My tech experience.

Faster, Vista, Faster!

2009-07-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite features in Windows Vista is one I don't think Microsoft is emphasizing enough: ReadyBoost. It lets you use a flash drive to speed up Vista, and it does so noticeably.

I'd love to see Microsoft selling retail copies of Vista packaged with a 1- or 2-gigabyte flash drive. Unfortunately, the company seems more interested in hyping the Aero interface, which is cool but basically eye candy, over ReadyBoost, which is a real performance enhancer.

So I was very glad to see this post by Microsoft OS czar Jim Allchin at the Windows Vista Team Blog, in which he provides some detail on how ReadyBoost works:

. . . Well with Windows ReadyBoost, if you have a flash drive (like a USB thumb drive or an SD card) you can just use this to make your computer run better with Windows Vista. You simply plug in a flash drive and Windows Vista will use Windows ReadyBoost to utilize the flash memory to improve performance.

I should be clear that while flash drives do contain memory, Windows ReadyBoost isn't really using that memory to increase the main system RAM in your computer. Instead, ReadyBoost uses the flash drive to store information that is being used by the memory manager. If you are running a lot of applications on a system that has limited memory, Windows ReadyBoost will use the flash drive to create a copy of virtual memory that is not quite as fast as RAM, but a whole lot faster than going to the hard disk. What is very cool here is that there is nothing stored on this flash disk that isn't also on the hard disk, so if you remove the flash drive, the memory manager sees the change and automatically goes to the hard disk. While the performance gain from ReadyBoost is gone, you don't lose any data and there is no interruption. And because the Windows Readyboost cache on the flash drive is encrypted using AES-128, you don't need to worry about exposing sensitive data if the flash drive is stolen or lost. Also, the memory manager compresses the pages before writing them into the cache on the flash disk, which means you'll get more mileage from each MB.

Don't think, though, that you can plug several 2-GB flash drives into the USB 2.0 ports on your PC and get ever-increasing performance. Loren Killon, the storage expert from the Vista team who counseled me about my recent hardware crash, told me that, past 2 GB on a flash drive, there's a point of diminshing returns for ReadyBoost.

Allchin's post also confirms a suspicion I've had about Vista for a while. It seems to me, as I toggle between using Windows XP and Vista on the same machine, that Vista seems faster, even without a flash drive plugged in. I have been meaning to benchmark this, but have not yet had time.

It turns out that, if you have enough memory, Vista indeed will outperform XP:

We redesigned the memory manager in Windows Vista so that if you give the system more memory, it uses that memory much more efficiently than previous operating systems via a technique called SuperFetch -- part of Windows Vista's intelligent heuristic memory management system. And so Windows Vista on a PC with even more than 1 GB of primary memory (say 2 GB) will generally outperform Windows XP on that same machine -- especially once you have been using the machine for some time because Windows Vista learns what you do the most often and optimizes for this.

Again, this is something Microsoft should talk more about. A lot of people are sitting on the fence about Vista, but actual performance gains would do a lot more to push them to buy than transparent window borders and pretty colors.

Symantec strikes back against free security software

2009-07-10T18:29:00.001-07:00

Windows users love free antivirus programs for many reasons. No. 1, of course, is that they cost no money, but provide basic protection against malware.

But there are other factors, as well. Free security software typically has a smaller memory and resources footprint than brand-name antimalware products. There typically are fewer or less-intrusive marketing nags, even when a free offering's goal is to give you a taste of a paid version.

So it was interesting to read this Tech.Blorge interview with Symantec product manager David Hall who blasted free antivirus solutions in favor of - you guessed it - paid products.

"If you are only relying on free antivirus to offer you protection in this modern age, you are not getting the protection you need to be able to stay clean and have a reasonable chance of avoiding identity theft," he said.

[deletia]

According to Hall, there is a widening gap between people's understanding of what protection they need and the threats they're actually facing.

"People tell me, oh well look I use free antivirus because it is free and it protects me from everything in those areas, but when you compare that with what's really going on in the threat landscape, there is a very, very big gap between what antivirus does and the threats that are being delivered today."

Hall discusses the threat from drive-by downloads via browsers with unpatched security flaws, as well as vulnerabilities in common plug-ins, such as Flash players and PDF readers. His argument: Free antimalware programs are so limited that they don't protect in modern ways.

Full-featured programs, he insists, can stop malware before it even gets installed on your computer. Freeware titles tend to react once the malicious code is in place and starting to do harm. The multiple layers of security found in commercial software does a better job of protecting users, he maintains.

Of course, you don't need even a kindergarten diploma to figure out that Hall's being self-serving here. In a down economy, people are increasingly looking to cut expenses, and free software certainly has an edge in that regard.

Hall's primary target appears to be the recent - and very brief - beta release of Microsoft Security Essentials, a free antivirus suite due out later this year. It really is a minimalist offering, but for those who are smart about how they use their computers and generally stay away from the darker corners of the Web, it may be all that's needed.

And Hall is not completely accurate when he says free antivirus programs don't offer more than basic protection. For example, the popular AVG Free software offers both antivirus and antispyware protection; mail scanning; link-scanning that checks Web sites for infection; and instant-messaging protection. While that doesn't quite match Norton Internet Security's feature set, it's more than just the minimum.

If the Tech.Blorge writer asked Hall about the bloated nature of security software from companies like Symantec and McAfee, he doesn't include that discussion in this piece. Additional layers of security come at a price - often the degradation of PC performance, informational popups and sometimes conflicts with other types of software.

To its credit, Symantec is working on this issue. I recently tried Norton 360 3.0, a consumer security suite. It's much less intrusive and resource-draining than previous Symantec products. The company has said that the latest version of its flagship, Norton Internet Security, also is friendlier, though I have yet to try it.

But there's also the issue of pricing and marketing, beyond the simple fact that Symantec's products aren't free. People tend to resent being constantly pressured for upgrades and subscription renewals.

In addition, if you never have a virus or spyware problem, paying an annual fee for security software seems like money thrown away. Sure, it's basically an insurance policy, but when you can get similar insurance without paying a dime, the cost begins to seem burdensome.

Google plans new Chrome OS.

2009-07-10T18:28:00.001-07:00

Search giant Google's Android has been considered its main entry into the operating system market, but now the company says it has another play. Google later this year will launch the Chrome OS, based on its browser of the same name.

From Google's official blog:

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple -- Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Of course, at this point Chrome OS is vaporware. There are no screenshots to accompany Google's announcement - this amounts merely to something its teams are working on.

But companies that make OSes - and I'm looking at you, Microsoft and Apple - have got to be concerned. While it sounds like the Chrome OS is will be minimalist to start, and require that a Web connection be present to work to its potential, it still represents one more challenge for these old-line companies in the Internet Age.

What's intriguing is the timing of this announcement. It comes just one day after this story by CNet's Ina Fried about Microsoft's development of a new browser dubbed Gazelle. Microsoft Research first started talking about Gazelle earlier this year, indicating it works in the same way as an operating system, managing the resources of a computer. Is Google reacting to Gazelle? Or maybe Fried knew about the Chrome OS announcement and write the Gazelle piece in preparation?

It also comes a few days before Microsoft is scheduled to announce that Windows 7 is finished and shipped to manufacturing. And, of course, Apple is expected to put the final touches on its upcoming Snow Leopard OS very soon, as well.

Finally, there's the upcoming CrunchPad, the low-cost tablet being developed by Michael Arrington of TechCrunch. It will boot directly into a browser, similar to Google's description of the Chrome OS, and who knows? It may even end up using Chrome.

Just as the browser market has been reinvigorated by renewed competition, expect new things for operating systems in the coming years. This is going to get very interesting.

North Korean cyber rampage?

2009-07-10T18:27:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend, a handful of U.S. government Web sites came under a denial of service attack, in which huge amounts of data are thrown at a server in an attempt to overwhelm it. In such an attack, the servers gets so many bogus requests for information that it can't respond to genuine ones.

But those weren't the only sites targeted. Apparently sites in South Korea were victims as well, prompting some in the intelligence community to speculate that North Korea - or those sympathetic to its cause - may be the source of the virtual assault.

