Tech Blogs

Download Squad:

If you read only one blog each day for news about software
and Web services, this one--a sibling of Engadget--would be a smart choice.
http://www.downloadsquad.com/

Scobleizer:

Robert Scoble was Microsoft's most prominent blogger, putting
a chubby, friendly face on the software giant, until he left a year ago.
He remains relentlessly upbeat and personal as he covers technology happenings.
http://www.scobleizer.com/

Engadget and Gizmodo:

The Bobbsey Twins of the techie gadget universe.

If there's a cool new phone, PDA, game console, DVR, or other device brewing,
you'll hear about it first from these guys. We only wish we had their inside sources.
http://www.engadget.com/
http://www.gizmodo.com/

Slashdot:

The granddaddy of the tech news blogs, and the virtual water cooler of the geek cognoscenti.

To be "slashdotted"--that is, to be noticed by CmdrTaco, ScuttleMonkey,

or one of the other regulars--is in some circles the Net equivalent of above-the-fold placement

on the front page of the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal.
http://slashdot.org/

Ars Journals:

The blog arm of the venerable geek site Ars Technica offers an intriguing mix of news, opinion, and hands-on trials.
http://arstechnica.com/journals.ars

Chris Pirillo:

Lockergnome creator and former Tech TV host Chris Pirillo has to be one of the funniest guys in (or out) of technology.
http://chris.pirillo.com/

Kottke.org:

Software developer Jason Kottke has been blogging about his diverse interests since 1998; nobody does more with fewer words.
http://www.kottke.org/

7 Post-Install Tips for Ubuntu Linux - PCWorld article - Matthew Newton

So, you've just installed Ubuntu 7.04, otherwise known as the "Feisty Fawn" release of everyone's favorite (for now) flavor of Linux. You booted the installation disc, looked around the test environment to discover that your hardware was working, and double-clicked the Install icon on the desktop. The Ubuntu installer helped you make room for Linux on your hard drive, and even copied over some of your documents and settings from Windows.

Half an hour ago, you had only Windows on your PC, but now you have a choice at boot time, and a whole new world to explore. Congratulations!

But wait--before you dive in too deeply, here are seven steps you can take right away to prevent common headaches and help yourself enjoy your new surroundings.

1. Fix your right Alt key.

U.S. users may notice before too long that the right-hand Alt key on their keyboard doesn't work in Ubuntu. This will drive you nuts if you frequently use that key. (I use mine constantly for the Alt-F2 Run command in Gnome.)

By default Ubuntu assigns the right Alt key (but not the left one) to "third level" character input--that is, the key is reserved for entering extended and international symbols. This is good for our Ubuntu-using friends in places where third-level characters are in use, but the Gnome Keyboard Indicator applet shows that the U.S. English keyboard layout contains no third-level symbols. So for us statesiders, our right Alt key has been mapped to a function that we cannot use in the first place.

To get the right Alt key to behave like the left Alt key, select System, Preferences, Keyboard. On the Layout Options tab, open the 'Third level choosers' branch, and reassign the third-level chooser to another key. (I prefer the right Windows key--my laptop doesn't even have one of these, so I am actually assigning a useless function to a nonexistent key!)

2. Fix your screen resolution.

You've booted into Ubuntu and your expensive high-res display is running at a paltry 1024 by 768 resolution instead of the 1280 by 1024 or 1600 by 1200 you're accustomed to. So you click System, Preferences, Screen Resolution, only to find that the higher resolutions you know your display can support are not offered in the drop-down list. What the heck?

This is usually an indication that Ubuntu has failed to suss out the characteristics of your monitor. (Graphics card woes are also possible in this case, but in my experience monitor trouble is more common.) Luckily, a helpful Fix Video Resolution Howto in the Ubuntu wiki has solved this issue every time I've encountered it. The instructions there should be enough to get your display in gear.

3. Install Automatix.

Automatix is a gem that I've discussed before: It's the easiest way to add certain components to your system that are not included in a default Ubuntu installation for legal reasons. Automatix makes enabling DVD support, for example, a very simple point-and-click process.

Head to the Automatix installation page and follow the download and installation instructions for Feisty.

Once that's done, you'll find Automatix under Applications, System Tools, Automatix. See my previous coverage of Automatix for pointers that are still relevant with this latest version.

4. Make sure all your media files play.

Start double-clicking your various audio and video files to see if they play. (You'll find links to your Home folder and your Windows partition--if you have one--in the Places menu, so start there to find your media collection.) When Feisty encounters a file type it doesn't know how to handle, an automated codec installer will pop up to try to help you download and install support for the file in question.

If you find video files in your collection that do not play properly no matter what you try, use Automatix (see above) to install the AUD-DVD Codecs collection of packages; then use Synaptic (see below) to install the Totem-xine package, and try your videos again. (This procedure disables Feisty's ability to automatically search for codecs, but you're taking this step only if that functionality fails you in the first place.)

5. Give Desktop Effects a shot.

In my last column, I looked at Feisty's Desktop Effects--an experimental feature set that brings gee-whiz 3D effects to the Linux desktop. If you have a decent graphics card with 3D capabilities, it's totally worth your while to see if Desktop Effects will run well on your system. (The features work reliably on some machines, crash after a while on others, and completely garble the display on particularly unlucky PCs--hence the designation "experimental.")

To try out Desktop Effects, select System, Preferences, Desktop Effects. When the 'Enable the driver?' dialog box pops up, click Enable Driver. You'll now be prompted to restart your computer (a rare thing in Linux land).

Once you do, log back in and select System, Preferences, Desktop Effects again. In the new dialog box, click the Enable Desktop Effects button. After a few moments of on-screen craziness, your desktop should reappear, looking as it did before. But you'll notice a difference the moment you drag a window or open a drop-down menu. (Yowza, look at that!)

If everything looks good, click Keep Settings in the dialog box asking you to confirm the change. (If things look bad, this is your first chance to bail out. If things are so poor you can't even see the dialog box, have no fear: Feisty will automatically revert to your former settings after 30 seconds.)

