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Solution to Windows Update problems

Following reports that repairing Windows XP with a Windows disk stops Windows Update from working properly, there's a response from the Windows Vista Blog team and a fix fresh from Microsoft Technet (the part of Microsoft dedicated to those dedicated souls who keep Windows networks running).

This does not affect computers that have been restored to their original state using a disc from the manufacturer only from the recovery console.

I've used repair several times and it's often a good option to try as it normally keeps software and files intact. My problem will be remembering to use this fix if I ever have to repair a computer.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday Fun: System Tray shots

Lots of images so not a good idea for dial up users. LifeHacker has a long list of screengrabs of notification areas. Mine is posted above with rather an embarrasingly large number of icons (not forgetting those that have been hidden).

Posted by Tim Smith on September 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Microsoft extends Windows XP lifespan

Microsoft has announced that it will continue to sell Windows XP until June 30 2008, rather than ending sales next January as originally planned. The decision affects PC builders who buy the OEM version of Windows as well as consumers, so it means that Windows XP PCs should be on sale well into next year.

In a statement on its website, Microsoft's Mike Nash admitted that "maybe we were a little ambitious to think that we would need to make Windows XP available for only a year after the release of Windows Vista."

Nash's statement was bullish about the adoption of Windows Vista, which he claims is "on track to be the fastest-selling operating system in Microsoft’s history", but with the decision driven in response to feedback "from customers and partners", many will see today's move as an acknowledgement that many PC buyers are not yet happy to move to Vista.

What do you think - if you were to buy a PC in early 2008 would you want the latest version of Vista, or the more-familiar XP?

Posted by Tom Royal on September 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Free software galore!

If you associated opensource software with Linux and hardcore techies, think again. The good people over at Mashable.com have created an impressive list of 480 open source applications.

Granted some of them aren't for Windows, and the list starts with Accounting, but this is a list that you should read. The big advantage of all the software being opensource is that the biggest cost is having to download the software.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 27, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

High risk printer repair

Slightly off topic, but most people have heard of someone having to replace printer cartridge heads (or even the entire printer) because ink has dried over the nozzles, clogging them.

Reported on Lifehacker.com, TheWVb has suggested soaking the base of the printer heads in WD-40 to loosen the ink.

I wonder whether this would be a possibility for Epson printers. A friend once forgot to turn his printer off before going on holiday and had to buy a new a printer. Sadly it was an A3 printer, an expensive mistake. I don't know if it is possible to remove the print heads on Epson printers without special tools.

It seems a good idea if the only alternative is to bin the heads/printer, but I wouldn't recommend this as regular

Posted by Tim Smith on September 27, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Microsoft admits to calculation problem in Excel

If there is one program in Office you don't want problems with, it Excel used by financial people the world over. Sadly this is just what has happened if the result of the sum is around 65,535.

MIcrosoft has admited the problem but said that it is actually in the way that the result is displayed. It seems that the number in memory is right so a reference to that cell will give the right answer in a subsequent formula.

It's a good lesson that even computers can make mistakes, or rather computers are programmed by people who can make mistakes.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 27, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Should Microsoft release Halo 3 for Vista?

If you've been keeping an eye on technology news lately, you can't have missed the hype surrounding the launch of Microsoft's Halo 3 for the Xbox 360 console. According to the news, there were queues outside game stores at midnight, full of overexcited teenagers waiting to play the latest episode of the blockbuster first person shooter. As an intrepid technology journalist I braved the queues myself, and it was a less than horrifying experience - I wandered into HMV on the way to work yesterday, and had to wait a whole 30 seconds as the only other man in the store bought a copy of a Neil Young album. So much for launch day chaos.

Microsoft is apparently hoping that Halo 3 will finally bring its Xbox games division into profit, and it's certainly one of the most financially important launches on the console to date. It's also, as far as I can see after playing for an hour or two, a very good game, if not a groundbreaking one - like the previous Halo titles it's an exciting guns-blazing charge-around-and-shoot-em-up. But there's one nagging question in the back of my mind - will Microsoft bring Halo 3 to Vista?

