Windows Home Server comes with some shared folders in different categories by default, and chances are you’ll want to create your own as well. Today we show you how to create your own shared folders, manage permissions, enable folder duplication, and more.

Note: For this article we’re accessing the Home Server Shared Folders from Windows 7.

Default Shared Folders

After installing Windows Home Server you’ll notice that the default shared folders are Music, Photos, Public, Recorded TV, Software, and Videos. These folders cannot be deleted, but we can create our own folders if needed. We can also go through and change permissions and view folder histories.

Accessing Shared Folders

You can access your shared folders on the server a few different ways. One is to double-click the Shared Folders on Server icon that was created on the Desktop when you installed WHS Console.

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Or right-click on the WHS Console icon in the tray and select Shared Folders.

Open WHS Console and under Shared Folders right-click and Open the folder you want.

You can also go into Network and double-click on the Home Server icon…

Which ever method you use, it’ll open the Shared Folders directory and you can begin browsing through your data.

Add New Folder

Adding a new folder is pretty straight-forward. Open Windows Home Server Console and under Shared Folders click Add from the toolbar or right-click an empty area in Shared Folders and select Add from the context menu.

Either way it will pop up the Add a Shared Folder wizard where you type in the name for the folder and give it a description if you want to. You’ll need to decide if you want to enable folder duplication or not. With it enabled, it duplicates the folder and files contained in it across multiple drives on the server. It will take twice as much space on the total storage of your server and can take a while for the process to complete. In this example…these files are going to be large video files, and we don’t need to create a duplicate.?

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Next we need to select the type of access each user will have for the new folder. The types of access are as follows…

• Full – The user can view, add,.modify, and delete files in the shared folder.
• Read – The user can view files in the shared folder, but cannot add, modify, or delete files.
• None – The user can’t view, modify, or delete anything in the shared folder…they have no access.

The folder has been successfully created and you can close out of the wizard and start adding files.

Now in Windows Home Server Console we can see the created folder named DVD Movies. We also see the Description, it’s currently empty, Duplication is off, and a status of Healthy.

Delete a Shared Folder

If you ever find that you need to delete a shared folder you created, right-click the folder and select Remove from the menu.

Then click finish on the warning message if you’re sure you want to delete it. Remember that if a folder is duplicated, that will be deleted as well. Also you can’t delete the folders that were included by default by WHS.

Change Folder Properties

We can also go back and change the properties and user access to the folders at any time. In this example we created a Documents shared folder and want to enable Folder Duplication and change user access. Just right-click the folder and select Properties.

The Properties window appears and under the General tab we want to mark the box next to Enable Folder Duplication. You need at least 2 drives on your server to enable folder duplication. What it does is automatically duplicate the folder and its contents over to another drive. It also syncs the folder with the duplicate. So for example if you take a file out of the folder, that is updated in the duplicate as well.

This is very handy incase one of the server drives fail, you’ll still have access to the folder contents. Remember that duplication takes twice the amount of space of total storage space. You might want to use this feature for your most important files and documents.

Click on the User Access tab to change the type of access each user has to the folder.

You’ll get a message reminding you that the new permissions won’t go into effect until the user logs off then back on to the machine.

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If a user tries to access a file that you haven’t assigned rights to, they’ll get a File Access Denied error message.

You can also check out folder history and see how it has grown over time. Right-click a particular and select History…which brings up a screen showing what’s been going on. You can choose to display week, month, year, or a full history.

If you try to view the history of a folder that hasn’t had enough time to accumulate any, you’ll get the following error. A folder needs to be in operation for a minimum of one week.

Conclusion

Windows Home Server is an excellent way to centralize all of your data, and access it from different machines throughout the house or small office. Managing the shared folders on the server will be one of the main administrative functions you’ll need to do. You’ll be able to administer user account access to the folders on the network and over the web. The Folder Duplication feature is a great way to ensure there is redundant backup of your most important files.

This guide should help get you started with using and understanding shared folders on your home server. You might want to also check out our articles on how to manage user accounts in WHS, and how to backup WHS folders to an external drive.

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If you’re looking for a new video player that provides great picture quality and is light on system resources, you might want to take a look at SPlayer. SPlayer is unique in that it utilizes the GPU in your video card and saves your CPU and RAM for other multitasking.