But those who have looked at the code being used in the attacks have their doubts.

The attacks are being waged by a botnet, a cluster of Internet-connected computers that are infected with malware. The infected systems receive instructions causing them to take some action en masse, ranging from sending spam to flooding Web sites in a DoS attack. Botnets are increasingly common, comprising millions of systems, often under the control of criminal gangs who rent them out for profit.

As an example, the notorious Conficker worm - the last cybersecurity crisis to pin the hypemeter - was designed to form a botnet.

In the case of the U.S. and South Korean attacks, there's nothing in the code that indicates North Korea or its sympathizers are the culprits, security researchers say.

From ComputerWorld:

"There's nothing in there to suggest that it's state sponsored," said Joe Stewart, the director of director of SecureWorks' counter-threat unit, who has examined the attack code planted on the thousands of hijacked PCs used to conduct distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. "In fact, it looks like every other bot I see created by an intermediate programmer."

[deletia]

The number of sites targeted each day has increased, said Stewart, another indication that it's unlikely that a government is behind the attacks. "This looks like an attack designed to draw attention to itself, rather than to actually try to take these sites offline," he said, explaining how the attacks have been spread too thin to be effective.

"If it was state-sponsored, you'd think that the attacks would focus on just a few sites," he added.

Among the other clues that Stewart said he'd found in the code was that the attacker or attackers didn't bother to include any security software evasion components, something that most botnet builders use to try to hide the malware from antivirus scanners. "A state would try to be sneakier than this," Stewart argued.

In addition, the code being used appears to be a variation of a couple of an old worm, tweaked for this particular assault.

From Wired.com's Threat Level:

Security experts who examined code used in the attack say it appears to have been delivered to machines through the MyDoom worm, a piece of malware first discovered in January 2004 and appearing in numerous variants since. The Mytob virus might have been used, as well.

Both programs infect PCs running various versions of the Windows operating system. MyDoom was delivered through an infected e-mail attachment as well as through the Kazaa file-sharing network when it first came out. Once a user clicked on the attachment, the worm rooted through the victim's e-mail contact list and mailed itself to everyone on the list. The initial malware in 2004 was programmed to launch a denial-of-service attack against a site for the SCO Group, which had filed an intellectual property suit against IBM over its alleged use of Linux code. The attack was programmed to launch Feb. 1, 2004 and end February 12, sending a request to the website every millisecond. MyDoom was considered the fastest-spreading worm at the time.

In the recent attack, experts say the malware used no sophisticated techniques to evade detection by anti-virus software and doesn't appear to have been written by someone experienced in coding malware. The author's use of a prewritten worm to deliver the code also suggests the attacker probably wasn't thinking of a long-term attack.

"The fact that it's using older threats isn't a terribly stealthy attack," says Dean Turner, director of Symantec's Global Intelligence Network. "And the fact that it's re-using code could indicate that somebody put it together in a hurry or that, as with most DDoS attacks, their purpose is mostly nuisance. It didn't require a degree in rocket science to pull that stuff together."

In other words, something like this could have been pulled off by pimply script kiddies with rudimentary hacking skills looking to make some headlines for the lulz.

Or, it could be, you know, communists.

Either way, let's keep a cool head about this, folks. We wouldn't want to go off half-cocked based on sketchy evidence. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time America got its panties in a bunch over questionable intelligence . . .

Of greater concern should be the fact that U.S. government Web sites could be so easily brought down by such a primitive, brute-force attack.

New protection from Microsoft?

2009-07-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

icrosoft is working on a new, free antimalware suite that protects Windows users against viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware. A beta version of Microsoft Security Essentials was posted to the Web last week, but if you blinked, you missed it: A day later, it was removed, having reached a maximum 75,000 downloads.

If you know where to look, though, you may still be able to find a copy. For example, at this writing, you can get it at Softpedia, a software repository. There are versions for Windows XP, Vista and 7. There are also 64-bit Windows Vista and 7 versions.

Microsoft Security Essentials is designed to replace Windows Live OneCare, paid software that had a mixed reputation for effectiveness. (Microsoft will quit selling OneCare on Tuesday.) It uses components from various Microsoft security products, such as OneCare's scanning engine. The interface has the simplified look of Windows Defender, the free antispyware product that comes with Vista and Windows 7.

This minimalist look reflects the design approach to the product. Microsoft has made it lightweight and unobtrusive. The download is less than 4 megabytes, and generally that's about how much memory it takes up, according to the Windows Task Manager. I noticed no impact on my computer's performance, and at idle, Task Manager showed no CPU usage at all.

There are no annoying popups or unnecessary warnings, even when new definition updates are downloading in the background. In fact, MSE doesn't even require a reboot when you install it.

My buddy Ed Bott wrote about Microsoft Security Essentials just prior to its brief beta release, and used the EICAR test virus to check its effectiveness. Of course, any smart antimalware developer is going to make sure its product works with this kind of test, so it's no guarantee of effectiveness against real-world threats. But it does give you a feel for what MSE should do when it spots malware.

I tried to download the EICAR test, and MSE didn't even let the file save to my desktop. It immediately threw up this alert:

Clicking the "Clean computer" button let me delete the file that had been captured, and MSE returned to its idle state.

So far, I've put Microsoft Security Essentials on three virtual Windows installations - Windows XP Professional and 32-bit versions of the Windows 7 Release Candidate and Vista - and a physical install of the 64-bit version of Win7 RC. So far, so good. It has replaced AVG Free on those systems, and I'm happy with it.

It's too early to pronounce judgment on Microsoft Security Essentials, but at this point I like what I see. It's a very limited product, and probably isn't going to be much of a threat to full-featured packages from the likes of Symantec or McAfee. It may have more impact on companies such as AVG, which relies on its giveaway product to spur sales of its paid offerings.

If Microsoft Security Essentials works well in final form - it should be available later this year - I can see a lot of Windows users choosing it for its low footprint and quiet behavior, as well as the fact that it's free.

Brand new Firefox v 3.5.

2009-07-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

At long last, the latest version of Firefox will be polished off and released onto the Web sometime today. Firefox 3.5 is worth the upgrade, regardless of whether you're on a Windows, Mac or Linux PC.

At this writing, Firefox 3.0.11 is the version you'll find at the Firefox download page. That will be switched to 3.5 when the new browser is released. You can still get the 3.5 release candidate here.

I've been using Firefox 3.5 since early betas - when its version number was 3.1 - and have been very pleased with it. It's noticeably faster, more stable and further improves the browser's ongoing issues with memory usage. It's been my primary browser on both Windows and Macintosh systems for some time.

Here's what's new in Firefox 3.5, according to the release notes:

Improved tools for controlling your private data, including a Private Browsing Mode.
Better performance and stability with the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.
The ability to provide Location Aware Browsing using web standards for geolocation.
Support for native JSON, and web worker threads.
Improvements to the Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering.
Support for new web technologies such as: HTML5 and elements, downloadable fonts and other new CSS properties, JavaScript query selectors, HTML5 offline data storage for applications, and SVG transforms.

Firefox has made solid gains against the market leader, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, and now stands at 22.5 percent in market share, based on numbers collected by NetApplications. Firefox is credited with breaking Microsoft's stranglehold in the browser world, but in the process several new competitors have emerged.

From CNet's Webware blog:

Even as Internet Explorer's market share has slipped--down a dramatic 8 percentage points to 65.5 percent in about the last year--Firefox programmers face a surprising question: should they be more worried about the programmers in Redmond, Wash., or about those working on Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome, and Opera?

Firefox has gained about 3 percentage points to 22.5 percent in market share, according to Net Applications' statistics since July 2008, and Firefox backer Mozilla doubtless hopes for more gains with the release of Firefox 3.5 planned for Tuesday. But Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome each gained 2 percentage points, to 8.4 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, indicating a growing appetite for alternatives to Internet Explorer that's not completely met by Firefox. Opera stayed flat at about 0.7 percent.

In short, Firefox isn't the only scrappy underdog in town, and Firefox fans' easy us-versus-them polarization is transforming into a more complicated multilateral equation.

