Repair Install in Vista

I’ve heard a number of tech experts including the esteemed Mr. Lloyd Case from Extreme Tech podcast as well as others like Steve from the Podnutz podcast state that there is no way to do “repair install” in Windows Vista similar to XP, or all recent editions of Windows for that matter. Actually Microsoft has given Vista users a way to repair Vista with the install DVD, they're just hiding it a little. And although Vista doesn’t make it obvious like it used to be, it still exists.

So here’s where they're hiding it, you get a repair install in Vista by doing a “In-Place Upgrade”.

1. Start the computer boot to Vista OS.

2. Insert the Windows Vista DVD in the computer's DVD drive.

3. Use one of the following procedures, as appropriate:

If Windows automatically detects the DVD, the Install now screen appears. Click Install now.

If Windows does not automatically detect the DVD, follow these steps:

a. Click the Start Button, type Drive:\setup.exe in the start search box and then click OK.

Note: Drive is the drive letter of the computer's DVD drive.

b. Click Install now.

4. When you reach the "Which type of installation do you want?" screen, click Upgrade to upgrade the current operating system to Windows Vista. Please make sure the edition of Windows Vista is selected correctly.

I didn’t get these instructions by reading a 1000 page manual, I got them from Microsoft when I needed tech support installing SP1. I followed the instructions and it worked great for me. Of coarse if you’re doing anything this extreme make sure you have a full backup and are using the correct disk. If you have SP1 already installed you need have a SP1 disk to do what Microsoft calls an In-Place upgrade (Repair install) in Vista.

Using Malwarebytes Antispyware Program

I spend a lot of my day listening to podcasts and one of favorites is Podnutz and Podnutz Daily hosted by Steve Cherubino. In his latest episode Steve talks to Bruce Harrison lead researcher for Malwarebytes which is the best antispyware product currently out there, in my humble opinion. The biggest eye opener for me was that Bruce kind of squashed two old habits I've had for running antimalware programs, since I started using them. Bruce stated that Malwarebytes should be run in normal user mode, not safe mode as I've done for ages. He also stated that for the vast majority of users need only run the "Quick Scan" and not the deep scan which can take hours, especially on my Terabyte desktop drive. Bruce stated that Malwarebytes concentrates on folders where malware is targeted these days and ignores folders not targeted in the quick scan. He also gives good advice about running as limited user, and actually sounds pretty optimistic about the war against the cretins who create this junk. For once someone not spreading FUD, it was refreshing.

Check out Podnutz at http://podnutz.com/ and take a look at all of Steve's great content. He's a regular working stiff who still finds the time to put together an amazing amount of online audio and now video content for tech junkies interested in either fixing their own computers or people with their own computer repair business.

PC-BSD Best Unix for Beginners?

I recently downloaded and installed the latest versions of PC-BSD http://www.pcbsd.org/ and I have to say I’m extremely impressed. The install went fast (18 minutes), and it was extremely simple and straight forward. I downloaded the 7.02 version using the DVD option. Downloading using http went fairly quickly, I tried to use bit-torrent and there were simply not enough seeders to make it reasonable. During the install you get the option of adding various additional components already on the DVD including Firefox 3.0, Thunderbird, and Open Office 3.0. Based on FreeBSD version 7.0 PC-BSD is stable and secure, the GUI is the new KDE 4.1.2 and I really enjoy it. Installing new apps is far easier and straight forward than Linux in my opinion and I’m comparing it side by side with Kubuntu 8.10 which also uses the new version of KDE.

The secret to improving usability in PC-BSD is the PBI or Push button Installer or PC-BSD Installer. The .pbi extension has all the files needed to install the applications by simply double clicking the file, this is essentially the same as an setup.exe file in Windows or the .DMG file in OSX. The pbi applications can be found at http://pbidir.com/ where an great variety of programs can be had. For more hard core Unix geeks the FreeBSD Ports are also available. FreeBSD Ports are similar to the apt-get found in Linux systems and any FreeBSD Port can be downloaded with all their packages and dependencies to install them in PC-BSD. But for beginners everything you’ll need not on the install DVD will be found at pbi.dir.com site.

The default browser in KDE is Konqueror which is what the Safari browser was originally based on, it’s a very fast browser but I vastly prefer Firefox. Firefox on PC-BSD came with all the plug-ins installed to play you tube video’s and to render most web pages as they were meant to be seen.

