PC Hacks - Tips and Tricks

Free up PC disk space with Disk Space Fan

2010-06-15T10:26:00.000-05:00

Disk Space Fan is a freeware and it is a nice disk space analysis tool for Windows. It helps you to free up disk space by quickly finding and deleting big, useless files. It displays disk space usage with a nice chart. You can navigate the folders easily with the chart. It is also intergrated with Windows Explorer to open, delete and browse files or folders.

Once download and install the utility, users will be brought to a simple interface. On high level, it will display the full capacity, usage as well as the free capacity of the particular drive. In order to figure out the details, just select the desired directory such as C:\ or specific folder by browsing directly followed with a single click on ‘Scan’ button to activate the scanning.

Features:-

Scans directories and drives to find out the useless and larger files.

Diagram of a flower show in the form of free disk space

Browse/open/delete files on ringschart

Preview a picture on ringschart

Support for Unicode

Save scan history

Network path support

Full compatibility with 32 and 64 bit Windows

Download Disk Space Fan here

Google @ Intel ISEF 2010

2010-05-09T10:21:00.000-05:00

"On Monday, several thousand high school students will descend on San Jose for this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). A project of the Society for Science & the Public, Intel ISEF brings together more than 1,500 high school students from over 50 countries to showcase and discuss their research and compete for millions of dollars in prizes. We’re particularly excited about this event because this year Google is the Premier Sponsor and Silicon Valley Host of the event.

We’re getting ready to launch an action-packed week of events and activities that celebrate the accomplishments of the Intel ISEF finalists and the role that technology plays in the future of science. Our schedule includes:

Ongoing speaker series at our booth
Interactive booth with product demos (the Street View car will be there!)
Welcome Party on Tuesday evening for Intel ISEF participants
$10,000 prizes for the three winners of our Google Special Awards

If you’re attending the fair, check out our Science Fair Portal to keep up-to-date with any changes to our events schedule. We look forward to seeing you there!

Posted by Josh Weaver, ISEF alum and Tech Lead for Street View

Intel's Moorestown Atom Opens New Front in Smartphone Competition

2010-05-09T10:18:00.001-05:00

Intel yesterday officially announced its Atom Z600 family of processors, along with the platform that supports it, known as Moorestown. It's a big and long-awaited move, one Intel hopes will help it compete in the high-end smartphone and tablet market. But although Moorestown is a step in the right direction, Intel still faces a lot of challenges in its competition with ARM-based processors for the smartphone market.
The Moorestown platform is based around the Atom Z600 family of processors, which Intel calls a "system-on-chip" (SoC). This processor (known as Lincroft) is a 45nm chip that combines a single CPU core with integrated 3D graphics, video encode and decode, memory, and display controllers. The platform also includes an I/O Controller Hub (MP20, known as Langwell) along with a power management chip called a Mixed Signal IC. Makers of smartphones or tablets would then have to add to it various wireless options, depending on the types and networks they want to support, along with a screen, antennas, memory, and so on.

In other words, Moorestown is more integrated than Intel's previous Atom-based platforms, but it still involves a number of chips to create a full system. Pretty much every smartphone relies on separate chips for applications processing and for wireless options, but many of today's chips are more integrated, and some are available with the memory as part of the package. In other words, this still isn't quite as integrated as some of the competitors, so it's more suited for larger smartphones and tablets than for smaller units. Intel hopes to address this with the next version, codenamed Medfield, which will integrate the controller hub onto the processor.

Intel says the new platform requires significantly lower power to run than the previous-generation Atom, including a 50-times reduction in idle power, 20-times reduction in audio power, and a 2-to-3-times reduction in browsing and audio. The company says it delivers higher performance, particularly for JavaScript and graphics, and support for 1080p video decoding and 720p video recording. Intel says it provides a 'PC-like visual experience' while operating in a smaller power envelope.

The Z600 family is available at a number of frequencies, ranging up to 1.5 GHz for high-end smartphones and 1.9 GHz for tablets and 'Mobile Internet Devices.' That high-end part in particular should be faster than the ARM-based designs we've seen to date--but even Intel's own positioning points out that it is destined for larger machines.

Obviously, we'll have to wait to see final device to really tell battery life and to see how it performs in the real world, but this should be a step in the right direction. However, since I saw the first demonstration of Moorestown a year ago, we've seen a number of more powerful ARM-based processors running at up to 1 GHz, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon, Nvidia Tegra 2, and the Apple A4. In addition, a number of chip designers are working on ARM-based processors with two or more cores.

More important may be the question of software, particularly in the smartphone market. Intel has made a big deal of the fact that the Atom is an Intel Architecture (x86) processor, that there are huge numbers of applications designed to work on this architecture, and that indeed virtually every Internet site works on x86. But the vast majority of those applications are designed for Windows or Macintosh computers, not phones. Meanwhile, the phone vendors and the applications makers are all pretty used to writing for ARM-based phones, and this is something different.

Intel says the new platform is designed to work with its Moblin version of Linux, MeeGo OS http://blogs.pcmag.com/miller/2010/02/mwc_smartphone_platform_compet.php (an open source combination of Moblin and Nokia's Maemo), and Android. But of course, even applications written for Maemo and Android will need to be tested on the new platform.

Now these are indeed big challenges. But Intel has some unique advantages as well, including that huge base of x86 software compatibility, its advanced manufacturing technology, its relationships with many hardware makers, and of course, the performance of the parts.

I can easily imagine Atom Z600-based tablets running Android or even full Windows that could be smaller than today's tablet PCs but that run faster than the iPad or the other ARM-based tablets we've seen. I expect we will see at least a few smartphones, likely fairly large devices, aimed at the very high end of the market. Still, if the software issues are resolved and the battery life really is as good as Intel claims, such machines could be more powerful than today's smartphones. However, it seems unlikely any large smartphone maker will make a
Moorestown-based the focus of their line this year.

Over the next few months, we should see devices based on the new platform. It's only then that we'll be able to judge how well it really works.

Here's ExtremeTech's take and a more detailed history from AnandTech.

Twittelator: Best Twitter app for iPad

2010-05-09T10:17:00.000-05:00

Twittelator is a new twitter app for iPad with lots of new features. Twittelator’s iPad version offers support for multiple Twitter accounts, in-line viewing of linked images, conversation view, the ability to view nearby tweets on a map, and auto-splitting of longer tweets, among other features. Also new in this update is a “Channels” area that collects must-follow Twitter accounts into various categories and subcategories like “Business,” “Health,” “Sports,” “Tech,” “Coffee & Tea,” “Cloud Computing,” and, of course, “Apple.” This Channels feature is a killer way to help new Twitter users find good accounts to follow, and it’s built right into the app.

See Also: 59 Twitter Mobile Apps

See Also: 110+ Best Twitter Tools

Features:-

Auto-ReTweet or editable ReTweets

Twitter Lists: create, edit, load – see other’s too

Geotag tweets and get maps of users

Video: record, edit and tweet video

Create and tweet audio clips and photos

Unlimited drafts and offline tweeting

Create lists of friends

Follow lists and see who’s following you in their lists

Post map of your location

Built-in browser to view links, movies, audio

Get details and follow any user

Find nearby tweeters and map their location

Advanced searching (save them too)

Email, ReTweet, and copy tweets

Trending Topics

Stock Portfolio

English, Español, Deutsche and ???

Download Twittelator for iPad here

Make your PC more energy efficient with Granola

2010-05-03T22:06:00.001-05:00

Granola is an intelligent software power management solution for x86 servers, laptops, and PCs running Linux and Microsoft Windows. Granola automatically optimizes a system to use energy more efficiently without compromising performance or availability. The Granola Power Management Daemon when installed on a server, laptop, or PC, matches the energy consumed by the system to the load on the system automatically.

Granola typically lowers total system energy use by 10-35% even when a system is 100% utilized. Granola also tracks the energy saved for use in estimating cost savings and carbon emission reductions.

Features:

* FREE for personal use

* Energy savings without compromising performance and availability

* Supports x86 platforms running Linux and Microsoft Windows on physical/virtual servers

* Immediate energy saving for most deployments <5 years old

* User-level max, min, and auto energy and performance policy management

* User-level reporting of energy savings without additional hardware required

* No measurable overhead (<1%).

* Energy savings and software complimentary to consolidation techniques such as virtualization

* Installation takes less than 5 minutes on average

* Little to no maintenance

Download Granola App here

©2010 TechnoBuzz.net. You can follow us on twitter or join our facebook fanpage and Subscribe via Email.
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USB Guardian: Protect your PC against USB viruses and worms.

2010-05-03T22:04:00.000-05:00

USB Guardian is a special software application that prevents your computer from getting infected with nasty viruses an worms like Conficker (aka Downandup, Downadup and Kido!) The software allows you to safely enjoy file sharing using just an USB thumb drive for copying the files . Movies, mp3s, documents and pictures can be copied from one computer to another without worrying of getting infected with worms and viruses trough USB drive.

The interface is very clean and well organized so that one can access all functions with minimum effort. You can find more details about how USB Guardian protects your PC against worms and viruses on this page. It is possible to give a USB flash drive / USB memory stick a behaviour that is very similar to autostarting CD’s and DVD’s.

Download USB Guardian here

Windows 7 One-Click Online App-Installer: Allmyapps

2010-05-03T09:39:00.001-05:00

Got the new Windows 7 PC and want to install some of the best App in your wondows 7 PC with a one click than you have to try allmyapps. Allmyapps lets you select all your favorite apps and roll them into a bulk installer to make rebuilding easy. Using the website is straightforward, just select programs you want to install and add them to your list. When the list is ready click on the “Install” button. AllMyApps hosts a huge collection of popular (and not) software which you can browse by categories or alphabetically. The site is free and doesn’t require any sign up.

Features of AllmyApp:-

# Build a lists of your favorite software and install all in a single setup.

# Hosts huge collection of popular and no so popular software.

# Search and browse by categories or alphabetically.

# Check out most popular and latest additions.

Try Allmyapps here

©2010 TechnoBuzz.net. You can follow us on twitter or join our facebook fanpage and Subscribe via Email.
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AMD Pushes Affordability With Six-Core Desktop Chip

2010-04-28T13:02:00.001-05:00

It's not really a surprise, but AMD today announced its entry into the six-core desktop chip market, with its Phenom II X6 chip, which had been code-named Thuban. This chip, manufactured on Global Foundries' 45nm process (which is used in the current quad-core Phenom IIs as well) is similar to AMD's six-core Operton server chips, but designed for the desktop environment.

In some respects, AMD's entry is similar to Intel's Core i7-980X Extreme processor, known as Gulftown, which was introduced last month. But in other ways, it points out the different approach AMD is taking to the market. While Intel is emphasizing peak performance and "hyperthreading" (allowing two threads to run on each core), AMD is emphasizing its overall chip platform, including discrete graphics, as well as affordability.

The Phenom II X6 is meant to be paired with AMD's 890FX chip set, which adds native support for 6 Gb/second SATA drives, and AMD's ATI Radeon HD 5800 series discrete graphics boards. The chip set supports AMD's Overdrive utility for overclocking, as well as 'Black Edition' certified high-speed memory. The graphics boards, which are coming out in more flavors, support Direct X 11 and ATI's Eyefinity technology, which lets them work with up to six monitors. And AMD says all the initial motherboards will support USB 3.0 through an external NEC controller. But the new procesors don't require the new chipset; they were designed to also work in existing AM2+ and AM3 sockets with a software upgrade, and in the existing 125W TDP power envelope.

The new chip is AMD's first to support what it calls 'Turbo Core,' which lets up to three cores run faster while the other three run in a lower power state, to better support applications that don't need all of the cores. This is similar in intent to Intel's 'Turbo Boost' technology, though AMD's method isn't quite as flexible. Still, the company says it should allow the 3.2GHz model 1090T to be run at up to 3.6 GHz.

While the products do not support symmetric multithreading, AMD executives have stressed that more cores are always better than more threads, saying additional threads typically provide an extra 20% performance uplift in applications that can use them, while extra cores typically provide an extra 80% improvement. So AMD will be emphasizing relative affordability, saying the initial high-end chip, that 3.2 GHz version, will sell for under $289, much less than Intel's current six-core offerings; indeed, these chips should be priced more competitively with Intel's 4-core, 8-thread chips. I'll be interested in seeing how it performs in comparison.

Update: Here are early reviews from ExtremeTech, Legit Reviews, Techware Labs, and Toms Hardware.

Intel's 6-core Core i7-980X nearly always wins the benchmarks, but it's notably more expensive. The 6-core AMD Phenom II X6 1090T seems to more than hold its own against the 4-core /8-theread Core i7-920, but the results vary greatly depending on the application.

InterOp Speakers: Time to Rethink Corporate Networks

2010-04-28T13:02:00.000-05:00

Corporate networks need to be completely transformed, according to the keynote speakers this morning at the annual InterOp conference in Las Vegas. Executives from HP, Avaya, and Cisco all emphasized a need for companies to rethink and change their networks. Of course, they have some selfish interests: All the companies would like to see their new equipment and services replace that of their competitors. But they also have a point. Corporate networks have been built up piecemeal over many years and are now very complex, and probably ripe for simplification and consolidation.

Randy Mott, Hewlett-Packard's CTO, said he thought the big theme of this decade in networks would be transforming the infrastructure away from 50 years. He talked about how HP moved from 85 data centers in 29 countries in 2006 to 6 data centers in 3 locations today, along the way cutting the number of servers by 40 percent while increasing processing power 250 percent. He talked about this experience has led HP to understand how other companies can change their networks, and discussed the importance of an open architecture, standards-based network.

Marius Hass, Senior VP and GM of HP's network business talked about the need to simplify and converge the infrastructure, noting that the average company today spends 70 percent of its IT budget on maintenance, rather than on new applications. He said a combination of simplification and virtualization can help reduce the cost of management, leaving more for more important applications. And he talked about how HP could provide the whole data center solution these days, following its acquisitions of networking provider 3Com (which just closed) and security provider Tipping Point.

Avaya President and CEO Kevin Kennedy also agreed that a "new type of network" is required, and he pushed for a "converged all-IP network" and talked about Avaya's December acquisition of Nortel enterprise solutions. His big example was the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and how it had the bandwidth requirements of 3 Super Bowl Sundays every day for 17 days, and needs 20 times the bandwidth of the previous Summer Olympics, even though the winter event is typically 40 percent smaller.

Kennedy pushed 'Real-Time Communications' as the core requirement of emerging networks, and said older networks simply weren't 'good enough' for the kinds of demands that are coming today, and emphasized SIP as a protocol for consolidating existing technologies and protocols in a unified communications network.

Brett Galloway, Senior VP of Cisco's Wireless, Security and Routing Technology Group talked about 'Borderless Networks.' He noted that when he first started attending InterOp conferences it was all about making sure products could work together. Now we take that for granted, so it's time to 'rethink how we architect our networks.'

He talked about how immersive video experiences, mobility and security were driving the need to these new networks as "work isn't a place; it's a thing you do" wherever you are. In terms of new products, he announced Cisco's "CleanAir Technology" which is designed to manage wireless networks to identify and reduce RF interference. He showed all the kinds of products that can interfere with wireless performance, from Bluetooth headsets to cameras, microwave ovens, and RF jammers.

Spiceworks Integrates Rackspace Cloud-Based Email Services

2010-04-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

Today, Rackspace and Spiceworks have announced that they've entered a partnership that will enable SMBs to manage their cloud-based Rackspace e-mail hosting services through Spiceworks' free social IT management application. This is designed to streamline the IT professionals' workloads by allowing them to monitor and administrate Rackspace cloud email services within the Spiceworks IT dashboard instead of launching a separate portal.