Firefox has an edge in the rich ecosystem of plug-ins, themes and extensions available for it. You can pretty much make Firefox do anything you want it to as a result, thanks to an active and creative developer community.

Of course, with the release of a new version, many of those extensions will break. But developers are expected to quickly issue updates, so you shouldn't be without your favorite extensions for long.

Still on Windows 7? I wouldnt....

2009-07-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

When the Windows 7 beta was released in January, it was widely praised as being remarkably stable and polished. In some ways, the Win7 beta was in better shape than its predecessor, Windows Vista, was at its launch.

Because it was so good, some of those who downloaded and installed it - perhaps on machines they use day-to-day - may have opted to pass on the Windows 7 Release Candidate when it was posted in the spring. After all, it the beta works well, why mess with a good thing?

Well, here's why: Starting today, the beta begins exhibiting some very annoying behavior, shutting down automatically every two hours. On Aug. 1, the beta expires completely.

The Windows Team Blog warned you about this back in May:

For Beta, bi-hourly shutdowns will begin July 1, 2009. You will be alerted to install a released version of Windows and your PC will shut down automatically every 2 hours. On August 1st, 2009 if you are still on the Windows 7 Beta your license for the Windows 7 Beta will expire and the non-genuine experience is triggered where your wallpaper is removed and "This copy of Windows is not genuine" will be displayed in the lower right corner above the taskbar.

Of course, if you have the beta on a test PC, or running in a virtual machine, this is not as a big deal. If you put it on your main system, you've got some work to do.

For six more weeks, you can can still download the Win7 RC, but downloads end on Aug. 15. After that, you have plenty of time to check out Windows 7 -- the RC's auto-shutdown sequence begins on March 1, 2010, with the RC license expiring on June 1. The release of the finished version of Windows 7 is Oct. 22.

For most folks, the best way to install the Win7 RC if they already have the beta is to do a clean install. There is a way to do an upgrade installation, but it will require some light hacking. Seriously, you're better off biting the bullet and starting from scratch.

Invisible protection for your gadgets!

2009-05-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

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HDMI

2009-05-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

HDMI - the one-cable alternative to the spaghetti of audio and video connections behind home theatre set-ups - is adding ethernet to its capabilities as the internet comes to the television and living room.

A new proliferation of wires threatens, with internet-connected games consoles, set-top boxes and even TV sets linked by ethernet cables. However, HDMI ’s 1.4 specification, announced today, means such data requirements can now be absorbed in its next-generation cable instead.

The new data channel being opened up allows connected devices to send and receive data through 100 megabit per second ethernet and will enable the sharing of digital content between devices.

That is likely to make one device, probably the TV, the network hub for connecting all surrounding devices to the internet through single HDMI cables, Steve Venuti, president, of HDMI Licensing told me in an interview.

Applications will include LiquidHD, the new standard for moving video seamlessly between devices around the home, which was announced at the Consumer Electronics show in January.

There are several other features in the new specification. An audio return channel can remove the need for an extra audio cable to link a TV tuner to a receiver.

3D is supported in the various formats that currently exist as is the next evolution of resolution - 4k x 2k, which is 4x the resolution of 1080p. Some large plasmas are capable of displaying it, although no content is really available yet.

1.4 also allows real-time content recognition, which means TV displays can be instantly optimised for the content format they are receiving.

In addition, the specification improves the match-up of colours shown on a display with the content from a connected digital camera.

Mr Venuti expects to see the first 1.4 adoption in top-of-the-line devices late this year, with more products announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

He sees the previous generation 1.3 cables continuing to sell well at a lower price, with the networked 1.4 ones attracting a premium.

All of these improvements should help HDMI keep the wolf from the door in the shape of WirelessHD.

Mr Venuti accepts that consumers would prefer no cables at all, but insists this won’t happen quickly.

“Wired is more secure, it is faster and it always will be, so we’ll always be a generation ahead of the wireless folks,” he insisted.

“I think wireless is not going to be as prevalent as quickly as wireless in the PC world because of the quality of service issues and just the amount of data and type of data it’s transmitting are a little different.”

Windows Vista SP2: Released, not much hype about it?

2009-05-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Microsoft released the second service pack for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Normally, releases for Windows service packs are a big deal, but this one was rather subdued.

Don't believe me? Hey, even my buddy Ed Bott, who's the go-to guy for coverage of all-things Windows, hasn't noted its availability yet in either of his blogs. That's subdued! (Though he did mention its completion back in April.)

I finally got the time this morning to download the 384-megabyte standalone installer for 32-bit Vista, dropping it onto the Boot Camp installation of Vista on my iMac. (There's also a 64-bit Vista version of SP2.) The process was flawless, and so far I've found no issues with broken software or drivers.

Despite what the box above says, it didn't take "an hour or more" - instead, it took about 15 minutes, and only rebooted once.

I haven't used it long enough to say whether there are any performance improvements. Here's what Microsoft says is new in SP2:

• Program compatibility. Microsoft works to ensure that your programs work seamlessly on Windows Vista. We also work with our partners to improve the reliability and compatibility of non-Microsoft programs. So, SP2 includes previously released updates that are available to you when you use Windows Update, and it also includes new compatibility fixes for individual programs.
• Hardware support. Among other improvements, SP2 provides you with additional support for Bluetooth wireless technology and improved performance for Wi-Fi connections after the computer resumes from sleep mode. Additionally, you can now record data to Blu-ray Disc media.
• General operating system updates. SP2 includes Windows Search 4.0, which has improved indexing and searching capabilities. SP2 also includes fixes that can improve recording TV using Windows Media Center.

Microsoft has some detailed release notes, and you can also see a complete list of hotfixes and security patches that are included. As is usually the case with service packs, those who run Windows Update automatically already have many of these fixes in place.

My general advice is that installing SP2 is a Good Thing^TM for Vista users. But unless you badly need some of the hardware support it offers - such as writing to Blu-ray disks - you can probably wait until Microsoft starts pushing it out through Windows Update.

If the release candidate is any indication of how good it will be, I'll probably be much more enthusiastic in my recommendations about Windows 7 when it is released this fall. As things are looking now, I'll likely be telling Vista users that they should run, not walk, to upgrade to Windows 7.

External enclosures: Your inside is out, your outside is in

2009-05-05T13:58:00.001-07:00

In August, I upgraded the hard disk in my MacBook to a roomy, 320-gigabyte Western Digital drive, effectively doubling its capacity. There was nothing wrong with the 160-GB drive that came out of it, and I've been pondering what to do with it.

I decided that I wanted to use it as a separate backup drive specifically for virtual machines. VMs take up a lot of room, and I've got quite a few of them - Windows Vista and XP setups from both Parallels Desktop 3.0 and VMware Fusion 2.0 on both my MacBook and iMac. Because they're large, I don't include them in my Time Machine backups. Every time a file changes in one of the VMs, they'd be rearchived on my Time Machine drives, which would take up a huge amount of space.

To turn the 2.5-inch notebook drive into a backup drive, I planned on buying an external enclosure. In Friday's Fry's insert in the Mighty Houston Chronicle, I spotted just what I was looking for - a Sabrent 2.5-inch Serial ATA enclosure for a paltry $9.99. I hustled over to the Fry's at Interstate 45 and West Road and grabbed one.

Unfortunately, once I got it home, I discovered that the Western Digital drive didn't quite fit. It was a bit too wide - or maybe the case was a bit too small. When I pushed it all the way in, the drive popped the end cap off. If I put the cap on first and slid the drive in, its flanges wouldn't fit inside the black aluminum case.

In addition, I noticed the case had a bad scratch on the side. Had this been opened before and returned? Fry's usually puts a restocking ticket on such items and there wasn't one here. Also, the box and enclosed materials didn't look like they'd been touched. I chalked it up to cheap design and went back to Fry's to get a different one.

This time, I picked up an AirLink101 AEN-U25SA. It was the same price as the Sabrent, which gave me pause. But I know several people who are using some of AirLink101's inexpensive wireless networking equipment who are happy with the brand, so I bit the bullet.

