Leto Technologies

Windows XP Service Pack 3 RTM is Out!

2008-04-22T18:25:00.001+08:00

Microsoft's Chris Keroack posted the news in the TechNet Forums:

Today we are happy to announce that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) has released to manufacturing (RTM). Windows XP SP3 bits are now working their way through our manufacturing channels to be available to OEM and Enterprise customers.

We are also in the final stages of preparing for release to the web (i.e. you!) on April 29th, via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center. Online documentation for Windows XP SP3, such as Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and the Microsoft TechNet Windows XP TechCenter, will be updated then. For customers who use Windows XP at home, Windows XP SP3 Automatic Update distribution for users at home will begin in early summer.

Thanks to everyone here who installed the public betas -- you not only gave us detailed feedback but also helped each other out with timely troubleshooting. Through the beta program we found several important issues and were able to confirm some essential fixes. We couldn’t have done this without you.

We will still be monitoring this forum during the next few weeks in case you have more feedback about the release of Windows XP SP3.

Lucky and Flo are now in US

2007-09-02T21:36:00.000+08:00

After being deployed in Malaysia, bootleg busting dogs Lucky and Flo have come the United States. So are their days of sniffing out plastic discs over? Will they now enjoy a doggie vacation in a dog spa? Hardly.

A recent bust in the Queens district of New York saw the seizure of "thousands" of pirated DVDs from three retail outlets from the Jamaica section of Queens. Operators of these operations were also arrested.

District Attorney Brown said, "For the first time in the United States, specially trained DVD sniffing dogs have actively participated in a criminal investigation aimed at combating DVD piracy. The dogs passed with flying colors by successfully ferreting out hidden contraband at a number of locations. Man's best friend has become a DVD counterfeiter's worst nightmare as we now welcome this latest weapon into our law enforcement anti-piracy arsenal."

"The MPAA has a multi-pronged approach to fighting piracy, including public outreach and enforcement. And since last year we've added two more very talented crime fighters to our arsenal, Lucky and Flo, the world's first DVD-sniffing canines," said John Malcolm, Executive VP and Director of Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations for the MPAA.

"Lucky and Flo are in New York to help raise awareness about the pervasiveness of film theft and about the dangerous nature of many of the criminal syndicates that engage it," continued Mr. Malcolm. "I commend the Queens District Attorney for his efforts to fight film piracy in his jurisdiction and for utilizing these amazing pups in yesterday's raid. We are pleased and proud to assist him in his ongoing efforts to combat this pernicious crime that puts money into the hands of serious criminals and deprives creative artists of their right to make an honest living creating works of movie magic that we all enjoy."

The three defendants are currently being charged with second-degree trademark counterfeiting and first degree failure to disclose the origins of a recording. The maximum sentence for these actions by the defendants is 4 years in prison.

Source: Slyck.com

AMD Talks Octal-Core Opterons

2007-07-27T09:52:00.000+08:00

New eight-core "Sandtiger" set for 2009 on third-generation Opteron platformAMD previewed its third-generation Opteron platform during the company’s Technology Analyst.

The third-generation AMD Opteron platform is set for a 2009 debut with a new Sandtiger-core processor. AMD’s current Socket 1207 platform is the Opteron’s second-generation platform and designed to accommodate Opteron revision F, Barcelona and the 45nm die-shrink Shanghai processors.

Sandtiger ups the core ante with eight-cores. AMD will manufacture the octal-core Sandtiger on a 45nm fabrication process. Sandtiger introduces HyperTransport 3.0, or HT3, to AMD’s server and workstation platforms. The processor will have four HyperTransport links with a new Direct Connect 2 infrastructure.

Sandtiger will also support DDR3 memory. The third-generation AMD Opteron platform will be the first platform to support G3 Memory Extender, or G3MX, technology for larger memory capacities. The platform also supports PCI Express 2.0.

New server and workstation chipsets will accommodate the new platform. AMD makes no mention on socket compatibility of the third-generation Opteron platform, but AMD’s track record shows socket changes with a new platform.

Before Sandtiger, AMD has Shanghai up its sleeves. Shanghai will be the 45nm shrink of Barcelona. AMD has Shanghai on the roadmap for a 2008 launch to replace Barcelona. Shanghai will drop into existing second-generation AMD Opteron platforms.

Shanghai features minor improvements such as a 6MB L3 cache and IPC improvements. The core will continue to have 512KB of L2 cache per core with three HT1 links. Registered DDR2 memory continues to be the memory of choice for Shanghai.

Expect AMD to unveil its third-generation AMD Opteron platform with G3MX technology and Sandtiger core in 2009 and Shanghai around the second half of 2008.

Sources: DailyTech.com

AMD's GPGPU Fusion

2007-07-18T17:14:00.000+08:00

In an interview with Italian media, AMD Executive Giuseppe Amato, Technical Director of Sales & Marketing EMEA, discussed AMD's current market position and future products.

In the interview, Amato shed more light on the structure of AMD's upcoming Fusion processors. A misconception that Amato noteed is that Fusion processors will not only be available in single-chip flavors, but also mutli-chip formats. Two Fusion processors linked together would allow for parallel GPUs. He said that AMD has still not solidified the future plans of Fusion yet, but indicated it would be very likely to see a Fusion processor with a GPU and CPU connected through a CrossFire-like interface -- and have a total TDP of less than 120 Watts.

Amato also praised the flexibility of the Fusion processor in the interview and told Hardware Upgrade that it will allow AMD to "integrate a specific number of GPU and CPU cores depending on the customer and the uses for which they will use the chip."

"AMD isn't just a microprocessor company anymore", he stated. After the acquisition of ATI, "AMD changed from a processor company to a platform company." This is where Fusion ties in. Its high grade of flexibility will combine GPUs and CPUs into one product. Amato believes that Fusion platforms will be able to specifically match the needs of its customers.

AMD's Fusion processors will also be closely tied to GPGPU. Using a GPGPU platform based on Fusion, AMD will be able to offer HPC systems that can do all kinds of work. Code that is more suited for CPUs will be executed on the CPU part of the Fusion processor, while code more efficiently run on a GPGPU will be run on the GPU portion of the processor. To sum it up, AMD's Fusion processors will be able to do a variety of work, allowing them to better meet the needs of AMD's customers.

Amato also dispelled rumors that AMD will be going completely fabless. He blames the source of the rumor as a misinterpretation of a speech Hector Ruiz gave. However, AMD plans to stick to a fab-less manufacturing model for GPU and chipset products.

