Category: Compgeeky

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Thinking of Buying a New Computer?

Wait until Fall, if you want a Windows computer. Seriously. M$ has announced that Windows 7 will ship October 22 this year, and folks, if you must buy a Windows computer this year, you will benefit by waiting on Windows 7 as opposed to buying a Vista-based computer. Note: Vista has improved somewhat, but it’s still bloated, slower than XP or Windows 7 and far, far too resource-intensive, IMO.

So, if you are planning to buy a Windows computer this year, hold onto your computer dollars, if you can, until Fall and buy a Windows 7 based computer. When you do, think carefully about your intended use, though. There will be several consumer-oriented “flavors” of Windows 7 and you’d probably be better-served in the long run to buy the most advanced-featured version that will run well on the hardware you select.

OTOH, if you intend to run another OS on your new computer purchase (or build), Ubuntu 9.04 (in a fresh install only–an upgrade from 8.10 failed horribly for me), PCBSD 7.1 or any number of other OS offerings (I still very much like Puppy Linux for low-spec machines!) would do well on nearly any new computer. In fact, Ubuntu is offering a netbook-tailored version of Ubuntu 9.04 that could make such low-powered machines much more useful than the Windows 7 Starter Edition that M$ is authorizing for installation on netbooks.

Depending on the user’s needs, I could recommend Windows 7, Ubuntu 9.04, PCBSD 7.1 or Puppy Linux 4.2.1. It all depends on what YOU want to do with your computer, what its hardware is, etc.

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Managing Email

For some time now, I’ve been using Thunderbird Portable to manage my email accounts. For me, it has several advantages over other options:

With all my email from all my accounts gathered in one place on a flash drive (and backed up–usually daily, because the flash drive WILL fail eventually–to a hard drive by simply dragging and dropping the whole Thunderbird Portable folder), I can take it with me wherever I go and still not have to mess with the cumbersome nature of even the best webmail (a tossup between GMail and Yahoo Mail, IMO–Windows Live is for very sick, thought-to-be-extinct Dodo birds *heh*). Simple, and I can still use it whether in a Windows or Linux–or even PCBSD–session (as long as WINE’s installed in the ‘nix box). Really snazzy solution.

But. What about when an older OS or computer refuses to release a flash drive and getting it disconnected causes file corruption (even shutting the computer down may not avert that problem)? That’s a good reason to not only back the mail up every day but to configure T-Bird to leave the messages on the server, not simply delete them on download. Yeh, yeh, that could mean dropping in on some accounts and manually cleaning out clogged up mail folders every now and then, but that’s a very small price to pay.

Besides, with daily backups, it’s doubtful one would lose much mail even were T-Bird not configured to leave mail on the server. One corrupted startup and… simply reinstall over the existing installation, and if mail needed to be copied over from backup, no problem.

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Compouter Fun

No, that’s not a typo. At least half (the Ubuntu half) of my primary computer is “pouting” right now. The upgrade from 8.04 to 8.10 was a tad rough, so I thought I’d put off the upgrade to 9.04. After all, it was working… OK (pretty darned well in fact). But. Yeh, you guessed it. I caught the bug and initiated the upgrade process.

Fragged my Ubuntu install. AFTER the upgrade “finished” the update manager warned me (AFTERWARDS!) that some packages had not installed correctly. Oopsie. Yep, my first really, really unstable Linux box is now on that “side” of a dual boot machine.

So… fortunately, I’ve been saving my data off in a couple of ways and have easy access to it on an external drive. The programs I can always just reinstall… and tweak and reconfigure and fiddle with, etc., until they’re the way I want ’em again. Notaproblem, really. Heck, I might just bag it on Ubuntu 9.04 on this machine and install an alternate Linux designed for more media-intensive computing. We’ll see. (LinuxMCE with add-ons, perhaps?)

