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October 31, 2004

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The amazing hidden backup program

My brother-in-law is never afraid to ask a question. This week, he's concerned that his copy of Windows XP Home Edition is missing the backup program. Where is it?

It’s on your Windows XP CD.

From Windows XP Inside Out, Second Edition:

If you're running Windows XP Home Edition, you won't find Backup Utility on the Start menu or even in Add Or Remove Programs. It is included, though; you just need to know where to look. To install Backup Utility, you need your Windows XP Home Edition CD. Use Windows Explorer to open the Valueadd\Msft\Ntbackup folder, and then double-click Ntbackup.msi.

Mission accomplished.

Update: The Windows XP Backup program is installed by default with Windows XP Pro. Based on user surveys, Microsoft decided (incorrectly, in my opinion) that anyone using Windows XP Home Edition wouldn't be interested in the Backup program. That's why you have to manually install it. Thanks to Woody for asking this question in the comments.

Update 2: If you have a recovery CD instead of a "real" Windows XP Home Edition CD, you can install the Ntbackup program from a borrowed CD. If you can't find one of those, download the installer from this site.

Update 3: If you're looking for advice on how to actually use the backup program after it's installed, see this article I wrote last year: Windows XP Backup Made Easy.

SP2 resources

I've done a whole bunch of site improvements here. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that comments are enabled again - for some threads, anyway.

I've also created archive pages by category, which you'll find linked in the sidebar on the right (or on the main Archives page, available from the link at the top of every page on the site).

I get a lot of questions about Service Pack 2, so I've categorized the SP2 posts and collected them on the SP2 Archives page.

Like it? Want me to add something? Leave a comment.

October 30, 2004

Shoebox or file cabinet?

Old joke: The world is divided into two kinds of people, those who divide the world into two groups and those who don't.

Heh. Actually, I think the world is divided into people who file stuff neatly and those who throw everything into a shoebox. I've historically fallen into the latter category, but I've always felt a little guilty about it. Which is why I was eager to try a new program called ClearContext Inbox Manager. It's an add-in for Microsoft Outlook that is supposed to automate the process of sorting and filing e-mail.

How does it work? Well, let's just say that yesterday, my inbox was overflowing with 4500 messages. Today, it contains 29 messages, all of them related to a project I'm working on now.

ClearContext is easy to set up. Deceptively easy, in fact. I was convinced I had missed something, because installation and configuration were so simple. The program works by examining your Contacts folder and prioritizing your contacts. You answer a few questions to improve the automated process. Incoming messages get assigned a priority based on the sender, the recipient (messages addressed directly to you are more important than those where you're a bcc), and your level of involvement in the thread. Based on the priority level, each message gets a color code.

Messages get assigned to topics, which map to folders in your mail folder. In about 15 minutes, I set up Auto-Assign rules to automatically categorize messages from mailing lists and frequent correspondents and then move them into folders.

When all was said and done, my inbox was slimmer, all remaining messages were sorted so that the most important ones were at the top of the list, and I was able to quickly delete almost a thousand unnecessary messages.

Thanks to a new toolbar in the Outlook window, I can assign a topic to a message with one click and file it in its folder with another click.

I had done some of this stuff with Outlook message rules, but the ClearContext Auto-Assign rules are much easier to create. Likewise, it's possible to file messages into Outlook folders, but this add-in makes it much easier.

I've tried other add-ins that promise to do similar things, most notably Getting Things Done, which Marc Orchant raves about. But that program tried to force me into a new system, and I wasn't comfortable with the adjustment.

ClearContext Inbox Manager doesn't insist that I learn its way of working. Instead, it makes it easier for me to use Outlook the way I always have. You can try it out for 30 days, and if you like it, pay $29.95 to keep using it.

Now, if someone can just come up with a program to file this four-foot-high stack of paper on my desk...

October 29, 2004

Time tools

I've been thinking about time today. This weekend marks the end of Daylight Saving Time. Fortunately, I live in a state that doesn't spring forward or fall back, so I don't have to run around like a madman this weekend and change all the clocks, but you probably do. So don't forget!

I was also thinking about time this morning because I had to place a call to some associates in Italy. What time is it there? I thought I knew, but wasn't sure, so I went to one of my all-time favorite sites: www.timeanddate.com.

