Military Unit Reference

Although I'm interested in military history, I've never memorized the military unit designations and symbology used in recounting military actions. So I went looking for a reference page to find one. Once again, Wikipedia to the rescue. I know some people look down at Wikipedia as a source of information since it isn't often authoritative. But in this case, it's a nice reference for what I need. So here's my reference link for military formation info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_unit#Units.2C_Formations_.26_Commands

A more detailed written description can be found at http://www.cfr.org/publication/11819/

Military Unit Reference

Although I'm interested in military history, I've never memorized the military unit designations and symbology used in recounting military actions. So I went looking for a reference page to find one. Once again, Wikipedia to the rescue. I know some people look down at Wikipedia as a source of information since it isn't often authoritative. But in this case, it's a nice reference for what I need. So here's my reference link for military formation info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_unit#Units.2C_Formations_.26_Commands

A more detailed written description can be found at http://www.cfr.org/publication/11819/

DOS is dead, but the games aren't!

Since I've been a gamer for long time, I got involved with computer games eons ago way back in my Commodore 64 days. I also still have fond memories of some of the old DOS games I used to play. In fact, I still have some of my old DOS games. They've been kept more for sentimental reasons than anything else. But hey, if ya got 'em, play 'em!

I'm still cruising with XP on my rig, so some games will run ok just by tweaking with the compatibility mode settings for the exe and using the setting for Windows 95. But not all DOS apps cooperate with compatibility mode. In these cases, you need something to provide an encapsulated DOS mode to keep the old boy happy. Two applications are big helpers for this:

• DosBox - Available at www.dosbox.com, it provides a DOS emulation container that lets you run many DOS games. It provides a windowed command prompt, but also can provide a point-and-click launch environment when combined with:
• DOSShell - a DOS application launch front-end for DosBox. It can be downloaded from Loonies software at http://www.loonies.narod.ru/dosshell.htm
• A full collection of utilities for getting the most out of a DOS game in Windows can be found at the Abandonia website at http://www.abandonia.com/en/node/23027

One of my favorite DOS applications that would stubbornly resist attempts to run on WinXP was called Pinball Illusions (a review can be found here). It was a collection of great standalone pinball games. It included themed audio tracks, which were some of the best I've encountered. Especially cool was the background music for the Viking pinball machine.

Check out this You-Tube video of the Party Land pinball machine...

Over the upcoming holiday break, I plan on messing around with the above tools to see if I can resurrect Pinball Fantasies and get it to run on my current machine. It would be a nice (and free) Christmas present to give myself.....

DOS is dead, but the games aren't!

Since I've been a gamer for long time, I got involved with computer games eons ago way back in my Commodore 64 days. I also still have fond memories of some of the old DOS games I used to play. In fact, I still have some of my old DOS games. They've been kept more for sentimental reasons than anything else. But hey, if ya got 'em, play 'em!

I'm still cruising with XP on my rig, so some games will run ok just by tweaking with the compatibility mode settings for the exe and using the setting for Windows 95. But not all DOS apps cooperate with compatibility mode. In these cases, you need something to provide an encapsulated DOS mode to keep the old boy happy. Two applications are big helpers for this:

• DosBox - Available at www.dosbox.com, it provides a DOS emulation container that lets you run many DOS games. It provides a windowed command prompt, but also can provide a point-and-click launch environment when combined with:
• DOSShell - a DOS application launch front-end for DosBox. It can be downloaded from Loonies software at http://www.loonies.narod.ru/dosshell.htm
• A full collection of utilities for getting the most out of a DOS game in Windows can be found at the Abandonia website at http://www.abandonia.com/en/node/23027

One of my favorite DOS applications that would stubbornly resist attempts to run on WinXP was called Pinball Illusions (a review can be found here). It was a collection of great standalone pinball games. It included themed audio tracks, which were some of the best I've encountered. Especially cool was the background music for the Viking pinball machine.

Check out this You-Tube video of the Party Land pinball machine...

Over the upcoming holiday break, I plan on messing around with the above tools to see if I can resurrect Pinball Fantasies and get it to run on my current machine. It would be a nice (and free) Christmas present to give myself.....

After Action Report Tools

One of the things I wanted to do on this blog is to create After Action Reports for some of my wargaming sessions. To do this, I needed to find a screen capture utility that will let me screenshot the game situation at various points. Ideally, I would like a tool that also lets me put arrows and other images on the screen capture. At work, we use Snag-It, which is an awesome tool and does everything I need. Unfortunately, it costs $49.95 a copy, which is more than I'm willing to spend just for screenshots and arrows.

A couple of free screenshot utilities are:

• MWSnap
• King Kong C apture
• Screen Hunter
• An extensive list of other utilities can be found here.
  

None of the above capture utilities provides captured image editing geared toward how I want it to work.

