Bin Selection of Processors for low TDP

This all started when researching whether a 95W processor would be a problem on a motherboard that had a recommendation of 65W.

The jury seems to be out on that one - but it does highlight a number of points.
The TDP is a "nominal" or a maximum value for the specified processor (it is likely that your processor will consume less power and processors can be selected from production runs for units that exhibit low power consumption)

These processors can be sold at a premium or they can get re-branded as low TDP devices. Due to the nature of how Intel and AMD market their products it is not clear how this manifests itself. Those at review sites, such as Anandtech, can speculate on this - but it will probably remain unknown to the exact state of affairs.

In any case, it is probably true that processors that have a lower TDP are not necessarily better capable to be overclocked. This seems to be the #1 concern of the "fanboys" on review sites.

NemesisChild On an AMD forum says: "Do your research!"

On the Zotac website: "GF8200-C-E with Phenom X3 8750 (95w TDP) 65w motherboard with 95w CPU" - this is the board I want to use a 95W, a poster comments:
"on here one person responds with a list of approved processors that says you can't use anything higher than 65w, but then it looks like a Zotac moderator says you can:"

The "Moderator" says:
"Any processor compatible with any AM2+ board should run fine. A BIOS update may be needed to recognize the name of processors released after the most most recent BIOS."

I am not sure that it does - I don't know that Infested Nexus is a Zotac Moderator (Update: Looking deaper on the Zotac website - Infested Nexus seems to be the main contributor - However, his profile says nothing of him (or her) being the moderator - I recieved my Zotac GF8200-C-E Motherboard - a quick look at the documentation - Zotac are not Asus! There will be a review of the ITX project posted later (see link below).

The links to these quotes were on my website, they will be republished on this blog.

My intention is to use an AMD 550 (95W) on the Zotac itx board - I purchased the m/b with a 190W AMD Phenom II X4 965 (which is going to be used in my "7 Box") - this would be "pushing it"

• The ITX computer that I built with TDP concerns 
• HTPC - Home Theatre PC
• See my other post on Bin Selection 

Quad Core Faster than Dual

When it comes to media rendering.

I know that I may be "pissing into the wind" here but I am trying to find some evidential indication that a Quad Core computer is actually better than a Dual for watching media, bith from DVD, BD and downloaded torrents.

I am not looking for benchmark tests - of course they are going to say that the Quad is faster and have numbers to back it up. Especially if the figures come from the manufacturers, Intel and their shills in particular (tests that seem to be designed to make Intel devices perform better - AMD not even featuring on their charts - or if they do, it is arranged that the tests that might give them an advantage are down-played).

What I am looking for are comments from those that have upgraded from Dual Core systems to Quad Core and have noticed an improvement in performance. Although I am not into gaming, the fact that games such as Crysis and COD4 (Modern Warfare 2) can be played at higher frame rates (real figures needed here though)

Xandros Linux

Many reports have been made by users and purchasers of the EeePC installing Ubuntu and WindowsXP. Asus even advertise that the EeePC is WindowsXP capable and supply drivers forit when you purchase it.

Drivers for XP are also available on-line (and on a CD with the unit - along with a guide to installing XP), and details on how to do this are published on the eeeUser com website.

Why! - the Xandros Linux is fine! Especially when you invoke the "Full Advanced Desktop"

Web Design and content guidelines

Disseminated from the Google Guidelines - these are constantly being updated, best to make another search

These are the Design and content guidelines, the Technical ones will be discussed below

1. Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link.
2. Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the site map is larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the site map into separate pages.
3. Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.
4. Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.
5. Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images.
6. Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive and accurate. (Working on this!)
7. Check for broken links and correct HTML. (Using Google webmaster tools for this)
8. If you decide to use dynamic pages (i.e., the URL contains a "?" character), be aware that not every search engine spider crawls dynamic pages as well as static pages. It helps to keep the parameters short and the number of them few.
9. Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number (fewer than 100).

Technical

• Use a text browser such as Lynx to examine your site
• Allow search bots to crawl your sites without session IDs ..............(TF doesn't use them)
• Make sure your web server supports the If-Modified-Since HTTP header. (Not sure if I can do this)
• Make use of the robots.txt file on your web server
• .......make sure that your content management system exports content so that search engine spiders can crawl your site... (TF doesn't use CMS)
• Use robots.txt to prevent crawling of search results pages or other auto-generated pages that don't add much value for users coming from search engines. (Done)

Quality

1. Make pages for users, not for search engines. - No "cloaking"
2. Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. - "Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn't exist?"
3. Don't participate in link schemes
4. Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages
5. Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
6. Don't employ cloaking or sneaky redirects.
7. Don't send automated queries to Google.
8. Don't load pages with irrelevant words.
9. Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content. (Blog has content removed so this doesn't happen intentionally)
10. Don't create pages that install viruses, trojans, or other badware.
11. Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines, or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content. (A "gateway" page was re-introduced April 2009 in a new approach)
12. If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.

Duplicate Content

This page is probably seen as Duplicate Content by Google as per the Penguin update

The Wayback Machine

Alexa - ia_archiver and the Wayback Machine

The Wayback Machine is used to provide a historical record of how a website looked it the past.

The WayBack Machine from Alexa

ia_archiver is the search engine identifier for the WaybackMachine


What Alexa say:

The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format.