The original Halo appeared on the PC some time after its console debut, and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a preview version. The version I played required so much horsepower that it brought my (then fairly impressive) test PC to its knees, with textures disappearing all over the place as it struggled to keep up. The PC laster longer than I did, though, and I stopped even trying to play after less than an hour. Earlier on this year, Microsoft finally dragged the sequel, Halo 2, to Windows Vista, amid distinctly lacklustre reviews. With Microsoft's Games for Windows scheme taking shape, and some clever product launches such as the PC receiver for the Xbox 360 joypad, this seemed like a missed opportunity.

With Halo 3 picking up excellent reviews and millions of sales on the Xbox, a PC port could be another chance for Microsoft to finally mark Vista as a great gaming platform - or, if it's poorly ported, a disaster. Would you like the chance to play as Master Chief on your PC next year, or would you rather leave gaming for the TV and console users?

Posted by Tom Royal on September 27, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack

Has the EU influenced Vista Service Pack 1?

Buried at the bottom of the Vista Team Blog entry about Service Pack 1 is a reference to being able to change the default desktop search engine in Windows Vista. There's also a knowledgebase article on the subject.

Granted the ruling has only just been made about Windows Media Player but I wonder if someone at Microsoft realised that the same allegations could be made about the Desktop Search. Google would be the obvious injured party but they're certainly big enough to cause a fuss. Reading around blogs online also suggests that these two giants are starting to tread on each others toes.

What will be interesting is how long it will take the likes of Google to release replacement desktop search engines after SP1 is released. And whether they've been able to get their hands on SP1 to start development

Posted by Tim Smith on September 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

First sightings of Vista Service Pack 1

There's a rather lengthy post by the Windows Experience Blog about installing Vista Service Pack 1.

Sadly it is a closed Beta program so it is not easy getting hold of a copy. Still, that does make sure that it is not downloaded on a whim.

There seems to be a general improvement to the responsiveness of Windows in general use and faster loading times from hibernation and sleep. Dual monitor support is better and it is possible to change the desktop search engine.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Is SuperFetch preloading music?!

It seems that I am not the only person to be frustrated with Vista SuperFetch as a post by androidi on the Channel 9 forums shows.

What intrigues me about the post is that he claims SuperFetch was caching media files on the computer, not just program files.

Perhaps a high degree of customisation is beyond most users but it would be better to have some say over how much SuperFetch does, rather than a simple on/off.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Update on Vista Ultimate Extras

The Windows Vista Ultimate team has just posted an update on how things are going. I don't think I can really claim credit for pushing them into it but it's helpful none the less.

Sadly it's not really that exciting. DreamScene is now finished, it must have been the Beta that I tried out a couple of months ago. It's a fun gimmick, but that's all as far as I'm concerned. It also has the problem of making the computer work harder and so drawing more power.

There is some interesting feedback about DreamScene on the Channel 9 forums. Apparently there are problems when using more than one graphics card. Not a great thing for the sort of power user likely to have splashed out on Ultimate.

Other comments reveal that DreamScene pauses if a program maximises. Makes sense from a performance point of view but defeats the point of DreamScene if you have two monitors.

The only other updates planned are language packs. On the other hand, I did get to grips with Poker thanks to Ultimate Extras....

Posted by Tim Smith on September 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Should Windows be installed on new computers?

It's not an entirely original thought but a European think tank called the Globalisation Institute has suggested that computers should not be sold with a bundled operating system. I think we can safely assume that means Windows as the next sentence states that "the bundling of Microsoft Windows with computers is not in the public interest, and prevents meaningful competition in the operating system market."

Now, despite the fact that I happen to like many of the Open Source alternatives, I don't think this is a very good idea. It assumes too much expertise on the part of the buyers of new computers and the amount of time they are willing to spend setting the computer up.

There's nothing fun about installing an operating system, even if everything goes smoothly. Frankly it is very dull and a good time to read a book or watch TV. The situation wouldn't be too bad if we could rely on all manufacturers to supply drivers but which drivers? Just Windows? In which case there would be just as good conditions for a monopoly than there are now. Should they just stop at Linux or continue with Mac OS X, BeOS?

The full report can be downloaded as a PDF file.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Office: the ultimate steal

We often receive emails about too-good-to-be-true deals on Microsoft software. Usually, these deals in fact turn out to be too good to be true. So when we heard about a website called The Ultimate Steal offering Microsoft Office for £39, we assumed it was just another scam.

It turns out that it's completely legitimate - Microsoft is offering Office 2007 to students for just that price. The only catch is that you must be a student registered at a university or college - and must have an email address that ends in .ac.uk.

