HDTV Lust

While visiting a customer recently, and after the work on his PC was completed, he insisted I had a look at the custom home theatre that he had installed in his newly-built home. And very nice it was too. The centre piece of his set-up was a wall-mounted 50" Pioneer plasma high-definition TV supplemented by a Bose surround-sound speaker system and hard disk media server, all with hidden wiring leading to a very clean appearance that even the most fussy of spouses would find it difficult to complain about.

I was sat down and treated to a visual and aural treat as he fired up his Sky HD box and switched on Discovery HD. The subject of the documentary that was playing was fighter jets, and the footage of the view from the cockpit of one of the jets as it engaged in a mock dogfight with two others was breathtaking. The difference between HDTV and regular colour TV is almost as big as the difference between black and white and colour TV, it really is jaw-droppingly good. I was thoroughly impressed and experienced a bout of HDTV lust on the spot.

When I returned home I looked at my 12 year-old 26" TV with contempt and started to plan its imminent trip to the Ballyogan recycling centre. But before I got carried away I decided to think about what I would watch on my spanking new HDTV when I had it installed. And this is where the wheels started to come off the wagon.

The majority of our viewing consists of Channel 4, BBC1 and BBC2 with a bit of the RTEs thrown in for good measure (we're not a SKY household because Sports programs are low on our agenda). And here's the rub, these channels are not currently broadcast in HD and, from what I can gather, they won't be broadcast in HD for some time yet. I could migrate to Sky HD for a selection of HD channels (Sky One, Discovery, National Geographic) but would I actually watch these channels and, if so, would it be just for the sake of HD rather than content and interest?

Another issue is the DVD library that we've built up of our favourite movies and television series. These were produced pre-HD, and when displayed on a HD TV will look no different from on a regular TV. If we want to enjoy these in glorious HD we will have to fork out on a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player and re-purchase our DVDs in HD formatted discs - an expense that can't be justified for the benefit that it may bring.

So, when it's all added up and HD-ready flat screen TVs now abound, it transpires that we ourselves are not HD-ready just yet and our trusty12 year-old CRT TV is not going to be taking a trip to Ballyogan just yet. Maybe next Christmas....

An Inconvenient Truth

I don't know where you stand in relation to global warming - whether you are concerned about it, whether you believe it's an issue or whether you are even aware of it as a phenomenon. My own position was very middle-of-the-road until recently when I happened to see the film An Inconvenient Truth which is a documentary presented by the "former next president of the United States" Al Gore.

When I say that it is a documentary your eyes may glaze over and you want to file it away under David Attenborough-type documentaries. But you shouldn't, for two reasons. Firstly, Al Gore does, in my opinion, a tremendous job communicating the science of global warming in a way that is easily understood and stays with you beyond the closing titles. Secondly, the issues portrayed in the documentary just might be the most important that mankind has ever faced, relegating famines, wars, and localized natural disasters to the inconsequential.

Avoiding a climate crisis and the consequences that that entails is fundamentally not a technological challenge - we already have the technological means to prevent it - but a political and moral question. There would appear to be many big businesses with a vested interest in us believing that the scientists are merely scaremongering. However, does anyone remember the tobacco companies producing reports in the sixties rubbishing the idea of smoking being linked to cancer?

You should make up your own mind on this important issue, but viewing An Inconvenient Truth should be an essential part of that process. If you missed the film in the cinemas, you can get it now on DVD. Watch it and decide where you stand.

Vista Flavours

Microsoft has revealed the various different versions of Windows Vista that will be available in the near future here in Europe (business versions are already available since the end of November for corporate customers). The line up consists of:

Business
Enterprise
Home Pemium
Home Basic
Ultimate

This line-up contrasts with Windows XP which came in just three flavours XP Home, XP Professional and XP Media Center Edition.

The version that most people will probably finish up running is the Home Premium edition which sports the new Aero interface (provided you have the hardware to run it - thought to be a minimum of 1 GB of RAM plus a 256 MB graphics card). If you want to upgrade your Windows XP to Vista Home Premium the suggested retail price in the US is $159, so expect to pay around €120 here in Europe. If you buy a new Dell between now and the end of March, you can sign up for a Vista upgrade pack, which will be sent to you as soon as Vista home editions are launched here in Europe.

More details on Vista can be found on Microsoft's Vista Pages.

Managing Passwords

Everyone who uses a PC complains about the same problem - "How do I manage all my on-line passwords?". It's no longer a trivial matter managing usernames and passwords for all your on-line accounts, whether its for e-mail e.g. Hotmail, GMail, or other webmail of choice, e-commerce sites e.g. Amazon.com, Allofmp3.com or Victoria's Secret, your VOIP site e.g. Skype and VoipStunt or any of the myriad other on-line accounts one can create.

What some people do is to use a single password for as many of their online accounts as possible. While this can simplify matters somewhat it's not a recommended practice. I certainly wouldn't use the same password for my on-line banking or PayPal account as I do for a discussion forum on home improvements. Some of the smaller sites that require a username and password for registration may not have adequate security on their servers and I always assume that they don't - therefore I try to keep separate passwords for anything that involves financial transactions.

Of course the problem with this is that it becomes difficult to track all the different usernames and passwords. This is where RoboForm comes in. This program has been around for a while now but I've only just started using it. In a nutshell the program allows you to create a single master password for RoboForm which runs from a toolbar after it is installed. Then, when you go to a site that requires a username and password RoboForm creates a Passcard for that site, remembering the login details the next time you login to the site. After a single visit to each site requiring a username and password you no longer need to remember the login details for the site - RoboForm does it for you. The program is extremely secure using a number of encryption options and offers a useful feature for filling out on-line forms, a boring task most of us would rather avoid.

If password management has become a problem then give RoboForm a try. A limited Passcard version is available for free while the full version costs just $29.95.

Protect Your Photos

When a customer tells us that their machine has crashed and they need to recover their data, the first category of data that they refer to is normally their photos. With the proliferation of digital cameras it is now a relatively easy matter for a click-happy camera owner to generate many gigabytes of data, what with holidays, birthdays, stag parties, christenings, new baby, etc. etc. What isn't so easy is having the discipline to back up these photos on a regular basis to CD, DVD or external hard drive.

There are a number of reasons why people don't back up their data as regularly as they should. Data backup is boring, it's tedious sitting at a screen selecting folders and files for saving to a backup medium. It's somewhat technical, not everyone has been shown how to back up their data and some of the software available is less than intuitive. There is a lack of awareness that data loss, for either software or hardware failure reasons, is not uncommon. The sheer amount of data to be backed up nowadays can lead to inertia as one has to decide what has been backed up and what hasn't. Finally, many people are just lazy about it - Mañana, Mañana!

Now there are ways to automate your data backup so that it happens with little or no intervention on your part - but this requires investment in an external harddrive or network drive and appropriate software and is best left to the more technical-minded. Which brings me to the subject of this blog - a neat service from www.protectmyphotos.com that allows you to back up your precious photos (and other files) without even thinking about it. So how does it work? Actually it's a very simple process.







First you go to their website and sign up for an account. You can get a free account with certain limitations, namely that your photos will be in low resolution and only jpeg files can be saved. Alternatively, you can pay $39.99 for a yearly account that allows unlimited storage of your pictures at full resolution and also allows you to save your music files e.g. mp3 and wma as well as documents e.g. xls and doc.

Next you download a small ProtectMyPhotos utility from the download page on their site. Once dowloaded you simply double-click on the file to install the utility. Opening the utility (which will now normally reside in your system tray) presents you with two simple options: Set Up Photos For Protection and Restore My Photos.

Selecting the first option presents you with two further options: Automatic Discovery and Custom Folder Options. The former option will scan your entire computer and back up every file that corresponds to a photo format. If you're not sure where your photos are stored on your PC then this is the option to choose. However, be aware that it will back up gif and jpeg images associated with other programs, such as games, that are not necessarily photos. If you know exactly where your photos are stored e.g. My Pictures then you should select the Custom Folder Options.

Once you have made your selection, that's it, you never have to do anything further to ensure your photos are backed up, even when you add new pictures to your PC. What happens next is that the ProtectMyPhotos utility works in the background uploading your pictures to their secure servers for safe-keeping. The program was designed to run in the background, requires very few system resources and backs up photos only when your Internet connection is idle. When you're busy using your computer and Internet connection, ProtectMyPhotos throttles down its use of your connection. Once a photo is backed up to the servers, the software won't need to upload it again.

