“Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD) problems are frustrating and time consuming. They can happen again and again as you restart the system and to recover from it. If you are lucky, you might not have to reformat the system, because that will erase all your important data. Two general reasons behind BSOD errors are a hardware failure (hard disk crash, damaged SATA cable, RAM), or a software failure (Corrupt File System Files, BIOS settings, Malfunctioned programs, Virus attack).

After every crash, the operating system records the information stating the reason of crash, date and time, corrupted driver location, and lines of code to the system minidump folders located at C:\Windows\Minidump. If you can’t find the files at their default location, that means someone has altered the location or renamed it, and you’ll have to correct a few Windows settings.

Follow the instructions below to configure Windows so that Windows can create this specific folder and record the information whenever BSOD errors to your system:

For Windows XP

Right click on ‘My Computer’ and go to properties, alternatively you can go to control panel and double click on ‘system’ icon.

Find the ‘Advanced’ tab and then ‘Startup & Recovery’ frame. Click on ‘Settings’ located under ‘Startup and Recovery’ frame and find the section named ‘Write debugging information’ and then set the value from drop down menu to ‘Small memory dump(64 KB)’

To confirm, Click ‘OK’

For Windows 7

All the steps here are the same as Windows XP, but in order to find ‘System properties’ tab, You have to go at ‘Control panel’ and then ‘System & Security’ and then ‘System’.

Change in the registry
Make the following changes in your registry:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl]
“CrashDumpEnabled”=dword:00000003

After that, you have to restart the system to make your changes take effect.

Once you are able to find your minidump files, you’ll have to download Debugging Tools for Windows including WinDbg to decipher the information contained in the them, because the they can’t be open using notepad.

==== About The Author ====

Oliver is a computer hardware/software geek and would love to explore the information about latest technologies, PC tips and tricks. He is currently working with Stellar Data Recovery which is the most famous and trusted name in the field of Data Recovery .
You can follow oliver on twitter @powellstellar, or join his Google+ page.

Microsoft made the “Consumer Preview” (beta) of the next version of their Windows operating system, Windows 8, available on February 29, 2012 in Barcelona. Since then, they also tweeted that they had over one million downloads within the first 24 hours. Needless to say, the interest in the new operating system is very high. It is so high that the casual users are screaming “I love it” and some of the power users are screaming “This is a piece of confusing mess”. Here is my take, trying to take a step back and wondering aloud, if there is a method to the madness.

One day later…one million downloads of the consumer preview

— Building Windows 8 (@BuildWindows8) March 1, 2012

One of the biggest changes in Windows 8 is the removal of the Start Menu and the replacement of the same with the Start Screen. Not only is the medium different – the Start Menu is exactly that, a menu, whereas the Start Screen is a screenful of brightly colored tiles with animations showing photos, notifications, etc. – but also, Microsoft has made it difficult/impossible to revert to “classic” style. Microsoft has made it clear, there is no going back, and this is the way to the future. This is the cutoff from the past and Microsoft’s entry into the PC-Plus era. “Touch first”, “fast and fluid” and of course, “no compromise”. The latter has been the topic of a lot of controversy, as you will see later in this article.

If you are a Windows user, then you might have faced a situation where your windows fonts had gotten corrupted. Actually, there are many probable reasons for this issue. The first one being that you may have accidentally deleted some font file, or some program has replaced your font files and now the system is unable to read it. This can make your MS Word or PDF documents unreadable. Today, I am going to list the possible solutions for this issue.

Possible solutions:

Method 1: This will be applicable only if you already know which font file is corrupted. In this case, you simply have to remove the corrupted font and then install it again.

1. First, open the Run window by using the keys “Win+R”, in the window, type “fonts”.
2. In the Fonts window, select the font that has been corrupted and then right click it and select the option that says “delete”.

3. After deleting the font, restart the system and then download a fresh copy of the corrupted font from internet.
4. Now right click on the downloaded font and select the option “Install”.

