Reliabilty Monitor and Fantastic Desktop Themes

There are a couple of computing adventures I’m addicted to. One, trying to discover the boo boo I’ve imposed upon my computer’s system and correct it before I have to call and admit to my technician I’ve been a bad boy and plead for his assistance and two, collecting a wide variety of exceptional photos for no particular reason other than for my personal enjoyment.

A feature of Windows 7/Vista I access when attempting to discover the source of a boo boo is its Reliability Monitor.

Reliability Monitor is a utility that records hardware and software problems as well as other changes to your computer. It provides a stability index that ranges from 1 (least stable) to 10 (most stable). You can use the index to help evaluate the reliability of your computer.

Although my rather technical description of the Reliability Monitor may turn you off, you just might find it worth at least a quick look-see.

Windows 7:
1. Click Start > Control Panel > Action Center.
2. Click on the Maintenance down arrow.
3. Click on “View reliability history”.

Vista:
1. Click Start, right-click Computer, and click Manage.
2. In the Microsoft Management Console navigation tree
3. Click Reliability and Performance

The Reliability Monitor uses icons to represent a daily log of Application failures, Windows failures, Miscellaneous failures, Warnings, and Information. Click on any one of the icons on any given date to access the reliability details for that date. It will show a Summary of the Date and Action for each Event. You can then click on “view technical details” and “check for solution” for additional information.

For those who appreciate and collect extraordinary photography here’s one of my collection sources.

I’m sure most of you know when you right click on your Desktop and click personalize you’ll discover the Themes that came with your system and a way to configure them as Desktop slide shows. But maybe you didn’t know you’re able to click on “Get more themes on line” and install a wide variety of incredible photo themes.

To date I’ve downloaded just about every theme available. And do so not just to have a collection of themes for a spectacular Desktop slide show, but to add the photographs themselves to my photo collection.

Once I’ve installed a theme I go to: C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Theme and copy the individual theme folders to My Pictures folder and extract the photos.

I’ve created many spectacular personal slide shows using these extraordinary photos.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.