When we install

a Beta or RC build of Windows Vista, 7 or Server 2008, or when we install a Beta or RC version of a Service Pack e.g. SP1, SP2, etc, a watermark is shown on Desktop which looks similar to following screenshot:

"Evaluation Copy", "For testing purpose only", "Test Mode", "Safe Mode" or similar text is shown in the watermark on Desktop.

It looks ugly when you use dark wallpapers and becomes irritating sometimes. If you also don't like this watermark and want to get rid of it, here are 2 great tools to remove this watermark:

• Universal Watermark Remover
• Remove Watermark

Universal Watermark Remover

"Universal Watermark Remover" is an excellent small and portable utility created by "Orbit30" which can remove the ugly watermark from Windows Vista, 7 and Server 2008 Desktop. It works for both 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows.

Download Link (Rapidshare)

Download Link (Mediafire)

Just download it using the above link, run the EXE file and follow the instructions. You'll need to restart your system to take affect.

Remove Watermark

"Remove Watermark" is another awesome portable tool created by "deepxw" which can remove watermark from Windows Vista, 7 and Server 2008 Desktop. It works for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Even it works for all languages and service packs.

Download Link

Mirror

Download the ZIP file, extract it and run the correct EXE file for your Windows version. It'll ask for confirmation, press Y to confirm and patch the system file to remove watermark.

64-bit version users will also need to rebuild MUI cache. After patching file, run the tool again and press R to rebuild MUI cache.

Windows 7 Boot Updater ¶

A program that makes it easy to update the Windows 7 boot animation and text. Please tell me if you find any problems or design cool animations!

It is written in C++/CLI and requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and the Microsoft WIM library.

Download ¶

By downloading this program you agree to the terms and conditions. Specifically this is for non-comercial use.

This is currently being tested! It is not finished and does not completely work. Use it at your own risk (or in a virtual machine). If you get stuck forever in Windows Recovery Environment see Recovering winload.exe

At a minimum you need to:

Windows 7 Boot Updater 32-bit (294.54 KB, updated 09/06/10)

Windows 7 Boot Updater 64-bit (300.54 KB, updated 09/06/10)

Original Windows 7 Boot Animation as BMPs (4.42 MB, updated 08/31/10)

Grayscale Windows 7 Boot Animation as BMPs (1.67 MB, updated 08/31/10)

A very new version is currently being made (that's why the file hasn't been updated in almost a month). You can download a preview of it:

Preview of Alpha 9 (1.56 MB, updated 09/30/10)

Note: It currently is only the GUI and will not modify files

If you wish to experiment by yourself the biggest annoyance is signing winload.exe. The following program does just that (it is a stripped down version of Win7BootUpdater.exe)

Winload.exe Signer 32-bit (248.04 KB, updated 09/30/10)

Winload.exe Signer 64-bit (254.04 KB, updated 09/30/10)

Details ¶

Current Version: Alpha 8

Features ¶

• Modifies the boot animation
• Modifies the boot text "Starting Windows" and "© Microsoft Corporation"
• Will compile the animation from 105 BMP, PNG, GIF, or TIFF images
• Does not require any other applications (like ImageX)
• Designed to be idiot-proof by having numerous checks
• Automatically backs up the modified winload.exe and bootres.dll
• Can be run as a GUI or command-line program
• Works for 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7
• Numerous other little things (e.g. forcing timestamps) to match the original

How to Use ¶

Prerequisites ¶

If you have Windows 7 then you are good to go! The WIM library is included with Windows 7. If you will be running this on Windows Vista or earlier you will need to follow some additional directions.

