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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Speed Up Windows 7

Windows 7 getting a little slow, wanna speed up Windows 7? Over time, usually a short period of time, Windows will slow down, be it Xp, 7, or any Windows operating system. So--How do you speed up Windows 7?






Remove Programs you do not use:

Programs that you do not use take up valuable space, memory, and present start up issues, so delete them. click on [start] then choose [control panel]. Once you're in there, click on "Uninstall a Program" under the [Programs] header. You'll then see a list of all of the programs installed on your computer. To remove a program, simply click on the [modify/remove] button on the right.



Remove Visual Effects:

Doing this will remove a lot of the glossy fancy features in Windows 7 and make it look more like Windows 95-XP. It won't look as fancy, but it'll move a lot quicker.

Right-click on the desktop and choose "personalize". In the window that comes up, choose "Advanced system settings". In the next window choose the "Advanced" tab at the top, then click the [Settings] button in the "Performance" section. The next screen will show a list of visual effects that can be turned on or off. I recommend that you simply choose "Adjust for best performance", which disables all of them. However, feel free to pick and choose certain ones. The more you disable, the faster your machine will run.



Go with Firefox or Google Chrome:

While the latest versions of Internet Explorer have gotten a bit better, there are still a few choices that are far superior. These browsers are not only more secure, but they tend to run a lot faster!

Mozilla Firefox -- The most popular browser alternative, Firefox is a great option. It's feature-packed, and runs very smoothly.

Google Chrome -- Google recently released their own browser call "Chrome". It doesn't have as many features as Firefox, but it's blazing fast



Use MSCONFIG:

When you Boot your computer, all your Start-up programs run--this can slow your computer greatly, you can change the programs that run Automaticly.Click START, then SEARCH (Or RUN), and type in MSCONFIG--press OK ( or hit ENTER). From here, choose the [startup] tab on the far top right, this window shows everything that your computer runs when it starts up. You can be pretty free about unchecking items, because if you uncheck something that you needed you can always come back in here, re-check it and then reboot again.



Defragment:

Windows 7 comes with a defragment tool. Over time files get moved around until windows is slow in finding them. Deframenting will place the files back in order, making it easier and faster for windows to find and execute the file.

Microsoft Slams Google's Ad Practices

Microsoft used a speaking slot provided by the Association of National Advertisers to open a broad assault on rival Google, accusing the Web giant of using its market clout to the detriment of advertisers.




Microsoft deputy general counsel Mary Snapp laid out her company's case to advertisers gathered in Washington, D.C., today for the ANA Advertising Law & Public Policy Conference, which Microsoft sponsored. Ironically, Microsoft based its criticisms on Google's size in the market, mirroring charges leveled against the software firm in the 1990s.



Snapp said marketers should demand that Google allow them to take advertising data out of AdWords for use in other ad tools. She also decried Google's policy that lets competitors bid on a brand's search terms, saying it drives up prices. Microsoft only sells search ads on brand terms to companies that own those terms.

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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

Delete Unwanted Hidden Programs in XP

Ever tried to delete/remove a program only to find that it is not listed in ADD or REMOVE programs? Then you head over to the program files, only to find there no uninstall in there for it. Maybe its Hidden!

If you want to remove programs that are installed with Windows but are not visible in "Add/Remove Windows Components" edit a file called "C:\WINDOWS\INF\SYSOC.INF".




Go to: Start>> Run>> type in: C:\WINDOWS\INF\SYSOC.INF and press ENTER


In there you will find a listing of programs, and you will note that some programs have the word 'hide' at the end. Simply remove the word 'hide' but leave the preceding comma.



Examples:


BEFORE:CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7

AFTER:CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,,7

Exit saving changes.

Now when you open Add/Remove Windows Components, you should see the program

Stop Internet Explorer from accessing certain Websites?

I can imagine that there are people who would really like to stop Internet Explorer from accessing numerous Websites, due to the possibilty of viruses, and rather "Unfit" material that "Junior" or "Juness", may be picking up from some of their Favorite Places. You can use the Windows 'Hosts' file to achieve this-----

In Windows XP, the hosts file is found here:




C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts



Once you have found the hosts file, right click it and select Properties. Uncheck the "Read-Only" attribute (if checked). Click OK.



Double click the 'Hosts' file and select "Notepad" from the list of programs to open it with.



Once you have the hosts file open in Notepad, you will see an entry such as:



127.0.0.1 localhost



To block a certain web page from loading, add the following:



127.0.0.1 www.webpage.com



Your Hosts file will now look like this:



127.0.0.1 localhost

127.0.0.1 www.webpage.com



Add as many web addresses as you like in the same fashion.



Once you are finished, go up to 'File' and click 'Save'.



The web pages listed in your 'Hosts' file should be blocked from access. It may be necessary for you to reboot your computer for these changes to take effect. 

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.

 Read Full Article--  CNN

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!!!

Test your RAM!!

No--this is not an article on how to check out your Pickup--the memory--your computers Memory. I actually was impressed with the ease in downloading Memtest86. They said to download the ISO, burn and Bingo, you're ready to go--I've heard that before, usually there's another one or maybe a couple files you have to add. However Downloading and burning Memtest86 was just as they said--that easy, and Booting with the CD worked wonderful--went immediately to diagnosing the RAM.

Memtest86 is a standalone memory diagnostic tool that runs from a CD on system boot. It executes a series of numbered test sections to check for errors. These test sections consist of a combination of test algorithm, data pattern and cache setting. The execution order for these tests were arranged so that errors will be detected as rapidly as possible. Tests 8, 9, 10 and 11 are very long running extended tests and are only executed when extended testing is selected. Memtest86 supports all types of memory and can be run on any operating system. You will download an ISO file that you can burn to CD. Less than 4GB of RAM only!

The test on my computer took about 30 minutes, so it was somewhat Quick, and it actually scanned the entire RAM--you know--it didn't scan half, then offer to sell me the "Full Version"--which seems to be the FAD these days! I give a definite "Thumbs Up" to Memtest for a great Product that when they say is Free--it is---Check it out--Download  Memtest Here