Windows 7 RC vs Norton Internet Security (Pre-release) Part 2

Just a short update.

Norton Internet Security 2010 is now available for beta.  Get it here: http://www.symantec.com/norton/beta/overview.jsp?pvid=nis2010

It is the same term though.  Looks like a 14 days trial and possibly (I hope) renewable for another 14.  And then you are on your own again without a product to try/buy since the real release won’t be out.

Windows 7 RC vs Anti Virus

After giving up on Norton’s NIS, I was protectionless for a few days.  It was nervewrecking enough that I just can’t do it any more.  So I resumed my search for the next temporary solution.  Here’s a brief summary:

Norton 360 is out.  Even the most current version is incompatible with Windows 7 and it doesn’t seem to have a beta or pre-release version available. (At least I can’t find one.)  Wasted 2 hours on it.  Save yourself some time.

Norton Internet Security 2010’s webpages are up but the beta/pre-release wasn’t available yet.  No go there.

McAfee has a beta version but repeated attempt to access it failed.  I’m not entirely certain what’s going on.  It could be that the site really is broken.  Or it could be that it detected Windows 7 RC (as oppose to Windows 7 Beta) and decided it wasn’t going to let me in.  Garbage.

4th try is Trend Micro Internet Security.  Took a good 30 minutes to get it downloaded and installed.  You can just tell this is not a polished product.  It talks the talk but if you are not verse in computer, you are going to need help.  The install-from-the-web process didn’t work.  I have to download the package, unpack it myself, and run the installer manually.  Even that it failed the first time.  Not to fault them or anything, they were freeware for quite a few years before turning commercial.  After a couple of attempts, it is working.  According to their webpage, it should work for at least a month.  We shall see.

…this is painful…

Windows 7 RC vs Norton Internet Security (Pre-release)

Bleeding edge has its price.  Per my earlier post some weeks ago, the old Norton Internet Security (Vista compatible) doesn’t work with Windows 7 Beta or Windows 7 RC.  Symantec posted a pre-release version of NIS that does work.  So all was well… for a little while.  After 14 days, the subscription expired and it went online and renewed it for another 14 days.  I figure it was good until Windows 7 actually comes out and the real NIS release goes on sale.

Nooooo.  After renewing once 14 days ago, the subscription expired again.  This time, it won’t renew.  So I went online and had a chat with their support to see what can be done.  Mind you that I still have a current subscription of NIS that is not being used so I’m exactly sponging off for free.  We went back and forth a few rounds.  Basically, it boils down to:

Me: I have a current subscription to NIS and you have the pre-release NIS for Windows 7 that works, why can’t I just use it?

Symantec: The pre-release is like trial ware, we can’t renew it.

Me: You did for 14 days.  Why can’t you do it again?

Symantec: Sorry, no can do.

Me: So even though people like me help you people test software AND you have the software, you won’t help.  In addition, I’m a current subscriber and you are going to leave me hanging without a usable NIS for months.

Symantec: Too bad for you.  Have a great day.

** Okay, s/he wasn’t that rude. I’m just grumpy.**

I guess they are just begging for me to leave.  And these manufacturers wonder why they can’t maintain customer loyalty. *sigh*

Alright, the search for protection continues…

Tinkerbell doesn’t use Mac (A revelation from playing with Windows Mobile 6.5)

Earlier today, I decided to play around with Windows Mobile 6.5.  I’ve been itching to re-flash my Tilt (a la HTC Kaiser).  How bad can it be, right?   Errr… wrong.

After a couple of hours of reading, I got all the parts together… or so I thought.  Another 30 minutes later, I replaced the bootloader with HardSPL.  It was fairly straight forward.  Another hour later after quite a few hard resets and more reading, I realized I downloaded the wrong ROM.  It was WM 6.1 instead of 6.5.  Another hour later, I got the WM 6.5 ROM loaded.  As the phone hard reset, I found myself stuck on the alignment screen where you configure the screen using the stylus to poke various spots on the screen.  It was in an endless loop and wouldn’t let me out.  Suggestions on the net abound and I tried them all.  What didn’t work: the Remote Alignment tool from Code Factory, removing Welcome.lnk from Windows Startup, adding Welcome.Not to everywhere.  Some people even go so far to open the whole thing up to re-seat the screen.

So I spent an hour opening the phone, re-seating all the parts.  No help from that… except I did impress my wife with knowing what a Torx wrench is *AND* having a set …  After 3 hours struggling with the alignment screen, the final solution was to pretend the screen was 1 inch square just to get through the process and then change the calibration via a remote registry editor (CERegEdit).

Then I spent the next 2 hours figuring out how to use WM 6.5, hooking it back up to AT&T, re-establishing the data connection, setting email, calendar, Activesync, yadda yadda yadda.  It has be without a doubt the most painful thing I’ve done in the past 12 months.