SPlayer

After installation, start up SPlayer (short for Shooter Player) and you’ll be given the opportunity to make it your default player or select manual settings. They offer a portable version as well which is nice if you want to use it on multiple machines.

If you want to try it out and make sure you’re happy with the player first, then pick Manual Settings and then you can choose the types of media files to associate it with.

Select a file to open up and play in SPlayer.

Here we take a look at running a video in SPlayer. Notice the player controls are at the bottom of the video screen.

The playback controls are only displayed when you hover the mouse over the video screen near the bottom.

Right-click on the video screen to access different menus to adjust settings of playback, Audio, access files, and more.

There’s a 10 band equalizer that you can adjust manually or use one of the several presets included.

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There is a cool Transparent Control feature that could actually help you out while you’re watching videos at work. Here is an example of the regular video screen over Firefox.

Now in this shot we’re sliding the Transparent Control slider…

Adjust the brightness and contrast of the video…

Video control features that let you tweak the display to perfection.

If you’re a Keyboard Ninja you’ll love all of the customizable hotkeys available.

SPlayer does subtitles really well too.

You can also play your music files in SPlayer as well, but its main function is being a video player.

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This is a very nice video player that is easy to use and plays most video formats. If you’re looking for a new video player that looks great, has several options, and is light on system resources, you might want to give SPlayer a try.

Download SPlayer including Portable Version

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Would you like to use Ubuntu Linux programs, but prefer the convenience of Windows 7?? With VMware Player, you can install a full copy of Ubuntu and integrate it with your Windows 7 computer for free.

VMware Player makes it easy to install Ubuntu Linux as a virtual machine in only 5 clicks.? It then offers easy access to Ubuntu programs straight from your desktop with Unity mode.? Here’s how you can set this up on your computer.

Getting Started

First, download and install VMware Player (link below).? It is a free download, but requires registration.

You may see some prompts about installing drivers; simply approve them.? We didn’t see them on our latest test, but have in the past.? When you are finished installing VMware Player, you will have to restart your computer.

Install Ubuntu

Once you have installed VMware Player and downloaded Ubuntu, you’re ready to setup Ubuntu.? Open VMware Player, and choose “Create a New Virtual Machine.”

You can install Ubuntu from a disk, or directly from the ISO file you can download (link below).? This is the simplest method if you’re simply wanting to use Ubuntu in VMware Player.? However, if you do have an Ubuntu disk, then feel free to choose that instead.? Once you’ve selected your install media, VMware Player will automatically detect Ubuntu and will show that it will be installed with Easy Install.? Click next to continue.

Now enter your name, user name, and password.? All fields are required.

Please note that the username can only have lowercase characters and numbers.

Also, the password must be at least 8 characters long.

Now, choose a name for your virtual machine and where to save it.? Simply click next to accept the defaults.

You can choose how large you want your virtual hard drive to be; the default is 20Gb, but you can choose a different size if you wish.? Please note that the entire 20Gb will not be used up on your hard drive initially.? Ours only took up 3.6Gb with a clean install, but this will increase as you install programs and save files.

And that’s it!? You can review your settings and change them here if you wish, or simply click Finish to start installing Ubuntu!

VMware player will now install Ubuntu without any further input.? The window may show cryptic commands, but don’t worry, as you don’t have to do anything else to install Ubuntu.

During the install, you may be prompted to download and install VMware tools for Linux.? Simply click Download and the tools will automatically download and install, though you may have to approve the UAC prompt.

VMware will continue installing Ubuntu even while the tools are downloading.? Once the install is finished, you will be presented with your Ubuntu login screen.? The full install took about 30 minutes in our test.

Select your user name, then enter your password to access Ubuntu.

Welcome to your Ubuntu desktop!

Installing VMware Tools

VMware Player will attempt to automatically install the VMware tools into Ubuntu during the initial setup, but sometimes this does not work.? In our test, the tools failed to install during the Ubuntu setup since our internet connection was down.? In your tests, it may or may not automatically install.? If it doesn’t, follow the following steps to install them.? Please not that this is fairly complicated, so be sure to enter the correct things during the install.

To install the tools, click VM and then select “Install VMware Tools” in the menu.

This will open a File Browser window.? Double click on the VMwareTools icon; this should look like a box that says tar.gz on the front.