 How to remove content from WaybackMachine's Archives

How the Wayback Machine tells you how to remove your content

If you place the User-agent: ia_archiver in your robots.txt when Alexa spider your website it will not only not index your pages it will remove your pages from its existing index.

In order for your information to be removed from the Wayback archives your website must be on-line and the norobots.txt file accessible. If you have taken your website off-line your content will remain in the archive for as long as the Wayback service is in existence. This could be problematic if the website in question no longer exists but continues to be found by those making searches.

Copyright Material and WaybackMachine

This is problematic as you may be being hassled to remove copyrighted images or content from pages that have been archived by the Alexa archiver. As this is an automatic process Alexa are probably not even aware that this is the case. As such, I think that you are well within your rights to say that it is a matter that the copyright holder needs to take up with Alexa themselves. At the same time check to see that the offending material is no longer hosted by your website.

You can always remove ALL of your pages from the Wayback Machine by making the entry in your robots.txt file, but you may want some of the pages to remain. I can see no way of doing this selectively.

Personally I don't care if all of my pages have been removed from their archive. I did this because I was being hassled by someone who had found an entry that was in the WaybackMachine and wrongly assumed my identity.

Hardware Virtualization - what it means

This is an attribute of a microprocessor. It is its ability to support Virtualization by the nature of the design on the chip.

Is SSHTunel.exe an Achilles' heel?

If I were an "Anti P2P Organization" (APO) I would try to inject data that would cause the SSH encryption algorithm to throw an exception.

Deep Packet Inspection

Irrespective of the measures you may take to obscure your identity your Internet Provider (ISP) will have a pretty good idea what you are up to on-line. Even if you connection is encrypted and being routed through a proxy or VPN the amount of traffic generated by downloading movies and music will be pretty obvious to your Service Providers DPI system.

 

More posts related to Interception of what you are doing on the Internet:

• Interception

Rogers Cable Internet and JavaScript Injection

This post was formerly entitled: Rogers Cable Internet and DPI - the subject of the post is really JavaScript Injection so the title has been changed.

Below is the Injected JavaScript page that Rogers Cable generates to inform you that you have reached a certain level of Internet usage.



Along with monitoring your overall Internet usage Rogers use DPI to further determine the nature of your activity. They could, especially if mandated by the government, block ALL internet access unless you agree to some terms or refrain from certain activities.

These activities could include the downloading of files from a P2P (file sharing) service. It is likely that the demand is being made in response to a RIAA/MPAA email that they have received and have been requested that they take the following action:

Since you own this IP address (XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX), we request that you immediately do the following:

1. Remove or disable access to the individual who has engaged in the conduct described above; and
2. Take appropriate action against the account holder under your Abuse Policy/Terms of Service Agreement.

In the example shown here (the usage warning from Rogers) is a lesser version of what the ISPs are capable of. I have been informed of a Time Warner Cable subscriber having a similar message displayed that would not go away (and any other Internet access was blocked) unless they agreed to cease the activity of downloading a copyright protected movie.

While the Muse recognizes that the copyright holders are within their rights to protect their interests - using methods such as this are a "Thin end of a wedge" that threatens the whole concept of Network Neutrality.

Parting notes:
The message can be suppressed by turning off JavaScript in your browser (it is not known if this would restore your Internet access)
And, the Rogers message shown above does NOT mean that your Internet access will be, or is about to be, restricted. In my case the maximum that they charge me for usage over the 100% of my monthly allotment is only up to $25. This means I can happly go to 200 or 300% of my allowance!

Links:

• Deep Packet Inspection - DPI - what it is 

Inflammatory

Inflammatory:

From Research Lawyers.com

Definition - Noun
: tending to cause anger, animosity, or indignation 

Evidence, and esp. photographic evidence, may be deemed inadmissible if its inflammatory nature seriously outweighs its probative value or relevance. The mere fact that evidence is graphic or gruesome, however, is not enough to render it inadmissible.

Pronunciation-'fla-m&-"tOr-E

Anger, Animosity and Indignation was exactly what I was going for! as far as this is concerned I don't think any for those aims are illegal.

• What construes intimidation 
• Defamation - how it is defined 
• Looking for yourself on-line

Anti P2P Organization Blocking

• File sharing notes on The Technology Muse
• Systems

The tools used to keep you safe when downloading from file-sharing networks can be used by the organizations to snare you!



Simply blocking the access to a peer list that comprises a torrent download does not stop ANYONE accessing the same .torrent and viewing the list of those participating in file sharing. Above is a peer list from an active download showing a list of peers that were currently connected to the "pool". If an "Anti P2P" organization were to be connected to this "pool" using an IP obscuring software program you would see their FALSE IP address along with your OWN. If this list were to be used to reverse look-up these IP address's you can be identified (unless you are also using a program to obscure your IP.

Aircrack Windows XP VMWare Player

This is aircrack-ng running on an Asus 1000HE Windows XP Netbook running a Debian Linux Virtual Appliance in VMWare Player.

Shown is the airoscript console. Connection to the wireless adapter in the Netbook has been established as this screen-shot was mailed from this machine.

Experiments with packet sniffing and injection can now be started.

The Host operating system is Windows XP Home, the o/s that the Asus was supplied with. The virtual appliance was downloaded and configured using VMWare Player. A torrent package of Mac OS Leopard contained a copy of VMWare Workstation 6.5.1-126130.exe - but this was not used for this configuration.

