Langa Blog

Vista to Ship with Nearly 20,000 Device Drivers

2006-11-21T19:02:00.000-05:00

Microsoft Platform's and Services Division President Jim Allchin said Friday that Windows Vista will ship with about 19,500 device drivers. (Windows XP shipped initially with some 10,000.)

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They Flogged The Blog!

2006-11-16T16:23:00.000-05:00

These links (listed here in no particular order) will take you to the blogs or Web sites of readers who "Flogged The Blog!" Thank you, Floggers!

Windows Tips and Tricks

Country Keepers

Global Opportunities Unlimited

Puter Gnome

Geoff's Computer Blog & Other Musings

The Knight Palatine

Of Laws and Men

Want a link to YOUR site? Go here to Flog The Blog!

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Vista Released to Manufacturing

2006-11-08T23:10:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has officially stopped development work on Windows Vista, and begun the process of making it available to customers. "Volume licence customers" (PC makers and big businesses) will receive Windows Vista this month, and consumers will be able to buy it starting January 30, according to Microsoft. More here.

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They Flogged The Blog!

2006-10-27T16:54:00.000-04:00

These links (listed here in no particular order) will take you to the blogs or Web sites of readers who "Flogged The Blog!" Thank you, Floggers!

Squished Frog Productions

Cut and Paste Aviation

SouthEastCollegeSports.com

Rob's Blog

Obbop's Observations

Bored and Blogging

The Frictionary

Cutter's Place

Hank's Tech Dreams

voluntaryXchange

Ash @ Toronto

Susanne S's Blog

Brainstorms & Raves

Computer Maintenance

PeopleSoft Support & Tips

MAX Redline

BinaryWolf Blog

MalwareTeks Blog

MeasurementDB

BobGriggs.com

Bienvenue chez

blog.timc3.com

Sea Eagle's Blog

Krahne

Amazing Jabuticaba

Brief Banter By Ben

Cards From Ogden Point Updates

Star Talk Weblog

Blogging Vermont Style

SupportingtheTroops

Untwisted Vortex

Windows Process and File Information Resources

Curiosity Cubed

Blog of the Net's Best Directories

Country Keepers by Gary Petersen

Want a link to YOUR site? Go here to Flog The Blog!

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Microsoft Ships Windows Defender At Last

2006-10-25T18:51:00.000-04:00

Microsoft released the final version of its freeware Windows Defender anti-malware product yesterday. The software was designated beta since Microsoft relaunched it as Windows AntiSpyware nearly two years ago after acquiring it from GIANT Company Software. The new, final version supports 64-bit Windows XP and features minor new functionality. A Windows Vista version of Defender will reportedly be bundled with that OS when it ships next year. Download the Windows XP version here.

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Mozilla Secretly Posts Firefox 2.0 Early

2006-10-23T15:39:00.000-04:00

Mozilla Corporation secretly posted its Firefox 2.0 browser today--- an official announcement and publicly available links are not expected until tomorrow. Go here to learn what's new in version 2.0. Go here to download.

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New LangaList Posted

2006-10-23T15:12:00.000-04:00

1) Waaaaay Too Much Background Activity
2) Bring Order To Start Menu Mayhem
3) Links That Launch Both Site And Browser
4) Great Backup Scheme, With One Catch
5) How To Get Langa Blog Via E-Mail
6) Recommend This Newsletter And Win!
7) Another Great Fax Alternative
8) Still Another Code-Load Success
9) Software Reads EULAs (So You Don't Have To)
10) Google's Free Office Apps
11) The "Poor Man's Spectrum Analyzer"
12) Problems Averted With Partitioning
13) Media Player Feature Not Too Bright
14) Optional Links
15) Just For Grins

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They Flogged The Blog!

2006-10-21T17:57:00.000-04:00

These links (listed here in no particular order) will take you to the blogs or Web sites of readers who "Flogged The Blog!" Thank you, Floggers!

