Topics

201

Living Room / ARGHH ... frustration -- anyone anyideas??

« on: July 03, 2007, 04:12 AM »

I have a problem with my system.

As I type about every 10 characters the system pauses. I can carry on typing and it catches up but it is really frustrating.

Anyone any idea how to track down what is causing this?

It seems to be particularly bad in Firefox.

202

Living Room / New iPod ad says it all ...

« on: July 02, 2007, 06:31 AM »

Presentation is everything about sums it up ... maybe you have to return the box to Apple so they an open it for you!

203

General Software Discussion / RegExBuddy/EditPad for Linux - only availble until 1st July

« on: June 20, 2007, 06:11 AM »

Received this notice today as part of an email from JGSoft

End of Life: RegexBuddy for Linux
=================================

I'm sorry to say that on July 1st, we will stop selling the Linux
version of RegexBuddy.  The licensed version will remain available for
download at http://www.regexbuddy.com/linuxnow.html to those who have
purchased it prior to July 1st 2007.  Still, if you want to continue using
RegexBuddy for Linux, I recommend you make a backup of the setup package
that you can download on the RegexBuddy web site.  If you we're
planning to purchase RegexBuddy for Linux, now would be a good time to do so.

We will continue to provide technical support for RegexBuddy for Linux
until October 1st.  This 3-month period corresponds with our 3-month
money-back guarantee period.

We have successfully tested running the Windows version of RegexBuddy
on Linux using "Wine".  At http://www.regexbuddy.com/wine.html you will
find the instructions how to do this.  RegexBuddy for Linux users who
want to upgrade to the new Windows release will be able to do so at the
same conditions as RegexBuddy for Windows users.

The reason we've decided to withdraw RegexBuddy for Linux from the
market is that it no longer meets our quality standards for "Just Great
Software".  Though the product certainly does what it is supposed to do,
there are just too many minor issues to be really proud of the Linux
version like we are of the Windows version.  Serving a fragmented market
(all those Linux distributions) with an outdated development tool simply
isn't feasible.  Though there are certainly better cross-platform
development tools available, we are not willing to sacrifice the quality of
our Windows products in return for that cross-platform support, nor do
we have the manpower for significant rewrites of our products.  If
CodeGear (formerly Borland) ever releases new tools that would enable us to
support Linux or other platforms again, we will certainly consider
that.  However, I do not expect CodeGear to do so in the next few years.

Any Linux user that want a copy of RegExBuddy need to do so quickly!

The same seems to apply for EditPad (Lite and Pro versions).

Shame Jan doesn't just offer these final Linux versions for free download without support.

204

General Software Discussion / Sony Offer: Complete Media Production for $99.99 (valid to June 30, 2007)

« on: June 19, 2007, 05:09 AM »

Thought some of the video and audiophiles here might be interested in this offer.

Looks like really good value:

To find out more about the Studio family products see SonyMedia's Website. Personally I wouldn't bother with Photo Go as it is pretty cheap anyway. I have never seen American Idol Extreme Music Creator so can't comment but it looks pretty lightweight stuff.

To pace an order for this special offer use this order form link.

Note that these are the consumer level versions of the professional products. I haven't used these at all but the pro versions are superb (esp. Vegas, Acid and Sound Forge) but if I were using this offer they would definitely be the three to go for.

205

General Software Discussion / DAZ Bryce 5.5 now free (Windows and Mac versions).

« on: June 13, 2007, 08:38 AM »

Got an email today from DAZ Bryce ...



The links on the image are as follows:

DAZ 3-D
Online Store
Gallery
Free Tutorials
Bryce Content
Rieval Hair
Medieval Village
Upgrade to Bryce 6

If you are into 3-D illustration etc. this is a pretty good deal !!

Check it out at Download.com

Here is a screen shot of Bryce 6 with a sample file open ...



and the same thing in editing mode

206

Living Room / Sony in trouble - again ... this time the Church of England is gunning for them!

« on: June 09, 2007, 10:08 AM »

Sony have managed to offend and annoy the Church of England who are now threatening to sue them ...

http://news.bbc.co.u...nchester/6736809.stm

207

Living Room / Humour - The End of the world

« on: June 07, 2007, 04:52 AM »

Posted today in the Windows Secrets a fun flash animation:

Sensitive types don't click here!

Note this animation contains some naughty language and silly national stereotypes!! If you would find such things offensive this is not for you.

For all sane people Click Here and laugh your socks off!