Pages relating to Aircrack-ng on this blog:

• Aircrack for Windows
• CoWPAtty for Windows

Downloading VMWare Player:

• VMWare website - VMWare Player - I recommend that you download the player from the VMWare website, the authors of the player rather than a 3rd party download site.

Performing a Reverse IP Look-up

• How your individual computer can be identified by an APO
• Is a VPN useless for torrent anonymity?

There are many on-line services that allow you to get a first order idea of where an IP address is located.

Shown below is a peer list taken from a uTorrent client that was seeding the movie Deep Impact.

Taking the first in the list it appears that the P2P downloader is located on a network run by a company in Saudi Arabia.

If you click on the image above and scroll down you will see the contact information for this ISP. THIS IS WHAT AN ANTI-P2P ORGANIZATION WOULD DO!

If the ISP keeps records of who has been assigned an IP address, they can and they do, they can be forced to hand over your personal details if served with a court order. In the case shown here it is not clear whether the copyright owners for the movie in question would have any authority in Saudi Arabia.

If you are using a service to obscure your IP address, like BTGuard or TorrentPrivacy, then their IP address will appear in the list. Consequently if they are served with a court order they also are legally bound to hand over your details. In the case if BTGuard they are based in Canada - TorrentPrivacy, on the other hand are in the Russian Federation and further removed from the legal systems of North America and the movie houses.

If you are using a service such as PeerBlock (Peer Guardian II) ALL THAT HAPPENS IS THAT THE IP ADDRESS OF THE ANTI-P2P ORGANIZATION WILL NOT APPEAR IN THE LIST SHOWN AT THE TOP. This does not mean that they are not there, watching your every move they are just using an IP address that not known as hostile and placed in the block list.

• Saskatoon company has solution to bootlegged music - This was 17 July 2003 (you think things might be different in 2012? ****)
• Other links to IPv6 and anonymity here

**** Wayne McAlpine, the person who claims to have the solution to tracking down pirates is the same person who has been trying to work out who I am for well over a year! He accused me of being a "nobody", well if this is supposed to be an example of how he is "somebody" I for one are not impressed. There is little wonder that there was little interest in his solution:

"There's many things that people get away with every day;" McAlpine said. "The music industry complains there's a $38 billion loss each year. That's a sizeable amount of income. And I think if they were really honest about addressing it they would probably look at things more open-armed."

Wayne McAlpine is obviously not to be taken as an authority when it comes to things related to technology. In fact he is particularly sensitive to "bad" things said about him on the Internet.

Microsoft Virtual PC vs. VirtualBox

Although Windows 7 has the new and improved Microsoft Virtual-PC so that it can run XP-Mode it is not as "polished" as Sun's VirtualBox (and of course, VMWare is likely to be even more so - as it is a "paid" solution - VMPlayer is free but lacks some of the features of the full product).

Virtual-PC, for Windows 7, is supposedly a vast improvement on Virtual-PC 2007, there are enhancements that have been made to the Integration Features (in that USB devices are now accessible from the virtual machine), however, these are pretty much limited to Windows guest operating systems - the use with a Linux guest is not as slick (full screen mode, cursor capture etc.).

VirtualBox on the other hand, has a full suite of Guest Additions that allow both Windows and Linux to operate in a 'Seamless Mode'.

From the Microsoft faq page for Virtual PC the following observations are made about Virtual PC as compared to VirtualBox:

• Support for XP-Mode to 2014
• Needs AMD-V or VT - (VirtualBox does not)
• Cannot support a 64 bit guest - (VirtualBox does)
• Is aimed at small businesses (larger enterprises are supposed to use MED-V)
• 3-D graphics, audio, and TV tuners, do not work well under virtualization today. - so it not available on Home Premium (This is especially true of the Microsoft virtualization product!)
• XP-Mode is a free download of a fully licensed copy of XP SP3 (in 7) - but a copy of XP is easy to find if you look
• MED-V is built on Virtual-PC (one wonders if it has similar limitations?)

In short, Virtual PC has a ways to go. But kudos to Microsoft for sparking the interest in a better product!

PS - a search for: "ubuntu 9.10 screen resolution under ms virtualpc 2007 800" hit this blog - the screen resolution under VirtualPC (The new one!) sucks as compared to VirtualBox.

You can find a more in-depth discussion of this topic and the use of VirtualBox on my website www.tempusfugit.ca

Links:

• All pages relating to Virtualization on The Technology Muse
• How to configure Virtual Box to run DVD43 in Windows 7 XP-Mode
• XP-Mode can be Broken 

vboxadditions autorun sh

•  VirtualBox and VMs on The Technology Muse

How to add Virtualbox Guest Additions

Simply click on the autorun.sh icon in the filemanger view of the vboxadditions.iso (attached in settings)

See my earlier post: "Setting the display resolution in a Virtual Karmic Koala" for more screen-shots of this.

You will not see the Guest Additions CDROM if you have not attached it and hence you will not see all the files contained on it - these include those for Windows - 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems.
The guest additions .iso is to be found in the virtualbox directory on the host computer.

airpwn - Wireless Script Injection

A search was observed for: "airpwn Jaunty Jackalope 9.04  ubuntu" or a variation of such words. The antics of those who think that it is a "hoot" to inject porn into others wireless access.

"...... is a little app for packet injection into live stream... very good to play prank on ur network wifi users." 