They've got time zone converters, international dialing codes, DST information, and much more. My favorite is a Personal World Clock, which lets you build a custom display of the current time in up to 16 cities from around the world.

Bookmark it!

October 27, 2004

HDTV + PVR = Nirvana

The good folks at G4TechTV are on the same page as me. In HDTV Epiphany, they say:

What's the point of signing up for high-definition TV service and spending thousands of dollars on the hardware if you can't pause, rewind and record the HD content? You'd have to pry my cold dead fingers off the remote control before I'd give up my time shifting rights.

Thankfully, it won't come to that. High-definition DVRs have, at long last, begun to hit the market for cable, satellite and plain, old over-the-air content at a time when service providers are also expanding their HD offerings. And it's not a moment too soon. HD broadcasts are still about as rare as a cheap HDTV, but the stuff that is airing I want to see, making it even more compelling to have the ability to record what does air.

G4techTV labs looked at three HD recorders all for around $1000 that offer extremely high resolution if you can afford the extremely high price.

Not there yet, but getting close...

Oh, and as long as we're talking about digital media... I now have a copy of MCE 2005 and will be installing it as soon as I have some spare time. (January? February?)

Google cheat sheet

I didn't know that Google offered a cheat sheet with lists of useful search operators and links to most Google services.

I knew about 75% of this stuff, but I picked up a few tricks. Check it out.

Thanks to J-Walk Blog for the tip.

October 26, 2004

Windows Validation?

My RSS feed just passed along news of a Critical Update for Windows XP. When I clicked the link, it took me to this page: Download details: Critical Update for Windows XP (KB887822). So far, perfectly normal. But then I saw a yellow box in the center of the page, with this text:

This download is available to customers running genuine Microsoft Windows. Please click Continue to begin Windows validation.

Windows Validation? First I've heard of this. I clicked the link and found another link to a Why Validate? page that sorta kinda explains what's going on.

This is separate and distinct from Windows Product Activation. So far, it's not a required step. You have to go through the validation screen, where you are prompted to install an ActiveX control on your computer. You can choose not to validate and still get the download.

It looks like this is the next step in Microsoft's anti-piracy program. The broader effort, called Windows Genuine Advantage, was very quietly announced last month. So quietly, in fact, that I missed this report from Microsoft Monitor:

Under the Windows Genuine program, Microsoft would require an extra step before users would be able to use the Download Center--that’s assuming the program evolves as conceived. At Download Center, Microsoft provides updates to all its software. Users with product-activated Windows would go through a fairly seamless process to the Download Center, since Microsoft had already collected anonymous information associated with the operating system and hardware. Apparently, both mechanisms, activation and validation, would deposit an ActiveX control on the PC. Microsoft hasn’t said whether Windows validation would be required to download its other products running on the operating system.

Users that had not activated--and that could be a whole bunch of people given that most PCs ship without need of the process--would have to go through an anonymous process to validate their copy of Windows, basically by the Certificate of Authenticity key. Once validated, users would have access to Download Center. If not validated, downloads would be restricted to critical updates.

Hmmm. I know a lot of people who are opposed to installing any ActiveX control, and it's hard to convince them to trust this one, no matter how many assurances of safety and anonymity you provide. I sympathize with the goal of stopping piracy, but it cannot interfere in any way with the goal of making security patches readily available for all versions of Windows.

I'll keep you posted as I learn more.

Update: I went through the validation process using Firefox. The validation routine required that I download and run a very small executable program - no ActiveX required. After the program ran, it popped up a small box with a seven-character alphanumeric code in it. I pasted that code into a matching box on the validation page and that was it.

I can't wait to read all the protests about how intrusive and offensive this process is. Wanna take bets on how many of the people screaming the loudest never actually go through this process?

Wireless security: cracking the code

Network World has put together an excellent, exhaustive article on the ins and outs of deploying a wireless network, entitled Cracking the wireless security code:

Is it possible to deploy a secure wireless LAN with technology available today? That question preys on the minds of IT executives who are tempted to deploy enterprise WLANs, but are hesitant because of security concerns.

So we assembled 23 wireless products from 17 vendors and ran them through a battery of tests aimed at getting the answer.