208

Living Room / My Generation ...

« on: May 28, 2007, 06:32 PM »

Program tonight on BBC Two (UK channel) about the appalling treatment older people suffer in 'residential care'.

As part of the program a group of 40 'oldies with attitude' made a single to try and get into the pop charts.



Here is the video: http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY

and if you want to see them interviewed live the Graham Norton Show at: http://www.youtube.c...6vIqR4WunFU&NR=1

Their efforts have been widely publicised worldwide by the media and press (mostly following the release of the video on YouTube).

All proceeds from the CD single go to charity so if you can stump up the cash why not buy a copy and support a worthwhile cause. You can find the CD at Amazon.co.uk.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be on the US Amazon website.

209

Living Room / 100 days of Vista: Is it Windows ME all over again?

« on: May 24, 2007, 04:13 AM »

On TechRepublic today ... interesting article on the truth behind MS Vista sales figures ...

See http://blogs.techrep...om/networking/?p=254 for the full article (only the intro is below)

210

Living Room / 'Big Brother' Google ?

« on: May 24, 2007, 02:53 AM »

Interesting article in the Independent Newspaper today (see http://news.independ...y/article2578479.ece) or I have quoted it below:

Google is watching you
'Big Brother' row over plans for personal database
By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor
Published: 24 May 2007

Google, the world's biggest search engine, is setting out to create the most comprehensive database of personal information ever assembled, one with the ability to tell people how to run their lives.

In a mission statement that raises the spectre of an internet Big Brother to rival Orwellian visions of the state, Google has revealed details of how it intends to organise and control the world's information.

The company's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said during a visit to Britain this week: "The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as 'What shall I do tomorrow?' and 'What job shall I take?'."

Speaking at a conference organised by Google, he said : "We are very early in the total information we have within Google. The algorithms [software] will get better and we will get better at personalisation."

Google's declaration of intent was publicised at the same time it emerged that the company had also invested £2m in a human genetics firm called 23andMe. The combination of genetic and internet profiling could prove a powerful tool in the battle for the greater understanding of the behaviour of an online service user.

Earlier this year Google's competitor Yahoo unveiled its own search technology, known as Project Panama, which monitors internet visitors to its site to build a profile of their interests.

Privacy protection campaigners are concerned that the trend towards sophisticated internet tracking and the collating of a giant database represents a real threat, by stealth, to civil liberties.

That concern has been reinforced by Google's $3.1bn bid for DoubleClick, a company that helps build a detailed picture of someone's behaviour by combining its records of web searches with the information from DoubleClick's "cookies", the software it places on users' machines to track which sites they visit.

The Independent has now learnt that the body representing Europe's data protection watchdogs has written to Google requesting more information about its information retention policy.

The multibillion-pound search engine has already said it plans to impose a limit on the period it keeps personal information.

A spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK agency responsible for monitoring data legislation confirmed it had been part of the group of organisations, known as the Article 29 Working Group, which had written to Google.

It is understood the letter asked for more detail about Google's policy on the retention of data. Google says it will respond to the Article 29 request next month when it publishes a full response on its website.

The Information Commissioner's spokeswoman added: "I can't say what was in it only that it was written in response to Google's announcement that will hold information for no more than two years."

Ross Anderson, professor of Security Engineering at Cambridge University and chairman of the Foundation for Information Policy Research, said there was a real issue with "lock in" where Google customers find it hard to extricate themselves from the search engine because of the interdependent linkage with other Google services, such as iGoogle, Gmail and YouTube. He also said internet users could no longer effectively protect their anonymity as the data left a key signature.

"A lot of people are upset by some of this. Why should an angst-ridden teenager who subscribes to MySpace have their information dragged up 30 years later when they go for a job as say editor of the Financial Times? But there are serious privacy issues as well. Under data protection laws, you can't take information, that may have been given incidentally, and use it for another purpose. The precise type and size of this problem is yet to be determined and will change as Google's business changes."

A spokeswoman for the Information Commissioner said that because of the voluntary nature of the information being targeted, the Information Commission had no plans to take any action against the databases.

Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy Ccunsel, said the company intended only doing w hat its customers wanted it to do. He said Mr Schmidt was talking about products such as iGoogle, where users volunteer to let Google use their web histories. "This is about personalised searches, where our goal is to use information to provide the best possible search for the user. If the user doesn't want information held by us, then that's fine. We are not trying to build a giant library of personalised information. All we are doing is trying to make the best computer guess of what it is you are searching for."