Needless to say you will need a broadband connection to use this service, uploading 20 GB of photos is not something you want to try on a dial-up connection! Bear in mind that your photos are not uploaded in an instance, it took 3 days for all of 5 GB of test photos to be uploaded from our system. However, the PC that the pictures were uploaded from was turned off overnight and had moderate internet usage during the day - your own experience may be faster or slower. Currently we are in the process of uploading over 20 GB of music from a music server and this looks like it will take over a week to complete. To argue that the backups are slow and take a long time is to miss the point of this service, the beauty of it is that it is completely unattended backup. As I add more pictures or music to my PC it is automatically backed up, and much more quickly than the original file transfer because the incremental quantity of data is much smaller.

Restoring all your photos to your PC is a one-click operation from the ProtectMyPhoto utility, if the day comes that you need to do it. You can, of course restore your pictures to any PC, not just the one that you uploaded them from.

What I can't say is whether ProtectMyPhotos is a sufficiently robust company to still be there in 5 years' time when I may need to restore all my saved data. However, I hope that they are as they have a good product that deserves to be around for a long time. Check it out.

Leaking Capacitors

We had a machine in the workshop last week that was exhibiting a series of symptoms that were hard to pin down to any specific cause - blue screens, boot hangs, extremely slow disc access, etc. After doing the standard diagnostics, including switching out the hard drive and optical drives, the problem seemed to be associated with the motherboard.

A close physical examination of the motherboard revealed that many of the capacitors were leaking their contents, either through the top of the capacitor, or at the base plug. I took a few pictures of these capacitors to show what this leaking looks like. The first picture shows a couple of capacitors that have leaked through the base plug and their contents have spilled onto the motherboard. As the motherboard is in a vertical orientation in the PC case the contents of the capacitor in the left of the picture ran downwards and the track of dried-out material can be clearly seen. A bulge in the top of the two leaking capacitors, due to pressure build-up, can also be seen - a tell-tale sign of a potential leaker.

The second picture shows three capacitors that have leaked through the top where the contents have burst through the cap. The rear-most capacitor in this shot is a different brand of capacitor and is not a leaker. In total, ten capacitors on the motherboard were found to be leaking and all were from the same manufacturer and the same capacitance value.

As capacitors are used to regulate voltage in various sections of the motherboard, failure of capacitors can cause many problems that could be interpreted as power supply, memory or hard drive issues.

This was only the second time in the past twelve months that we came across this problem. The cause of the problem has an interesting background, involving a case of industrial espionage that went wrong. Essentially, the faulty capacitors have an incorrect electrolyte formulation, which leads to hydrogen gas being produced. The build-up of gas causes the pressure increase which eventually ruptures the capacitor.

See further pictures at PCStats and more info at Geeks.com.

Pre-n Wireless Networks

Wireless networks have undergone a few changes in recent years with a least three existing standards now available, these being 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g. Unless you are operating in a business environment you are unlikely to come across 802.11a, which operates at a frequency of 5.0GHz and has a maximum data transmission rate of 11.0 mbps (megabits per second). If you are using a wireless network in your home it is likely to be either the 802.11b standard (2.4GHz frequency and 11.0 mbps transmission rate) or 802.11g if you've purchased it in the last 2-3 years (2.4GHz frequency and 54 mbps transmission rate). While a "g" standard network in the home serves most needs, it has difficulty streaming high-quality video, a multimedia application that is likely to become standard within the next five years. To address this (and for many other reasons) a new standard, 802.11n, is being formulated that will allow data streaming at up to 270 mbps, or 5-times the current "g" standard.

This new standard is currently at draft 2.0 and a vote on the draft is expected in January 2007. However, it is widely believed that a third draft will appear later in 2007 and that the standard will not be ratified until early 2008. However, in the meantime, a number of wireless network equipment manufacturers have released what are known as "Pre-n" devices - both routers and adapters - that conform to the current standard draft, but which will most probably not conform to the final ratified standard. While the manufacturers may make claims that these will give you greater performance to existing ratified standards, you should purchase such units with caution. It is possible that these units will not conform with the final standard (though most manufacturers claim they will release firmware updates to address this, there are no guarantees that they will) and that they will most probably not be compatible with equipment from other manufacturers (only Wi-Fi Alliance certified equipment is guaranteed to work with other certified equipment from other manufacturers). A recent review of pre-n equipment by PC World magazine found that many of the pre-n routers and network cards did not offer the benefits of the marketing hype and they suggested that you should look to MIMO-based "g" standard units for best performance and leave the pre-n kit until the standard is ratified.

Cybercrime Update

From USA Today

Criminals covet your identity data like never before. What's more, they've perfected more ways to access your bank accounts, grab your Social Security number and manipulate your identity than you can imagine.

Want proof? Just visit any of a dozen or so thriving cybercrime forums, websites that mirror the services of Amazon.com and the efficiencies of eBay. Criminal buyers and sellers convene at these virtual emporiums to wheel and deal in all things related to cyberattacks — and in the fruit of cyberintrusions: pilfered credit and debit card numbers, hijacked bank accounts and stolen personal data.

The cybercrime forums gird a criminal economy that robs U.S. businesses of $67.2 billion a year, according to an FBI projection. Over the past two years, U.S. consumers lost more than $8 billion to viruses, spyware and online fraud schemes, Consumer Reports says.

In 2004, a crackdown by the FBI and U.S. Secret Service briefly disrupted growth of the forums. But they soon regrouped, more robust than ever. Today, they are maturing — and consolidating — just like any other fast-rising business sector, security experts and law enforcement officials say. In fact, this summer a prominent forum leader who calls himself Iceman staged a hostile takeover of four top-tier rivals, creating a megaforum.

Security firms CardCops, of Malibu, Calif., and RSA Security, a division of Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC, and volunteer watchdog group Shadowserver observed the forced mergers, as well, and compiled dozens of takeover-related screen shots. "It's like he created the Wal-Mart of the underground," says Dan Clements, CEO of CardCops, an identity-theft-prevention company. "Anything you need to commit your crimes, you can get in his forum."

The Secret Service and FBI declined to comment on Iceman or the takeovers. Even so, the activities of this mystery figure illustrate the rising threat that cybercrime's relentless expansion — enabled in large part by the existence of forums — poses for us all. In the spy vs. spy world of cybercrime, where trust is ephemeral and credibility hard won, CardersMarket's expansion represents the latest advance of a criminal business segment that began to take shape with the formation of the pioneering Shadowcrew forum.

Shadowcrew, which peaked at about 4,000 members in 2004, arose in 2002. It established the standard for cybercrime forums — set up on well-designed, interactive Web pages and run much like a well-organized co-op. Communication took place methodically, via the exchange of messages posted in topic areas. Members could also exchange private messages. Shadowcrew gave hackers and online scammers a place to congregate, collaborate and build their reputations, says Scott Christie, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey who helped prosecute some of its members.

In the October 2004 dragnet, called Operation Firewall, federal agents arrested 22 forum members in several states, including co-founder Andrew Mantovani, 24, aka ThnkYouPleaseDie. At the time, Mantovani was a community college student in Scottsdale, Ariz. In August, he began serving a 32-month federal sentence for credit card fraud and identification theft.

CYBERCRIME BY THE NUMBERS
$67.2 billion: FBI estimate of what U.S. businesses lose annually because of computer-related crimes.
$8 billion: Consumer Reports estimate of what U.S. consumers lost the past two years because of viruses, spyware and Internet scams.
93.8 million: Privacy Rights Clearinghouse's count of personal records reported lost or stolen since February 2005.
26,150: The Anti-Phishing Working Group's count of unique variations of phishing scams reported in August 2006.

Typical costs of goods and services in cybercrime forums:
$1,000 to $5,000: Trojan program that can transfer funds between online accounts.
$500: Credit card number with PIN.
$80 to $300: Change of billing data, including account number, billing address, Social Security number, home address and birth date.
$150: Driver's license.
$150: Birth certificate.
$100: Social Security card.
$7 to $25: Credit card number with security code and expiration date.
$7: PayPal account log-on and password.
4% to 8% of the deal price: Fee to have an escrow agent close a complex transaction.
Free: Access to a service that gives details of the issuing bank for any credit card number.

