Well, it would appear that way to according AVG, the virus scanner. An update released for AVG contained an incorrect virus signature, result? AVG decided that user32.dll contained the Trojan Horses PSW.Banker4.APSA or Generic9TBN! Quicker than you can say ‘Oh dear, my computer if f**ked’ AVG recommended that you delete the offending file. That’s where your problems start. Deleting the file has two effects - system fails to stop booting or goes into a continuous reboot loop cycle. At the moment, only Windows XP seems to be affected.

Users of AVG 7.5 and AVG 8.0 have been affected by this somewhat erroneous update; revised signatures have been published which will resolve the minor issue!

If you have removed user32.dll you can quite easily repair your PC; boot from their original Windows CD and choose the repair option. Alternatively, you can use another CD to boot from and restore the file from C:\Windows\System32\dllcache.

AVG, who have around 80 million users worldwide, haven’t published an official reason for this PR disaster just yet but there is an FAQ no. 1574 which covers a “False positive user32.dll”. Inside the article you’ll find help on restoring Windows through WRC.

AVG is hugely popular due to the availability of the free version of their Anti Virus scanner. Some people may well grumble about their machine being trashed but don’t expect a mass exodus especially as the software is free.

AVG’s popularity stems mainly from the free version they offer for home users; if you’re looking for an alternative free virus scanner for Windows I highly recommend Avast!. ClamWin is another alternative; it’s a Windows port of the popular Linux scanner ClamAV.

Popularity: 52% [?]

Today, Microsoft the availability of the BizSpark programme for start-ups. This offering allows companies to use Microsoft’s server software free of charge which is good news for businesses who are short on cash. But it’s not quite so straightforward. In order to qualify private companies need to meet the following criteria:

• eligible companies will have been in business for less than three years
• revenue will be less than $1 million per year
• finally, companies will have to be recommended by one of Microsoft’s for-profit, nonprofit, government, or academic partners

Easy, eh?

This latest move from MS has been spearheaded by former Apple exec Dan’l Lewin who stated that the announcement was coming regardless of the current economic armageddon (I suppose the recent Microsoft profit warning had no influence on this decision either!).

An added bonus comes in the form of an online directory; participating companies will have the choice of being included an online directory of start-ups allowing them to network and reach potential customers, a kind of free version of the Business Network Institute.

Companies who gain access to the BizSpark programme will be allowed access to a range of products, including Visual Studio to Windows Server, SQL Server and SharePoint and more. A more interesting point to come out of this announcement is that Microsoft don’t appear to be slapping the handcuffs on participants, well, not yet. It would appear that companies will be able to use a range of products including open-source software.

“They don’t have to only build on our stuff,” Lewin said.

The service will be free of charge for three years, after that…it’s time to cough up for licensing.

Here’s another idea for startups: why not just use Open Source software for all your back office capabilities? That way you never have to pay for licensing.

What are your thoughts?

Popularity: 51% [?]

It’s hard to believe the ASUS Eee PC is only a year old especially when you consider the netbook that spawned a new genre in mobile computing has sold around 4 million units to date. Asus are reportedly hoping to push this figure to 5 million by the end of 2008. Jerry Shen, CEO of Asus, doesn’t appear to be too worried about competition from the likes of Samsung, Lenovo and Dell and who can disagree with him? Every time we think the netbook market is getting jaded Asus launches an even more exciting device such as the Asus Eee PC 101.

Probably the biggest news on the Asus horizon is the launch of a touchscreen Eee PC. This netbook is expected to be with us early 2009 but Shen wasn’t prepared to give away too much information. Another noteworthy statement is that Asus will never ship their netbooks running Microsoft Vista. Shen stated that Asus will continue to ship Linux and Windows XP devices moving to Windows 7 sometime in 2009 - good to see Asus keeping the memory hog at bay!

Interestingly, it would appear that Asus has no ambition to go large just yet so it appears that 10″ screens will be the largest netbook to ship. Shen believes that by putting bigger screens on these devices they’ll then slip into the notebook market which Asus is keen not to do.

