Vista Game Explorer Editor  

274 members have voted

  1. 1. How would you rate VGEE out of 10?

    • Excellent (9-10 out of 10)
      52
    • Very Good (8 out of 10)
      47
    • Good (7 out of 10)
      61
    • Not Good Enough (6 and below)
      71
    • I don't have Vista
      43


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As requested by one or two forum members here - I'm creating this thread to allow more people to notice this program that allows you to add and edit information and BoxArt shown in your Vista Game Explorer (or VGE).

The most recent release of this program is VGEE Beta 2.13 - and you can get it from here

As the program is almost 100% complete - please post any bugs, suggestions and requested features here as soon as possible.

A few things to note:

* Obviously - you can only run this program in Windows Vista. 32bit and 64bit versions have been tested. I can't recall if non-English versions of Vista have been tested as of yet (let me know if you've tried).

* It is crucial that when you add or edit games in the editor, that you have your VGE closed (not just minimized).

Note - the VGE is the Windows folder that shows you your games (accessible via Start-->Games)

the VGEE is my program which adds and edits games.

I think it wouldn't hurt to add the remaining fields that are not in the VGE either in the main interface or an advanced view such as:

Rating

Publisher

Last Played

Release Date

Product Version

Home Page Link(Right Click)

Support Link(Right Click)

Code to automatically change the Shortcut Link path and properties

And possibly some code to automatically get the information from allgame.com

Additionally I found a MSDN Article which states that the DirectX SDK Has GDF (Game Definition File) Editor which seems to control all of the values and not just some:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b...435(VS.85).aspx

It may be worthwhile to post up that executeable and modify your program to install the GDF into the registry so that all of the information available can be edited...

Edited by 72001

Well - I like to think this is still a team project. So if you can work out the method of how to change those items, then I will endeavour to code it in. I'm also trying to keep the size of the window below 800x600 for obvious reasons.

The Publisher info can already be edited - there's a toggle button to change between Publisher and Developer. Release Date is already there in VGEE too. If anyone knows how to change the Rating or Product version - please post here so I can try and code something up. Remember that I started making VGEE before I even knew how to add games manually - it was the other forum members who helped out and I hope that this willl continue to be the case.

This app completly avoids GDF's. I've read the MSDN pages, I've downloaded the SDK and played around with it - and I really don't want to go down that track. It really doesn't make much sense to me, and then how on earth would I be able to code that into VGEE when the users don't have the SDK installed on their PC's, and so on. :(

Currently VGEE attempts to change the Home Page shortcut to one of the URLs used for the Publisher or Developer (I don't think it's working 100% atm though). I'll try and make a separate place for it, which means I'll have to redesign the app again.

If you have any ideas on what the new version of VGEE should look like - please post them here or email me at vge.editor AT gmail DOT com

Well as far as automatically retrieving the info that could be done with a few http requests to the allforgame.com site via GET and all you would have to do is retrieve the request information and cipher through to retrieve the information in between certain td's etc. This could be done in a separate form which would pop up on a button click and have basic fields such as game, publisher and developer and make requests to the allforgame.com site which would retrieve the search results and allow selection via your interface.

As far as the GDF method that is a bit more complex possibly the users here or yourself could create GDF's for games and then users would be able to download and use them when needed but that is a bit much work... An alternative would be to look at the available GDF API and use a generic GDF that your app could recompile and install and would bundle the needed dll's from the SDK to allow your application the resources it needs to install the GDF compiled with the resources selected in the VGEE. The application could either patch the GDF or use the compiler in a hidden command prompt that runs in a background.

I would be more then willing to help out on this front, I know my way around C++.net and C#.net well enough to develop in them.

Also please do not take any of what I said as a insult only constructive criticism, you have done a wonderful job on this application and I was only seeking to help you make it better by allowing the full customization that end users would like to see.

Well as far as automatically retrieving the info that could be done with a few http requests to the allforgame.com site via GET and all you would have to do is retrieve the request information and cipher through to retrieve the information in between certain td's etc. This could be done in a separate form which would pop up on a button click and have basic fields such as game, publisher and developer and make requests to the allforgame.com site which would retrieve the search results and allow selection via your interface.

1 - I don't know how to do that. Feel free to provide more technical examples.

2 - I was hoping that all of use could create .vge files with accurate information and BoxArt. Then I could host them all online and we wouldn't need AllGame.com as much. I didn't spend that much time getting the improting code working for no-one to use it I hope. :)

As far as the GDF method that is a bit more complex possibly the users here or yourself could create GDF's for games and then users would be able to download and use them when needed but that is a bit much work... An alternative would be to look at the available GDF API and use a generic GDF that your app could recompile and install and would bundle the needed dll's from the SDK to allow your application the resources it needs to install the GDF compiled with the resources selected in the VGEE. The application could either patch the GDF or use the compiler in a hidden command prompt that runs in a background.

I would be more then willing to help out on this front, I know my way around C++.net and C#.net well enough to develop in them.

Also please do not take any of what I said as a insult only constructive criticism, you have done a wonderful job on this application and I was only seeking to help you make it better by allowing the full customization that end users would like to see.

No insult taken - I'm only a new(ish) programmer. This is my first app written in the .NET framework (in VB .NET 2005 express) since first learning VB6.