With the partnership, Rackspace extends the functionality and reach of its hosted email services (including Rackspace Email, Microsoft Exchange, or a hybrid of both), through the use of Rackspace's APIs. Spiceworks benefits by continuing to provide SMB IT professionals with free management capabilities for their on-premise, cloud-based, or hybrid IT infrastructure.

Besides monitoring e-mail, IT professionals will be able to manage domains and collaborate with Spicework's social IT management application and community of 950,000 IT professionals.

Hands On: Microsoft Office 2010

2010-04-24T23:02:00.001-05:00

With the release of Microsoft's latest productivity suite, Office 2010, coming in less than a month (it will be available for download starting May 11th and in retail stores this June), the question you have to ask yourself is this: Is it worth upgrading from Office 2007? That depends on your small-business needs. If Office 2007 is working for you, then maybe you can live without the razzle dazzle of Office 2010. But if you want to take advantage of the of the upgrade's stellar collaboration features, it's a must have.

The new ribbon interface for all apps enhances usability, and all apps now sport excellent graphic tools, such as image editing and the ability to embed and edit videos in PowerPoint. For heavy-duty spreadsheet users, the 64-bit version allows you to use massive data sets in Excel.

If you haven't made your decision yet, check out our hands-on review for a closer look at Microsoft Office 2010 at PCMag.com.

Why Was GMail China's Target?

2010-04-24T22:47:00.001-05:00

Mikko Hypponen of F-Secure is a fairly major rock star in the security business (think somewhere between Ziggy and Bob Marley). Yes, he's a vendor, but you have to respect his insight and experience.

So I took it seriously when Mikko said he thinks that there's an angle to the Aurora attacks of late last year that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves: The nature of the attacks reinforces the idea that the attackers were primarily concerned with espionage against government opponents, and not the usual industrial espionage and simple criminality you typically find in the digital underground economy.

Consider the sort of people we're talking about as victims here: Dissidents, free speech advocates, non-governmental organizations, and their attorneys. Knowing that they're frequent targets of government spooks they like using webmail accounts, particularly GMail and Yahoo! Mail. Many will use Linux in order to avoid Windows malware which might reveal their personal information.

Note that there were many other companies attacked in the same attack campaign. But it's not hard to conjure up reasoning why someone going after Chinese state enemies would attack many of those. Most of the companies have not been identified, but some have:

Adobe—An important software company with broad market reach on Windows, Mac and Linux
Yahoo!—As I mentioned, also an important provider of online services.
Rackspace—One of the largest server farms in the business
Gipson, Hoffman & Pancione—A law firm doing work for organizations of interest to the Chinese government
Northrop Grumman, Dow Chemical and Juniper Networks—Military and other significant industry. Frequently target of such attacks.

So how do you spy on such people? You compromise their GMail credentials. Mikko is convinced that GMail was the main object of the attack, but remember that GMail is served by the same Gaia authentication system as the rest of Google's services. If you get someone's GMail account, you also have their Google Docs account, for example,

But back to e-mail: As SANS mentioned in today's Tip of the Day, e-mail is more like a postcard than an envelope: It's in plain text, so anyone snooping the network can see it too. So if you care, and you're sophisticated about it, you can use a program like PGP to encrypt your e-mail. Used correctly, PGP is, to all practical purposes, uncrackable. But using PGP correctly can be a big pain, so people take shortcuts: they share secret keys, they don't properly secure their secret keys or their whole keyring.

As Adi Shamir (the 'S' in RSA) said in his 2004 Turing Lecture, one of the 3 laws of security is that 'Cryptography is typically bypassed, not penetrated.' Thus it is with PGP: Nobody cracks it; instead they crack the system that it's on and either keylog it or steal the keyring. The more people have a single secret key, the easier this is to do.

Mikko says that they have seen malware designed to steal a PGP keyring. I'm guessing it was designed for a targeted attack because very few people have the patience to use PGP and use it correctly.

If Google (and the other webmail providers) want to do something about this, they can find a way to make it easier to use PGP as part of GMail and its competitors. Right now it's generally a very manual cutting and pasting affair.

Your take-away from all this is that you really can't trust content on public e-mail systems unless you go to extraordinary, and inconvenient, measures to secure that content. And even people who think they've gone to such measures are just better-defended, not invulnerable. If you're fighting the state you have to be willing to take some risks.

Lessons of the McAfee False Positive Fiasco

2010-04-23T12:54:00.001-05:00

I feel really sorry for the McAfee users who got burned by a really bad false positive detection they put out the other day. Many McAfee VirusScan Enterprise customers using Windows XP SP3 had their svchost.exe (a key Windows system binary which hosts Windows services in its process space) flagged as malicious. I was tempted to feel sorry for McAfee too; we all make mistakes and things must be bad there right about now. But it's hard to feel sorry for them, given what's turned up.

The most shocking revelation was uncovered by Ed Bott at ZDNet: McAfee has admitted to their customers that they followed shoddy quality assurance procedures in this matter. Specifically, the release was not tested on Windows XP SP3, the configuration on which it borked the system. It's hard to think of a worse single configuration to leave out. Late last night McAfee confirmed the report.

This sort of thing has happened in the past, and the danger of it increases all the time. The nature of malware has forced AV vendors to push out ever more frequent definition updates, to the point where Symantec's "pulse updates" come out every 5 to 15 minutes. The pressure to keep up with malware—not to mention the pressure to keep costs down—can lead vendors to scrimp on testing. This appears to be what McAfee did.

You might well ask what McAfee is doing scanning Windows system binaries anyway. I know I did. It turns out that they do whitelist these files as a general matter, but in this case things got complicated: Like most security products, McAfee's scan memory for signs of infection. The malware (W32/Wecorl), the definition for which generated the false positive, is one which attempts to attack svchost.exe by inserting itself into the file and modifying the program to run it. It's a classic file virus. McAfee scanned the file because the false positive occurred in a memory scan of the svchost.exe process; this caused it to flag the file.

Exactly what happened is better explained by McAfee in a FAQ they posted last night. 3 specific versions of svchost.exe under XP SP3 were affected, and McAfee provides the MD5 hashes. It seems Microsoft changes this file in updates without changing either the size or file version.

If you still need to remediate systems, McAfee has provided a FAQ for that too. McAfee also says they are adding new QA protocols to ensure this don't happen again.

Analysts and other vendors are spouting off about this, and some of the talk is misleading or distasteful. Prevx CEO Mel Morris issued a statement mischaracterizing the malware involved in the false positive and insinuating that products such as theirs, which don't rely on implementation-specific definitions, don't have such problems. There is a lot to be said for Prevx's approach, but to imply that they are immune from false positives due to programmer or testing error is just plain dishonest.

David Ulevitch of OpenDNS, not a McAfee competitor, argued that this incident shows the advantage of cloud-based solutions: 'Fixing 1000 cloud-based scanners is a heck of lot easier than fixing millions of desktop end-points.' McAfee, of course, uses some cloud-based scanning through their Artemis system, and one of the measures they plan to use in reaction to this incident is to create an expansive whitelist in Artemis. Personally, I don't see a huge advantage for cloud-based systems here; whitelists are fairly static things. And removing the definition wasn't the hard part of the remediation: That was getting a usable svchost.exe back on the system.

Sunbelt Software is offering a deal (6 months of free maintenance) to angry McAfee customers. Business is business I guess, Don't assume that Sunbelt is immune from such problems, but then they don't claim to be.

As I said above, this sort of problem is not unprecedented; if the false positive had been on sol.exe (Windows Solitaire) it would have been embarrassing, but a minor affair. This was a perfect storm of bad news for McAfee and their customers. But in this business you make a lot of your own weather, and McAfee's inadequate testing is the culprit here.

Microsoft Office RTMs: Do We Take It For Granted?

2010-04-19T22:52:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has announced that Office 2010 and the products that go with it (SharePoint, Visio, and Project) have been released to manufacturing and will be available to Volume License customers next week; to other corporate customers in May (with a formal launch May 12); and to the rest of us in June. I was actually a bit surprised by how little attention the announcement got, considering just how many of us use Microsoft Office.

It may be that we all take Microsoft Office pretty much for granted, because most of the time we use the same basic features over and over again and notice it only when something doesn't work the way we expect it to. Office has long had very little competition in packaged software: Corel's WordPerfect Office is still available at a good price, and OpenOffice, the open source alternative now sponsored by Oracle, is available for free. Both do a fine job with basic word processing and spreadsheets and offer pretty good compatibility with the Microsoft Office formats. So I do know personal users who are quite happy with OpenOffice.

But Microsoft Office has a deeper array of features, and it just does more. You can complain about some of the formatting features in Word or PowerPoint or about the quirks in Outlook, but you'll certainly find more features than you will in the competitors. And while there are decent alternatives to those products, for most organizations, Microsoft Excel is really the indispensable product in the suite. Every significant financial department I know uses Excel--and that includes features like PivotTables and macros. There's really no good alternative. That means in just about any office, you'll have some people using some features that require Microsoft Office, and since organizations love to standardize, Office becomes the standard for almost everyone.

Microsoft Office has been behind in one really important feature, though: collaboration. That's been where Google Docs and other Internet-based productivity suites (such as those from Zoho and Glide) have had a big advantage. Microsoft has added collaboration features to Office 2010, but I'm not ready to judge them yet. That's clearly going to be a big battleground over the next year or two.

Google Docs just got a lot of attention for its recent upgrade, which the company says offers more competitive features, better compatibility and a new HTML 5-based way of working offline. It sounds good, but I haven't tried it yet.

But in many ways, the real competition to Office 2010 is more likely to be the older versions of Office that people are running to day. Simply put, Office 2003 or 2007 both work pretty well, and not everyone will see the reason to upgrade. Indeed, I know many workers who found the UI change between 2003 and 2007 to be quite jarring, even though in the long run, most tended to like it.

In addition to better collaboration tools, Microsoft Office 2010 features a new 'ribbon UI' for Outlook, a couple of impressive new tools for Excel, and the ability to crop videos directly in PowerPoint. PC Mag's first look at the beta is here and my intial impressions are here. I'm sure we'll both have more to say as we get our hands on the final product, but I have to say I've found many of the new features quite useful.

Still, it's interesting how little attention Office is getting, at least in the media. Microsoft says 7.5 million people have downloaded beta copies, so someone much care. But my guess is, at this point, Office is good enough, and most people just take it for granted.

Claim victory over your e-mail

2010-04-18T19:55:00.000-05:00

No doubt you've opened an e-mail and thought, 'Hmmm, not sure what to do with this. I'll deal with it later!'—and promptly closed the message. If you do this over and over again, it doesn't take long to end up with several hundred (or thousand) messages in your Inbox.

Developing a new approach to processing your Inbox will help you to gain more control, improve your response time, and keep up with critical actions and due dates.

Tip #1: Set up a simple and effective e-mail reference system

The first step toward an organized Inbox is understanding the difference between reference information and action information.

•	Reference information is information that is not required to complete an action; it is information that you want to keep in case you need it later.
•	Action information is information you must have to complete an action.

Most people receive a considerable amount of reference information through e-mail. Sometimes as much as one-third of your e-mail is reference information. So it is essential to have a system that makes it easy to transfer messages from your Inbox into your e-mail reference system. An E-mail Reference System is a series of e-mail file folders where you store reference information to ensure you have easy access to it later. Learn more about setting up an E-mail Reference System. Once you take care of filing your reference information, you can use the next three steps to handle e-mail you have to do something with, your action information.

Find three more tips for claiming victory over your email at the full article on Microsoft At Work, here.

By Sally McGhee, Consultant and Productivity Expert

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Selling Blackberry Travel Mini Charger 8300 8100 8800

2010-04-16T11:49:00.000-05:00

Selling Blackberry Travel Mini Chargers 8300 8100 8800

Conventional Password Wisdom Challenged

2010-04-16T09:54:00.000-05:00

Nobody will argue that '123456' is a good choice for a password. If you use a common word or phrase to password-protect a sensitive account, hackers can break in using a dictionary attack that simply tries thousands of common passwords. Hacking skillz aren't even required if your password is one of the ten most common; any Joe can crack that account in a few minutes. We advise everyone to use strong passwords. Remembering a password like ru4P^xfR can be tough, but if you use a password manager, you need to remember only one mega-strong master password.

It all makes sense, right? But a recent study by Microsoft researcher Cormac Herley casts doubt on much of the accepted wisdom regarding passwords. In particular, following certain password rules 'shields [users] from the direct costs of attacks, but burdens them with far greater indirect costs in the form of effort.' Herley contends that users who ignore security advice aren't lazy or stupid; rather they're acting rationally. The advice is complex, and the benefits are 'largely speculative or moot'.

The paper correctly notes that dictionary attacks aren't the best way to break security. Getting the user to give away security credentials through phishing or keylogging is much more effective, and a password's strength is totally irrelevant when it's stolen. He particularly slams the common requirement that users change passwords at specified intervals. A hacker who steals your password is going to use it right away; he won't wait two months. 'Insisting that users choose a unique strong password for each [[account]] which they change often and never write down is clearly a large burden.'

The study also points out that teaching users to recognize phishing
URLs is a losing proposition, not worth the time spent. Herley
calculates that a task requiring one minute per day from every working
adult in the U.S. costs about $15.9 billion per year. Unnecessary
security advice 'treats as free a resource that is actually worth $2.6
billion an hour.'

He definitely has a point, but don't go changing all your passwords
to '123456' just yet. Using different passwords for different accounts
and Web sites really is beneficial, as is using complex,
non-guessable passwords. You can cut down on the time and effort
required by using a password manager and letting it generate strong
passwords for you.

And rather than trying to recognize
phishing URLs yourself, rely on antiphishing tools such as Norton
SafeWeb (built into Norton Internet Security 2010 and Norton 360 Version 4.0) and McAfee's SiteAdvisor. When good security advice is managed
automatically, you get all the protection and none of the wasted effort.

Java Update Patches Zero-Day Bug

2010-04-16T09:30:00.000-05:00

Sun—whoops, make that Oracle—issued an update today to Java 6 to address a vulnerability revealed recently, one which had led to zero-day exploits.

Java 6 Update 20, now available through Java's automatic updates or download, has 3 other fixes, all of which appear to be improvements in error messages and logging. It's hard to say now because the links to the specific bug reports from the update release notes don't work, at least not yet.

With respect to Tavis Ormandy's bug, as Ormandy said himself: 'They've completely removed the vulnerable feature, literally replaced with return 0.' The error was rooted in bad support of a particular programming construct, and Sun has simply withdrawn support for that construct. Ormandy adds: 'I'm told there may be stale npapi plugin after upgrade.' It's not clear exactly what this means, but it sounds like it will require another update eventually. But the immediate problem, namely a zero-day vulnerability, has been addressed.

HP Pushes New Virtualization Services

2010-04-16T09:24:00.001-05:00

HP is rolling out a series of enterprise-focused services to help businesses evaluate their current IT roadmap, and design a new client model that features both regular PCs and virtual desktops, eWEEK reports.

HP Client Infrastructure Services comes at a time when businesses are finally beginning to refresh aging desktop PCs, now that Windows 7 is on the market. It's also at a time when virtualization, cloud computing, and mobile devices have given workers newfound abilities and expectations for business computing, the report said.

