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Firefox Update 3.6.2 Released Ahead of Schedule - Grab It Now Posted: 23 Mar 2010 05:37 PM PDT

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Gizmo's Daily Tech Treats

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How-To: Import Pictures Into Windows 7 From a Camera or Mobile Device Posted: 23 Mar 2010 05:10 PM PDT

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Who Controls the Technology that Controls Your Life?

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Vol. 10, #12 - Mar 23, 2010 - Issue #422  Who Controls the Technology that Controls Your Life? Editor's Corner Who Controls the Technology that Controls Your Life? Follow-up: Buzzing about privacy Quotes of the Week Cool Tools Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without News, Hints, Tips and Tricks No IE9 for XP Windows 7 XP Mode will no longer require hardware virtualization support Can't run Windows Virtual PC on XP USB storage support coming to Xbox? How To: Using XP Features How to disable Fast User Switching XP Security News Web browser security news XP Question Corner Is there a way to put multiple clocks in the system tray in XP? XP Configuration and Troubleshooting Can't open HTML Help files from Internet Explorer File in network folder opens as read-only or returns error message Fav Links This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff Product of the Week PC Speed Maximizer: Keep your PC Running like New NEW! VIPRE® Antivirus Premium 4.0 VIPRE is the only antivirus software that does not slow down your PC, and now it comes with integrated firewall! VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0 Does not slow down your PC New antivirus + antispyware engine with firewall Advanced anti-rootkit technology Cutting-edge Proactive Protection Full email protection: Outlook and Windows Mail Ideal for Netbooks that need malware protection No automatic credit card charge each year! Try VIPRE Antivirus Premium now for 30-days FREE! http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-VIPRE-Antivirus-Premium  Editor's Corner Who Controls the Technology that Controls Your Life? As we've discussed here before, we're all becoming more and more dependent on technology, whether we want to or not, and there isn't much we can do about it. Most of the time, it all works and we reap wondrous benefits from the gadgets and technological infrastructure that have become such an important part of our lives. Other times, something goes wrong and we experience the frustration of dealing with people and entities that can't function efficiently - or sometimes at all - without the help of the machines. A very minor case in point: when the weather gets cold, our CATV goes bad. The digital cable channels become a mass of pixilation, ranging from the occasional annoyance of a briefly broken picture when the temperature drops a little to a completely unviewable picture with no sound when it drops a lot. We call the cable company, someone comes out and "fixes" it by adjusting the signal strength, and it works for a while - usually until the next cold snap. My contention is that we shouldn't have to pay for cable service on those days when wehave no service. Somehow the cable company doesn't agree. In the "olden days," we weren't dependent on a cable company (or satellite company, or phone company) for our TV programming. We stuck an antenna on the roof or a pair of "rabbit ears" on top of the set and tuned in over the air. Now the analog OTA channels are all gone, at least in the U.S., and good luck getting a good HD signal with an indoor antenna. In many areas, you might not be able to get a good digital OTA signal even with a traditional 30 ft. outdoor antenna. And of course, you won't be able to get all those non-broadcast network channels that you may have become addicted to. But TV, while nice to have, isn't a necessity. I can live without TV (and in fact did, for almost ten years). I'd have a harder time living with Internet connectivity, because my livelihood depends on it. Almost all of the work by which I make a living is done over the Internet, from blogging to submitting articles and white papers to communicating with clients and potential clients via email, IM and VoIP. I had a very strange thing happen recently. A software company that wants me to write for them asked for an in-person meeting. That's strange because I've been doing tech writing for over twelve years and this is the first time I will ever have met, face-to-face, the people I would be working with prior to starting the job. But that doesn't negate my statement about the Internet, since they still made first contact and the arrangements for the meeting via email. But even those of us who depend on the Internet don't really consider it completely dependable. We're all aware that connectivity could be lost at any time; most of us have had that experience more than once. A power outage, a hardware failure, a server overload - we all understand that those things happen. But what about when our technology is deliberately disabled, when someone makes a conscious decision to cause the machines on which we depend to stop working? When you think about it, then, whomever controls the Internet has a lot of power over me and others who depend on it for their work. That includes the various ISPs that provide service to me and on the other end, to those with whom I need to communicate. It includes those who maintain the domain name system on which I depend to translate friendly addresses to IP addresses and get those communications through. It also includes the government that increasingly regulates cyberspace. A Senate bill introduced last spring made big headlines when it was revealed that it would give the White House the authority to disconnect private sector computers from the Internet under the auspices of a "cyber emergency." That type of power is unlikely to be wielded on a whim; the political ramifications would be too great. But there are people and organizations out there with the ability to affect your life by cutting off other services or disabling devices other than your computer. Folks got up in arms over the idea that Apple could "brick" their phones. Now it turns out that some car dealerships can brick your vehicle. That capability is supposed to be used as an alternative to repossession, but recently in Austin, TX, a disgruntled former employee of the company used another employee's password to hack into the system and disable the ignition systems and triggering the horns