I was writing here about the wonderful life with Vista Service Pack…now I have to complete that review. I cannot explain what happened in detail, and the conclusions from the previous post are still valid. This one is just an addition. The worst possible.

It all started in the weekend, when the laptop didn’t came back from that hybrid sleep Vista has (and sucks). I performed a hard reset from the button, choosed the "Start Windows normally" option and everything seemed normal. I noticed one thing, but didn’t considered it until later on: the HDD activity present at startup was almost gone, but still, I got to the desktop without errors and fast. Seeing that the HDD is "calm", I started my usual software sequence. Gaim started OK, Office also seemed fine. Firefox opened up but didn’t respond to commands. After some random clicking, it showed "not responding". Well, ok, I’ll kill the process and restart it. But no task manager at Ctrl-Alt-Del. I try rightcliking the taskbar, no response. Alt-Tab didn’t work either so all my programs appeared to be working but not accesible through the Aero GUI. I try selecting some icons from the desktop, seemed to be working. Then I double-clicked one. That was the last step, I could still move the mouse, but no input command was accepted from the periheals (except the moving cursor). Inserting removable media such as a CD or USB-stick didn’t cause any reaction.

So it began…restart after restart (forced), until the HDD was showing the normal startup activity. I learned when to restart without waiting for the complete freeze, just by looking at the HDD Led or by listening to the HDD noise. When the computer finally decided to spin the HDD as usual, everything worked fine for a while. Any operation related to shutdown, restart, hibernation etc caused the problems to appear. It was not tied to Firefox, nor to a hardware problem. It was the service pack.

I could express the situation in human term: the computer became sicker with every restart. I checked the drivers again, made some changes, checked some Vista logs, disabling Aero, disabling the security software, trying a different sequence of program startup, checked the "super-fetch" settings, rechecked for Windows Updates.

All of the above to no avail. The laptop was useless. So the next day I decided to try and uninstall the Service Pack. I started the operation very tensed, being afraid of unknown OS reactions. Waiting for the worst wasn’t justified. The uninstall was a very smooth process (it took about 20 minutes). Steps were similar to the installation, first some operations are performed from inside the operating system, then restarts come and all you see is a nice coloured screen with the progress (it goes through 3 steps, each from 0% to 100%).

Restarting the computer after the SP1 uninstall proved that my theory was right. Computer was back again to full operational state. I of course lost the boot optimization, the file copy sucks again, the HDD is in full load at computer startup and all that stuff. But after that, everything runs smoothly.

Vista Service Pack 1 - see you at the next build

I am joining the “Let’s all ignore another Marc Cuban stupid idea” Club.

Goddamit, people sign up for broadband for pr0n and movies and music. The rest of the stuff we are doing while we download…

Ok, so I am one of the lucky ones with a licensed Vista Ultimate and access to the “restricted” 15.000 users beta test of the first Vista Sevice Pack. I installed it 2 days ago on my laptop, using the full standalone build ver. 658, not the update one. Here are my facts & remarks:

Configuration: Centrino Duo 1.7 Ghz , 2 GB RAM, Vista Ultimate 32bit, usual 5400rpm laptop HDD. One note about the OS - it’s upgraded from XP SP2, not a clean Vista installation, so the drivers are a bit messed up. I also use a Windows Mobile device with my laptop.

Software used: 7-10 hours/day - Office 2007, Firefox 2.0, Windows LiveWriter, BullGuard 8.0, TotalCommander, Gaim, Skype, FTP client, UltraVNC, Nero Suite, Multimedia Apps, Windows Mobile Device Center, printer software etc.

Remarks:

First of all, I am pretty sure that the system moves faster. It is not a terrific improvement, but it’s there. The boot sequence now ends about 25-30% faster, from the power on command to the usable desktop (going through the painful HDD activity everytime). I used to start the system, double click the usual set of programs I needed and the go for a smoke until everything opened up. Some of the applications work better, for example Windows Explorer and Microsoft Office application load almost instantly. The annoying “fetching &indexing” time at every computer restart consumes a bit less, allowing other software to run in decent conditions. No major interface modifications noted, the SP1 announcements didn’t state any of those anyway. Another part that improved a lot is file-transfer. Before the SP1, that “calculating time” window really drove me mad, because it used to calculate ALL the files in the beginning. Now it seems to calculate the time for each file at each transfer start, which improves the overall responsiveness.

Also, some of the SP1 “highlights” target the mobile systems. For example, the Aero interface doesn’t draw itself so many times/day (initially I thought it was caused by my video driver, but I found out it’s a Vista “feature”), the sleep/hibernate procedures take A LOT less than before , the random computer halts that I usually encountered when getting out of hibernation are gone (at least in the last 2 days). Some say that SP1 should improve battery life on some laptops because of the improved screen refresh system. I don’t think I’m part of that lucky batch.

Some other additions noted in this SP: DirectX 10.1 and Bitlocker improvement. Unfortunately I don’t play much on the laptop and I don’t use BitLocker at all, so no personal opinions on these ones. Only noticed the changes.

