9 months after the release of the first beta version of Windows Live Writer (WLW), Microsoft announced on May 30th the release of the beta 2 version. I like WLW and i have been using it since i started to blog.
Many bloggers talked about the neat features of WLW beta 2, so i won’t bother you with that stuff. I would rather concentrate on the rather painful and undocumented upgrade process from beta 1 to beta 2 on Windows Vista. I expected the installation will be simple and straightforward, but unfortunately, i spent around 30 minutes gathering information until i finally tweaked it and made it work .
So for my readers’ benefit, i woudl like to outline the right installation/upgrade process for WLW beta 2:
1. If you have WLW beta 1 installed, ensure that all work is backed up. This can be done using WLW backup, a routine which i reviewed not long ago.
2. Using your Control Panel, remove Windows Live Writer beta 1.
3. Run the WLW removal utility located at: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/3/0/23036331-516d-4c7e-b9ac-31554a2fec06/WL-Beta-remove.zip.
4. When prompted, click “Save” to save the ZIP file to your desktop.
5. Go to your desktop and open WL-Beta-remove.zip.
6. Extract all the files to your desktop (this should create a folder named WL-Beta-Remove on your desktop if not, skip to step 8).
7. Go to your desktop and open the folder named WL-Beta-remove (there should be a file named WL-Beta-Remove.cmd in the folder).
8. Double-click on the file named WL-Beta-Remove.cmd.
9. Go to http://get.live.com/betas/writer_betas and install Writer beta 2. NOTE: If you had Windows Live Mail or Windows Live Messenger installed you will also need to reinstall those applications:
Reinstall Windows Live Mail http://get.live.com/betas/mail_betas
Reinstall Windows Live Messenger http://get.live.com/betas/messenger_betas
11. Now delete WL-Beta-remove.zip and the folders named Log Files and WL-Beta-remove from your desktop.
Enjoy!
Source: WLW support forums
[tags] Windows Live Writer beta 2, Windows Live Writer beta 2 installation, Windows Live Writer [/tags]
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Posted by Gili
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I have never used Live writer for blogging. I use the default writer in wordpress.
I am also not using any kind of blog writer. Although, I have tested some like w.blogger and WLW etc. I use blogger default writer for Digital Knowledge Center and use FCKeditor for Drupal with Topaix.com. I am happy with them so far.
Good Information on WLW. Btw, You have some nice How-To’s on your site.
I tested it once but i am not satisfied with it. It adds temporary posts for style detection.
Nirmal, Rakesh - if you like the Microsoft look and feel and basic functionality, i recommend that you test WLW in the future(after it goes out of Beta).
Vinod - thanks buddy, i try to publish good tips, and i am happy that readers acknowledge my efforts.
Ram - you are right. WLW is not perfect, don’t forget it is still a beta version.
Me too never used any writer once i tried using one it was incompatible with blogger since then i use the default writer .
I also have the same problem but I solved it myself by deleteing the WLW related folders from allusers/appdata/ and reinstalling again made it work
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Yeah, Live Writer ain’t that perfect. Tried it, didn’t like it that much.
I’ve mainly been using the default wordpress writer as well. Occasionally I’ll use BlogDesk but not very often. I haven’t found any blog writing software that’s actually worth using over the web interfaces.