Why Windows Takes So Long To Start Up

Most of us have had a brand new computer at one time. It's a great feeling. You boot up windows and within 30 seconds you are surfing the net, checking your email, or playing your favorite game. 10 months down the road things aren't so nice anymore. You power up your computer and it seems to take forever to load.

Even when you are careful about what you install it seems that each day it takes longer for it to boot. It's not your imagination - and there are a couple of good tips to keep your boot time short and sweet.

As always - backup your system before you start any of this. If you make a mistake you might need to restore from backup


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Microsoft® Visual Studio® .NET™ 2003 SP1

This download installs Service Pack 1 for Microsoft® Visual Studio® .NET™ 2003. Fixes in this Service Pack concern stability and security enhancements made in many areas of the product. A comprehensive list of hotfixes requested by customers since the release of Visual Studio® .NET™ 2003 and included in this Service Pack can be found by following the appropriate link under Related Resources on this page.

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Windows Live Writer (Beta)

Whether you are a full time blogger or you are just blogging as a hobby, we all have a need for the same thing: an easy to use blog editor to publish our entries from. Luckily, Microsoft recognized this need for a What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG) blogging tool and delivered in the form of Windows Live Writer.

Welcome to the world of blogging indeed. Windows Live Writer makes editing and publishing blog entries so easy and user friendly that anyone can do it. When setting Writer up, there are just a few steps to get your blog rolling with the software. First, you select your type of blog from the list of available services. This is what is currently compatible with Windows Live Writer:

- Windows Live Spaces
- Blogger
- LiveJournal
- TypePad
- Wordpress
- All blogs that support RSD (Really Simple Discoverability)
- Metaweblog API
- Moveable Type API

They are working on making virtually all blog types compatible with Writer, so if you do not see your type on the list, do not despair, it may be coming soon.

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Vista Hacked At Black Hat

While Microsoft talked up Windows Vista security at Black Hat, a researcher in another room demonstrated how to hack the operating system.

Joanna Rutkowska, a Polish researcher at Singapore-based Coseinc, showed that it is possible to bypass security measures in Vista that should prevent unsigned code from running.

In the second part of her talk, Rutkowska explained how it is possible to use virtualisation technology to make malicious code undetectable, in the same way a rootkit does. She code-named this malicious software Blue Pill.

"Microsoft is investigating solutions for the final release of Windows Vista to help protect against the attacks demonstrated," a representative for the software maker said. "In addition, we are working with our hardware partners to investigate ways to help prevent the virtualisation attack used by the Blue Pill."

At Black Hat, Microsoft gave out copies of an early Vista release for attendees to test. The software maker is still soliciting feedback on the successor to Windows XP, which is slated to be broadly available in January.

Rutkowska's presentation filled a large ballroom at Caesars Palace to capacity, even though it was during the last time slot on the final day of the annual Black Hat security confab in Las Vegas. She used an early test version of Vista for her research work.

As one of the security measures in Vista, Microsoft is adding a mechanism to block unsigned driver software to run on the 64-bit version of the operating system. However, Rutkowska found a way to bypass the shield and get her code to run. Malicious drivers could pose a serious threat because they run at a low level in the operating system, security experts have said.

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For System Recovery, DOS Is Still Boss

Even with all its faults--and there are many, starting with a general industry lack of support--DOS is still the preferred operating environment for building a rescue CD to help bring up a crippled system.

In the past year alone, I've had four near-fatal drive failures, each on a different system. To alleviate some of the pain associated with recovering from these kinds of problems, I've been working on building a self-contained, multiboot rescue CD that I can use to bring up a crippled system and perform emergency surgery.

This includes tasks such as repairing a broken partition table, cloning a failing drive to a new disk before the old one dies completely, or simply changing a corrupted file that is preventing the operating system from booting.

There are actually a number of options for building these kinds of things, depending on what you are trying to do. If you just want to fix up a Windows installation, you can use the Windows XP Recovery Console and a boot CD to bring a crippled system far enough along to do rudimentary repair work.

