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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2004-03-01

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!

1) Silence Those Noisy PC Fans!

Hello Fred, You might want to check out http://www.silentpcreview.com/ -- by far the best and most comprehensive web site on quiet computing. They are actually based in Canada as well, though the users are from the USA, UK, and many other areas around the world.

Sometimes, all it takes is installing quieter fans, but very often the power supply is still too noisy, hard drives still whine away, and CPU and/or video card temps can climb too high -- unless you also get more efficient heat sinks and improve the air flow through your case. The restrictive air vents on many cases are the culprits -- they force you to use faster, higher air flow fans -- and the noise just gets out of hand. Sincerely, Neil Blanchard 

Thanks, Neil. Indeed, there's almost no end to the changes you *can* make to reduce noise from a PC, and some users consider total silence as the holy grail. It can be done, but it's hard and expensive.

My goals were much more modest: I just wanted to make my PC quieter--- not silent, but simply quiet enough not to be annoying. And that turned out to be relatively fast, easy, and inexpensive to accomplish. My PC is now literally whisper quiet: I can hear it if I concentrate on it, but it's normally all but unnoticeable.

There are three factors in fan noise. First, turbulent air flow is the white-noise "whoosh" normally produced by all fans, to one degree or another. It's speed dependent: The faster the fan spins, the more energetic the turbulence, and the greater the airflow noise. Likewise, the more restrictive the case openings, the greater the turbulence, and the greater the noise. (Actually, on some systems, simply removing one of the slot covers on the back of the PC is enough to ensure an abundant, low-speed supply of fresh air, although you do have to pay attention to the way air flows through the case.)

The fan blades themselves also make noise as they slice through the air. Most of the noise actually comes from the tips of the blades, which are the fastest-moving part of the fan assembly. The faster the fan spins, the more noise the blade tips make. In some cases, the fans end up sounding like tiny sirens!

Finally, there's the mechanical noise of the fan assembly itself. The motors and bearings in fans make at least a little noise, but cheap fans using needle or sleeve bearings make more noise than ball-bearing fans; and fans manufactured sloppily may suffer from vibration-inducing imbalances. All these noises get worse with speed: The faster the fan spins, the more mechanical noise it produces.

From the above, you probably already inferred the #1 rule for lowering fan noise: For lower noise you need slower speeds. Beyond that, careful design, superb manufacturing, and the use of top-quality components all will help, but the place to start is with lower speed because that instantly reduces all three major fan-noise components.

But there's a catch: If you slow down a fan, it won't move as much air, and won't cool as well. To maintain a given level of cooling--- to move a given volume of cooling air--- a slow fan has to be larger than a fast fan (everything else being equal). Likewise, a heat sink designed to work with low airflow volumes has to be larger than a heat sink designed for higher flow volumes.

Fortunately, high-quality. low-speed fans are amazingly inexpensive; and carefully-engineered heat sinks likewise don't have to cost an arm and a leg. In fact, for a few dollars to a few tens of dollars, you probably can make your PC wonderfully quiet. I did!

Please click on over to "Cool--- And Quiet! Part One" at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17701645 .There, we'll look at airflow through a PC; at fans and heatsinks; and more, including using your BIOS, OS, and free add-on software to monitor and help control exactly what's going on inside the box.

Start on the road to quieter, cooler computing now: it's at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17701645 . See you there!

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2) Security Updates On CD, Free

I know that many of you may already know, but it's worth making sure everyone hears that Microsoft is now offering a free, ready-made CD with security patches for XP, Me, 2000, 98, and 98SE:

This could be a great help for people who re-install and have a slow connection for downloading security patches.---David Sherman

"The Windows Security Update CD will be shipped to you free of charge. This CD includes Microsoft critical updates released through October 2003 and information to help you protect your PC. In addition, you will also receive free antivirus and firewall trial software: http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp "

Thanks, David, and everyone else who wrote in. Note that this CD won't get you fully up to date, but it will cover the older, most-important patches.

I assume that the costs of the CD are being borne in full or part by the vendors of the bundled AV and firewall tools. I haven't seen the CD yet, so I don't know how aggressively they might try to install themselves, or what other "gotchas" there might be. But still, it could be handy having the patches preassembled on CD. As long as you're careful--- read the licenses, and select a "custom" install, if one's available--- it's probably worth having the CD

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3) Apple's Core OS On Your PC, For Free

Frequent contributor CptSiskoX sends this along:

http://developer.apple.com/darwin/
http://www.opensource.apple.com/darwinsource/images/darwin-701.iso.gz
(ISO of Darwin 7.01 for x86/PowerPC - which is basically MacOS 10.2)

more stuff:
http://www.opensource.apple.com/darwinsource/
also see:
http://www.opensource.apple.com/projects/darwin/6.0/release.html

Darwin (aka Mac OS X) - ISO image available as free download for PowerPC *and* x86 (Intel/AMD/etc.)