5. After the installation is done you have to restart the system so that the font gets registered. Font registration is an automatic process which is done only after restarting the system.
6. So, after the reboot, the font will be working successfully. If it’s not working, then you can try Method 2.

Method 2: This time, we are going to restore the font’s folder to its original state, so that any changes that may have caused the font corruption will be over-written.

1. In Windows, click the Start button and navigate to Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Fonts.
2. In the Fonts window there is a “Font Settings” option in the left pane.

3. Click “Restore default font settings”; this will restore all the font settings to initial state.

4. After this, your fonts should get repaired, but if it is still not working then you should go for the third method.

Method 3: If neither of the above methods worked for you, then you can use third party software to fix your font folder. Fix Fonts Folder is a utility that locates and fixes font related problems on Windows systems (Vista and Windows 7). It scans all installed fonts and checks their integrity and their corresponding registry keys. If there are any corrupt fonts then it offers an option to fix them. You can download this utility from here: http://fix-fonts-folder.en.softonic.com/

Hopefully, one of the above methods helped. If not, be sure to comment below.

______________________________________________________________________________
This post has been contributed by Ankit. Ankit is a tech geek and you can read more from him at Geek Revealed.

ViewSonic is on a roll. After its three new dual SIM Android smartphones – the ViewPhone 4s, 4e, and 5e – we have confirmation that it will be launching three new tablets too, at the Mobile World Congress this year.

Here are some details.

ViewSonic ViewPad G70

The ViewPad G70 seems similar to the ViewPad E70 which was a budget Android ICS tablet launched at CES 2012. It will come with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of internal storage and microSD card support. It will also sport a 2 MP camera and a 0.3 MP secondary camera. It also comes with mini-HDMI, micro-USB, and mini-USB slots. It will have a 7 inch display, presumably with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels.

ViewSonic ViewPad E100

The ViewPad E100 comes with a 1 GHz processor and an IPS display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. It will be powered by a 1 GHz processor and offer HDMI and USB connectivity and microSD card support. It weighs around 620 gms and is quite slim at just 9.1 mm.

ViewSonic ViewPad P100

The ViewPad P100 is a Windows 7 tablet which sports a 10 inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It’ll be powered by a dual core 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N2600 processor.

We should see the complete spec sheets of all three tablets at their official unveiling at MWC 2012. Stay tuned.

Ed Bott of ZDNet managed to spot a revision that Microsoft snuck into its support policy sometime this month that ups the support duration ante for Microsoft’s two latest consumer operating systems — Vista and 7 — to 10 years. He initially noticed it on the Microsoft Japan webpage, but shortly after received confirmation from Microsoft U.S. PR that this revision is in fact valid:

Microsoft is updating the Support Lifecycle policy for Windows desktop operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

The update will provide a more consistent and predictable experience for customers using  Microsoft Windows operating systems across OEM, consumer and business editions.

Microsoft still requires that customers have the most current Service Pack installed in order to continue to receive updates.

Through this update, customers who remain on the most current supported service pack will be eligible to receive both Mainstream and Extended Support, for a total of 10 years. 

Bott notes that one must not mistake the support lifecycle of Windows for its sales lifecycle; you can’t purchase a retail copy of XP or Vista today. Once Windows 8 launches later this year, Microsoft will be supporting a total of 4 operating systems at once, until Windows XP reaches the end of its support lifecycle on April 4th, 2014. That’s right; in about two years, the OS that has clung onto the PCs of various users worldwide will finally not be supported. If any of you are reading this on Windows XP, I highly recommend that you upgrade to a modern operating system.

Viewsonic has launched two new tablets at CES 2012 – the ViewPad 10pi and the ViewPad 10e. While the ViewPad 10e is a standard Android tablet, the ViewPad 10pi is a dual booting tablet which runs both Android and Windows.

Viewsonic ViewPad 10pi Specifications

The Viewsonic ViewPad 10pi comes with an Intel Oak Trail z670 processor clocked at 1.5 GHz and 2 GB of RAM. It also offers a 64 GB SSD and sports a 10.1 inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It also comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and optional 3G connectivity support.