Try enabling the workspace-switching effect back in the Desktop Effects box; when you click to a different workspace (via the widget in the lower right of your screen), you should see a nifty effect. Also note the altered behavior when you press Alt-Tab.

If you don't like what you see with Desktop Effects (or if you find that your system becomes crash-prone or otherwise behaves oddly with the Effects, uh, in effect), you can turn them off by once again summoning the Desktop Effects dialog box and clicking Enable Desktop Effects. Yes, you read that right: The button behaves as a toggle--though, alas, at this point in time its label doesn't change to 'Disable Desktop Effects' to indicate this to the user. But clicking the button when effects are enabled disables them, as you will see if you click the button and then move a window around.

6. Try Beryl for unbeatable eye candy.

Feisty's Desktop Effects are driven by software called Compiz, originally developed at Novell. Last year some enterprising hackers working on Compiz decided to fork (that is, split off from, using existing code as a starting point) the project, and came up with their own offering, Beryl. The two projects are actually slated to merge their efforts back into one program later this year, but in the meantime, if Desktop Effects work reliably on your machine, chances are the latest version of Beryl will work too. And Beryl is far more impressive--and far more configurable--than Desktop Effects.

To test-drive Beryl, first disable Desktop Effects by using the oddball toggle button I described at the end of tip #5. Now open a Terminal window (Applications, Accessories, Terminal) and enter the following command:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following line to the top of the text file that comes up for editing:

deb http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org feisty main

Save the file and quit. Now back on the command line, issue the following four commands, one at a time:

wget http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org/root@lupine.me.uk.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install beryl beryl-manager emerald-themes heliodor beryl-manager

beryl-manager

There should now be a shiny red gem appearing in the notification area (Windows refugees, think "system tray") near the upper right of your screen. Right-clicking that icon gives you several useful options.

Select Window Manager lets you switch among Beryl, Compiz, or Metacity (the default, plain-vanilla window manager for Gnome). Select Window Decorator affects how the frames of windows are drawn. Select Emerald, and you'll get window frames designed with Beryl in mind. (See Emerald Theme Manager, also in the red gem's menu, for more of these.) Select Heliodor, and you'll get plain window borders imported from Metacity.

Selecting Beryl Settings Manager will bring up the labyrinthine configuration dialog box for Beryl. Warning: If you're a settings geek, you will lose a few hours of your life here. Take note of where you can assign functions to the corners of the screen: Select General Options along the top and Shortcuts along the right, and then click the Screen Edges tab. The horribly named 'Initiate Window Picker for All Workspaces' function is the equivalent of Mac OS X's Exposé feature--task-switching nirvana, if you ask me.

If Beryl runs stably and you'd like it enabled every time you log in, select System, Preferences, Sessions. On the Startup Programs tab, click New. Enter beryl-manager in both text-entry fields and click OK. Now click Close.

7. Make friends with the package managers.

An entire planet's worth of Free Software is out there for Ubuntu systems, and you don't have to trek across the Web and back to find it all. In the last tip, we interacted with a command-line package manager (the part of a Linux system that tracks what is and what is not installed) just for expediency's sake. But now it's time to meet two friendlier interfaces for package management.

First off, there's the Add/Remove Applications dialog box, reached via Applications, Add/Remove. Unlike its Windows counterpart, this tool is very good at downloading and installing new applications. You'll be surprised by the number of offerings, and in some cases you'll even be downright shocked by the high quality of the software you retrieve.

If you want to see a geekier, more fleshed-out listing of all available packages, select System, Administration, Synaptic Package Manager. Whereas Add/Remove Applications is a friendly little forklift of a package manager, Synaptic is a heavy-duty earthmover. If you're interested in learning more about the packages that make up your system (and the ones waiting to be discovered), Synaptic's various views are good places to explore.

I could spend a whole 'nother column telling you about all the great packages that are not installed by default, but for now I'll just leave you with this bonus tip: If you're running Ubuntu on a laptop and your Wi-Fi card is not detected or supported, try installing the Ndisgtk package (listed as such in Synaptic, but as 'Wireless Windows Drivers' in Add/Remove Applications). Then select the new System, Administration, Windows Wireless Drivers entry in Ubuntu's menu bar. The ensuing dialog box asks for the location of an INF file that represents the Windows driver for your wireless adapter. Have a driver disc? Find the INF file on there and see if Ndisgtk can get you up and running.

Google Personalised Home Page - PC World article

Hands On: Google's Personalized Home Page

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/003873.html

I should title this blog: "Wherein I transform the paragon of Web efficiency into a cluttered distraction."

What kind of idiot mucks up the spare beauty of the Google interface--the most famous home page in Web history?

That would be me as I Yahoo-ify Google by adding boxes and boxes of links through the company's new Personalized Homepage, one of two new services now available to anyone who logs into Gmail, Google Calendar, or any other Google account. The other new service, Search History, stores your searches on a Google server to make them available on any machine you use to sign into your account.

Upfront Privacy Alert: The option to enable Search History is checked by default when you sign up for a Google account, but some users of Google services may need to turn this feature on manually via the My Account link.

Google promises to keep your past searches private, and the company lets you pause the feature and delete specific entries in the history (click the Search History link to access these and other options), but storing your personal information on a Web server introduces new security risks just the same. Even with Google's promises of confidentiality, anyone using the Search History feature should consider their past searches semi-public information.

Let Google Fill In the Blanks

I've always been a fan of the pure Google design and felt no need to customize it. Out of curiosity, I clicked the Personalized Home link in the top-right corner and found a selection of news stories, my Gmail inbox, and my Google Calendar (if you’re not already logged into a Google account, you'll be prompted to do so to access this information). That's a nice trick, but nothing new.

After adding a Wikipedia search box, Google Map Search, and a tech newswire via the Add stuff link, my personalized home page was looking very My Yahoo-ish as sort of shown in the tiny screenshot below:

I started to feel like a bad cook who keeps adding ingredients to the stew in hopes of transforming it into something edible. It was reassuring to know that the good-old Google was waiting on the other side of the Classic Home link at the top of the page.

