C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XXI: NUMBER 4 APRIL, 2006
Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of every month at the Knollwood
Village Clubhouse 4012 S. Bradley Dr., Santa Maria.
General meeting at 7:00 PM. System Special Interest Group session is at
5:45pm. Guests are welcome.
Check out our web site: http//member.apcug.org/fourseas for the latest
program schedule information.
Membership is $15 for twelve months for individuals, $20 for families.
For this you receive: Monthly newsletters, EXTRA4C E-mail Messages,
Help-line support, Monthly presentations, Valuable door prizes, Question
and answer sessions.
NEXT MEETING: April 21, 2006 KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: The April meeting presentation will be Dick Trissel
introducing two free programs--System Information for Windows (SIW) and the
Jarte word processor.
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) OFFICERS, HELPLINES, S.I.G.S
(2) PRESIDENT'S CORNER Ray Isenson
(3) EDITOR'S COMMENTS Dick Trissel
(4) WEB WANDERINGS
(5) SYSTEMS S.I.G. Dick Trissel
(6) WHY SETTLE, DO IT YOUR WAY Lee Alexander
(7) FLASH DRIVES Martyn Williams
(8) WINDOWS XP DISK MANAGEMENT TOOL Fred Langa
(9) WILL YOUR PC KEEP PACE WITH VISTA?
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OFFICERS HELPLINES
President Juno
Ray Isenson 937-6938 Dick Trissel 937-7572
risenson@juno.com rtrissel@juno.com
Vice President Windows 95/98/ME/XP & VoiceControl
Spence Stimler 938-0217 Amy Malicki 925-5780
SPENCE923@msn.com savvyforseniors@juno.com
Secretary Hardware and Windows XP
Barbara Godwin 934-9885 Ray Isenson 937-6938
yung.bag@verizon.net risenson@juno.com
Treasurer AOL
Gerry Miller 934-1396 Frank Maciel 922-2318
2741 Banyan Way frm8198@aol.com
Santa Maria CA 93455
gandamiller@verizon.net
Publicity Visual Basic and Genealogy
Bill Corning 934-0775 Gerald Miller 934-1396
foster95@juno.com gandamiller@verizon.net
Newsletter Editor Help With Any Problem
Dick Trissel 937-7572 Ray Isenson 937-6938
rtrissel@juno.com risenson@juno.com
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (S.I.G.)
Systems (5:45pm)
Dick Trissel
rtrissel@juno.com
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CCCC Page 2 April 2006
PRESIDENT'S CORNER by Ray Isenson
As of this writing I can tell you that I expect to be at the meeting on 18
April and that we will have a presentation.
The presentation for April was intended to feature the program, ClickBook 9.
Although we had requested that the program material be in our hands no later
than 4 April, in time for Spence Stimler to bone up on that program, the
material failed to appear. So, we'll have an alternate presentation
covering two, free, very interesting programs and try to squeeze ClickBook
in for the July meeting. See the EDITOR'S COMMENTS for a brief description
of the two free programs.
I noticed, at the March meeting, that some of the members present failed to
get tickets from Amy for the Christmas drawing. Repeating that which I had
thought all members had heard, "The box on the table at Amy's front will be
opened at the 2006 Christmas party, a ticket drawn from it and the name
written on its reverse side will be announced. If the member identified by
that name is present, he, or she, will take home a new, Vista capable,
computer." (Should no one answer to that name a second or additional ticket
will be drawn.) Obviously, the more meetings an individual attends the
better will be his or her chance of winning.
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CCCC Page 3 April 2006
EDITOR'S COMMENTS by Dick Trissel
APRIL PRESENTATION PROGRAMS
SIW - System Information for Windows, version 1.57 for all Windows versions.
This program performs computer configuration analysis and diagnostics. It
gives detailed information about your computer properties and settings,
detailed specs for CPU, motherboard, chipset, BIOS, CPU, PCI/AGP, USB and
ISA/PnP devices, memory, monitor, video card, disk drives, CD/DVD devices,
SCSI devices, S.M.A.R.T., ports, network cards, printers, operating system,
installed programs and hotfixes, processes, services, serial numbers (CD
keys), users, open files, system uptime, network, network shares, as well as
real-time monitors for CPU, memory, page file usage and network traffic. It
displays currently active network connections, passwords hidden behind
asterisks, installed codecs, and more. The program also creates a report
file. It is a standalone tool that does not require installation and is
able to run from a disk (1.2MB) - one less installed program on your PC as
well the fact that you can run the program directly from a USB flash drive.
