Fixing PCs

Chillblast Fusion Shadow

2012-01-18T04:50:00.005Z

I had to supply a value gaming system for one of my customers and set about selecting and pricing components. Then I came across the Chillblast Fusion shadow which appeared to save me about £58 on the price of the individual components. Plus it was built for me, Windows installed and offered a two year warranty for additional customer satisfaction.
The system consists of:

Intel Core i5 2500K processor overclocked to 4.6GHz
Asus P8Z68-V LE motherboard
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 CPU cooler
4GB DDR3 1,333MHz memory
1Tb 7,200rpm hard disk drive
DVD-RW optical disk drive
AMD Radeon HD 6670 1GB DDR3 graphics card
EZcool case and 500W power supply
Cherry keyboard and mouse
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Apart from the generic power supply and memory there is little that I would change in this configuration. It would have been nice if the was the possibility to squeeze an AMD Radeon HD6770 GDDR5 card in there but anything bigger and faster would require a different case and higher specification power supply. This would have totally exceeded the customer's budget.

The system was well assembled with all the cables neatly tucked away. And it certainly performed well. As it stands, it is a great value gaming system with plenty of power and upgrade potential.

Joining the smartphone set

2011-12-31T11:53:00.008Z

My Christmas present to myself was a smartphone. All year I've been configuring and connecting peoples Apple iPhones and Android smartphones. It was time that I got one myself. I didn't want to spend too much money on something that I might not like and use. That put iPhones out of my choice and budget.

There are now a number of budget Android-based with varying amount of facilities, screen size and resolution. I wanted one with a reasonable sized screen so that I could see it and with as many of the gizmos that would fit into my £150 budget. I reviewed and examined models from manufacturers such as HTC, LG and Samsung. My son has a Samsung Galaxy S2 and I was impressed with that, though not its price.

Together we settled on a Samsung Galaxy Ace for £140 from Phones4U. It has a 3.5" screen, 5MP camera with LED flash and GPS, Bluetooth, 3G and wireless connectivity. I seemed to get on with it straight away. I configured the wallpaper, ringtone, transferred my SIM card plus contacts, email and downloaded a couple of news reader apps. Plus Angry Birds game of course. I did have problems in connecting it to any PC even after I downloaded the Samsung Kies desktop application and USB drivers. Only by turning off the USB debug (Settings -> Applications -> Development) then restarting the phone did this connection work correctly. Not mentioned in the manual or FAQs.

I'm impressed by the size, quality and ease-of-use of this smartphone and it will definitely have a place in my pocket from now on.

Going solid state

2011-12-27T20:52:00.009Z

I finally decide to invest in a Solid State Hard Drive or SSD and evaluate this technology and its prospects. As regular magnetic hard disk drive (HDD) prices have increased dramatically over the last couple of months, now seemed a good time to do so. I chose a relatively new Kingston 64GB V200 which closely approaches the £1 per Gigabyte limit. This has a modern controller that supports the future-proofing SATA III 6Gbps transfer speed and higher bandwidths for both read and write operations at an affordable and relatively low capacity level.

I considered testing it in three different environments; as a boot drive for a previous generation, fast quad core system; as a replacement drive for my DELL Vostro i5 Core laptop; and as a data drive for my gaming system. I installed Windows 7 on it in the first environment and though it improved boot times dramatically, though installing applications seemed a lot slower and general use about the same. This meant that I didn't replace the already fast 7,200rpm hard disk drive in my laptop because I didn't really see the point. It was fast enough and worked well already. Not worth the effort.

My gaming system already has 190GB used of the 500Gb system hard drive so the SSD wasn't going to replace that easily. I decided to add it as a game drive that I can fill at my leisure and will improve game start-up an level loading times. I'll report back on my findings.

My cloud concerns

2011-11-30T13:28:00.006Z

I'm worried about all this excitement about cloud computing. It seems to be returning to the bad old days of the IT industry when dumb terminals were connected to a big mainframe computer. This held all your data and there were strict rules on how you accesses it and used it.

I agree connectivity is different now but still some issues remain:

- Who owns your data? What happens when the cloud wants to increase their charges for data storage and application use.
- The software companies want to charge a monthly subscription which eases their cash flow problems, but costs you a lot more in the long run.
- Web browsers and applications seem unreliable, inconsistent and downright fallible.
- Uploads speeds are often a large factor slower than download speeds. Try backing up a single Gigabyte to the cloud on a typical domestic broadband connection.
- Extra levels of data vulnerability and security. Another password/PIN/memorable phrase to remember.

I'm typing this in a Chrome browser window because with Internet Explorer the Publish button does not work. It used to and I've reset the browser but it is still broken. And what if I'd been two hours typing this document or creating a killer presentation. Giving control away is not always the answer.

A neat and affordable Home Server

2011-11-20T17:43:00.010Z

I recently bought a Fujitsu Primergy MX130 small server. It only cost £250 from serversdirect.co.uk that came already loaded with an AMD Athlon II dual core CPU, 2Gb of ECC memory and two 250Gb hard disk drives. With disk drive prices as they are now if I don't sell the unit shortly, I could always use the hard disk drives as spares. I tried loading a cheap (£35) copy of Microsoft's Windows Home Server 2011 to see what it looked like. Installation went well and I configured the two disk drives as RAID 1 (mirror) without any problems.

Microsoft has really 'thrown the baby out with the bath water' with this latest version of WHS. Not only do you have no Drive Extender but also shared folders cannot be replicated like they used to. This is what saved me earlier in the year when one of the drives failed on my own DELL Home Server. I suppose for just £35, it is good value in software terms as it basically includes Windows Server 2008 R2 with client PC and server backup.

The Fujitsu server hardware is superb for the price. It is small and quiet yet surprisingly powerful. Also worth noting is the 85% efficient power supply unit. There is not much expansion room for more disk drives though. So, if I do sell the 250Gb drives separately, I will replace them with much bigger ones when the prices become more reasonable again.

Anyway, if you want a neat and proper Windows Home or Small Business Essentials Server for under £300, I'd recommend this configuration.

Hard Disk Drive prices triple

2011-10-30T12:40:00.005Z

The flooding in Bangkok, Thailand where a factory which makes components for hard disk drives has been affected and caused global prices of these components to soar in the last week. They appear to be up to three times what they were previously and this is having problems both for computer manufacturers and for people like myself who repair computers.

I don't keep much stock of these commodity items, generally purchasing exact replacements for the computers who need these items due to hard disk drive crashes, a not unlikely event. This makes the repairs often uneconomically viable especially if a new copy of Windows needs to be purchased as well due to no recovery disc creation and no CDs in the box so to speak. Add at least a couple of hours of my labour and you almost approach the price of a new laptop.

I also see that computer manufacturers are also increasing their prices quickly, though they must have a reasonable stock of drives.

Another effect is the decision whether to use an SSD in a new PC build. The speed benefit is huge and the price difference is now reduced, so if you don't need a large capacity from day one then the SSD option is much more attractive. You can always add a hard disk drive later when presumably the prices are more reasonable.

It is amazing how quickly the prices have gone through the roof as the suppliers take advantage of the panic in the market. Imagine if car prices did the same.

Vista laptops

2011-10-20T12:25:00.005+01:00

I've had a series of laptops in for repair, all running Windows Vista, all about three years old and really slow and all failing with a variety of problems. What is going on?

They take ages to repair much more than I can reasonably charge the client for. Most have just 1Gb of memory and need all the accumulated programs removing from the start-up list before you can get any reasonable response from them. Running an anti-virus scan on them can take hours and I certainly can't do anything else at the same time. Windows Update won't run and I often need to manually load Service Packs. Even rebooting them takes ages. And all run very warm.

I suppose that they have all reached the end of their useful life, yet with our present economic climate people cannot afford to replace them.

I'm gradually working my way through the backlog.

Getting the best bang for the buck

2011-09-27T12:45:00.008+01:00

With the release of the new Intel 'Sandy Bridge' Pentium and Celeron and AMD Llano CPUs come new options in the low-end or value segment of the processor market. Assuming that CPU performance is directly related to overall system performance by ignoring other factors such as memory, storage, graphics etc., we strive to create the best 'bang for the buck' desktop systems using these essential components.

In reality, there is very little overall system performance difference for any of these CPUs based on a different architectures and motherboards. Indeed in a recent comparative test of generations of these architectures less than 25% of general performance separated the oldest and latest. It isn't until the mid-range performance where great differences are noticed such as the Intel Core i5-2500K when it is suitably overclocked. Then personal desire seems to take preference over necessity. DIY and bespoke system builders take advantage of this. The mainstream PC manufacturers mostly take the easy option of standard configurations. DELL is perhaps the odd one out here with its XPS and Alienware brands.

The variation in performance in the dual-core Socket AM3, FM1, LGA1155, LGA1156 and LGA775 CPUs is fairly minimal as is their quad-core versions. Bargains can be had by taking a £50 processor overclocking it by 20% (no expensive cooling solutions here) and by unlocking a core or two as well. They st

Windows XP R.I.P.

2011-09-21T12:56:00.008+01:00

I've had a steady number of requests for Windows XP on a new system. I've had to tell them that it is no longer available from DELL or any other manufacturer or retailer and apart from a few 'dodgy' copies on eBaY that's it. No more.

I then try to sell them on the benefits of the new Windows 7 over an operating system that was designed over 15 years ago, sold for the last 10 years, no longer supported from Microsoft for consumers, etc. It generally comes down to two excuses as to why they want it; I'm used to Windows XP and don't want to change (usually an elderly customer); or my business critical application only runs on Windows XP or IE6. For the latter I argue if it is business critical either buy the updated version or switch to an application that is supported for Windows 7 and the future. With a lot of pirated software in the small business segment these become hard lessons to learn.

There are exceptions, such as Lotus Organiser. This little application won the hearts and minds of users many years ago and though it has been discontinued by IBM it is sorely missed and there is a limited upgrade path to any similar application. If anyone has the source code and could develop a similar product for a reasonable cost they would have a winner.

So the end is nigh for Windows XP, but I dare say I will still be 'fixing' it for a few years yet on old DELL, Compaq, Time, Acer, etc. systems to prove what an enduring bit of software it really is.

Damn FarmVille

2011-08-31T18:19:00.005+01:00

I'm spending much too much time playing this stupid game and organising my life around it. Why did I ever start it? Especially as I made loads of mistakes at the beginning which I'm having to live with and I'm certainly not going to spend any money on it!

So I've built this super-fast computer for 3D games playing and all I'm doing is Flash-based FarmVille. Where's the sense in that? The first thing that I do in the morning is harvest the crops that grew overnight so that I can plant some more which I can harvest before I go to bed. I've got lots of coins, goods, gifts and XP but nothing to do with it. Really stupid!

Ahhh well, I'm off to check my barley and hops so that I can brew some more beer.

Rejuvenating old multi-core machines

2011-08-31T12:17:00.013+01:00

There seems to be a spate of fairly modern systems (especially Packard Bell) with Intel Core 2 Duo and Quad CPUs malfunctioning with motherboard failures. Often the customer will opt for a new replacement rather than a costly repair and software rebuild.

It seems a shame to just junk these systems after stripping for spare parts, then selling the CPUs and lighter components on eBay for a few pounds. I started buying new cases and motherboards for these systems for about £35 each and then re-constructing the systems and reselling them for typically half the price of an equivalent new system. Even the old OEM versions of Windows Vista is happy to be reinstalled and reactivated.

I probably don't make much profit on these but at least a bunch of parts will find a new home. I do tell the customer that they are rebuilds and hence do not offer a warranty with them. Apart from if they go bad in a couple of weeks, I'll repair or replace them.

Onwards to 8Gb memory

2011-08-11T14:41:00.003+01:00

It really is too good an opportunity to miss. Upgrade the memory in my games system that is. The first desktop system to run with 8Gb. With quality branded gamer/enthusiast Kingston HyperX Blu DDR3 1600GHz at under £25 for 2x2Gb matched pair.

I don't really see any performance difference yet, but just to idle Windows 7 with just 18% of the memory capacity is amazing. DDR3 memory prices just continue to drop. I purchased a similar pair when I assembled the system late last year for £47 and I thought that was a bargain. Now with prices about half as much it really is too good to miss.

Fabulous Crysis 2

2011-07-30T17:09:00.004+01:00

I decided to treat my new graphics card to something that would show its abilities. The relatively new Crysis 2 game was on offer at GAME for just £15. Also, they had just released the DX11 graphics update with the High Resolution Texture Pack. Worth a look at, I thought.

I was amazed at the graphics quality and performance. Even when zoomed in. Motion blur too. Impressive stuff! The latest in computer gaming and virtual reality. Watch New York crumble.

What I didn't expect was the gameplay. As I was drawn into yet another impressive scene, I was learning about the suit and tactical visor and finding out the best way to dispose of each enemy. As you ran, the graphics display kept up with you. Even on Ultimate quality settings there didn't appear to be any lag.

I'm going to enjoy this game. I already know it.