Then the "Add a tab" link caught my eye. Lots of Web portals let you drag various specialty content blocks onto your home page, but Google does the heavy lifting for you: Give your new tab a name, such as "computers", and Google fills in the appropriate content for you when you check "I’m feeling lucky." My eyes really started to sparkle after I created a "cars" tab and let Google retrieve images of the 2008 Bentley Brooklands and a 1999 Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster.

My attempt to create a "March Madness" tab lead nowhere, but changing the tab's name to "NCAA Basketball" retrieved a link to the tournament bracket information I was looking for (on my break time, of course). Here's what it looks like (if you have eagle eyes to view small screenshots with):

It's too soon to know whether I'll come to miss the old Google and return to the simple search box look. Still, if you use Gmail and other Google services, and you want your home page to present you with a snapshot of your world, you won't beat the Personalized Google.

I'm a little concerned about the effect the new Google look will have on my productivity, however. I almost always head to Google (and every other search engine) with a specific question in mind. What will happen when I get distracted by a link to a news story about the big chicken fat spill that closed down a mile-long stretch of Interstate 20 in Louisiana?

By the time I learn that the Ouachita River is safe from the imminent threat of chicken-fat pollution, I will have forgotten what I was intending to search for in the first place.

Vista cracked - APC article

http://www.apcstart.com/5512/pirate_crack_vista_oem_activation


It's official: Pirates crack Vista at last
A genuine crack for Windows Vista has just been released by pirate group
Pantheon, which allows a pirated, non-activated installation of Vista
(Home Basic/Premium and Ultimate) to be properly activated and made
fully-operational.
Unlike cracks which have been floating around since Vista RTM was released
in late November, this crack doesn?t simply get around product activation
with beta activation files or timestop cracks - it actually makes use of
the activation process. It seems that Microsoft has allowed large OEMs
like ASUS to ship their products with a pre-installed version of Vista
that doesn?t require product activation ? apparently because end users
would find it too inconvenient.
OEM Emulation
This version of Vista uses System-Locked Pre-Installation 2.0 (SLP 2.0).
It allows the ?Royalty OEMs? to embed specific licensing information into
the operating system which Vista can activate without having to go back to
Microsoft for verification. The licensing components include the OEM?s
hardware-embedded BIOS ACPI_SLIC (which has been signed by Microsoft), an
XML certificate file which corresponds to this ACPI_SLIC and a specific
OEM product key.
Pantheon released a bundle which includes the certificate files from ASUS,
Dell, HP and Lenovo along with OEM product keys for Vista Home Basic, Home
Premium and Ultimate, and an emulator which allows the BIOS ACPI_SLIC
driver for any manufacturer to be installed without requiring the system
to be physically running that hardware. For example, you can install the
ASUS certificate information on any machine, not just an ASUS.
And yes, the crack most certainly works. You end up with an activated,
legitimate copy of Vista which passes all the Windows Genuine Advantage
checks.
The release of this crack does make a bit of a mockery of the whole volume
activation process. I was beginning to think the new activation process
introduced with Vista might spell the end of easy and large-scale Windows
piracy, and if the only way to activate Vista was to have it communicate
directly with Microsoft, then that just might have been a possibility. But
allowing such a workaround to OEMs just because their users might not like
it has introduced a weakness into the system. Pirate groups are well known
for exploiting any weakness no matter how small (as evidenced by the
cracking of KMS), so once this activation process became known it was only
a matter of time.
As the crack is tied to specific product keys, it remains to be seen
whether Microsoft will be able to do anything about shutting out machines
activated using this method. But their work will be made much more
difficult now that such machines have completely bypassed the online
activation process, and are connecting as legitimate copies of Windows.

Tweak UI : Fine Tune your Windows user Interface -

Tweak UI: If you don't already have Tweak UI, get it. This essential OS
tweaking tool offers more granular control over your privacy settings and
operations, and even over the way you log in to your PC (plus much more).
It should be one of the first things you install on any new computer.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

SyncToy: Synchronise Files among machines

SyncToy:
Improves the task of synchronizing files among multiple machines,
especially compared with Windows Briefcase. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Process Explorer - Find Out What Your Computer is Really Up To...

The Windows Task Manager provides a good start when you try to discover
what programs are running on your system, but it's only a first step. For
more-detailed data, you need another tool. Your best bet: Sysinternals
Process Explorer (Microsoft acquired Sysinternals last year).

Get Process Explorer for Windows v10.21 http://find.pcworld.com/56140 at
Microsoft TechNet. It needs no formal installation; just unzip it and run
the .exe file. It will then list your PC's active processes, much as Task
Manager does, but with better descriptions and organization.
Interpreting Process Explorer's information is fairly straightforward (and
killing processes works much as it does in Task Manager), but here are
some tips to help you make the most of the utility.
Consider adding the useful 'Handles' column to the view. Handles (a term
that refers to programming methodology) are a convenient way to measure a
process's resource utilization. Processes with high handle usage should be
the first ones you kill when resources run low. Add the column by
right-clicking in the header area and clicking the Select Columns option.
Click the Process Performance tab and check the box next to Handle Count.
Note that Handles can also be created for media-based devices like CD-R
drives, which may cause errors on eject. If you can't safely eject a disk
or memory card, use the Find menu to search for the drive letter followed
by a colon (for example, E:), and kill that process directly.
Instead of outright killing a process, you can suspend it (right-click on
a process to see this option). This can be useful in the case of a runaway
program stuck in an endless loop.
Want to know what a program's process identification is to better tell
whether it's friend or foe? Open the program, then switch to Process
Explorer. In the top-right corner is a target icon (concentric circles).
Click this icon and drag it onto the program you want to ID; Process
Explorer will highlight the process.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet /sysinternals/SystemInformation/ProcessExplorer.mspx

Free Books Online - Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is a project to put classic books online for free.
These online books are called e-books.