This will open the compressed file.? Click the Extract button at the top of the window.

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Now, choose where to save the files.? Simply click “Desktop” on the left, and then click Extract.

This will take a moment.? When the files are extracted, click “Close”.

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Now, click the Applications menu at the top of the screen, click Accessories, and then click Terminal.

Enter the following to access the files you unzipped before:

cd ./Desktop/vmware-tools-distrib

Now, enter:

sudo bash

and enter your password when prompted.? Please note that the password will not show while you are typing it in; simply type it in, and press Enter when completed.

Now we can install the VMware tools.? To do this, enter:

./vmware-install.pl

and then simply press enter at the prompts to accept the defaults.? It should ask a total of 5 questions, and just press enter at all of them.

After a bit, it may ask the following questions about documentation files; simply press enter again at each prompt.

The installation is now complete.? You will still need to configure the tools, so simply enter “yes” at the prompt to automatically do that.

It may ask to enable an experimental backup feature; we simply entered “no” at this prompt.

Then, it will want to setup the graphics configurations.? Enter “yes” at the prompt.? Your screen may flicker or go black momentarily while it is changing these settings.

Finally, you will see the following message when the install is complete.

Restart Ubuntu by clicking on the button with your username at the top right, and then selecting Restart from the menu.

Once your virtual machine has rebooted, login to Ubuntu as before and your setup is complete!

Integrate Ubuntu with Windows 7

You can already use all of Ubuntu’s tools and features directly from the Ubuntu desktop in VMware Player.? But, if you would like to use your Ubuntu programs seamlessly in Windows, we need to activate Unity mode.? Click VM and then Unity Mode in the VMware Player Menu.

Now, you will have an Ubuntu menu right above your Windows 7 Start button!

By default, the Ubuntu windows will have a border and VMware logo on them.

To change this, click VM and then Settings, select the Options tab, and uncheck the “Show borders” and “Show badges” boxes.

Now the windows will look just like they do in Ubuntu.

You can run Ubuntu windows side-by-side with Windows 7 windows, and can copy and paste, drag-and-drop between the windows, and more!? The Ubuntu programs’ icons show up in the taskbar the same as normal Windows programs.

You can access all of the files in your Ubuntu virtual machine from the Ubuntu menu.? Select Other, and then choose Computer or Home Folder.

Conclusion

VMware Player gives us an exciting way to have a complete Ubuntu install right inside Windows 7.? This would work the exact same on any modern version of Windows, including all editions of XP and Vista.? In this tutorial we used Ubuntu 9.10, but other recent editions should work the same.

Links

Download Ubuntu

Download VMware Player 3

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Are you tired of the “Save As Routine” in Firefox and wish that you could just “click and save” your files directly to a pre-defined location? See how easy it is to do with the “Save File to” extension for Firefox.

Before

Whether it is saving a file from a link…

An image from a website…

Or a whole webpage you always have to go through the whole “Save As Routine” just to get the file saved to the desired location. What if you could cut out the whole “Save As Routine” and just send those files where you wanted them? Well you can.

After

For our example we added two custom folders on the desktop…

Now when you go to save a file from a link you can send that file directly to a pre-defined folder that you have chosen. Just browse through the “Save Link to Side Menus” and click on “Save Here”… And just like that you are already finished.

Saving images is just as easy now…

Webpages too. Notice that in each instance you still have the option to “Save As” if you need it…definitely the best of both now.

Options & Setup

The options are straightforward and mainly focus on setting up your personalized folders. Here you can see the “miscellaneous” settings for the extension.

The extension will have a default listing of the same two folders (Desktop & My Documents Folders) for each of the three categories (Page, Link, & Image). To add your own set of folders to each category click on the “Add… Button” and browse for your favorite folders. Set up for each one is identical…

Conclusion

If you are tired of the “Save As Routine” in Firefox then this might be the perfect extension for you. It will help make your file saving direct, quick, and easy.

Links

Download the “Save File to” extension (Mozilla Add-ons)

Download the “Save File to” extension (Extension Homepage)

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We have been giving you, the readers, a lot of advice over the past few years, and now it’s your turn! We are starting a new series where we’ll be posing a question each week and hoping you’ll share your experience, comments, and advice related to the topic.

Photo by aranarth

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Laptop, Desktop or Both?

