On Friday night, I upgraded my system to Windows 7. I paid NZD 495 for a full retail Windows 7 Ultimate. The upgrade was more eventful than I expected. I realise there are going to be problems being an early adopter, but the stories I’ve heard so far had been reasonably positive.

I’m concerned with the fact that the upgrade instructions ask the user to leave the machine connected to the internet, but disables the antivirus software. I can understand the potential complications that the security software may cause, but the internet is a hostile environment where machines can be infected within minutes without the user doing anything. I reluctantly followed the instruction.

The first time I ran the upgrade, it ended up with a compatibility error. The Asus Security Protect Manager is not compatible with Windows 7. Several other applications are flagged as potentially problematic. I uninstalled the Asus Security Protect Manager and re-ran the upgrade. This time it ran successfully. It took a couple of hours to upgrade my Asus F8VA.

The first problem I had was that Gadgets wouldn’t load. I also had some data in the Notes gadget that I hadn’t saved. Luckily, the Notes data can still be found in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\Settings.ini. To reset Gadgets, load the file up into Notepad and delete its content.

The webcam on my laptop has also stopped working. It’s identified as a USB2.0 1.3M UVC WebCam. To be more specific, its a Chicony CNF6150 (USB\VID_04F2&PID_B033). There is no Windows 7 driver available for it at this time. However, Microsoft includes a generic UVC driver (usbvideo.sys) that seems to work just fine. To update the driver, I had to uninstall the existing ones; with the ‘Delete the driver software for this device.‘ option selected. Then, perform a scan for hardware changes. The generic UVC driver should be installed automatically. If the existing driver software was not deleted, they will get reinstalled instead of the generic UVC driver as the old drivers are considered a better match.

Virtual PC is now integrated into Windows 7. It has improved functionality but is missing the folder sharing feature that I used quite a bit. It supports drive sharing but I didn’t want that. I resorted to manual file sharing configuration.

iTunes was identified as potentially problematic but I do not have any problems with it. I upgraded it to the latest version and it ran quite happily.

These are early days yet. I’ll keep you posted if I come across any other problems.

Problems aside, I quite like Windows 7. I love the new taskbar; it changes the way I use my computer. The search feature also seems to work better; a feature that I avoided using in Vista.

A series of recent events have seen me take on a radically new view on pirated software; be it warez, keygens, cracks, and what not. I had always thought, somewhat naively, that software pirates’ business model is advertising. While they certainly do generate a lot of revenues from advertising, pirates aren’t exactly good honest people and will screw you anyway they can. All pirated software will almost certainly contain malware; potentially turning your machine into one of the many zombies on the Internet, doing whatever the botmaster commands. The irony is that while you’re trying to screw the software manufacturers, you’ve been screwed yourself.

Microsoft is supposedly playing its part in combating software piracy with the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program but I can’t help thinking that they are simply trying to increase their sales. It is now extremely difficult, if not impossible, for users to get the latest Windows update without WGA installed. The fact of the matter is that most users affected by the problem have been screwed both ways; by the PC vendors who sold them the pirated Windows, and Microsoft who keeps pushing WGA.

Ultimately, the biggest obstacle to eliminating software piracy is cost. Having all software fully licensed simply costs too much for most users. While users may not think about it, the costs of software could easily exceed the cost of their hardware.

Nowadays, there are a lot of good, high quality, free software. If you can’t afford the licensed products, they are usually free alternatives that will do an adequate job. In some cases, the free software is better than the licensed products. A growing number of software manufacturers are releasing free community or personal editions of their products, which is nice. It is also great to see the open-source community putting in all the time and effort in promoting free software. Kudos to those involved.

I’ve just purchased a copy of SpinRite 6.0. After I’ve heard so much about it, I decided it’s time to give it a go. At USD 89, it is not exactly cheap. I could get a brand new 320 GB drive for that price. However, if you’re trying to recover lost data, then it is probably worth every cent of it. My current situation doesn’t fall under that category.

I’ve recently been losing data from one of my hard drives. Although the files that have been lost or corrupted so far aren’t particularly important, I can no longer trust the drive for anything. It is now sitting in my computer as an archived drive whereby all the data on it has been previously backed up to another storage media. At approximately 4 years old, the drive has lasted past its average life span. But since it’s an 80 GB drive and still seems to be going reasonably well, perhaps SpinRite could salvage it. SpinRite is working on it right at this moment. Hence, why I’ve free time to blog about it now. It will take approximately 4 hours to scan the 80 GB drive.

If it’s just that one dying drive, I probably wouldn’t have purchased SpinRite. However, I have 6 hard drives with a total capacity of just under 1 TB. I don’t know why I have so much storage. Chances are, it has something to do with me getting a new drive every time I run out of disk space rather than archiving any of the data. This has gotten a bit worrying as 1 TB of data is a lot of stuff to lose. So I figure, SpinRite would help protect me from the inevitable and that’s probably worth more than the USD 89. I’m also working on a backup policy at this stage and will share it once I’ve got it up and going.

I miss the days when I used to run Linux where any apps can be launched with a few simple keystrokes.

A while ago, I was reading thru Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day when I came across the following trick that allows you to use Windows run command to easily launch any apps you want. I find it really useful as I don’t have to search thru the menu or hunt for the shortcut on my cluttered desktop. I now have this setup on both my home and work PC.

