Windows 8 Boot to desktop automatically

Unlike previous versions of Windows where you are taken to desktop at system startup, Windows 8welcomes you with Metro Start Screen, providing quick access to applications and system shortcuts, pinned programs, and so on. Apparently, Windows 8 doesn’t allow users to bring the classic Windows Startup behavior back. If you don’t want to click the Desktop metro tile every time after logging into Windows, here’s how to bypass Metro Start Screen and jump to desktop directly.

The first method of bypassing Start Screen at Windows 8 startup requires creating a Show Desktopshortcut in Startup folder. First off, open the Startup folder.

C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Now, select Shortcut option from New right-click context menu and enter the following Show Desktop shortcut command.

C:\Windows\explorer.exe shell:::{3080F90D-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257}

Once done, give shortcut an appropriate name and click Finish to end the wizard. Now all you need is to restart or log off your PC to check if it takes you directly to the desktop at startup. This shortcut method is a bit slow, as Windows runs scripts, shortcuts, applications etc., in Startup folder after loading all user and system components.


If you want to speed up the process, you can bind the Show Desktop script withWindows Logon event in order to run the script as soon as you log into Windows.
You could use the Group Local Policy editor to create a Logon script or Event Viewer to manually associate the Show Desktop script with Windows Logon event. To get started, copy the aforementioned Show Desktopcommand, open Search from Charms Bar (Win+C) and click Settings. Now enter event viewer in search bar to open View event logs dialog.

In Event Viewer, expand Windows Logs list from main navigation bar and then select Application. Now select Winlogon from Source column in main window, and right-click it to select Attach Task To This Event option.

In Create Basic Task Wizard, move to Action tab by clicking Next. The Action tab lets you start a program, send an email or display a message when the associated event occurs. Just select Start a program and hit Next. Now paste the Show Desktop command to add both main executable file (explorer.exe) and command argument.

Once done, close the wizard and open Task Scheduler from Search sidebar to verify the trigger and action associated with winlogon event. Now when Windows 8 starts up, it will take you directly to Desktopinstead of showing the Metro Start Screen.

Internet Explorer claws back a bit of market share at the expense of Chrome and Firefox

It may have been on a steady decline for years (albeit still the number one web browser all along), but it looks like Internet Explorer has now once again found itself on a bit of an upswing. According to the latest numbers from Net Applications, IE (all versions included) gained a full percentage point in the past month (following a similar gain in January) to sit at a market share of 53.83 percent, its highest level since September of 2011. That growth came largely at the expense of Firefox and Chrome, which each dropped less than a percentage point to 20.55 and 18.57 percent, respectively (Safari and Opera also saw slight declines). As others have noted, Net Applications did recently tweak its method for measuring browser usage, although it's not clear if that alone accounts for the shift in IE's favor -- perhaps the new ad campaign is working? You can find the full breakdown at the source link below.

April Fools 2012:Every (Tech-Related) Joke On The Internets

Happy April 1st, Everybody! It’s that very special time of year — the day when tech companies break out their clown shoes to make their annual attempt at being funny. As a public service, we’ve rounded up every tech-related April Fools joke that we could find, and we’ve even separated the wheat from the chaff — highlighting the stuff that’s actually funny. The LOLs, the FAILs, the ROFLs, the WTFs. Just for you. We’ll update this throughout the day, and if we missed any, feel free to link to them in the comments.

(By the way, if you’re one of those folks who finds April Fools super-stressful because you’re constantly being punked, rest assured that TechCrunch would never do that to you.)

THE BEST

Google Maps — “We’ve long neglected one of the most popular computer systems ever sold, and I’m proud to announce Google Maps 8-bit version as our first product for NES.” The best part? Google didn’t satisfy itself with a blog post and video. The team actually built the damn thing, and it’s kind of gorgeous.

Warby Parker — ”It doesn’t make sense to spend several hundred dollars on something your dog’s just going to eat.” So says Warby Parker co-founder Dave Gilboa, but that didn’t stop designer eyeglass startup from launching its own dog-focused spinoff, Warby Barker. In conclusion, OH MY GOD THAT PUG IS WEARING A MONOCLE.

Smashwords — The ebook distributor announced a new service for its writers, called Smashwords WEED. And even though WEED supposedly stands for “Writers Earn Extra Dispensation”, you can probably guess what it really means. Founder Mark Coker says, “Our mission at Smashwords is to make writers euphoric.”

