How to block outbound connections with the Windows Firewall

The Windows Firewall for Vista and Windows 7 allows you to block outbound connections, something that Windows XP didn't. To block outgoing connections:

1. Press the Start button.
2. Open Control Panel.
3. Click on Administrative Tools.
4. Click on Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.
5. Click on Windows Firewall Properties.
6. Select the Private Profile tab. (or the Public or Domain tab if you are on that type of network.)
   
7. Choose Block in the drop down for outbound connections.

Now Windows will block outgoing connection. I did however not see any notification when an outbound connection was blocked. There's an option to display a notification about blocked inbound connections, but I could not find anything about outbound connections. Anyone know how to enable these?

How to start a command prompt in administrator mode on Windows 7

Some days ago, while playing around with Windows 7, I needed to run a couple of command line programs with administrator privileges. To start a command prompt in elevated mode, type cmd.exe in the run box and instead of pressing enter, press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER. This key combination works on Windows Vista too.

How to install Windows 7 in VMWare Workstation 5.

1. Upgrade to the latest version of VMWare Workstation 5. At the time of writing it's 5.5.9.
2. Create a new virtual machine from the File menu. Choose "Windows Vista (experimental)" or "Windows Vista x64 Edition (experimental)". If you don't choose any of the Vista options, you will not be able to install VMWare Tools. Without VMWare Tools you will not get your network up and running.
   
3. When you've created the virtual machine, configure the CD-ROM to use the Windows 7 .ISO file.
   
4. Start the virtual machine and install Windows 7.
   
5. Install VMWare Tools.
6. Done.