Business
The Problem Has To Be In The Computer, Not The Software
The Helpful Neighbor
By Ray Wilson, For The Bulletin
The story I have been planning to report here is a sordid tale of Microsoft engineers, et al., trying to solve a problem involving the inability to download their updates.
This has been, and still is, active since August and filled with a lot of try this, try that technical jargon. The following is the solution: From one engineer to another, even one titled “Escalation Engineer,” or some other brain child in Redmond, they have kept this man on a merry-go-round. Now, after quite a pause, I hear from the complainant. My associate and I have decided long ago that the problem has to be in the computer and not one of the Microsoft software. Ready for this? The man whose computer is in question tells me he remembers adjusting the Services, according to the outline of the Black Viper back in July. With this in mind, he went to the Services and turned them all to Automatic. And like magic, he downloaded 21 updates. Now, he faces the chore of resetting them when the problem was the service known as “Windows Update,” which, no doubt, was set to disable.
Here we have months of high-salaried Microsoft people, one after the other, sending codes of changes to their software. And never, that’s right, never, in four months did one of them mention the condition of the computer. I related this to him on a couple of occasions and this suggestion was dismissed in view of the negotiations with the experts[?]. I am sending a copy of this and the other material that I received to CEO Steve Ballmer of Microsoft.
Heads up on two counts: First, make sure you have received ALL of the patches put out by Microsoft. Hackers are on the prowl of the 15 vulnerabilities that Microsoft has patched. This will abate any attacks on Internet Explorer (IE). A bug that was patched in the Windows kernel, the heart of the operating system, would have allowed attacks on type fonts used for Web pages and in Microsoft Word. An exploit is expected in the near future that will be targeted for Internet Explorer. Browsing, not only through IE, but all browsers, has become the number one attack vector in the world. Users can be infected merely by browsing to a malicious site. One way to tell which is which is by the bait being used. If it appears too good to be true, then it is! Logic and common sense should be applied in whatever you do and especially while surfing the Web. Once again, income from illegal criminal operations on the World Wide Web exceeds those from narcotics.
AOL users, listen up! I have been having quite a few pesky problems with AOL. If you are having problems as well, here is a way to fix them: Click start, in the search box enter “SINF” (no quotes). Clicking the result brings up System Information. Click “AOL Software.” Scroll down on the right hand side to a small size note “Quick Restore,” click it and follow instructions. This will not affect your address book or emails. It worked for me. You will have to enter and save the password, set your type font, mail preferences, etc. This solved my problems for the time being. To be really safe, a backup would not hurt.
On the bright side: Windows 7 Ultimate is firmly ensconced on my machines. Not without incident, mind you, but just another of the ongoing problems with my Gateway M1624 Laptop. This time, it is in the Basic Input Output System (Bios). If you have never had problems in the Bios, the first system to start at boot up, you do not want them. This is a follow up to a hard drive replacement, corrupted memory, replacement, a battery that will not hold a charge for longer than an hour, and a failed CD player. Did I say bright side? Hmmm! I replaced the memory, hard drive, and CD player, thereby saving outlandish service charges.
Run Command: All through Vista and now Windows 7 Microsoft still has the Run command hidden in the start menu. You can get to the menu by right clicking the desktop, and clicking on Personalize. On the window that appears in the lower left, click on Taskbar and Start Menu. In the next window, click on Start Menu, then click Customize. Scroll down about two thirds of the way and check Run Command. OK your way out and restart your machine. When the machine restarts, you should see the word Run to the right of all programs. It’s that easy!
Moving right along. If you have been a Vista sufferer, the switch should be painless since both programs were written on the same Kernel and Coding base. Well, painless to the extent of operation, but not installation. If you were running the RC version, it cannot be upgraded. If you are running Vista or XP, I do not advise attempting an upgrade. XP would not accept it anyway, and why take a chance on upgrading Vista? The best idea is to do a clean install of Windows 7 on a newly formatted drive. If you have backed up your data from Vista, transferring should not be a problem. My associate and I took the clean route all the way and it has paid off. A lot more reinstallations, but a squeaky clean start. It is a choice only you can make, whatever you feel comfortable with. W7 is looking good! You will see how good as you read further.
Touch Screen technology is nothing new. It has been in smartphones for a long time. It is now a reality in three laptops, with the reason being Microsoft Windows 7. This new Microsoft operating system offers increased stability, better performance and a sharper appearance. This is the first operating system that supports touch screens for all levels of the system. This discovery has been spurred on with the release of 7 as well as new hardware. In keeping with these new developments, 2010 has been declared the Year of the Touch Screen. However, if you are willing to drop an additional sum of money now, these machines are available: Fujitsu’s LifeBook T4410, $1,650; HP’s Touch Smart tx2z, $995; and Lenovo’s Think Pad T400’s, $2,455. From the extensive tests they were put through, all are operating according to their specifications. Before you would attempt a purchase, I suggest you check their respective Web sites.