Microsoft Makes a deal with former Lindows

2007-06-18T01:46:00.000+08:00

The irony is the only word which cames to my mind after reading this news: Microsoft decided to buy a certain company, 2 years after they sued them and earned $20 million from them. The two companies made peace in 2004, with Linspire agreeing to shed its Lindows name and Microsoft paying the company $20 million. Linspire also got the right to use certain Windows Media codecs and settled Microsoft’s trademark infringement claims. Under the latest deal, the two will be working more closely in a variety of areas, including instant messaging and Web search. In addition, purchasers of Linspire’s paid Linux version will get intellectual property protection against any legal action by Microsoft for using the Linux desktop software.

Linspire doesn’t plan to include either the Microsoft technology or the patent protection in its no-charge Freespire product. Microsoft has noted that Linux protections have been part of its recent cross-licensing pacts, including patent-swap deals with LG, Samsung and Fuji Xerox. As part of the deal, Linspire will make Microsoft’s Live Search the default search engine in Linspire and will get an extension to its license of the Windows Media technology, including access to Windows Media 10 codecs. Microsoft also will license some fonts and voice over IP technology for use in instant messaging, while Linspire will join an effort to create translators between Office 2007’s XML file formats and the OpenDocument format. The computer world is getting smaller and smaller everyday with few rising giants getting a real power…

Source: ZDnet, Forbes

Intel Readies Price Cuts

2007-05-16T17:35:00.000+08:00

Last week, AMD talked about its desktop plans for the upcoming year in Sunnyvale, California. Although AMD showed its upcoming desktop processor running in single and dual-socket configurations, the company chose not to announce an official launch date for its next-generation desktop processors. According to Robert Rivet, AMD executive vice president and CFO, however, AMD's next-generation processors will be ready by Christmas.

Despite how distant the possible December launch date of AMD's native quad-core desktop processors may seem, Intel is already stepping up the competition and will be instituting a series of aggressive price cuts in July. We originally reported these major price cuts, which will be targeting Intel's quad-core desktop and server processors, in March. At the time, we didn't know the official date of when the price cuts would take place. We can confirm today that the price cuts will take place on July 22.

Intel Core 2 Quad
QX6800 2.93 GHz 8MB 1066 MHz $999
Q6700 2.66 GHz 8MB 1066 MHz $530
Q6600 2.40 GHz 8MB 1066 MHz $266

The first part of the price cuts will center on Intel's quad-core desktop processors. The Q6600, which Intel launched in February, currently sells for $530 in quantities of 1000. When the product was originally launched, it was priced at $851 in quantities of 1000. The next round of price cuts will effectively lower the price to $266. The selling price of the Intel QX6700 will also be lowered, coming in at $530 by the end of July.

Story obtained from DailyTech.com

GeForce 8800 Ultra

2007-05-07T00:54:00.000+08:00

We barely managed to get used to GeForce 8800 GTX and Nvidia has released a newer more powerful card; GeForce 8800 Ultra. They finally brought the Ultra back after we last seen it on the 6 series. So whats new in this Ultra card? Well the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra performs an average of between 10 and 15% faster than the GeForce 8800 GTX GPU.

The new graphics card features a G80 GPU clocked at 612 MHz, a mild increase from the GeForce 8800 GTX’s 576 MHz. The 612 MHz G80 GPU pairs with 2.16 GHz memory, up 360 MHz from the GeForce 8800 GTX’s 1.8 GHz. Aside from subtle clock speed increases, there is still 768MB of video memory attached via 384-bit wide memory bus. NVIDIA has raised the shader clock speeds by 150 MHz to 1.5 GHz as well. A new cooler spanning the entire length of the card also joins the list of upgrades.

So why do you want the new GeForce 8 series anyway? Well here's why:

GeForce 8 Series GPUs are the first shipping DirectX 10 GPUs and are the reference GPUs for Microsoft DirectX 10 API development.
GeForce 8800 GPUs are the developer's platform of choice for this year's top DirectX 10 titles, including Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Crysis, Age of Conan, Hellgate: London, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, World in Conflict, BioShock, PT Boats, and Cryostasis.
Developers creating next-generation OpenGL titles, such as Enemy Territory: Quake Wars are also using GeForce 8 Series as their development platform of choice.
GeForce 8 Series GPUs include all required hardware functionality defined in the Microsoft Direct3D® 10 specification, with full support for the DirectX 10 unified shader instruction set and Shader Model 4 capabilities.
DirectX 10 is included with Microsoft Windows Vista and delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects for games, all rendered in real-time on a GeForce 8 Series DirectX 10-capable GPU.

Intel Launches Core 2 Extreme QX6800

2007-04-10T10:38:00.000+08:00

Intel today bumped the clock speeds of its quad-core Core 2 Extreme processors with the addition of the QX6800. The new Core 2 Extreme QX6800 clocks in at 2.93 GHz, matching last summer’s dual-core flagship X6800. Intel’s new Core 2 Extreme QX6800 features 8MB of total L2 cache and an unlocked upper multiplier for overclocking goodness.

As with the previous Core 2 Extreme QX6700 and Core 2 Quad Q6600, the new QX6800 shares the 65nm Kentsfieldcore. Intel expects to introduce 45nm Penryn-based processors in the second half of 2007. The new Core 2 Extreme QX6800 is Intel’s fourth consumer quad-core processor, whereas AMD isn’t set to introduce its upcoming Barcelona quad-core architecture until later this year.

Pulled from DailyTech.com

Finally! A Mid-ranged GeForce 8 Series Card

2007-03-20T10:59:00.000+08:00

Nvidia 8600GTS

Nvidia plans to release 3 new mid-range card under the 8 series. Namely, GeForce 8600GTS, 8600GT and 8500GT. Basically the 8600GTS will lead the trio followed by 8600GT and then 8500GT.

The budget-priced trio feature full support for DirectX 10 features including pixel and vertex shader model 4.0. NVIDIA has yet to reveal the amount of shaders or shader clocks though. Nevertheless, the trio supports NVIDIA SLI and PureVideo technologies.

At the top of the mid-range lineup is the GeForce 8600GTS. The G84-based graphics core clocks in at 675 MHz. NVIDIA pairs the GeForce 8600GTS with 256MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 1000 MHz. The memory interfaces with the GPU via a 128-bit bus. NVIDIA estimates total board power consumption at around 71-watts.