Moving up to mid-range graphics

2011-07-19T15:19:00.008+01:00

For the last 18 months I've been enjoying my £55 ATi Radeon HD 4770 graphics card which has served me faithfully during that time displaying any game I wanted, though some of the latest ones at reduced detail.

However, as it was my 60th birthday last weekend I decide to treat myself to a new DX11 mid-range graphics card.

I did my research and decided that the new AMD Radeon HD 6850 was what I wanted. Amazingly, a deal for a XFX Radeon HD 6870 at about the same price (£127) was on offer so I took that instead. By coincidence I'd already upgraded my PSU last month to a Be Quiet 530W so I had the extra power to drive it. I was worried though that the extra heat generated would mean more noise but luckily the new card is as silent as the old one, especially at idle.

After my history of problems with XFX video cards, I swore I wouldn't buy another one, but this card seems to be the real deal. Even without any overclocking, it does 17,166 3Dmark06 and 3,826 3Dmark11. This is a major improvement over my old card and takes me into the mid-range of modern gaming cards.

When in doubt, re-flash the BIOS

2011-06-30T17:22:00.005+01:00

I seem to have had a few strange issues recently that were apparently caused by an out-of-date BIOS. Just the simple though risky operation of re-flashing the BIOS to the latest version, has fixed the problem.

Problems like updating memory in old systems, where the latest purchased sticks of memory aren't accepted by the motherboard, installing a new CPU (Processor uCode missing), unreliable booting with integrated graphics, etc. have all been fixed by newer BIOS versions. I've always been a bit hesitant to perform BIOS updates as if it goes wrong can be the quickest way to trash a motherboard. So carefully checking the exact make, model and revision of each motherboard is essential. Always get your BIOS update from the motherboard manufacturer's website as the are many 'tweaked' BIOSes out there which could cause problems. Read and follow the instructions carefully. Some like DELL can actually be done from within Windows, some directly using a DOS program from a floppy and others direct from a USB memory stick.

Not upgrading to WHS 2011

2011-06-11T17:21:00.007+01:00

I will not be upgrading to the latest Windows Home Server 2011 version. Microsoft's removal of the Drive Extender and folder sharing across drives plus the extra memory resources required means I will just continue to run the original Version 1 with PowerPack 3 on my DELL PowerEdge SC440 with just 1Gb of memory.

It is a pity that Microsoft has given up on the technology and the product. Certainly the software Drive Extender technology could be used elsewhere such as Small Business Server or even Windows itself. WHS would also seem to have a useful future as the centre of your digital home. Without hardware and the enthusiastic support from the community it will probably die.

Microsoft's Windows Small Business Server 2011

2011-05-30T12:54:00.010+01:00

I've just completed my first Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2011 installation. It has been a successful exploration of the new features and wizards of Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010 and Sharepoint 2010. Though I'm impressed that most of the server software management functions are readily available to the novice user some of the settings, logs, reports, etc. have been buried even further into the depths. Email in particular is difficult to monitor. User's file replication and sharing sharing appears easier to configure with wizards to move this data, email storage are readily available and easy to follow.

The full Microsoft Outlook licences have now been removed completely and replaced by Outlook Web Access. No problem for novice users but Outlook aficionados will struggle to accept this will be forced to buy a Office 2010 version that includes the full program. Pity as most client computers now come with acceptable Word and Excel Office 2010 Starter variants.

All-in-all, a good upgrade from Microsoft for small companies who want to manage, secure and protect their data in an affordable, integrated package.

The Lure of Quad Core

2011-05-30T12:31:00.007+01:00

I've always been a proponent of having more than one processor in a computer. Right from the early days of my Intergraph TD3 workstation which had two original Intel Pentium 90MHz CPUs and ran the first version of Microsoft's Windows NT. The ability to multi-task and the benefit of improved response time was immediately obvious. You could continue to work while printing or formatting a floppy.

Now, I'm convinced that quad core CPUs are almost the bare minimum for effective working. Both my admin and games systems both have four cores and the responsiveness is even better than dual core. Fast true quad core processors like the new Intel Core i5-2400 and plenty of memory is the way to go. Things just happen when you want them to.

DELL Vostro 460 and RAID

2011-04-26T16:01:00.005+01:00

I had to order three new DELL Vostro 460 desktops for a business customer. To upgrade the basic configuration from 2Gb to 4Gb of DDR3 memory costs £60 plus VAT and to add an extra 320Gb hard disk drive to each costs £120 plus VAT. I decided to buy the extra bits myself at £18 per 2Gb stick of Crucial memory and Samsung 320Gb HDD for £30 each. In total for three systems saving myself over £500. Now the difficult bit, fitting the extras and reconfiguring to RAID 1 Mirror.

Adding the RAM was relatively easy of course, but fitting each extra hard disk drive less so. DELL mounts their hard drive in proprietary rails which they don't sell separately. However, you can screw the extra disk into to space for the optional optical disk drive. There is a 3-1/2" bay available but the SATA power lead won't stretch that far. And I don't think that business customers are going to upgrade to Blu-Ray drives that soon.

Then press F2 to go into BIOS and set the SATA device controller option to RAID. Save and install Windows. When complete, start the Intel Rapid Storage Manager and select protect your data by creating a volume. Wait a couple of hours and you have data protection at the desktop level for minimum outlay and trouble. Magic!

DELL Vostro 460 review

2011-04-07T09:05:00.006+01:00

Let me start this review by saying that this is the fastest, most responsive computer that I've ever used and all my benchmark results prove this. And this is only a mid-range 'Sandy Bridge' processor the Intel Core i5 2400! With configurations starting at just over £400 this Vostro 460 mini-tower is a real bargain for anyone who wants a powerful desktop or as a basis of a value gaming system.

Opening the attractive case reveals further details that show the typical DELL attention to detail. Two 8cm fans spin slowly and quietly, and the quality 350W power supply. Also the six pin PCI-EX graphics card power adapter allowing you to install mid-range low power consuming graphics card like the AMD Radeon HD6850. There do not appear to be any USB 3 connections available or SATA 6GB/s sockets on the motherboard and these do not appear to be options either. There is an external eSATA and HDMI connectors on the rear of the case. Also an older VGA D-sub video connector instead of the more modern DVI.

A real disappointment is the use of proprietary metal rails to secure the hard disk drive. These are not available from DELL unless you purchase a really expensive extra hard drive. Also the memory upgrades are expensive as well, though with four slots you can always purchase the DDR3 DIMMs yourself and easily expand the capacity.

These points do little to dampen my enthusiasm for this excellent value desktop which really show the performance of Intel's new processor in an affordable package.

Selling second-hand PCs

2011-03-27T20:46:00.010+01:00

I've been selling second-hand computers for a while now and I often wonder if it is worth it. When I sell a new DELL computer to a customer they often want to trade-in or for me to dispose of their old computer which I'm willing to do.

However it often involves a lot of work to wipe their personal data, restore Windows and then upgrade it to the latest version. I also add applications such as free anti-virus such as AVG Free or Microsoft Security Essentials, Adobe Reader Microsoft Works, Open Office, etc. So with the checking out the hardware this adds up top two to three hours work for just £50 to £100 I get for selling this computer. Fine, I am recycling old systems and giving them a new useful life to people who generally cannot afford a new one and I don't offer any warranty. But this is time consuming work with little in return.

The people who buy a second-hand computer for £50-60 do not want to spend another £40 to install it either. In fact they often expect first-class service for a third-class price. And if it fails they blame you: that PC that you sold me two years ago has gone wrong, so what are you going to do about it?

Selling on eBay is no solution either. The last DELL Dimension that I sold went for under £3. Not a good return on my time and effort. It is a pity as some of these are good computer from reliable manufact- urers like DELL, Compaq, Acer and HP and they could offer a useful life for another couple of years at least. But is it worth it?

Just Cause 2

2011-03-27T20:23:00.006+01:00

For the last three weeks I've been playing a wacky blow-em-up game called Just Cause 2. In fact I've just clocked up 42 hours playing this thing!

I wanted a new game to play and went into the GAME shop for Batman -- Arkham Asylum which I'd played the demo awhile back and enjoyed, so I thought that I'd pick it up cheap and play the full game. I fell for the £10 per game or two for £15 marketing ploy and picked up Just Cause 2 on the recommendation of the shop assistant.

It is a go anywhere, shoot up everything so called 'sandbox' game similar to Far Cry 2, one of my all-time favourite games. Obviously a video game console port as it has strange save-game checkpoints and bright graphics. Never the less is has an addictive quality to keep trying the tasks and objectives that are set for you. Hence the 42 hours playtime. Transport by bike, car, plane and boat are varied as is the grappling iron to get on top of buildings out of sight until the heat wears off. Then parachute silently down to create more mayhem!

Explosions are great, weapons just right (though too little ammunition) and a subtle increase in difficulty all the time that makes you try again. When I'm bored with it, I'll start playing Batman, but intil then just one more oil refinery to demolish!

Intel Sandy Bridge

2011-02-24T12:10:00.005Z

I read many of the reviews of Intel's latest second generation Core processor code-named 'Sandy Bridge'. It appears to be a real winner though the recent minor problem with the accompanying 6-series chipset have not given it a good start. But up to 40% performance improvement for the same price with reduced energy consumption is hard to argue against.

I could have been tempted given these ecstatic reviews to get a new gaming system based on one of these new CPUs, but it was difficult to justify the cost of either a new £100 motherboard and £180 for the 2500K model which supports overclocking. Obviously faster memory and a new graphics card would also be needed to support the revived heart of the gaming system. DELL were also offering the new Vostro 460 with a 2400 CPU and monitor for just £450 including VAT and delivery. A good deal!

So in the end it was probably better that Intel withdrew the 6-series chipset and I decided to rebuild my existing gaming system from an Intel Pentium E6300 3.2GHz dual-core to an AMD Phenom II X4 quad-core at 3.4GHz. A noticeable performance increase with minimum cash outlay. I'll wait for my Sandy Bridge!

Microsoft Outlook 2010 disappointment

2011-02-24T11:51:00.004Z

I purchased the full version of Microsoft Outlook 2010 separately for someone who wanted to upgrade her existing computer and Outlook email. It doesn't have the spelling, grammar and smilies that the previous version has, which was a great disappointment. Even though the Microsoft Office 2010 Starter with Word and Excel was already installed and has those features. This is very poor from Microsoft as she paid for a complete Outlook retail version and some essential features are missing.

You can verify this for yourself by installing the Microsoft Office 2010 trial and just select Outlook and other support tools. No spelling, grammar and smilies when you create an email. If you install the complete set of products then normal operation is available.

Another Microsoft gotcha!

I'm playing World of Warcraft

2011-01-01T15:02:00.006Z

Finally after many years, I'm playing World of Warcraft. My son gave me the game and strategy guide for Christmas and also helped me get started. He and his wife have gone back to Holland now, so my progress has slowed up quite a bit.

I'm presently a Level 16 Hunter Troll in the Barren Northlands fighting my way through the many quests. In WoWspeak I'm grinding. I'm also a leather worker who can skin many of the enemies that I shoot with my bow. However, I don't know what to do with the scraps of leather I'm collecting yet.

The game is quite pleasant graphically and not too arduous, though it is very lonely with nobody to talk to. Nobody helps me as the few that I meet seem to be busy with their own quests. I see that there is a big dungeon on the map so maybe I'll be able to group with a few people there.

WHS hard disk drive fails

2010-12-14T12:38:00.002Z

I've got a Windows Home Server Version 1 that is based on a DELL PowerEdge SC430 hardware. It has the original 160Gb system disc, a 250Gb data drive and a 500Gb data expansion drive. The latter 500Gb Samsung drive has been 'lost' by the WHS storage manager. I've got replicated, Shared data folders which appear to be alright but the Backup database is not available or repairable. The 500Gb disk is discoverable and the SMART data indicates it is OK.

I have a spare, new 1Tb Samsung drive I could add. I'm not too bothered about losing the backups as all the client PCs are OK and I can re-backup when the server is fixed.

The problem is fixed! I added the 1Tb drive to the data pool and then used the 'Remove' disk option from the Data storage menu to remove all traces of the faulty 500Gb drive. As I expected, all my backups had disappeared but I was able to recreate them from the clients.

I tested the faulty 500Gb which just threw up continous bad blocks so it is being RMAed back to Samsung. Server running smoothly again.

Three cores become four

2010-12-12T13:58:00.007Z

I managed to unlock the fourth core of my AMD Athlon II X3 445 and still overclock it to 3.42GHz. It is now reported as an AMD Phenom II X4 B45 processor but without the 6Mb of L3 cache.

This makes it an even better processor as it easily breaks the 10,000 PCmark05 barrier and it appears to be even more responsive. Not bad for just £57! I did add an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro v2 cooling fan and a pair of Corsair 2Gb DDR3 1333MHz memory modules. It is still worth it.