PC-BSD seems like the perfect OS for a netbook, it’s lightweight and simple, and has great applications like the  Flock browser available which are perfect for social networking sites and cloud based email. Unfortunately a netbook isn’t in the budget right know  but I’d love to hear from anyone who’s installed it on one.

I’ve tried at least a dozen different Linux distros over the past few years and although they all worked fine, I really feel PC-BSD has surpassed them in ease of use for the  beginner. There were a few issue’s though. Although it runs flawlessly on my desktop, PC-BSD did have a few problems on my Thinkpad R60. The Ati video card isn’t supported for 3D graphics and the proprietary driver available on Linux builds doesn’t work. It also had a issue with my wifi card, although it would connect it never showed better than a 25% signal despite being in the same room as the router. The signal would also occasionally drop out only to reappear shortly afterward. So It’s worth looking through their support page and checking to see if your hardware is supported. If your trying it on a laptop with network cards not supported I’d hold off. It’s main feature is simplicity, but that will go away quickly if your hardware has know issues, in that case Ubuntu or Kubuntu might be a better choice.

Despite the few glitches I still recommend PC-BSD it’s well worth a try especially if your the sort of person who always like to try new Linux builds or are looking for a secure and stable operating system to put on your machine without shelling out for Windows.

Windows 7 UAC Security Issue

Although generally lauded, Windows 7 the next version of Windows due out later this year has a potentially dangerous security flaw built into it. User Account Control (UAC) is a security feature first introduced in Windows Vista that has been a source of complaints from many long time Windows users. UAC in my opinion was a good idea, and does improve security in Vista compared to XP. Unfortunately in the beta version of Window 7 Microsoft has changed the UI in UAC allowing users to use a slide which determines the level of annoyance UAC will operate at. At the bottom of the slide UAC is essentially turned off, at the top of the slide UAC is in "Vista" mode which notifies you anytime you try to change anything about your system. By default Win 7 leaves the setting in a position were changes to Windows does not notify the user. This makes UAC less, "in your face", and is appropriate when you are off line and setting up your new operating system. It is however far less secure than many users think they are, as two independent Windows researchers recently discovered. Rafael Rivera and Long Zheng have found that running a basic script on your computer can turn UAC off without the user knowing it. http://www.withinwindows.com/2009/01/30/malware-can-turn-off-uac-in-windows-7-by-design-says-microsoft/.This would allow the computer to be completely compromised. This seems like the type of flaw beta releases are meant to find, Microsoft feels differently however. Seems this is one of those "it's not a bug, it's a feature" routines and Microsoft feels the feature is finished, locked into the final build, as is. The fix seems obvious, they could make changing the UAC level require administrative permission which would alleviate the problem. The least's they could do is to set the default level at the highest level so unsophisticated users are less likely to be bit by this.

I understand UAC in Vista was the source of many complaints and at least one "I'm a Mac" Apple commercial which cleverly (albeit dishonestly) made fun of the feature in Vista. So Microsoft must feel it can't win on this one. Personally I felt UAC in Vista was a worthwhile and effective security measure, and I'd argue, well worth the minor inconvenience it caused. But many people complained and so in 7, Microsoft tried to allow the user to turn UAC down so people would complain less. So to a certain extent I feel users are getting what they asked for, and you can protect yourself by turning UAC all the way to the highest setting, essentially the same as the default Vista setting.

The good thing is, Microsoft can change this, at least turn the default setting to fully protected. This is what Beta testing is for and it in no way takes away from the otherwise fantastic job the Windows 7 team has done. Windows 7 is fantastic and a ton of great features which I'll no doubt upgrade all my Vista machines because I believe it worthwhile upgrade.

UPDATE

Microsoft has come through and done the right thing. They will be modifying the UAC in 7 to require administrative rights to change UAC settings. Good for them and thanks to the Windows blogging community for holding their feet to the fire on this one.

The Peasants are at the gate

Windows 7 is a hit. On January 10^th Microsoft released the public beta of their next operating system Windows 7, and to say the least it is a hit. So much in fact, it has spawned a movement of Windows enthusiasts that want it released right now. The website http://www.releasewindows7.com/ is trying to gain support for exactly that. Their argument, that Windows 7 is not only stable and well polished, but ready to be released immediately is founded on more than fanboi enthusiasm or wishful thinking. With the poor sales and the horrible perception of Windows Vista a reality, Windows 7 is being developed by an entirely different team at Microsoft. Their approach is to only include components of the OS that are fully baked for public consumption, and apparently it worked. I've yet to see a credible review of Windows 7 that doesn't give it high ratings. This is great news for Microsoft, the economy is the worst it's been in decades and the company needs a home run with the next operating system. I haven't seen this kind of enthusiasm for an OS from Microsoft since Windows 95 and it's about time.