The existance of this application for Aircrack came to my attention after the observation of a search in my web logs.

The reference here is for archival reasons. The Technology Muse is not really interested in pursuing "phoning goats" *****

Quote from SourceForge:

Airpwn is a framework for 802.11 (wireless) packet injection. Airpwn listens to incoming wireless packets, and if the data matches a pattern specified in the config files, custom content is injected "spoofed" from the wireless access point. From the perspective of the wireless client, airpwn becomes the server.

***** "Phoning Goats" is what you would do from a mobile running airpwn.

• Download the Airpwn script
• airpwn on SourceForge dot net
• DEFCON 12 antics
• wireless packet injection - 14 Feb 2011, nw.nuvox.net

Copy Protection and methods used to protect Copyright

How to overcome DRM and backup the things that you own. The methods used by Copyright owners to protect their intellectual property.

• DRM and its circumvention - a general discussion on the methods that I have discovered
• ACTA and other International agreements related to copyright protection
• The DMCA - Digital Millenium Copyright Act
• PIPA and SOPA
• The issue of IP rights - 2012
• Bill C-11 - An Act to amend the Copyright Act (Canada)
• Anti Peer-top-peer organizations
• The use of DVD43 on a 64 bit computer
• Copying DVDs and Blu-ray discs (BD)

Cancelling your Business Number [BN]

If you registered a business to collect and submit GST/HST and you are no longer doing business, then you can cancel your Business Number

CRA Forn RC148

• Request to Close Business Number (BN) Accounts  - form RC145

Acer Posts

Posts on The Technology Muse relating to Acer notebooks and computers.

• Acer Downloads ../techwatch.ca/acer_downloads.html
• Acer Revo AR3610-E9032 Review
• Acer Aspire 3050  and the installation of XP and a dual boot - the fact that it should never have been shipped with Vista and that it works very well under Windows 7.
• Drivers for the AMD C-60 APU with the Radeon™ HD 6290
• AMD Fusion Utility Recovery

Setting the display resolution in a Virtual Karmic Koala

The default resolution for Karmic Koala is only 800 by 600

The trick to setting the resolution to higher than this is to install the Guest Additions and to follow some of the advice that you will find on the web. After considerable to'ing and fro'ing and a few restarts the contents of the VBoxAdditions.iso should look like this below:




After you get to this stage you can either adjust the screen resolution in the same manner as you would in a non-virtualized setup or you can add entries to the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file - either way, it turned out to be successful.



The guest additions iso is found in the VirtualBox directory on the host machine as seen above:

UPDATE:

Having performed the same setup on a Windows 7 machine (the original was on a Vista box) - it seems that the xorg.conf file did not need to be edited directly.


After the Guest Additions iso was attached correctly - clicking on the Autorun.sh icon and letting the VirtualBox Guest Additions package to extract and install itself - restarting Karmic, the resolution automatically corrected itself and the option for Seamless Mode is now available from the VBox Machine menu.

Attaching a USB DVD Drive in VirtualBox

This is an example of adding a DVD drive to Windows XP so that DVD43 can recognize it:



The USB devices shown above are not DVD drives but the technique is the same. When the USB drive sucessfully attaches DVD43 will scan it and defeat the CSS encryption if the DVD loaded in the drive is copy protected.

Links:

• All posts related to Virtualization on the Technology Muse
• Comparing the VirualBox VM to XP-Mode 

COD - Modern Warfare 2

Is officially released today.

It will be interesting to see if there are lot of agents from Activision Publishing, Inc. monitoring the torrent peer lists.

This cannot be anything but good news for those that run identity clocking sites and VPNs

I see that there are already torrents out there on the p2p sites and it looks like there are other hazards other than getting sued for illegal downloads of the copyrighted games. You might even have got banned for playing the game before it was released.

Stealth files and class - are new concepts to me - but then I am not a gamer.

What you see if you turn off VT in BIOS

This is what you see with Virtual Box trying to run a 64 bit guest:


This is what you see for Windows 7 Virtual-PC trying to load XP-Mode


Both VMs have been successfully configured with AMD-V (SVM) enabled in BIOS - you will not be able to configure the VMs shown above if your processor or BIOS does not allow you to enable virtualization.

The Sun VirtualBox will run a 64 bit guest o/s ONLY if AMD-V or Intel VT is present and enabled. Microsoft Virtual-PC can ONLY host a 32 bit guest irrespective of the virtualization capabilities of the system.
In addition, the Sun VirtualBox will host a 32 bit guest even though virtualization techologies are not present.
This means that if you have a licensed copy of 32 bit XP you can run XP in a VM using VirtualBox on a Windows 7 64 bit o/s machine and then run DVD decryption programs such as DVD43.

VT-x/AMD-V settings in VirtualBox for Ubuntu Server 64 bit guest

Virtualbox and Virtual-PC Compared

• Virtualization on The Technology Muse
• Virtualbox setup
• Ubuntu Linux

I have configured Virtual Machines using VirtualBox, VMWare and Microsoft's Virtual-PC (2010). As such I can make an informed comparison between the methods.

Below is a shot of 2 instances of Karmic Koala and an XP-Mode VM running in 7 Prof 64



This was an experiment to see if I could get Karmic to run in a resolution greater than 800 by 600. To give MS credit, the VirtualGuy (Benjamin Armstrong - Senior Program Manager Lead Windows Virtualization MSFT) he did have a solution that almost worked.