The focus is on enterprise networks, so it may be overkill if you're just trying to keep the guy in the apartment below you from tapping into your Wi-Fi connection. I mean, you're not about to set up a RADIUS server in your hall closet. But it's still worth reading, thanks to an excellent glossary, clear explanations of all the wireless technologies out there, and detailed instructions on how to secure your wireless LAN.

Props to Wi-Fi Networking News for the pointer.

Firefox momentum

Paul Thurrott writes about Firefox:

The browser wars are back, and this time it's personal: Upstart Web browser maker Mozilla Foundation now expects its surging Firefox browser to command 10 percent of the Web browser market by the end of 2005. "I think we'll get to 10 percent over the next year," a Mozilla Foundation spokesperson told ZDNET this week. "We don't have 10 percent of the Web at the moment, but we have the momentum."

I guess the readers of this blog are ahead of the curve. Nearly 25% of my site traffic comes from Firefox.

In fact, I use Firefox as my primary browser. I don't agree with Paul T. that IE is "bug-laden and insecure." Firefox crashes about as often as IE6 on my machines, which is to say not very often. Thankfully, I don't have to choose one or the other on the basis of stability. And SP2 has taken care of most of the security issues with IE.

I think Firefox is more usable, and I absolutely love the extensibility model, which lets anyone write an extension that can add a feature to the browser. Tabbed browsing? Love it. Support for Blogger? Great. An extension that lets me right-click a page or a link to open it in IE? That's smart. See the whole list here.

A lot of people are painting this as a battle between evil, incompetent Microsoft and a bunch of upstart genius programmers. I see it a little differently. The Firefox team has built a better browser. It works well with Windows. And they're doing a great job of listening to their customers and improving it. That makes me appreciate Windows as a platform even more.

If you haven't tried Firefox yet, I recommend it. More info and download links here.

October 24, 2004

Software: the 7-day rule

Jeff Sandquist - Microsoft Evangelist has a great rule when it comes to new software:

I love to try out new software all the time, in fact its sort of an obsession. I'm always on the prowl for cool new applications. After seven days of use though if I'm not totally blowon away or if its not improving my PC life, its straight to add/remove programs I go. (Please, have a good un-installer). I actually go as far as to set a reminder in Outlook for seven days from the installation date. When that reminder goes off I either send the author a cheque for their great work (even if its a 30 day evaluation) or I remove the application from my system.

Read the whole post to learn what criteria Jeff uses to decide which software makes the cut.

Actually, I have a similar rule. I will not install a new program when I first hear about it, no matter how tempting it sounds. Instead, I wait at least two weeks, and during that time I check the software out. Any known problems? Any unfortunate interactions with other programs? Only after I satisfy myself that the program is safe and reliable do I allow myself to install it. You'd be amazed how many programs that sound irresistible at first turn out to be completely, um, resistible.

If more people took this skeptical approach to software, the Windows world would be a better place.

SP2 troubles? Some help...

I've heard from several people about problems they experienced when trying to install Service Pack 2. These are the two most common problems:

1. Your computer freezes while trying to install SP2. This seems to be caused by a specific hardware problem, which is described in this Knowledge Base article: Your computer stops responding when you restart to complete the installation of Windows XP Service Pack 2. There's a patch you can install before attempting to update to SP2. If you're stuck midway through an incomplete installation, see the instructions at the end of the article.
2. Your computer gets stuck in a restart loop with the error message "This application has failed to start because winsrv was not found." This one seems to be related to a particular piece of adware called TVMedia, according to this Knowledge Base article. (Mary Jo Foley wrote a story in eWeek earlier this month with more details.)

Other problems I hear about are typically related to outdated and unsigned drivers. If you have a Compaq or HP computer, you can find all the update information you need here. Dell owners should read this page carefully.

If you haven't yet installed SP2, now is the time to do so. If you're looking for a checklist to help make sure you're doing it right, this page from Windows MVP Jupiter Jones is a good place to start. Here's the short version: Check first to see if your computer has any compatibility problems. Scan for viruses and spyware and eliminate anything you find. Download the full SP if possible, or order the CD from Microsoft. Do the upgrade!

Update: You'll find some more resources on my SP2 index page.