Privacy protection experts have argued that law enforcement agents - in certain circumstances - can compel search engines and internet service providers to surrender information. One said: "The danger here is that it doesn't matter what search engines say their policy is because it can be overridden by national laws."

How Google grew to dominate the internet

It's all about the algorithms. When Google first started up, in summer 1998, it quickly made its mark by being the internet's best, most efficient search engine. Now Google wants to know everything - all the knowledge contained on the world wide web, and everything about you as a computer user, too.

The key, at every step of the way, has been the methodology the company has used to catalogue and present information. The first stroke of genius that the company's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, had while they were still in graduate school was to measure responses to an internet search not only by the frequency of the search word but by the number of times a given web page was accessed via other web pages. It was a revolutionary idea at the time, now copied by every one of their rivals.

A decade later, their technical brilliance is operating on an altogether more ambitious scale. Google is now a $150bn (£77bn) company and a seemingly unstoppable corporate, as well as technical juggernaut.

The big question, of course, is whether the idealism that first fired up Page and Brin can survive in a dirty corporate world where information is not just an intellectual ideal, but also a legal and political hot potato involving profound issues of privacy, intellectual property rights and freedom of speech. "You can make money without doing evil," runs one of their most celebrated mantras. Does that extend to signing a deal with China whereby its search functions will be subject to state censorship? The furore over that particular decision, made at the beginning of last year, still rages.

Google's activities thus touch on some of the key philosophical questions of our digital age. Because of its power and prominence, it will also be the benchmark by which we come to measure many of the answers.

Andrew Gumbel

211

Living Room / "Microsoft: No plans to sue over Linux patents" but why?

« on: May 24, 2007, 02:12 AM »

Article today published by ZDNet: Microsoft: No plans to sue over Linux patents but the question I ask is if their case is strong why would they lose potential revenue and not sue?

MS are such nice guys when it comes competition, aren't they?

My take on this is somewhat cynical. MS can claim things such as Kernel patent violations but to PROVE it in court they would have to disclose in public the Windows Kernel code. This would have two effects - open source windows kernel (which they won't wear) plus a huge number of patent infringment cases AGAINST MS for all the stuff they stole over the years from other people.

I bet you anything there are Linux patent infringements  (and certainly MacOS, CP/M, and Gem) in the Windows code not to mention loads of Lotus 1-2-3 infringements in Excel and probably WordPerfect in Word.

Any law suit brought by MS would be an opening salvo in huge war that they would not want to get in on!

212

Living Room / Odd problem with System Restore ... anyone any ideas?

« on: May 16, 2007, 07:07 AM »

I generally keep System Restore disabled on my system unless there is a compelling reason to enable it temporarily.

Today I am doing a mass cleanup and defragmentation session on some large drives and found on my external USB drive a large number of System Restore files appear in the 'most fragmented' files list after Perfect Disc finishes. Some are quite large files and there are dozens (if not hundreds) of them.

Anyone any idea how to get rid of these old System Restore Point files?

Normally when you disable System Restore it deletes all these files but obviously I must have had my USB drive switched off at the crucial moment and the files were left behind. Switching SR on and off on the drive has no effect and running the Windows DIskCleanup utility on the drive has no effect.

The files are obviously orphaned but I can't delete them manually as they are in the inaccessible "System Volume Information" folder which is locked by Windows.

Short of reformatting the drive (not practical as it is nearly 400Gb of data and I have nowhere large enough to copy it to) I can't see any way to get rid of them!

213

General Software Discussion / Network/application traffic inspection

« on: April 21, 2007, 11:42 AM »

My network continuously seems to be transmitting and receiving data (even when the computer has been idle with no apps running). I have check that there are no viruses, spyware etc. and can't find any evidemce of anything sinster going on.

Anyone got any ideas on any software that will show you which applications are currently talking to the network/wan (preferably something that can resolve how programs like svchost have been called) and also to look at what data is being sent and received ?

214

Living Room / Calling UK people

« on: March 24, 2007, 08:31 AM »

This topic is way Off Topic but I would like to drum up some support for something I feel strongly about.

If you don't live in the UK this isn't relevant to you ... though you could mount your own campaign in your own country ....

Anti school assembly petition

I have set up a petiton on the UK Prime Ministers website to abolish compulsory religious school assemblies in all state run schools.