of all the company's customers. http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Hacker-Disables-Cars Imagine suddenly finding that your car won't start and its horn won't stop honking, and then discovering that a stranger who was angry about being laid off from his job did it to you deliberately. Of course, many of today's cars can be disabled remotely. In 2009, General Motors began building that ability into OnStar-equipped vehicles. This can be a life-saving feature; last October it was used to disable the gas pedal on a stolen SUV and thus cutting short a police chase that could have endangered officers, the suspect and innocent bystanders: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-OnStar The disablement technology was used for a good purpose in this case, but it does give one cause to wonder: if OnStar can do it, can a clever bad guy figure out how to activate those remote commands and leave you stranded and at his mercy on a lonely road? What protections are in place to ensure that doesn't happen? Then there are those "smart meters" that the electric companies are installing all over the country. It's bad enough that some of them would allow the power company to remotely turn off your air conditioning if you're using "too much" electricity. But could someone else hack in and shut you down, spoil all the food in your refrigerator, do much worse harm if you happen to have electrically powered medical equipment? Unfortunately, the answer is probably "yes." At least year's BlackHat conference in Las Vegas, Mike Davis did a presentation on hacking the smart grid, discussing the exploits and design flaws in the smart meter and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) technology. http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Smart-Grid-Security Who is really in control of the technology that controls your life? Not you - that's for sure. Does it make you a little nervous to realize that so many of your essential systems could be turned off just because someone, somewhere, decides to do so? Or do you trust that the technologies allowing disablement of our vehicles, electrical power and Internet connections will be used only when appropriate? Do you worry about the security of those systems, or do you think they're well protected and the incidents that have occurred are isolated anomalies? What other examples can you think of, in which we're losing control of our technology? We invite you to discuss this topic in our forum at http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Forum-Discussion Follow-up: Buzzing about privacy In last week's editorial, I meandered a bit, from Google Buzz to online privacy (two different but not unrelated issues) and on into the prospect of mind reading technology, giving readers plenty of fodder for commenting. Minnesota Slim made a great point when he said, "I just don't see how anyone can sign up for any kind of SN site that is FREE first of all, where the idea is to post stuff about yourself, and then automatically expect that your info is private 'out of the box' without adjusting settings." Social networking in general is, after all, about sharing information about yourself. It really shouldn't come as a surprise if the default is to share it all. It's a little like the celebrities who work so hard to become famous, and then complain when strangers recognize them in public. You can't have it both ways; privacy and sharing are part of a continuum and the more you have of one, the less you're going to have of the other. In fact, I happen to know that some celebrities use false identities on Facebook. I understand the reasons - I have only a smidgeon of "fame" in narrow circles, and I still get many friend requests from people I don't know. These folks, who are household names, get hundreds of requests per day if they use their real names. Still, apart from the fact that it violates the Terms of Service agreement to do so, it wouldn't feel right to me to use a fake name on an SN site. I've tried writing fiction under a pseudonym before and that felt dishonest. I can't imagine pretending to be someone else in a venue where the whole point is to write about yourself. But to each his/her own. Speaking of false identities, Tim G. shared a story in the Register about how undercover agents are infiltrating MySpace, Facebook, etc. in an attempt to collect evidence on users suspected of lawbreaking. http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-MySpace When I was in law enforcement, I was an outspoken critic of undercover operations in all but the most serious of cases. I believe when the police stoop to the level of criminals and begin to emulate them, too often the lines get blurred and we become too much like criminals ourselves. Why is it okay for cops to lie, steal, do drugs and perform other criminal acts in the name of catching crooks for lying, stealing, doing drugs and performing criminal acts? Why is it okay for law enforcement officers to lie about their identities on SN sites when other people have been charged with a criminal offense for doing so? Does the end justify the means? Our world is getting more complex all the time, and that complexity leads to tough questions. We certainly aren't going to answer them all here, but it's thought-provoking and entertaining to consider them and to learn what others think about them. As always, thank you to all who participated in this discussion. 'Til next week, Deb Shinder, Editor feedback@win7news.net PS: Did you know this newsletter has a sister publication called Win7News? You can subscribe here, and tell your friends: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Win7News And for IT pros, there's our "big sister," WServer News, at http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-WserverNews Join the WXPnews Fan Page on Facebook! http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100316-WXPNews-on-Facebook Quotes of the Week "Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." - George Washington "Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever." - Napoleon Bonaparte "Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." - H.G. Wells NEW! VIPRE® Antivirus Premium 4.0 VIPRE is the only antivirus software that does not slow down your PC, and now it comes with integrated firewall! VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0 Does not slow down your PC New antivirus + antispyware engine with firewall Advanced anti-rootkit technology Cutting-edge Proactive Protection Full email protection: Outlook and Windows Mail Ideal for Netbooks that need malware protection No automatic credit card charge each year! Try VIPRE Antivirus Premium now for 30-days FREE! http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-VIPRE-Antivirus-Premium  Cool Tools Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without ADVERTISEMENT Just released! PerfectDisk 11 boosts XP, Vista, Windows 7 PC performance. New BlockViewer. Microsoft Certified. Free trial and Special Offer. http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-PerfectDisk-11 MediaWidget is the quickest and easiest way to transfer all of your music, videos, photos, podcasts, and more from your iPod to PC. Check out the cool Youtube demo and download the trial here: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-MediaWidget Do you have programs you just can't seem to get rid of? Uninstaller! 