October 21, 2004

New editions of Windows XP Inside Out

Carl Siechert, Craig Stinson, and I spent a year working with beta versions of Windows XP Service Pack 2. Our goal was to produce an updated version of Windows XP Inside Out. So, I am happy to report that the second edition is finally available.

A lot of publishers crank out new editions when a service pack comes along. In most cases, all they do is slip in a few pages about the service pack, put a new ISBN number on the title, and throw it on the shelf. We took a more comprehensive approach. This book has been rewritten from start to finish. Service Pack 2 is a big deal, and we wanted to make sure that all of its changes are reflected. It took a long time, but I'm really pleased with the results.

If you own one of the original editions, trust me: You'll want this update. The changes in the book are important, and a lot of the information in the original editions is simply not relevant or helpful if you've installed SP2.

As with the original editions, you'll find two versions of Windows XP Inside Out. The standard edition is aimed at people using Windows in home and small office environments. The Deluxe edition has extra content specifically targeted at power users and those who work with more advanced networks.

You should be able to get these titles from any bookstore. If you want to buy from Amazon.com, I encourage you to click either of the following links. The prices are as good as you'll get anywhere, and I get a buck or two as a spiff for each copy sold.

Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out Deluxe, Second Edition

Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out, Second Edition

Also, if you have a Windows-related blog and you'd like a review copy, link to this post and send me a note with the URL. I'll forward your contact info to the publicity folks at Microsoft Press.

Kazaa use down. Good!

News of an encouraging trend in this morning's headlines. AP: Kazaa losing users:

Kazaa's long-standing position as the most popular online file-sharing software appears to be over. Last month, the daily average of file-swappers on the FastTrack peer-to-peer network, which includes Kazaa and related programs, was surpassed for the first time by users on the eDonkey/Overnet network, according to online tracking firm BayTSP Inc.

[...]

BayTSP's monitoring does not encompass all the file-sharing networks, however. Graham cites the BitTorrent network as an example of a file-sharing community that has grown increasingly popular. The company tracks file-sharing on BitTorrent, but cannot tell how many people use it, Graham said.

I'm a big fan of BitTorrent, which represents a way for communities to share ideas and files. I've seen too much chaos and misery created by Kazaa to feel anything but pleasure in their demise.

October 20, 2004

Windows XP Media Center 2005

Earlier this year, Microsoft sent me a Gateway computer running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004. I was able to play with it for about a month before I had to send it back. I can definitely see the potential in this OS, and in fact I've been able to duplicate many of its functions on my own, using an ATI All-in-Wonder 9600 video card, an ATI Remote Wonder, and SnapStream's BeyondTV 3.5.

So now Media Center Edition 2005 is out. I have a system that's fully compatible with the software, but the OS is, unfortunately, only available in OEM editions. I've read a lot about it, especially at sites like Sean Alexander's Addicted to Digital Media. Sean works for Microsoft and was onstage with Bill Gates demoing the new MCE at its recent introduction. Sean says he wants more people to evangelize about Media Center Edition.

Hey, Sean! Send me a copy of MCE 2005 and I'll gladly tell the world about it.

October 18, 2004

Google = Spyware? I think not...

Wes Felter has an odd comment about Google's latest:

Google Desktop Search somehow intercepts regular Google searches so it can splice in local search results. I've heard of spyware that splices ads into result pages from major search engines; it may use the same technique. I wonder why Windows or Web browsers would allow this. I doubt that Google Desktop is spyware, but it risks guilt by association if it uses the techniques of spyware.

What a bizarre accusation. The "techniques of spyware"? Spyware is a pretty ill-defined term to begin with, but I think we can all agree that the defining characteristic is deception. Developers of spyware programs often try to hide the fact that their program is installing itself. They fail to disclose what the software actually does. They make the software difficult or impossible to remove.

By contrast, Google fully discloses what its Desktop Search program does. The program has a sensible and thorough privacy policy. I had no problem whatsoever disabling it and uninstalling it.

Anyone who refers to this as spyware has truly lost perspective.

October 15, 2004

Desktop search alternatives

OK, I tried Google Desktop Search. I like its simplicity, and the way it brings up e-mail and files in the familiar Google window.

Then I installed Copernic Desktop Search. Whoa. This is good! After 30 minutes working with it I'm really impressed with its power, and I think Google has its work cut out for it, at least for information junkies like me.