It also offers a microSD card slot, and 2 USB ports. It has a primary 3 MP camera, as well as a secondary 1.3 MP camera. It is powered by a 3200 mAh battery, and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread as well as Windows 7 Professional in a dual booting setup.

Viewsonic ViewPad 10e Specifications

The Viewsonic ViewPad 10e is a standard Android 2.3 Gingerbread tablet, which comes with a 9.7 inch IPS display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. It is powered by a 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor and 512 MB of RAM. It offer 4 GB of internal storage, and microSD card support. It also has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth 3.0. It sports a 1.3 MP camera on the front face, and comes with a 5400 mAh battery.

The pricing for either tablet hasn’t been announced yet.

Check out our complete CES 2012 coverage: Techie-Buzz @ CES 2012

Yes, Techie-Buzz is still a technology blog. We still couldn’t help having Shahrukh Khan feature twice here in the last couple of months. In October, I wrote about Shahrukh Khan’s aggressive digital marketing for his film RA.One. Now, for his upcoming release, Don 2, Microsoft India in partnership with Excel Entertainment, the producers of the film, has launched a unique contest which gives winners a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet SRK and travel to Berlin.

To enter the Meet the Don2: Mission Berlin contest, you need to buy one of the Microsoft products Windows 7 PC, Windows Phone, Microsoft Office 2010, or Xbox 360 from a retail store in the contest period and then answer five simple questions and write a catchy slogan at www.MissionBerlin.in. The contest runs from November 25th to December 20th, 2011. If your entry is shortlisted, you will be asked to send a copy of the invoice as a proof of purchase.

The first 1000 correct and complete entries will win 4 tickets to the first day first show of Don 2 to watch it with family and friends. Top five winning families with best slogan will get a chance to meet Shahrukh Khan in person. And one of the luckiest family amongst these will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the beautiful, historic city of Berlin. Don 2 is shot in Berlin and the sightseeing arrangements include trips to shooting spots!

Well, Microsoft India just made the futile chase to Don possible!

Last month, Dell announced the new Dell Latitude ST tablet for business, healthcare and education. This tablet runs on the Windows 7 Operating System. Dell Latitude ST is ideal for any organization where employees need to run a core set of applications in safe computing environments. It allows you to connect the tablet to projectors, printers or other devices using built-in ports. Within a month of its official announcement, Dell finally launched this tablet in India. Check out the complete specs below.

Dell Latitude ST Specifications:

• 10.1″ WXGA touchscreen display
• 1280 x 800 pixels resolution
• Pen & Touch Input
• Intel Atom Z670 processor
• Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate OS
• Mobile Intel SM35 Chipset
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 600
• Dell Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n
• 3G Connectivity
• Bluetooth 4.0 LE Combo Card
• Dell Wireless 5550 Single-mode HSPA+ Mini Card
• A-GPS
• Up to 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM
• Up to 128 GB Solid State hard drive
• High Quality Mono Speaker
• Stereo headphone/Microphone combo jack
• Integrated digital microphone
• 5 megapixel rear facing camera
• Integrated 720p HD front facing video webcam
• USB 2.0
• SD Memory card reader
• HDMI
• Digital Pen garage
• Docking Connector

Dell Latitude ST weighs 816 g. This tablet comes with a price tag of Rs.36,000. You can also get the optional Docking station for an additional price of Rs.8,000. To learn more, check out the video below.

With the iPhone 4S set to shatter sales records the competition better have something up their sleeves to compete. For Microsoft the upcoming holiday season is going to be tricky. As Todd Bishop at GeekWire points out, the company has a new range of Windows Phone 7 Mango handsets coming out but besides that they don’t have any other new product for users.

Many enthusiasts have been wondering why Microsoft does not talk about the consumer ecosystem it has created. In the coming days, Microsoft will be changing that. The core premise is Windows enabling families stay connected and have a great time with technology. Microsoft shared two advertisements talking about the concept:

The second ad Dog.ppt is a pretty cool ad but I have my doubts about the first one. (I am not the only one.)