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Microsoft Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant v1.0

The Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant programmatically executes a set of troubleshooting steps to identify the root cause of performance, mail flow, and database mounting issues. The tool automatically determines what set of data is required to troubleshoot the identified symptoms and collects configuration data, performance counters, event logs and live tracing information from an Exchange server and other appropriate sources. The tool analyzes each subsystem to determine individual bottlenecks and component failures, then aggregates the information to provide root cause analysis.

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Microsoft Research India Announces Ph.D. Fellowships

Microsoft Research India today announced its Ph.D. Fellowships in India. Instituted by Microsoft Research’s External Research & Programs Group, the Ph.D. Fellowships are aimed at encouraging students to take up research as a career, a key qualification for which is to get a doctoral degree. Each awardee will receive approximately $5,000 (U.S.) per year over four years, and also $5,000 for attending seminars and conferences during the term of the fellowship. The fellows will also have the option of a three-month to six-month internship at Microsoft Research India.

“There is plenty of world-class research talent in India, but India produces less than 50 Ph.D.s in computer science research every year. One of Microsoft Research’s objectives in India is to enhance the quantity and quality of Ph.D.s in the country, and the Ph.D. Fellowships are a step in this direction,” said P. Anandan, managing director of Microsoft Research India. “We are also providing funding for travel to conferences, because exposure to the community and the work it is doing in the subject area is critical for researchers.”

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WINRAR 3.51 Free Sunday July 30th 2006

Get the Winner WinRAR 3.51 for FREE on Sunday
In order to thank everyone who voted for us and made it possible for us to win this prestigious award, we are offering the WinRAR 3.51 single user license non upgradeable version this Sunday the 30th of July 2006 from 00:00 until 24:00 CET for absolutely FREE Please click the following link which will become active on Sunday. Fill out the form on that page in order to receive further information via e-mail about how to get your FREE version of WinRAR.

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ieSpell v2.3.0.264

ieSpell is a free Internet Explorer browser extension that spell checks text input boxes on a webpage. It should come in particularly handy for users who do a lot of web-based text entry (e.g. web mails, forums, blogs, diaries). Even if your web application already includes spell checking functionality, you might still want to install this utility because it is definitely much faster than a server-side solution. Plus you get to store and use your personal word list across all your applications, instead of maintaining separate ones on each application.

Features

• Completely standalone spell checker for your web browser. Does not require Microsoft Office or any other third party components.
• Integrates flawlessly with Internet Explorer and other IE based browsers.
• Three ways to start the spell check; via the right click context menu, the toolbar or the menu bar.
• Supports a wide range of web applications including simple text forms, rich text editors, forums, blogs, webmail (including Outlook Web Access and Lotus iNotes) and more!
• Spell check in any of the 3 variants (US, UK and Canadian) of the English Language!
• Suggestions are sorted by the degree of closeness with the misspelled word.
• Intelligent suggesting for misspelled words using typographic “looks like” matching.
• Easily add/remove your personal words in ieSpell via an intuitive user interface!
• Organise your personal words in individual custom dictionaries! Share them with your friends and co-workers over the network!
• Integrates with Microsoft Office's proofing tools. Have ieSpell share the same copy of the custom dictionary so that when you add/remove your personal words in ieSpell, the same is reflected in Microsoft Office and vice versa!
• ieSpell suggested a word that you are not familiar with? Look up its meaning in an online dictionary!
• Powerful API for web application developers.
  • Force users to spell check the document before submission.
  • Ignore certain text fields.
  • Refuse a form submission if the user cancels the spell check!

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Windows Media® Components For QuickTime

With Windows Media® for QuickTime, by Flip4Mac™, you can play Windows Media files (.wma and .wmv) directly in QuickTime Player and view Windows Media content on the Internet using a Web browser.

