Kurt Shintaku's Blog: Info

HOWTO: How to keep AcroRd32.exe from staying in memory, and other PDF junk I've been saving

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 07:15:12 GMT

I've never been a fan of PDF's or the Acrobat format for reasons I'll write about in my other blog but if you absolutely have to installed Acrobat Reader, I recommend keeping the following in your back pocket:

DISABLE ACROBAT READER MEMORY RESIDENCE

The first problem is that ACRORD32.EXE stays in memory forever unnecessarily & wastefully consuming 15-20MB of memory if you ever load a PDF file into a browser. In order to prevent this from happening, open Acrobat Reader, Click the Edit Menu & select Preferences. The Preferences dialog will appear. There is an "Internet" category that you should select. Uncheck the "Display PDF in browser". This will keep Acrobat from staying in memory after reading the PDF file online.

SPEED UP ACROBAT READER'S LOAD TIME BY REMOVING PLUGINS

Acrobat Reader has a 1001 plug ins that come with it. And you'll never use any of them. Seriously. I've never used any of them in all the years I've been using Reader. There is a free tool available called "PDF Speedup" from http://acropdf.com/ that will streamline the loading of Adobe Acrobat greatly accelerating load times. It's well worth downloading, and if you feel worried about the changes it makes, there's an UNDO process that undoes all the changes. And it's free so check it out.

ACROBAT PDF TO WORD .DOC CONVERTER

I've evaluated a lot of these and Solid Converter is the best I've found from http://www.solidpdf.com/. Solid Converter PDF v3 is an astoundingly well written application that will take any PDF and turn it into a Word Document with brilliant accuracy. If you've ever wished, "Hey - I wish I could modify this PDF or cut & paste large sections out of it," this is the way to do it. It costs $49 but it's well worth it. These guys know the PDF format inside and out.

CRACKING PDF PASSWORDS

Adobe's encryption within Acrobat is easily crackable - both Owner passwords & User passwords. Anyone that thinks their documents are protected from modification or duplication through these protections are very sadly mistaken. Because I actually prefer to keep a few things to myself, I won't go through all the more elaborate backdoor techniques out there but here are a few of the more easily accessible commerical crackers available for the Adobe Acrobat format, both 40bit & 128bit.

CrackPDF Pro: Easy to use basic cracking tool for Owner & User passwords, 40bit & 128bit. Brute force, dictionary, key, and other attacks. 40bit passwords are crackable in 3-4 days. 128bit may require a couple weeks.
http://www.crackpdf.com/index.html
PDF Password Recovery Service: An online service that allows people to submit 128bit User encrypted PDF documents for guaranteed "recovery" through the service's clustered computational array fairly quickly. Costs something like $500 per document but if cost is no object like it is for many businesses, who cares?
http://www.crackpdf.com/service.html
Acrobat Key: Cracking tool that among other things, allows for the assumption that the password is alphanumeric or a "sensible" combination of characters. This reduces brute force times by 80-95%.
http://www.lostpassword.com/acrobat.htm
GuaPDF: Guaranteed PDF password recovery. This is a brute force attacking tool that cracks PDF 128bit user passwords by allowing you to create your own clustered computation array. Basically, a single PDF can be cracked by 2, 5, 10, 20 or any number of desktops simultaneously allowing the time to crack the document to be reduced exponentially. It distributes the compute load across all your computers and additionally, because it's highly multithreaded, it's optimized for Intel Core 2 Duo processors making it especially effective.
http://www.password-crackers.com/crack/guapdf.html

INFO: How to support your Mom's home PC over the Internet

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 20:02:40 GMT

I wrote up a piece about monitoring & remotely controlling your parent's PC on my other blog. It's technically commentary/evaluation so I chose to place it there however I think it would be useful for anyone that has parents/family/relatives that need you to monitor/remote control their PC across the Internet and otherwise provide technical support.

The issue is basically that if my Mom's PC:

- has a broadband connection

- has a DHCP assigned router address

- has a NAT-ted connection behind the router (a 192.168.x.x address)

- is one of multiple computers behind the router that needs support

- shouldn't require much money annually to support

...what software/service should I use to remotely control & otherwise support them?

How I support my Mom's PC over the Internet

http://kurtsthoughts.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!97895BBB8AD10F37!355.entry

INFO: Zune Media Player = 13 hours of Battery Life... with Wireless Ethernet on!

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 23:06:09 GMT

Zune has a battery life of up to 13 hours, when listening to music. Oh... and that's with the wireless turned on. When you turn the wireless off, Zune has up to 14 hours of battery life when listening to music, and up to approximately 4 hours for video or pictures.

More here: http://www.zuneinsider.com/2006/10/battery_life.html

INFO: Creating a "Windows key" for use with Windows Vista

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 01:08:14 GMT

Y'know that "Windows" key that you've seen on people's keyboards - it's got the Windows logo on it. Maybe you've used it. Maybe you haven't. Maybe your keyboard doesn't even have one and you've never really cared. Well, it turns out that Windows Vista uses it - heck, practically requires it - for a bunch of things.

For example, if you have Aero Glass on your Windows Vista system, there's a feature of the desktop that allows you to "three dimensionally" rotate through your running applications and windows. (You've probably seen the demo at one time or another - the windows 'leap up' and line themselves up in a diagonal row, and pressing the up and down arrows allows you to flip through the applications, "rotating" the rolodex of running windows. The problem is that running this feature requires "WinKey-Tab". If you don't have the WinKey, well... good luck.

Here's a way that you can remap the "right Alt" key of your keyboard to become your own "Windows key":

- Open RegEdt32.exe

- Go to HKey_LocalMachine - SYSTEM - CurrentControlSet - Control - Keyboard Layout
- Create a new Binary entry and name it "Scancode Map"

- Set it with the following data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 5B EO 38 EO 00 00 00 00
- Reboot

That's it. The right Alt key (not the left) should be mapped to be the Windows key. And if you have Aero Glass, you should be able to press it, along with the TAB key (hold down your new WinKey) to flip through your running applications using the arrow keys.

INFO: Internet Explorer 7.0 to be a High Priority Update

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 02:35:15 GMT

Internet Explorer 7.0 will be published at it's release at the end of this calendar year as a High Priority update. This means that any machine with Automatic Update on it will receive Internet Explorer 7.0 on it, just as it would a published Critical Update.