As I work through all the problems in my head, I came to one conclusion.  All these problems are caused by choices.  Choices always complicate things.  When choices interact, the cascade effect can change the scenario into a mind boggling web of loops with as many dead ends as there are desirable exits.  From half a dozen bootloaders, to a dozen Wm 6.5 ROMs each with another 5 or 6 versions from different people, to dozens of utilities, to countless message threads in hundreds of forums.  My mind has melted over the past 10 hours.  All because of choices.

This lead me to one revelation:  In technology, choices are for those who tinkers.  Normal people do not value the shear volume of choices because 1) choices simply add to confusion (think about the last time someone tries to pick out a cell phone), and 2) the web of dead ends is paralyzingly unproductive.  On the other hand, those who value choices are not really looking for the result.  Instead, it is the tinkerers who enjoy navigating the confusion, escaping pitfalls, and come out alive.  To them, it is the process that was valuable.

Tinkerbell does not use a Mac because there is nothing she can tinker with.  Tinkerbell uses unix.

DNS-321 vs Network Performance

In the past few months, I’ve been experiencing some intermittent network performance issue.  I never spent much time on figuring it out as most of the time it manifest as XBox Live videos not streaming cleanly from the net to the XBox 360.  I figure it must be a glitch with XBox Live or cable or wifey spamming large documents to her clients.

Today I was messing around with the network and pulled both NAS out of the closet.  Needing some files off, I hastily hooked it up to my hub on my desk.  While my daughter was playing around on the 360, I quickly noticed that the DNS was very busy with no one accessing it.  A few more experiments on the 360 later lead me to one conclusion.  The DNS-321 is actually a bad citizen on the LAN.  It is very nosy about all the traffic on the network and very chatty also.  I pulled out an old switch from my box of parts and replaced the hub and everything quiet down.  The 360 streaming performance was back up to normal.   

So the conclusion is that the only way to connect the DNS-321 is through a switch or a router.  If you use a hub, the local traffic will slow to a crawl.  I wish I still have my packet sniffer box so I can see what on earth it was doing… maybe when Windows 7 RC1 expires on the Mini 9, I’ll rebuild it into a Linux box and poke around some more…

Adventure with Windows 7 continues

My notebook (Dell M1330) had been acting up.  I basically took the easy way out and blame Windows Vista.  It could be the case or not.  It could be the hard drive.  But in any case, I’d have to rebuilt it.  So blaming Windows means I don’t have to go buy another hard drive… for now.

After using Windows so many years, it wasn’t a big deal to back up what I need to keep.  It just took some time.  While it was going I was contemplating whether to stay with Vista or take the plunge and go with the Windows 7 Release Candidate (7RC).  After playing around with 7 beta for so many months, I’ve decided I just couldn’t go backward.  Charge!!!!

Well… it wasn’t as smooth as I thought it would be.

First of all, the trick of using a bootable USB stick with 7RC on it didn’t work.  I think it is a problem with the M1330 itself.  Even though there is an option to boot from USB device, there was no power hitting the stick on boot.  After 3 or 4 boot, it was apparent that I’d have to do it the old fashion way: burn the ISO to a DVD.  Bleh… An hour later, I have the DVD in hand.  In it when and bye bye Vista.

The installation was fairly straight forward even though it took longer that expected to transfer the system files.  That is definitely the DVD drive problem.  (It would also explain why it took forever for me to rip DVD.)  I blew the old partitions away and 7RC made new ones.  From that point, it is no different from any other OS installations: patch the OS, tweak it, install drivers, install software, get the data back, at the mean time praying the whole time.  Here are some highlights.