Posted by Anthony Dhanendran on September 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

"I'm here because I'm bored"

It's old news, but we've just come across this trailer for Minesweeper: The Movie. Sadly, it's not going to be appearing on a screen near you anytime soon.

Posted by Anthony Dhanendran on September 25, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Rumblings about Vista Ultimate Extras

There are some fairly annoyed people over on Channel 9, after their Windows Vista Ultimate Extras screen changed to lower expectations of what they could expect.

I've just run Windows Update on my Vista Ultimate notebook and the screen doesn't seem to have changed. Then again, there hasn't been anything via Ultimate Extras since DreamScene, which didn't strike me as a must have extra anyway. I get distracted easily enough as it is, and I'm not keen on anything that maxes out my computer.

Even if it is well behaved and lets other software have a look in when they need it, it's still drawing more power, and I get worried about how hot the power supply gets.

I think it's going to get harder for Microsoft to push Ultimate if this is supposed to be a major selling point. Compared to Home Premium, there is only the Complete Backup and Restore, and BitLocker Drive Encryption. The Backup is an important extra, but it's not as if there are alternatives that cost less than the difference between Premium and Ultimate. The same applies to encryption, and I'm not sure how many home users are interested in that.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 25, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

RIP D-Fend

It's always a shame when much appreciated software is no longer supported or, in the case of D-Fend, disappears from the web altogether.

Thankfully there are alternatives, although until today I had not found any that I thought were as good. Except for DBGL, or DOSBox Game Loader. The only slight snag is that it requires Java but I'm not too worried about that. It may be a little slower than software compiled specifically for Windows but it didn't seem sluggish in any way.

Perhaps I'm being nostalgic but it still didn't seem quite as intuative as D-Fend, but that didn't stop me from quickly setting up Commander Keen 4.

An extra bonus is that there are thirteen games insatlled and ready to go. I also found this helpful when setting up other games.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 25, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tiny £200 notebook shown running Windows XP

We've had our eye on Asus's EEE PC 701 for some time. First announced at the Computex trade show, this tiny notebook PC is expected to cost around £200 when it launches in the UK. And, weighing around 900g, it could be the ideal way to work on the move: small, light and, unlike most tiny notebooks, not ludicrously expensive. It even uses flash memory instead of a hard disk, so it should be less sensitive to shock damage than most notebooks.

As we reported back in June, the EEE is expected to sell with a Linux operating system installed. However, a Russian website (click here for a translation of extremely dubious quality) has tested an early sample version  that runs Windows XP. If the final version isn't significantly different, this could be an ideal way to use Microsoft Office, or any other Windows application, on the move.

There are also some photos of the standard Linux operating system, as well as confirmation that the user should be able to install a new operating system of their choice, here.

We'll bring you more information, including final pricing and specifications, as soon as it becomes available.

Posted by Tom Royal on September 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

What next for Microsoft Office?

Word is starting to appear of the next version of Microsoft Office. No surprises as Office is a real money spinner for Microsoft.

Of course, the real question is what else Office could possibly need. The new ribbon interface is a great idea but it's sometimes hard to see what else can be added to the basic Office family members. Collaboration is a different matter of course but that tends to be of more interest to business users.

As an aside, if the new ribbon bar in Office 2007 is proving to be a bit much, you might like to try the Classic Menu for Office 2007 software.

It has to be said, not everybody likes it, Darren Strange suggested in his blog that it would be better to stick with Office 2003 because of confusion with shortcut keys and problems with other addins. Still this is worth a go if your computer was supplied with 2007 and you don't want to spend the money for a new copy.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Windows is Fixed! Well mine is...

Some good news for a Friday afternoon, a hotfix from Microsoft fixed a mystery problem with my PC.

Now some problems I can live with, such as the odd memory leak (where software uses more and more memory and eventually has to be terminated from Task Manager). But this one was rather more frustrating. If I tried to modify any files on the network share the computer crashed, and I mean properly crashed. No blue screen but a complete reboot. Combine this with the fact that my roaming profile means logging in take around 15 minutes and you have a recipe for large amounts of frustration.

After a little digging around we found a solution. The patch hasn't been thoroughly tested so our systems department had to order it. But it installed without causing any problems and fixed the rebooting problem.

