Lloyd Ketchum - YAB, "Yet Another Blog" : Personal Computers

Build the Perfect Windows Vista PC, Part 2: Design Considerations and Parts...Parts...Parts

admin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:34:00 GMT

In part 1 of this arc I presented a view of the discovery and requirements analysis process that goes into building a perfect PC - where learning how a PC was going to be used and by whom was the goal. That process drives context and provides not just information, but a clearer understanding of what would make a PC perfect for the user it is being built to serve. Think alignment - just as when one develops software and aligns business processes with how they are supported within enterprise processes in an application; when they are properly aligned an application is perfect. The same is true of a PC.

In part 2 we're going to take all we have learned during the discovery phase and bounce it off of the entire Windows ecosystem - the nearly endless selection of hardware and software available to every PC user and potentially, every builder. In this next step, we're going to design the perfect PC. We're going to continue the conversation with ourselves and our example customer and share the processes and thought we apply to make the perfect PC.

The first and obvious question many may have is what makes a PC perfect in the first place? At first blush that seems to be a) impossible and b) intractable - after all, what makes a PC perfect for one person could as easily make it a dreadful PC for the next. It's a great question to ask, and a PC built from within the Windows ecosystem means that there is no one prefect PC at all, but at the same time there are potentially billions of perfect PCs - one for each individual living on the planet. Similarly, many imperfect PC's may be made perfect with the addition of a few parts and new software. So in the case of the PC, building something that is perfect in the proper human context is as much about available selections and options as it is choice. Among competitors to the PC there are choices, but they are often constrained by the limited availability of options to select from and designs are constrained as a result. Regardless, perfect in the context of a PC still requires some definition. We define the PC's we build as perfect, when and because they are specifically built for the individuals that are going to use them and they are delivered and set up with all the software and settings that make them personal. A perfect PC addresses all design considerations while mitigating, or obviating compromises that may be necessary and inherent to user driven designs. So things like budget and pricing, while they are factors, are not treated in isolation, but are regarded and treated organically.

Fundamental Perfect PC Design Principles - there are only two:

Work from the software out - don't design a PC with x, y, or z specs inherent to a category, or a class of systems. Do the reverse and let your discovery determine what software will be needed and how it will be used and then spec the system to run that software as smoothly and consistently as glass. Remember, you're building the PC for yourself, or a customer you regard first and always as a colleague.

Design around the individual person and provide enough headroom to grow - that empty slot or bay in your design isn't a limitation or a missing feature, it's your friend and it represents actualized potential a year or two from the day the PC is delivered. Most importantly, view software running on a personal computer as a form of expression and an extension of the person using the computer. Go back to your discovery and this time, forget the PC. Look at the person and how and where they work. Is the room lighted and open, or dark? Is the room cold, hot, or something in between? How is the person dressed - warmly in a cool room, or lightly in a warm room? Are there fans in the room despite air-conditioning? Is the room nearly silent; what is the ambient noise like? Is there any media being played in the room - television, radio, or music of some kind? Does the user work alone in an office at home, or is their work area open and shared with other people and activities. Does the person appear to be fastidious - is everything around them dressed, squared off and tied down, or are they more relaxed and tolerant of some disorganization? These are the very human elements that must influence any design and they are more than observable and measurable characteristics. Collectively they can provide the look and feel elements that will emerge as objectives - that case you picked out looks cool, but will it look cool where it is going to be used?

Baseline Requirements:

Start at the top and most challenging requirements for you. Don't forget, you're part of every perfect PC. In part one of this arc we learned that our example customer wanted both a perfect 5.9 Windows Experience Index (WEI) rating as well as the ability to play Blu-ray movies at 1080P and achieve these goals as part of an engineering test for under $2,000.00 USD. One has to be candid with oneself, and assess what their own initial understanding of supporting protected high definition playback on a PC is - some self-study, education and experimentation may be required. Don't let that stop you and don't let your own limitations drive your designs - leverage the channel and the ecosystem around Windows Vista. Do be candid and as an example, clearly explain that Blu-ray is a newer and emerging capability on the PC and that while possible, it may not be entirely consistent, or it may require later modification and updates in order to support as yet to be released titles and features. Be candid about every aspect that you do not understand fully, or do not perform yourself, but do research and study the area and make the customer part of the process. They will respect you enormously for it and it will insulate you from any challenges they may face later on. As you resolve challenges, continue to make them a part of the process and always remember, what you are building is a personal PC - not an appliance.

Derived Requirements so far:

     An HDCP compliant protected video and audio path (the entire path)
     An HDCP compliant display (BD on a PC does have more strict compliance rules)
     At least DVI-D video out - if not HDMI out
     HD Audio
     A Blu-ray ROM Player
     CyberLink's Power DVD Ultra with HD patch (WinDVD 8 WILL NOT play Blu-ray movies)
     CyberLink HD/BD Advisor BETA test tool
     Windows Vista Home Premium, or Ultimate, or a modified Windows XP SP2

Consider the most resource intensive applications to be used - and remember, a massive rocket motor bolted to a brick does not controlled flight make. WEI of 5.9 and Blu-ray! Check! At first thought one would think that if one were to build around that requirement alone, that the PC would be pretty much capable of anything else... well... maybe, but maybe not. Again looking at the results of our example discovery we know that the user does a lot of video editing - but what kind? We also know that the user likes to experiment with graphically intense games and wants to push them to 1920 x 1080P at a minimum.

At this point we can see some holes in our discovery and we have to go back to the customer and find out a bit more about what kind of video editing needs to be supported. In discovery we determined that demonstration movies were made and many were in high definition, but what formats specifically would need to be required. One has to be prepared to ask more questions and do more research. In our example we're going to continue by pretending that we went back to the customer and ask about HD formats and we learned that both HD DVD for playback on any Vista PC was needed (which does not require an HD DVD player, by the way! - more on that in part three), but also AVCHD was required. Whoa Boy...! At this point it's probably good to point out that just like there are many ways to create an AVI file, there are many ways to create files using H.264 codecs - more specifically MPEG-4 AVC (H.264). AVCHD is only one of them, albeit a popular one with camcorder manufacturers. AVCHD is also very demanding on software and therefore hardware, and despite the controversy around the format, many affordable HD camcorders and software suites like Pinnacle Systems' Studio Ultimate version 11 make use of it. Preferences for ISO's and .MP4 aside, the example customer is a Pinnacle / Avid software user and that is what will drive the build. With support for AVCHD understood, we can assume, but ask and confirm that the example customer has at least one HD camcorder used to capture HD video in AVCHD format. A quick call or email can confirm this and also reveal that things like HD DV tape might be used - so we can understand that we are not dealing with just minutes of HD video, but hours worth of it potentially. The derived design continues below: *if you're interested in the more open and preferred H.264 decoder, look no further than CoreAVC (.MP4)*

Peak Requirements - HD gaming and HD Video:

     A multi-core CPU (Quad Core recommended)
     Large and fast hard disc drive (750 GB plus with a 32 MB cache buffer, NCQ, 3gs SATAII)
     Fast RAM and at least 2 GB of it (4 GB Preferred)
     Windows Vista Compliant

By looking at what software the customer uses and how they use it is the best way to design a PC that they will long regard as perfect.

A cursory review of the requirements we have derived so far are suggesting quite a PC. If budget were no object it would not be too hard to simply find the highest end parts that are compatible with one another and slap it together, but that's not the case; we're trying to satisfy the requirements and meet needs on a budget - and against the requirements emerging, it's going to be a tight one.

Given the need to support HD video editing and Blu-ray playback and still provide a smooth experience - where the PC can be used for personal productivity as it is being used to render HD video, there really are only two paths one can go down in terms of suitable processors; dual Core 2 CPU's in SMP or one Core 2 Quad. Alongside the budget and gaming requirements (we still have to get a great video card), which we have not yet addressed, the choice narrows to a single Core 2 Quad. Marrying that up with our analysis so far, and what we learned in discovery, we have to pick one and a motherboard that we can safely clock well above their rated spec and run them reliably opposite very high load. If one does not have a lot of experience building PC's a good bit of reading is going to be required. Similarly, one can find a small local enthusiast builder and pay them a visit. Very often high-end gamers will be found there and some good information can be had - but be careful... a lot of bad information and FUD can be circulated, too.

With what we have learned so far and again considering our budget with how far we have yet to go, there is only one processor in the market as of this writing that has the power, price point and over-clocking head room to meet all of our requirements and that is the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 stepping version with 8 MB of L2 Cache. Again, balancing performance and budget for the entire system, there is only one chipset available that meets the simultaneous demands for support of HD video editing, HD BD media playback and higher end gaming and that is the Intel X38 chipset. Yes, there is the X48, but we still have some ways to go and we'd be running out of dollars before we finished. Similarly, the X38 is a solid OC choice, works very well with the Q6600 and it supports HD/BD media as well as the BD-ROM burners within our spec and budget. Finally, as a combination, the X38 and Q6600 have so much head room for over-clocking that hitting our design goal and a WEI of 5.9 across the board is not only possible, it is all but assured. The Q6600 as will be shared in part 3, can be reliably clocked to 4 GHz (up from 2.4 GHz) per core on air alone. We're going to clock at a much safer and cooler (20 - 25C at idle and normal load) 3.46GHz.

Among the highest rated X38 based boards comes from ASUSTek and a great board is found in the P5E. The P5E costs less than some of the other ASUS X38 boards, but still retains most of the features and all of the potential of more costly products in the line. Again referring to our discovery, our example customer clearly does not want any form of wireless; so why provide for it. Similarly, and more importantly perhaps is not so much what the ASUS P5E has, but what it does not have... The P5E is devoid of older ports and technologies. There is no parallel port, no serial ports, no MIDI port, and only one IDE port. This is important, because the operating system and related resources will never have to be loaded for these ports and they are likely never to be required by our example user. Fewer resources, drivers and processes loaded for fewer ports means more resources for everything our build will need and less headache for the customer. The P5E also has support for all newer processors and RAM, with support for 45nm processors and DDR3 up to 1333. It's a solid choice with a lot of room for expansion.

Before we go any further, I have to provide the obligatory disclaimer about over-clocking and any advice or information about it. First, it is all provided "as is" and no warranty or guarantee of any kind is offered. If you don't know a lot about over-clocking a computer, even one designed for enthusiasts and gamers don't try it. If you're not an enthusiast and you don't build your own systems, then don't over-clock. If you're not prepared to lose the entire machine and have to start from scratch, do not over-clock. You have been warned and you and you alone are 100% responsible for your actions and the decisions you make. Not me, not my company and not any of the people that work in it.

Our design is coming along and even at stock speeds we could probably address most all of our example customer's requirements with the hardware we have selected so far - all but one; the WEI of a perfect 5.9. Without bumping performance for RAM and how fast it communicates across the BUS to the CPU, we'd probably see a WEI of 5.5, or 5.6 tops. We have to push the spec just a little and opting for DDR3 RAM would put the build way over budget. So we have to figure out a way to push the RAM (compatible RAM) without breaking the bank, or the memory itself. The best place to learn about RAM I have found is over at Corsair and their forums. Corsair, makers of some of our favorite memory products, maintains the "Ask The RAM Guy" forums. It doesn't take long in the forums to find the guys that know what they are doing and many of them will help any user all they can. Just be polite and humble and if you are new to performance computing, say so and the guys in the forum will pull out all stops to help you. To continue, 4 Gigabytes (4GB) of PC2-6400 DDR2-800 RAM can be had for as little as $84.00 USD. Not bad and Corsair's XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) kit is just what the doctor ordered. With 2 x 2GB matched modules and the P5E's four slots and capacity for 8 Gigabytes of dual-channel DDR2-800 clocked to match the CPU's FSB at 1066 MHz, one can be certain to nail the last WEI index at 5.9. Just a few notes to remember, the Corsair XMS2 4GB kit runs at 1.8v and it has fragile cooling fins - be careful when installing it and avoid lateral pressure which may separate the heat-sink from the memory modules.