And on the downside, some minor but very annoying problems appeared:

- although one of the pack’s highlights was improved software& driver support, it is actually worse in my case - the sound drivers and software now cause a compatibility warning at every computer start (of course I disabled it), the modem drivers are having the same problem.

- another bug that really gets on my nerves is related to the Windows Mobile Device Center. My mobile device uses a “cooked” WM 2006 and works fine with the XP ActiveSync program. On Vista SP1, I get a COM service error from time to time (I am sure it’s from the WMDC), my syncronising process takes ages and usually gives at least one error, my contacts always end up in a total mess in both Outlook and the mobile device and so on so forth. I am really afraid of syncronising the device with the laptop and I will probably avoid this until I hear about a major improvement on this side.

It’s light, it’s effective, it also contains a support plugin which connects you live, 24/7 with the support team via chat and email. I’ve been using it for some time now, it really “pays off”.

Perhaps you should give it a try, it supports Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express(Windows Mail in Vista) and Thunderbird and it beautifully integrates in each of these clients. Uses various tools and methods to stop spam (heuristics, word analysis and more)

Download HERE and enjoy!

This time, another stealth update that “pimps” your computer with Windows Desktop Search. It happens on all MS update configurations, basically the user isn’t asked for confirmation. The utility uses the (in)famous indexing feature and goes through almost all files on your HDD for faster searches in the future. Of course, lots of people started to throw rocks at MS, marking 2 big concerns: 1 - the procedure is not moral, users should have full control of their PC behavior and files shouldn’t get on their HDDs without confirmation and 2 - computers cripple/slow down after the Windows Desktop Search is installed and running.

I totally agree with no. 1. This force-down-your-throat update procedure shouldn’t even been considered by MS. And given the fact that there are already tons of accusations regarding the policies of the software giant, caution is advised. I don’t know if this “move” is defined in their licence agreements as being accepted or not, but still, it sucks. Luckily I only use manual updates and…I already have Windows Desktop Search installed. This brings me to the second point - the computer slow downs.

Lots of PC users and network administrators complained about the indexing feature, that start immediately after install and makes the computers almost unusable. Leaving the productivity aspects aside (I agree it sucks to have 1000+ computers suddenly crippled by an un-requested update…), I like the MS tool. I’ve been using it for many months on both my desktop (XP) and my laptop (XP->Vista). What people don’t know is that right clicking on the search box in the taskbar shows a menu which has a magic option “Index only when computer is idle”. I used that in the beginning and after a day or two the utility indexed all files, without getting on my nerves. And only after that came the best part: every search for information I perform with Windows utilities is almost real time. Most useful when searching my 9000+ inbox in Outlook (yes, the utility also comes with Office 2007) - usually it took me from 20 seconds to 1 minute to perform a search and if I used wrong keywords, I had to wait again for a new search. Well, with everything indexed it takes about…3 seconds. quite a difference. Same with the computer files - very fast. So blame, but I like Windows Desktop Search and I strongly recommend it, but only if it’s YOUR CHOICE…and stop whining about the indexing slowing down the computer, it goes away in a fair amount of time.

All Windows power users have encountered at some point during their "Windows Experience" a moment when everything crashes and a full format and reinstallation is necessary.

Today I am going to describe a procedure that should spare you the time lost for a full Windows installation and customization.

The solution I use is OS snapshot creation in various configuration phases. There are many applications available for this kind of tasks, but most of them use the "restore point technology", instead of brute data saving, they can be ran from Windows interface with all the eye candy graphics. However, I prefer a more "basic" method, meaning using a DOS command prompt and a small utility to save all data from the system partition into an image file. What I use and how do I do it:

1. partition a HDD in at least 2 partitions. One of them should be dedicated exclusively to Windows and basic Program Files. If the space is enough, I also use a 2GB partition for swap file, avoiding its fragmentation (ideal scenario: place the swap partition on another HDD for increased efficiency).

2. install Windows > Service Pack 2 > Antivirus/Firewall > connect network cable > update Windows and security software > install the "can’t live without" programs. no unnecessary software at this point, only the must-haves.

3. get Hiren Boot CD 8.8 or any other bootable enviroment which contains Ghost v11 for DOS.

4. - run Ghost 11 from a Dos command prompt and execute some simple steps (in Hiren’s Boot CD menu you can press  2-[enter] -2 -[enter] - 7-[enter] ).

    - I recommend using the keyboard arrows for navigation in Ghost, although Hiren provides a weird mouse support too.

    - steps for creating a HDD image are : Local > Partition > To Image > choose your system partition> choose where to save the image file> choose compression(fast/medium/high) > Save > confirm.

    - considering the PC components, a snapshot can be created in 5 to 15 minutes. I would recommend choosing the "Fast" compression option, it will speed things a lot on both creation and restore operation. I also recommend saving the image files (extension .GHO ) on another HDD for safety.