AVG Free Fails with Office 2010 Starter

2010-12-12T10:50:00.005Z

I've stopped installing AVG Free 2011 with new DELL PCs that come with Microsoft's Office 2010 Starter Edition. This is because AVG gives a false positive on OFFSPON.EXE in the Q: drive which is generated by Microsoft Office 2010 SE. It then puts it in the virus vault which causes Word and Excel to stop working.

A work around is to exclude the Q: drive from the AVG scanning and ID processing but even this is fraught is errors and inconistences. It gives and 'Acccess is denied' message when you select the Q: drive even though it obviously is accessing it and it still does add the drive to the excluded paths anyway. Go figure!

Until they get this fixed and it has been a couple of months already, I will continue to load Microsoft's Security Essentials. Thereby cutting off AVG from any potential revenue from those people who are happy to upgrade to their Internet Security version.

Three is better than two and cheaper than four

2010-11-09T12:50:00.006Z

I recently bought an AMD Athlon II X3 445 tri-core processor for just £57. An equivalent 3.1GHz Athlon II X2 255 dual core processor was just £11 less at £46 and a quad-core Athlon II X4 6.45 was £37 extra at £94. So the extra core to give an effective 50% performance boost for multi-tasking and multi-processing is just £11. This seems very good value.

I was able to easily over clock it to 3.5Ghz with the stock air cooler and some rather generic DDR3 PC8500 memory. This makes it even better value and the good basis for a gaming system where a quad-core CPU is not necessarily a benefit. It is obviously worth upgrading to an Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro fan and some branded performance memory.

Another disappointing nVidia card

2010-10-23T12:30:00.004+01:00

With nVidia releasing the mid- and low-end Fermi technology-based 400 series graphics cards, it is an opportunity to pick up the previous generation 200 series cards at a knockdown price. Or so I thought when I saw a Palit GT240 with 512Mb GDDR3 memory for just £45. These cards are retailing in PCworld for £90-100.

I wasn't expecting too much and I just hope that it would be a quiet, low power yet effective graphics card that I could use to upgrade one of my test systems with. It is quiet, you don't need an extra PCI-E power connector for it, but it only seems to run 5,324 3Dmark06 benchmark. And that is DirectX 9 and not 10.1 which is what that card is supposed to be capable of.

So I've decided to keep the nVidia 8500GT in the test system and rebox the GT240 to sell with a DELL 230 mini-tower for about £70.

Damned McAfee

2010-10-23T12:07:00.006+01:00

A customer had a fairly new Compaq computer infected with over 700 bits of spyware, scams and viruses. I was able to quickly clean those away with the use of Malwarebytes and the resident McAfee Security Center but it left the network and Internet access disconnected.

Further investigation showed that the integrated network adapter had a 169.254.x.x IP address and that the hosts file had been replaced by a scam one that would have just allowed access to the payment websites. I overwrote the hosts file with the default one but after two hours of endeavours I still couldn't get DHCP to give the adapter a valid IP address.

I tried resting the PCP/IP network stack, clearing DNS caches, etc. I inserted a new PCI Ethernet adapter card, but it still wouldn't work. I then thought about the firewall and noticed that McAfee had its Firewall Lockdown activated. Just press the button and Internet access was immediately restored.

So why do McAfee Firewall Lockdown cause a 169.254.x.x IP address on the network adapter and not tell you when you try to reconnect, reboot or even look at it's status page? Rubbish software and I will continue to not recommend it or install it.

Bad RAM to good RAM

2010-10-14T18:15:00.008+01:00

I have a self-built little admin system that I use to check out new system software like the Internet Explorer 9 Beta version that is out at the moment. It is based on an Intel dual-core Celeron E3200 CPU at 2.4GHz and 2x1Gb of PC2-5300 generic memory.

I've always thought that the system could do better if I overclocked it a bit but it wouldn't and I figured that it was the RAM that was the problem. The Asus K5QPL-ASM motherboard I'd used a few times before and it gives easy over clocking profiles in steps up to 20% which is generally sufficient.

So I decided to replace the generic memory (Rendition?) with some standard Crucial PC2-6400 dual stick kit and see what would happen. A significant and noticeable difference in performance was obtained, not just getting the CPU to 2.77Ghz but also the RAM speed started faster at 800MHz and then went up to 928MHz. This meant a much more responsive system.

Worth doing and I'm sure that I'll be able to sell the generic RAM as well. After all ther is basically nothing wrong with it and it'll work fine in an old DELL system. Now I wonder if I'd paid a bit extra for Crucial's Ballistix memory if I'd been able to squeeze a bit more out of this budget system!

Civilisation 5

2010-09-26T22:31:00.011+01:00

I pre-ordered the latest Sid Meier's Civilization V (or Civilisation 5) from GAME for just £25. I've been a great fan of this turn-based strategy game for many years and was eager to play the latest graphically intense version.

It arrived a day before the official release date in Europe and frustratingly wouldn't authorise via Steam. I waited until midnight but it still wouldn't work. However the next morning it was fine. Unfortunately, no nice paperback manual with this version just an electronic file, so I've ordered the strategy guide from Amazon for an extra £9.

Having spent many hours this weekend with it, I'm happy to report it was well worth the wait. In fact the gameplay is smoother and more intuitive than previous versions and the addiction levels are even higher. A classic game redone to be even better.

Selling on Ebay

2010-09-26T22:27:00.004+01:00

I've been buying and selling on Ebay for a while now. Just a few spare parts, especially CPUs as they are high value and low weight to post. Graphic cards and memory also plus my nephew's fridge that he left behind when he went back to Canada.

I've also been accumulating an increasing number of trade-in PCs that I've replaced wioth new DELLs. I decided it was time to reduce a few by selling them on Ebay. I started with a DELL Dimension 4600 that I'd refurbished starting at jusr £1 for 10 days. It went for just £23 yet others where selling for £52 to £71. Hardly worth my time and effort.

Needless to say I'm trying again with a Dimennsion 3000 for just 3 days. Want to bid on it?

My new laptop

2010-09-26T21:57:00.006+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I was ordering a new laptop for a customer of mine. It was the DELL Vostro 3500 which I've been supplying for a while as a good quality, solid professional laptop with fine performance and all the latest technology features.

As I was ordering, I noticed that a slightly better specced version was available for a few pounds extra; the CPU Intel i5-430 was 20% better with 3Gb DDR3 memory (50% better) and a 320Gb 7,200rpm hard disk drive (30% better). Together with Bluetooth and Wireless N connectivity plus fingerprint recognition. As I ordered it DELL offered a second one for just 50% of the first. Great deal, so the price was £292 including VAT and delivery.

I figured that this was a great replacement for my old 5-year old DELL laptop which I should be able to sell for about £100 as it still offers responsive performance with Windows XP and a one and a half hour battery life.

Needless to say my new DELL laptop is superb and I'd recommend it to anyone!

Replaying an old classic game

2010-08-22T12:35:00.005+01:00

For my birthday my son bought me the download of one of my all time favourite games Monkey Island 2, Le Chuck's Revenge. This is the recently reworked version with much better graphics, hints and the original developer's commentary.

A real treat to go back over the old island locations such as the cemetery, the voodoo lady in the swamp and the pirates at the dry cleaners! I did need help with some of the puzzles since it was a good few years since I had played the original version.

Really good fun and a welcome change from playing another rework of an old classic game Starcraft 2.

A wonderfully sexy keyboard

2010-08-22T12:10:00.004+01:00

I treated myself to a Microsoft Sidewinder X4 gaming keyboard as a belated birthday present. I knew it was going to be different as soon as I started opening the packaging. What emerged was a slim, but weighty keyboard which just sticks to my desktop.

The keys are glossy with white lettering until when you plug it in and then a warm orange glow comes through each key. As a two fingered typist this makes it very easy to see the keys as you type. Also the keys are low profile with a smooth, full travel.

Other functions such as the media keys and the macro keys are useful and work well. It also has a calculator key which I believe is almost essential to any keyboard.

So don't wait, just treat yourself.

My daughter's wedding

2010-08-17T10:47:00.006+01:00

The lack of recent posts to this blog is for a real good reason. Just over a week ago my daughter Madelaine got married in a wonderful ceremony.

The venue was Oakley Hall, near Basingstoke and it was just perfect and so was the weather. We could walk from the majestic rooms into the surrounding gardens and chat with our friends and relatives on the large patio. My daughter of course looked stunning in a beautiful dress and I was so proud to give her away to her new husband. The meal and service was good and we had a great band to party us into the night. We stayed in the very comfortable rooms at the hall and then just continued the following day at breakfast. Perfect.

Finished Borderlands

2010-07-13T15:05:00.006+01:00

I've finally finished the game Borderlands. It is a great game and it took me a while to finish even with the game guide book. I didn't complete all the possible tasks and I did turn on god mode to kill the end game boss.

However I slowly travelled my way around Pandora and mostly sniped all the skags, bandits, rakks, spiderants and bosses that I found. I liked the caustic weapons the best as they continued to hurt the enemy after the initial shot and the trace gave an idea of their new position. I found a six-shot caustic revolver with telescopic sight which was a great melee weapon.

Now I'm going to try and finish the other game I've been playing for a while Dragon Age: Origins.

Intel Core i3-530

2010-06-19T08:01:00.004+01:00

I was impressed by the performance of the new DELL Inspiron 580 desktop with Intel's Core i3-530 2.93GHz CPU and DDR3 memory. It seems to be a quantum step up from the Pentium-based version.

It benchmarks better too; PCmark Vantage 6178 versus 4224 for the older processor. It is just a pity that the price premium is too high. However, I can't wait to try the Intel Core i5-650 which has a faster clock speed with Turbo Boost as well taking it from 3.2GHz to 3.46GHz. So the writing is on the wall for me to upgrade my gaming PC with a new motherboard, CPU and DDR3 memory. Might as well get a new DX11 graphics card too!

Microsoft Office 2010 Starter

2010-06-19T07:44:00.002+01:00

I just been delivered my first DELL PC with the new Microsoft Office 2010 Starter instead of Microsoft Works. I was a bit doubtful about a crippled, advertisement displaying version of Microsoft's premier application being any good at all but I was pleasantly surprised. It only has Word and Excel, so no Powerpoint or Outlook but this is hardly a restriction to most users as they typically only need the Powerpoint Viewer and Windows Live Mail can be downloaded and used as a simple email program.

The advertisement strip on the right-hand side is fairly unobtrusive, especially with a wide-screen monitor. And there are few restrictions in Word Starter and Excel Starter for most users. Reviewing changes of Word documents and pivot tables in Excel spreadsheets are the biggest omissions. It also has a neat Office-To-Go feature that allows you to load these applications onto a USB memory stick (about 400Mb) and then use them on another computer to create and edit documents without having to install them. Really neat.

It is a pity that Microsoft is not offering a free down load of Office 2010 Starter and that you can't even buy it in the shops. Also if you purchase the licence upgrade to the full Home and Student or Home and Business versions you only have a single license for that PC and it cannot be transferred. Buying the retail versions is a much better deal.

Old hard disks

2010-06-13T10:36:00.004+01:00

A customer complained of a slow DELL Dimension 8400 which intermittently crashed. Performing the usual diagnostics, I determined that the WD 250Gb SATA hard disk drive appeared to be the problem, so I quickly cloned it to a modern Seagate 7200.12 SATA II 320Gb model.

What a difference in the overall system performance! The original disk drive benchmarked at 45Mb/s bandwidth with a 16ms access time whilst the new one gave over 100Mb/s and 6ms respectively. Admittedly the old one was failing and giving the occasional error but I was amazed at the overall performance improvement for just £35 cost. It just shows how much hard disk design, capacity and speed has improved in the last few years.

Dragon Age: Origins

2010-05-31T17:01:00.005+01:00

I'm enjoying playing Dragon Age: Origins. I was bought it for Christmas by my son Nick and though at times I've found it frustrating and difficult to progress through, I still keep going back to it for another try. In fact I stopped playing it completely for a while until I completed Bioshock 2, but I've returned to Ferelden to battle the darkspawn.

I've learnt the importance of leveling up, balancing specialisations within your party, equipping the best armour and weapons and just recently to use injury kits to heal your characters. My tactics are still not the best, as some of the attacks are too fast for me to manage and control.

The character dialogues and cut scenes help to vary the battles and the ranges of people and places makes for a refreshing series of quests. I might not be able to finish it, but it is fun so far.

Socket to Intel

2010-05-31T16:31:00.008+01:00

What is Intel playing at with all these processor socket formats? For years we just had LGA775 in which a number of CPU ranges, models and revisions fitted into. Upgrading was relatively easy. Just download the latest motherboard BIOS, check power requirements and drop in the new CPU. Job done!

Then we had LGA1156 for top end Intel Core i7 CPUs, and now the LGA1136 for mid range Core i3 and i5 processors. Already limiting the upgrade capabilities. And now I hear that later this year Intel will release the LGA1155 which is slightly different, but completely incompatible with the previous designs. And then later next year LGA2011 (sic!) will be with us. These changes are being made to apparently support even more multi-CPU cores for the future 8, 10, 12 probably.