Before everyone goes nuts, let me go through what the rationale is for this and explain the "big picture'.

Our official messaging is as such:
"The new security features in Internet Explorer 7 (including “defense in depth” measures such as ActiveX Opt-In and Phishing Filter) provide really important security benefits, and Microsoft will recommend that all customers install the update as soon as possible. Automatic Updates is being used to distribute Internet Explorer 7 because it is Microsoft’s primary means for helping unmanaged users become more secure and up-to-date. (Note that Microsoft will continue to release security updates to fix identified security vulnerabilities for Internet Explorer 6.)"

The underlining is my doing in the above paragraph. There's a few things you can kind of read into in the implications of the above paragraph that isn't made explicitly clear in the above paragraph and that is that:

1) IE 7.0 is hardened. In other words, version 7.0 is designed from the ground up using Microsoft's new rigorous security principles in mind - the same ones that were applied to Windows Server 2003 & Windows XP SP2. Microsoft knows that this build is by it's own inherent nature going to be REVOLUTIONARILY more secure than IE 6.02.

2) IE 6.02 has issues that have no current resolution. While it's probably not a surprise, the last couple lines are very telling, essentially stating that if any new security flaws arise, the user's primary method of remediating them is to UPGRADE to IE7.0 - not that there will be a patch available in the immediate future. They are careful to state that there's going to be continued work to remedy security flaws in IE 6.02, but remember - patches are the implied "secondary means" by which someone can protect themselves.

There has only been two times in the history of our company when I can recall Microsoft pushing such a massive and complicated software component to end-users, and that was Windows XP SP2 - which protected a LOT of users from security threats through:

- Data Execution Protection (A new feature of SP2 that prevented many worms, viruses, and intrusive elements from running outside of the boundaries of Window's control)

- Windows Firewall (A protective filter that prevented other systems from infecting workstations with viruses through the network)

- Intel/AMD No-Execute Support (A hardware/CPU feature that got enabled using SP2 that prevented renegade software from executing dangerous actions without the permissions of the user)

...and now, we're doing it again. This time with Internet Explorer 7.0.

We've been trying very hard to make sure our customers are happy.

- We've made Virtual PC free for workstations along with Virtual Server for servers

- We've given Enterprise's 4 free licenses of WinXP to run on Virtual PC-enabled systems

- We've provided unlimited OS virtualization for Windows Server 2003 Datacenter owners

- We've been churning out all kinds of free tools for "Genuine Windows Users"

... but still we're really pushing out IE 7.0 to everyone.

Trust me when I say, just like Windows XP SP2, this upgrade to IE 7.0 must be a pretty important thing for everyone. That being said:

1) IE7 will not install without user consent: As part of the delivery, AU will notify users once the update is ready to install and will present a welcome screen summarizing key features and offering users options of “Install,” Don’t Install,” and “Ask Me Later.” Installation will not occur unless a user who is a local administrator chooses “Install.” A draft of the welcome screen is include below.

2) There will be a Free Blocker Toolkit available for mid-large customers. Organizations relying on AU for patch management in some or all of their environments may wish to delay IE7 deployment (for example, to allow additional time for intranet site compatibility testing or user training). In those situations, customers may choose to deploy a non-expiring Blocker Toolkit (similar to the one used for Windows XP SP2) prior to IE 7 RTM. The Blocker Toolkit will be available on July 26th in the Microsoft Download Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=65788. The Blocker Toolkit includes both a Group Policy template and a script that set a registry key to prevent Automatic Updates and the Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites from offering Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update.

For more details visit, http://www.microsoft.com/ie.

Important IT Links:

IE7 via Automatic Update TechNet Announcement
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/updatemanagement/windowsupdate/ie7announcement.mspx
IE7 Blocker Toolkit Q&A
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/updatemanagement/windowsupdate/ie7blockertoolfaq.mspx
IE7 Readiness Toolkit for Developers, Testers & ITPros
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=64421
IE7 Blocker Toolkit Download
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=65788

INFO: Windows Vista to support 130+ languages

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:18:45 GMT

Apparently, at least count we have 130+ languages enabled in Windows Vista. This makes Windows Vista, obviously far and away the most impactful piece of software ever created in terms of globally understandable reach, impacting hundreds of millions of people.

This is not everyone however. There are many dialects and locales that differ enough from one of the 130+ languages roots that a signficantly different user interface should be used for clarity.

Fortunately, by giving customers the tools that we are going to be providing for free when Vista releases (Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator and Microsoft Locale Builder), we are going to make Windows linguistically accessible for >90% of the world’s literate population – that’s over 3.5 billion people. (And that’s a conservative estimate!)

And Windows Vista's global linguistic reach extends not just to the operating systems interface, but also to other OS components & software applications such as:

Internet Explorer 7.0
Windows Media Player 11
Office 2007
Live.com
Windows Live Mail Center
Windows Defender
Windows Live Messenger

INFO: "How to pimp your Xbox 360"

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 10:46:41 GMT

So you wanna pimp out your Xbox360. Or you want to surprise your kid and get a "real player's Xbox360"... not just one of these beige "stock units" that everyone else on the block has.

Some of you may know that my 3 Xbox360s are tricked out but the question everyone asks me is, "Where'd you get all that gear?" Well, here's where I get all my parts from. It's pretty much "do it yourself" and it's really easy.

Faceplates:

- Complete Chrome-plated Xbox 360 Faceplate - Deluxe Limited Edition ($24.95)

- Halo Green Translucent Faceplate for XBox 360 ($10.00)

- Crystal Clear Faceplate for Xbox 360 ($10.00)

Complete Cases Replacement:

- Halo Translucent Green Case Replacement for XBox 360 ($50.00)

- Diamond Crystal Clear Case Replacement for XBox 360 ($50.00)

- "Black Knight" Pure Black Case Replacement for XBox 360 ($50.00)

LED-lit "Tricked out" Complete Case Replacement:

- Black Case Replacement with BLUE LED-lit "X" on the side for XBox 360"Limited Edition" Case ($69.99)

- Black Case Replacement with GREEN LED-lit "X" on the side for XBox 360"Limited Edition" Case ($69.99)

- Black Case Replacement with RED LED-lit "X" on the side for XBox 360"Limited Edition" Case ($69.99)

INFO: Shared Folders... a really cool "technology" in Windows Live Messenger

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 20:53:01 GMT

Windows Live Messenger V8 ships with Shared Folders. (Get it from http://messenger.live.com)

What does it do?