My goals for VGEE are the following (which require help from all the users):

1. For every game you own (have installed) - use VGEE to set all of the information 100% perfect (same as AllGame.com). Then create export every game to a .vgi file (load each game and click the Export menu item on the right in VGEE). Email them all to me at [email protected]

Then I can host them online for everyone to use.

2. Game Version Number. I have no idea how to change this via the registry (don't tell me about GDF's). Please try and work something out and let me know any results you fins out.

3. Game ratings. All new games you add will inherit the rating of the game they overwrite. Can you try and create some sort of table that lists each Game Rating available and what reg key values are used for them. If changing the game rating is as simple as copying the reg keys from games that already have the desired rating, then I should be able to get VGEE to let you choose whatever rating you want. That'll upset Microsoft. :o) Maybe when they try and stop us from editing game ratings they can also improve their VGE so that Ino-one needs to use VGEE anymore. Wouldn't that be great.

4. Custom Icons. I had a shot at this in VGEE Beta 2.10 and thought I had it working - but people reported problems with it - so I've commented out the code and disabled the controls on the window. If people can post a fail-safe method for chaning the icon shown in your VGEE if you don't like BoxArt then I'll have another crack at it. There was also some clonfliction between the Icons and Command Line Arguments for the games used.

That and a few other bugs that I have made note of is all that I really need to do to finish VGEE once and for all.

To retrieve game information from AllGame.com you can use what is called a WebRequest.

Here is a sample from VB.net Heaven:

http://www.vbdotnetheaven.com/UploadFile/k...questClass.aspx

I don't use VB or VB.net much however I do use ASP and ASP.net which are very similar in syntax.

What you would need to do is then parse through it by using a string match or expression to find out the data you wanted.

Ratings information is retrieved from Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameUX\Games\<GAMEIDHERE>

Specifically the Key : RatingsInfo

Which contains data like this.

<Ratings xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:GameDescription.v1"><Rating ratingID="{7A53B0BE-B92D-4e8a-A11F-8E6F9F3C575B}" ratingSystemID="{768BD93D-63BE-46A9-8994-0B53C4B5248F}"></Rating><Rating ratingID="{464299D0-6D57-47e8-AA53-A849CBEA12CB}" ratingSystemID="{36798944-B235-48ac-BF21-E25671F597EE}"></Rating><Rating ratingID="{17A01A46-0FF6-4693-9F18-D162C2A5C703}" ratingSystemID="{30d34abd-c6b3-4802-924e-f0c9fc65022b}"></Rating><Rating ratingID="{9236ED52-B5FE-4227-8EB3-353C0BDABECF}" ratingSystemID="{C705DCF4-6AFE-4f4f-BC51-21807E4E5CFB}"></Rating><Rating ratingID="{FCC61B08-1352-4e5b-9D96-986EAB2FC503}" ratingSystemID="{5B39D1B8-ED49-4055-8A47-04B29A579AD6}"></Rating></Ratings>

Quick searches of the registry reveled nothing for ratingID ratingSystemID or any of the GUID values to follow those fields. :( Although I do notice that every game has its own rating from this key (for description) and can be created just like we create games.

There is another key with some related information to the games at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility\Entry Points\<ApplicationIDHere> however nothing to do with the rating or version that I noticed.

Only thing I can explain is that there is definitely something to do with the ApplicationID since that does not change and stays from the cloned game.

Might also be worth to take a look at C:\Windows\system32\GameUXLegacyGDFs.dll and see if anything catches your eye. The game version number is somehow derived from the Exe of that game I believe and it would have something to do with the :

AppExePath & ConfigApplicationPath In my opinion.

Let me know if you need any more help and I will continue to play around with this stuff and see what else I can find.

Also to have a custom Icon: Make a shortcut of the game you want to have the custom icon, then change the icon via the right click menu, then simply drag it to the GameExplorer...

______________

UPDATE

After a little more searching I believe I may have found the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Parental Controls\Ratings Systems

Specifically the subkey Games and LCIDS

Please take a look into that and let me know what you have found.

_______________

Further Update

This is definitely directly related to the ratings system.

The ratingSystemID="{30d34abd-c6b3-4802-924e-f0c9fc65022b}" value exactly matches this value from the above ratings value, It would seem that all that is left to find is where the String and binary values are stored for these keys and how to edit them.

_______________

YAY

I Have found IT:

C:\Windows\System32\cero.rs

This file contains data for the game rating and allows you to add new ratings!!!

The rating ID for the above game 17A01A46-0FF6-4693-9F18-D162C2A5C703 corresponds to this data:

<Rating>

<ID>{17A01A46-0FF6-4693-9F18-D162C2A5C703}</ID>

<Level>1</Level>

<ShortName>100</ShortName>

<LongName>101</LongName>

<Description>102</Description>

<Graphic>CERO_E.PNG</Graphic>

<MinimumAge>3</MinimumAge>

<Deprecated>{24D81953-37B6-4e5e-B7DF-2B7D7AA6E53B}</Deprecated>

</Rating>

<Rating>

<ID>{24D81953-37B6-4e5e-B7DF-2B7D7AA6E53B}</ID>

<Level>2</Level>

<ShortName>112</ShortName>

<LongName>113</LongName>

<Description>114</Description>

<Graphic>CERO_A.PNG</Graphic>

<MinimumAge>3</MinimumAge>

</Rating>

Other files such as:

C:\Windows\System32\pegi.rs

C:\Windows\System32\pegibbfc.rs

C:\Windows\System32\esrb.rs

C:\Windows\System32\pegi-fi.rs

C:\Windows\System32\pegi-pt.rs

C:\Windows\System32\usk.rs

C:\Windows\System32\oflc.rs

Are the other rating systems so each would correspond to which ever is related to your region.