Google Racing — You thought autonomous cars were cool? Well, you know what’s a lot cooler? Autonomous NASCARs. Google and NASCAR have teamed up for a partnership that takes Google’s self-driving car project to the next level. Check it out. Sergey is the new Jeff Gordon.

Hulu — Apparently, the “Voice of Hulu” had a rough recording day recently and somehow his outtakes snuck into some of the ad reels. (Link below.) Totally coincidental this happened on April Fools. Though these randomly pop into occasional ads today, Hulu assures us that you will indeed be able to continue viewing your regularly scheduled programming. Apparently he had too much Mountain Dew, or whatever it is that causes the green monster-ism that seems to beset this Will Arnett character.

http://www.hulu.com/embed/0iLRtcyGii3daEfX81qKYw

Twilio — Your doorbell’s ringing. That’s right, it’s a singing telegram API from Twilio. Oh yes, thanks to Twilio, now you can actually send telegraphs — hand-delivered by Taskrabbit volunteers. No, but seriously. Twilio really does have a functional, fully-documented API with specs for your telegramming needs. That actually works. And is actually sent through their REST API and plays nicely with any language that speaks basic HTTP. Or, does it?

THE PERFECTLY ADEQUATE [THE REST]

Airbnb — Airbnb likes to brag about all the different kinds of spaces that its users can rent. Now, for a rate of $4,112 a night, you can book a stay on the International Space Station.

Animoto — The video-creation service announced Animoto for Dogs, where your pet can “tell you how he really feels.” Features include bark-activated uploading and songs only dogs can hear. Bonus points for some incredibly cute dog photos.

The Daily Dot — Not content with covering the news, The Daily Dot decided to get into the social sharing business with a site called CorkMarket. “Think of Pinterest but better!”

Flickr — The Yahoo-owned photo-sharing site now gives your photos the weirdly grainy, black-and-white look of an Atkinson Dither camera. “We’re rolling this test out over the next 24 hours and then out as the default look in the coming weeks! Photography started in black and white, and we feel it’s time to take photo sharing back to its roots. Welcome to 2012, via the 1980s.”

Gmail Tap — It’s “a new input method designed for the future,” where every letter of the alphabet is represented by a series of dots and dashes. Yes, those Morse code skills you picked up as a kid are finally going to come in handy.

Google Mobile Ads — If you’re a business owner, it’s time to GoRo with Google. After all, “Every day, dozens of Americans use rotary phones, but 100% of these potential customers have experienced trouble loading a business’ website on their device.”

Virgin Holidays — The vacation site has come up with a new currency tied to the British Pound that will be accepted by Virgin resorts and partners. Naturally, it’s called the Branson.

Zimride — The car ride-sharing startup is bringing a similar approach to bikes. “In the past, when you thought of numerous people on one bike, you thought tandem. But we were not going to let the structure of a bike stop us!” So why not drop an extra rider on the front and back of existing bikes? It’s all about efficiency.

YouTube Collection — You’ve heard of YouTube. You know, the one with the cat videos? Well, here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for … say “hello” to The YouTube Collection. (Sorry, we should’ve told you to sit down first.) Yes, now you can experience web video like never before — on your DVD player! Watch a video on a mobile device, or on the Internet? What is this, 1997? That’s ridiculous.

Redfin — When it comes to buying a house, one thing you don’t want to do is take your time with the purchase. Or talk to anyone. Or make sure that the house exists. That’s why Redfin is offering 2-click home purchasing. So get clicking.

Hipmunk — Sure, flying on an airplane is cool, but as face-melting technology goes, we’re like totally over it. We also want some more destinations … no more of this “LAX –> JFK nonsense. Thanks to flight-booking service Hipmunk, now you can book yourself a spot on the Millennium Falcon. (Unfortunately, Chewy has already eaten all the peanuts.) They’re also offering options like hot air balloon, dog sled, rickshaw, African swallow, stagecoach, and other enjoyable ways to get to where you need to go.

Reddit Timeline — What would the front page of the Internet be without the ability to share and view news from past, present, AND future? Reddit has placed a time-agnostic bar on its home page to let you peruse “timereddits” from the late Cretaceous Period, and check out the latest cat videos 42,000 A.D. Reddit has always pushed the envelope, and now they’re taking you into a worm hole. Reddit blog post here.

Atlassian — Guys, forking code is so yesteryear. Thanks to Atlassian, the makers of software development and collaboration tools, and their bitbucket team, we now know the best — and safest — way to practice pair programming. By spooning. As the peeps at Atlassian put it, “Spooning is a new way to boost developer happiness, and a better way to encourage pull requests. Spoon first, fork later.”