Shared Folders allows you to create a group of Windows Live Messenger users and collectively share a group of files. These files are replicated to each person's PCs enabling people to share a "virtual file share" over the Internet using Microsoft's Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology.

How does it work?

Shared folders supports a replication model between 2 messenger clients - however there can be more than 2 people using a shared folder... it just means that the replication will need to take place again for each additional person sharing the folder. This can be from ANY Messenger user's machine that has the current files available to replicate.

The underlying replicator technology is File Replication Services v2, which was implemented by the Windows Server R2 team, and repackaged by the Messenger team. This is an advanced replication technology usually not found on desktops that enables byte-level differencing between sharing workstations: In other words, if there is a 5MB Word document being shared amongst several individuals, if one person edits the large 5MB Word document, only the "changed bytes" will be transmitted to the other partners to update them, instead of sending each of them the entire 5MB file all over again.

Before you ask, NO it does not "swarm" to leverage multipoint transfers in the same way that BitTorrent does - you will see that in other technologies. Using multipoint file transfer technology doesn't make sense in this model because the goal of the technology is to allow people to not only continually share files but also to constantly make changes to those files. Databases, pictures, Excel spreadsheets, etc.

Either client can contribute/modify to the shared folder. You can put folders and large files into the shared folder. It supports an invite model for establishing a secure sharing relationship so not just any uninvited Tom Dick or Harry can access your personal information.

When and if possible, the bit transfers will go P2P. We recommend that people get uPNP capable routers at home. They work great (VOIP, P2P file transfers, my slingbox for watching US TiVo from the road, etc.).

We will continue to develop and enhance shared folders so stay tuned for extensions of this technology to group/circle sharing and self-sharing.

INFO: WinXP Service Pack 1 = NO SUPPORT

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 19:17:30 GMT

Windows XP Service Pack 1 will NOT have Security Patches made for it as of October 10th, 2006. Did you get that? If you are running WinXP SP1, you will NOT get any security patches, any fixes, anything at all... once October 10th comes and goes.

Folks, it doesn't matter if you call Microsoft Product Support and pay for a security incident call.

It doesn't matter if you have a Premier Support agreement with 'extended lifecycle support'.

It doesn't matter if you really, really, really need security patches just for one more month and you say "pretty please with sugar on top".

There will be no security patches made available to you via download off of any of the following:

- download.microsoft.com

- update.microsoft.com

- premier.microsoft.com

As you may have read on http://www.microsoft.com/windows/support/endofsupport.mspx, we have something called "Custom Support Agreements available for purchase by Enterprise customers with Premier Support and a lot of dispoable cash laying around in huge piles that would rather pay an extra $100,000+ above and beyond their normal support contract to get security patch support for one extra year rather than upgrade their desktops to Service Pack 2. (Yes, I've heard it's that expensive)

To those of you reading this, you do not fall into this category, I assure you. In fact, in the history of Microsoft, I have never actually met a customer that has paid for this. The funds spent on the extra 'custom support agreement' over an organization's Premier Support agreement could otherwise be spent testing and upgrading to Service Pack 2 instead.

What's more, it's not like Windows XP is going to disappear over night. Windows XP will be the N-1 older-supported OS from Microsoft for quite a while after Windows Vista's release and there will be untold numbers of products that will run on Windows XP and will require SP2 at the very least. Every organization supports two revisions of operating systems... and when Windows Vista releases, Windows 2000 will go "out of support" within a year or so and you will still be supporting Windows XP in some form for a very long time.

Choosing to not upgrade to SP2 in the hopes of "skipping" SP2 for Windows Vista is an unwise IT choice.

INFO: Auto insertion of "dates" in Notepad

Sat, 08 Jul 2006 20:25:53 GMT

This is real cool for people who use notepad to write down any info on a day to day basis

1. Open a blank Notepad file

2. Write .LOG (in uppercase) in the first line of the file, followed by Enter. Save the file and close it.

3. Double-click the file to open it and notice that Notepad appends the current date and time to the end of the file and places the cursor on the line after.
4. Type your notes and then save and close the file.
5. Each time you open the file, Notepad repeats the process, appending the time and date to the end of the file and placing the cursor below it.

INFO: Getting around Websense & other web-blocking software

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 00:50:18 GMT

I keep hearing about companies that block web access from they're Internet Gateways through the usage of domain filters or active monitors. Fortunately for us, Microsoft doesn't block web sites of any kind at our gateway - there's really no reason to. They do monitor activity - especially large amounts of traffic - and where that traffic is going, however there's nothing stopping anyone from going to any site on the web.

BAD: DOMAIN FILTERING THE GATEWAY

Personally I think this is a futile effort and the wrong way to go about controlling how corporate Internet gateways are used. I can understand how some IT departments, in a natural reaction of paranoia feel compelled to block certain sites they think could "hurt" the infrastructure through the mistaken download of a virus or the transmission of material that could other wise put the company at risk.

But honestly, I've always felt the policy of blocking end users from accessing sites like YahooMail and MySpaces was blatently silly because treating employees like they were children only compels them to want to fight back. At some point, you have to trust that your employees aren't going to screw over the company. And IT can't ever claim that they're doing it to "help the company protect itself" being that it's just as easy to cause infrastructure damage from legitimate sites as from censored sites or from printing... or from faxing... or from the usage of a cell phone or from a camera... etc.

GOOD: SIMPLY AUDIT LOG EVERYTHING

We're all adults and all it takes is a little education around what FTEs should & should not do on company time: You're ultimately trusted to not do anything illicit either accidental or on purpose on company resources.

And if you do, IT security will know. The key is for IT to monitor all communications. log all communications, and flag connections and the user IDs that opened them that seem suspicious. It's called an audit log & everyone should be aware that IT's is watching you.

AND FOR BONUS POINTS...

If you want to take it a step further, simply publish the database of "who accessed what" via an Intranet web site. This is easy to do using Microsoft Access and can allow any end user to simply type in a name and see what it is that that person accessed through the company gateway. There's no expectation of privacy on the corporate network using corporate resources.

For those of you having a problem with domain filters, here's some techniques I've used to get around web blocking software at other places. This is hopefully proof enough that Internet domain filtering is the wrong way to go in protecting a company.