Americans would want the esrb.rs file and it contains the same types of data as posted above.

I hope this is the information you were looking for. I will not being the search for the versioning information either now or later when I have more time :)

Hope that was enough help and info and if you need anything else please let me know.

Edited by 72001

After reviewing http://static.scribd.com/docs/cqz8yn7t15zl...TIAL_VIEW=width

It would see that a API already exists and that a GDF is simply a XML file with values. This is not hard to create at all and then simply pass the XML values to the API which is documented very well on that page/PDF with examples. the way we are doing it here is simply a hack up and reinventing a wheel that microsoft has already created and made very simply to use... additionally it seems our method will never allow for changing most of the information due to most of the values that are deeper such as ApplicationId not changing from the initial value.... hopefully you will implement that or prove me wrong...

I do believe that you can use your .vgi files and simply embed the GDF information into them, GDF is only XML data...

The following code is all that would need to be used

HRESULT AddGame(

const BSTR bstrGDFBinaryPath,

const BSTR bstrGameInstallDirectory,

GAME_INSTALL_SCOPE installScope,

GUID* pguidInstanceID

);

This article should show you how to create a GUID for use in the last field http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.guid.aspx

Parameters

bstrGDFBinaryPath

[in] A string that contains the fully qualified path of the binary file that contains the game definition file (GDF).

bstrGameInstallDirectory

[in] A string that contains the path to the game's installation folder. For legacy games, this folder must match the folder in the Microsoft legacy database. For more details, contact the Microsoft Windows Gaming and Graphics Developer Relations Group.

installScope

[in] GAME_INSTALL_SCOPE that defines whether the game is to be installed for all users or only the current user. If set to GIS_ALL_USERS, administrative access is required. If set to GIS_CURRENT_USER, administrative access is not required.

pguidInstanceID

[in, out] A pointer to a GUID to emit or receive the InstanceID associated with the game.

Return Values

This function returns an HRESULT. Use the SUCCEEDED and FAILED macros to test the return value of this function.

AddGame returns S_FALSE if the game was already installed on the system. This situation occurs if a game is added more than once with the same ApplicationID and GameInstallDirectory; that is, AddGame is called twice for the same game installed in the same folder.

Remarks

Note This function can cause lockdown by parental controls, rendering the game's directory unusable, so it must be one of the last steps in your installation phase. For a list of installation steps, see Getting Started With Game Explorer.

Callers should store the instanceID returned by this call, as it is necessary to call IGameExplorer::RemoveGame or IGameExplorer::UpdateGame, and to create tasks for the game in Game Explorer.

If a pointer to a GUID_NULL is passed, this method creates and returns an InstanceID for the caller.

If a pointer to an actual GUID value is passed in, this method uses that GUID as the InstanceID. If that InstanceID already exists on the system, the call fails with E_INVALIDARG.

It is not necessarily an error to call this function on a title that is already installed on the system, since titles can have multiple instances on the same system.

This method can also upgrade an older game that is no longer supported to a newer, supported version. To achieve that, please make sure that the GDF (described in The Game-Definition-File (GDF) Schema) has the same gameID attribute as was used for Game Explorer's legacy game services. For more information, see Legacy Game Support. To arrange access to your game ID, contact the Microsoft.

Requirements

Header: Declared in GameUX.h.

_______

GAME_INSTALL_SCOPE

Defines whether a game being installed is installed for all users or only the current user.

typedef enum

{

GIS_NOT_INSTALLED,

GIS_CURRENT_USER,

GIS_ALL_USERS,

} GAME_INSTALL_SCOPE;Constants

GIS_NOT_INSTALLED

Reserved for internal use only.

GIS_CURRENT_USER

Game is to be registered for only the current user.

GIS_ALL_USERS

Game is to be registered for all users.

Requirements

Header: Declared in GameUX.h.

it is definitely not that hard and I would even possibly be willing to create a c# application to add the data properly so long as you can provide me with enough information on your .vgi files and what is stored in them.

let me know.

:)

__________

UPDATE

After a quick review of the UpdateGame method of the IGameExplorer Object it seems that

HRESULT UpdateGame(

GUID guidInstanceID

);

is all that you would need to call. Simply haveing a .vgi or .anything that has the updated information would be used with the GUID of the game (which would have to be generated requiring a small change in the create game code) could be used to update existing games or create new games for use the Game Explorer ... im going to give my try at making a small interface for you to work off or for us to colaborate on.