Blog for Richard Sleegers

Digital Photography 4 the Rest of Us

Digital Dharma

Lou’s Place

Secrets of Digital Imaging

HTCC Blog

The BizOpZine Blog

Recent Security Articles

Younger News

PowerShows By Noel with Music Forte

Mike's Mixed Memories

The RT Notebook

Sacred Scoop

Wichita KS Movies

Big White Guy

fotoLat

Family Tree Genealogy Research

free advice for artists

Jim's Scratchings

keys2love

SNHU 101 Fogarty

Northwest Ohio Webmaster's Guild

Want a link to YOUR site? Go here to Flog The Blog!

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Microsoft Launches IE 7 'Add-Ons' Site

2006-10-21T14:17:00.000-04:00

Microsoft launched this "Add-Ons for Internet Explorer" site for IE 7-specific "plug-ins" that fall into the categories of "Security," "Time Savers," "Browsers" and "Entertainment."

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How To Specify The Browser For URL Shortcuts

2006-10-20T03:54:00.000-04:00

To force your desktop shortcuts-to-Web sites to use a specific browser, simply create a link to the browser executable of your choice (for example, firefox.exe or iexplore.exe) by dragging and dropping with the right mouse button and choosing "Create Shortcuts Here" from the context menu. Then right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties. In the Target box, you'll see the path and executable filename for the browser in quotation marks. Simply type the full URL of the site you'd like to open after the path. It should look something like this:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" http://langa.com

Click OK. The shortcut will now work, but you'll probably want to change the name of the shortcut, and possibly the icon as well.

Note that in the new Internet Explorer 7 (which shipped October 18), associating a single Web site like this overrides any multiple Start pages you may have set up.

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Microsoft Moves Windows XP SP3 To 2008

2006-10-19T15:24:00.000-04:00

Microsoft changed its expected release date for Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) from the second half of 2007 to the first half of 2008, according to the company's Windows Service Pack Road Map page. (via BetaNews)

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Internet Explorer 7 Released

2006-10-18T20:15:00.000-04:00

Microsoft today officially released version 7 of its Internet Explorer Web browser, which has tabs and a long list of other new features. Click here to download IE 7.

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New LangaList Posted

2006-10-18T20:12:00.000-04:00

1) XP, NTFS, FAT, Drive Letter Juggling, And More!
2) How Do You Restore A Restore Point?
3) X1 Search Utility Phones Home
4) Another Great Search Utility Found
5) Just the Fax, Ma'am
6) PR Budget = $0.00
7) SpamCop's Auto-Complaint Feature
8) Code Load Success Story
9) Flog the Blog!
10) Patching Up Windows After Patch Breaks It
11) Do I REALLY Need Bart?
12) Making Room For MFT
13) The Drive To Improve Storage
14) Toolbar Add-On Adds *Delay*
15) Optional Links
16) Just For Grins

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They Flogged the Blog!

2006-10-16T13:35:00.000-04:00

These links (listed here in no particular order) will take you to the blogs or Web sites of readers who "Flogged The Blog!" Thank you, Floggers!

Furballs

C.N. Le

eSight

Brian Robertson

Tim's Blog

Tim's Wiki

Optimize Guides

Steve's BPCA Blog

A Matéria do Tempo

Rest Area 300m

Checket.com

John Flood's Random Academic Thoughts (RATs)

Shane's Rants

Fran's Live Space

The Road to Know Where

Daily Cup of Tech

Office Jotter

Webba's Blog

Want a link to YOUR site? Go here to Flog The Blog!

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Vista-Compatible Virtual PC 2007 Beta Hits

2006-10-13T13:59:00.000-04:00

Microsoft yesterday released the first publicly available beta of Virtual PC 2007, which supports Windows Vista. The current version, VPC 2004, runs Vista in a virtual environment on an XP machine, but doesn't work when installed on Vista itself. The new, beta version is designed to be installed on Vista and should enable users to move to Vista as their main platform, but still run XP and other older-OS versions and applications in the virtual environment.

It's available on Microsoft's Connect site.

