Glo Networks Technical Blog (Glo Blog)

When you’re looking for help with an IT problem a simple screen shot can be a powerful ally. Most Windows users are aware of the Print Screen key and its function (to capture what is displayed on the screen/s and copy it to the clipboard). A small drawback to taking a screen shot this way is the necessity to paste the captured image from the clipboard into another program in order to save it.

Because of this here at Glo Networks we receive a large amount of screen shots saved inside Microsoft Word files. While this isn’t exactly a problem it does make the files slightly larger than necessary and also increases the time it takes for us to open them (as we don’t always have Word loaded). This is where the Windows Snipping Tool can be very useful

The Snipping tool was introduced in Windows Vista and is also present in Windows 7 (though not the Home Basic edition) and Windows Server 2008 R2. Its function is to take screen shots, and it offers some handy tools to do so. You can chose to take Free-form, Rectangular, Window, or Full-screen screen shots, or Snips as it calls them, and then you can immediately either Save the Snip to file as a PNG, JPG, GIF or MHT file, or insert the file to into a new email (either as an embedded image or a attachment). It also includes a pen tool to make simple annotations to the snip and a highlighter.

The Snipping Tool is incredibly simple to use and perfect for its purpose. Spend a little time checking it out and you’ll get to grips with it in no time at all, or you can check out instructions on its use here

Posted by James in Desktops and Laptops, FAQ, General, Operating Systems, Software | No Comments »

As you may have already heard  Microsoft launched their brand new client OS (oprerating system)  today, indeed Windows 7 is now officialy on sale to both businesses and the general public.

As Glo Networks were lucky enough to take part in the Beta testing of the product we have had  loads of experience with it. Throughout the Beta and RC stages we have been very impressed with the OS and are very pleased with the final product.  We feel the pricing of the product is a great deal and would higly reccomend this OS to anyone.

For anyone upgrading to Windows 7 from Windows Vista the process should be very smooth as Windows 7 has been designed with this compatability in mind, however for Windows XP users wishing to upgrade a sytem rebuild will be required.

We would be more than happy to offer our advice on the new product, please do not hesitate to contact us for more info!

Posted by James in Desktops and Laptops, Operating Systems | No Comments »

With Windows 7 now starting to make headlines we thought it was probably time to tell our customers a bit about it. Well it’s the replacement to Windows Vista, is expected to be out either very late 2009 or 2010 but could pop to 2011 (as sometimes happens with new Operating Systems). There are expected to be 32 and 64 bit versions and the offical Beta starts in January. Windows 7 and Windows 2008 Server R2 are being developed and tested at the same time.

We at Glo Networks will be fully taking part in the beta (yes we have had the Windows 7 Beta invite) and will do our part to ensure the that when the final product comes out it is well tested and understood by all our staff.

Rest assured we will be keeping you up-to-date as and when we can. And if at any time you would like a look and test of the new Windows, please let us know and we can arrange this very quickly.

Posted by Chris in Desktops and Laptops, Operating Systems | No Comments »

There is more and more talk now about Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-v R2.

Windows 7 server will be called Windows Server 2008 R2 and has a wealthy list of new features as well as the next version of Hyper-V.

first some of the new feaures in Hyper-V

Processor support has grown in Hyper-V R2, the next version will be able to support up to 32 logical processors on the host computer which is twice as many as currect 2008 Hyper-V

Hot add ans remove hardware, this will allow you to add and remove virtual hard drives and pass-through drives to a running virtual machine with the need to reboot – minimizing downtme, this requires it to run a scsi controller, you will not be able to hot add remove storage controllers. 

Live migration, this is mainly for the bigger networks but will enable you to move running virtual machines.

SLAT – Second level translation will leverage new processor features to improve performance and reduce load on Hyper-V, it will improve memory management performance and will decrease hyper-v memory usage from around 5% to 1% for the total physical memory.

Dynamic memory is another internesting new feature, you will be able to create a pool of memory that is dynamically distributed accross virutal machines, this can be controlled by setting initial ram and a minimum and maximum for each virtual machine, this should allow for greater consolidation by addressing one of the most limiting factors.

More features of 2008 R2 -

improved features of terminal services, direct access it will also include powershell 2.0

Posted by Dave in Operating Systems | 1 Comment »