Edited by 72001

Awesome program :) very useful! been bugging me for ages that Vista would automatically detect some games and add them and not others, now I can add the ones that didn't get automatically added :happy:

Wow - where do I start in replying to all that? :o :)

You're right - I probably could create a .GDF file and even import a file into the VGE. It's mainaly the middle step of converting the GDF and BoxArt into a binary file. You probably didn't post anything about it b/c it's so easy or something. VGEE already has to create new GUIDs when adding new games (where did you think I got them from) :)

You might have forgotton that I live in Australia. And not one of my 'supported legacy' games has any ratings info. Therefore I'm completly reliant on you guys for a reliable solution if VGEE continues to use the registry method. Perhaps you could email me something like a case statement (language-independant if you like).

Select case Whatever_rating_the_user_picked

Case E 'Everyone

'regvalue = ????????

Case M

'regvalue = ???????

'etc

End Select

>>Only thing I can explain is that there is definitely something to do with the ApplicationID since that does not change and stays from the cloned game.

<<

Yeh - I don't change the WMID and GameID values in the registry. If you've read that pdf thingy on my old website you'll see that I export the GameToOverwrite - then change the reg values of the overwritable game (except ones like WMID) - then VGEE reads the exported reg file as a text file - changes the GUID to a new one and imports it.

>>Also to have a custom Icon: Make a shortcut of the game you want to have the custom icon, then change the icon via the right click menu, then simply drag it to the GameExplorer...<<

That might give a custom icon - but it don't think it will help change the icon of a game already added. My previous attempt was to just change the icon of the Play.lnk shortcut (I assume you know where that's located). I thought it worked, but others reported that it didn't do anything.

I opened up Cero.rs in Resource Hacker and saw the XML data there too. Looking good. Unfortunately I don't know what to do with it, I don't know which files relate to which regions (any Australian ones???) and so on. If you have GoogleTalk (http://talk.google.com) or less preferably MSN you'll have to chat with me and I'll see if I can compile a test version to send you and you can let me know if it works. If I create a virtual PC and install Vista on there - could I set it up differently to make it think I'm in a different region so that I could test this stuff myself perhaps? If you get ratings, etc - let me know what region Windows is set to, etc.

Wow - where do I start in replying to all that? :o :)

You're right - I probably could create a .GDF file and even import a file into the VGE. It's mainaly the middle step of converting the GDF and BoxArt into a binary file. You probably didn't post anything about it b/c it's so easy or something. VGEE already has to create new GUIDs when adding new games (where did you think I got them from) :)

You might have forgotton that I live in Australia. And not one of my 'supported legacy' games has any ratings info. Therefore I'm completly reliant on you guys for a reliable solution if VGEE continues to use the registry method. Perhaps you could email me something like a case statement (language-independant if you like).

Select case Whatever_rating_the_user_picked

Case E 'Everyone

'regvalue = ????????

Case M

'regvalue = ???????

'etc

End Select

>>Only thing I can explain is that there is definitely something to do with the ApplicationID since that does not change and stays from the cloned game.

<<

Yeh - I don't change the WMID and GameID values in the registry. If you've read that pdf thingy on my old website you'll see that I export the GameToOverwrite - then change the reg values of the overwritable game (except ones like WMID) - then VGEE reads the exported reg file as a text file - changes the GUID to a new one and imports it.

>>Also to have a custom Icon: Make a shortcut of the game you want to have the custom icon, then change the icon via the right click menu, then simply drag it to the GameExplorer...<<

That might give a custom icon - but it don't think it will help change the icon of a game already added. My previous attempt was to just change the icon of the Play.lnk shortcut (I assume you know where that's located). I thought it worked, but others reported that it didn't do anything.

I opened up Cero.rs in Resource Hacker and saw the XML data there too. Looking good. Unfortunately I don't know what to do with it, I don't know which files relate to which regions (any Australian ones???) and so on. If you have GoogleTalk (http://talk.google.com) or less preferably MSN you'll have to chat with me and I'll see if I can compile a test version to send you and you can let me know if it works. If I create a virtual PC and install Vista on there - could I set it up differently to make it think I'm in a different region so that I could test this stuff myself perhaps? If you get ratings, etc - let me know what region Windows is set to, etc.

I will PM you my gmail info.

The ratings info can be seen by looking at the .png file described in the XML info.

I have a sample managed c++ app that connects to WMI and is able to list all services, im adding the feature now to list all games by using WQL. Once I have that I will be able to make a very simply update GDF info button to load the gdf from any type of file and set the information into the registry.

I should be on later tonight or tommorw i need a break from all this dev lol

I've done some perusing on the net and have created this Excel spreadsheet.

All that's missing are the GUIDs that correspond to the actual ratings - which can be entered into a downloaded copy of the spreadsheet and then emailed top me. Might need to work out what Ratingsystem GUID corresponds to the actual ratings systems first though. Then you can just copy the GUID from the Ratingsinfo from the registry.

I'll try and keep the uploaded spreadsheet up to date (except when i'm asleep) :)

Don't worry about the spreadsheet - I finished it. Used the GDF maker to create GDFs with only one Rating System and Rating for all the different ones there. I knew it would come in handy for something.

I'll try and manually change a game's rating later on - I have to go out for now. Feel free to use the spreadsheet to try it out yourself if you don't mind playing with the registry, etc.

  • 2 weeks later...