The Circumventor
This is a tool that resides on your home PC or any other PC with direct unfiltered web access. It provides you with a redirecting proxy point (i.e. an unblocked URL) that will allow you to access any web site on it's behalf. This has the benefit of providing access via virtually unblockable URLs however the drawback of not being able to passthrough SSL encrypted data and requiring that the individual have a home Internet connection always up and running.
http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor/simple-circumventor-instructions.html

AntiProxy

Antiproxy is a list of publicly available Proxy sites to use to anonymize yourself. Because it is HTTPS based and SSL encrypted, it's possible to set your browser to not to use proxies for secure connections. This method has the benefit of providing anonymous proxying over the Internet to anyone without client software and without setting anything at home, however it provides a connection with questionable security and it may have slow connection speeds.

https://www.antiproxy.com/

HTTPTunnel

HTTP-Tunnel technology allows users to perform various Internet tasks despite the restrictions imposed by firewalls. This is made possible by sending data through HTTP (port 80). Additionally, HTTP-Tunnel technology is very secure, making it indispensable for both average and business communications. This has the benefit of tunneling everything but the drawback of requiring client software to be installed.

http://www.http-tunnel.com/html/

Public Web Circumventors

This is the easiest method of circumventing domain filters: Keep trying a bunch of Web Circumventors until you hit one that works. Here's some to check:

http://www.anonymizer.com, http://www.unipeak.com, http://www.anonymouse.ws, http://www.proxyweb.net, http://www.guardster.com, http://www.webwarper.net,
http://www.proxify.com, http://www.the-cloak.com

The bottom line is that companies use IT as a crutch some times. Instead of depending on Technology to protect the company, there should be a lot more emphasis on establishing roles for people and proper process around Internet access monitoring.

----------------------------------
More Tools & References:

Reporters without Borders: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15013
Peacefire.org: http://peacefire.org/circumventor/list-of-possible-weaknesses.html

INFO: How Microsoft defends against SPAM, Viruses, and Phishing

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:20:33 GMT

The increasing threat of unwanted e-mail (spam), viruses, phishing and malicious software (malware) on the Internet is as much a concern for Microsoft as it is for any company. The problem has steadily grown in the past several years to the point where every enterprise connecting to the Internet must take precautions against such attacks.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/msit/security/messaginghygienewp.mspx

INFO: The New Office File format or "How to save 70% on SAN file storage costs"

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 21:21:48 GMT

How much SAN storage are you using to store Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, and Powerpoint presentations? For most of our customers, the number one consumer of storage space on Storage Area Networks is Office documentation. That's right: .DOC's, .XLS's, .PPT's, .MDBs, and .PST's.

Did you know that you can reduce the storage consumed by Office documents on your file shares by 70% using Office 2007? With the cost of SAN storage these days, how's that for being an immediate reason to move to Office 2007? Here's some fast facts about why you'll like the new Office files format.

Office 2007 files are very easy to parse and search through. They're essentially ZIP files with images & XML text binding everything together in a folder hierarchy.
Office 2007 will be fully compatible with Office 2003's existing file format and will be able to write the old Office 2003. Office 2003 users will be able to download an add-in that will allow them to directly read & write the Office 2007 files format.
Office 2007's file format can be quickly be converted to .XPS format which will be natively processed by all the major printer manufacturers without

INFO: Audiobooks on CD

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:50:33 GMT

I put up a list of Audiobooks on CD that I'm fond of. I've had discussions with a variety of you about Audio CDs that you listen to on the car ride to work, and if you haven't looked into these, check them out:

http://spaces.msn.com/kurtsh/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c01_ListID=cns!DA410C7F7E038D!1004&_c=booklist:1004&_c02_owner=1

INFO: Word 2007 new feature - "Contextual Spelling"

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:08:42 GMT

"Contextual Spelling" is a new feature of Word 2007.

Contextual spelling allows you to have correctly spelled words highlighted when they are incorrectly used in a sentence. For example:

- They're goes my hero.
- My friend spend two weeks in Colorado.
- I bought a pear of shoes.
- We're loosing the game.

Note that all of these sentences have perfectly spelled words in them - they're just incorrectly used.

Word 2007 can highlight these issues. It produces a blue squiggle under words just like red squiggles mean an "incorrectly spelled word" or a green squiggle means a "grammatically incorrect phrase".

Note that this feature is NOT turned on by default. To turn on:
--> Word Options | Proofing | Use Contextual Spelling (check box).

There's a full description of Contextual Spelling here at the Office Blog:

http://blogs.msdn.com/correcteurorthographiqueoffice/archive/2006/06/05/617653.aspx

INFO: The battle to keep "Save as PDF" included Office 2007

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 07:46:51 GMT

Recently, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal that discussed the relationship between Microsoft and Adobe and their concerns over Office 2007 & Windows Vista.

Over the last several months, Adobe has expressed concerns to us about some new features in Office and Windows Vista. Specifically, they have complained about the “Save as PDF” capability in Office 2007 and the “XPS” feature in Windows Vista. (XPS is our own version of a fixed format document capability) While these features have been carefully designed to comply with all regulatory obligations, in an effort to accommodate Adobe, we have offered make changes to our products and even to ship their products with Windows.

Specifically, these changes include:

We are planning to remove Save as PDF, as well as Save as XPS, from Office 2007 and make both available only as a separate download
We will give OEMs the option to remove XPS from Windows
We have offered to ship Adobe’s Flash and Shockwave software with every copy of Windows Vista worldwide

Unfortunately, these steps are not enough for Adobe and they are threatening to take legal action. As a result, we wanted to share with you the background information on this as well as highlights.

Background:

PDF as open standard:

Our “Save as PDF” feature was initially included in beta versions of Office 2007 in response to the more than tens of thousands of inquiries we receive from customers each month requesting this specific feature. We added it because Adobe had previously released its Portable Document Format (PDF) specifications as an open standard, one which has been widely implemented for free by other software developers including Apple, Sun, Corel and OpenOffice.

When asked recently about the “openness” of PDF by a Massachusetts senator, an Adobe executive explicitly stated that “no one needs permission from Adobe to build their own product with the PDF standard.” The executive also said that Adobe makes the PDF standard “available for free, without restrictions, to anyone who cares to use it.” Given statements such as these, we felt including support for the format in our products was an entirely reasonable course of action.

We have been asked by Adobe to not only remove “Save as PDF” from Office, but to charge customers a price for it as well. We are willing to remove it and make it a download, but will not charge our customers for something that our competitors are allowed to offer for free.