1. When 7 tells you you have no hardware issue (remember the yellow triangles in Device Manager?), it is lying.  Whatever it can’t install, it does not show up.  I had to think through what hardware were actually on the machine and installed the ones not showing up manually.  More on that in a bit.
2. The primary hardware got detected and configured properly without any input from me.  After it was done, I could get on the LAN and the web and grab everything else I need.
3. 7 patched readily, no problem at all.  It took 3 or 4 reboots but all went well.
4. Next up was Norton.  Norton Internet Security 2009 needed Adobe Flash Player for some of its UI.  Okay okay okay, that first.
5. Adobe is Adobe, everything was easy to find online, downloaded, installed.  Done.
6. Back to Norton.  As it turns out Norton Internet Security 2009 is not compatible with 7RC.  Surprise surprise.  Symantec does have a beta version for 7.  So I grabbed that and installed it.  All is well, I feel safer already.  Just gotta remember to turn off idle scan… what a horrible feature.
7. The first hardware that I noticed that wasn’t working was sound.  Most of the recent Dells uses Sigmatel sound chips.  The Vista driver list on Dell’s site confirmed it.  Since nothing is available for 7, I took a chance.  The Dell driver worked.  This is looking good.
8. The Synaptics touch pad lost a couple of features using default driver from 7RC.  Since Dell’s version is actually a cut down version, I opted for the real thing from Synaptics itself.  It worked like a charm also.
9. The integrated camera (Creative Labs) wasn’t working either.  Tried the Vista driver from Dell.  Worked.
10. Most of the drivers seem fine so software is next.  The Roxio that came from Dell also worked.  No issue.
11. Next up: MS Office Pro.  Installation was as usual, clicked on the button to check for updates… everything went haywire.  Nothing ran afterwards.  Office thinks there is a patch running.  The patch didn’t complete.  It was a mess.  *sigh*  Uninstalled everything, tried again.  This time no checking online.  Instead I ran Excel and got Office activated.  All was well.
12. To patch Office, I let Windows do the checking, that worked much better.  A couple more reboots later, Office is working.  I did skip SP2… not going to beta test that one.
13. Started Outlook to re-establish a new PST and connected to my email.  Opened the old PST from the backup and dragged what I want to keep over.  Mail, calendar, contacts, notes.  All done.  Email is up!  I felt civilized already.
14. Wifey has a Xerox Workcentre on the network so I installed the driver for it.  Again, Vista drivers worked.
15. The Canon Pixma Pro9000 didn’t fair so well.  It was shared off of her desktop but 7RC couldn’t connect to it… ah well, one down… not that I use it in the past 6 months so I skipped it.
16. Next up is Visio.  I only have the 2003 one and that installed and activated.
17. Adobe Photoshop Elements was fine.
18. So was Adobe Acrobat Reader.
19. The Canon camera was another story.  While the software (Zoom Browser, EOS, and Photostitch) installed fine, 7RC can’t detect the camera.  Online research shown this to be the case across the board for all Canon digital camera.  Epic failed MS/Canon!  Nothing I can do, skipped.
20. Beyond Compare worked.
21. WinRAR worked.
22. PDF Creator worked.
23. Quicktime worked.
24. iTunes took a bit of time.  My music library was already on the NAS, just had to repoint the new installation to it and rescan the library.
25. Divx, Xvid, DVD43, Handbrake, Audacity, Google Earth, Google Talk all worked.

Total work time about 12 hours.  It would have been quicker if I wasn’t playing Star Ocean at the same time.  The only casualty seems to be the Canon camera.  It has to be fixed.  MS is pointing finger at Canon and Canon, as usual, doesn’t say anything to consumers.  Very disappointing.  I bet the Canon printer will follow shortly.  Oh, and I didn’t install the biometric software (M1330 comes with a fingerprint scanner) and the remote control thingy since I don’t use it.

In any case, I’m blogging this on the newly installed notebook on Windows 7 RC.  So far so good…

A different angle on device convergence

Just came back from a T-Mobile store with wifey.  She was looking for a new phone and needed help.  Unlike most techie, she doesn’t want more.  Instead she wants a very specific set of features and would rather not have other features at the expense of additional weight.  As is she carries a bar phone (nothing beyond the phone with a phone list) and a PDA.  She uses the PDA in very specific ways and will leave it behind when not needed so as to not carry the extra weight.

For a person like me who look forward to device convergence, this is a strange twist.  The short version of the story is that the phone she wants does not exist.  On our way home, she said something interesting.  She said, “Oh just wait a few years.”  I laughed and told her not to keep her hope up.  The world has gone beyond the separate devices.  I don’t think anyone … well… I guess I should say almost no one will want to go back to having n devices to carry.  So for now, she’s living with a newer bar phone and her trusty PDA. 

As this merging of phone and PDA near completion, another parallel development is also well on its way: the downsizing of computer.  With the Atom and the more recent Ion (and a few others on the radar), the netbook phenomenon only serves to highlight the demand for such devices.  Actually that’s not quite right.  I should say the netbook phenomenon serves to highlight the direction where the demand is and will be: miniaturization of computers.  As netbooks gain 3G type capabilities and smart phones gain more power, it is quite obvious that those will converge eventually.

This is not exactly a new concept.  The UMPC initiative some years ago is one form of this trend.  Of course, in retrospect, the practical world wasn’t ready.  There was no decent small foot print OS for the masses (Unix is not for the masses).  There was no low cost high power CPU.  There was no cheap solid state storage.  There was no robust over the air networking infrastructure. 

