I really love the way Google changes there Homepage according to events and seasons.
Check this out "Romance not Found"
Check out the Slide-show I mage for the Year 2006.
Enjoy...
Couple Swarmed by SWAT Team After 911 'Hack'
Oct 17, 2007
You should be careful where you hack. Unfortunately these two made a big mistake trying to hack in to 911. The teenager might face a 18 year prison sentence.
PS: Why in the world do you want to hack into the 911 Emergency Response system, lives could have been lost if the system went totally down.
Skype Trojan on the prowl...
Seems like this is the 2nd time of such an alert. A Trojan that masks itself as a Skype user and steals personal information from other Skype user.
Contacting the M$ Support about Autopatcher
Sep 16, 2007
After commenting at the web site about the Immediate Shutdown of Autopatcher. I tried to contact Microsoft regarding this issue. Below is the exact letter I got. Its as follows:
Thank you for contacting us about AutoPatcher.
I would like provide you with more information on our position.
It is our policy that the distribution of supplemental code such as hotfixes, security updates, and service packs is discouraged. This policy is in place due to concern for the safety and security of our customers, as we can only guarantee the download’s contents when it comes from a Microsoft web site. Distribution of these materials without permission is also an infringement of our copyright.
We try and contact anyone who is in violation of our policy as soon as we can, once we are aware of what they are doing. AutoPatcher is not the only company we have contacted.
We recommend that our customers sign up for Microsoft Update (MU) and enable Automatic Update functionality to receive all updates directly from us. In addition, we have enterprise services such as Windows Server Updates Services (WSUS) that we recommend our enterprise customers to use.
We provide this guidance as it is common to see email scams encouraging people to download our latest patches, but the URL takes them to sites where they are actually exposed to malware. In order to ensure that customers are getting actual Microsoft updates and not malware, we recommend customers get their updates directly from us.
I hope this information has answered your query, but if you have any more questions please give us a call on 0870 60 10 100. The lines are open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. If you still have any more questions, please reply to this email.
Many thanks for contacting us.
Warm regards,
JACOB RAJ
Customer Service Professional
Microsoft Customer Services
Protect Your PC: Microsoft recommends that you protect your PC from Viruses and Security threats. Please visit our website http://www.microsoft.com/uk/security/protect/alert.mspx and follow the steps to stay secure.
First of all. The main reason Autopatcher must have been shutdown is because that they suspected them of spreading malicious coding (eg. Malware) in there distribution (This is Crap...). But initially saying that its was also because of copyright infringement saying that "Hey you can't distribute that patch without asking US."
Are the people people nuts? They should put up a poll in their M$ Technet Site and see what the public thinks about Autopatcher.
I for all Love Autopatcher. Its a time saver and is less complicated than a WSUS server that they ask me to try. What's the point of having SUS server for a PC that is totally offline? Like a Distributor PC (Totally remote and offline, except for a 56k Modem). They cannot be updating there Windows Updates from Scratch (Like takes about 8 Hours or more + Telephone Bills). Lame excuse by M$, more or less it seems that they are jealous that a 3rd Party is providing a free service that they didn't provide
Still Praying that Autopatcher will make a Victorious Comeback.
Good Luck..
Autopatcher Shutdown by M$
On the 29th August, 2007, Antonis Kaladis informed that Microsoft have sent then an email to immediately take down their download page for Autopatcher.
Posted by Antonis Kaladis on August 29th, 2007 |
Today we received an e-mail from Microsoft, requesting the immediate take-down of the download page, which of course means that AutoPatcher is probably history. As much as we disagree, we can do very little, and although the download page is merely a collection of mirrors, we took the download page down.
We would like to thank you for your support. For the past 4 years, it has been a blast. Unfortunately, it seems like it's the end of AutoPatcher as we know it.
Comments are welcome...
Antonis Kaladis
----
Some people have been asking for the E-mail to be published. Heres a copy:
http://www.autopatcher.com/takedown-notice
Lyndon Brown (Blaze)
I was very disappointed to know that M$ after 4 years of their existences sent them a email to stop. Why all of a sudden? As a user of Autopatcher I can safely say there is not problems with Autopatcher whatsoever. Just Hoping that Autopatcher Team Can make a comeback.
Regards.
UPDATE: Apple Continues Surge As Price Targets Hit New High
Jun 7, 2007
June 07, 2007: 12:51 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) - Apple Inc. shares continued their ongoing surge Thursday, rising to another all-time high as two industry analysts raised their price targets on the stock to $160 a share and forecast upbeat sales for the company's soon-to-be released iPhone.
Gene Munster, of Piper Jaffray, raised his target price on Apple's stock from $140 a share, saying that he believes Apple can sell 45 million iPhones in 2009. Apple is set to release the iPhone - which combines a mobile phone with an iPod - on June 29.
Munster holds an outperform rating on Apple's (AAPL) stock.
A similar move came from UBS analyst Ben Reitzes, who lifted his price target to $160 a share from $133. Reitzes estimates that Apple will sell almost 1 million iPhones in the second half of this year, and sales could reach 7.4 million units in 2008. Reitzes has a buy rating on Apple's stock.
The changes set a new upper limit on Wall Street's price targets for Apple, according to data from Thomson Financial. Current targets range as low as $100 with a median of $130.
Shares of Apple were trading up 1.9% at $126 by late morning. The stock set a new high of $127.61 earlier in the session.
Anticipation has grown around Apple as it set an exact release date for the iPhone this week. Also, the company is on the eve of holding its annual developers conference in San Francisco on June 11. Much of the conference is expected to center around showing off features of Leopard, Apple's upgrade to its Macintosh operating system.
Reitzes said Thursday that after evaluating revenue models for the iPhone and the Apple TV set-top box, he believes the company's free cash flow will increase beyond many forecasts.
The analyst said part of the reason for Apple's cash situation to improve comes from the deferred revenue Apple will share with AT&T Inc. (T) , its wireless network provider for the iPhone. IPhone customers will have to sign an initial two-year service agreement, and Reitzes says such a situation will result in Apple recording more than 85% of its iPhone sales as deferred revenue.
Because of how iPhone sales will likley be recognized in the coming years, "We believe that free cash flow and deferred revenue will become more important metrics in driving Apple's shares" through 2008, Reitzes said.
Piper Jaffray's Munster said that in evaluating the iPhone's potential, "it is critical to keep in mind that the iPhone will be a combo device, which will attract more than just a mobile phone customer." In addition to being an mobile phone and and iPod, the iPhone will come with a built-in digital camera and can also wireless access the Internet.
Currently, Apple plans on offering the iPhone in two models, a $499 version with 4 gigabytes of storage, and a $599 model the comes with 8GB of storage.
Munster forecasts that Apple will sell about 100 million iPods this year, and that it is not "unreasonable" to estimate that as many as 15% of those iPod users will look to replace their devices with an iPhone by 2009. Munster such replacements, along with new iPhone sales, could give Apple 7% of the U.S. mobile phone market and 2.8% of the world's handset market share in two years.
Still, Munster said there are risks at play with Apple right now, and among those is the company's decision to, at least initially, not operate the iPhone with third-generation wireless technology standards. The iPhone will run on AT& T's EDGE network, which is considered 2.5G, and can't stream music or video.
Additionally, Munster said the durability of the iPhone's touch screen, and potential user headaches with emailing or sending text messages on a touch screen could result in some negative views about the device.
A less bullish view on the company was aired by Bill Shope of J.P. Morgan earlier this week. In a note to clients Monday, Shope said the iPhone's high price will likely temper demand. In addition, potential iPod customers may hold off their purchases, waiting for the price of iPhones to drop.
"Given the difficult production ramp for the product, we expect availability to be fairly limited," wrote Shope, who rates the stock as neutral. " Nevertheless, as we move from 'the buzz factor' to true fundamentals, we continue to believe Apple's shares are priced for perfection."
Source: http://money.cnn.com/
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) - Apple Inc. shares continued their ongoing surge Thursday, rising to another all-time high as two industry analysts raised their price targets on the stock to $160 a share and forecast upbeat sales for the company's soon-to-be released iPhone.
Gene Munster, of Piper Jaffray, raised his target price on Apple's stock from $140 a share, saying that he believes Apple can sell 45 million iPhones in 2009. Apple is set to release the iPhone - which combines a mobile phone with an iPod - on June 29.