A interesting tool that supports creation of military maps with symbology is MILSketch. It supports drawing arrows on the image maps, and includes a host of military symbols. It's also free and looks to be the tool that I have been looking for. MILSketch is not an screenshot tool, so it looks like I would need a combination of MILSketch and one of the above screenhot tools to achieve the desired effects. I plan on downloading and trying out the tools in the near future and will post an evaluation...

After Action Report Tools

One of the things I wanted to do on this blog is to create After Action Reports for some of my wargaming sessions. To do this, I needed to find a screen capture utility that will let me screenshot the game situation at various points. Ideally, I would like a tool that also lets me put arrows and other images on the screen capture. At work, we use Snag-It, which is an awesome tool and does everything I need. Unfortunately, it costs $49.95 a copy, which is more than I'm willing to spend just for screenshots and arrows.

A couple of free screenshot utilities are:

• MWSnap
• King Kong C apture
• Screen Hunter
• An extensive list of other utilities can be found here.
  

None of the above capture utilities provides captured image editing geared toward how I want it to work.

A interesting tool that supports creation of military maps with symbology is MILSketch. It supports drawing arrows on the image maps, and includes a host of military symbols. It's also free and looks to be the tool that I have been looking for. MILSketch is not an screenshot tool, so it looks like I would need a combination of MILSketch and one of the above screenhot tools to achieve the desired effects. I plan on downloading and trying out the tools in the near future and will post an evaluation...

Nature Wallpapers

I love nature. I spent summers in my youth camping in northern Minnesota and Canada, and it gave me a special appreciation for wilderness. I've always wanted to return to some of the areas I visited, but that's the subject for a future blog post.

One of the ways I keep thoughts of nature fresh in my mind is by using nature backgrounds on my Windows desktop wallpaper. I had a really nice grassy field wallpaper, but it was lost when my work computer had to be re-imaged. So I recently went about searching for some new ones, and bumped into a site called WallPaperDave.com. It has a great set of free nature backgrounds.

I've already grabbed a couple and have set them as my desktop background. Nice shots by a guy with a great name....

Nature Wallpapers

I love nature. I spent summers in my youth camping in northern Minnesota and Canada, and it gave me a special appreciation for wilderness. I've always wanted to return to some of the areas I visited, but that's the subject for a future blog post.

One of the ways I keep thoughts of nature fresh in my mind is by using nature backgrounds on my Windows desktop wallpaper. I had a really nice grassy field wallpaper, but it was lost when my work computer had to be re-imaged. So I recently went about searching for some new ones, and bumped into a site called WallPaperDave.com. It has a great set of free nature backgrounds.

I've already grabbed a couple and have set them as my desktop background. Nice shots by a guy with a great name....

Free is Good……….but…..

I recently had to deal with yet another casualty resulting from the recent re-imaging of my work computer.  You see, I’m a big fan of www.giveawayoftheday.com, which is a site that offers free applications that you can install and run.  We’re not talking neutered trialware, but the full mojo apps.  The kicker is that the apps have to be installed within a 24-hour period, after which the installer no longer functions.  A great way to get applications that you would normally have to pay for.

By far, the most valuable tool I obtained from the site was the full Pro version of Evernote 2.  Evernote 2 was an amazing information collection tool, with web page capture, note taking, Outlook message importing, and a host of other really cool capabilities.  What set Evernote 2 apart from other tools (at least for me) was the blinding fast search combined with the auto-categorization of items, along with sub-categorization in search.  Hard to describe, but very powerful.  No other tool I’ve used worked as well in meeting the need to packrat information.  Evernote 2 did everything I needed, and I would have gladly paid for a license.  But when I went to download it to re-install on my system, a harsh reality came to light;  Evernote 2.2 can no longer be purchased or downloaded.  It seems the Evernote team has changed the strategic direction of the application and has moved Evernote v3 to a web-centric application model where you can access all of the information you collect from a variety of devices.  They offer a free account with a 50MB per month upload, plus downloadable desktop and iPhone clients.  Their platform support is impressive, and I think the model is one that could succeed.

<Sidebar>  There is some chatter in online groups that one contributor to the change in their strategy is because Microsoft OneNote seems to be impinging on the same space.  I can certainly understand their concern, as Microsoft’s release of Outlook essentially killed a number of excellent PIMs available back then (e.g. Ecco Pro).  The Evernote situation has a certain sense of Deja vu about it…….</Sidebar>

I had been monitoring the release of Evernote v3 and actually had already set up an account on it.  But I had also read where the Evernote v3 client does not have the same keyword auto-categorization capability, instead relies upon tagging.  With Evernote 2, I had set up an extensive list of keyword categories and categorization rules, which I am reluctant to lose.  Well, now it seems I have no choice, but to download the Evernote v3 desktop client and see what happens when I import my Evernote v2 data file.  It’s quite unfortunate that they actually stopped selling the Evernote v2.2 client, as I will be forced to abandon Evernote if I don’t care for the new client.  That would be painful for me as I really am not looking forward to yet another tool migration, especially since I had grown fond of Evernote during the past year I have used it.

