The other failing upgrade scenario from Vista to Seven has the upgrade hanging at 62% completed. Microsoft believes that this issue might be caused by the iphlpsvc service hanging at this point. The entry in the setupact.log file repeats about every 15 minutes and is:

Warning [0x080b50] MIG AsyncCallback_ApplyStatus: Progress appears to be stuck. Current progress: 62

They also say that there may be other services hanging at the same point and causing the same entry in the setupact.log file. They state, “If this entry is not occurring in the log file or you are hanging at a percentage other than 62% this workaround should not be attempted.” Knowledge Base article 975253 has a workaround that should allow the upgrade to complete successfully the next time it is started.

I’d advise anyone wanting to do an upgrade installation to Windows 7 to not start it until Microsoft has determined what the issue is and come up with a fix. UPDATE: Following the instructions in Knowledge Base article KB974078 may allow you to escape the reboot loop and restore your Vista installation. An alternate method is here - look for the post by frankenstynerjcr starting “@ JSchneider21: @ FJP57:”.

I do not recommend an upgrade (please see my comments here starting at the paragraph below the Upgrade Chart). Windows - in my experience - has always ran better as a clean installation (that’s what Microsoft calls a Custom Installation). It is an extremely good idea to run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and read the Upgrade Compatibility Report before trying to upgrade. Uninstall any non-compatible software or upgrade it to a compatible version before starting the upgrade (see “I am running An Acer Aspire M3640 desktop, on Vista SP2, with Kaspersky IS 2010.” and the answer to it later on down on this page). There’s a Microsoft guide to upgrading a computer from Windows XP to Windows 7 here - most of it is applicable to a Vista to Seven upgrade also.

Let me put this very loudly: BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES TO YOUR COMPUTER, ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR FILES. Even something as simple as a software patch or a small program installation can disclose a hardware problem, software conflict, or some other issue that may result in a (temporarily) unusable computer - and if it’s your only computer, you’re going to suffer some pain until someone figures out what is wrong. There are plenty of online backup services available and some are free - or you can copy files to a USB drive, external hard drive, CD or DVD, another computer, etc. If you cannot do this a knowledgeable friend might, or you can hire a competent technician.

Even paying a technician can sometimes result in an issue. I regard myself as being a good computer technician. I have three Microsoft Certified Professional certifications, and ran a onsite repair business that I started from nothing and built into a $40,000 annual business that supported its only employee (me) very well and had many, many happy customers. I saved many computers, a lot of data, and a lot of time, money, and frustration for my customers.

Yet I’ve destroyed my own data once when trying to correct a problem with the RAID on my computer (I lost my entire My Documents folder - no backup). I also once erased a customer’s hard drive when installing a fresh copy of Windows - having forgotten to back up her files first.

Borking all her grandchildren’s photos still haunts me. I changed the way I repaired computers after that and I now use a checklist when I have to repair a computer - but people make mistakes, I’ve done it and could do it again, and it could happen to you. Please, please, please! BACK UP YOUR FILES! Here’s another skilled computer user who lost all of his files (three years of work) - it can happen to ANYONE.

Microsoft has released the official Upgrade Chart for migrating from Windows XP or Windows Vista to 7.

Windows 7 Upgrade Chart

BUT:
Upgrading an OS is like taking the chassis out from under a car and sliding in a whole new one – it’s amazing that it works at all. I’ve never been a MS apologist (it’s more a love/hate relationship), but XP was coded when the security environment was *much* more benign. The technicians’ mailing list I’m on reports a rootkit infection *every day* that the tech is having trouble removing – and our list isn’t a high volume one. When XP was conceived the only people who had thought about rootkits were computer scientists (mostly in academia) in the lab. They didn’t exist in the wild.

And if you’re running XP, are you sure you want to put Win7 on that box? Computers do best with software created about the same time that they were. I’m writing this on a basic Dell Inspiron 1501 with an Athlon 64 dual core TK-55 processor and 1 GB of RAM. They offered either Vista or XP on it – I chose XP for performance. I now have it dual-booting XP and Windows 7 Ultimate gold (gold = production code) and, although I use Win7 mostly, it’s a bit slower than XP is on it and I wouldn’t mind to try it with some more RAM. The Windows Experience index has me at 2.9 (3.0 minimum recommended for using the Aero overlay) due to the video card but I think it’s integral to the motherboard… :-(

Does forcing a clean install for XP users increase Microsoft’s profits? Yes, by reducing their expenses. Is it the best practice? YES. Any tech will agree with me. If you really want Win7, do yourself a favour and buy a new machine with enough RAM and a decent video card for it – and give the old computer to your kids, make it into a media server, or donate it to charity – *after* a format, fresh install, and updates.