Since we're already looking at 4 GB of RAM and potentially 8 GB, we're leaning toward a 64 bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate over 32 bit versions. We'll get a lot more into this in part 3 of this arc, but I wanted to share a quick look into that decision now. Go for it. In the year and two months since Vista's general release to the public, 64 bit computing has come a very long way. For the PC we're building here and many others, 64 bit is fully supported and most 32 bit applications will run under 64 bit just fine, thank you. The benefits associated with 64 bit computing go well beyond addressable memory space. 64 bit is far more secure and Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit is not only faster, it is more stable than its 32 bit little brother. Trust me... once you make the move, you will never want to go back to 32 bit computing. The drivers are all signed and stable and software may flake out, but it will never take your system with it. Finally, I have yet to find a piece of 32 bit based software that would not run on 64 bit versions of Vista. I know they are out there, I just have not seen them, or used them.

Where we are is where we're at... (I love Missouri and people from that state)

Let's see here, we've opted for Intel's Core 2 Quad Q6600, ASUS's P5E and Corsair's XMS2 4 GB PC6400 DDR2-800 Memory Kit. We know we have a solid architecture and we're leaning toward 64 bit computing, but we still have some selections to make and a good bit of budget to work with. We know we need as much video card as possible, and a Blu-ray BD-ROM player. We also know we need to include a floppy disc drive, because the customer in our example still uses one to produce bootable floppy discs for other systems. Before we start hunting for a suitable video card it's best that we take a look back at our customer and what we learned in discovery. We know we have to over-clock the CPU at least a little - so stock cooling is probably not going to work. We can however, make up the costs of the after-market cooler by selecting an OEM version of our processor. We're not going to need the stock cooler and we for darn certain aren't going to ugly up our case with any of Intel's stickers. The only label going on our case will be the operating system OEM license decal.

In our example, we visited our customer and observed how he works. While there it was noted that not just one, but two fans were turning slowly; just enough to move some air and make a pleasant whoosh sound that dampened ambient noise in the room and cut the silence, so to speak... We also learned that our example customer likes it cool - cold even, by most standards. Both the home office and corporate offices were cooler than what has been observed elsewhere. When asked, the customer offered that "white-noise" was essential and it helped drown out, or dampen other sounds.

Hmmm.... ok. So long as we keep any noise generated by the new perfect PC at a lower frequency, we're going to be good to go - if we resort to high-speed fans we're not going to make the customer happy and no matter how well the PC performs, any high pitched, or high frequency sound will kill the experience and our PC will be any but perfect. Let's set aside our hunt for a video card for the moment and take advantage of what we learned about our customer. Time to ask a few more questions...

We created a series of sounds - fan sounds to be exact; small recordings we could easily email. We named them 1, 2 and 3. Simple enough. We asked which of the three sounds was appealing (if any). In the first sample we sampled a system with Q-Fan Controls enabled and a system under different loads. In theory it's cool, but it's annoying, or can be... Our example customer thought so too and the words "I HATE NUMBER 1" were in all caps! (we hate it, too). In sample 2 we offered a low hum, which the customer called, "Meh" (it was a fan-less water-cooled rig). In sample three, the Goldie Locks sample, we offered a dead consistent low-frequency whoosh. The customer responded just as our fair haired girl did with, "that's just right..." In sample three we chose Antec's Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case. The Antec Nine Hundred uses three 12cm fans and one 20cm fan that are standard and can be set to turn very slowly. The Nine Hundred is nearly entirely open with a mesh front and side panel and slotted rear panel. Its top is wide open with large pores above the 20cm fan. It's large enough for about any combination of components and wide enough for a large after-market cooler. The Nine Hundred is also an easy build and it has some nice touches that make it a real pleasure to build around - top-front mounted I/O ports and a padded shelf for things like USB Keys and memory sticks or an MP3 player. Most importantly to our customer and our design, the Nine Hundred is cool, consistently quiet in a low-frequency noise kind of way and it is an over-clocker's dream - plenty of room and buckets of cool air to play with.

The Antec Nine Hundred does not come with a power supply and candidly, we don't want it to. Very rarely do cases come with suitable power supply units and we prefer to order our own. Some mainstream systems and cases do come with good power supply units, but our build is unique and it has unique requirements. Before we get into what kind of power supply to buy, we need to pick our video card. We know that we're going to need a great one and its characteristics will influence the power supply we choose (more on that in a moment).

Video oh Video where art thou?

We know we have some tough requirements to address with video. 1080P, Blu-ray, HDCP compliance, HD video editing, HD gaming. We also know that within budget and against SLi limitations imposed by our main board selection, we're looking at either a single higher end Nvidia graphics card, or a Cross-Fire solution from AMD. Once again however, we have to let the software drive and many games are designed to perform best when mated with Nividia's line of products. Similarly, Nvidia supports HD/BD with their True HD Video software and they make proven HDCP compliant graphics cards where tools may be used to confirm compliance before money is spent and a build is finalized. Finally, Nvidia seems to have had more success in leveraging the WDDM driver model and their drivers for Vista x64 have been both more consistent in terms of release schedules and performance. Frankly, I don't know that we'd use an AMD graphics card at this point if we were given one for free and most candidly, we miss ATi (let's hope AMD pulls it out and hammers back at both Nvidia and Intel - we'd love to see it, but for now, we're voting with our game playing ~~wallets~~ feet).

Selecting the right Nvidia graphics card is not as easy at it might seem. There are a lot of choices and making the wrong one can produce very bad results. Worse, our requirements collectively rule out mid-range cards and mid-range SLi solutions, but at the same time, they demand very high performance. As with our CPU, Main Board and RAM, we're going to have to find a solution that either is, or can be clocked above spec if we're going to deliver on our promise of a perfect PC.

All too often people select components based upon performance alone. That's fine, but there is a side to the story that matters almost as much - warranty and service. Now, as we've stated, we need a video card that is going to run above spec. It makes sense to work with a manufacturer that will warrant their over-clocked cards for life. Fortunately there is just such a company, BFG Technologies. BFG makes great cards. They OC many of them out of the box, but most importantly, they stand behind the buyer and support their products with a life-time warranty. That tells me a great deal about how confident they are about their engineering. It matters and it is only part of why I give them my business. While we do use other cards from other manufacturers, we have seen BFG make good on their promise to support their cards for as long as the original owner has possession of the card. BFG is no slacker when it comes to performance either and the card we have selected is both more affordable, and very powerful. For this perfect PC we chose the BFG NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX OC^TM 768MB PCI Express® graphics card. The card comes standard with 768 MB of GDDR3 RAM, 128 stream processors and Core and Shader Clocks of 600 MHZ and 1400 MHz respectively. While not an SLi solution, BGF's 8800 GTX will still haul the mail and even in Crysis at 1920 x 1080P with all settings pegged at Very High, will still pull close to 40 FPS. Not stellar, but about as good as anyone is getting with Crysis using DX10. (Be sure to use the Crysis 1.2 patch alongside Nvidia's March 6th, 2008 BETA driver, Rev. 169.44). BGF also supports HDCP, and the other requirements we have discovered.

Power... we need more power...

Video card in hand, we have to look back at our power supply unit. The BFG 8800 GTX requires two 6-pin PCIe power connectors, so we want to get a PSU with two dedicated power plugs - one each dedicated to each of the 6-pin PCIe connectors on the card. Too few builders pay enough attention to clean power as I see it. Video cards, processors and most especially RAM and chipsets require tightly regulated and consistent power. Every component we have chosen so far is either sensitive to power or provides for it better than mainstream components. Our power supply selection will be no different and it has to be not just good, it has to be perfect. To some extent our case selection helps, the Antec Nine Hundred is a dream of a case and its PSU bay is located in the lower rear of the case. This helps both cooling and weight distribution - making the PC less top heavy. It also makes routing power cables cleaner, but a bit more work opposite an ATX form factor.

Buying the right power supply isn't easy. Available marketing is of little help and many manufacturers use a lot of tricky language that is accurate, but does not reflect real-world use. Many advertise peak power, rather than the continuous power delivered by a PSU. A good way to start is to use a power calculator that helps determine the total power one will need. eXtreme Outer Vision has a tool available that helps enthusiasts keep the guess work down. We already know that we want to use two dedicated 6-pin PCIe connectors for our card, but there is more to study and consider. AANET has a great online tool that is free and it really helps people understand what their real-world power and UPS requirements will be. I'd use it at a minimum and then do a lot of reading before making a selection - remember, take your time and really learn what is involved. After exhaustive study, tests, calculations and more than a bit of online shopping, I selected the Antec Quattro TPQ-850 ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply 100 - 240 V PSU for this perfect PC. The 850 can deliver its full rated power (24 hours a day rated at 50ºC) for up to 100,000 hours.

We don't have far to go and we can start our build... Next up, storage.

To RAID, or not to RAID... that is the question here. Let's think about that for a moment. We're about out of cash. We're using tons of RAM in relative terms. We're using a 64 bit OS, so 768 MB of video RAM won't debit from system RAM available to Windows Vista and we have to support video editing, so raw I/O is going to be important - particularly at the 3.67 MB/second that AVCHD will require. So RAID 1 mirroring is out before we begin and buying four drives to support RAID 0+1 would put the build over budget, or force compromises where we don't want them. So we're looking at a single large drive. We know we need high throughput, 3gs and performance features like Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and a large Cache Buffer (32 MB). Specs in hand it is not hard to find the drive we are looking for, Seagate's Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s. Seagate has both a good reputation and strong support policies - Five (5) years. Not bad. The OEM price is right, too and 750 GB is a good start. We can always add more storage later, and as always, a network based backup will be a must.

Cool cooling - saving some of the best for last.

We know we have to pick a CPU cooler that is going to support possibly very high over-clock settings. We're using an OEM Intel Core 2 Quad, so we can't skimp on the cooler we use. This decision is going to be perhaps our most critical choice for this build and if we choose poorly, we're going to fail. Anyone who builds custom performance PC's has to face that reality. Choose the wrong part and you're done. Pick a piss poor cooler and you may as well buy two processors up front, because chances are you're going to bake one of them. In picking a cooler think Bimetallic (two metals) one to radiate heat quickly (aluminum) and one to conduct it quickly (copper) the thermal transfer works like a pump and pushes heat away from the source (your CPU) and into a cooler's fins where they are exposed to accelerated air. The path has to be as short as possible - from the source to the points of dissipation (now you know why Intel uses short, fat stock coolers). There is a ratio, so larger coolers also work well - provided they have enough surface area in relation to the length of travel. Zalman gets this ratio right in some coolers, but not all. For this perfect PC I chose the Zalman CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler. It's massive, has a very large quiet fan and a mirror smooth heat-sink face. It has a slug of aluminum in its base and short heat-pipes feeding a large radiator. On socket 775 boards for Intel, the 9700 is properly oriented and most rear case fans work with the cooler's own fan to draw even more air through the cooler and out of the case. In part 3 of this arc we'll examine a good bit about this cooler and how to get the most from it. For now, know up front that the 9700 can keep a Core 2 Quad clocked at 3.4 GHz per core at a very cool 21 - 27C under normal use and under 40C under peak sustained load. Beyond that, the 9700 looks really nice - see the image below:

Cooling paste... never too much!

While the Zalman does come with thermal grease in a slick paint-brush jar, I don't use it. As stated, cooling is going to be critical and the best proven combination we have found comes by way of Zalman coolers and Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (Provided it is applied properly - in part 3, I will show you how to do this).

