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2251

Living Room / Re: What's the best registry cleaner? Ask Leo says: none

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 15, 2009, 03:45 AM »

How about Universal restore in Acronis True Image ? You should be able to restore a VM to physical hardware using that. Just use TI (with UR) in the VM and write the image to DVD or a spare partition and then use the recovery media to restore it to a physical drive.

2252

General Software Discussion / Re: Will Win7 last as long as XP?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 15, 2009, 03:44 AM »

I would check out Windows 7 graphics card drivers in November and December - I'd guess your problem will be fixed if it hasn't in the RTM build. I had a few issues with the Beta and RC versions an the onboard graphics on one of my systems (it caused endless rebooting during installation unless you used VGA to install instead of DVI and then installed an older Vista driver before reconnecting DVI). This has been fixed in the final release version and it now installs fine.

The only minor frustration I am having with Windows 7 is that third party drivers from many manufacturers are scheduled for release after Windows 7. It isn't actually causing a problem because it installed fine and Vista drivers seem to work for those devices that didn't install automatically with Windows. Given the lead time for developers you would have thought Windows 7 drivers would have been emerging (at least in beta and RC form) from device manufacturers for some time now.

2253

Living Room / Re: What's the best registry cleaner? Ask Leo says: none

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 15, 2009, 03:38 AM »

If you religiously monitor each installation with tools like Ashampoo Uninstaller or Total Uninstaller, you can easily wipe out everything that gets installed, including registry entries. I use Ashampoo and try to monitor each new installation.

-edbro (July 07, 2009, 08:06 AM)

Not a panacea in my experience - often applications build dependencies based upon the order in which things were installed (which is why sometime trying to uninstall an MS hotfix will wran you that it could break a specific list of applications that were installed after the Hotfix). The trouble with AU and TU is that they are blunt tools - they both remove everything that changed during the installation of the program irrespective of whether later applications rely on some of those components. In an ideal world the installation process and uninstallation process should keep track and avoid these problems but with the plethora of installer developers that are used this is very unlikely to happen in Windows. As far as I can see it would simply things enormously if the installation/unintsalltion/component registration and tracking were all standardised by MS so that proper monitoring of dependencies could be performed. The trouble is too many people would scream anti-trust these days but I would argue that managing installation and uninstallation of software should be a core function of an operating system - not the developer.

I think what we need is an automated gizmo to clone a mini-OS from the system partition, to a blank partition in like 10 minutes.

-MilesAhead (July 11, 2009, 04:45 PM)

You can sort of do that - just use standard Partition Management software to clone a partition to spare disk space and then edit Boot.ini in XP or use BCDEdit in Vista/7 to create a new boot time entry which will make a bootable partition from it. Reboot your system and you can start up the second partition (your Windows may not be activated though - you'fd have to try it and see - I'd guess it might remain activated on the same drive but may not be on another physical drive, especially if it is a different manufacturer or drive type, eg PATA vs SATA).

An alternative is to use VMWare which can build a virtual machine based on a physical installation. You just tell it which partition to clone to build the VM. I'm not too sure what happens if you clone the currently running partiton though . I have to confess I haven't tried this and didn't really know about it until recently when I rebuilt a VM from VMWare version 4 to gain access to some features only available in 6.5 (multiple monitor support).

2254

Living Room / Re: How should I diagnose this hardware issue?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 14, 2009, 05:12 PM »

If it freezes when jogged it sounds like a component needs to be reseated. Remove and replace memory sticks and PCI/PCIe cards (graphics etc.) if you have your air duster handy give the slots a quick blow before putting the components back in. Remove plugs from the motherboard and components and reseat those two.

I wouldn't remove the CPU except as an absolute last resort - and make sure you have alcohol to clean surfaces and a tube of thermal paste to replace the CPU. If you aren't sure about this don't touch the CPU.

2255

Living Room / Re: How should I diagnose this hardware issue?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 14, 2009, 04:02 PM »

Anything in the system logs that give a clue? Start > Run (or ALT + R) and type eventvwr.msc - look in Wndows applications and system logs for any relevant errors or warnings.

A few things to try for a hardware issue (but get a full image backup first as you may kill XP activation by radical hardware changes):

1) Run a good memory tester (Memtest86+ from a boot CD is pretty good) as the symptoms you describe could easily be a memory problem. Let the memory test run for at least a few hours (preferably over night)
2) Try running with only one stick of memory - if you still have a problem try the other stick, try different slots - if Memtest+ didn't flag errors it probably isn't a memory issue but the can be problems with 2 sticks causing issues and Memtest+ isn't 100% perfect because there are small pockets of memory it can't test.
3) Check temperatures are reasonable (after a crash look in the BIOS) - you could try Speedfan which will report temperatures while windows is running
4) Still not found the issue try unplugging all unnecessary hardware from the motherboard: remove 1 memory stick, DVD burner, graphics card if there are onboard graphics that you can use temporarily. Basically remove everything that you can remove and still have a bootable system. Then try running a system stress test (you could use something like SiSoft Sanrda see http://download.cnet...2086_4-10556571.html) and see if the system still falls over. Again swap and move memory sticks. Once you have a stable system add devices back one at a time and test again.