Bundling Blues

Why oh why do Dell insist in bundling trial software with their new PCs? The problem with this practice is that it can cause downright confusion for many inexperienced (and some experienced!) computer users when they begin their out-of-box-experience. The out-of-box-experience, or OOBE, is what manufacturers refer to the user's first moments with a new product after it is first turned on. This is meant to be a good experience for the user, where he/she feels in control and understands what is happening.

Unfortunately, bundled software can often throw a spanner in the works of the OOBE, particularly with a new Dell. On a recent set-up of a customer's PC we were confronted by trial versions of Dell Network Assistant, McAfee Security Centre, Norton Ghost, and Adobe Paint Shop and Photo Album. While Network Assistant may have some utility for managing a Network, when the screen pops up for the first time the average user is left scratching their head as to what this software does (after all, the customer didn't order it and therefore doesn't expect it to be on his/her new machine). And while Norton Ghost is a good disk imaging program in its own right, most customers have no inkling of what the program does when they encounter a splash screen inviting them to complete the install of it during their first 10 minutes using their new PC.

If Dell are going to continue bundling trial software with their PCs they should take the time to communicate this fact to their customers at time of purchase, explain to them what the bundled software does, how it might benefit them (if at all) and offer them the option of not having it bundled on their new PC if they so choose. Remember, this software is not bundled for the benefit of you, the customer, though Dell may represent it in that manner. No folks, the ugly truth of the matter is that software is bundled because of deals between companies like Norton and McAfee with Dell in order to make more money for all the parties involved - simple as that.

By the way, Dell are not the only offenders in this regard. Most PC manufacturers bundle trial software and in many cases that software has much less utility than that bundled by Dell.

External Hard Drive

More and more of our customers are getting external hard drives for backing up their data. With the ongoing fall in hard disc prices, an external hard drive is now the best way to ensure that all those precious family pictures are safe for years to come.

We have quite a few external hard disc drives here at PC Medic but the model we currently feel is one of the best comes from hard disc manufacturer Seagate. Available in capacities of 80, 120, 160, 250 and 320GB, what we particularly like about this USB 2.0 external hard drive is the broad base which prevents the unit from toppling over, the quiet operation and the passive ventilation which ensures that the drives run particularly cool. With Windows XP these units are plug and play - no installation or drivers required. We have the 250GB model in stock at €155, but can supply all sizes at competitive prices. Don't wait for your hard drive to crash before you get your back ups organized. Contact details at www.pcmedic.ie.

A Little Knowledge ...

...Can be a Dangerous Thing, as one of our customers found out recently. The customer in question had a 14-month old Compaq PC that they bought as a display model and, unfortunately, it was not supplied to the customer with a Recovery CD/DVD, as it should have been. When the PC became infected with viruses recently she took up the offer of her sister's boyfriend, who was known as pretty handy around computers, to fix it.

What the boyfriend did was to take a Windows XP OS disc he had lying about and reformat the harddrive and reinstall Windows. Talk about using a sledgehammer to crack an egg? The customer's daughter was upset to find out that she had lost all her digital photos which were stored only on the PC and had not been backed up before the re-install. The computer was returned to the customer who paid the sister's boyfriend "€30 and a couple of packs of smokes for his trouble".

A few days later we received a call from the customer complaining that they weren't able to connect to the internet since they got their "repaired" PC back. I called around and it didn't take long to see what she got for her €30. The reason she wasn't able to connect to the internet was that there were no drivers installed for the modem. Neither were there any drivers installed for the video card, sound card or network card - practically all the hardware on the PC was non-functional. As there was no way to download the drivers from the customer's house, we had to bring the system box in to the workshop, install a wireless USB network card and download the drivers from the HP site. It was while doing this that the Windows XP Activation reminder popped up informing me that the OS could be used for just 27 more days before it would self-destruct. At this point I got the feeling that things were worse than I initially thought. We brought Windows XP through the activation process, entering the OEM licence key on the side of the system box and, as I suspected, it wouldn't activate.

Compaqs are not designed to have their Windows OS reinstalled from a generic OS disc - they must be reinstalled either from the supplied recovery disc (missing in this case) or from the Recovery Partition that is found on the hard drive. To bring a Compaq PC back to its original factory settings, it is simply a matter of pressing the F10 key during startup and this will bring up the Recovery Options. From there, it's just a matter of selecting the required options and you have a factory-fresh PC in about 30-60 minutes. Unfortunately, when F10 was pressed on the customer's PC, nothing happened. This is most likely due to the reinstallation of Windows, using the generic OS disc, overwriting the Master Boot Record on the hard disc, thus making the Recovery Partition inaccessible. Solution? The customer had to order a set of Recovery Discs from HP at a cost of €38.50 and, when these arrive, she has booked us to perform the system recovery. I have suggested that she passes on our bill to her sister's boyfriend. She agrees.

Winfixer Woes

We've had two customers in the last couple of weeks who have fallen prey to a particularly aggressive piece of bogus software known as Winfixer. WinFixer - is a bogus antispyware and spam blocking application that attempts to market itself by surreptitiously installing adware on the user's PC. This adware aggressively and incessantly displays popup notifications in an attempt to convince the user that something (other than its own existence) may be amiss with the computer. The problem is typically initiated via a popup ad displayed during a visit to a distributing web site. Reports suggest that this initial popup is constructed such that any attempt to dismiss it (including clicking the 'X' in the upper right-hand corner) actually causes the adware to be installed on the workstation. From this point on, WinFixer popups are launched from the PC itself. Because of the intricate way in which the adware insinuates itself into its host (including making dozens of registry edits), successful removal is a tedious, manual process. When running, it can be found in Windows Task Manager and stopped, but before long it will start up again.

Ultimately what this piece of malware is trying to do is to tempt you into registering the software for $49.99 in order to "fix" the problems your PC is experiencing (which are caused by Winfixer). Needless to say, after registering the product, nothing much changes - you've just been conned out of $49.99. Indeed it may not end there. There are unconfirmed reports that the credit card that you used to purchase the subscription may be compromised and may be subject to unauthorized use and that the operation works out of the Ukraine, though neither of my customers reported this happening to them.

If you come across Winfixer on your PC, DO NOT buy the subscription - get a reputable anti-spyware program and let it try to deal with it, but be warned that many anti-spyware programs have difficulty completely removing it and pop-ups may still occur. If in doubt, contact us here at PC Medic.

Musical Interlude

Pink Floyd (minus Roger Waters) has recently released their Pulse double DVD. Directed by veteran music video and concert director David Mallet, and shot on video during Pink Floyd's two-week stint at London's Earls Court Exhibition Centre in October 1994, this 145-minute performance (from Floyd's Division Bell tour) is a sonic marvel to behold. Under a massive arch festooned with then-state-of-the-art laser, lighting, and projection systems, the 1987 incarnation of Pink Floyd (David Gilmour on lead guitar, keyboardist Richard Wright, and drummer Nick Mason) and their stellar supporting band kicks off with "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" (a loving tribute to Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett), followed by four tracks from The Division Bell, two from 1987's A Momentary Lapse of Reason, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" from 1979's magnum opus The Wall, and leading into intermission with an absolutely stunning performance of "One of These Days," the timeless opening track from 1971's Meddle.

The focus of Disc 2 is a near-perfect performance of 1974's Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety--reason enough to make this a must-have DVD for even the most casual Floyd admirers. And while no one will ever re-create the sheer magnificence of Clare Torry's original tour de force vocals on "The Great Gig in the Sky," it's safe to say that backup singers Sam Brown, Claudia Fontaine, and Durga McBroom deliver the next best thing, in addition to seamless contributions throughout the concert. After the closing heartbeat of "Eclipse," the concert ends with encore performances of "Wish You Were Here," "Comfortably Numb," and a no-holds-barred, pyrotechnically explosive rendition of The Wall's "Run Like Hell," all showcasing Gilmour's guitar mastery with frequent close-ups of his picking and fret-work as seen throughout the concert. (Like Gilmour, Mason and Wright were never dynamic onstage, and that's true here as well, but their technical precision is fully evident, and while guitarist Tim Renwick and saxophonist Dick Parry are each given moments to shine, bassist Guy Pratt (Wright's son-in-law) is a worthy substitution for Waters, especially when vocally sparring with Gilmour on "Run Like Hell.")

This is a DVD that requires a number of viewings/auditions to appreciate the quality of the performances contained within it. To some extent, the performance encapsulated within Pulse is a dying breed. Few super groups today put on the stadium extravaganza that was Pink Floyd ( U2 is one of the few that come to mind). If, like me, you were never fortunate enough to see the Floyd live, Pulse is the nearest you're going to get. Put it on your wish list, if only for Gilmour's god-like guitar playing.