You can read more about it here >> http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:About

You can also download an e-book reader here >> http://www.snapfiles.com/get/extextreader.html

You don't need this program to read the Gutenberg text files but it might make the reading more pleasant.

Restore Deleted Files

If you want to recover computer files that you have accidentally deleted, try
this program called "Restoration "
download from >> http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html

This is even for files that you removed from your recycle bin.

Recover Windows XP product key

RockXP
recover XP activation code
Our Rating: (Very Good)
RockXP allows you to retrieve your XP product key that you used when you installed Windows XP, as well as keys for other Microsoft products. This can come very handy if you need to reinstall but have misplaced or lost the CD cover with the serial sticker. In addition, the program also lets you save the product activation to a file, recover usernames and passwords contained in the Windows Secure Storage, as well as MSN logins, Internet connection parameters and more.

http://www.rockxp.org/

JAlbum - create web photo gallery

JAlbum

create and share image galleries

Our Rating: (Excellent)

JAlbum allows you to create nice looking photo galleries for the web. You can simply select or drop drag/drop folders containing images or movie files onto JAlbum and it will create thumbnails and HTML pages to publish your images as a gallery or picture slideshow. JAlbum also includes a small web server that enables you to share images directly from your PC, without the need to upload any files to a web host. The galleries are based on various template designs and appearance can be further customized by advanced users. Additional features include support for EXIF data, URL encoding of file names, style sheets, lossless image manipulation, optional Shutterfly integration, (built in FTP client, UPnP support, and more.

http://www.datadosen.se/

Synchronise your Internet Bookmarks

Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer

by Foxmarks Inc.
If you use Firefox on more than one computer, you'll want Foxmarks. Install Foxmarks on each computer, and it will work silently in the background to keep your bookmarks synchronized. As a bonus, log in to my.foxmarks.com from any computer anywhere to access your bookmarks.

A simple wizard guides you through the startup process. After that, just forget about it. It's simple and solid.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2410/

Windows Vista - more on upgrading without prior install

http://www.apcstart.com/5223/vista_upgrade_can_do_clean_install

Contrary to Microsoft's original intention, if you're stuck without a previous edition of Windows and just want a clean install of Vista -- and you are holding but an upgrade to Vista -- you can now do just that.

Yep, Microsoft slipped on this one.

An option offered by previous upgrade editions of Windows is that Microsoft allowed you a clean install -- that is, without having to first install an older version. The installer did, however, check if you owned an older version of Windows.

The way in which the upgrade CD verified this was to request the aging install CD. Once the installer was satisfied, you popped in the newer Windows CD and all was blissfully peaceful in the land.

With Vista coming screaming into the world, Microsoft was apparently intent on smashing that serenity. You see, it required that you have an existing Windows install on the system in which you intend to install Vista.

Don't have an existing install? According to Microsoft's Knowledge Base, when you attempt to install Windows Vista with your legitimately-acquired upgrade key, "you will be blocked from continuing."

Its solution to this? Well, it says you can take your pick of two; you can either spend more money on another product license -- a full one this time, you silly git -- or start the upgrade installation from within an existing install of Windows 2000, Windows XP, or even Vista itself.

This was supposed to mean that you can no longer perform a clean install with the upgrade CD/DVD of the latest version of Windows.

Or so it seemed up until not a full day ago, for there is a third option.

In a twist of fate, the likes of which Microsoft must be rather miffed, the Vista upgrade can, indeed, perform a shiny clean install without requiring anything else but itself.

The lads over at DailyTech ( http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5932 ) discovered that you first must install Vista with the upgrade media without using a license key -- this installs the 30-day trial. Once you're in here, you can initiate the actual install, or 'upgrade' as the kids call it, and this will accept your upgrade key.

It's not quite a clean install, but it's a handy trick to have up the sleeve, nonetheless.

Vista Upgrade - without CD - article - Windows Secrets

(this article came on the windows secrets mailing list >> http://windowssecrets.com/
Get Vista upgrade, never pay full price

Many people are upset by the fact that the economical, "upgrade" version of Vista won't accept a Windows XP or Windows 2000 CD-ROM as proof of ownership. Vista Upgrade is said to install only to a hard disk that already has XP or 2000 already on it.

But I've tested a method that allows you to clean-install the Vista upgrade version on any hard drive, with no prior XP or W2K installation — or even a CD — required.

Save by avoiding the 'full' version

Windows Vista, in my opinion, is a big improvement over Windows XP in many ways. But the new operating system is distinctly overpriced.

The list price of the "full" (not "upgrade") version of the most expensive edition, Vista Ultimate, is $399.95 USD, with a street price around $380. That gold-plated retail figure is only possible because Microsoft long ago achieved monopoly pricing power in the PC operating system market.

Most computer users would prefer to keep using an older version of Windows, such as XP, rather than paying the inflated prices for the "full" version of Vista. To encourage switching to a new OS, Microsoft has historically offered a lower, "upgrade" price to people who can prove that they've previously purchased an older copy of Windows.

The difference between Vista's full and upgrade prices can be substantial. Based on the asking prices shown at Shopping.com on Jan. 31 — the day after the consumer version of Vista became available — the four most popular Vista versions will set you back approximately as follows:

Edition	Full version	Upgrade version
Vista Home Basic	$192	$100 ($92 less)
Vista Home Premium	$228	$156 ($72 less)
Vista Business	$285	$192 ($93 less)
Vista Ultimate	$380	$225 ($155 less)

The upgrade versions of Vista have street prices that are 32% to 48% cheaper than the full versions. If you're truly installing Vista over an old instance of XP or W2K, the upgrade version of Vista will find the older OS on your hard drive and install without question. The problem is that Vista, unlike every version of Windows in the past, doesn't let you insert a physical disc from an older operating system as evidence of your previous purchase.

Vista has an undocumented feature, however, that actually allows you to "clean install" Vista to a hard disk that has no prior copy of XP or W2K.