So in order to upgrade to perform a CPU upgrade we will have to replace the motherboard as well. A lot more expense and hassle. Probably not worth it for most people. And we still have limited software applications that will be able to take advantage of these multi-CPU cores.

One of the advantages of a desktop system is to use its modular architecture to easily upgrade individual components as and when necessary. By limiting the upgrade-ability of their CPUs, Intel has put another nail into the desktop coffin.

Cleaning out Windows Vista

2010-05-31T14:16:00.005+01:00

I'm getting more and more problems with Windows Vista. Even though I've converted all my PCs to Windows 7 except one, it seems that my customers are having problems. Windows Vista-based systems sold a couple of years ago (some by me) with only 1Gb of RAM memory are slowing down and even grinding to a halt. The pressures and demands of modern software and broadband technologies have become too much for these limited systems.

Also any virus or spyware scans are taking longer and longer. Normal file cleansing methods have limited success. One major culprit is Vista's Side-by-side Winsxs directory which grows to over 10Gb with tens of thousands of small files. Scanning all these files often takes longer than the rest of the hard disk drive.

Thousands of these files can be removed by either using Vista Service Pack 1's Vsp1cln command or Service Pack 2's Compcln command. These should be run from an Administrator's command line window. It helps a bit. Adding at least another gigabyte of RAM sure helps as well.

Desktop replacements

2010-04-20T12:00:00.003+01:00

A lot has been made in the press recently of the decline of the traditional desktop PC and the sales rise of laptops which now outsell desktops. When they mention desktop replacement laptops they generally refer to expensive (£1,000 to £1,500+), large screen, powerful laptops with fast processors and good mobile 3D graphics capabilities. I reckon that there is another desktop replacement market for large screen, value laptops.

This is typified by the DELL Inspiron 17 which even with a dual core mobile CPU, 3Gb of memory, 250Gb hard disk drive and a high resolution 17" screen still comes in at under £500 including VAT and delivery. I am selling these to people who are restricted in space for a full desk-based PC, who are looking for a larger display so that they can see it better and just want to email, web surf and word process, etc. The full-size keyboard also helps these typically older people use their computer.

So we have a new value desktop replacement market.

A traumatic day

2010-03-21T20:46:00.006Z

Finally, I've transferred operations to my new DELL Vostro 430 and shutdown my trusty Dimension 4550.

It's all to do with decorating! The big desk had to go so that we could paint the rest of the room. The small table can be moved around, so the Dimmension 4550 under the big desk had to be removed and the smaller Vostro 430 could take over email, web browsing, photos and bookkeeping duties.

All the documents, music, photos and favourites were transferred. Emails were a problem as there was no real equivalent to Outlook Express in Windows 7. Hence an Outlook XP database was created on the old system and then imported to Outlook 2003 on the new system and then will be upgraded to Outlook 2010 when it is available later this year. Shame on Microsoft for not creating an easier path to transfer an Outlook Express email database, address book and email account settings directly into the new Windows 7. Anyway it is about time that I upgraded to the real Outlook!

What a difference in performance! Everything is immediately responsive again. Four cores rule!

Old 4550 being retired

2010-03-14T09:43:00.007Z

My old DELL Dimension 4550 is just about to be retired! I've already received its replacement, a brand new Vostro 430 i5-750 with 3Gb RAM and Windows 7, I'm just waiting for my office to be redecorated and the new desks installed. Yes, I paid Intel's £100 premium for a future-proofed i5-750 processor.

The 4550 was purchased on 25th February 2003 then upgraded to 1Gb RAM and a couple of 160Gb hard disk drives a couple of years ago, but it just doesn't seem responsive any more and multitasking with the old Pentium 4 2.53GHz is not really possible. So the DDR RAM will be used for spares along with everything else in the quirky old case.

I'll be sorry to see it go. Seven years is a long time in computers. Many a character has been typed and many a word read on it.

Return to Rapture

2010-02-14T16:42:00.004Z

I've just started playing Bioshock 2 which was released this week. it is really great to back to the experiences of one of my favourite games. The wondrous visuals and atmosphere, the music and sounds, the ghostly voices in my head helping me unravel the secrets of the underwater city. I even bought the strategy guide as well to help me make the most of my journey through the splicer infested realms, and more effectively use the traditional weapons plus plasmids that add another dimension to the combat.

I'd been trying Dragon Age Origins which I got at Christmas, but I've been frustrated by being a mage with weak spells, leveling up decisions and the random game play aspects. I'll probably return to this highly rated game after I've enjoyed the delights of Rapture once again.

It is difficult for me to describe to anyone who doesn't play such games the escapism, fantasy experience of being in another imaginary world, interacting and fighting the inhabitants and solving puzzles and exploring the sights and sounds that lead you to the next challenge.

All I can say is that it is good to be back in Rapture!

Wireless N is a WiNNer!

2010-02-11T00:14:00.006Z

I admit I've been a bit slow in jumping on the Wireless N boat. My excuse is that I was waiting for the draft IEEE 802.11n specification to be ratified. Also to spend upwards of £100 for a router and receiver adapter just to try it out was a bit expensive for me.

So when ebuyer offered a Tenda Wireless N cable router (I'm on Virgin Media cable) for just £15 and an Edimax USB adapter for £13, I could not resist any longer. They were easy to install and though they only offer 150Mbps (actually 135Mbps), this still tripled my bandwidth. It seems to be snappier accessing the Internet and I'm sure the backups to the Windows Home Server will be quicker too. Now if only it had a Gigabit Ethernet switch as well, I'd be really happy.

I'm a Wireless N convert!

Intel's Core iX policy

2010-02-09T11:43:00.003Z

Now that Intel has released its full range of Core i processors it is interesting to see how and where system vendors are positioning them. For example DELL offers the consumer oriented Inspiron 580, the small business Vostro 430 and the gamer oriented XPS 8100 boxes. All are over £400 in price, leaving the lower ground to the Pentium, Core 2 Duo and Quad CPUs. These are seriously over performed and under priced by the new AMD Athlon II and Phenom II processors which DELL also sell in Inspiron 570 boxes.

So typically there is a £100 premium for buying a Core iX-based system. Granted you do get slightly better performance and a motherboard that should last as long as the venerable Socket 775 ones have. I can only think that once the older Intel CPUs, have gone from stock and the manufacturing has switched over fully to Core iX then the prices will drop considerably. But it seems difficult to recommend buying one at the present time unless you really want the latest technology and are willing to pay for it.

Dual core systems again

2010-01-17T16:01:00.006Z

I've just upgraded a system from a Pentium 4 3GHz to a 'cheap as chips' Celeron E3200 (see previous posts) and what a difference it has made. Both these CPUs were slightly overclocked by 15% to 3.3GHz and 2.77Ghz respectively. Some preliminary testing showed that the integer performance has gone from 8,017 to 21,179 (Sisoft Sandra Arithmetic), an almost threefold amount.

I view the more general PCmark05 type of benchmark as more representative measurement of a system's responsiveness however. It shows weaknesses and bottlenecks in a systems configuration. Here then the difference was even more amazing from 2,280 to 6,328. Again an almost threefold improvement. Just by changing a CPU to one of the cheapest modern ones available.

I used to think that adding memory to a PC was the easiest and most cost effective way of improving an older system's performance. The computer equivalent of a mid-life upgrade. Though it is still effective upgrade, memory costs have gone up considerably in the last few months and now a cheap dual core CPU upgrade to those Socket 775 systems looks an even more effective alternative.

A cautionary tale

2010-01-08T17:11:00.014Z

One of my customers gave me his Fujitsu tower that was giving him trouble after I installed his new DELL. It was only a couple of years old and had a reasonable spec. So I thought that by replacing the scruffy old case with a new shiny black one (£16), an a extra stick of 1Gb DDR memory (£23), SATA DVD writer (£18) and a better 400W PSU (£17) should fix the problem and make it resaleable. I was wrong it continued to crash indicating that the strange Fujitsu version of an Asus motherboard (P5SD1-FM2) was the culprit. Interestingly this had been replaced just recently under the extended warranty but was still giving problems. It was an Intel socket 775 with DDR memory which is also a bit rare.

So I replaced it with a cheap Asrock motherboard (£31), and two sticks of 1Gb DDR2 memory (£35). Because the Windows XP installation was keyed to the old Fujitsu BIOS, it needed a new copy of Windows 7 (one of my preordered £45). The Intel Pentium 4 3Ghz CPU was a bit weak but at least the system worked reliably. All was well for a while, but I wasn't able to sell it.

Then another customer gave me an overheating DELL 5150C SFF computer with a passively cooled Radeon X600 graphics card and an Intel Pentium D 3GHz dual core CPU. I removed the graphics card and used the integrated graphics, but it still ran warm due to the powerful and hot CPU. I then decided to swap the CPUs in the two systems. The DELL accepted the single core Pentium 4 CPU without a murmur and was a lot cooler. Then I put the Pentium D onto the Asrock motherboard and mounted a good size Akasa fan (£10) on top to take care of the cooling. It ran for about 10 seconds just booting into Windows and stopped. No lights, no fan, no power and a faint acrid smell of burnt electronics.

I checked the power supply, no problem. So I'd blown the motherboard. Upon checking, the Pentium D 830 was not on the approved CPU list as the motherboards maximum TDP was just 105W. As are most cheap Socket 775 motherboards. Pentium D's are probably the CPUs with the highest TDP ever and are certainly way over 105W! So I have now bought another motherboard and CPU. This time an Asus KP5QPL (£38) and a new Intel Celeron E3200 CPU (£35) to get the computer going again.

My exploits have cost a total £268 and I'd have been better off if I'd have just bought a new, faster DELL with a warranty and be easier to resell. Let this be a lesson to us all that resurrecting an old system is often definitely not worth it.

Dual core systems

2009-12-13T22:30:00.008Z

Spending the time as I do fixing people's systems, it is amazing how often these slow, old PCs are considered adequate for what they want to do. Typically an old Intel Pentium 4 class computer with just 512Mb memory and full 80Gb hard disk drive running Windows XP SP2 is a system that I have a half an hour to wave a magic wand and make it a speed demon.

Usually the adding some more memory, stopping all the programs starting up and removing old programs and temporary files is enough to make a noticeable improvement and a happy customer, who calls me back six months later to do it all over again. Doing this all day I then go back to my 'lean and mean' modern dual core CPU system which is immediately responsive and instantly reacts to my every click together with Virgin Media's 20Mbps broadband connection speed make me realise what modern computing is all about.

It seems that adding an extra CPU core or more plus 4Gb of memory and Windows 7 makes for a really responsive system the purchase price for which can be about £300+. A really impressive replacement of a five year old computer. It is difficult to describe and persuade people that in today's multitasking environments this is what they need.

The rise of the low-end graphic card -- Part 3

2009-12-06T13:35:00.007Z

Continuing my quest to achieve stunning graphics performance for not much money, I have two more cards to report on. An XFX Radeon HD4650 (£39, 512Mb DDR2, 2,580 3Dmark06) and a Powercolor Radeon HD4770 (£55, 512Mb GDDR5, 12,400 3Dmark06). One a real duffer and the other a star!

The XFX HD4650 is a total under performing failure despite the company's claims that this is in fact an overclocked version. Their customer support was totally useless in determining the cause or offering to replace it. I usually buy this company's graphics cards, but not anymore.

I then tried the Powercolor HD4770 and what a difference; fast and quiet. It has replaced my previous favourite the PNY nVidia 9600GT (£45, 512Mb DDR3, 10,000 3Dmark06) as it is slightly faster and definitely quieter when not on full load. The thermostatically controlled cooling fan on the Powercolor HD4770 wins it for me.

DELL's fabulous XPS 8000

2009-12-05T02:26:00.007Z

I was tasked by my nephew to choose a new gaming PC. Given the budget and performance objectives, I went about configuring various DELL models and even considered the 'build it myself' option. We decided on a DELL XPS 8000.

It arrived yesterday and was duly unpacked and tested. What a performer! A real 'bang for the buck' gaming system. The specification is:
- DELL XPS 9000 Studio
- Intel i7 860 2.8GHz quad core CPU
- 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 memory
- 640Gb 7,200rpm SATA hard disk drive
- DVD+/-RW optical drive
- nVidia Geforce GTX 860 with 896Mb GDDR5 memory graphics card
- DELL 20" widescreen monitor
- Logitech X230 2.1 speaker set
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

Even though it is a relatively small mini-tower case with a conservatively rated 350W power supply, I still managed to shoehorn in and power the large nVidia GTX860 graphics card. The massive heatpipe cooled heatsink with dual fans keep the card cool and very quiet even under load.

The performance of the whole system is amazing, totally responsive and a gamer's dream system. I recommend it to anybody who wants a great PC gaming machine.

My real Microsoft Windows 7 arrived early!

2009-10-19T17:34:00.004+01:00

The two copies of the genuine full version of Microsoft's new Windows 7 Home Premium that I pre-ordered from PCworld for just £45 each, arrived this morning! Three days early.