Now the supply side is finally ready.  Apple has a new platform (the iPhone OS) that is relatively easy to develop for.  Microsoft’s Windows 7 is almost fully baked and has accumulated a level of experience with Windows Mobile.  Atom has built a good record.  Ion is on the way.  There are now 7 or 8 SSD makers in the market.  On the flip side, social networking and cloud computing of recent years have shown that a lot of what people do day to day is not done on the computer but on the web.  More and more new battery technologies are coming online.  All these add up to one thing: a new UMPC class smaller than a netbook but with bigger screen than a phone that will do the work of a computer, a PDA, and a phone.   It could just be around the corner. 

…. and I bet the first of this new class of devices has a name starts with a lowercase “i”….

Adventure with Dell Mini 9 – Episode 4

Just got back from a 2 week vacation.  I had my notebook from work for work things but the rest was done on the Mini 9.  Let’s break it down per situations.

The wait at the airport was all about having access to an AC outlet and WiFi.  Not having either really deminishes the experience. Lil girl did watch a couple of episodes of Berenstain Bears.  Among a big notebooks around, a netbook in the hands of a kid did turned some heads.

The flight was okay but the sitting position turns out to be really bad for looking down at a screen.  This is not so much a problem with the Mini 9 or any netbook but a problem for all devices be it notebooks, netbooks, handhelds (PSP, DS, iTouch, etc.).  I could barely watch a movie without getting some serious neck pain.  I think what would really help would be one of those funky visor monitor type thingy.  Beyond the viewing position, the real problem is battery life.  The battery of the Mini 9 is still too short.  Something is the neighborhood of 6 to 9 hours would help a lot.

I played navigator during the drive to and from various places.  Not having 3G or any other connectivity made it not as useful as a real time tool.  What I ended up doing was preping the travel route and grabbing the maps from Google prior to the drive.  It really becomes a 2 handed operation, definately not practical for single traveler.  A GPS navigation device is way more practical in that regard.

Actually I did tried a router software that turn my Windows Mobile phone into a router.  I was able to get data connection from the Mini 9 via Bluetooth to my phone.  The problem is the operation drain the phone’s battery so fast that it couldn’t have lasted longer than a couple of h0urs.  So far, the recurring issue with everything seems to be battery life.

Connection at the hotel was fine.  With AC power and WiFi, the Mini 9 functioned like a regular notebook.  The user experience is no different.  Nothing worth talking about there.

One thing did stand out is that the light weight allows me to carry this puppy with me everywhere I go.  Mind you I had no intention of using it in Disneyland but it is more of a concern with the hotel room’s security.  When you can’t take a chance with losing the machine and carrying an 6 or 8 pound beast sounds like dreadful idea, this light weight shines through.  (Yes, I had to check in my work ntoebook into a safe at the hotel front desk daily just so nothing happens to it.)  The bag checkers at Disneyland actually recognizes us after seeing the Mini 9 so many days in a row.

As we wait in line for the rides, many times we wanted to look things up, Disneyland facts, ride info, restaurant reservations, etc.  The fact of the matter is that as small as this computer is, it is still unwieldy in public.  It is still not convenient enough to use in a non-sit down environment. 

There is still a distinct gap between the sit down computer and the hand held. The netbooks, this Mini 9 included, is one step closer in the right direction but sadly it is not it.I dare say that none of the netbooks today fill that gap.  The only thing that came close is UMPC the likes of OQO.  While OQO really wanted to replace the full size computer with a equally capable mini size one, the netbook phenomenon seems to demonstrate that the that premise was not quite right.  What people want is something portable, usable on-the-go, while standing up, even if it is less powerful.  I don’t this gap will be filled until netbooks turned into nettablets with 3G type connectivity.  It is not here yet, but we’ll see it within the next few years.

Oh by the way, not having dedicated Home, PgUp, PgDn, and End keys makes it really hard to surf the web.

This is why we failed to protect the planet

The tiny thing on the left is a Rocketfish USB Bluetooth adapter.  It is the size of a quarter.  The packaging is in the middle, the size of a paper back book.  The shipping box is the size of a toaster.  It is the only thing that was shipped in the box.  *sigh*

Where is the common sense in that?  If processing automation or shipping efficiency and what not are the sole reasons, isn’t it time to rethink this how we as a people do things?

Adventure with Dell Mini 9 – Episode 3

A small update on battery tests.  I’m preparing for a trip, so naturally battery life becomes a concern.  Here are some test results.  I kept the number rounded just to make it relevant to real life.  The main test I did is with a movie (Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest).  I’m not sure if it is relevant but the rip is an MP4, full size per Handbrake, played by Microsoft Media Player, at full screen.  The power setting is at max everything, no dimming or anything.

Played movie from USB memory stick, battery last about 3 hours.
Played movie from USB hard drive, battery last about 2.5 hours.
Played movie from SSD, battery last about 3 hours.
Played movie from SD, battery last about 3 hours.

As shown, the primary difference above is the external hard drive which does drain some power.  Everything else is about even.