Meanwhile, back on the Win7 side of the box, I’ve been having fairly good luck with the original, official, Windows 7 beta, 7.00. But the release candidate’s been out for a few days now–released to the general public today, though “developers” have had their hands on it longer–and I started downloading the 3.1GB DVD image about 15 minutes ago. About three quarters done now, and that means…

Back up this side of the dual boot. No, not a full backup, just a “files and settings” transfer to nail down my documents libraries and settings. No email backup, because I’m using Thunderbird Portable so each “side” of the dual boot “sees” the same thing. Handy. Oh, the “Easy Transfer” utility will miss my Opera profile, but backing that up and reimporting it is a snap. One folder and bob’s your uncle.

Soooo… what time I have to spare over the next few days will be devoted to:

Making sure everything I want from the Ubuntu side is backed up (only about a gig or so not currently shuffled off–that’s pretty good for me. :-)). *Mostly “Check”*

Back up what I want from the Win7b side. *Check* (ET utility saving that data now and Opera profile saved already)

Print the license keys for the Win7 RC.

Burn the Win7 DVD.

Do a clean install of the Win7 RC.

Import files and settings and reinstall all my applications in Win7.

Hunt down the Linux distro I want, burn the ISO and install it.

Why both? Well, frankly, because after nine months of almost exclusive daily use of Ubuntu on this machine, I found it fit almost all my needs almost perfectly (save for my gripes about updates and upgrades and just a couple of very small issues with apps I really, really wanted working perfectly under WINE). Then, after gaining a sense that perhaps Windows 7 wasn’t going to be the grinding pain in the neck (substitute a much lower part of human anatomy for more accurate wording–*heh*) that Vista has been, I decided to test it out on this same machine.

I was pleasantly surprised. I have only a very few small issues with apps and some small pains with computer management “the Win7 way” but overall, it’s running neck and neck with Ubuntu on ease of use and–until this last “upgrade” to Ubuntu 9.04–it’s close to Ubuntu in stability, even surpassing it now that the 9.04 upgrade has fragged that “side” of the computer. So now, at the very least, I’m going to keep Win7 around in order to be on top of the curve for early adopters who may call on me for help with the OS’s few quirks. And yeh, I have a “spare” XP on hand to try out the XP mode that is available for use on the advanced Win7 SKUs and on systems that have processors that handle virtualization natively (this computer qualifies).

So, for the foreseeable future, once I get these little niggling details worked out, this box will remain a dual boot box. I’ll probably “live” on the Linux side most of the time, but Win7 is certainly good enough to win a fulltime install on a new HTPC build I hope to do soon.

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I’ll Pass for Now

On Thursday, a large spike in bandwidth usage at some download sites will likely mark the release of Ubuntu 9.04. I’ve been using the beta of 9.04 in a Vm for a while, now, and since it’s offered notsomuch advantage over 8.10, I think twc central will pass for now. My last upgrade, from 8.04 to 8.10 was not a nightmare upgrade, but it did break a few media features, require reinstallation of THE SAME video drivers I had been using and several other lil gripes. So, with no really big gains, super-duper changes, in the OS and every reason to expect the usual breakage of features on upgrade, as well as the likely slow download because of eager beavers wanting their upgrade NOW, twc central will stick with Ubuntu 8.10 for now.

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Backup Strategies

Another one of those posts that will interest only those folks who find computers interesting… but should be interesting to anyone who uses one.

Just sayin’.

I’ve been using personal computers for better than a couple of decades now, though only intensively for the past sixteen or seventeen years. Before that, I could take or leave ’em, pretty much. In that time, I’ve had my fair share of disk crashes that threatened my data with extinction. But only threatened. Because I learned–at least eventually–that backing up my computer was a lot less hassle than recreating my data.

For some folks, NOT backing their computers up has meant disaster.

Here are some decent strategies for backups that cover the most typical backup choices, though certainly not all.

Disk Imaging: using an imaging program such as Symantec’s Ghost or Acronis True Image (for Windows) or something like PartImage in Linux, one can save an exact image of a hard drive to another location (a network storage device, a server, an external hard drive or even spanned across several CDRs or DVDRs) and restore that image should something catestrophic occur. This would allow a complete duplicate of a hard drive to be restored, including the operating system.

