Notebook Hardware Control is a portable application for controlling the hardware components of your Notebook. Using this application, you can prolong the battery life, reduce system heat up issues, mange full processor speed, monitor the battery charge level and system temperature, manage your hard drive using S.M.A.R.T (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) management, reduce Notebook Fan noise and more. Read past the break for details.

The Status tab of Notebook Hardware Control displays the processor speed control, clock and load, followed by the installed physical memory, available memory and system power on time. You can enable processor and battery monitoring from the Monitoring tab.

Similarly, using the CPU, Hardware and Battery tabs, you can alter your hardware settings for better system performance. For example, you can reduce the processor power state from your battery settings to reduce system heat up (as explained in our guide here).

Furthermore, you can enable temperature view in Fahrenheit, check for NHC (Notebook Hardware Control) updates via the internet, and auto-run NHC with system start up.

NHC also has a paid version (starting price €15). The NHC profile based paid version allows you to change all NHC settings by adding, removing and editing profiles.

Disclaimer: Tweaking with some of the system settings may cause system instability. Make sure that you only select the features that you have due knowledge about. AddictiveTips will not be responsible if you damage your notebook by setting any inappropriate system configuration.

Notebook Hardware Control works on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 32-bit operating systems, and is currently not compatible with 64-bit Windows operating systems.

Download Notebook Hardware Control

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Are you using a netbook and struggling with resizing and moving windows across the screen to get a sufficient place to adjust other application windows? Try TaekWindow. It takes advantage of only Alt key to quickly move and resize active application windows. The application was specifically developed for laptop and netbook users who find it difficult to move windows and resize them while dealing with multiple windows on small screen. What makes it different from traditional resize method is that it can resize any part of the open window. If you have used Linux, you must be familiar with Alt-Dragging. TaekWindow brings this alt-dragging to Windows.

After the installation, you will see it residing in Windows system tray. By default, Alt key is set to move and resize window, nevertheless, you can bring up Preferences window to change the registered keys and their respective behaviors as per your liking. In Preferences window, move to Keys and buttons window, and select left, right and any Alt key option. Now from Mouse section, select a different Alt keys to move and resize the window. It is further possible to tweak with resizing and scrolling behaviors. Select the Resize mode and Scroll wheel behavior from Resizing and Scrolling tabs respectively.

In General tab, you will find options to save preferences either in Windows registry or in single INI file.

Once preferences are all set up, click OK to minimize it to system tray. Now you’re good to go. You can resize and move the application windows across the screen in any defined manner using the set Alt keys. When the Alt key is pressed, a resize or move cursor will show up, indicating that you can now either move or resize the window from any corner.

It works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

Download TaekWindow

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It is always recommended to make your portable devices as secure as they can be. No matter which type of mobile device you’re using, there is always a need of having an efficient security application which can instantly protect it from data theft and other general vulnerabilities. Take laptops for an instance, security concerns should be addressed right from the outset to ensure that nobody will ever break in and exploit administrative privileges. LapSec is a security application, developed especially for laptop owners to add security layers for keeping the system always safe from any kind of exploitations. The provided security measures are based upon diverse protection scales, including, disposing off pagefile before system shuts down, activating screen saver after defined time, removing autorun in USB and local drives, enabling password in recovery mode, disabling administrator account, and checking user password complexity. Furthermore, it also allows user to cipher My Documents folder to protect classified projects and information whilst option to encrypt user-defined directories is also available.

All the above mentioned options are lined up on the main interface with checkboxes to toggle each security option. Before enabling options, you can check current security level by clicking Am I Secure button.

Now enable the security options which suit your system followed by a click on Secure me button. The time it takes to protect your system depends upon size of data which is to be ciphered.

On the product page, you can find details for each provided security option. We reckon going through each option to understand the risks involved. The application works without any problems and supports Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Download LapSec

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Buying a new laptop or desktop PC can be quite confusing. Many people find it difficult to compare prices, features, processor types,etc to find the right choice in accordance with their requirements. In this post we will tell you the top 10 things to consider before buying a PC.