NVIDIA’s GeForce 8600GT is not as performance oriented as the 8600GTS. The GeForce 8600GT GPU clocks in at a more conservative 540 MHz. The memory configuration has more flexibility, letting manufacturers decide between 256MB or 128MB of GDDR3 memory. NVIDIA specifies the memory clock at 700 MHz. The GeForce 8600GT shares the same 128-bit memory interface as the 8600GTS. NVIDIA rates the maximum board power consumption at 43-watts – 28-watts less than the 8600GTS.

NVIDIA has revealed very little information on the GeForce 8500GT besides support for GDDR3 and DDR2 memory. It supports dual dual-link DVI, VGA and TV outputs as well.

Expect NVIDIA to pull the wraps off its GeForce 8600GTS, 8600GT and 8500GT next quarter in time to take on AMD’s upcoming RV630 and RV610.

Pulled from DailyTech.com

Forget Vista, go Vienna!

2007-03-08T14:14:00.000+08:00

Microsoft has announced that they are now coming up with a new OS after Vista. Called Windows Vienna, it is said to be totally revolutionary. Evvery Windows now has been merely an upgrade of older code libraries which happens to be the source of all the security flaws.

Since the old code libraries sucks resources and are vulnerable, Microsoft claims that the new Vienna will be coded from scratch. Windows Vienna will represent the start of a different generation of operating systems, bringing in new concepts and support for new types of hardware, along with a better security and a modular approach, which will allow future versions of Windows to be built more easily on Windows Vienna's engine.

For added security, Vienna will feature a new concept called a sandbox. All non-managed code will run in a sandboxed environment where access to the "outside world" is restricted by the operating system. Access to raw sockets will be disabled from within the sandbox, as will direct access to the file system, hardware abstraction layer (HAL), and complete memory addressing. All access to outside applications, files, and protocols will be regulated by the operating system, and any malicious activity will be (theoretically) halted immediately. If this approach is successful, it bodes very well for security and safety, as it is virtually impossible for a malicious application to cause any damage to the system if it is locked inside a metaphorical 'glass box.' As well, this sand boxed environment will be able to adapt itself to the code base it was written for. This will alleviate most problems that arise from back compatibility when a new operating system is made.

There have been other rumours where there may be some significant change as to how we use Windows now. For all we know, they may eliminate the idea of taskbar and startmenu all together. All we can do is wait till it comes out.

From my own opinion, Vista is a mediator for Vienna and XP. I believe that Vista is out because of DX10 and because of the ongoing development of graphics card. Thus it was hastily made to suck money. Buy Vista or no DX10! This will only make Vista another flop like the Windows ME. My recommendations is to try to sit out and wait for Vienna. If you really have to, get Vista after SP1 is out. The Service Pack 1 for Vista is scheduled to be out at the end of this year. Windows Vienna however is scheduled to be out around 2009/2010.

BBC and YouTube Partnership

2007-03-05T00:22:00.000+08:00

BBC and YouTube has entered in a partnership to offer to Internet users BBC content through YouTube. According to the press release, YouTube will create branded BBC “Channels” on YouTube. BBC and YouTube will offer from the BBC clips of new shows and specially commissioned promotional content linked to popular series such as Doctor Who and Life on Mars.

Also another channel will be an entertainment Channel called “BBC Worldwide” showing clips from material such as Top Gear, Spooks and a range of factual programmes. The Channel will include a limited amount of advertising.

Here are the links to watch those BBC content on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/BBCWorldwide
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=BBC

Clearing Windows Update Cache Upon Update Failure

2007-02-05T02:46:00.000+08:00

This tip could be applied to any kind of Windows Update on Windows XP be it manual update or automatic update.

A failure in updating could happen when you suddenly get disconnected or downloaded corrupted data which happens a lot. And it seems that there is no local check to ensure that the file is actually complete. It just attempts to install the downloaded material even if its not complete. The stupid thing is that even though you try to update again, it just checks the cache, see that its there and won't bother redownloading the files.

Therefore when you face such a scenario, you could take these steps to solve your problems:

Open Command Prompt by Start -> Run and type "cmd"
On the Command Prompt, type "net stop wuauserv". This is done so that you will terminate the windows automatic update service to allow us to delete the cache files
Still on the Command Prompt, type "cd /d %windir%" or "cd\windows"
Type "rd /s SoftwareDistribution"
Thats it, the cache has been purged. Now we need to restart the windows automatic update service again. To do that, type "net start wuauserv"

Thats all. Its simple right? Good luck.

Internet Explorer Max Connections

2007-01-11T18:38:00.000+08:00

Here is a good tip if you get what the title means, as you would know that IE limits you to 2 connections per server. That can be rather annoying if you plan to download a series of files from 1 server. For example say a manga series. You'll only be able to download 2 files at a time and wait till 1 is finished then start another. This can be quite annoying at times especially if you're downloading the 2 files and try to attempt to browse to other pages on the same server. It won't work!

This also applies to loading of images in a page. With the maximum of connections per server, when you browse sites with heavy picture content, IE will only load pictures 2 by 2.

Good thing is, there is a solution to that. We can change that maximum connections to 10 instead of 2. I'm not too sure if its possible to go higher than 10 but it still is better than 2.

Here's are the steps listed on how to change the number of maximum connections to 10.

Click Start -> Run

Type "regedit"

On the left hand side, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

Create 2 new DWORD values by right clicking -> New -> DWORD Value

For the first DWORD Value, use the name "MaxConnections Per1_0Server" and the second "MaxConnections PerServer"

Once created, right click on each of the value and click "Modify"

Click the "Decimal" radio button and enter the value "10"

From now on, you can have a maximum of 10 connections to a server. Web pages should load a lot faster than it was previously. Apparently, it is said that this modification also work for Mozilla Firefox. This is because Mozilla uses the same Internet Settings registry thus this should also work for it.

Broken Internet Line... Sigh

2007-01-03T00:48:00.000+08:00

In the recent earthquake off the shores of Taiwan, several Asian countries were plunged to pre-Internet days when one of the underground cables were severed in the quake. Almost all sites in the US, Europe, Hong Kong and China were inaccessible.

Though it is claimed that Internet has been restored by rerouting traffic to other cables and satelites, some of us still have trouble getting into any of the websites not local to Asia. Some may be able to access the web sites but the latency is way high. A ping to google.com showed up at 800ms and some timed out.

Officials at Taiwan has confirmed that ships has been sent out to rectify the problem. However it is said that the task will be time consuming as the ships will only arrive at the location at about yesterday(tuesday).

By the way, these cables are worth billions of dollars and are often longer than 11000 miles in length, so imagine how difficult it must be to find the damaged area. Could you even imagine living without the internet nowadays?

