Windows Tips and Tricks

Although June 30 is the deadline for OEM offerings of Windows XP, Dell says that it will use the Vista downgrade loophole to keep selling selected laptop systems with XP as the operating system. Gregg Keizer reports:

Dell will continue to install Windows XP on new PCs after Microsoft’s June 30 retirement date by taking advantage of a little-known clause in the downgrade rights that come with Vista Ultimate and Vista Business.

According to AppScout:

Dell has taken things one step further by shipping notebooks with XP, a policy that will continue beyond Microsoft’s imposed deadline. Dell will be offering the service on Latitude, OptiPlex, Precision, and some XPS and Vostro systems.

Update: HP and Lenovo are also going to offer XP options.

Normally legitimate sites continue to be hijacked and infected with malware. It’s all part of a growing problem with JavaScript. Gregg Keizer reports at Computerworld:

Large numbers of legitimate Web sites, including government sites in the U.K. and some operated by the United Nations, have been hacked and are serving up malware, a security researcher said today as massive JavaScript attacks last detected in March resume.

It’s getting to the point where I am putting up with the inconvenience of disabling JavaScript (and it is inconvenient). Fortunately, the extension “No Script” for the Firefox browser allows for control over individual sites. Still, you don’t know who to trust anymore.

More details are at Websense.

Many home PC owners use the free anti-virus program AVG from Grisoft. A new version is now available. Among other things, the interface is improved. The software has also been extended to include anti-spyware. The new version is AVG 8.0 and can be downloaded here.

Addendum: I should point out that installing AVG 8.0 does not remove older versions of AVG. Uninstall any older versions of AVG (or any other anti-virus program) before installing AVG 8.0.

Are you in the market for a very fast, large capacity thumb drive? Standard USB flash drives with capacities of a couple of GB are now in the $20 (or less) price range but extra-fast drives with 16 GB capacities list for something just under $200. A review of some available models is at Computerworld.

At Windows Secrets, Scott Dunn has gone through various lists of highly rated freeware and come up with nine that appear most frequently. Among them are the anti-virus program Avira AntiVir, the firewall from Comodo, and the system cleaner CCleaner.

PC Magazine has published a collection of 529 computing tips. Many of them are not all that useful but, if you look through the collection, you may find some that are worthwhile. The collection begins at this page.

If you can’t wait for Microsoft to push out Windows XP Service Pack 3 by the usual channels, Major Geeks has a download link.

There has been talk for some time that the Internet faces several capacity problems. One is the simple fact that we may soon run out of new IP addresses in the present “dotted quad” system . That’s supposed to be taken care of by a new system of longer numerical addresses called IPv6. A more difficult problem is that capacity to transfer information is being stretched by ever more traffic. AT&T says that the system will reach its limit in 2010. ZDNet reports:

Speaking at a Westminster eForum on Web 2.0 this week in London, Jim Cicconi, vice president of legislative affairs for AT&T, warned that the current systems that constitute the Internet will not be able to cope with the increasing amounts of video and user-generated content being uploaded.

One problem with the Windows operating system is the way that programs are allowed to put files and Registry entries all over the place. When you uninstall a program the standard way, a lot of this scattered stuff is left behind. One way to have cleaner uninstallations is to use the free software Revo. Both Lifehacker and, more recently, Steve Bass have recommended it. I also have been using it and it seems a worthwhile program. You can download it here. As always, however, make a System Restore point before you uninstall (or install) anything.

The real estate market may be having troubles but people are still moving and looking for a place to live. If you are in an area where Google Street View is available, a new mash-up can help you check out homes for sale. Google Lat Long reports:

We’re pleased to announce today that home buyers, owners, and real estate junkies can now find Street View integrated with the real estate listings, recently sold homes, and property records on Trulia. We’re excited to use the new Street View API to add efficiency to the real estate search experience and help home buyers discover more information about particular neighborhoods.