I failed to follow Benjamin's advice:
Please note - I really encourage you to enable undo disks before messing with xorg.conf - as it can be really painful to recover from mistakes if you make them here. Annoyingly, once you make this change - you cannot use the Display widget under Ubuntu to change resolution (it will mess the system up completely).

I did manage to get the MS Virtual-PC to start to run in 1280 by 1024 but then everything went "pear shaped"

Also a note from the VirtualBox help file is relevant to this post and other previous discussions:

"VirtualBox does not require hardware virtualization features to be present. Through sophisticated techniques, VirtualBox virtualizes many guest operating systems entirely in software. This means that you can run virtual machines even on older processors which do not support hardware virtualization."

This answers a question from before whether AMD-V of Intel VT is necessary for virtualization using VirtualBox. In my case it is run on a machine that does have AMD-V (SVM) enabled.
I will post my results of VirtualBox with SVM turned off in BIOS.

Why choose AMD over Intel

In these days of "over-performance" specifications it is not a question of "who's best", it is more of a moral issue.

Intel need to be taught a lesson - they may or may not be guilty of all the charges of "bully" tactics with the pc manufacturers but the facts speak for themselves. The predominance of Intel powered product on the shelves and the fact that AMD processors are generally in lower-end pcs is self-evident.

The consumer is well aware of the fact that if something costs more it is better. Well, consider this: If Intel threaten HP that they will cause a shortage of parts if they allow their product line to contain more that 5% of AMD processors then they can charge pretty much what they like for those parts! No wonder AMD powered pcs are cheaper, AMD have to discount their parts just so they are included in the product range.

Norton (Symantec)

Norton now generally known as Symantec, are one of the first names in A-V and security products.

wmp300n-windows-7-64-bit

Re-post

• wmp300n for win7 64bit - 6 July 2012, Kyiv, Ukraine. 

XP-Mode Hardware Requirements

Unlike the page on Tomshardware the requirements are NOT particularly stringent!

All you need is a microprocessor that supports virtualization and a motherboard that allows it BIOS to use it!

As for the endless discussion about the relative merits of Dual Booting or Virtualizing........
Microsoft advertised that it was an option and the consumer WANTS IT!

The Intel T4200 and T4300 do not support this!

Karmic Koala Server in a Virtual PC

Ubuntu 9.10 Server (64bit) - the notes on the WikiP page for MS Virtual server don't say that Linux is supported (in any form) by the MS Virtual-PC (the one that comes with Windows 7)

However, of the guest systems that are supported include 64 bit versions of Windows 7 (I guess you might want to virtualize a copy of Home Premium 64 bit or Home Basic 64 bit [not that it exists for the likes of me and you!] from Windows 7 Professional 64 bit and above).

Never-the-less I am downloading the server image and will try and set it up in a Virtual Machine.
I am really curious to see what the Cloud computing features are all about and I may want to set-up a LAMP server.

I will have to see what I think about the new version of Ubuntu - despite the posting earlier on ZDNet (Dana Blankenhorn - Ubuntu Karmic Koala launches)

It might not work (this is from the WikiP page):
".....no release has been able to virtualize a 64-bit guest; Microsoft has thus far reserved this functionality for Hyper-V, which runs only on 64-bit (x64) editions of Windows Server 2008."

Which is a pity, as I don't really want to spend that much time with Desktop version - Jaunty works well enough for my present needs.
Also I have a copy of Snow Leopard that I want to try as well!

Links:

• Linux on The Technology Muse
• Ubuntu

Integration Features Fail to load XP-Mode

I have re-posted the information on this link to another post on this blog

 

My previous post shows how to overcome when XP-Mode fails to load the Integration features.

• The link to the previous post

Acer Downloads

This was a list of Acer applications that I previously hosted on my website www.tempusfugit.ca - As my website is no longer on-line some of the content has been moved to this blog. The Acer downloads have not.

It was a complete list of all the Acer modules that were current at the time of attempting and completing successfully a dual boot with Windows Vista and XP.

It has been updated for drivers for the new AMD APUs including the integrated AMD Radeon HD graphics processor units (GPU) - including the HD 6250 and 6290 configurations.

If you require the links to these applications and drivers please send me a note and/or search this blog for other posts related to the module or application that you are interested in.

AMD Virtualization System Compatibility Check Utility

This post discusses the AMD utility to determine whether your computer and processor is capable of virtualization. Please follow the links at the foot of this post for more details and where to download the utility.


I have downloaded and evaluated the utility and these are my findings.

The AMD Utility:


AMD Virtualization™ Technology and Microsoft® Hyper-V™ System Compatibility Check Utility

Release Date 8/21/2009

However, when I disable Secure Virtual Machine (SVM) in system BIOS and re-run the check:



The text on the above report is not only wrong - it is also confusing!
This utility detected that a necessary BIOS patch in not installed -- WRONG!
Please contact your system vendor to determine whether a BIOS upgrade is available - this was NOT NECESSARY! (the computer that this utility was run has a processor that supports AMD-V) - you will get the same message even if your computer does not!
AMD's most current processors do not require a BIOS patch to run Hyper-V --- True I have two of them!
This utility detected that AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) Technology is not enabled in BIOS. --- again true, but doesn't this over-ride the first two messages?

For a utility that AMD that was released in August 2009 you would think that they would like to keep their customers better informed?