Optimized for High-Definition Playback:
Windows Media® Components for QuickTime has been highly optimized for Power Mac G4 and G5 and Intel computers and supports playback of high-definition Windows Media video files.

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Microsoft: .Net Beat Java, Who's Next?

Microsoft is leaving Java in the dust, but the company still has room to grow in the developer arena, a key executive said.

Speaking at the Microsoft FAM (Financial Analyst Meeting) on July 27 in Redmond, Wash., Bob Muglia, Microsoft's senior vice president of Server and Tools business, said Microsoft's .Net platform has outpaced Java, particularly the Java Enterprise Edition, over the past five years to become the development platform of choice for enterprise development.

"Five years ago we had problems with J2EE [Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition]," Muglia said. However, "We've grown from having a quarter of the market to, now, 60 percent," he said. Microsoft displayed the FAM presentations via Webcast.

"J2EE has run its course," Muglia said.

Yet, he also said that although Microsoft is strong in the database and developer tools spaces, the company sees that in both areas, "we are mature and we have high usage, but our revenue numbers are lower than our usage numbers… As we focus on the enterprise segment, we have the ability to drive up our revenue share."

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Toolkit To Disable Automatic Delivery Of Internet Explorer 7

To help our customers become more secure and up-to-date, Microsoft will distribute Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 soon after the final version of the browser is released (planned for fourth quarter 2006). Microsoft is making a non-expiring Blocker Toolkit available for those organizations that would like to block automatic delivery of Internet Explorer 7 to machines in environments where Automatic Updates is enabled.

Note:

• The Blocker Toolkit will prevent machines from receiving Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates and the “Express” install option on the Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites. The Blocker Toolkit will not expire.
• The Blocker Toolkit will not prevent users from manually installing Internet Explorer 7 as a Recommended update from the Windows Update or Microsoft Update sites, from the Microsoft Download Center, or from external media.
• Organizations do not need to deploy the Blocker Toolkit in environments managed with an update management solution such as Windows Server Update Services or Systems Management Server 2003. Organizations can use those products to fully manage deployment of updates released through Windows Update and Microsoft Update, including Internet Explorer 7, within their environment.

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Beta 1 Of SP2 For Windows Server 2003 Begins

Microsoft announced it has begun shipping Beta 1 of Service Pack 2 for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional x64 edition. However, the beta is billed as "private."

The service pack focuses on the "fundamentals of improving security, reliability, performance, compatibility, interoperability, management and deployment," the company said in a statement.

SP2 includes all current security updates for Windows Server 2003, as well as all previously released hotfixes aimed at addressing issues uncovered by specific customers after SP1 shipped.

In addition, SP2 adds limited functional changes meant to improve deployment, management and security, or adds new hardware support. These include Scalable Networking Pack (SNP) and Wi-Fi Protected Accdess 2 (WPA2), the company said.

Because the update contains no major changes, Microsoft officials anticipate SP2 will have minimal impact on users and administrators in terms of testing and deployment. Versions are available for x86, x64 and Itanium releases of Windows Server 2003.

Microsoft said the service pack is set for release towards the end of the year, but cautioned that quality will determine timing of the release and not vice versa.

News Source:ENT News

Microsoft Network Diagnostic Tool

The Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool can help troubleshoot some of the most common connection problems that you may encounter in a home networking environment.

To diagnose network connectivity status, the Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool analyzes the following tests:

•	IP configuration test
•	Default gateway test
•	Winsock test
•	DNS test
•	Firewall test
•	Internet connectivity validation test

Typically, a support professional will work with you when you run the Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool to help diagnose network connectivity status.

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Blu-ray v HD-DVD – Who's Got The Edge?

The next-generation disc formats have arrived Stateside – and so are hints of where the format war is going. Here's our report from the other side of the pond.

This article appears in the September 06 issue of PC ADVISOR, which is available now in all good newsagents.

A funny thing happens in a format war. At some point, the theoretical spec one-upmanship gives way to tangible reality. What the rival products are delivering.