Munster holds an outperform rating on Apple's (AAPL) stock.
A similar move came from UBS analyst Ben Reitzes, who lifted his price target to $160 a share from $133. Reitzes estimates that Apple will sell almost 1 million iPhones in the second half of this year, and sales could reach 7.4 million units in 2008. Reitzes has a buy rating on Apple's stock.
The changes set a new upper limit on Wall Street's price targets for Apple, according to data from Thomson Financial. Current targets range as low as $100 with a median of $130.
Shares of Apple were trading up 1.9% at $126 by late morning. The stock set a new high of $127.61 earlier in the session.
Anticipation has grown around Apple as it set an exact release date for the iPhone this week. Also, the company is on the eve of holding its annual developers conference in San Francisco on June 11. Much of the conference is expected to center around showing off features of Leopard, Apple's upgrade to its Macintosh operating system.
Reitzes said Thursday that after evaluating revenue models for the iPhone and the Apple TV set-top box, he believes the company's free cash flow will increase beyond many forecasts.
The analyst said part of the reason for Apple's cash situation to improve comes from the deferred revenue Apple will share with AT&T Inc. (T) , its wireless network provider for the iPhone. IPhone customers will have to sign an initial two-year service agreement, and Reitzes says such a situation will result in Apple recording more than 85% of its iPhone sales as deferred revenue.
Because of how iPhone sales will likley be recognized in the coming years, "We believe that free cash flow and deferred revenue will become more important metrics in driving Apple's shares" through 2008, Reitzes said.
Piper Jaffray's Munster said that in evaluating the iPhone's potential, "it is critical to keep in mind that the iPhone will be a combo device, which will attract more than just a mobile phone customer." In addition to being an mobile phone and and iPod, the iPhone will come with a built-in digital camera and can also wireless access the Internet.
Currently, Apple plans on offering the iPhone in two models, a $499 version with 4 gigabytes of storage, and a $599 model the comes with 8GB of storage.
Munster forecasts that Apple will sell about 100 million iPods this year, and that it is not "unreasonable" to estimate that as many as 15% of those iPod users will look to replace their devices with an iPhone by 2009. Munster such replacements, along with new iPhone sales, could give Apple 7% of the U.S. mobile phone market and 2.8% of the world's handset market share in two years.
Still, Munster said there are risks at play with Apple right now, and among those is the company's decision to, at least initially, not operate the iPhone with third-generation wireless technology standards. The iPhone will run on AT& T's EDGE network, which is considered 2.5G, and can't stream music or video.
Additionally, Munster said the durability of the iPhone's touch screen, and potential user headaches with emailing or sending text messages on a touch screen could result in some negative views about the device.
A less bullish view on the company was aired by Bill Shope of J.P. Morgan earlier this week. In a note to clients Monday, Shope said the iPhone's high price will likely temper demand. In addition, potential iPod customers may hold off their purchases, waiting for the price of iPhones to drop.
"Given the difficult production ramp for the product, we expect availability to be fairly limited," wrote Shope, who rates the stock as neutral. " Nevertheless, as we move from 'the buzz factor' to true fundamentals, we continue to believe Apple's shares are priced for perfection."
Source: http://money.cnn.com/
New trial for teacher over cyberporn in classroom
June 8, 2007
WASHINGTON: A US judge has ordered a retrial of a schoolteacher found guilty of computer porn charges after a sustained campaign by internet specialists proclaiming her innocence.
WASHINGTON: A US judge has ordered a retrial of a schoolteacher found guilty of computer porn charges after a sustained campaign by internet specialists proclaiming her innocence.
Julie Amero, 40, was convicted in January of causing a series of sex advertisements to pop up on a classroom computer, which were seen by pupils in October 2004. She faces up to 40 years in jail.
But the defence filed a motion for a retrial, and at a sentencing hearing on Wednesday Judge Hillary Strackbein granted the application.
The prosecution at the trial in Connecticut had alleged Amero must have clicked on porn websites for the pop-ups to begin appearing. But after the trial 28 computer science academics in the state sought to prove that the rapid-fire sequence could have appeared automatically.
Sympathetic campaigners argue such pop-ups are one of the scourges of the internet and say she is the victim of a witchhunt.
The computer was sent to a state laboratory after the trial, and Judge Strackbein said its report might contradict evidence presented by the state computer expert, a police detective. "The jury may have relied, at least in part, on that faulty information."
The prosecution did not oppose the defence motion for a retrial. Neither the prosecution nor the jury appear to have been fully aware of the extent to which computers can be infiltrated, especially old ones that do not have firewall protection.
Outside the court Amero said: "A great weight has been lifted off my back."
Her lawyer, William Dow, commended the prosecutors for acting responsibly. "The lesson from this is all of us are subject to the whims of these computers."
Pupils, some of them as young as 12, told police that the computer had been left on for several hours and they had seen men and women engaged in oral sex.
Guardian News & Media
Microsoft Strikes Linux Patent Deal With LG Electronics
Under a deal with LG Electronics, Microsoft will forego any Linux-related patent claims and in return gain access to certain intellectual property produced by LGE.
By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek
Jun 7, 2007 10:00 AM
In its second such agreement this week, Microsoft has struck a deal under which it will extend amnesty to a company that's using what the software maker claims is patented Microsoft intellectual property embedded in the open-source Linux computer operating system.
Under a deal with LG Electronics, disclosed late Wednesday, Microsoft will forego any Linux-related patent claims against the South Korean electronics manufacturer. In return, Microsoft will gain access to certain intellectual property produced by LGE.
Microsoft insists that the Linux kernel infringes on 42 Microsoft patents, and that other open-source software programs violate an additional 193. LGE uses Linux in a number of its consumer-electronics products, including smart phones.
In a statement, Jeong Hwan Lee, executive VP for intellectual property at LGE, said the intellectual property that his company is licensing to Microsoft concerns "patents directed to computer architecture utilized in game consoles and other products."
The deal also gives Microsoft access to technology used by LGE that's patented by MicroConnect Group.
Specific financial terms of the cross-licensing pact weren't disclosed, but Microsoft said the arrangement calls for it to make "net balancing" payments to LGE. That implies that the two companies have agreed that the technology to which Microsoft gains access is more valuable than the Microsoft technology claimed to be part of Linux.
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced a cross-licensing agreement with Linux distributor Xandros. That pact also includes a provision under which Microsoft pledges not to pursue patent claims against Xandros arising from its distribution of Linux.
Last November, Microsoft reached a similar accord with Novell.
The deals are controversial. The Free Software Foundation, which governs open-source software licensing, denies Microsoft's contention that Linux and other open-source programs contain Microsoft intellectual property.
The FSF is in the midst of updating its open-source license in ways intended to make it more difficult for Microsoft to strike patent-protection deals with Linux distributors and users.
Among other things, the forthcoming third version of the General Public License, expected to be released this summer, is backdated to forbid Linux distributors from entering patent protection deals with commercial software developers as of March 28.
It would also force participants in prior agreements to extend patent protection to all Linux users. The FSF is hoping the latter provision will convince Microsoft to exit the Novell deal.
Ironically, LG Electronics is a member of a group called the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum. The group comprises a number of electronics manufacturers that embed Linux into their products. On its Web site, CELF says part of its mission is "to operate completely within the letter and the spirit of the open-source community."
The FSF and other open-source advocates are likely to question whether LGE's tie up with Microsoft is part of that mission.
Source: www.informationweek.com
By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek
Jun 7, 2007 10:00 AM
In its second such agreement this week, Microsoft has struck a deal under which it will extend amnesty to a company that's using what the software maker claims is patented Microsoft intellectual property embedded in the open-source Linux computer operating system.
Under a deal with LG Electronics, disclosed late Wednesday, Microsoft will forego any Linux-related patent claims against the South Korean electronics manufacturer. In return, Microsoft will gain access to certain intellectual property produced by LGE.
Microsoft insists that the Linux kernel infringes on 42 Microsoft patents, and that other open-source software programs violate an additional 193. LGE uses Linux in a number of its consumer-electronics products, including smart phones.