Think Geek — The site for the smart masses has a few great products that you should definitely check out, among them programmable tattoos. Good luck figuring out which are April Fools jokes and which aren’t. ThinkGeek.

Google Search — Google Search just got really advanced. Like really, really advanced.

Here’s last year’s round up, too, just in case you can’t get enough April Fools jokes.

Facebook For iPad Gets Retina-Ready (finally)

Facebook rolled out an update this morning that adds support for the new iPad’s Retina display to its iPad application. According to the release notes in iTunes, users with the new iPad will now see “a crisp, high resolution interface.” The update (version 4.1.1) brings other bug fixes, too, as well as support for additional languages.

The Retina-ready version of the app was hinted at last week, when someone spotted a teaser for the upcoming app in the iTunes App Store’s “New and Noteworthy” section. The message displayed at the time read “Enhanced for the New iPad,” presumably meaning it would soon add support for Retina graphics.

As sure enough, that’s just what it did.

The update brings a number of other bug fixes, too, including the following:

• You can go offline in chat
• The right profile picture appears for everyone
• Your list of friends always includes all your friends
• In sets of photos, your name is displayed correctly
• Photos of people who like Facebook Pages load correctly
• Your friend-request notification only lights up if you have a request

In addition, Facebook users can now change their language to Czech, Danish, Greek, Indonesian, Malaysian, Norwegian (Bokmal), Portuguese (Portugal) or Thai in the updated app.

However, as much as new iPad owners may be excited to see one of their most heavily used apps updated with Retina support, perhaps a more highly anticipated feature (or rather feature request) is support for the Facebook Timeline. As the boldest revision to the Facebook user interface to arrive since the News Feed, the Timeline offers a new way to both display and consume Facebook content. And given the iPad’s screen size, it doesn’t seem like it would be a problem to migrate that interface to the iPad.

The New iPad (3) Unboxing Video

A Look at Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Video)

Configure Windows 8 for an SSD Boot drive with Users in different hard drive

1.

Firstly, install your SSD.

Clean format your PC, and install Windows 8

2.

When you get to the “sign into your PC screen” this is where things change.

DO NOT create/log into an MS account, click “Don’t want to sign in with a MS account”, this will make a local account.

3.

When you get to the “sign into your PC screen” this is where things change.

DO NOT create/log into an MS account, click “Don’t want to sign in with a MS account”, this will make a local account.

4.

DO NOT make a name you actual want, you will make this later.

For this, I shall create an account called PRO

5.

Assuming you already have your hard drives formatted and ready (if not format your secondary hard drive for the use of the “Users” folders.

In your Secondary hard drive, in our case the “Data” drive under “E”. We shall make 3 folders, “Program Files”,” Program Files (x86), and “Users”.

6.

These folders will be used as your default user profile; all documents will be saved in this file location.

Next reboot in safe mode, go into Control Panel, Administrative Tools, System Configuration, the under the tab boot, click Safe mode.

7.

Go into the Control Panel again, this time Folder Options, and click the “show hidden files and folders” then Ok

Go into your “C:/Users” and move the “Default” and “Public” Folders into your secondary hard drive with the newly created Users Folders.

NOTE: You will receive an error when doing this, just click “try again”, don’t worry about it.

8.

Now, Hold the WIN key + Q to open Search, search for “regedit”

Navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\ProfileList

9.

You will want to double click on “default”, “ProfilesDirectory”,”ProgramData” and “Public” and change all the values to the correct drive.

Instead of “%SystemDrive%\Users\Default”

Change to “E:\Users\Default”

Do this for all of them

NOTE: Change “E” to your drive letter which is the letter you picked beforehand, your secondary 

10.

Before you restart again, you can create a new user account, this is the account you want to keep, in this case “Joe”.

11.

Go back into your System Configuration in Control Panel so when you reboot, you go back into the normal Windows and not Safe Mode.

12.

In Windows 8, you automatically log into the “Pro” account, to logout.

Hold WIN key + Q to search, and search for CMD

In CMD, type “logoff” then click ENTER

13.

Now log into your main account, in this case “Joe”.

The trick is that Windows will create all user profile in the second drive as intended.

You can go back into the Users settings in Windows and delete the “Pro” account including files.

Your profile is ready to use and you can now install all your applications.

All your applications will be installed into your C Drive, if you don’t want this, you will need to “regedit” again to move all your default installation folder to your secondary drive.