Next up is X1.com. Jason Calacanis says "X1 has really changed my life..."

OK, that's worth a try... I'll keep you posted.

Music format wars

Mike at Techdirt has a mini-rant today arguing that the current music format standards battle is Bad News For Everyone. The thrust of his argument is that MP3 was good enough, and the moves by Apple and Microsoft to introduce other standards are wrong:

In some sense, MP3 has just become a generic term for digital music file -- which is only going to lead to problems later when the AAC and WMA files don't behave the same way MP3 files do. Once again, the industry is doing more damage by fragmenting the way in which people store their digital music. There's no benefit to the end user, but it will lead to confusion and anger -- which isn't the way you should want your customers to feel.

I disagree. There is a profound benefit to the end user in these other standards. MP3 was not "good enough" for anyone who cares about audio. AAC, in fact, is the MP3 standard updated with better compression and better audio quality. WMA likewise offers better compression and better sound. My collection of perfectly legal digital music occupies nearly 100GB of disk space. It would take twice that much to get the same quality using MP3.

There are two bigger problems at work here. One is digital rights management. I don't buy music from online music stores (Apple, Microsoft, or anyone) if it's locked up. I want to be able to reuse it on my own collection of devices. The other problem is the Apple vs. Microsoft feud. Apple won't license the WMA format from Microsoft, because they don't want to pay for it or allow iTunes users to download from sources other than Apple. And Apple won't allow Microsoft to license the AAC format, so any tunes downloaded from the iTunes store have to be converted to MP3 format before they can be played.

Basically, consumers have to choose sides in this war. I've chosen the WMA side, and I'm perfectly happy, thanks very much.

More on PCs and TVs

I got a couple of good replies to my recent post on the debut of Windows XP Media Center 2005.

First, a note about what I use. I have what could politely be called a Frankenstein media system. I've upgraded an old TiVo to give it lots of storage capacity. The TiVo is connected to the big-screen TV in the den and is also connected to a device called a MediaCaster, which distributes its signal over the coax throughout the house. In the living room, the bedroom, and my office, I have infrared collectors that take the IR from any remote control and send it to the components in the den. So in any room, I can tune to the channel I designated for TiVo (channel 65, but I could have chosen any channel from 65-80) and watch the signal from the TiVo, just as if I were sitting in the den. (I bought extra TiVo remotes on eBay, so I can control everything from any room without having to carry the lone remote around.)

This is a very workable system for Judy and me. The AVCast component performs some of the functions of the Media Center Extender, and it allows us to get the most out of our TiVo.

Meanwhile, in the office I have three PCs: my main work machine, a test machine, and a server. The server has a collection of 11,000 songs on it, ripped mostly in 192-bit WMA format, with about 15-20% in MP3 format. I'll describe how I use those in another post.

The test computer has an ATI All-in-Wonder video card in it, with a TV tuner. It's connected to the cable without a decoder box, so it gets roughly 60-70 unscrambled cable channels. I use SnapStream Beyond TV 3.5 (just upgraded from the older SnapStream version this week), which is just superb, much better than the buggy, mediocre Multimedia Center software that ATI ships with its cards. Beyond TV has a full set of digital video recorder features and an integrated program guide, so I can record programming here as well. With a 200GB drive, I have lots of room to record stuff. I have an ATI Remote Wonder, which works with the Snapstream software, and a 15-inch flat-screen, so I can use the TV features without sitting in front of the PC.

Unfortunately, neither of these video systems does HDTV, and upgrading to that capability means upsetting the fragile ecosystem I've created here. I'll write more about the options and the compromises associated with each one in a later post.

October 14, 2004

SP2 problems

In response to my recent post asking why people are waiting to install SP2, Steve Smith writes:

On my home system, I installed SP2 not too long after it came out (which has been my practice in the past for other fixes and updates)

The install proceeded uneventfully, I rebooted as instructed but the machine hung on the starting Windows screen. Going into diagnostic mode showed the hang occurring when the agp440.sys driver was loaded. My ASUS motherboard BIOS is current and I have fairly standard components on my system.

Google XP and agp440.sys and you'll see that my problem is not uncommon. I have yet to find a solution. I had to reinstall the entire OS and all of my apps to recover. Not something I want to do again anytime soon.