Links to other pages related to this utility:

• Systems and Programming on The Technology Muse
• All posts on The Technology Muse related to Virtualization
• The difference between vt-x and vt-d
• Where to download the utility
•  How to check if your AMD processor supports AMD-V

The Pirate Bay

A re post - Ipredator etc - magnet links

Isohunt

IsoHunt is my preferred torrent tracker (well it was in 2009)

Apparently based in Canada, IsoHunt are not above the laws dictated by the US legal system. Canada, like the rest of the free world has obligations under ACTA, WIPO and the upcoming Bill C-32.

There is no point in repeating what IsoHunt have on their home page. They more than cover their situation with the US legal system. However, downloading from P2P networks remains to be largely an illegal activity even if there are legal uses for such a network. Let's face it - this is NOT why we use P2P networks!!!!

It looks like BTGuard are sponsors of Isohunt.

Some searches:

• is isohunt legal in canada? - 26 Apr 2011, ccra-adrc.gc.ca - I think these people should be concentrating on our taxes, not worrying about stealing copyright material. Anything is illegal if you use it to download intellectual property.     

• The Pirate Bay
• My thoughts on Torrenting and File Sharing

ERP systems not compatible with Windows 7

Quote from AMD w/s on Client-Side Virtualization

"Many companies will find XP Mode to be helpful - from smaller companies with custom developed inventory tracking applications to large enterprises that have implemented large ERP systems incompatible with Windows 7. "

Anyone know what these ERP systems are?

WebTVUnleashed

This in my opinion is a scam and just a business opportunity.

Updating and Modifying your BIOS

If you update your BIOS to the latest version your may be able to obtain greater functionality on your computer.

Some of the features that your hardware is capable of may not be available in the BIOS Set-up that came with your computer. OEMs will usually supply BIOS upgrades on their websites and there are third parties that will supply custom BIOS images that presumably unlock hidden menus and options.

• Tools to unlock Insyde H2O BIOS

Integration Features Fail to Load - Windows 7 XP-Mode

This was a post that I deleted from this blog as the topic was covered on my website (www.tempusfugit.ca). Seeing as the information is being migrated to this blog here it is (or will be) again.

There was a search or hit for the original page 1 May 2012.

The failure mode is that Integration features fail to load........

In addition once the Integration features fail to load you get a message that tells     you that the "Integration features have been disabled"

For details on how to fix this please send me a note. If I see that there is sufficient interest in this topic I may well re-post it - it is an early Windows 7 issue and we have probably moved well past that in May 2012.

Links:

• XP-Mode on The Technology Muse

TorrentPrivacy UPnP Leakage and other issues

Having taken another look at the TP Forum - it would appear that there needs to be a few more additions that need to be made to this blog and the www.tempusfugit.ca website.

The fact that [RESOLVED] on a posts title "makes it so"

Current Computer product is VT deficient

A quick recap on the processors that were being sold in PC equipment in September/October 2008 and comparing to that available September 2009 (just before the release of Windows 7) indicates that more have Intel Virtualization™ Technology enabled than they do now?????

For example: Core 2 Duo 65nm processors T7100 T7300 T7400 T7600 all had VT enabled
Core 2 Duo 45nm P8600 T8100 T8300 had VT

Now T3400 T4200 T6400 and others --- DO NOT SUPPORT VT

Is this a coincidence or don't Intel and Microsoft want users to try out XP-Mode?????

MySQL

I currently have a MySQL database installed (MySQL 3.23.58) on a local server - 192.168.1.101/test/phpMyAdmin-2.6.1-pl3/main.php.

    As this link is the local link you will not be able to see it     from the outside.

• Linux on The Technology Muse
• Running mySQL from Fedora Core 3
• phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin Chronological account of set-up - July 2007

Intel Processors that Will Not Support XP-Mode

In the run-up to the release of Windows 7 there is a proliferation of hardware being sold that does not support the virtualization required for XP-Mode to be used with Windows 7

Mobile processors that DO NOT support VT: P7350 P7450 T3200 T3400 T6400 T4200 T6500 (T4300 seems to be OEM for Toshiba - so can't say)

Desktop processors that DO NOT support VT: Q8200 (Core 2 Quad) E2200 E2210 E5200 Q8300 E7500 E1500

Those that do:
mobile: P8600 P8700 Q9000 (SU3500 does have VT - strange as this is low-end?) SU9400 SP9400
d/t: E8400 E8500 i5-750 i7-920 i7-860 i7-975 ----- all i5 and i7 maybe QX9770

This is not a complete list, please visit www.tempusfugit.ca for a full discussion on how to determine if the computer that you are considering supports "XP-Mode"

Nothing you can download will make computers that are shipped with processors such as the T4200 or T6400 will allow XP-Mode to run. If you find yourself in this position either return the computer to the place of purchase or at least voice your displeasure to the manufacturer or retailer of the computer or with Intel directly.

A complete list of all the processors that support virtualization can be found on www.tempusfugit.ca

Nuans Report

The Nuans website says:

The NUANS® report is a seven-page document, generated by the NUANS® name search system which lists corporation names, business names and trademarks most similar to your proposed business name or trademark. The search references a database of existing names that have been registered in Canada. 

When I Incorporated my company I had to perform a Nuans search and submit the result with my Articles of Incorporation.
The name of my Incorporated company has nothing to do with this blog or my website, tempusfugit.ca.