2010 "ALL New" Version Just Released: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Your-Uninstaller Shop online much? Billing address autofill, Secure password storage, all automatic and safe. Not a little toobar utility. Huge time-saver! http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-RoboForm Moving to Windows 7 is Easy! PCMover moves programs, files, and settings from your old PC to your new PC http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-PCmover Search for a driver and you get a ton of Driver Software offers instead. But how do you know which one is good? Try Driver Genious 9.0. Free scan. http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Driver-Genius Why back up when you can sync? Simply replicate every piece of data to another drive in real-time. Set it and forget it. http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-GoodSync Spellchecker is NOT ENOUGH! Improve your English writing skills with WhiteSmoke a smarter solution for high quality writing. Try it: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-WhiteSmoke  News, Hints, Tips and Tricks No IE9 for XP We always advise XP users who use Internet Explorer to upgrade to the latest version of the browser, for security and compatibility reasons. Unfortunately, you won't be able to do that when the next version of IE comes out. Microsoft has confirmed that IE 9 will not run on XP, or even on Vista unless it has Service Pack 2 applied. No, it's not just an arbitrary decision; the problem is that IE 9 uses Direct2D, which isn't part of XP and pre-SP2 Vista. Read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-IE9-and-Windows-XP Windows 7 XP Mode will no longer require hardware virtualization support If you have a new computer that came with Windows 7 but you still need to use your applications that are only supported by XP, it just got easier for you to take advantage of XP Mode in Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate editions. Previously the computer's BIOS had to support hardware virtualization technology such as Intel VT. Microsoft has just announced an update that will remove that requirement. This is good news for many people who bought low cost laptops with processors that don't support VT. Note that you still won't be able to use XP Mode on Windows Home Premium, but you can upgrade to Windows 7 Pro for $89.99 via the Anytime Upgrade program. http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Windows7-XP-Mode Can't run Windows Virtual PC on XP The latest version of Microsoft's Virtual PC software has been rebranded as Windows Virtual PC and contrary to popular belief, it will run on any version of Windows 7, including Home Basic and Home Premium. The XP Mode preconfigured VM, however, only runs on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions. The bad news is you can't install it on your XP or Vista computer. http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Windows-Virtual-PC The good news is that Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 is still available for XP and Vista, if you need to run VM software on those host operating systems. You can download it here: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Virtual-PC-2007 USB storage support coming to Xbox? That's the latest rumor, and it appears to be based on a Microsoft engineering document. No confirmation yet, but there are plenty of Xbox users who are hoping it's true. If so, you would be able to plug in a USB hard drive. The catch is that you'll only be able to use 16GB partitions for storing the games and other Xbox content. Read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Xbox-USB-Storage-Support  How To: Using XP Features How to disable Fast User Switching Windows XP supports Fast User Switching, which can be handy if you share the computer with someone else and need to swap back and forth often. But if you're the only one who uses your machine, it's just another service that runs unnecessarily and uses up your system resources. Luckily, disabling it is easy: Click Start | Control Panel | Administrative Tools Click Services to open the Services MMC Navigate to Fast User Switching and double click it Change the startup type to Disable If the service is running, click Stop Click OK Now the service will not start up automatically when you start the computer, saving some resources for other programs and services that you do use.  XP Security News Web browser security news Last week, Mozilla confirmed that there is a zero day security vulnerability in Firefox and expects to patch it at the end of the month, and Google released an updated version of Chrome that addresses nine security flaws. This is just a reminder that, despite the hoopla that you may hear about how you should switch from IE to another browser for security reasons, all web browsers have security issues and no matter which one you use, it's vital that you keep it updated with the latest security patches. http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Firefox-Zero-Day-Fix  XP Question Corner Is there a way to put multiple clocks in the system tray in XP? QUESTION: I have a new Windows 7 laptop but my desktop still runs XP and I plan to keep it for a while. If it's not broke, why fix it? BUT there is something I really like about the Windows 7 computer and I want to find out if there's some way, maybe some program, that will let me do it on my XP computer. In Windows 7 you can put more than one clock in the system tray. I like this because my daughter lives in Europe and I like to be able to know what time it is where she is, without going to a web site. Can you help? - Josie K. ANSWER: In this global society, more and more of us need to keep on top of the time