Make S3 ProSavageDDR graphics card work properly on Windows 7.

Over the last few days I've been using my old Fujitsu Siemens notebook, which runs on an old hardware (it is not worth mentioning its specifications). It had Windows XP installed and after a few crashes and a lot of lagginess, I decided installing Windows 7 on it, hoping it would run better afterwards. So the installation went smooth, but I got stuck at what I was afraid of, the drivers. Almost anything worked out-of-the-box, but in a limited way. For the video card, which I want to talk about, Windows 7 used some sort of basic graphics driver, instead of using a dedicated one, which meant very sluggish graphics and improper resolution (had to find the right one by myself).

Basically, S3 (the company who manufactured ProSavageDDR) dropped the support for this graphic card, along with many others, leaving on their website only links from where you can theoretically download the drivers. Theoretically, because the download links are broken, and now (at the time of writing this article), even the webpage is down. But the main problem is that many of the other download links (from other websites) for the driver for ProSavageDDR are down, broken or link to nowhere, so it is quite difficult to find the driver for this graphics card. Moreover, the support has been dropped when the driver was designed for Windows XP or earlier, so there was no driver for Windows Vista or 7 created. 

However, I managed to find the driver on a website (link posted below), and I even successfully installed it on my laptop and it works more than decent. The idea is that you can first try installing it normally (double click that file), or, if that fails, you must install it in compatibility mode: right click the file -> Properties -> Compatibility -> Check the box from "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)". Then, just reboot and you should see at Screen resolution the name of your graphics card. If that happens, it means that everything is OK.

Download link: ProSavageDDR driver (Windows XP and 7, confirmed to work). 

Don't buy a Transcend RDP7 USB card reader + USB hub if you're on Windows 7. They aren't compatible.

Transcend has a very interesting product, named RDP7. It supports almost all kinds of cards, and, in the same time, it's also a USB hub. As it's written on the official website, external hard drives shouldn't be plugged in the USB hub (probably because the hub does not get any external power so it isn't able to handle external hard drives), and this should be the main disadvantage on this product.

The extremely short cable might also be a problem, because if you don't have the computer on the desk, you won't be able to use the hub very easy.

You can also consider connecting this product into another (externally powered) USB hub, which should allow you to use the RDP7 in a comfortable way. That's what I did, on my Windows 7 based computer, and....surprise, try to shut down the computer, if you can.

When connected through the other USB hub, my computer gives, in most cases, blue screen during shut down and it restarts by itself. When connected directly to computer, it doesn't give blue screen, but, however, Windows fails to shut down and restarts by itself. The problem isn't, most probably, caused by the product, but by the excellent poor drivers included in Windows 7. I came to this conclusion after seeing that Windows XP shuts down just fine, on the same computer, with the RDP7 connected.

So, if you consider buying this product, or a similar one, make sure you check if it's compatible with your OS (don't read only on official website, there was written that the RDP7 is compatible with Windows 7), and, in any case, ask at the store if it's possible to return the product within a few days (this will help you in case you're not satisfied with your product).

Windows 7 touchpad driver for most Dell laptops.

When you finish installing Windows 7 on most Dell laptops after you had XP or Vista before, what you'll observe related to the touchpad is that even if it is highly accurate, features like scrolling on the edge of the touchpad or forward-back gestures are not working at all. And this happens because Microsoft have included into their OS a quite basic driver, which assures only the normal functionality of the device, without any additional feature.

Many Dell laptops are using touchpads which are manufactured by Alps, on Dell's official site being available drivers designed for XP/Vista only. However, even if after installation Windows prompted me that this driver has known compatibility issues with 7, Windows wasn't able, as expected, to find a solution for this, so I ran the software like it was.

Surprisingly, it works without any major problem, it just moves pretty slow and it adds a little inaccuracy when using the touchpad, but I think it might be corrected using application's settings, but I didn't have time for that yet. However, features like scrolling or forward-back gestures on the edges on the touchpad work perfectly. You can install it and if you then prefer using your laptop without it, you can remove it.

Tested on my Dell D610 laptop with a fresh installed Windows 7 and works. It might work on most other Dell models, mainly with the condition of having similar Alps touchpad devices.

Download link: http://www.4shared.com/file/yqlbVFU3/R113813.html

Any webcam driver for Mac.

As we all know, Mac OS X is a great operating system. It normally works with a large of devices connected via USB, with the exception of webcams. They require additional drivers. Here starts the headache...you need to search on manufacturers website for it, but since most of manufacturers are oriented on Windows only, you have low changes to find one (which works like it should). But wait, I recommend you something better.

A small application, called "macam", is a real help in such situations. It has included the USB drivers for almost any webcam, from almost any manufacturer. And, it is capable of taking pictures and recording, with many configurable settings. And it's really simple to use.

Download from here: http://www.4shared.com/file/235587242/5228325f/macam092.html.

To avoid problems of any kind (errors, conflicts, kernel panics, etc) and for a list of webcams which should work or which should not work, please visit the official site: http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net/index.html

Transform your iPhone into a flash drive.

Managing files between iPhone and PC/Mac has never been easy, since these tasks need iTunes, which we all know that is not an expert. However, there are available some applications for iPhone that can transform it into a wireless flash drive.

