Thursday, December 18, 2008

Access more memory, even on a 32-bit system [Newsletter Comp Version]

If your software garbles this newsletter, read this issue at WindowsSecrets.com.

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Windows Secrets Newsletter • Issue 179 • 2008-12-18 • Circulation: over 400,000

The Google Way excerpt

Learn the tricks Google uses to stay on top
This new work, The Google Way, explains the secrets behind the search giant's success. The printed book won't be available until March 2009 but — by special arrangement with the publisher — all paid subscribers to Windows Secrets can download our exclusive excerpt until Jan. 21. In three full chapters, you'll learn how Google finds exceptional people and stimulates them with its "20% rule." Use the links below to download your bonus or upgrade to the paid version to qualify.

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INTRODUCTION

Did you miss the best stories of 2008?

Brian Livingston By Brian Livingston

I'm proud of all the writers for Windows Secrets, but I'm especially proud when subscribers give our writers top ratings for articles they've written.

I'd like to say that all of our articles are above average, but the truth is that some stories really stand out with especially high ratings from our readers.

At the end of the major articles in our e-mail newsletter, we include polling buttons so our subscribers can vote on a scale of 1 to 5 to tell us how useful they found each article. Believe me, our writers pay close attention to this brutal but important feedback. (Note: the polling buttons don't appear in the Web version of our articles.)

The three highest-rated articles of 2008 are:
  • Fred's retirement announcement. Our editor-at-large, Fred Langa, decided to retire from computer writing in May 2008. In a huge sympathy vote, his fond farewell garnered the highest rating of any article we've ever published (4.59 out of a possible 5.0). Fortunately for his fans, however, retirement didn't suit Fred. He came back with a bang on Oct. 9 with an all-new weekly column in our paid content.

  • Flash can be a privacy threat. Contributing editor Woody Leonhard scores right below Fred on Oct. 23 with an exposé of the way "Flash cookies" can be a bigger privacy concern than ordinary Web cookies.

  • Breaking news on Internet Explorer. A news update we published on Oct. 24 featured advice from contributing editor Susan Bradley on an emergency IE patch that was released that week by Microsoft. Our readers clicked the links to Microsoft.com in Susan's column more than 190,000 times to obtain information on various versions of the patch.
All of the 10 top-rated stories from 2008 are shown below. If you missed any, I hope you'll take a minute to review the ones that might be the most helpful to you.

The 10 highest-rated Windows Secrets stories of 2008:

 = paid content

Six of the 10 articles appeared in our paid content rather than our free sections. If you're a free subscriber, there's no fixed fee to get access to our premium content. Any financial contribution — whatever it's worth to you — qualifies you to receive a full 12 months of our paid version and access to all past paid content. How to get the paid content

To see other highly rated articles we've published in this and previous years, visit our polls page.

Send your friends a holiday gift of secrets

I announced in a special news update on Dec. 17 that I'd temporarily lost my mind and was letting subscribers give their friends a full three months of the paid version of Windows Secrets, absolutely free.

If you missed that e-mail, you can still take advantage of this opportunity. Our holiday giveaway works this way:
  • Step 1. Send the following URL in the text of an e-mail message to everyone you'd like to give, as a free gift, the paid version of the newsletter:

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    You can include any text you like that will explain to your friends that they can get the paid version of this newsletter absolutely free as a gift. Please don't spam a bunch of strangers — just send your message to your friends, people who regularly receive e-mail from you.

  • Step 2. The holiday gift is only for people who've never had a subscription before.

  • Step 3. People who visit the link and enter a valid e-mail address by Dec. 31, 2008, will receive a confirmation message. They must click a link in that message to verify their address and begin their subscription.
What's in this holiday giveaway for you? Just the satisfaction of knowing you gave something of value to people you care about. That's the true spirit of the holiday season.

This freebie is a one-time thing in response to today's global economic slowdown and may never be repeated. Please alert your friends to take advantage of it today.

No newsletters Dec. 25 or Jan. 1; see you Jan. 8

Our next regularly scheduled newsletter will be published on Jan. 8, 2009. We skip publication during the last two weeks of December, so there won't be any new content on Dec. 25 or Jan. 1. If something important occurs, we'll send you a short news update despite our year-end break.

Please have a happy and safe holiday season!