Backup Software: use this to save copies of files and folders (usually in a compressed format) to another location (again, a network storage device, a server, an external hard drive or even spanned across several CDRs or DVDRs). This is certainly the traditional choice most folks are led to implement. There are so many different backup software choices, listing even a few might not touch on one that suits you best, so if you find this sort of option appealing, just google it.

A variation of the category of backup software are online backup services. Again, there are many different services, search for one that appeals to you.

I take a rather casual approach to backups. Casual and paranoid all at once. I’ve used “automatic” backup software… that failed. So, while I take backups seriously, I’m not locked in to one of the usual suspects. Since I try whenever possible to use free software–preferably FOSS (Free, Open Source Software, though I’m not always able to find FOSS software that meets my needs)–I never do full disk backups. If I have an OS or disk crash, I’m perfectly willing to do a fresh install of the OS and all of my software. It’s my own personal data–data that is uniquely mine: my emails, my personally generated documents (of all kinds, including my own musical comps and arrangements)–that most concerns me. So, I regularly copy my data folders to several external media: CDRs, DVDRs, online storage and external hard drives.

My email is easiest, and is a good example. I don’t like to use webmail, so I use an email client, Thunderbird, to download my “real” email (not from “junk” email accounts), but I don’t use an email client installed on my computer.

*huh?!?*

That’s right. I use Portable Thunderbird, which is “installed” on a USB flash drive. Not only can I take ALL my email with me and use Portable Thunderbird to download and send email from nearly ANY computer (with an enabled USB port), but backing up EVERYTHING email related is a snap. Preferences, contacts, filters and emails and the application itself: all can be “backed up” by simply copying the Portable Thunderbird folder from the flash drive to another location. Any location. Online, another hard drive, a CDR–whatever. Just drag and drop and all those things that can be a nightmare to back up with many email clients are backed up.

Nice.

Other than that, I have all my personal data–including passwords, personally generated documents of all kinds, etc., in standard folders on all my computers and simply zipping them up and dropping the sipped files in the desired backup locations and… bob’s your uncle: everything I WANT to have backed up is backed up.

For me, doing this about once a week is all the protection I really need. Perhaps it would be suitable for your needs as well; just zip up whatever you want saved and store it elsewhere.

But do note: at least one offsite backup of all the data you want to preserve is HIGHLY recommended. It’ll do you no good if you save all your precious data to an external drive and some DVDRs if your house burns down and takes the data with it.

(If my house and my hosting company burned to the ground on the same day, I’d be in a world of hurt. *heh* Well, except for the data in my “fireproof” safe, perhaps.)

Heck, while I’m at it, consider how safe your important hardcopy documents like birth certificate, etc., are. Are they at least in a fire-rated safe?

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This is NOT an April Fools’ Joke

N.B. I sent an email out last week mentioning this to some folks, but it bears repeating.

There’s a relatively new “botnet” called Psyb0t that is making the rounds mostly in Europe, South America and Asia, that attacks poorly-secured routers that use a specific Linux implementation. Infected routers experience the botnet as a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack. It is, at this time, not thought to have gotten much penetration into North America, but taking common sense steps to secure your router is easy and ought to be done in any case. ANY router/firewall that uses the specific Linux protocols this botnet targets is vulnerable UNLESS it is properly secured.

The good news is that proerly securing a router/firewall from infection by this botnet is a trivial task.

First, cycle any suspect router (unplug it and wait at least 30 seconds to up to a few minutes before plugging it in again). Apply the latest firmware updates available from the router manufacturer, make sure you have a strong admin password (see below) on the router, and if there’s an option for remote management, make sure it is NOT enabled, unless you have a VERY good reason and do have a strong password at the very least.

Never, never, NEVER install a router and leave it with the default password/logon. Never.

These simple, trivial steps will keep the Psyb0t malware from infecting your router(s). And even if your router doesn’t use the particular protocol this botnet attacks, these simple steps are a Very Good Thing in any case.