I’ll post the result of my Evernote v3 test later……

Free is Good……….but…..

I recently had to deal with yet another casualty resulting from the recent re-imaging of my work computer.  You see, I’m a big fan of www.giveawayoftheday.com, which is a site that offers free applications that you can install and run.  We’re not talking neutered trialware, but the full mojo apps.  The kicker is that the apps have to be installed within a 24-hour period, after which the installer no longer functions.  A great way to get applications that you would normally have to pay for.

By far, the most valuable tool I obtained from the site was the full Pro version of Evernote 2.  Evernote 2 was an amazing information collection tool, with web page capture, note taking, Outlook message importing, and a host of other really cool capabilities.  What set Evernote 2 apart from other tools (at least for me) was the blinding fast search combined with the auto-categorization of items, along with sub-categorization in search.  Hard to describe, but very powerful.  No other tool I’ve used worked as well in meeting the need to packrat information.  Evernote 2 did everything I needed, and I would have gladly paid for a license.  But when I went to download it to re-install on my system, a harsh reality came to light;  Evernote 2.2 can no longer be purchased or downloaded.  It seems the Evernote team has changed the strategic direction of the application and has moved Evernote v3 to a web-centric application model where you can access all of the information you collect from a variety of devices.  They offer a free account with a 50MB per month upload, plus downloadable desktop and iPhone clients.  Their platform support is impressive, and I think the model is one that could succeed.

<Sidebar>  There is some chatter in online groups that one contributor to the change in their strategy is because Microsoft OneNote seems to be impinging on the same space.  I can certainly understand their concern, as Microsoft’s release of Outlook essentially killed a number of excellent PIMs available back then (e.g. Ecco Pro).  The Evernote situation has a certain sense of Deja vu about it…….</Sidebar>

I had been monitoring the release of Evernote v3 and actually had already set up an account on it.  But I had also read where the Evernote v3 client does not have the same keyword auto-categorization capability, instead relies upon tagging.  With Evernote 2, I had set up an extensive list of keyword categories and categorization rules, which I am reluctant to lose.  Well, now it seems I have no choice, but to download the Evernote v3 desktop client and see what happens when I import my Evernote v2 data file.  It’s quite unfortunate that they actually stopped selling the Evernote v2.2 client, as I will be forced to abandon Evernote if I don’t care for the new client.  That would be painful for me as I really am not looking forward to yet another tool migration, especially since I had grown fond of Evernote during the past year I have used it.

I’ll post the result of my Evernote v3 test later……

System Rebuild – Update #1

After my recent need to reimage my work laptop due to….<ahem>…. “Help” from a desktop tech, there’s a couple of little things I’ve had to rebuild/re-add to the XP image of which one is:

ISO image mount

A lot of software I use comes in ISO image format, and not on physical media. Therefore, I a need something to mount the ISO images so they look like physical media to the computer. There may be fancier solutions, but I’m comfortable with Microsoft’s free “Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel for Windows XP ” discussed here.

<Sidebar: What’s with the name? Can it get any LOOONNGGGEEERRR or more descriptive? Good thing the author of the ISO utility didn’t work on Vista or it might be instead known as “Computer OS that took forever to release and is largely ignored but is the biggest boost to Apple since the Intel cutover”.>

Anyway, the utility doesn’t have an installer, so it’s not for the casual joe. But I think it’s simplicity is what attracts me to it. You can download it from Microsoft here.

After extracting the files by running the exe, you simply copy the VCDRom.sys file to your \winnt\system32 directory, and then run VCdControlTool.exe. I prefer to also copy the VCDControlTool.exe to the \winnt\system32 directory and then just create a shortcut to it. I then place the shortcut in the “All Users” start menu under System Utilities so it’s available to all user profiles.

One final note: the utility icon is nasty looking. To keep up appearances, I like to change the icon to something a bit more palatable, like this . I got the icon (download here) from a cool icon site at www.rw-designer.com. It has all kinds of free icons, and many of them are high quality. It’s a great site if you have an aversion to ugly icons like I do.

System Rebuild – Update #1

After my recent need to reimage my work laptop due to….<ahem>…. “Help” from a desktop tech, there’s a couple of little things I’ve had to rebuild/re-add to the XP image of which one is:

ISO image mount

A lot of software I use comes in ISO image format, and not on physical media. Therefore, I a need something to mount the ISO images so they look like physical media to the computer. There may be fancier solutions, but I’m comfortable with Microsoft’s free “Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel for Windows XP ” discussed here.