I certainly didn't expect them so soon as there is a threatened postal strike later this week and they were scheduled by Royal Mail, I expected them mid next week, if I was lucky!

I immediately opened one of the packages to see what was inside, and then to install the 64bit version on my chosen Windows 7 system:
- Chieftec Mesh case with 350W power supply
- Asus P5KPL-AM motherboard
- Intel's latest Pentium E6300 CPU overclocked to 3.2Ghz
- 4Gb Crucial PC6400 memory
- 500Gb Seagate 7200.12 SATA hard disk drive
- PNY nVidia GeForce 9600GT 512Mb DDR3 grahpics card
- DVD writer and DVD-ROM

Installation was a breeze with everything detected and working. I'll report what happens after a few days.

The rise of the low-end graphic card -- Part 2

2009-10-15T23:14:00.006+01:00

Continuing my experiences with low-end 3D gaming graphic cards, it was time to raise the stakes slightly. I was tempted by the offer of an nVidia 9600GT card at a really low price.

The PNY Geforce 9600GT (£45, 512Mb DDR3, 10,000 3Dmark06) was on sale at PCworld for a short time so I grabbed one. A revelation when introduced as the true successor to the classic 6600GT it had great reviews. To me it offered almost twice the performance of my previous winner the nVidia 9500GT (£37, 512Mb GDDR3, 5,875 3Dmark06) for just £8 more.

It is a larger size card that requires an additional 6-pin power connection. It was almost silent, certainly quieter than the 9500GT. I discovered however that not all was as it seems. This version was a derivative of the original two year old design. An eco or lower power version that has a clock speed of just 600MHz instead of the original's 650MHz. Also the shaders and memory was clocked slightly lower. This obviously leads to lower benchmark figures, but still impressive for a cheap graphics card.

DELL's data saviour

2009-10-14T09:55:00.006+01:00

A little known fact about the DELL Vostro 220 minitower PC is that is includes a very effective hardware RAID controller that can be configured to protect your data from hard disk failure.

This is very effective in providing small businesses with some measure of data protection at a minimum cost. For just the price of a second hard disk drive in fact. And no software costs at all.

To configure this order your DELL Vostro 220MT with dual hard disk drives of the same capacity or install a second SATA disk drive yourself. Before you install Windows XP or Vista, go into the BIOS setup (F2 key), select Standard CMOS Features and then change the SATA Mode option from AHCI to RAID. Save and exit, and then continue the Windows installation as normal.

When Windows is up and running, install the Intel Matrix Storage Application from DELL's Application and Driver CD or download the latest version from Intel's website. Reboot and run this application. You should be able to select the Data protection option which will setup the two hard disks in RAID 1 (mirror) and after a couple of hours will copy all your data over to the second drive. Of course you can also select Performance which will setup RAID 0 (striped) for a higher performance disk subsystem without any data protection.

DELL's salespeople and website fails to inform you of this fact that for the cost of an additional disk drive provides an essential data security feature. In fact DELL charge a ridiculous amount for that second disk drive often over £100 even for low capacity models. Remember as well mirroring disk drives with RAID 1 is no substitute for a full backup.

HAL is missing

2009-10-02T22:50:00.013+01:00

No this is not a reference to the errant HAL9000 computer from 2001 A Space Odyssey, but the failure of Windows XP to boot with the following message: "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: windows\system32\hal.ddl. Please re-install a copy of the above file."

Now when a customer gets this and the usual chkdsk doesn't fix it, it usually means a re-install of Windows over the existing version or a complete disk format and reload of the whole systems software and appplications. Both mean a fair amount of work, which is often difficult to justify on an old computer. So I looked for another solution.

This worked: boot the system into the Recovery Console and then reset the file attributes of boot.ini, if it exists so that you can delete it.
C:> attrib -h -r -s boot,ini
C:> del boot.ini

Then re-create it using the following:
C:>bootcfg /rebuild
selecting the Windows installation, give it a name and /fastdetect as the usual option. Finally reload the hard disk boot block with:
C:>fixboot

This will usually create a working boot.ini and the system will reboot normally. If not try to replace hal.dll from the Windows Setup CD-ROM by:
C:>expand d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hal.dll

In my case the boot.ini file was being repeatedly deleted by malware, so running Malwarebytes' Antimalware program fixed that too.

So that's how to open the pod bay doors!

Running Windows Vista (and 7) faster

2009-09-20T17:38:00.008+01:00

I've mentioned before some of the methods that I use to get Windows Vista to run more responsively in low memory configurations. These methods also work with the new Windows 7. I've discovered a few more so I thought that I'd add them to the list.

Changing the Windows Aero display to Windows Basic settings causes the Display Window Manager to dramatically reduce in memory footprint. I've seen this achieve between 40 and 70Mb in some larger memory configurations. This can be brought back to a couple of megabytes.

Disable Windows Defender via Tools -> Options if you are using any Anti-Virus program that also have Anti-Spyware and most modern ones do have.

Use the utility program msconfig to stop any unwanted Startup programs and Services from running when the computer boots.

After deleting any superfluous files with a utility like Ccleaner (www.ccleaner.com), use a decent disk defragmenter like Smart Defrag (www.iobit.com).

Obviously fast dual or quad core CPUs, speedy hard drives and large amounts of memory help modern computers overcome the drag that the latest Windows operating systems put on them, but knowing how to tune performance given the hardware you already have can help you a lot.

Philips failure

2009-09-06T14:34:00.008+01:00

I rarely accept a trade-in PC when I sell a reconditioned one. But this seemed too good to be true. A just over a year old Philips MT5000 Freestyle mini-tower with Intel E6420 Core 2 Duo CPU, 2Gb memory, 400Gb hard disk drive, ATi Radeon graphics and two DVD writers for £50. The system POSTed and it appeared to indicate a corrupted Windows Vista was the root cause. As the original recovery DVD was supplied, it should just mean a quick wipe disk and reinstall should fix it. It seemed a good deal for just £50.

How wrong I was! The quick fix failed after the re-install when the graphics mode changed, the mouse cursor briefly appeared and then the system power cycled. Not just reset back to BIOS, but the power light went out and then came back on again. I'd never seen that happen on a computer before. Strangely I tried a generic Windows Vista version and that behaved exactly the same. Windows XP installed fine and appeared to be stable. But I wanted to use the Windows Vista license with this system. I ran a MemTst86 memory diagnostic and that failed after a while by just freezing. No memory errors. I tested the memory in another machine and the two sticks passed without any problems. I thought it might be a power problem, so I swapped the PSUs and graphics cards and exactly the same happened. It just had to be the motherboard.

So I've ordered a new motherboard and a new case, as the old Philips one was scratched, broken and dirty in an attempt to get my money back when I sell the system. However this will not compensate me for the time taken to try to diagnose this system, disassemble it and rebuild it again. I've learnt my lesson not to be tempted by trading in a system that doesn't work!

UPDATE: The new motherboard did fix the problem.

Playing with Windows 7

2009-08-28T11:14:00.006+01:00

I've been playing with Windows 7 RC1 for a couple of months now and I must say I'm really enjoying it. My self-build system (Pentium E6300@3.2GHz, 2Gb RAM and 320Gb HDD) is certainly powerful enough to drive it along well and the graphics card (nVidia 8600GTS) allows me to play games on it easily such as my present favourite Anno 1404.

It certainly is a 'Vista that works' and works well. It is a pity that mini-applications such as Windows Mail, Photo Gallery and Movie Maker didn't make it over into this version. Thunderbird is a great email client though and it works well on Windows 7. But how does a lower specification system perform with Windows 7?

So, I resurrected an old eMachine box based on an AMD Athlon X2 4000+ CPU at 2.1GHz with a new AsRock AM2+ motherboard but used the existing 1Gb memory and 160Gb hard disk drive. Software installation went well without any problems though the integrated VIA sound chip needed the Vista drivers from the motherboard's support CD-ROM. I also loaded the overclock utility and used that to bring the CPU to 2.3GHz.

After downloading Kaspersky's AntiVirus for Windows 7 trial there was about 68% of the memory used. Not much left over for applications to run with. A bit of trimming required. So I set the user interface style from the default Aero to Windows 7 Basic and then stopped Windows Defender. I also grabbed an extra 96Mb from the integrated video using the BIOS setup. Memory used is now 30%. Good enough for word processing, web surfing and email etc. Just to push it a bit, I installed the Anno 1404 game demo. It worked well if a bit slow on reduced details settings on the Geforce 7025 integrated graphics.

Now if only I could get rid of the faint tobacco smell from the previous owner it would be fine!

Losing my memory

2009-08-16T12:07:00.005+01:00

I don't know why, but I've been upgrading a lot of desktops recently with additional memory. In fact I've almost run out and that is after ordering replacement parts. As soon as I get them, I sell them.

It's difficult to know what to stock. That means what to carry around with me. Speeds and capacities vary so much and often you need to add pairs of exactly similar manufacturer and specification to make sure that dual channel performance is maintained. I don't want to buy large quantities of memory parts 'just in case', especially as I leave them in my car boot overnight. However PC3200 DDR2 512Mb is useful to have enough of, and PC4200 512Mb can be used as a substitute for most Windows XP systems that are upgrading from 512Mb total capacity to 1Gb. You can then take out the original pair of 256Mb strips and use them to upgrade the next one.

I had problems with a DELL Dimension 5000 the other day which needed to be increased from 512Mb to 1Gb only I didn't have any PC3200 or PC4200 memory at all. I tried replacing what was in there with PC5300, both a pair of 512Mb and a single 1Gb. The pair didn't want to work at all, it just beeped and the single strip booted but subsequently crashed when the Windows desktop screen was almost finished displaying. Eventually I managed to recover two PC3200 256Mb strips from a DELL Dimension 5100 that I had in the workshop and that worked perfectly. Job done!

When I looked on the Crucial website (where I buy most of my memory) it said that upto PC6400 was OK in the Dimension 5100. Sure enough, two PC6400 1Gb strips were installed and worked fine. Just what I needed anyway for the Windows Vista upgrade. Strange that two systems with a similar specification and chipset should behave so differently. Probably different motherboards.

The rise of the low-end graphics card

2009-08-05T18:08:00.006+01:00

I've become aware that relatively cheap (under £40) graphics cards can provide a great 3D graphics experience with translucency, shadows and reflections in modern games at a playable refresh rate. I've just been playing the new Anno 1404 demo on my new Windows 7 system with an ATi Radeon HD3450 (£25, 256Mb DDR2, 3Dmark06 1800) on my 1680 by 1050 resolution monitor. A bit jerky but a beautiful picture.

So let me see what I can get if I pay a bit more. Say for an nVidia 9500GT (£37, 512Mb GDDR3, 3Dmark06 5875) Over three times the performance for just £12 more. Now the game runs smoothly and pretty. What a bargain! These cards are low on power and run cool and quiet too. Without the need for extra power leads and hefty power supplies. Great for decoding and playing DVDs as well.

They are a perfect upgrade of the integrated graphics in most basic systems. They improve the Aero Glass interface in Vista and now Windows 7. My Windows Experience score for that jumped from 3.1 to 5.9 with this latest graphics card.

Low-end graphics cards used to be just for playing retro games. This new generation offers adequate performance for today's games especially if you are happy to lower the detail level slightly or the screen resolution. And your whole system could feel a lot faster as well.

Intel's new Pentium CPU

2009-07-24T14:36:00.004+01:00

I just installed Intel's latest Pentium E6300 CPU into an Asus P5KPL-AM motherboard after upgrading to the latest BIOS 516 revision. Used an Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro CPU fan.

I added 2Gb PC5300 DDR2 memory, a WD Blue 320Gb hard disk drive and an Ati HD3450 graphics card. The installation was no problem and the system booted first time. I installed Windows 7 RC on it and I'm enjoying the performance and low noise level that the system achieves.

Then I overclocked to 3.2Ghz giving a Windows Experience CPU score of 6.5.

The 2Mb cache, higher 1066MHz FSB rate and the greater clock speed surely suit this CPU and set it apart from the other Pentium and Celeron versions.

A Core 2 Duo CPU for half the price. A great performer for the average user and basic gamer.

Personal stereo

2009-06-28T12:10:00.005+01:00

For my forthcoming trip to Canada and USA, I decide to update my iPod with my latest albums. That all went well, but the sound through the iPod headphones seemed to be a bit poor. I researched it a bit and the comparison between a Ferrari and a Fiat caught my eye for the Sennheiser CX500 ear-buds. A good price of £18 at play.com was the decider.

What a difference! The bass sound was lower yet clearer, the mid-tones crisper and my 58 year old ears could determine the higher frequencies better. I didn't seem to turn them up as much and the noise isolating ear-canal grommets should keep the airplane jet drone away. I was satisfied with my purchase. My old 2Gb iPod Nano had a new lease of life, though the capacity was a little limited in trying to fit all my favourite albums into it.