The program is available for download at:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gtopala/about_siw.html
JARTE WORD PROCESSOR--Jarte is a free powerful word processor. The program
is a good replacement for WordPad and Notepad delivered with Windows. There
is a spell check function with a standard dictionary and a personal
dictionary you can edit and take from one computer to another. Some
functions are: File control, Print and Preview, Edit, Format (.rtf, .doc or
.txt), Search, Bookmarks, View Control, 25 item Clipboard, Graphic Inserts,
Special Character Keyboard. The 1.5MB install file is available at:
www.jarte.com
It was brought out in the March meeting Systems S.I.G. that many members are
already subscribing to the Komando free e-mail newsletters. This makes many
of the articles I publish in the newsletter and the EXTRA4Cs bulletins
redundant. So, I will be eliminating most of her articles and instead
recommend you subscribe to her four free e-mail newsletters. You can
subscribe by going to her Web site at: http://www.komando.com
Be sure to spell komando correctly, or you will get some pretty weird sites.
Or, you can follow these instructions from her weekly newsletter:
1. Free computer & Internet daily tips you can use:
Get it now. Send one e-mail to: tips@komando.com
2. New and exciting Internet destinations every single day:
Sign up! Send one e-mail to: cool@komando.com
3. The latest computer and tech news links daily:
Stay up-to-date! Send one e-mail to: dailynews@komando.com
Your e-mail address will not be sold, leased or given to anyone else, ever!
If you'd like to subscribe to the weekend Newsletter, the Daily Newsletter,
the Tip of the Day or Cool Site of the Day, go to the online form:
www.komando.com/newsletter.asp
Also, her computer radio show can be heard in Santa Maria on 1240AM from
7:00am to 10:00am Saturday mornings where she makes announcements, gives
advice, and answers phone call-ins on computer related subjects.
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CCCC Page 4 April 2006
WEB WANDERINGS
GAS PRICES BY ZIP CODE
This is pretty nifty. Just enter your zip code in the site below, and
it tells you which gas stations have the cheapest prices (and the
highest) on gasoline in your zip code area. It's updated every
evening.
http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx
VOICEMAIL CHEATS
What's your least favorite thing about technology? You might dislike the
price of some computer equipment. Or maybe it's the bugs that get you down.
Those are both valid complaints. But I dislike telephone systems the most.
You know what I'm talking about-the labyrinthine menus you get when you call
big companies.
If only there were cheats, like there are for video games. Oh, wait, there
are! Just visit Find-A-Human. It lists codes for bypassing menus and finding
a person at a number of large companies.
Next time you need to call the cable company or an airline, check Find-A-
Human first. I used this just the other day when I spotted a problem on my
telephone bill. It saved me a lot of time and frustration.
The list isn't complete, but it's growing. You can add cheat codes to the
database, if you know of any. I'm sure other visitors will appreciate it.
www.quickbase.com/db/bam6rdiey?a=q&qid=5
FASCINATING SCIENCE FACTS
Did you know that Einstein and Darwin managed their correspondence the same
way you or I manage e-mail? They responded to some letters immediately and
waited to reply to others.
I learned that little tidbit over at LiveScience. As you can guess from the
name, LiveScience is all about science. It's a great place to read stories
and keep up on the latest news.
I found the site while I was surfing the Net with my young son. He wanted to
explore the Forces of Nature section. But I was most interested in the
technology articles.
Ultimately, we agreed on the Science or Fiction section. These are stories
that are almost too unbelievable to be real -- or are they? After reading
some of them, I left with renewed appreciation for science and technology.
And I'm not easily impressed!
www.livescience.com/
LEARN THE LINGO
I frequently tell parents that children shouldn't have a computer in their
bedroom. It should be in a place where you can watch what they're doing.
But that's only helpful if you know what they're saying. Children today
often use abbreviations online or in text messages. They also use leet, a
"language" that uses misspellings and replaces letters with characters and
numbers.
If you see things that you don't understand in your child's messages, you
should investigate. The Internet Slang Dictionary and Translator makes it
easy. You can copy and paste text to translate it. Or you can browse the
dictionary.
I should warn you that the slang can be vulgar. I was shocked by some of it.
But it will help you better understand your kids and protect them from the
dangers lurking online.
www.noslang.com
GROOVY GAMES
PopCap creates many of the games you see on the Internet. Many are puzzle-
type games that require a little strategic thinking -- my favorite kind!