It irks me a little that I don't know exactly what caused the problem, but at least it's sorted now.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 21, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Microsoft loses appeal against EU Windows antitrust case

Microsoft has lost its appeal against the European Union's 2004 antitrust ruling. The original judgment, handed down in March 2004, demands that the software giant pay a fine of almost 500 million Euros, and strip its Windows Media Player software from versions of Windows XP in order to facilitate competition between media software vendors. Microsoft can still appeal again to a higher European court, a process that may take years, but has yet to announce whether it will do so.

The ruling leaves questions unanswered as to whether Microsoft could face similar claims relating to features in Windows Vista. The EU's Neelie Kroes evaded questions about the possibility of an EU investigation into Vista, saying only that "if it is not in line with our policy, then we will act". According to the Associated Press, analysts disagree over whether any of Vista's new features could prompt an investigation.

The appeal ruling has also lead to a somewhat ungainly spat between the EU and US Authorities. Thomas Barnett of the US Justice Department accused the EU ruling of "chilling innovation and discouraging competition", with Kroes replying that "it's totally unacceptable that a representative of the U.S. administration criticizes an independent court of law outside its jurisdiction".

Posted by Tom Royal on September 20, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Cookie Controversy

Some interesting comments from a Symantec top bod. John Thompson is reported to have said that cookies are "are just as much an invasion of privacy as someone peering in my bedroom window" and that browser should ask permission before accepting any.

If I recall correctly it is actually possible to do this in Internet Explorer, and it was something I once tried in a fit of paranoia. What sticks in my mind is just how frustrating this quickly became as every website requrest permission to leave a cookie on my computer.

It's not just shopping sites or stored passwords but all sorts of analysis that website admins (myself included) use to try and understand traffic.

Of course, one solution is to make better use of the Internet Zones feature of Internet Explorer, effectively making a whitelist of sites that can be trusted to get on with storing information in cookies and not abuse the system.

Computeractive covered the topic in more detail in recent feature on cookies

Posted by Tim Smith on September 20, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Help campaign for a better deal on broadband

The results of the Computeractive broadband speed test and the satisfaction survey are now in and they have told us that the ISPs need to be a lot more honest in their claims about speed.

We think that the Governnment needs to act to bring this honesty about and so please take the time to sign our petition on the 10 Downing Street website. It''ll only take a few moments and it could make a huge difference.

You can keep up to date with all the latest news about the campaign on Crystal Clear Broadband site.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 20, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Browser Tip for Firefox, Opera and Flock, the middle mouse button

Both of these browsers can display a toolbar of bookmark links. I find this very useful as there are several pages I use an awful lot during the day. Often though, I want to open the link in a new tab, for example blog about a page I'm looking at.

The simplest way I've found to do this is to middle-click on the link button. More options can be found by right-clicking on the button but this isn't as fast.

Curiously this doesn't seem to work in Firefox. I stand corrected, this does work in Firefox

Posted by Tim Smith on September 20, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Service Pack 3 for Office 2003

The march of updates never stops. There's 118MB of updates for Office from the Microsoft site in the form of Service Pack 3. The size if partly because this includes all previous updates for Office.

In a reverse of what I would normally expect from an update, Service Pack 3 actually removes some features. Granted these are not exactly critical and are being dropped because they are not secure, but if you need to read old documents created by Lotus 123 and Corel Draw, now is the time to convert them.

The updates are also available through Windows Update and the Office Update page.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 19, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Pirate keyboard

In honour of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, it's time to re-post an old joke. Ladies and gentlemen, the Pirate Keyboard (click to enlarge):

Posted by Anthony Dhanendran on September 19, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Is email software obsolete?

I rarely use email software out of work, despite the sophisticated software available like Thunderbird, Opera (an undersung feature of this superb browser) and Evolution (for Linux). The reason for this is that I use GoogleMail and the web interface is better than most programs.

Of course, I recognise that this is only really an option for people with broadband, although there is a version designed for mobile devices.

It's important to remember that GoogleMail is not the only webmail avaialable, or the only free one. Yahoo Mail is also pretty good. There's a very good comparison of the two over on Lifehacker.

What's worthy of further investigation are the other services that both Google and Yahoo offer. I've got accounts with both as they each have unique services.