In a statement, Jeong Hwan Lee, executive VP for intellectual property at LGE, said the intellectual property that his company is licensing to Microsoft concerns "patents directed to computer architecture utilized in game consoles and other products."
The deal also gives Microsoft access to technology used by LGE that's patented by MicroConnect Group.
Specific financial terms of the cross-licensing pact weren't disclosed, but Microsoft said the arrangement calls for it to make "net balancing" payments to LGE. That implies that the two companies have agreed that the technology to which Microsoft gains access is more valuable than the Microsoft technology claimed to be part of Linux.
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced a cross-licensing agreement with Linux distributor Xandros. That pact also includes a provision under which Microsoft pledges not to pursue patent claims against Xandros arising from its distribution of Linux.
Last November, Microsoft reached a similar accord with Novell.
The deals are controversial. The Free Software Foundation, which governs open-source software licensing, denies Microsoft's contention that Linux and other open-source programs contain Microsoft intellectual property.
The FSF is in the midst of updating its open-source license in ways intended to make it more difficult for Microsoft to strike patent-protection deals with Linux distributors and users.
Among other things, the forthcoming third version of the General Public License, expected to be released this summer, is backdated to forbid Linux distributors from entering patent protection deals with commercial software developers as of March 28.
It would also force participants in prior agreements to extend patent protection to all Linux users. The FSF is hoping the latter provision will convince Microsoft to exit the Novell deal.
Ironically, LG Electronics is a member of a group called the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum. The group comprises a number of electronics manufacturers that embed Linux into their products. On its Web site, CELF says part of its mission is "to operate completely within the letter and the spirit of the open-source community."
The FSF and other open-source advocates are likely to question whether LGE's tie up with Microsoft is part of that mission.
Source: www.informationweek.com
NOKIA AEON
Jun 3, 2007
Nokia has unveiled its latest concept phone, designed to highlight the company's focus on products that allow users to more readily stamp their personality on their gadgets.
The concept phone, dubbed Aeon, combines two touch-sensitive panels mounted on a fuel-cell power pack. The handset's connectivity and electronics are built into the panels to allow them to be used independendently. When assembled, one panel would operate as the display, the other as the keypad. Since the buttons are entirely virtual, Aeon can flip instantly between a numeric pad for dialling, a text-entry pad for messaging, or a media-player controller.
It's a cute idea and one that ties in with Nokia's expectation that phones will become essentially "wearable" devices - if foresees users removing one of Aeon's display panels and mounting it on a watch-like strap or worn as a badge.More than a phone, Aeon might tap into local wireless networks to transmit data acquired from sensors such as devices that monitor the user's health signs - which is the kind of application the company has in mind for its Wibree personal-area network technology.
Source: A email from my Friend.Feedburner to be acquired by Google
May 24, 2007
I just heard that 'Feedburner' is going to be acquired by Google for around $ 100 Million.
Here is the Original Story...
Boot Windows XP from a USB flash driveBoot Windows XP from a USB flash drive
May 1, 2007
You can't boot Windows XP...
Takeaway: You can't boot Windows XP from a floppy disk the way you used to be able to with DOS. One handy way to easily boot XP is by using a USB flash drive. Here's how to make it work.
Almost everyone who has worked with computers for any length of time at all has run into at least one situation in which a problem left a PC unbootable. What if you could return the machine to a bootable state just by inserting a USB flash drive though? Believe it or not, it is actually possible to install a bootable copy of Windows XP onto a flash drive and then boot a PC off of the flash drive. From there, you can use applications that you have installed on the flash drive (anti virus, anti spyware, disk repair, etc.) to fix the PC's problem. In this article, I will show you how.
You must use PEBuilder to create a Windows build that will work with a flash drive.
PEBuilder uses a batch file to install Windows onto a flash drive.
Use menu option 5 to install Windows to the flash drive.
Installing applications
Takeaway: You can't boot Windows XP from a floppy disk the way you used to be able to with DOS. One handy way to easily boot XP is by using a USB flash drive. Here's how to make it work.
Almost everyone who has worked with computers for any length of time at all has run into at least one situation in which a problem left a PC unbootable. What if you could return the machine to a bootable state just by inserting a USB flash drive though? Believe it or not, it is actually possible to install a bootable copy of Windows XP onto a flash drive and then boot a PC off of the flash drive. From there, you can use applications that you have installed on the flash drive (anti virus, anti spyware, disk repair, etc.) to fix the PC's problem. In this article, I will show you how.
What's the catch?
As with most cool new techniques, there are a few catches. For starters, not every PC is capable of booting from a USB flash drive. For the most part, computers manufactured within the last two years are generally able to boot from a flash drive. Older systems may require a BIOS update, or might not be able to boot from a flash drive at all.
Another catch is that not every flash drive will get the job done. The primary factors that limit your use of a particular flash drive are capacity and speed. Technically, speed isn't really a limiting factor, but booting Windows will be painfully slow unless you use a flash drive that supports USB 2.0.
The flash drive's capacity is actually a limiting factor though. Surprisingly though, there are size limits on both the upper and lower end. Your flash drive can't be too large or too small. There isn't really a documented minimal size for a flash drive. You just need something large enough to hold Windows XP and a few applications. As you probably know, Windows XP normally consumes over a gigabyte of disk space. Later I will show you how to use a free utility to trim the excess fat off of Windows XP and make it a whole lot smaller. Even so, I still recommend that your flash drive be at least a minimum of 256 MB in size.
As I mentioned, there is a maximum size for the USB flash drive that you can use. Currently, USB flash drives exist in sizes of up to 4 GB, and 8 GB flash drives are expected to be available by the end of the year. As nice as it would be to have 8 GB to play with, the flash drive that you use for this project can be no larger than 2 GB. The reason for this is because you will have to format the flash drive using the FAT-16 file system, which has a 2 GB limit. Presently, you are stuck using FAT-16 because most computers will not recognize a flash drive as being bootable if the drive is formatted with anything other than FAT-16.
Preparing your Windows installation CD
One of the requirements for creating our bootable USB flash drive is a Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installation CD. If your Windows XP installation CD doesn't already include Service Pack 2, then you will have to make a CD that includes Service Pack 2 through a technique called slipstreaming.
Other requirements
In addition to your Windows XP installation CD, there are a couple of other things that you are going to need. For starters, you will need the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. You can download this tool for free.
Another utility that you are going to need is Bart's Preinstalled Environment Bootable Live Windows CD / DVD, or BartPE for short. You can download this utility for free from the BartPE Web site.
In addition to the software requirements, you must verify that the PC that you will be using to create the Windows deployment has 1.5 GB of free hard disk space (minimum) and supports booting from a USB device. I also strongly recommend that the PC be running Windows XP Service Pack 2. Prior to Service Pack 2, Windows XP sometimes had trouble interacting with USB storage devices.
Formatting the flash driveNow that you have all of the prerequisites taken care of, it's time to actually start setting up our flash drive. The first step in doing so, as strange as it sounds, is to format the flash drive. Windows will actually let you format a flash drive in the same way that you format a floppy disk. However, formatting a flash drive in this way will not work for this project. Furthermore, using Windows to format a flash drive directly has been known to destroy some types of flash drives.
Instead, you must format the flash drive by using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool that you downloaded earlier. To do so, simply open the utility, select the device followed by the FAT file system option and click Start.
Once the device has been formatted, you must make it bootable. To do so, you must copy the BOOT.INI, NTLDR, and NTDETECT from the root directory of your PC's boot drive to the flash drive. These files are hidden by default, so you will either have to configure Windows Explorer to show hidden files (including protected operating system files) or you will have to open a Command Prompt window and use the COPY command to copy the files.
If you choose to use the Windows Explorer method, then open Internet Explorer and enter C: into the address bar so that you are looking at your local hard drive. Next, select the Folder Options command from the Tools menu. When the Folder Options properties sheet opens, select the View tab. Now, just select the Show Hidden Files and Folders and deselect the Hide Extensions for Known File Types and the Hide Protected Operating System Files check boxes. Click OK to continue.
Booting from the USB flash drive
Now that you have formatted your USB flash drive and installed the boot files onto it, the next thing that you must do is to configure your PC to allow you to boot from the flash drive. This is all done through the computer's BIOS Setup. I can't give you specific instructions for this part, because every computer is different. I can give you a few pointers though.