A partial list of potentially vulnerable routers/firewalls is available here. Do note I said “potentially vulnerable”. Some of these routers may not use the “little-endian” Linux protocol the botnet targets, and your particular routers/firewalls may already be properly secured.

A strong password will have a minimum of eight characters that are a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers and/or symbols that do NOT spell out a word in any language (as far as you can tell–who knows every language? :-)). ANYTHING based on your own personal history, preferences or that of family members is not a good idea, either, as a general practice. And if you must write down passwords, always write them in a notebook that is kept under lock and key, and maintain strict control of the key.

Never share a password without changing it after the reason for sharing it has passed. Indeed, changing passwords on a regular basis on critical devices is a Very Good Thing.

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Conficker Worm Info

N.B., I know I said posting would be light this week, but this is lunch time and this is light. *heh*

For Windows users: OK, so it’s even been in the Mass Media Hivemind misreporting recently. Easy thing to do:

Note the octal address in the pic below. Scan your computer using the BitDefender utility that’s there. If it finds an issue, and that issue is the conficker worm, go here, using a clean computer elsewhere and a flash drive, if necessary, and pick up the BitDefender conficker cleaner:

http://www.bdtools.net

bitdefenderscan

(Click on pic to enlarge)

After scanning and cleaning (if necessary), Visit Microsoft Updates and scan your computer for any updates, download and install. Then update your anti-virus and anti-spyware software.

You’re good to go.

Hopefully I won’t have too many folks’ computers to clean next week, but that’s their lookout. Both my readers here (*heh*) will be fine.

Continue reading “Conficker Worm Info”

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Choice

One of the things I like about the PC platform vs. the Mac platform is the breadth and depth of choices available. But this isn’t a post about that, really. It’s a post about choice of platforms for a simple lil web browser. Heck, my youngest nephew was delighted to discover he could use this lil browser on his Wii, and the standard downloads available for this browser include a dazzling array of platforms:

opera-platforms

Nice, eh? Choices. *heh*

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“Missed it by that much”

Apparently some wires got crossed at M$ and some M$ofties posted a date for the Win7RC release…

Microsoft accidentally confirms Windows 7 RC coming in May

One has to wonder just how much of an accident this was, though, since a technical release presaging the RC is already floating around. Still, it’s nice to know that the very first release of a new OS from Microsoft that’s held any sort of positive interest for me may well be on track for a Q3 RTM. Oh, it’s not quite good enough to pry my hands off Ubuntu (or perhaps another of the ‘nix OSes I’m still trying out–like Linux Mint or even–if it matures quickly enough–LinuxMCE), but it looks like an excellent candidate for a HTPC I want to piece together this summer, especially if the TVServer portion of MediaPortal works out well enough. (Still testing/trying that out on Win7 beta.)

Anywho, it would have been nice to see the actual page while it was up, but at least there’re text/screenshots at the link. Missed it by that much.

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This Is News?

An eWeek review of Internet Exploder 8RC1 reveals a “dog bites man” sort of story:

eWEEK Labs’ tests of Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 show that the browser has made great strides over IE 7 in terms of usability, security and stability. But the browser landscape has changed significantly in a very short time–including Google’s entry into the fray–and IE 8 is already a step behind competition including Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Opera.

Well, *duh*. As I said recently, IE8 seems to suck less than IE 5, 6, and 7, but that’s damning with faint praise.

I’m now using Opera 10 alpha, and the browser–in alpha!–seems as solid as a rock for my use. Heck, even the experimental version 10 (alpha) Opera Turbo (time limited preview) has very, very few rough edges. Some of the features in Firefox, Safari and Chrome are interesting, though most of the “can’t live without ’em” features are built into Opera and have been since about version 7.

Microsoft always seems to be building a browser for last year’s (or last decade’s or last century’s *heh*) browsing instead of looking forward or even playing catch up with the leaders. M$ still just doesn’t seem to really “get” the web.

Still, if pushed and shoved into using Internet Exploder, version 8 is shaping up to be less irritating than earlier versions in some ways. I’ve used it off and on on the Windows 7 side of a dual boot, and it’s OK. Almost as good as Seamonkey. 😉