Terabyte hard drives become mainstream
This week and last both Samsung and Seagate have announced they will be offering Terabyte hard drives.
Seagate announced two models, the Barracuda ES.2 for the enterprise and the Barracuda 7200.11 for consumers. Both drives will offer 7,200-rpm spin speeds, up to 32 MB of cache, average seek times of 8.5 milliseconds - they should be shipping in the third quarter.
The Barracuda ES.2 has a serial attached SCSI (SAS) interface along with the standard Serial ATA. According to Seagate this will offer a 20 percent reduction in overall power consumption over earlier drives. Seagate noted the ES.2 boosts reliability with an industry-best unrecoverable error rate that is 10 times better than desktop-class drives.
A few interesting advances will be hiding in some of these drives. For example Seagate's new drives use perpendicular recording instead of longitudinal. Perpendicular recording enables magnetic charges to be stored vertically on a platter, providing a higher storage density
Target prices for the drives are in the $400 range
Posted By:
Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, June 27, 2007
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New line of Dell laptops
Dell introduced new laptop computers this Tuesday to regain its once dominant position in the PC market. Included in the line is one of the first laptops to use the 32 GB flash drive technology - Allowing the laptop to be lighter, and the battery to last longer.
Dell's new notebooks will be unveiled at an event at Macy's store in Herald Square in New York. The laptops will come in colors with names such as sunshine yellow, flamingo pink, ruby red, jet black, alpine white, midnight blue and espresso. An entry level version of the laptop will start at $749 US.
Dell also said it will be phasing out its dimension brand used for its desktop computers for over 10 years, and switch to the Inspiron name used for its laptops.
It will be interesting to see if this helps them regain their #1 position that was lost to HP earlier this year.
Posted By:
Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, June 26, 2007
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Hide your last login
Windows 2003, XP, and 2000 (when joined to a domain) will always save the name of the last user that logged in.
This is a nice feature if you are the only one who logs into the PC - Yes it saves you the trouble of typing your username each time you login.
Yet many times you don't want someone to know the last username to login.
It could be that you have a public machine with a guest login, or you don't want your users to know your administrator username after you have worked on their machine.
There is an easy way to change this. Open up regedit, and browse to this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Create a new DWORD value named DontDisplayLastUsername
Set it to 1
The next time you login the last username will be cleared
Posted By:
Steve Wiseman on Thursday, June 21, 2007
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Illegal System DLL Relocation - Fix
I started getting this message from my Realtek Audio control program for a few months now. I figured it was probably missing some files, or got corrupt.
I re-installed all of the Realtek drivers, and still the error message persisted.
A quick google search and I discovered it was caused by some security updates from Microsoft. Specifically it was 925902 (MS07-017) and security update 928843 (MS07-008).
Here is a list of applications that Microsoft knows these patches break:
-Realtek HD Audio Control Panel
-ElsterFormular
-TUGZip
-CD-Tag
-Suunto Ski Manager
-BMC PATROL
I would imagine this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are probably a few hundred they don't even know about.
Either way the fix is simple. You can
1. Run automatic updates.
Or,
2. Download and install KB Update 935448
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, June 20, 2007
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Get the BCC field back in Outlook 2003
I was pulling my hair out the other day when I wanted to blind carbon copy someone an email. If you have never used it before the BCC field allows you to send the message to multiple recipients without revealing who you sent the message to.
For example if I sent a message to Dave, and Sally, and BCCed Mark...Then Dave and Sally would know they both got the message...but would have no idea that I also sent it to Mark.
Here is where the frustration is. I start a new message and the BCC field is just gone
I felt like I clicked every option and every menu and I could not find a way to get it back. For a while I thought maybe for some crazy reason Microsoft removed it from this version of Outlook.
Then I accidentally clicked the little arrow next to options...no not the options button (That brings up a totally different window)...but the little arrow next to it!