If you live in the UK and agree please sign up and pass the word to friends.

You can see the petition at http://petitions.pm....v.uk/schoolassembly/

I have personally been affected by this. The rural area of the UK in which I live has predominantly 'church foundation' schools - many of which contractually require teachers to assent to teach children the christian faith - as a result I cannot complete their application forms without hypocrisy or stating that I cannot assent to their religious principles. These are state funded schools and children/teachers/parents in my area have no alternative but to bus their children up to 40 miles to find a non-denominational state school.

In theory teachers and parents can opt out of the religious practices of the school but realistically I cannot be employed in a school where I am unwilling to participate (most of the schools only have 2 or 3 teachers because of the size of communities they serve).

215

General Software Discussion / Perfect Disc Discount (25% for 48 hours)

« on: March 17, 2007, 10:56 AM »

Just received the following email if it is of interest to anyone ...

The order page link is http://www.raxco.com...cts_all_download.cfm

and the 25% discount code HAPPYGREEN

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, Raxco will make your system faster and keep it fragmentation free for 25% off of the regular PerfectDisk 8 prices. This is the perfect time to pick up new or additional licenses of the worlds #1 performance utility. This online only code will expire at midnight on Saturday (3/17).   

Read what users are saying on Download.com about both PerfectDisk 8 and Diskeeper 2007. Or, Google both products in the newsgroups and blogs to get the real scoop. If you want a tool that's primarily based around marketing, the choice is simple. If you want a tool was developed for the quality and performance that today's power-users demand, and is the choice by more corporate enterprises and Microsoft MVPs than all other defrag solutions, PerfectDisk 8 is for you.

See why PerfectDisk 8 is a big step above other defrag options: PerfectDisk Comparison Charts   

The 25% code HAPPYGREEN can be used to discount PerfectDisk 8 Pro, PerfectDisk 8 Server, the PerfectDisk Small Office Packs, or to further discount the prices on the PerfectDisk Volume Calculator. You can also use the code to purchase PerfectDisk for Exchange or one of the PerfectDisk Bundles.

To take advantage of this special online only 25%, 2-day offer, just follow the simple steps below:

Purchase directly from our Online Store and enter coupon code HAPPYGREEN in your cart.
For volume purchases, use the PerfectDisk Volume Discount Calculator and enter coupon code HAPPYGREEN in your cart.
If you already have a competitive defragger or a maintenance contract in place, contact me to trade up to PerfectDisk for less.         
For additional enterprise license discounts, contact me as well to speak with our enterprise license team. 
* Code HAPPYGREEN does not apply to previous purchases and will expire at midnight on March 17, 2007.   

If you have any technical questions, contact the technical support team here. If I can do anything to help from the sales side, please let me know.

Best Regards,





Wendy Clontz     
Raxco Software, Inc.
Toll Free (800) 546-9728
Direct: (301) 519-7806
[email protected]
Web: www.raxco.com
PerfectDisk 8: Winner Windows IT Pro Readers' Choice
 

If you would like to remove yourself from receiving future e-mails about updates to PerfectDisk 8, please click here. 

 

216

Found Deals and Discounts / PCTools website - 25% discount on all products for 72 hours

« on: February 18, 2007, 06:24 PM »

I tend to use SpySweeper these days but I also like Spyware Doctor too ... here is a special offer if you are looking for some useful tools. People rate Registry Mechanic too (but I personally avoid registry cleaning tools these days for reasons I have stated before).

We are so excited about the up-coming release of Spyware Doctor 5.0 that we wanted to celebrate with all our loyal customers and we thought the best way was to save you some serious money!

Spyware Doctor 5 is the most important release from PC Tools since the first version of Spyware Doctor back in 2004 and even in its pre-release beta state it has been suggested by a major PC publication that Spyware Doctor 5.0 may be the best AntiSpyware utility available!

To starting saving please visit http://www.pctools.com now, select any PC Tools product, enter 25VIP7216 in the coupon field in shopping cart and save 25% off your entire PC Tools order. You can use the code as many times as you want, on as many products as you want and share it with anyone you think could benefit from some world-leading software at a huge discount.

When we say everything we mean really mean everything; Spyware Doctor, Registry Mechanic, PC Tools AntiVirus, File Recover or Privacy Guardian (even Spyware Doctor Enterprise); one license or a thousand; for home or for work... no catches, no limits, 25% off everything.

Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your milkman, just don't delay, we're only doing this for 72-hours and the offer ends at midnight (GMT) on Wednesday February 21st 2007.