Unfortunately, Asus don’t really seemed to have pushed the EeeBox - the low cost desktop. The target figure for sales has only been a few hundred thousand units. Expect Asus to start eating into that market once the Eee PC dominates.

Asus has been blazing a trail for some time now. The key to their success has been low prices with reasonable performance. Until competing vendors can match these offerings expect Asus to stay on top.

Popularity: 58% [?]

Apple is synonymous with cool software backed up by stylish hardware and…a pretty hefty price tag. To most fans of all-things Apple this is a fairly moot point but, in my opinion, the price alone has probably been enough to put off new buyers. Look at it another way; MacBook Pro - about £1300, PC with Windows that, in the eyes of many, does the same thing - £350 upwards. Bit of a no brainer for many buyers.

The latest news to come out of the US suggests that Apple are about to give everyone the chance to own a Mac by launching an $800 notebook.

The information isn’t official. According to the source, Apple retail stores have been given price sheets that list prices between $800-$3100. There aren’t any tech specs either. What does this mean? It could be something as simple as a price reduction on the MacBook range, a stab at the netbook/sub-notebook market or even an entry level device. Personally, I’d say we’re looking the entry level model (although I’d like to see an Apple netbook). This may not appeal to many hardcore Mac fans but it should be enough to convince potential buyers to have a look at what Apple has to offer. Pretty much the same way that many other OS vendors work - give them basics, get ‘em hooked, reel ‘em in.

Popularity: 33% [?]

Remember those little stickers on the front of your lovely new computer that said “Vista Capable”? I’m a fan of Ubuntu but I really wanted to see if Vista was all that the MS hype machine said it was. So, I’d decided to install Vista Ultimate on my “Vista Capable” laptop. Now here’s where things started to get more interesting. That little badge didn’t actually mean you could happily run the rather obese full version of Vista. It was in fact referring to the machines ability to run the stripped out version - Vista Basic! I won’t repeat any of the phrases that were uttered as I think some of them may actually be illegal.

I work in the tech industry. I have many friends in the tech industry. A large number of them had “Vista Capable” stickers on their computers…can you see where this is going?

Here we have the well oiled MS media machine churning out infomation that suggested my two month old (at the time) laptop could juggle Vista like a first class circus act. Actually, it more like a very poor comedy routine - “Oh yes he did”, “Oh no he didn’t” ad infinitum! So, heads are rolling at the top. Actually, no they aren’t.

It seems that Steve Ballmer has already exonerated himself:

I was not involved in any of the operational decisions about the Windows Vista Capable program. I was not involved in establishing the requirements computers must satisfy to qualify for the Windows Vista Capable program. I was not involved in formulating any market strategy or any public messaging surrounding the Windows Vista Capable program.

To the best of my recollection, I do not have any unique knowledge of nor did I have any unique involvement in any decisions regarding the Windows Vista Capable program. All of my knowledge about those decisions came through other people at Microsoft, notably Jim Allchin, Microsoft’s then-co-President, Platforms Products & Services, and Will Poole, Microsoft’s then Senior Vice President, Windows Client Business.

There you have. The decision was nothing to do with the management. Apparently, it was all the fault of Jim Allchin and Will Poole who have since left Microsoft.

Ballmer was called to testify in an ongoing case brought by users who feel that they may have been ‘a little mislead’ by the “Vista Capable” stickers. The Plaintiffs in the case allege that Microsoft artificially inflated demand in the run-up to Christmas 2006, by falsely advertising that PCs would be capable of running the full version of the firm’s delayed Vista operating system.

I absolutely refuse to believe that any company would attempt such underhand tactics in order to maintain an astronomically lucractive lead in a market sector!

Popularity: 50% [?]

A report relating to the MacBook redesign has surfaced over at AppleInsider. Apparently, the updated MacBooks and MacBook Pros will feature shiney, new aluminum-based exteriors - pretty much like the MacBook Air and iMac. Other rumours revolve around ports on the new MacBook; apparently, the Firewire 400 and DVI-I ports are being replaced by Firewire 800 and Mini-DVI.

To some of you this might seem a great change but it certainly gives Apple’s range of laptops a nice uniform look - that should force hardcore MacBook users to look twice before sneering at your ‘inferior’ model!