HP's new services span client strategy, virtualization, integrated client management, and application rationalization.

TeamViewer Extends Multiplatform Solution to Linux

2010-04-16T09:24:00.000-05:00

Linux is often the OS of choice for IT professionals around the world. But what happens when these Linux users are called to support clients working on Windows or Mac systems? TeamViewer GmbH has offered a solution by making its popular TeamView desktop sharing software, which made PCMag's list of the Best Free Software 2010, available for Linux. With TeamViewer multiplatform capabilities,

Linux, Windows and Mac users are able to connect for online collaboration, teamwork, and IT support. The Linux version features VoIP and instant chat, allowing partners to collaborate in real-time through the. The software is available as a free download for non-commercial use at TeamViewer.com.

InVisage Quantum Dot–Based Camera Sensors: How They Work

2010-04-14T11:05:00.001-05:00

Perhaps the most interesting pure technology demonstration I saw at this year's Demo Spring 10 conference last month was the QuantumFilm technology introduced by InVisage
Technologies, which is aimed at replacing the traditional CMOS image sensor. InVisage created the material and the manufacturing technique, based on
research done at the University of Toronto by professor Ted Sargent,
who is now the company's chief technology officer. I wrote about it a bit at the show, but I've gathered more details.

Effectively. the technology works by suspending very small 'quantum dots'--tiny semiconductors that absorb light and emit electrons--within a special polymer film. The film, which looks completely black, is then 'spun' or painted on top of a traditional CMOS wafer.

What makes this different from current sensor technology is that the film captures all the light that hits the top of the chip in a layer only 500 nanometers thick; and it can send light directly to the silicon chip, according to the company. This is opposed to a conventional CMOS image sensor, where light typically has to pass through layers with metal connections before it hits a photo detector, which blocks out about half the photons.

By putting the film on top of the chip, and by having more efficient materials, InVisage says it can create a sensor that is four times more sensitive to light with twice the dynamic range of the typical CMOS sensor. As a result, it can manufacture the chip on a 1.1-micron process node (as opposed to most image sensors, which are produced at much finer nodes) yet still get much better images. The film can be added very simply. just like adding a layer of photoresist on a wafer. The chips will be made by TSMC, the leading foundry.

The company says this will enable higher resolution for cameras and much better low-light performance, particularly in contrast with the tiny sensors used in today's camera phones. As a result, you'll get better pictures and videos.

The company expects to have samples of the chip in the fourth quarter of this year, with production starting in mid 2011. Although it's up to handset manufacturers exactly when the end products will roll out, that could happen as soon as late 2011.

Obviously, this technology will face lots of competition from more traditional CCD and CMOS sensors. It will be interesting to watch and see what develops.

Google Upgrades Postini Enterprise Messaging Security

2010-04-07T12:03:00.001-05:00

Google announced enhanced security features for Postini, the search engine's enterprise messaging service.

Postini now features Health Check, a new Google Message Security reporting console. 'Health Check helps you maximize the effectiveness of your spam filters,' said Postini team member Gopal Shah in a Google blog post. 'Think of it as a self-service 'tune-up' for your Postini filters. It gives admins a comprehensive report that will help them check how current configurations impact the effectiveness of antispam and antivirus filters.'

Shah said that users can configure Health Check to identify risky user-defined settings, optimize Approved Sender Lists, and fine tune firewall settings, as InformationWeek reports.

Google Message Security starts at $12 per user per year as a standalone service, but is also included in the standard $50 annual subscription price for Google Apps Premiere.

2010-04-07T11:39:00.001-05:00

A really dangerous idea has escaped into the wild: Acrobat PDF files can be used as viruses: Jeremy of sudosecure.net has demonstrated a proof of concept of a PDF virus: a malicious PDF containing an embedded executable which modifies other PDFs to include malicious code.

In many senses this is nothing new: It's an old-fashioned file virus straight out of the 1980's, except using PDFs instead of EXE files. The actual mechanism used by Jeremy is just a slight furtherance of recent work by Didier Stevens (and in fact that discovery was probably made by others earlier, but didn't receive attention).

Many reports, including Jeremy's initial report, call this a worm, but it's better-described as a virus. Worms can travel on their own, but this code needs the user to open the PDF in order to spread. This attack is, in fact, a classic virus.

Recall that the method Stevens demonstrated allowed a PDF with an embedded executable to run that executable after the user clicked through on a potentially-ambiguous dialog box. Foxit and possibly other readers actually ran the executable with no user confirmation, but Foxit has since fixed this so that their program works much like Adobe's. This method has the advantage of working even if the user has disabled JavaScript.

But most users have JavaScript enabled, the default with Adobe Acrobat and Reader, and many enterprises use JavaScript in PDFs for forms processing and other applications. Thus the possibility of a PDF virus exploiting one of these vulnerabilities has to be considered as well. I personally consider these to be more worrisome because they can execute without the user having to click any dialog boxes. It's not hard to imagine a return to the old days of Windows vulnerabilities when attackers sat on new malcode distributions waiting for a new unpatched vulnerability to come along. The same thing could happen with PDFs.

Abandoned Root Certificate Found in Firefox

2010-04-07T11:38:00.001-05:00

A modest panic spread today with reports that an unknown and unidentified root certificate was in the Firefox trusted root certificate store. The stories turn out to overstate the matter some; the certificate should pose no threat to anyone and it's being removed by Mozilla on a normal schedule.

It began with a newsgroup posting in mozilla.dev.security.policy proposing that the 'RSA Security 1024 V3' root certificate authority be removed from the trusted root store, as the owner of this certificate was not clear. The poster also filed a Bugzilla entry. She noted that the certificate appears in Apple's certificate store as well, though not Microsoft's.

What's going on? A rogue certificate? How could a certificate with the name 'RSA Security' not be owned by RSA? The answers basically came in a blog entry by Johnathan Nightingale, Director of Firefox Development in which he explains that the certificate did and does belong to RSA, but is no longer in use. It was added at RSA's request several years ago. Mozilla requires each trusted root to have 'a clear and active owner' and RSA didn't take clear ownership quickly enough, leading Mozilla to move to remove the certificate. RSA eventually confirmed that the certificate is theirs, but inactive.

The certificate remains in the product, but the process of removing it is underway. It's hard to see how an inactive certificate could be abused in the meantime, and any fears that it was owned by some rogue organization have been dispelled.

Adobe Gives Guidance on Shutting Off Embedded Executes

2010-04-07T11:37:00.000-05:00

Adobe has issued a blog entry to instruct users and administrators on mitigation techniques for the ability to execute embedded executable code with user consent. That capability, reported recently by researcher Didier Stevens, is turned on by default in Acrobat and Reader, as well as other PDF client software.

Users should go to Edit-Preferences, choose the Trust Manager on the left, then on the right uncheck the box indicated in the screen capture below. Click the image for a full-size version.

The Adobe blog entry includes the registry key controlled by this setting so that administrators can push out the setting through the network. A second key allows administrators to prevent users from changing that setting.

Media Apps on the iPad: Very Nice, But Who Will Pay For it?

2010-04-07T11:33:00.000-05:00

Media Apps on the iPad: Very Nice, But Who Will Pay For it?: "The first thing I did with my new iPad was to try out some of the new media applications--because my guess is that reading media and surfing the Web are going to be my primary uses of the device. A lot of interesting applications are available already. In particular, I was intrigued by the different approaches taken by the three big national newspapers; a new way of looking at comics, and what some of the TV networks are doing.

In many ways, the Wall Street Journal has the most advanced news application. It gives you a Start page that looks like the front page of a newspaper, as well as other section openers. Clicking on a story lets you flow from page to page just by swiping. Each page contains two columns of story text, plus an active list of other stories in the section. it seems like a pretty complete version of the Journal. You can enlarge photos and graphics, and play the occasional video. It's generally not all that interactive (yet), but it's a great reading experience.

Most impressive is that the application includes versions of the paper for today and the past few days, as well as a Now version that's constantly updated. You can change text size, save articles, and create a watchlist of prices for stocks and similar financial information. And it has an interesting subscription model: With a free registration, you can access free articles and some basic functionality; as a paid subscriber to the online version, for now at least, you get access to the full application, although the Journal has said it will charge more for access.

More after the jump.

The
New York Times Editors Choice application also looks quite good. It has section openers that look much the section openers of the physical
newspaper. You scroll through stories from page to page by flicking left and
right, with each page having three columns of text. It feels a lot like
a magazine.

For now, this is clearly just a subset of the content in
the physical paper or on the Times' Web site, as the company is readying a
subscription model. Note that the regular free
iPhone version of the New York Times application, which seems to have a
bit more content if in a less fancy and more vertical orientation, runs
fine in either normal iPhone size or in the 2X mode, which doubles the
size of everything, resulting in very large text.

The Times also
offers a separate Crosswords application that will cost $1.99 a month
or $16.99 a yea. My family has found that pretty addictive so far.

USA
Today takes a somewhat different approach. The home page has top
stories in the upper-right-hand corner, and you choose one of the
stories to go to a section opener. Each of the openers then lists the
included stories in a vertical list on the right-hand side of the page.
On the left side, you'll find specific charts and so on. For instance, the
home page includes current weather, as well as a Scores box with
updated scores in various sports, which seems to be constantly updated.
There are a number of such applications on the iPhone and iPad of
course, but it's good to see these integrated with a newspaper.

In
USA Today, stories are generally displayed in two wide columns, and you
scroll down (by flicking) to get more of each story. Flicking left and
right moves you from story to story. In some ways, this feels more like a
newspaper or a Web site than the Times or Journal does, but at least on
first use, I don't like it quite as much. It will be interesting to see
whether we see such applications eventually converge on a standard for
scrolling and formats. However, USA Today contains a lot of information, and for
now it's free, so it may be the best bargain from the big papers. (Of
course, when I say 'free,' I mean ad-supported, as are most Web sites.
The Times and the Journal applications also contain ads.)

As a
comics fan, I was very interested in the Marvel Comics application,
which lets you view each page of a comic book individual, or scroll
through the panels one by one, which creates a 'motion comics' effect.
That's kind of neat, although I fear it takes away from the artists'
efforts to design a full page. Most of the comics seem older titles,
offered at $1.99 each. As a collector, I can't imagine this replacing
physical comics, but do think it's actually not a bad way to read
comics. But I wonder if $2 a piece for back issues isn't a little steep.

Of
the TV networks, ABC clearly is in the lead, offering multiple episodes
of its prime-time series in an ad-supported free application. Now of
course, these are available online as well, albeit in a format the iPad
and iPhone don't support. I expect other sites and networks to follow in
this vein with dedicated applications or at least sites that support
the iPad device.

As I've said before, I'm not convinced that many
people will pay for these applications if the same content is available
for free on websites, but there is something to be said for the fact
that you now can take the information with you, and it works offline.
They do work pretty well, and I find the experience of reading a newspaper on the iPad during my train commute to be preferable to doing the same
thing on a Kindle. I think that's because the display allows for better
typography, more modern layouts, and pictures. I would love the iPad to have the
Kindle's ability to pull down content overnight, though. On the iPad, you need
to open each application individually to do this.

I don't
believe that content 'wants to be free,' but I do think most people are
being more careful about what they spend their money on. And as long as
companies offer the content that consumers view as being the same or
equivalent for free, my guess is it will be hard to convince a lot of
people to pay for applications. So I'll bet that free, ad-supported
content and applications will continue to make up the lion's share of
what people do on their iPads.

RIM Scheduled Maintenance Outage: Blackberry Internet Service and BB Messenger will be down on March 28

2010-03-27T21:44:00.000-05:00

As expected, Research In Motion has been sending out scheduled maintenance notifications to admins and carriers as they prepare to roll BIS 3.0 to North American users (view BIS 3.0 feature doc). Dates and timeframes are as follows, so you can all prepare for the inevitable loss of data connections:

There will be scheduled network maintenance by Research In Motion (RIM) affecting BIS customers between 0100 CT / 0200 EDT on March 28th and 0500 CT / 0600 EDT on March 28th.
Blackberry will be performing a BlackBerry Internet Service v2.8 upgrade to BlackBerry Internet Service v3.0
BlackBerry Internet Service subscribers may be unable to send or receive messages using their BlackBerry hosted email account or integrated third-party email accounts, view email attachments, activate email service, or request to see “”more”" text during the maintenance.
Wireless service providers and device resellers may be unable to create subscriber accounts or provision services for subscribers.
The estimated duration of impact is 4 hours and affects 100% of BIS customers.

Even with 100% of all BIS customers without data, the real overall impact shouldn’t be that bad. Considering most normal people sleep during the timeframe anyways. If all goes well, when ya get up we should have some BIS 3.0 action going on. Thanks to all those who sent this in.

Sybase Launches Mobile Messaging Analytics Service

2010-03-27T21:10:00.000-05:00

Sybase has unveiled Operator Analytics 365, a hosted service that examines telecommunications network traffic levels and other subscriber behavior, InformationWeek reports.

The new service can crunch terabytes of data generated each day, using the company's Sybase IQ analytic server. It has about 700 potential network customers, including major wireless carriers like AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon.

Sybase promises that customer data is securely partitioned, so that rival operators can't look at each other's data. The service will hit the market in May; pricing is still unknown.

Senators Propose Aggressive Bill to Fight Internet Crime

2010-03-27T21:09:00.001-05:00

A bill proposed by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) would require the government to track cybercrime internationally and either aid or sanction countries based on their activities. The International Cybercrime Reporting and Cooperation Act has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The text of the bill is not yet available.

Under the act, the President would be required to report annually to the Congress on the state of various Internet crime protections and law enforcement in different countries. This would be used to direct aid resources.

Cisco, HP, Microsoft, Symantec, PayPal, eBay, McAfee, American Express, Mastercard, Visa, and Facebook all stated publicly that they support the legislation.

Mozilla Discloses 7 Vulnerabilities Patched Last Month

2010-03-27T21:09:00.000-05:00

I just noticed that on Tuesday, March 23, the day after they released Firefox 3.6.2 and released an advisory on the one publicly-disclosed vulnerability in it, Mozilla released 7 more advisories. 3 of these advisories are listed as being fixed in products Mozilla released over a month ago. What's up with that?

First, here's the roster of vulnerabilities. Click the links to see the individual advisories:

MFSA 2010-09: Deleted frame reuse in multipart/x-mixed-replace image (Moderate)

MFSA 2010-10: XSS via plugins and unprotected Location object (High)

MFSA 2010-11: Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.9.2.2/ 1.9.1.8/ 1.9.0.18) (Critical)

MFSA 2010-12: XSS using addEventListener and setTimeout on a wrapped object (High)

MFSA 2010-13: Content policy bypass with image preloading (Moderate)

MFSA 2010-14: Browser chrome defacement via cached XUL stylesheets (Low)

MFSA 2010-15: Asynchronous Auth Prompt attaches to wrong window (Low)

All 7 of these, plus MFSA 2010-08, released the day before, affect the Firefox 3.6 branch and are patched in the now-current version 3.6.2 of Firefox. This point turns out to be key.

3 of them (MFSA 2010-11, MFSA 2010-12, and MFSA 2010-14) are listed as being fixed in this list of products:

Firefox 3.6.2
Firefox 3.5.8
Firefox 3.0.18
Thunderbird 3.0.2
SeaMonkey 2.0.3

Other than Firefox 3.6.2, these are the versions that were released last time around, meaning mid-February. And yet the disclosures are new. The next versions of these products&#151:

Firefox 3.0.19
Firefox 3.5.9
Thunderbird 3.0.4
SeaMonkey 2.0.4

...are still set to be released Tuesday, March 30.