This week we’re starting things off by asking if you use a laptop, desktop, or both. With laptops today, enough power can be packed into the machine to get your work done, and there’s the benefit of convenience and portability. Others are happy with just a desktop which can be used as a media center, server, gaming rig…etc. Still others of us need the power of a desktop, along with a laptop or netbook for lighter tasks when on the go.

We want to hear what you think. Just leave a comment below and join the conversation.

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If you use the Movie Library in Windows 7 Media Center to access and view your movie collection, you know that the interface leaves a little to be desired. Today we are going to show you how you can add movie cover art and metadata in your Movie Library with a program called YAMMM.

For Windows Media Center Movie Library to be able to display metadata and cover art, each movie file must be stored in an individual folder of the same name with an xml file to display metadata, and a folder.jpg file to display cover art. YAMMM automates the process of downloading the folder.jpg and .xml files from the Internet into your movie folders.

Setting Up Your Folders

If you currently store your movies in one large folder and dread the thought of having to manually create individual folders for each file, rest easy. File2Folder Script 1.0 will automate this process for you (See download link below). If you already have your movie files stored in individual folders, or don’t mind creating them manually, you can skip down to the Installing and Configuring YAMMM section.

To automate the process of creating individual movie file folders, download File2Folder Script 1.0 and extract the filetofolder.bat file. You’ll then need to copy filetofolder.bat into the folder that stores all of your movie files. Note: For this script to run properly, this process should be performed on your local computer. Running it in a network folder is not recommended.

Double-click filefolder.bat to run the process. This will open a Command window and move your files. When the process is finished, press any key to close the command window.

You should now have each movie contained in it’s own individual folder.

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Installing and Configuring YAMMM

Now it’s time to download and install YAMMM (Download link below). To begin the installation, simply double-click the downloaded .msi file and follow the installation wizard.

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During the install, the YammmConfig tool will open. The first step you’ll want to take is to define your Movie Library locations. On the Library Tab, click the “Include a folder…” button.

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Browse to select your movie folder and click “OK.” If you have more than one folder in your Movie Library, repeat this process to add each additional folder. Click “Save” when you are finished.

Since YAMMM runs as a service, if you wish to add folders from a network location, you’ll need to provide a username and password for the networked computer under the Network credentials section. If the networked computer doesn’t have a password, you’ll need to set one. Click “Save” when you’re finished.

On the Settings tab, check the “Rename movie folders…” box and “Rename movie files…” box. This will automatically rename your movie files to include the date. Click “Save” when finished.

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Next, click on the Metadata tab. Under “Create the following meta information files,” check Windows 7 Media Center. Also place a check in the box next to all user accounts under Users. Click “Save.”

Click on the Artwork tab.? Selecting one of the resize options and reducing the Quality to something less than 100 can reduce lag time when opening the Movie Library. Click “Save.” When you are finished with all of your configurations, click “Exit.”

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Click “Close” to complete the installation.

YAMMM will now proceed to pull the metadata and images for your movie files. If you take a look at the individual movie file folders, you will notice the movie file has been renamed to include the date, and a dvdid.xml file and a folder.jpg file have been downloaded by YAMMM to provide the metadata and image for the Movie Library. If you chose to resize the images, you will also see a folder.original.jpg file in addition to the folder.jpg.

Now when you browse your Movie Library in Media Center, your movie files will appear with nice movie cover art.

With the added metadata in Movie Library, you can now sort your movie collection by title, genre, year, parental rating, type, and date added.

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If you click on any of your movie selections, you will get a detailed synopsis of the movie.

All that’s left now is to click “Play” and enjoy a movie.

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As you add more movies to your movie folders, YAMMM will automatically pull metadata and cover art for each folder. For more help configuring your Movie Library, check out our previous article on setting up and adding folders to the Windows Media Center Movie Library.

Links

Download File2Folder Script

Download YAMMM

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Do you need a nice simple way to manage your Windows Live account without maintaining a “permanent tab” throughout the day? Then join us as we take a look at the Pop HotMail extension for Google Chrome.

Pop HotMail in Action

If you are not already signed into your Windows Live account in your browser then you will need to do so when opening the popup window.

As soon as you have signed you will be presented with the default “home page” for Pop HotMail. From here you can navigate to other areas of your account such as your inbox, compose new messages, etc.