What I like most about these games is that they're suitable for children.
You don't have to worry about exposing your child to violence.
There a number of games that you can play for free on the site. Others have
free trials you can download. If you want to play them after the trial, you
must purchase them.
If your child uses the popular blogging site MySpace, you'll want to tune
into The Kim Komando Show this weekend. I'll be talking about MySpace's
private messaging feature, yet another threat to your child's safety. Use
the map to find a radio station that airs my three-hour radio show in your
hometown. You can also use it to find the Kim Komando Computer Minute, which
airs Monday through Friday.
www.popcap.com
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CCCC Page 5 April 2006
SYSTEMS S.I.G. by Dick Trissel
As a follow-up on a comment about free MS Windows Anti-spyware (beta) being
available, a member sent me this comment:
Here is the Web Site from which I downloaded the suite of tools that include
the anti-spyware program.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Another member follow-up was to my showing an example of a "phishing" scam
e-mail I received. You should forward the scam e-mail just as you received
it to the FTC at: spam@uce.gov
We had a brief discussion about the delay of the release of Windows Vista
operating system for the home user until January 2007. This complicates
matters for those planning to buy a new computer. And that question was
asked, also--"What should I buy?" The questioner didn't want to have to
specify all the components.
One recommendation, if you don't find a manufactured computer you like, is
to go to ABRO computers in Santa Maria and talk to them about building one.
Sure, you will have to tell them what you want, but you will have someone
that can explain what the options mean. However, it will probably cost a
little more than a Web or store bought system.
Another item discussed was the purchase of an external USB connected hard
drive for backup purposes. There are two options--a drive in an integral
case, or a special case that a drive can be inserted. I prefer the case
because I can use it with several drives. And I can make a bootable
replacement drive that can be put into my computer internally (USB connected
drives can only boot and run the operating system if the BIOS has the
capability to set the USB as a bootable device).
Most integral external drives have easy backup capability built-in. And
most separate hard drives include software that will do backups. Otherwise,
commercial backup software must be used. The best I've found is
Symantec/Norton Ghost (versions 10 and 9 are XP only--2002 and 2003 are XP
and 98/ME) for $70, or Acronis TrueImage version 9 for $50 ($34 user group
price through UGR).
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CCCC Page 6 April 2006
WHY SETTLE, DO IT YOUR WAY
by Lee Alexander, Member of the Macon Users Group, Franklin, NC
Tips on Digital Photography and a PC Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.
This versatile (for photos) utility is often overlooked in the availability
of photo editors as it is included with the Windows Operating System and is
a "freebie" readily at hand.
Typically, unless you have set file associations otherwise, double clicking
on a photo will open it in the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. The toolbar
at the bottom has some handy features that are not immediately intuitive.
The Previous and Next buttons allow you to view all the images in the folder
of the first photo you selected. The Screen icon will start an automatic
slide show; the Zoom, Rotation, and Delete are self explanatory. However,
the Print icon can surprise you - it opens the Photo Printing Wizard. As you
step through the Wizard, the Layout Selection provides a variety of print
configurations from 8.5 X 11 to a 35 print "contact sheet."
If you have set a file association to open your photos in an editor, you can
create a shortcut to the Picture and Fax Viewer on your Desktop or in the
Quick Launch Tray. Right-click in the area you want the shortcut and choose
New | Shortcut. In the Shortcut wizard, enter
C:\Windows\system32\shimgvw.dll (assuming your Operating System is on the C:
drive). Name the shortcut and click Finish. On the first use you will have
to choose the program, Picture and Fax Viewer, and check the box to "Always
use selected program ..."
Note that if you right-click and choose Edit, you will open the Paint
program. The next-to-last button closes the viewer and opens the photo
editing program associated with the file type.
Auto-reduce Photo File Sizes
Windows XP has a neat feature to adjust the file size of photos for
transmission over the Internet. Select the photo(s) and right-click on one.
From the pop-up menu, choose Send to and Mail Recipient. This will bring up
a dialog box, Send Pictures via E-Mail. The radio button "Make all my
pictures smaller" is selected by default. Click on Show more options to see
3 degrees of reduction.
Although it creates a message with the reduced file size photos as
attachments, you do not have to send the message. You can right-click on an
attachment and from the pop-up menu select Save as or Copy to put it on the
Clipboard. You then simply delete the message without sending it.