Thanks for reading

Google TV coming to the UK for summer 2012

Until now, if you wanted to mark the date of Google TV’s European launch in your diary, the closest you’d get was 2012. But the vagaries of the launch have just been made a little less vague thanks to Sony.

Showing off its Google TV set-top media boxes in London, the company said it was slating release for this summer. That suggests that either Google TV will be landing on these here shores before that, or someone at Sony hasn’t got his planning hat on.

We’re pretty sure it’s the former, which means we’re mere months away from dialling our Twitter feeds (or Google+) into a live TV stream, getting Android apps blown up to 42 inches and pointing our smartphones at the TV to switch to the other side.

And with that, we’re off to throw a couple of aging PVRs on to the sacrificial fire in the hope of getting that launch brought towards springtime.

Who Cares about the iPad 3, What about the iPad 4?

It's no secret that Apple will soon be releasing the next upgrade of the iPad in a February/March timeframe.

Rumours are speculating of an iPad to include a retina/HD display which could reach to resolutions of 2,048x1,536 pixels, a LTE radio for connecting to the newer high speed mobile networks and a A6 Quad Core Processor.


All this to be rumoured to be announced around the February time (February 26th co-incides Steve Jobs' birthday) and to be released within a few weeks of the announcement. 

2012: The End of the WORLD

NEW Mac Mini 2011 Unboxing

Apple Planning to Introduce White iPod Touch Later This Year?

Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has in the past provided some accurate claims primarily regarding Apple's notebook lines, now reports to AppleInsider that Apple may be planning to introduce a white iPod touch later this year. The forthcoming fifth-generation iPod touch is said to otherwise be nearly identical to the current version.

Looking into the current third calendar quarter, Kuo said checks indicate Apple has placed orders for white iPod touch models that are expected to go into mass production sometime in late August, but he added that the build plans for those models reflect few, if any, distinguishable changes from the existing black models introduced last fall. 

"It means no spec update of iPod touch this year," he said.

Last month, references to a new iOS-based iPod known as "iPod4,2" were discovered in the iOS 5 beta, with Apple's use of that naming convention instead of "iPod5,1" leading to speculation that the next-generation iPod touch will indeed be a minor update. 


Lending credence to the claims of a forthcoming white iPod touch is the discovery of anew white front plate for the iPod touch obtained by parts and repair firm iFixyouri and reported to 9 to 5 Mac. The white part appears essentially identical to the black one used in the current iPod touch, and thus it can not be definitively stated whether the part is intended for a forthcoming model or was for a white version of the current generation that was ultimately scrapped before release.

New Mac Mini Benchmarks Show Significant Performance Gains

Just like early reports on the new MacBook Air released yesterday, the new Mac mini is also showing significant improvements in raw performance over its predecessor machines. Mac mini web hosting company Macminicolo.net has obtained both standard and server models of the new line and put them through some preliminary benchmarking using Geekbench. 


The testing reveals significant performance improvements for the Mac mini, with the entry-level 2.3 GHz Core i5 model showing an over 50% jump in Geekbench scoring over earlier generations and the 2.0 GHz Core i7 server model showing even more impressive results with its Geekbench score coming in at well over double that of its predecessor. 

As we noted on yesterday's MacBook Air report, Geekbench focuses on raw processor and memory performance, and real-world performance will also depend on other aspects of a system including graphics capabilities and data storage components. 


The report also offers a few unboxing photos and some shots of the initial setup process in which the Mac mini server model offers to migrate from an existing server setup. Also noted is the fact that the server edition includes iLife apps, as the server portion of Lion is simply an add-on for the basic OS X Lion. Under Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife apps were not included on server machines.

Apple Releases New Sandy Bridge Mac Minis and Thunderbolt Display

Apple today released an update to its Mac mini line, bringing Intel's Sandy Bridge platform to the diminutive desktop computer along with new support for the Thunderbolt connectivity standard being pushed by Apple and Intel. The new Mac mini lineup consists of two standard stock configurations alongside a "server" model. Notably, all models drop the optical disc in favor of an optional external SuperDrive. 

Standard models 
- 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5, 500 GB hard drive, 2 GB RAM: $599 
- 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 500 GB hard drive, 4 GB RAM: $799 

Server model 
- 2.0 GHz, dual 500 GB hard drives, 4 GB RAM: $999 

Additional build-to-order options include an upgrade to 8 GB of RAM, up to 750 GB hard drives, and an external SuperDrive. The high-end standard model and the server model can also be configured with one (standard) or two (server) 256 GB solid-state drives.