Use Vista's 'upgrade' version to clean-install

The secret is that the setup program in Vista's upgrade version will accept an installed copy of XP, W2K, or an unactivated copy of Vista itself as evidence of a previous installation.

This enables you to "clean install" an upgrade version of Vista to any formatted or unformatted hard drive, which is usually the preferred method when installing any new operating system. You must, in essence, install Vista twice to take advantage of this trick. But Vista installs much faster than XP, so it's quicker than installing XP followed by Vista to get the upgrade price.

Before you install Vista on a machine that you don't know is 100% compatible, you should run Microsoft's free Upgrade Advisor. This program — which operates only on 32-bit versions of XP and Vista (plus Vista Enterprise) — reports to you on any hardware or software it finds that may be incompatible with Vista. See Microsoft's Upgrade Advisor page.

Also, to see which flavors of XP Home, XP Pro, and 2000 officially support in-place installs and clean installs of the different Vista editions, see Microsoft's upgrade paths page.

Here's a simplified overview of the steps that are required to clean-install the upgrade version of Vista:

Step 1. Boot the PC from the Vista DVD.

Step 2. Select "Install Now," but do not enter the Product Key from the Vista packaging. Leave the input box blank. Also, turn off the option Automatically activate Windows when I'm online. In the next dialog box that appears, confirm that you really do want to install Vista without entering a Product Key.

Step 3. Correctly indicate the version of Vista that you're installing: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate.

Step 4. Select the "Custom (Advanced)" install, not the "Upgrade" install.

Step 5. Vista copies files at length and reboots itself one or more times. Wait for the install to complete. At this point, you might think that you could "activate" Vista, but you can't. That's because you haven't installed the Vista upgrade yet. To do that, run the DVD's setup.exe program again, but this time from the Vista desktop. The easiest way to start setup again is to eject and then reinsert the DVD.

Step 6. Click "Install Now." Select Do not get the latest updates for installation. (You can check for these updates later.)

Step 7. This time, do enter the Product Key from the Vista packaging. Once again, turn off the option Automatically activate Windows when I'm online.

Step 8. On this second install, make sure to select "Upgrade," not "Custom (Advanced)." You're not doing a clean install now, you're upgrading to Vista.

Step 9. Wait while Vista copies files and reboots itself. No user interaction is required. Do not boot from the DVD when asked if you'd like to do so. Instead, wait a few seconds and the setup process will continue on its way. Some DOS-like, character-mode menus will appear, but don't interact with them. After a few seconds, the correct choice will run for you automatically.

Step 10. After you click a button labeled Start in the Thank You dialog box, Vista's login screen will eventually appear. Enter the username and password that you selected during the first install. You're done upgrading to Vista.

Step 11. Within 30 days, you must "activate" your copy of Vista or it'll lose functionality. To activate Vista, click Show more details in the Welcome Center that automatically displays upon each boot-up, then click Activate Windows now. If you've dismissed the Welcome Center, access the correct dialog box by clicking Start, Control Panel, System & Maintenance, System. If you purchased a legitimate copy of Vista, it should quickly activate over the Internet. (You can instead activate by calling Microsoft on the phone, which avoids your PC exchanging information with Microsoft's server.)

I'm not going into detail today on the merits of buying Vista at retail instead of buying a cheaper OEM copy. (The OEM offerings don't entitle you to call Microsoft for support, while the retail packages do.) Also, I'm not touching here on the least-expensive way to buy Vista, which is to take advantage of Microsoft's "educational" rate. I'll describe both of these topics in next week's newsletter.

Why does Vista's secret setup exist?

It's reasonable for us to ask ourselves whether buying an upgrade version of Vista, and then installing it to an empty hard disk that contains no previous version of Windows, is ethical.

I believe it is. Microsoft itself created the upgrade process. The company designed Vista to support upgrading it over a previously installed copy of XP, W2K Pro, or Vista itself. This isn't a black-hat hacker exploit. It's something that's been deliberately programmed into the approved setup routine.

Microsoft spent years developing and testing Vista. This upgrade trick must have been known to many, many people within the development team. Either Microsoft planned this upgrade path all along, knowing that computer magazines and newsletters (like this one) would widely publicize a way to "save money buying Vista." Or else some highly placed coders within the Vista development team decided that Vista's "full" price was too high and that no one should ever have to pay it. In either case, Vista's setup.exe is Microsoft's official install routine, and I see no problem with using it exactly as it was designed.

We should also think about whether instances of Vista that were installed using the clean-install method will continue to operate. I believe that this method will continue to be present in Vista DVDs at least until Microsoft begins distributing the Service Pack 1 edition of Vista around fall 2007. Changing the routine in the millions of DVDs that are now in circulation would simply be too wrenching. And trying to remotely disable instances of Vista that were clean-installed — even if it were technically possible to distinguish them — would generate too many tech-support calls and too much ill will to make it worthwhile.

Installing the upgrade version of Vista, but not installing over an existing instance of XP or W2K, probably violates the Vista EULA (end-user license agreement). If you're a business executive, I wouldn't recommend that you flout any Windows license provisions just to save money.

If you're strictly a home user, contributing editor Susan Bradley points out that Microsoft's so-called Vista Family Discount (VFD) is an economical package that avoids any license issues. If you buy a retail copy of Vista Ultimate, MS lets you upgrade up to two additional PCs to Vista Home Premium for $50 each. For example, if you buy the upgrade version of Ultimate for $225, the grand total after you add two Home Premiums is $335. That's about $133 less than buying three upgrade versions of Home Premium. Details are at Microsoft's VFD page.

Microsoft did revise a Knowledge Base article, number 930985, on Jan. 31 that obliquely refers to the upgrade situation. It simply states that an upgrade version of Vista can't perform a clean install when a PC is booted from the Vista DVD. A clean install will only work, the document says, when the Vista setup is run from within an older version of Windows (or if a full version of Vista is being used).

This article doesn't at all deal with the fact that the Vista upgrade version will in fact clean-install using the steps described above. It'll be interesting to see whether MS ever explains why these steps were programmed in.