On a slight tangent one of my favourite features of GoogleMail is giving emails labels rather than putting them in folders. It's fantastic for when a message falls into several different categories. A newsletter may be relevant to more than one project I'm working on as well as warranting a subject category. This is something that Opera does rather well if you want off line access.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 19, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

The broken promises of Vista

There's a rather disappointed sounding article over at ExtremeTech where Loyd is detailing five promises that were made about Vista but never actually happened.

I've gone on about power saving quite a lot already but the faster (or not) starting times has been a particular problem for me recently. Not least because once Vista has finished caching all the software I might want to run rather than starting the software I actually want, it keep locking up while updates are installed. I've found myself booting into XP or even Linux if I want to use the internet to avoid anything between a five and thirty minute wait.

Perhaps my greatest disappointment is that I don't remember all of these problems with Windows XP, and certainly not 2000 (my favourite version of Windows). I installed the beta of XP on what would now be a laughably slow computer and never looked back. Sure it crashed once or twice but that was a dodgy joystick driver and removing the joystick removed the problem.

Like Loyd, I do like Vista. It does have lots of really useful features and Aero is pretty but it's still frustrating at times.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 19, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Get the most from your mouse

The mouse has become such as fundimental part of using a computer that it is easy to take it for granted. Web worker daily has a useful collection of 9 tips for getting the most from your mouse.

I still think that mouse gestures are one of the most useful ideas in a long time. First introduced in Opera, they are now available for Firefox as well. After several accidents with the back button when using dynamic websites, I've gone so far as to disable the button altogether, or use a mouse without one.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

License agreements - worth the paper they're written on?

Here's an interesting one - most pieces of software come with license agreements. Most of those say that, in opening the package, you're agreeing to the terms of the agreement. And AutoCAD software's license includes a term prohibiting its resale. Now one Seattle resident is putting the license agreement to the test.

Timothy Vernor has been selling second-hand copies of AutoCAD on eBay, but the software's maker ordered eBay to pull the auctions, citing the clause in its license. Now Vernor has issued a counter-claim lawsuit against maker Autodesk, saying, among other things, that the license terms are invalid. The likelihood is that he'll lose, and most lawyers seem to agree that Autodesk's terms are watertight.

But it brings to mind a more interesting question about these license agreements - how many people really read all the terms before clicking OK, or even before ripping open the package? We'll come back to this topic later this week looking at how unfair terms in a contract can affect ordinary people.

Posted by Anthony Dhanendran on September 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

People stay the same

There tends to be a general assumption that everyone on the web is getting better at using the web. But this view is strongly criticised by Robert Hoekman on his blog with the opinion that "Users don't get savvier unless the technology gets easier".

That seems to be born out in our experience here with the questions we get asked. Tales of problems with Windows 98 Defrag only dried up when XP took over, and with any luck may end completely now that Vista defrags automatically in the background (hang on, wasn't Windows 95 supposed to do that?).

I think it's fair to say that as the internet has become a mainstream the average technical ability has gone up but then we still hear of people who get confused between the address bar and the Google bar.

Does the same thing apply to Windows? I read Robert Hoekman's book Designing the Obvious around the time when I started using Vista and if anything Vista seems to have gone the other way. So much effort has gone in to making it easy to use that I actually found it harder. It's good that they are making the effort but I can't help but wonder if they have been checking with the right people to make sure the work is going in the right direction. Or could it just be that I'm the wrong kind of person....

Posted by Tim Smith on September 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

The strange case of the automatic updates

A couple of days ago we were talking about the strange behaviour of the Windows Update tool, which, it turns out, will install updates to itself even if the user specifically tells it not to download or install updates. That's provoked a reaction from somewhere we didn't even know existed: the Windows Update team blog (as an aside, one thing Microsoft does very well is encourage its employees to blog about what they're doing).

So what the developers say is that the updates are neccessary "to ensure on-going service reliability and operation". That seems plausible, but it's provoked some strong reactions, and some of the commenters to the blog post make interesting points. Here's what one commenter has to say:

You're asking yourself the wrong questions, and thus coming up with the wrong answers. The question you're not asking yourself is "why do users choose to disable the automatic installation?"  There are several answers, but the most common is probably "because Microsoft makes mistakes". 