Microsoft is rumored to  be investing several Million Dollars for OEM partners for advertising their Windows Phone 7 handsets and it looks like HTC is making good use of it. Spotted by WinRumors’ Tom Warren, the HTC WP7 ad aired in the UK is nicely done. Wrapping features around what the phone enables you to do is always a better message than telling us specs and features. Here’s the ad:

Microsoft UK has another HTC WP7 ad that is eye catching. Both ads show promise and in fact as Tom Warren says, Microsoft should have more ads done by the creative agency behind the HTC WP7 ads.

Microsoft Australia had probably one of the coolest launch show for a developer software. Long Zheng wrote about Microsoft Australia putting up a light show using office lights of two building to launch LightSwitch for Visual Studio. Here’s the video of a very un-Microsoft launch:

Microsoft has released Microsoft Camera Codec Pack that enables the viewing of a variety of device-specific file formats. The codec pack allows you to import, organize, and edit RAW files without using third-party plugins or applications.

A RAW file is the uncompressed output from each of the original pixels on the camera’s image sensors. RAW files have higher image quality than JPEG files and have more image information. Microsoft Camera Codec Pack lets you view RAW files from over 120 digital SLR devices in Windows Live Photo Gallery as well as in Windows Explorer. The files can also be viewed in other applications that are based on Windows Imaging Codecs (WIC). This pack is available in both the x86 and x64 versions for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows 7.

Once the codec pack is installed, you can edit copies of your RAW images in Windows Live Photo Gallery. Within Photo Gallery, make a JPEG or JPEG-XR (or HD-photo) copy of the original photo, and then apply different editing effects available. You can even use the RAW files to stitch panoramas using Photo Gallery.

The Microsoft Camera Codec Pack provides support for the following device formats:

• Canon: EOS 1000D (EOS Kiss F in Japan and the EOS Rebel XS in North America), EOS 10D, EOS 1D Mk2, EOS 1D Mk3, EOS 1D Mk4, EOS 1D Mk2 N, EOS 1Ds Mk2, EOS 1Ds Mk3, EOS 20D, EOS 300D (the Kiss Digital in Japan and the Digital Rebel in North America) , EOS 30D, EOS 350D (the Canon EOS Kiss Digital N in Japan and EOS Digital Rebel XT in North America), EOS 400D (the Kiss Digital X in Japan and the Digital Rebel XTi in North America), EOS 40D, EOS 450D (EOS Kiss X2 in Japan and the EOS Rebel XSi in North America), EOS 500D (EOS Kiss X3 in Japan and the EOS Rebel T1i in North America), EOS 550D (EOS Kiss X4 in Japan, and as the EOS Rebel T2i in North America), EOS 50D, EOS 5D, EOS 5D Mk2, EOS 7D, EOS D30, EOS D60, G2, G3, G5, G6, G9, G10, G11, Pro1, S90
• Nikon: D100, D1H, D200, D2H, D2Hs, D2X, D2Xs, D3, D3s, D300, D3000, D300s, D3X, D40, D40x, D50, D5000, D60, D70, D700, D70s, D80, D90, P6000
• Sony: A100, A200, A230, A300, A330, A350, A380, A700, A850, A900, DSC-R1
• Olympus: C7070, C8080, E1, E10, E20, E3, E30, E300, E330, E400, E410, E420, E450, E500, E510, E520, E620, EP1
• Pentax (PEF formats only): K100D, K100D Super, K10D, K110D, K200D, K20D, K7, K-x, *ist D, *ist DL, *ist DS
• Leica: Digilux 3, D-LUX4, M8, M9
• Minolta: DiMage A1, DiMage A2, Maxxum 7D (Dynax 7D in Europe, α-7 Digital in Japan)
• Epson: RD1
• Panasonic: G1, GH1, GF1, LX3