FAQ: http://developer.apple.com/darwin/projects/darwin/faq.html

It's based on BSD Unix. So my understanding is, now you can basically run MacOS X on your Athlon or P4 or whatever. <g> --- CptSiskoX

Thanks for the links, Cpt!

What's going on here is this: Many years ago, when Steve Jobs left Apple, he founded NeXT, which produced a system that was a technical marvel but that ultimately failed because almost no one could afford it. Its OS (NeXTStep) was based on a Unix variant.

When Jobs returned to Apple, he inherited an aging Mac OS that was embarrassingly out of date, long surpassed by Windows in power and capability. So, Jobs sought to combine the best of the NeXT OS with the best of the Mac OS: The Mac OS X was the result--- a modern, fully up to date, and very nice operating system.

Although the full OS X only runs on Macs, its core is not owned by Apple: It's based on Open Source software, which has developed in parallel with the Apple (and before that, NeXT) implementations. (See http://www.opendarwin.org/ )

The OpenDarwin project gives PC users a chance to explore the guts of the Mac OS. There's even a "DarWine" project to let you run Windows applications, unmodified, on Darwin. I wouldn't recommend OpenDarwin as a first choice for a day-to-day working environment (Windows, OS X, or any of the more complete Linux distributions would be better for that), but it is an interesting project, and an impressive display of cross-platform portability.

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--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) ---

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 Thank *you,* Jay. <g>

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4) New WinZip: *Secure* Compression

Fred, although you first mentioned WinZip back in 1998, it's come a long way since then. WinZip 9.0 Final (build 6028) is now available with features even seasoned users may not be aware of, and additionally the WinZip Command Line Support Add-on 1.1 is also available to use in bat and script files, at no extra charge. Even though Windows XP can do basic zip functions, I think this is a program well worth having. See http://www.winzip.com for details. ---Leo Feret

Thanks, Leo. Indeed, I've been using WinZip forever. It's 100% free to try, but I bought a registered copy many, many years ago, and have used every new version since: There have never been any additional fees for the newer versions over the years.

The two new features in 9.0 that I think are most important are support for 128- and 256-bit AES encryption, and support for truly enormous files.

Zip files have had weak passwording for years, but it's very easily broken; there are many free cracking tools floating around the web. In contrast, a cracker would have to work pretty hard to crack 256-bit AES encryption. It's not totally secure--- nothing is--- but it's perfectly adequate for all normal security needs. So, WinZip 9 gives you both high compression *and* good data security in one step. That's really nice.

Although WinZip 9 had a very long beta cycle, I'm still using the new version cautiously. If no bugs emerge in the next few weeks, I'll switch to it completely.

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5) NOD32 Gets The Nod

Hi Fred, I really enjoy getting your newsletter. It seems there is always something that applies to my daily grind.

A couple of weeks ago I was tasked with putting a company wide antiviral program in place. We have around 15 PC's on a LAN and some of us pack laptops that come and go off the network, Some of us also do work related computing at home. The boss wanted all of these computers to have a common antivirus solution.

Some of our folks have deemed Norton as too invasive and too much of a hog.  Nonetheless I requested a quote for a 25 user license and 3 years of updates. The package priced out around $1900 for 3 years. I poked around in my Langa folder and found reference to the Eset NOD32 software. I downloaded the trial and ran it on my computer as well as my employers for a couple of days, right during the hot and heavy Mydoom period. He looked it over and checked it out on the web. In the meantime I asked for a quote for the same 3 year package. Eset came in at $632!
 
I've since installed the software on every machine. Cross platform installs were not any problem and setting up an update mirror on our server was easy using the administrator version.  On every install I ran an update and a full scan. NOD32 found and cleaned bugs on about 1/3 of our machines, most of which had been running NAV. One virus was a new, previously unknown, virus that NOD32 detected but could not clean. A call to tech support resulted in almost instantaneous connection to a support person who walked me through an advanced command prompt run of the NOD32 that was able to clean the critter.

I highly recommend this software to anyone looking for an good, non-system hogging solution. Thanks for the tip! --- Kerry Walsh

I agree, Kerry: Eset's NOD32 is an excellent tool. I use it on one of my daily-use PCs here. In fact, it's one of the three AV tools I recommend: NOD32 ( http://www.nod32.com ) or Norton AV ( http://www.symantec.com/ ) for commercial antivirus, and Grisoft's AVG ( http://www.grisoft.com/ ) for a personal-use, free solution.

I think NOD32 is perhaps slightly better than Norton for raw AV ability, and it's not as porcine as is NAV; but Norton is a little more configurable, especially for Win98/ME. Grisoft's free AVG isn't quite as good as either Norton or NOD32, but you can't beat the price! <g>

There are other good AV tools out there, of course, but those are my personal "top three" choices.

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6) Three More Winners!