10.  Usability

It is important that you first consider the tasks that you will be performing on your PC. If you wish to buy a computer for simply browsing the internet and using some online services than it might be better to buy a single core computer which satisfies your minimum requirements. On the contrary if you require using it for heavy video editing and professional work, then it might be better to buy a system that has enhanced multimedia options.

9. Price

This brings us to our next consideration of price. There might be some very fancy features that you want in your new PC. However, if you don’t have the cash to pay for lets say a graphic card with 1GB memory, than you might be better off choosing suitable alternatives.

8. Operating System Type.

Users with minimum requirements may be better off buying a Windows Starter or Home Premium version e.g. of Windows 7. For users who wish to take advantage of more enhanced features and require more effective tools such as connecting their PC to a domain are naturally better off buying a Professional or Ultimate Edition. Having said that the cost of a Windows 7 Ultimate Edition can be as much as 219$.

7. Size

Some people prefer buying larger laptops for a better display screen, whereas other prefer smaller and more portable sizes. If you are setting up a server which will be placed in a server room then size considerations will not mater much as large servers with multiple SCSI drives are normally quite big. Whereas, for people with weak eye sights a laptop with a larger display screen might be worth the price.

6. Peripherals

Peripheral devices such as printers,scanners,etc can significantly increase or reduce your price for buying a new PC. It might be better off buying a system with a DVD combo drive if you do not require writing data to DVDs.

5. Brand

Some brands offer better warrantees, whereas others offer software packages that come with the system. For example, a Dell laptop with the same specifications may be cheaper than a Sony Vio. The reason is that Sony provides many of its own softwares with their laptops which saves the users cost for buying software, e.g. a DVD burning. However, if you already have many such licensed or freeware software available, then it might be better to go for a cheaper brands. Acer for instance is known for its low cost laptops that provide more enhanced spcs like hard disk space and RAM as compared to its competitors.

4. Hard Disk

Hard Disk considerations might not mean much to a lay user, nonetheless, having the right amount of disk space and disk type might be the necessary for the efficient management of regular tasks for a professional. A common user may merely have to decide between buying a 120GB or 320 GB hard disk system. An IT professional on the contrary might have to decide between a SCSI or a Sata drive. As a scuzzy or SCSI(Small Computer System Interface) drive might be required for Raid configurations.

3. RAM

It is obvious that for more professional tasks and to run a Xeon Server there will be more RAM required than for merely using a PC for browsing the internet. Moreover, the RAM type may matter more than many people might consider. For example, there are not many applications currently available that can take advantage of DDR3 RAM types, one may be better of saving some dimes by buying a system with a DDR2 RAM.

2. Processor

The Processor is one of the most important parts of a system and can mean the difference between a system that frequently hangs and the one that runs smoothly. Some people might think that going for the low cost single core or Dual Core processors is a good idea but I would not recommend either of them for anyone who requires using a system for more than basic usage. Moreover, one might be better off buying a Corei3 system instead of a Core2Duo as the later might be more expensive and less efficient than the former. A Corei3 can cost up to 113$ whereas, a Core2Duo can cost 130$. For more demanding professionals, it might be better idea to buy a corei5 (if not a Core i7), as the core i5 uses Turbo Boost technology other than Hyper Threading.

1. Warranty

Warranty makes up the most important consideration for people when buying a system. Having one covered with the right kind of hardware warrantee is essential and should be unconditional. I still remember when Sony had to recall several Laptops due to a battery fault because of which their Laptops caught fire. I’m sure none of us would like to have a Laptop that we can fry omelets on without the guarantee of replacement.

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If while working on your laptop, you frequently need to switch between the touchpad and an external mouse, you’d have experienced the irritation that accompanies when the operating system applies the same cursor movement speed and settings to both of them. One speed may be fine for an external mouse, but it may prove to be extremely slow for the touchpad (I experience that on an almost daily basis). If only Windows could save mouse profiles just like power profiles!

