registry file, say yes to any UAC prompts or otherwise, log out and back in and enjoy your clean window frames!

1. Navigate to %windir%\system32\drivers
2. rename blbdrive.sys to blbdriveold.sys or something similar
3. Go into the device manager and right click the unknown device and click “Update Driver”.
4. You want to find the driver on your own, so select the bottom option.
5. At the screen, select the option shown in the screenshot:
   
6. Next, click the have disk option, and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\blbdrive.inf_amd64_neutral_f7447a670ab06496 (for x64, x86 name should be similar).  Select the File as Volume driver and click next.
7. You will be presented with a prompt warning that the device may not be compatible.  Ignore the warning and click yes.
8. The device will install.  The system tray may report that installation failed, but that is not the case.  Reboot when asked and enjoy a clean device manager!

NOTE: Everything you need to know to make this work is in the following guide, if yours isn’t working, you did something wrong, so read it over again because you probably missed a step.

What you will need:

• Latest iTunes x64 release from apple.com
• Installed copy of iTunes on a Vista x64 system available to you
• Basic knowledge of installing drivers in Windows

Ok, so first off, you obviously need to install iTunes.  Install it as you normally would and let it do it’s thing.  Once you have done that, you will notice the following error if you try to start iTunes with your iPod Touch plugged in:

The reason this happens is because the iTunes installer does not install the Mobile Device Support component which is necessary for the iPod Touch to work correctly.  To remedy this issue do the following:

1. Copy the “Mobile Device Support” directory from your Vista system to the same location on your 7 system (Located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Apple\).
2. Once you have done that, we need to merge the appropriate registry entries so the services actually work.  Merge THIS registry file and allow all UAC prompts.
3. Once that is done, now we need to move on to the hardest part of the whole process.  Installing the correct driver for the iPod Touch.  Windows 7 incorrectly sees the device as a digital camera, so we need to fix this manually.  To do this head into the device manager and select the iPod (see screenshots below).

   

   Once you have done that, right click and go to “Update Driver”.  You will now see this:

   

   Select “Browse my computer for driver software”.  Now you should see this:

   

   Click the button highlighted (hint: it’s the Let me pick… Button).

   When the prompt comes up, click have disk and navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\Drivers\

   After doing that click OK and you should see this:

   

   Click Next and the driver will install.

   Finally, reboot your computer to allow the Mobile device service to start, and plug in your iPod Touch and fire up iTunes.  Your device should now work exactly as it should.  Enjoy!

 With that said, I should also mention that I posted a new guide in that section yesterday that outlines how to get the search link back in the start menu in Vista SP1.

Vista SP1 Re-Add Search Guide

As many of you know, his blog at Windows-Now, where he posted this guide is now gone (might have something to do with the fact that he went over to the dark side *cough* MAC USER *cough*).  I have found a copy of the guide and have posted it on this site in the interest of preserving such a great piece of work.  So without further ado, I give you the Windows Vista Power Guide:

Windows Vista Power Guide by Kristan Kenney

1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\luafv”
3. Double click the “start” string value, and set it to 4.
4. Reboot and see the improvement.

So there you have it.  Test it and see how it works for you, of course your results may vary but it should render an improvement for the majority.  Any questions or comments, well don’t be afraid to use the comments feature.  I promise I won’t bite……too hard.