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CCCC Page 7 April 2006
FLASH DRIVES
by Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
Samsung Electronics has developed a higher-capacity version of its solid-
state disk, a flash-memory-based replacement for hard disks, and showed it
at the CeBIT technology show.
The drive packs 32GB of flash memory into a case the same size as a 1.8-inch
hard drive. That capacity is double the 16GB of a prototype device announced
by Samsung last year and was made possible by the continuing miniaturization
of flash-memory chip technology.
Samsung Electronics hopes that falling prices for flash memory chips will
mean solid-state memory can eventually replace hard drives in laptop
computers and other devices, a top executive says.
Flash memory has several advantages over hard-disk drive storage: it
consumes less power, it has higher resistance to shock, it's more reliable
because there are no moving parts, it can read and write data faster, and
it's silent in operation. But there's a major hurdle to mass-market
adoption: it's much more expensive.
At CeBIT, the solid-state disk was demonstrated inside a Samsung laptop
computer. Because the SSD is the same size and shape as the computer's hard
drive it was relatively easy to replace the hard-disk drive with the SSD,
said Yun Mini, a spokesperson for Samsung.
Benefits: Speed, Durability
The SSD technology has three major benefits over hard disks, said Yun. The
first is that data access is faster. This could be seen when the SSD-based
laptop was booted up alongside the same-model machine with a hard disk. The
desktop appeared on the screen of the SSD laptop in about 18 seconds while
the hard-drive-based computer took about 31 seconds to reach the same point.
The second advantage comes in durability. Because there are no moving parts
in the SSD, it is much better at withstanding shock and much more unlikely
that data will be lost if the laptop is dropped.
The third major advantage is that it works silently, said Yun.
Downside: Cost
But for all these advantages, there is a major hurdle that needs to be
overcome before SSD can reach mass market: price. Flash memory costs around
$30 per gigabyte; the memory needed for the 32GB SSD drive works out to
about $960, before any other costs are taken into account.
Samsung thinks there are some military or industrial customers that have
specialist applications that would benefit from the SSD and so might be more
willing to pay a premium.
"At this moment it would be very expensive," said Yun, "but technology is
moving very fast so in the near future it could be cheaper."
Prices for flash memory are coming down. In May last year, when Samsung
first announced the technology, the flash memory price was about $55 per
gigabyte. So it might just be a matter of time before such disks hit the
mass market.
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CCCC Page 8 April 2006
WINDOWS XP DISK MANAGEMENT TOOL
Excerpted from the Fred Langa, InformationWeek
There are costly commercial partitioning tools such as PartitionMagic or
Acronis Disk Director that will give you a graphical display of a hard
disk's partitions and drives and let you easily access and modify any
drive's basic structures.
Few users know there is a graphical tool for hard-drive partitioning,
formatting, and related work built into Windows XP. Create, delete, and
format partitions; change drive letter assignments and paths; help set up
disk mirroring and RAID; and more--all with this free Windows tool.
By using the Disk Management tool built into all normal versions of XP, you
can create and delete partitions as you wish, format them, change drive
letter assignments and paths, and more. You also have one-click access to
the more familiar disk-maintenance tools, letting you clean up, defrag, and
check any disk or partition on your system.
Large single hard drives are more or less standard in many new PCs and most
users have never had to deal with the details of drive installation,
initialization, and configuration, either for adding multiple drives to a
system or for swapping drives. Both these processes raise questions as to
the safest and best ways to set things up, as well as to avoid data loss,
especially if you're moving a current PC's setup and files to a new drive
and don't want the hassle of having to tear everything down and rebuild the
operating system from scratch.
WINDOWS DISK MANAGEMENT TOOL ACCESS
You can access the Disk Management tool easily from any Administration level
account. Click "Start/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer
Management." When the Computer Management interface opens, look in the left-
hand pane under "Storage" and click on "Disk Management."
Although the Disk Management tool is useful for working on already installed
disks, its best and main use is in adding a new second drive to a system, or
temporarily adding a second drive as part of swapping out an older drive for
a newer one.
Word of caution--on drives that already have files in a partition, most of
these operations on that partition will delete the files.
ADDING A NEW DRIVE
When you add a new drive to a Windows system, the Disk Management tool's
wizards can walk you through the process of initializing, partitioning, and
formatting the drive for use.
You can see the new, unformatted, drive shows up as "Disk 1" (the original
drive is Disk 0). But you can't use the new drive yet-it's physically and
electrically connected to the system, but must be prepared for use before it
can hold any files. That's why the Disk Management tool will show Disk 1 as
"unknown," "not initialized," and "unallocated."