Should we expect Microsoft to be infallible?  No, we shouldn't.  They are people after all.  But choosing when to install items gives us the option to check the blogosphere for issues, avoid installing something during a critical project phase, etc etc.  And by taking the liberty of installing items without asking, you are asserting that you are infallible.  Which, obviously, you are not.

Posted by Anthony Dhanendran on September 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

UAC not deliberately annoying, says Microsoft

If you've upgraded to a Windows Vista PC, the chances are that you've noticed its new User Account Control feature. UAC is responsible for popping up a dialog box that asks for your permission when you try to perform certain actions such as installing new software. It's designed to help protect Windows users against accidentally running software that could damage their PC.

Unlike Windows XP, which forced users to choose between two kinds of accounts - administrators, who could do anything, and limited users, who were more protected but less powerful - Vista's UAC allows you to run as a limited user, shifting up to administrator status when you need to perform certain tasks.

Well intentioned as it may be, however, UAC has not been welcomed with open arms. Many users find the popups annoying, and if you search Google for "UAC Vista" you'll find many websites explaining how to disable them entirely.

This month, Microsoft's Technet magazine has included an interesting and detailed explanation of what UAC was designed for, and, more interestingly, what it is not: UAC was not, it explains, "deliberately designed to be the most annoying feature in the history of Windows". If you've wondered what UAC is for, or considered removing it yourself, it's well worth a read. Also, tell us what you think of UAC in the comments - is it a clever safety measure, or an overzealous annoyance?

Posted by Tom Royal on September 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Sing a rainbow (table)

The modern world depends on cryptography, the science of codes. It's codes, or encryption, that allow us to shop safely online, send secure messages, and transfer money over the internet. Without encryption, anybody would be able to intercept your credit card details when you bought something, for instance.

Cryptography relies in part on the fact that some codes would take literally years to crack using even the fastest computers currently available. But a relatively new idea called a Rainbow Table could cause problems here.

Rainbow tables are huge (really huge, we're talking several gigabytes each) lists of values that can be used to crack passwords. The reason they're only recently of issue is that until recently, most computers simply didn't have the memory, storage space or computing power to be able to deal with them. But with all of these things becoming cheaper, they're now a reality. The blog post linked above explains the whole thing in detail, along with some statistics of how much easier such a table makes it to crack certain passwords.

But then again, as another blogger points out, no well-designed password scheme should be vulnerable to this kind of attack. Using a simple technique, which he explains, it's possible to make it a lot harder for a potential hacker to use a rainbow table to get at passwords. Of course, you just have to trust that the people who designed the password system you use (for email, banking, shopping, or whatever) designed it well.

Posted by Anthony Dhanendran on September 13, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Microsoft updates Windows without permission

Strange goings on with Windows this week - it looks like Microsoft has been installing and updating some system files on people's computers, without them agreeing to it. Now, for most of us, that's not a problem, because we have Automatic Updates turned on, so the computer updates itself once a week or so.

But this is an extra update - the files are part of the Windows Update program itself, and they'll install themselves even if Windows Update is switched off. Obviously the computer has to be connected to a working internet link for this to happen. The update happened to both XP and Vista computers.

Professional computer users, including people who administer computer systems for their companies, depend on being able to know exactly which fixes have been installed on their computers, and when. They also have to check the new updates to make sure they'll work properly (something you'd think Microsoft would do, but these things go wrong surprisingly often.

For the rest of us, it's not as benign as it looks. While this is, almost certainly, a minor, non-critical, harmless change to the system files, the fact that Microsoft is able to silently push files on to users' computers is definitely of concern. We'll follow this one up when we hear from Microsoft: watch this space.

Posted by Anthony Dhanendran on September 13, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Don't fall for scam emails

Following yesterdays comments about avoiding being fooled by phising attacks, there's some helpful advice from the Microsoft Security for Home Computer Users newsletter about shares and stocks tips.

Not all phising attacks attempt to extract money directly from your bank account. Share hint scams attempt to artificially raise the price of shares by whipping up interest around the internet. Before starting the rumours, the scammers buy up large numbers of cheap shares hoping to sell them at a high profit later on. Not that I'm an expert in these matters but if you were very lucky and sold in time you might just get your money back, but it's not good odds.

Read more here or sign up for the newsletters.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 13, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

How important is a standard look and feel?

Dabbling as I have been recently with DAW (digital audio workstation) software, I've experienced some very different appearances to the standard Windows blue and grey.