Personally, I consider Vista's ability to upgrade over itself to be Digital Rights Management that actually benefits consumers. It's almost cosmic justice.

Vista - New version of Windows - Review by Zdnet

Review of Vista by Zdnet >> http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/software/os/soa/Windows_Vista_Business/0,139023442,339273309-3,00.htm

Windows Vista Business is essentially warmed-over Windows XP. If you're currently happy with Windows XP SP2, we see no compelling reason to upgrade. On the other hand, if you need a new computer right now, Windows Vista is stable enough for everyday use.

Windows Vista is Microsoft's first new operating system in more than five years and the successor to Windows XP. However, it is not worth rushing out to purchase. If you desperately need to buy a new PC (if your old one died or you've been waiting and waiting for Vista to be released), then by all means do so; there's nothing wrong with Windows Vista. But there's no one compelling feature within Windows Vista that cries out to switch over, neither the enhanced graphic capabilities (Aero) nor the improved system performance features (truthfully, our Windows XP doesn't crash).

As for security, Microsoft's biggest improvements in Windows Vista are within the Enterprise or 64-bit editions, editions most home users will not be running. Windows Vista is not the Apple Mac OS X 10.4 killer one hoped for (or feared). Nor are there specific big-name software packages written exclusively for Windows Vista -- most software available today is compatible with both Windows XP and Windows Vista. But the extensive tie-ins to Microsoft.com and Live.com, and the many, many interdependences upon Internet Explorer 7 left us desperately wanting more (and often best-of-breed) alternatives.

Hard core Microsofties who live and breathe within the MSN, Live.com, and Microsoft desktop software ecosystem will rejoice with the release of Windows Vista, but for the rest of us who are product agnostic, who use Firefox, Google Desktop, ZoneAlarm, GMail, and Corel WordPerfect, Windows XP SP2 will suffice nicely until some killer program necessitates that we all upgrade to Windows Vista.

There are six major editions of Windows Vista. Windows Vista Ultimate includes everything, and this is the edition getting the most promotion from Microsoft. It is not the edition most people will find packaged on their shiny new PCs or will end up with after an upgrade of existing hardware. See our feature comparison chart to know which edition is right for your specific needs, and check the individual reviews for more details.

Setup and installation
The Windows Vista DVD disc includes a Windows Imaging (WIM) format of the code, so whether you buy the Home Basic edition or the Ultimate edition, the code remains the same; only the product key unlocks your specific set of features. This means users who opt for the lesser editions can always upgrade (assuming they have the proper hardware) by downloading some additional code and securing a new product key online. However, all features -- even if you paid for them -- are dependent on specific hardware configurations being present; if you don't have the proper graphics hardware, for example, you'll simply never see the Aero graphic effects on that old Dell computer in your basement.

Hardware requirements for Windows Vista should not be taken lightly. In a controversial move to garner positive reviews, Microsoft sent hundreds of bloggers (not including ZDNet Australia) free copies of Windows Vista Ultimate; Microsoft did not send boxed copies, rather the software giant sent top-of-the-line Acer Ferrari laptops with the operating system preinstalled. So even Microsoft seems to admit that the best performance is only available on top-of-the-line machines manufactured within the last year or so.

That said, many people will still want to upgrade their current Windows XP SP2. This will keep all your current data and applications, importing them directly into the new operating system. Most people will find either Windows Vista Home Basic or Windows Vista Home Premium to be their best choice. While Windows Vista does make a backup of your previous operating system before installing, it is always recommended that you backup your current Windows XP system yourself, just in case.

Rather than upgrade, we recommend you perform a clean installation. With a clean installation, you keep all your current on the Windows XP drive and install only the data and applications you want to run on Windows Vista. A clean install can be accomplished by buying a new PC with Windows Vista already installed, partitioning an existing Windows XP machine to dual-boot into Windows Vista, or adding a new hard drive to an existing Windows XP machine.

Our clean installations took anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the hardware in the system. It's pretty much an automated process, with the installer first copying the WIM image onto the new hard drive or partition then expanding that image. Once again, we experienced an uncomfortably long plateau at "Expanding: 27 percent"; as with previous builds, we waited between two and five minutes before the expansion continued. About halfway through, the installer reboots and continues the installation in Windows Vista.

During the installation, Windows Vista will load the drivers included within the installation image, but it will also download additional drivers from a much larger database at Microsoft. This assumes, however, that one has an always-on Internet connection; dial-up users may find that upon completion of the installation process some drivers are missing.

Once fully installed, Windows Vista first asks for your country or region, then time and currency, and, finally, the desired keyboard layout. Next, you'll choose a username, a user icon, and a password. Then select your desktop wallpaper and security settings: Automatic, Install Important Updates Only, or Ask Me Later. After reviewing the computer's time and date settings, there's one more message: "Please wait while Windows checks your computer's performance." Here, Microsoft grades your computer on a five-point scale, with the overall rating based on your system's lowest score (in our case, that was for the video card).

Windows Vista includes new musical tones written by veteran musician Robert Fripp. Compared to the familiar start-up tones of Windows XP, Windows Vista's are lighter, almost spritely. The sounds for User Account Control and Log Off are also perkier than those found in similar security warnings within Windows XP.

New on the Windows Vista desktop is a Welcome Centre which contains links to frequently asked questions such as, "How do you configure your printer?" and "How do you connect to your Internet service?" There is also room for some sales opportunities, either with manufacturer specials or online offers from Microsoft, such as the Windows Live OneCare service. Frankly, we think it is better for you to look beyond the Windows ecosystem for e-mail, Internet browsers, and security applications.