After looking at the initial wave of products to arrive in the US from both fronts, we have a few thoughts about where the format war is heading. The first products deliver on their promises of outstanding high-definition video (Toshiba's HD-A1 and HD-XA1 HD-DVD players and its Qosmio G35-AV650 laptop, plus more than 25 HD-DVD movies from Warner Brothers and Universal) and high-capacity, rewritable disc storage (Pioneer's BDR-101A, Sony's AR Premium VGN-AR19G notebook equipped with a Blu-ray player/burner).

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Windows Media Lite v.2.4.0

Windows Media Lite will allow you to play and stream Windows Media files without having to install Windows Media Player from Microsoft. In all recent Windows versions Windows Media Player is installed by default, but some tools (like nLite and XPlite) allow you to remove Windows Media Player from your system or even prevent it from ever being installed. The downside to this is that vital components for Windows Media playback are also removed. As a result you won't be able to play or stream Windows Media content. A solution for this problem is Windows Media Lite, which restores those vital components. The very user-friendly installation is fully customizable, which means that you can install only those components that you want.

Features:

- Windows Media Codecs (DirectShow/VCM/DMO)
- Windows Media Core Components
- Windows Media Player Core Components
- Windows Media Browser plugin for Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox, Netscape and Opera

Warning: Do not install Windows Media Lite if Windows Media Player is installed.

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Quick Dictionary Search

Dictionary.hm is a free onine dictionary that gives you live definitions as you type.

If you’re a big lover of AJAX searches and results, Dictionary.hm delivers, and fast. They’ve also got a bookmarklet for a quick search from any page. The downside: Dictionary.hm doesn’t offer any spelling suggestions if you’ve got no results, and only gives the definition once it fully matches a word.

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Exchange Server 2007 Is A Different Animal

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is a far cry from Exchange Server 2003, based on eWEEK Labs' tests of the first public beta of the new messaging platform.

Administrators thinking of moving to Exchange Server 2007 should take a hard look at this beta to understand the impact of the platform's many new features.

Exchange 2007 Beta 2 became widely available on July 24 and is expected to ship in its final form at the end of 2006 or the beginning of 2007.

There's no huge rush to evaluate the beta, but don't wait too long—our tests show that getting a full sense of the capabilities and requirements will take time and training.

This release of Exchange Server includes a number of architectural changes. The product will be available for production deployment using only the 64-bit version of the software, so 64-bit capable servers are a must. (A 32-bit version of Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 is available for companies that want to test the software without tying up a 64-bit system.)

This beta also includes unified communications capabilities with an embedded version of Microsoft's Speech Server, allowing users to access their mailboxes and calendars from a phone as well as their voice mail from their e-mail client (provided the company has an IP PBX or VoIP gateway).

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Microsoft Tests New Homepage

Microsoft is testing a new homepage. Check it out here IE6 or greater is required

New Windows Vista Security Blog

One of Windows Vista's central tenets is to enhance Windows security to such a degree that both power users and novices alike can access networks and information in a secure, protected manner and without worry. Security has been such an obsessive focus and underpins so many parts of the new OS that it's arguably been the key driver behind our desire to release a new version of Windows. It affects us all to some degree and is something about which pretty much everyone has an opinion, yet in Windows Vista, it's a poorly understood subject by and large. My sense is that while features such as User Account Control have gotten their fair share of attention (and possibly more), others such as outbound application filtering by the Windows Vista Firewall are still unfamiliar to many readers.

The Windows Vista Security Blog was launched with that in mind. In fact, the first post was drafted by Ben Fathi, our VP of the Security Technology Unit, and makes reference to a number of other security-related blogs, documents and sites that you might check out as well. Ben also mentions that topics previously covered on other blogs will now be covered in more depth on the new security blog, which should make it easier to find more security-related content in a single place and also provide the entire team with feedback in the bargain.

Visit: Windows Vista Security Blog