Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Arriving Soon

It appears those wishing for a service pack to be released for Vista will finally get their way. As ZDNet reports, in a few weeks it will become public as it is currently in beta. Personally for me, a service pack is simply an easier way to get the system up to date, without having to install numerous security patches and fixes by installing separate files. Along with most service packs there are typically some minor adjustments made to the way the overall system functions but it appears this will be very limited to the desktop search methods so to the consumer, nothing will really change. Should this service pack release mean you should switch to Vista? Absolutely not! Not unless you are purchasing a new computer, I really still do not see any reason to make the switch.

TIP (Technical) How-to remove Winfixer, Virtumonde, Msevents, and Trojan.vundo (ATLDistrib Object)

How-to remove Winfixer, Virtumonde, Msevents, and Trojan.vundo (ATLDistrib Object) using Atribune's VundoFix removal tool.

This one can be a bugger since the normal adaware, spybot, ccleaner and avg combination don't get this, thanks to others that have had to deal with it, and the ability to search Google.

I am hereby placing a link to where I found the fix.

Although this may sound easy, I still suggest you have someone that feels completely comfortable repairing spyware since these sorts of tools can also render your system useless (until a technician arrives to fix it)!

..and you know what.. this still doesn't work on some systems... in the end, going back to the tried and true 'hijack this' ends up doing the trick! This and the others I mentioned are always available through my SOFTWARE/SUPPORT page here.

UPDATE: Okay, well after numerous scans, it appears there is a new winner in the ongoing battles against the spyware and that winner is CounterSpy. This program is new to my arsenal of tools and over the next month or so, I will continue to monitor its effectiveness alongside the tried and true Spybot, Adaware, AVG Antispyware and others that are available from the Software/Support page and what I recommend in the battle against malicious software.

New CCleaner (beta) Version 2.0 released

For those anxious in keeping their computer clean, you can probably feel pretty safe installing version 2.0 even though it is labeled as beta. You can get it through my Software/Support page here.

Windows TIP-Turn off Automatic Updates

The popular Skype peer to peer communications network went down last week due to a massive amount of computers performing a 'normal' reboot due to numerous windows updates that required the system to be restarted.

To eliminate future interruptions an easy method of fixing this is by simply turning off the automatic windows updates. Personally it is the first thing I do when setting up a new computer. Simply changing it to 'notify me' instead of automatically downloading and installing, since there are just too many problems once certain updates are completed.

To change the settings RIGHT CLICK on My Computer and select PROPERTIES and then click on the WINDOWS UPDATE Tab. From Vista you would RIGHT CLICK on COMPUTER and perform the same task.

Gnomedex 7-final report

I don't want to say negative things about this years conference and hopefully Chris and Ponzi will take all comments, both positive and negative as constructive criticism and education for next years event, that is, if they do decide to have one. I know in previous years, the talk nearing the end of the conference was always about next year but this year nothing. But then again I can't help but wonder if it was because it was like the fire drill of 2 years ago where the clock struck 5:30 and everyone had to get out... I'm sorry but I don't believe you can do that, not when everyone is wanting to gather and say their goodbyes and what not. I figured I would wait until I got back to my room at the Westin where I am quite happy to say the wifi works fast and, so far, I haven't had to pay for another day (yet).. at $9 a day (pretty typical price in most hotels it seems). I know at one time there was some mention of possibly having the conference over at the Microsoft campus where I would have to think the wifi issues would not be an issue whatsoever, and the fact that Microsoft is still a major sponsor, (although I didn't see much in the way of swag coming from that direction other then an employee from the "Expression Studio Division" who dropped a copy of the program on my lap). I simply couldn't help but think things this year were all a little rushed, even though it appeared from those who helped/volunteered for this years show were more then in previous years, not to mention that after 6 of these, things should start to drop in to place kind of nicely. Yes, there is always going to be sponsorship issues, but much like those 'no frills flights' where you can save a few dollars when you don't have any luggage or are willing to pay a few dollars more for seat selection, I do believe this sort of thing should have been cleared up before the programs are printed. Oh, that's right.. there weren't any due to some unfortunate printer malfunction?? Ummm excuse me, but isn't this a technology conference? Shouldn't there be access to at least one other printer somewhere in this fine city of Seattle. Chris did mention that there was a .pdf available (at the end of the conference). Again, not to piss on what I believe was still a very successful and fun conference. I can only hope that if and when next year's Gnomedex is announced, that places such as Microsoft's campus (or anywhere that can handle 350 geeks that want fast and working wifi!). True, you can't beat the views and the food was once again outstanding as the venue truly can't be beat in Seattle, I am sure, but I can't help but think that being the third year in Seattle, my negative comments should be non-existent. How can things improve? Well, considering we talk about social networking and we are all futurists that go to this conference, I would think a list of what needs to be done early on should be presented to the masses that will be attending since in many cases these sort of problems could have been addressed by someone that wants to step up to the plate and take on the respective job, whether it be with the wifi networking issues, venue location/logistics so that Chris and Ponzi can focus on and polish up on all the new issues that are sure to arise as the conference time nears. This all being said, if all goes well (with my health and well being) I should have no reason why I wouldn't be once again, one of the first to sign up for Gnomedex 8! Thanks again Chris and Ponzi, you truly are great hosts!

Gnomedex 7 Is now over

.. actually as I write this, it isn't over but it seems by the audience that this latest speaker seems to be getting either a bit of a bum wrap or simply not many are interested in what the University of Washington is doing for promoting technical issues and courses and finding funding due to the bureaucracy of the education system. If I didn't have a close friend that is currently completing a Ph.D in Education I probably would have left the room as well. Nothing against Kathy and her speaking, especially having three additional co-speakers to give us an idea of what is going on, but it almost seems that this was just scheduled at the wrong time of the conference. As Iggy points to some other negative issues of this years conference, I will only state one (ongoing) complaint and that would be the wifi still sucks! What is it about getting a room of about 350 geeks together that can't get the one engine that they all have in common running properly? This is now 7 years of constant problems... I understand the Microsoft Campus was one option for the location of this years Gnomedex.. I have to think that this one complaint would FINALLY be addressed and if not, it would just give everyone there one more reason to complain about Microsoft.. maybe that is why it was decided to stay at the Bell Harbour Convention Center.. Don't get me wrong here, I enjoyed myself as I do each and every year simply because of the people and after all, that is what Gnomedex is all about!

Thanks again Chris and Ponzi for providing what I would say is another successful and fun conference!

I love technology but then you already knew that!

Currently sitting here listening to speakers at Gnomedex doesn't mean I can' t still help you out! My phone just vibrated and sure enough, a client with a computer problem. In this case, it sounded to me like all that might be required was a reboot. But without getting up, leaving the room and phoning this client, I thought I would try and see if I could 'see the computer' online (using the logmein service).. sure enough there it was.. I tried connecting, but couldn't.. so I proceeded to perform a REBOOT... after the reboot,before I could try the connection again, my phone started vibrating.. sure enough that fixed the problem and it was the client calling to say all is well once again.

I knew this actually because as I connected, I could see her reading my email! This is just one more example of how quick I can come to the rescue, even though the initial problem seems like a reboot is all that was required to get this one person off and running again.

Gnomedex Report #1

So I made it to Seattle and Gnomedex 7. Last night's mixer/registration was another success and as I sit and set up for the start of the first presentation today, I see that the WiFi is about the same as it was last year.. no luck getting connected for about 20 minutes, but now that I am connected, all seems okay.

If you wish to follow along, this year Gnomedex is being streamed live so go ahead and take in the show!