Windows XP: No IE9 for you

Computerworld - Microsoft's new browser, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), will not run on Windows XP, now or when the software eventually ships, the company confirmed Tuesday.




The move makes Microsoft the first major browser developer to drop support for XP, the world's most popular operating system, in a future release.



Although Microsoft excluded Windows XP from the list for the IE9 developer preview, it sidestepped the question about which versions of Windows the final browser would support. In an IE9 FAQ, for example, Microsoft responded, "It's too early to talk about features of the Internet Explorer 9 Beta" to the query, "Will Internet Explorer 9 run on Windows XP?"

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Bad BitDefender Update Clobbers Windows PCs

Heres another little news story I would like to share with Ya--it's seems like every once in awhile I like to steer from Tips and Tricks, and relay some news to Ya!!

Robert McMillan, IDG News Service Robert Mcmillan, Idg News Service – Sat Mar 20, 7:30 pm ET


Users of the BitDefender antivirus software started flooding the company's support forums Saturday, apparently after a faulty antivirus update caused 64-bit Windows machines to stop working.



The company acknowledged the issue in a note explaining the problem, posted Saturday. "Due to a recent update it is possible that BitDefender detects several Windows and BitDefender files as infected with Trojan.FakeAlert.5," the company said.



The acknowledgement came after BitDefender users had logged hundreds of posts on the topic. Some complained of being unable to reboot their systems.



"EVERY file that is trying to run is getting quarantined," one user, identified as lhmathys, reported. "Windows Explorer and even Bitdefender update itself is being quarantined. Someone really screwed this one up."



"We are in a really terrible position now," wrote another user, identified as ufitec. "We have 150 business clients and most of the pcs [on] which BitDefender thinks everything is virus does not boot any more!!!!"



In its note on the issue, posted around 4 pm Pacific Time, the company said it had issued a fix for the problem and offered instructions on how to repair the damage, saying that customers should remove files from quarantine and reboot.



Users who can't do that need to either use Windows' Last Known Good Configuration restore or System Restore options.



Earlier in the day, the company had advised users to disable the BitDefender antivirus module and wait for a new definition update, which is supposed to correct the problem.



BitDefender did not reply to several messages asking for comment.


Dang, and I was planning a review!!

Ncomputing's Chip Brings Windows Applications to TVs

Ncomputing on Friday announced a chip that could turn devices like TVs or set-top boxes into virtual desktops through which users can run Windows applications or access the Internet.

The Numo chip contains a dual-core processor based on an Arm design that will allow devices to run Windows multimedia applications when connected to a host machine like a desktop or server, Ncomputing said. The setup uses the company's Vspace software on host machines to set up remote devices as virtual desktops.

Devices built on Numo can also access the Internet wirelessly without the need for a host machine. The chip can also be used in devices like netbooks or thin clients, Ncomputing said, which can run Google's Linux-based Android 2.1 OS.

The company has already partnered with consumer electronics company LG Electronics to sell its chips. LG earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show demonstrated prototypes of Numo-based Network Monitors in which 31 users were running multimedia applications by accessing a PC running Microsoft Windows Server.

The company will announce more partners for the chip, including PC, monitor, and TV manufacturers, later this year. The first virtual desktops with Numo chips will become available in the second quarter, the company said.

Ncomputing already sells virtual desktops to enterprises, and this is the first time the company is offering a chip, which will be available for US$20.

"The $20 chip plus under $10 cost in parts can turn any device into a no-compromise multimedia PC running applications locally and across the cloud," said Gabriele Sartori, senior vice president at Ncomputing, in a statement.

NComputing said the chip will work with Microsoft's RemoteFX technology, which was announced on Thursday and is expected to become available later this year. RemoteFX will deliver rich content like video, audio and 3D graphics to virtual desktops.

Courtesy-- Agam Shah, IDG News Service Agam Shah, Idg News Service

Google aims for easier 3D Web on Windows

.Google announced a move Thursday that could broaden the appeal of a nascent 3D Web graphics technology called WebGL.




A year ago Mozilla and the Khronos Group announced WebGL, which gives Web programmers a way to use hardware-accelerated 3D graphics on their Web pages, and in December, the two issued a draft WebGL standard. One hurdle, though, is that WebGL uses the Khronos Group's OpenGL graphics interface standard, but not all video cards have OpenGL support.



Google hopes to sidestep this issue with a new open-source projet that translates the OpenGL commands into the related dialect more common on Windows computers, Microsoft's Direct3D. The project is called ANGLE, short for Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine, Henry Bridge, a Google product manager, said in a blog post Thursday.

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Formatting an External Hard Drive in XP

Have an External Hard Drive you wish to Format?

Warning: Formatting a hard drive permanently removes all files, so you should not format the drive if you have saved anything on it (without making a copy of the files first). If you don't want to overwrite the data, you should convert the drive to NTFS instead.


Note--Make sure Your External HD is in the Enclosure!


1.Go to Start, then My Documents--choose Manage

2. Under Storage, click Disk Management

3.If the Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard appears, click Next. If the wizard does not appear, skip to step 7.

4.On the Select Disks to Initialize page, click Next.

5.On the Select Disks to Convert page, click Next

6.On the Completing the Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard page, click Finish

7.Right-click your external drive (which will probably be drive E or drive F), and then click Format.

8.In the Format dialog box, type a name for your external hard drive, such as Backup Drive. Then, click OK.

9.Click OK again

There---A Piece of Cake!!!

Restarting Windows with the Keyboard

OK--so now you have really upset the Computer Gods--That little arrow controlled by your mouse is stuck--plastered right there in the middle of your background and will not move. Soooo--how do I shutdown the thing, or restart and not get that wonderful message about an improper shutdown? How bout we use the keyboard!!!!

1. Press your Win Key to get the Start menu ( if you have no Win Key--Ctrl+ESC )

2. Press--> ( that would be the right arrow )three times--Bingo, the Shutdown Menu

3. Now use the Up Arrow key, to highlite restart---press Enter--tadah