I contacted Mozilla and got the answer: It seems that Mozilla patched the three common vulnerabilities in the earlier products before patching them in Firefox 3.6. I'm not sure why, but it put them in a position of having to keep those three secret lest they disclose vulnerabilities in Firefox 3.6 before a patch was ready for that version. When a different flaw in 3.6 was publicly disclosed and Mozilla had to issue the patched 3.6.2 early the reason to hold back became moot. They were able to disclose all 7 remaining vulnerabilities in Firefox 3.6, including the three that had already been patched in other products.

I have to wonder what this says about the amount of scrutiny that new releases of Firefox get from researchers. They put out the source code for heaven's sake! All someone would have to do is a diff of the new version against the old version and they would see that more was patched than the disclosures indicated. I have to wonder if the source code comments for those fixes were affected by the need for secrecy.

Vircom Offers Email Security Virtual Machine

2010-03-24T13:58:00.000-05:00

Vircom has unveiled modusGate VM, an e-mail security software platform with built-in anti-spam virtualization.

The idea behind an e-mail security virtual machine is that it can grow at the same rate as an organization's mailbox count and e-mail volume, maximizing the host server's utilization while reducing the need for extra power, cooling, rack and floor space, and maintenance and upgrades.

Administrators can also fire up new virtual e-mail security servers within minutes, instead of hours or days for physical servers, the company said in a statement.

The product works on Windows 2003 and 2008 guest operating systems, and performs spam filtering for both virtual and physical e-mail servers, including Microsoft Exchange 2003, 2007, and 2010.

German Government Office Warns Users Against Firefox

2010-03-24T13:57:00.001-05:00

The Bürger-CERT, a project of the German Federal Office for Information Security, is recommending against using Firefox (German) (English translation) until a known critical vulnerability is patched on March 30.

I must agree with Sophos's Graham Cluley, quoted by the BBC on the matter, that changing browsers every time there's an unpatched vulnerability is not a great strategy. Every product has unpatched vulnerabilities; we just know about this one in Firefox, and it's going to be patched. Better to be careful about what you surf and to employ other security best practices, such as running with least privilege and applying patches promptly.

Twitter and Email Spam Status Reports

2010-03-24T13:55:00.001-05:00

First, the good news. According to Twitter, the amount of spam on their service has been declining steadily since mid-2009 when it reached the outrageous level of 11%. The current number looks to be under 1%.

The graph is impressive, especially since overall traffic has also grown steadily in that period. The periodic spikes in the generally declining curve also make sense, as does the fact that they have become flatter and less frequent over time. Twitter is learning how to recognize and thwart spam campaigns. Personally, I get little or no spam on Twitter, but perhaps I follow the wrong people.

Here are some of the highlights:

The top 4 phishing targets in February, with about 82% of total, are PayPal, eBay, HSBC and Facebook.
The USA is #1 in the world in hosting 13% of spammers.
Links to phishing sites were found in 0.87% of all emails, an increase of 0.06% compared to January.

As for e-mail, a recent report from Kaspersky paints a different picture. Statistically., we're in a rut for some time, with levels staying in the same range for a while now. Kaspersky says that spammers pushing 'medical' products (weight loss, Viagra, etc.) are the most creative in evading filters.

Google Adds Geolocating for Security to GMail

2010-03-24T13:55:00.000-05:00

Fraud using hijacked e-mail accounts, including GMail of course, is a common crime. Consider a very old computer scam where someone hijacks your account and uses it to try to scam money from your contacts. In an entry in the Google Online Security Blog, Pavni Diwanji, Engineering Director for GMail relates experience with this hack and a new technique Google is adding to combat it.

They look at the IP addresses you use to connect to GMail and the geographical area in which they are located. Sudden changes in that area are an indication that the account may have been hijacked. Google will them put up a warning, like the one above. to let you know the location of the last login. From here you can get more details and change your password.

This is not a new technique. Banks, credit cards and other high-value account sites have been using it for years as part of an approach called 'risk-based authentication.' Typically, when they determine a suspicious location change they will challenge you at login with one of your secret questions (mother's maiden name, etc.)

Google's approach is more passive. Of course, as Sarah Palin well knows, secret questions aren't always the toughest nut to crack.

Claim victory over your e-mail

2010-03-23T11:01:00.001-05:00

•	Reference information is information that is not required to complete an action; it is information that you want to keep in case you need it later.
•	Action information is information you must have to complete an action.

13 Terrific Cloud Services for Small Business

2010-03-22T09:27:00.001-05:00

For better or for worse, cloud-computing is the technology of the future. From small businesses to massive corporations like Microsoft are investing more and more resources into cloud-computing. For small businesses, cloud computing hits a particular sweet spot. SMBs reap the benefits of not having to deploy physical infrastructure like file and e-mail servers, storage systems or shrink-wrapped software. Plus, the 'anywhere, anytime' availability of these cloud solutions means hassle-free collaboration between business partners and employees by simply using a browser. But which cloud services should you go for? To help you out we have a baker's dozen cloud-computing services that are perfect for SMBs at PCMag.com.
"

New Rogue AV Intercepts Internet Requests

2010-03-22T09:26:00.001-05:00

A new rogue anti-virus found by Trend Micro adds a new twist to the scam by inserting a DLL into the layered service provider chain.

The LSP chain is a program structure that allows Windows software to handle Winsock requests. Winsock (short for Windows Sockets) is a standard network programming API for Windows, especially for TCP/IP and therefor the Internet.

The DLL in this threat, detected by Trend as TROJ_FAKEAL.SMDO, TROJ_FAKEAL.SMDP, or TROJ_FAKEINIT.BC, when executed, checks to see if it was run through iexplore.exe, firefox.exe, or svchost.exe. If so, and the user opens any of a number of addresses (including facebook.com, youtube.com, and myspace.com), it substitutes the HTML for the page with this text:

Bad BitDefender Update Disables 64-bit Windows Systems

2010-03-22T09:25:00.000-05:00

A buggy update to BitDefender security software for 64-bit Windows systems went horribly awry Friday morning, 3/20. Numerous Windows and BitDefender program files are detected as 'Trojan.FakeAlert.5' and quarantined. After this happens Windows and many programs don't work and the system may not even boot.

BitDefender has already rolled back the update so it is not being served anymore. Patches are available for some systems. Users whose systems are unbootable will have to use the Recovery procedure from the Windows install CD. In addition (but unsurprisingly), BitDefender says that '[M]alware writers have already started to take advantage of this and they are distributing rogue removal tools (when searching for the BD virus name, most of the results redirect to websites that spread malware).' It's important not to trust any 3rd party fixes for this problem. You may have trouble trusting BitDefender at this point, but they're the only ones you should trust for fixes.

The main BitDefender article on this problem (this is the same link as above) is rather confusing for containing the original notice as well as updates. We will attempt here to give more organized instructions:

Home users click here—This looks fairly simple; download and run an update. If it fails, run it in safe mode. If you can't boot, do Windows Startup Recovery from the boot menu. XP users who can't log in to Windows are instructed to contact BitDefender.
BitDefender Business Client users click here—The instructions are somewhat more complex. You have to stop a service first. If the system fails to load you may have to boot off the Windows CD and perform a Repair.
BitDefender Security for File Servers users click here—

Users who still have problems after attempting the fixes can contact BitDefender at for home users and http://www.bitdefender.com/site/Main/contactEmailBusiness/for business solutions.

We have a report from a user that the relevant update did not run for him. He used the Vista recovery tool and now has several malfunctioning applications.

Firefox Updates Scheduled for March 30

2010-03-21T12:34:00.001-05:00

Earlier this week we cited a Mozilla wiki as saying that the next round of Firefox updates would happen March 20 (today). Currently that wiki says March 30.

The wiki entries for Firefox 3.6.2, 3.5.9 and 3.0.19 all say 'Final release: March 30'. SeaMonkey 2.0.4 and Thunderbird 3.0.4 are also scheduled for release that day.

Looking ahead, the platform wiki says that the schedules for the next versions (3.5.10 and 3.6.3) will be posted next week. They will contain '...lots of small regression and security fixes' and 'hopefully out of process plugins for 3.6.3 too!' Version 3.0.19 is the end of the line for that generation.

RIM Unveils BlackBerry Push Service for Third-Party Apps

2010-03-21T12:34:00.000-05:00

Research in Motion has announced it is now offering its BlackBerry Push Service to all third-party app developers, meaning programmers can now push content to end users.

When employed, notifications will pop up on the home screen, letting the user know that one of the apps has new information ready. Then the user can fire up the app, without having to shut down whatever they're currently doing in order to see the new information.

Developers can push content in 8KB increments using the service. Pushes also stack up; this way, multiple apps can deliver information, and a user can check 'em all out at once when ready.

To this end, RIM has unveiled two separate products: BlackBerry Push Essentials, which is free and offers basic functionality, and BlackBerry Push Plus, which lets developers know when pushes are actually delivered. Check out BlackBerry's new landing page on this for more information, or just stare at RIM's confusing diagram (pictured, left).

VIPRE Premium Edition—Suite Without Bloat

2010-03-21T12:32:00.000-05:00

Sunbelt Software's VIPRE Antivirus 4.0 tested out pretty well - almost as well as top scorers Norton Antivirus 2010 and Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 2010. For those who want a little more protection without the baggage of a full suite, VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0 may be just what the doctor ordered. With VIPRE Premium, you get anti-malware and a firewall, period. It doesn't include parental control, spam filtering, network management, file encryption, system tune-up, private data protection, or any of the other myriad features that have popped up in other suites.

The mini-suite's malware protection features are identical to those of the non-Premium VIPRE with the addition of a module that blocks access to known bad web sites. 'Bad' here can either mean a site known to host malware or a phishing (fraudulent) site that will try to steal your private information. Phishing sites are ephemeral - they can come and go in a couple days, or a couple hours. VIPRE Premium's anti-phishing database didn't quite keep up. In testing, it was less effective than Internet Explorer alone (though VIPRE plus Internet Explorer caught almost as many phishing sites as anti-phishing champion Norton Internet Security 2010).

As for the firewall, it offers a somewhat unfortunate trade-off. In its default 'no popups' configuration it stealths all ports and prevents unauthorized programs from accepting inbound Internet connections, but that's all. It doesn't offer outbound program control and its advanced protective features are disabled. Switching to the high-powered 'Learning' mode enabled full-scale program control plus the Intrusion Detection System and Host Intrusion Prevention System... but you have to respond to a lot of typical confusing firewall popups. And for testing Sunbelt suggested I crank the protection level even higher, resulting in even more popups.

Sunbelt has a good idea here. There's definitely an audience looking for the essentials in security protection with nothing non-essential. If they can give the product's features more intelligence it'll be killer. What do I mean 'more intelligence'? Read the review!

Reduce stress and stay organized while running errands

2010-03-20T20:11:00.000-05:00

A day of running errands can be stressful for anyone. A simple journey around town can involve a great deal of coordination, from planning what you need and where to go to finding a simple route around town that hits all the necessary destinations. Technology can help you get organized and reduce some of this stress.

Tip #1: Plan ahead using the Web
Before you set out, use the Web to check the local weather and possible traffic around town. You might also want to check the hours of operation for the stores you plan to visit; many times stores will post this information on their Web sites. You can use MSN for most planning needs.

Tip #2: Know your budget
Errands usually involve spending money, so double check to ensure that you have sufficient funds for your transactions. Determine your balance before you head out so you know how much you can spend. Personal finance software, like Microsoft Money, can help save you time.

Tip #3: Use a PDA to help you stay on track
A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or Smartphone can be very helpful while on the road. You don't want to forget anything while you're out and about, so use your PDA to keep track of your different lists for shopping. Be sure to install Windows Mobile software and you will also be able to access Internet Explorer.

Tip #4: Travel efficiently—map your shopping route
There are several devices available for in-car navigation. If you're looking for something affordable and easy to use, software might be the way to go. Microsoft Streets & Trips with GPS Locator can turn your laptop into a powerful navigation system.

Tip #5: Keep the kids entertained
Spending a lot of time in the car can be boring for children. To help alleviate their boredom, bring along some toys or travel games to keep them occupied and entertained. Consider bringing a laptop with Microsoft Encarta, which is both educational and entertaining, and doesn't require an Internet connection.

Read the full article from Meredith Williams.

"

"Highly Critical" Vulnerability In Firefox To Be Patched March 30

2010-03-19T11:34:00.000-05:00

A report by Secunia of an unpatched remote code execution vulnerability in current versions of Firefox has been confirmed by Mozilla. Secunia adds that there is supposed to be private exploit code written, although they haven't seen it.

Mozilla responded with a security blog entry saying they were contacted directly by Evgeny Legerov, the researcher who found the bug. He provided them with sufficient information to reproduce it. The fix has already been written and will be included in an update scheduled for release on March 30.

The Secunia advisory says that it has only been confirmed on Firefox 3.6, but may also affect other versions. As we pointed out yesterday, the upcoming updates will include 3.0.19, the final version of the Firefox 3.0.x generation.

Intel Retains Bragging Rights With Gulftown 6-Core Processor

2010-03-19T08:11:00.000-05:00

"Intel today formally announced that the Core i7-980X Extreme processor--the 6-core chip code-named 'Gulftown' manufactured on the company's 32nm process--are up this morning, and the results are pretty much what you'd expect: The chip seems to easily surpass the current Core i7 as the fastest desktop processor, although it's clearly not aimed at the mainstream market.

Intel shared a lot of the technical details behind the 6-core chip based on the 'Westmere' architecture at the ISSCC show last month. This chip, called 'Gulftown' in the desktop version and 'Westmere-EP' in the server version, is a 1.17-billion transistor chip with 12 megabytes of Level 3 cache. It supports up to 12 simultaneously threads. Compared with the existing Core i7 desktop chips (known as 'Bloomfield' or 'Lynnfield' and based on the 45nm 'Nehalem' core), it has 6 cores instead of 4 and 12 megabytes of cache instead of 8. That's a 50 percent improvement in both areas, in roughly the same size and power envelope. In other words, Moore's Law continues.

PC Mag has a story on the release here and ExtremeTech has some benchmarks here. Lots of other sites have benchmarks, with the best I've seen at Tech Report, Tom's Hardware and Legit Reviews.

The first benchmarks indicate pretty much what you'd expect. On applications that take advantage of multiple cores - such as many image rendering and high-performance computing applications, you see very notable improvements. (Often around 50%, reflecting 50% more cores and 50% more cache.)

On some very specialized items, the new chip does even better: the Westmere family includes special hardware for AES encryption and decryption, so those operations are much faster. But on applications that are sequential or can only use one or two cores, you don't see much difference at all.

Like the previous Core i7 Extreme, the 980X has a list price of about $1,000, so it really only goes in the highest-end systems; and in systems built by hobbyists. (Expect to see versions at somewhat slower clock speeds for less money shortly). That means the chip makes sense for high-performance and certain compute-intensive applications. You will also find it in some high-end gaming systems, although it will probably make less of a difference there. (In fact, most gamers would be better off spending the difference between this and a lower-end dual-or quad-core processor on a high-end ATI or Nvidia graphics solution.)

Of course, AMD will be coming up with its own 6-core chip, code-named 'Thuban' and now confirmed to be called Phenom II X6, shortly.