You can access your computer's BIOS by pressing a specific key immediately after you turn the PC on. The key varies, but it is usually either [F1], [F2], or [Delete]. Once you are in the BIOS Setup, you should verify that all of your computer's USB options are enabled. This might include things like support for legacy USB devices or support for USB 2.0. If there is a time out setting for USB devices, you should set it to the max to insure that the system doesn't time out while waiting on the USB device to boot.
Next, find the section on boot device priority. Normally, a USB flash drive (which is usually listed as USB-HDD, but may be listed as a removable device) will have a very low boot priority. If the USB flash drive's boot priority is lower than the hard disk (listed as HDD) then the only time the computer would ever boot off of the USB flash drive is if the system were to fail to boot from the hard disk. You must therefore rearrange the boot device priority so that the flash drive has a higher priority than the hard drive.
Configuring Windows
Now that we have finally made it through all of the prep work, it's time to start setting up Windows. As you have probably already guessed, the process of installing Windows to a flash drive is quite a bit different from your normal, run of the mill installation. There are a couple of reasons for this.
For starters, a full blown Windows XP deployment takes up over a Gigabyte of hard disk space. When you are installing to a flash drive, disk space is a scarce commodity. Even if you have over a Gigabyte of space on your flash drive, you probably don't want to use it all on Windows. It would be nice to have room to install a few applications. Therefore, you need to trim the excess fat off of Windows.
The other reason why the installation process is so different from the usual Windows installation is because Windows Setup is not designed to install Windows to a flash drive. You therefore have to configure Windows using an alternate method.
The PEBuilder utility that you downloaded earlier can take care of both of these issues. PEBuilder is designed to create a build of Windows XP (or Windows Server 2003) that does not take up as much space as a full blown installation. Once you create this new build, you can copy it to the flash drive. For right now, I will show you how to create a basic Windows build and copy it to the memory stick. Unfortunately, it's rather difficult to install applications once Windows is up and running. Therefore, after I show you how to create a basic Windows build, I will show you how to create a build that includes some applications.
Begin the process by opening PEBuilder. When you open PEBuilder, you will see a screen similar to the one that's shown in Figure A. Simply enter the path to the Windows installation files (the ones from your Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installation CD). Next, verify that the Create ISO Image and the Burn to CD check boxes are not selected and then click the Build button. PEBuilder will now create the new Windows build.
Figure A
You must use PEBuilder to create a Windows build that will work with a flash drive.
Now, it's time to copy Windows to the flash drive. To do so, you will have to use a special batch file that's included with PEBuilder. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to c:\pebuilder313\plugin\peinst. Now, insert an empty flash drive into the computer's USB port and then execute the file PEINST.CMD. You will now see a menu appear as shown in Figure B.
Figure B
PEBuilder uses a batch file to install Windows onto a flash drive.
Type 1 and press [Enter] and you will be prompted to enter the path to the build that you have created. Enter C:\pebuilder313\BartPE. Now, type 2, press [Enter], and you will be prompted for the target path. Enter the drive letter that Windows has assigned to your USB flash drive. After doing so, the menu is updated as shown in Figure C. The menu now displays the source path and the destination drive. Type 5 and press [Enter] to install Windows to the flash drive.
Figure C
Use menu option 5 to install Windows to the flash drive.
Installing applications
Now that I have shown you how to create and install a basic Windows build, I want to talk for a moment about how you can add an application to the build (prior to creating it). The PEBuilder program comes pre-configured to support a number of common Windows applications, but does not come with the applications themselves.
The reason why installing applications can be a little bit tricky is because most Windows applications modify the Windows registry. The build that you are creating is basically a collection of installation files, and the build itself does not contain a registry (the registry gets created when Windows is installed onto the flash drive). As such, PEBuilder uses a sort of registry emulator.
If you go to the C:\PEBUILDER313\PLUGIN folder, you will see sub folders for a number of different applications. If you open one of these application folders, you will see that the folder contains an INF file and a FILES folder. The INF file contains all of the information that would normally go into the registry, and the FILES folder stores all of the program's files.
To see how this works, let's install an application that I'm sure most of you are familiar with; Nero. Begin by installing Nero onto the machine that's running PEBuilder, as if you planned to run Nero locally on that machine. When the installation completes, copy all of the files from C:\Program Files\ahead\Nero to C:\pebuilder313\plugin\nero burning rom\files. In this particular case, the nero burning rom folder is the folder that has been set aside for the Nero application. The Files sub folder is intended to store Nero's system files.
Now, you must take care of Nero's registry entries. To do so, go to the C:\pebuilder313\plugin\nero burning rom folder and open the PENERO.INF file using Notepad. As I explained earlier, the INF file in an application's folder is used to store the application's registry entries. For Nero and all of the other applications that PEBuilder predefines, the INF file is pre-configured. You just have to make a few changes that are specific to your system.
In this particular case, the PENERO.INF file is designed to support both Nero versions 5.x and 6.x. Initially, the lines for both versions are commented out. You must therefore determine which version you have and then remove the semi colon from the beginning of the lines that apply to that version. If you look at Figure D, you can see how the two versions are separated.
Figure D
An application's registry entries are stored in an INF file.
Once you uncomment the appropriate lines, just replace "Your Name", "Your Company Name" and "Your Serial Number" with your name, your company's name, and your Nero product key. Save the file, and your set to go. The next time that you click the Build button, Nero will be included in the build.
Putting XP in your pocket
Running Windows from a flash drive isn't an exact science. Sometimes the process just doesn't work and there is no good reason why. As more PCs start to support booting from USB devices though, USB boots should become more standardized, and the technique should become more reliable.
Red Hat author dishes on RHEL 5
Tammy Fox has worn many hats...
By Jack Loftus, News Writer
23 Apr 2007 | SearchEnterpriseLinux.com
Tammy Fox has worn many hats in the past for Red Hat Inc., including technical writer, lead of the documents team and founding editor of Red Hat Magazine. She has also been a professional Linux writer for the past seven years. In other words, she knows Red Hat Linux.
By Jack Loftus, News Writer
23 Apr 2007 | SearchEnterpriseLinux.com
Tammy Fox has worn many hats in the past for Red Hat Inc., including technical writer, lead of the documents team and founding editor of Red Hat Magazine. She has also been a professional Linux writer for the past seven years. In other words, she knows Red Hat Linux.
Fox's latest work, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed, arrived this month intended as a tome of knowledge for intermediate to advanced Linux system administrators. Before it was published, Fox sat down with SearchEnterpriseLinux.com to provide some insight on the latest version of the Linux community's leading commercial distribution, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL 5).
What general best practices or tips can you share to make an upgrade to RHEL 5 a smooth one?
Tammy Fox: Performing an upgrade with the installation program basically updates any existing RPM packages on your system. If the new version of the package includes changes that make your existing configuration invalid, some packages will try to migrate your existing data, but it is not required.
The best practice is to have your data on a dedicated storage system that does not get reformatted during a fresh installation. Depending on the size of your organization, this can be a SAN, a data cluster, or just a set of dedicated hard drives in the system. Back up any existing data and configuration files, and perform a fresh installation. Restore your configuration files one by one, testing each program. Be sure to pay close attention to whether or not the software version has changed from your previous version of RHEL to RHEL 5. Finally, reconnect your data storage solution and perform any additional tests necessary.
Of course, all of these steps should be performed on a test system before the plan is implemented on a production system.
What are some key differences between what administrators see in RHEL 4 deployments, and RHEL 5 ones?
Fox: The most immediate change they will notice is the introduction of installation codes. During installation, an installation code must be entered. These codes are generated by Red Hat. Depending on what services you purchased, they unlock different RHEL 5 components such as virtualization and high availability. RHEL 5 also uses new RPM GPG keys. If upgrading, you will need to install the new keys before updating packages.
The next big noticeable change is the move to YUM for software management and maintenance. In previous versions of RHEL, the up2date command could be used to download and install software updates from Red Hat Network. It has been replaced with the YUM command, and all the up2date graphical program has been replaced with a graphical program that use YUM as well. If you schedule package updates and installation with the RHN Web site, you will not notice a difference.