Expanding your Network

If you have a wireless network at home and your house is a standard contemporary 3-4 bed detached or semi-detached building then you should receive a good wireless signal throughout the house, and probably in the garden as well. However, if your house is of earlier construction with solid brick or stone walls, instead of stud partitions, or if your house extends over three floors, or is larger than average, then you may have some cold spots in your house where the Wi-Fi signal doesn't reach.

If so, there are a few things you can try to improve the range of your network. First off, consider the location of your wireless router. In many cases the router is located on the ground floor near to where the phone is. If you have a three story house (or your attic converted) and are having difficulty receiving a wireless signal on the top floor, then consider relocating the router to the first floor - equidistant between the ground floor and the top floor. Remember that the signal coming from your wireless router can be considered to be spherical, so try to locate all your house inside that sphere by locating the router in a central location within the house.

Try to locate your router away from solid brick or stone interior walls as these will absorb much of the signal and reduce the network's range. Also, move the router away from metal objects such as filing cabinets or PC cases. We recently had a customer who was getting a very poor signal in a bedroom across the hall from the study where the wireless router was. We found the router sitting on top of the PC system case - simply moving it to the desk above the PC provided a dramatic improvement to the reception in the bedroom.

Try a different type of wireless adapter. Not all wireless adapters are equal. We have found that the USB types are not always as good as PCI types with separate aerials. While it's difficult to give hard and fast recommendations on this, changing your adapter may help matters.

Install a range extender, such as the Linksys WRE54G shown in the picture. This is what Linksys says about it:

"Unlike adding a traditional access point to your network to expand wireless coverage, the Wireless-G Range Expander does not need to be connected to the network by a data cable. Just put it within range of your main access point or wireless router, and it "bounces" the signals out to remote wireless devices.

This "relay station" or "repeater" approach saves wiring costs and helps to build wireless infrastructure by driving signals into even those distant, reflective corners and hard-to-reach areas where wireless coverage is spotty and cabling is impractical. The Range Expander is perfect to help cover large areas in multi-story homes, warehouse environments, public spaces, and wireless "Hot Spots" -- anywhere you need extra coverage for your wireless network. "

PC Medic has been using one for the past couple of months and it does exactly what it says on the tin. A little messy to set up, but once set up it provides a nice boost to your wireless network.

Happy Birthday

OFFICE workers across the globe yesterday celebrated, or perhaps cursed, the 25th anniversary of a device that changed the world: the mass- market personal computer, or PC. On August 30th, 1981 — the year Ronald Reagan entered the White House — IBM launched the 5150, a machine boasting a 4.77Mhz processor (about 650 times slower than today’s PCs), up to 256kb of memory (about 8,000 times less than today’s PCs) and an optional floppy drive with 160kb of capacity (barely enough for a Word document).

The PC was priced at $1,565, about £2,500 in today’s money, and made its debut to a sceptical public. And the 5150 was a huge success. It featured an enhanced version of Microsoft’s BASIC programing language, developed by a certain William Gates, and an 83-key adjustable keyboard. Unlike many other computers then, the keyboard and monitor were not built-in but attached — an industry standard that Apple has tried to counteract with its wireless Bluetooth iMacs.

The IBM PC was not the first personal computer: the Apple II came out in 1977 and the Atari 800 in 1979, but both used proprietary components and failed to develop sales into the mass market. In contrast, IBM used an Intel processor and Microsoft software, essentially allowing rival companies to clone its product. This move was a result of IBM simply being in a hurry, rather than any grand strategy.

But not everyone loves the PC — which, before the launch of the 5150, was known simply as the microprocessor. The 5150 began the era of Moore’s Law — or rapid obsolescence — along with repetitive strain injury, internet porn, timewasting viruses and countless other forms of PC frustration. Even making PCs has also become a commodity business. In 2004 IBM sold its PC business to the Chinese — a fitting end, some believed, to a world-changing product that had largely been an accident. As The New York Times noted back in 1981: “The speed and extent to which IBM has been successful has surprised many people, including IBM itself.” As the revolution rolls on, the one billionth computer was sold in 2002. The two billionth will be sold some time next year.

Dodgy Deals

If you buy a PC from one of the large multiples, like PC World or Curry's, or direct from Dell, you can be sure that the operating system software on the PC is the genuine Microsoft product and your PC will have a Microsoft certificate of authenticity (COA) attached to it, similar to one of the ones shown in the pictures. If you buy a non-branded PC built by a local neighbourhood PC shop, then you need to check at time of purchase that you have both the software discs and the COA, or you could find yourself in trouble at a later date.

This was brought home today when a customer brought in a no-brand machine that was purchased in 2004 from a local neighbourhood PC shop. The first thing I found surprising was that the PC was running Windows 2000 Professional, an operating system aimed squarely at the business community and not the home user. As Windows XP, the first choice operating system for home users, had been around since 2001, it seemed strange that our customer's machine had been loaded with 2000 Professional. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that 2000 Professional does not require product activation and can, therefore, be installed on multiple PCs - a tempting financial proposition for a less than scrupulous dealer! The absence of a Microsoft COA on the system box and the fact that the customer was not supplied with any OS installation discs was possibly just an oversight on the shop's part, or maybe not. As it happens, the customer also purchased Microsoft Office with the PC and again, no COA or product key was supplied nor any installation discs.

So what happens when such a customers PC requires a full reinstall due to either a hard disc failure or operating system corruption. Well, they need to buy a new operating system licence and a new copy of Microsoft Office as without the product keys supplied with the COAs for these products they cannot be reinstalled. And this could be quite an expensive proposition - several hundred euros when you include Microsoft Office.

So, if you are offered a PC for sale, make sure that there is Microsoft COA stuck on the system box, it is a requirement of Microsoft's licence agreement that this be done. Also, you should be supplied with original Microsoft discs for all Microsoft software that is supplied with your PC. If they refuse to supply you with COAs or discs, then take your custom elsewhere.

If you have already bought a PC and you did not get a COA or original discs, e.g. for Microsoft Office, then you should return to the vendor and point out that you are entitled by law to these and ask that they be supplied. If the vendor refuses to supply them to you then you should bring your complaint to Microsoft as the vendor is in breach of Microsoft's licence agreement. More information on the COA and what to do if you don't receive one can be found here on the Microsoft website.

Buying from Dell

We had a customer recently complain to us that they ordered a new PC from Dell and when they set it up they discovered that Microsoft Word wasn't installed. What the customer did not realize is that Dell do not supply Microsoft Word or, indeed, any components of Microsoft Office, as standard and if you require them you must pay extra for them. All PCs normally come with Microsoft Works, which includes a word processor but this word processor is not Microsoft Word.

If you need either Word or one of the other Microsoft Office components be sure to specify what you need at the time of purchase from Dell as to buy the software separately from the PC is much more expensive. For example, Microsoft Office Small Business Edition, which includes Word, Outlook, Powerpoint and Excel costs €314 when purchased with a new Dell PC but will cost you €550 (ouch!) if you wander over to PC World to buy it. If you only want Word, then you should order Works Suite, which is an extra €47 - buying Word from a retailer will cost you in the region of €299!

The Cost of Ink

Anyone using an inkjet printer these days can't help but notice how their price has fallen in recent times. As we speak, you can purchase an inkjet printer from PC World for €49.99 and a photo inkjet printer for €89.99. A few years ago these would have cost up to €200 or more so they appear pretty good value. That is until you start replacing the ink.

For example, one of the printers that we use here at PC Medic is an Epson R200 photo inkjet printer, which cost about €180 a couple of years ago. This printer has 6 separate ink cartridges (magenta, light magenta, cyan, light cyan, yellow and black) and produces superb colour prints on photo glossy paper. However, the recommended replacement ink cartridges cost in the region of €18.00 each when purchased locally. That's €108 for a complete set of cartridges, or 58% of the cost of the printer. Put another way, two sets of cartridges costs more than a new printer. We will use between 4 and 5 sets of cartridges per year i.e. we could spend up to €500 per year on ink - and we don't consider ourselves heavy users of the printer!