<Sidebar: What’s with the name? Can it get any LOOONNGGGEEERRR or more descriptive? Good thing the author of the ISO utility didn’t work on Vista or it might be instead known as “Computer OS that took forever to release and is largely ignored but is the biggest boost to Apple since the Intel cutover”.>

Anyway, the utility doesn’t have an installer, so it’s not for the casual joe. But I think it’s simplicity is what attracts me to it. You can download it from Microsoft here.

After extracting the files by running the exe, you simply copy the VCDRom.sys file to your \winnt\system32 directory, and then run VCdControlTool.exe. I prefer to also copy the VCDControlTool.exe to the \winnt\system32 directory and then just create a shortcut to it. I then place the shortcut in the “All Users” start menu under System Utilities so it’s available to all user profiles.

One final note: the utility icon is nasty looking. To keep up appearances, I like to change the icon to something a bit more palatable, like this . I got the icon (download here) from a cool icon site at www.rw-designer.com. It has all kinds of free icons, and many of them are high quality. It’s a great site if you have an aversion to ugly icons like I do.

Cool Free Backup

Having lost my computer image recently, I was looking for a way to backup the settings and important content on the re-imaged drive. I stumbled onto a site with a free backup utility that looks like it can be configured to automatically backup files you select, in addition to My Documents contents, browser favorites, etc.

I'm not at my computer right now (using a portable at my Mom's house right now), but I plan on checking it out when I get home. The utility is called "Cobian Backup" and it can be found at http://www.educ.umu.se/%7Ecobian/cobianbackup.htm#OS

Cool Free Backup

Having lost my computer image recently, I was looking for a way to backup the settings and important content on the re-imaged drive. I stumbled onto a site with a free backup utility that looks like it can be configured to automatically backup files you select, in addition to My Documents contents, browser favorites, etc.

I'm not at my computer right now (using a portable at my Mom's house right now), but I plan on checking it out when I get home. The utility is called "Cobian Backup" and it can be found at http://www.educ.umu.se/%7Ecobian/cobianbackup.htm#OS

Free is good....

I'm a fan of open source software. Primarily because I have a major problem with having to pay outrageous upgrade fees for minor program updates to applications. The biggest offenders in this arena are Microsoft Office and Quicken. I own licensed copies of both applications, but cringe every time I face having to pay upgrade fees. I appreciate the open source model that allows me to run an application and then contribute financially (which I do) to those applications I get use from.

While browsing around today, I read an nice short article about "Five programs you can afford in a financial meltdown." I've been a big fan of Open Office starting with version 2. The article also lists Gnucash, which intrigues me. I've been pissed at Quicken ever since they decided to abandon the universally-accepted .qif file format for financial transfers so that they could force people to switch to the .ofx file format, for which they charge. The pigs at Quicken just can't seem to drink enough client blood. Hey ya batards, you're already gouging for annual updates, isn't that enough??? Apparently not. Microsoft Money supports both .qif and .ofx formats, and doesn't charge banks (which pass on the cost) to use .ofx. I'll have to find some time to check out Gnucash and see if it would work for me.

I had a similar situation last week at work. We need to track the project my team is working on and the company has licensed installers for MS Project. But they note on the installer page that between the download and the maintenance contract, we get tagged for $600 a user!!! I need 6 people to be able to update a project timeline with actuals, and 3K is just way too much to pay for this capability. Not to mention that Project 2007 takes away the ability to save a project file in HTML. Why? So they can force you to instead purchase project server to get web-shareable project output. This kind of sick pathetic removal of existing capability just to generate additional income goads me to my core and drives the spirit of the Open Source intitiatives. So I did some searching for open source project managers, and found one that looked promising. It supported the ability to import/export files in MS Project format, so we could still interact with team members that already had their wallet cleaned by Micro$oft Project licen$e$. The problem is that I lost the link to the site I found due to a desktop tech corrupting my system beyond repair, forcing the need to re-image it (a different long story I wont delve into here).

I'll have to take a peek around today and see if I can find the web site once again....

Free is good....

I'm a fan of open source software. Primarily because I have a major problem with having to pay outrageous upgrade fees for minor program updates to applications. The biggest offenders in this arena are Microsoft Office and Quicken. I own licensed copies of both applications, but cringe every time I face having to pay upgrade fees. I appreciate the open source model that allows me to run an application and then contribute financially (which I do) to those applications I get use from.

While browsing around today, I read an nice short article about "Five programs you can afford in a financial meltdown." I've been a big fan of Open Office starting with version 2. The article also lists Gnucash, which intrigues me. I've been pissed at Quicken ever since they decided to abandon the universally-accepted .qif file format for financial transfers so that they could force people to switch to the .ofx file format, for which they charge. The pigs at Quicken just can't seem to drink enough client blood. Hey ya batards, you're already gouging for annual updates, isn't that enough??? Apparently not. Microsoft Money supports both .qif and .ofx formats, and doesn't charge banks (which pass on the cost) to use .ofx. I'll have to find some time to check out Gnucash and see if it would work for me.