So on a recent visit to the PCworld shop a Sansa Clip 2Gb for only £10 seemed a cheap way to allow me an alternative album selection. It is a great little MP3 player, and also sounds great through my new ear-bud headphones. The only problem I have with it is managing the playlist as it wants to play all the tracks alphabetically and not in album/track order. Apparently you can change this through Windows Media Player, so I'll play with this a bit more.

Anyway a new great-sounding portable personal stereo for just £28, not bad!

Windows 7

2009-06-20T11:14:00.007+01:00

The parts for my Windows 7 PC arrived this week. Unfortunately the Pentium 4 3.4GHz CPU that I hoped to use was non-responding, so I had to use a 3GHz instead. With all the messing about I bent the pins in the LGA775 socket which required some delicate adjustment. Then the CPU cooler didn't remain firmly clamped to the motherboard, the CPU overheated and the PC promptly shutdown.

The 1Gb DDR2 memory gave errors at 667MHz (the slowest speed the motherboard would accept) and had to be replaced. Finally the older DVD player and writer drives wouldn't accept the 16X DVD that I'd burnt with Windows 7 RC1 on it. I had to burn another with 8X media. What a hassle! It all took hours to build into a successful, working system.

I'm enjoying the Windows 7 experience now, even running on just 1Gb memory. I have ordered an additional 2Gb anyway. I downloaded the Kaspersky AntiVirus Beta for this version of Windows and protection will last to the end of the year. By which time I will have hopefully upgraded to the released version. And I'll probably replaced the CPU with a multi-core midrange processor like the Pentium E6300.

I like the Windows 7 task bar with the Internet Explorer and Media Player icons in what used to be called the quick launch area. You definitely get more feedback on what programs are doing, downloading, waiting for input, stacked, etc. I don't really want to download Live Photo Gallery and Live Windows Mail on every installation that I do as the Windows versions are missing. As is Windows Movie Maker.

The Windows Paint and Wordpad are still delivered, but have been upgraded with a new user interface. I'll have to check whether there is additional functionality as well. I'll also have to look at the new Homegroup and Libraries as I've heard good reports about them, though you apparently can't integrate Windows XP or Vista systems into them.

I've ended up with a nice quiet system which is a bit slower than I'd had hoped for but will do to play around with the software on. The Chieftec Mesh case looks really good though, solid and shows the quality.

Here I go again....

2009-06-13T20:49:00.006+01:00

I've one it again. Why? I've bought a new case and motherboard for a DIY computer. I must be mad!

It is Chieftec Mesh mini tower case with 350W power supply for just £45 from ebuyer. I've used Chieftec cases before and found them solid, reliable, quality cases with a good design. I'm writing this on a metallic purple, full tower Chieftec Matrix case which is presently in its second resurrection.

I've also added an Asus microATX motherboard (Asus P5KPL-AM iG31 Socket 775) to the order to house the Intel Pentium 4 3.2Ghz CPU that I have going spare. Add 1Gb DDR2 memory, a second-hand 200Gb SATA disk drive, a DVD writer plus a new ATi Radeon HD3450 graphics card that I liberated from a recent DELL purchase and I have the basis of a reasonable PC.

Now, all I need is an operating system. Well, Microsoft's new Windows 7 RC1 will run for a year, give me the opportunity to play with it and possibly upgrade to the full version when it'll be fully released later this year. That'll do fine.

So, here we go again with DIY PC. Why do I bother when I have a new DELL Vostro 220 minitower sitting in a box here? It has an Intel Pentium E5200 CPU, 2Gb DDR2 memory, DVD writer and a 250Gb hard disk drive. Windows Vista, keyboard and mouse plus one year's warranty for just over £200. I must be mad!

Catastrophic failure

2009-06-10T17:40:00.005+01:00

I got this error message recently when I was trying to install Windows Live. It is good to see that programmers at Microsoft still have a sense of humour.

Norton Utilities' Shadow

2009-05-27T23:46:00.003+01:00

I decided it was about time that I upgraded my old trusty version of Norton Utilities 2005 with the latest 2009 version. I bought it at my local PCworld shop as it was on offer for just £20. I am totally disappointed with this product which is now just a shadow of its former glory. Thank heaven that I didn't pay any more for it!

Gone are WinDoctor and SpeedDisk, CheckIT diagnostics, boot and run utilities from CD, etc. Instead is an installable and activation for just 3 PCs, which mostly consists of links to Windows own applets for performing system management, tune-up and diagnosis. From DOS days it was always the best set of tools to help you fix PCs. I still enjoy running WinDoctor from the CD on Windows XP systems, finding all the file and registry errors and then running the automatic fixer. It impresses my customers too. Why do the work yourself when you can get the computer to do it for you?

Anyway, I won't be using this latest version. I'll make a backup copy of the CD and put it in my bag just in case. I doubt if I'll be using it much though! Symantec does it again with a totally useless product release of what used to be the king of PC diagnosis and fix software!

Responsive PCs

2009-05-24T22:19:00.003+01:00

Yet again I'm drawn to the subject of responsiveness. I've cobbled together a few parts recently and discovered a very responsive system. A Packard Bell minitower with a failed motherboard was the basis. I ordered a new Foxconn i846 chipset motherboard from Novatech for just under £25. Coincidentally a failed Novatech PC with an Intel Pentium 4 3.6Ghz gave me a replacement CPU.

Add 2Gb of PC5400 generic memory from ebuyer and suddenly I realised that I had a fast, responsive minitower computer on my hands. I replaced the Intel stock CPU fan with a cheap Akasa AK-956SF heatsink with fan from ebuyer which lowered the temperatures and noise levels.

This system is only a single core CPU with older technology motherboard, hard drive and memory yet it remains a very responsive computer system. It won't break any benchmarks yet it is still a responsive joy to use.

Cooling IT

2009-05-09T20:43:00.011+01:00

As frequencies increase again for multicore CPUs from both Intel and AMD the importance of a good, efficient cooler becomes even more important. Though so called 'stock' air fan coolers that are supplied with the retail versions of modern CPUs are sufficient in cooling their associated CPUs at normal conditions, they are not the quietest or best cooling that can be used if you want to either overclock your processor or build an almost silent system.

I was confronted with both conditions for two different systems recently, one based on an AMD processor and the other an Intel, so I decided to investigate the technology of CPU cooling. There are definitely some weird and wonderful solutions out there including gas and water-based cooling for more money than you would pay for the processor itself. However in the more realistic world of air cooling fans the name of Zaalman was considered the best, but I could not bring myself to purchase beautiful copper cooling solutions for £50 or more when the price of the CPUs they were to cool were not that much more money.

In the region of £15 to £20 the name of Arctic Cooling came to the front, so I purchased one of these to try. I was amazed how much cooler and quieter the Intel system was! I quickly purchased the AMD version of the Arctic Cooler Freezer aluminium cooler. These seem the optimum price/performance solution as the CPU temperature and noise level dropped considerably when they were installed. Thoroughly recommended!

Finished Space Siege

2009-04-18T14:15:00.004+01:00

I've just finished Space Siege. It was a simple and fun game and I did kind of enjoy it but not as much as Dungeon Siege which had more depth and variety.

I only paid £5 for it from GAME's bargain bin so it was really good value for money. I've just bought Dawn of War 2 so I'll probably start that straight away. It is a bit in the same vein though. I'd prefer a good first person shooter so I might try Fallout 3 or Call of Duty 5 which I hear are worthwhile.

DELL's new Inspiron 545/546

2009-04-18T08:31:00.003+01:00

I'm disappointed in DELL's new Inspiron 545/546 range of desktops, colourful though they maybe. The Intel-based 545 uses the older G33 chipset with the Intel GMA 3100 graphics, whilst the Vostro 220 uses the newer G45 with higher specification Intel GMA X4500 graphics.

On the AMD-based 546 range wich starts at a lowly Sempron LE1250 CPU and expensively rises to the previous generation Phenom quad processors. What happenned to the great Phenom II CPUs?

It is great to see a range of coloured fronts but all are a £29 option on the standard black. It is a pity the rest of the case isn't coloured at that price. And the colour choice is limited to the 545 only. Why?

An obvious market for a coloured case would be the value gaming market, yet no suitable jaw dropping CPU and graphics combination is possible. The Intel Quad Core Q8200 and ATI Radeon HD3650 256MB graphics card is the expensive top-of-the-range model, which don't even make it to the entry level of the XPS range. The Vostro 220 also offers a RAID 0 (striped) disk capability as well.

In general on paper a poor addition to the product offering from DELL, who have now officially dropped to number two in the US market behind HP.

AMD Cool'n'Quiet Technology

2009-04-06T22:57:00.005+01:00

The new configuration of my large purple PC was warm and noisy. To start with I replaced the old, cheap and noisy case fans with Xilence Red Wing ones which seem to shift a lot more air and are quieter too. This helped but did not result in a noise level I desired.

I was considering replacing the stock CPU cooler, then turned on the Cool'n'Quiet BIOS setting for the AMD Phenom II X3 720 CPU. This also made a noticeable difference. mMore than I thought that it would. At idle the CPU speed dropped from its overclocked 3.2Ghz to 2.1Ghz to 800MHz. The CPU fan slowed from over 5,100rpm to 3,400rpm and was a fair bit quieter.

This Cool'n'Quiet technology seems very dynamic, much more so that Intel's SpeedStep and doesn't seem to affect the responsiveness of the system at all. When you want the play games the system goes to full speed and becomes noisier but the game's sound blocks this out. When you just type it is quiet enough. I might still change the CPU cooling fan at a later date, but the Cool'n'Quiet technology is sufficient for me now.

Port 80 blocked

2009-04-01T12:32:00.006+01:00

I recently went to a customer who claimed that he couldn't view web pages and yet email and messaging worked as usual. I thought that it just meant that I had to reset the web browser's security (Internet Explorer) and check for proxy servers, etc. However it still didn't work. Other computers on the router worked well, so it wasn't that. I spent two hours checking every thing such as reset Winsock settings (netsh winsock reset), checking the hosts file, etc.

I searched the web for clues but found none, though I did download and ran a couple of network repair utilities such as LSPfix. Still no joy. I then performed a complete virus and spyware scan. That revealed evidence and removed Trojan.MeSPAM but still didn't fix web browsing. It was looking like a Windows reinstall was required which seemed over-the-top for such a small, but vital problem.

It was definitely TCP/IP HTTP port 80 that was being blocked. DNS servers were OK and resolving. Other nework access was fine. The AVG AntiVirus was not updating, but I believe that was also based on port 80. Booting into Safe mode and web browsing was fine. I searched for dormant firewalls and other strange services but found none.

As a final desperate act, I removed all the software applications that had anything to do with web browsing or the network such as; Flash, Shockwave, MSN Messenger, Yahoo messenger, ICQ, MSN Family Safety and all the other MSN applets, AVG AntiVirus, etc. Reboot and web browsing is fine.

Reloaded all the stuff apart from MSN Family Safety which the customer didn't require and surfing the web continued to be fine. Update to Internet Explorer 8. Still OK. So what was the problem?

Going Black continued

2009-03-26T10:41:00.003Z

The new CPU and motherboard are installed in the giant purple case and running well. The main problems were fitting all the devices and cables into the large case. It is still a tight fit.

The MSI K9A2 Neo-F AM2+ motherboard is great. It allows me to use my old Enermax 650W power supply to connect with a 20 pin connection into the newer 24 pin motherboard. Even the manual says that you can do this. It also POSTed first time with the new CPU and an easy BIOS upgrade with MSI's LiveUpdate program gives the correct AMD Phenom II X3 720 CPU name.

I loaded Windows Vista Home Premium and all the hardware was recognised. Even my Sil 0680 IDE RAID card! Then it was an easy job to gradually increase the CPU multiplier setting from 14X to 16X to reach my desired overclocking speed of 3.2Ghz. The system runs fine and I'm reloading my games and applications before benchmarking. I'm very happy with this upgrade.

Going Black

2009-03-23T12:33:00.008Z

Even after my December post, I've decided to rebuild an old DIY computer as my next gaming system. At present I use an 18 month old DELL Inspiron 530 with Intel C2D E6550 2.33Ghz and 3Gb PC5300 memory. I want a noticeable performance improvement going up into the 3Ghz CPU range plus overclocking capabilities.

Also, though quad core processors are the high end CPU of today, I've sold a few Intel C2Q Q6600 and Q8200-based systems for gaming and I've never been totally impressed with the response times, even though more modern games are multiprocessor compatible. As always, cost is an issue, and needs to be kept as low as possible. Obvious candidates were Intel C2D E8400 and Q8X00, Q9X00 and Core i7 together with the new AMD Phenom II X4 CPUs. However I've decided on the triple core AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition for the following reasons:

a modern true 2.8Ghz multicore processor
45nm fabrication leading to lower power (95W) and temperatures
unlocked multiplier; easier to overclock without stressing memory and graphics
the AM3 socket format giving an upgrade path to DDR3 memory
that extra core processor
the under £120 low price

I've also bought an MSI K9A2 Neo-F AM2+ motherboard for £60. This is an ATX format, compatible with the Phenom II CPUs and offering four DDR2 memory slots and no integrated graphics. This gives me RAM configuration flexibility as well as RAID storage and I will be transferring my XFX overclocked nVidia 9600GSO graphics card.

