2007 March

Windows XP Service Pack 3 Delayed

March 28, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

With the emphasis on IE7 and Windows Vista, Microsoft has announced that the next Service Pack for Windows XP will be delayed until 2008. Quoting Microsoft’s site:

SP3 for Windows XP Home Edition is currently planned for 1H CY2008. This date is preliminary. SP3 for Windows XP Professional is currently planned for 1H CY2008. This date is preliminary.

What? Some time in the first half of 2008?

Can you believe that hogwash, given as many security patches as have been released for Windows XP and with the scheduled push-out of Internet Explorer 7 as a “Critical Update” in November?

Of course, they may just want to wait until they’ve got some of the bugs out of IE7 …

Filed Under: Bug Fixes, Security Fixes, Terry's Computer Tips, Windows Updates, Windows XP

Eudora to Become Open-Source

March 25, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

The final commercial version of my favorite email program Eudora was issued during the week of October 15, 2007. We finally got a new version, updating from v7.01 to 7.1.0.9.

There was another piece of good news — in plain sight — further down the web page at www.Eudora.com. Qualcomm, the phone manufacturer, has finally decided to release Eudora to the Open Source community!

Eudora is scheduled to become open source software, meaning anyone who wants can edit it and change it, in the first half of 2007.

Read more in Eudora to Become Open-Source

If you’re already using Eudora, and if you’re using it in “Sponsored Mode,” be sure to upgrade to the latest version before March 31st. On that date, the earlier versions of Sponsored Mode will become disabled.

Filed Under: Communications, Email, Eudora, Terry's Computer Tips

Second Hard Drive failure with Windows XP Pro SP2

March 14, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

I hope it’s just coincidence, but I have just suffered my second hard drive failure with Window XP SP2 — in two months. Fortunately, I can avoid the cost of a hard drive recovery service, since I back up my data nightly across my network to my Linux box.

Both failures were internal hard drives. Both hard drives were installed in their respective computers.

The drives have been running XP Pro for at least 2.5 years, and Service Pack 2 since it became available. So, they didn’t fail within 2 months of starting use, but within 2 months of each other.

Filed Under: Backups, File system repair, Hard Drive Recovery, Hard Drives, Operating System, Terry's Computer Tips, Windows XP

Fighting Against Spyware & Malware

March 9, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

Spyware is software that enables a third-party to track where you go on the Internet. Usually this does not involves specific tracking cookies and companies that specialize in tracking your visits to advertiser sites.

Although this capability has given cookies a bad name, cookies are not inherently evil. They are used for many good purposes such as automatically logging you into a site like My Yahoo! or the New York Times. Most sites do not use cookies to spy on you.

Spyware, on the other hand, is almost always software that is actually installed on your computer — without your knowledge, usually, to monitor and report on what you do. It may be for the purpose of giving you specific advertising. More often, it is designed to steal personal information such as user IDs and passwords or credit card numbers.

Adware is software that generates ads, especially popup ads, to interfere with your computing and Internet surfing experience.

As most people use the term “adware,” and I agree with them, “adware” does not include software that displays unobtrusive ads with your conscious agreement (not buried deep in a license agreement or installed without your agreement) as a way to provide free software for you.

Examples of this latter “non-adware” case are Eudora (email) and Opera (web browser), both of which give you the option to purchase versions without advertising and have ad-sponsored versions available as free alternatives.

Malware is a more generic term to mean any program that is designed to abuse your computer system or trust. Spyware and Adware are in this category, as are Browser Hijackers, Trojans, Viruses and Worms.

Filed Under: Anti-adware, Anti-spam, Anti-spyware, Anti-virus, Firewall, Security

Review: GoToMyPC – Remote Access to Your PC

March 6, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

As I wrote in one of my weekly newsletters, I’de been trying the 30-day free trial of GoToMyPC. I’m very impressed with this service and its capabilities.

GoToMyPC is designed to allow a PC user to access his computer remotely. This user might be a salesman, a tech support person, a business man who left some files at the office (or at home), a traveler for business or pleasure. Access could be from across town or across the country.

Getting Started With GoToMyPC – 30-day free trial

On the remote PC, the PC that you’re actually using, you use a Java-capable web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc) to access your host computer (your office or home PC). Any web browsers that supports Sun Microsystems’ Java (free, www.java.com) will work, although not all features may be available on some browsers. You can even access and control your Windows PC from a Mac.

Filed Under: Communications, Operating System, Remote Access, Web browsing, Windows XP

Problems with Pre-loaded Software

March 4, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

We’re all used to our computer manufacturers preloading Windows, Windows Media Player, AOL and a couple other dial-up services, anti-virus trials, Microsoft Office trials and a bunch of other stuff.

I usually delete the junk quickly. Whether it’s a trial version of an antivirus I don’t want or a trial of Microsoft office, I want the software that I pick — and from the vendor of my choice. Those preinstall “deals” often seem to be at list price.

I recently ran into a client’s computer that would not communicate on his network or access the Internet. Guess what?

It was the pre-installed, partially activated Norton Internet Security that was causing the problem. Since it was installed but not activated, it was blocking everything!

Since he used a different anti-virus program and a different firewall, and since Norton showed that it was not protecting his computer, he thought that was ok. NOT!Read more in Problems with Pre-loaded Software at Terry’s Computer Tips.

Filed Under: Firewall, Operating System, Pre-installed Software, Registry repair, Security, Terry's Computer Tips, Windows XP