I had a similar situation last week at work. We need to track the project my team is working on and the company has licensed installers for MS Project. But they note on the installer page that between the download and the maintenance contract, we get tagged for $600 a user!!! I need 6 people to be able to update a project timeline with actuals, and 3K is just way too much to pay for this capability. Not to mention that Project 2007 takes away the ability to save a project file in HTML. Why? So they can force you to instead purchase project server to get web-shareable project output. This kind of sick pathetic removal of existing capability just to generate additional income goads me to my core and drives the spirit of the Open Source intitiatives. So I did some searching for open source project managers, and found one that looked promising. It supported the ability to import/export files in MS Project format, so we could still interact with team members that already had their wallet cleaned by Micro$oft Project licen$e$. The problem is that I lost the link to the site I found due to a desktop tech corrupting my system beyond repair, forcing the need to re-image it (a different long story I wont delve into here).

I'll have to take a peek around today and see if I can find the web site once again....

Fixin' my rig....Part 3

With the core OS installed and security components deployed, it's time to move to the utility stuff.

Step #1 is to browse to Microsoft's website to update IE to the latest version (v7 in this case). If you read the previous post where I declare my preference for Firefox, you might be wondering why I'm bothering to update IE. That's because IE has it's sticky claws deeply sunk into the guts of XP, and if IE is going to insist on hanging around, it's important to run anything besides IE 6 (which comes with XP). IE 6 is such a virus sump tank that any system running it is at a higher risk than running more recent versions. Download of the latest version of IE can be found here.

Step #2 is to install an PDF reader. My experience with Adobe's Acrobat reader is that it's an overbloated resource chewing pig. Since all I need is a freebie PDF file reader, I prefer to install Foxit Reader instead. It's free, unobtrusive, and is lighter on resources. It can be found here.

Final utility install is the K9 Parental Control. It provides a free tool for helping to shield against malware sites. If you have kids, it also can help provide a layer of insulation against other undesirable content. OpenDNS is another option, but I haven't had a chance to use it. So I currently have K9 (available here) installed.

At this point, the system is ready to go for application installation. Combining the setup procedure with smart internet usage, I've been able to maintain a fast, safe, and relatively secure XP environment on my DV 1000. In fact, the computer is running faster than it ever has (including the day it originally came out of the box). I'm very happy with it, and expect to be able to get a couple more years of good use out of it.

Fixin' my rig....Part 3

With the core OS installed and security components deployed, it's time to move to the utility stuff.

Step #1 is to browse to Microsoft's website to update IE to the latest version (v7 in this case). If you read the previous post where I declare my preference for Firefox, you might be wondering why I'm bothering to update IE. That's because IE has it's sticky claws deeply sunk into the guts of XP, and if IE is going to insist on hanging around, it's important to run anything besides IE 6 (which comes with XP). IE 6 is such a virus sump tank that any system running it is at a higher risk than running more recent versions. Download of the latest version of IE can be found here.

Step #2 is to install an PDF reader. My experience with Adobe's Acrobat reader is that it's an overbloated resource chewing pig. Since all I need is a freebie PDF file reader, I prefer to install Foxit Reader instead. It's free, unobtrusive, and is lighter on resources. It can be found here.

Final utility install is the K9 Parental Control. It provides a free tool for helping to shield against malware sites. If you have kids, it also can help provide a layer of insulation against other undesirable content. OpenDNS is another option, but I haven't had a chance to use it. So I currently have K9 (available here) installed.

At this point, the system is ready to go for application installation. Combining the setup procedure with smart internet usage, I've been able to maintain a fast, safe, and relatively secure XP environment on my DV 1000. In fact, the computer is running faster than it ever has (including the day it originally came out of the box). I'm very happy with it, and expect to be able to get a couple more years of good use out of it.

Fixin' my rig....Part 2

Now that I was ready to re-image the hard drive, I had a decision to make. The portable came with a restore CD with the original copy of XP Pro with SP 2, plus all the accompanying dreg-ware. During the previous couple of years, I had encountered a few driver issues (primarily from the built-in media reader), and with the release of XP Pro SP 3, I decided to roll the dice. I decided to do a clean, format-the-drive install of XP Pro SP 3 and not use the OEM disk that came with the system. Over time, my system had become slower, as all Windows sytems do. I attribute some of the cause to slowness to dreg-ware. Dreg-ware is a term I use to describe undesired OEM software installed on a system without your consent (not to be confused with actual virus/malware). Vendors typically load up the Windows system tray with auto-loading apps, slowing down boot time. Combine that with all of the extraneous registry entries, plus hotfixes, etc, and my system was more turtle than hare. So a clean XP Sp3 install would be my plan, with the OEM XP disk kept close in case I needed drivers that Windows didn't provide.