Doing that brings down the menu that allows you to easily add the BCC field back to your email. Clicking on BCC adds it below the others
The nice part is you only need to do this once, and now every time you create, or open a message the BCC field is there.
Posted By:
Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, June 20, 2007
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Resize volumes in Windows Vista
I was looking for a tool to resize the primary partition on my Vista workstation...you know something like Partition Magic but with the shiny "Works With Vista" logo?
Only after a few searches I discovered that Microsoft has baked into Vista automatic partition resizing.
I was very skeptical at first, and I worried that it might bomb out and destroy everything...so I made sure I backed up my system. From past experience I expected the resize would take hours. Amazingly it only took about 90 seconds to split my drive in half.
I will walk you through the process...I am going to go through every step for those who have not used Vista yet can easily find their way.
Click on start, then control panel
The control panel will popup and you will want to look for the administrative tools icon. (You will need to click on the classic view button on the left to see it). Double click it.
In the administrative tools window you need to find "Computer Management" Double click it.
Now that you have computer management open, look down the list on the left. Click on "Disk Management". Now look at the top middle part of the window. Find the disk you want to resize and single click on it. Once you have done this a list of volumes on that drive will appear below.
Right click on the volume you want to resize and you will be given the option to shrink or expand it. If an option is grayed out it means you either cannot shrink it any smaller, or cannot expand it any larger.
I decided I wanted to shrink my drive in half. (Well almost)
When it is shrinking there is no progress...so just sit and wait for it to do its thing. It took about 90 seconds on my system...and bam it was resized
Posted By:
Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, June 19, 2007
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Trojan.Kardphisher - Maleware that looks like Windows Product Activation
As users become more savvy and are able to easily detect phishing attempts, the attackers are getting more clever in their methods.
Symantec has put out a warning for a new virus named Trojan.Kardphisher. The maleware is installed by an infected email, or webpage. Once the software is installed you are prompted by this screen on the next reboot:
If you select "No, I will do it later" the system will immediately reboot - A perfect way to distract the user with a sense of urgency. When they say yes, and move to the next screen they are asked for their credit card details:
It scares me to think of the number of people I know that would be fooled by these forms. I probably would too...except the credit card info page is a dead giveaway. I know MS would never ask for that.
This is just another reason to make sure your systems are fully patched, and have the latest antivirus software.
Posted By:
Steve Wiseman on Monday, June 18, 2007
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Symantec releases Norton AntiBot Beta
Symantec is treading a new path - using virus detection technology that does not need signature files. Recently many security researchers have spoken out against the use of signature files. Ironically almost every popular anti-virus solution uses some type of signature file system.
How do signature files work?
Before a signature file can be created the antivirus company needs to know that a particular virus exists. Even thinking about this for a moment you can easily see that this is a major weakness. They create signature files by looking at honeypots, emails from users, and calls from customers. What does that mean? It means that some unlucky sucker needs to get infected with a virus before you can be protected.
In addition, another significant weakness is when a virus changes itself while propagating. If this happens, the signature becomes useless.
So you can see where the problem is. There needs to be a way to detect new viruses without needing constant updating from a central repository.
That's what AntiBot aims to do. It looks at the behavior of programs on your system to determine if they are causing harm. Over time it can improve its detection by seeing how you normally use your computer, and it will raise a red flag when something deviates from the norm.
Keep in mind that Symantec is marketing this as something you would use in addition to a signature based anti-virus solution - so it would not be a replacement.
Here are the main features of the current beta:
-Actively and continuously monitors your PC’s applications and processes 24/7 so you’re always protected
-Thoroughly removes detected bots and malware and their related components, custom installation files and registry settings
-Strengthens any security product by providing an additional layer of protection against bots and other emerging threats
If you want to try it out, the download page
can be found hereNote: This beta doesn't seem to bog my system down like every other Symantec product :)
Posted By:
Steve Wiseman on Friday, June 15, 2007
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VMWare releases Fusion Beta 4
VMWare released its latest in its line of betas for MacOSX this week.