Windows Media Player 11 - Start in Now Playing Guide

2006-12-14T02:59:00.000+08:00

If you've just recently upgraded your Windows Media Player to the latest version 11, then you'll notice that your player now will always start in the Library.

Windows Media Player 11 New Look

You'll soon also realise that you can't enable the feature which automatically goes to Now Playing whenever you start up Windows Media Player 11 of which in the earlier versions you could turn that feature on.

The Solution? Well, its easy. Change each of your Windows Media Player 11 shortcut to include a " /Task:NowPlaying" at the end after wmplayer.exe

Here are some pictures which shows how to change the shortcut.

Go to Start -> Programs -> Windows Media Player. Right click it and select properties as seen on this image here.
A property window will appear which should look like this
Change the "/prefetch:1" to "/Task:NowPlaying" as seen on the picture below.
Its done! Now everytime you launch WMP11, it will go to Now Playing instead of the Library

Nvidia released G80 GPU's

2006-11-12T20:36:00.000+08:00

Thats right! It is out! The GeForce 8 series. Two products in that series is out. As mentioned before, the GeForce 8800 GTX and the GeForce 8800GTS. The specs as mentioned will be the same as well except the clock speed which will vary depending on the manufacturer.

It is said that the true performance of the card will come when the Vista drivers as well as DX10 is released. At the moment, though its out performs many other cards, the true power is still not unleashed. Now we'll see what ATI (or is it AMD?) can dish out. From reports gathered, ATI is still struggling to create a DX10 card. Well they better make it out fast so that we can see the battle and hope that the prices drop big time. (*crosses fingers)

So whats new i nthe G80 design? The real difference offered by the G80 design is, of course, the unified shader model, a design which ATI utilised first in the X360 Xenos GPU but not on PC Graphics card well at least not until now. With the addition of the Vista driver, expected next week, the GeForce 8800 GTX will become the true performance king. We'll see.

Microsoft has also announced that the Windows Vista has been released to manufacturing and will expect a copy on shelves around January 30th. The beta phase is now over. What a good timing to realse the RTM version with the launch of the GeForce card. Damn, I really want one now. Lol..

Here is a screenshot taken from some site featuring 2 GeForce 8 series card on SLI
That is a really huge heatsink for the CPU.

AMD Reveals its Quad-Core Design

2006-10-25T03:38:00.000+08:00

Many people question what is AMD doing while Intel is shining with its Core 2 Duo and its soon Quad Core chips. When is AMD releasing their Quad-Core stuff? Many talks have been going on and some AMD supporters sigh when Intel will be releasing their Quad-Core chips soon.

Though AMD has claimed that their Quad-Core design will significantly be better than the Intel's, but without any physical proof, it can only be theoretical and thus be fantasised by some people.

Well, AMD has recently leaked a bit of their CPU design for the Quad-Core chips.
AMD has always claimed that its native quad-core design is superior to Intel's plan of bundling two dual-cores in one chip. The company has already started revealing the details that back-up its superiority claims. At the heart of the issue lies AMDs Direct Connect architecture which utilizes serial hypertransport links to directly connect memory, CPUs and some IO subsystems. The design offers great advantages in scalability and is allowing AMD to even consider octal-core implementations.

If they release their quad-core, it is possible to see a octal-core chip shortly after that with a design such as these. I think that AMD is purposedly letting Intel getting all the limelight while AMD works on their little design. I personally believe that AMD will beat Intel in going to octal-core chips.

Intel's Kentsfield design is based on the sharing of the front side bus, a hurdle which AMD avoids using the dedicated HT links for each dual core CPU. I wonder if Intel will change or postpone the release of their quad-core for home users to a later date now that this information is available.

AMD has also confirmed that its CPUs will be available in speeds varying from 2.6 to 3.0 GHz. Does it mean that each core is producing that clock speed or does it mean that all 4 cores total to that speed?

nVidia's GeForce 8800 & Intel's Quad-Core Chips

2006-10-17T03:54:00.000+08:00

It is official now. The GeForce 8800 GTX will be released somewhere in November though sources say the date is November 8. The specs will be the revolution of new technology and totally surpass the cards that we can buy now. The GeForce 8800 GTX will be the flagship of the 8 series as there will be another card which is much lower (8800GTS) performance for affordability. Though lower performance, the performance still outperforms any card available today (not counting SLI of today's cards)

The new cards will support DX10 and shader model 4.0. To cut the long story short, here are the specs of the GeForce 8800GTX

Core clock: 575MHz
Pixel pipelines: 128 @ 1350 MHz
Memory: 768MB DDR3 @ 900 MHz
Memory interface: 384-bit
Memory bandwidth: 86GB/s

And the GeForce 880GTS

Core clock: 500MHz
Pixel pipelines: 96 @ 1200 MHz
Memory: 640MB DDR3 @ 900 MHz
Memory interface: 320-bit
Memory bandwidth: 64GB/s

After looking at the specs, with the pipelines exceeding whats possible today with 48 pixel pipelines from ATI and 32 from nVidia, it is really a big leap forward. Though some of the cards today have clock speed higher than what is shown here, but I doubt there is any single card which has more memory on it than what is shown up there (does not count 7950GX-2, thats 2 cards in 1). Lemuel was right in saying that it is really best to wait till at least a DX10 card is released.

The manufacturer claims that for someone to run these cards, one must need a minimum power supply of 450 Watt for the GTX and 400 Watt for the GTS. If you were to SLI any of it, you must find a power supply of 800Watt at least or it might have complications.

The question is, DX10 games won't be out till at least 2007 or so. So, is it really worth to purchase now where nothing supports DX10? Or should one wait till Windows Vista is release which provides support for DX10? That all depends if you have the money or if you are really desperate for a new card like right now.

On other news, Intel has announced plans to reveal its quad-core chips in Q4 2006. Hewlett Packard has released its dates of its Quad-Core chips PC on November 13 with the Xeon 5300 chips. There won't be a chip for mainstream desktop till Q1 2007 when the Core 2 Quad chips will be released. Gamers would surely want to get their hands on the Core 2 Extreme version of the Quad-Core chips.

AMD, Intel's rival though are lagging behind in their Quad-Core chips claims that when their chips are released in Q2 2007, it will be far superior than Intel's. They claim that Intel is getting Quad-Core chips by connecting 2 Quad-Core chips together in 1 chip. AMD claims that their architecture is different and it would totally be better than what Intel did. However, these claims cannot be clarified till both quad-core chips are out and compared side by side.