    - to restore a HDD image created as described above, the steps are obvious: get a bootable disk, run Ghost 11 and navigate through the menu like this : Local > Partition > FROM Image > choose the partition on which the image will be deployed > confirm.

    - that’s it. I believe it takes a lot less than installing the operating system again.

NOTES & OBSERVATIONS:

1. DO NOT make experiments with image creation/deployment unless you have lots of free time to repair the eventual damage. the images are not compatible with other computer configurations and they might produce errors if installed on a different partition than the original one.

2. the method is compatible with all Windows OS and I am pretty sure it can snapshot a Linux partition too, because the software saves the brute data, no matter the format.

3. the image size depends on the data size from the target partition.

4. images save/load faster if operated from a different HDD.

5. save you images in a location where you don’t go too often. I recommend saving on external drive/DVD.

6. take care of your computer, avoid loading images once a week

Advantages:

-extremely simple method, no special requirements.

-fast interface, just use arrows and [Enter]

-fast save and deploy

-compatible with all OS, it saves the data from the target no matter the format.

-support automated command line parameters

-the result is identical to a normal Windows installation, but using only 25% of the time.

Disadvantages:

-runs in DOS command prompt. I don’t mind, I wasn’t born with Vista Aero in front of my eyes :), but some people might miss a more graphical interface.

-requires boot CD/Floppy

-images may take a lot of HDD space.

-the image format is unknown to other programs, data cannot be extracted from snapshots without deploying them.

-does not have "update" features, meaning that if you want to add something to the image, you’ll have to deploy it, install/modify your stuff and then save the image again.

I personally have 3 images : a clean Windows XP SP2, a Windows + the must-have programs and a third image fully updated and customized for my needs. you can use this kind of system or develop one of your own.

Good luck!

Nope. Why not, you ask?

Well, I have some issues with this version of wordpress.

First of all, the tags. I use Simple Tagging plugin. It works. It has a admin interface. It has options. Wordpress tags doesn’t work with some other plugins (Seo Title Tags among them) I have installed, and i really like STT better than wordpress tags.

Having disabled Seo Title Tags plugins, my tag pages have weird titles. And i really like WP-PageNavi better than the native navigation system.

Jason Calacanis is very proud of his Mahalo.com and says soon (meaning 2-3 years) it will pass google as importance.

I followed the link on his blog to mahalo’s Vanessa Hudgens nude photos results and ai didn’t see many nude photos. Just a bunch of talk. Google got it for me in the first result.

That is the general idea around Scoble’s theory that Mahalo, Facebook and Techmeme will top google in a few years.

Robert Scoble took a few days off to come up with this theory, meaning he did think it through. Or at least that is what I am thinking, because I would hate to think that he put it out without thinking a long time about it.

Because at the current rate, there is no chance a 20-editor directory, a social network popular just in the US and a site popular among blog geeks are going to overthrow a billion dollar machine.

Mark Cuban is the new troll in town. The new Dvorak.
He said the other day that the internet is dead and boring.
There should be a rule stating that if you got rich and famous of the internet, you should not talk bullshit about the internet. It’s a good common sense rule, but apparently it needs to be stated from time to time.

WordPress, besides being a great CMS, is a great and free hosting place for blogs. Wordpress.com hosts a million blogs, among which are some very popular ones (Scoble, lolcats…).

Recently, they run into some trouble, founder Matt Mullenweg writing on his personal blog that wordpress.com is banned in Turkey. Two days later, he found why. It’s nice that some people stand for freedom of expression and stuff, but sometimes things get out of hand. And running some 20 blogs that throw dirt at a person is exactly what I mean. I am not the only one that wants some blogs erased off wordpress.com, am I?

The big question is what will they do now. I think they will fold faster than Youtube on the Gandhi video. They will shut up and make it all “for the good of the users”.

Reading a good article about facebook I realized that facebook is the better google and the new mahalo. It gathers content from everywhere to one place. If that content would be searchable and usable for everyone, without registering, they will rise above myspace in traffic and pageviews.

Windows Live Writer is a great tool if you want to escape the hassle of having to save all the time and check out how your post will look in page.
I really like it, despite it’s problems.

A few days ago i started asking myself if there is a way to insert tags automatically using WLW, withouty having to go through wordpress. After some digging, the answer is yes. I found a great tutorial on this. And it really works on other wordpress plugins, not just UTW.

Happy posting!

Someone contacted me the other day for a paid post. he wanted me to write about his “great service”, because he needed some attention. I said that if the service is so great, I will write about it for free.

I signed up for it and rambled around for 20 minutes. The service sucked. It was not focused or thought through. I told the guy about it and he said he knew, but he said he just needs some publicity, ’cause he didn’t care too much about it. I politely refused and went about my day.

I don’t want to put my stamp on bad services. I will end up being labeled as dumb or greedy. I choose to be true to myself and not greedy.

50% of romanian phone buyers are not interested in the iPhne because it has no 3G and a lame camera. But 80% of romanians don’t have 3G on their current phones. Just a friendly reminder.