I say we could spend up to €500 per year, but we don't anymore. The reason for this is that we have switched from using branded Epson cartridges at €108 per set to generic cartridges supplied by Inkjet.ie at a cost of €35.00 per set, a massive saving of €73.00 per set. There are ongoing debates whether using generic ink cartridges leads to poorer quality prints, prints that fade quicker, or even to damage to your printer. At this point in time we can only confirm that we notice no significant difference in print quality when printing photo quality prints. Perhaps the pictures will fade in 20 years rather than in twenty five years, but I probably won't care that much by then. As for the generic cartridges damaging the printer, the savings to be gained are so great that I can afford to buy a new printer from the money saved after using just three sets of generic cartridges. As we have only switched to generic ink cartridges 6 months ago we can't give a long term assessment of the damage it might do to the printer, but we'll keep you posted in the future of any problems we encounter.

Note that the above experience relates only to the Epson R200 printer. Your own experience may be different depending on the make and model of printer that you use. For now, PC Medic is sticking with generic ink cartridges.

GPS - an Alternative to the Roadmap

In my earlier post I gave you details of two websites that can assist you in planning your route when undertaking a journey. A more high-tech solution is provided by GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite navigation (or SatNav, for short) devices, which have been falling in price dramatically over the past couple of years. These devices are designed to be mounted in your car and they provide a real-time map of your position, together with verbal instructions preparing you for junctions and turns in advance.

The majority of these devices come with software that you install on your PC and a set of maps covering certain global regions. Depending on the model you purchase you may receive either UK and Ireland maps with your device or maps for all of Europe (including UK and Ireland). You can generally purchase maps for other regions, such as the US and Australia.

PC Medic has been using a Navman GPS unit for about two years now and the experience has been very positive overall. The unit that we use is essentially a PDA, running Pocket PC Windows, with a built-in GPS receiver. The software that came with this unit is Navman SmartST and maps of all European countries are included. It has to be said that mapping support for Ireland, outside of the principal cities, is very poor. So, while you get excellent coverage of Dublin, and its environs, you cannot plot a route from, say, Ashbourne to Trim.

You will generally use the device to help you find the route between your current location and a destination. As the unit always knows your current location, from the satellites it uses for positioning, it is simply a matter of inputting your destination (town and street) in the appropriate data entry window and selecting Go. The unit will then calculate the most appropriate route (giving consideration for one-way streets, etc). The route is displayed as a moving map on the device's screen and the road you should be following is highlighted in red. As you come to turns and junctions that you must negotiate, these are displayed as light green arrows, clearly showing the direction you must follow.

At the bottom of the screen the current street or road name is displayed. At the bottom right of the screen the remaining distance that you must travel until the next action you must take is displayed. At the top of the screen the next action that you must take and the name of the road or street that you will turn onto is displayed. The top left corner of the map displays a graphical image of the next turn you will have to take (a left turn in the screenshot opposite).

In addition to the map and on-screen directions, you can choose to have all the directions clearly spoken to you by either a male or female voice. These directions take the form of "In 200 metres, at the roundabout, take the third exit". When you are actually on the roundabout, it will announce "Exit now" as you approach the third exit. This is a particularly useful feature and we have found that you can, in most cases, navigate complex routes by following the spoken directions and not looking at the display at all.

Perhaps one of the best features is that if you miss a turn, the system will recalculate a new route for you in 10-15 seconds to get you back on track - so it is practically impossible to get lost. We use the system almost daily for navigating the Dublin suburbs and have used it in France, Spain and the southwest US and it has not let us down yet.

However, there are some limitations. First off, the maps are out of date as soon as you buy the unit and they are not updated regularly. For example, the maps on our unit have the M50 ending at Ballinteer and all the new housing estates that have been built in the past two years are not included. This may or may not be a problem for you - it has rarely been an issue in our own experience.

As I mentioned earlier, Ireland is poorly mapped outside of the main population centres, so it is of limited use in Ireland outside of the main cities. Note, however, that rural areas in other European countries seem to be well mapped.

You should not follow the directions on the unit blindly as there may be traffic restrictions introduced since the mapping software was issued. For example, travelling from Stillorgan to Rathfarnham the unit will instruct me to take a right turn at the bottom of Upper Kilmacud Road onto Main St., Dundrum. There is, however, no right turn permitted at this junction!

Finally, as the GPS system requires line-of-sight to the satellites for it to get a fix, it doesn't work well in cities with high-rise buildings all around, such as Manhattan. Also, when you enter long tunnels, it may take the unit a minute or two to re-establish a satellite fix when you emerge from the tunnel.

Notwithstanding these limitations, a SatNav system certainly does contribute to stress-free travel when on unfamilar roads. I notice that there are more and more taxis in Dublin using SatNav these days and it can only be a few years from the day that SatNav will be included as standard on all new cars (it is available as an option on a number of prestige brands). In the meantime, you can fit a SatNav system for under €300 from one of the main manufacturers such as Navman, TomTom or Garmin, or visit a Halfords branch or Global Positioning Systems for a selection.

On the right Road?

It's that time of the year again when your thoughts turn to packing up the car and heading off on holiday for a week or so for a bit of a break and, hopefully, some sunshine. Before you head off, it's normally a good idea to get out the maps and plan your route in advance, particularly if you are heading to a country whose roads are not known to you. This is where route planning software can really help out. There are a number of commercial offerings out there to help you on your way, but I want to point you to a couple of free ones.

The first is provided courtesy of the AA's website and allows you to get detailed directions of a journey between any two points in Ireland, the UK or Europe. It also allows you to route via a particular waypoint that you want to visit and to avoid motorways and toll routes if you so choose. What it doesn't provide you with is a detailed map for your journey.

This is where Microsoft's Live Local website steals a march on the AA. As well as detailed instructions of the turns and twists that you need to take on the way, the Live Local site shows you zoomable maps with each turning point indicated and these maps can be printed out along with your route instructions. Live Local is not just limited to Europe, but provides more or less global coverage and, with a nod to Google Earth, allows you to overlay satellite images on your chosen route.

Between these two free websites you should be able to get your holiday off to a good start knowing you're on the right road.

DRM Blues

Nearly two years ago I signed up to the Eircom.net Music Club, which allows you to purchase music online - either complete albums or individual tracks. While their prices are not especially good if you buy individual tracks at €1.29 each, whole albums are better priced at €12.49, particularly if you buy a double album with up to 40 tracks on it.

So I happily bought quite a few albums over the months without paying too much attention to the small print of their licence agreement. Since then I have learned a bit about DRM, or Digital Rights Management, and why you should try to avoid it if at all possible. Basically DRM, in the context of purchased music downloads, is software that is intertwined with the music track you download. This software ensures that you can only play the music download, which you have paid for, within the terms of the licence issued with that download.

As it turns out, the music I purchased from Eircom.net's Music Club allows me to play the music on the PC that I originally downloaded it to. If I transfer that music to my laptop to bring with me when I travel, I have to download a new licence. Once I activate that licence the other licence becomes inactive. In total I can only re-activate the licence 3 times, thereafter the music will not play. If this wasn't enough of a restriction, the licence for this DRM-enabled (or should that be crippled?) music does not permit streaming of music via a streaming device, such as the Squeezeboxes we use at home. So, instead of getting a bargain I've got headaches and now go out of my way to avoid the purchase of any music with DRM attached to it, including all music on the Apple iTunes store. At least if you buy a CD you can (legitimately) rip the CD and use the ripped music in MP3 format on any machine you personally own, any MP3 player or any streaming device. I am fully against the illegal copying of music for distribution to others via P2P systems or other means. However, if I buy busic for my own personal use I do not want to be limited to how, where and when I can listen to that music. Avoid DRM and vote with your feet.

End is nigh for Windows 98 and Me

If you are running Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition or Windows Me as the operating system on your PC you should be aware that all Microsoft support for these products, including updated security patches, ends on July 11th.

Without new security patches, these systems are exposed to new security threats, and will remain vulnerable to attacks. Possibly a good time to consider upgrading your PC, or at least the operating system.

Bring out your Dead!

You have an old computer and you want to get rid of it - what do you do? I've been offered a number of old PCs recently by their owners with the expectant question "What will you give me for it?". Unfortunately, what their owners fail to realize is that a PC that is more than 4-5 years old has practically zero resale value. This is partly due to how quickly PCs become obsolete as a result of the introduction of new technologies with higher specifications and also to the fall in the price of new PCs.

Why would anyone pay you for a 7-year old PC with a 400MHz single core processor, 64MB of RAM and a 20GB hard disc drive when they can buy a 2.8GHz Dual processor, 1024MB of RAM and a 160GB hard disc drive for just under €700 (including a 17" flat screen monitor!)?

