beforeyoukillyourcomputer.com Saving computers one at a time from their owners

Piriform, the company that brought you CCleaner and Recuva… now bring you a file defragmentation tool… Defraggler!

It differs from other defrag tools on the market, by enabling you to quickly and simply defrag the files you want to, without having to process the whole drive. Simply run it, select the file and defragment in seconds. No more struggling with the Windows defragmentation tool!

And remember like all Piriform products, Defraggler is completely free for both corporate and individual use.

Download Defraggler v1.02.078 RC2

Defraggler Features:

Defrag Individual Files
Most defragmentation tools only let you defrag the whole drive. Defraggler gives you the power to select individual files and folders to defrag. So you can get the job done in seconds, rather than waiting for the whole drive to complete. Of course if you want to defrag the whole drive Defraggler will let you do that too.

Compact and Portable
Defraggler was written in the same compact architecture as other Piriform products (CCleaner and Recuva). This results in a compact single EXE application, which can be copied to a thumbdrive and then used whenever you need it, without a complex installation process. The EXE itself is less than 1MB!

Vista Support
Defraggler supports all OSs released since Windows 2000, this includes Windows 2000, 2003, XP and Vista. 64-bit support has also just been added! Additionally Defraggler supports both NTFS and FAT32 file systems.

Locate Files on the Drive
After analysis Defraggler lists all the fragmented files on the drive. Selecting one or many will highlight their location on the disk. Allowing you(…)

An anonymous reader recommends a Computerworld article on a new report from Australian security vendor PC Tools. The company released figures on malware detection by its ThreatFire product, and in its user base 27% of Vista machines were compromised by at least one instance of malware. From the article:

“In total, Vista suffered 121,380 instances of malware from its 190,000 user base, a rate of malware detection per system [that] is proportionally lower than that of XP, which saw 1,319,144 malware infections from a user base of 1,297,828 machines, but it indicates a problem that is worse than Microsoft has been admitting to.”

Microsoft hasn’t responded yet to this report.

Source

Well, it’s been talked about anecdotaly in web forums for a while now that the new service pack for XP brought with it an unexpected performance boost.

The researchers found that a PC loaded with Microsoft’s XP SP3 completed the OfficeBench test suite in less than 50 seconds. A similarly configured system running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 took more than 50 seconds to complete the test suite — which measures how quickly a computer can perform common tasks in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

“Since SP3 was supposed to be mostly a bug-fix/patch consolidation release … the unexpected speed boost comes as a nice bonus,” the researchers wrote.

They added that XP SP3’s slick performance may lead some computer users to forgo Windows Vista. Exo.performance.network found that with the new service pack, XP is now two times faster than the newer Microsoft OS.

The tests were conducted late last year on a prerelease build of XP SP3. So it’s possible the final version is even faster.

It’s not all four-star reviews for the service pack, however…

Full Story

Maybe I can help you with that.

What is it lately with Microsoft Service Packs? To be fair, once the Windows XP Service Pack 3 is installed everything works just fine. However, I tested the SP3 install today and came across a problem. The install went through most of the install then would, nearly upon completion, die when attempting to write to the registry. So, then, I tried making sure the antivirus program was off and not just disabled, disabled everything in the start tray, killed any other non-necessary processes in the Task Manager. After these checks were made I then ran CCleaner to ensure any temp files were gone. So, at this point, I feel fairly confident that regardless of the outcome the install would not fail due to any firewall or antivirus program or any other running process. So, I run the install it fails again with the end result “Access Denied”.

Since this is a known legit install of XP that’s not of concern. I mention this as when many on the internet would post in forums and mention this problem the first question asked was “Is your XP install legit?”. OK, it’s legit so I continue Googling for possible solutions. Google is your friend and was mine once again today (although the solution I am about to post came from one of a few possible websites - so… I can’t quite give the credit where it duly belongs(…)

Still in “testing”… Let’s review. Microsoft releases Vista SP1 then holds on to the service pack release for XP for additional “customer feedback”. As I scour the Web, the feedback is quite clear: Release the service pack, already!

A skeptic may believe that Microsoft is trying to get all the publicity for the Vista service pack in hopes of getting more Vista purchases before releasing the XP Service Pack. A skeptic may also believe that Microsoft didn’t exactly want a side-by-side comparison of the service packs and the speed differences covered between the two updated operating systems on the same hardware with a nearly simultaneous release. Whatever the truth of the matter is the end result is the same - no service pack 3 release yet for XP. Well, at least mid-April isn’t too far off.

Yes, Microsoft, regardless of yet another slight, most of your customers will wait patiently or impatiently, quietly or roaring as loud as their fingers can type, but do not get too comfortable with this operating system monopoly. Competitors will rise that you won’t be able to buy out or squash and that competitor may just give you a run for your money. Regardless of who wins in that pending duel, one thing is clear: competition is good and as a side-effect, us, the forgotten customer, will likely get a better product from one or the other or both.

The full cast has been announced for the upcoming Live-Action Street Fighter movie. We’ve known for awhile that Kristen Kreuk will be playing Chun-Li.

The movie will actually revolve around the story line of Chun-Li but expect Balrog, M. Bison, Vega and Charlie Nash to all make an appearance. 20th Century Fox is planning on a worldwide 2009 release.