If you are still having an issue it might be your windows installation. Since you have a full backup of your system wipe your hard disc and install an absolutely minimum version of Windows with minimal hardware and basic drivers wherever possible and stress test again and then add components one at a time and let windows install the drivers it wants where possible. If you get all your hardware back in and can't stress it to fall over and temperatures are OK it was probably your installation that had problems. Then you need to decide whether to struggle to troubleshoot random error problems or just start with a clean installation and extract your data from your backup.

2256

General Software Discussion / Re: Will Win7 last as long as XP?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 14, 2009, 09:13 AM »

The trouble with the ESET firewall is that it was set to 'out-of-the-box' settings since only very common applications are used (e.g. MS Office is the main application) and the firewall has pre-built rules to deal with common applications and simple network setups (including network printing). Even though nothing was tweaked it caused problems and tweaking the settings didn't seem to have any effect at all.

2257

General Software Discussion / Re: Will Win7 last as long as XP?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 14, 2009, 08:28 AM »

I think they are probably comparable in terms of quality. The main reason I don't go for AVAST on business machines is that you end up with firewalls and antispam too - the basic free AV solution for home use is very good (at least I haven't had any problems with it and clients seem happy plus it seems light on resources). NOD32 has a good track record and is very light on systems but has the big advantage that you can buy a license for just the AV software so you don't end up with bulky and uncontrollable suites on business machines.

Having said that I did advise a client to try the NOD32 Security Suite and I now wish I hadn't. The firewall is impenetrable (and as far as I can tell it doesn't obey its won rules). My client had endless problems with a WiFi Brother printer attached to their network (mainly that no one could print on it when NOD32 firewall was enabled). I checked the firewall settings and it clearly stated that network printing was allowed but it didn't work. I tried making specific rules and even through the firewall into learning mode so I could tell it to allow communications through when a print attempt was made. Nothing I did made any difference.

In the end I simply disabled the NOD32 firewall and enabled Vista's firewall which causes absolutely no problems.

2258

General Software Discussion / Re: Will Win7 last as long as XP?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 14, 2009, 03:13 AM »

There are two reasons:

1) They aren't firewall applications - they are AV applications
2) Avast is free for home use, NOD32 isn't

2259

General Software Discussion / Re: Will Win7 last as long as XP?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 13, 2009, 06:51 PM »

What?  You mean I shouldn't have put olsentwins.nude.sexy.exe in my trusted programs list so my firewall would stop asking me about it?    Seriously, though I can see your point, I'm not sure I agree that all is lost as soon as you've got malware on your system.  If it's trying to send information out and the firewall prevents it from doing so AND alerts you to the fact that something is trying to do so, you can work on getting rid of the malware before it succeeds in sending out info. 

Anyway, thanks for your quick response.  You've definitely given me something to think about.

-cyberdiva (September 13, 2009, 06:22 PM)

The trouble with software firewalls is that they fall into two categories: set it and forget it (which is no better than those built into XPSP2 and later versions of Windows) and firewalls that allow user control. The latter requires a lot of knowledge and tenacity on the part of users to use the firewall effectively. I would guess that 90% of the time when a third party firewall pops up a prompt the average user just clicks ALLOW without thinking.

A far better solution (IMHO) is to use the Windows firewall behind a hardware router based firewall.

By the way from Windows Vista onwards the built in firewall has outgoing protection features too but you need to configure them.

The other big problem with software firewalls is that software can leak out information without the firewall's knowledge (rendering the protection useless) unless you batten down the security to such an extent that you spend 90% of your time online responding to firewall warning/prompts.

I'm afraid I disagree with f0dder on the need for a good AV solution. With the best will in the world websites and download sites however reputable can make mistakes or be hacked leaving anyone without AV protection exposed to viruses and other malware no matter how careful they are. Granted if you are sensible you are unlikely to get infected but it isn't impossible. Just use a very low impact AV solution such as AVAST for home use or NOD32 for the office.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Will Win7 last as long as XP?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 13, 2009, 06:02 AM »

I think that programs that run on the tray (steam, winamp and live messenger come to mind) sort of break the interface, since the tray icons are hidden. There may be a way to have them showing, though.

-jgpaiva (September 13, 2009, 05:44 AM)

Just right click on the taskbar and in Properties you can customise the tray icons to show what you want.

2261

Best Dialog Extender / Re: So what is the best/popular one now?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 13, 2009, 05:09 AM »

Interesting that the final updates fro Filebox seem to have made sure it works with Vista and 7 (in both 32 and 64 bit versions). Maybe it has got a little more life in it.