Administrators must also consider whether to use the virtualization feature in RHEL5. (Editor's Note: Due to trademark issues, Red Hat currently refers to Xen-based hypervisor technology as virtualization.) If your hardware is supported and you have systems with enough resources to share between the host system and the virtual machines, virtualization can help reduce the number of physical machines that need to be maintained. If you are a hosting service or allow your customers shell access to their Web site, virtualization can be beneficial.
Administrators should read the release notes for a complete list of caveats and known issues with RHEL 5. For example, dual-booting with Windows Vista requires additional steps for GRUB to boot Windows Vista.
Has SELinux become any easier to use with RHEL 5?
Fox: As with any developing open source technology, SELinux is improving with each release and version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora. Of course there will be IT managers who continue not to use SELinux, but the version in RHEL 5 has improved significantly.
With the introduction of the SELinux Management Tool and the SELinux Troubleshooter, it is much easier to determine which services and programs are protected by SELinux. It is also much easier to customize the policy without having to write your own policy. SELinux booleans are used for this and can be enabled and disabled with the SELinux Management Tool.
The SELinux Troubleshooter alerts administrators of when a service has failed to start due to SELinux. It also provides suggestions on how to work around the issue without just disabling SELinux protection for the service.
How has the typical Red Hat Linux administrator's job changed with the introduction of Xen to RHEL 5?
Fox: With the introduction of virtualization in RHEL 5, administrators must now consider whether to continue using individual physical servers for each operating system instance or whether the performance of a virtual machine (VM) will suffice. Certainly, Web hosting companies who offer dedicated Web servers will benefit from virtualization since each client can have their own IP address and guest OS. The VMs on a host system can't access the data on the other VMs or the host, so client data is separated, yet one physical server can serve multiple clients.
IT managers should know that there are hardware requirements for virtualization. Currently, virtualization on RHEL 5 is only supported on x86 and x86_64 systems. It is offered for the Itanium2 but only as a technology preview. In addition to the obvious need for enough processors, memory and disk space to dedicate to each VM, the processor must have Physical Address Extension support. To use full virtualization -- the guest OS does not have to be aware of the VM layer -- the processor must be 64-bit and must have a hardware virtual machine layer.
An eWEEK review of RHEL5 said the Xen support is "half-baked" -- what are your thoughts on this?
Fox: As with SELinux, you will see the virtualization support improve over time. The basic functionality is there. You can create a virtual machine, install a guest OS on the VM, and connect to the guest OS as if it is a OS running on a separate set of hardware. The VM has its own IP address, doesn't have access to the data on its host system, and so on.
There are still parts that can be greatly improved, as with any software when it is first introduced. Because it is open source, it is important to provide these types of new technologies so that they can be used by the masses and so other developers and companies will get behind it. A few of the known issues such as the virtual Machine Manager not being able to start the VM are listed in the RHEL 5 release notes. However, this particular issue has a workaround by starting the VM from the command line first. This issue is also discussed in my book.
Have a question or a comment about the article? Email Jack Loftus, News Writer or visit our new blog at the Enterprise Linux Log.
Pre-loaded Linux = Increased adoption?
> QUESTION POSED ON: 25 April 2007
Do you think Dell's idea to pre-load Linux on PCs will increase adoption or will people stick with what's familiar (e.g. Windows)? How can they overcome the usual hurdles of driver incompatibility and hardware issues?
> EXPERT RESPONSE
I think Dell pre-loading Linux will have a significant impact on Linux adoption, although not necessarily because so many end users comfortable with Windows will decide to switch. Rather, Dell's involvement will motivate many hardware manufacturers to make reliable Linux drivers available, the lack of which has significantly retarded the adoption of Linux by many individuals and organizations interested in trying out Linux.
By reducing the barrier of drivers and thereby enabling these trials, Linux will start to achieve some momentum, which will in turn increase its adoption rate. So, I applaud Dell for moving forward on this initiative.
Microsoft Windows ousted at California school district
By Jack Loftus, News Writer
28 Feb 2007 | SearchOpenSource.com
By all appearances, the migration from Microsoft Windows to Novell SUSE Linux on the server and the desktop at the Windsor Unified School District in Northern California has been almost as pain-free as any IT professional could hope for.
By this summer, all 5,000 students and 250 teachers will be working off of a Linux-based thin client running OpenOffice.org, and the majority of the district's servers will be running Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
Closing Windows
Heather Carver, brought on as the director of technology and information services at Windsor in August 2006, said her hiring was a result of the district's desire to vet alternatives to a Windows upgrade for its network of seven schools.
When Carver arrived, Windsor had an aging Microsoft Windows environment running on 70 Hewlett-Packard and Dell servers spread across seven schools. Upgrades would have meant purchasing more powerful hardware and additional licensing costs totaling $100,000 – far too expensive for their limited IT budget, she said.
That said, Carver still investigated ways to remain on Windows, but an upgrade proved impossible. "We looked at keeping the physical environment, and how we could accomplish that. But in that scenario, if we could afford the software upgrades, then we could not afford the new hardware required to run it and vice versa," she said.
With Windows ruled out, Carver decided to standardize on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server with thin-client desktops running SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. Novell won out because of what Carver perceived as better support for the thin client desktops she planned to use in the classrooms and faculty areas.
Using Wyse terminals, the district also planned to offer students and staff thin-client desktops running OpenOffice.org. Ericom software – a Citrix alternative -- enabled the terminals to run the district's existing and irreplaceable Microsoft Windows educational applications, including Type to Learn, Reading Counts and Kid Pix.
The migration officially began in January at the Brooks school building, one of seven schools in the district that would serve as the testing environment for the project. ZENworks, Novell's systems management product, was also installed to serve as a central management and monitoring hub for the other six sites when they go online this summer.
Identity hiccup
Windsor did go over a few speed bumps in the migration to Linux involving managing user identities and authentication. For Carver, the ID issues were not debilitating enough to deter her from making the switch from Windows to SUSE, but the issue was still noticeable.
Specifically, custom scripts had to be developed to perform tasks such as granting faculty access privileges to student grade information, for example. These tasks had to be completed locally on a server-by-server basis. "We had to add all the system's users one-by-one," Carver said. "That's a pain when you have 500 users."
This problem was especially apparent on the thin clients she had set up in classrooms and teacher workstations. "At our Brooks facility, the OS wasn't that easy to manipulate for our thin clients," Carver said. "I love the OS, but it is not built for the thin client."
Carver said Novell promised more identity support during the summer in the form of a software update.
Linux thrives
Ultimately, though, the migration from Windows to Linux progressed quite smoothly.
"Each site has a server room with 10 servers," Carver said, for a total of 70 servers running applications like file and print, plus Novell's ZENworks and GroupWise for collaboration.
In particular, implementing ZENworks as a help desk for teachers and staff has resulted in a 90% reduction in the amount of time it takes IT staff to resolve problems. "We basically had no help desk before, but in the new system, each user has a distinct name and log-in credentials. Most places have that already, I know," she said.
The new setup also allows for better remote management. "[With Windows] we had spent half our time driving around; we had to touch every machine," Carver said. In a school system like Windsor, all that driving was costing an already strapped IT department too many resources.
Carver said it cost the district about $2,500 per school to migrate to Linux, compared with the estimated $100,000 it would have cost to upgrade their Windows infrastructure. In addition, buying more Microsoft Office licenses would have cost the district $100 per license, she said, whereas OpenOffice was free.
Linux as a learning tool
Ultimately, moving to Linux has enabled the Windsor School District to build out technology capabilities that wouldn't have been possible with Windows.
"[The students] are able to do more because Linux cost less," Carver said. "Our new computer lab [at Brooks] was set to cost $35,000 and ended up costing us $16,000 with Linux [on thin clients]."
And the kids love it too. "The kids think Linux is cool because it's new, but what they're really doing is stepping into the 21st century," Carver said.
Vegas machines' new jackpot? iPods
Apr 28, 2007
LAS VEGAS--Architecture, entertainment and vice. Everything about this city is famous for being over the top. You can now add vending machines to the list.
Can't sleep after bucking the roulette wheel? Forget the flat soda and stale chips. Patter downstairs and pick up an 80GB iPod for $349. Don't worry about scrounging for change. The machine only takes credit cards.