Brian Livingston is editorial director of WindowsSecrets.com and co-author of Windows Vista Secrets and 10 other books.

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TOP STORY

Access more memory, even on a 32-bit system

Scott Dunn By Scott Dunn

No matter how much memory you have in your PC, you may not be getting the most out of your installed RAM.

A few little-known system tweaks can improve the way Windows manages memory, freeing up more RAM for your applications.

As described in an entry on the Microsoft Developer Network, all non-server 32-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista impose a memory limit of 4GB. Your system may allow you to install more than this amount of RAM, but with few exceptions, the extra memory won't do Windows or your applications any good.

Moreover, even if you have 4GB of memory installed in your PC, you may not be able to use it all. For example, if your video card comes with 1MB of memory and you have 4GB of RAM, your system actually has 5GB of memory physically installed. But Windows will use only 4GB of that total, regardless.

It gets worse: according to a comment posted to the MSDN article, Windows itself is getting only 3GB because the video card gets 1GB. This happens because the memory aperture — a portion of system memory — is used to work with the video system.

Ways to break through Windows' RAM ceiling

Fortunately, there are techniques you can use to get around Windows' system-memory limitations. One method is to use Physical Address Extension (PAE), a feature of x86 processors that lets 32-bit operating systems overcome the 4GB memory limit.

Another MSDN article explains that 32-bit Windows operating systems support PAE. Even though XP and Vista still cling to the 4GB limit with PAE enabled, the feature may help you get back some of your unused RAM.

In one or two rare cases, a developer may take advantage of PAE technology to get around the usual Windows limits. For example, reader Alan Gorski reports that when he increased a computer to 8GB, the program AutoCAD was able to open large drawing files without generating the "out of memory" errors he previously had seen. As Gorski notes, "AutoCAD has long used special memory management techniques since the DOS days to maximize use of available RAM."

There's a good chance your system is already using PAE. That's because Windows relies on the technology to support the security feature known as Data Execution Prevention (DEP). For more information about Windows and DEP, see my Top Story in the May 3, 2007, issue.

If a computer supports hardware-enforced DEP, then PAE is enabled as well. Here's how to check for it in Windows XP:

  • Step 1. Choose Start, Run.
  • Step 2. Type sysdm.cpl and press Enter.
  • Step 3. Click the Advanced tab. In the Performance box, click Settings and choose the Data Execution Prevention tab.
  • Step 4. Look for a status message at the bottom of the dialog box. If it indicates that your hardware does not support DEP, chances are PAE is not enabled.
To check your system's PAE status in Vista, do the following:
  • Step 1. Press Win+R to open the Run dialog box.
  • Step 2. Type SystemPropertiesDataExecutionPrevention and press Enter.
  • Step 3. If prompted by User Account Control, click Continue.
  • Step 4. If the status message at the bottom of the dialog box says your system supports DEP and the "Turn on" button is selected, then PAE is enabled as well.
If PAE is not already enabled on your system, here's how to activate it in Windows XP:
  • Step 1. Choose Start, Run.
  • Step 2. Type notepad c:\boot.ini and press Enter.
  • Step 3. Under the [operating systems] heading, look for a line that contains the /noexecute switch, which turns software DEP. For example, it may be /noexecute=optin, /noexecute=optout, or /noexecute=always on. Place the cursor directly after that switch and type a space followed by /pae. Save the file and reboot.
If you don't have DEP enabled on Vista (or you don't want it enabled), you can still activate PAE by following these steps:
  • Step 1. Click Start, type cmd.exe and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
  • Step 2. If prompted by User Account Control, click Continue. This opens a command prompt window with administrator privileges.
  • Step 3. At the prompt, type BCDEdit /set PAE ForceEnable and press Enter.
You can read more about PAE in this post on Microsoft's TechNet site.

Microsoft warns in another TechNet article that some drivers will not load if PAE is enabled. After you make this change, keep an eye on your system. If you have problems with drivers or your system starts acting up, remove the /pae switch from boot.ini in XP, or enter the following command line in an administrator command prompt in Vista:

BCDEdit /set PAE ForceDisable

For more information on the switches and settings related to PAE, consult this MSDN paper, "Boot Parameters to Configure DEP and PAE."

Reader Alan Gorski will receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his choice for information used in this story. Send us your tips via the Windows Secrets contact page.