Both companies have had these chips on their roadmaps for some time now, and it's interesting the different paths AMD and Intel are taking with Intel ahead on manufacturing and emphasizing multi-threading; while AMD has been focusing more on power consumption and price.

For sheer performance, Intel has held the top spot for a while, and with Gulftown, it appears to be certain to hold on to it for this generation.

"

120-Hz Displays: Can People Really See the Difference?

2010-03-18T19:42:00.000-05:00

"I often wonder whether real consumers can tell the difference with some of the newer technologies in the market. A month ago, I got the chance to do an informal test of whether typical people could tell the difference between a 720p and a 1080p LCD display in the real world. This time, I tried a similar test: One set had a 60-Hz refresh rate, the other a 120-Hz refresh. I found the results a bit surprising.

The basic format was the same as last time. I set up a conference room at my office with two very similar 42-inch LCD TVs. Both are quite good 1080p sets made by LG Electronics: the LG 42LH30, which runs at 60 Hz, and the LG 42LH50, which adds a 120-Hz refresh rate as well as a few other features (such as Internet connectivity). For both sets, I used the factory defaults, which is what I think most consumers will actually use at home. I then invited my coworkers to judge which set they preferred, while both were playing back the opening chapter from the recent Star Trek movie on Blu-ray. I did not tell them what the difference was between the sets--I just asked which they preferred.

This is clearly not an ideal test situation. Purists would say the sets should be tested in a darkened room and carefully calibrated for best performance. But the setup I used is representative of the lighting and content many people will see in the real world.

Of the 51 participants, 64 percent said they preferred the 120-Hz set, 30 percent said they preferred the 60-Hz one, and 6 percent had no preference. On average, participants said they noticed the difference from about 10 feet back, though that may have been a factor of the size of the room or how long it took them to notice.

Interestingly, this was an even bigger preference than I saw in the 720p-versus-1080p test. To me, that was a surprise. I've seen some studies that suggest that consumers can't actually see motion blur, such as this one from Ray Soneira of DisplayMate writing for ExtremeTech. Personally, I do notice the difference in refresh rate on tickers moving on screen, say with stock prices, but I'm hard-pressed to see it in most actual video. But after my test, I was surprised at the number of people--mostly younger ones--who told me the 120Hz set was clearly much faster than the other. (And at the time, they hadn't been told there was a speed difference.) Their eyes may just be better than mine.

It is possible participants were noting other differences between the sets--noticing and preferring subtle variations in the color, contrast, and so on,. and of course, the higher-end set should be better on other factors as well. But the big difference in the marketing is the refresh rate. Of course, 30 percent of the sample picked the set with the slower refresh rate, so the difference is clearly not crucial for all TV buyers. Not everyone could see the difference, but I was surprised how many could.

"

Personalize your PC: It’s all about you

2010-03-18T13:23:00.000-05:00

Personalize your PC: It’s all about you: "
There's only one thing better than getting a brand-new PC—getting a brand-new PC set up exactly the way you want it. Take the time up front to do some simple customization and you'll get a PC that truly reflects who you are—and that organizes all your information so you can spend more time on the things that matter.

5 tips for customizing your desktop

Tip #1: Change your desktop background
Right-click anywhere on your desktop and select Personalize. Then choose Desktop Background. If the picture you want to use isn't displayed, simply navigate to the correct folder. Alternatively, you can select any picture on your PC or the Internet, right-click, and select Set as Background.

Tip #2: Customize your theme
To choose the theme that you want to use, right-click on the desktop, select Personalize, and then choose Windows Vista or Windows Classic. Want something completely new? No problem. You can download many different themes from the Internet—simply search for Windows Vista themes (and make sure that you're downloading from a site you trust). Then, when you're choosing a theme, select Browse, and navigate to the folder where you've saved the theme.

Tip #3: Check out Sidebar
If you've recently gotten a new PC running Windows Vista, you'll probably notice the icons running down the right side of your desktop. Each of the icons you see is a Gadget, or a mini program that pulls information straight to your desktop. Delete any Gadgets you don't want by clicking the X on the left side of the Gadget. Add more by right-clicking the plus sign at the top. You can choose from Gadgets already included in Windows Vista, or view hundreds of Gadgets available for download by clicking Get more gadgets online.

Tip #4: Personalize desktop icons
Sometimes it's fun to shake up how desktop icons look, too. Right-click on the desktop, select Personalize, and then click Change Desktop Icons under Tasks on the left-hand side. Then choose the icon you would like to change and click Change Icon. From there, you can view your options. And just like themes, you can download many different icons from the Internet. You can also change the size of your icons by Right-clicking on the desktop and selecting View. Decide whether you want to display icons on the desktop, and then choose between large, medium, and classic (small) icons.

Tip #5: Take advantage of Quick Launch
If there are programs you use regularly, think about putting them on your Quick Launch bar, located right next to the Start icon. To add applications, you can either drag the icon onto your Quick Launch bar, or you can right-click on the icon and select Add to Quick Launch.

Next step: Take the deep dive on personalizing your PC
If you thought customizing your desktop was the only way to stake a claim on your PC, think again. From screensavers and skins to calendars, interacting with your computer has never been easier. Get more tips by reading the full version of this article at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/personalizevista.mspx.
"

How IE and Hotmail Determine a URL is Abusive

2010-03-18T08:08:00.000-05:00

All the major Web browsers use blacklists to attempt to protect you from known malicious Web sites. Some browsers use Google's Safe Browsing API (which Google still calls 'experimental.') But Microsoft's IE8 has dits own, called SmartScreen, built on the Phishing Filter in IE7. Smartscreen checks the site you request against a blacklist they maintain; when you request one that is on the list, you get one of these warnings:

Google's method works similarly from the user's standpoint. But how does it construct its blacklist? That's the subject of an entry in the Windows Team Blog.

Microsoft gets site reputation data from a many sources; it doesn't block a site based on just one report, but once it's in Microsoft's database, its fate depends on its behavior and, potentially, the behavior of other sites: Are other sites on the domain also malicious? Are other sites in the same IP address block also malicious? SmartScreen could end up listing the entire block or domain.

The blog entry was filed on Friday, 3/12. Today, 3 days later, the site is still accessible through Google Chrome in spite of their Safe Browsing API. True, it's only a sample set of 1.

Windows Phone: Hit 'Em Where They Ain't

2010-03-18T08:07:00.000-05:00

I didn't have a chance to get to the Microsoft Mix event this week, but I was able to watch today's keynote via webcast (which isn't the same thing as being there, but it's sure easier than yet another trip to Las Vegas). PCMag's Sascha Segan was there and will have full coverage, but what stood out to me was how strongly Microsoft focused on its own strengths with developers, and only obliquely seemed to aim at other mobile platforms, such as Apple's iPhone and Google's Android.

In the words of baseball's Willie Keeler, they are trying to 'hit 'em where they ain't.'

A lot of this was clear at the Windows Phone 7 introduction at the Mobile World Congress show. But at Mix, a show aimed at developers, this strategy was front and center. To that end, Microsoft announced versions of Visual Studio 2010 Express, XNA Game Studio 4, Silverlight, and Expression Blend for Windows Phone, along with a Windows Phone Emulator. This is important because Microsoft is hoping to convince the developers who are already familiar with its tools for other platforms that moving those applications to Windows Phone is going to be pretty easy.

When I talk with developers, it seems like the world is pretty much split between those who focus on open-source tools and those who focus on Microsoft tools. Of course, there's some overlap, and people who develop for other environments, such as the Mac and more recently, the iPhone. I know many open-source developers who have embraced Android; and now Microsoft is trying to get its developers to embrace Windows Phone in the same way.

The bulk of Microsoft developers tend to use the company's Visual Studio integrated development environment, and that includes both commercial developers and corporate developers. (Microsoft is making available both a free Express version and an add-in to the full Visual Studio product.) The demos in the keynote focused on how easy it was to create an application in Visual Studio and adopt it for both the Windows desktop and Windows Phone.

Even more emphasis was on the Silverlight run-time, with several demos of how that worked on multiple environments, including one demo showing a Silverlight application running on the Mac. (Silverlight is primarily a rich Internet applications environment, competing with Adobe's Flash technology and AIR; which seems to be a key focus of Microsoft's in the transition to the cloud. Silverlight 4 is close to shipment, but Windows Phone 7 seems to use an enhanced version of Silverlight 3 instead.)

The keynote also showed applications written in the XNA Game studio working on the Xbox 360, Windows desktop, and on Windows Phone. In these demos, Microsoft made it sound like it was pretty simple to target an application for multiple platforms, with just a few 'tweaks' for things like different input devices and screen resolution. It was interesting that most of the demos seemed to be of commercial applications and games, not corporate applications, but you know that has to be a part of the mix as well.

Whether it is corporate developers or game developers, Microsoft seems
to be strongly going after groups of developers who may be interested in
writing for smart phones but haven't been really focused on the iPhone
or Android. Apple doesn't really target corporate developers, and Google
is mainly pushing for Internet-based applications. Neither Apple nor
Google has a game console, though I've seen a lot of games for the
iPhone lately, and more showing up on Android.

There are some big hurdles. We've all heard stories about how easy it is
to port applications between platforms, but the devil is always in the
details. We'll see how well this goes in the real world.

And Microsoft is going to have to convince its developers that it is
serious enough about Windows Phone 7 to justify the migration. A number
of developers are already upset that Windows Phone 6.5 and below
applications won't run on the platform, so Microsoft is going to have to
convince them that it is worthwhile to move those applications as well.
Given that iPhone and Android have more momentum in the marketplace,
that's a difficult task. But Microsoft is certainly giving it a big
push, and using its unique strength with developers as a way to fight
back.

"

What Do Targeted Attacks Look Like?

2010-03-17T12:23:00.000-05:00

You don't often get to see what an actual targeted attack looks like. These are usually in the form of an e-mail sent to a narrow group of people or a single person. The message is tailored to their interests, may be sent 'From:' someone they know (like the boss), and has a malicious attachment.

F-Secure's latest blog entry shows us some examples.

The first one, I must say, would make me suspicious immediately, as it refers for former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson as the 'Former Minister of Finance.' Other than that, they are well-written, unlike most malicious notes which appear to be written by non-native English speakers. They all have plausible messages. One comes from a Yahoo address, one GMail and one AOL. They are probably all legit addresses, but not necessarily set up by the people whose names are used for them.

Note that all 3 sample messages have PDF attachments. Note it, but don't be surprised by it.

Google: Escape Microsoft Exchange in Four Steps

2010-03-17T11:43:00.000-05:00

For a while now, Google has offered its Google Apps For Business (and Education) customers sync services with Outlook and Blackberries, and last year, it introduced a migration tool for users of Lotus Notes. As of today, the company is finally getting serious about taking over the office productivity tools world with the Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Exchange utility.

Arguably, most businesses small and (especially) large use MS Exchange servers in-house for email and to store contacts and calendars shared among employees. Google claims its Migration utility provides a four-step process to get all that data ported to the cloud-based Apps for Business.

You simply enter credentials for the Exchange server and for the Google Apps account, provide a list of users (or set it to migrate the entire domain), and then pick which data you wish to migrate. Finally, you get some specifics on how much or when you wish to move the data--this way you can manage the bandwidth and continue to use the Exchange server as you go. Set the migration utility to run on multiple systems and that can help. Then let it rip.

Google says it has trotted the utility out to several test customers, big and small, to uniformly good reviews. However, if you're not comfortable doing it yourself, the new Google Apps Marketplace might help. There are service providers who are now Google Apps partners that can offer advice, if not do the work outright of moving you from Exchange to Apps.

The Exchange Migration tool is free for any Google Apps for Business or Education subscribers. (It's not for the standard edition, once called Google Apps for Your Domain, which provides Apps to smaller organizations or groups, or even families and very small businesses--anyone with their own domain name).

Google Apps for Business costs $50 per user per year and includes 25GB of storage per user, secure connections, and service-level agreement guarantees of 99.9 percent up-time.
"

VIPRE Strikes Back at Malware

2010-03-17T10:47:00.000-05:00

VIPRE Strikes Back at Malware: "

Sunbelt Software's VIPRE Antivirus 4.0 is like one of those bright kids in class who knows the answers but doesn't show off. It does a very good job at cleaning up malware and keeping malware from infesting a clean system, though not quite as good as the very top products such as Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 2010 and Norton Antivirus 2010. It does offer some bonus tools more commonly found in security suites than in standalone anti-malware programs, and I especially like Sunbelt's support policies.

I've commented on the different ways security companies think of tech support. Sunbelt's policy is very clear. When
you buy VIPRE they will make sure it cleans up any malware on
your system. If the malware keeps VIPRE from installing their tech
support experts will handle the situation. If VIPRE can't clean up a
problem they'll work through any necessary remediation. As you can tell,
I like this policy.

In my own testing I ran into problems installing VIPRE on two
malware-infested test systems. Tech support pointed me at the free VIPRE Rescue
command-line scanner, which cleaned up both systems enough to allow
installation of the full product. This VIPRE Rescue scanner is free for
anyone to use; give it a try if your anti-malware software needs a
helping hand. Just remember to download a new copy on each use, as
Sunbelt updates it daily with the latest malware definitions.

As for those bonus tools, VIPRE includes a secure deletion ('shred')
utility, a cleanup tool for erasing traces of browsing and other
computer use, and an advanced 'PC Explorer'. This last tool offers a
view of numerous system areas that can harbor malware. For example, it
will list all running processes, all installed browser add-ons, and all
programs that launch at startup. It flags each program as safe, unknown,
suspicious, or hazardous. Advanced users will definitely appreciate
these tools.

VIPRE did well in my malware-removal tests and even better when I
tested its ability to protect a clean system. I do have some concerns
about its behavior-based advanced protection, but that feature is
turned off by default. For more details, see my full review of VIPRE Antivirus 4.0.

Six-Core Desktops and Spreadsheets: A Mixed Result

2010-03-17T10:43:00.000-05:00

Now that the first six-core desktops are out, I wanted to see how the big spreadsheets I often use for tests would perform. I tested on the first couple of Gulftown systems that PCMag received and ended up with good results, but I didn't always see the performance improvements I expected. My results point out the strengths and limitations of multicore computing when it comes to heavy-duty applications.

Both machines I tested used the Intel Core i7-980 Extreme Edition, which has six cores and 12 threads. The core's official speed is 3.33 GHz, but the Extreme Edition designation means it was designed to be overclocked--and both vendors did just that. The machines had different speeds of memory, which also should impact performance.

One was the Falcon Northwest Mach V, which had a 4.18-MHz version of the processor and 12GB of 1,333-MHz DDR3 memory. The other was a Maingear Shift, with the processor at 4.3 GHz and 6GB of 2,000-MHz DDR3 memory. Both had SSDs as boot disks as well as hard drives, though I don't believe that has any impact on performance, and the spreadsheets are loaded in memory. They also had ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics, though again that's irrelevant to spreadsheets. (I'm not going to try to review the machines here. For PCMag's reviews, click on the links above.)

For comparison, I looked at how these machines did on my basic Excel 2007 spreadsheet tests versus the fastest machine I had previously tested -- an overclocked Falcon Northwest Mach V running a previous generation of the Intel Core i7-965 quad-core chip at 3.99GHz. There's a slight difference in clock speed, but the bigger difference is that the older version was a 45nm quad-core chip; while the new one is a 32nm six-core one.