Blu-ray Blues...No BD burner, but playback is great

Our example customer wanted Blu-ray HD movie playback capability and in support of that we selected a competent BD-ROM optical drive from Pioneer. This is the one component that was nearly entirely selected based upon price, because the BD spec is still evolving (slowly) and frankly, we expect BD drive prices to drop quickly - just as they did with CD and DVD R/RW etc... Of all the components in this build, the BD-ROM player / DVD writer combo will probably be upgraded first. Despite cost considerations, we're still excited about BD support in the build. Without question, HD movies in Blu-ray format look incredible and we're glad our example customer presented the requirement. For this build I selected the Pioneer Black 12X DVD+R 6X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 12X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 12X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 32X CD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Blu-Ray DVD-ROM and 12X DVD±R DVD Burner - in OEM trim, since we would be using CyberLink's DVD Ultra for BD playback and many other free burning tools for other purposes.

Media Reader and Floppy Disc Combo... an oldie, but a goodie

One last little bit and some help from HP, our media card reader and floppy disc drive combo. Nothing really special, but certainly a welcome combo and in a funny way, a good place to end the presentation of our design consideration process... all the way back to a very old technology that seems a little out of place in an otherwise very modern build. I kind of like that and the inclusion of a floppy drive is not only useful, it is kind of cool. So as not to throw it too far back, I chose a combo drive with a baked in media reader that runs on a USB 2.0 header - the floppy is old school and uses the all too familiar ribbon cable (red toward the power folks!). A five year old HP PC was and still is the source for the media icons and REG Keys that we still modify and add to Windows Builds. The custom color images are mapped to their appropriate keys and back to the I/O BUS and Port on the reader. It's better than the default drive icons used and far easier to find with media drive to click on. For more on the drive I chose, look here.

Operating System

I chose Windows Vista Ultimate x64 bit for this build. 64 bit computing has evolved a great deal since Microsoft released Vista. Without question, 64 bit versions of Windows are far more secure and feature Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), which randomizes where system files load at each system restart. A memory offset, which is always the same in 32 bit versions of the OS, is randomly set when the system starts. As a result of this one change, nearly all remote exploits will fail to run as there is no easy way for attackers to know where any one 64 bit Windows Vista computer will have loaded system files. When coupled with NX bit execution protection, Hardware and software DEP, or Data Execution Protection, remote code exploits against Windows Vista x64 will be very hard to execute. Vista x64's enhanced security alone is enough of a reason to select it over any other operating system available.

Parts List Summary and Pricing (all prices are in USD and include shipping)

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case.....................................98.00
Antec Quattro 850 Watt PSU........................................................199.00
ASUS P5E X38 Main Board..........................................................220.00
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0.........................................................245.00
Corsair XMS2 2 x 2GB PC6400 DDR2-PC800 RAM Kit.....................84.00
Zalman 9700 LED Cooler................................................................58.00
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound.....................................................6.00
BFG 8800 GTX OC2 786 MB Video Card........................................410.00
Pioneer BDC Blu-ray Player and Combination DVD / CDRW Burner..220.00
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750 GB HDD.................160.00
Rosewill RCR-FD200 Combination floppy drive and media reader........30.00
Windows Vista Ultimate x64 OEM.................................................190.00
PowerDVD Ultra Upgrade................................................................79.00

Total.........................................................................................1,999.00

In part 3 of this arc we'll go into how this perfect PC was built and configured. We're not going to spend a lot of time on the usual images and lame instructions showing people how to install a video card. Most online guides, while they mean well, really don't offer much. Instead we're going to focus on the often overlooked details that few guides touch on.

Scratching my head...

admin — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:03:00 GMT

I just don't get it.

What in H.E. Double-Hockey-Sticks are people doing that has caused so many to have so much trouble running Windows Vista?

Some Background:

I need to share a different perspective - the only one I know and that is the one shaped by what we encounter in my company each and every day. For me, Windows Vista has been wonderful and I have come to really enjoy using and supporting the operating system.

We are a full service technology company. We build computers, laptops, media centric systems, and servers. We build and manage the networks we build the computers to run in. We host a wide variety of services and we build a lot of software - custom Decision Control Panels, a complete ERP and just about everything in between. We operate our own datacenters and we sell bandwidth; our own circuits and related products and services. We are Microsoft Partners, and we have partnering relationships with many others, AT&T (we miss you Bellsouth), Verizon, Packet8, WiLife, and a dozen other smaller companies. The best part of what we do is support our customers. We know them and their businesses well, and they are the best part of every day. Frankly, they amaze and humble us - they are that good and more supportive of us than any company deserves.

We've been around Windows Vista for a long time - since well before BETA 2. Ironically, but not happily, when I first saw BETA 2 of Windows Vista, I was furious. I could tell that the new operating system was going to have one heck of a rough time. I wrote a lot about why I assessed Vista would struggle and why the Windows base would revolt. At that time I was flamed for being either too harsh, or as one gut put it, "a drama queen" ( I nearly pissed myself laughing at that one - because I despise drama for the pure sake of it - I do call things as I see them, however... ). I wish I was wrong and wish Vista had been embraced - after all, we are Microsoft Partners and in all sincerity, as with all partners, loyalty matters. So BETA 2 impressions be damned, we were going to give Vista our best efforts - and we did / do.

Beginning with Pre-RC1 Vista builds, things were looking up - the new OS was taking shape and its legs were less wobbly. By RC2 and the incremental post RC2 build just before RTM, it was clear that the new OS was going to run well. There were a few scary moments there, just before RC1 - when as a NAT Client behind Watch-Guard firewall appliances, the new networking stack in Vista and the image we were testing didn't get along. Microsoft's engineers were really quick to jump on that one and by RC1, NAT Client issues were resolved. It was fun to work with them and feel their very deep sense of urgency. It felt good to have helped resolve a real challenge and well... work as a partner.

Expectations:

Candidly, we didn't expect much from Windows Vista at first. We had tested a wide variety of systems and having been through the entire new OS process many times before, we didn't expect a perfect ride, or even an easy one. We were wrong - deploying RTM builds of Vista went off without nearly as much difficulty as XP had caused and a whole lot less than Windows 2000 did, and just wads less than the first builds of Windows 98 did over Windows 95 - compared to those experiences, Windows Vista over XP was a walk in the park. Memories of Windows 95 upgrades aren't fair for two reasons, 1) it was so new in so many ways, there wasn't a relevant example to compare it to, and 2) things were not nearly as complex back then as they would be by the time Windows 98 rolled out a short time later. There are however, two similarities between Windows 95's release and that of Windows Vista. First, we didn't expect much of Windows 95 either, and second, both operating systems surprised us - both were better from the start than we anticipated and both required some exploration to come to understand.

Experiences:

The day Windows Vista was released to business customers I did a clean install of Vista Ultimate on a then three year old Compaq laptop (NX9600) that had been a test system since BETA 2. The clean install took about twenty-two (22) minutes soup-to-nuts. Everything worked. A quick pass on the reference video card driver from Windows Update and a manual install of the release WHQL Video driver from ATI (they were still called that then), and I was done. The laptop has been great since day one. It's running SP1 RTM now (manually downloaded from MSDN) which was installed after removing the latest SP1 RC refresh and using Windows Update to prepare the system for SP1 RTM. None of the nonsense I have read about Vista has manifested itself on the system - the very one I am writing this post on now. The same is true of Office 2007, which I installed the same day. While it took a little getting used to (like an hour) I quickly fell in technical-love with the new Office Ribbon UI. I knew that Vista was going to index my drive, so I let it do that and settle in while I went back to work.

By the end of the next day, all of our office systems had been updated and I had upgraded another computer - clean install around an existing XP Pro install - placing the old installation into the familiar Windows.old directory for an easy transfer back into the user profile. Again, zero issues were encountered with the install, or use of the computer. It too is running Vista SP1 RTM.

By Christmas of 2006, all of my home systems were running Windows Vista Ultimate. The last of them to be upgraded is a test media centric box that I have written about here. It was an in-place upgrade over XP Media Center Edition, which took several hours. It has been a flawless system that we have pushed really hard and despite the load, it has held up incredibly well. One of my son's has a similar box driving multiple TV tuners and digital cable boxes (he records all the TV he views) and his has been just as solid. Both are running Vista SP1 RTM and both updated without incident.

The day Windows Vista went into general release we deployed our first media centric system connected to a 65" professional series Panasonic 1080P panel. It was a fun build and it has been running beautifully for over a year. The first weekend after that and we deployed our first network of Vista computers into a medical practice running an ancient patient information system parallel to a wide variety of diagnostic and instrumentation software. That network has been flawless and the mix of client software supported proved to us that Vista was ready for business.

Again, there were no surprises, less Vista itself. We just didn't expect it to do as well as quickly as it did. As Vista matured, so much of what made it different began to reveal itself. How it reports problems and how they are worked on and how solutions are delivered was frankly, amazing.

Over the last year we have built and deployed many Vista based systems and networks for businesses of many types - from engineering firms to hospitals and retail sales stores using Microsoft Point Of Sale 2.0 and in each case, Vista has been simple to use and rock solid. Better still, customers have loved it and have come to rely on it.

Witnessing:

Also during the last year we have read, heard and seen one alleged technical expert after another whine about and then allege to have abandoned Windows Vista. This has been surprising and makes me wonder what these alleged experts are doing and what they are running. If we hadn't used Vista in so many different ways, and opposite so many different pieces of specialty software and hardware, I might be able to understand them better, if not for the diversity of what we do and how close we are to the day to day use of Vista by so many different types of users - for the life of me, I just don't get it and can't see what they are talking about.

Since we don't buy OEM manufactured computers, but custom build our own, I guess one could say we can control the processes better, but one would think that the large OEM's with their engineering resources, would have a great handle on their designs and mix of components. I have to believe that the likes of Dell and HP are most capable of making great machines. Similarly, we upgraded so many old and different systems, that one would think we would have seen at least a few of the insurmountable obstacles that many technology pundits assert they have experienced.

Most recently, Chris Pirillo joined the legion of the lost and quit Windows for OS X. His explanation was simply weird and laced with spleen directed not so much at Microsoft, but Windows Vista and as he put it, "the direction it had taken." I haven't seen much of Chris Pirillo in recent years and I don't know much about what he has experienced, so it is harder to grasp what he means. I do find it very odd that someone who is supposed to be strong technically could have been so challenged by the new Windows. One thing I did note is that he was using Outlook 2000 and compared its capabilities with OS X Leopard's version of mail.app? Huh? (Bleeding edge technology enthusiast and he uses Outlook 2000? - one would think that he'd use hosted Exchange opposite his own domain and Outlook 2007 (Outlook Anywhere). That one example makes me question what exactly Chris knows and what his real skill level is. It just does not make any sense. Anyone who understands a lick about messaging (certainly any "Tech Expert") would at least be familiar with Outlook Anywhere - after all, the capability has been supported since 2000!

Before Chris there was Jim Louderback, and the chief editor over at Maximum PC (whom I opine must surrender the Minimum BS tag line under the magazine's title to those who can make a PC run better than they apparently can(not)).

Leo Laporte, who in 1998 thought that the Active Desktop in Windows 98 was akin to the second coming, long ago left Windows in favor of Apple, Mac OS X and anything the company does, or says. The outright fallacies about Microsoft and Vista coming from Mr. Laporte's mouth are so outrageous and patently inaccurate, that it's just funny - which to his credit, I assess is his goal - to simply entertain. At least I hope that is the case. I hope his show with Paul Thurrott is amusing to both of them, because it offers precious little value to Windows users trying to get the most out of the platform - but hey, I'm sure they both score well on the "Snark Attack" meters so popular in the bay area.