Or buy the new machine and put Windows Home Server on the former XP box. This is a cool product – it’s inexpensive, makes a great media server, PLUS it backs up any XP or newer computer to it (you have to install software on the client machine) and it makes running a home network almost painless. You’ll need to buy an OEM version for installation on an existing computer – Newegg.com (among others) sells it that way. Of course you can also buy it on a new computer (HP, Acer, others, and at Best Buy, Newegg, Fry’s, Amazon, Staples, Tiger Direct, and others). I’m so stoked on WHS than I’m studying it for a certification and I want to offer it as one of my specialties.

Windows Home Server info:
http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&q=Windows+home+server+&meta=&fp=58658b2190507a24

120 day evaluation version:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/eval.mspx

Buy it where?
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/buy.mspx

Photo courtesy of NASA

Jennifer Chu of Technology Review writes:

A new approach primes antibodies to instantly attack cancers, HIV, and other diseases.

The body’s immune system is often likened to an army, and vaccines to training exercises…

Pomegranite excess

But it’s a very clever promotion.

If your Vista computer is slow, try the Win7 beta on it - it’ll be faster. It’s still available from Microsoft as of February 2, 2009 (or you can try a torrent):
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx

Minimum recommended requirements are:
* 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
* 1 GB of system memory
* 16 GB of available disk space
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (to enable the Aero theme)
* DVD-R/W Drive
* Internet access (to download the Beta and get updates)

I went to a Windows 7 install fest held in the Vancouver, B.C. area on January 17, 2009 and installed the Ultimate beta build 7000 on the laptop I’m composing this post on. Specs: Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop (second from the bottom of the line when I ordered it in Nov. 2007), AMD 64 Athlon X2 TK-55 (1.8 GHz/512KB cache), 1 GB DDR2 533 MHz RAM, 120 GB HD, ATI RADEON Xpress 1150 with 256 MB HyperMemory. I’m dual booting with Windows XP Home on C: (the original and my primary OS) and Win7 on the D: partition. Windows 7 is very good on this computer - almost as good as XP.

The install went smoothly, and Win7 had drivers for everything except the video card, and that was downloaded when I visited Windows Update. At the install fest I also installed Avira AntiVir Personal Edition Classic antivirus, GoogleTalk, and Railroad Tycoon II Platinum (gotta have that game!). All those apps work OK (the AV updates properly, GoogleTalk chat and voice works, I could start RRT II) but I haven’t tried an AV scan or playing a game in RRT II yet. One oddity was that Win7 didn’t assign a drive letter to the WinXP partition - I had to assign it in Disk Manager (I gave it B: as Win7 - like Vista - calls the system partition C:).

I first tried Office XP before eventually installing Office 2003 (I didn’t have access to my Office 2003 CDs at the time). I wanted to get Outlook working so I could use the same .pst file as in WinXP which has Office 2003 Professional. I had some oddities which I believe were related to file and folder permissions. I could not create a new .pst file in the default folder in Outlook XP (I didn’t have sufficient rights) and I couldn’t open a .pst file that was in the root of the Win7 partition (again, insufficient rights). I got it working by renaming the .pst file in the default Outlook folder location and then putting my .pst file there.

It would receive mail to my .pst file but couldn’t send (it might have been damaged - I had a bit of trouble with it in WinXP the previous week and performed a repair January 24). After the repair I didn’t try it again in Outlook XP on Win7).

I attended a Q & A with some Microsoft folks on Monday Jan. 19 that was put on by VANTUG (the local MS user group with ties to MS) and found out that the permissions between XP and Win7 are different even if the user account in both OSes is a member of the Administrators group. I got my Office 2003 CDs back and uninstalled Office XP and installed Office 2003 (the oldest version of Office that’s supported on Win7) and updated it at Microsoft Update.