Installation went smoothly this time. There was plenty of room for the drive in the case, which was slightly wider and thicker than the Sabrent model. The front end cap includes a small circuit board and connector that plugs into the drive. I popped it into place and screwed it down with the supplied screwdriver. The drive isn't firmly fixed inside - it rattles a bit if you jostle the case. I wouldn't want to use this as a portable drive, but as a backup drive that stays on my desk, it's fine.

The AirLink101 comes with a USB 2.0 cable that allows for two connections to the host computer. This ensures the drive gets enough power, but I found it would work using just one. Still, when I transferred my 60-GB virtual machines files to it - which took about an hour per VM -- I had both connections plugged in, just to be safe.

The enclosure works with both Windows and Mac OS X systems, and requires no special drivers - just plug it in and start copying files.

While I probably could have paid a little more - 2.5-inch drive enclosures start around $10, with most costing about twice that - I probably could have one that held the drive a bit more securely. But this one will do what I need it to, so I'm happy.

With time to kill, get your PC in shape

2009-05-05T13:57:00.001-07:00

Oh boy! The looming Thanksgiving holiday is bringing to many of us a four-day weekend. Lots of free time to spend with family, watch football or get a start on holiday shopping.

Then again, you've heard Uncle Buddy's story about going out for a six-pack of Coke and coming back with a full-sized pool table a thousand times. You really could care less about those bogus BCS standings. And who really wants to battle a bajillion people over that last Wii Fit on the shelf at the local Wal-Mart?

No, if you've got four days off, the best use of your time is to take care of those PC maintenance tasks you've been putting off since, oh, 1996. There are five basic things that most folks don't do but should . . . and may regret having put off when the consequences come home.

Most of them don't cost much, and are actually so simple they can even be done while in a turkey-induced coma.

1. Clean your screen. This is easy and cheap, but few folks actually do it. When was the last time you cleaned your computer screen - either desktop or notebook? A friend of mine complained the other day that her monitor appeared to be growing dim. I asked her when she last wiped it off, and she said never in the four years she's owned it. After she cleaned it, she was amazed at how much better things looked, and she canceled plans to buy a new display.

If you've got an older CRT monitor, basic Windex on a paper towel will do (though a softer cloth is advisable). Spray it on the cloth FIRST, then wipe down the screen.

If you've got an LCD monitor, use either pre-treated wipes or a spray designed for flat screens along with a soft-microfiber cloth.

Cost: Nothing (if you've go the Windex on hand) or under $10 for a cleaning kit.

2. Blow out your PC. If you think lots of junk gets on your computer's screen, wait until you open the case and look inside. Desktop computers have fans that pull air into them, and along with that comes dust and indoor pollutants. If you've had your system for a few years and have never cracked the case, you may be horrified when you finally do.

Power it down and unplug all the cables. Completely clear the surface on which you'll be working, and have a vacuum cleaner standing by. Touch something metallic before you begin. Open the case based on the manufacturer's instructions. Then, use a can of compressed air to blow away the dust and grit inside. The can should come with a straw that can be inserted into the nozzle - use it to get into tight spaces and between the fins of heat sinks.

Here's why you prepped your cleaning surface and grabbed the vac before you started - the crap inside your computer will fly everywhere. When the dust settles, vacuum it up before you close the case. Cost: Around $5 for the can of air.

3. Back up your data. If I had a buck for every time someone asked me for help after a hard drive crash with recovering files that hadn't been backed up, I'd probably have enough money to send my kid to community college. Even my own father is guilty of this sin - he recently had a system crash and he had no backup. For some reason, I felt like I'd failed . . .

People may be intimidated by backing up, but with the incredible drop in prices of external hard drives, it's now stupidly simple to do. Buy a new hard drive (I recommend one that's at least the size of the main drive in your computer, and bigger is always better). Plug it in. In Windows, find your user folder (in XP, it's usually on your C: drive, inside the Documents and Settings folder; in Vista, it's in the Users folder) and drag the whole thing onto the icon representing the external drive in My Computer. On the Mac, just turn on Time Machine in Leopard (OS X 10.5), or just drag your home folder to the external drive icon on your desktop.

While that won't back up all your programs in the event of a crash, that should take are of most or all of your data. There, wasn't that simple?

Cost: $50-$150 or so for an external drive.

4. Clean out unused programs. Chances are, you've got a lot of programs on your PC that you've never used - particularly if you've got a brand-name PC that came loaded down with junkware. Getting rid of them the right way will speed things up and give you more space on your hard drive.

In Windows, start by looking in the Control Panel module used to nuke installed software. In XP, it's called Add/Remove Programs; in Vista, it's called Programs and Features. Go through this list and uninstall programs you don't use. If they have startup components, those will be removed as part of the process, too.

If you're feeling really ambitious - and you know what you're doing - use the System Configuration utility to turn off more startup components. In XP, go to Start > Run, and type MSCONFIG, then hit Enter. In Vista, just type MSCONFIG in the Start menu Search box and hit Enter. Click the Startup tab an uncheck items you don't want to run at startup. Be careful: If you turn off something that's actually useful, it won't be available at startup. You can find out what many startup items are at the Startup Application List. A good rule of thumb: If you don't know what it is, leave it alone.

In the Mac, just drag unused programs from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Cost: Big fat nada.

5. Add more memory. The single best thing you can do for your PC's performance is to add more memory. Random Access Memory modules are dirt-cheap these days - you can add more and still have lots of cash left over for recession-era gift-giving.

Determine what kind of memory you have by checking your computer's manual, or find the specs at the manufacturer's Web site. Or, Windows users can try Crucial.com's handy System Scanner tool. You'll also need to know how many slots you have for memory, as well as how much RAM your computer's motherboard can support.

If you've got Windows XP, you should have at least 1 gigabyte of memory; if you've got Vista, 2 GB is the minimum. For Leopard on the Mac, I'd also recommend 2 GB. Ultimately, more is always better.

Follow the same steps for opening the case as in item No. 2 on this list. If you have available memory slots, you can just put more memory there. If the slots are full, you may have to remove some or all of them to add larger-capacity modules. Close the case, plug your cables back into the CPU and fire it up. Your computer should recognize the memory on its own and make use of it immediately.

Cost: About $25 per gigabyte or less at current prices.

Be prepared! 57 great Windows repair tools all in one place

2009-05-05T13:56:00.002-07:00

f you're the tech-savviest person in your circle of friends and family, you're the one who gets the calls and e-mails when something's gone horribly wrong with a PC. You're expected to show up in a timely fashion and work miracles, fixing the problem with a gleam in your eye and a smile on your face, then riding off into the sunset as a certifiable digital hero.

You're more apt to be able to fulfill this outlandish scenario if you've got the right tools, and now you can get them all in one place.

ReadWriteWeb highlights the Computer Repair Utility Kit, which is offered by TechNibble.com of Australia. The kit, which includes a whopping 57 different programs for fixing an errant PC, takes up 188 megabytes of space and easily fits on a decent-sized flash drive.

Now, the kit is not just 57 executable files thrown into a folder, requiring you to dig around and figure out which is which when you're in crisis mode. Rather, it comes with an elegant and handy launcher program that categorizes the collection for easy access.

There are programs for managing files, gathering system information, making repairs, recovering files, networking, fighting malware, tweaking a system and more. Among the most useful:

• PC-Decrapifier, which removes the most common junkware packed onto new systems by brand-name PC makers.

• Malwarebytes, SmitfraudFix and Hijack This!, some of the best tools available for fighting spyware.

• TweakUI for Windows XP and VistaTweaker for Windows Vista, which lets you customize the Windows interface ad infinitum.

• Firefox, a portable version of the best browser available.

• Norton Removal Tool and McAfee Removal Tool, which completely uninstalls the components of these developers' ubiquitous programs.

• CCleaner, for cleaning and fine-tuning a Windows system.

• There's also a list of 11 different Web sites which can be used with these tools, or provide troubleshooting tips.

All the programs included here are fully working versions, and the complete toolkit is free.

Even if your PCs - and those of your friends and family - are running just fine now, you should go ahead and download this and drop it onto your favorite flash drive. You may not need it now, but you know you'll need it eventually.

Update 2.18.2009: It appears that TechNibble has removed the Computer Repair Utility Kit from its site. Here's the reason:

Some of the applications, while freeware, wanted the only download location of their software to be at the makers sites and I respect that.