Yes, I agree. That sucks. I've actually seen this happen in the past, long before SP2. In my case, the problem was caused by a faulty video driver. To solve it, I had to go into recovery console and disable the agp440.sys service, as described in this KB article. It is not a procedure I recommend for beginners.

For what it's worth, I had similar problems when trying to use Roxio's Easy CD Creator, shortly after Windows XP was released. The program installed an incompatible driver which hung the system, and it could only be fixed by booting into Recovery Console and manually removing the driver.

The problem in both cases was caused by a poorly written kernel-mode driver, not by Windows XP or a service pack. Installing SP2 just made the problem appear. The distinction may seem academic to someone dealing with the mess Steve saw, and most people will not have the patience or the knowledge to fix the problem using Recovery Console. Instead, they'll reinstall Windows, cursing the whole while.

A recent issue of Scot Finnie's newsletter mentions a similar problem in a somewhat oblique fashion:

A couple of days ago Microsoft released "Update for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (KB885894)" designed to solve what's probably the most common installation problem with XP SP2: A freeze part-way through the setup process, leaving you with a failed installation. If that happens to you, Microsoft is offering this 760K download. You install it, restart your machine, and you should be able to complete your XP SP2 installation successfully.

Update for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (KB885894)

Note: This installation bug fix is poorly named. "Update for Windows XP Service Pack 2" sounds like it's something everyone should download and run, but that is not the case. It's only if you run into trouble with a hung installation.

I don't know if this is the same issue, but it sounds like it could be.

At any rate, I stand by my advice that installing SP2 is the smart thing to do. I recommend you have a full backup first, of course, and I also suggest that you check all installed drivers to see whether any are unsigned. Those are the ones that are most likely to cause problems. You can use the Verifier utility (which we discuss in Windows XP Inside Out Deluxe Edition), but be careful with this one!

Update: I have more information about two specific SP2-related problems in this post.

Setting up a new PC

John Walkenbach has some excellent observations based on his personal experience Setting Up A New Computer.

I agree with about 98% of it. Glad I covered most of these topics in my new book.

October 13, 2004

How publishers lose readers

I subscribe to several RSS feeds from Windows & IT Pro magazine. Generally, they have good stuff, like an article I ran across today, This is how it goes sometimes. The author, Brett Hill, described how a server was infected in a lab, and how that infection got onto the network when the server was moved from the lab into a production environment.

Carl Siechert and I are currently working on a revision of our book, Windows Security Inside Out, so this was very relevant, and I wanted to explore some more.

I clicked the author's name, which led to a list of other articles and "a blog about thwarting hackers and resolving other security issues." Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, you and I can't read that blog unless we pay $5.95 for a one-month pass or buy a print subscription. That's just dumb.

I like the Salon.com model. Make me click through a special page and see an ad to get to the content behind the paid firewall. But let me see it.

Sorry, Brett. I won't be reading your blog, and I'm probably going to take your magazine off my list of subscribed feeds. Too bad.

HDTV or PVR: Why make me choose?

I have a four-year-old TiVo that I've upgraded with a big hard drive so it has a capacity of several hundred hours. I have an HDTV-ready TV, but haven't ordered an HDTV box from Cox Cable yet. Yeah, HDTV looks fabulous, but it's worthless to me without a personal video recorder. I don't want to be a slave to the TV.

That's why announcements like these are so frustrating:

Hauppauge Computer Works: WinTV-PVR-500MCE

Watch one channel while recording another with the WinTV-PVR-500MCE and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. WinTV-PVR-500MCE contains two complete TV tuners, each with their own hardware MPEG encoder!

Cool! Two TV tuners and a PVR. But no HDTV.

.:: Niveus Media, Inc ::. Imagine, Design, Create

Niveus Media, Inc., manufacturer of media entertainment devices for the high-end audio/video market, today announced their 2005 Denali Edition Media Center offering, featuring Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 software from Microsoft.

"Customers have been asking for high-definition support in Media Center Edition PCs since their inception," said Kevin Unangst, director of Windows consumer marketing for Microsoft Corp. "We are pleased that Niveus will work with the Media Center Edition 2005 to meet consumer demand by offering its A/V form factor Denali Media Center with support for high-definition television broadcasts."

It's gorgeous (and no doubt very very expensive). But no PVR. So why should I bother.