Chinese Morality: The Internet Society of China rebuked Yahoo China and other local Web sites for hosting sites of pornography. Google was shut down for a few hours until it cleaned up its act. An offending operation built a photo album site called Yahoo Space, which was summarily closed. The Alibaba Group is rebuilding its Yahoo China site to obey the demands of the Chinese government.
W7 stuff! Windows 7 has an innovative taskbar where you can have several Windows open at the same time. Hovering the cursor will bring up a thumbnail for identification. You want to talk time? OK! In the registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse - double click “Mouse hover time” change 400 to 150 and it will hover quicker. I am just telling you what is possible to save time. You don’t know how to get to the registry? Click the Run command, enter “regedit” (no quotes) click OK. “Find Hkey Current User” and you are on your way. This does work and is a boon to those trying to save a few milliseconds. This is one of the easier adjustments to the registry, but handle with care. Want to save more time? Start, run, enter “msconfig” (no quotes) click Boot. On the right-hand side of the boot menu is a 30 second figure. You can reduce that to no less than three seconds. Not serious time, but time saved!
Commentary: You remember the flap I was having with a program manufacturer concerning a program of theirs that I have been touting very highly? And you recall they would not continue my license even though I was still advertising their product, RegCure? It is a decent program. But with all of the others that are available, I ran it through Revo to uninstall. As usual, I checked in the registry, due to repeated pop-ups for renewal. Sure enough, there were six entries still alive causing the disruptions and refusing to be uninstalled. There is a utility Unlocker I used and my system is now free of RegCure and appropriately replaced.
Facebook: If the present trend continues, Facebook will need an annex. More and more businesses are climbing aboard to advertise their wares at a recent increase of 250 percent. Of course, with this increase in information and users is the ever increasing number of hackers. Not a pretty picture. Next week, there will be more on 7 and updates. Stay well and send good thoughts.
Ray Wilson was raised in Upper Darby and has lived in Chester County since 1973.  He has more than 40 years of experience in computing and he has been testing virus and Spyware programs for eight years. He can be reached at IMHelpful4u@aol.com.
This has been, and still is, active since August and filled with a lot of try this, try that technical jargon. The following is the solution: From one engineer to another, even one titled “Escalation Engineer,” or some other brain child in Redmond, they have kept this man on a merry-go-round. Now, after quite a pause, I hear from the complainant. My associate and I have decided long ago that the problem has to be in the computer and not one of the Microsoft software. Ready for this? The man whose computer is in question tells me he remembers adjusting the Services, according to the outline of the Black Viper back in July. With this in mind, he went to the Services and turned them all to Automatic. And like magic, he downloaded 21 updates. Now, he faces the chore of resetting them when the problem was the service known as “Windows Update,” which, no doubt, was set to disable.
Here we have months of high-salaried Microsoft people, one after the other, sending codes of changes to their software. And never, that’s right, never, in four months did one of them mention the condition of the computer. I related this to him on a couple of occasions and this suggestion was dismissed in view of the negotiations with the experts[?]. I am sending a copy of this and the other material that I received to CEO Steve Ballmer of Microsoft.
Heads up on two counts: First, make sure you have received ALL of the patches put out by Microsoft. Hackers are on the prowl of the 15 vulnerabilities that Microsoft has patched. This will abate any attacks on Internet Explorer (IE). A bug that was patched in the Windows kernel, the heart of the operating system, would have allowed attacks on type fonts used for Web pages and in Microsoft Word. An exploit is expected in the near future that will be targeted for Internet Explorer. Browsing, not only through IE, but all browsers, has become the number one attack vector in the world. Users can be infected merely by browsing to a malicious site. One way to tell which is which is by the bait being used. If it appears too good to be true, then it is! Logic and common sense should be applied in whatever you do and especially while surfing the Web. Once again, income from illegal criminal operations on the World Wide Web exceeds those from narcotics.
AOL users, listen up! I have been having quite a few pesky problems with AOL. If you are having problems as well, here is a way to fix them: Click start, in the search box enter “SINF” (no quotes). Clicking the result brings up System Information. Click “AOL Software.” Scroll down on the right hand side to a small size note “Quick Restore,” click it and follow instructions. This will not affect your address book or emails. It worked for me. You will have to enter and save the password, set your type font, mail preferences, etc. This solved my problems for the time being. To be really safe, a backup would not hurt.