Unfortunately there’s no news on a launch date although rumours suggest 14 October as a possible date. Time to twiddle my thumbs - for about 3 weeks!

Popularity: 31% [?]

…with an arse kicking 1Tb of storage

Move over Asus, here come Acer’s Aspire X3200 mini desktop PC and it ain’t taking any prisoners! The diminuitive Acer desktop looks set to wipe the Eee PC off the map unless Asus produce a very rapid answer. On top of the huge SATA disk the Aspre X3200 comes fitted with a Blu-Ray player - a nice move on Acer’s part.

Other goodies include an AMD Phenom quad-core processor, NVIDIA GeForce 8200, and up to 4GB of DDR2 memory. Should keep Vista happy.

I mustn’t forget to mention a bonus for movie fans - HDMI output and 5.1 channel surround sound (Dolby Home Theater technology). Like I said earlier, Acer are really setting the standard with the X3200.

There’s no news on release date or pricing, but rest assured that we’ll be hunting down the info and it’ll be posted here as soon as we find it.

Popularity: 48% [?]

…out of hell - apparently!

The target time for booting is under 15 seconds for a ‘very good system’! Tests on machines running Vista have shown a third of the machines starting up in 30 seconds or less (you only need 64Gb RAM!).

Michael Fortin, Lead Microsoft engineer said: “From our perspective, too few systems consistently boot fast enough and we have to do much better…” Really?? I’ll let him continue “…Obviously, the systems that are greater than 60 seconds have something we need to dramatically improve – whether these are devices, networking or software issues… there are also some system maintenance tasks that can contribute to long boottimes.”

The bottom line here is that clean installs produce the fastest boot times, end of.

The problems apparently come from device and driver installation but Windows 7 will try to increase the number of drivers initialised in parallel meaning a faster boot - theoretically.

Finally, the pointy finger is levelled at the user; you and me. Having too many applications running at startup and scripts running will definitely slow your boot time - now you can tell you IT support department that it really is their scripts that make Windows slow; Microsoft said so!

There you have it. Windows 7 will be faster and better than the previous version so put your rose tinted glasses back and starting humming a little ditty.

Popularity: 48% [?]

Watch out for the Apple imitators

At the recent IDF, Intel stated that their second-generation dual-core mobile processors for … ultra thin and light notebook PCs” are soon to made available to all hardware manufacturers. This effectively means that any PC builder can create a MacBook clone.

I’m not entirely sure of the reasoning behind this announcement (apart from the money factor). Let’s face it, if any of these othere companies were half as innovative as Apple we’d have seen a waifer thin laptop a long time ago.

I don’t expect to see this go unanswered by Apple either. Knowing Jobs and Co. I’d expect to see an Air replacement hitting the market soon after the launch of a Far Eastern copycat.

Popularity: 29% [?]

Microsoft are getting ready to release technical details surrounding the Windows 7 operating system, according to a new blog about the OS.

Engineering managers Jon DeVaan and Steven Sinofsky have written in their blog, Engineering Windows 7, “in-depth technical information…” will be released at the Professional Developers Conference on October 27 and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) the following week.

Some reporters are suggesting that, by pushing Windows 7 into the public gaze Microsoft is signalling the demise of Vista! I must point out at this stage that I’ve been using Vista for some time now and, as far as I’m concerned, it was dead from the start. Poor responses from users and the slow uptake among enterprises would suggest that I’m right.

Apparently, the Engineering Windows 7 blog will allow a two-way disussion to take place based on comments and input from the engineering team.

It would appear that some commenters simply won’t let Vista fade away as some some have used the blog to highlight flaws in Vista - just let it die!

“Less is more. Really, it is. Microsoft went completely in the wrong direction with Vista,” wrote one commenter. “I personally think that, if you want a real hit on your hands, strip down the Vista OS to bare bones, optimise the heck out of the code, and tune the baby for speed.” - hmm, no shit!

Windows 7 has been slated for release in early 2010. Microsoft better pray that it doesn’t suck like Vista!

Popularity: 65% [?]