And remember, all of our products get free upgrades during the subscription so if you have Spyware Doctor 4.0 or lower make sure you get free upgrade next week when Spyware Doctor 5 is released. You won't be disappointed!

And thanks as always for being a PC Tools customer.

Best Regards,

PC Tools Team

217

Living Room / Apologese - I will be offline for a while ...

« on: February 12, 2007, 12:28 PM »

Sorry to say I will be offline for an indefinite period - my new MOBO just blew a gasket and I am going to have to argue with ASUS for an RMA.

The computer was left switched on and when I came back a few hours later all I had was a blank screen and it would reboot.

I removed everything except for CPU, Graphics Card and Memory and I still get no response when I switch on.

I have changed CPU, used a single graphics card (and swapped it) and used a single stick of memory (and swapped it) all with no result.

I have plugged a second computer (the one I swapped the CPU from) to the monitor and it works fine.

Must be the mobo causing the problem but I don't know how long it will take to get it all back up and running again.

I will probably be able to pop in occasionally on this computer but I woun't be around nearly as much until it sorted out.

TTFN

218

General Software Discussion / Ripoff Britain strikes again ... this time with Vista Pricing

« on: February 01, 2007, 07:05 PM »

I am not upgrading to Vista but I was curious to compare prices on both sides of the pond ... list prices according to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com are:

US: Vista Ultimate Ed ... $379.99

UK: Vista Ultimate Ed ... £369.99

At today's exchange rate that means that UK Vista costs $728 US .... so it is probably just about cheaper to hop on Virgin Atlantic and buy it in New York !

If I hop over to Germany the list price is 519.99 Eur (which is £314 UK / $677 US but I would have to learn German).

In Canada it is $499 CAN (equivalent to $423 US or £215 UK)

Apparently in Australia it is $751 AUD (equivalent to $580 US / £295 UK)

How do list prices (not the actual prices you pay) compare in other countries ?

Can anyone beat the UK price ?

219

General Software Discussion / If you have to use Vista buy the upgrade version ... a true WindowsSecret

« on: February 01, 2007, 10:49 AM »

Apparently there is a workaround to install the upgrade versions of Vista to a clean hard disc without installing XP or 2000 first - and it works whether you have a previous version of windows or not.

It goes like this ...

1) Boot from the Vista DVD and install it to a fresh partition. However do not enter the serial number and uncheck activate online during the installation. You have to answer various prompts about installing without a serial code but that's OK just push on.

2) When Vista is installed at the desktop run the setup again (eject and reinsert the disc) and use the upgrade option. This runs the installer again - this time enter the serial code etc.

Presto Vista upgrade installed without reference to any previous versions in the form of installed windows or proof media.

This came from the Windows Secrets newsletter which has the whole process in more detail and some discussion about the ethics. Basically the argument goes that you are not using the installer to do anything it wasn't designed for and MS must know this method is available to all users and would be widely publicised.

220

General Software Discussion / WIndows Vista Ultimate ... worth upgrading ... CNET say no!

« on: January 26, 2007, 04:13 AM »

Interesting article and video intro from CNET at

http://reviews.cnet....603.html?tag=nl.e501

I have to say what they conclude seems pretty much like common sense to me - Vista isn't finished and lots of functions won't work properly until SP1 is released for it late 2007. Add to that there seems to be little added over Windows XP other than DX10 and a surface gloss.

Given the potential performance hit on existing hardware (or the cost of upgrading hardware) is it worth upgrading? Personally I agree with CNET and I won't be any time soon.

What do you think ...

[edited to attach image for blogging]

221

General Software Discussion / WARNING - Fake Ashampoo Winoptimiser has been posted ...

« on: January 10, 2007, 10:53 AM »

Just received the following warning email from Ashampoo ...

*******************************************************************

ATTENTION: Illegal Ashampoo® WinOptimizer 4 version in the Internet

*******************************************************************

the Ashampoo WinOptimizer 4 just appeared on several major download
sites like www.download.com and www.cnet.com as an illegal fake
version with wrong product number and version number. The official
Ashampoo WinOptimizer 4 will be released on January 17th, 2007.

Click here for more information:
http://r.ashampoo.co...ings/1/151206_en.htm


Besides this if you are generally in doubt about correct
Ashampoo versions please check our product overview at
http://www.ashampoo.co.uk/products and the specific product pages
for the right version number and official release date to stop
- with your help - criminal machinations.