On the bright side: Windows 7 Ultimate is firmly ensconced on my machines. Not without incident, mind you, but just another of the ongoing problems with my Gateway M1624 Laptop. This time, it is in the Basic Input Output System (Bios). If you have never had problems in the Bios, the first system to start at boot up, you do not want them. This is a follow up to a hard drive replacement, corrupted memory, replacement, a battery that will not hold a charge for longer than an hour, and a failed CD player. Did I say bright side? Hmmm! I replaced the memory, hard drive, and CD player, thereby saving outlandish service charges.
Run Command: All through Vista and now Windows 7 Microsoft still has the Run command hidden in the start menu. You can get to the menu by right clicking the desktop, and clicking on Personalize. On the window that appears in the lower left, click on Taskbar and Start Menu. In the next window, click on Start Menu, then click Customize. Scroll down about two thirds of the way and check Run Command. OK your way out and restart your machine. When the machine restarts, you should see the word Run to the right of all programs. It’s that easy!
Moving right along. If you have been a Vista sufferer, the switch should be painless since both programs were written on the same Kernel and Coding base. Well, painless to the extent of operation, but not installation. If you were running the RC version, it cannot be upgraded. If you are running Vista or XP, I do not advise attempting an upgrade. XP would not accept it anyway, and why take a chance on upgrading Vista? The best idea is to do a clean install of Windows 7 on a newly formatted drive. If you have backed up your data from Vista, transferring should not be a problem. My associate and I took the clean route all the way and it has paid off. A lot more reinstallations, but a squeaky clean start. It is a choice only you can make, whatever you feel comfortable with. W7 is looking good! You will see how good as you read further.
Touch Screen technology is nothing new. It has been in smartphones for a long time. It is now a reality in three laptops, with the reason being Microsoft Windows 7. This new Microsoft operating system offers increased stability, better performance and a sharper appearance. This is the first operating system that supports touch screens for all levels of the system. This discovery has been spurred on with the release of 7 as well as new hardware. In keeping with these new developments, 2010 has been declared the Year of the Touch Screen. However, if you are willing to drop an additional sum of money now, these machines are available: Fujitsu’s LifeBook T4410, $1,650; HP’s Touch Smart tx2z, $995; and Lenovo’s Think Pad T400’s, $2,455. From the extensive tests they were put through, all are operating according to their specifications. Before you would attempt a purchase, I suggest you check their respective Web sites.
Chinese Morality: The Internet Society of China rebuked Yahoo China and other local Web sites for hosting sites of pornography. Google was shut down for a few hours until it cleaned up its act. An offending operation built a photo album site called Yahoo Space, which was summarily closed. The Alibaba Group is rebuilding its Yahoo China site to obey the demands of the Chinese government.
W7 stuff! Windows 7 has an innovative taskbar where you can have several Windows open at the same time. Hovering the cursor will bring up a thumbnail for identification. You want to talk time? OK! In the registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse - double click “Mouse hover time” change 400 to 150 and it will hover quicker. I am just telling you what is possible to save time. You don’t know how to get to the registry? Click the Run command, enter “regedit” (no quotes) click OK. “Find Hkey Current User” and you are on your way. This does work and is a boon to those trying to save a few milliseconds. This is one of the easier adjustments to the registry, but handle with care. Want to save more time? Start, run, enter “msconfig” (no quotes) click Boot. On the right-hand side of the boot menu is a 30 second figure. You can reduce that to no less than three seconds. Not serious time, but time saved!
Commentary: You remember the flap I was having with a program manufacturer concerning a program of theirs that I have been touting very highly? And you recall they would not continue my license even though I was still advertising their product, RegCure? It is a decent program. But with all of the others that are available, I ran it through Revo to uninstall. As usual, I checked in the registry, due to repeated pop-ups for renewal. Sure enough, there were six entries still alive causing the disruptions and refusing to be uninstalled. There is a utility Unlocker I used and my system is now free of RegCure and appropriately replaced.
Facebook: If the present trend continues, Facebook will need an annex. More and more businesses are climbing aboard to advertise their wares at a recent increase of 250 percent. Of course, with this increase in information and users is the ever increasing number of hackers. Not a pretty picture. Next week, there will be more on 7 and updates. Stay well and send good thoughts.
Ray Wilson was raised in Upper Darby and has lived in Chester County since 1973.  He has more than 40 years of experience in computing and he has been testing virus and Spyware programs for eight years. He can be reached at IMHelpful4u@aol.com.
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