TechNibble also says a new version may be posted "after some changes".

Here's hoping it comes back, because this is an excellent set of tools. One of them helped me restore the files on the crashed drive of a local bookstore this week.

Anarchy, indeed: Help recover files from a crashed drive

2009-05-05T13:56:00.001-07:00

On Monday, I wrote about a collection of tools that can help with computer repair.

Tonight, it looks like I'll get the chance to put them to use.

My son volunteers at Sedition Books, which describes itself as an "anarchist bookstore". It's a Houston non-profit run by people who have the time to do so, and like many operations that rely on the kindness of strangers, it's got a donated, aging computer.

My son called Monday night to ask for my help. The PC's hard drive had suffered some kind of event, and many crucial documents had vanished.

Did they have a backup, you ask? Hey, it's an anarchist bookstore. What do YOU think? (There is a backup, but it's apparently several months old.)

In talking with another volunteer who described himself as "the most computer-savvy of us", I gleaned that Windows XP's CHKDSK was triggered by corrupt system files. CHKDSK will try to repair these kinds of errors, but as anyone who's used it on a failing hard drive knows, it doesn't always work.

In addition, it sounds like some system-recovery feature on the HP/Compaq system was invoked, possibly by a user hoping for a miracle. When the computer finally became bootable, most of its programs and documents were gone.

I told them to turn the computer off - the more they use it, the greater the chance that new files will overwrite data that might be recoverable.

Frankly, I'm not optimistic, but I'm going to give it a shot. I'm heading over there tonight with the Computer Repair Utility Kit on my flash drive. I have some data-recovery strategies in mind, but I could use a little help from the TechBlog community.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do? What tools and techniques would you employ to bring some order to this anarchist bookstore's computing situation? Leave a comment with your suggestions.

When I get there tonight, I'll use Twitter to report on my progress, so keep an eye on my feed there. Together, maybe we can get Sedition back up and running.

Update: I just got back from Sedition Books, where I successfully found and recovered the lost files.

As I thought, someone had run a recovery routine that restored the HP/Compaq system back to its fresh-from-the-store configuration. Usually, that can make it very difficult to save files that have vanished, but I got lucky this time.

An initial examination of the drive showed no sign of the files. To make matters worse, it looked like someone had installed software on the computer, which had the potential to overwrite the missing data.

I plugged in the flash drive with the Computer Repair Utility kit and decided to start with Piriform's Recuva, a file-recovery tool. An initial, basic scan didn't find what I was looking for. I went into its settings and told the software to do a "deep scan" and to search for files that might have been removed by reformatting or a disk wipe.

Voila! This time I found them.

I was able to recover all but two of the files they needed, but they should be able to build from there. They won't know for sure if all the data's intact until they reinstall the bookkeeping software that generated the files, but it looks promising.

I can definitely recommend Recuva. It made finding and restoring the files a snap.

Thanks to all those who offered suggestions, even though I wound up not need to dive into them. You've made this entry a good, future resource for folks who find themselves in this predicament.

Update 2.18.2009: It appears that TechNibble has removed the Computer Repair Utility Kit from its site. Here's the reason:

Some of the applications, while freeware, wanted the only download location of their software to be at the makers sites and I respect that.

TechNibble also says a new version may be posted "after some changes".

How to troubleshoot a non-booting, homebrew PC

2009-05-05T13:55:00.001-07:00

Computer problems can drive you mad, but if you take them in the right spirit, each is a chance to learn something. Once you solve an issue, you know a little more than you did before.

And I recently got some seriously schooling when I embarked on upgrading my home-built PC. Those who followed along earlier this month read about the parts I chose and the problems I subsequently had. I eventually solved those problems, thanks to tips and suggestions from TechBlog commenters and Twitter followers, including an Intel rep who spotted my updates about it on the microblogging service.

In the process, I learned a lot about troubleshooting a homebrew PC. I've built several PCs in the past, but I was lucky each time -- they all booted right away. So, what exactly do you do when you've got everything assembled, but the system won't boot up?

Now, I know. And I'm going to share it with you.

In my case, the computer would appear to start up -- fans firing up, lights turning, hard disks spinning up -- but the fan on top of the CPU would move slightly, then stop. There was no video signal to my LCD monitor, but the status light on the video card was lit.

What follows are the steps I took to fix the problem, roughly in order.

• Check your connections. Yes, this is the build-your-own-PC equivalent of the tech support drone asking if your computer is plugged in, only in this case, you're the drone. There are many different connections that jack into a PC's motherboard. Make sure they're all plugged in correctly, particularly those for power and fans. While it wound up not being the issue, I had missed a secondary power connection -- a four-pin plug that connects to the motherboard. In addition, pay close attention to the connections for the power and reset buttons, as well as the power and hard-disk activity lights. Plugging those in wrong could cause boot problems as well.

• Check your RAM. Check to make sure your memory modules are inserted completely. When properly installed, RAM modules make a satisfying "click" as the clips on either side snap into place. Check those clips to ensure they're in the full, upright and locked position. Also, make sure the RAM modules are in the right place -- if you have more than one stick of memory, they must be in specific slots. They're usually color-coded, but check your motherboard manual for details.

• Check your add-in cards. Make sure your PCI and PCI-Express cards are pushed fully into their slots. This is particularly true of the video card. If it's not seated properly, the computer won't boot. If you have a spare video card that you know works, try installing it. If the computer boots, the video card you initially used is defective.

• Reset the BIOS. Find the CMOS battery on the motherboard - it will look like an oversized watch battery - and remove it. Wait about 5-10 minutes, then replace it and try booting your computer. Most motherboards also have a jumper that, when shorted with a small screwdriver, will reset the BIOS. However, I'd suggest using the battery-removal method - it's a little safer.

• Swap out the memory. Of the components that can go bad in a computer, RAM is the most frequent culprit. If you have more than one memory module, it's unlikely that both are defective. Remove all but one, and see if the computer will start. If it does, you know one of the others is likely bad. Keep swapping them out until the computer won't boot again, and you've found the villain. However, if it won't start regardless of which stick is in place, you've either got more than one defective module - highly unlikely - or the problem lies elsewhere. One other option: Try using different RAM that's compatible with the motherboard, if you have spares available.

• Remove the motherboard from the case. Most cases are made of metal, and it's possible that some component on the underside of the motherboard may be touching it, causing a short. Disconnect all the connections, pull the add-in cards and remove the screws holding the motherboard down. Place the motherboard on a non-conductive surface (such as the box the motherboard came in) and reinstall just the video card. Connect the power and the monitor cable. Use a small screwdriver to short the jumpers to which you'd connect the power button. If the system finally boots, you know the motherboard is making contact with the case in a way it shouldn't. If it doesn't boot, continue to the next step.

• Reinstall the CPU. Though it's difficult for modern processors to be inserted improperly into their sockets, it can happen. Now that the motherboard is out of the case, this delicate procedure will be a little easier. Carefully remove the heat sink/fan combination (see your processor's installation instructions for doing this). Next, lift the lever that releases the bracket holding the processor in its socket. Inspect the pins to make sure that none are bent (they'll either be underneath the processor, or in the socket). If everything looks fine, use isopropyl alcohol to clean the thermal grease that was placed between the heat sink and the processor. You'll need to replace the thermal grease (a good tutorial for doing so is here) before you reinstall the processor. Follow the instructions in the motherboard and/or CPU manual for installing the processor. Once it's back in place, try starting the computer again.

• Try a different power supply. If you have an extra power supply that supports the system's voltage requirements and works with the motherboard, hook it up and try it out. If you have access to a voltmeter, you can also test to make sure the power supply is outputting the correct voltage. However, be safe: If you aren't sure how to do this, then don't. Get help from someone who knows how to use this equipment.

• Trade out the CPU or the motherboard. If you have access to an extra processor that will fit in the socket, try installing it. Alternatively, if you have a another motherboard that will work with the processor, test with that. Intel was kind enough to send me a test Core 2 Quad Q8200 to try, and that's how I was able to determine that my issue was a defective CPU. If the system still won't boot, then you'll know the component you didn't replace is likely the culprit.

