Installing NVIDIA drivers on 64bit Windows 8

I upgraded a Sony laptop from Windows 7 to Windows 8 but the upgrade did not detect the Nvidia graphics chipset. I grabbed the latest Windows 8 64bit Nvidia driver from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/ but the installer failed. It turns out that 64 bit Windows 8 will not install a driver unless it’s signed. You can disable signature checking by :

• Windows Key + C to bring up charms menu
• Click “Settings”
• Click “Change PC Settings”
• Click “General”
• Under Advanced Start-up click the “Restart Now” button
• Click “Troubleshoot”
• Click “Advanced Options”
• Click “Start-up Settings”
• Click “Restart” button
• Press option 7 – Disable driver signature enforcement
• You can now install your un-signed 64bit driver

No DVD after upgrading Windows 7 to Windows 8

I upgraded my Windows 7 laptop to Windows 8 RTM but the DVD player refused to work. It's a MATSHITA BD-CMB UJ141EF drive in a Toshiba laptop. It was showing a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager which reported the following error "Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)". Deleting and re-scanning in Device Manager made no difference.

SOLUTION:

I noticed a service called "TOSHIBA Optical Disk Drive Service" which was presumably installed as part of the original Windows 7 setup. I used "System Configuration" to stop this service and the drive now works correctly in Windows 8.

Getting CRM2011 Outlook Client running on Windows 8

I upgraded my Windows 7 machine to Windows 8 and found a problem with CRM2011. I upgraded the Outlook Client to UR10 but still had problems. There are two things you need to do

1. Ensure Windows Identity Framework 3.5 is installed (this is now a 'feature' of Windows 8 and can be enabled from "Turn Windows Features on or off" from Programs and Features.
2. Ensure you are using your full Domain username when entering the account details in the CRM connection dialog. I was originally using my email address to login. For some reason that does not work and you need to use the full domain username. You can find the full domain username from System>Administration>Users> Select a user >General>Account Information.

It's the second point that seems critical on Windows 8.

Programming with Scratch

Inspired by the launch of the Raspberry Pi computer (http://www.raspberrypi.org/) I went into my daughter’s school last month to teach the key stage 2 kids some games programming with Scratch. See more here ( http://www.barnabasoley.cambs.sch.uk/Our+School/Golden+Time ). Just waiting for some Pi's to arrive and we can make our own games console!

I was introduced to computing by soldering together ZX80 kits when I was about their age. I think it’s critical for the UK to get a new generation of kids into creating content rather than just consuming it. I hope the Raspberry Pi will be as influential as the BBC Micro was for me and my generation.