These days, most modern mice come with some driver/user software, but if you’re looking for a universal solution to this issue, the developers behind Mouse Speed Switcher have got one for you. This free application saves two (or more) different sets of cursor/pointer settings on your laptop (or even PC) that you can quickly switch between, giving you control and flexibility over the input hardware that you’re using.

Mouse Speed Switcher is free for personal usage, but will keep giving irritating reminder messages (nagware) to purchase unless a license key is entered (which is not free, by the way). When you launch the software for the first time, it will present the settings dialog where you can tweak settings for all the profiles.You can set up a third profile as well, but it is disabled by default.

The software comes with a built-in check for updates, so that is an added benefit. The program has been written in C++ and works with all versions of MS Windows OS, from XP to Windows 7. We tested it on a 32-bit system.

Download Mouse Speed Switcher

If you hate nagware, you can check out Automatic Mouse Switcher.

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As a laptop ages, its battery begins to weaken. No matter how well you take care of it, no matter what steps you take, the battery is bound to weaken because that’s how they are built. Hence the importance of power management on such a machine increases perhaps twice as much as it would on a new one.

Windows 7 comes with default battery profiles, but they lack automation. This discrepancy is overcome by using a small program Aerofoil, which performs automatic power management functions for your laptop.

This tiny tool changes your laptop’s power profiles depending on the power source. For example, as soon as the laptop goes to battery power, it changes profile to Power Saver. Plug it back in and the profile will jump back to whatever you have configured in the setup.

There’s even more. When Power Saver profile is active, the software disables Aero Glass for desktop, and can optionally mute sound and disable Windows sidebar if you have chosen for that to happen. Switching to another profile will automatically switch these features back on.

Aerofoil is a handy utility for laptop owners looking to get the maximum juice out of their aging machines. It was tested by us on Windows 7 32-bit OS. In case you get an error message about a missing msvcp100.dll when starting Aerofoil for the first time, please download MS Visual C++ redistributable from Microsoft for free – both for x64 and for x86 systems.

Download Aerofoil

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LockItTight is a nice web application to locate, monitor, and secure your lost laptop. A free account is required before you can begin installation of client software. Once installed, it runs silently in Windows background. The standard version is free but only supports one device. Which is probably a big downside if you have more than one devices. On the other hand, Prey, a widely popular monitoring app, supports upto 3 devices for free.

LockItTight has three core features – Location tracking, Screen capturing, and Webcam capturing. Each one of them is self explanatory. One great thing about LockItTight is that it is very easy to set up, you just have to provide the credentials while installing the client and login from the main website to monitor your device.

It does not support Keystroke capture at the moment but is coming very soon according to the developer. The minimum interval to create a new report is every 30 minutes (this can be decreased to 5 minutes in premium service account). Locations, screenshots, and laptop webcam images are captured every 30 minutes.

At the moment the standard service allows the maximum of 1000 saved locations, 100 maximum screen captures, and 100 maximum saved webcam captures. According to the developer, both screen capture and camera capture encryption is coming soon.

The Windows client works on Windows XP, Vista, and 7. We installed it on our Windows 7 32-bit system for testing.

Visit LockItTight

You can also check out our review of Prey, and let us know which one will you prefer in the comments.

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It is always a pain to lose something, both financially and in terms of the emotional stress that a person goes through. And if it is something as valuable as a laptop, which contains your personal data, the damage becomes even more pronounced. Laptops come these days with Kensington lock slots, but you cannot find a Kensington lock everywhere as well. So what is the solution?

Prey is a lightweight application that will assist you in finding a misplaced laptop should it get stolen. It is open source, multiplatform and totally free to use.

The idea behind Prey is quite straightforward. The software runs silently in background, wakes up at regular intervals and checks a particular URL to see if it should trigger the missing state, gather traces and send out a report. In checking the URL, the software looks for a 200 response from the page. If the response is there, the software goes to sleep again.

There are two approaches to using Prey. You can either have Prey+Control Panel, where you manage configuration and device state through a web page, and all of Prey’s are sent to this page. This is the easier, generally recommended approach.