Now, is it worth it to wait for all these to come out first before purchasing a new PC? :)

Intel to purchase nVidia?

2006-10-06T15:16:00.000+08:00

As we all have seen, ATI has been bought over by AMD. While all these is going on, many have asked what are Intel's reactions to all these things taking place. Well today a rumour has spreaded that Intel might be courting Nvidia into purchasing it.

Rumours of this has shot the nVidia's stock up slightly and some sources claim that there will be an announcement made tonight about the plan to buy over the industry giant, Nvidia.

It is odd as nVidia is very expensive, about USD 10 billion, while Intel already has a thriving graphics section, something which AMD did not have before the ATI acquisition. There are, of course, issues of prestige and the need to be associated with a high-tech graphics company but this would seem more like tit for tat rather than a sound business move, unless Intel has some other plans which may need nVidia expertise, such as developing in-game physics, unified shader architecture etc.

Browser Tip

2006-09-25T16:10:00.000+08:00

Since I've kinda ran out of topic and there has been little updates on the PC hardware, I've decided to share a little tip on web browsers to ease up browsing and helping you type less.

If you are trying to access any website which starts with http://www.(sitename).com , you can just type on the address bar as shown on the image below then press CTRL+Enter. The address will automatically be filled with the http://www.(sitename).com and also automatically load the page as shown on the image below.

Another tip is that if you want to open the links on a new window, you can hold shift and click on it rather than right clicking the link and selecting "Open in a New Window". If you have a browser which uses tabs like Mozilla and IE7, to open the link in a new Tab, press control and click on the link. It will create a new tab and open the link on that tab.

These tips should work on IE5.5 and as far as i've tried, Firefox supports it as well. Though many of you may know this already, but i've come a cross many people who asked me. "Eh you just typed yahoo how come suddenly can open http://www.yahoo.com?

I hope this tip helps you if you have not know it yet.

Microsoft Zune - Ipod killer?

2006-09-18T01:27:00.000+08:00

The soon to be released Zune Player from Microsoft is targetted to kill the Ipod monopoly. Will it succeed? Before making any judgements, lets look at the specs...

Battery Life: 12 hours audio, 3.5hours video
Space: 30gb
Colours: Brown, black or white
Features:

Wireless Zune to Zune sharing
Large Colour Screen (3 inches)
Zune Pass (Allows full access to the Zune Marketplace)
Built-in FM tuner

So there we have it. Since its not released yet, there is no known price and also we're not sure if it will reach malaysia that fast. One thing interesting and has been talked alot is the Zune to Zune sharing.

It seems that if I have a file, I send it to another Zune, that receipient can only play the file 3 times within 3 days. After that, it will no longer be playable and even a resend would not work. It somehow encrypts it with the Microsoft DRM thingy to block the song from playing.

So, someone posted a question. Supposed, he composed a song and wanted to impress his girlfriend with it or serenade it to her. So he sends it to her and she listens it but after 3 times she can't hear it anymore. Microsoft claims that since they can't tell whether the user is sending a protected or an unprotected file, they therefore encrypts all files sent by the Zune player. Microsoft also said that if the girlfriend likes it, she will come to you within 3 days.

Well that makes sense but I think for now, it cannot breach or break the Ipod monopoly with DRM stuff. The Creative Commons License is broken whenever they encrypt files under the CCL as the CCL does not allow their files to be locked by any means. This might spark some lawsuits but we'll see how it goes. And personally if you ask me, I think they should allow all files to be sent without being locked by the DRM nonsense. Thankfully, they allow the player to play unprotected MP3's.

So there you have it, a short review on the new Microsoft Zune player. Before I sign off, here's a picture of what the player looks like

Intel Outside?

2006-09-06T22:04:00.000+08:00

I was looking around for any new interesting IT related news to post but I found nothing interesting except that Nvidia will be launching 2 new graphic cards (7900GS and 7950GT) Unfortunately, its not interesting because its the 7900GS is not as powerful as 7900GT and 7950GT is not a comparison with 7950GX-2. Its just to capitalise on the overclockable GPU they have. So its nothing big, nothing new, nothing interesting.

So I was going through Intel's website to see if there's anything interesting. Nothing caught my eye till I noticed something different. Ever since Pentium 1 or so, the "inside" word is always inside the Intel circle. (as seen on the image below).

However, the newer chips like the Core 2 Duo and the Core 2 Extreme has the "inside" outside the circle. Lol. I wonder if its because of all the spoofing going around with the Intel's original logo.

As seen here, all of the logos have the "inside" outside and here are some spoofed out Intel logo
Is this the reason why Intel changed their logo?

ATI Launches First GDDR4 Graphics Card

2006-08-24T18:22:00.000+08:00

Well I guess its a lot sooner than I expected. Many would have thought that these cards will come out after DX10 arrives. Well, guess not! So what's new on this card besides its GDDR4?

The ATI Radeon 1950XTX carries its new R580 GPU processor. With the GDDR4 Ram, the memory clock speed is capable of reaching 2GHz. Its GPU Core is clocked at 650Mhz. ATI claims that this one core card can beat most of Nvidia's DualCore Cards. The manufacturer also claims that with their new fan design, it is quiet and stays relatively cool which is a plus as many of my friends say they can't sleep when their PC's are on.

The release of this card is suppose to claim victory over its main rival, Nvidia. According to Tom's Hardware, the benchmark proved that the ATI Radeon X1950XTX beats the Nvidia GX-2 Cards in 6 out of 10 benchmarks. Thats a good start considering that Nvidia's card is dual core. Also in the bid to get the better of Nvidia, the X1950XTX cards are cheaper than the GX-2's of Nvidia.

Here is a screenshot of the acclaimed card. The X1950XTX

The "X" make it sound cool!

Will AMD Drop ATI's Brand?

2006-08-15T00:22:00.000+08:00

Recently, AMD has bought over ATI. The reason being that they will be a major processing powerhouse beating Intel/Nvidia. The move is said to benefit both the companies in the future. Whether that is true, we do not know.

Intel didn't really make any comments but just continue its own business as if nothing happened. Nvidia however celebrates its victory as they now believe ATI has lost the war.

However recently, there has been reports that AMD might drop ATI saying that they look at this move is more like a takeover rather than merging. Another AMD employee however says that ATI's brand name is strong and should remain.

What will be the outcome is still uncertain but if they do drop ATI's name, how do you fancy AMD Radeon?

Here is a little joke created by some fan regarding the merge by jumbling up the letters :)

Why you Should Wait Till 2007 to Buy a PC

2006-07-27T02:38:00.000+08:00

Quad-Core Chips
NAND HDD
DDR-4 Graphic Cards
DDR-3 RAM
DirectX 10
Windows Vista

Quad-Core Chips
Intel has announced recently that they will push for the release of their Quad-Core chips by the end of 2006 instead of the second quarter of 2007. This would mean that, all technology prior to multi-core will be kinda obsolete. With the release of Vista which is scheduled to be out around early 2007, it will be significantly heavy on those single-core processors. With Quad-Core or more, different tasks can be run simultaneously without slowing down the system compare to running multiple tasks on a single core processor.

NAND HDD
Samsung has recently released that they have successfully developped a SSD (Solid State Disk) Hard Disk with capacities up to 32GB. They plan to replace their laptop hard disk with this so called NAND Hard Disk. With this technology, being developped, it is possible for them to fit more of those NAND Flash Memory onto a 3.25" than a 2.5" laptop HDD size. Having no moving parts in this HDD, it will significantly reduce the heat generated and also prolong the lifespan of the HDD

DDR-4 Graphic Card RAMs
Since, DDR-3 on graphic cards have sort of reached its limit, its time to move on to DDR-4 which offers a higher memory clock speed of at least 1500MHz and above. With the release of newer cards which support DirectX 10 or the new PhysX Engine, having a higher memory clock speed would speed up the transfer rate of the graphics to the frame buffer.

DDR-3 RAM for Motherboards
There will soon be DDR-3 type RAMs available for motherboard soon as DDR-2 is beginning to fade out with its limit of up to 1000Mhz memory clock speed on the high performance type RAM. Normal DDR-2 RAMs are around 400, 533MHz. With DDR-3, it is possible to crank the memory clock speed even higher.

DirectX 10
Windows Vista promises the release of the highly anticipated DirectX 10 technology where newer games can take account the calculation of high-end physics and superior graphics. Graphic cards which supports this new DirectX 10, will be able to play and enjoy all the new things DirectX 10 will offer. However, if your card is manufactured to support DirectX 9, you will not be able to experience the new technology and graphics system provided by DirectX 10.

Windows Vista
This will be one of the most highly power consumption operating system ever developped. Original Specs recommended by Microsoft when it first started building Vista was a PC with 4.0GHz with 4GB RAM and 1GB Video Card RAM. Transparency effects and some other cutting-edge technologies will be inserted into Vista. Security will be their main concern as they move to try to minimise the security loopholes which many hackers try to exploit. Therefore having a what I call "kickass" PC is important when this OS comes out.

Therefore, it is best to wait for these technologies to arrive onto the market, let it stabilise and then purchase them. Purchasing a PC now may not acutally fully support windows Vista thus not enjoying the full Vista Experience. If you can hold on to your 1.x-2.x Ghz Computers, please do.

Tinkering with Registry to Control your Startup Apps

2006-07-17T14:11:00.000+08:00

1 of the reasons why a PC startup is slow is because of the many unwanted/unused applications which are scheduled to load upon windows startup. Applications like MSN messenger, Winzip, Winamp agent, AcroTray, Power DVD Remote Control Application, and some others.

However, if you do not have an antivirus or antispyware applications, there may be some other background running programs which may be scheduled to load upon windows loadup thus causing the system to slow down or a virus to start infecting files.

To find out what programs/applications are scheduled to start up with windows, simply go Start > Run and type "msconfig".
Click the Startup tab and you'll be presented with all the executables (EXE) of the program being loaded at startup.

Before thinking that each of them is a virus/spyware/worm, simply goto Yahoo or Google and search for that EXE file for information. Use several sources before believing it. Some sites may say that the file is a virus and some may say its a harmless file.

So now the question is, how do we remove those applications from being started up with windows? And if I turn it off, will that program still work?

I'll answer the second one first, if the Executable file is either some Antivirus or Antispyware application, then it is best not to turn it off, If its some unknown file, identify it with google/yahoo and then decide if you want to have it loadup with windows.

As for removing those files, for applications which has a taskbar icon, most of it can be disabled by opening the program related and turn off, startup with windows in one of the options/preference page

For other applications which runs in the background and you think could be slowing the system down, goto Start > Run and type "regedit".

The location of those startup files will be
HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run
HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run (Most startup files will be here)
HKU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run

Find the appropriate executable which you do not want and simply delete the registry entry. For safety measures, always backup the keys you're about to delete by selecting the ones you want to delete and click File > Export

Save the registry file somewhere and then proceed with the deletion of those entries.

You can open Msconfig again and under Startup, those executables will not be there anymore. Restart the computer and you'll notice that those programs will not load anymore.

If there are problems with the windows startup after this registry tinkering, head to Safe Mode and reload the registry entries back and restart the computer.

If your computer is affected by viruses, the virus will msot probably plant an entry in the registry to loadup with windows on the next restart. Therefore, you could actually goto the registry, delete those entries, delete the EXE files from the location listed on the registry editor. By doing this, sometimes all you need is to access windows and to backup the files you need before formatting or do some important assignment but is blocked out by viruses/spywares. This method will most of the time solve it temporarily till you locate the virus/spyware with the appropriate program and erase it permanently.

Formatting the Computer with Windows XP CD

2006-06-23T04:05:00.000+08:00

Format Checklist

Before you format, make sure you have completed the following checklist.

You have all the drivers required after the format
The CD/Setup files for the applications you need to install (eg. Office, Winamp, Winzip, eMule, Azureus, etc)
Make sure you have backed up all important files like word Documents, images and videos onto CD/DVD
Remember to save your favourites (a common overlooked item)
Ensure that your Windows XP CD has SP2 preloaded. If not, ensure that you have the SP2 Setup File
An antivirus for installation after installing XP

Formatting

To format the computer, we would have to use the Windows XP CD. (Home or Professional is fine).

First boot the computer onto the XP CD. (Configure the BIOS boot sequence to boot from CD)
If its booting from CD, a phrase would appear saying Press any key to boot from CD.... Press any key to do that (Please don't ask what is the any key. I'll smack you! :P)
A blue screen would appear showing the Windows XP Setup with some loading at the bottom of the screen.
After all the loading a Welcome to Setup Screen would appear
Press Enter to continue
The Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen would show up. Read it if you want, if not just press F8. If you do, press F8 anyway
Now, we'll be in the page which shows the existing partitions and unpartitioned space on your computer
To format, we'll have to delete the partition and recreate it
Press D key to delete the partition
If its a system partition a screen would appear asking if you are sure with the deletion, press Enter to confirm
Another confirmation screen would appear and to confirm the deletion
Press the L key.
Now we'll be back to the original partition screen showing your unpartitioned space as we have deleted the partition.
Press the C key to create a partition
Enter the size for your partition.
The maximum size possible is already automatically entered.
Press Enter to confirm
We'll be back to the partition page showing your partitioned space and some unparititoned space.
The unpartitioned space which is small cannot be partitioned (I'm not sure why yet)
To begin the format and the installationo of Windows XP, press Enter
The format page will appear prompting some format options. If your partition is above 40GB, the FAT option is not shown.
There will be 2 format options, Quick and the non-Quick. If you're rushing for time, you may use the quick but the non-quick one is always recommended
Press enter and the format will commence
once done, the installion of windows XP will begin
Follow the instructions to complete the installation.

Identifying Problems With Your PC

2006-06-13T00:37:00.000+08:00

There are 2 kinds of problems in a PC. Its either a software error or a hardware error. So you may ask me, how do I know if its a hardware problem or a software problem? Is it hardware related whenever i get a blue screen of death?

Hardware Issues

Well to try to help all of you, lets try to identify the main components of a PC in the hardware context. We have:

Motherboard
RAM
CPU
Graphics Card
Harddisk
CD/DVD/etc ROMs
Monitor

1) Motherboard

Symptom of Motherboard problems:

Problem at bootup with random error messages.
Sound coming out from the chipset fan (Problems with chipset fans could bring random errors while in windows)
Random restart or shutdown
Weird beeps at startup

To better understand the errors on your motherboard, it is always good to refer to the manual provided. If you do not have a manual, download one. Most manufacturers should allow you to download your motherboard manual. From there, the manual should contain information about the certain beeps it produces as well as certain errors. The troubleshooting page should help you when there are problems with either your motherboard or the stuff connected to it.

2) RAM

Whenever its a RAM problem. If its in windows, it should display a short bluescreen and then restarts. It could sometimes hang a PC. But the most common problem with RAM is that its not inserted correctly. For that problem, the motherboard will emit certain patern of beeps. The common one is Long Beep in a loop

3) CPU

If there is a problem with the CPU, 2 things could be the cause of it. An already faulty CPU or a overheated CPU. A faulty cpu would display a message at the startup saying "CPU initialization error" As for overheating, depending on your motherboard, if it has a safety feature to auto shutdown your PC, then you're in luck that the CPU is safe. But if your motherboard does not have that, it will either hang, or blue screen and shortly after that, smoke should be seen coming from your casing. (You do not want that to happen).

You should check your cpu's temperature periodically. New motherboards come with a PC Health status on your motherboard bios. If its dangerously high say above 70degrees celcius, its time to find ways to cool it down. Maybe the thermal paste has worn out or maybe the fan is not spinning optimally.

4) Graphic Cards

The common symptoms found in a graphic card error is:

System hang/restart/bluescreen. This could show that the graphic card is overheating.
No picture on the screen with beeps from the motherboard. This means that the graphic card is not properly attached to the motherboard.

5) Hard Disk

If you have a faulty harddisk, the system would not detect it and would not boot from it. However if the system detects it and its already showing the windows Icon but hang there continuously even though you restart the computer countless times, then I'm afraid that your hard disk has come bad sectors.

Bad sectors cannot be recovered by any normal means. Although sometimes a format could remap the bad sectors with some extra sectors created by the manufacturers but if the bad sectors is caused by the read/write head crashing onto the disc, then there is no definite recovery except replacing it.

There are some services provided by some company which allows you to retreive all the data from the damaged hard disk but it would cost a lot. I would recommend that you just get a new one unless the data in the damaged hdd is a matter of life and death. But if thats the case, then you should always backup the data

6) The Roms

I dont have to describe the Rom problems. Its simple to know that when it works or when it does not. However, do not ever place a cracked CD/DVD into the drive. It could potentially explode. Also avoid buying cheap CD-R's or DVDR's. They could sometimes damage your burners.

7) Monitor

Well I don't really need to go through this as well. Its either working or its not. If the monitor is on but no image is on the screen, ensure that the signal cable (the one with the blue head (usually)) is attached to the graphic card behind the casing.

If the colour is slightly off, it could be either the cable connection is lose or the monitor is faulty.

Software Issues

Software errors are errors generated by software which may cause certain events on the PC. If your windows, shutdown/bluescreen or restart randomly, try to find out if it happens again at any time and also remember what you did before that event happening. If a restart does not stop the problem, it could either be a hardware problem or a problem with one of the software itself.

Before tinkering with any software or deciding on formatting, always ensure that you have the latest drivers installed for all your hardware.

To try to diagnose the problem you could either uninstall the software which is causing the problem and check if the problem still persists. If it still does, check if there were any new hardware installed. If there are, remove it and see if it still has a problem. If all else fails, format should take care of any software errors.

After a format and if you still have the same problem. It would most probably be a hardware error.

Remember, not all blue screen's are hardware errors.

Router Port Settings for Linksys Routers

2006-05-28T15:41:00.000+08:00

Have you noticed that ever since you got your router; be it wireless or wired, you P2P speed is always low? And you p2p applications like eMule complains about you getting lowID and asks you to check your network configuration? Or is Azureus always displaying NAT problem and DHT:Firewalled as well as all the smileys in yellow colors?

Well Good news!. If you're using a Linksys router, the following will help. If you're not on a linksys router, the settings to adjust is almost the same. Its just that different manufacturer have different steps taken to solve the issue. If you're not sure on how you can always google the answer out like "D-Link Port settings" or whatever brand router it is you have.

So you may ask. What causes this problem? What's in the router that's screws up my p2p speeds? Well the answer is that the newer routers have some built in firewall which manages the connection. It basically blocks any incoming ports that you do not earlier has an outgoing connection on that ports.

That makes it difficult for p2p cause the outgoing connection you do is to connect to the Server/Tracker and then from there the users connect to you. Therefore with this settings, the only connection you'll get is the ones which your p2p application finds and not the clients find you. Therefore, this will reduce the number of connection you'll have thus also reducing the speed incredibly.

Thankfully, there are solutions to it. For a linksys router, there are 3 ways to solve it but only one can be used at a time. They are:

Port Forwarding
Port Triggering
DMZ

Port Forwarding

The port forwarding method is basically telling the router to forward the ports to the designated computer instead of blocking them. So to enable Port forwarding:

Log into your router (default is: http://192.168.1.1)
Click on Applications and Gaming

Under Port Range Forwarding as seen on the image above we just enter the application name. For me I put "all" cause I will open all ports for all applications. Then, Under Start To, put 0 and end put 65535 which is the last port in a connection. Select Both for protocol and for the IP Address, put the IP which you're on.

