Free Computer Consultant ………. Daily Insights

The free upgrade to Windows 7 begins June 26, 2009 and will reportedly last until January 31, 2010.

The free upgrade will apply even if you get the (recommended) XP downgrade since you are actually buying a Vista license. Microsoft has not yet announced when Windows 7 will be released, but the free upgrade dates do give us some clue.

So if you are considering a purchase including a copy of Vista and optionally the XP downgrade, maybe you can delay until after June 26th and actually acquire a Windows license that might be worth having!

Windows XP users will need to do a clean install to migrate to Windows 7, but that’s best in my mind anyway. Vista users will be able to do an in place upgrade. XP users will, however, be able to use the Windows Easy Transfer from the Windows 7 installation disc. This utility will help users save files and some Windows settings to an external drive or flash drive.

When reading reviews of the best antivirus and internet security product or product suite, ESET NOD32, will often be at the top of the list. The users of the product tend to be vocal supporters as well.

Is it justified? Well, it’s hard to stay at the top of the heap when it comes to antivirus security products. Companies have a tendency to leap frog one another as the “latest version” gets released.

When you have an infected PC, it is common to scan and clean with one company’s product, then scan with another company’s scanner and find some more.

Recently I had a users laptop with a nasty trojan infection. One of the top internet security suites was unable to stop the infection, but scanning did find most of the infected files.

However, I then scanned the hard drive with ESET NOD32 and found a few more infected files. Does that mean that ESET is better? Well, maybe; but one of the “infected” files was an executable for the OTHER antivirus product. Was that file infected or just a case of old fashioned rivalry?

I don’t know for sure, but I will say that ESET NOD32 is an impressive internet security suite and antivirus.

The downside is that it does cost a bit more than most of its competitors. But sometimes you pay for quality.

I give ESET NOD32 a big thumbs up; you can check it out with a free 30 day trial here.

Windows 7 is the operating system from Microsoft that is currently in beta testing that will eventually replace Windows Vista.

Windows Vista has many detractors, and an enormous number of Windows users have chosen to downgrade or otherwise stay with Windows XP.

From what I hear, Windows 7 can best be compared to something like Windows Vista SP3 (service pack 3). It’s the same underlying engine, and basically that’s good. One of the biggest complaints with Vista has been the User Access Control (UAC). This is supposed to help prevent hackers and rogue programs from taking control of your PC.

Most people, however, find it to be an awkward, even infuriating annoyance. The system has been improved in Windows 7, offering the user a slider bar style customization of how much UAC to utilize.

The other major drawback to Vista has been lack of drivers for (sometimes not that) old hardware. This is still the case, but as that hardware gets older and new hardware cheaper and perhaps more enticing, should be less of an issue.

RAM is another drawback to Vista. If you had only 512MB RAM you were stuck with Windows Vista Basic. You have my sympathy. Actually, a machine like that should never be sold, but they are.

Good news is that RAM is really cheap. Go with 2GB minimum or 4GB if you want. Get your memory here.

Performance in general is improved in Windows 7 from Vista.

Am I holding my breath for Windows 7? No. But I do recognize that XP won’t last forever. If nothing else the conspiracy theorist in me feels that at some point Microsoft will offer an “update” that will turn it into a dog. I have no other explanation as to why Windows 2000 Pro boxes suddenly became slugs several years ago.

Not surprisingly, Microsoft is sticking to the awful policy of too many versions of Windows 7, just like Vista. Ditch the basic, hardware is cheap anyway. Add real networking to the home and just sell Pro. Vista Ultimate was ultimately an overpriced disappointment, so why bother? If you have extra goodies let people download them for free.

One version: Windows 7 Pro (or whatever it gets called). That’s my vote and I’m sticking to it.

The question of how much ram should I have in Windows XP has been around as long as Windows XP. Truthfully, the answer has changed as memory has come down in price.

Originally I installed a lot of new computers with Windows XP and 512MB RAM installed. Later on, I increased this to 1GB as that became more affordable.

Some tech gurus always seemed to indicate that 2GB was the sweet spot for XP and quite honestly, I’m not sure basic users would really see too much difference between 1GB and 2GB RAM.

It seems, either because of Windows updates or whatever, that as a Windows operating system ages it needs more RAM. Sit down at a machine with 512MB that used to be pretty spunky but no longer is and you will know what I mean. And it isn’t just garbage collecting; because the same goes for a PC with Windows XP freshly reinstalled.

My point today is that I had to “borrow” some RAM out of my Windows XP computer and my assistant’s Windows Vista PC. Both had 2GB (2 x 1GB) and after “borrowing” had 1GB each.

I noticed it. My assistant noticed it.

I couldn’t get my Crucial order off fast enough!

Memory is cheap, your time and frustration isn’t. Head over to Crucial.com and get yourself a memory upgrade. Crucial makes it easy, their product and service are exceptional. I highly recommend them.

For all of you out there using Windows Vista (I know, small audience), I thought I would pass along three tricks that I read in a blog over at InfoWorld.