A Monte Carlo simulation I tried took 3.5 seconds on the quad-core system, compared with 2.5 seconds on the Falcon Northwest six-core system and 2.4 on the Maingear one. (The difference between the two six-core systems is not significant; I'm not that accurate on the stopwatch. As a result, it may be time to get a new test. When I started using this, it took 78 seconds on a Pentium D-based system.) That's a notable improvement in moving from the four-core system to a six-core one. Monte Carlo simulations in Excel really take advantage of a multithreaded system, and this shows up quite clearly.

On a pivot table with 87,000 rows of data, it took 48 seconds on the quad-core system, 35 seconds on the Falcon Northwest, and 34 second on the Maingear. Again, it's a nice improvement.

But my toughest test is a very large data table-driven spreadsheet, which took 56 minutes on the quad-core, 56 minutes on the Falcon Northwest six-core, and 51 minutes on the Maingear six-core. Earlier, I had seen big improvements here based on improved clock speeds, but moving from four cores to six didn't seem to move the needle much (and this in a spreadsheet where the differences are really notable).

As I looked more closely at this spreadsheet while looking at performance under task manager, it became apparent that most of the time it was really only using four threads. In this case, the slight improvement in clock speed and the faster memory did seem to make a difference, but more cores didn't.

In part, this is the problem that we're seeing with lots of desktop applications. Many are sequential, in which case multiple cores or multiple threads don't help. And many applications have yet to be fully designed for multiple cores. Excel 2007, for example, was designed to make use of multiple cores only in certain special situations, such as Monte Carlo simulations; the upcoming Excel 2010 adds more support for multitasking but still not for every function . (I'll write a bit more about this in a later post.)

The bottom line is that for some things, the additional cores make a big difference; for others they don't. And that's just in one application.

"

Will OS 5.0 developer tools ever leave beta?

2010-03-16T16:36:00.000-05:00

So it's the middle of March 2010 and the OS 5.0 development tools provided by RIM are still in a public beta. To the average BlackBerry user this is not a problem, but to a developer like myself this is becoming quite disconcerting. Before we analyze what's wrong with this situation let's take a moment to review a few interesting release dates regarding OS 5.0.

Late May 2009 - The first beta release for the Java Development Environment 5.0 (JDE for short) is made public.

Late October 2009 - The first official OS 5.0 release is made public.

November 2009 - The fifth beta release for JDE 5.0 is made public.

As of the writing of this article JDE 5.0 Beta 5 is the latest version.

Even before an official OS 5.0 release was out the door RIM was advertising the latest features to developers and encouraging us to start using the new features in our applications. The problem with this situation is how can RIM expect me as a developer and business owner to stake the credibility and reputation of my company's applications on a development tool that RIM has not even classified as an official release? After all, software in the beta stage of development means it works for the most part but it is not something you should be putting your full faith in.

Since the release of JDE 5.0 Beta 5 RIM has been silent on this matter. However, with the WES conference just 6 weeks away I would be willing to wager that RIM will be announcing the official release of JDE 5.0 at or around the time of the conference. But that aside, RIM should not leave developers hanging and wondering about this ongoing and seemingly endless beta process. RIM needs to be more up front and open about this situation.

Discuss this in the BlackberryOS Forums

Mobile blogging made easy

2010-03-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

Mobile blogging made easy: "
Who says you have to be stuck at the computer in order to post to your blog? If you have a mobile phone or PDA with e-mail capability, you can post blog entries to your MSN Space while you're on the road following two simple steps.

1. Create your MSN Space
If you don't yet have your own MSN Space, you can create one by going to http://spaces.msn.com and clicking Create your space. Or if you prefer, you can sign up for your space using your mobile phone. Just use your Web access setting on your phone to go to http://spaces.msn.com, and MSN Spaces will display a text menu that will walk you through the process of creating your space.
Note If for some reason the page doesn't load correctly on your model of cell phone (all cell phones are not created equal!), navigate to http://mobile.spaces.msn.com/ to access the Get your own space option.

2. Set up mobile posting
Posting to your MSN Space is really as easy as sending a message—including text and photos—from your phone to your MSN Space. Once you've set up your space to receive posts by e-mail, the rest is simple. Here are the steps for setting up your MSN Space to receive mobile posts:

Sign in to your MSN Space
Click the Settings tab.
Click the E-mail Publishing tab.
Click the Turn on e-mail publishing checkbox.
Enter the e-mail address from which you'll be sending your blog posts. You can type up to three different addresses.
Enter a secret word that is at least five but not more than 10 characters long (for example, secretwd). This word will be used to create an e-mail address that only you will know.
Let MSN Spaces know whether you want to save the received messages as drafts or post them directly to your site.
Finally, copy the e-mail address that MSN Spaces gives you and add it to the address book that you use on your mobile phone. Your e-mail address will look something like this:
1234567890.secretwd@spaces.msn.com (this is used as an example only).
Click Save to save your changes. Now you can capture your thoughts and photos and e-mail them directly to your MSN Space—whenever inspiration strikes.

Read the full article from Katherine Murray and Mike Torres.

"

Manage your family’s hectic holiday schedule with Windows Calendar

2010-03-16T16:18:00.001-05:00

With Windows Vista, I can now plan and manage my own activities, as well as coordinate the rest of my family's activities, in a single calendar. Windows Calendar is built right into Windows Vista and offers automated integration features that make it the easiest calendar I've seen for groups of people to use. Windows Calendar lets you set up multiple calendars, and then gives you the option of viewing one calendar at a time or comparing multiple calendars. Calendar setup is fast and easy; you just select different colors for each person. When compared side by side, this color feature makes it easy to see who's doing what at any given time—a literal lifesaver for anyone who needs to manage a variety of schedules.

Set up and compare family calendars
I have set up a calendar for each person in my family, and the integration aspect of Windows Calendar lets me compare our day's activities side by side, which has been an immense help to me. Now, for example, when I need to know whether my husband can take our daughter to an activity, I just glance at the calendar to check his schedule. Setting up your calendar is very logical and simple.

Here's how to create calendars for each person in your family in Windows Calendar:

Click the Start button in Windows Vista. Type 'Calendar' in the Start Search box.
Click Windows Calendar from the results under Programs.
A calendar will open with the name of the person assigned to the computer. If the calendar that opened doesn't have your name attached to it, that's okay. Just follow the remaining steps to create a new one for you or anyone else in your family who needs one.
In Windows Calendar, click File, and then New Calendar.
When the new calendar appears, type a name for it in the Calendars task pane on the left. Click Enter.

Note: All calendar names will appear in the Calendars task pane. Placing a check mark next to one allows you to see it along with other calendars. Remove a check mark and you won't see the calendar.

In the Details pane on the right, select the color that you want to use. This color will help you identify various calendars quickly. If you can't see the Details pane, click the View menu and then click Details Pane.

That's it! Now you're ready to create appointments and tasks. Click New Appointment or New Task in the toolbar and fill in the required information. When the details for tasks and appointments are filled in, the calendar will populate with the information in the appropriate color for the person involved.

There are lots of cool things you can do with Windows Calendar. Read the full article by S.E. Slack to find out how you can:

Import information from calendar Web sites that use the iCalendar format
Publish your own calendar to the Web
Send e-mail appointments and invitations to friends and family directly from your calendar

Secure your laptop while travelling this holiday season

2010-03-16T09:17:00.001-05:00

Secure your laptop while travelling this holiday season: "
Using your laptop to get work done away from your office or on the road is becoming widely accepted. But this rapid growth in laptop computing has made portable systems the target for theft around the world. If your laptop computer is stolen, company information can be exposed, as well as your personal and financial information. Use these tips to learn how you can keep your laptop more secure when you're on the road.

Avoid using computer bags. Computer bags can make it obvious that you're carrying a laptop. Instead, try toting your laptop in something more common like a padded briefcase or suitcase.
Never leave access numbers or passwords in your carrying case. Keeping your password with your laptop is like keeping the keys in the car. Without your password or important access numbers it will be more difficult for a thief to access your personal and corporate information.
Carry your laptop with you. Always take your laptop on the plane or train rather thaen checking it with your luggage. It's easy to lose luggage and it's just as easy to lose your laptop. If you're traveling by car, keep your laptop out of sight. For example, lock it in the trunk when you're not using it.
Encrypt your data. If someone should get your laptop and gain access to your files, encryption can give you another layer of protection. With Windows XP and Windows Vista you can choose to encrypt files and folders. Then, even if someone gains access to an important file, they can't decrypt it and see your information. Learn more about how to encrypt your data with Windows XP or encrypt your data with Windows Vista.
Keep your eye on your laptop. When you go through airport security don't lose sight of your bag. Hold your bag until the person in front of you has gone through the metal detector. Many bags look alike and yours can easily be lost in the shuffle.

For more tips, read the full article at www.microsoft.com/atwork/stayconnected/laptopsecurity.mspx.
"

Getting a new PC? Protect and purge files now

2010-03-15T15:05:00.001-05:00

When you stop and think about it, your home computer holds a lot of information about you—credit card numbers, bank account details, passwords, medical information, Web sites you've visited, and those deep, dark secrets you share with your best friend via e-mail.

There naturally comes a time when you're ready for an upgrade, whether it be a bigger hard drive or an entirely new PC. But what should you do with the old one? And what about the information on it? You need to remove this information whether you donate it, sell it, or trash it. The following tips will get you started:

Tip #1: Why 'delete' isn't enough

Many people think that clearing their history, deleting files and cookies, and emptying their computer's recycle bin is enough. Not so, according to IT specialist Tony Lum. He says that's like removing the table of contents in a book. The chapters (or your files, in this case) are still there, they're just harder to find.

What you've actually done is remove a particular file from the disk's index. The file itself still exists on your hard disk. For the average person it's harder to recover, but an experienced programmer (or hacker) could easily locate the file. Previous or temporary versions of the file might also be saved under different names.

You need to go one step further and overwrite your data. Lum recommends you back up everything you want to keep on your hard drive and then run hard-drive wiping software, which will overwrite your information with random ones and zeros. He also recommends you use a program that overwrites your data more than once. The more it's overwritten, the harder it is to recover.

Tip #2: Select software to wipe your hard drive clean

Is it impossible to retrieve your information afterward? Not 100 percent, but Lum says that unless the CIA is after you, you should be in the clear after using one of these disk-erasing tools that are available for download online:

Active KillDisk: This free hard-drive eraser overwrites data using zeros. You can upgrade to the professional version that conforms to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) standards.
Softpedia/DP Wiper: IT consultant Daniel Gresser recommends freeware programs from Softpedia, like DP Wipter, which overwrites in from one to 35 passes and has DOD-compliant wiping.
WipeDrive: WipeDrive overwrites your data as many times as you like and runs a verification test.

'Always keep a record of where all important files are stored,' says Gresser, who recommends deleting each file by dropping it into DP Wiper and selecting the type of wipe required.

Unless you take the hard drive out and keep it, to get a PC ready for sale, Gresser suggests that PC users delete the following using DP Wiper or a similar program:

Everything in My Documents folder.
All temporary Internet files.
All cookies.
All files relating to personal and financial matters that may have been stored in folders other than My Documents.
All e-mail: Outlook Express users need to search for and delete .dbx files and Outlook users need to search for and delete .pst files. This will send them to the recycle bin for secure deletion. Also, remember to remove all e-mail account settings and passwords.

Tip #3: Reinstall your operating system to overwrite files

Your operating system's installation CD should allow you to simultaneously reinstall and clear your hard drive. Lum says this should be enough to prevent the average person from obtaining personal information from your hard drive. However, he says he's managed to salvage data from computers using third-party software even after an operating system was reinstalled.

Read the full article by Alyson Munroe for more tips.

Tips to help you work less and relax more in 2009

2010-03-15T15:04:00.000-05:00

Certainly, today's always-on-and-available-anywhere technology can lead to addictive work habits. We've all seen examples of that among friends and family.

But having a cheap, convenient, 24/7 global reach through technology can also efficiently enable you to live the life you've always wanted. The choice is yours.

Here are some affordable tools and ideas that harness technology's power to save you time and money.

Use Voice-over-Internet protocol phone service (VoIP) to create a virtual office.
To maintain a professional phone line and still travel, take time off or live abroad, VoIP telephone services are a terrific help. You've probably heard about such affordable services, which, basically, use the Internet to send and receive calls. Usually, you pay only for Internet access and not for calls, much the way e-mail works.

There are dozens of VoIP providers to choose among. Try a Web search if you don't know one.
Use online services for office communications and banking.
If you host your company computers on external servers, you can access all e-mail, files, and financial information or transactions from any Internet café. (Of course, you do want to have privacy safeguards in place when working this way.)
Leverage the power of a professional Web site.
Setting up a Web site, more than any other technological helpmate, will shave considerable time and effort from your workdays.

With a professional site, you can more efficiently conduct business, fulfill orders, organize contacts, share documents with employees or contractors, and market your wares or services, even when you're out of the office or on the road.

For more about launching a site, see the Microsoft Office Live Small Business offerings. Once your site is up, you can bolster its effectiveness by keeping customers, stakeholders, or media up-to-date with an online media kit.
Use your site features to stay in touch with customers.
With so many marketing channels and consumer options these days, increasingly, it's the business that quickly responds to customer needs that gains a competitive advantage. You can use your Web site to 'listen' and react to what your customers request.

For example:

Set up an online forum so customers can register and post comments to you and to each other.
Set up a survey that customers can take online. This can be a focus group type of survey (say, about a new product) or a customer satisfaction survey.
Set up a special e-mail address and ask customers for specific feedback or advice whenever you launch a new product, service, or special promotion.

To get more tips, read the full article by by Joanna L. Krotz.
"

How To Get Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit 7600 build for free

2010-03-14T15:33:00.000-05:00

Windows Phone 7 Series Theme - Beta Video

2010-03-14T15:12:00.000-05:00

WINDOWS XP Tricks

2010-03-14T15:08:00.000-05:00

In this video I will show you some tricks for Windows XP.

Windows 7 - First Look Part 1 Review

2010-03-14T14:54:00.001-05:00

50 expert tips to make your PC faster

2009-08-18T23:04:00.001-05:00

50 expert tips to make your PC faster

The road to a faster PC starts by properly optimizing your hardware. While some of these procedures can be risky, they can also prove very effective, often delivering direct and noticeable performance gains in every area of your system.

1. Update the BIOS

Upgrading your PC's BIOS, or firmware in other devices like the router, could be a quick way to improve performance, fix bugs and even add new features. Look for the current BIOS version number on your boot screen or in the BIOS set-up program and then visit the manufacturer's site to check for recent upgrades.

2. Disable unwanted devices

Speed up the boot process by turning off motherboard devices that you're not using, such as integrated sound, graphics, extra network ports and so on. Look for a BIOS set-up menu called something like Integrated Peripherals to find the options that you need.

Once Windows starts, launch Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), locate any remaining unwanted devices, right-click them and select 'Disable' to save more resources. Be careful, though – disable the wrong device and you're likely to find that your PC won't be able to reboot. If you're in any doubt about what a service does, look it up on the internet or leave it well alone.

3. Kick-start your PC

Optimizing your BIOS settings will make for a quicker boot. Turn off the extended memory test, since it's useless, then turn on a QuickBoot or FastBoot mode (the names may vary) for a little extra speed.

Next, browse your BIOS set-up program looking for the boot order settings (often found under a Boot or Startup | Boot menu), which is a list that determines where your system looks for bootable devices.

Make sure that your hard drive comes right at the top of the list to avoid your system wasting time checking other devices. If you need to boot from CD later on (typically to install a new operating system or run a Live CD), you can temporarily change it back.