Windows Vista XPS:

While Adobe’s predominant concern has been over Office, they also have some concern over our decision to provide fixed format document capabilities – XPS – in Windows Vista as well. The product team had not made a final decision on the XPS approach, and making it optional to OEMs was one option under consideration. Given Adobe’s concerns, we made the final decision to make it optional.

Highlights:

 We have taken a number of significant steps to accommodate Adobe, and offered many proposals in an effort to avoid a dispute, but we have now reached a point where we feel what they are asking for is not in the best interest of our customers.

 In an effort to accommodate Adobe, we have offered make changes to our products and even to ship their products with Windows.

o We are planning to remove Save as PDF from Office, as well as Save as XPS, and make both available only as a separate download

o We have offered to ship Adobe’s Flash and Shockwave software with every copy of Windows Vista.

o We will give OEMs the option to remove XPS from Windows

 Unfortunately, the changes we are planning to make are not enough for Adobe and they are pressuring us to do even more. Adobe is asking us to charge our customers a price for using what everyone else in the world can use for free.

 Adobe has long claimed that PDF is an open standard and dozens of companies, including a number of our competitors, have implemented that standard, but Adobe insists we need to charge a price.

 When we design products, we are very sensitive to potential competitor complaints, and we’ve tried to address Adobe’s concerns as best we can. But first and foremost, we have to design products for customers, not competitors. We are extremely mindful of our regulatory obligations, but that does not mean we should not innovate on behalf of our customers.

 Removing features that customers want from popular products is not a good outcome. Customers should know, however, that even though we are planning to take the PDF feature out of Office to accommodate Adobe, we will offer this capability through a free download.

WEB: Windows XP Media Center Edition information sites

Fri, 26 May 2006 01:19:15 GMT

Folks that have Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 installations will find this list useful. This is a list of all web sites I know that cater to Windows XP Media Center Edition users.

It's cool because there are a 101 different add ons you can apply to your Media Center if you're a geek. This products not much good for Mom & Dad but if the geeks of the world that want a customized experience for their DVR solution, then this is it.

http://www.deskshare.com/Resources/articles/dmc_DVRMS.aspx

http://www.eirikso.com/2005/11/15/converting-dvr-ms-files-from-your-media-center/

http://mcesoft.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&Itemid=82

http://msdn.microsoft.com/smartclient/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/dnxpmce/html/dvr-ms.asp

http://thegreenbutton.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/using/DVD/burntvtodvd.mspx

NEWS: Microsoft officially acquires ProClarity

Mon, 22 May 2006 23:51:44 GMT

Quick news bite: Microsoft has completed its acquisition of ProClarity – a leading provider of software that provides advanced analysis and visualization technologies for the Microsoft BI Platform. The acquisition of ProClarity will allow Microsoft to offer increased business intelligence capabilities as an integral part of Microsoft Office system applications and servers. ProClarity products are expected to retain the ProClarity brand and are expected to be on the Microsoft volume licensing price list by the January 2007 timeframe.

INFO: New Microsoft Newsletter - Support Lifecycles for Products

Mon, 22 May 2006 21:54:23 GMT

New Microsoft Support Lifecycle Newsletter available - register today!

We are going to be publishing a newsletter that you can subscribe to that will tell you precisely what products are phasing into another support cycle. (going into extended support, requiring a service pack to receive hotfix support, or losing their support altogether)

This will be a quarterly newsletter. I will not be notifying you of the information in this newsletter moving forward because of the amount of content involved:

One of the bigger highlights this month is the complete end of Windows XP Service Pack 1 support on October 10, 2006. There will be no support available for SP1 users and there will be no security updates available. Customers must migrate to Service Pack 2.

Here are some other notable highlights of this month:
- Java Virtual Machine Support Expiring completely --December 31, 2007
- SQL Server 7.0 and Exchange 2000 transitioning to Extended Support – December 30, 2005
- Windows XP — Mainstream Support Extension
(Windows XP was scheduled to end Mainstream Support on December 31, 2006. However, its follow-on release, Windows Vista, is not scheduled to ship until late 2006. In keeping with Lifecycle Policy, Windows XP will remain in Mainstream Support for two years after Windows Vista’s release. Dates on the external site will be updated once an official release date for Windows Vista is announced.)
- Office XP transitioning to Extended Support — June 30, 2006
- Windows 98, Windows 9Second Edition, Windows ME completely unsupported – July 11, 2006
- Exchange 5.5 completely unsupported – January 10, 2006
- Office 2003 SP1 completely unsupported —October 10, 2006
- Outlook 2001 for Mac completely unsupported July 11, 2006

There are over 100 products listed in the list so please subscribe ASAP. You will be able to subscribe to the Quarterly Lifecycle Informational Update directly from the Microsoft Subscription Center:

https://profile.microsoft.com/RegSysProfileCenter/SubCntDefault.aspx.

INFO: More on the topic of disk defragmentation from a Microsoft MVP

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 19:55:11 GMT

Here's a bit of dialog I received from a Raxco engineer on the topic of disk defragmentation.

Normally I ignore random emails/comments/questions from folks that don't come from my customer's domains - but in this case I've decided to make an exception, not because I agree with everything he says so please don't consider this an endorsement, or think that the following will make your workstation run at Warp 9.9, but more because it is a set of interesting details that he put so much effort into writing about and has so much ridiculous passion around Windows File Systems. God bless the MVPs.

Here's part of the the mail I got from Raxco Engineer Greg Hayes:

[begin clip]

Bootvis is a wonderful tool for diagnosing boot time issues. Unfortunately, it is no longer available directly from Microsoft (however, you can find it on countless other sites). [Editor's Note: Actually it's still available from us... you can find it here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/BTV/1.0/WXP/EN-US/BootVis-Tool.exe - ks] Unfortunately, people's perception of what Bootvis is used for is mostly incorrect. I agree that it is a powerful tool to be used to diagnose drivers that are slowing down the boot process - indicating a driver that may not fully be compatible or optimized for Windows XP. However, many people assume that Bootvis will auto magically improve boot speed. They don't realize that the mechanisms that Bootvis uses to speed up the boot process, Windows XP already is capable of performing on its own (with certain limitations).

Windows XP does the same thing as Bootvis. Both monitor the boot process and identify the drivers that load during the boot process.