If you try VPC 2007, come on back and let us know all about it!

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The Best Indexed Search Tool You've Never Tried

2006-10-13T13:33:00.000-04:00

Is there a perfect desktop indexed search utility? Probably not. But you might give X1 Enterprise Client a try. X1 is very fast and accurate, and is easy to use. It indexes e-mail, including attachments, and is configurable to maximize accuracy and minimize index file size. It places optional launch bars in Outlook or on the Windows Taskbar.

Despite its feature-richness, X1 is a totally free utility. (The company used to charge $74.95 for it, but started giving it away in June. X1 makes its money mainly by charging for a range of server-level enterprise solutions, plug-ins and professional services.)

Some potential users may be concerned about X1's "phone-home" functionality (features that gather user and usage data, then transmit it back to the company). You're given the option both during and after installation, however, to turn all this off. If X1 is already installed, choose Options from the Tools menu, choose Basic Options in the left pane, then deselect three items: "Check for new version at startup," "Upload daily usage statistics" and "Upload application failures."

Just to be sure, I contacted X1 Product Marketing Manager Joe Longtin, who assured me that by deselecting the items above, all "phone home" functionality is, in fact, disabled.

X1 really is a nice utility. It searches a whopping 370 file formats and supports quite a few e-mail applications, including Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Mozilla, Thunderbird, Netscape Mail and Lotus Notes. You can even search attachments -while they're still attached.

Not everyone has heard of X1, but many are familiar with Yahoo Desktop Search, which is based on X1.

If you give X1 a try, please come on back and post your impressions of the product in the "Comments" of this blog entry!

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Windows XP SP1 Support Ends Today

2006-10-10T12:51:00.000-04:00

Windows XP, Service Pack 1 (SP1) is officially obsolete: Microsoft ends support for the version today.

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Microsoft Ships Beta Of Gadget Sync Software

2006-10-09T16:00:00.000-04:00

Microsoft released its Windows Mobile Device Center Beta 3 for Microsoft Windows Vista RC1 Friday. The update enables the synchronization of Windows Mobile 2003 or Windows Mobile 5.0 devices with Vista RC1. Future versions will be available on Windows Update.

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Why Your MFT Needs Its Space

2006-10-07T13:49:00.000-04:00

The Master File Table (MFT) is a database where file and folder metadata--- information on size, time and date stamps, permissions, etc.--- is maintained on NTFS-formatted drives. Every single file on your system has at least one entry. The more files and folders you add to your drive, the larger your MFT becomes. When you delete files, space is made available for re-use in the MFT, but the MFT itself never shrinks.

Because a fragmented MFT is slower than an unfragmented one, some percentage of the drive (12.5% by default) is reserved for the MFT to avoid fragmentation. Each volume of an NTFS drive has two separate areas: a space set aside for the MFT (as well as very small files) and another space for all other files and folders.

If the MFT fills up its own space, the file system will grab more of the "regular" space and assign it to the MFT. Because it's very unlikely that adjacent space is available, randomly located space will be used for the spill-over MFT, while some part of the MFT remains in the originally allotted space. In other words, the MFT will be divided into more than one piece--- it will be fragmented--- and your system's disk access will become slower.

If, on the other hand, the "regular" space fills up with data and applications, the file system will start writing files to the MFT area. As the MFT grows over time, it will have to position itself around these "regular" files--- and the result again is that it fragments itself.

Note that a fragmented drive also increases the size of the MFT because a drive in that condition needs additional records to keep track of all those file fragments--- a kind of software feedback loop, with more disk space consumed at each turn.

You can see how MFT size, MFT space size, and defragmentation of both the MFT and the disk in general are all connected--- and all affect disk performance. If you want maximum performance, you'll want everything defragmented--- including the MFT--- and that requires plenty of elbow room in both parts of the disk.

Making space for--- and defragmenting --- your MFT and your hard disk are highly desirable and recommended.