Thank you!

With kind regards,
Rolf Hilchner
CEO & President

==================================================================

Wenn Sie diesen Newsletter
nicht mehr empfangen möchten, klicken Sie bitte auf diesen Link:
http://www.ashampoo....nternet/myashampoo/d

Ashampoo® gibt Ihre E-Mail auf keinen Fall an andere Firmen weiter.

Copyright © 1999-2007, ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG. All Rights Reserved.
ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG, Felix-Wankel-Str. 16, 26125 Oldenburg
[email protected]

222

Finished Programs / DONE: Replacement Power Options applet

« on: December 17, 2006, 12:02 PM »

Maybe not a snack but it would be useful.

Currently the Power Options in Control Panel work on the basis of keyboard and mouse activity.

I would like a replacement that works on a CPU threshold not being exceeded for a period (say 5%) - that way I could set Standby or Hibernate when the computer is truly idle - not just when I don't interact personally. That would allow extended processing applications (such as video recoding) to proceed without Power Options kicking in.

Anyone any ideas how to acheive this ?

223

Living Room / Very odd graphics problem - anyone any ideas ?

« on: December 15, 2006, 05:03 AM »

I have been trying to troubleshoot this with the graphics card manufacturer for a while but they seem stumped as do ASUS who made my mobo.

The situation is this -

2 x BFG GeForce 7300 GT OC 256Mb PCIe
ASUS A8N32-SLI mobo
AMD Athlon64 X2 4600+ CPU
Windows XP SP2 Pro (32-bit)

(some of you may notice my system specs have changed already - the other bits have been put to good use with a cheap DFI motherboard to build a friend a new system!)

Everything works fine for normal use and I run the two cards in SLI mode.

The only problem I have is that if when run a task such as CHKDSK or PrefectDisk which requires to reboot and run at boot time.

Normally utilities that run at boot time appear after the Windows logo on a blue screen and show their progress but on my system the screen goes blank and when they complete my system starts normally. The processes execute but I an't see progress or any errors that occur.

If I disable SLI and then disable the card in the second PCIe slot in Device Manager it works fine.

BFG suggested either a car was not working properly or the sencond PCIe slot wasn't operating properly. To test this I removed both cards and then insterted each card as a single card and tried them both in both PCIe slots. Bothe cards in both slots work fine and I don't get the boot-time display problem.

I have tried different GeForce driver versions with no changes.

It seems to me to be a driver issue during windows startup. (possibly the data is being output onto a second monitor and since there isn't one plugged in I can't see anything - but if I swap my monitor to the second card I don't see anything when both cards are enabled).

Anyone got any ideas at all how to troubleshoot this. ASUS and BFG tech support both seem totally stumped and both say they have no previous record of this issue. BFG have suggested RMAing the cards but since they seem to work fine I am not sure what this would achieve (apart from not having a working system for a while).

224

General Software Discussion / Outlook 2003 - rule templates - can you create new ones?

« on: December 03, 2006, 07:22 PM »

I have looked in the MS help files and searched google but I can't find any reference to creating rule templates in Outlook 2003.

Anyone know if this is possible?

225

General Software Discussion / NOD32 Technical Support - Interesting response

« on: December 03, 2006, 05:08 AM »

Following my recent issues with Netgear SC101 drivers and NOD32 I got an interesting suggestion from NOD32 support - switch of the IMON module and see if that cures your problem. I tried it and no more problems but I was worried that by turning off IMON I was leaving a security hole in my AV solution ... here is their response to my concerns ...

The next version of NOD32 will be sans IMON. It's being totally eliminated from the program for this very reason.

In 1992, when NOD32 was introduced, very few programs operated at the winsock level. Today, in addition to Google and Microsoft, 100's of other developers are creating software in this manner. That would be fine, except for the fact that any app that operates here, needs the top spot in the stack, and only one program can have it.

As it is now, it can't be enabled at all, on a server.

IMON was just the first layer of defense, a supplement. The strengths of NOD32 are AMON, which scans every file that performs an action, as it performs that action, and the advanced heuristics which is stopping 90+ % of all new threats, before a definition is even written.

By quitting IMON now, you'll not only allow both programs to operate together, but you'll also lose no coverage.

Thank you,
Eset Tech Support

So there you have it - IMON does nothing useful so you may as well switch it off and forget it (and save a few CPU cycles presumably in the process) !!