This information is stored in the prefetch folder. Windows takes advantage of this information to perform driver load optimization. In addition, an attempt is made by both Bootvis and by Windows XP to group the boot files together on the drive so that they load faster - the recognition being that fragmented boot files slow down boot speed.

The difference between what Bootvis is doing and what Windows XP is doing is that Windows XP monitors the boot process and after approximately 3 boots knows enough to perform the boot optimization. Bootvis bases it on the results of a single boot. The final step of both Bootvis and what Windows XP attempts to do (every 3 days) is to take the boot files and place them together on the drive. This is accomplished via the built-in defragmenter's command line interface in conjunction with the /B switch. You'll notice if you go to the command prompt and enter defrag /?, /B isn't listed as a valid switch. However, it is and what it does is tell the built-in defragmenter to attempt to congregate the boot files together on the drive. Windows XP tries to do this approximately every 3 days as part of the idle task processing.

This exists as a non-displayed task that is run by Windows Task Scheduler.

In order for this partial "defrag" to occur, an important thing must happen: there must be contiguous free space on the drive of a size large enough to hold all of the boot files. During the partial defrag process, the built-in defragmenter doesn't clear out free space to hold the boot files. It depends on this contiguous free space already existing. If this contiguous free space doesn't exist, the boot file optimization (grouping the files together on the drive) doesn't happen.

In addition, if there does happen to exist a large enough piece of contiguous free space, it may not be located in the best spot on the drive. Instead of being at the beginning of the drive (where access is fastest), it is typically further in the drive - where drive speed isn't optimal. Ideally, what should happen is that the boot files should be placed adjacent to the MBR on the drive (at the beginning of the drive) so that the fastest boot speeds can be attained. Due to the nature of Windows XP and the fact that Windows doesn't identify boot files until after 3 boots, it is extremely rare for the boot files to be found at the beginning of the drive as the beginning of the drive by then is filled up with files and the built-in defragmenter doesn't move these existing files out of the way in order to accommodate the boot files.

The optimization process (partial defrag) will only move them to where there is a large amount of free space - which is typically found further in the drive (slower part of the drive).

You also mention in your article about clearing out disk space and defragmenting. I agree with you that Windows does need some space on the drive in order to function efficiently. However, it isn't the amount of free space available but the fragmentation of the free space that causes performance problems. If free space is fragmented, then you do need 15-20% free space on the drive. However, if free space is consolidated (defragmented), then Windows performs extremely well with as little as 5% free space. Free space fragmentation affects write performance on the drive. If free space is fragmented, it takes Windows longer to write files and the files that are written have no choice but to be written in a fragmented state. Fragmentation = Wasted Disk Seeks = Performance Loss. The key to providing best overall drive performance is to defragment files AND consolidate free space. Defragmenting files improves read performance. Consolidating free space improves write performance. If you only do one and not the other, you are only providing half the performance improvement. The built-in defragmenter - either in performing the partial defrag of the boot files or defragmenting the entire drive - simply does NOT do an effective job of consolidating free space (one of its many limitations). As a result, free space over time gets very fragmented on the drive, which prevents boot optimization (partial defrag) from occurring, which slows down Windows in general as well as the boot process.

Ideally, what you would need to do is to defragment the drive - place the boot files together at the beginning of the drive, defragment files and consolidate free space. This provides the best possible drive performance. Unfortunately, things aren't always ideal. The built-in defragmenter only performs a small subset of this process and even 3rd party defragmenters tend to ignore free space consolidation or boot file optimization (and sometimes ignore both).

Greg Hayes
Systems Engineer
Raxco Software Inc.
http://www.raxco.com
Microsoft MVP/Windows File Systems

https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=8cb41391-dd7c-4b2e-861c-81a3f4872a69

INFO: Windows Vista acceleration "technology names"

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 09:11:04 GMT

Windows PC Accelerators is the new term that encompasses Windows Vista’s new performance-enhancing technologies. The Windows PC Accelerators are:

Windows® SuperFetch™
Windows® ReadyBoost™ (formerly code-named “EMD”)
Windows® ReadyDrive™ (formerly code-named “Piton”)

Feature descriptions and sample usage follow:

Windows SuperFetch™ is a memory management innovation in Windows Vista that helps make your PC consistently responsive by tracking what applications are used most on a given machine and intelligently preloading these applications into memory.
Windows ReadyBoost™ (formerly code-named “EMD”) makes PCs running genuine Windows Vista more responsive by using flash memory on a USB drive, SD Card, Compact Flash, or other memory form factor to boost system performance. (Sample Usage: Windows ReadyBoost™ is an easy way to make my computer feel faster. I just put in a USB key and follow the instructions on the screen. Note: This MUST be a USB 2.0 200x "extreme performance" to work)
Windows ReadyDrive™ (formerly code-named “Piton”) enables Windows Vista PCs equipped with a hybrid hard drive to boot up faster, resume from hibernate in less time, and preserve battery power. Hybrid hard drives are a new type of hard disk, which integrate non-volatile flash memory with a traditional hard drive.
Sample Usage: I want to be sure my next laptop has a hybrid hard disk so I can use Windows ReadyDrive™.

INFO: Does your WinXP boot time suck?

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 16:58:32 GMT

Does your Windows XP workstation boot time suck? Are you tired of waiting 2 minutes just to logon from the GUI? There's a number of things you can do to both diagnose your situation and also speed it up.