Normally when you start Disk Management after adding a new hard drive to the
system, the Initialize Disk Wizard will show in the lower right portion of
the screen so that you can begin prepping the disk for use. But if the
wizard should fail to appear, just right-click on the disk you want to
initialize, then click the "Initialize Disk" menu item. By default, the disk
will be initialized as a "basic disk". That is, a normal, ordinary kind of
disk, which is what you want in most instances.
Once the disk is initialized, Disk 1 is no longer tagged as "unknown" and
"not initialized." Instead it's shown as a "basic" disk that's "online." It
still needs to be partitioned and formatted, however, which is why Windows
still refers to the drive as "unallocated." But another wizard waits to help
with the partitioning and formatting. If you right-click on the unallocated
portion of Disk 1, you'll see the context menu offering a partitioning tool,
access to the Properties of Disk 1, or general help. You need to partition
the new drive as the next step, so select "New Partition."
Clicking on "New Partition" brings up the New Partition Wizard. This wizard
will walk you through the complete process of setting up the new drive
almost any way you want. The first step, of course, is to click "Next."
In general, you need at least one "primary" partition on a disk, although
you can have up to four. (Third-party tools can let you have more than four
primary partitions, but Windows natively allows up to four; any additional
partitions after that go into an "extended" partition. If these terms are
unfamiliar to you, the normal Windows Help system, accessed via Start/Help,
contains abundant additional information.) In any case, you'll want to start
by creating one primary partition, so check the radio button for "Primary"
and then click "Next."
The wizard then lets you set a size for this first partition. You can set
the entire drive as one giant partition if you wish, but this can lead to
problems in managing backups and disk images because of the number of CDs or
DVDs that will be required to hold all the disk's data. Preferably, size the
partitions in rough multiples of your backup media. For example, a C: drive
with 8 to 10 Gbytes of files usually fits nicely on a maximum of two DVDs
and is a convenient size for Windows and my most essential data files.
The wizard handles both the partitioning and formatting in one go. In many
instances, accepting the defaults is fine unless you have a specific reason
for wanting something different. The Volume Label is the name for the disk
or partition, and it can be almost anything. It can also be changed easily
at a later date should you wish to do so.
The "Perform a quick format" option is useful for setting up a drive quickly
and easily. However, a "quick format" doesn't check the entire disk first;
instead it assumes that the disk is OK. If the drive has been used before-
that is, if you're reformatting a drive, a quick format is usually
reasonably safe. But a brand-new drive that has never been checked by your
system may have factory defects, shipping damage, or other problems. It's
still OK to use a quick format for now, but if you do, make note to run a
complete and thorough Chkdsk on the drive later before entrusting it with
your live data.
When the partitioning/formatting operation is done, the new partition/volume
shows up with its assigned drive letter on the new drive. The remaining
space on the drive still shows up as unallocated, so this space can be used
to create more partitions or logical drives.
FOUR PARTITIONS PER DRIVE
As mentioned earlier, Windows can handle up to four primary partitions on a
drive. If you only want one, two, three, or four partitions on your new
drive, you can simply repeat the steps above. Right-click on the unallocated
space, select "New Partition," and let the wizard set up and format each new
partition in sequence. Make sure you use all the available disk space in
your primary partitions because you won't have access to any unallocated
space left over.
The way to have large numbers of partitions/logical drives is to create what
Windows calls an "extended" partition, which can then be subdivided into a
large number of logical drives. This is how you get past the four-primary-
partition limit.
Right-click on the unallocated space which brings up the New Partition
Wizard. But, instead of selecting "Primary" as the partition type, select
"Extended" and then click "Next."
Extended partitions can be sized as you wish. If you set the size of the
extended partition to the maximum disk space available, all the remaining
space on the new drive will be inside the extended partition, ready for
subdivision to use as you see fit.
What was "unallocated space" on the new drive now shows up as "free space,"
ready for subdivision. Putting that space to use follows the same basic
pattern described earlier. Start with a right-click on "free space," which
brings up a context menu, offering "New Logical Drive" as the first option.
The program asks if you want to create a logical drive, so click "Next."
The nomenclature can be confusing, with "partition," "volume," and "logical
drive" used somewhat interchangeably. The text shows which term is used
where.
As before, you can set the size of the logical drives to be whatever you
wish, up to the available space. Usually, a larger number of smaller
logical drives is preferable. Also as before, you can set the drive letter
or path as desired, or accept the automatically assigned designation.