Disks in hand, here's the sequence of events:

• Install XP Pro, with a reformatted NTFS Partition. (Note: the DV1000 has a separate partition to hold the QuickPlay partition for playing DVD's and music CD's. Since I've used used it for that in past, I decided to only delete/create/format the primary partition.)
• After the install was complete, I recall having to use the OEM driver disk to provide one driver that XP couldn't find. For the life of me, I can recall what the driver was for. But the key point is that I ONLY used the disk to provide the driver and did not allow it to auto-install everything.

With the core OS components installed, it's time to turn the computer into something useful. That means I'm going to need to download some tools from the Internet. Since I hadn't yet installed an anti-virus or firewall, the Internet is a very dangerous place for a newly installed XP OS to be. XP comes with IE 6, which is known to be a highly targeted platform for viruses and malware. I greatly prefer Firefox over IE as a browser, I needed to get FF on my system as quickly as possible and not use IE if at all possible. So I pull a little trick out of my bag - I have a USB drive with a version of Firefox that runs without the need for a local install. By using this drive to immediately go to Firefox.com to download the full FF browser, I can get web access without ever having to expose IE 6 to the Internet.

• Use Firefox portable on a USB drive to navigate to www.firefox.com
• Download and install Firefox (latest version)
• Launch Firefox and select the option to make it the default browser and to check that status each time.
  

With a functioning non-IE browser now installed, it's time to get the mandatory system security components installed. My favorite source of information about tools and best practices for dealing with digital vermin is GeeksToGo.com. The section addressing malware is located here. I've tried lots of combinations of the listed tools, some of which have rendered my systems usable. The problem seems to be that since you're only supposed to run one product of each type, compatibilities can be a problem since many of the applications include "features" than can step on the other product types. For example, some of the anti-virus products offer the ability to enable "spyware" type malware. But how does one know if enabling the feature on the firewall product means you no longer need the anti-spyware suite? It's an very inexact science since the products evolve over time. But in my personal testing, I've struggled with combinations that include both AVG Anti-virus and Comodo Firewall, which seems to cause my systems problems . Since what works on any particular system is so highly dependent upon a myriad of factors, I won't even pretend to give an "authoritative" list of tools to use, but here's what works for me (all of which are free for personal use):

• PC Tools Firewall Plus
• ThreatFire Anti-Malware
  
• Avast Anti-Virus

One thing to note is that both ThreatFire and Avast are self-described Anti-Virus tools, but they work very differently. Avast is uses pattern-file-based detection, whereas ThreatFire detects malware based upon identification of suspicious activities performed by processes running on the system. So while having both these tools running violates the "run only one Anti-virus" rule, the different approaches they take provides an additional layer of defense, so I choose to run them both.

With the above tools installed, there's one more component I install prior to doing general application installs: WinPatrol. WinPatrol is a free utility that provides a number of very useful capabilities. Most useful to me is the ability to completely control what startup applications are loaded for both system startup and browser startup. Keeping in line with my previously stated goal of keeping my reinstall running lean and mean, the use of WinPatrol allows me to prevent system slowdown due to excessive loading of system tray apps and browser add-ins. With the installation of WinPatrol, I can now control the startup options for the applications I'll install, so it's time to move forward.......

Fixin' my rig....Part 2

Now that I was ready to re-image the hard drive, I had a decision to make. The portable came with a restore CD with the original copy of XP Pro with SP 2, plus all the accompanying dreg-ware. During the previous couple of years, I had encountered a few driver issues (primarily from the built-in media reader), and with the release of XP Pro SP 3, I decided to roll the dice. I decided to do a clean, format-the-drive install of XP Pro SP 3 and not use the OEM disk that came with the system. Over time, my system had become slower, as all Windows sytems do. I attribute some of the cause to slowness to dreg-ware. Dreg-ware is a term I use to describe undesired OEM software installed on a system without your consent (not to be confused with actual virus/malware). Vendors typically load up the Windows system tray with auto-loading apps, slowing down boot time. Combine that with all of the extraneous registry entries, plus hotfixes, etc, and my system was more turtle than hare. So a clean XP Sp3 install would be my plan, with the OEM XP disk kept close in case I needed drivers that Windows didn't provide.

Disks in hand, here's the sequence of events:

• Install XP Pro, with a reformatted NTFS Partition. (Note: the DV1000 has a separate partition to hold the QuickPlay partition for playing DVD's and music CD's. Since I've used used it for that in past, I decided to only delete/create/format the primary partition.)
• After the install was complete, I recall having to use the OEM driver disk to provide one driver that XP couldn't find. For the life of me, I can recall what the driver was for. But the key point is that I ONLY used the disk to provide the driver and did not allow it to auto-install everything.