In order to progress with the modifying of game ratings - I need some registry exports from people to compare. If any of your GUIDs for your games have keys called 'RatingsInfo' can you please export you whole User-SID key (ie S-2367532523-32532-532-353) and email them to [email protected] - thanks.

Thanks to 72001 (Julius F), editing ratings may soon be possible. I'll keep the details to a minimum for now, and I might have a shot at redesigning the GUI for VGEE and release it as Beta 3. Hopefully the next release should be available sometime this month. At least 90% of the credit for making Ratings and other new items (WEI requirements, and version info) editable will have to goto Julius - so please be sure to thank him. :)

If you're into multimedia, etc and have a few ideas for the new GUI please email me. The minimum resolution requirements will likely be increased from 800x600 to 1024x768 - hopefully this shouldn't really affect anyone, though.

Hi,

How will you be able to edit the game version info? Isn't that stored in the .exe file from the game?

E.g. I have a version from the game Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. VGE says it is version 1.0.0.1

But I know that is not true, I just installed a patch to version 1.5.3598

So, can you make it, that we can see the patched version?

Thanks

We'll see.

Currently we are just adding code into VGEE that will allow us to read/write to dll/exe files that have info.

When you create a GDF - there are two options regarding Version Info - you can manually type in the version number 'x.x.x.x' or tell Windows to use the version stored in the .exe file - Iit would seem a number of game devs are using the firs option which is wh it's not updating.

This site has been disabled for violations of our Program Policies. If you feel this disabling was in error, please visit our contact page to let us know. Contact Us

http://ryzza007.googlepages.com/vgee

Now there's no home page right? :shiftyninja:

I just got Google to fix that the other day - and it's come back. Grr.

I get no email notification when that happens - and I have no idea why it's being disabled. You can get VGEE from here - http://vge.editor.googlepages.com/

Hi,

How will you be able to edit the game version info? Isn't that stored in the .exe file from the game?

E.g. I have a version from the game Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. VGE says it is version 1.0.0.1

But I know that is not true, I just installed a patch to version 1.5.3598

So, can you make it, that we can see the patched version?

Thanks

That seems to be a bug in the Supremene Commander Patcher.

It doesn't call UpdateGame and give a new GDF file.

<Version>

<VersionNumber versionNumber="1.0.0.1" />

</Version>

Is the exact exerpt from the GDF of Supremene Commander after applying the same patch you applied.

I checked Gears of War and after the update the GDF has clearly changed to reflect the new version

<Version>

<VersionNumber versionNumber="1.0.3339.131" />

</Version>

The new VGEE will make this value easily editable....

Without giving away too much I will say that all information which can be seen by Vista can be completely edited.

This includes:

Icon's

BoxArt

Rating's Info

Content Discriptor's

Performance Rating Information

Developer/Publisher Information

and Much much more.

It will now also no longer require a signed game to be installed to copy from. It will make this game by default.

VGEE will now allow full customization of every aspect of the Game's Information giving you the complete Game Explorer Experience!

If you guys have any suggestions or comments you should voice them now as either myself or Ryan will be able to put these thoughts into good use in VGEE.

Expect News very soon!

Edited by 72001
It will now also no longer require a signed game to be installed to copy from. It will make this game by default.

VGEE will now allow full customization of every aspect of the Game's Information giving you the complete Game Explorer Experience!

If you guys have any suggestions or comments you should voice them now as either myself or Ryan will be able to put these thoughts into good use in VGEE.

Expect News very soon!

Very glad to hear that, gentlemen. I appreciate your hard work that's going into this! :)

Isure I saw someone here say that if we ask for a boxart thay would try and make one??

Cos im looking for some heres what I would like plz!

Counter Strike 2D

Codename Gordon

Peggle Extreme

DOSBOX

for now thanks I will be uploading a pile of custem VGEE exports later today or tomorrow so look out for them an tell me what you think

There is one big request thats really buggin me add it needs to be added!!!!

When adding any game from STEAM VGEE will not add the game if you have the steam switch in the location box but if you remove it and have it so it just launches steam it works fine.

So it need to be able to accept switch commands for steam, dosbox etc

When I get my new PC:

MOTHERBOARD Asus P5K3 Deluxe/WIFI-AP

PROCESSOR Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66Ghz (OC to 4.0Ghz)

RAM OCZ Reaperx PC2-8000 DDR2 4GB

CASE Antec P182

COOLER Thermalright ULTRA-120 Extreme

HDs Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 320GB and 500GB SATA II

OPTICAL DRIVE Asus DRW-2014L1T DVD+/-RW

GRAPHICS CARD BFG Tech Nvidia GeForce 8800GTS 320MB

SOUND CARD Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Audio

MONITOR Acer P243WAID 24" WUXGA1920X1200 3000:1 2MS HDMI

SPEAKERS Logitech Z5500 Digital 5.1 Speakers

KEYBOARD Enhanced Logitech G15

MOUSE Razer Copperhead

I am for sure gonna carry over using this app. But does it work with 64 Bit? Thanks for a wondeful app.