This from Zoom Systems resides in the lobby of the Las Vegas Hilton. The hotel is a stone's throw from where the is holding its annual conference this week.
In addition to an array of multicolored Nanos, from $199 to $249, the machine also dispenses headsets from JBL and Sony.
Myth crushed as hacker shows Mac break-in
Dino Dai Zovi was able to remotely break into a Mac as part of a contest designed to illustrate security flaws in OS X
By Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service April 20, 2007
A hacker managed to break into a Mac and win a $10,000 prize as part of a contest started at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver.In winning the contest, he exposed a hole in Safari, Apple's browser. "Currently, every copy of OS X out there now is vulnerable to this," said Sean Comeau, one of the organizers of CanSecWest.The conference organizers decided to offer the contest in part to draw attention to possible security shortcomings in Macs. "You see a lot of people running OS X saying it's so secure, and frankly, Microsoft is putting more work into security than Apple has," said Dragos Ruiu, the principal organizer of security conferences including CanSecWest.
Initially, contestants were invited to try to access one of two Macs through a wireless access point while the Macs had no programs running. No attackers managed to do so, and so conference organizers allowed participants to try to get in through the browser by sending URLs via e-mail.
By Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service April 20, 2007
A hacker managed to break into a Mac and win a $10,000 prize as part of a contest started at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver.In winning the contest, he exposed a hole in Safari, Apple's browser. "Currently, every copy of OS X out there now is vulnerable to this," said Sean Comeau, one of the organizers of CanSecWest.The conference organizers decided to offer the contest in part to draw attention to possible security shortcomings in Macs. "You see a lot of people running OS X saying it's so secure, and frankly, Microsoft is putting more work into security than Apple has," said Dragos Ruiu, the principal organizer of security conferences including CanSecWest.
Initially, contestants were invited to try to access one of two Macs through a wireless access point while the Macs had no programs running. No attackers managed to do so, and so conference organizers allowed participants to try to get in through the browser by sending URLs via e-mail.
Dino Dai Zovi, who lives in New York, sent along a URL that exposed the hole. Because the contest was only open to attendees in Vancouver, he sent it to a friend who was at the conference and forwarded it on.
The URL opened a blank page but exposed a vulnerability in input handling in Safari, Comeau said. An attacker could use the vulnerability in a number of ways, but Dai Zovi used it to open a back door that gave him access to anything on the computer, Comeau said.
The vulnerability won't be published. 3Com's TippingPoint division, which put up the cash prize, will handle disclosing it to Apple.
The prize for the contest was originally one of the Macs. But on Thursday evening, TippingPoint put up the cash award, which may have spurred a wider interest in the contest.
One reason Macs haven't been much of a target for hackers is that there are fewer to attack, said Terri Forslof, manager of security response for TippingPoint. "It's an incentive issue. The Mac is not as widely deployed of a platform as, say, Windows," she said. In this case, the cash may have provided motivation.
The contest was a chance for hackers to demonstrate techniques they may have boasted about. "I hear a lot of people bragging about how easy it is to break into Macs," Ruiu said.
Some attendees didn't think it was a coincidence that on late Thursday Apple released a patch for 25 vulnerabilities in OS X.
Macs haven't been targets for hackers and malicious code writers nearly to the degree that Windows machines have historically. That's in part because there are fewer Macs in use, thus making the potential impact of malicious code smaller than on the more widely used PCs.Also, Apple is "extremely litigious when people do find stuff," noted Theo de Raadt, OpenBSD project leader and an attendee at the conference. He suspects that will backfire on Apple, which could begin to "look evil" if hackers begin to publish potentially threatening letters from the company.
This story was updated on April 20, 2007
How to zap the crap on a new Windows PC
Dave Methvin
April 25, 2007 (Computerworld) When you take a brand-new Windows PC out of the box, it's shiny and scratch-free, but on the PC's hard disk, it's a different story entirely. Most major hardware makers clutter their systems with preinstalled applications, browser toolbars, search settings and utilities -- not to mention self-launching advertisements enticing you to try out even more software.
In essence, they have sold your PC to the highest bidder long before you take it out of the box. Instead of having Windows defaults or your own preferences, the system is set up to maximize the profits of the computer maker and its business partners at the expense of your convenience.
All this extra unwanted software takes its toll on system performance and reliability. Each time the system starts, many of the applications run in the background. While running, they may access the Internet to find updates or change the behavior of standard Windows functions. These freeloaders also take up system resources such as processor, memory and disk space, resulting in longer start-up and shutdown times.
Many of them clutter the desktop, system tray and browser with icons, buttons, yellow balloon dialogs and other visible reminders in the hope that you will click on them and use their services. Apple even pokes fun of this phenomenon in one of its "I'm a PC; I'm a Mac" commercials, called "Stuffed" (requires QuickTime plug-in).
  Out of the box, my brand-new Acer notebook had a system tray brimming with icons, including two volume controls. |
Uninvited applications and utilities often target product or service categories where competition is fierce. Take music, for example. Nearly every new computer comes with preinstalled software designed to grab your business for music downloads. It may be Napster, MusicMatch, RealPlayer or Microsoft's own Windows Media Player. The preinstalled software usually takes over all sound-related file extensions, such as .MP3 or .WAV, and launches an in-your-face barrage of advertising any time you want to play something as simple as a sound effect.
Uninstalling isn't always as simple as it should be, either -- many preinstalled processes don't offer a standard uninstall routine.
 On my new notebook, Internet Explorer 7 is loaded down with preinstalled toolbars. (Click image to see larger view.) |
Microsoft is certainly aware of this problem, but to some extent the solution is out of its hands. The computer maker, not Microsoft, is responsible for the extra software installed on the system and for making sure the final combination works correctly before it's sent to the customer.
When Windows XP was released in 2001, Microsoft attempted two changes to address this problem. The first was to prompt the user with a message offering to clean up unused desktop icons a few weeks after the system is installed. The second was a prompt offering to hide the tray icons that the user has not clicked on recently. But both changes merely mask the clutter; neither removes the underlying mess.
For all its changes in other areas, Windows Vista hasn't improved things much when it comes to dealing with the junk installed by hardware makers. I just purchased a new Acer notebook with Vista Home Premium installed, and it suffers from the same old plague of icons, advertisements and start-up utilities.
And several of the third-party applications consistently misbehave in ways that make me think that they are not yet Vista-compatible. For example, the PC came with Symantec's Norton Internet Security, which would often pop up error dialogs when the system resumed from sleep. The Windows error logs indicated that several Symantec software components were causing trouble.
 Vista's error logs showing preinstalled Symantec software impacting system performance. (Click image to see larger view.) |
Is there any way to avoid the clutter? For medium and large businesses, yes. Hardware makers often give bulk buyers more flexible setup options than they do consumers. You may be able to get a bare-bones operating system setup or even select your own preinstalled set of software. Small system makers may also offer bare-bones Windows setups to both consumers and businesses.
However, if you purchase these you should be sure that you are getting a legal Windows license for the system. The system builder should provide a certificate of authenticity at the very least, and preferably an original Windows DVD that you can use to reinstall or repair the operating system. You can verify that your Microsoft software is not pirated by going to the Genuine Microsoft Software site.
Taking Out the Trash
Nearly every name-brand consumer or small-business PC will have the same software mess that I've seen on my Acer. So, the first thing to do with any new PC isn't to start using it, but to clean it up.
Step 1: Back up.
Before starting, plan for a way to recover in case you delete important files. If you've literally just taken the system out of the box and haven't yet moved over your own files, you can just restore from the recovery CD or DVD that the manufacturer provides -- assuming that they provided one. Some vendors don't offer a disc but provide a reinstall image on a hidden partition on the drive.
If you've been using the PC for a while, backing up your own documents and data is a necessity. An external USB hard drive is a great option.
Step 2: Run PC Decrapifier.
After the backup, you're ready to start hacking through the clutter. One quick way to remove the junk is to use a utility called PC Decrapifier, which can automatically uninstall programs that it knows to be supplied by many hardware vendors -- even those that don't provide uninstallers. It's free for personal use or $20 for IT personnel who plan to use it on multiple computers.