After closing the Welcome Centre, you'll notice to the far right there is a shaded sidebar populated with three example Gadgets ("widgets" to everyone else), tiny desktop applets that display content, such as RSS feeds. In one Gadget, a slide show of images from the sample photo library display; in the next, the current time; finally, there's a Gadget for subscribed RSS feeds. We downloaded and installed Firefox 2, made Firefox our default browser, and quickly set up a few RSS feed subscriptions. Guess what? The Windows Vista Gadget was unresponsive to our efforts, displaying only the default MSN feeds from Microsoft. Microsoft says the default RSS Gadget feeds off a common store of RSS feeds within Windows Vista, and Firefox hasn't yet adopted the API for that store. You have to use Internet Explorer 7 or choose a Firefox-friendly Gadget instead. By clicking the + symbol atop the sidebar, you'll see a panel of available Gadgets, with a link out to the Web to find even more. The Gadgets are not fixed to the sidebar; they can be dragged across the desktop. And even the sidebar itself can be disabled to allow for a full desktop view. An icon located within the taskbar will restore the sidebar at any time.

The familiar Start menu features some cosmetic changes for Windows Vista. Aside from the distinctive rounded icon, the Start menu now includes a built-in Search function. We would have preferred to have access to Search directly from the desktop rather than digging down a level or two. The All Programs list now displays as an expandable/collapsible directory tree, something Windows should have offered years ago. The new Start menu is divided in half, with access to documents, pictures, music, games, recent items, My Computer, network, Control Panel, default programs, and Help along the right-hand side.

Also new within Start is an Instant Off button. This button caches all your open files and processes, allowing you to turn off your laptop or desktop quickly without all the "cleaning up files" messages you see in previous versions. We like the feature, but on our Acer Travelmate 8200, Instant Off and closing the lid to hibernate sometimes produced limbo states where the laptop simply wouldn't wake up again, forcing us to reboot.

In Windows Vista, files become unmoored from the traditional directory tree structure -- kind of. The more ambitious plan of including a whole new file system was scrapped early on; instead, Windows Vista relies on metatags, which are keywords linked to files to make them searchable. With metatags, you can create virtual file folders based on a variety of search terms. Say you're doing a report on mountains, any file that is keyword-enabled to include "mountains" will be grouped into a virtual folder without physically dragging that file to a new location. The downside is that older files (say you upgraded your system from Windows XP or imported data from an earlier version of Windows) will have to be retroactively metataged in order to be searched. Also different is the file path displayed within Windows Explorer. Gone are the backslashes, replaced with arrows that offer drop-down menus of alternative folders. We liked this efficient feature.

Finally, there's a compatibility wizard buried deep within Windows Vista. Most Windows XP applications we loaded performed just fine. Operating under the hood, Windows Vista convinces native Windows XP applications that they're running on Windows XP. Should you need to run an older application, say from Windows 95, the compatibility wizard allows you to tweak the display resolution and emulate Windows 95 for that program. For example, we were able to run a Windows 95-optimised game demo on our Windows Vista test system.

Features
Our gut feeling is that most of the significant bells and whistles are designed for the Enterprise-level customer, not the business user. Having a large number of features should not be confused with actually providing significant value to all users across the board. We would have preferred fewer features executed extremely well rather than an uneven mix of this and that, a one-size-fits-all operating system. And we disagree with Microsoft's seemingly arbitrary division of features within individual editions.

Common to all editions of Windows Vista are ad hoc backup and recovery, instant Search, Internet Explorer 7 browser, Windows Media Player 11, Windows Mail e-mail client, Windows Calendar, Windows Photo Gallery, performance tuning and self-diagnostics, Internet protocol IPv6 and IPv4 support, Windows ReadyDrive, a maximum of 4GB RAM support on 32-bit editions (up to 128GB RAM on some 64-bit editions), Windows Sync Center for mobile devices, Windows Mobility Center for presentations on the road, User Account Control security protection, Windows Security Center, Windows Defender antispyware, Windows Firewall, Windows Meeting Space for ad hoc wireless meetings, Remote Desktop for working from home, XPS document support for PDF-like files, improved peer-to-peer networking, improved VPN support, and improved power management. Included within the Business edition (and thus also included within the Ultimate edition) are Windows Tablet PC, Windows SideShow for remote gadgets, domain join for Windows Small Business Server, Group Policy support, Client-side file caching, roaming user profiles for remote server access, Windows Fax and Scan, and Windows ShadowCopy to create file backups.

Aero, included in all editions except Home Basic, is part of the Windows Presentation Foundation, a subgroup of the .Net Foundation Framework, an underlying foundation for developers to build new applications. One applet is the New York Times Times Reader, the first of many products written exclusively for Windows Vista but hardly a compelling reason by itself to upgrade. Though video playback and, yes, even the tiny icons on Windows Vista are now crisp and colorful with Aero, unless you watch YouTube videos all day, you won't really need Aero, nor will you miss the tiny preview windows enabled on your desktop display. Also new is Microsoft's Adobe PDF-like file format called XPS (Extensible Page System).

As for the controversial User Account Control (UAC), you shouldn't encounter UAC except when changing system configurations or installing new software, and even then, wouldn't you -- in this age of downloadable spyware -- prefer to know when an executable file is about to run? While UAC notifies you of pending system changes, it doesn't always require a password. Microsoft's more controversial method to lock down the system kernel, PatchGuard, is only available in the 64-bit editions of Windows Vista; most home users will not run these editions. Another celebrated security feature works only within Windows Mail, which most people are unlikely to use. And finally, the jury is still out on whether Internet Explorer 7 is more secure than, say, Firefox 2. Windows Vista also includes a built-in but limited two-way firewall and free Windows Defender antispyware, which ranked poor in competitive testing done by Download.com.

Microsoft has added new peer-to-peer possibilities, some of which are the result of its acquisition of Groove several years ago. From within Windows Explorer (which displays different toolbar options for exploring documents, photos, or music) you can move any file into a Public Folder and then mark the file or folder for sharing on a network. Within the Business and Ultimate editions you can further mark individual files for remote access.