My first reaction is normally one of frustration with a small hint of panic. If something doesn't work I'll probably know where to look in the normal Windows layout but not if everything is different.

The frustration is really in having to learn a new system. The software that set this all off, Steinberg Sequel, does not have a different interface just for the fun of it. Screen space is at a real premium and the Sequel icons take up less space.

The worst part of this is that it makes trying software out very difficult because the first impressions are so unrepresentative of how the program will feel later on. Maybe one alternative is to watch the tuition videos that give a good idea how the professionals use the software.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Great selection of free software

Although aimed at students, the Software for Starving Students CD is a great resource for anyone. There is plenty of free software collected together in one place

While I support the principles of the Open Source movement, I was glad to read that the criteria for the software is just that it is free.

This is certainly worth a look if you have recently got a new Windows or Mac computer and need some extra software.

The download is a CD ISO that must be burnt to a CD using special software rather than simply copying. There is help for doing this, including a video on the Questions and Answers page.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Stay safe when playing online

It's probably fair to say that nothing is considered off limits by those trying to make money by nefarious means online. The guys over at Kaspersky Labs have written a quick guide to the risks involved in playing games online and how to stay safe.

Beyond reviewing Dark Ages of Camelot (and a more recent review)some years ago and idle playing of the brilliant Legend of the Green Dragon, I've not ventured far into this world. The real world seems to have enough problems of its own. Although the influx of hackers would suggest that the real world is forcing its way into the virtual one.

The section on social engineering is worthy of special attention. The high tech attack is far more work than simply fooling people into giving away their information.

It happens a lot and requires nothing more than a willingness to lie to people. Although it was a hard book to read, Kevin Mitnick's The Art of Deception contains many examples of how con artists can persuade people to hand over passwords, bank details and other personal information.

Should the advice be trust no one? Possibly, but that doesn't make for much of a good life. Perhaps it's better to always remember the risks and to think twice before giving anything away. Both in the street and in the caverns of online role playing games.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

New Media Center Extenders for Vista

Windows Vista's Media Center interface is a great way to organise and play media files, and it gets even better if you also own an Xbox 360 and a home network. Microsoft's games console can then function as a Media Center Extender, giving you access to all your recorded TV programmes, video files and music in another room.
Unfortunately, with the cheapest Xbox 360 package costing £180, only keen gamers will get access to this feature - few people are likely to buy an Xbox just for its clever media streaming tricks.
This could soon change, however, as Microsoft, Linksys and D-Link have demonstrated new standalone Media Center Extender devices at the Cedia Expo show in Denver. These products will allow you to stream music and video files in exactly the same way, but without the expense of buying Microsoft's games console.
The new products will also support highly compressed DivX and XviD video files, which are ideal for streaming across a wireless network, as well as high definition Windows Media Video HD files.
No prices or availability dates have been released - we'll update you as soon as UK release details are available.

Posted by Tom Royal on September 11, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Cricket and Microsoft

It's not often we get to link to Cricinfo, for the obvious reason that, being a cricket site, it doesn't usually have much to say on the subject of computers. But it turns out that Microsoft is getting into the sport, but not just for fun.

The company is apparently working with Indian cricket tournaments to keep its sub-continental employees (who comprise a significant minority, as Cricinfo points out) happy. So there you have it - cricket plays a part in the development of Windows. Possibly.

Posted by Anthony Dhanendran on September 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Windows Vista updates pain

I tend to be careful to check for updates on a regular basis, but it's getting increasingly frustrating with Windows Vista at the moment. The problem is that the update software completely takes over the computer. I ended up reading a book for nearly 25 minutes on Saturday night while Vista installed updates.

I wouldn't mind so much but this was a 'background' install. Not so-called because I was able to get on with my work (or even surf the web) but because the only warning was an icon in the Notification Area. For most of the update the cursor was unresponsive and the clock didn't update.

It's frustrating because I had no control over the update, if I had been on a deadline it would have been even more maddening.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Posted by Tim Smith on September 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Appear omniscient with the web

There was a spirited discussion in the office the othe day about the planned database on children and whether it was a good idea or not. Leaving aside the question of whether it would actually work in practice, there's part of me that is a little fatalistic.

There's lots of information about me that can be found quite easily on the web. Whether centralised databases will make much difference is the real question for me. I suppose it just makes it easier for automated searches by aspiring fraudsters.