If you have an old PC that you want to get rid of you could try one of your local schools and see if they will take it. Provided it is in full working order they may. More likely they will find it too old and difficult to maintain, particularly if it is running an older OS, like Windows 98.

Your other option is to bring it along to your local recycling unit, a list for Dublin can be found here. You'll be glad to hear that these centres do not have any charge for the disposal of computers or other waste electrical items.

Keep Those Discs Safe

On a number of occasions over the past few months we have come across PCs that required a full reinstall of the operating system but the customer could not locate the discs that came with the PC. Depending on the brand of PC that you have, the absence of the manufacturers discs can be a problem. If your operating system becomes corrupt there are basically three ways that a manufacturer can allow you to restore it to normal.

The first is the way that Dell used to do it up until the last number of months. That is they supply you with a Windows XP installation disc and this can be used to reinstall the operating system. To do a full reinstall this way involves reformatting the hard disc drive, which wipes all your data and programs from the disc. So, once the operating system is reinstalled from the installation disc you then need to install device drivers for the hardware (chipset, graphics card, video card, modem, network adapter etc.). These drivers come on a second Dell CD usually labelled the Resource CD. If your PC is a Dell and it came with these discs then you should keep the discs in a safe place. However, if you cannot find them it isn't the end of the world. The operating system disc is generic so you can use the disc that came with another Dell PC, perhaps a friend has one. The Resource CD is not generic but is specific to your Dell model. However, even if you have lost this CD, you can download the drivers for your specific model from the Dell website by entering the service tag number for your PC on their Online Technical Support Page.

The second way that a manufacturer can allow you to recover your operating system is the way that current Dells, Packard Bells, IBMs and others do it. These PCs have a separate partition on the hard disc, which may be hidden, which contains an image of your system as it was supplied to you by the manufacturer. An image is like a digital snapshot of your system at a point in time and it will contain both the operating system, system drivers and any application software supplied by the manufacturer. To restore the PC to its as-new status a restore routine is invoked. This can be, depending on the manufacturer, by pressing a button such as F11 at startup or by using a System Restore disc that you boot the PC from. The advantage of this system of restoring your PC is that it restores not only the operating system, but also the drivers and supplied application software. The disadvantage is that if your hard disc becomes damaged, or you inadvertently deleted the recovery partition, you will have to go back to the manufacturer and see if they will supply a recovery DVD. If they will, they will charge you for it and it may take some time before you get it.

The third method of recovering your PC is using a recovery DVD. This is similar in principle to the second method, but the disk image is on one or more DVDs instead of a recovery partition on your hard disc. Compaq and Hewlett Packard PCs come with recovery DVDs and you do not want to lose these discs as they are specific to your machine and you cannot recover your machine without them. If you lose them, it is possible to get replacements but it may take you some time to get them and there will be a charge.

PC For Sale - Sold

The PC described below has now been sold - thanks for all the interest in it.

It's not often that PC Medic has a PC for sale, but right now we have a real bargain on offer which would make the ideal upgrade unit. It's a rebuilt system box with a brand new PC Medic-installed Gigabyte motherboard and Intel 3.0 GHz processor. There is a 160Gb hard disk drive divided into two main partitions - one for the operating system and programs and one for data. Also included is a recovery partition that will restore your PC to "as-new" condition, should you run into problems down the line. The motherboard is fitted with 1Gb of DDR RAM and has integrated graphics and sound. There is a free AGP slot, if you want to fit a high-powered graphics card for game playing and three free PCI slots, so plenty of expansion options exist. The box has a single optical drive in the form of a DVD rewriter.

Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 is installed and all Microsoft Windows Updates have also been installed.

Pre-installed software includes the full OpenOffice productivity suite (see the blog below on OpenOffice for details), Anti-Virus software, Anti-Spyware software, iTunes, Adobe Reader, PowerDVD (to play DVD movies) and DeepBurner (for burning CDs/DVDs).

This high-spec PC is being offered as a system box only, so you will need to add a mouse, keyboard and monitor to have a complete system. Price is only €480.00. (if you need a monitor mouse or keyboard let us know and we'll give you a price for a full system). This unit is backed-up with the unparalleled support of PC Medic.

Contact me at brendan@pcmedic.ie if you are interested or want more details.

Note that we can add extras such as a wireless network card (it already has a built-in ethernet network card) or high-performance graphics card if required - contact me for a quote.

Windows OneCare Rivals

Hot on the heels of Microsoft launching their OneCare internet security solution (see New Internet Security Option post on May 31st) both Symantec and McAfee have announced rival solutions. Symantec's product is to be called Norton 360 while McAfee's product is currently using the codename Falcon. Norton 360 will be available before March 2007, possibly later this year while McAfee will be launching a beta version of Falcon in the coming weeks.

How these products will measure up to OneCare remains to be seen. What they all need to work on is simplifying the user experience. The current generation of internet security products still do not take into account that the average home user does not know how a firewall should be configured, what ports need to be open to use an attached webcam, or what IP address and subnet mask should be set to communicate with another PC on a home network and, I would argue, a home user should not need to know this. The ideal internet security product for home users should perform an analysis of the user's PC and then set the appropriate level of security based on the results of that analysis. Thereafter it should remain silent except to notify the user of important information. How many of us have experienced pop-up windows from internet security packages like Norton or McAfee that present cryptic message that are alsmost impossible for the average user to understand? Internet security software needs to get smarter and simpler at the same time. Let's hope that the products that will arrive in the next few months can achieve that.

Microsoft Office Alternative

If you are in need of office productivity software (i.e a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation graphics or database) but don't currently have any installed on your PC then you have a few options that you can take. The current industry standard for office productivity software is Microsoft Office, which many of you will be familiar with from your working environment where you will have encountered Word, Excel or Powerpoint. Unfortunately, Microsoft Office doesn't come cheap - about €520 if you want to install the standard version of Microsoft Office 2003 on your PC. While most people would balk at the thought of paying so much money for software, it is in fact pretty good value for money, but it's still a lot of money.

An alternative that many people have yet to discover is the free, yes free, OpenOffice which can be downloaded from OpenOffice.org. This software is what is termed Open Source software and the following, taken from the OpenOffice.org website gives a bit of background to the software.


Historical background
StarDivision, the original author of the StarOffice suite of software, was founded in Germany in the mid-1980s. It was acquired by Sun Microsystems during the summer of 1999 and StarOffice 5.2 was released in June of 2000. Future versions of StarOffice software, beginning with 6.0, have been built using the OpenOffice.org source, APIs, file formats, and reference implementation. Sun continues to sponsor development on OpenOffice.org and is the primary contributor of code to OpenOffice.org. CollabNet hosts the website infrastructure for development of the product and helps manage the project.

Product Description
OpenOffice.org released the long-awaited version 2.0 of its free office suite for Windows, Mac and Linux on 20 October 2005 adding a new database module, support for the OpenDocument file format, a fresh user interface, and plenty of improvements and bug fixes.
OpenOffice.org 2.0 is the first open source office suite to offer thorough support for the Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) OASIS Standard. OpenDocument is an XML file format that was developed by OASIS, the international body for the development and ratification of e-Business standards. The OpenDocument format can be used by any office application without fear of vendor specific lock-in or onerous licensing terms and fees, with the confidence that documents can be viewed, edited and printed for generations to come.

The suite now also offers a database module, Base, to complement the word processor (Writer), spreadsheet manager (Calc), presentation manager (Impress) and drawing tool (Draw) modules. These give all users the tools they need to be productive in the modern world. Free for all, OpenOffice.org offers everyone the enduring freedoms to use, study, improve and share the software. Users can download it for free from the Project's Web page.

With a new user interface, OpenOffice.org 2.0 is easy to learn and use by the most inexperienced user, and is significantly more compatible with Microsoft Office files than prior versions. Supported by dozens of professional companies, OpenOffice.org 2.0 will be available in more than 60 languages. Able to run on Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, Sun Solaris and other platforms, OpenOffice.org is increasingly the choice of businesses and governments throughout the world, and earlier versions have been downloaded over 49 million times since the project's inception.

So OpenOffice is a non-commercial version of the Sun Microsystem's commercially available StarOffice. The key difference between OpenOffice and StarOffice is that the former is supplied free of charge and with no support from Sun Microsystems. However, although not supported by Sun Microsystems, there is a vast range of support for OpenOffice through online user sites, forums, and blogs.