I gave my user account (which is an Administrator account) the rights to the .pst file and the folder it was in as well as Outlook’s default folder for the .pst file but am unsure if this cured the issue I had in Outlook XP, if the installation of Office 2003 fixed it, or even if there was an issue with Outlook 2003 opening my .pst file. Office seems to work OK - at least Outlook, Word, and Front Page are fine. I haven’t tried Excel.

I’m very impressed by the speed of Win7 and the quality of the beta - both are far better than the Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 I tried in 2007. I have turned off most of the Aero effects as I prefer plainer window title bars, Taskbar, etc. This computer’s Windows Experience was 3.0 overall and ratings for components were: processor 4.2, RAM 3.9, graphics 3.0, gaming graphics 3.2, and HD 5.1. I’m going to play with it some more and try to use it as much as possible - that’s why I wanted Outlook working (otherwise I’d only use Win7 for games - there’s a mahjong game with it that’s addictive).

Dislikes: I don’t like that the Quick Launch toolbar has been dropped (instead, you can pin an app to the Taskbar - it’s not the same). I don’t like the double height Taskbar and changed it right away. Maybe that makes sense on a 17 or 19 inch monitor, but not on a 15.4 inch laptop screen. I couldn’t find where to make the Desktop icons smaller at first - Google told me to hold the CTRL (Control) key down while moving the mouse’s wheel would change their size. I don’t like that the equivalent of the Show Desktop button is on the very right side of the Taskbar and I can’t find a way to move it beside the Start button/orb where I and my muscle memory are used to having it. I don’t like that Windows Mail has been dropped - but with lots of people using web mail or mail on their phones/PDAs I guess that it makes sense.

Vista RC1 on my previous laptop was bog slow and took between 7 - 10 minutes for the hard drive to stop working after booting. I hated it and rarely used it but I’m considering using Win7 as my primary OS.

Dan Kaminsky, uncharacteristically, was not looking for bugs earlier this year when he happened upon a flaw at the core of the Internet. The security researcher was using his knowledge of Internet infrastructure to come up with a better way to stream videos to users. Kaminsky’s expertise is in the Internet’s domain name system (DNS), the protocol responsible for matching websites’ URLs with the numeric addresses of the servers that host them. The same content can be hosted by multiple servers with several addresses, and Kaminsky thought he had a great trick for directing users to the servers best able to handle their requests at any given moment.

The rest of the article is here.

He was part of a team that built a fibre WAN that now stores about 60% of the city’s data, including e-mails, law enforcement records and payroll documents. Childs started taking photographs on June 20 of the new IT security head after she began an audit of who had password access to the system. She was frightened by Childs’ behavior and locked herself in an office.

He set up a password that locks everyone else out of that data and refused to reveal it even when threatened with arrest (it’s unclear whether he did that before or after the audit began). He was then arrested and is currently being held in jail as he cannot raise the $5 million bail demanded for his release (murderers are released won $1 million bail - what are they afraid of)?

Officials have said they feared that Childs may have enabled a third party to gain access to the computer system by telephone or other electronic device and order the destruction of hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents. However, they have found no evidence of such a device in searches of his home and car.

[Mayor Gavin] Newsom said Tuesday that Childs’ actions prevented administrators from making changes to the city’s computer network, so if the system were to crash, workers could not undertake repairs or upgrades.

“There’s nothing to be alarmed about, save the inability to get into the system and tweak the system,” Newsom said. “Nothing dramatic has changed in terms of our ability to govern the city.”

Is there a way to fix Vista Explorer’s address box?
QUESTION:
Okay, I know it’s a “feature” but I hate it - the new format for the path/address in Vista Explorer. I want my old familiar format (c:\Data\Publications\New) instead of the new one with the little arrows. Yes, I know you can click anywhere in the path and go there, but I just want it back the way it used to be. Is there any way? Thanks! - Don L.

This ‘breadcrumb’ ‘feature’ is Number One on my list of most unusable/annoying things about Windows Vista. I was happy to see that they found a third party application created by Andreas Verhoeven, AveNoBreadCrumb.exe [mirror], that will eliminate it. Screenshots of it in action are here. They also have instructions on how to get it to run at startup so that breadcrumbs are disabled whenever you’re using your computer - but I’m not sure that they are completely accurate (I’m unable to test as I don’t have any Vista computers yet). Here’s how I’d do it:

Unzip AveNoBreadcrumb.zip.