Note: At this time Pop HotMail does not display the number of unread e-mails on the “Toolbar Icon”.

The only drawback for the extension may be in viewing some e-mails (depending on how they are formatted). Here you can see one of our e-mails and the “Compose New Message” window.

Enjoy easy access to your “Folders & Contact List”…

You can visit the Mobile version of “Windows Live Home” and view any “Junk Mail” that you may have unfortunately received.

Clicking on the “Go to mail.live.com” link at the bottom of the popup window will open a new tab if you need “full window” access to your account.

Conclusion

The Pop HotMail extension provides a nice simple way to manage your Windows Live account without needing to constantly maintain an open tab for it.

Links

Download the Pop HotMail extension (Google Chrome Extensions)

Download the Pop HotMail extension (Extension Homepage)

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Microsoft removed many of the personalization options in Windows 7 Starter, the cheap edition for netbooks.? There is still a lot of stuff you can customize, though some of it is hidden, so here we’ll show you how to make your netbook your very own.

In all other editions of Windows 7, you can easily personalize your computer by simply right-clicking on the desktop and selecting Personalize.? This gives you a wide range of options to change, including themes, background, sounds, screensaver, mouse pointers, and desktop icons.

This Personalization panel not available Windows 7 Starter, however.? If you right-click on the desktop, all you will see are options to change your resolution and add Desktop Gadgets.

With a few quick Start Menu searches, though, you can rediscover many of the personalization settings.? Here’s how to change your window theme, screensaver, sounds, and more in Windows 7 Starter.? All of these options are in the normal Personalization panel in other editions of Windows 7, but here we’ll show you how to find them in Starter.

Sounds

It can be both useful and enjoyable to change your default sounds.? Anyone who’s booted a laptop during a meeting knows how annoying computer sounds can be.? Or, if you just want to make your PC sound different than the default settings, Windows 7 includes several very nice sound schemes.

Simply enter “change sounds” in your start menu search, and then select “Change system sounds”.

Here you can change or remove any of the sounds or even turn on or off the Windows boot sound.

You can even choose one of the other sound schemes; 7 Starter still includes all of the new sound schemes!

Screensaver

Most netbooks will have no screensaver enabled by default, and instead will have the screen turn off when idle to conserve power.? If you would like your netbook to have a screensaver, Windows 7 Starter does still include all the default Windows 7 screensavers.? Simply type “screensaver” in your start menu search, and choose “Change screen saver”.

This will open the same screensaver option dialog you’re used to.? Choose the screensaver and settings you want.

Theme

By default, Windows 7 Starter uses the Aero Classic theme.? This is similar to the default Aero Glass theme on other editions of Windows 7, but without the transparency.

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If you prefer the classic Windows look (from Windows 95/98/2000/ME), or need to use a high contrast theme, you can still revert to this.? Type “theme” in the start menu search, and click the “Change the color scheme” link.

This opens the classic theme selector.? Choose the them you want, and click OK.

Here’s the Windows Classic theme on Windows 7 Starter.

You can change your theme options in the Windows Classic theme, including the desktop background color.? Simply click Advanced in the previous dialog, click on the background color in the picture, and then choose the color you want from the box.

Background Picture

Windows 7 Starter does not allow you to directly change the background.? One of the best ways around this is the Slide Show desktop gadget.? To add this, right-click on your desktop, and click Gadgets.

Now, double-click on the Slide Show gadget, or click and drag it to your desktop.

By default the gadget is small.? To make it larger, hover your mouse over the right hand side of the gadget, and click on the middle button with the arrow.

Now the gadget will show a 320?240 image.

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This actually looks fairly nice for a background, especially on the standard 1024?600 resolution screens on netbooks.

Desktop Icons

To change the icons for common items such as My Computer and the Recycle Bin, enter “icons” in the start menu search and select the “Show or hide common icons on the desktop” link.

Here you can show or hide icons, or can also change the icons for these items.

Select the item you wish to change, and click Change Icon.? You can select from icons included with Windows, or others you may have on your computer.

Mouse Pointers

If you’d like to customize your mouse pointers, enter “cursors” in the start menu search, and choose the “Change how the mouse pointer looks” link.

This will open the classic mouse properties dialog, where you can choose mouse pointer schemes and change individual cursors.