in different parts of the world. I work with people on both coasts in the U.S. and in several countries overseas, so it's a big help to have clocks displaying multiple time zones. There are quite a few third party applications that do that for XP. If you specifically want an app that goes into the system tray, though, probably the best is Microsoft Time Zone. It lets you see up to five different time zones by clicking on the tray icon. It's a free download from Microsoft and you can get it here: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Time-Zone  XP Configuration and Troubleshooting Can't open HTML Help files from Internet Explorer Your XP computer with security update 896358 installed may not be able to open help files in the .CHM format when you try to open them from Internet Explorer. That's by design, to reduce the security risks of using HTML help. However, if you do need to view these types of files, there are workarounds that you can use. To find out about them, see KB article 902225 at http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-HTML-Help-Files File in network folder opens as read-only or returns error message If you try to open a file that's on a folder on the network, using Windows Explorer on your XP computer, you might find that it opens as a read-only document or that you get an error message saying the file type cannot be recognized. This happens because Windows Explorer locks and reads the file to extract the thumbnail information. Installing the latest service pack will fix it, but if there's some reason you don't want to do that, there is also a hotfix available. After installing it, you have to edit a registry key. You'll find the full instructions in KB article 830903 at http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Read-Only-Error  Fav Links This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff Disclaimer: WXPNews does not assume and cannot be responsible for any liability related to you clicking any of these linked Web sites. National Geographic's best photos of 2009 http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Photography Crayon carving http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Crayons Dog years http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Dog-Years Funny picture of the week: "Impossible" http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Funny Get information on airplane crashes and incidents throughout history http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-AirDisaster For those who hate pharmaceutical ads http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Tequila Now that is quite a moth! http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Moth The DF1 helicopter is propelled by jets attached to the tips of its blades. It is easy to fly and - powered by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) - creates zero pollution. Is this test flight going to run into the truck?: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Test-Flight No mission is impossible for a Ninja Cat: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Ninja-Cat At 4 years old, this girl has better comedic talent than 95% of stand-up comedians today: http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-Mika  Product of the Week PC Speed Maximizer: Keep your PC Running like New Download the PC Speed Maximizer trial and run a "Quick Scan" to get a quick overview of the status of your computer. From the Scan Results you will be able to see the changes necessary to optimize and protect your computer by fixing Registry Errors, cleaning Temporary and Junk Files, and optimizing your Windows settings. WXPNEWS readers get an automatic $5.00 discount if you decide to buy. Download the trial here. http://www.wxpnews.com/MY5HU3/100323-PC-Speed-Maximizer  About WXPnews What Our Lawyers Make Us Say These documents are provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in this document represents the current view of Sunbelt Software on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Sunbelt must respond to changes in market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Sunbelt and Sunbelt cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT. This newsletter and website and may contain links to other websites with whom we have a business relationship. Sunbelt Software does not review or screen these sites, and we are not responsible or liable for their privacy or data security practices, or the content of these sites. Additionally, if you register with any of these sites, any information that you provide in the process of registration, such as your email address, credit card number or other personally identifiable information, will be transferred to these sites. For these reasons, you should be careful to review any privacy and data security policies posted on any of these sites before providing information to them. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document. This document may be copied and distributed subject to the following conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and all pages must be included; 2) All copies must contain Sunbelt's copyright notice and any other notices provided therein; and 3) This document may not be distributed for profit. All trademarks acknowledged. Copyright Sunbelt Software, Inc. 1996-2010. WXPnews Archives Looking for a past issue? Missing an issue? Accidently deleted an issue? Trying to find that article that pointed you to that cool site? All our newsletters are archived and are searchable: http://www.wxpnews.com/archives.cfm About Your Subscription to WXPnews This is a posting from WXPnews. You are subscribed as cpedley.killcomputer@blogger.com. To manage your profile, please visit our site by clicking on the following link: http://www.wxpnews.com/profile.cfm?wxp=MY5HU3 If you have feedback or wish to write to the editor, write to us at feedback@wxpnews.com Sunbelt Software 33 North Garden Avenue Clearwater, Florida USA 33755

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How To Deal With Flash Cookies Posted: 20 Mar 2010 02:53 PM PDT

Weekend Roundup March 19, 2010 Posted: 19 Mar 2010 08:04 PM PDT

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Image Hosting On The Cheap: A Look at Three Free Services Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:06 PM PDT

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Weekend Roundup February 5, 2010 Posted: 05 Feb 2010 02:47 PM PST

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Is Windows 7 Starter Edition a Non-Starter - or Just Right for Netbooks?