Of course, if you don't have this option, you'll probably have to either a.) take a chance and return one of them, hoping it's the correctly defective part, or b.) return both the CPU and motherboard at once. This is one instance when it helps to buy a motherboard/CPU combo from the same source. This makes it easier to return both and get an exchange of the same model for each. Had I not had help from Intel, I would have chosen option B.

Manage your hard drive space for free

2009-05-05T13:54:00.002-07:00

Norton's Partition Magic is considered the best tool for controlling the configuration of hard drives on a PC. It lets you create, remove and control the size of partitions on a drive. It lists for about $70.

I've never really needed to use it, but yesterday I stumbled across a situation in which a partition manager was critical. And instead of shelling out for Partition Magic, I found a useful and effective alternative that's also free.

Regular TechBlog readers know I recently rebuilt my homebrew PC to upgrade the processor, motherboard and memory. I decided that I would take the discarded components and use them in another PC to give to my son, who's got an older MacBook Pro. It's got a smallish hard drive and, even when running Windows (which he prefers over the Mac OS), its graphics card doesn't handle games very well.

I took the Intel D915PBL motherboard, 3.4-GHz Pentium 4 processor, ATI graphics card and 2 gigabytes of RAM that had been in my old machine. I added a 320-GB Western Digital SATA hard drive. I used the case that had been his before he got the Mac, as well as the copy of Windows XP Professional that had been licensed to the machine.

However, this was an old copy of XP - the original release, prior to even SP1. So, when I installed it on the completed system, it couldn't see the entire hard drive. It recognized a maximum of 132GB, a limitation of the initial version of XP. Bringing the operating system up to date with Service Pack 3 didn't help.

Some quick Web research indicated that I needed to use a partition manager to reclaim the unallocated space. After buying the hard drive, I wasn't in the mood to spend $70 on Partition Magic. Another run at Google pointed me to a free alternative: EaseUs Partition Master Home Edition 3.5.

This software, which works on Windows 2000/XP/Vista, is simple and very easy to use. Like Partition Magic, you can create, remove and resize partitions quickly. In this case, the software showed a sizeable chunk of unallocated space.

Expanding the C: drive partition was a simple matter of dragging the divider between the allocated and unallocated areas all the way to the right, then clicking the Apply button. The system rebooted, made the change, and when the XP desktop returned, I had full access to the drive's available space.

This program will also let you copy a disk or partition and convert a FAT partition to NTFS. The free edition only works with the 32-bit versions of XP and Vista. To work on 64-bit versions of those OSes, you'll need to upgrade to the $32 Professional Edition.

This is excellent software - fast, simple, easy to understand and use and, of course, free. It's earned a permanent place in my PC utility toolkit.

Will video on the iPhone change the game?

2009-05-05T13:54:00.001-07:00

As I've said before, I think the iPhone is probably the most important personal technology product of this decade. It has the potential to be as disruptive as the original IBM PC was in its day.

But as cool and advanced as it is, the iPhone still can't do a lot of things that other, "lesser" phones can. For example, there's no copy/paste, and no built-in capability to do video.

The next version of the iPhone OS will deliver many of these features, and more. Of particular interest: Indications are the iPhone OS 3.0 will enable not just the capture of video, but the editing of it as well.

BusinessWeek writer Peter Burrows riffs off this notion in the Byte of the Apple blog, speculating the video creation in the next iPhone - which is expected to be announced in June - will have a huge impact:

Now, I think we're about six weeks away from the next big thing. At long last, after decades of having to mess with camcorders and cables and PC video editing software and hard drives, my gut tells me Apple will make the iPhone a one-stop studio for recording, editing, viewing and sharing your own videos. Actually, more than my gut. I've spoken with a source that is familiar with Apple's plans for the next iPhone, which may well be announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in early June. Evidently, shooting video is as easy as it is with a Flip, the ingenious device made by Pure Digital (recently purchased by Cisco). Then there's an iMovie app that lets you quickly save the sections you want, right there on the phone itself. There may also be support for MMS, so the clips can be shared wirelessly with friends. And because of the iPhone's relatively large screen, your friends don't have to schlep to your PC or their Facebook page to see that video of your kids or your safari. Just hand them your iPhone.

Burrows' excitement is understandable. If any company can make phone video editing (again, something other phones can do) easier, it's Apple. But whether they'll actually use the feature to the extent Burrows imagines is questionable. I can see most users grabbing a few minutes of video on their phone, but taking the time to edit it, even if the tools are fun/easy to use? Probably not.

Unfortunately, there is some indication in the iPhone 3.0 beta software that owners of existing iPhones may not get this capability. The software appears to presume a certain type of camera is present in the hardware before video features are turned on.

This is despite the fact that the current model of the iPhone is perfectly capable of handling video, with decent results. There are currently no video capture apps in the iTunes App Store, even though some have been in development for a while, and others are available for jailbroken iPhones.

For example, I've been playing with a beta version of Qik for iPhone, which allows you to stream live video. The quality is so-so, but passable for many uses. A new version of the beta was just made available to private testers, and it's very good. I've asked Qik why it's not yet in the app store, and the responses have been vague. When I last inquired, I was told it had not been submitted to the app store, but it's unclear as to why.

In the interim, Qik has released a jailbroken version of its app. But jailbreaking - in which the phone's software is changed to allow unauthorized, non-App Store programs to be installed - brings with it some risks, including voiding of the warranty and possible bricking of the phone. I'll pass, thanks.

I'm hoping, frankly, that reports indicating the older iPhone models won't have video are incorrect. Or, at the very least, I'd love for third-party apps to bring video to the phone. I'm not sure it's "the next big thing", as BusinessWeek proclaims, but it would certainly be useful and fun to have.

Getting you protected in Windows 7.

2009-05-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

Getting the Windows 7 RC? You'll need protection

Do you plan to grab the Windows 7 Release Candidate when it's available to the general public on Tuesday? If so, there's one other download you'll want to perform.

As was the case with the Win7 beta, the RC doesn't come with antivirus software. Yes, Windows 7 is bundled with Windows Defender, as was Vista before it. It's a free and effective antispyware application - but that's only half the protection you need.

When you install Windows 7, it alerts you almost immediately that you don't have any antivirus software installed. When you click that notification, you're taken to the Action Center, which includes messages and alerts about the state of your system. There you'll see a prompt to go find antivirus software.

When you do, you're taken to a page with the logos of well-known security software developers.

Click on any one of them to learn more and, in most cases, download software. Many of the programs are beta releases of the next version of the companies' respective titles, and in most cases they are free. Of course, if you choose one of these, you're running beta security software on an unfinished operating system, which is a dicey proposition.

Your best choice, in my opinion. isn't immediately obvious.

If you read me regularly, or listen to the radio show I co-host, you know I really liked AVG Free for Windows antivirus protection. When you click on the AVG logo above, though, AVG Free is not one of the choices offered. Instead, you're prompted to get two of AVG's paid products.

Instead, click on the "More products" tab, and then "Compare Products" in the Home Security area. You'll see a list of other AVG offerings, including AVG Free. Click "Learn More", and you'll be taken to a page where you can start the download process - though you'll still be urged a couple more times to opt for a paid product. (Here's a direct link to the download page, to avoid all that.)

This is the current version of AVG Free - it's not a beta, and it runs quite well. It has a minimal impact on system performance, and it's updated at least daily, if not more often. In my experience, AVG Free is effective. In fact, I know two AVG users who say the software prevented an infection on their systems this week alone. It does the job.

Although Windows 7 is new and not yet on the radar of malware-generating cyberscum -- and has some new security features -- it's still Windows. If you're going to use it, you're going to need protection. AVG Free is a good choice, even if it's not that easy to find in Windows 7.

Explaination about Windows 7 strange wallpapers.

2009-05-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

In the past, Microsoft has not been particularly forthcoming about the origins of some of the images used for Windows wallpapers. Because of the operating system's ubiquity, the visuals often end up becoming iconic, but we usually don't know much about them.

For example, read about the lengths to which a Vanity Fair writer went to uncover the source of photo of an autumn country road included in Windows XP. It took him over a year!