The application I'm going to talk about is named "Discovery". This works only if the computer and the iPhone are connected on the same Wi-Fi. You can download and upload various content between your computer and your iPhone, without need the use of any cable. You can view documents, video, music, pictures and more.

It has a function named "Nearby", which will detect any iPhone that is around and has Discovery service running, allowing you to share files with them. After launch, the application will tell you what address to type into your browser in order to access the iPhone. It's compatible with any OS. And the best part, it's FREE. (commercial version also available, but the only difference is that it removes advertisement)

Search it in App Store: "Discovery".

ATI HD 3xxx + Realtek HD problems on Windows XP.

I have a computer with an ATI HD 3850 graphic card which has, practically, included a sound card. The problem is that on the motherboard I have a Realtek HD sound card, which enters in conflict with the graphic card. From what I have observed, ATI starts the conflict and forces Windows to keep the sound played via their drivers (which is done through a HDMI connected to graphic card). This will make any try to play sound through motherboard's sound card to fail.

The solution is to go on device manager, and there to disable ATI HD sound card (under sound devices). Windows won't have any option, and will automatically playback sound via Realtek HD sound card.

This should apply to any ATI graphic card from series HD 3xxx.

Compiz effects for Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is capable of impressionable desktop effects, which are usually activated automatically from the first boot. If not, you can activate them by going on System -> Preferences -> Appearance -> Visual Effect and selecting "Extra".

This will work if your computer started with 3D Accelerated drivers, and if not, when you select the "Extra" effects, you will be asked if you want to activate the drivers. This is done very simple, you don't need to know anything about Linux, don't worry.

If you want advanced desktop effects, I will recommend you to install two applications. I'm using them on my computers with Linux, and I am recommending them to you because I know that they are simple to be configured and won't create conflicts.

Go to Synaptic Package Manager (System -> Preferences) and there search for the following two applications, and mark them both for installation (the search will return two applications, mark them both):

• compizconfig-settings-manager

After they have been installed, go again to System-> Preferences -> Appearance-> Visual Effects, and select "Custom". Now go to the applications you have just installed (found on System -> Preferences and one of them is called "CompizConfig Settings Manager", and the other one is called "Simple CompizConfig Settings Manager") and start customizing the way your computer moves and behaves.

Please note that this will work on 3D Accelerated drivers, which are either automatically activated, or are manually activated by you). If you can't find the driver for your graphic card, try to search on manufacturer's website (you will need advanced knowledge for configuration).

Enjoy you 3D Ubuntu desktop effects !

Controlling Synaptics touchpads on Ubuntu.

Even if Ubuntu is a great OS, it might have some problems on laptops with their touchpads. My laptop's touchpad is made by Synamptics, which runs, natively, on Linux, but for changing the way it responds and behaves, it needs a driver. The best way you can get it is via Ubuntu Software Center (located on Applications). Within the software center, search for "Touchpad". Click on the right button from the first result, and click install. Now, it will ask for your password (which you entered when you have installed Ubuntu). Wait for the installation to finish, then close software center, and go to System -> Preferences -> Touchpad. Now you can modify the way your touchpad moves, behaves, and others.

Tested on Dell D610 and works without problems.

Did you know that Windows 7 can run applications designed for previous versions of Windows ?

For those who recently turned from Windows XP to 7, there is an (very) useful option that can make programs made for Windows XP, to run on Windows 7, even if they're not compatible with it. All you have to do is to right-click on an application, click "Properties", then go on "Compatibility" tab. You now have to click on "Run this program in compatibility mode for:", and select "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)".

This trick works to applications, games, and even drivers. Even if this usually works, it is recommended to use the Windows 7 designed versions, especially for drivers, which may have different problems if they are ran this way (may be unstable, cause crashes, and even may not work at all).

Warning: this trick may not work for any application; i'm not responsable for any loss/damage you can occur by using this trick

ATI Radeon X300 aero on Windows 7/Vista.

*Update: Download ATI Radeon X300 driver for Windows 7: http://www.4shared.com/file/199253812/27d26aeb/atix300driver.html

I attached a link which contains the back-up of the driver for ATI Radeon X300 for Windows 7. Since I'm no longer using Windows 7, I can't tell you for sure if it works or not (it should be working). I think it might be installed via control panel, by clicking update drivers (and selecting the file you've downloaded). Note that you should have WinRAR, because it's a .rar file (uncompress it before starting the update procedure). Please leave a comment to know if works or not !

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As you probably know, the are some problems on running aero effects from Windows Vista or 7 on ATI Radeon X300 graphic cards, due to incompatible drivers with these operating systems. After searching for hours on forums, I thought there is no change of running aero from Windows 7 on my Dell D610 laptop. But I found a solution, when I was searching a driver for my sound card.

There is a program available, named DriverMax, which searches automatically for newer drivers available for all your components inside your computer. In the free version, you can download only 2 updates for any pc component every day, in the paid version the number being unlimited. Until now, it did his job excellent on all my computers, even if they were running Windows XP, Vista or 7.


So, just give it a try, it takes you nothing: http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/