2262

General Software Discussion / Re: Will Win7 last as long as XP?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 13, 2009, 04:37 AM »

It's been said to wait for first service pack before upgrading?

-CleverCat (September 13, 2009, 02:11 AM)

Not sure that applies to Windows 7 - think of it more of a major service pack on Vista with some new features.

Running Pro version on 3 computers and the only issues I have had so far are:

• one piece of software that wouldn't install (the software didn't recognise the OS) - but it did install when I told the installer to install it in XP compat mode (not XP VM) - and it works fine.
• a couple of drivers are missing because vendors are not releasing official drivers until Win7 official release date. I have installed Vista drivers where necessary and not noticed any problems at all.

2263

Living Room / Re: Carrier Pigeon faster than commercial ISP

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 12, 2009, 03:11 AM »

I can verify that - I live here!

My speed is 384kbps as that is what I pay for but.....my download speed is around 40kbps! Still better than dial up! It costs my friend I do some work for around R550 per month (+- $70) for my adsl line + 3 GB's of data...

Our fastest speed is 4mbps but costs over R1000 per month and I doubt you can download at that speed.

-CleverCat (September 12, 2009, 02:23 AM)

Actually slower than dial-up - I used to get 46kbps on 54k dial up service in the UK.

2264

Living Room / Re: Question for Mac lovers ...

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 11, 2009, 01:27 PM »

Unfortunately no second Mac

2265

Living Room / Re: Question for Mac lovers ...

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 11, 2009, 01:08 PM »

I have chatted to her and the USB is 2.0.

She doesn't really need a DVD writer so I figure that in the long term a USB drive is going to be much cheaper and if she wants to flog it on eBay it will sell more easily. I just want to be absolutely certain that the Mac will allow Snow Leopard to be installed from a USB drive - reading the forums it is obvious that some people have but there seems to be a conflict.

Actually I am not convinced there is anything wrong with her internal drive - it seems to cope with all discs except the Snow Leopard disc. There is a lot of forum chatter and complaints about duff SL discs. The strange thing is she has never had any problem before but two SL discs have actually come out of the drive scratched! Apple are sending her a third but I am keen to eliminate the drive as an issue before she tries it in the internal drive.

2266

Living Room / Re: Question for Mac lovers ...

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 11, 2009, 06:21 AM »

Thanks.

Actually I have been reading around and you can check the USB device from the System Info - USB 2 devices are listed as 'fast' in the devices, 1.1 omits fast.

Re. installing Snow Leopard there seems to be some confusion over whether you can do it from a USB device or whether
you need a firewire device. I'd guess the confusion largely arises because many Mac user don't know the difference

Re. hardware compatibility I suspected that pretty much any USB drive would do but it is a bit disconcerting that some devices get Mac compatibility listed and others don't (even from the same manufacturer).

2267

Living Room / Question for Mac lovers ...

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 11, 2009, 04:54 AM »

I have a client who has a Mac with a dead DVD internal drive and she doesn't want to send it back to Apple and pay a fortune for a new drive to be fitted (Sorry not sure of the type of Mac machine because I haven't seen it).

Looking at USB and Firewire drives there seem to be quite a few compatible with Macs but obviously the USB drives are bit less pricey.

Three quick questions:

• Can you use any USB DVD+/-RW/DL/RAM drives on Macs or are you limited to drives that are specifically Mac compat?
• Can you install Snow Leopard from an external USB drive (I assume you hold Option or Alt during startup to get the boot menu).
• Finally is there any quick way to establish if the MAc USB ports are v1.1 or 2 spec.?

Thanks

2268

General Software Discussion / Re: Dual Boot Win7 - Win7

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 10, 2009, 07:02 AM »

Try using EasyBCD to create a second boot entry from within the bootable installation. You need to set the path of the second installation to the drive letter recognised by the running system (eg. your running system is on drive C: but the non-booting version appears as drive E: then set the path in EasyBCD to E:\).

I have had mutliple Win 7s during the beta period without problem (but I was mixing XP, Vista, W7x32, and W7x64). The other alternative is to try installing the 32 bit version as one system and the 64 bit version as the dual boot - I had no problem with this mixture in the RC faze but I haven't tried it with the full version. Currently I have the full RTM version installed and licensed so I don't want to mess it up by playing.

Another alternative is if you have a Vista disc then install Vista, then install Win 7 as a dual boot option and then upgrade the Vista copy by running the upgrade from within Vista?

2269

General Software Discussion / Re: Dual Boot Win7 - Win7

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 10, 2009, 05:10 AM »

I haven't tried it with 2 copies of Win 7 but I have got Win XP, Win Vista and Win 7 running on a single box.