So as of now the peasants have armed themselves with broomsticks and pitchforks, and are beating on the doors in Redmond, demanding Windows 7 be released, and the captors couldn't be happier.

Have Win32/Conflicker? No excuses for the infected

The latest worm to plague Windows users the Win32/Conflicker, also known as "Downadup" is spreading like wildfire. Sadly there's no excuse for people catching this junk and joining the bot-net. Microsoft patched this hole on October 23rd 2008 in a out of cycle security patch. So, people who have their updates turned on automatically are protected, those who don't can get Microsoft's updated version of their Malicious Software Removal Tool here, at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ad724ae0-e72d-4f54-9ab3-75b8eb148356&displaylang=en
I imagine most anti-virus programs will find this as well, but if your anti-virus is expired and your updates aren't turned on, you're probably hosed by now anyway.

It’s All About the Data

Today’s computers are amazing, when you consider the processing power available, and the amount of storage you can have for incredibly little money, even the low end bargain computers today can do amazing things. You can easily build a $500 desktop computer that has a multi-core processor, and a terabyte of storage, with the power to edit video and photos, or play graphic intensive video games. But whether you’re running a $7000 custom high end gaming machine, or a $399 special from a sale at the local retailer the most important and precious thing in your computer is your data. Data is everything, it’s your kids baby pictures, your entire music collection, or possibly that book you've been writing for the last three years.

The problem with data is, even though it’s the most important thing on your hard drive, it’s frequently the least considered. To protect your data generally isn’t very hard, but its very easy to put off. People rationalize that since the hard drive from that Windows 95 machine still runs that their current machine will be fine for now and I’ll just do that backup next week when I have time. Unfortunately just when you least expect it, your hard drive crashes the night before you finished the report your boss wanted first thing in the morning or you lose the pictures of family members that can’t be replaced.

So now you know, backing up isn’t an option.  Backing up isn’t hard, and it doesn’t need to be complicated. If you’ve never backed up before it can be as simple as buying an external hard drive, or even a large thumb drive, and dragging your important files over to the external drive periodically.

Saving your important files to a external drive is the first step. The next step will be to implement an automated system of backing up at least once a week. For that you need software. If you are running Windows Vista and you want to keep it simple the built in “Backup and Restore Center“ will help you set up weekly backups of all your important data. It’s very simple and works well, I’ve successfully used it to back up and restore all the important data on my daughters computer after a disaster.

For a more thorough backup solutions I prefer third party programs. Acronis True Image Home, is an excellent program. http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/It has more capabilities than some users may want, but it has the ability to make an entire image of your hard drive as well as do incremental backups periodically afterward. Programs that create an image, allow you to take the hard drive you backed up on, and put it in your computer and boot up like nothing ever happened. It saves your operating system, all of your programs, settings, and your data. The new version of Acronis has great new feature, it will perform dual backups to both a flash drive and a hard drive at the same time.

This leads me to my last point, backing up to more than one location is very important. A simple solutions is to use two separate external hard drives, swap out one and backup to the second while you keep the other off site. This could be at work, at a friends house or anywhere away from your home. Another effective off site backup is to do a backup to an online service of some kind. Microsoft offers a free 25 gigabyte storage service called “Skydrive” available to anyone with a Windows Live account.http://download.live.com/  Amazon S3 service is another reliable online backup service, S3 isn’t free but you pay only for the space you use, unlike some flat rate services.http://aws.amazon.com/s3/

Backing up is necessary inconvenience, developing a routine that fits your needs will make it relatively painless, and some day it will save you a lot of heartache. Remember there are two kinds of hard drives, those that have failed and those that will fail. Many people get serious about backing up only, after they've lost all their pictures or music on their hard drive. There are many very good programs for backing up, either to local storage, or to an online service. I mentioned two which I’ve had experience with and trust, but there are many, very good ones out there.

One last point.Some people using a new online backup services which offered “free” online storage from a relatively new and unknown company suddenly got a surprise when their online storage recently went offline forever. This left them with no backup at all. So staying with companies like Amazon for your online “cloud” storage feels like a safe bet. So backup early and often, because "it’s all about the data".