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Vol. 2, # 11 - Mar 18, 2010 - Issue # 27   Is Windows 7 Starter Edition a Non-Starter - or Just Right for Netbooks? Editor's Corner Is Windows 7 Starter Edition a Non-Starter - or Just Right for Netbooks? Follow-up Quotes of the Week Cool Tools News, Hints, Tips and Tricks IE 9 public preview Set Windows to use a different time server Windows 7 SP1 may be out ahead of schedule Another Facebook scam to be aware of Too much video? How to: Using the New Windows 7 Features How to switch your Windows 7 display to a projector Windows 7 and Vista Security Security vulnerability in Virtual PC Question Corner How can I "fix" Windows 7 N? Windows 7 Configuration and Troubleshooting Changing the settings in Windows DVD Maker Transfer handwriting personalization to another Tablet PC Fav Links This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff Product of the Week Cucusoft iPhone Ringtone Maker: Easily Create iPhone Ringtones from Audio and Video Files NEW! VIPRE® Antivirus Premium 4.0 VIPRE is the only antivirus software that does not slow down your PC, and now it comes with integrated firewall! VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0 Does not slow down your PC New antivirus + antispyware engine with firewall Advanced anti-rootkit technology Cutting-edge Proactive Protection Full email protection: Outlook and Windows Mail Ideal for Netbooks that need malware protection No automatic credit card charge each year! Try VIPRE Antivirus Premium now for 30-days FREE! http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-VIPRE-Antivirus-Premium Editor's Corner Is Windows 7 Starter Edition a Non-Starter - or Just Right for Netbooks? Netbooks aren't quite the "selling like hotcakes" phenomenon that they were a year ago; according to some reports, sales are leveling off. After an increase of 137 percent in North America from 2008 to 2009, the sales numbers are expected to remain steady in 2010: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Netbook Some believe the iPad and its inevitable competitors in the tablet space will edge out the netbook market, but the little guys with correspondingly small price tags are still very popular - especially among students, frequent travelers and as second or third systems for those who love tech gadgets. And they're getting more functional all the time, thanks in part to the operating system. The first netbooks ran various incarnations of Linux, usually a somewhat locked down version with a very simplistic GUI. It was fine for kids, but those who were used to working with Windows on their desktops found it pretty limiting. The next wave of netbooks ran Windows XP, and that's when sales really took off. Folks were able to have their same familiar interface and do the same things they did on their more powerful computers - within the limitations of the netbook hardware. When Windows 7 was released, Microsoft was ready with an edition made just for netbooks: Windows 7 Starter Edition. There were Starter editions of XP and Vista, too, but they were only available in "emerging markets," i.e. not in first world countries. Windows 7 Starter can be sold all over the world, but you can't buy the OS itself at retail; it comes only preinstalled on small notebook PCs (netbooks). This is similar to the way Windows XP Media Center and Tablet editions were sold. Not all small notebooks come with Starter edition. Higher end ones, such as the Dell Inspiron 11 and the Asus Eee PC Seashell come with Windows 7 Home Premium, but you'll find that most of those $299 netbooks are running Starter edition. That's one of the ways they keep the price down - OEMs pay less for Starter than for Home Premium, of course. So what's the difference? Is it worth it to pay extra for Home Premium, or is Starter all that a netbook needs? Let's take a look at what differentiates Starter from its "big brothers." First, there's one limitation you might have heard about that is no longer an issue. In beta, Starter was limited to running three applications at a time. There was a huge hue and cry about this from beta testers, although the limitation was not quite as onerous as some people assumed. You were able to open as many windows as you wanted from a single program, so that for example, you could have several Word docs open, or multiple tabs open in IE, and the application still only counts as one. Also, the three-app limit didn't apply to things like Windows Explorer, Task Manager and most Control Panel applets, nor to desktop gadgets and anti-virus programs that run as a service. But it's all a moot point, anyway - because prior to final release, Microsoft listened to customers and lifted the three-app limit. Now Starter will run as many programs as the computer's system resources will handle. There are, however, still some limitations that you might not like if you're used to the full functionality of Windows 7. For example, Aero Glass is missing. Whereas not having transparent window borders may not be any big deal, this also means you don't get Aero-dependent features such as taskbar thumbnail previews and you can't use Aero Peek to quickly view your desktop. Something else that's gone is the ability to personalize your desktop. You can't change the wallpaper, window colors or sound schemes. Although it's only an aesthetic issue, many people are very bothered by not being able to customize their working spaces to fit their preferences and reflect their personalities. Then there are the more serious omissions that actually affect functionality. You can't use fast user switching; you have to log off to switch between different users. You