Run a WHOIS search on one of my domains to find my address, use the Google Earth/Land Registry mashup at HousePriceMaps to find how much I paid for my house, or just go directly to the Land Registry for more information.

With that in mind there's an amusing anecdote from Darren Strange over at Microsoft. He used some straightforwared searches to find out the personal details of someone chasing him on Instant Messenger to put them off. "Revealing this knowledge freaked out the stalker a bit, "how do you know that?" he says.  "Well, we're Microsoft, we know everything" I said.  No more was ever heard from him.. If only it was true :-)"

Posted by Tim Smith on September 7, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Staying up to date with Secunia Part 2

I have to admit that although I'm looking at a long list of outdated software from the Secunia PSI, I've not got around to updating most of it yet.

And, according to Windows Secrets, I'm by no means alone. The other aspect to consider that it is not necessarily Windows that is to blame for security problems.

One take on this the other day was comparing Windows and Linux (in a refreshingly balanced manner), specfically Ubuntu. The package updater tool monitors more than just the basic operating system as Windows Update does. In fact, Windows Update does not even cover all Microsoft software. I found that I was well behind with updates for Office the other day. I had just assumed that critical Office updates would be included.

My concern with this is the amount of time it requires. It one thing at work, I can rely on our Systems department, or at least use them as a scapegoat, but can I afford the time at home? Or rather can I afford not to?

Posted by Tim Smith on September 7, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

One place for widgets

I like widgets; they're useful and a good way of staying up to date. The only problem I've had is that there are several different standards. I've written a widget for the Yahoo Widget Engine but still haven't got round to porting it across to the Vista Gadget standard. They're not that different, and I'm not doing anything that complicated, but it's just hassle.

Well help may be at hand, at least for the people I'm aiming the gadget/widget/whatever at from Amnesty Widgets with Hypercube.

If I understand their website, it is a widget engine that accepts widgets written for all kinds of engines. It's still in Alpha so expect bugs but certainly worth watching for new versions.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 5, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

When are ads acceptable, part 2

An interesting news story landed on our desks today, especially in the light of my post yesterday about what ads are considered acceptable. Apparantly Codemasters has signed a deal with GameTap to supply fairly recent games at a reduced cost or free, so long as you are willing to watch the odd ad during gameplay.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 5, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Create brilliant logos and buttons

One of the reasons I enjoy books (apart from a love of reading) is that there are often random snippits of information that I've been looking for. It happened to me this morning when reading a book about the upcoming version of the website software Joomla and an explaination of how to create both web buttons and logos using the GIMP image editor.

I've been looking for an easy way to do this for some time, and have come up with software like Free Web Buttons, alright in its way but a little limited. Well GIMP has many scripts for creating both simple buttons like this,

more attractive bevelled buttons like this,

or complete logos such as this one,

Read on for the instructions

Start Gimp as normal, but without creating a new document, click on the Xtns menu, then Script-Fu and select a design from either Buttons or logos.

I'd nosed around in Script-Fu ages ago and couldn't find anything that struck me as very useful. It just goes to show that it's worth finding out exactly what has been changed in new versions.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 5, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Speed up Windows XP in a Virtual PC

If you have been using Virtual PC to run old software that won't work in Vista, there are some helpful tips from Dan's Archive about getting the best performance.

To be honest some might be worth trying on a normal installaton of Windows.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 4, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A win for the good guys

One of the problems with the many *wares (adware, spyware, nastyware, etc) is deciding whether or not there is an acceptable place for ads in software. Both the Opera web browser and Eudora email client did this for years and no one really batted an eyelid. Well, neither were massively popular but no one complained loudly.

But where do you draw the line? And who decides? One company that includes ads in their software got rather hot under the collar when PC Tools removed their software from computers without asking the user first.

So much so that Zango took PC Tools to court because but then dropped the complaint last week.

In some respects, Zango's decision to go to court in the first place seemed odd, especially the timing as they were in the process of being reclassified by PC Tools.

As I used Eudora for a couple of years, I don't have a problem with some form of advertising to support a service. For that matter I use GoogleMail and that has advertising.

Having said that, I would be cautious about using Zango, not least because another security service, McAfee Site Advisor, ranks the site as red with 456 red downloads and links to other red sites.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 4, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack