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A faster Windows XP? Here’s how!

A recent study of our team on how to better our Windows XP systems comissioned to create an eBook on the subject for the main team at MPortela led us to investigate a countless number of details on how to better your performance and machine.

Some of the working tweaks you can do to your Windows XP can really be a blessing to your system’s speed. So I thought about sharing with you the safe tweaks on how to have a faster Windows XP. As a disclaimer do the following tweaks at your own risk, however they were all tested and are in use by most of our team members and friends.

A. DISABLE INDEXING SERVICES

Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don’t search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:

1. Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-click Add/Remove Programs
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck the Indexing services
7. Click Next

B. OPTIMISE DISPLAY SETTINGS

Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:

1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab click Settings
7. Leave only the following ticked:
- Show shadows under menus
- Show shadows under mouse pointer
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons

C. SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING

You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:

1. Open My Computer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Click on Folder Options
4. Click on the View tab.
5. Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
6. Click Apply
7. Click Ok
8. Reboot your computer

D. IMPROVE MEMORY USAGE

Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.
NOTE: This program is shareware and some features require activation.
Once Installed:

1.Go to Show Wizard and select All
2.Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing.
3.Exit and Save Cacheman
4.Restart Windows

E. OPTIMISE YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION

There are lots of ways to do this but by far the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer.

1. Download and install
2. Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
3. Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
4. Check Optimal Settings then Apply
5. Reboot

F. OPTIMISE YOUR PAGEFILE

If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.

1. Right click on My Computer and select Properties
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Under Performance choose the Settings button
4. Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
5. Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.

Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.

G. SPEEDUP FOLDER ACCESS - DISABLE LAST ACCESS UPDATE

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.

1. Go to Start and then Run and type “regedit”
2. Click through the file system until you get to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem”
3. Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select ‘DWORD Value’
4. Create a new DWORD Value called ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’
5. Then Right click on the new value and select ‘Modify’
6. Change the Value Data to ‘1′
7. Click ‘OK’

H. MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER

This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will ‘feel’. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.

1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ then click ‘Ok’
3. Find “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\”
4. Select “MenuShowDelay”
5. Right click and select “Modify’
6. Reduce the number to around “100″
7. This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to “0″ but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood

I. IMPROVE XP SHUTDOWN SPEED

This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.

1. Go to Start then select Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ and click ok
3. Find ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Control Panel\Desktop\’
4. Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
5. Right click and select ‘Modify’
6. Change the value to ‘1000′
7. Click ‘OK’
8. Now select ‘HungAppTimeout’
9. Right click and select ‘Modify’
10. Change the value to ‘1000′
11. Click ‘OK’
12. Now find ‘HKEY_USERS\ .DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop’
13. Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
14. Right click and select ‘Modify’
15. Change the value to ‘1000′
16. Click ‘OK’
17. Now find ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\Control\’
18. Select ‘WaitToKillServiceTimeout’
19. Right click and select ‘Modify’
20. Change the value to ‘1000′
21. Click ‘OK’

J. IMPROVE SWAPFILE PERFORMANCE

If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.

1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type “msconfig.exe” then ok
3. Click on the System.ini tab
4. Expand the 386enh tab by clicking on the plus sign
5. Click on new then in the blank box type”ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1″
6. Click OK
7. Restart PC

K. ENSURE XP IS USING DMA MODE

XP enables DMA for Hard-Drives and CD-Roms by default on most ATA or ATAPI (IDE) devices. However, sometimes computers switch to PIO mode which is slower for data transfer - a typical reason is because of a virus. To ensure that your machine is using DMA:

1. Open ‘Device Manager’
2. Double-click ‘IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers’
3. Right-click ‘Primary Channel’ and select ‘Properties’ and then ‘Advanced Settings’
4. In the ‘Current Transfer Mode’ drop-down box, select ‘DMA if Available’ if the current setting is ‘PIO Only’

20 Things the average user doesn’t know about Windows XP

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type ’systeminfo’. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type ’systeminfo > info.txt’. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run… and type ‘gpedit.msc’; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care — some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter ‘rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation’ in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That’s it — just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that’s not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can make it show everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word ‘hide’ and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be the software and you can now uninstall it.

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include ‘eventcreate’ and ‘eventtriggers’ for creating and watching system events, ‘typeperf’ for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and ’schtasks’ for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options.

6. XP has IP version 6 support — the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type ‘ipv6 install’ into Run… (it’s OK, it won’t ruin your existing network setup) and then ‘ipv6 /?’ at the command line to find out more. If you don’t know what IPv6 is, don’t worry.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using ‘taskkill /pid’ and the task number, or just ‘tskill’ and the process number. Find that out by typing ‘tasklist’, which will also tell you a lot about what’s going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you’ve got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files alone by typing ‘regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll’ at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can change things back by typing ‘regsvr32 zipfldr.dll’.

9. XP has ClearType — Microsoft’s anti-aliasing font display technology — but doesn’t have it enabled by default. It’s well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who’s using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your friend’s real IP address — they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com — and get them to make sure that they’ve got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As… and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might go insane before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run… from the start menu and type ‘control userpasswords2′, which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options… and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can’t see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You’ll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By… Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks — if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn’t, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

20. Windows XP secretly KNOWS that the average user has no idea what they are doing. Therefore, it doesn’t let you do really stupid things like deleting the windows directory (at least not without spending several hours convincing it that you REALLY want to do this). Oh yeah, and internet explorer kinda sucks, get Firefox.

Best Free Technical Support Sites

Outstanding Sites

Tech Support Guy Free help for users of Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP  and Linux.  This is a volunteer run site with a very active forum area covering a good range of subject areas. You can also search past forum messages, which can be a little slow but  may still be the quickest way to get the answer to your problems.

The site layout has been recently revamped and this has greatly improved usability. On the down-side advertising is now more prominent, though not yet intrusive.

When we tested the service, we got the answer to one of our questions immediately by searching the past forum database. Our  two remaining questions were posed on the live  forums in the appropriate categories and got answers to both, very promptly indeed. Impressive.  

5 Star Support
This free site offers a variety of tech support services.  First there is an excellent on-line FAQ which provides quick answers to many common problems. Second, they offer some excellent technical guides which cover a wide range of topics from installing a network card to cleaning your mouse. Finally there is an web form where you can pose a specific problem and receive the answer by email.

We got the answer to one of our questions from the FAQ. The other two trickier questions we posed by filling in the web form. We immediately received an email saying that our questions had been sent to all the volunteers and we may receive more an answer from more than one volunteer.

That’s exactly what happened, we got two responses to each question from different individuals. Quickly too, all responses came within 12 hours. The solutions posed were both sound and logical but didn’t solve the problems. We then replied to the emails and asked for other solutions. After a couple of emails the volunteers came up with  perfectly acceptable solutions though not necessarily the most technically insightful.

This service is free though donations for successful solutions are suggested. Overall an impressive  service particularly for more straightforward problems. 

Suggest A Fix   This is a free forum where users can post problems in the hope that another forum member can help. The available forums cover operating systems, general computing, the Internet and security with many subdivisions under each category.

The forums are not the busiest we’ve seen but almost all questions attract good quality answers. Our 3 test questions were answered very promptly indeed the solutions provided and were of high quality.

Like many other forums, a few dedicated individuals seem to provide the bulk of the answers so you might find the quality of the answers varying day to day according to who’s available. This reservation notwithstanding, we couldn’t fault the service we received.

More…

Cable TV without a Tuner

 

CableTV without a Tuner - FREE HBO, FOX on your PC!

via http://www.viidoo.com/

With the beta release of the TVU Player, you can get live Digital cable, streaming over the Internet to your PC, for FREE. Watch HBO, Disney, FOX, ABC, all the big networks and more for no charge! WOW! More…

“Open Command Window Here” Built Into Vista

How cool is this? You can now open a Command Prompt for any directory in Vista without having to download a Powertoy (like the one available for Windows XP). However, they do keep it hidden to protect users from, well, themselves. All you have to do though is hold down the Shift key and right-click on a folder (if you just right-click without the Shift key you will not see the option):

 If you are trying to open a Command Prompt for a networked address it will automatically map the network drive so that there is a valid path for it to open. It’s great to see Microsoft implementing some of the Powertoys right into Vista but why are there no virtual desktops yet?

White and Nerdy Video

Download everything from Microsoft without Windows Genuine Advantage Check

ghacks.net has found a workaround to bypass the WGA, wonder how long MS will take to fix this.

When you want to download a file from Microsoft a WGA (windows genuine advantage) check is performed. Microsoft installs a small piece of software on your computer that contacts the Microsoft server and checks for validity. If the test fails you will not be able to download the file(s). The following method gives you the ability to download every file from Microsoft without a WGA check.

All you need is the tool mgadiag.exe and the download url of the file that you want to download. Mgadiag.exe is the Microsoft Genuine Advantage Diagnostic Tool. Start this tool and check the value of the “Download Center Code”, this should be seven chars consisting of upper case letters and numbers. Remember that code and open the website of the file that you want to download.

Tuning Vista 5600 RC1

According to Microsoft, the minimum requirements for a successful Vista installation are:
Processor of at least 1GHz 32bit(x86) or 64bit (x64)
1Gb of system memory.
A graphics card which is DirectX 9 capable and with 128Mbs memory.
40Gb hard disk space ( I have only 30Gbs, no problems )
DVD Drive. You may have to look at double layers for the final release!
Audio and Internet capability, of course.
1. Installing Vista RC1 without a key
You can install Vista without a CD key. Just leave the product key field blank ,hit next, and answer no to the dialog box. You can then select any edition of Vista to install (Ultimate, Home Premium, Home Basic, Business, or Starter). Check the box at the bottom and there you go. Vista with no key. Note: You cannot activate if you don’t do this unless you have a CD key for the version you installed.
2. Logging on as Local Administrator if you have already logged in as a user.
a. If you are having trouble logging on as the built-in Administrator account, you will have to modify some registry entries to display the Administrator account.
Log in using the user account you created during the Windows Vista setup process.
From the Start menu, click All Programs and then expand Accessories.
Right click on “Command Prompt” and click “Run as Administrator”.
Click on “Allow” from the Windows Security dialog.
In the Command Prompt window, type “regedit” (without the quotes) and press Enter.
In the Registry Editor, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Add a new key called “SpecialAccounts” (without the quotes).
In the “SpecialAccounts” key you just made, create a sub-key called “UserList” (without the quotes)
Make sure you are navigated to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
In the “UserList” key, create a new DWORD (32-bit) item and name it Administrator.
Double click on the new DWORD item and set its value to 1.
Close Registry Editor and the Command Prompt.
NOW:
Go to Start/All Programs and right click the command prompt.
Type Control UserPasswords2.
Click Advanced.
Click Advanced again.
Select Users.
Select Administrator and untick the the box “Administrator is disabled”
NB. If you follow the above path (Tip 2.) you may find that some of the following tips, related to security, are not needed. Bu believe me, it makes a difference working withou those nags.

3. Exclude some unused services
It’s a good idea to try disabling these services a little at a time. If you do not have a complete knowledge of you computer, you may need some of these. Alternatively, you may leave them all in, they will not impair too much on the resident memory.

1. Run services.msc via the Run command (Win key +R).
2. Stop the following services and change their start-up type to disabled

- Computer browser (if not connected to LAN)
- Fax (if not using printer and fax)
- Windows Error Reporting Service
- Secondary logon
- Tablet PC Input service
- Print spooler (if not using printer and fax)
- Windows time
- Media center receiver service (This caused some dysfunction on my computer)
- Security center
- Routing and remote access (if not connected to LAN)
- Internet connection sharing
- TCP/IP NetBios helper
- Server (if not sharing resources through LAN)
- Offline files
3. Close the services management console.

By taking these steps, you will ensure that your OS has less processes running in the background, so more memory can be dedicated to the programs you open, not the ones that are used by Windows itself, by default.

4. Disable system restore

1. Control panel- System and maintenance- System
2. Advanced system settings
3. System protection tab
4. Uncheck all the drives.
5. Apply changes.

5.Disable some UI effects

1. Control panel- System
2. Advanced system settings
3. Advanced tab/Performance/Settings
4. Uncheck the following boxes:
- Fade or slide menus into view
- Fade or slide tooltips into view
- show shadows under menus
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Slide open combo boxes
- Use a background image for each folder type
5. Apply changes.


6.Disable options in folders

1. Open an explorer window. hit the ALT key to make the classic menu appear. Select tools and then folder options.
2. Select the view tab.
3. Uncheck the following boxes:
- display file icon on thumbnails
- display simple folder view in navigation pane
- use sharing wizard
- show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color
- show pop-up description for folder and desktop items
4. Apply changes.
7.Stop the start menu balloons nagging you saying that there has been a new program  installed.

1. Start/Run and type  gpedit.msc Select  user config/Administrative Templates/ start menu and taskbar.
2. scroll down to the line remove balloon tips on start menu items
3. enable it.

8. Disable the UAC
This is the one that keeps interfering with requests for Administrator permission.
1. Press the Windows Key +R
2. type msconfig
3. Go to the tools TAB, scroll down to Disable UAC and click run. A command prompt will pop up saying Command completed successfully.
On your next restart the service will be gone.

9.Keep uac active, but get rid of annoying popups.

 When UAC is enabled, software which is run “As Administrator” requires, by default, that a pop-up prompt be responded to, and the Administrator password required (or, if no password has been defined, just a click in the box).

It is possible to get rid of this annoying pop-up, as follows:

Start/Run and type  secpol.msc

Select Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options
scroll down to

User Account Control: behaviour of the elevation prompt for admins
User Account Control: behaviour of the elevation prompt for standard users

For each line, select the desired option
Selecting “No prompt” will get rid of the annoying pop-up boxes, and will also help software load faster
User Account Control:Run All users, including admins, as standard users: Disabled
Reboot

 

 

10. Get rid of the Security Centre.

The security centre is a very annoying feature with a built in pop up. If it annoys you too, get rid of it like this.
1. Start/Run and type cmd
2. Type cd\
3. Type cd windows\system32
4. As a user, Run these commands, If you have followed the tweak above, you can just go straight in and rename them:
             a. takeown /f wscapi.dll
b. takeown /f wscsvc.dll
c. takeown /f wscui.cpl
This has given you ownership of the three files. Enter the System32 directory via Windows Explorer and right click each of these three files. Go to the Properties/Security Tab and edit/add an entry for everyone and give them all full access. (tick all the squares). Rename these three files with a BAK extension. In Start/Run type services.msc and disable the Security Center Service.
If you want to commit to getting rid of it all together, go to a Command prompt (in Accessories) and type
REG DELETE HKLM\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\SERVICES\WSCSVC /F
AND THEN ENTER. Now reboot and the OS is all yours.

11. Disable DEP/NoExecute Protection.
This prevents processes from being altered in live memory. Apparently it also has adverse effects on some programs. Please be aware that this opens a small niche for outside attacks, so only do this if you feel you need even more freedom with installation of doubtful programs.
1. Click Start/All programs/Accessories, and right click on Command Prompt. Click Run as Administrator.
2. If asked for permission to run Windows Command Processor, click on Allow.
3. At the Command prompt, type bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff
4. The message should pop up Operation Completed Successfully
5. Restart.

12. Wireless Network Search Refresh

When looking for a wireless networks to connect to there is no refresh button on the screen that displays found wireless networks. Hit F5 to easily refresh this list.

Restart the Explorer.exe process or just reboot your computer.
13. Enable Add-ins in Windows Live Messenger

Copy and Paste the following into a .reg file and import it.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSNMessenger]”AddInFeatureEnabled”=dword:00000001

Once you import it, restart Windows Live Messenger and under Options you will have a new list item for Add-ins.

 

14. Disable Welcome Center

As soon as you install Windows Vista you are bombarded by the Welcome Center that is designed to help beginner Windows users easily configure their new computer This new welcome screen is a nice feature the first time you start using Windows vista but quickly becomes annoying.

Disabling the Welcome Center is very easy to do and can speed up your boot as well.
1. Start Regedit.
2. Navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, Run.
3. Right click on the WindowsWelcomeCenter key and select Delete.

The next time you restart the Welcome Center will be gone.

15. Prevent network flooding and connection drops

The new networking stack contained in Windows Vista, as with many new betas, has some issues. It seems to drop wireless connections and in rare cases block all traffic on wireless routers, requiring a restart of the router itself. I have not experienced this, so perhaps it is concerned only with certain makes of router.To fix these problems, complete the following instructions

WARNING: Please note that this will disable IPv6 connectivity, as well as the Windows Firewall security, and is not recommended unless you are experiencing these issues. This will also invalidate any network related bug reports you file for Windows Vista.

Click Start,settings & Control Panel. Under “Network Centre and Sharing”, Click “Manage Network Connections”
Right click on your network connection (for example: Wireless Network Connection: Local Lan connection.
Click your adapter.
Click on the Power Management tab.
Disable all power management items listed on the Power Management tab.
If asked for permission to open Network Connections, click on Allow.
Go back to the properties window,highlight the following items and press the “Uninstall” button:
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Responder
Uncheck “QoS Packet Scheduler”
Press OK.
Note on this: In RC1, MS have done something wrong with some of the network adapters drivers. If you experience unusual difficulty whilst trying to browse, do this. Select Control Panel/Device Manager. Scroll down to Netawork adapters. Right click you adapter (Marvell etc) and select properties, and then the driver tab.Select “update driver” and then the option to install the drivers manually. If you know where your XP drivers are (CD.etc.) scrooll there and select. Vista will reinstall and you should find everything OK. Hopefully MS will send out an update for this shortly.

16. Internet Explorer 7 User Agent String

This was posted over at the IE MSDN Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/ie. It outlines how to change the user agent string back to IE6 as it appears that some Online Banking sites will not work with IE7.

Simply save the following as IE7UA.REG. Double-click the file to merge it into your registry and restart the browser to see the change.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
“Version”=”MSIE 6.0”

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform]
“SV1″=-

You can easily undo the change by saving and merging the following IE7Undo.reg.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
“Version”=-

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform]
“SV1″=””

You can test the change using a simple page that echo’s the User-Agent, e.g.: http://www.fiddlertool.com/useragent.aspx
17. Media Center Black Screen TV Issue

There is an issue with Media Center in this build where the screen will go black after watching TV for 10 minutes. This can be fixed via a registry setting.

Copy the following into notepad and save it as MCEFIX.REG

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SCrunch\CodecPack\MSDVD]
“DXVA2″=dword:00000000″

18.Tweaks for older hardware.
Those attempting to install Windows Vista on older hardware, for example having an older Sempron CPU or Pentium III for example, would be well-advised to apply the following Services tweaks, which have been found to provide some performance improvements on such older machines. This looks similar to the above tip but the end function is for a different purpose.

Start/Run
Type services.msc
Disable the following Services:
Application Layer Gateway Service
IKE and AuthIP IPSec
IIS Admin Service - do not disable if you plan on using IIS
Infrared monitoring service - do not disable if using a remote with the Media Center shell
Offline Files
Unsupported Graphics card disable
Desktop Window Manager Session Manager Service.


19. Increase Performance

Windows defender automatically loads on startup. It is not, at its present development, and in my opinion, a particularly worthwhile program. I prefer to use other third party programs to perform its functions. (Anti virus, defrag.etc.)You can stop it from running via MsConfig. Note that if you leave it running, it, by default, runs a scheduled defrag, which can seriously hinder your startup speed. Maybe you’ll feel more comfortable just having a look at the “tools” panel and altering some of the defaults.

20. Add another time zone to your clock
One nice addition to Windows Vista is the ability to display the time in other time zones.
Click on the clock.
Click “Date and Time Settings”.
Click on the “Additional Clocks” tab.
Check the box labelled “Additional Clock #1″, and from the drop down menu choose a time zone.
Give the clock a name, such as “Microsoft” or “Texas”.
You can repeat this for the second additional clock as well.
21. To add a location to the Places bar (left hand pane in Windows Explorer)

22. Missing the old File, Edit, View menu bar?

If you are a frequent user of the menu in Windows Explorer, you may have a bit of a hard time adjusting to Windows Vista’s new Windows Explorer window style, which doesn’t include the menu.
There are two ways to bring it back, one is temporary and the other is more permanent:
If you want to view the menu but not have it always displayed, simply press the Alt key. The menu will fade into view.
If you want the menu to always be turned on, click the first button on Layout configuration button (first button on the top most bar in Windows Explorer). From the drop down list, check “Classic Menus”.
Folders List Returns!
If you want to view a tree-view of your hard drive and navigational path, simply click on the arrow next to the “Folders” bar in Windows Explorer, located on the Places bar.
In Windows Vista, there is a new pane on the left hand side of Windows Explorer which contains links to items you wish to access quickly. In previous builds, you could not really customize the Places bar but now you can! Simply drag and drop a folder onto the plane, and voila!
23. Disable the Windows Mail Splash Screen

Using Windows Mail? If the splash screen is displayed too long for your liking or if you just want to get rid of it, this is the trick for you.
Press WinKey+R.
Type “regedit.exe” without the quotes.
If you are asked for permission to run the Registry Editor, click on Allow.
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail
Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value called “NoSplash”.
Double click on the “NoSplash” DWORD you just created and set its value to 1.
Press OK and close the registry editor.

24. Stylising the Watermark.
This may not work on all builds, it was only tested on 5472:
1. Start
2. Run…
3. regedit.exe
4. Local Machine—->Software—->Microsoft—->Windows NT—–>Current Version
5. Find the string buildlab on the right panel.
6. Delete the long build number or change it to what you want it to say
7. Kill the process explorer then open it up again.
8. In RC 1 if you do the first three steps then go to:
9.�
Local Machine—–>Software—->Microsoft—–>Windows NT—->Current Version and delete the 5600 in the build number it just removes that when you kill explorer and restart it.

 

25. To totally remove Vista(including the Vista Boot manager)

If you have previously installed the Recover Console in XP, (Start Menu/Help and Support and type Recovery Console in the search panel and then follow the instructions) Then you need only select the Recovery Console as you boot option when the boot menu appears.
1. Boot onto XP CD.
2. Press “R” to enter Recovery Console
3. Select your keyboard.
4. Choose the correct installation (1 or \Windows XP..etc)
5. Type admin password if you have inserted one.
6. type “fixmbr” say “y” (as in yes) when asked
7. type “fixboot” say “y”(as in yes) when asked
8. type “exit” (closing the Recovery Console)
9. When rebooting, the Vista Boot Manager disappears, and only XP Boot Logo appears
10. On XP, remove these (Boot folder, bootfont.bin, bootmgr, BOOTSECT.BAK, Boot.BAK) If you cannot see these files, then follow these instructions first (they can be undone when you are finished)

Open up My Computer and  go to Tools/Folder Options/View and uncheck “Hide protected operating system files (recommended)” then click OK and close the dialog box. If this is not your normal default then enable this setting when you have performed the following actions.

12. On XP, reformat the Vista partition in order to entirely remove Vista.
NB. A number of people are responsible for these tips. Only a couple have I added myself. I acknowledge the interest and work done by those persons (chris123nt and others)and am grateful that they have helped to make the Vista Betas more of a pleasure to test, rather than a burden.
As always, this is a Beta program and the tips, in a similar way, are Beta tips. Always be aware that whilst they are all tested, in some cases, with incompatible hard and software, they may spoil your installation.

I have added one more below, for dedicated tweakers. It is not easy to follow but crash in if you dare!

Editing the new Vista Boot Manager:BCDEDIT.EXE

Please press START and RUN (have you activated “RUN”? >Go to ADMINISTRATOR, right-click Taskbar, Properties, Start Menu, Start Menu Customize, check Run command, OK) and type in: command and press OK.

Yes, it looks like MS-DOS! It’s name is Windows DOS…

Then you must type in: bcedit
and the nice program starts and shows for example this:
Microsoft® Windows DOS
©Copyright Microsoft Corp 1990-2001.

D:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit

Windows Boot Manager
——————–
Identifier: {bootmgr}
Type: 10100002
Device: partition=C:
Description: Windows Boot Manager
Locale: ENG-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
Default: {871d699a-68d1-11da-9f30-eb66f9279051}
Display order: {legacy}
{871d699a-68d1-11da-9f30-eb66f9279051}
{d3e15d7c-66fb-11da-83c4-f23116dca051}
{77e994d8-64b9-11da-afd6-cd1e42667751}
{748c9ce4-6497-11da-b587-ba41a6a3f856}
{6bde53aa-630a-11da-b591-bb4bd04c9f19}
{d9b222a6-5f5b-11da-8e9c-87c5457d571e}
{eafe9a2c-558c-11da-86bb-9237c2e1a919}
{3ffee100-4b31-11da-b300-e812ef50ad19}
{eda3906c-438e-11da-b934-f4ecbe0a3419}
{4f964faa-3d7a-11da-bb88-b7df6f4d4219}
Timeout: 3

Windows Legacy OS Loader
————————
Identifier: {legacy}
Type: 10300006
Device: partition=C:
Path: \ntldr
Description: Legacy (pre-Longhorn) Microsoft Windows Operating System
Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {871d699a-68d1-11da-9f30-eb66f9279051}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=H:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: en-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
{5189b25c-5558-4bf2-bca4-289b11bd29e2}
Windows device: partition=H:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {d3e15d7c-66fb-11da-83c4-f23116dca051}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=H:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: en-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
{5189b25c-5558-4bf2-bca4-289b11bd29e2}
Windows device: partition=H:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {77e994d8-64b9-11da-afd6-cd1e42667751}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=H:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: en-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
{5189b25c-5558-4bf2-bca4-289b11bd29e2}
Windows device: partition=H:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {748c9ce4-6497-11da-b587-ba41a6a3f856}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=D:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: ENG-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
Windows device: partition=D:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn
Detect hal: Yes

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {6bde53aa-630a-11da-b591-bb4bd04c9f19}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=J:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: ENG-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
Windows device: partition=J:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn
Detect hal: Yes

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {d9b222a6-5f5b-11da-8e9c-87c5457d571e}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=J:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: ENG-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
Windows device: partition=J:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn
Detect hal: Yes

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {eafe9a2c-558c-11da-86bb-9237c2e1a919}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=J:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: ENG-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
Windows device: partition=J:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn
Detect hal: Yes

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {3ffee100-4b31-11da-b300-e812ef50ad19}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=J:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: ENG-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
Windows device: partition=J:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn
Detect hal: Yes

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {eda3906c-438e-11da-b934-f4ecbe0a3419}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=J:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: ENG-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
Windows device: partition=J:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn
Detect hal: Yes

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {4f964faa-3d7a-11da-bb88-b7df6f4d4219}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=J:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: ENG-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
Windows device: partition=J:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn
Detect hal: Yes

D:\USERS\ADMINI~1>

Sorry - a long one, but you will see, I have several entries of the same kind.
Partition H:\ three times and J:\ even more…

 

=========
Backup first!
=========

First of all, we need a backup/copy of our boot entries!

Step 1: Change to ADMINISTRATOR

Step 2: Type in: bcdedit -?

This will show us the HELP MENU of bcdedit.exe:
H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit -?

BCDEDIT - Boot Configuration Data Store Editor

The Bcdedit.exe command-line tool modifies the boot configuration data store.
The boot configuration data store contains boot configuration parameters and
controls how the operating system is booted. These parameters were previously
in the Boot.ini file (in BIOS-based operating systems) or in the nonvolatile
RAM entries (in Extensible Firmware Interface-based operating systems). You can
use Bcdedit.exe to add, delete, edit, and append entries in the boot
configuration data store.

For detailed command and option information, type bdedit.exe /? . For
example, type “bcdedit.exe /? /createstore” (without quotes).

For command and option information, please run “bcdedit /? ” where
is one of the help topics listed below.

/bootdebug Enables or disables boot debugging for a boot application.

/bootems Enables or disables Emergency Management Services for a boot
application.

/bootsequence Sets the one-time boot sequence for the boot manager.

/copy Makes copies of entries in the store.

/create Creates new entries in the store.

/createstore Creates a new and empty boot configuration data store.

/dbgsettings Sets the global debugger parameters.

/debug Enables or disables kernel debugging for an operating system
entry.

/default Sets the default entry that the boot manager will use.

/delete Deletes entries from the store.

/deletevalue Deletes entry options from the store.

/displayorder Sets the order in which the boot manager displays the multiboot
menu.

/ems Enables or disables Emergency Management Services for an
operating system entry.

/emssettings Sets the global Emergency Management Services parameters.

/enum Lists entries in the store.

/export Exports then contents of the system store to a file. This file
can be used later to restore the state of the system store.

formats Displays the formats of the data required by the /set command.

id Displays the identifier parameter options that can be used
in several Bcdedit commands such as /create and /copy.

/import Restores the state of the system store using a backup file
created with the /export command.

/set Sets entry option values in the store.

/store Specifies the boot configuration data store to use.

/timeout Sets the boot manager time-out value.

/types Displays the data types required by the /set and /deletevalue
commands.

/v Displays all entry identifiers in full, rather than using
shorthand notation for the well-known identifiers.

H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>

Step 3: Type in: bcdedit -? export

You will get:

H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit -? export

bcdedit /export

This command exports the contents of the system store into a file. This file
can be used later to restore the state of the system store. This command is
only valid for the system store.

The filename to be used as the desination for the export.
If the filename contains spaces, it must be enclosed in
double quotes (”).

Example:

The following example will export the system store to the specified file:

bcdedit /export “C:\Data\BCD Backup”

H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>

Step 4: Please make a new folder: C:\DATA

Step 5: Type in: bcdedit /export “C:\Data\BCD Backup”

You have now a BACKUP of bootmgr entries! With “import” you are able to restore it!!
You can afterwards also safe your new entries, no problem like:

bcdedit /export “C:\Data\BCD My New Boot Entries”
==========================
DELETE DOUBLE ENTRIES IN bootmgr
==========================

In the next step we will wipe out the double entries. (Always use your OWN identifiers!
My used one are only for explanation!!)

Step 6: Look at the double entries like: Device: partition=H:

Step 7: Type in: bcdedit -? delete

You will get:
H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit -? delete

bcdedit -delete [-f]

This command will delete an entry from the boot configuration data store.

This specifies the identifier of the boot entry to be
deleted.

[-f] bcdedit will not delete any entries that have a well known
identifier. To force such a delete operation, specify this
flag.

Examples:

The following command will delete the specified OS entry from the store:

bcdedit -delete {cbd971bf-b7b8-4885-951a-fa03044f5d71}

The following command will delete the legacy OS loader entry from the store:

bcdedit -delete {legacy} -f

H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit -delete {4f964faa-3d7a-11da-bb88-b7df6f4d4219}
The operation completed successfully.

H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>

Let explain with the follow examples of my bootmgr entries:

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {871d699a-68d1-11da-9f30-eb66f9279051}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=H:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: en-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
{5189b25c-5558-4bf2-bca4-289b11bd29e2}
Windows device: partition=H:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn

Windows Boot Loader
——————-
Identifier: {d3e15d7c-66fb-11da-83c4-f23116dca051}
Type: 10200003
Device: partition=H:
Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Description: Microsoft Windows
Locale: en-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
{5189b25c-5558-4bf2-bca4-289b11bd29e2}
Windows device: partition=H:
Windows root: \Windows
No Execute policy: OptIn
I want to delete the second (blue) one:
Identifier: {d3e15d7c-66fb-11da-83c4-f23116dca051}

Step 8: Type in: bcdedit -delete {d3e15d7c-66fb-11da-83c4-f23116dca051}

It is away!
All of this commands needs only the correct Identifier to scratch!
Now we can delete all other double entries in the same way.

 

=====================
RENAME ENTRIES in boot menu
=====================

The next step is to rename the entries.

The easiest one is the one you are in. If you have bootet VISTA 5259 TAP
you must type in:

Step 9: Type in: H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit -set DESCRIPTION “VISTA 5259 TAP”

The operation completed successfully. Test it:

H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit

The desription of your booted VISTA has changed from only “Microsoft Windows” to
“VISTA 5259 TAP”!

You can now boot in a other VISTA build, maybe 5231 or another. In 5231 for example there is also a BCDEDIT.EXE and you must type in the same with an other description or you are in VISTA 5259 and
you want to change the description from your “other” VISTA.
Step 10: Type in: H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit -set {748c9ce4-6497-11da-b587-ba41a6a3f856} DESCRIPTION “VISTA 5231 IDX”

You have easily changed the description of your second VISTA, if have use the correct IDENTIFIER!

From my 6 entries about WINDOWS SERVER 2003 I have deleted 5 and renamed the last:

H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit -set {6bde53aa-630a-11da-b591-bb4bd04c9f19} DESCRIPTION “WINDOWS SERVER 2003″
=============================
START XP/2000/20003/98x automatically
=============================

Now to the following problem:

You want to boot in your XP (2003, WIN98x) automatically?

MSCONFIG does not yet! Look in!

BCDEDIT does!
Step 11: Type in: bcdedit ? default

You will get:

H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit -? default

This command sets the default entry that the boot manager will use when the
time-out expires.

bcdedit /default

Specifies the identifier of the boot entry to be used as the
default when the time-out expires.

Examples:

The following command sets the specified entry as the default boot manager
entry:

bcdedit /default {cbd971bf-b7b8-4885-951a-fa03044f5d71}

The following command sets the legacy Windows loader (Ntldr) as the default
entry:

bcdedit /default {legacy}

H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>
So a easy task, isn’t it? You only must do Step12!

Step 12: Type in: bcdedit /default {legacy}
To look at the correct entry, look at “DEFAULT”:

Microsoft® Windows DOS
©Copyright Microsoft Corp 1990-2001.

H:\USERS\ADMINI~1>bcdedit

Windows Boot Manager
——————–
Identifier: {bootmgr}
Type: 10100002
Device: partition=C:
Description: Windows Boot Manager
Locale: ENG-US
Inherit options: {emssettings}
{dbgsettings}
Default: {legacy}
Display order: {legacy}
{current}
{d3e15d7c-66fb-11da-83c4-f23116dca051}
{77e994d8-64b9-11da-afd6-cd1e42667751}
{748c9ce4-6497-11da-b587-ba41a6a3f856}
{6bde53aa-630a-11da-b591-bb4bd04c9f19}
{d9b222a6-5f5b-11da-8e9c-87c5457d571e}
{eafe9a2c-558c-11da-86bb-9237c2e1a919}
{3ffee100-4b31-11da-b300-e812ef50ad19}
{eda3906c-438e-11da-b934-f4ecbe0a3419}
{4f964faa-3d7a-11da-bb88-b7df6f4d4219}
Timeout: 3

Yes, it worked!

 

========================
CHANGE {legacy} to a nicer one!
=======================

In the next and last step we will learn to change the description entry of {legacy} from:

Legacy (pre-Longhorn) Microsoft Windows Operating System

to a neater one like:

Legacy (pre-VISTA) XP, 2000, 2003 , WIN98x
Step 13: Type in: bcdedit -set {legacy} DESCRIPTION “Legacy (pre-VISTA) XP, 2000, 2003, WIN98x”

Let’s have a look, how it worked:

Windows Legacy OS Loader
————————
Identifier: {legacy}
Type: 10300006
Device: partition=C:
Path: \ntldr
Description: Legacy (pre-VISTA) XP, 2000, 2003, WIN98x

Pefect!

With that renamed entry you will go directly in your NTLDR loader and there is working the good old
well known BOOT.INI!

Nice program, the BCDEDIT.EXE, isn’t it?

Like I have read anywhere in internet MS is planning to give us a GUI for that bootmgr editing!

I hope, we will get a fast, safe, and nice VISTA 2006!

Have fun with BCDEDITing and please, don’t forget to make first my described BCD Backup before
you fiddle to much and nothing worked for you after reboot.

HELP: After everey step type in: bcdedit and you will see what have worked.
Look at the “Windows Device”, “Description” and “Identifiers”.

 

Viruses and Spyware cost users $7.8 billion

 

“It’s hard to tell who’s losing the money — the insurance company, the credit card company or the consumer — but it’s coming out of someone’s pockets,” said Dan Hubbard, vice president of security and research for Websense Inc.

Consumers paid as much $7.8 billion over two years to repair or replace computers that got infected with viruses and spyware, a Consumer Reports survey found.
That figure was down from a similar survey a year ago. Still, it suggests that people are paying large sums to cope with the flood of malicious viruses and other programs that can slow computers or render them inoperable.

“There is a very high national cost to this,” said Jeff Fox, technology editor of the consumer magazine. “People think they’re invincible, even when this kind of money is involved.”

In a nationwide survey, the magazine found that unwanted commercial e-mail, known as spam, is the biggest computer-security problem. But viruses are the most expensive, with people paying $5.2 billion in 2004 and 2005 to repair or replace afflicted machines, the survey found.

Infections of spyware, a type of software that can track computer users’ habits or collect sensitive information about them, declined slightly in the past six months, the survey found. But such infections caused almost 1 million U.S. households to replace their computers, the survey found.

Losses from phishing scams, which are fake e-mails and Web pages that request sensitive data such as bank-account passwords, increased five-fold from the previous survey, with people telling the magazine that such scams cost them $630 million in 2004 and 2005. That’s an average loss of $850 per incident.

“Phishing scams are worse than they’ve ever been,” Fox said. “The bad guys are getting very sophisticated.”

Some experts caution, however, that surveys in which people are asked about financial losses can produce overestimates.

“The numbers could possibly be inflated by the way the questions are phrased, especially in an area in which most people aren’t very articulate,” said Robert Lichter, who runs a statistical center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Other organizations that monitor Internet fraud complaints also point to growth in cybercrime. Internet-related complaints made up nearly half of all fraud complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission in 2005, with people claiming losses of $335 million.

And financial losses reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a joint effort of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, tripled in 2005, to $183 million, compared with the previous year.

“It’s hard to tell who’s losing the money — the insurance company, the credit card company or the consumer — but it’s coming out of someone’s pockets,” said Dan Hubbard, vice president of security and research for Websense Inc.

While attacks used to be mostly nuisances, they have become more threatening, said Dave Cole, director of security response at Symantec Corp., a leading computer security company. Many of today’s spam and phishing attacks target consumers’ personal information with the intention of stealing money or in some cases, identities.

The Consumer Reports survey of 2,000 households found that 20 percent of respondents didn’t have antivirus software and that 35 percent didn’t use spyware-blocking software. Source

Pic of Me

this is a test of Windows Live writer