If you request a Nuans report in the name of tempusfugit (or any variation of that) I am pretty certain that you will not find any relation to my company, when it existed.

How to Determine if an AMD CPU Supports AMD-V

Not all AMD and Intel processors support Virtualization.

This is required if you wish to run Windows 7 in XP-Mode.

Links will be available via www.tempusfugit.ca and comment will be placed on this blog regarding processors that do support VT or AMD-V. Processors installed in notebooks and desktops that are being sold in the "run-up" to the Windows 7 release.

For example: the AMD ZM-82 does not support AMD-V and will not allow XP-Mode

Pedestrian Mode - Garmin GPS

The "Enhanced Pedestrian" Mode as featured on the Garmin Nüvi 1200/1300/1400. The  review here is on a Nüvi 1370T

This feature is supposed to enhance the operation of the GPS device when used with the cityExplorer™ maps. It is supposed to incorporate the use of public transit into the navigation while you are on foot. It has not been reviewed in so far as if it is any real use. Pedestrian Mode (with limited functionality) can be used on a device with this feature WITHOUT having to download the cityExplorer™ maps from Garmin.

This is a review of the pedestrian mode itself - not the operation of the function with a cityExplorer™ map - this will be covered in a seperate review.

Like a lot of the features that Garmin offer on its GPS product line, the pedestrian mode is very badly documented. Other examples are the Traffic Alerts and some of the other more esoteric functions such as HotFix™. One would expect to find more information in the operators manual that you have to download from their website. But no! the manuals tell you little more than the sales information you probably used to make your purchase decision.

Removal of content from a website

It is a common misconception that once something is posted to the Internet it is there for ever. This is a particularly well-held notion of those that use Social Media. (and perhaps it is if you have limited control as you do with Facebook)

The "Less is More" principle

This is the concept that you are far better off not installing every program you can on your computer and to try and do as much as you can with the "base" operating system and the programs that came with your computer.

It also encompasses the removal of unwanted programs that come pre-installed and even the complete re-imaging of a new computer with a fresh install of the operating system that it came with (or even a different one)

Windows 7 on an eeePC 900HD

This post is my original notes from 2009 when I attempted to install Windows 7 on a eeePC 900HD

UPDATE June 2010 - It is pretty certain if I tried it now then it would be successful.
I have installed Windows 7 on multiple Netbooks since the time that this post was first made.
The key is to ignore the Upgrade Adviser and install regardless. Windows 7 performs perfectly on a Netbook with the eeePC 900HD's processor and 1G of RAM

---

Original Post:
I tried, but the Win 7RC setup balked at the fact that it had a processor that was only 900MHz. There was another cryptic message about backup up and doing a custom install. I tried the install couple of ways - running the setup from a USB DVD drive and by booting from that drive.

I ran the Windows 7 upgrade Adviser and that told me what I already knew, the minimum processor speed was 1GHz.

There are posts on the Internet, mostly very blurry YouTube uploads (I am sure that you have seen them - if you are reading this!), claiming that it has been done. I don't doubt that, but all I can say it is not that easy - although there was quite a lengthy tutorial on how to install from a boot-able memory stick (most of which revolved around the preparation of the stick).

Still the 900HDB-BLK002X was only bought to see if could be done. It does support the 1024 by 768 resolution however, which is better than the competing models at the time.

There is talk of a Windows 7 specially optimised for Netbooks, but I guess we will have to wait until the O/S gets released on the 22nd of October - we might even see Windows 7 being sold on new Netbooks.

---

Update June 2012 - It is highly likely that the 900HD would have difficulty in displaying the full resolution as do some of the current (2012) Netbook and Notebook models with similar problems in obtaining the VGA drivers.

I also may have been incorrect in stating that the 900HD was capable of 1024 by 768 resolution as the WikiP page that all these earlier Asus eeePCs were only 1024 by 600. However, the WikiP page also states categorically that none of them will run Windows 7 (I don't believe this to be the case)

Links:

• All pages relating to Windows on The Technology Muse
• How to install the same copy of Windows 7 on multiple computers

Editing the Windows Registry

Using the regedit program that is supplied as standard will all versions of Windows you can search for specific key and edit the values contained in those keys.

The reasons that you may wish to do this is to prevent or enable a particular action on your computer. Shown above the entry that controls the Windows Activation is being inspected and possibly edited.

Finding specific keys in the registry

Pressing F3 or selecting search from the menu will enable to find occurances of a particular key. You may even be told the key you are looking for from an Internet search that you have made regarding a particular problem that you are trying to solve.

Making a backup of the Windows registry

Before making any changes to the Windows registry that may have an effect on the operation of your computer it is probably an idea to make a backup of the registry before you do so that you can return to a "working" situation. (It is also a good idea to do this when before you run a 3rd party Registry Cleaner)

Intel T4200 and XP Mode in Windows 7

The T4200, like a lot of the processors that are used in laptops sold currently, does not support VT.

If you want to run Windows 7 in XP-mode then you will want to check if the processor in your prospective computer supports Intel® Virtualization Technology (of buy a computer with an AMD Dual Core)

A comparison chart of all processors that support VT was formerly to be found on  my web site, www.tempusfugit.ca


Links:

• Windows 7 and XP Mode on The Technology Muse

Whether to use PHP or raw HTML

Before my website rebuild I have a lot of design information posted on PHP scripts and programming. Since a lot of it was not original content and I do not use PHP on this website I have decided not to re-post the pages. I have chosen not to install PHP on my current webserver this is not because of the potential security threat but there is one none the less.