Turn on verbose security status messages. Depending on where your slowdown in the boot/login process is, verbose status messages can help you understand what process is taking so long during the boot/login cycle. Note that this will display messages for startup and shutdown, logon and logoff.
- Open your registry and find or create this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE: SOFTWARE -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Policies -> System
- To enable verbose status messages, create a new DWORD value called "verbosestatus" and set it to "1". (verbosestatus REG_DWORD 0x00000001 (1))
- An additional value called "DisableStatusMessages" forces status messages to be disabled, make sure this value does not exist or is set to "0". (DisableStatusMessages REG_DWORD 0x00000000 (0))
- Restart Windows for the change to take effect.
Turn off "Automatically search for network folders and printers". This process can pause Windows for a while and can be an annoyance.
- Go to Control Panel->Folder Options->View tab->
- Uncheck "Automatically search for network folders and printers"
Turn on boot logging. This literally lists out every process that is run during
Go to the My Computer>Tools>Folder Options>View tab and select "Show hidden files and folders" and then uncheck "Hide protected operating system files". Then go to the root folder of the C:\ drive and find the boot.ini file. Open it up in Notepad and add " /sos /bootlog" without the quotes after " /fastdetect". That will show drivers as they are loaded and will create a boot log each time the machine is started called Ntbtlog.txt and which lives in the %Systemroot%\Windows folder. The boot log will almost certainly show where the hang is occurring.
Run Bootvis.exe. Bootvis provides "boot visability" and provides visual graphs of what processes are run or loaded during boot, what order these processes are run, and how long each process takes. It will also optimize the organization of the drivers to load in the most optimal fashion process. While this will not likely diminish the large problem of boot time it will most certainly help you identify the specific driver or service that is causing you pain.
Many people will find that MRXSMB.SYS is a process that takes up a lot of time - usually around 2 minutes. Points #2, #5, and #6 are important to resolving this issue.
Clear out Network Places. This is a common problem - if you have cached locations listed in Network Places, these can cause boot time hangs in login when the system attempts to verify their presence on the network. This is usually a process that takes exactly 2 minutes.
Go to Start -> Network Places. Highlight and delete all the links listed here.
Delete & Defrag. Clearing out disk space is probably the #1 thing a person can do to increase their performance overall - not just boot time. Most people simply don't understand that the disk needs free space on it - a LOT - for Windows or any operating system to operate efficiently. This is the inherent nature of random access storage... but most people think that "because I have a 40GB drive, I can store 40GB of data on it." This is true - but not without a performance penalty. Generally, make sure you have at least 15-20% of the drive empty at all times - don't believe me? Take a look at a really slow running system and check how much space is left on it. Use a tool like CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com) to clear our temp files and cached files to start. Also pick up a copy of a commercial disk defragmentation product and defrag your hard disk - first reorganize and system files and directory entries.

UPDATE: 4/21/2006: So out of the blue, I get an email from Raxco, the maker of Perfect Disk, another commerical Windows disk defragmentation product. Apparently one of their engineers somehow found my blog and noticed I'd originally mentioned Executive Software's Diskeeper but not Raxco's Perfect Disk and subsequently wrote a fairly long mail about Bootvis.exe, the role of defrag products in optimization, and what Raxco's value was in comparison to Diskeeper.

Admittedly, I technically should have just written the words, "commerical disk defragmentation product" instead of "Diskeeper 10" (I've since changed the wording in this blog entry above) but let's be honest: Both of you guys (my customers, for those of you reading this blog that aren't one of my customers) have existing relationships with Executive Software account sales reps so I didn't think this was going to be an issue.

In Raxco's defense however, I've heard really good things about Perfect Disk from several other Microsoft engineers and they are in fact a really good partner of ours so in the spirit of fairness, here's a pointer to their product as well in case you're interested. (I'm also going to post the content of some of their explanation of how system file ordering can be optimized using their product which might be interesting to some of you.)

Raxco's Perfect Disk 7.0 - http://www.raxco.com

And here's a link to Diskeeper's web site:
Executive Software's Diskeeper 10 - http://www.diskeeper.com

INFO: Another reason why your users should never be Local Admins on their wkstns

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 09:10:51 GMT

Here's reason #142 for "why your users should never be Local Administrators of their workstations":

How to bypass corporate Group Policy as the Local Administrator of your workstation:

http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/04/circumventing-group-policy-settings.html

This is well known to many however now that Mark's published an article detailing exactly how to do it, it might behoove folks to get a move on and start locking down people's accounts to at least Power Users.

This underscores the point that anyone that has Local Admin privileges of their workstations can literally do anything they want on their machines with a little creative thinking. Companies that place their users in the Local Admin group are simply cutting corners for their own ease-of-administration to the detriment of their corporate security policies.

INFO: NOT SUPPORTED starting June 30, 2006 - Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows ME

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 01:53:11 GMT

On June 30, 2006, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows ME (and their related components) will transition to a non-supported status. After this date, Microsoft will no longer provide any incident support options or security updates. Microsoft is not offering a CSA for these products. Additional information on Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows ME can be located at: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifean1.

INFO: I'm in Japan for the next 10 days...

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 09:34:47 GMT

...so this site won't be updated for a week or so. I'm taking a tour of sake breweries throughout the greater part of Japan with a group of about 20 people led by Benihana of Tokyo founder, Rocky Aoki and his wife Keiko.

So I'll see y'all then. If I get access to a terminal somewhere and I find something interesting in the world of Microsoft, I'll post it.

INFO: Making money on your MSN Spaces blog

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 11:22:59 GMT

Want to know, in a nutshell, how to make some cash on your MSN Spaces Blog? It's weird. No one's written about this topic much and it's such a huge part of the new MSN Spaces 10.5.

Making Money through MSN Spaces' "Sponsored Advertising" module and Kanoodle.com

If you are a Kanoodle Bright Ads registrant, than you can deliver contextual advertising directly within you blog without doing anything other than adding the "Sponsored Advertising" module to your MSN Space and pointing it to your Kanoodle account. If you are NOT registered with Kanoodle, simply adding the "Sponsored Advertising" module to your MSN Space will get you started. The module itself will enable you to register with Kanoodle and get you on your way.

Make sure that you've signed into your MSN Space and are in Edit mode.
Click the Customize tab.
Click "Modules"
Add the "Sponsored Advertisements" module. It may require you to scroll through the different modules drop down box.
Follow the instructions in the module box that appears on your MSN Space layout.

Making Money through MSN Spaces' "Book Lists" module and Amazon.com's Affiliate Program:

If you are an Amazon Associate, you can link your MSN Spaces book list to your Amazon Associate ID and earn money for purchases that come from your list. If you are NOT an Amazon Associate, you may sign up and receive your Amazon Associate ID by going here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html/002-9271857-5617646?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=3435371

Make sure that you have signed into your space and are in edit mode (One of the two views available to the author of a space in MSN Spaces. Edit mode allows you to customize your space and post new content to it.) .
Make sure you have created a book list.
Click the Settings tab.
On the Space Settings tab, scroll down to Amazon Associates.
In the Amazon Associates box, type your Amazon Associate ID.

Note: If you don't have a book list on your space, you will not be able to enter your Amazon Associate ID on the Space Settings page.
Click Save.