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Scott Dunn is a contributing editor of the Windows Secrets Newsletter. He has been a contributing editor of PC World since 1992 and currently writes for the Here's How section of that magazine.

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PATCH WATCH

Microsoft's out-of-cycle patch plugs hole in IE

Susan Bradley By Susan Bradley

Please stop your holiday preparations long enough to apply this week's important security update for Internet Explorer.

While most of the sites that currently host the so-called XML exploit are located in Asia, this attack on IE is likely to spread quickly to other sites, so make sure to update your PCs with this patch before using Microsoft's browser for anything else.

Microsoft security bulletin MS08-078 (Knowledge Base article 960714) was released on Dec. 18 to correct a serious hole that affects every flavor of IE from version 5 to the beta of version 8. Install this patch immediately, if not sooner. The easiest way to install it is to click Start, Microsoft Update (or Start, Windows Update) and download the patch from there.

Unlike many other Internet Explorer patches, this one is not a cumulative update. It's only patching the issue discussed in Windows Secrets contributing editor Mark Edwards' Dec. 17 special alert.

As a Dec. 17 post on the Microsoft Security Response Center blug discusses, patches are now available for more than 300 versions of Internet Explorer in 50 different languanges. So far, although most of the Web sites that are known to be infected have been found in Asia, the Microsoft Malware Protection Center Threat Research and Response blog indicates that the exploit has been discovered at porn sites as well.

I haven't encountered any problems while testing this patch, but as with any Internet Explorer update, be prepared for conflicts with third-party firewall and security software. The vendors of those programs may need to update their applications to work with the IE patch.

Give this fix the highest priority — even if you use Firefox — because core components of Windows itself may be vulnerable to this exploit even if you're not using IE as your default browser.

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The Patch Watch column reveals problems with patches for Windows and major Windows applications. Susan Bradley recently received an MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award from Microsoft for her knowledge in the areas of Small Business Server and network security. She's also a partner in a California CPA firm.

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KNOWN ISSUES

More on troubleshooting Windows network glitches

Dennis O'Reilly By Dennis O'Reilly

The connectivity woes Scott Spanbauer reported in his Dec. 11 Top Story represent only a portion of the network problems Windows users are encountering.

Finding the source of a failed or intermittent Internet link can be a mystery worthy of a fictional sleuth.


Whether for work, play, or otherwise, our day-to-day lives rely more and more on our connection to the Internet. Unfortunately, as network links become more important, network failures become more difficult to diagnose.

Scott's story described a change Microsoft made to Vista's DHCP settings that caused problems with some routers, among other Windows network glitches. Several readers contacted us to share their tales of Windows-connectivity disaster. Richard Chase also reminds us of some other useful network-troubleshooting tips:
  • "More than a few times I've seen broken antivirus programs causing the Internet to simply not work at all. Sometimes your antivirus may appear to be working correctly, but if you've tried everything and it still doesn't work, remove it. I have seen McAfee, Norton, and AVG products do this on occasion and I've seen Telus's antivirus program do it almost all the time.

    "A simple uninstall .. and ... reinstall usually solves the problem. If, after the reinstall, your Internet [link] is broken again, seek out the antivirus company's full removal tool. Your Internet-connection woes could be caused by corrupt configuration settings that are left behind after a standard install.

    "You guys failed to mention that it could also be as simple as a bad Ethernet cable or network card. Power surges, dust, and a million other things can fry a network card. Cables get bent, chewed, and stepped on all the time. A network cable tester costs no more than $20 ... and a network card is [priced] the same. For convenience, USB-to-LAN adapters also exist for those who want to try solutions outside the computer before going internal."
Secunia's software scanner IDs some patched apps

Several Windows Secrets columnists have recommended Secunia's free Online Software Inspector and downloadable Personal Software Inspector for ensuring that your applications receive all the security and other fixes they need. In fact, Ryan Russell describes the service in this week's Perimeter Scan (paid column). Also, Susan Bradley pointed to the company's software-update services in the Dec. 11 Known Issues 2 column.

However, in recent weeks we've been hearing from readers whose experience with Secunia's update service is less than perfect. Here's what Mel Slane wrote in to tell us:
  • "Regarding using Secunia PSI to check whether your computer is patched and secure, be aware that they aren't perfect either. I just concluded a two-day nightmare, thinking that my Microsoft Office 2003 — specifically Word 2003 — wasn't secure (not updated).