Dear consumer electronics industry: Please wake me up when you get a high-capacity HDTV PVR. I know you're working on it. I can't wait. (And no, DirecTV with TiVo doesn't count. I don't want to switch to satellite and lock myself in to one source of input.)

(Via Engadget)

SP2: Why haven't you installed it?

You probably already read the story I posted a few days ago, about the woman whose computer was taken over by some piece of spyware and then was further damaged by the software that was supposed to get rid of the infection.

I exchanged a few e-mails with her, and in one I asked whether she had installed Windows XP Service Pack 2. No, she said. She had heard there were problems with it.

Oh boy. If she had had SP2 installed, I can say with a high degree of confidence that she would not have been bitten by the spyware bug. But a few rumors were enough to scare her away from the one thing that would probably have been her best protection.

Are you running Windows XP? Are you still waiting to install SP2? If so, why? Installing any piece of software has risks attached to it, but this one is exceptionally well tested, and the likelihood that you will have problems is very small compared to the positive changes in security you'll see.

Of course, you should back up your data first. But you should have a current backup of your important data at all times; it shouldn't just be something you do every 18 months or so when a service pack comes out.

Seriously, if you're still waiting for SP2, send me a note and tell me why. I don't get it.

Oh, and I'll be re-enabling comments soon.

October 12, 2004

Why your PC crashes

In an excellent article at Slate, Paul Boutin explains why your computer crashes:

A few years ago, Microsoft set up the Windows Error Reporting Service to help find out where crashes come from. After a Windows application -- or your whole PC -- shuts down, a box pops up asking you to send a confidential error report. Using pattern-matching software to sift through the data from millions of these reports, Microsoft discovered a surprising statistic. Seventy percent of Windows crashes involve one particular kind of software: device drivers.

Yep. And I would guess that 70% of the remaining crashes can be traced to either bad hardware (like a failing power supply or a bad RAM chip) or buggy software that runs in kernel mode (like an antivirus program or a CD/DVD-burning application).

We spent a lot of time in Windows XP Inside Out explaining how to track down the cause of a crash. Most of the time, it can be done, and fairly quickly.

(Thanks to Scoble for the pointer.)

October 11, 2004

Victimized by anti-spyware software

Longtime readers of this blog may recall that several months ago I wrote a negative review of a program called SpySweeper. Last night I got this e-mail message from a reader:

Ed...I saw your Feb 2004 review of Spy Sweeper and I'm the unsophisticated user you referred to, eg I "swept" everything an now I can't log onto the internet and it takes forever to load Word, when it didn't before I "swept" my computer.

On the advice of a friend, I tried several times to download AdAware, but when I unzipped it, it kept being saved as a .ref file that Windows could not open.

So, given that PCMagazine rated Spy Sweeper highly (keep in mind I was trying to use my infected computer and didn't have time to research...I am at work now)...I installed and ran it last night.

It found a handful of adware and about 100 cookies....I knew a few of them were innocuous and eliminated them and then ran the sweep.

Well, after that, I can no long log onto the Internet with netzero at all!!!

Should I restore everything that was quarantined and hope I can at least access the internet?

My reply:

Argh, I sympathize. Yes, if I were you I would restore what was quarantined and start over. It sounds like the .exe file for NetZero was mistakenly classified as spyware or adware and the overly aggressive SpySweeper software locked it up so you can't access it.

Btw, the AdAware "ref" files are simply the reference files, which contain data used to scan for spyware. The scanning engine is a different download completely. Unfortunately, AdAware has paid versions, and their Web site tries to steer you to those paid versions by making the free version a bit difficult to find.

For future reference, you can find AdAware Personal here, and you can download Spybot S&D (another program I recommend highly) from this link.

Spyware and so-called phishing attacks are an epidemic. Security software can help, but there are too many fake spyware fighters out there, some of which are actually infested with spyware themselves. Companies like WebRoot don't help people when they release software that is too agressive. There's no excuse for what happened to Carol--if the SpySweeper program had been properly tested, it would have never disabled her Internet access.

October 07, 2004

"Ed Bott's Your New PC" is out

I just checked, and Amazon.com now has Ed Bott's Your New PC available for immediate shipment. Click this link to

I'm interested in any and all feedback.