Put the two executable files (AveNoBreadcrumb.exe and breadcrumbhook.dll) into a suitable folder and location (I suggest C:\Program Files\AveNoBreadcrumb).

Open an explorer window and type in shell:Startup into the address bar to get to your startup folder.

Create a shortcut to AveNoBreadcrumb.exe (Right click in an empty area in the folder, click New > Shortcut. The location is C:\Program Files\AveNoBreadcrumb\AveNoBreadcrumb.exe and I’d name it AveNoBreadcrumb.)

Reboot.

TAA DAAH! No more breadcrumbs!

Mr. Verhoeven has some other interesting add-ons for Vista. Shown are Glass Toasts (gives the balloon notifications the Aero Glass look), 3D User Picture (creates a 3D animated user pictur in the Start menu), Thumbnail Sizer (allows you to change the size of the thumbnails that show when you hover over the taskbar button for the window), AveDesktopSites (a limited replacement for the no longer existing Active Desktop), Desktop Effects, (adds special effects to your desktop), Extra Desktops (adds extra desktops), Vista Folder Background (makes custom folder backgrounds possible), HTML Explorer Thumbnails (allows thumbnails of HTML files), and AveExplorerButtons (changes two little used Explorer buttons to two more used buttons). AveNoBreadcrumb isn’t shown here yet - it’ll probably be here soon.

Those of you who were using Netscape, switch to Firefox or SeaMonkey. It will work almost the same as what you’ve been used to - plus look at the cool stuff you can do…

Microsoft says, “the e-book… includes content from two recent publications: Introducing Windows Server 2008, by Mitch Tulloch and the Windows Server Team at Microsoft, and Microsoft Windows PowerShellT Step by Step, by Ed Wilson… Bookmark this Web site to access your benefits anytime.

“E-book chapters and special offers will be updated periodically. Eventually, the entire text from Introducing Windows Server 2008 will be available. Please keep this URL handy, and visit the site for additional chapters.”

Progressive is trying something like this in the U.S. and finds the number one indicator for accident likelihood is simply how hard drivers apply their brakes. The ZDNet story states,

There is greater driver choice, with the potential for lower costs and greater risk awareness. There is greater safety on the roads for all. And society, as a whole, benefits from saved lives and less fuel burned.

NU is promising to release its SQL database scheduling code as freeware.

The specs are vague as most items are customizable, but the base (!) model comes with a 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics, a 15.4″ TFT display, and supports up to 4 GB RAM and a 250 GB hard drive. Note that 24 karat (pure) gold is very soft so it is likely to rub off the unit through normal wear and tear.

Maybe Reese Witherspoon would like the pink version of this Bendi USB keyboard?

It lights up either blue or pink, rolls up, has silent keys, and is washable. 23 U.K. pounds (about $55) from Gadget-Box.

Can’t get your toast the perfect colour? How about a transparent toaster?

This one is still in R & D - but it may be available soon.

This is the first time I’ve seen a major software publisher drop support for a version of Windows that Microsoft was still supporting. The Apple download centre for earlier software versions is here.

If Windows boots:

Boot Windows. Put the Windows CD in the drive and start Setup with the Upgrade option. Follow instructions until the computer reboots.

When it reboots, pull the plug. Replace the motherboard. Restart the computer and complete the installation.

If Windows won’t boot:

Replace the motherboard. Boot from the Windows CD and start a Repair Installation. Complete the installation.

After the installation is complete, install any needed drivers, Service Packs, or updates.

Note that if the computer is running an OEM version of Windows, you will have to buy another Windows license to be in accordance with the license agreement If you do not use the same make and model of motherboard for the replacement.

[tags]motherboard, motherboard replacement[/tags]

USB 3.0 ports and cabling will be designed to enable backward compatibility as well as future-proofing for optical capabilities.

I love USB 2.0 - I’m looking forward to version 3!

* Chose the provider you want, use any SIM card from any network provider in any country

* No more outrageous roaming charges. When traveling simply pick the local provider of your choice and change your sim card.

* Poor network coverage no longer an issue, use the network provider best suited to your region

* Save money! A favorable exchange rate makes for excellent value for money when importing

For more info on this story, you can go to the Salon.com story that tipped me off.