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    • 7 Days: "Enough is enough," Computex 2026, and the next trillion-dollar company by Aditya Tiwari 7 Days is a weekly roundup of picks of what's been happening in the world of technology - written with a dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (black) coffee. This week's highlights are packed with hardware announcements from Computex 2026, Microsoft's BUILD developer conference, and lawsuits against OpenAI and Ring. Let's get started. You can check out the recent issues of the 7 Days weekly roundup. "Enough is enough" From "bribing" users to forcing Edge at startup, Microsoft has turned over every stone to make people use its web browser. Browser Choice Alliance (which includes Chrome, Opera, and Vivaldi) is now after the Redmond giant once more and has penned an open letter to highlight dissatisfaction with its practices. The letter to CEO Satya Nadella emphasizes that "enough is enough" and Microsoft should respect browser choices on Windows. BCA laid down a list of actions to level the playing field and believes that browsers should compete on merit. In other browser news, a fresh update to Firefox fixed a massive VPN button and a bug that disrupted page layout. The Ladybird Browser Project announced that it will no longer accept public pull requests and limit changes to those made by its maintainers as it moves towards its first alpha release. Computex 2026 In one of the week's hottest stories, AMD is trying to make DDR5 RAM even faster on Ryzen systems with its new EXPO ULL (Ultra Low Latency). The feature will enable support for even lower CAS Latency DDR5, bringing significant performance gains over normal EXPO. AMD released new octa-core 3D V-cache CPUs in the form of the new Ryzen 7 5800X3D and Ryzen 7 7700X3D for AM4 and AM5, respectively. The company also brought the 9070 GRE to the USA and other countries. Compared to the NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti, AMD claims the 9070 GRE offers 22% faster performance and 26% better value. The expo also set the stage for Intel's Crescent Island GPU for data center AI workloads and inference. It can pack up to 480GB LPDDR5X VRAM, and the cooling department is handled by an air cooler with a 350W TDP. The silicon giant's AI-focused data center strategy also includes Clearwater Forest, which comprises new Xeon 6+ up to 288 E-cores. Intel unveiled its OpenVINO Physical AI framework to enable scalable, lower-cost edge robotics with improved efficiency. The company said it has found a way to fill the "missing link" that made it difficult to deploy physical AI at scale across the edge. The next trillion-dollar company? Image via DepositPhotos.com Hitting the trillion-dollar mark is the new fashion in the tech industry. NVIDIA has already done so by a wide margin, and now its CEO, Jensen Huang, says Marvell will be the next trillion-dollar company because of its key role in the AI revolution. Marvell is an American semiconductor company founded in 1995; its stock price jumped by 22% this week after Huang's comment. Backlash for employee tracking Meta previously rolled out the Model Capability Initiative (MCI) tracking system to track keystrokes and screen content within specific apps to train its AI models. It wasn't long before employees raised privacy concerns and complained that the software consumed excessive data and battery life. The company is scaling back by introducing controls that allow employees to pause the tracking for up to 30 minutes and request exemptions. In other news, Meta patched an exploit that reportedly allowed attackers to take over accounts by tricking the Meta AI support assistant. The attackers managed to take control of a dormant Obama White House Instagram account that hadn't posted since 2017. This week in software news Catch up on some of the latest software news updates that arrived throughout the week: Hard battle for AV2: The new AV2 video codec can reduce average bitrate by 30-34% compared to AV1, delivering substantial improvements at equivalent visual quality. However, according to VideoLAN's Jean-Baptiste Kempf, the increased efficiency would come at the cost of dramatically higher computational complexity, making the job for existing CPUs much more difficult. Ring faces lawsuit: The smart doorbell brand is in a legal battle over its "Familiar Faces" feature. The lawsuit claims that the feature collects facial data from millions of other Americans (think delivery drivers, neighbors, mail carriers, and pedestrians) who pass by a camera without their consent. Tuta joins Euro-Office: The German email provider has joined the European effort to break free from American-made software. The open-source office alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Docs is due for a release this month. Vim Classic: The new Vim fork has successfully launched its first stable version, 8.3.0, which is completely free of LLM-generated code. It's based on Vim 8.2.0148 because the developers wanted to dodge the heavy maintenance footprint of the newer Vim9 Script engine. However, some modern plugins may not work because of it. Fending off data scraping: Strava is done with data scraping for AI. The fitness platform put public data behind a paywall and a login screen to stop AI companies from hammering its servers. DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction: It brings an updated version of NVIDIA's transformer model that promises to deliver even better image quality than before in ray-traced and path-traced games. Fastfetch 2.64 released: The popular command-line system info tool has been updated with experimental scripting support, streamlined compilation options, a smarter logo renderer, and Codec module support. Shotcut 26.6 Beta: The latest beta of the free video editor adds OpenFX and VST2 plugin support, UI tweaks, HDR preview upgrades, and a range of bug fixes. KDE Plasma 6.8: A few changes slated for the next release include a warning on the lock screen that shows when the "Slow Keys" accessibility feature is active, so you don't type incorrect passwords. Improved Linux gaming: Canonical has promoted the Arm64 Steam Snap to the stable channel, using FEX emulation to bring PC gaming to Snapdragon and NVIDIA hardware. This week in hardware news Catch up on some of the latest hardware news updates that arrived throughout the week alongside