can't play back DVDs, either - of course, netbooks generally don't come with built-in DVD drives anyway, but that's a huge drawback for some folks who might want to plug in an external player and use their netbooks as entertainment devices when they're on the road. Starter also doesn't include multi-monitor support, and it doesn't have Windows Media Center or remote media streaming. Of course, it also doesn't have those Windows 7 Pro and above features that are also missing from Home Premium, such as XP Mode and the ability to join a domain. Are these limitations you can live with? Remember that we're talking about a computer that probably costs only $300 or so - you can't expect it to do everything your $1000 desktop does. And even if the OS supported some of those features, the low-powered processor and small amount of memory would probably render them unusable or frustrating to use anyway. But there are ways around some of the limitations. For example, there are third party programs you can use to change the background wallpaper in Starter edition. Stardock My Colors is one option; you can read the instructions for using it with Starter here: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Win7-Wallpaper Here is another wallpaper changer called StarterBackgroundChanger that's free, but the instructions are in French (the interface is in English): http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Win7-Background And at least some of the Eee PCs come with something called Eee Tools that lets you change the wallpaper. As for the multiple monitor restriction, it's important to note that you can connect an external monitor to your Windows 7 Starter netbook (if the netbook has a video-out port) and display your desktop on it, as a mirror image of the netbook's internal display, so this doesn't prevent you from doing PowerPoint presentations and such. What you can't do is extend the desktop across the two monitors to gain additional desktop real estate. Finally, I haven't done this but according to reports from others, you can plug in an external DVD player and watch commercial DVDs, but you can't watch them on Windows Media Player. Instead, you'll have to install third party software such as VLC Media Player. It's a free download at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ If, even with the workarounds, you find that Starter edition is still too limited for you, you can upgrade to Windows Home Premium or even Professional or Ultimate. With Windows Anytime Upgrade, you can go from Starter edition to Home Premium for $79.99 (you can get discounts at retailers like NewEgg, which charges $75.99 for the upgrade). However, you may find that the higher end editions run more slowly on the low-powered hardware than Starter does and the video card still might not run Aero and Media Center may be sluggish. You may be able to pep up your netbook by upgrading the RAM, if it allows for that. The difference between the 1 GB of RAM that comes in most netbooks and 2 GB can be significant. Here's an article that shows you other steps you can take to optimize Ultimate for a netbook: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Win7-for-Netbooks Of course, the problem is that after you disable all these services and features, you're back to a stripped-down OS that's a lot like ... Starter edition. What do you think? Is all the hoopla about Starter edition's limitations overblown? Do you really want or need Home Premium or Ultimate on a netbook? Have you used a system running Starter edition? Which of its restrictions, if any, did you find the most difficult to live with? Was it enough to cause you to upgrade? If you upgraded, did you have to upgrade your RAM, too? Did you find yourself wishing you had paid a little more to just buy a more powerful notebook that came with a different edition of Windows 7 in the first place? We invite you to discuss this topic in our forums at http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Forum-Discussion Follow-up In last week's editorial, I talked about the high-end edition of Windows 7: Ultimate - and whether it's worth the extra cost. Readers chimed in with their opinions, which ranged all over the board. A couple of readers did mention an Ultimate feature that I left out: the ability to install language packs in Ultimate so you can easily change the language in which the menus, help files, etc. display. Another reader brought up a reason for upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium: the 3-license "family pack" (which has since been discontinued). That was a great deal for multi-computer homes, as it allowed you to upgrade three systems to Windows 7 Home Premium for just $149. Unfortunately, there was no such program for the Pro and Ultimate editions. Others pointed out that you don't have as much choice in choosing your edition if you already have Vista installed and don't want to do a clean installation. For example, if you have Vista Ultimate, you can do an in-place upgrade only if you upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate (although you can still get the upgrade price for a lower edition). And some of you noted that you can get the remote desktop functionality in the lower editions by using Live Mesh. Good point! And one small correction for Tim: in Windows 7, Professional edition does have Windows Media Center. However, administrators can disable it through Group Policy if they don't want it to be available on company systems. As always, thanks to all of you who participated in this discussion! 