Certificate Installation ¶

To successfully use the modified bootres.dll and winload.exe you will need my certificate authority as a trusted root. The program automatically installs it on the local computer, however if you want to use it on another machine you will need to install it manually. You can download the CA and CRL below and then run the following commands:

To install the CA and CRL into a Windows installation WIM you can use my tool AddCertToRegHive like so:

Coder For Life Certificate Authority (872 bytes, updated 09/06/10)

Coder For Life Certificate Authority CRL (532 bytes, updated 09/06/10)

The Animation ¶

If you choose to change the animation you will have to make an animation! The animation can be one long BMP that is 200x21000px or a folder containing 105 BMPs, PNGs, GIFs, or TIFFs. All the files must be the same format and will be played in alphabetical order (so if you are numbering them, use three digits always, e.g. 000, 001, ..., 103, 104). Here are the details about the animation:

• 105 frames
• 15 frames / sec
• First 4 seconds play once then the last 3 seconds play in a loop
• Each frame is 200x200px

The GUI ¶

To use the GUI, simply double-click the program "Win7BootUpdater.exe". The program will request administrator priveledges. In the program you will be asked for a folder containing the animation, the text to use, and if testsigning should be enabled. You can also adjust the defaults for bootres.dll and winload.exe. If you don't want to do a particular modification (such as change the animation) then you can just uncheck that group.

The Command Line ¶

The command line is fairly easy to use as well. You should run an elevated command line. The command line syntax is:

For more detailed information about the command line, run Win7BootUpdater.exe from a command line. One note is that you may notice some weird behavior of the command line output. This is due to an unavoidable distinction that Windows makes between GUI and command-line programs. To elievate the issue you can run the following command line instead:

Recovering winload.exe ¶

If you get stuck forever in Windows Recovery Environment then you need to manually restore winload.exe. Here are the directions:

1. Insert the Windows 7 installation disk, or if you don't have it download and burn a recovery disk (see Download Windows 7 System Recovery Discs)
2. Boot the computer, make sure to boot from the CD
3. Select your language and operating system. You should now be at a screen like this
4. Select "Command Prompt" (the last option)
5. Enter the following commands:

   1. c:

   2. cd \Windows\System32

   3. del winload.exe

   4. ren "winload - Backup.exe" winload.exe

   5. exit

6. Click "Restart"




Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

Windows Intune simplifies how businesses manage and secure PCs using Windows cloud services and Windows 7—so your computers and users can operate at peak performance, from virtually anywhere.

Windows Intune is a comprehensive solution that includes PC management, malware protection, Windows upgrades, and more.

Use the Windows Intune cloud service beta to:

* Manage updates
* Protect PCs from malware
* Proactively monitor PCs
* Provide remote assistance
* Track hardware & software inventory
* Set security policies

The Windows Intune client software
is supported on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of:

* Windows 7 Enterprise, Ultimate and Professional
* Windows Vista Enterprise, Ultimate, and Business
* Windows XP Professional Service Pack (SP) 2 or SP 3 (recommended)

Recently we shared some free alternatives to Notepad:

The Best FREE Alternatives to Notepad

Today in this topic, we are going to share best FREE alternatives to Windows Paint. Paint is a good tool included in Windows for editing images but it lacks lots of image editing features.

You can also these freeware as alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

Paint.NET

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.

Paint.NET also depends on Microsoft's .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, which is automatically installed if it isn't already on the system.

Download Link
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GIMP:

GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.

It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.

Download Link
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PhotoFiltre

PhotoFiltre is a complete image retouching program. It allows you to do simple or advanced adjustments to an image and apply a vast range of filters on it. It is simple and intuitive to use, and has an easy learning curve. The toolbar, giving you access to the standard filters with just a few clicks, gives PhotoFiltre a robust look.

Download Link
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Helios Paint

HeliosPaint is a feature-rich, easy-to-use and powerful paint program for editing photos, drawings and icons. It runs on Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, Linux and Unix.

Download Link
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Photo Pos Pro

Photo Pos Pro Photo Editor is a free photo editor offers users a wide variety of possibilities in the fields of Image Enhancing and Image Editing and in the field of Computer Graphics Design. Using the editor you can perform various tasks, from simple basic tasks to complex tasks; you can edit existing images, create new works based on existing images, create new works from scratch and more.

Thank to our reader "Shahnawaz" for mentioning it.

Download Link
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Photoscape

Photoscape is another fun and easy photo editing software that enables you to fix and enhance photos. Thanks to our readers "Chris" and "Prateek" for mentioning it.

Download Link