At least John C. Dvorak admits that he has never used Windows Vista and like something of a gentleman, he's been largely silent on the matter - but for Mr. Dvorak, largely silent is still pretty vocal. So for a guy that has not used the new OS much, it's always a special treat to hear him chime in about what makes it so bad, or why it will fail. Mr. Dvorak, you know better, I think...

The guys over at Revision3 are a complete trip - dripping with cool - as cool as a bunch of tards can be, that is. Any intern we have ever had knows more about technology than they seem to and watching them work Vista over hits one's gag reflex pretty quick. They're lucky most people really do not know much about computers, or they'd never have been funded. Poor, poor VC's - round after wasted round...

What any of these people are running for hardware is anyone's wag.

Guessing:

I don't know what any of these people are using, but it can't possibly be hardware from the following little known manufacturers: (the stuff we use)

Intel
ASUS
Seagate
Nvidia
Plextor
Antec
Creative
Logitech
Microsoft (keyboards, mice and video cameras)
WiLife (now part of Logitech)
HP
Hauppauge
Crucial
Micron

Given the differences in what we actually experience with Vista day to day, and what we read and hear from "Tech Experts", I have to ask: "exactly what does it take to be considered a computer expert these days?"

Trust but Verify:

Just a quick hint for people who really want to get at what is going on with Windows Vista in the one area that truly can cause users some trouble.. go to START, and in the search box type verifier - the top most search return will be a little program called, verifier.exe. This is the Driver Verifier Manager in Windows Vista and it is one of the best tools baked into the new operating system. The driver verifier isn't new - it's been around in one form or another since Windows 2000 and it is a great way to assess installed drivers. In Windows Vista the verifier one can use the default first option to Create standard settings. The next option and task is to Automatically select unsigned drivers. This will detect any unsigned drivers if they exist. Having no unsigned drivers is the desired result.

In my example, as depicted at the image inserted below, I have run the verifier tool on my oldest Windows Vista system (a six year old Pentium 4 3.06 [w/HT] that uses a Promise Super Trak 6 channel RAID controller). As can be seen, I have run the verifier tool, discovered an unsigned driver and the next step is to restart the system to verify the driver. In the absence of driver signing, verifying the driver is a good way to test and "verify" if it is stable. Now, from where I sit, this is the sort of thing that the "Tech Experts" I have mentioned above, should be using for themselves and sharing with others (provided that they are sincerely interested in helping and informing people and not more interested in ad based revenue opposite "Snark Infested Waters fed by rivers of Bovine Scatology!").

I really like the idea of verifying systems and all that goes into them. There are tools readily available to all users to help them verify their own systems and at least get them oriented in the right direction. I think as users of computers we have a right and an obligation to expect that those that are held out as experts, or allow themselves to be regarded as expert computer users, be as thoughtful as possible. When they do not back up what they say with data and they do not appear to use available testing and diagnostic tools, I think we have to begin to examine what they say and write with our own more thoughtful approach. We have to begin to press the experts with tougher questions and demand answers. If the tech industry's experts can't get their systems to run, let's ask them what they are running and what exactly they are doing that produces such terrible results. Let's examine more closely their business relationships with competitors of the products they assert are so bad. I think we owe it to ourselves to hold "experts" to task and request that they publish the data supporting what they say. I say we need to trust, but verify and get to the bottom of the matter.

I just can't believe that we are simply lucky and for some odd reason that we cannot explain, our Windows Vista experiences have been so much better than what the online experts have shared. It's just too easy to verify things and Vista simply has too many instrumentation tools available to it for issues and questions to persist.

I trust what I see and what I see is a good Vista. I no longer trust our industry's experts - not because I disagree with them, but because I do not see any evidence of their use of expert tools. There is nothing to base trust upon and one "Snark Attack" after another, does not evidence make.

What we'll see this year

admin — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:23:00 GMT

The year is only getting started and if we have our way, it will be among the most exciting years we've ever seen.

We've completed our very own Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software suite - "Sovereign" as it is called internally. Ten years worth of work and we finally have a product that makes an ERP available for small and medium sized businesses. We've baked in project management, resource planning, mapping, charting, Decision Control Panels, financials, HR, CRM, and much more to a product that easily integrates with messaging systems, IP telephony and rights management systems. Sovereign, added to our custom built hardware, managed networks and the services we host for customers, completes our Hardware + Software + Services model and Value-Plus strategy. We stayed on this vision for over a decade and we're confident that it will pay off for our customers.

ERP software aside, there is just so much more to look forward to this year.

I wanted to take a few moments to share what I see in my crystal ball... not that it is any clearer than any other...

Convergence will continue to push software into everything. High Definition is not enough and product differentiation will see HDTV's and other display panels get a lot brainier - panels will have built in clients and interfaces supporting connections to down-loadable content stores as well as native Windows Media Center Extenders.

Display panels will also lose their wires and begin to feature Ultra-Wide band interfaces - making them not only great clients, but great hosts and we'll see the first panels that can store content for wireless distribution to other small panels.

Logitech (I hope) will come up with a platform that uses good software to distribute high-resolution pictures, video and music to ~~intelligent~~ brilliant picture frames.

Logitech's WiLife line of small office and home video surveillance systems will take off in a huge way, and home control devices and equally smart software will follow quickly.

Microsoft will ship both an add-on Blu-Ray disc player and a new Xbox 360 version that features both Blu-Ray and a special software package designed especially for home media enthusiasts. While thew new "Xbox Media Station" (My guess, and not any official name) can play games, its focus will be on entertainment - HD Movies, TV, On-line Content (Podcasts, Streaming Media) and as a client for Zune owners and the Zune Marketplace. It may even be a full on IPTV client (again, a guess and a hope).

Microsoft will also ship a new Xbox "Slot" device - an Xbox on a card that OEM's can use to integrate with PC's and provide for integration of the Xbox to the PC in either a hardware virtualization supported play, or by software virtualization alone (once again, a sincere hope).

At a minimum, Microsoft will remove the barriers between the Xbox and Games for Windows and rejuvenate gaming on the PC one way or another (this is a prayer as much as a hope)

Thin will be way in. Apple was right and the Macbook Air is on the right path - although others like ASUS and Toshiba will do it better. Light, thin, second client PC's will become very popular.

That is about all Apple will get right this year. Apple has peaked and people are sick of the snark. The term,"Snark Attack" will become popularized, as a sub-set of our society expresses its frustration with Apple and its special way of branding products at the expense of others. Apple will release new iPods (so what), but the sleeper ride in the room is the Zune II. With its all you can eat buffet of growing content, it'll quickly eat up Apple market share in the higher end of the DMP space.

Apple's iTunes is already dead as we know it. The rules are changing and subscription based content will cut deeply into Apple. Apple will have a very hard time mending fences with content owners and distributors. The Apple TV II is too little, too late and Apple will suffer for it.

Apple's OS X will do alright throughout most of the year, but will end up the subject of a lot of security issues by Christmas. Security software for OS X will become quite popular.

The iPhone II will ship in November (without Exchange support) and fail against a dizzying array of competing products it inspired that do have native support for Exchange. Apple's refusal to license ActiveSync will be the undoing of the iPhone (Pure speculation - as I have no idea why Apple can't seem to get Exchange support).

Sony and the PS3 will receive a real bump, and as Paul Thurrott correctly opined, in the end, the PS3 will triumph over all. It will be well on its way by year's end, but it will not execute as well as Microsoft will with the 360. Both players will be great choices for gaming and entertainment and in the end, Sony may prevail - after all.... it has proved it can buy content owners' loyalty and libraries, or leverage that which it owns outright. In this space, content will be king.

Windows Vista will prove to be very resilient to any form of attack. As numbers supporting actual exploits (or the lack of them, as it will be shown) are published, enterprises will line up to adopt the new OS. By year's end, Windows Vista will be warmly embraced as a very secure platform member and respect for it will grow exponentially. Enterprises will then speak to Vista's other great strength, lower operating costs and ease of deployment and manageability, and more than one CIO will find him/herself answering some tough questions presented by those counting beans.

PAN's or Personal Area Networks and Windows Vista's NW stack will become popular blogging topics - as personal networks of securable objects transform our understanding of what a PAN is (read, not a Bluetooth based PAN, but something much more significant). Essentially, not just data, but personal and business intelligence, will begin to come with us and as one's PAN overlaps with the PAN's of others, we'll see some amazing work done in software that begins to hint of the world our kids and grandkids will take for granted. We'll all become "social" and information and finalized intelligence product will be all around us - bugging us with ads on one hand and informing and entertaining us with the other.

Cable and Satellite providers will scramble for dance partners and the lines between telco's and media carriers will blur. The FCC and federal regulators won't be able to keep up and both legislators and lawyers will scrape off more than their share of the profits - as they side-step the losses.

Google's share price will crater. The one-trick pony has no song and dance and not a dog is to be seen for the pony to play with. Headlines like, "What went wrong?" will be all over the web and no one will be happy about it at all... having just barely dodged a recession in the U.S., the Google Bubble bursting will not be celebrated by anyone - not even Microsoft.

Revision3 will fail - as traditional content carriers with better production facilities finally figure out that they can plug into the Internet, too. Leo Laporte and his entire line-up of Twit programming will be the catalyst and provide the content and leadership for the carriers with the brains and balls to see it happen. Some Revision3 faces will appear on those networks. Leo won't be magnanimous in victory - and he shouldn't be.

John Dvorak will retire and write children's books and prove he can be as sweet as he can be cynical. (this one I actually believe).

The EU and its anti-US-trust arm will continue to suck blood out of U.S. and European companies. If any one company succeeds in any way at all, it will be subject to the anti-trust TAX. It is a TAX - make no mistake about it.

One day our grandkids will look back at all of it and all of us and ask, "WTF? How did you live like that?"

The Day the PC Died

admin — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:39:00 GMT

Placing my head in a bucket with a small hole drilled in the bottom, I wander around aimlessly, looking for the sense I lost in a sea of sand...one granule is what I seek...only one...

That sense is really a decision to see the good in all things and is born and reborn of the choice one makes to seek it out and of the discipline required to ignore all that is perceived to be bad around it - one granule in a sea of sand.

When what one does for a living is design and build personal computers, it can be very easy to get lost and lose sight of why we do it - with so many changes impacting the PC industry and so many pressures on builders, large and small, it is all too easy to get swept away in a sea of negative energy. Costs are up - way up, and margins could not be more down. Differentiation is all but impossible for smaller builders who have less access to the resources large builders have to develop compelling case designs with a fashionable twist - a nice trend driving some laptop sales. All in one designs are attractive, but expensive [to buy and build], underpowered and only fit a very small segment of the market - where too few people are willing to drop so much for so little on a second computer, or as a replacement for the primary systems people usually pass down as they moved up - moving up to less power? Not gonna happen...

It is little wonder why PC sales are not only not growing like they could, but why they offer so little profit essential to those building them.

What did it? What killed the PC? On what date did the PC die?

On March 10, 2000 the "X-box Project" was officially confirmed by Microsoft, and on that date, the PC died. Microsoft, killed the personal computer as we knew it. We didn't know it, but Microsoft did [more on why they did it later on in this article].

While Microsoft would not launch the original Xbox until November 15th, 2001 [in North America], the stake that would eventually kill the PC had already been driven home - the moment Microsoft announced that they intended to enter into the gaming and entertainment console business. One can't fault Microsoft, they are a software company and too many people forget that. Microsoft builds software for everything and creating or driving markets into which their software is sold is not only their right, but part of their corporate responsibility. Regardless, Microsoft killed the personal computer - actions that would eventually strip it of everything personal, less the pretty paint and colored plastic seen on some laptops. Microsoft's decision gutted an industry and eviscerated all but a few very agile and inventive small builders who bake services into their wares and sell hardware as part of a more comprehensive offering.