If the following looks too daunting or you prefer something fancier, try Launchy instead. Launchy is a free Windows utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.

Instructions

1. Create a new folder on your desktop and name it ‘Shortcuts’.
2. Add the new folder to the PATH environment variable.
   1. Go to the System Properties control panel. A quick way to get there is thru Start > Run. Type in ‘sysdm.cpl’ and hit OK.
   2. Go to the Advanced tab and click on Environment Variables.
   3. Under System variables, select Path and click Edit.
   4. Add the folder you created in Step 1 to the Variable value. If unsure what to do, add ‘;C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Desktop\Shortcuts’ (without quotes) to the end of the existing value.
   5. Keep hitting OK till you are out of System Properties.
3. For the final step, add shortcuts of whatever programs you want to launch to the Shortcuts folder. You can rename the shortcuts to whatever you wish.

To launch an application, fire up Windows Run dialog (Win+R). Enter the name of a shortcut and hit OK. That’s all there is to it.

If you’ve never read the book, it’s well worth the read. I suggest you pick a few tips that’s most useful to you and apply them rather than trying them all. This way, there’s a better chance that you’ll stick to it.

Lifehacker also has a website at lifehacker.com that offers more useful tips.

Ever came across a Google Video Player (.GVP) file? You’re bound to sooner or later with the amount of digital video content on the net.

GVP is not a new video format. Rather, it’s simply a plain text file that contains metadata about an actual video file. Take for instance, the following:

# download the free Google Video Player from http://video.google.com/
gvp_version:1.1
url:http://vp.video.google.com/videodownload?version=0&secureurl=ugAAAH_1H8Yu95EJtMuzFT6-X9Oaw1AQYKoyH9Pzbi0LnopJ2uFDOMIQ0ELLeWQe0SzIHN44NrpacmK3Q9OEswjpSJzC1RDc6DxZcL3NRLLcFESJLjErtD-iZXXYDenDBkGpvDXG7Xut9SFmBC8RUqGmLqosWMwS20c04qw55N_BTjeU9d0p93rbjGkOF0GLaNd_yhaN8cBFLkg8NPL82ikRp83CfS16JTeVIS3Ab4x9E_H6VnqIiy-5KSBN-0TGiyF9kQ&sigh=21pimKCTGJiC5qXu2nKy1F5YMTk&begin=0&len=3008680&docid=5464925144369700635
docid:5464925144369700635
duration:3008680
title:Discovery_Channel_-_The_History_Of_Hacking_Documentary.avi
description:the history of hacking

That is the content of an actual GVP file. As you can see, it specifies the url, title, description, and length of the video file. If you try to access the url from a browser or any download manager, you’ll be able to save the actual video file to your computer.

I’ve recently discovered through work that Microsoft offers a Home Use Program (HUP) for some of its software products. The HUP offers the employees of Microsoft Volume Licensing Software Assurance customers the opportunity to purchase a licensed copy of the Microsoft product for a flat price of $20. That’s NZD 20 for New Zealand users, and covers the postage and handling fees.

I don’t normally pay for software I use. However, considering it’s only NZD 20, I thought I might as well get one. I purchased a copy of Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007. I had always been meaning to give Office 2007 a try. It took Microsoft approximately two weeks to process the order and ship the DVD from Singapore.

As with most things Microsoft, there is a catch. The HUP license is intimately tied to your employment and your employer’s Software Assurance coverage. The license ends:

1. when your employer’s coverage ends;
2. upon termination of your employment;
3. if you are no longer a user of the licensed software at work; or
4. if you install and use any other version of the software under the HUP.

Even so, I still think it’s worth it. At the very least, it saves me the hassle of finding a copy of Microsoft Office elsewhere.

If you work for an organisation that uses Microsoft products, it may be worthwhile checking with your IT department to see if you’re eligible to participate in the HUP.

It is the year 2047. The Third Tiberium War is upon us. The long twilight struggle between the allied nations of the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the shadowy superpower known as The Brotherhood of Nod has flared into a planet-wide firestorm. Both factions fight over Tiberium, an enigmatic green crystal of alien origin that is both the ultimate resource and the worst environmental disaster in history. The stakes couldn’t be higher—whoever controls Tiberium decides the fate of humanity and the destiny of the planet Earth. But this violent global war between GDI and Nod is just the beginning. Humanity is about to discover that it is not alone in the universe… and that it is not the only race fighting for Tiberium.

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is the second game I’ve purchased… ever. The first is Need For Speed Carbon. CNC3 was released at the end of March this year. It certainly has been a long time coming. I still remember the days when I used to play CNC2: Red Alert.

CNC3 is similar to CNC2. However, being set in the future, the military do have more advanced technologies. So far, the most impressive weapon that I’ve come across is the Ion Cannon—a weapon that fires supercharged ion beams from an orbital battle station. Apparently, by 2047, the human race would also have discovered alien civilisation. I don’t particularly like this part of the storyline as I’ve always preferred CNC over WarCraft type of games because it only involved human civilisations. It just makes it that much easier to immerse yourself in the storyline, which some may argue is a bad thing.

The hardware requirement for CNC3 is quite typical for a recent strategy game. I don’t own the flashes system and this is definitely pushing it to the limit. I’m running the game on the lowest quality settings possible. I could only wonder what the graphics would be like on the highest settings.