When you run PC Decrapifier, you'll be presented with a list of items it can delete or change for you. Although it was originally written to clean up the junk installed by Dell on its computers (and still works best with Dell machines), it can be useful on other brands as well. The screenshot below shows what it found on my Acer.
 PC Decrapifier at work. (Click image to see larger view.) |
Step 3: Uninstall programs manually.
Even after using PC Decrapifier, you will probably find that there are other programs that you would like to eliminate. To uninstall programs manually, go to Control Panel, then to Add or Remove Programs (for XP) or Programs and Features (for Vista). You may need to switch to Classic View to see these options listed.
 Just a few of the applications preinstalled on my Acer. (Click image to see larger view.) | |
All of the vendor's preinstalled programs will be shown here. Keep an eye open for any entry with a name that includes words like "registration," "tour," "offer" or "trial." Also be suspicious of any entry with "toolbar" in its name; these are often browser toolbars that redirect your searches to sites that you haven't chosen. All of these are good candidates for removal.
On the other hand, do not remove entries that are listed as drivers; they are often required so that the associated hardware will work properly.
A few examples of software that can be deleted on my system include Acer Registration, Acer ScreenSaver and Acer Tour. Most of the other Acer software is optional as well, but you might want to keep Acer Arcade Deluxe if any of the games there interest you. I don't plan to use Symantec's Norton security software, so that can be uninstalled. Finally, I prefer the simplicity of Google's home page and don't like toolbars in my browsers, so the Yahoo Toolbar can be uninstalled as well.
To uninstall a program in XP, select it, click the Remove button, and click Yes. On Vista, right click the program and choose Uninstall.
Step 4: Boot into Safe Mode to uninstall any remaining programs.
It's not uncommon for programs that are OEM installed to either not have an Add/Remove Programs option or to have one that doesn't work. Your next step is boot into Safe Mode (hold down the F8 key as Windows begins to start) and try to uninstall the program in Add or Remove Programs (for XP) or Programs and Features (for Vista).
Unfortunately, some applications block their own uninstallation from Windows Safe Mode. To get around this problem, try installing a utility called SafeMSI, which lets you uninstall software from Safe Mode. Once it's installed, reboot to Safe Mode and try again.
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| Tip: Use SafeMSI to clean up Vista software conflicts When you've installed Windows Vista as an upgrade to your existing Windows XP environment, you might find that many background programs for supporting minor hardware-oriented functions (such as DVD label creation) don't work under Vista or conflict with Vista in some way. It's quite common to see a bunch of error messages inside Windows after it boots on Vista-upgraded machines. The way to turn off these errors is to eliminate software, but oftentimes it just won't uninstall. And Vista seems less permissive than XP about letting you uninstall things in Safe Mode, which is when SafeMSI can come in very handy. | | | |
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Step 5: As a last resort for software that remains "stuck," turn to Google.
Despite your best efforts, certain pieces of software may resist being removed through normal channels. In most cases, a Google search on its name will turn up some custom instructions for removing it. There are also various third-party products for removing unwanted software, but cleanup for these tenacious programs is likely to be very app-specific and you'll likely have more luck with specialized instructions you find via Google.
Step 6: When you're done removing software, do a driver check.
While you're doing cleanup, it's also a good idea to check for new drivers. The most recent official drivers for a system are usually available at the vendor's site. Often you'll find that the drivers installed on the system are not the most recent versions available. This is especially true with PCs sold in retail stores, where the computer may have been on the shelf for several weeks or even months.
When the vendor doesn't have a working driver, another source is the Windows Update site. The Automatic Updates feature of Windows does not update drivers, so you must do this manually by going to windowsupdate.microsoft.com.
Step 7: Defragment and clean the disk.
Once all the undesirable software is removed and the drivers updated, you can defragment the drive (Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter). Deleting and creating files creates significant disk fragmentation, and a fragmented drive degrades performance. You will also want to run Disk Cleanup (Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup) as well, because some setup or uninstall programs leave junk files behind.
Defragmenting the drive on a weekly basis will keep performance from degrading. Vista does this automatically through a scheduled task, but you'll need to do this yourself on XP.
Finally, the system is clean and ready to install the software that you really want. You may be surprised how much better the system behaves once you remove the junk that was put there by the system manufacturer.
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| Tip: Down the road, don't fall into the renewal trap If you decide to purchase or subscribe to any of the applications or services preinstalled on your new system, remember that these companies expect you to stay with them when the time comes to renew. When a dialog pops up telling the user that his subscription has expired, most users will simply enter their credit card without doing any competitive shopping. Microsoft, Symantec and McAfee have even started to automatically bill users when their renewals are due. As a result, companies generally offer the least favorable deals to renewing customers. Better prices are available through retail purchases or through competitive upgrades to different products. Even if you want to stay with Symantec, for example, you may be financially better off uninstalling it and purchasing a local copy from a retail store that includes a rebate. | | | |
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Dave Methvin is chief technology officer of PC Pitstop, a free site that automatically diagnoses and fixes common PC problems.
Fear and anger erupt over $3 Microsoft Suite
Apr 26, 2007
Blogger: George Ou
By now, most people have heard that Microsoft will be selling a $3 version of Windows XP Starters Edition along with Office and some other educational software to students in the third world, but fear and anger have erupted in some circles in the Internet community. The two primary concerns I'm hearing across the forums are:
By now, most people have heard that Microsoft will be selling a $3 version of Windows XP Starters Edition along with Office and some other educational software to students in the third world, but fear and anger have erupted in some circles in the Internet community. The two primary concerns I'm hearing across the forums are:
- Isn't this illegal dumping and unfair to open source solutions?
- Why aren't (insert first-world country here) students getting these prices?
To address the first question, we must look at the definition of dumping. It is generally accepted that dumping is taking place when a product is being sold below the cost of production as a means to undercut a competitor's price to put them out of business. Some may view the mere act of selling a product at lower prices in the recipient country than in the country of origin as an act of dumping, but the recipient country wouldn't usually file a complaint unless its local industry is being undercut in prices. In this case, the competitor in question is open source software, which isn't really owned by anyone, and Microsoft obviously isn't undercutting the price since $3 > $0.
Educational discounts are also nothing new, and companies are free to donate software to the schools. I've even seen programs where Microsoft actually gives away entire suites of software, including Windows, Office, Visual Studio, SQL Server, and more to computer science departments in American universities for the mere cost of the media and shipping.
But why is there so much fear of a $3 software suite comprising a crippled version of Windows XP along with Office and a few other educational titles? Surely this is a great opportunity for Linux and OpenOffice.org to compete in a market where people have no attachment or habit on any platform, since the open source solution is 100% free. These are countries where $3 might be a few weeks' food supply, and it's still a serious challenge for those nations to pay Microsoft millions of dollars in licensing fees. Surely in a situation where we're starting with a clean slate and the potential untapped market is bigger than the entire present computing user base, free has to be more attractive than not free. For the Microsoft suite to stand any chance of winning, it would have to be head and shoulders above a much cheaper competitor.
From my test results last year, Desktop Linux required significantly more hardware power than Windows XP, and it lagged behind in performance. While Desktop Linux has lower hardware requirements than Windows Vista, it is definitely more memory hungry than Windows XP, especially when you factor in the bloat and sluggishness from OpenOffice.org (OpenOffice.org wiki on performance). Since third-world nations will be getting a lot of old and refurbished computers, a modern GUI-based Linux plus OpenOffice.org will definitely present some challenges. From a novice user and administrator standpoint, Linux is still going to be more challenging than Windows. Now I am perfectly willing to accept the possibility that my assessment of the performance and usability situation is in some way, shape, or form wrong or misguided. But if that's the case, Microsoft will surely fail, and there is no need for open source advocates to fear a $3 suite from Microsoft.
The other big question among Americans and people in other first-world countries is why they aren't getting these kinds of breaks in pricing. The perception here is that the first-world nations are subsidizing the third-world nations in software, but is that really what's happening? Earlier this week, I read the news that Vista sold only 244 copies in China (that would be 243 more copies than I expected). All joking aside, I'm not surprised by these numbers in China or in any other developing nation where people make less than 1/10th the income of first-world nations. You cannot expect someone who's making $200 a month to fork out $200 in OEM software licensing costs. They'll save up for the hardware, since that can't be copied and you would actually have to deprive someone else of their goods in order to steal it. But they're not going to pay hundreds of dollars for software when they can just copy it. What this means is that first-world nations are subsidizing what is essentially free software to the third-world countries under the current system.