Microsoft's decision had two additional and predictable consequences, Apple, who sells the perception of a life-style, would survive and prosper [as just another OEM builder - after all, how many more Windows and Microsoft Office licenses are sold to those buying Macs?], and enthusiasm for personal computers would wane as what was left of the computer business fought for market share based on price. As millions and then hundreds of millions of low-powered, under-protected and unmanaged PC's flooded the market, the magic wore off at a rate about equal to the increased instances of mal-ware infections. The PC had officially become a commodity and boring - and no amount of colored plastic was going to change that.

Microsoft's decision had another, and I assess anticipated consequence, Windows Vista would take a beating. After all, where there is little enthusiasm for the PC as a platform, how much tolerance could exist for a new operating system and all the bumps and horns that come with them in their first year of life? As a commodity the PC had no power to bolster itself, much less a new OS that was vastly more complex than its predecessor.

The second Microsoft announced plans for the Xbox, it signaled PC gamers and enthusiasts that they no longer mattered to the company. Notice is said, the company, and not necessarily the people who work in it, or lead it. I am sure there are islands of people within Microsoft that did not agree with the change in direction. I am also fairly certain that the change occurred at a time when there were a great many distractions impacting the company and its leaders related to the anti-trust case against it. I've been through some soul searching changes in my own business and it's tough stuff. I'm quite certain senior leaders at Microsoft were hurt and way down deep where it sticks for a bit. By the time things settled down, the PC was dead as an object of affection and more and different types of software had to be built. Its death, like the move of software and connected intelligence into all things electrical, was inevitable. The Digital Natives had taken over everything was, "Meh" or worse, "I want my meh right now!" Industry influencers just a few years older were too busy buying houses and birthing babies to give a flip - they were busy getting used to the idea that they weren't bullet proof after all.

Gamers mattered. PC Enthusiasts mattered [so often one in the same]. Both groups were bent over and ...<This is where you are invited to insert your own creative strings of expletives> <Use your imagination and make any Navy Chief blush and run for cover in the nearest brothel>. Gamers mattered to the PC. They didn't and don't matter to Microsoft, or any other software, or consumer electronics company. The PC needed gamers and it needed enthusiastic young people to love it. Without support from a company like Microsoft, the PC died and its most important base of users was betrayed and left out in the cold.

Games for Windows - Peoples Exhibits 'A' 'B' 'C' 'D' 'E' and 'F' [Your Honor... the prosecution rests...]

Games for Windows my giddy aunt... there are barely enough titles to justify the plural form of the word, "game." The image above, taken at the Best Buy in Hoover, Alabama says it all... even the sign, which I tried to fix, is broken. Slapped up there like some after thought, the sign had a single peg that wouldn't hold its own weight. It sagged haplessly over a dismal selection of titles, seemingly cast aside like misfit toys on Christmas Eve. Stalking [as in hunting] one's way through stacks of discounted Sony Play Station 3 40 GB systems, I was on a mission - buy two copies of Unreal Tournament III - one for myself and our younger boys and one for my eldest Son, Chris. UT3 isn't even an official Games for Windows title and as if to further communicate just how bad things are, the UT3 "DVD" comes packaged in one of the older thick multi-disc CDROM cases - most likely picked up at reduced bulk rates by the game's distributors. In the background, one of the legion of "Guitar Queero's" can be seen jamming to a song he can listen to, but will likely never "hear."

Just a short detour...

The drive home was pretty quiet. Normally we'd have jabbered on and on about how we were going to set up a gaming server and tear it up for a few hours. It was kind of sad, but telling... while we had wisely aligned our company to suite the new market a decade ahead of the changes that flattened many others, there wasn't much satisfaction in it at all. Hardware + Software + full-Services can be and are compelling and we're glad we continue to prosper, but we miss our PC Brothers in Arms - we even miss the competition. We miss the youthful enthusiasm.

When we got to our home my son installed UT3 to one of the custom media systems we built - an older AV centric P4 running Vista Ultimate and fitted with an Nvidia 8800 GTS SD [768 MB RAM]. While not a screamer, it holds its own with a WEI of 4.8 [lower due to the older CPU]. The rig is connected via a DVI to HDMI adapter to a 52" LCD and runs at 1920 x 1080P. The image is stunning to say the least and this PC, as a media test platform, has been tougher than woodpecker lips. It still amazes us by running so well, despite the pounding its life as a test mule has exposed it to. It's running the latest WHQL video drivers and SP1 RTM for Vista and just as through every month before, it still runs as flawlessly as when it was born.

Chris set up the game and rammed its settings sliders hard over - 1920 x 1080, it would be, or we'd build until it was...anything less would not be accepted. As Chris played UT3 the imagery was incredible and the PC delivered delicious frame after butter-smooth frame. It was flawless in terms of technical performance and simply amazing to watch. A couple of the older boys came in the den and echoes of "Whoa" and "Man... great graphics; what game is that?" were exclaimed. "UT3 on the By God PC!" was Chris' answer - he didn't say the words; he didn't have to; his face said it all - as he blasted his way to victory after victory in Deathmatch and Capture the Flag events.

The younger boys didn't bite and back to Call of Duty 4 on the 360 and reality we all went... woo little hoo hoo and whoop little whoop d' doo...

CoD4 wouldda, shouldda, couldda been on the PC as a hit - humbling every console before it... but it isn't... it's on the 360 where Plug-N-Play really is plug and play. Without Microsoft leading and developing for the PC, gamers and enthusiasts never had a chance. Again, it isn't Microsoft's fault - they are, as we must all finally understand, a software company and a public corporation. They had no real choice but to kill the PC - after all, there is so much more out here that requires software.

Back to my bucket...

"It echoes in here...." not akin to blinders at all, but discipline... "I'm not taking it off until I see the good in this and all things..."

"It's all a personal computer - all of it - everything is my PC... everything..." My PC; your PC; our Personal Computers... all of them are no longer limited to just one place; one box, or one room. My PC is my PC. Our Xbox is my PC, too. My Zune is my PC. My car is my PC. My business and all its servers are my PC. They are all my PC and they are all connected and what I experience is my PC. They are all one "thing" and that thing is growing. The PC isn't dead at all - it died and became a powerful heavenly being - an angel willing to serve my every need. As nostalgic as many of us might be for all the things the PC was, we ought to be incredibly excited about what the PC really is and what it will become.

The PC - the Personal Computer never was a thing at all. It was never just one place. It was all places and all things at once. It was and is the the source. The PC is all places and all things where all knowledge may be found and created and shared. In this new universal PC space, gamers and enthusiasts do matter - more than ever and it is time someone told them that every day. It is time Microsoft shared what it knew and what it knows about the new personal computer.

It is time for Microsoft to rejoin the living; forget the past; leave the case in the dust-bin of history, and show us the way forward, as your chairman once offered to do.

Games for Windows. Microsoft, make that real and kill the lines and space between the PC and Xbox and never create them again. Do the same for the marketplace and Zune - make it all "The PC"

Problem caused by Windows... "Oh Really?"

admin — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:18:00 GMT

I've written a great deal about how Windows Vista's Performance and Reliability tools help users understand and solve problems and how greater levels of instrumentation and error reporting are what drives Vista's now native update application. It's time to share a bit more and perhaps help Windows Vista users discover the details around the real causes for the problems and errors they encounter.

While it's nice of Microsoft to take ownership of nearly all faults users encounter while running Windows (especially Windows Vista), sometimes their willingness to blame all things on Windows doesn't quite tell the entire story and in many cases digging for the real cause of reported problems, reveals that the underlying fault doesn't have much to do with Windows at all. Errors reported as: "Problem caused by Windows" very often have little to do with the operating system directly.

While error reporting and fault information as reported to users by Windows Vista is often clear and leads to readily available solutions, sometimes the information about a reported problem isn't as immediately helpful as it could be. When a Windows Vista user goes to Control Panel, then System and views the system panel, There is a link in the lower left for Performance. This opens the Performance Information and Tools panel - a one stop, quick look at what the Windows Experience Index scores and base score is. In the lower left of the Performance Information and Tools panel is another link for Problem Reports and Solutions. Clicking this link opens a panel used to Solve problems on your computer. - the focus of this post.

QUICK TIP: Use Vista's Instant Search and simply enter the term, Problem and click the link Instant Search returns at the top of the Start menu

As you can see in the figure below, Windows has reported a problem, but it only reflects that "Windows" caused it. Pretty nebulous, but good of the operating system to step up and take the blame for the fault... BUT IS IT REALLY Windows' fault...?

When a user clicks on the reported error, "Problem caused by Windows" one most often receives a generic report and a recommendation to "Install high-priority updates from the Microsoft Update website." Well... there are a couple of things wrong with this generic error report and recommendation. I mean... what if all updates and performance patches have already been applied? and worse.. "Microsoft Update Website???" Huh? This is Windows Vista and while updates come across the web, Vista has a built-in Windows Update APPLICATION! that is part of the error reporting and response system, which automates reporting and solutions distribution. Aside from missing an important marketing opportunity opposite the benefits of using Windows Vista, the information is simply wrong.

See the image below

Rather than guess what the problem Windows thinks it has is, there is a way to drill deeper and perhaps discover what process is actually at fault. In the image above, there is a small link where users can "See related problems." Clicking that link opens another panel with greater detail about what caused Windows to record an error.

See image below

Now we're getting somewhere... In the image above, we can see that a Logitech LVPrcSrv Module has stopped working a number of times. While the added information provides a good start, Windows Vista is also reporting that there is More Information available and while most users are happy to search for LVPrcSrv, it is better to have some context... like, is it in a system file, or user space, and is it an executable, or some other file that perhaps is missing...?

By double-clicking on the line item, users are presented with a lot more information about the error. For this error, one can see that LVPrcSrv is an executable in user space and the exact application version is reflected. A quick glance around the affected system reveals that only one Logitech device is connected - a Logitech QuickCam Ultra Vision SE

See image below

Well armed with much better and more complete information about what caused the fault Windows assumed was with itself, quickly (in this case) leads to a solution from -geepers Sr. Software Engineer, QuickCam Install/Build/Configuration Team, Logitech Inc. Who states that users experiencing this error should: "Clear the check-box in MSCONFIG for the LVSrvLauncher Service and reboot the machine." I did this and it worked. No more related errors and I can still use all of the Logitech software installed on the computer.

Looking back at the Problem Reports and Solutions panel, there is one more action users should consider. Users should regularly clear their solutions and problem history - once problems have been solved, and then click the link in the upper left of the panel for "Check for new solutions." Checking for new solutions gathers up all recorded errors and sends them, without personally identifying information, to Microsoft engineers. Once a problem has been reported as few as five-hundred times, Microsoft engineers will begin to work on the problem and assist the device manufacturer, or independent software vendor as required. Periodically, solutions will be delivered to a user's computer and an alert will appear in the system tray offering access to newly discovered solutions - as reported by the automated Problem Reports and Solutions support mechanism.

See figure below

There is a lot more to the automated problem and error reporting system working under the hood in Windows Vista than is immediately evident and a lot more information than is apparent to users is available - if they dig a bit deeper. Microsoft could be clearer about how end users can access this information and I recommend BETA testers of the next version of Windows request that a comprehensive Problem Reports and Solutions Center be expanded to present and make clearer, all of the steps involved in discovering fault related information. While the classic view of the Control Panel in Windows Vista already has an icon for Problem Reports and Solutions, not all of its options are as apparent as they could be. For more seasoned Windows Vista users and certainly for trained IT/MIS professionals, Windows has always provided a wealth of error reporting information - it's just easier to access and make use of in Windows Vista. Enterprise network and systems engineers have been accessing this information for years and as such, they have been running very stable Windows computers for a long time. Windows Vista begins to leverage this data and make it available to all users of all types.

Cheers!