"Uri2," "gech" and "dhasenauer" each won a FREE full one-year subscription to the LangaList Plus! edition by using the "Recommend To A Friend" form at http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm .

You see, each month I choose three winners of a new FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to the LangaList Plus! edition. (Existing Plus! subscribers get their current subscription extended by a full year.) To have a shot at winning, just use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber; and you just may win! (Full details also available via this link):

http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

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7) ZoneAlarm Bug

If you're a ZA user, and if you have your copy set to alert you about new updates, you already know about the update that was released last week to correct a buffer overflow vulnerability that could allow a hacker to shut down or bypass ZA's protection.

But if you haven't already, use Zone Alarm's "Check for update" function now, or go to the ZA site ( http://www.zonelabs.com ) and grab the newest version ( 4.5.538.001 ).

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8) More Reader Sites!

Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join the hundreds and hundreds of LangaList readers who have "Loaded the Code!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see http://www.langa.com/link.txt )

Speaking of which: Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site From Among All Listed
http://www.langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://www.langa.com/readersites.htm

Linkwise Shareware
http://www.linkwise.net/default.htm

Plant-Based Nutrition
http://plantbasednutrition.com/

MDS Computer Solutions
http://www.mdspc.com/

Dragon Anime
http://hometown.aol.com/skaterrock99/dragon1.html

Aqua Diamonds
http://www.aquadiamonds.com/

Dinning family
http://www3.sympatico.ca/rdinning/

Gift Baskets and More
http://www.giftbasketexpressions.org/

Arnie's
http://www.giftbasketexpressions.org/

Litebar
http://smartercomputing.ipbhost.com/index.php?act=idx

Call-a-Tech
http://www.callatech.ca/

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9) Hidden Partitions Interfere With Maintenance

Hi, Fred! First of all, I really enjoy your newsletter. There's something in every issue for me. I look forward to receiving each issue. I finally upgraded to the plus edition and am looking forward to that, too!

I've got a question about an item in your last issue... I use Drive Image 7 and would like to use your recommendation of a partition size of around 8gb for my C: partition. I'll have to resize partitions, though. I had a bad experience with Partition Magic a while back. It trashed my system! I had to restore everything with the CDs provided by HP. I don't know what went wrong because I'll used it successfully before. But now I'm kind of gun shy!

What's your recommendation for repartitioning software? Thanks, Tom H.

Many systems--- and as far as I know, most or all current HP systems--- have a hidden "recovery partition" that can get in the way of partition management. They also can mess up backup imaging and restoration of images. Those recovery partitions serve one purpose only: they give the manufacturer an easy out for service calls: Almost always, you'll be told to "restore the factory configuration," either using the partition data, the factory "recovery CD" data, or some combination. That may correct software problems, but also may cost you all your customizations and data.

When I get a system that contains any kind of "recovery partition" (hidden or not), the first thing I do is image the full disk, including the recovery stuff, onto CDs. Then, once that's safe, I wipe out *everything,* so I can fresh-format the drive and set it up just the way I want, with nothing hidden or weird or unusual going on. That way, all normal partitioning, imaging, backup, and restoration tools will work the way they're supposed to. But you also still have the factory recovery stuff on CD, should you ever really need to go back to that setup.

This was discussed in more detail in "Wiping Out Special 'Recovery' Partitions" in  http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-02-06.htm#1 .

Once that's taken care of, any standard partitioning tool such as PartitionMagic or BootIt or even the primitive FDisk should work fine. Of the three, BootIT is the most powerful, but is a little geeky to use. PartitionMagic is easy to use and reasonably powerful, but is expensive and huge. FDISK is free, but geeky, and the most limited of the three.

There are other partition managers, of course, but they can also run afoul of hidden partitions. My brother in law just went through a bad time with a hidden Toshiba partition, for example: It tripped up his copy of Acronis.

So: Save everything to CD, then repartition and reformat the drive to your liking. Then, all should be well.

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10) Just For Grins

Hi Fred! I saw this in the signature line of a forum poster and it made me laugh out loud!  Perhaps you can use it. --- GregR

Programmer's Drinking Song:

99 programming bugs in the code
99 programming bugs
Fix one bug, compile it again
Now there's 100 bugs in the code!
(Repeat until bugs=0)

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Collection Of Free Utilities

• The Most Re: GHOST

• Kiosk/Hotel/Airport/Cafe PC Security Issues

• Final Chance for $10 PestPatrol Discount

For just $1 per month---- pennies per issue--- you get access to over 100,000 additional words in special features, extra content and private links, all on a private web site-- - plus 30% more content in every issue! And there's a MONEY- BACK GUARANTEE from Fred. How can you go wrong?

Plus! Edition info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm

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(Give a gift subscription to the LangaList Plus edition!
Click <a href= " http://www.langa.com/plus_gift.htm ">here</a>)

See you next issue!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win a prize!)

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