Looking for help on Windows live then you may want to check out the Windows Live Help Center

It covers help for all the Windows Live products such as Hotmail, Messenger, Skydrive etc.

As well as issues such as recovering a hacked account, forgotten passwords, installation issues, family safety, photos and blogging etc.

Rob

Then simply click the send feedback menu option on the tools menu (you can press Alt-x)

You will then have to download a quick app and fill in the form providing us details of the problem you are facing, you can even use Problem Steps Recorder

then choose a category for the problem you are seeing such as Security

and any additional info

and the finally review and submit your feedback, which may take a few moments

You can see a little more detail at http://connect.microsoft.com/ie

Rob

You may have seen the post on the Windows Vista Team blog about a new download available to Windows Ultimate users called Tinker.

‘Microsoft ® Tinker (TM): Microsoft Tinker is a casual game that provides players with short puzzle game play sessions set in a warm, calming environment.’

So if you have Ultimate and you are wondering how to get it try this article

And if you would like to understand how to play the game a little, the 5 types of objects and strategies and tips try, Tinker: How to play

Not currently having an Ultimate I can’t try it myself !

Rob

Updated 25 Sept 2008 changed Tinkler to Tinker

2 quick Bing related items that I picked up from via twitter

First up is the super cool Bing laptop skins

 Laptop Skins by Schtickers –  Just noticed that it is MS Employees only deal which is a real pity but am really tempted when I get a new laptop.

and second is this article by the BBC on Visual search http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8256046.stm

‘Software giant Microsoft has introduced visual search to further set itself apart from market leader Google.

The new feature for its 90-day-old search engine Bing.com will let users browse results using pictures instead of text.

Visual search will concentrate on four main areas: travel, health, leisure and shopping. ‘

Thanks to @pbarone and @technogranma respectively

Rob

So everyone loves the Bing homepage pictures, and now you can download the latest and best in our themepack  Bing’s Best 2 and get the following 21 images:

“From the jagged peaks of the Andes in South America to Arizona's Vermilion Cliffs, this sequel to the popular Bing's Best theme takes your Windows 7 desktop on a trip around the world. “

enjoy

Rob

Just pointing out the latest Windows 7 Help and how to topic on Achieving a perfect Windows Experience Index score in Windows 7.

If you are not sure what the Windows Experience Index is see What is the Windows Experience Index?

You can get to the fabled 7.9 but I am currently down at 3.4 mainly due to the lack of graphics capacity on my Lenovo laptop

Let me know what you get

Rob

If you receive the following error message

“Error 1079: The account specified for this service is different from the account specified for other services running in the same process”

and services fail to start on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows 2008 R2 or Windows 7, then you can fix it with a Microsoft fixit 50671.

If you prefer to fixit it manually or want to read more info then please read KB article 2478117

Rob

So this is for William who emailed me with this question.  He had made an IE Favorite folder hidden and couldn’t find a way to get it back.

As this folder is just like any other folder it is quite simple to fix, but the key is to know where your favorites are stored.

1. First go to Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder where your favourites are.  This is typically c:\users\<user name>\favorites
2. Now select the Organize menu and choose ‘Folder and search options’
3. Click the view tab, and make sure you select ‘show hidden files, folders’  and press Apply
4. Restart Internet Explorer and your hidden folder should now appear.

Thanks to Ian who supplied me the answer

Read more on hidden files

Rob

Just a quick update on the latest images available via the bing Dynamic themepack as mentioned last week featuring 4 new images from Cannon Beach in Oregon, Kyrgyzstan, Stonehenge in the UK and some seaweed…

don’t forget all that other lovely bing goodies  (bings best 1, 2, 3, bing Japan and the bing screensaver)

Rob

I got this tip from a colleague (David Weeks) and I thought I would share with you all on how to see your Windows Live SkyDrive storage in Windows Explorer, something I have tried and failed to do in the past.

1. Visit SkyDrive (http://www.skydrive.com) and login with your Live ID.

2. If you have not used SkyDrive before click on the My Documents folder.

3. Now look at the address bar. You should find your unique ID there in the URL (http://cid-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.skydrive.live.com - see the screenshot below; it’s in the greyed out area and is unique to you). Copy this ID to the clipboard, as we’ll need it shortly. Use the back button in IE if you don’t see the ID right away.

4. Now, open your Computer in Windows Explorer (either go Start menu / Computer, or just press WindowsKey +E to go straight there), and you’ll see “Map Network Drive” in the menu. Click that.

5. In the new dialog box that choose your drive letter using the dropdown. I will be choosing S: for mine (Sky Drive). Now in the Folder field (just below the Drive dropdown) type, \\docs.live.net@SSL\your_skydrive_id\^2Documents (replacing “your_skydrive_id” with the ID you copied in Step 1). Press Finish  and wait a little while, and you’ll get a logon box… enter your Windows Live ID and press OK. You won’t see all folders in your SkyDrive storage – you could try changing ^2Documents to the name of another folder name which you can see in the web view, if you want to upload to that too.

Hint: it’s also possible to browse straight to your SkyDrive storage without having to map a drive – if you simply paste \\docs.live.net@SSL\your_skydrive_id\^2Documents into the dialog at Start / Run (or WindowsKey+R), you can jump straight to the folder.

6. You’ll now have mapped your Network Drive, and might notice that you have your Unique ID included in the name. So for security, just right mouse click on the name within Windows Explorer, choose rename from the drop down and call it anything you want.

Now that your Skydrive account is configured, you can  copy all the documents you wish to upload to your Skydrive account to this newly created network drive. You can also create folders here, too, all of which will be Private by default. To change their sharing option log in to your Windows Live account using your browser and change it from there.

Of course, there are other ways to put stuff on SkyDrive. Windows Live Mesh can sync up to 5Gb of data from elsewhere, it is possible to drag & drop multiple files into the browser view, and it’s possible to save straight from within an Office 2010 app (eg in Word, go to Save & Send on the File menu, and choose Save to Web – see here).

All of which proves, there are many ways to do the same thing. Choose whatever one works for you best…

Rob