4. Get rid of USB checks

If you leave a USB drive connected to your PC and it appears in the boot order before your hard drive, then your PC will give the drive some time to initialise before checking whether it's bootable. In some BIOSes this time is called the USB Mass Storage Delay, and it can be determined by you.

If you never boot from a USB drive then set this to the lowest available figure to minimise any delay. If you find that you need to boot from a USB device in the future, simply increase the figure again.

5. Overclock the CPU

Overclocking your CPU – or running it faster than its rated speed – can get you 10 to 20 per cent more performance for a few minutes' work. There are risks, though. More speed means more heat and maybe more voltage too.

You'll use more power, and components will have a greater chance of failing – so don't try this unless you're willing to accept the risks of doing so. Assuming you are, launch your BIOS set-up program and look for the overclocking settings (try the Advanced menu). Exactly what's available depends on your hardware, but in principle increase your CPU and memory frequencies just a little.

Boot your system and stress-test it with tools such as memtest86+ and OCCT to confirm that all is well. If it is, increase the frequencies a little more, and see what happens; if not, reduce the frequencies or increase the voltages (VCore, memory voltage), which should allow you to run a little faster (although doing this also risks burning out your components).

Don't do anything until you know what's appropriate for your hardware, though. The Extreme Overclocking forum is a great place to find out more.

6. Safely overclock the CPU

If you've got an Intel Core 2 Duo or Core i7 CPU, check your BIOS for a setting like 'Intel Dynamic Acceleration' or 'Turbo Mode', and ensure it's turned on. This handy setting will automatically overclock one core while shutting off the others, improving single-threaded performance.

If you're already overclocking, though, this setting stands a good chance of locking up your PC. Disable it and you may be able to push things just a little bit further.

7. Clean your laptop fan

Over time, the fans and vents on a laptop will become covered with dust, hairs and assorted gunk. The system then runs hotter, so your fan is on for longer and battery life falls. Worse still, your CPU speeds may be throttled to try and reduce the temperature. It's a very good idea to open the case and carefully clean away any dust to make sure that the airflow is unobstructed.

8. Speed up graphics

Overclocking your graphics card can give games a little extra zip. How you get to the right settings will vary, but on our test PC, you right-click the desktop, select Nvidia Control Panel | Adjust GPU settings and choose 'Custom clock frequencies' to find the 'Core bus and memory bus' figures.

Increase them just a little to give more speed. After that, it's much like overclocking your CPU: test that everything is OK, increase the clock rate again if it is, wind the settings back a little if your PC crashes and repeat until your system is stable. You can read more on ATI and Nvidia tweaks at TweakGuides.

9. Safely speed up graphics

Some BIOSes offer very basic PCI Express graphics card overclocking with a setting called 'PEG link mode'. If you don't intend to try more intensive overclocking, set this to its highest setting (usually Faster) and you should see a little extra speed.

10. Optimise the RAM

It takes time to access your RAM, but you can minimise this delay by playing around with the BIOS memory timings. There's normally a timing entry set to By SPD, which means that your system uses the default timing values set by your RAM. Set this to Disabled or User defined and you can choose your own timings.

Look for CAS Latency, say, reduce it by one setting, reboot and test that your system is working correctly. Repeat until your PC becomes unstable, then increase the value by one and move on to something else (check your BIOS documentation for more).

Crashes here could stop your PC booting at all, even into the BIOS, so make sure that you know how to reset your BIOS to its default settings before you start messing around with any values.

11. Edit the BIOS

If your Nvidia drivers are proving unhelpful, then there is another way to ramp up your graphics performance – edit the BIOS directly. Of course, this is also the quickest way to trash your card altogether. Don't try this unless you're willing to take the risk.

To do it, download a copy of Nibitor and then run it. Click Tools | Read BIOS | Select device, choose your graphics card and click 'OK', then click Tools | Read BIOS | Read into Nibitor to start experimenting. Annoyed that you can't change the shader clock in the driver?

Just click the Clock rates tab and change it to whatever you like. Tweak the other settings, click File | Save and then use a tool like NVFlash to update your card. See www.mvktech.net for more detailed instructions.

12. Stop network throttling

Windows Vista limits network transfers when you're playing multimedia files to stop your music or video skipping. Great idea, but it can reduce performance on some high-speed network connections.

To fix this, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile and create a new DWORD value called NetworkThrottlingIndexValue.

Set this to values between one and 70 (10 is the default, higher values mean less throttling) or FFFFFFFF to disable throttling completely.

13. Turbocharge GMA

Many laptops use Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) video chipset, which is too slow for most games or other graphics-intensive packages. Some low-voltage GMA chipsets are drastically underclocked, though, and are able to perform far better than the default settings suggest.

GMABooster takes advantage of this to increase your GMA clock rate by x2.4, without voltage changes or affecting system stability.

14. Disable acoustic mode

Some BIOSes contain a setting that makes your hard drive run more quietly. This sounds great, but unfortunately it negatively affects performance.

If you're more concerned with increasing your system's speed than reducing the amount of noise it makes, check your BIOS program for a setting like HDD Acoustic mode (it's in the Performance section on Dell desktops, for example) and make sure that it's set to 'Performance' rather than 'Quiet'.

15. Enlarge the cache

Windows Vista stores your hard drive writes in a cache. This helps it to write data more efficiently and improves performance. To run faster still, launch devmgmt.msc, expand the Disk Drives section, right-click your drive, select Properties | Policies and check Enable advanced performance.

Windows now uses a larger cache and writes from it less often, improving performance but also increasing the risk of data loss if the drive loses power.

16. Use ReadyBoost (or not)

Windows Vista can use high-speed USB flash drives to cache data and hopefully improve performance. To try it out, plug in a USB device and then confirm that you'd like to use it with ReadyBoost if you're asked. If you're not, go to Computer, right-click the device and select Properties.

If the feature can be used, there will be a ReadyBoost tab; click this, select Use this device, choose the space that you'd like to give to Windows and click OK.

Alternatively, if you have no interest in using ReadyBoost, turn it off to save a few system resources. To do this, launch services.msc, double-click ReadyBoost, click Stop and set Startup type to Disabled.

17. Avoid Wi-Fi interference

Poor wireless network performance is sometimes down to interference, perhaps because your neighbours are also running a Wi-Fi network on the same channel. To find out if this is happening, run a network detector like Inssider or Vistumbler to see what's going on.

If you find that your neighbours already have wireless kit working on channel 11 (a common default) then switch your kit to channel six, say, to see a real performance boost.

18. Try CompactFlash cards

They're more expensive and less portable than USB flash drives, but CompactFlash cards can be much faster to use. If your system has an internal reader (so not one connected via USB) then give one a go; we tested the SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash card and found that it delivered speeds of over 40MBps, more than twice what you'll see with many USB drives. It also worked with ReadyBoost on our PC and delivered a noticeable improvement in performance.

19. Reformat your USB drive

If you must stick with USB drives instead of switching to CompactFlash cards, make sure that they're formatted using the best filesystem. NTFS delivers the worst performance, so avoid it like the plague.

FAT32 is better, but if you only need to use the drive on Vista systems then use exFAT for the best speeds.

To reformat your USB drive, right-click on it, select Format and then choose either FAT32 or exFAT in the File System list. See TestFreaks for some benchmark figures.

20. Up the DRDY thingy

The BIOS DRDY (Device Ready) timing setting configures how quickly IDE or SATA devices will become available after they've completed their existing commands.

Changing this setting to its highest possible option (which is usually Optimise) will improve system performance a little, but it could also result in a crash or even data loss. As always with potentially dangerous tweaks, experiment with it at your own risk.

21. Streamline PC startup

Your PC will boot more quickly if you give it less work to do during the start-up process. Remove discs from your DVD drives and Windows won't wait while they spin up. Unplug USB devices that you won't be using for a while, and your system won't load drivers unnecessarily.

Finally, use Autoruns to display and strictly limit the number of programs that launch when Windows starts, and Startup Delayer to postpone the launch of non-critical start-up programs for a minute or two, letting your PC focus on booting up instead of running apps.

22. Disable services

Save your system resources by disabling unnecessary services. If you have Windows Vista and don't use Media Center, for instance, then launch services.msc, double-click the Windows Media Center Extender, Receiver and Scheduler services and set their Startup Type to Disabled. Black Viper's website has more.

Vista users can also delay the launch of non-critical services, which can help your PC to start a little faster. To try this out, launch services.msc, double-click something you won't need immediately and set its Startup Type to Automatic (delayed start). Now reboot to see if it makes a noticeable change.

23. Decrease waiting time

If your PC has two or more operating systems then you'll see a boot menu when it starts. To decrease the amount of time it waits before choosing the default setting, right-click Computer, select Properties | Advanced system settings | Startup and recovery settings, choose your default OS and set the Time to display list of operating systems to something like 10 seconds.

24. Log in automatically

If you're the only person who uses your PC, you can save time by logging in automatically. Be aware that this does introduce a security risk, however, as anyone with access to your system can do the same thing.

Launch the command control userpasswords2, uncheck Users must enter a user name and password, click OK, enter the log-on user name and password if you're prompted and click OK again to enable automatic login.

25. Browse the event viewer

Windows Vista analyses every boot and shutdown, then records any programs that are slowing you down. To have a look for yourself, launch eventvwr.msc, expand Applications and services logs | Microsoft | Windows | Diagnostics – performance | Operational, and click on the Warning, Error and Critical events.

Sometimes Vista gets this wrong, but if the same name keeps coming up then remove, update or reinstall the app to speed up your PC.

26. Prioritise programs

If you're running lots of programs simultaneously but one is particularly important, you can make the CPU give it a high priority. To do so, press [CTRL]+[Shift]+[Esc] to launch Task Manager, right-click the app and select Go to process.

Then right-click the process, select Set priority | Above normal, and it may now get more CPU time. Alternatively, set a resource-hogging app to Below normal priority and other programs should become faster. Don't tweak critical or system processes, though, or your PC may crash.

27. Recover Vista resources

If you don't use the sidebar then right-click it, select Properties and clear Start Sidebar to prevent it loading in future. If you've installed your own antivirus software then you don't need Windows Defender.

Launch Defender; click Tools | Options, scroll down to Administrator options and deselect the Use Windows Defender box. You can also either turn off Aero to save a big chunk of RAM, or optimise it by right-clicking Computer, selecting Properties | Advanced | Performance settings and choosing Adjust for best performance.

The indexing service is useful, helping you find files and folders at speed, and it only runs when your PC is idle. Still, some say turning it off makes a real performance difference. If you rarely use the search function then launch services.msc, double-click Windows Search, click Stop and set Startup Type to Disabled to turn it off.

28. Replace Windows search

If you have turned Windows searching off, replace it with the utility Everything. This runs far more quickly, and it builds its database from the NTFS Master File Table, so no disk crawling is required.

It only works with NTFS though, and can't search the contents of files. If your search problems are with Outlook, take a look at Xobni, which the authors say is up to 50 times faster than the default Windows keyword search.

29. Copy more quickly

If Windows takes forever to copy files, use TeraCopyor FastCopy instead. These apps deliver better performance and handy extras like the ability to pause the copy process.

Use Fling to schedule network or FTP transfers to take place when you're not around.

30. Use speedy DNS servers

When you enter a domain name into your browser, is has to be resolved into an IP address by your ISP's DNS server. If this is overloaded then there will always be a browsing delay. Fortunately, OpenDNS has fast alternative DNS servers that you can use for free.

To try OpenDNS, launch NCPA.CPL, right-click your internet connection and select Properties. Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and hit Properties (use v4 on Vista), then choose Use the following DNS server addresses and enter 208.67.222.222 in the Preferred and 208.67.220.220 in the Alternate boxes.

31. Put your PC to sleep

If you have Vista, choose Sleep rather than Shutdown to save some time the next time you want to use your machine. Windows saves the state of your PC rather than closing it, which means it turns off (and reboots later) far more quickly. Or at least that's the plan.

If Sleep won't work for you then it's probably a driver problem. Check the Event Log to see what's going wrong.

32. Reduce task switching

Regular editions of Windows switch rapidly from one program to another, ensuring a responsive user interface. But each task switch is an overhead, wasting CPU time. If you don't need a highly responsive interface – you're using Microsoft Office rather than playing 3D games, say – then giving each app more CPU time before moving to the next will cut task switching, making your PC more efficient.

Right-click Computer, select Properties | Advanced system settings | Performance settings | Advanced and select Adjust for best performance of the background services. Restore the normal setting if apps seem less responsive.

33. Clean up your disk

Removing junk from your drive can improve performance, even if it still has hundreds of gigabytes of free space. Uninstall unwanted programs with Windows or Revo Uninstaller. Likewise, stubborn security programs can be expunged using AppRemover.

Next, try Windows Disk Cleanup or CCleaner to remove redundant files. Manually browse the Program Files and Windows\Temp folders for unnecessary files and folders (only delete what you're sure is safe to go.)

Finally, click Start (then Run if you're using XP or earlier), type %TEMP% and hit [Enter] to inspect and clear your User Temporary Files folder.

34. Move your paging file

Relocate the Windows paging file to a second physical drive (not a partition) different to the one that your applications are on to enable your PC to read and write to both simultaneously. This will speed things up noticeably.

To do this, right-click Computer, select Properties and click Advanced [System Settings] | Performance settings | Advanced | Change. Clear Automatically manage paging file,click your current drive, select No paging file and then Set.

Next, select the drive you want to use for the paging file, select System managed size, click Set, then OK and reboot to see the results.

35. Accelerate explorer

By default Windows XP regularly scans for new network printers and folders, adding anything it finds to My Network Places or the Printers folder. But if you rarely access network resources then this just slows you down.

Click Start | Control Panel | Appearances and themes | Folder options | View, and clear Automatically search for network folders and printers to stop it doing so.

36. Remove fonts

Most PCs accumulate fonts over time, reducing performance as your system spends time processing them. It's a good idea to remove fonts you never use, as long as you're careful – deleting important fonts can have all kinds of strange effects.

Opt for the odd script, foreign or symbol fonts first. If in doubt leave it alone, and copy all your fonts to a back-up folder first so that they're easily reinstalled.

37. Defrag thoroughly

The regular Windows defrag tool can't defragment files that are open for exclusive access, which means that your paging and Registry files remain untouched. Fortunately there's a free tool that can help. PageDefrag runs during the boot process and can defragment these system files without any trouble.

It's also worth trying a commercial app. PerfectDisk delivers the best results in our experience – get the 30-day trial and see how it works for you.

38. Go for speed over power

Windows Vista's power options can turn off many optimisations in its effort to save energy, so if you prefer speed then it's important to confirm you're set up correctly.

Click Control Panel | System and maintenance | Power options and make sure you're using the High Performance plan. Next, click the Change plan settings link under High performance to make sure that you're using the fastest option for each setting.

39. Speed up the Start Menu

Make Windows open menus more quickly with a quick Registry change. Just go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, double-click MenuShowDelay and change it from the default 400 (milliseconds) to something smaller: 100ms works for us. Restart Windows to see the results.

40. Tune NTFS

If you don't use old 16-bit software, launch REGEDIT and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem, then set NtfsDisable8 dot3NameCreation to 1.

Windows will no longer create DOS-style shortened versions of file names, speeding up file creation. Set NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate to 1 and Windows won't update the Last Access date on a folder when you view it, delivering a small boost to drive performance. These options can break older software, so test your PC thoroughly afterwards.