From the perspective of an average home user, OpenOffice can do everything that you would want to do, or could do with Microsoft Office. It even feels like Microsoft Office in terms of menus and commands that you might be used to. And, probably most importantly of all, it is compatible with Microsoft Office. So, if you are sent an Excel spreadsheet you can open it in the OpenOffice equivalent program which is Calc. If you create a document in the OpenOffice word processor, Writer, you can save the document as a .doc file that can be opened by Microsoft's Word.

The Windows download is 91MB, a few minutes if you have broadband, and versions are available for Linux and Mac users. Try it and let PC Medic know what you think.

New Internet Security Option

For those of you who have depended on Norton or McAfee to provide you with protection from viruses and other internet nasties you now have a new option. You probably will have heard of the company that has entered into competition with the market leaders in internet security - it's Microsoft.

Microsoft has just launched their Windows OneCare service which offers anti-virus, anti-spyware, two-way firewall, back-up and restore and system tune ups for $49.99 per year for up to 3 PCs. PC Medic signed up for their 90-day free trial earlier today and I can confirm that the sign-up, download and installation is a painless process that took about 15 minutes. Once installed the system will assign you a colour-coded status depending on what it finds on your PC.

A green icon means your status is Good. Protection Plus features like antivirus and firewall are up to date, your computer is not due for a tune-up or a backup, and there are no actions to take requiring your attention. Windows Live OneCare is running in the background, monitoring your system to prevent threats like viruses or spyware.

A yellow icon means your status is Fair. Usually this means you have an action to take, such as scheduling or running a tune-up or backup, or downloading a non-critical update. A yellow icon means there is no immediate threat to your system, but you should take care of the action as soon as you can to return your system to green.

A red icon means that your computer is At Risk. This can happen if, for example, Windows Live OneCare is unable to update Protection Plus with the latest virus definitions because of a lost Internet connection, or if the Windows Live OneCare Firewall is turned off.

The new firewall allows better control over outgoing traffic, as well as incoming traffic, and retains the simplicity and design of the firewall introduced in Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Full details from Microsoft's OneCare site.

Microsoft seems to have put a lot of effort into keeping the user interface as simple as possible, something other internet security vendors could learn from. Time will tell how effective the product is at keeping the nasties at bay. For now, its the only protection I have on my laptop and will report back in due course on my experiences with it. As the product has only just been released (though its been in public beta for some months) we can't recommend that you dump your Norton or McAfee products and install OneCare. However, PC Medic will report our experience with the product over the coming weeks and let you know what we think.

Router Reboot

One of the most common access problems you can have with broadband is when you open Internet Explorer and you get the dreaded Page Cannot be Displayed message. This can happen for a number of reasons, but the most common cause is that your router needs rebooting. The router is normally supplied by your broadband service provider - Netopia routers with Eircom and Zyxel routers with ESAT/BT - and these are, in effect, simple computers. Like all computers (unfortunately) they sometimes hang and if they do they will not allow internet access until they are rebooted.

Rebooting simply involves turning the power switch at the back of these units off for about 15 seconds. The power can then be turned back on again and the router will start its boot sequence, which can last for up to a minute. Once it has rebooted you may find that your internet access is magically restored.

In the case of wireless routers I have come across the situation where PCs connected to the router by ethernet cable can access the internet but wirelessly connected PCs cannot. Again, while there are a number of reasons why this might occur, a quick reboot of the router often resolves the issue in less than a minute.

One word of caution, you want to reboot your router, not reset it. At the back of your router you will find a recessed reset button that can only be pressed using a pen tip or paper-clip. You should never press this button unless instructed to do so by your internet service provider (or you know how to reconfigure a router manually!) as you will clear all the configuration settings needed to connect to your broadband service.

Rogue Spyware Removal Programs

On more than one occasion a customer has told me how they got messages that their PC was infected by spyware and that they should download a named program, for $39.99, and all their problems would be resolved. However, after downloading said program their problems got even worse. What had happened here was that the customer's machine had become infected with spyware and they were duped into buying a rogue anti-spyware program - a program that did nothing for the money they paid for it.

Currently the number of rogue anti-spyware programs outnumber legitimate ones by a factor of nearly 10 to 1, so its important to know what's what. The Spyware Warrior website carries a comprehensive list of those programs that are known to be, or strongly suspected of being rogue software. If you are thinking of buying anti-spyware software (or if you bought a package and are concerned over its credentials) I suggest paying a visit to this site. PC Medic recommends Counterspy, from Sunbelt Software, as an effective first line defense against spyware.

Vista on the Horizon

Microsoft has recently announced that the next generation of their Windows operating system, called Vista, will not now be available to the home user market until January 2007. Despite the hype that will surround the launch of Vista, it will be an evolutionary rather than revolutionary product. The home user will notice the slick new Aero interface as the biggest change, followed by a new Windows Explorer and the provision of virtual folders. Much of the rest of the improvements relate to networking and security and may not be apparent to a casual home user, but are improvements that will hopefully make Vista a more secure operating system than its predecessors.

Microsoft has recently launched a GetReady site for Vista where you can find details on the minimum specification needed to run the new OS (for now, I suggest that you should take these minimum specs with a grain of salt as Microsoft has tended to understate these in the past - 128MB of RAM for XP Home? Yes it runs, but like a lame dog). What we can say from what they have published is that a lot of PCs out there will require a lot more RAM and more powerful graphics cards if Vista is to display the features of the new Aero interface. We'll save the debate about whether you should upgrade to Vista until after we have had the opportunity to try Vista for ourselves.

You may be interested to note that Windows XP, at the time of the launch of Vista, will be Microsoft's longest running Windows operating system, while Windows Me was the shortest surviving (no surprises there then).

File Sharing Risks

If you're a regular to this blog you have, no doubt, heard me expound upon the risks of file-sharing. This is using programs like Limewire, Kazaa, BitTorrent, Bearshare, Morpheus and others to obtain free music or films via the internet. I came across this article recently and anyone who has a PC connected to the internet should take the time to read it as it provides a succinct summary of the risks of using such software.

Some other links that provide details of file sharing risks are here, here, here and here.

New Generation Optical Storage

One storage option that you can skip for now is the recently introduced Blu-ray drive from Samsung, the eloquently named SH-B022 BD Writer, pictured below, among the first of a new generation of drives that can write up to 50GB (more than 10 DVDs) onto a single disc. This is done using a blue laser (hence the Blu-ray moniker) rather than the red lasers found in current CD and DVD writers. This is analogous to using a finer-tipped pen for writing, thus allowing more words to be written to a page.

The main driver for such high capacity storage discs is High Definition TV (Or HDTV as it has become known). With the advent of HDTV, which will be available in Ireland from SKY later this year, current DVD discs do not have sufficient storage capacity for a two-hour movie. So a new format needed to be found for storing HD movies. Unfortunately two solutions were found: Blu-ray, which was developed by a consortium comprised of Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Warner Brothers and Walt Disney, among others - all heavy hitters in the electronics/entertainment industries; and HD-DVD or High Definition Digital Versatile Disc, which was developed by Toshiba and supported by NEC, Sanyo, Microsoft, Intel, Paramount Pictures and Universal studios.

Many of you may remember a similar situation back in the early eighties when two formats of video recorder were introduced simultaneously: Betamax by Sony and VHS by JVC. In that battle the technically superior Betamax format lost out to VHS after a number of years of bitter competition. The lesson that should have been learned from that debacle is that only one format will win the battle if the two are non-compatible - as was the case with Betamax and VHS and as is the case with Blu-ray and HD-DVD (the latter discs only store 15GB of data as opposed to Blu-ray's 50GB).

Like all new technologies the early adopter pays a premium for the privilege of being among the first to use it. Samsung's new Blu-ray writer will set you back €850, and you'll have to pay €46 for each blank 50GB disc - not for the faint-hearted. However, expect prices to drop significantly in the future for whichever format wins the war. Back in August 2001, less than 5 years ago, a Pioneer DVR-A03 DVD writer for your PC would have cost you €960 ex-VAT! For now, look elsewhere for a backup solution.

Change of Image

We're in the process of re-designing the PC Medic blog, so you may see a few changes in appearance over the next few weeks. Let us know via the comments whether you like/dislike the new designs.

Online Storage

When it comes to backing up your data it's generally a case of "I'll get around to it tomorrow". I'd be the first to admit that data backup is not the most interesting thing that you can do on your PC, but it has to be done if you want to ensure that you don't finish up losing some important files at some point in the future.