This will all be assembled into my very large, metallic purple Cheiftec case with existing quality PSU, DVD drives and a new WD 500Gb SATA2 hard disk drive. This presently houses an AMD Duron 1.8Ghz CPU and Abit NF7 motherboard.

I'm looking forward to receiving my new CPU and motherboard later this week. I'll let you know how I get on with them.

Is there hope for DELL with AMD?

2009-02-21T21:00:00.006Z

A few years ago AMD broke the Intel CPU monopoly at DELL Computers which allowed their Opteron and Athlon processors to be offered into a wide range of DELL desktops, laptops and servers. At that time AMD Opterons ruled the server processor world, whilst their Athlon X2 CPUs seemed to offer an early dual core processor capability to the desktop market. For a while I was selling affordable DELL Dimension desktops and later Inspiron laptops with AMD processors.

Then the Intel Core 2 Duo processor was released and quickly became the market leader for performance and then 'bang for the buck' systems. The DELL AMD-based models disappeared until now all that remains is a business Optiplex desktop retained for continuity reasons and a minitower PowerEdge file and print server that struggles in a rapidly disappearing market.

Now it is all change again as AMD released the Phenom X4 II processors that are price competitive with Intel's quad core models. The recent price cuts by Intel and then quickly following those from AMD show that for the first time there is a real competitive situation again. Recent comparative reviews reflect this. So where does that leave DELL? Does the old agreement remain in place and if so, will DELL start announcing new AMD CPU-based models?

Finished Far Cry 2

2009-02-14T20:49:00.003Z

So I've finally finished Far Cry 2 after over three months of play. A great game which easily made my Top Ten. The wide open spaces, the beautiful vistas, the weather and daytime lighting effects. The natural landscape textures and the non-scripted paths that you could take to obtain the goals of the game. Just driving (or boating) through the Savannah was a real joy.

Many reviews said that it was repetitive, but not for me. Either detour around the guard post, or decide to snipe at it from a suitable height, or set fire to the grass, or try to drive straight through it, or fire a couple of rockets and the take out the survivors. Great decisions. Judge accordingly. The end was a bit predictable and the final journey to it was difficult, but it left the possibility open for a sequel (please).

So now I started Fallout 3 and though an intriguing start, we are back into poorly lit corridors and limited maps, no directions, weird weapon selection keys, etc. Hadn't these people heard of fluorescent tube lights? I doubt if I will continue.

Awash with graphics cards

2009-02-07T21:10:00.006Z

For the last few months I've been had a XFX 9600GSO overclocked graphics card which replaced my Sapphire HD3850. It gives a better performance and the £64 price was really good. My only worry was that the card specified a 500W PSU, but my DELL Inspiron 530 was only rated at 300W. However it has been working well. The recommended twin 12V rail cables had only one of them plugged into a single 12V power output of the DELL.

The best of all was that this XFX card had a thermostatically controlled fan which went from completely silent on boot up to a quiet hum on the 3D PKR web site game to a slightly louder hum when playing Far Cry 2 at full screen. As the computer is up on the table next to me this was acceptable and indeed having used and sold XFX graphics cards before, it has always been a good, reliable brand.

So why in a moment of madness did I buy an Asus HD4670 graphics card? I'd read reviews that they offered the best 'bang for the buck' in the lower midrange market. It didn't need extra power and was for sale for again only £64. What a mistake to make! It started off noisy even though it had a larger fan which wasn't thermostatically controlled. Admittedly it didn't increase in volume when running Far Cry 2, but the graphics performance was noticeably poorer.

I even tried a Sapphire Radeon HD3650 that I'd 'liberated' from a DELL system that I'd sold last week. Even worse! It gave really poor performance and still made quite a bit of noise that was more of a whine. Probably acceptable in a large system case under your desk and you weren't interested in the best quality graphics display, but not for me. So that one is also added to the cupboard along with the nVidia 8600GTS and the ATi Radeon X800 cards.

Anyone want to buy a PCI-X graphics card? I'm sticking with what I've got.

Conficting channels

2009-01-27T20:21:00.004Z

I installed two new BT Broadband Home Hubs today with a lot of trouble establishing the required wireless networks. Firstly it seems that a lot of Wireless devices do not like the WPA2-PSK security that is the default level that these routers come with and secondly the channel setting conflicts frequently with other wireless networks.

I had problems with inbuilt and PCMCIA cards in laptops that can see the BTHomeHub2-XXXX wireless network but when you enter the supplied key as shown on the card and on the back of the HomeHub router. Previously you used to enter the serial number as the password to access the admin settings of the HomeHub, now they print the password on the back instead. You still have to change it though. You cannot disable the wireless security but you can change to WEP either 64-bit or 128-bit. This allows other devices to attach to the HomeHub router.

However you are still stuck with the channel problem. The HomeHub channel selection though set on Auto(matic) seems stuck on Channel 6. And this frequently conficts with outher wireless networks in the local area giving the 'Network is not in range' error when it clearly is. The previous versions of the HomeHub seemed to work better in this respect. So you simply have to choose an unused channel and then the connect works perfectly. Admittedly I had only a couple of other networks to avoid, so I wonder what will happen in a more technology populated environment.

Anyway, it looks like the BT HomeHub needs more work done on it.

DELL Vostro 220MT

2009-01-17T15:28:00.006Z

I've installed a couple of DELL's new Small Business Vostro desktops and have been very impressed with them. The front has a modern black glossy, straight-edged look which belies their affordable price. They are quiet in operation and include the latest technology with the Intel G45 Express chipset, standard 800Mhz DDR2 memory and X4500HD integrated graphics. Optional is an Ati Radeon graphics card in the PCI Express X16 slot.

Interestingly to my surprise when I connected the leads to the back of the unit there were the old green and mauve, mouse and keyboard PS/2 sockets. The supplied keyboard and mouse were USB of course. In fact there was even an old serial socket as well. This seems a backward step for DELL.

Overall this is a very neat modern PC with many configuration options including a compact tower (Vostro 220S) and an even larger tower (Vostro 420) avaliable. Recommended.

Windows 7 beta

2009-01-17T15:08:00.004Z

I downloaded the public beta version of the new Windows 7 operating system. I installed it on a fairly average hardware PC platform, 2.8GHz Pentium 4, 1Gb memory and 40Gb hard disk. It installed without errors and discovered all the relevant hardware devices correctly.

It appears to be a stripped down Ultimate version with some bundled applications and utilities missing. It runs in about 400Mb memory. This compares well to my Vista Basic essentials with additional AVG anti-software. I've read comments that this new version of Windows is just a Vista Service Pack. I would disagree with that as all the elements of the GUI have been 'adjusted'. Even the venerable Wordpad application getting a 'ribbon' command overhaul.

Performance on this lowly PC seems snappy enough, but it is early days yet. As a supporter of Windows Vista, I'm eager to see if Microsoft can market this latest Windows version better that they did Vista. Certainly it should not be hard.

Windows Genuine Advantage

2009-01-11T15:49:00.006Z

My first entry for the New Year and it is about software piracy. I started in the IT industry as a programmer so I understand what it takes to develop, market and maintain a piece of software. A lot of time, effort and money. In principle I do not agree with software piracy, however as far as the evil empire Microsoft is concerned it could almost be seen as justified. Especially for Windows itself.

You can buy a PC from DELL with Windows for a little over £200, and you can buy Microsoft's own retail version in the shop for just under the same £200. So what is the perceived value of Windows? Probably from DELL or any other major vendor at about $10, yet if I build a PC I have to pay a lot more than that even for an OEM Windows licence which legally cannot be transferred to my next PC. This is one of the reasons why when I started my PC-fix-IT business, I quickly stopped building PCs and began buying them instead. I could not justify to my customers the added purchase price of the Windows software.

I've recently started to have people asking me why the desktop background on their computers has turned black and little messages have appeared that their version of Windows is not genuine. Upon investigation it appears that there is no license sticker on the computer case, no Windows XP CD-ROM and no itemised invoice with the price of Windows included. Usually a friend built it and sold it to them and they assumed legal Windows was included in the price. The only resolution in these cases is to do a System Restore back to before the time that the Windows Genuine Advantage update was installed and then turn off Automatic Updates. Not the best solution for them, for me or for Microsoft.

They could purchase a legal version of Windows XP from Microsoft for £96. A lot of money for old, soon to be unsupported software. They can still purchase a OEM Windows pack with an extra bit of hardware that they don't want. Then format their hard disk drive and reinstall Windows, applications and data. Windows Vista would be a better choice here if their present hardware could support it. Or they could use the money to put towards buying a new DELL with a $10 Windows Vista licence.

My advice is to do the latter as the perceived value of Windows is so low.

Windows XP SP1 and earlier

2008-12-20T15:00:00.007Z

Having upgraded two PCs yesterday from Windows XP Service Pack 1, I wonder how many old, unprotected systems are there out there? Users, in this case a teenager and a senior citizen, are oblivious to any notion that you have to protect and maintain these computers and if you don't, eventually they stop working.

Now that Windows XP SP1 has been added to the unsupported list of Microsoft products, there should be someway of telling these people that a free upgrade is available and reasonably simple to apply. Then when it is installed the usual warnings that 'No antivirus' or 'Out of date antivirus' should at least warn them that something is wrong.

With all the publicity that is about Internet security, fraud and ID theft that appears, you would think some bells would start ringing somewhere. Indeed this week as been all about the Internet Explorer vulnerability and few of my customers contacted me about this. Yet for many people there is obviously no concern at all and they continue to think that they are invulnerable to any of these issues They are protected by the trial version of the antivirus software that came with their PC purchased six years ago and never bothered to pay from any further subscriptions or look for free alternatives such as AVG.

I try to tell them about the risks, even overplaying them to scare them into action, but I think that my words are falling on deaf ears as they claim not to be 'computer literate'! Anyway all the more work for me I suppose.

Snake oil software

2008-12-13T13:22:00.013Z

Looking for the ultimate resurrection software for your failing PC? A lot of the utility packages offered in the market are pure snake oil software. But for years I've been using Norton Utilities (now Systemworks) and especially Norton WinDoctor to analyse and repair PC problems. For Windows XP and earlier, it does a good job in analysing and repairing the registry, finding invalid shortcuts, missing program files and libraries, etc. And big advantages that you can run it directly from the CD, it is quick and effective and it impresses the customers.

Now that Windows Vista systems are getting older, I've been on the lookout for something similar. I could upgrade Norton Systemworks but I'd like to see a positive review of it for Windows Vista and I don't want to pay full price (£38 inc. P&P) for it as there is no upgrade version. Recently I've been trying Iolo's System Mechanic 8 trial version and it appears at least to do a good enough job in cleaning up the clutter in a system without destroying it. The Advanced automatic mode works better and defragments the hard disks and registry as well, but I've yet to try the individual tools. I'm happy with the results but do not like the annual subscription method of renting the software. At present I'll continue using the trial period on customers computers and then uninstalling the software.

I remove a lot of this sort of software from people's computers who have download and ran these programs in a desperate attempt to recover their systems back into working condition. Mostly these programs are scams which did not achieve their advertised capabilities, demand money to complete the process and usually make the situation much worse. The snake oil products of the IT industry.

DELL mini 9 netbook

2008-12-07T10:24:00.002Z

I bought and installed my first netbook for a DELL mini 9 netbook for a customer recently and I was not impressed. It seems to me that these netbooks are a bit of a fashion item especially for the young and not an effective IT appliance at all.

This was the more expensive Windows XP model with 16Gb solidstate disk drive. It took an age to install Windows not it and I had to use an old external CD writer drive to install additional application software. The 9" screen is too small for me to see properly so you either have to bend over to look at it when it is on your desk or hold it one hand and peck at with the other instead of resting it on your lap. The processors (Intel Atom N270) seems quite slow and it becomes warm to the touch underneath after a while.

My other concern is they quickly get expensive. I see that you can get a similar hardware spec Acer Aspire One running Linux lite for just over £160 and this is probably worth the money. But if you want Windows, extra data storage and a 10" or 12" screen the prices quickly rise to well over £300. For this money you can begin to get a proper laptop with larger screen, hard and optical disk drives, etc.

I think that I'll pass on these for now.

Fighting the urge to build

2008-12-05T21:36:00.003Z

I haven't built a PC for over a year now. I find myself browsing the component websites choosing just the right motherboard for the best 'bang for the buck' CPU, the cheapest, fastest hard disk drive, the latest graphics card, etc.