The second option is to use Prey Standalone, where the reports go directly do your inbox, and in case of a missing laptop you have to generate the URL manually that will trigger Prey’s alarms. You will also need to configure the various modules yourself. This is the ‘advanced’ approach.

Naturally, Prey needs an active internet connection at all times to work. If the connection is missing, the software will silently attempt to connect to the first available WiFi hotspot and raise the alarm.

Configuring Prey is not difficult at all When you run it for the first time, the configurator will prompt you to configure device for first use.

In setting up the reporting method, first thing you encounter is choosing between the two usage modes. Select your preference and go on.

Next, you will need to create an account, or sign in if you already have one for accessing Prey through the web.

Upon creation of account, you will get an activation email in your inbox. Once account is activated, you can use Prey by logging in at www.preyproject.com. The web interface lets you control triggers for your device, the actions performed etc.

If you had chosen to run Prey as a standalone file, then you need to define the email settings for Prey to send its regular reports.

Other than that, you can also control some other features of the program by selecting Manage Prey Settings in Prey Configurator dialog. Options offered are shown below.

With all the settings in place, Prey works unobtrusively and will keep the system traceable in theft events. The software offers quite a few features, including:

• Geo-location Aware (New feature)
• WiFi auto-connect
• Lightweight
• Modula Architecture
• Powerful Report System
• Messaging/Alert System
• Full Auto Updater

Prey is multiplatform, which means it would work with all operating systems, including Windows (all versions), Linux, Mac OS X. It runs discretely hence I was not able to verify its memory signature, but the software barely leaves any effects on a system. We tested Prey on Windows 7 32-bit OS.

Download Prey

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We have previously covered power tools that allows you to keep a check on your laptop battery, among them so far our favorite has been Battery Bar. But now a new contender has arisen that aims to be totally flexible and fully configurable, and yes it also supports Aero Glass.

BattCursor is a free battery management tool that aims to replace the default Power functionality that comes in Windows 7 and Vista. Everything is customizable, from Cursor, Tray Symbol, and Colorization to Battery Tweaks, Power Profiles, and Notifications.

Unlike Windows, where the Advanced Power Settings is too complicated to use, BattCursor makes it easy to tweak everything from a single window. You can perform battery tweaks and create a custom power profile to suit your needs or you can simply customize the look and feel. The profile management section is quite impressive since it allows you to automatically change the power plan according to the battery. For example in my case, if the battery is above 70%, the profile would be High Performance, if battery is above 50% then Balanced, and so on.

When the battery reaches the warning level, your cursor will become yellow and so will your battery along with the superbar/taskbar and Windows Explorer. The same will happen when the battery reaches the critical level, in this case, everything will become red.

Note: This color change will only take place when Windows Aero Glass is enabled.

The screenshots taken above are from developer’s product webpage

These colors are just the default, but can be changed to anything of your liking. Not only this, but you can also set when to warn you and which percentage would mean the battery is critical, etc. Just like you can change the Power profile in Windows from the system tray, you can do the same with this tool. Simply right-click the system tray icon and go to Profiles.

There are tons of other features that you can explore. Even if you are comfortable with your current laptop battery power management, you should still give it a try since it drastically helps you in further reducing the power consumption. Since BattCursor has a less system memory footprint, it can also come handy if you are running Windows 7 on a Netbook.

Download BattCursor

It works with Windows 7 and Windows Vista, both 32 and 64-bit OS are supported. Enjoy!

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LAlarm is a free software for laptops(running Windows) that prevents both data loss and theft. HDD(Hard Disk Drive) crash are common occurrences, it can crash either due to logical or physical disk problems. Most people are not aware of such problems until the hard disk crashes and the data become irrecoverable. LAlarm will alert you about both logical and physical error.

If you have locked your Windows by pressing Win + L and someone removes the power cord, the alarm will automatically set off. Thus, reducing the chance of laptop theft since the alarm will keep going on until you do not login again.