Lloyd

Gritty Nits - Fix Internet Explorer 7 Crashes in Vista

admin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:19:00 GMT

A lot of you may have seen Internet Explorer crash "Internet Explorer has stopped working" when closing the browser in Windows Vista. It happens all too often and while it no longer takes the operating system out with it, it is still annoying.

There are a lot of reasons why Internet Explorer will do this, but one we have found that really stands out is Adobe's Flash Player plug-in and ActiveX [COM Client] control. Seven (7) of ten (10) IE 7 crashes I have personally seen, are related to the Flash Player plug-in.

A lot of users may see messages advising them to re-install the Flash player and many take this advice - but they don't see any relief and the plug-in continues to un-plug IE.

Fortunately, Adobe has published a less well known Flash Player removal tool and procedure that users should use and follow BEFORE they re-install the plug-in.

Please reference Adobe's Support Site, which states: (be sure to follow all instructions and take note of the files Adobe's uninstaller cannot remove)

"How to uninstall the Adobe Flash Player plug-in and ActiveX control"

Due to recent enhancements to the Adobe Flash Player installers, you can now remove the player only by using the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller. To remove Flash Player, simply download and run the appropriate uninstaller for your system using the steps below.

Download the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller:
- Windows: uninstall_flash_player.exe (162 KB) (updated 12/3/07)
  Note: If you have a Windows Flash Player uninstaller downloaded prior to December 3, 2007 on your desktop, then please delete it and download the latest version.
- Mac OS X: uninstall_flash_player_osx.dmg (278 KB) (updated 12/3/07)
- Mac OS 8.x, 9.x: uninstall_flash_player.hqx (33 KB)
Save the file to your system, choosing a location where you can find it (for example, your desktop). Macintosh users may need to open or unstuff the .hqx file.
Quit ALL running applications, including all Internet Explorer or other browser windows, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, or other Messengers. Check the Windows system tray carefully to make certain no applications which might possibly use Flash Player are still in memory.
Run the uninstaller. This will remove Adobe Flash Player from all browsers on the system.

Note: The uninstaller cannot remove files currently in use.

If you have any instances of the player open in your web browsers, instant messaging clients, stand-alone SWFs, or projectors, then the uninstaller will complete but some files may not be deleted. If this occurs, then close all of your applications and run the uninstaller again to ensure that all files are removed.

Note: Internet Explorer users may have to reboot to clear all uninstalled Flash Player ActiveX control files. If you're not certain, select the "Show Details" button in the Flash Player uninstaller. If there are any log lines that begin with "Delete on Reboot..." then you'll need to reboot BEFORE running the Flash Player installer again.

After running Adobe's tool and following their procedure for removing left over files, we restart the computer and reinstall the Adobe Flash Player plug-in and IE 7 on Vista runs much more reliably. Of course many other plug-ins can cause IE to crash, but since Flash is so common on so many websites, it is much more likely to be encountered.

The Case FOR and AGAINST Windows Vista

admin — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 19:01:00 GMT

Did you ever wish you were wrong? I mean, really wrong?

When BETA 2 for Windows ~~Longhorn~~ Vista shipped, I installed it as I had many previous development and testing versions of the new operating system. I wrote, and crazily so, that Vista was going to be a monumental flop in terms of how it was perceived by people. Many people who know me well, thought I was way over the top - being dramatic, even... I wrote about how Vista was going to be perceived (very badly) and misunderstood and largely ignored. I worried terribly that the fall-out on all of us that build and support computers and the software that runs on them, would be profound.

Boy, I wish I were wrong.

A little under a year after the general public release of Windows Vista, and despite unprecedented improvement and driver coverage, Windows Vista is indeed perceived as bad. That doesn't just suck for Microsoft - it sucks for Microsoft partners (a little), and it really sucks for users of Windows (there is so much users are missing when they don't run Vista). There is the reality of Windows Vista that is (GREAT) and what the perception about its performance and value is (TERRIBLE).

In June of 2006 I wrote (blabbered, really) about how horrid the end user experience was going to be under Windows Vista - not because the operating system was BAD, or looked BAD, but because so much had been scattered to hell and back. I also wrote about how many people were going to expect to be able to run Vista on hardware that they had upgraded from Windows 98 SE, or Windows Me to Windows XP, and how that simply was not going to work well. Worse, so much of what makes Windows Vista not just good, but GREAT and truly INNOVATIVE, is completely transparent to end users, or so technically oriented, it just isn't appealing for users to read about - see, Top Ten Things I Love About Windows Vista

Recently, I think I found why Windows Vista has really had a tough time of it in the technical perception department and it is pretty clear to me, what is really wrong with the lineup that is Windows Vista, and it has zip to do with how well it performs, or doesn't as many suggest - it has to do with how much of let down Windows Vista Business edition is [it just isn't as feature complete as Windows XP Professional is in relative terms (to XP Home)]. Simply, the expectation that Vista Business is all that Vista Home Premium is, plus a lot more (BUSINESS) - like XP Pro over XP Home WAS (just isn't so).

OK, so small business users have to run Windows Vista Ultimate (I don't recommend any other version for most business owners and mobile users). One problem is that they have to pay more (OK, they get SOME more, but not enough to justify the greater cost).

That's it - that is all that is bad with Windows Vista - the lineup as it relates to the business version. BUT.... that's not the perception at all - that is FAR WORSE...

It seems that none of that matters much... PERCEPTION, as it always has been, is the REALITY people embrace, and people, (regular users), are the real losers.

THE REALITY of Windows Vista has been different for me, and our customers. Windows Vista has not been just good, it has been GREAT. I knew it would be, but sadly, I also knew it wouldn't be seen for what it was. Before I go further, let me be clear about one very important thing: "IF WINDOWS VISTA WERE BAD (TRULY BAD), I WOULDN'T SELL IT, OR RECOMMEND IT!" PERIOD. One, I wouldn't lie about it and two, I COULDN'T AFFORD TO SUPPORT IT. As a small tech business owner and operator, if Windows Vista weren't great, my business could not afford to sell it - much less live with it. Please see, Windows Vista - The Most Reliable Operating System I have Ever Used

As the year known as 2007 comes to a close, it isn't going to be remembered as the year of Windows Vista - part of it will be remembered as the year negative perceptions trumped reality. People wanted failures, it seems, and there have been no shortage of people to tell them where they are. Vista has been at the top of many lists relating to technology failures.

WHY?

That one is easy... "people are people" - a few are nice and truly so, but sadly, many are pretty mean way down deep (where it matters a lot). People are also tired; they are jaded and they have become very accustomed to expecting, even looking for, the bad in all things. People have been fed a steady diet of bad news, or the bad side of news... as is so often the case. BAD Vista, (just an operating system) and the perception around it, is just one more example. The war, politics, and rivers of hate - they are all to blame - all part of the unending flow of negative thought and energy spewing forth from just about every news and media outlet.

The eighties were the "Me Generation" - the nineties, the "Age of Political Correctness" - the 00's, they are just plain olé mean - "The Age of Meanness." Vista isn't going to get a pass, and neither are you.

So why did Vista (just another operating system) get caught up in the age of meanness? People are people and sadly, most are pretty stupid - not natively, or inherently so, but because being stupid is just easier. It's far easier to parrot what a blogger says than it is to learn and form one's own opinion - it's easier to just stay right where one is, than it is to venture out into something new. How many people are "stuck in a rut?" How few will do anything about it? In the age of meanness it is almost bad form to try - after all, what if one were to succeed and obviate the impact of change... what would be left to complain about? We're all mean now and happy for it. When all else fails... be mean... that solves every challenge. Being mean is the new "tough" - they new word for strong. Kindness? Well no way, buddy... that is the new word for insincere, or better, "weak."

There really is not one thing wrong with Microsoft's marketing of Vista. The marketing has been honest and decent. The problem is that Microsoft's marketing has been just that, "Honest and Decent" and that just does not fly in the age of meanness. Apple's marketing is successful, because it is all at the expense of the hapless, stupid, chubby, unattractive dolts that it labels Windows users to be. Apple's marketing is not honest and its not decent, but it is mean and mean is cool. There are many that would argue that what I am saying is just bull - just an old man's aged and tired rant. I bet, despite my years, that I could still kick the living piss out of any nine of ten of them [all at once] (mean enough for ya?). One side, the nice side, just doesn't have any appeal any longer - but oh boy, the mean snarky side, well... these days that just drips sex appeal and people line up for it.

Let's take some examples of what I mean and in the context of Windows Vista:

TRUTH: Windows Vista uses "Instant Search" - a feature that allows users to nearly instantly find programs, documents, emails and other files on their computers and other indexed locations.

CONSEQUENCES: Instant Search chews disk I/O for about a minute, or three [but not more] when Windows first starts.

PERCEPTION: Vista sux0rs giant root, because it is slower to make programs available for users than XP - XP FTW!

REALITY: In practice, Vista is way better than XP and users of it are way more productive, BECAUSE once it does load, Instant Search is well, INSTANT and users don't spend nearly as much time hunting around for stuff! Further, and what is not reported, or spoken to, is that despite the two minutes longer Vista takes to fully load, the user saves ten times that time in an average session, because they can find things INSTANTLY.

Op Ed: "READ THE REALITY SECTION ABOVE AGAIN, DUMB ASS!" (see, I'm being mean... er... tough.... and that is really cool, huh?)

Of course that is not what is being held out, is it? That is not what is being written about, is it?

TRUTH: Windows Vista has an integrity mechanism that features User Account Control [UAC], which works to restrict and control processes to user named space and subjects access to user approval. The integrity mechanism and all the features inherent to it, have made Windows Vista a very secure operating system and very difficult to compromise.

CONSEQUENCES: Windows Vista users can't just next, next, next their way through life - they have to think for a moment and make a decision.

PERCEPTION: Windows Vista's persistent pop-ups will drive users crazy.

REALITY: Windows Vista users rarely see UAC Elevation Prompts and when they do, the prompts take a half second to assess and approve. Users needn't enter passwords if they do not want to - they can simply click to approve the elevation (as when they install software). Once a user has a Vista computer set up to their own tastes, they very rarely see UAC Elevations. UAC and applications which work according to least privileged access permissions, really have made Windows more secure and safer to use.

I could go on and on and on, with one example after another about what truly does make Windows Vista great - the examples number in the hundreds.... BUT... it won't change a thing - not for regular users. For my customers, there is no concern, or any reason to read this blog - they are already, and always have been cared for and they already know they truth. Vista is great and there are nice people working to make using it a great experience. People who are nice as well as effective.

The rest are missing out and stuck in a very dark place that can't be much fun to be in. I worry about them, and what I worry about doesn't have a thing to do with Windows Vista (it's just an operating system).

"what, you expected journalism...?" "I just call em as I see em"

Service Pacitus

admin — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 04:42:00 GMT

Many of you no doubt have the same disease, or at least a few of the symptoms.. Service Packs of about every shape and form are appearing for a great many Microsoft products [a good thing, for sure], and like us, you're running more than a few in testing and perhaps some in production. Obviously, the RC's have to be tested and this can result in a serious case of the service pack runs... On occasion, and despite how evolved most service packs have become, we still run into unexpected - even surprising, challenges. Read on...

It's all part of it - the normal work many of us do. I'm not going to even try to match the coverage going on out there regarding most of them, but if you're running ESET NOD32 Antivirus, you may want to pay attention to the next few lines. There is definitely some dependent process between ESET NOD32 build 3.0.566 and Service Pack 1 to Windows Vista Ultimate and Office 2007 with SP1, that are not working well together.