'Til next week, Deb Shinder, Editor feedback@win7news.net PS: Did you know this newsletter has a sister publication for XP users called WXPnews? You can subscribe here, and tell your friends: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-WXPNews And for IT pros, there's our "big sister," WServer News, at http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-WserverNews Look for the Win7News fan page on Facebook! Quotes of the Week "Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant." - Mitchell Kapor "We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology." - Carl Sagan "Why is it drug addicts and computer aficionados are both called users?" - Clifford Stoll NEW! VIPRE® Antivirus Premium 4.0 VIPRE is the only antivirus software that does not slow down your PC, and now it comes with integrated firewall! VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0 Does not slow down your PC New antivirus + antispyware engine with firewall Advanced anti-rootkit technology Cutting-edge Proactive Protection Full email protection: Outlook and Windows Mail Ideal for Netbooks that need malware protection No automatic credit card charge each year! Try VIPRE Antivirus Premium now for 30-days FREE! http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-VIPRE-Antivirus-Premium Cool Tools ADVERTISEMENT Do you have programs you just can't seem to get rid of? Uninstaller! 2010 "ALL New" Version Just Released: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Your-Uninstaller Moving to Windows 7 is Easy! PCMover moves programs, files, and settings from your old PC to your new PC. http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-PCmover Search for a driver and you get a ton of Driver Software offers instead. But how do you know which one is good? Try Driver Genius 9.0. Free scan. http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Driver-Genius Billing address autofill, Secure password storage, all automatic and safe. Not a little toolbar utility. Huge time saver! http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-RoboForm Get your speed back! Advanced Vista Optimizer will tweak Vista for Max performance. Easy to use: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Vista-Optimizer Spellchecker is NOT ENOUGH! Improve your English writing skills with WhiteSmoke a smarter solution for high quality writing. Try it: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-WhiteSmoke Ultra Edit New Version 15.2 - Replacing Notepad or Looking for The Most Powerful Text Editor? http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-UltraEdit News, Hints, Tips and Tricks IE 9 public preview Internet Explorer 8 brought many changes to Microsoft's web browser, and has been hailed for its much better security and usability. Is it going to be a tough act to follow? What can Microsoft add to make it even better? The company provided a sneak peek at the next generation, IE 9, at the MIX10 developer's conference this week. It's still far from finished, but Microsoft has created a "test drive" web site that shows off some of the new features and improvements, including support for things like text size animation, faster rendering of map zooming by using the GPU instead of the CPU, and HTML5 graphics that don't work in IE 8. If you're brave enough, you can install the preview from this page: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-IE9 Set Windows to use a different time server Many people have noticed that the default time server used by Windows to synchronize its clock doesn't work all that well. But you don't have to use that one; you can set the OS to use a different server - one that's less overloaded. Rick Broida shows you how and suggests a better time server in this article: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Windows-Clock Windows 7 SP1 may be out ahead of schedule The latest rumor this week is that we may be seeing service pack 1 for Windows 7 earlier than we previously expected. Originally, it wasn't expected to be released until 2011, but now some say it will be here by the end of the year. This article speculates about the reasons for that, but I'd guess the most likely reason (if it's true) is to encourage upgrading among all those folks who have a hard and fast rule of never going to a new OS until the first service pack is out. http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-SP1 Another Facebook scam to be aware of If you use Facebook, you may have seen notifications that some of your friends are using an application for finding out who has viewed their profiles, and inviting you to do the same. Unfortunately, the whole thing is a scam. It doesn't show you who's been viewing your profile; it just takes you to another app - which earns the scammer advertising revenue. At least it does appear to put you at risk, other than the risk of being duped. But always remember to exercise caution when allowing the Facebook apps to access your information; they are not created by Facebook itself but by third party developers, some of whom may not have the best of intentions. Read more about this one here: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Stalk-My-Profile Too much video? They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I guess a moving picture is worth a thousand still ones - but sometimes I would prefer to read text or look at photos instead of watching a video. How about you? Read my blog post about why I think the web is becoming too video-centric at http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Video-Centric-Web How to: Using the New Windows 7 Features How to switch your Windows 7 display to a projector On numerous occasions, I've watched presenters struggle to get their laptops to display with a projector after