Windows 7 includes more than its share of cool photos and illustrations as wallpapers. The photos are incredibly striking, the illustrations are often quirky. In fact, some of the latter look almost hallucinogenically inspired.

I'll have whatever he's smokin', thanks!

In a post on the Engineering Windows 7 blog, Denise Trabona and Samuel Moreau detail the sources of some of the wallpaper. For example, the cool photos of Seattle architecture are from photographer Will Austin.

The illustrations were apparently inspired by some of the artwork done for Microsoft's Zune media player:

Inspired by our neighbors in Zune, we worked with an agency called 72 and Sunny to search for illustrators around the world to create one-of-a-kind art work for you to have in Windows 7. In the process of looking through tons of samples, we sought a group of artists whose styles seemed both incredibly varied, to cover the broad diversity we were after, and maintained a common thread that we felt was applicable to the overall tone we were striving to achieve. Then began the fun part, with little more than some simple guiding words (light, energetic, inspiring, optimistic, etc.), the artists went off with a blank canvas to create concept sketches of their original pieces.

The post has copies of the images and links to the illustrators' Web sites. The image of the floating harlequin near the top of this entry, for example, was created by Red Nose Studios' Chris Sickles.

The Windows 7 beta and release candidate also have hidden wallpapers that are designed for use with Windows in other countries. This post has instructions for how to unlock them. Or, you can download them all right here.

Amazon prepping big-screen Kindle

2009-05-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

Print publishers have been drooling over the prospect of larger e-book readers, seeing in them an opportunity to shoehorn the traditional magazine or newspaper into a new, electronic form factor.

According to the New York Times, their dreams may come true this week:

Unlike tiny mobile phones and devices like the Kindle that are made to display text from books, these new gadgets, with screens roughly the size of a standard sheet of paper, could present much of the editorial and advertising content of traditional periodicals in generally the same format as they appear in print. And they might be a way to get readers to pay for those periodicals -- something they have been reluctant to do on the Web.

Such e-reading devices are due in the next year from a range of companies, including the News Corporation, the magazine publisher Hearst and Plastic Logic, a well-financed start-up company that expects to start making digital newspaper readers by the end of the year at a plant in Dresden, Germany.

But it is Amazon, maker of the Kindle, that appears to be first in line to try throwing an electronic life preserver to old-media companies. As early as this week, according to people briefed on the online retailer's plans, Amazon will introduce a larger version of its Kindle wireless device tailored for displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks.

The story coyly adds that, hey, the New York Times Co. might be involved in such a product. And then it adds the obligatory "no comment" from an official Times spokesperson. Ahem.

I'm not optimistic about these devices being able to reverse the fortunes of print publications - at least, not yet.

First, there's the whole issue of forcing one paradigm into another. Amazon's Kindle sells newspaper subscriptions, but they are simply the day's paper, which is, in the Internet age, literally yesterday's news. The newspaper you find in your Kindle each morning isn't updated during the day, as almost all newspaper Web sites now are. Until that happens, newspaper subscriptions on e-readers are a non-starter.

As a corollary to this, the newspapers you get on the Kindle are often incomplete, which is likely a rights issue. Newspapers carry content from a variety of wire services, and not all of them may allow electronic retransmission of content in the e-reader format.

Current e-readers are in black-and-white (or black-and-gray, in the case of the Kindle and other products that use e-Ink technology). Until they're in color, magazines read on them are less than a compelling. Do you really want to read Sports Illustrated without the "Illustrated" part?

Then there's the form factor. The latest Kindle is nicely designed, but a larger screen using the current technology is going to be a little heavier and a lot more awkward to handle. Take a look at this promotional photo from Plastic Logic, which is developing a big-screen e-reader. Does this look comfortable to hold?

The Kindle is not a touchscreen device, and for a large tablet to be comfortable, it would almost have to feature a touch interface. But that's an expensive feature, which leads to my next point.

The cost of the existing Kindle is already too high for many buyers, at $359. I suspect a larger version would cost at least $500, and probably more. Subscription subsidies might reduce the price you pay up front, but would it be enough to make the device worth buying, and then signing a contract for one or more publications over time? Personally, such a device would have to be well under $200, with access to compelling content that updates constantly, just as they do on the Web, for me to even consider it.

And even then, I might not. I own an iPhone, and it's become my e-reader of choice. When publications such as the New York Times, USA Today and even the Wall Street Journal offer always-updated content free with smartly designed apps on a touchscreen phone, why would I pay for a subscription to static content on an overpriced, oversized piece of hardware?

Rather than recreating print on an electronic device, publishers would be better off rethinking their products from scratch with this form factor in mind. Devices like a big-screen Kindle may eventually be the norm, but a lot of changes have to occur first.

Update: All Things Digital reports the Amazon Kindle announcement is set for Wednesday.

Update 2.0: So I've been thinking about the timing of this event. Amazon waited more than a year to announce its followup to the original Kindle, but this new announcement is coming in a little more than two months. This is clearly going to irritate some early adopters who might have bought the newer product instead of the Kindle 2.

Why rush it out? I think Apple is the reason.

Apple is rumored to be working on some kind of tablet device, possibly with a 10-inch screen. As I wrote last week, there's some speculation that it will use Verizon's network, allowing it to download media - including books. And being an Apple product, it will certainly have a color touchscreen.

Does Amazon know that Apple will, indeed, announce such a device at its Worldwide Developers Conference in early June? Is Amazon trying to get the jump on its rival?

Update 3.0: The Wall Street Journal reports that textbooks will be a big focus of the new Amazon device, and a handful of universities will be early adopters.

Beginning in the fall, some students at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland will be given large-screen Kindles with textbooks for chemistry, computer science, and a freshman seminar already installed, said Lev Gonick, the school's chief information officer. The university plans to compare the experiences of the students who are issued the devices and those who use traditional textbooks, said Mr. Gonick.

Amazon has worked out a deal with several textbook publishers to make their materials available for the device, Mr. Gonick said. The new device will also feature a more fully functional Web browser, he said. The current version of the Kindle, which debuted in February, contains a Web browser that is classified as "experimental."

In total, six universities are involved in the project, according to people briefed on the matter. They are Case Western, Pace University, Princeton University, Reed College, Darden School at the University of Virginia, and Arizona State University.

Windows 7 RC is out - live chat at noon today!

2009-05-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has pushed the Windows 7 Release Candidate out to Web - it fact, it was released late Monday, even though it was promised for today. You can start the process for downloading it here, where you'll also be supplied with a software key.

I'll be answering your Windows 7 questions today in an hourlong live chat here in TechBlog starting at noon CDT. In the meantime, here are some things to note:

• The RC is downloaded as a disc image with an .ISO extension. You'll want to burn this to a DVD. Most standard DVD-burning packages can do this, but you can also download a free ISO-burning program. (Windows 7 has the ability to burn ISO files, so if you have the beta, you can use that.)

• These files are big - 2.35 GB for the 32-bit version; add another gigabyte or so for the 64-bit file.

• If you already have the beta installed, you'll want to read this blog post and today's Computing column.

• Although the RC comes with Windows Defender for spyware protection, there's no antivirus included. Read my blog post from last week for recommendations.

• Microsoft has a basic FAQ for the RC that's worth browsing.

Good luck, and I'll see you back here at noon!

Windows XP going away today . . . but not really

2008-07-01T04:03:00.003-07:00

Today's a landmark for Windows XP, a.k.a The OS That Would Not Die. Microsoft will stop allowing big-name PC makers to sell new machines with Windows XP pre-installed and activated. After almost 7 years, Windows XP is finally beginning to wind down.

Except, those who insist on Windows XP will still be able to get it in a variety of ways, and support will continue through 2014. Even Microsoft, not known for tongue-in-cheek marketing statements, is calling XP's slow fade a "long good-bye."

For example, if a PC maker bought a bunch of copies of Windows XP prior to today, it may continue to sell systems with those copies installed. The same goes for retailers -- if there are cases of XP in the back room, those can still be sold to customers who want them.

PC makers can also sell you a computer with XP on it if the machine originally had either Windows Vista Business or Ultimate installed. You can "downgrade" to XP, but it will likely cost you. Dell, for example, is charging $50 to downgrade selected PCs to XP.