Here is the cast so far:

• Chun-Li: Kristin Kreuk. Plays the role of Lana Lang in the WB television series Smallville .
• Balrog: Michael Clarke Duncan. The Island (2005), Sin City (2005), Daredevil (2003), The Scorpion King (2002), Planet of the Apes (2001), See Spot Run (2001), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), The Green Mile (1999), Breakfast of Champions (1999), Armageddon (1998)
• M. Bison: Neal McDonough. The Hitcher (2007), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), The Guardian (2006), Timeline (2003), MinorityReport (2002), Band of Brothers (2001)
• Vega: Taboo. Member of popular R&B music group Black Eyed Peas and recipient of three Grammy Awards.
• Charlie Nash: Chris Klein. We Were Soldiers (2002), American Pie (1999)

I think Kristen and Michael Clarke Duncan are both great choices. I am unfamiliar with the others and think perhaps Chris Klein might be the weakest link, but the movie does have potential since they are going and getting pretty good actors instead of B list celebs.

Source

The European Commission has fined US computer giant Microsoft for defying sanctions imposed on it for anti-competitive behaviour.

Microsoft must now pay a record 899m euros ($1.4bn; £680.9m) after it failed to comply with a 2004 ruling that it abused its position.

The ruling said that Microsoft was guilty of not providing key code to rival software makers.

EU regulators said the firm was the first to break an EU anti-trust ruling.

The fines come on top of earlier fines of 280m euros imposed in July 2006, and of 497m euros in March 2004.

“Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy that the Commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision,” Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.

Future improvements?

An investigation concluded in 2004 that Microsoft was guilty of freezing out rivals in products such as media players, while unfairly linking its Explorer internet browser to its Windows operating system at the expense of rival servers.

The European Court of First Instance upheld this ruling last year, which ordered Microsoft to pay 497m euros for abusing its dominant market position. Last week, the firm announced that it would open up the technology of some of its leading software, including Windows, to make it easier to operate with rivals’ products.

“As we demonstrated last week with our new interoperability principles and specific actions to increase the openness of our products, we are focusing on steps that will improve things for the future,” Microsoft said.

Further cases

But the firm is

(…)

Microsoft is taking a similar testing tactic as with Vista SP1: Make a crucial release candidate broadly available for testing Windows Update delivery. Microsoft tested SP1 Windows Update delivery in mid-January. The Vista update released to manufacturing a few weeks later.

The RC2 Windows Update test signifies that Microsoft is near the final testing stages for Service Pack 3. Microsoft is expected to make Vista SP1 broadly available sometime in March. It’s reasonable to presume that SP3’s release is imminent, perhaps around the time of SP1, or even sooner. I’m expecting sooner rather than later, unless there are last-minute glitches.

Windows Server 2008’s big launch is next Thursday. Microsoft has released a bunch of service packs so that major products are prepared for new server software. SP3 is part of the process for syncing up XP for Windows Server 2008. In ideal circumstances, Microsoft should release XP SP3 no later than Feb. 27.

While there has been big noise about Vista SP1, XP SP3 is much more important to many more enterprises. Windows XP is everywhere, and Vista is in just a few places, comparatively. I still expect XP SP3 to impede Vista deployments, seeing as how many more enterprises run the older Windows version.

XP SP3 download information is available here.

Source

Piriform, the company that brought you CCleaner and Recuva… now bring you a file defragmentation tool… Defraggler!

It differs from other defrag tools on the market, by enabling you to quickly and simply defrag the files you want to, without having to process the whole drive. Simply run it, select the file and defragment in seconds. No more struggling with the Windows defragmentation tool!

And remember like all Piriform products, Defraggler is completely free for both corporate and individual use.

Download Defraggler 1.01.058 BETA

Defraggler Features:

Defrag Individual Files
Most defragmentation tools only let you defrag the whole drive. Defraggler gives you the power to select individual files and folders to defrag. So you can get the job done in seconds, rather than waiting for the whole drive to complete. Of course if you want to defrag the whole drive Defraggler will let you do that too.

Compact and Portable
Defraggler was written in the same compact architecture as other Piriform products (CCleaner and Recuva). This results in a compact single EXE application, which can be copied to a thumbdrive and then used whenever you need it, without a complex installation process. The EXE itself is less than 1MB!

Vista Support
Defraggler supports all OSs released since Windows 2000, this includes Windows 2000, 2003, XP and Vista. 64-bit support has also just been added! Additionally Defraggler supports both NTFS and FAT32 file systems.

Locate Files on the Drive
After analysis Defraggler lists all the fragmented files on the drive. Selecting one or many will highlight their location on the disk. Allowing you(…)

Microsoft has often stated that it plans to expand its Windows Live suite and improve how this interacts with its client OS, instead of integrating everything straight into Windows. This has two main advantages:

1. Anti-competitive lawsuits are (hopefully) avoided as the optional services must be downloaded and installed first
2. The Windows team is free to focus on the core features of the operating system, which (hopefully) results in a less-bloated release

Windows Live’s future will deeply rely on whether Microsoft succeeds in acquiring the web giant that is Yahoo. It is unclear how Microsoft would use the Yahoo branding, but it’s more than likely that Windows Live is here to stay in some form or another. During the software giant’s employee webcast to discuss the Yahoo bid, Microsoft noted that it is already planning its next update for Windows Live. “We are now in vision phase for Windows Live wave 3, working to get that out later this year,” division President Kevin Johnson declared. Details were not revealed, except that search would play a big role in the update.

The heart of Windows Live, the part which needs to be successful for the whole suite to work together, is search. Windows Live Search hasn’t been doing so well; Microsoft believes its third place product is due for some rebranding, and a name change may be coming. The revamp was rumoured to come in September, when Live Search was overhauled, but is now expected in the next biannual search update, reported to occur sometime this

(…)