• How to host a website on your broadband Internet connection. 

How to remove inappropriate content from the Web

There was a time when it was not considered that what you posted on the Internet would come back to haunt you in later years.

The major problem with the removal of undesirable postings is that the majority of web site owners and administrators do not know how to remove content from their websites.

Extended Warranty

I have had some interesting conversations with the sales associates at both FutureShop and BestBuy of late.

It is clear that they have been "coached" to try and sell the PSP (or whatever they want to call it!) - when they get the response that you are in no-way interested it is quite funny the way that they back off and don't even try.

Sometimes you get a little push-back and the associate will try to explain the plan but this is often accompanied by a distinct air of resignation that they are wasting their breath.

Remember, this is where the "Box Stores" make their money - let it be at the expense of those that do not read this bog!

Links:

• Canada Computers 
• Canada Computers compared to Tiger Direct

Detection of APCON~1.dll by Virus or Spyware Scanner

I recommend  that you NOT use Norton as your spyware protection.

This 2.5W light bulb is not as bright as this 90W one

Give me a break!!

What nonsense - comparing an Atom with a Quad Core!

I really do think that Morfanos and the other crew (shills) at FutureShop should keep their opinions to themselves.

And when was an Atom 230 on sale in a Netbook?

SAP ERP 6.0 upgrade from R/3 4.6 and 4.7

Horror stories anyone?

Registry Cleaners

• Programming and Systems on The Technology Muse 
• Editing the Windows Registry
• Registry Cleaners

I really cannot see the point of registry cleaners. The risk that you are putting your computer to when you run a program such as this is probably higher than the risks that you have entries that are giving you problems such as slowing your computers performance.

It is really easy to scan your registry and to back up the entries. If you have a problem with a particular program you will easily find what the registry entries are and you can find, delete or edit the entries and settings.

Type 12 Partition - HPA - Hidden Protected Area

12 Configuration/diagnostics partition

ID 12 (decimal 18) is used by Compaq for their configuration utility
        partition. It is a FAT-compatible partition (about 6 MB) that boots into
        their utilities, and can be added to a LILO menu as if it were MS-DOS.
        (David C. Niemi) Stephen Collins reports a 12 MB partition with ID 12 on
        a Compaq 7330T. Tigran A. Aivazian reports a 40 MB partition with ID 12
        on a 64 MB Compaq Proliant 1600. ID 12 is used by the Compaq Contura to
        denote its hibernation partition. (dan@fch.wimsey.bc.ca)

HPA - Hidden Protected Area - FWBACKUP - FirmWare Backup

This file (the FWBACKUP utility) is mentioned in the IBM white paper (hpa-aibm.pdf) that describes the  Access IBM HPA (type 12) Predesktop Area

• Type 12 Partition - HPA - Hidden Protected Area
• Where to download the FWBACKUP utility 

I have discussed this subject in greater depth on my website www.tempusfugit.ca

The Sidereel Scam

Coming soon.

Basically a scheme where webmasters are encouraged to get "subscribers" to join their sites on the hope that they can download the latest TV shows - when the owner does not have them to allow to downloaded.

Phoenix BIOS

PhoenixBIOS™ and - WinPhlash

PhoenixBIOS™ 4.0 Release 6.1 - WinPhlash - From Phoenix Technologies Ltd

• Download WinPhlash
• Pre-Boot Environments - UEFI and BIOS
• winphlash uefi download - Tamil Nadu 

AACS - Advanced Access Content System

Advanced Access Content System (for High-Definition Video discs)

I have full details on how to overcome the AACS encryption system, if you want to find out more about this you need to search this blog.

Links related to BD copy on The Technology Muse:

• Programming and Systems on The Technology Muse
• The VideoLAN libaacs project 
• The aacskeys database
• libdehdcp

Tor iPlayer Access

Update: April 2012 - the text below is old and while Tor is too slow to access iPlayer, but it probably still could be used.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
My old version of Tor seems to have stopped working for iPlayer Access.

As I am not using Tor to access the BBC programming as the VPN works really well for me it seems pointless to spend the time to debug the new installation.

The latest version (Aug 2009) is 0.2.1.19-0.1.15 (my earlier versions are 0.1 something)
The install downloads a new torrc file - can't be bothered to reconfigure - not sure if StrictExitNodes command still works.

As the Tor website says:
"......... with Tor, as do people wanting to post socially sensitive information in chat rooms, like rape or abuse survivors and those with illnesses. The Tor network also provides protection for people looking for another layer of privacy from the millions of websites and ISPs bent on collecting private information and tracking their moves online."
This is not what I am trying to do, watching BBC outside the UK does not qualify. Nor is the use of Tor for downloading from P2P sites!

Links:

• Pages relating to Vidalia Tor on this blog 
• What to place in the torrc file to allow access to the BBC iPlayer.
• How to get Tor to "exit" in a specific country.

---

Please note that the first comment on this post was made in response to a visitor posting a link to their solution to me not being able to access the BBC using Tor. I removed the link as I saw it as self-promotion.
I have been using Tor successfully for a number of years for many purposes including access of iPlayer programming.

Mapsource for Windows 7

This is a re-post

For old post see here