41. Optimise Firefox

Firefox stores its data in self-contained SQLite databases, and these can be compacted in order to recover a little performance. You could do this by downloading the command-line tool Sqlite3 and then using the command for %i in (*.sqlite) do @echo VACUUM; | sqlite3 %i to compact all SQLite files in the current folder.

However, it's much easier to install the SQLite Manager Firefox add-on. After you've done this, navigate to Tools | SQLite Manager | Database | Connect database and browse to one of the large .sqlite files in your Mozilla profile.

Note its current size, click Database | Compact database, and check the size again – our urlclassifier3.sqlite database dropped by 40MB.

42. Speed up iTunes

Help iTunes run a little faster by disabling features that you don't use. If you don't ever look at the Genius recommendations, click Store | Turn off Genius to give a small performance boost.

If you're not on a large network or don't want to share your library, click Edit | Preferences | Sharing and turn off Look for shared libraries and Share my library.

If you don't use Apple TV, click the Apple TV tab and clear Look for Apple TVs. Finally, click the Devices tab and clear any unnecessary Look for... options.

Large libraries are the main reason for poor iTunes performance. Click Music in the Library section, then hold down [Shift] and choose File | Show exact duplicates to look for multiple copies of songs. Delete any you don't need and then browse the library to remove other songs you don't play any more.

43. Install only what you need

If you normally select the Complete option when you install a program, you might end up with all kinds of features that you never use. Get in the habit of selecting the Custom option instead, and pick only what you need.

44. Upgrade your software

UpdateStar will scan your programs and report any it recognises that have updates available. Installing these should get you bug fixes, more features and better performance. Similarly, DriverMax will identify outdated drivers, then download and install updates.

45. Fix Internet Explorer 8

If IE8 seems very slow and unreliable then your upgrade from IE7 may have broken some DLL registrations. To fix this, open a command window (if you're running Vista, right-click cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator) and type regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll. Press [Enter], then reboot your PC to see if the browser has got any faster.

46. Block Flash applets

Flash applets use up system resources and can slow down your browser. Often these applets take the form of unwanted adverts, so it's a good idea all round to block them and recover the resources to give improved performance.

Firefox users need only install FlashBlock to kill unwanted Flash apps, and if you install Adblock Plus as well, annoying ads and banners will become a thing of the past. Meanwhile IE8 can now selectively block Flash applets, too.

Click Tools | Manage add-ons, select Toolbars and extensions and opt to show all add-ons. Double-click the Flash add-on and click Remove all sites | Close. All Flash applets will now be blocked.

However, if an applet is trying to run on a site you trust, click the warning bar, select Run add-on, add it to your allow list and Flash will be launched automatically on your next visit.

47. Tweak Microsoft Word

Simplify and speed up document displays by using a single typeface instead of many. To set this up, go to Word options, select Advanced, scroll to Show document control and select Use draft font....

If you're happy with your spelling, or at least content to check it when the document is done, turn off Word's AutoCorrect options (in the Proofing section of Options) to save some resources.

If you have a fast printer then Word's default background printing can slow you down (Clear Print in background in the Print section of Options). A corrupted or bulky normal.dotm template may also negatively affect speeds.

To sort this out, lose Word, locate the normal.dotm file in your profile and rename it normal.dotm.old. You'll lose your custom settings, but it may help to speed up the application. If you find that this doesn't help, restore the previous normal.dotm to get your settings back.

48. Stop sharing

Windows Media Player's media sharing functionality can be a real resource hog. To turn it off, right- click the Library tab, click on Media sharing and clear the Find media and Share my media options.

Next, launch services.msc, double-click Windows Media Player, click Stop and set its Startup Type to Disabled to save yourself some CPU time.

49. Clean your outlook inbox

The more messages Outlook stores, the slower it gets, so if you want to improve performance then some pruning is in order.

Most email responses contain copies of the original message, so you should be able to delete earlier messages without losing information. Thread Compressor is a free Outlook add-in that will do this automatically. Save All Attachments will save all the attachments in multiple emails, and then remove them.

50. Disable add-ons

Removing unwanted add-ons frees up system resources and can make your apps more stable.

In Microsoft Word 2007, click the Word button, then click Word Options | Add-ins. Choose the type of add-on you'd like to view in the Manage list, click View and remove anything unnecessary. Repeat the process in Outlook 2007 by clicking Tools | Trust Center | Add-ins.

In Adobe Reader, click Help, select About Adobe plug-ins and note the filename of anything you don't need. If you never want to save PDFs to RTF, say, then include SaveAsRTF.API.

Close Reader, go to the plug-ins folder – probably Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\plug_ins – and rename the unwanted plug-ins, for example changing SaveAsRTF.API to SaveAsRTF.API.OLD.

A Trick for Internet Explorer

2009-08-02T19:17:00.002-05:00

How To Boost Wi-Fi Range With A Homemade Parabolic Reflector

2009-07-03T16:30:00.001-05:00

This video will illustrate how to increase the signal strength of any wireless device using only about 25 cents worth of aluminum foil! You can boost your wireless internet signal by several bars and increase your download speed.

Technorati Tags: wi-fi, wifi, wireless router, internet signal boost, technical how-to, howto, diy, electronics, computer

Hacking a Windows PC to Get Administrator Acces

2009-07-03T13:53:00.001-05:00

This tutorial will teach you how to hack a Windows XP Machine to obtain Administrative access.

How to run Windows XP on Linux Ubuntu with Virtualbox

2009-07-03T13:31:00.002-05:00

Quick demonstration on how to run Microsoft Windows XP on Linux Ubuntu Edgy Eft 6.1.0 using Virtualbox.

For further information please refer to www.virtualbox.org

The song in the video is "electrovibe" by "subatomicglue" and has been released under a creative commons license: creativecommons.org

How to Find, Download and Install missing DLL .DLL file / files

2009-06-15T16:45:00.000-05:00

How to find a missing DLL file and install it. www.dll-downloads.com

Technorati Tags: dll, dll-files, files, missing, dot dll, .dll

Tether an iPhone to your Windows Mac or Lunix PC

2009-06-01T18:25:00.000-05:00

This Video shows you a quick hack to enable tethering on your iPhone running the 3.0 software.
Warning: This technically voids your contract, so use at your own risk!

Technorati Tags: Apple iPhone, PC, Free Internet, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, WIFI Hack

How to make Windows XP/Vista look like OS X Leopard!

2009-05-04T22:21:00.000-05:00

In this video I show you how to make your XP/Vista look like OS X Leopard!!

Programs used :

Rocketdock: http://rocketdock.com/
Stack docklet: http://rocketdock.com/addons/docklets/1791
Yahoo Widgets: http://widgets.yahoo.com/download/

Download for car at the start:
http://www.car-wallpapers.ws/lamborghini-murcilago/Lambo-Murc-R-GT-02-1024.jpg
music: Now your gone by Basshunter

Google better than Limewire for downloading mp3s - Free downloads

2008-11-17T23:51:00.001-05:00

Play DivX Movies and more in Windows Vista

2008-10-02T22:26:00.001-05:00

In Vista and XP , the Windows Media player lacks support for video codecs such as DivX. This has been a big issue in previous versions of Windows Media players. Playing audio files are usually not a problem. There are issues with other codecs such as Xvid, DivX, Mov and so on. Fix it all with the Vista Codec Package 4.7.x

Change ip address/unban yourself from:sites, game, forms!

2008-09-21T18:42:00.000-05:00

YouTube - Windows Xp Secret trick and tip! Make Windows Faster!

2008-09-14T19:30:00.003-05:00

In Windows XP everytime you open My Computer to browse folders XP automatically searches for network files and printers. This causes a delay in displaying your icons. You probably see the "default" windows icon and as you scroll it changes to the correct icon. This is how to stop that...

1. Open My Computer
2. Click on the Tools menu and select Folder Options...
3. Under Folder Options select the view tab.
4. Uncheck the very first box that reads "Automatically search for network folders and printers".
5. Click "Apply" or "OK"

You should see a dramatic increase in speed when Windows displays your icons.

Windows Task Manager - Performance Explained

2008-07-26T20:49:00.001-05:00

Free Up 10 GigaBytes of Disk Space in Windows

2008-07-03T22:17:00.001-05:00

Notes from video:
Delete temp files from:
c:\windows\system32\dllcache\
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\

- Turn off or decrease size of disk usage for system restore
- Decrease the disk usage size of the recycle bin
- Empty or Decrease your Web Browsers disk usage for Cached files
- Disable Hibernation in Windows. For Vista - powercfg -H off
- Run cleanmgr

Pc Protection With Hidden Switch

2008-05-09T21:44:00.000-05:00

This video shows how you can protect your pc with an invisible switch which will cost less than a few dollars. You'll be the only one capable of turning it on. It can be... More» used on any electronicsl device that has an on off button.

Pc Protection With Hidden Switch - The most popular videos are here

WIFI Super Antenna for $10

2008-05-09T21:28:00.002-05:00

An easy to build 10$ WLAN antenna that gives 6 times more range than a standard antenna. You need some trash packaging materials and the rest are standard parts in... More» electronics component shops

10$ WIFI Super Antenna - Click here for this week’s top video clips

Hidden Characters In Windows XP

2008-05-02T18:07:00.000-05:00

Hidden Characters In Windows XP -

Decorate your nickname in messengers. Find out this hidden utility in Windows XP which contains all characters.

Easily Reset Any Lost Windows Password With Free Software

2008-04-16T21:13:00.000-05:00

Easily Reset Any Lost Windows Password With Free Software -

UPS Hack! Hide your computer downloads in plain sight.

2008-04-16T21:07:00.000-05:00

UPS Hack! Hide... -

Pictures, movies, music, files, whatever! Nobody will even know it's there. Not your kids, your wife, a burglar - not even the... RIAA!

Windows - Dirty Trick!

2008-04-16T21:02:00.000-05:00

Windows - Dirty Trick! -

Learn How To Hide Your Wireless Network

2007-10-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

Hide Your Wireless Network - The best free videos are right here

Is your neighbor using your bandwidth? Do other people have access to your wireless. The first step is to encrypt your signal... after that, hide it so they don't even kno... More»w it's there

Part 3: Windows From Clean Install To Efficiency

2007-09-03T21:54:00.001-05:00

Part 2: Windows From Clean Install To Efficiency

2007-09-03T21:53:00.001-05:00

Part 1: Windows From Clean Install To Efficiency

2007-09-03T21:49:00.001-05:00

Windows - Howto Hide Files inside JPGs -tweak hack xp vista

2007-09-03T21:48:00.001-05:00

Google lets you download mp3s faster than limewire

2007-09-03T21:42:00.001-05:00

Download Missing Dot DLL (.dll) Files

2007-05-11T22:42:00.000-05:00

Download Missing Dot DLL (.dll) Files -

Download and install missing .DLL windows system files

STOP Working With A Single Monitor Today!

2007-04-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

STOP Working With A Single Monitor Today! - Watch more funny videos here

How To Edit Right-Click Menu

2007-04-07T08:24:00.000-05:00

How To Edit Right-Click Menu ?

How To Hide Your Harddisk Partition

2007-04-06T23:23:00.000-05:00

How To Hide Your Harddisk Partition

Laptop Battery Hack! You'll Save $$$

2007-03-22T01:50:00.001-05:00

Laptop Battery Hack! You'll Save $$$ - Watch more amazing videos here

BRING ALIVE WATER SCENES

2007-03-12T12:47:00.000-05:00

Bring any digital natural picture alive.... wonderful scenes....water falls...oceans view...

-

BRING ALIVE YOUR PHOTOS

2007-03-12T12:46:00.000-05:00

Now you can bring any digital photo alive. Make your photos speak & talk U really wont believe your eyes

BRING ALIVE YOUR PHOTOS -

Hidden Characters In Windows XP

2007-03-12T12:42:00.000-05:00

Hidden Characters In Windows XP

FREE DISK SPACE

2007-02-06T22:02:00.000-05:00

95% of people never bother to modify their default disk
settings and end up consuming a LOT more disk than needed. So,
here are 4 easy steps that can quickly free up 10-20% of your more...
system disk's space

Access Your Computer Anywhere! for Free

2007-02-01T15:08:00.000-05:00

This is amazing! Access your computer from anywhere via the Internet. School, work or even the north pole... Comments? leave them bolow video...

Make XP Like OS X!!

2007-02-01T14:45:00.000-05:00

Want a clean desktop? Jealous of those nifty Macintosh Docks?
Here is how you can add one to your PC for free. Wow, now who
is jealous? Not only that, but you can clear up a lot of space more...
on your desktop for other things and save yourself a lot of
time by not having to search for movies, files, videos, songs,
or pictures on your desktop - just put them in your dock!

Comments are welcomed :)) ... leave one below video.

PC Shutdown Prank

2007-01-29T17:22:00.000-05:00

Easy and Safe. Useful to use for yourself and fun to prank people with. Be creative, use any icon you want, and name it whatever you want. The code to enter is: shutdown -s -t 0

PC Shutdown Prank - video powered by Metacafe

PC Hacks - Tips and Tricks

Free up PC disk space with Disk Space Fan

Google @ Intel ISEF 2010

Intel's Moorestown Atom Opens New Front in Smartphone Competition

Twittelator: Best Twitter app for iPad

Make your PC more energy efficient with Granola

USB Guardian: Protect your PC against USB viruses and worms.

Windows 7 One-Click Online App-Installer: Allmyapps

AMD Pushes Affordability With Six-Core Desktop Chip

InterOp Speakers: Time to Rethink Corporate Networks

Spiceworks Integrates Rackspace Cloud-Based Email Services

Hands On: Microsoft Office 2010

Why Was GMail China's Target?

Lessons of the McAfee False Positive Fiasco

Microsoft Office RTMs: Do We Take It For Granted?

Claim victory over your e-mail

Selling Blackberry Travel Mini Charger 8300 8100 8800

Conventional Password Wisdom Challenged

Java Update Patches Zero-Day Bug

HP Pushes New Virtualization Services

TeamViewer Extends Multiplatform Solution to Linux

InVisage Quantum Dot–Based Camera Sensors: How They Work

Google Upgrades Postini Enterprise Messaging Security

Abandoned Root Certificate Found in Firefox

Adobe Gives Guidance on Shutting Off Embedded Executes

Media Apps on the iPad: Very Nice, But Who Will Pay For it?

RIM Scheduled Maintenance Outage: Blackberry Internet Service and BB Messenger will be down on March 28

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Reduce stress and stay organized while running errands

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Mobile blogging made easy

Manage your family’s hectic holiday schedule with Windows Calendar

Secure your laptop while travelling this holiday season

Getting a new PC? Protect and purge files now

Tip #1: Why 'delete' isn't enough

Tip #2: Select software to wipe your hard drive clean

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A Trick for Internet Explorer

How To Boost Wi-Fi Range With A Homemade Parabolic Reflector

Hacking a Windows PC to Get Administrator Acces

How to run Windows XP on Linux Ubuntu with Virtualbox

How to Find, Download and Install missing DLL .DLL file / files

Tether an iPhone to your Windows Mac or Lunix PC

How to make Windows XP/Vista look like OS X Leopard!

Google better than Limewire for downloading mp3s - Free downloads

Play DivX Movies and more in Windows Vista

Change ip address/unban yourself from:sites, game, forms!

YouTube - Windows Xp Secret trick and tip! Make Windows Faster!

Windows Task Manager - Performance Explained

Free Up 10 GigaBytes of Disk Space in Windows