I would guess (from previous versions of windows) that you would need to do the following (assuming you want two clean installs and don't mind wiping your hard disk completely):

1. Backup all your data/partitions that you want to keep.

2. Insert the Windows 7 DVD and reboot from the DVD

3. When you get to the installation point that offers the choice of Customise your installation choose that (don't go for automatic install or upgrade)

4. Use the partition tool at the bottom of the screen to delete all of the partition(s) from your hard disk (you are going to need 4 partitions to complete this which is the maximum number of primary partitions allowed).

5. Create a Windows Partition the size that you want and install Windows 7 to that (note Windows 7 also creates a small boot partition)

6. Once everything is up and running the way you want reboot from the Windows 7 DVD and use cutomise installtion again

7. Create a new partition in the blank space you left behind for the new copy of Win 7 and install it there

8. When you reboot you should get the option of two versions of Windows 7 at boot

9. In windows open the disk partition manager (click Start and type diskmgmt.msc) and allocate the remaining space on your hard disk as a partition for shared data.

The only problem you will now probably have is activating both copies as MS will treat them as separate installations and you are only allowed to install once. I know it is on the same machine but they are a bit paranoid about dual booting because they can't easily tell if you have two identical PCs. In the past with Windows XP I had multiple boots and after a long phone call they allowed me to install multiple times on one PC but it really depends on who you get on the phone.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Has anyone tried Perfect Utilities ?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 08, 2009, 07:21 PM »

I continue to bang the old drum - "you don't gain anything much by using any registry cleaners but you stand to lose a hell of a lot".

OK that isn't totally true. I do poke around in my registry and delete things I know don't need to be there but almost all reg cleaners are designed to maximise the number of items that can be hit (so they look impressive) and don't focus on the items that should be hit. The other big problem I have found in the past (and it is still true today) - if you have any version of MS Office installed there are hundreds of registry entries that reg cleaners want to remove from a fresh install - if you allow it to happen then somewhere down the road there will be trouble.

The same goes for windows itself - try doing a clean install of windows in a virtual machine and then run a registry cleaner - there are hundreds of entries to be deleted before you have done anything at all. I know MS aren't prefect but it is a little far fetched that all of these entries should be removed on a clean, fresh installation.

IMHO if a registry entry is no longer valid (i.e. something has been left behind following an uninstall) then chances are that no application is ever going to look at that key again. It might give a warm glow to know you have deleted the key but it will not make any practical difference to your system in terms of speed or registry size.

Comparisons I read also showed that defragging your registry has almost no impact on speed (but can cause problems with in use entries getting lost or corrupted in the process).

My poultry reference above was actually not so much to do with registry cleaning in Perfect Utilities but some of the other system cleaning tools. I am fairly happy letting CCleaner delete a load of stuff because experience tells me that so long as you select carefully what is deleted it doesn't seem to do any damage. Other file cleaning tools I have tried have not been quite so conservative!

2271

General Software Discussion / Re: Has anyone tried Perfect Utilities ?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 08, 2009, 03:31 PM »

Not sure - I installed Perfect Utilities a while ago and ran the scans from it but didn't actually use it to clean anything! Call me chicken (this is where Chris leaps in!)

2272

General Software Discussion / Re: alternative to filehamster?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 08, 2009, 12:54 PM »

You could have a look at AutoSave Essentials. I used to use AutoSave 2 but development seemed rather slow (there have been no new updates in at least 2 years to AutoSave 2) and I moved to FileHamster. Not sure what the difference is between AutoSave 2 and Essentials but it seemed to do what it said on the tin (which includes file versioning backups).

2273

General Software Discussion / Re: alternative to filehamster?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 08, 2009, 11:04 AM »

DocShield requires Microsoft .NET framework version 2.0 running under any Windows operating systems capable of running the .NET framework  This includes Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows ME, and Windows NT.

2274

General Software Discussion / Re: doing a web app is easier than a desktop app. Days are counted for Desktop apps?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 07, 2009, 10:47 AM »

Webapps are great until something goes wrong - I was with a client this morning panicking over the fact that Hotmail ate about 1400 emails (including financial details from web orders and banking stuff).

Ironically she lost them trying to back them up in Outlook - she installed the Outlook Live Connector and added her Hotmail account only to have all sorts of problems including the post count dwindle before her eyes.

Note she had a paid for hotmail account too.

OK you could argue that anyone who uses Hotmail for sensitive and important information is asking for it but in my limted experience that is what you can expect from webapps - plus the developers and hosts don't give a damn about their users.

2275

Living Room / Re: PayPal

« Last post by Carol Haynes on September 05, 2009, 12:05 PM »

How does PayPal know who are your family and friends? Can't you simply say the person you are paying is a friend?

I just received some money from another PayPal user (without paying any transaction charges) but I guess the other person has a registered business account and maybe that makes a difference. I am also based in the UK and rules seem to vary depending on where you live.