Parts and Builds

Software Common to both test systems:

Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit with SP1 RC Build 6001
Microsoft Office 2007 Professional with Service Pack 1
ESET NOD32 3.0.566

Test System 1

P4 3.2 GHz based HP Laptop NX9600
2 GB RAM
ATI X600 GPU 128 MB

Test System 2

Pentium Dual Core 3.2 GHz
2 GB RAM
Nvidia 8800 GTS 768 MB GPU

Both test systems received all updates and service pack 1 to Office 2007 normally.

Both test systems had earlier versions of ESET NOD32 antivirus removed prior to the installation of Windows Vista Service Pack 1

Both test system had ESET NOD32 reinstalled after Vista Service Pack 1 was installed and the systems were restarted.

Both systems restarted and ran normally - with one major exception:

Word 2007 would not open and would hang both systems - forcing a hard shutdown.

Removing ESET NOD32 antivirus solved the problem and Word 2007 and all other applications ran normally under the combination of Vista SP1 RC, Office 2007 SP1.

Windows Live OneCare was then deployed across both systems and all processes and applications run normally.

No adjustment available to ESET NOD32 [excluding WINWORD.EXE for example], would allow the security suite to run alongside the combination of Office 2007 SP1 and Vista SP1 RC.

Oddly, only Word 2007 with Office 2007 SP1 is affected - all other Office 2007 applications run normally.

Older builds of ESET NOD32 antivirus have worked normally and Word 2007 with Service Pack 1 on Vista with SP1 RC run normally.

Communications have been prepared for both Microsoft and ESET Software, and advising of our test results.

And that was only one little item making up a long, and productive day.

I'll post an update when new builds are available.

Cheers!

Lloyd

Reviewing Reviewers

admin — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 23:51:00 GMT

Most Microsoft software reviews suck serious ass. There's no other way to describe the crap that passes for reviews.

Far too many bloggers' reviews are based upon VM derived impressions of the software displayed. A few screen shots are added to well known lists of features and a touch of flowery language is added to what ends up being a half-assed representation of what the software truly is, or can do [or not as might be the case].

I have avoided providing reviews, because I am not a professional blogger and certainly not any kind of journalist - not even a really bad one.

I am an engineer and small business owner that builds and sustains systems, networks, software and the hosted services that tie them together - so any review would be based upon an actual build, and that often would reveal either my own, or a real customer's information. I can't do that - even a little - not without permission and some controls designed to protect people. This makes it harder to provide reviews, but not impossible.

It does strike me as badly needed, however, and I am determined to find a way to share real reviews - not just about the smaller software picture, but the larger impact found in how and why software is integrated and how it benefits people and business.

I'm pretty tired of tired reviews. They don't offer much worth reading and those sites that are great, don't get enough attention - I don't know why, but outside of the specific engineering groups around Microsoft Products like Exchange and ISA Server, there isn't a lot of play. I think that needs to change. Regular people need to know more about these products and how they integrate and what they mean - in the context that is most oriented toward them. After all, they are the ones likely to be making purchasing decisions about such products.

Let me know which products you'd like reviewed and why - I'd be interested in understanding what decisions and business challenges you're trying to address. That will help me pick which products to review.

I promise one thing: anything I review will be something we use ourselves and I'll share the how and why of it.

Cheers!

Lloyd

Ending the Blame Game - Driving Your Own Car!

admin — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:36:00 GMT

Ed Bott, in a discussion thread in response to one of his blog postings about "No more Vista whining, please" revealed something very troubling - Ed twice stated that he was offered and could make "Big Bucks" if he wrote articles trashing Windows Vista. Well no kidding, was my immediate response - and then I was horrified at my own reaction - I was horrified, because I wasn't surprised by what Ed revealed. I just accepted the idea that people really were willing to ignore facts, obfuscate the truth about the new operating system and all users and small business owners were to be damned - as people were paid to lie about and then trash [for money] an operating system central to the evolution of the ecosystem supporting ninety-plus percent of the computers used around the world. My own reaction made me sick - I used to stand up against such things based upon the worth of truth alone.

Are advertisers and special interests really willing and or actually paying journalists and bloggers to trash Windows Vista? If so, how does one find evidence of it? I guess these are questions worth asking and it is quite a story, if true. I thought about researching the matter and then I thought about it some more and decided that pursuing so much potentially negative energy would be a lot more costly personally than it would be worth. Instead what you are about to read came to mind.

Dealing with the Unrelenting, Unforgiving Man in the Mirror - he isn't going to go away!

We may as well make peace with the man in the mirror right now. Those that do will learn what it is to truly live without fear. Those that don't will continue to seek out and find targets to blame for everything that is wrong in their lives - no matter how big, or small. For now, let's just keep it simple and deal with something small... computers and the operating system that likely runs on it.

Far too often we spend a lot of time and energy blaming others and or something else for what does not work in our lives - including our personal computers. It's a sad trend and it's getting worse and easier to do. Any time we need support for our efforts to blame others, all we need do is turn to the web and we'll find plenty of others willing to do the same and share our justifications. When it comes to personal computers and Windows we all have plenty of company and lots of angry voices to help us blame Windows for all things troubling, or even mildly challenging about our computers. Very few of those thumping in to support our blame game ever turn us around and march us straight into the nearest mirror and rightfully say, "Dude, the real problem here is between the chair and the keyboard - kindly deal with this idiot, first!"

The problem isn't the person - the computer user in general. The problem is how we are responding to challenges. Instead of taking ownership and responsibility, we're very quick to look for and blame someone, or some thing else - these days it may as well be Windows Vista. After all, people are apparently being paid to trash it and assign it fault for all things troubling about computers.

It's not my fault...

I have an adult child that uses that phrase like a crack addict hits the pipe and it makes me want to vomit and split my own stomach [where did I go so wrong with that one?!?!?] "No, it may very well NOT BE your FAULT, but it for damn sure is likely to be your responsibility."

Responsibility and Ownership

Being successful is not the result of the application of some secret formula, or instances of blind luck. Success is a product - responsibility multiplied by the number of times one is willing to take ownership of challenges on behalf of themselves and others. It is high time people re-took responsibility and ownership of their role when operating a modern connected computer. It is long past any time when computer users could wear ignorance like some merit badge. It is time those blessed enough to be born into modern and technically developed societies come to regard computer literacy in the same light as they should general literacy - as an imperative life skill.

People and Cars - Cars and Computers

Take your car, and your average driver as an example... Nearly all of us drive everyday. We drive safely, for the most part and responsibly most of the time. We drive without thinking about the mechanics of it and that is how it must be - if we had to think about it, we'd be whacking into one another and a lot of other objects with a great deal more regularity. When a human drives a car they are fully engaged - processing a myriad of actions and information simultaneously. Each of a driver's limbs is in motion and independent of the motion of the other limbs. We're modulating the accelerator, brakes and signals independent of steering and the amazing stereo-optic binocular vision our creator provided each of us is constantly triangulating not only our own time, speed and distance, but that of many dozens of other objects - each in independent motion. Our other sense are not idle either. Our ears are tuned in to all around us and our sense of touch senses how hard we are on and need to brake just as capably as it senses how a car is turning, or how well balanced its wheels are. Our sense of smell alerts us of any potential dangers to man and or machine - the smell of oil, gasoline, exhaust, and even coolant - each can alert us in an instant if there is cause for concern or action. We may even engage our sense of taste as we add the consumption of beverages and snacks as we motor along [not a great idea, and not at all recommended, but we all do it]. These days we also talk on our phones [hoping they are hands free, but realistic enough to know many are not], and God forbid, some even text and send emails! If we stopped and thought about it for even a moment, we might even slow down a little - as we marvel at just how complex and involved driving is.

As amazing as driving is, and as casually as we all perform the function of driving, we seldom think about how we arrived at such a capable state. Let me refresh our memories... We learned to drive over many years and it began first by watching a great many others drive. We absorbed and learned to mimic the mechanics and art of driving long before we ever touched a wheel of our own. A little later on we sat in the laps of parents, brothers and sisters and other adults in our families - they let us steer as we slowly tooled around an empty lot, farm or early morning road empty of other cars. A bit later we drove little carts at amusement parks and our arms, legs, hands and eyes picked up on the mechanics of driving. We thrilled at all of it - we could sense the freedom under our fingers and we longed to hit the open road on our own. Next we entered formalized drivers training and we learned the rules of the road as well as how to drive technically and safely. We were awarded permits and under the careful eye of an adult, we practiced driving. Finally, we took off on our own - masters of the wheel... or so we thought. As young drivers we all bumped, scrapped and crashed into a lot more things and other cars than most are willing to admit and only after many years of driving and having to pay the price for our mistakes, did we start to really get it and operate our cars like responsible and seasoned members of a very large and growing club.

All the while we paid for insurance, tickets and maintenance and it all hurt and still does. Over time we embraced the reality that owning and driving a car was a big and costly responsibility and we learned the value of doing it right each and every time. When we had kids we came to understand the real importance of driving safely and defensively and our understanding of this only grew as our children grew and began to drive themselves. We became keenly sensitive to the use of our cars - especially when our kids did not care for them, or heaven forbid, wrecked them. We all paid and very sadly, too many paid, too much and they lost loved ones in terrible accidents. In the end, as much as we came to appreciate our need to drive, we embraced how amazing a privilege it really is.

In a car, we are trained, licensed, insured, policed, inspected and governed. We are free to drive to any place we wish, when we wish, but there are basic rules and laws we must adhere to if we are to remain safe and retain our privilege to drive. When we wreck a car, even the worst of them seem only to affect a very few and as horrible and tragic as the losses may be, they are most often distant enough from us, that we are tricked into assessing it can't ever involve us. When we operate a personal computer however, we are subject to nearly no laws - though our potential to harm millions is very real.

Cars and Driving - Perhaps the First "Liberating Technology"

The car changed us - it changed society as we know it. The car liberated us. We could work, learn, marry, live and die hundreds and thousands of miles distant from where we were born. I named my company, "Liberating Technologies" because I saw computer based technologies as being even more liberating - freeing people from the finite paths over which cars might travel between any two, or more points. As a technology, computers are the most liberating technology we now have - they are the cars we drive along an unending and ever changing network of invisible roads and with them we travel as fast as our minds will let us - rendering the speed of light to some lesser velocity.

Driving Computers - the most Liberating of Technologies

First, we have to get our heads around the idea that we drive our computers and by so doing, we are participants on a network of many highways which require that we exercise at least as much care for how we operate a computer as we do a car. Second, we have to stop blaming people and companies for what we experience while operating a computer of any kind and start taking ownership of the experience and responsibility for our actions and the less visible actions taken by our computers. We wouldn't dream of letting an un-trained child or young adult drive our cars and we shouldn't dream of letting a child drive a computer without the same controls, supervision and care we apply to the use of a car. It took us years to reduce the driving of a car to muscle memory and we have to accept that it will take time to master the use of connected computers. We have to commit to educating ourselves and those we are responsible for.

Once we have accepted the life-long responsibility of properly and safely operating a connected computer, then and only then may we effectively participate among others who have accepted the same. The socialization of the web is great, but we have to admit that it may also be lending a disproportionate share of voice to a highly vocal group of people that may not have earned their full right to that voice. Simply, many operators out there may have the technical skills to drive, but we must ask, do they have the wisdom to drive alongside others and do they have the experience necessary to formulate policies, or even influence those policies that have the potential to impact so many others. We have to condition ourselves and others to stop blaming others and start taking responsibility for how well, or not well, computers operate.

Like Cars, Computers are More Capable and Complex than Ever Before

Very few people are shade-tree mechanics any longer. For better and for worse, cars have become so sophisticated and so complex that even the most seasoned professional mechanics are now highly specialized and focused on areas of responsibility. Precious few people are experienced in all areas of how a car is built or works. In our own company, which is a full-service enterprise, we have specialists and no one person has all the capabilities our customers need. Collectively however, our teams do have the required aggregate experience and skill. The very same is true of a modern computer in the context of a user. So it is most important that computer users come to understand to whom they may turn when they need assistance - and they WILL NEED assistance. They may not necessarily need repairs right away, but computer users nearly always need help immediately.