Computex 2026: Surface Laptop Ultra: NVIDIA is back in the CPU chip game with the new RTX Spark, which debuted on the Surface Laptop Ultra. Promised to be the most powerful Surface to date, it packs a 15-inch mini-LED display, 20-core NVIDIA Grace CPU, NVIDIA Blackwell RTX graphics, and 128GB of unified memory. More information is yet to arrive, alongside RTX Spark-powered computers from other brands. Surface RTX Spark Dev Box: It's a high-performance desktop workstation designed specifically for AI development. With 128GB of unified memory, Surface RTX Spark Dev Box can deliver 1 petaflop of AI compute and run models with up to 120 billion parameters locally, significantly reducing reliance on cloud GPU instances. ROG XBOX Ally X20: ASUS celebrated the 20th anniversary of the ROG brand with a new handheld device, featuring a completely redesigned mainboard, an upgraded display, better joysticks, and even a translucent chassis. Majorana 2: Microsoft unveiled its latest quantum chip, claiming it's 1000x more reliable than last year's Majorana 1. The new development has accelerated the timeline to achieve practical quantum computing from 2035 to 2029. Sony gaming accessories: Sony finally attached a release date to a few of its gaming accessories, including FlexStrike Wireless Fight Stick and 27” Gaming Monitor with DualSense Charging Hook. Both are releasing in August this year. Leaky Surface: Some leaked promo material of the upcoming Surface Pro hints at what the device could offer. The tablet will be powered by a 12-core Snapdragon X2 Elite processor paired with a new Neural Processing Unit operating at up to 80 TOPS. This week in Google News Catch up on some of the latest Google news updates that arrived throughout the week: How to train your AI? An AI model is as good as the data it's trained on. Google is reportedly reaching out to Android developers to get their private codebases to train models and improve development tools, while giving them some cash in return. Design your band: Google published the physical design blueprints for the Fitbit Air, opening doors for anyone with the required skills to customize the screenless tracker and build accessories. The search giant said that certified accessories can also get the official "Made for Google" badge. It's optional now: The UK's competition watchdog has enabled publishers to opt out of Google's generative AI search features, such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. It's also forcing Google to attribute content properly, using clear links to sources, in all AI-generated answers. This week in Apple News Catch up on some of the latest Apple news updates that arrived throughout the week: What to expect? WWDC 2026 is just around the corner. Alongside refinements to Liquid Glass, the iOS 27 update could be centered on the long-awaited upgrade to Siri. iPadOS 27 is also expected to get a major AI boost this year, among various expected updates. Apple smart glasses: If you're hoping to see Apple's new smart glasses at WWDC, you might have to wait. Those plans are reportedly delayed until late 2027. It's said Apple is cautious about launching hardware that relies on underdeveloped visual intelligence systems. Keep in check: A recent court ruling that lifted an injunction on the Texas Age Assurance Law (SB 2420), Apple had to enforce strict age-verification and parental-consent rules for new Apple accounts created in Texas. This week in AI news Catch up on the latest artificial intelligence news updates that arrived throughout the week: OpenAI faces lawsuit: Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier took OpenAI to court, claiming that the AI lab released an unsafe product and misled the public about safety risks associated with ChatGPT. France gets cash for AI: SoftBank plans to invest up to €75 billion ($87 billion) in France's AI infrastructure, making it one of the largest investments in Europe's AI sector. Up to €45 billion will be used to build two AI data centers in Le Bosquel and Dunkirk. AI chaos slows down: After weeks of AI-generated noise and late submissions, Linus Torvalds said that things have quietened down for Linux 7.1 RC6, which is smaller than RC5, and we could be on track for a normal release cycle. ChatGPT memory upgrade: The AI chatbot got a major architectural upgrade to its memory system, significantly improving its long-term context retention. It improved factual recall from 67.9% in 2025 to 82.8% in 2026, and accuracy over time improved from 52.2% to 75.1%. Lockdown Mode expanded: OpenAI is rolling out ChatGPT's Lockdown Mode to all personal and self-serve ChatGPT Business accounts. The feature improves security by disabling live web browsing, Deep Research, Agent Mode, and more. Codex on ChatGPT: The full Codex experience is now available in the ChatGPT app to support knowledge workers, who represent about 20% of Codex users. A new Codex feature called Sites enables users to create and share interactive hosted websites and apps. This week in Microsoft News You can download the Surface Laptop Ultra wallpapers in high resolution. Windows 11 is dominating the gaming market, and data from Steam showed nearly 70% of all participants were using a Windows 11 PC. A third-party tool called OfflineInsiderEnroll is for insiders who want to unlock Windows 11 features with a Microsoft account. You can check out Taras's freshly baked Microsoft Weekly roundup to catch up on all the interesting stories this week. This week in science news Image by Drew Rae via Pexels Catch up on some of the latest science and out-of-this-world updates that arrived throughout the week: How will the Sun end? Astronomers found that an ancient white dwarf star is still consuming rocky planetary debris after cooling for three billion years, proving systems remain active long after their host star dies. Eye of Sauron: Scientists solved a cosmic mystery. A distant black hole is pointing its intense jet straight at Earth, creating an optical illusion that makes the blindingly bright stream look surprisingly low. This week in gaming news Catch up on some of the latest gaming and virtual world updates that arrived throughout the week: Summer Game Fest: The event went live on June 5 from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The two-hour showcase was hosted by video game journalist Geoff Keighley and introduced games across multiple