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This release is more stable than ever, and I would highly recommend to anyone with a Mac to download and try this latest release. With this version I am able to easily run three or four virtual machines at a time (Usually a server, and a few workstations). This is with my low end Macbook. (I admit I do have 2GB of ram) I can't imagine how well it would work with some of the higher end Mac hardware.
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To be honest with you I can't understand why Vista runs faster running in a fusion VM compared to it running for real on this same machine. I haven't done any verifiable testing to see if I am right, so it could still be in my imagination.
To download a copy simply visit the
beta registration page and you will be downloading in minutes.
The new feature in this beta that has me excited is called Unity. It allows Windows apps to run seamless with OSX software. Here is an excerpt from the release notes:
Unity — The seamless way to run Windows applications: Run Windows XP applications alongside your favorite Mac applications and switch between any open application with command-tab or Exposé. Leave the Windows desktop and Start menu behind and use the VMware Fusion Launch palette to quickly find and launch your Windows applications. Save your favorite Windows applications to the Mac OS X Dock. Even use familiar Mac keyboard shortcuts to seamlessly copy and paste between Windows and Mac applications. If you have tried previous betas you will need to upgrade the client's VMWare tools to access the Unity feature. Make sure you reboot, or risk crashing the client OS.
The final version is to be released sometime in August 2007. You can
pre-order a copy for half price for a limited time.
Posted By:
Steve Wiseman on Thursday, June 14, 2007
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Windows 2003 SP2 Released to Windows Update
Microsoft Windows 2003 Service Pack 2 was quietly released to automatic updates yesterday.
As you can see in the screen shot below - there is no need to worry about it installing without your knowledge. It requires that you manually agree to install it before it is applied to your system
It definitely is not a small download. It is around 370 MB, so be prepared to wait some time for it to finish. Microsoft has a
top 10 list that mentions "customer driven changes" to tools like MSCONFIG, and DCDIAG.
Opening up MSCONFIG I only can see one change. It has a tools tab that is a list of commonly used admin programs. You can select one of them, and launch.
With DCDIAG, it seems that the new addition is the ability to save the output to a XML formatted log file. This is a nice addition for those who use log collection tools.
A few other improvements: WPA2 wireless authentication support has been added. Also IPSEC has again been improved.
The good thing about this service pack is that it is an incremental change that should have minimal impact on most of your applications. Unlike Service Pack 1, which made some major changes that broke some software. I would imagine that a few of you out there are still running 2003 without SP1 for this very reason.
As always test thoroughly before you install this update, but I think for most people it will be a smooth transition.
Posted By:
Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, June 13, 2007
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Show hidden software in Add/Remove programs
While digging around for an answer to another issue, I came across this KB article
Essentially it boils down to this: Windows XP comes with a bunch of pre-loaded software. Lots of it you can't even find in Add/Remove programs. Why? Because Microsoft designed it this way.
By simply opening up the file Sysoc.inf (This is in the %SystemRoot%\Inf folder), and removing the word 'hide' you can force these programs to show up.
You can scan through and figure out what each item is. Some of them won't do anything for you. For example, even under Windows XP Pro you can turn on Terminal Services. It will show up in Add/Remove components, but you won't be able to install it.
Lets look at mine. I am going unhide MS Word Pad. Here is what the line looks like:
Now I will unhide it by removing the word HIDE and saving the file. It would be a good idea to back up this file before making any changes...that way you can get things back to normal if you mess it up.
Notice that both commas stay, so you have two in a row. Now I will open up add/remove programs from the control panel. In this case I know that MS Word Pad is part of Accessories. So I click on "Accessories and Utilities" then click on details. And again click on "Accessories" in the next window and details. Now I can see the option to add or remove MS Word Pad:
You can do this for many other components. This can really help when you want to trim down a system, but at the same time have the opportunity to bring something back if you need it.
Posted By:
Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, June 12, 2007
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