Missing from Windows Vista Business Edition is BitLocker, the widely advertised method of encrypting your entire hard drive against, say, laptop theft. BitLocker is only available in the Enterprise and Ultimate editions. We think BitLocker would be useful for small business users as well. We also think the omission of DVD Maker from the Business edition is curious; small business customers might like to burn a video presentation for a client or perhaps burn a sample copy of new software. The omission of Windows Movie Maker we understand.

Performance
Upon installation, Windows Vista rates each system's overall hardware performance, with the final score reflecting your system's lowest individual score. This is handy. For example, if you suspect that everything's running a little slow, you might find that your hard drive is returning the lowest score. Windows Vista will then recommend a faster hard drive or a drive with larger compatibility. Mostly, though, the video card will be the sore spot for most users. There's also an event log viewer to show, for example, after a specific software install your system performance started to degrade, and that uninstalling the software may restore your overall performance.

Under the hood, Microsoft has moved device drivers for DVD burners and printers out of the system kernel; Microsoft says that a majority of system crashes can be traced to improperly installed third-party device drivers. Thus Windows Vista hopes to vanquish the dreaded Blue Screen of Death common to earlier releases of Windows. Indeed, after testing several early builds, we found Windows Vista to be remarkably stable and robust.

Support
Along with the diagnostic and performance monitors, Microsoft has improved the Help section considerably. There is a static FAQ, but it also links to Microsoft online and allows outreach to other users for help, either via a forum or direct PC-to-PC help. Of these, we really like a feature available on some, not all, FAQs that allows you to automate the solution by executing a script. This method doesn't teach you how to do it in the future, but it will accomplish the task at hand. For example, if you choose to update a device driver, Windows Vista will darken the desktop; highlight and open the Start menu, the Control Panel, and the Device Manager; then pause to ask you what device you want to update. It's like having a technician at your desktop, walking you though the process. There's an increasing reliance on user-generated support forums, which leads us to believe that Microsoft is shying away from its own live technical support. At press time, Microsoft's final support policy was unavailable.

Conclusion
Perhaps we're spoiled, but after more than five years of development, there's a definite "Is that all?" feeling about Windows Vista. Like cramming an info-dump into a book report the night before it's due, there certainly are a lot of individual features within the operating system, but the real value lies in their execution -- how the user experiences (or doesn't experience) these -- and like the info-dump, we came away shaking our heads, disappointed. Compared with Mac OS X 10.4, Windows Vista feels clunky and not very intuitive, almost as though it's still based on DOS (or at least the internal logic that made up DOS). Despite the addition of a system-wide, built-in Search, and various efforts to break away from staidly old directory trees, you still need to drill down one level to even access Search. And there are far too many dependencies on Microsoft products; this is not a very objective operating system, as preference is always given to Microsoft products (of which there are many), from MSN search to RSS feeds only from Internet Explorer. But is Windows Vista a bad operating system? No. It's just a disappointment for PC users who hoped that Microsoft would deliver something truly exciting to finally leapfrog ahead of Apple. They failed. But stick around; this is just Windows Vista 1.0. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is due out sometime before the end of the year. Windows Vista SP1 promises to fix what's known to be wrong within Windows Vista and should offer a few concrete reasons to switch.

Windows Vista Business
Company: Microsoft
RRP: AU$565

Troubleshoot your LAN

What to Do When Network PCs Don't See Eye to Eye

Steps for debugging a small home network.

Lincoln Spector

I have attached my two computers to my cable modem through a router. Both PCs access the Internet just fine, but neither sees the other one. What can I do to fix this situation?

Bruce Wise, Elmhurst, Illinois

Few chores are as frustrating as debugging a small network. The last time I did it, I cursed colorfully enough to embarrass Quentin Tarantino. The one thing we can be certain of is that there's no problem with your hardware--the successful Internet access tells us that.

The first step is to verify each system's network-configuration and file- and printer-sharing options. We'll also make sure that both of the computers are using the TCP/IP protocol, and that they are in the same workgroup but listed under different names. Here are the instructions for various versions of Windows.

Windows 98 and Me: Right-click Network Neighborhood (in 98) or My Network Places (in Me) and select Properties. On the Configuration tab, verify that the Primary Network Logon drop-down menu is set to Client for Microsoft Networks. Click File and Print Sharing and make sure both of these options are checked. Scroll down the list of network components to see what protocols are installed, and make sure you've got a TCP/IP entry for your network card. Then look under the Identification tab to ensure that the computer's name is unique while the workgroup name is the same on both networked systems.

Windows 2000 and XP: Choose Start, Settings, Network and Dial-up Connections (in 2000) or right-click My Network Places and select Properties (in XP). Right-click Local Area Connection and choose Properties. Make sure 'Client for Microsoft Networks' is the first listing under 'Components checked are used for this connection' (in 2000) or 'This connection uses the following items' (in XP). If it isn't there, choose Install, Client, Client for Microsoft Networks. The second item in this list should be 'File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks'. If it isn't there, select Install, Service, Add, File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks.

Now scroll down the window to verify that you have a TCP/IP entry for your network adapter (see FIGURE 1). To check your workgroup and computer names, return to the network properties window and select Advanced, Network Identification. Make sure each computer's 'Full computer name' is unique. If you have to change either name, click Properties (in 2000) or Change (in XP) and enter a new name in the highlighted text box.

All versions: Each computer on your network also has to have a different IP address. To view the system's IP address in Windows 98 and Me, select Start, Run, type winipcfg, and press Enter; in the resulting dialog box, select your network card from the drop-down menu. In Windows 2000 and XP, click Start, Run, type cmd /k ipconfig, and press Enter. If two machines on the network have the same IP address, your router has a problem. Check its documentation for instructions on resolving the conflict.

Make sure at least one folder or printer on each system is set for sharing. To do so, open Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder or printer you want to share. If the folder or printer icon doesn't have a little hand under it, right-click the icon and select Sharing and Security (in XP) or Sharing (in 2000). In the resulting dialog box, click Share This Folder and check other options as appropriate.

Finally, it's possible that your router's built-in firewall is interfering with your network's settings. Check your router's documentation for instructions on troubleshooting firewall conflicts.