INFO: Removing those "$NtUninstallKB...." directories in Windows

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 08:50:05 GMT

We've all seen them: Those "$NtUninstallKB...." directories within Windows that take up a TON of space. The question is... can I delete them?

The answer's YES - if you never want to uninstall a given patch. That's all these things are: Backup files in case you ever want to uninstall a patch from your system. They are directly corollated to the entries in Add/Remove Programs for each patch that's installed. If you delete the directory for a "$NtUninstallKB....", there will still be a Registry entry that will have Add/Remove Programs displaying that patch and enabling people to attempt to uninstall it... even though no uninstall files exist.

So basically, you have to do both: Delete the directory, the delete the reg entry. Seems easy enough... until you realize that this can be laborious for 100 patches. Enter Doug Knox's tool.

Doug Knox sells a shareware app that does both tasks. It will completely remove all Hotfix backups in it's unregistered mode, and it will remove selective Hotfix backups in it's registered mode. Registration for the utility is only $5. www.dougknox.com

There's more of a discussion on this topic here:

http://www.winguides.com/forums/showflat.php?Board=brdQuestions&Number=123143

INFO: How to switch phones on Verizon Wireless' network

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 11:14:02 GMT

If you have a Verizon Wireless account, there is a web site where you can change your phone number's device. In other words, this is how you can switch between, say a Smartphone to a Pocket PC Phone and back.

https://myaccount.verizonwireless.com/vzs/customer/ecmx?action=esnChange

You must have an account on the web site so that you can login.

You must also have the ESN/MEID of the phone you wish to associate with your cellular phone number.

Most people report that the change takes place within 5 minutes. Voice Mail notification may lag however.

STUDY: Email can diminish an individual's IQ

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 10:40:16 GMT

I find it really weird that more people didn't really take to this story when it was first written about so I'm going to continue to write about it until someone takes notice.

The bottom line is that I STRONGLY believe that companies and employees themselves really need to be concerned about this syndrome. The symptoms of 'infomania' include a loss of short term memory, a lack of concentration ona single task and the tendency to drift to some other thought context, and the inability to remember simple lists of 'to-do' items. The implications of this problem for an employee are obvious however, the aggregate loss to a company is potentially devastating.

The bottom line is that I believe according to this study, constant interruption during the workday by email, instant messaging, fellow employees, Internet popups, and other 'context switches for the mind' are a very bad thing to our brains when sustained over time. People need to protect themselves and here are a few ways that I think you can do this:

- Set email checking to broader time intervals. You DON'T need to have email delivered to you immediately. Make it every 15 - 30 minutes. Being interrupted by email arrival through both audible and visual signals on the screen are also bad - disable these interruptions.

- Set instant messaging visual signals to notify you only when someone directly needs to contact you, and set your 'state' to be BUSY so that only the most urgent of interruptions are made. There is no need for your train of thought to be interrupted by your instant messaging application just to let you know that "Jane Doe" is now online. Disable these notifications.

- Install a managable pop-up blocker. While I do work for Microsoft, I strongly encourage the MSN Search Toolbar because it's popup blocking capabilities are unmatched. While Google's toolbar may provide a similar function, only MSN's toolbar is managable and can provide 'white lists' to enable appropriate web sites to provide pop ups. This is managable using Group Policy through .ADM files that we provide.

-----------------------

Abuse of Technology Can Reduce Worker's Intelligence

Earlier this year, around April, Hewlett Packard released the results of a study that was conducted by the University of London: Excessive use of technology such as email and text messages can cause a fall in IQ greater than that caused by smoking marijuana.

The study of more than 1000 adults was commisioned by HP and conducted at the University of London's Institute of Psychiatry.

The research showed that the average reduction of 10 IQ points as participants' work was interrupted by emails and text messages is more than double the four-point loss caused by smoking marijuana.

A third of all adults will respond to an email immediately or within 10 minutes, the study showed. But women are more effective at multitasking: Their drop in IQ was only five points, compared to 15 for men.

This is the BBC article about the study:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4471607.stm
This is the Rocky Mountain News article about the study:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/technology/article/0,1299,DRMN_49_3726289,00.html
This is Netscape's article about it:
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/tech/package.jsp?name=fte/emailandiq/emailandiq
This is CNN's news page on it:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/22/text.iq/
This is Hewlett Packard's web pages on it:
http://h41131.www4.hp.com/uk/en/pr/UKen22042005142004.html
http://h40059.www4.hp.com/featurestories/infomania.html
The actual study from the University of London is located here:
http://h40059.www4.hp.com/featurestories/pdf/HP-Guide-to-Info-Mania.pdf

INFO: The differences between NTFS5, NTFS4, FAT32, & FAT16

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 06:12:16 GMT

Check out this chart. It lists out all the benefits of NTFS over FAT and the two versions of each. This will be interesting considering all the incredible advantages that NTFS has over FAT - in particular file sizes larger than 4GB, which are becomning more and more common with things like video files and virtual machine disks.

http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htm

INFO: Using the RSS feed from MSN Spaces on Windows Mobile/Pocket PC

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 21:53:17 GMT

I'm a long time user of Newsbreak, Ilium Software's RSS Newsreader for Windows Mobile 2003. Yes, yes, yes - I know that there are arguably better solutions out there. PocketRSS is the one people constantly cite (which I ALSO have loaded) but I have to tell you that the user interface on PocketRSS is so congested with crap, and it makes you feel like you're doing unnatural things just to a) look at a feed and b) read an article.

The problem is that if you subscribe to an RSS Newsfeed from MSN Spaces (usually using the format: http://spaces.msn.com/members/BLOGNAME/feed.rss) sometimes you'll find that your newsreader in Pocket PC suddenly won't update/refresh the channel's content. I've been dealing with this for a very long time without

resolution. I even went so far as to install another RSS newsreader.

I eventually contacted Ilium Software, the writers of Newsbreak, my RSS Newsreader and they responded that this is a known issue. It has to do with Internet Explorer which is used to display content within the newsreader. Basically, the solution is to clear out the cache completely of Pocket Internet Explorer on the Windows Mobile 2003 device and you'll find that the RSS feed will be pulled in.

The problem is basically that if Internet Explorer has logged into MSN Spaces before, there are a set of cached credentials that reside on the device that interfere with the access of the RSS feed from the Pocket PC.

In any case, I thought I'd document this so that someone else might search and find it because frankly, I searched all over the web and couldn't see this documented anywhere.