Repeat the process until you've created all the logical drives you want and
have used up all the space in the extended partition.
The Disk Management tool will show all the new partitions and logical drives
you've created. Plus, opening My Computer (Windows Explorer), will let you
see the new drive(s) in a more familiar way. (Depending on which drive
letters you used, you may need to reboot to access the newly set-up drive.
Windows will prompt you if that's the case.)
If this was a new drive you just set up, be sure to perform a full Chkdsk on
each part of the drive before you put it to full use. You can do this easily
from within the Disk Management tool by right-clicking on a drive and
selecting "Properties/Tools/Error Checking." Alternatively, right-click on a
drive in My Computer and likewise select "Properties/Tools/Error Checking."
Once the new drive checks out, you can begin using it as you wish.
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CCCC Page 9 April 2006
WILL YOUR PC KEEP PACE WITH VISTA?
How does Windows Vista love thy computer? Let it count the ways.
Microsoft is building into the new operating system a tool that will rate a
PC based on how well it is running and on how much it can take advantage of
Vista's capabilities.
The "Windows Performance Rating", which can be seen in the latest test
version of the operating system, evaluates components such as the processor,
the memory, the hard drive and graphics cards to come up with an overall
score.
The rating appears in a large blue circle and can be seen in multiple places
in the operating system, though Microsoft has said little about what exactly
the rating signifies. The main rating is on a scale of 1 to 5, but
individual components are also given a "sub rating" on some other
unspecified range.
"The idea behind the Windows Performance Rating is to help average consumers
easily understand their Windows Vista PC's overall performance, and to
simplify the process of determining whether certain software applications
will run smoothly based on their system components," Microsoft said in a
statement provided to CNET News.com.
Computer makers and retailers would then be able to use that as a tool to
help explain, in general terms, the capabilities of a particular machine.
Software makers would also be able to specify the type of PC needed to run
their software.
A Sony Vaio laptop on display at the Intel Developer Forum, for example,
scored an overall rating of 3. The PC had an Intel processor and 1GB of
memory, which earned sub-ratings of 5.6 and 5.5 respectively. A desktop on
the IDF show floor with Intel's Pentium D 940 processor and 2GB of
unspecified memory also received a 3, with the processor rated at 5.6 and
the memory at 5.5.
Microsoft declined to provide details of its rating methodology, noting that
it is still working on the grading system. "This capability is still under
development, so the current experience with the Windows Performance Rating
may not be indicative of the final experience," Microsoft said. The company
promised that the feature would continue to be enhanced in future test
versions.
As for systems slowing down, that's an issue that Microsoft is already
trying to tackle. In the past, machines actually have lost significant
performance as more software loads at startup, hard disks become fragmented
and other features "gunk" up the works. With Vista, though, Microsoft has
added several features that aim to keep the PC from bogging down over time.
Sam Bhavnani, an analyst at Current Analysis, said that, provided the rating
system can be easily understood, it could give computer makers a new way to
tout the performance of machines. "It would make it easier for them to
advertise their systems as 'good,' 'better,' 'best,'" Bhavnani said. It
would mean the prospective buyer wouldn't have to compare the memory, hard
drive and other components on their own.
Microsoft is readying a second tool, currently called the Windows Upgrade
Advisor, that will take a look at a PC and make recommendations on how its
performance can be enhanced to run Vista better. The tool is most likely to
recommend more memory or an improved graphics card, said Dave Block, a
senior product manager in Microsoft's Windows Vista unit. "Those are the
ones that are most important and the easiest to solve", Block said in a
brief interview after a presentation at the Intel Developer Forum.
Although Vista is months away from launch, Microsoft has yet to give much in
the way of specifics on what hardware will be needed. Thus far, the company
has suggested 512MB of memory, a graphics card with a Vista-specific driver
and a modern processor.
Analysts have said that, for all but a basic Vista system, at least 1GB of
memory is probably a necessity. That means consumers who have purchased a PC
in the last couple of months might need an upgrade.
Vista puts a premium on memory throughput. That capability hinges on the
speed of the memory chip used in a system, as well as whether it offers
"dual channels" for data or only a single memory channel.
While it is important for PC owners to know whether their system can handle
Vista, most people running the OS will be doing so on new machines, NPD's
Baker noted.
"Even if they sell 5 million (upgrade) copies, that's still only 5 percent"
of consumers with PCs, he said.
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