I usually browse the DELL website for the best value computers that I can offer to my customers. Since starting this business, I quickly realised that building PCs was an expensive waste of time. You have to:

1) spend time selecting and ordering the components
2) assemble then into the case, typically at least a couple of hour's work as usually something goes wrong.
3) pray that the thing starts
4) load the Windows operating system and basic software applications
5) try to convince the customers it is what he wanted
6) persuade the customer to buy a legal version of Windows as well
7) not offer a warranty, but feel morally obliged to fix if something goes wrong

I realised that I could offer ready-made DELL configurations that were easier to sell, the customer has a warranty and I made most of my money on the installation services. DELL has a good reputation for making good looking, great value computers that are well designed and built. I don't get to fix much old DELL hardware.

You get some satisfaction from opening the box of the latest whizz-bang PC from DELL, but it is not the same as building your own. It is a statement to your technical knowledge and skill of getting this selected bunch of assorted parts to leap into life as the fastest computer you have ever worked on.

Ahh well, I'm fighting the urge to waste money in choosing which motherboard would best suit this processor. Because by the time I add the case, PSU, hard and optical disk drives, memory, graphics card, software, etc., I could have bought a great DELL desktop, have better peace of mind and saved myself some time and money.

Finding a test bed

2008-11-20T18:35:00.006Z

Microsoft finally released Windows Small Business Server 2008 last week and duly made available for download a trial version to try out. So I downloaded it onto my Windows Home Server where I keep all my large downloads (this was over 3Gb for the first DVD image), then burnt it to DVD and looked for a PC to try it on.

My first choice was a large trade-in PC that I'd just cleaned. reconditioned and reloaded Windows XP on. All I had to do was to replace the 160Gb hard disk with another and away we go. Not so. Apparently this system has one of the few Pentium 4 (Northwood) CPUs that aren't 64-bit. Even though it is 3GHz. Loading CPUID confirmed that this was a non-starter as SBS 2008 is only available in 64-bit version.

So I started looking around at my other systems for a suitable test bed:
a) another reconditioned AMD Athlon XP 2600 also not 64-bit.
b) my eMachine Windows test PC already has Windows XP and Windows Vista on it and is only a Pentium 4 2.8GHz.
c) my HP ProLiant server is 64-bit but is already setup as a games system with RAID 0 disk drives and I don't want to mess with it, just sell it.
d) my DELL Inspiron 530 demo and games system is a Core 2 Duo E6550 which would work but it has my new nVidia 9600GSO graphics card, the hard disk drive is fairly full and I don't want to add another. Anyway I'm enjoying Far Cry 2 on this.
e) my daughter's DELL Vostro 200 has a C2D E4500 processor and plenty of space, but she wouldn't appreciate me messing about with it.
f) my DELL PowerEdge SC440 server is running Windows Home Server on it and is the centre of my network so that's out.
g) my old DELL Dimension 4550 with 2.53GHz Pentium 4 is still doing a grand job as my administration computer and is strictly hands off for any new hardware or software.
h) my trusty DELL Inspiron 1300 laptop is also 32-bit and anyway it doesn't seem right to run SBS 2008 on a laptop.

So that's the story so far, I'm keen to try this out but no hardware platform is available at the moment. Maybe it is time I tried this virtualisation technology. If only I could find a system to put it on.

I've started Far Cry 2

2008-11-01T20:37:00.004Z

One of my favorite FPS (First Person Shooter) in the last five years has been Far Cry, so I was eager to try the sequel. I enjoyed the original for the graphics, the atmosphere and the believability of the game.

The magazine and online reviews of the Far Cry 2 were positive, so I purchased the game online last week. I was amazed at the graphics, even from the opening sequence. The atmosphere and the action from the start seemed superb, as was the freeform nature of the game. However, it wasn't till a couple of hours later that I realised that I was just playing the training portion of the game. Having been let off the hook so to speak, it develops into a much deeper a certainly less scripted adventure. The time effects of night, dawn, day and dusk are new for me as is finding a safe house to sleep.

I'm addicted already and eagerly looking forward to many months of amazement and excitement.

AOL bad_pool_header

2008-10-29T19:55:00.006Z

About last August, a customer of mine with a fairly new DELL Vostro PC started getting 'Blue Screen of Death' bad_pool_header crashes in Windows Vista when she attempted to start the AOL 9.0 VR software. It had been working fine for about six months before that. The usual advice from AOL was to uninstall the AOL software and reinstall. That didn't help.

The Thomson Speedtouch 330 USB modem was working fine and she could surf the Internet, download updates, etc. without any problems. The AOL crashes were starting to make Windows Vista unstable, so I recommended that she read her email through AOL's webmail facility for now. No solution could be found and though the customer was concerned that she could not use her favourite software on her new computer, at least she could work.

Then last week another customer with an almost identical configuration, started to get exactly the same problem. I suspected the unsupported networking access to AOL was causing the problem. I substituted the USB modem with a router and immediately AOL 9.0 VR was fine and working well. OK, as well as AOL software works which generally is not great!

Back to the first customer with my new solution and bursting with confidence that this will fix her problem. No it didn't. AOL 9.0 VR still crashed even after uninstalling, cleaning up, and reinstalling. Go figure? Suggestions welcome.

As an aside to this, I signed myself up for a free AOL screen name and email address. However this does not allow you to download and use their software. You have to be a member for that. So, I can't diagnose the problem at my workbench.

Xbox 360 replaced

2008-10-29T12:40:00.006Z

I've replaced the Xbox 360 that I bought for under £100 earlier this month from Sainsburys. And what a difference. The original Xbox started crashing in the games, then finally wouldn't display a picture and showed the famous 'Red Ring of Death' on the console. Luckily Sainsburys offer a 28 day returns policy so I was able to exchange it. I even swapped the memory card so I could retain my Xbox Live profile and saved games.

When I unpacked the replacement it was a completely different console and then I realised that the original Arcade had been swapped for an old Xbox 360 Core. The new one had a dedicated HDMI connection below the standard Xbox video socket. And when I turned it on another suprise it was so much quieter. The setup was easier, presumably because it was initiated properly. I've also connected it now to a standard 19" TFT computer monitor with the sound via a mini HiFi system. A lot better for both the picture and audio quality.

When I purchased the orginal Xbox 360 Arcade console the box was not sealed, so somebody had replaced the Arcade with an older Core console and Sainsburys had sold it as new. Thanks to their returns policy I'm a happy customer. This new model is a much better version and it shows how Microsoft's hardware product development and manufacturing has improved over the years.

The return of Norton

2008-10-16T13:09:00.004+01:00

Like many others in the industry, I've given Norton Antivirus and Internet Security products a hard time over the last few years. The market leader had definitely 'lost the plot' becoming bloatware, slow, riddled with bugs and difficult to understand and use. I've removed countless copies from my customer's computers. Replacing Norton with AVG Free in most cases and Kaspersky Internet Security for businesses and individuals who wanted enhanced security and features such as AntiSPAM.

I read a review in this month's PCpro magazine which claimed that the latest version Norton Internet Security 2009 was a different beast, faster using less memory and easier to install. Review is here. Intrigued I downloaded the 15-day trial copy on a test PC and tried it out. It works, is quicker and makes the computer respond as if it wasn't there. Boot time is good, unlike the previous versions that took a few minutes to return control back to the user. I've yet to install it on a system that is badly infected by viruses, but going on what the review says it does the clean up job well too.

Previously, I used to be frequently called to attend to PCs that had had Norton loaded on them because the owner had gone to the local PCworld shop and been sold the package as a cure for all their problems. Even though their system specification was below the system requirements for the software. So I got to remove Norton and upgrade the memory as well. We shall see.

I've got an Xbox 360!

2008-10-07T22:23:00.005+01:00

A spur of the moment purchase. I've been helping Dads connect Xbox 360s to wireless and wired networks for their children for a while now. Usually the boy (so far) is there to actually steer the user interface with the controller, but yesterday I was on my own. Wow, did I find it difficult! Still I finally succeeded. I discovered that the new Xbox 360 Arcade version (without the hard disk) had been bought the day before at Sainsbury's supermarket for under £100. So I bought one as well.

Initial impressions were not good. I connected it to an old TV with the supplied cable and SCART adapter. The picture wasn't great. Should be better with a LCD HD flat panel TV though. It has an HDMI socket but no cable. The next thing to notice was the noise. The fan makes it difficult to hear the sound through the TV at normal levels, hopefully it will be drowned out when you start gaming or use a surround sound system. Then I couldn't get the wireless controller to connect at all. I just kept pressing the synchronise buttons on the console and the controller until finally they found each other.

Going through the Xbox user menu or Dashboard did not make it easy and obvious to set up. I attached an Ethernet cable into the loose (!) socket at the back and then repeatedly testing the Xbox Live connection until it finally passed all the stages, then eventually adding my details to register my name, gametag, etc. I downloaded a game (DOOM) onto the supplied 256Mb memory stick and was able to play it!

Then I tried the game I really wanted to play, Halo 3. I bought it pre-owned for £13from Blockbusters. Hey, I wasn't going to pay £50 for a game to play on a £100 console. An impressive start but wow, is the control system difficult to use. I spent most of my time looking at the floor to see where I was going or at the sky trying to see who was shooting at me. And having seen 'checkpoint reached' frequently, I was amazed to find that the game hadn't been saved at all.

More things to learn I guess in this console business. I'm also going to look at the Media Extender possibilities and integrating the Xbox 360 into Windows Home Server.

High speed broadband

2008-09-28T22:04:00.003+01:00

Just a quick note to say thank you Virgin Media. As my ISP (previously NTL cable), you've just upgraded my broadband bandwidth from 3.8Mbps (nominal 4Mbps) to 8.4Mbps (nominal 10Mbps) on my cable connection without any extra charge.

I've been paying £25 per month for broadband for a few years now and it has been upgraded at least twice before. But this latest upgrade has really improved the connection speed to what a lot of my customers could only pray for. Especially, as I can offset this cost to my company and claim back the VAT.

It is amazing how quickly you can become accustomed to these speeds. So now when I visit a typical customer here in Basingstoke that has a connection speed of just 512Kbps to 1Mbps it seems really slow to download files, web pages, emails, etc. Almost like a telephone dial-up connection was when broadband first came along. Why wait when much better speeds are available? Mind you I still have customers on that dial-up connection but at least I can take along mobile broadband without having to wait as much any more.

Thanks again NTL, sorry Virgin Media! And I'm really enjoying it.

HL2: Episode Two

2008-09-25T21:20:00.002+01:00

So that's it. I've finished it. Half Life 2: Episode Two. Not bad for a Christmas present from my son. Nine months to the day to complete the journey to White Forest base. And I still didn't want it to end. Hopefully Episode Three will come out soon.

No more Combine to kill. No more vast landscape vistas to admire and wonder at. No more heart pumping moments. Admittedly I got stuck a few times and left it for a while, only to be drawn back to see if I could go a little further. My all time favourite game has been completed again. The final battle with the Striders was awesome, but would obviously lead to the end of this episode.

There were so many places that required a little extra thought or strategy to proceed and then a little bit of luck just to go a bit further. Sections where nothing challenging was happening but were part of the plot to be led into a trap that was sprung and had to be conquered and then an escape onwards to new discoveries.

I've enjoyed Team Fortress 2 as well and will start Portal now.

Adobe Reader Lite

2008-09-12T20:27:00.007+01:00

I've just downloaded another piece of bloatware. The latest version 9 of Adobe Reader is over 200Mb installed (up from 85Mb) and it includes something called Adobe AIR which I didn't ask for.

Ever noticed that when you click on a PDF link, your browser now freezes? Takes no notice of mouse, button or keyboard. Sits there for a while, completely comatose, until it finally gives you the first half of the front page of the PDF document and then freezes again. This is the user experience of Adobe Reader.

There is a really good alternative called Foxit PDF Reader. Freely downloadable, takes less than 2 minutes, installs immediately and works just as well. Get it from www.foxitsoftware.com

Configuring updates:

2008-09-12T19:58:00.003+01:00

After a busy couple of weeks followed by my summer holiday, it is back to writing my blog. This time Windows Update is the subject of my wrath. When Microsoft released the concept of Automatic Windows Updates it all made good sense, but now I'm not so sure! With Windows Vista these updates are always applied both before a shutdown and after a reboot, making the restart process a lot longer. And they always seem to need a reboot which nags away at you until you feel forced to go away and have at least one cup of coffee.

Over the last few months this seems to be the normal mode of operation now. I timed a mid-specced, modern PC with this month's updates and it took 6¼ minutes to shutdown and 3¼ minutes to reboot making a total on almost 10 minutes. And as I type this, it is nagging away again saying that it needs to reboot again. I find this obtrusive and takes the control of the tool away from the user. And it is not just Windows but every application you have and some you don't want, are all asking to be updated.

I'm an engineer who believes that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' so why should I continually be changing a proven software configuration with some updates that could cause the thing to fail? Security I hear you say. Are we really sure that leaving an unpatched computer on the Internet with a good a security suite on it will really fall victim to a piece of malware? I see many computers that never install updates and aren't completely ridden with viruses, worms, etc.

I upgraded the memory in the PC and I have to wait many minutes while the thing shuts down and restarts and no option to avoid it. I'm seriously considering turning off Automatic Updates and relying on a three or six month 'grab 'em all and install once' option.