The new Mac mini delivers up to twice the processor and graphics performance of the previous generation in the same amazingly compact and efficient aluminum design.* Starting at just $599 (US), the new Mac mini is available for order today and in stores tomorrow. 

“Mac mini delivers the speed and expandability that makes it perfect for the desktop, living room or office,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With faster processors, more powerful graphics and Thunderbolt in an incredibly compact, aluminum design, the new Mac mini is more versatile than ever.”

All Mac mini models ship with OS X Lion pre-installed. 


Alongside the new Mac mini models, Apple also announced a new Apple Thunderbolt Display. Appearing nearly identical to the previous 27-inch LED Cinema Display, the primary upgrade to Apple's sole standalone display offering is Thunderbolt compatibility, enabling the device to be used within daisy-chained configurations of the new high-speed data and display connectivity standard. With the new standard, users can for the first time run two displays off of a single Thunderbolt port on Macs offering enough graphics horsepower to support the pixel load. 


The upgrade to Thunderbolt also allows Apple to turn the display into an "ultimate docking station", with the new display now offering a built-in FaceTime HD camera, 2.1 speaker system, three USB ports, one Firewire 800 port, one Gigabit Ethernet port, and a second Thunderbolt port to enable daisy chaining. An integrated MagSafe cable for powering connected notebook computers also continues to be offered.

“The Apple Thunderbolt Display is the ultimate docking station for your Mac notebook,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.” With just one cable, users can dock with their new display and connect to high performance peripherals, network connections and audio devices.”

Images of the new Thunderbolt-enabled LED Cinema Display leaked on Apple's site late last week, foreshadowing their arrival alongside the Mac minis that do not ship with an included display. The new LED Cinema Display will be available within the next 60 days and is priced at $999.

Apple Launches OS X Lion Via Mac App Store

As officially announced just yesterday, Apple today has launched OS X Lion, which is now available [App Store] exclusively via the Mac App Store. Priced at $29.99, OS X Lion is Apple's next-generation operating system for the Mac platform. OS X Lion Server [App Store] is also available as a $49.99 add-on to the basic Lion install. 


OS X Lion brings a number of new features to the Mac, including an iOS-like application launch screen known as Launchpad, full-screen apps, a new combined interface for Dashboard, Expose, and Spaces known as Mission Control, enhanced Multi-Touch gestures, and improvements to a number of core applications such as Mail.

Some of the amazing features in Lion include: new Multi-Touch® gestures; system-wide support for full screen apps; Mission Control, an innovative view of everything running on your Mac; the Mac App Store, the best place to find and explore great software, built right into the OS; Launchpad, a new home for all your apps; and a completely redesigned Mail app. 

“Lion is the best version of OS X yet, and we’re thrilled that users around the world can download it starting today,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Lion makes upgrading a Mac easier than ever before; just launch the Mac App Store, buy Lion with your iTunes account, and the download and install process will begin automatically.”

Apple previewed OS X Lion for developers several times over the last nine months, and has been seeding developers with Lion builds since early this year. Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference early last month that Lion would ship sometime during the month of July, and the company seeded the golden master version to developers on July 1st.

Google+ Invites

If you would like a Google invite from Joe.

Do 1 of the following

• Comment on this post
• Send Joe a message on Twitter
• Message him on YouTube

You will need to provide an Google Email Address.

Thank you

Joe

Prototype iPhone 4 Appears on eBay

As noted by ThisIsMyNext, a prototype iPhone 4 appeared on eBay this weekend. This prototype iPhone 4 has many of the signs that it is a pre-release device. The volume buttons don't have the + and - markings as the production models have, and the FCC ID, Size and Model numbers are X'd out on the back casing. The eBay description details the findings:

1. iPhone has wear on the frame, some small marks on the rear cover, small marks on the screen. No cracks and no deep scratches. 
2. Volume buttons don't have the usual + for upper button and - for lower volume button 
3. Phone will not activate on at&t and when syncing with iTunes it says that this phone can not be activated with at&t sim card it won't activate (please review picture #10) 
4. On rear cover Model No.: XXXXX FCC ID: BCGAXXXXX IC ID: 579C-AXXXXX (please review picture #8) 
5. Front screen and rear cover has some type of numbers printed on the inside.

The iPhone 4 prototype is notable for being one of the most leaked Apple devices ever. A prototype of the device was said to be found in a bar, after which it was sold to gadget blog Gizmodo. The site then did a tear down and analysis of the device well before its launch.