Stop Blaming Windows and Vista

Blaming Windows, Vista and Microsoft my score a forum poster style points over at /. or earn a compliant blogger a few more dollars, but it isn't going to solve the challenges people face when learning and using a new operating system.

We have proved to ourselves, our customers and readers that Windows Vista can be made to run not just well, but perfectly. I have shared our work and experiences here. We know and have shown that with the application of normal levels of effort and care, that Windows Vista is capable of satisfying claims of being the most capable, secure and easiest to use version of Windows yet made. We know from our own use that Windows Vista is more than just capable and reliable, it is a joy to use - it's fast, beautiful to look at and things really are easy to find - be they applications, documents, or media of any type.

We also know how sophisticated Windows Vista is and that it took very hard work to design and manufacture computers and software that allow it to do what it does best. We know how hard we studied to learn and understand it from every perspective and how to optimize it for different roles.

We assess that computer users need to apply similar, but relevant efforts in learning the new operating system and the hardware they purchased, or purposed in support of Windows Vista.

The Parallels between Cars and Computers are nearly Endless but there are differences, too!

The most common parallel between computers and cars are the people that drive them - we humble human beings. We are fragile, complex little bi-peds with sharp teeth and sharper tongues. We have devolved in a lot of ways - we seem to delight in getting over on the other guy, or we fume in traffic and on the message boards. When it all heads south, we look for whom we might blame and blaming Microsoft and Windows Vista is as big, fat and attractive a target as they come - juicier and more available than Ford and Firestone - despite the fact that we never, ever check the air in our tires!

No one is immune from the blame game. Not me, not you and not well heeled techies the likes of Jim Louderback [no wonder PC MAG is on the ropes - the former senior editor wouldn't have made a decent PC Tech, much less a great computer engineer - not if you read his empty rant and take from it what I did...].

We've all done it. We've set down our responsibilities, picked up a big fluffy pillow and cried out load about how unfair it all is. We need to stop it.

Action is what is Required

This post is not enough by a long shot. We have to do more. I have to assume that people will read this and really want to learn more and take back ownership of what they do on and with a PC.

While we have always made ourselves available for COST FREE computer user training, we're taking it a step further and opening a school. We're offering our customers, their families, friends and colleagues, FREE access to training on Windows Vista, Office 2007, Exchange 2007, WSS 3.0, Windows Server 2003/2008 and all that may be done with and on them. Every other Saturday of every month, we will host people in our data center and simply share what and how we drive our PC's, networks and software. We have a full lab available and it includes all the systems, media systems, HDTV's and associated bits we all use every day. We're open and we're going to share and help people take back and own their computers and perhaps learn to face that guy in the mirror on our own terms in the process.

We hope you'll join us for the ride.

IE 7 Reset Quick Tip

admin — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:50:00 GMT

Anyone who supports people using computers pretty quickly realizes why the PC is so popular - it accommodates so many different types of uses, people and profiles, or the combination of human user and PC configurations - the variations are nearly endless. Supporting so many choices can be fun, but it can be challenging, too. Just as quickly support engineers come to understand that if a PC can be borked by a user it will be (that has to be on some kind of list some where...), and in ways that can be very creative.

There are days and then there are days...

Some days are easy - some are very hard and we've seen our share of both. We've seen unmanaged users contort a PC into such a mess that it almost appears that there is no way it couldn't have been done intentionally. Some home and SOHO PC's we come across are so jacked that as we scratch our heads we imagine teams of NASA engineers working overtime to create some kind of uber-final doomsday scenario as part of an advanced simulation designed to test system engineers. "How in the.... <trying not to shake one's head>" is a common reaction.

As fun as it is to imagine how some systems end up in the messy state we find them, it is even more fun to fix them and restore them and their users to full productivity. In most cases we run across, the cause behind a poorly running PC are many third-party applications plug-ins. Windows is very reliable and predictable and has been for a long time and so are many non-Microsoft applications people buy. I say, most...

When good applications go bad...

Increasingly, we run across what we like to call, irreverent software - software that assumes things on behalf of users - who may not know what the software assumes is okay for it to suddenly take control of, or add to a user's computer. Irreverent software used to be largely restricted to down loadable free and or shareware titles - the ubiquitous Google tool bar is a prime example - it seems to be bundled with everything under the sun and enabled by default. These days irreverent software is everywhere - buy about any product and one is likely to see its default installation add a wad of undesired bits that were not clearly identified to the user blowing the application into their system. Google's not alone and it may not be the worst offender, but it is the most pervasive. Others include Yahoo, Real, iTunes stuffed into Quick-time installers and of course Microsoft - who often has to include and bundle irreverence in order to comply with one court or another.

Seasoned systems engineers have seen enough baked systems to know where to look and what to reverse in order to resolve PC issues. They know that the Other TAB in Outlook 2003 options is where to go to find and clear Apple's iTune's plug-in [if you have the ITMS plugged into Outlook, you need help... just say'in]. They know which .DLL to register in order to fix an MS Office install on a system that can't upload multiple files to a Share-point document library. They've learned to reboot into Safe Mode with Networking before attempting to update DRM security components on a Vista PC [ http://drmlicense.one.microsoft.com/Indivsite/en/indivit.asp?force=1 ] as a solution to a cantankerous Zune, reflecting the nearly infamous 10114 error code. Sometimes however, even the saltiest of systems and support engineers get their backsides handed to them by a PC borked over by irreverent software.

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution...

When we come across a system that is running poorly and we can't quickly find the underlying reason, we reset Internet Explorer back to its defaults. We've noted that by doing this we can solve a large percentage of PC performance issues that touch on a very wide range of applications and systems components - everything from mail programs to media players can be affected. Fortunately, Internet Explorer 7 features as easy "RESET" button under the advanced TAB in IE's Properties. By pressing reset, all temp files and plug-ins are disabled - but... not in IE alone - they are also removed from programs like Outlook 2002/2003, etc...

Internet Explorer 7 Reset button

While one will have to add back the behaviors and plug-ins they do want, clicking IE 7's Reset is a good way to restore a great many things that may be too hard to find for less seasoned users and support engineers.

"Good Enough" is not "Good Enough" The best PC you have has not been built yet

admin — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:58:00 GMT

How many times have we heard it, read it and perhaps said it - good enough is good enough?

It seems that these days we hear and read that phrase a lot more frequently than we used to - most especially as it regards technology and personal computers. In writing that last sentence a few words jump off the page at me - personal and technology, most prominently. I've always defined technology as that which enhanced human performance, or advanced the human condition, or both, and personal as that which was intensely belonging to an individual - as in one's thoughts. The personal computer, I think, was designed to represent a place as much as a thing - where human thought was both enhanced and advanced at the same time. So how could such a place ever be good enough?

Those that assert that good enough is good enough share common phrases. We've all read and heard them. "computers for basic web surfing and email are all one needs" "analog audio and video are good enough" "on-line applications, though limited, are good enough" "free email accounts are good enough" "free software is good enough" "128kb music is good enough" "video on tiny screens is good enough" "DVD's are good enough" The list of examples is nearly endless and it is growing and with it, the sense that our press wishes for us, to become something less than what we are - human.

I think above all else, to be human, is to be an aspirational being - a creation that seeks to be and do more than that from which it came. We are intended to continually aspire - to achieve the next big thing. If one is to believe our press, we are intended to do nothing special with nothing special, ever. Our children are no longer allowed to play tag, because someone might lose. We are not to compete, because we might win and make another feel bad - instead of motivated to work harder and perhaps win the next round. Instead of excellence, we are encouraged to pursue mediocrity - sometimes in the name of fairness, and sometimes for other less understandable reasons. Dumb it down, make it simple and common - the pursuit of mediocrity, sameness and complacency have replaced loftier goals more consistent with what it is to be human, because after all, good enough is good enough.

In large measure, we are our computers - they are a reflection of who we are and what we aspire to become. Limiting what they can do, or suggesting that what we do with them be restricted, can't be allowed to become a goal - not for any reason. Yes, one's first computer may be humble, but it should be a part of that which allows one to continually acquire additional and more powerful systems, and add to the strength we build in pursuit of our goals.

The personal computer is perhaps the most intensely personal device man has ever created. A personal computer, however compelling and powerful its design may be, is much more than a physical device, it is above all, an expression of the human person who owns and operates it. It is a vehicle facilitating human aspiration and the individual pursuit of excellence. Its power, like the ever expanding base of knowledge it provides access to, should never be limited. As a device for the expression of all things human, the personal computer stores much that is most private to their owners and users, and surrendering that privacy in exchange for free email and applications services is a mistake. What a personal computer stores and what it communicates about people should be as carefully guarded and respected as a person's deepest thoughts. If we don't care about our privacy, any hope that we have that Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft will, is lost and once lost, we're not going to be able to get it back easily.

When we read press statements like, "good for basic email and web surfing" we ought to view them as enormous red flags of caution and become alert to the underlying intent of the message. We ought to question motives and seek out context - is the author simply describing the limited capabilities of a system in a hardware review [where such observations would be appropriate], or is the author suggesting, that such basic and limited tasks are all that one should be interested in. We have to reject the idea that somehow those who are in need and less fortunate, will somehow be made more fortunate if we are all reduced to some low common state. The idea that we will all be elevated somehow, by diminishing us all, insults what we are as aspirational creations. Where one person stands and aspires, they will elevate those around them - regardless of their station in life.

When we allow others to define and limit the systems we depend upon for access to information, we surrender a large part of ourselves. If we allow them to define the limits of our personal computers, or remove that which is personal from them, we give back perhaps our best chance to achieve our goals. As compelling as some Apple, Inc. computer designs are, the limited choices one has regarding hardware configurations and the potential for upgrades, immediately removes them from my list of prospective systems. Apple Mac computers are not personal computers, because we can't make them personal. While we might build and use laptop computers and their configuration options may be greater than Apple's, we still own and regularly use personal computers, because we can make them personal. Very similar things can be said about the made to order OEM computer manufacturers - despite greater choices, there are still limits - perhaps limitations in what a person may do on their own. This is why small local builders of personal computers are so important and why people should once again, come to think of computers as being personal. Working with smaller, specialty builders, opens a window of opportunity which remains open. As consumers of personal computers we not only have the right to powerful systems which we can modify to suite our individual and continuously evolving needs, we have a responsibility to ensure that our current computing needs and desires are exceeded - our computers need to start with more power than we are using, with the expectation that in a short while, they will struggle to keep up. If any aspect of the personal computing experience is to be regarded as appliance like, it is that we must be willing to replace the appliance when it no longer serves our needs - as casually as we would recycle a television that is suddenly too small for the room into which it is moved.

The personal computer people need has not been built yet - it hasn't even been designed yet. The personal computer people need will be defined not by what people are doing, but by what they will be doing tomorrow. The best place to begin to design and build a personal computer is within one's own mind, imagination and aspirations. People should think about what they are doing, but they should also think about what they'd like to do - play intense games, edit and produce their own high definition videos, make big contributions to the folding home project, develop and compile rich applications, or host media services in their homes - whatever it is. Once they have thought about what they'd like to do, they should seek out and partner with dedicated local builders and work with them to build a computer that is once again, personal.

Here are some personal tips for ways to express that "Good Enough is not Good Enough!"

More than anything else, people need to live, work and play like it matters.

When you move, move like you have a purpose.

When you give blood, pump your legs and try and blow up the bag.

When you take a leak, push so hard you put a head on it like a draft beer.

When you run, run until you puke and then run some more to celebrate.

When you use a PC, make its chips howl for relief - push that pig until it breaks.

Cheers!

Lloyd