With the core OS components installed, it's time to turn the computer into something useful. That means I'm going to need to download some tools from the Internet. Since I hadn't yet installed an anti-virus or firewall, the Internet is a very dangerous place for a newly installed XP OS to be. XP comes with IE 6, which is known to be a highly targeted platform for viruses and malware. I greatly prefer Firefox over IE as a browser, I needed to get FF on my system as quickly as possible and not use IE if at all possible. So I pull a little trick out of my bag - I have a USB drive with a version of Firefox that runs without the need for a local install. By using this drive to immediately go to Firefox.com to download the full FF browser, I can get web access without ever having to expose IE 6 to the Internet.

• Use Firefox portable on a USB drive to navigate to www.firefox.com
• Download and install Firefox (latest version)
• Launch Firefox and select the option to make it the default browser and to check that status each time.
  

With a functioning non-IE browser now installed, it's time to get the mandatory system security components installed. My favorite source of information about tools and best practices for dealing with digital vermin is GeeksToGo.com. The section addressing malware is located here. I've tried lots of combinations of the listed tools, some of which have rendered my systems usable. The problem seems to be that since you're only supposed to run one product of each type, compatibilities can be a problem since many of the applications include "features" than can step on the other product types. For example, some of the anti-virus products offer the ability to enable "spyware" type malware. But how does one know if enabling the feature on the firewall product means you no longer need the anti-spyware suite? It's an very inexact science since the products evolve over time. But in my personal testing, I've struggled with combinations that include both AVG Anti-virus and Comodo Firewall, which seems to cause my systems problems . Since what works on any particular system is so highly dependent upon a myriad of factors, I won't even pretend to give an "authoritative" list of tools to use, but here's what works for me (all of which are free for personal use):

• PC Tools Firewall Plus
• ThreatFire Anti-Malware
  
• Avast Anti-Virus

One thing to note is that both ThreatFire and Avast are self-described Anti-Virus tools, but they work very differently. Avast is uses pattern-file-based detection, whereas ThreatFire detects malware based upon identification of suspicious activities performed by processes running on the system. So while having both these tools running violates the "run only one Anti-virus" rule, the different approaches they take provides an additional layer of defense, so I choose to run them both.

With the above tools installed, there's one more component I install prior to doing general application installs: WinPatrol. WinPatrol is a free utility that provides a number of very useful capabilities. Most useful to me is the ability to completely control what startup applications are loaded for both system startup and browser startup. Keeping in line with my previously stated goal of keeping my reinstall running lean and mean, the use of WinPatrol allows me to prevent system slowdown due to excessive loading of system tray apps and browser add-ins. With the installation of WinPatrol, I can now control the startup options for the applications I'll install, so it's time to move forward.......

Fixin' my rig....Part 1

After four+ years of uninterrupted use, my HP Dv1000 laptop with Windows XP SP 2 finally gave out....sort of. But there's a little background to the story.

Our home desktop computer had suffered a massive virus infection (it's was primarily used by the kids) and I had never bothered to properly secure it. In the last year, it had started displaying a BIOS config error whenever it booted up (something about a change in the memory) , and you had to press F1 to continue. Unfortunately, I had apparently set a CMOS password way back when I got the system, and could not remember it. So thought I would just pop open the case to remove the CMOS battery and thereby clear out the old password. The thing I didn't count on was the system not booting after the CMOS battery was put back in. I originally bought the system from Fry's, so I didn't know details about the guts of it. With the case now popped open, I was able to find the motherboard ID info, and learned it is a ECS Photon PF1. A quick google session and I was dismayed to learn that it is a pretty crappy mobo. Wonderful. So now I have a low quality, non-booting, beep-at-me-during-powerup, non functioning motherboard.

So while I decided what to do next, the kids needed a computer to do their homework. Previously, I had been the only user of my DV1000 laptop, but the kids would now need access. So I gave my wife the password to my account and told her to log me in when the kids needed to do homework. BIG mistake! Since I generally visit "Legit" websites, I had been able to get along with using the old anti-virus from my System Suite v5 install from many years ago. The only kicker was that I had to manually update the pattern files, but it worked fine for me. Not too long ago, I had decided to update the system to use a more recent set of firewall/Malware tools. This too turned into a disaster (subject for a later post), but suffice to say that by the time my kids started using the portable, in was in a "less than optimum" security state.