One of the reasons we don't back up our data more frequently than we should is that we don't always have a convenient and suitable place to copy the data to. Floppy disks are unreliable and hold very little data (1.44MB). CD's and DVDs are reliable and hold between 650MB and 4.7GB but aren't always to hand when you want to backup your data. A second hard disc drive, preferably an external one is the ideal solution, but not many users have an external hard disc drive.

If you have a broadband internet connection there is another option open to you and, depending on how much data you want to back up, it need not cost you a penny. The possible solution to your backup problems is online storage. There are now a wide range of companies that will offer online storage, which involves uploading your precious data to the data storage company's servers. Once the data has been uploaded you can retrieve it at any time, so if your computer suffers a catastrophic failure at some point in the future, resulting in total data loss, you can be sure that your data is OK and you can download it to your PC again once it has been repaired. An added benefit of storing your data online is that no matter where you are in the world, once you have access to a PC with an internet connection, you can retrieve your stored data.

So, who are the main players providing this service? Well there are quite a few, each offering slightly different products, so you need to shop around for the one that suits you. Three players that you might want to check out are Xdrive, Box and Streamload. The last of these, Streamload, offers 25 GB of storage for free, though there are restrictions on how much you can download per month (100MB). If you want to download more than 100MB per month from your online data repository then you will need to sign up for one of their subscriptions - $4.95 per month increases your download allowance to 2GB per month and you get unlimited storage, as opposed to 25GB with the free service. Other subscription rates allow greater monthly download allowances.

Box also offers free storage, though only 1MB, and 5GB will cost you $4.99 per month, which is still pretty good value for the safekeeping of your data. XDrive doesn't offer free storage and comes in at $10 per month for 5GB of storage, but offers extra security for the premium price.

One service that we haven't checked ot, but which looks pretty interesting is Carbonite, check it out for yourself.

The bottom line is you need to back up your data - not necessarily all your data, but at least the data that you consider important and irreplaceable. How you do it is up to you - but with the advent of online data storage you now have a convenient and always accessible option. Check out the services that I have highlighted and Google online storage to see other potential solutions. Look carefully at the various options before selecting one that suits you.










Update: IBackup has contacted PC Medic to inform us of their service. Check out their comment below.

Footnote on Internet Filtering

I should have mentioned in my earlier post that those of you who use Eircom as your Internet Service Provider can avail of their Broadband Guardian service free of charge. We have had a look at this service and, considering it's free, it's not half bad. It allows you to set up an account for each user of the internet and each account can be regulated in terms of how much time the account owner can spend on the internet per day, what times they can use it at, whether they can see mature content or not, who they can e-mail and who they can chat to using instant messaging programs.

The only downside of this service is that the Netopia ADSL Modem/Routers that Eircom issue do not support Broadband Guardian without a firmware update (note that the service is only compatible with Eircom-supplied Netopia Modem/Routers). There is a firmware update wizard that we tried which didn't work - speaking to Eircom support they told us that they didn't know anyone who got the wizard to work! We had to update the firmware manually, not difficult but you need to follow the directions carefully or your router becomes a paperweight. The average computer user should never be asked to update firmware - it's like asking the average car owner to change the oil in their engine - they could probably do it with guidance, but it's not an enjoyable experience. Then again, would we expect anything different from Eircom?

Something for the Weekend

Hope you enjoy this short movie as much as I did.

Internet Filtering Software

A customer recently asked us if we could recommend a suitable software package to ensure that his young children could use the internet without the risk of being exposed to unsuitable sites. This was something that we hadn't looked at in detail so we decided to round up a number of packages, load them up and compare how good a job they did. The packages we reviewed were:

ContentProtect
CyberSitter
NetNanny
CyberPatrol

These packages were rated the top four internet filtering options by TopTenReviews, so we reckoned they were all worth looking at.

ContentProtect came out the #1 choice of TopTenReviews, but we ran into problems with the product refusing to save the setup configurations we chose. Because of this we couldn't give it our recommendation.

CyberSitter is a good package if the children are the only ones to use the computer. Since this program doesn't allow individual user accounts to be set up, e.g. different internet access levels for Mum/Dad, a teenage child and a pre-teen child, we can't recommend it where the PC is used by the whole household.

NetNanny is a program that you may have heard about as it was one of the first internet filtering packages available for the PC. The current version is pretty easy to set up and allows access to be configured for different types of user, a feature missing in CyberSitter. Our main gripe with this product was that it made searching the internet extremely slow - unacceptably so in our opinion.

Then there was CyberPatrol. This program ticked all the right boxes for us. It allowed each user of the PC have their own account, so that Mum/Dad can look at content that may not be appropriate for 10-year old Johnny, it did not slow down internet searches or browsing, and it was intelligent in what it filtered. For example, in a user account that was set up for a pre-teen, if the user tried to Google the word sex then Cyber Patrol would return a screen saying that the search was not allowed. However, if the same user account Googled the words sex education, then the search results would be displayed.

One point to note is that whatever package you use, none of them are infallible. Some will block what you might consider appropriate material and some will let through what you might consider inappropriate material. They are not a substitute for keeping a close eye on what your younger children are trying to see on the Internet.

Back to Basics - Summing Up

To end our back to basics series I want to bring you on a photo tour of the inside of a PC, pointing out some of the items we discussed during the course of this series. Remember, to see any picture in more detail just click on it.

First up and overall view of the PC we will be looking at with its side panel removed. For those who weren't paying attention, the rear of the PC is on the left!

Moving in in more detail, the next picture shows the heatsink fitted to the CPU. The actual CPU can't be seen in the picture because the heatsink is mounted on top of it. The heatsink used on this PC is a low-noise type made of copper and aluminium made into a series of radial blades that present a large surface area for heat transfer. The large, low-speed fan in the centre of the heatsink only comes on when the CPU exceeds a certain temperature. Because this particular heatsink is very efficient at dispersing heat on its own, the fan remains off most of the time, leading to a quieter PC.

The next picture shows the memory modules mounted in the motherboard memory slots. This motherboard has four memory slots (2 x purple and 2 x orange) and two of the slots are occupied with 512MB of DDR2 RAM in each, for a total of 1GB of RAM.

Now we're looking at the PCI slots on the motherboard, of which there are five. The slot above the first PCI slot is the AGP slot and contains an AGP graphics card. Moving downwards, the first PCI slot is unoccupied. The next one down contains a TV tuner card. The third slot is unoccupied while the fourth slot contains a wireless network card. The final slot is empty. Just because there are five PCI slots on a motherboard, it does not always mean that you can use all five of them. For example, because of the large heatsink on the graphics card in the AGP slot, there is little room for fitting a card into the first PCI slot.

The hard disc shown in this picture is a relatively recent type referred to as a parallel type, as opposed to the older and more common serial type. The principal difference between them is the connectors. Rather than using the wide ribbon data cables I discussed in the section on hard disc drives, the unit shown in the picture uses a smaller and more easily fitted parallel cable (red in the picture). The other difference is the power connector which isn't the typical Molex type but a slimmer design. Otherwise the hard disc drive types are indistinguishable and the disc is mounted in its usual position at the bottom front of the system case.

This PC is fitted with a single optical drive, a CD-RW unit, located at the top front of the system case. In the picture you can see the multi-strand ribbon cable attached to the drive (this is a special type of ribbon cable rolled into yellow tubing to take up less space in the system case) as well as the 12V Molex power connector.



The power supply unit, or PSU) is fitted to the top rear of the system case and in the picture you can see part of the wiring loom that comes out of this unit. The following picture shows where the ATX power connector fits onto the corresponding socket on the motherboard.















Finally, a picture of the back of the case that shows, from the top down, the rear of the PSU (in brown), the on-board connectors that are built in to the motherboard (these are the mouse and keyboard PS/2 connectors, 2 x serial port and 1 x parallel port connectors, 4 x USB ports, an ethernet port and 3 audio sockets for loudspeakers and microphone). Click on the picture to see a larger version. Note that I didn't deal with the parallel and serial ports in my earlier articles as these are used less and less (if you have an old printer you may still be using the parallel port - sometimes called the printer port).

To the right of the on-board connectors is one of the system case fans, which exhausts warm air from the case.

The bottom section is where the connectors from the AGP graphics card and PCI cards emerge into the world.

So, there you have it. Hopefully, if you have been following our Back to Basics series from the beginning, you now have a better understanding of the different components that come together to make your PC work.