The tricks are these:

1. Navigating Shortcuts
2. Multiple local GPOs (yeah, I know, what’s a GPO you ask)
3. CompletePC backup creates .vhd file that is mountable – I prefer Acronis True Image

If you use Windows Vista, it’s probably worth your time for the quick read about Windows Tricks from the Vista Masters over at InfoWorld.

I have recently complained about Microsoft requiring a floppy drive to load a driver on Windows Recovery and installation. Well, though I haven’t had reason to try it yet, Windows Vista now allows one to load a driver from something other than a floppy drive – FINALLY!

Microsoft never misses a chance to really torque me off with their “home” versions of Windows. Windows Vista Home Premium is fine for most people – at home, but it lacks two features that I see no justification in leaving out.

Vista Home Premium does not allow remote control via remote desktop. This is an exceptionally handy feature, especially for someone trying to help you out (potentially) and becomes a real advantage if you buy a Windows Home Server.  Why leave this feature out (other than to torque me off)?

And Windows complete backup and restore. Come on, even if you don’t like it as a tool, doesn’t it sound good to say that you have included a complete backup and restore utility in your product? Seems like good PR to me.

If it weren’t for the price issue, and it is an issue – you don’t get much extra for the price, I would just load Ultimate on everything. Ok, so Bitlocker is a valuable feature; most won’t use it anyway, so why not just give it to them?

Microsoft needs ONE version of Windows for the workstation. Price it to sell, not be stolen. Then watch your customers line up to buy it with a smile on their face. That would be something new for Microsoft, wouldn’t it?

Windows Vista SP1 (Service Pack 1) is being released in stages, which is good. Otherwise we would have to wait until the entire service pack is ready before receiving certain fixes.

Many IT professionals will refuse to use a new release of Windows until SP1 is available – as it’s always needed it seems.

One aspect of Vista has received perhaps more angry accusations than any other. WGA (Windows Genuine Authentication) is touted by Microsoft as being anti-piracy, but is really more of an anti-fair-use policy.

True software pirates have ways of making their pirated software work long enough to collect the money. It’s the people who own legitimate copies of Vista who are being hurt the most.

WGA in Vista as it stands can potentially “kill” or severely limit Vista if it feels you don’t have a genuine version. Usually, a waste of time call to Microsoft in India will get you going if you truly own your software. But forcing that phone call justifiably angers many honest Microsoft customers.

Customers who then look for alternatives to Windows.

Microsoft says it has done away with the “kill switch” in Vista SP1 in favor of a more friendly message telling the user how to get genuine or at least appear like it to Vista.

At the same time, they say they have plugged a couple of holes that let hackers fool Vista into thinking it doesn’t need to check.

It’s a good thing. Too bad so many honest customers have had to pay the price for Microsoft’s draconian policy.

Windows Live OneCare is a $49.95/year security suite from Microsoft. And Performance Tune-ups. And Backup and Restore. And I think I’m gonna be sick.

I was reading an e-newsletter this morning detailing that Live OneCare was turning on Windows Update to download, install and, if necessary (isn’t it always?) reboot the PC at the default time of 3am. Live OneCare was doing this without telling the user. Some users had wisely turned off auto download and auto install.

Even if you had DISABLED the appropriate services, Live OneCare was turning them back to “automatic” which means they startup when the PC boots.

People who had been finding this out (the hard way – they wondered why their PC’s were rebooting) seemed shocked.

The average user I will give a small break to; maybe they don’t read much – or watch any news. But any PC professional using Live OneCare instead of a competent security suite (no, not McAfee or Norton) like Trend Micro or ZoneAlarm needs to stand back and think for a moment.

Microsoft? Security Suite?
Microsoft? Performance?

Isn’t that an oxymoron of some type? Multi-Oxymoron?

Here is my email that I sent to the writer of the e-letter:

Why anyone would trust Microsoft for a security package is beyond me.
Microsoft cares about themselves only, and to find that they make changes to your PC that you don’t want made does not surprise me one bit. And their security reputation is so tainted, nay bludgeoned, that it just doesn’t make sense to pay them almost $50/year to screw up your PC.

Do you want me to tell you how I really feel?

Most people use Windows because it’s defacto, or because they can’t afford a Mac.

More people are moving to Linux (like Ubuntu) everyday. I don’t think that trend is going to change, and Vista is just speeding it up.

A lot of people are frustrated with Windows bloatware, and Vista seems to share a quality with Hillary Clinton – Love / Hate relationship. It is said with Hillary that you either love her or hate her and I’m hearing the same about Vista.

For those of us who know what we are doing, we are frustrated by all of the “security” pop ups of Vista. (And no, I can’t just turn them off on other peoples computers.) Some find all of their applications to work just fine under Vista, others find that few work without a lot of legwork finding patches and drivers.

InfoWorld has a nice write up called “Windows to desktop Linux in three easy steps”. I think it’s pretty well done.

I think Ubuntu has a lot of promise. Many people want everything on their PC; and most of them suffer for it.

Others just want to get their work done. And done quickly, please.

At least one person at Microsoft gets it and is trying to change the perception of Windows as bloatware, starting with Windows 7 due in 2010. Here is another InfoWorld article about that here. It’s apparently being referred to currently as MinWin.