Several weeks later, I went on a golf vacation to Palm Springs. During the trip, my wife called and told me that the laptop would no longer boot. When I got home I check it out, and sure enough, the system would hang while attempting to load a file called "mup.sys". While I had no idea why Sesame Street was trying to load on my computer, a bit of time Googling did not help me figure out a quick fix. I didn't want to lose some of the files I had on my hard disk, so a clean format/reinstall was not what I was after....

A bit more research, and I learned about a tool with the ability to create an XP boot disk with anti-virus and a hoard of other tools that I thought my help me out. Enter Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (UBCD). Assuming you have access to an XP boot disk (or iso image), you can create a Windows boot disk with just about every tool that could possibly help fix a non-booting system.

With my new cool tool disk in hand, I was able to boot and get access to the hard drive (Note: UBCD does take a while to load). Knowing that the hard disk had the original XP Pro with SP 2 image from the vendor (including all the extraneous garbage they load - does ANYBODY use this stuff???), I simply wanted to get my data files, pictures, etc from the hard drive. Just to satisfy my curiousity, I first did a virus scan to see if the boot problem was virus related. The scan came back clean, so the next step was to see if the UBCD disk would allow me to attach an external USB hard disk, which I intended to use for saving off my files from the dead portable. I plugged in the external USB drive, and VOILA! - it recognized it! So now I had (courtesy of UBCD) access to the portable hard drive and an external USB hard disk connected that I could save off my files to.

Fast forward a couple of hours, and I was able to save off all the files I wanted to the external drive. With the last remnants of desired content removed from the laptop, it was time to kiss the original disk image goodbye. The only remaining step was to decide my strategy for the system rebuild and what I would load....

Fixin' my rig....Part 1

After four+ years of uninterrupted use, my HP Dv1000 laptop with Windows XP SP 2 finally gave out....sort of. But there's a little background to the story.

Our home desktop computer had suffered a massive virus infection (it's was primarily used by the kids) and I had never bothered to properly secure it. In the last year, it had started displaying a BIOS config error whenever it booted up (something about a change in the memory) , and you had to press F1 to continue. Unfortunately, I had apparently set a CMOS password way back when I got the system, and could not remember it. So thought I would just pop open the case to remove the CMOS battery and thereby clear out the old password. The thing I didn't count on was the system not booting after the CMOS battery was put back in. I originally bought the system from Fry's, so I didn't know details about the guts of it. With the case now popped open, I was able to find the motherboard ID info, and learned it is a ECS Photon PF1. A quick google session and I was dismayed to learn that it is a pretty crappy mobo. Wonderful. So now I have a low quality, non-booting, beep-at-me-during-powerup, non functioning motherboard.

So while I decided what to do next, the kids needed a computer to do their homework. Previously, I had been the only user of my DV1000 laptop, but the kids would now need access. So I gave my wife the password to my account and told her to log me in when the kids needed to do homework. BIG mistake! Since I generally visit "Legit" websites, I had been able to get along with using the old anti-virus from my System Suite v5 install from many years ago. The only kicker was that I had to manually update the pattern files, but it worked fine for me. Not too long ago, I had decided to update the system to use a more recent set of firewall/Malware tools. This too turned into a disaster (subject for a later post), but suffice to say that by the time my kids started using the portable, in was in a "less than optimum" security state.

Several weeks later, I went on a golf vacation to Palm Springs. During the trip, my wife called and told me that the laptop would no longer boot. When I got home I check it out, and sure enough, the system would hang while attempting to load a file called "mup.sys". While I had no idea why Sesame Street was trying to load on my computer, a bit of time Googling did not help me figure out a quick fix. I didn't want to lose some of the files I had on my hard disk, so a clean format/reinstall was not what I was after....

A bit more research, and I learned about a tool with the ability to create an XP boot disk with anti-virus and a hoard of other tools that I thought my help me out. Enter Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (UBCD). Assuming you have access to an XP boot disk (or iso image), you can create a Windows boot disk with just about every tool that could possibly help fix a non-booting system.

With my new cool tool disk in hand, I was able to boot and get access to the hard drive (Note: UBCD does take a while to load). Knowing that the hard disk had the original XP Pro with SP 2 image from the vendor (including all the extraneous garbage they load - does ANYBODY use this stuff???), I simply wanted to get my data files, pictures, etc from the hard drive. Just to satisfy my curiousity, I first did a virus scan to see if the boot problem was virus related. The scan came back clean, so the next step was to see if the UBCD disk would allow me to attach an external USB hard disk, which I intended to use for saving off my files from the dead portable. I plugged in the external USB drive, and VOILA! - it recognized it! So now I had (courtesy of UBCD) access to the portable hard drive and an external USB hard disk connected that I could save off my files to.

Fast forward a couple of hours, and I was able to save off all the files I wanted to the external drive. With the last remnants of desired content removed from the laptop, it was time to kiss the original disk image goodbye. The only remaining step was to decide my strategy for the system rebuild and what I would load....