Conclusion

Windows 7 Starter still has a lot of customization options, but they’re not as apparent as they are in other editions of Windows 7.? With these tips, you should be able to customize your netbook more than you originally thought possible.? And these all work without installing any 3rd party software!

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Do you dislike having to save “temporary interest/need” links as bookmarks or saving the whole webpage to your computer for later reference? Now you can save those links as small clickable files with the SaveLink extension.

SaveLink in Action

Once you have installed the extension you are ready to start saving links as files. You will not have to worry with any options…

There are two different ways to access the extension…the first is using the “File Menu” to save the webpage you are currently viewing as a “.url file”.

Here you can see that the file name is defaulting to the webpage title… Having a specific folder somewhere would be perfect for these files if you are wanting to keep your desktop clear or will be saving a lot of them.

Perhaps you are wanting to save a link in an article that you are reading…just access the “Context Menu” to save it as a file to your computer.

Notice that the file name is identical to the text containing the link in the article…you will most likely want to rename it for reference purposes later if you happen to have a large number of “.url files” to sort through.

The Result

Here are our two “.url files” ready to be double clicked when needed and easy to dispose of when we are finished with them. Nice, convenient, and easy to manage…

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Conclusion

If you find yourself needing to save a lot of temporary links and really dislike cluttering up your bookmarks, then you will certainly enjoy having this extension added to your Firefox Browser.

Links

Download the SaveLink extension (Mozilla Add-ons)

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When using your new Windows 7 machine there might be times when something goes wrong with a driver or an app and Windows becomes unstable. Today we’ll show a complete System Restore process on a Windows 7 computer where the Office 2010 Uninstall went awry.

We recently had one of our computers in the lab take a turn for the worse after trying to do a complete uninstall of Office 2010 beta. It didn’t go the way we had hoped and experienced a hard time getting 2010 or 2007 reinstalled. It also caused some other apps that are associated with Office to error out and act unstable. Rather than spend hours researching Knowledgebase articles and tinkering with the Registry, we turned to restoring the system back to an earlier state with System Restore. In this article we thought we’d remind you about the importance of System Restore, and walk you through the restore process in Windows 7.

Recover from a Restore Point

First type system restore into the search box in the Start menu and hit Enter.

That opens the System Restore wizard and from here you can choose the recommended restore point,which is the most recent one…Or you can choose a different restore point, which for our situation we need to do. Select the radio button next to Choose a different restore point then click Next.

Now you get a list of different restore points and the description of what was taking place when it was created. We tried several attempts to install / uninstall Office 2010 Beta on this machine so there are several of those points listed as you can see. We need something later, so in this instance we want to click on the box next to Show more restore points.

Now scroll through and determine which restore point you want. For example, we know our system started being unstable at the time of trying to get rid of Office 2010…so we’ll pick a restore point that is a couple days before that when everything was working successfully.

When you pick a restore point, another thing you should do is click the button to Scan for affected programs.

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The scan will kick off and determine what will be affected by the restore point you choose.

Then it brings up the results. It shows which programs and drivers that will be deleted…And what programs will be restored (though they may not work correctly and need to be reinstalled). This is goo information to know when selecting a point to recover. If some important drivers or programs would be deleted, you might want to try another restore point. Although, you may not always that luxury and will have to go with the one that works.

Confirm the restore pint and click Finish. If you’ve changed your password recently and need to reset it after doing a system restore check out our article on How to Create a password reset disk in Vista and Windows 7.

Click Yes to the message saying that it can’t be undone until it has completed, or cannot be undone if running it from Safe Mode.

The System Restore process begins…

You’ll see a series of messages display while the process completes and different things are being restored. The amount of time it takes to complete will vary between computers.

After returning from the restart, you’ll have a message advising it was completed successfully and the time and date it was restored to.

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Now, your system should be functioning exactly how it was during the time it was restored to. You’ll still have all of your documents, but might be missing a couple of programs that you’ll just need to reinstall again.

Conclusion

Although often overlooked, it’s very important to create and maintain System Restore Points for the overall health of your system. It can make life much easier if something bad happens and you need a quick way to get your machine working again. A lot of times some programs and some Windows Updates will create a Restore Point for you automatically but not always. If you want to make sure one is created before making a major change to your computer, check out our guide on how to create a restore point in Windows 7 or Vista.

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