It will also sets off an alarm if the battery is low, thus alerting the user to save the work immediately before the laptop shuts down. This app has no interface or system tray icon and only works in the background. It is not a must-have app, but is still worthy of giving a try.

Note: Installation/Uninstallation can only be performed using the executable file and a system reboot is required.

Download LAlarm

It works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Enjoy!

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Battery Bar is a free tool for Windows that sits on your taskbar and monitors your laptop battery in real time using a unique algorithm. Many battery monitoring tools are not accurate, but what makes Battery bar different is that it takes a whole new approach. It constantly monitors your laptop battery and keeps it’s historical data. Using this historical data, it can provide you with a very accurate estimate of how much time is remaining on your battery.

Once you have installed this tool, right-click your taskbar, select Toolbars and select Battery Bar from the list.

When run for the first time, it will calculate your battery’s full lifeline. Calculation will depend on how much time it takes to fully charge and discharge. Until then, it will show you the percentage of battery left instead of showing hours and/or minutes left.

When the battery bar turns Green, it means it’s discharging. When you are low on battery, the color will automatically turn Red. In the screenshot below you can see the battery is discharging with 2 hours and 46 minutes of battery life remaining.

When the battery bar turns Blue it means it’s charging. When your battery is fully charged, the color will turn Black. In the screenshot below you can see the Battery is charging with 46 minutes until the battery is fully charged.

Features:

• Vista style – The toolbar is using the same look and feel as the Vista taskbar buttons
• Statistical time prediction – BatteryBar monitors your battery and keeps a history of how long it takes for your battery to charge and discharges. That information is used to more accurately predict the life of your battery.
• Detailed Battery Info – BatteryBar is now capable of collecting detailed information about your battery, including max capacity (mW), current capacity (mW), charge rate (mW), discharge rate (mW), and more.
• Automatic Update – BatteryBar will check for new versions at startup and automatically download the new version

Enjoy!

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• How To Check And Monitor Your Laptop Battery With PowerMeter

The build-in power meter in Windows is totally crap, after fully recharging your laptop it will tell you that battery is full, but after a few minutes it will say only 75% is left. What the heck? Can’t there be a simple and reliable way to monitor laptop battery? There are many apps that  help you in determining the accurate amount of power left, but the problem with these apps is that they themselves take a good amount of resources to run, which makes them basically useless.

PowerMeter is a free tool for laptop users who wants to monitor their battery level accurately all the time. The battery bar becomes more visible as the power level reduces, when the battery is full the visibility is at it’s minimum, you can choose to hide the bar when battery is full.

When you run this tool, a PowerMeter icon is shown in the system tray along with the PowerMeter bar on the top-right side of the screen.

When you put your laptop for charge, the empty space of the bar turns blue.

Here are the colors and their meanings: above 80% = green, below 20% = red, in between = orange.

Right-click the PowerMeter icon or battery bar and select Settings. You can change some basic settings here.

I tested this tool on Windows Vista and it worked seamlessly. It has been developed to work on all versions of Windows. The only gripe is that it’s not portable and they should work a little on it’s usability too, otherwise it’s a must-have tool for everyone who carries a notebook. Enjoy!

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To help conserve battery power and save your documents while you away from the laptop for an extended period of time you should use the automatic hibernate capabilities of your laptop. Once you have made these changes your laptop will always go into hibernate after a set time.The secret behind hibernation is that before you turn off the laptop, everything you are doing with the computer is saved. When the computer is turned on again, it recovers from hibernating by reloading all the saved information and restoring your laptop to exactly the same condition it was in before it went into hibernation.

From the Start menu open the Control Panel and go to the Power Options.

Select the Hibernate tab and then check Enable hibernate. Click Apply.

Once you choose the method you want to use to activate Hibernation mode, you can click OK to close the Power Options Properties dialog box. When you do so, you’re all set to use Hibernation mode at any time.

But you want to decide on a time period for when your laptop will hibernate, then select Power Schemes tab . Once your laptop has been idle for the specified amount of time, it will go into hibernation automatically.