You can check your IP by clicking Start -> Run -> Type "cmd".

And in that console, type "ipconfig"

Look under IP Address, remember that value and put it back at the port forwarding page. Once done, click enable and then click save settings. Voila! Its done.

Note: Your IP changes depends on who switches on the PC first unless you have set it to manually obtain that IP fixed. Cause on default, it will give the first IP to the first computer that connects to the router. So PC#1 may have 192.168.1.10 and you PC may have 192.168.1.11. If you have set your Port Forwarding to point to 192.168.1.10, you won't get the open ports.

Port Triggering

Port Triggering solves the problem of changing the IP every time if you're not on that IP. This is quite similar to the Port Forwarding except that it doesn't specify the IP it forwards to. It will automatically forward the ports all to the first guy who connects to the router. So if you're using this setting, you'll have to always be the first to connect to the router. That means that if you want to use p2p, you'll have to off the router, remove all the cables, plug in yours then turn on the router getting the first IP then plug the others back on.

Here is a screenshot showing the settings.

DMZ

DMZ works by automatically forwarding all ports to a designated IP. It simplifies the previous 2 steps. Simply enter the IP and click enable and Save Settings and then you're done.

Here is a screenshot showing how it looks like

IE 7 Beta 2 Review

2006-05-19T03:57:00.000+08:00

So here it is, the second beta release by Microsoft. At first I had doubts like:

Will it crash my PC if I install it? Its Beta after all
Will I like it?
Can I uninstall it if I really don't like it?
Will it be a big change?

After installing the it, I was really faced with a dillema. I have mixed feelings. Its good yet sometimes its not good. Lets talk about the good parts

Simple to use design
Better looking Interface
Has tabbed browsing
Has auto check Webpage for phishing
Better support for
tags in HTML
Has a delete All for clearing Temp Internet Files, Cookies and History

The bad parts however are:

Missing File Menu (could be turned on by selecting classic menu, but it will sit below the address bar
The clear Type Font they're experimenting for better readability has some issues.
Certain websites like Monash is a little messed up
With the Auto-Detect Phishing, page loading is a little slow
Seems to slow down with many IE Windows open
Websites like Yahoo and Google prompts to download their search bar everytime.

Here are some screenshots for you all to have a look at it.

All in all, its a good step forward for IE. It meets a lot of the improvements wanted for IE. There is also a plugin page for IE7 where users could download certain plugins for IE7. I haven't tried any of it yet but I saw there was a Download Manager for download. With this beta release being so much better than IE6, I can't wait for the real IE7 to come out. We'll wait and see if they fix the stuff I mention here.

Addendum

Monash website screenshot as requested

Antivirus Reviews as requested

2006-05-17T04:27:00.000+08:00

This is done after Justin asked about McAfee or was it PC-Cillin? Oh well whatever. Here are the links to reviews already done by others.

Antivirus Review: Bitdefender 9 Internet Security

2006-05-16T02:46:00.000+08:00

In this time, more and more trojans, viruses, spywares, adwares, malwares are being writen everyday. Most unfortunately is that they are writen to target Windows Operating Systems which is the most commonly used operating system. So the question is, do we really need an antivirus?

The answer is most certainly yes. This is because, despite of all the security updates on Windows, it is still vulnerable. Sometimes its because of an unpatched system or from the mistakes of the user itself by clicking yes to anything they see on the internet.

Downloading cracks or keygens from certain websites also open yourself to danger especially if you do not have an antivirus. So now i'll review an antivirus which i've been using and am quite happy about it.

Previously, I was using Norton Antivirus. I started with the NAV5.1 then followed by the 2003, 2004 and the 2005 version. I changed them merely because it became outdated. Unfortunately, each newer version brings me more dismay as it still sometimes does not pick up certain viruses/trojans when I have manually scanned a file. In addition to that, every version seems to just slow down the PC startup even more. It reached a point where I was so fed up that I googled for antivirus reviews.

What came up was surprisingly spectacular. On one particular site, Norton was rated top 5 and it wasn't the top. The top spot was taken by an antivirus which i've not heard about called the Bitdefender. The site claimed that it does not take up much loading time and also claimed that its one of the cheapest AV around. So, I took up the challenge and downloaded their trial 15 day version.

A screenshot of BitDefender's Antivirus settings

There was this file which I got earlier where norton said it was clean but upon running it, installed spywares, viruses, trojans and others all over my PC. With bitdefender, I downloading that same file and it was stopped right there! Didn't even finish the download. It passively scans files which are being accessed or being read. Even when you open a folder, it will automatically run a quick scan over its contents.

What amazes me even more is the updates. Its autoupdate works by checking itself every 3 hours (changeable) and somehow every 3 hours there will be an update. Unlike norton which releases updates on a 3 day basis, this works in hours. That really surprised me.

In addition to that, the new version, Bitdefender 9 Internet Security comes with a Firewall and AntiSpyware modules. Though the AntiSpyware is new, it detects and prevents installation of spyware. However, it may not completely remove an already infected PC. For that you'll have to use another software.

In summary the pros of this Antivirus:

Really fast loadup time. A lot faster than Norton
Does not drain much system resources
Auto updates really work!
Keeps an already clean PC, clean
Better scanning and detection of viruses/trojans/worms

The cons:

Updates will minimize full screen games which can be annoying but it also acts as a timer to stop playing
Does not remove spywares completely
Firewall's popups are annoying

Thats it for now. Please feel free to comment or write about what you think

And so it begins...

2006-05-15T03:30:00.000+08:00

This blog is intended to draw visitors to view the latest tech release globally. I will try to source out gizmos, hardware and tech related stuff from all over. I hope that I will be able to draw in some people who are interested.

This blog will try to help educate people who aren't very good in computers. Here's what in store for the next few posts.

Antivirus review
Reviews on softwares like IE7 Beta
Router port settings to get better P2P speed
Identifying problems with PC
Formatting a PC
Do I really need all the mumbo jumbo firewall, antivirus, antispyware?
How to tinker with registry to control your startup items
How to perform maintainance on your PC

I hope those topics will interests you to check back on this site. If not, oh well there goes another wasted effort. Anyway, the frequency of posts on this site will vary depending on my free time. Besides I have my other site to maintain. However, if there are more support on this site than my geocities site, I will close that site and make it a storage for my pics and various files

Thats all for now
GLHF

-Leto-