Full subsidization isn't the only problem; we're all under constant attack from the hordes of zombie armies born from software piracy. The vast majority of pirated black-market software being sold in the back alleys from Moscow to Bangladesh are laced with backdoors and rootkits. Not selling them software at prices proportional to their income levels simply means the bad guys get rich selling the software and they get a zombie army to boot. Software companies like Microsoft have the opportunity to undercut the pirates by selling low-cost legitimate software, since people would rather not break the law and they would rather not have infected computers. We would all benefit with fewer zombie botnet armies roaming the Internet.
External USB drives may have 'silent' CRC error failures
Apr 20, 2007
Serdar Yegulalp, Contributor
04.17.2007
I have two external USB/Firewire hard drive enclosures that I use for backup and offline storage. They're indispensible, especially when I'm dealing with a notebook computer or a mini-micro-tiny-tower that doesn't let you install a new drive internally.
But these drive enclosures have their fair share of pitfalls, including bad ribbon cables and faulty USB connectors. Not to mention the problem I ran into when migrating 50GB of data from an external drive to an internal one.
External drives use a "bridge" device—a controller that converts the IDE (PATA) or SATA signals from the drive to something that can be sent over the USB bus. Normally the bridge controller works fine ferrying messsages between both types of buses, but if there's a CRC error on the drive, it may not be reported back to the host the same way a locally mounted drive would.
While I was migrating the 50GB of data, the copying process seemed to go to sleep about halfway through; after a certain point, there was absolutely zero disk activity. I quit the copy action, then retried it from the console via Robocopy (I'd done it in Windows Explorer, basically because I was lazy) and watched the whole thing unfold. When a certain file was reached, the copy operation stopped hard.
Time for a different tactic. I disconnected my DVD drive to free up an IDE socket, then took the external drive out of its cage and mounted it in my PC. When I retried the copy operation with the drive running internally, it threw a CRC error with that file and died. In the end, about three files out of the 50GB batch were bad and couldn't be copied. Fortunately, none of them were irreplaceable, so I was spared the possibility of calling a data recovery clinic and begging them on bended knee for assistance.
I'm still trying to figure out if the problem is due to the bridge controller, or if it's a shortcoming in the way Windows handles external USB storage devices. My guess is the problem is due to the controller in question -- the drive cage only cost me $30, and I suspect in this case I got what I paid for. But my mind remains open to the possibility that this is a Windows issue.
About the author: Serdar Yegulalp is editor of the Windows Insight, (formerly the Windows Power Users Newsletter), a blog site devoted to hints, tips, tricks and news for users and administrators of Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Vista. He has more than 12 years of Windows experience under his belt, and contributes regularly to SearchWinComputing.com and SearchSQLServer.com.
04.17.2007
I have two external USB/Firewire hard drive enclosures that I use for backup and offline storage. They're indispensible, especially when I'm dealing with a notebook computer or a mini-micro-tiny-tower that doesn't let you install a new drive internally.
But these drive enclosures have their fair share of pitfalls, including bad ribbon cables and faulty USB connectors. Not to mention the problem I ran into when migrating 50GB of data from an external drive to an internal one.
External drives use a "bridge" device—a controller that converts the IDE (PATA) or SATA signals from the drive to something that can be sent over the USB bus. Normally the bridge controller works fine ferrying messsages between both types of buses, but if there's a CRC error on the drive, it may not be reported back to the host the same way a locally mounted drive would.
While I was migrating the 50GB of data, the copying process seemed to go to sleep about halfway through; after a certain point, there was absolutely zero disk activity. I quit the copy action, then retried it from the console via Robocopy (I'd done it in Windows Explorer, basically because I was lazy) and watched the whole thing unfold. When a certain file was reached, the copy operation stopped hard.
Time for a different tactic. I disconnected my DVD drive to free up an IDE socket, then took the external drive out of its cage and mounted it in my PC. When I retried the copy operation with the drive running internally, it threw a CRC error with that file and died. In the end, about three files out of the 50GB batch were bad and couldn't be copied. Fortunately, none of them were irreplaceable, so I was spared the possibility of calling a data recovery clinic and begging them on bended knee for assistance.
I'm still trying to figure out if the problem is due to the bridge controller, or if it's a shortcoming in the way Windows handles external USB storage devices. My guess is the problem is due to the controller in question -- the drive cage only cost me $30, and I suspect in this case I got what I paid for. But my mind remains open to the possibility that this is a Windows issue.
About the author: Serdar Yegulalp is editor of the Windows Insight, (formerly the Windows Power Users Newsletter), a blog site devoted to hints, tips, tricks and news for users and administrators of Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Vista. He has more than 12 years of Windows experience under his belt, and contributes regularly to SearchWinComputing.com and SearchSQLServer.com.
Detect Drive Failure Before It Happens
Apr 18, 2007
Monitor the condition of your disk drives for predictions of failure. Roughly 60% of all disk drive failures are mechanical in nature—from spindle-bearing wear to read/write heads banging into delicate disk platters and now technology built into the drives can report anticipated and specific failures to give you a chance to rectify the situation, hopefully before it is too late to retrieve your data.In addition to monitoring a variety of parameters related to mechanical events (disk platter RPM, time to spin up, motor current, head seek failures, and sudden shock to the drive chassis), S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) can report read and write retry attempts necessary due to defective areas on the disk or head failure or drive temperature. Many S.M.A.R.T.-enabled drives can also report how many times they have been turned on and off and the number of hours the drive has been on.
If S.M.A.R.T. is enabled in your system BIOS, the BIOS will check and report any early or permanent signs of disk failure. You can also monitor your drive’s condition with a S.M.A.R.T.-aware disk monitoring program.
To view all available S.M.A.R.T. information about your drive, try the free DiskCheck utility from http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm. DiskCheck is a nonresident utility that will show you exact drive information and all of the supported S.M.A.R.T. statuses from your drive. There’s also Ariolic Software’s ActiveSMART (http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/) resident monitoring tool, which provides a wealth of detail on drive status and notification of potential failures. If you get a S.M.A.R.T. warning about a drive failing, back up your data immediately and replace the drive.
Hacking the Hack
A failing disk drive is no fun. A failed disk drive is even less so. In my work in various IT shops, I’ve encountered a lot of grieving “Have I lost all of my data?” looks from end users. It is indeed a sad time, but an opportunity to become a hero. If you can spend the time with various tools to attempt, and even better succeed, at saving someone else’s work, you can feel like you actually accomplished something in the course of your day besides resetting some forgetful user’s password or plugging their mouse back in.
A plethora of disk drive repair and data recovery tools are available to help you emulate that fictional superhero “Super DataMan.” (OK, he doesn’t really exist, I made him up…)
I’ve long since given up on the pedestrian Norton Utilities like Norton Disk Doctor because it does not do enough to spend the time running it, especially for those really cranky lost partitions, erratic mechanical problems inside the drive, and when S.M.A.R.T. says the drive is bad or going to be bad soon.
When it’s time to recover partitions and data I unlock my arsenal of serious disk recovery tools, which are:
• Steve Gibson’s SpinRite 6.0 (http://www.spinrite.com) for finding and fixing or moving bad data blocks on FAT, NTFS, Linux, Novell, Macintosh, and even TiVo volumes
• Ontrack’s Easy Data Recovery (http://www.ontrack.com) for digging deep inside a drive and extracting recovered data to other media
• Symantec’s GHOST (http://www.symantec.com) to “peel” data off a bad drive to a disk image for replacement onto another drive, or to extract individual datafiles with Ghost Explorer
• Kurt Garloff’s dd_rescue (http://www.garloff.de/kurt/linux/ddrescue/) to image Linux partitions to other media for later recovery use (see http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/5205 for an excellent write-up and tips)
If your own data recovery efforts fail, you can always resort to a data recovery service like Ontrack (http://www.ontrack.com) or ActionFront (http://www.actionfront.com).
This material has been adapted from PC Hacks by Jim Aspinwall, published by O'Reilly Media, Inc. Copyright O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2004. All rights reserved. To purchase this or other O'Reilly publications, click here.
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