    "Secunia PSI said that [Word] wasn't being patched because it was located in the wrong folder (in C:\Program Files\MicrosoftOffice\OFFICE11). Got a lengthy explanation from Microsoft on how I could fix my 'problem,' with the fourth possible step being to uninstall Office 2003 and reinstall it. Fortunately, I resisted taking that step because I knew how much of a hassle it would be, including backing up Outlook 2003 with my e-mails and addresses.

    "Then I followed one of Microsoft's recommendations, which was to check the Secunia user forum. When I did, I discovered that many, many other people had the same problem, and it wasn't with Microsoft but Secunia. Secunia wasn't responding to the problem (they apparently don't pay much attention to the user forum), even though the PSI program was apparently giving us all a false positive.

    "Fortunately, [the company] finally did respond and updated their definitions, or whatever the proper word is. When I did a rescan of my software using PSI, I was suddenly not 'insecure' anymore. The moral to the story is not to trust the software people who check the software too much, because Microsoft is not the only [company that] has problems."
Plenty of free network-usage meters available

In his Dec. 4 LangaList Plus column (paid content), Fred Langa fielded a question from a reader who was looking for a way to track the amount of bandwidth his network connection used to avoid extra charges from his ISP. Several readers told us about their favorite network-usage meters; one of them is Rory Gordon:
  • "...You mentioned various usage monitors in response to Peter Sutherland's enquiry. Like Peter, I am in Australia, and I find usage monitors essential.

    "There are a number of tools that are ISP-specific. For example, I am with iiNet and use iiUsage, which grabs the usage data from the ISP on user-configurable intervals and presents the data simply and quickly. It works only for iiNet, however.

    "If Peter is using Firefox, then there is an add-on called Net Usage [download page] which functions across a variety of ISPs, both Australian and [in] other countries. Again, this [program] grabs the data from the ISP. Both of these tools have (un)official support through Whirlpool forums.

    "Finally, a utility that isn't ISP-specific — NetMeter [download page] — is purely a bandwidth monitor that graphically shows your PC's traffic. It also keeps a log of your daily usage and can maintain the history for years.

    "All three of these tools are free. Need I say that I recommend all of them?"
Reader Ken Heppel recommends yet another free network-use monitor:
  • "I've been using a free utility name BitMeter2 [download page]. It does just what is needed here by tracking bandwidth usage and keeping a history of it. You can look at the results by month, day, or hour in graph or table format."
Readers Richard, Mel, Rory, and Ken will each receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of their choice for sending tips we printed. Send us your tips via the Windows Secrets contact page.

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The Known Issues column brings you readers' comments on our recent articles. Dennis O'Reilly is technical editor of WindowsSecrets.com.

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WACKY WEB WEEK

Even Santa can go a little holiday crazy

crazy Santa! By Katy Abby

The pressures of the holiday season are enough to drive anyone nuts. Just think what it can do to a man who already spends his days amongst tiny toymakers and flying reindeer. It's not such a stretch to imagine that Santa might snap — and take some of the denizens of the North Pole with him!

Take a look at this classic Christmas lampoon by legendary satirist Weird Al Yankovic. Happy holidays, everyone! Play the video

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The Windows Secrets Newsletter is published weekly on the 1st through 4th Thursdays of each month, plus occasional news updates. We skip an issue on the 5th Thursday of any month, the week of Thanksgiving, and the last two weeks of August and December. Windows Secrets resulted from the merger of several publications: Brian's Buzz on Windows and Woody's Windows Watch in 2004, the LangaList in 2006, and the Support Alert Newsletter in 2008.

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Personal & Educational Use Only This blog consists mainly of FREE newsletters from computer web gurus that I receive. I thought you might like to see them all in one place than try to discover them on your own. A moderate amount of editing may be done to eliminate unrelated repetitious ads or unnecessary text which bloat the post. However I have given the authors full credit and will not remove their site links because you deserve to see where it comes from and they deserve to get credit for what they have written. Your use of this site is simply for educational purposes. For more computer-related help go to: CPEDLEY.COM for free software, advice and tips on low cost products which are very helpful. If you want to contact the editor, please go CPEDLEY.COM and check the Contact page for email address.