Any utility that messes around with the MFT while Windows is running would likely cause serious problems. That's the benefit of utilities like Diskeeper. Version 10 features a boot-time utility that safely defragments the MFT and paging file (a.k.a. "swap file").

Diskeeper 10 has a tool for configuring the MFT that gives you the option of preemptively increasing the size of the MFT space (note that once you've increased the size, you can't decrease it without reformatting). It also uses a variety of metrics (including available disk space) to estimate a good MFT space size.

Are there risks associated with defragmenting your MFT and increasing MFT space? There is always at least a small chance that something could go wrong whenever you make changes to system files. But the risk of not doing anything about fragmentation is probably higher. And, as always, you should give yourself insurance in the form of quality backups.

Here's a bonus tip for optimizing the MFT: Never "convert" a drive full of files from FAT to NTFS. When you do this, the MFT will almost certainly be placed at some random location on the disk, and possibly in a fragmented state. It's better to reformat the drive using NTFS, because the reformatting process assure the MFT will be placed by default on the faster part of the drive. Once it's formatted, you can copy the files to drive, and you'll end up with minimal initial fragmentation.

(This tip is a modified excerpt from the LangaList newsletter.)

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Unlocking the Mysteries of 'Svchost.exe'

2006-10-06T14:24:00.000-04:00

Svchost.exe, which you'll find in the WINDOWS\System32 folder, launches at startup and loads any services from dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) that the Registry tells it to run. Svchost.exe can, and usually does, run several instances of itself at any given time, each instance running several associated services.

When you use some common tools, such as the Task Manager, you can see Svchost.exe running, but you can't see the specific services. Svchost.exe also shows up when you use Windows XP Pro's DOS-like utility Task List (Start/Run/cmd, then type TASKLIST at the command prompt). When you use the SVC switch with Task List (type TASKLIST /SVC at the command prompt), you can see the names of the processes within each service.

These common methods show you some, but often not enough, information about Svchost.exe services.

You can use an unlikely utility to get the details you're looking for: Microsoft's own Windows Defender (a free, beta anti-spyware tool) actually has a little-known feature that provides detailed information about each instance of Svchost.exe running, and all the services therein.

In Windows Defender, click Tools, then choose Software Explorer. In the Category drop-down menu, choose "Currently Running Programs" or "Network Connected Programs." In either or both of those categories, you'll probably find items called "Microsoft Generic Host Process for Win32 Services"--- these are the Svchost.exe instances. By clicking on one instance in the left pane, you'll see details in the right.

You can match these individual "Microsoft Generic Host Process for Win32 Services" instances with Svchost.exe instances in the TASKLIST /SVC list most easily by matching Process IDs. In the command prompt version, the services are abbreviated--- for example, you might see AudioSrv and BITS. But when you look in the associated "Services" item in Windows Defender, those are spelled out--- Windows Audio and Background Intelligent Transfer Service."

Best of all, each "Host Process" in Defender is Classified as "Allowed" or "Not Yet Classified." Any process that's "not allowed" will be blocked or terminated (one hopes) by Windows Defender.

If you don't currently have (or want) Windows Defender, but still want details on Svchost.exe services, you can download the excellent and free Process Explorer from Sysinternals.

See also: "Identifying Mysterious "Services" in a previous issue of the Langa List.

(This tip is a modified excerpt from the LangaList newsletter.)

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How to Put Bloated Windows XP On a "Diet"

2006-10-05T11:02:00.000-04:00

Windows XP is designed to be all things to all end users. As a result, it's loaded with programs, features and functionality you'll never use. Many of these items cannot be removed or uninstalled. Or can they?

Here are two great ways to put Windows on a diet: nLite and XPlite.

The free nLite guides you though the process of finding your Windows installation files, choosing which programs and other files you don't want, and creating an .ISO file, which you can burn to CD. You then can use that CD to install a custom "lite" version of Windows. It's the real operating system, minus undesirable bloat.

nLite has shown up a few times on the LangaList:
http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-10-04.htm#3
http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-05-09.htm#5
http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-06-09.htm#5

It's been more than a year since that coverage, and a new beta version 1.2 is available for download. nLite v1.2 offers a raft of new features, the best of which include burning .ISO support; a "remove duplicate files" option; "format drive" support; and others.