These features make most sense if you use a laptop. You can take advantage of Hibernate features which reduce the drain on battery power when you leave your laptop running. You can leave your laptop in a hibernated state for as long as you want. Even if the batteries eventually drain, the system returns to where you left it after the laptop is plugged in and started again.

Hibernation mode requires hard drive space. So you should be aware that when hard drive space runs low, it’s possible that Hibernation mode won’t work.

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With the rise in laptop sales it is essential for laptop buyers to make sure they use their laptop batteries to the fullest and also make sure they can achieve the highest performance with the available battery. Generally most laptops claim to have 4-6 hours of battery life but in real it comes to 50% of the promised backup time because of many factors like heavy laptop usage while on battery backup, running USB Based gadgets, CD/DVD ROMs etc. You also need to make sure about some battery life saving tips because the laptop batteries generally have a life of around 1000 recharge cycles. Here is a list of some essential tips which can almost double your laptop battery life.

Screen brightness

Almost all laptops come with the ability to dim the screen brightness. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. The display system takes 50% of your available battery and lower brightness would ensure you more battery life.

Power Cord

Recharge your laptop  using the power cord/adapter provided by the laptop dealer and don’t use any other local cord because they can decrease the life of your battery.

Remove Your Batteries When Not In Use

If you don’t use your laptop for a continuous period its recommended to remove your batteries completely from the laptop and add it back when you plan to use it. This is because laptop batteries have a limited lifetime and its generally 1000 charge cycles after which they stop offering complete backups. Even if it is not in use, the battery still drains, so you should completely remove it and store in a cool place and at a 40% charge rather than 100% charge.

Background Processes

When you are running your laptop on batteries, avoid heavy multitasking, because processor and ram will then need more power thus making your battery drain further.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi should be turned off when not in use because it drains your laptop battery in search of signals and wireless router. You can use the hardware switch available on the laptop to disable your wifi or disable it from the Network Connections option available under your Control Panel.

Disable Aero Glass

Disable Aero Glass Feature which comes preinstalled in Windows Vista. You need to right click on your Desktop > Preferances > View Colour > Appearance > Classic Appearance and Windows Basic graphical interface > Ok , this way you can get the classic appearance which has less resource using features and helps you use less battery power.

Heat Control

Your laptop operates more efficiently when it’s cooler.  Clean out your air vents with a cloth or keyboard cleaner, for alternative software reference read out our article How to Check Temperature of your computer.

Optimize Power Options

Go to ‘Power Options’ in your windows Control Panel and set it up so that power usage is optimized (Select the ‘max battery’ for maximum effect).

No Multitasking

Do one thing at a time when you’re on battery.  Rather than working on a spreadsheet, letting your email client run in the background and listening to your latest set of MP3’s, set your mind to one thing only. It is important to note that it is fine running an idle program at the background but if the program is constantly doing some work like downloading or extracting a Zip  file, this is when the battery drains out.

External Drives

USB devices (including your mouse)  drain down your laptop battery.  Remove or shut them down when not in use.  It goes without saying that charging other devices (like your iPod) with your laptop when on battery, is a like putting a wood on fire.

Battery Recharge

Do not leave a charged battery dormant for long periods of time.  Once charged, you should at least use the battery once every two to three weeks(2 weeks is recommended). Also, do not let a Li-On battery completely discharge.

Hibernate Not Standby

Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does.  Hibernating a PC will actually save your PC’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down. Settings up Automatic Hibernate feature to make sure the laptop automatically saves all your running documents and applications, and hibernates when you are not using the laptop for a given amount of time is very important.

Clean Battery

Clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol.  This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.

Install Vista Battery Saver

Vista Battery Saver is a very useful app that I’ve been using for the last couple of days to improve the battery life of my laptop running Windows Vista. I wouldn’t say that it has improved my battery life by the claimed 70%, but it has delivered significantly better battery performance. It also automatically switches back to a different power plan as soon as you plug your laptop back in, so that you can access all those fancy Vista features again.

I hope you will be able to save your battery life using these steps, if we have missed anything important, do let us know with your comments.

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