You'll also be able to buy Windows XP-based computers from smaller companies that build so-called "white box" systems through ~~the end of~~ Jan. 31, 2009. And you can buy a "system builder" copy of Windows XP -- sometimes called the "OEM version" -- for computers you build yourself.

Finally, brand-name PC makers are still allowed to sell XP on low-cost, low-power systems that, in theory, wouldn't be able to handle the demands of Windows Vista. That will continue until June of 2010.

In short, you can get Windows XP if you really want it. But my advice is this: If you're buying a new, brand-name PC now, at least give Windows Vista a try.

Live with it for a couple of weeks before going through the hassle of downgrading -- which will involve acquiring a copy of XP, reformatting the drive and installing the older OS, then finding drivers for all the machine's components, which may not be easy to do. Vista with SP1 is a decent OS on new, powerful hardware running modern software. Give it a shot before you give up on it.

Related: Goodbye, XP. Hello, Midori -- Mary Jo Foley says Microsoft has a secret project, code-named Midori, which is derived from the experimental Singularity OS, which I wrote about last year.

Mac OS X 10.5.4 update

2008-07-01T04:03:00.001-07:00

A little more than a month since the last major update for Leopard was released, Apple has just burped forth Mac OS X 10.5.4.

Run Software Update to grab it. At this writing, it has not yet shown up on Apple's downloads page. [See Update 2.0 below.]

It is not as big as previous updates to Leopard. On my MacBook, it came in at only 59 megabytes.

And its list of fixes is relatively modest:

General

Includes recent Apple security updates.
Resolves an issue with saving and reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 ﬁles on a remote server.
Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
Addresses an issue that may result in a partially installed X11 application.
Improves L2TP VPN client reliability.

AirPort

Addresses AirPort reliability issues with 5GHz networks.
Addresses AirPort issues that may result in slower performance in Logic Studio or MainStage.

iCal

Improves overall iCal reliability for meeting requests, cancellation notices, delegation, and syncing with iPhone.
Resolves an issue that prevents deleting an iCal event without notifying the creator.
Addresses an issue in which events in all calendars affect availability. A checkbox now enables information-only calendars to be transparent from free/busy lookups.
Resolves a UI issue preventing delegated calendars from showing up as a separate window.
Addresses an issue with copying and pasting attendees from one event to another.
Resolves an issue in which iCal may not delete events after a speciﬁed time interval, even when set to do so in iCal preferences.
Addresses an issue in which To Dos cannot be marked private.

Safari

Addresses a potential performance issue when loading secure web pages.
Resolves issues that may be encountered when accessing secure web pages with client certificates that reside on a smart card.

Spaces and Exposé

Addresses an issue in which switching from a space with a Finder window keeps the Finder as the active application instead of the application residing in the destination space.
Fixes an issue in which dragging an application from the list of application assignments in Spaces System Preferences does not assign the application to the desired space.
Resolves an Exposé issue that may result in only a subset of windows being shown.

It also includes more than a dozen security patches.

Vista users: Why wait for Windows 7? Get a better UAC now

2008-06-30T14:08:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, I wrote about Microsoft's planned changes to the User Account Control for Windows 7. The feature, which requires users to confirm actions that affect Windows at a system level, kicks in way too often in Vista, and Microsoft plans to dial it back.

In that post, I described how I think Windows 7's version of the UAC should behave:

Here's how I hope it works: When you first get a popup, the UAC's text tells you specifically what's happening, and ask whether you want to see dialogs caused by this action in the future. You should be able to check a box and not see that kind of popup again.

However, there needs to be a couple of caveats to this scenario. There are some instances in which you always want to see UAC popups, such as when a program tries to add folders or files to the Windows system directory - you should never be able to turn those off. The description of what's happening needs to be clear and succinct, and in plain English (at least in the English-language version of Windows). Too often, dialogs such as these are indecipherable to all but the geekiest among us.

Coincidentally, Symantec on Thursday released a replacement for the Windows Vista UAC that does almost exactly what I described. The Norton UAC Tool - currently in beta -- changes the way the Vista feature works, letting you indicate in each popup that you don't want to see that kind of alert again.

It also tells you a little more about what's causing the popup, such as whether the program causing it is digitally signed and by whom, and why the alert was triggered. (In the image above, it's because the application is accessing a protected directory.)

If you click View Details, you'll see that actual system modules that are involved in the activity.

From the Norton UAC FAQ:

Q: So... what does this replacement offer me?

A: Currently, the Norton Labs' UAC replacement offers a "Do not ask me again" option on each prompt making it very easy for the user to squelch individual prompts without fully disabling UAC. Further, the Norton Labs' UAC replacement displays the prompts in a slightly different way from how Microsoft chose to do it. We feel that our prompts provide a much clearer view of the ratings for the prompting application.

Norton also collects information on the cause of the prompts, which will be used to generate a white list that will ship with the product when it's finished.

Q: What does Norton Labs get out of my testing?

A: DATA! Each time you see a prompt, the Norton Labs UAC Replacement sends meta information about what caused the prompt, and why, to our server. This data will be used, in aggregate, to help Norton Labs build a white list that can be shipped with the UAC replacement and LiveUpdated as needed.

Q: What do you mean by "meta information"?

A: The meta information contains file name and file hashes for the EXE that caused the prompt and the EXE that is to be the recipient of the elevated privileges. In addition, the meta information contains file name and file hashes for DLLs that were active in either of the two EXEs, response information (what option did the user choose, how quickly, and did they choose "do not ask me again"), and date/time info.

In my tests in Windows Vista running in a VMware Fusion virtual machine, the Norton UAC tool popped up in place of the standard UAC in a snappy fashion - in fact, it may be faster than the Vista UAC. Once I checked the "Don't ask me again" box, the popup did not reappear.

However, the tool also generated occasional error messages, but still continued to run. It is, as I mentioned, beta software, and the usual caveats apply.

That said, if you want a better-behaved UAC now, rather than waiting for the release of Windows 7, this may be an option. But back up your data first, and I'd suggest not using it for now on a system on which you rely for critical work.

Fire it up: How long does it take your computer to boot?

2008-06-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

No matter how quickly your computer boots up, it's never fast enough. Getting to the point where you can actually get started doing stuff always seems like an eternity, even if it takes only a minute or two. Or three.

The New York Times has an interesting piece on what's being done by software developers and computer makers to decrease boot times. Expect to see lots of marketing around shorter startup times as competition heats up:

Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Lenovo are rolling out machines that give people access to basic functions like e-mail and a Web browser in 30 seconds or less. Asus, a Taiwanese company that is the world's largest maker of the circuit boards at the center of every PC, has begun building faster-booting software into its product line.

Even Microsoft, whose bloated Windows software is often blamed for sluggish start times, has pledged to do its part in the next version of the operating system, saying on a company blog that "a very good system is one that boots in under 15 seconds." Today only 35 percent of machines running the latest version of Windows, called Vista, boot in 30 seconds or less, the blog notes. (Apple Macintoshes tend to boot more quickly than comparable Windows machines but still feel glacially slow to most users.)

A lot of what's being done involves starting the computer with a stripped-down version of Linux that gives users quick access to e-mail, media players and other often-used components. That doesn't necessarily get the full operating system up and running faster, but it lets users swing into action in less time.

In its work on Windows 7 — which will get a detailed showing for the first time during this week's Professional Developers Conference — Microsoft is trying to dramatically trim start times. Of course, a system with a virgin OS will always start faster than one that's been in a user's hands for a while. Computer owners install software and add peripherals that cause boot times to slow — regardless of the operating system.

When I first got my iMac, it started up in under a minute. Since then, I've added several programs that include startup components, and it takes longer to get to the desktop. I restarted it this morning, and it took about 75 seconds before I could start launching programs. Not too shabby, but I wish it would start sooner. (Fortunately, Macs resume from sleep more reliably than PCs, so I often use that feature rather than shutting it down.)

How quickly does your PC or Mac start up? Do a restart, and time the result. PC users, start from the BIOS start screen; Mac users, from the startup chime. Leave the results in the comments.