You can instead use LitePC's $39.95 XPlite, which is similar, but removes components after, rather than before, installation.

Think of nLite as a deployment tool that creates a new, faster and up-to-date replacement XP installation disk, and XPlite as an uninstall utility that removes components Microsoft made "unremovable."

Read about XPlite here.

(This tip is a modified excerpt from the LangaList newsletter.)

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They Flogged The Blog!

2006-10-06T15:40:00.000-04:00

Here's our first batch of Langa Blog Floggers! These links (listed here in no particular order) will take you to the blogs or Web sites of readers who "Flogged The Blog!" Thank you, Floggers!

Security Garden

The Blog That Should Not Be

All Narfed Up

Skeptacles

JD Times

My Green Paste, Inc.

The CynicalBlog

On the Floodplain

Auburn Gal Always

Order of the Bath

Fred's Head Database

JGMMWeb

Jan G.M. Meijer's Blogs

Rob Eckert

WKS Images

joinertek

The Phoenix Centre Blog

Ria Schuch's Blogs

PsychLinks Blog

Do you have your own blog? Specialty blog search engines like Technorati or Google Blog Search, and conventional search engines like Google, rank blogs higher if they have more inbound links.

So let's help each other build those links. You link to us, and we'll link to you!

Place a link to the Langa Blog in your blogroll, add a link to the Langa Blog in a blog entry, or link to the Langa Blog from your non-blog Web site, and we'll link back to your site from a special blog entry.

The URL is: http://www.langa.com/blog/

Simply create the link on your site, then let us know you've done so by sending e-mail to: flogtheblog@elgan.com!

(Be sure to include the link to your site in the e-mail.)

GO HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE LANGALIST E-NEWSLETTER!

'Clearification' Not Vista Marketing Content

2006-10-06T13:20:00.000-04:00

A strange Web site called "Clearification," blogged and reported as an unusually edgy viral marketing campaign for Microsoft Windows Vista, features a depressed cartoon version of comedian Demetri Martin using profanity and slang and making a couple of references to Windows Vista. A link to Windows Vista appears in the lower left corner of the page. The reality is that Microsoft is sponsoring Martin's "Demetri Martin: These Are Jokes" comedy tour. Yes, "Clearification" is viral marketing. But it's viral marketing for the comedian, not the operating system. There's a difference--- a subtle one, perhaps, but a difference nonetheless--- between Microsoft hiring a comedian to build a viral marketing program for Vista on the one hand (along the lines of Burger King's "Subservient Chicken" program), and Microsoft sponsoring a comedy tour with "product placement" references to Vista on the other.

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WGA Issue? Contact: WGATALK@microsoft.com

2006-10-06T12:24:00.000-04:00

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, a.k.a. the "PC Doctor," has been thoroughly covering the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) issue on his blog and in a series of interviews posted on ZDNet. In the most recent interview, conducted with an unnamed Microsoft spokesman, Microsoft revealed an e-mail address for users who believe their copy of Windows is genuine, but are nagged by the dreaded "This copy of Windows is not genuine" message: WGATALK@microsoft.com.

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Flog The Blog!

2006-10-05T15:23:00.000-04:00

Do you have your own blog? Specialty blog search engines like Technorati or Google Blog Search, and conventional search engines like Google, rank blogs higher if they have more inbound links.

So let's help each other build those links. You link to us, and we'll link to you!

Place a link to the Langa Blog in your blogroll, add a link to the Langa Blog in a blog entry, or link to the Langa Blog from your non-blog Web site, and we'll link back to your site from a special blog entry.

The URL is: http://www.langa.com/blog/

Simply create the link on your site, then let us know you've done so by sending e-mail to: flogtheblog@elgan.com !

(Be sure to include the link to your site in the e-mail.)