attaching the cables. Windows 7 makes it easy. Here's how: After attaching the video-out (VGA) port of your laptop to the projector's cable, press the Windows Logo key + P. You'll see a pop-up box with four choices. The first is Computer Only, which is not what you want. You also probably don't want to Extend the Desktop. That leaves two choices. You can select to Duplicate the laptop display to the projector, so that you see the same screen on both (my preference) or you can select Projector Only, so that your desktop is displayed only on the projector screen. This solution is quick, easy and elegant - far better than having to search for the correct key combination (which varied depending on the hardware) with XP and Vista. Windows 7 and Vista Security Security vulnerability in Virtual PC Security researchers reported this week that they have discovered a zero-day vulnerability in the Virtual PC software that powers XP Mode in Windows 7. Attackers could exploit the vulnerability to bypass Windows 7 security features and run malicious code on your machine. This affects not just Windows Virtual PC (the latest version, which comes with the XP Mode download for Windows 7 Pro and above) but also Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. Microsoft's enterprise-level virtualization solution, Hyper-V, is not affected. You can read more here: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Zero-Day-Flaw Question Corner How can I "fix" Windows 7 N? QUESTION: I bought a computer in Europe that has the "N" edition of Windows 7 Home Premium installed. I can't find out my Windows Experience Index (WEI) score because apparently that feature doesn't work on the N edition. Is there a way to fix this? Thanks! - Jim L. ANSWER: Windows 7 N was created in response to the European Commission's requirement that Microsoft offer a version of Windows that did not come bundled with a media player. There are N versions of all Windows 7 editions. The problem is that WEI uses some of the components of Windows Media Player, thus it's not functional on the N editions. You can add WMP back to any of the Windows 7 N operating systems (which will also fix the problem with WEI) by downloading and installing the Media Feature Pack for Windows 7 N and Windows 7 KN, which you can find at http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Media-Feature-Pack Windows 7 Configuration and Troubleshooting Changing the settings in Windows DVD Maker Windows 7 (all editions except Starter) include the Windows DVD Maker for creating DVDs. You can configure the settings to fit your needs, including how the DVD menu displays, whether to play the video automatically when you insert the disc, the DVD aspect ratio, video format, burner speed, and more. To find out how to configure these settings, see the Microsoft Windows 7 web site at http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-DVD-Maker-Settings Transfer handwriting personalization to another Tablet PC If you're using a Tablet PC and you buy a new one, you might want to transfer your handwriting personalization information to the new system. Luckily, that information is stored in your user profile and you can transfer it to the new computer by using the Windows Easy Transfer feature in Windows 7. Find out how here: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Handwriting-Personalization Fav Links This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff Disclaimer: VistaNews does not assume and cannot be responsible for any liability related to you clicking any of these linked Web sites. Have your (geeky) cake and eat it too http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Cakes Find your favorite newspaper on the map http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Newspapers I want one of these http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Video I also want one of these http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Window-Phone Weird wedding locations http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Weddings Married to a geek? http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Geeks A one-minute guide to taking better photographs of people and why you can't trust Facebook profile pictures: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Photographs What kids can do when they aren't glued to the TV: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Turtle-Kids Dogs in Slow Motion at 1000 frames per second: http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Slow-Motion-Dogs Product of the Week Cucusoft iPhone Ringtone Maker: Easily Create iPhone Ringtones from Audio and Video Files Cucusoft iPhone Ringtone Maker is an easy-to-use tool that can help you trim or clip audio from your favorite audio or video files, then convert it to iPhone Ringtone format. With this program, you can make your own iPhone ringtone from any music you love. The supported input source file formats include .mp3, .m4a, wav, .wma, .avi, .flv (YouTube format), .mp4 (iPod video format), .wmv, MPEG, H.264/AVC, AVCHD, .mkv, .rm, .ra, .mov, DivX, XviD, 3GP, etc. Win7News readers can download the free evaluation here. http://www.win7news.net/O52HI2/100317-Ringtone-Maker  About Win7News What Our Lawyers Make Us Say These documents are provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in this document represents the current view of Sunbelt Software on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Sunbelt must respond to changes in market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Sunbelt and Sunbelt cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. 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