genres. New racing game: Some former Forza Horizon team members created a brand-new racing game called Clutch. The game offers a story-driven campaign, multiplayer action, and aims to be a "benchmark in car customization." FSR hits a new milestone: AMD announced that the latest generation of its FSR technology now officially supports 300 games, a considerable jump from just 30 at launch. What else in gaming? The latest issue of Pulasthi's Weekend PC Game Deals curates several exciting games on sale this week. The final leg of the Epic Games Store's mystery giveaways brings copies of Rogue Waters and Songs of Conquest to claim for PC gamers. Xbox Free Play Days welcomed ten new games this weekend from a single publisher, including Little Rocket Lab, Spirittea, Descenders Next, and Let's Build a Zoo. Meanwhile, Prime members can grab Mafia III, Tomb Raider remasters, and 13 more games in June to keep. That said, here are some more stories from the gaming world: Crystal Dynamics pushes Tomb Raider remake to 2027 A roguelike and a 4X strategy game are free to claim on the Epic Games Store Looks like EA's Star Wars Zero Company will be out this August God of War Laufey announced, introducing Kratos' wife as new protagonist From the review corner If you have been thinking about capturing the night sky, the DWARF mini is the world's smallest smart telescope for night-and-day sky captures, which Steven reviewed this week. For an amateur astronomer spending $399, the telescope offers premium build quality, automated tracking, and a low learning curve. However, the tracking may not always work straight away, and the connection can be finicky. GEEKOM Air12 2026 Edition It's a small mini PC from GEEKOM fitted with an Intel Tiger Lake Pentium Gold 7505, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to a 512GB SSD. GEEKOM Air12 2026 Edition comes with a lightweight chassis, a 15W TDP, supports up to three 4K 60Hz displays, and Type-C on the front. However, points are deducted for its single-rank (2666 MHz) DDR4 RAM, and the front USB port is data-only. AMD RX 9070 GRE Steven and Sayan joined their forces to put the new AMD RX 9070 GRE against the RX 9070, RX 9070 XT, NVIDIA 5070 FE, and some other cards in gaming as well as productivity. AMD has pitched it against the Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, which is typically sold at around this price range. The GRE performed quite well against both the 7800 XT and the 4070. It offers balanced performance, sufficient VRAM, and runs cool. However, the ray tracing might feel mediocre. Cuktech 10 Ultra How about a wall charger with a big screen that shows the stats in real time? Taras reviewed the Cuktech 10 Ultra charger, which features four ports, a large display, and up to 110W of power output. Its 1.57-inch display with 700 nits max brightness is the main highlight, capable of showing total output power, current temperature, power distribution across ports, and more. 007 First Light Pulasthi's review of 007 First Light said the game delivers an immersive, globe-trotting origin story for James Bond, packed inside a tightly choreographed action game. It features over-the-top action sequences, Bond's right amount of overconfidence, and satisfying gunplay. On the other hand, stealth can be too predictable, enemy AI is not very bright, and the missing FOV slider is a pain. More price drops! We got you covered with some hot tech deals all week. For some reason, if you missed out on a great discount, here is a summary of some recent deals that are still alive: Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB NVMe - $389.99 (39% off) Sonos Sub 4 - Wireless Subwoofer - $759 (16% off) Logitech MX Creative Console - $159.99 (20% off) To view all of our recent deals, click here. So, these were some of the biggest tech news and other updates from this week. There will be more issues of our 7 Days series in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing to extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option. Have a great weekend!
    • Thanks, Sony and Nintendo, you effectively killed platform-agnostic gaming. Long gone are the days when you could wish to play a specific game on whatever platform you were. Now, you have to buy the hardware just to play that single game. What, you're only interested in THAT game and nothing more? Bad luck, suck it and buy our console.
    • The AI data centers need it more than us so...let them gobble it all up at that price!
    • "CRAZIER than ever!" Crazy Taxi: World Tour is officially coming soon by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Sega announced it is working on bringing back some of its classic franchises in 2023, and while it has taken some time, the company finally gave fans a look at one of these new projects at the Xbox Games Showcase today, which turned out to be a brand-new Crazy Taxi entry. Watch the debut trailer above, which has snippets of gameplay in between the cinematic bits while blasting a track from The Offspring. Dubbed Crazy Taxi World Tour, this installment is aptly being described as being "CRAZIER than ever!" The director behind the original, Kenji Kanno, is helming this new entry as well, which will come with access to five new cities to drive in, competitive multiplayer modes, a vehicle customization system, and more. Axel is returning as a protagonist as well, but this time a mystery driver is offering him the opportunity to take his adventures to the streets in other countries. This will involve Axel chasing down masked villains that have somehow stolen his taxi, which means even more extreme missions and challenges to overcome. "From transporting passengers at top speed to tackling unique side missions and odd jobs across dynamic maps, there are countless ways to drive crazy and rake in big money," says Sega about this new installment after over 20 years. "Perform outrageous drifts, catch insane air, and drive at crazy speeds across five different cities as you work to deliver passengers and complete a variety of missions and challenges." The studio has even confirmed an in-game Arcade Mode that players will be able to access containing the original games for plenty of nostalgic action. Crazy Taxi: World Tour is currently slated to release sometime in 2027 across PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.
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