If you’re concerned that you might have been included in the massive data leak perpetrated by the short-lived hacking group Lulzsec, I have a couple of web sites for you to visit.
Slipstream drivers into Windows XP
For about a month after a new version of Windows is released, it supports just about any hardware you’re likely to throw at it. And after that, it’s not quite that easy. And once the version is end of life, it’s harder still. So here’s an easy way to slipstream drivers into Windows XP. For your retro PC that you use offline, of course. Don’t go online with this system.
I stumbled across Driverpacks back in March, and I’ve finally had a chance to spend some serious time working with them. What they mean is that if you’re willing to do some work, you can make a disc that will install Windows with functional drivers for virtually any computer in existence.
What a week…
It’s been a whirlwind week, for the blog and (especially) for me, personally.
I had surgery on Tuesday. A gym-class injury I sustained in January 1989 caught up with me. Several front teeth were horribly displaced, and it took a lot of work to save them and get them back to where they’re supposed to be, including two years of braces. Ultimately I needed root canals in three of them (two in 1993 and another in 1997), but that allowed me to lead a normal life. But more recently, the tooth most severely injured started failing. I got several opinions, and all said it needed to come out. So that, along with a bone graft, a gum graft, and a temporary implant, all happened Tuesday.
Not knowing what I’d be up to doing after the procedure, I wrote a bunch of material in advance.
Review: GT Max Playstation-USB converter
After my disappointing experience with an inexpensive–perhaps I should just say cheap— X-Kim USB gamepad, I decided to give the GT Max Playstation-USB converter a try. This inexpensive (under $5) adapter lets you use Playstation and Playstation 2 (PS2) controllers with a PC.
I’m just interested in being able to use it with emulators for older systems, so I can’t comment on its suitability for using Playstation dance pads with PC games, or using inexpensive PS2 controllers with PS3s. Other users report some degree of success for that.
I’m happy to report that I can now play five or six levels of Jumpman or 9 innings of Baseball Stars without my hands hurting.
Firefox needs to adopt the Ubuntu model
Firefox has an identity crisis.
Used to being the #2 browser and eroding share from IE, Firefox sees its share eroding slightly–or not growing as fast as it used to, depending on who you ask–and the upstart Chrome gaining.
What Firefox has done is tantamount to panic.
Stress test computer hardware with Prime95
Let’s say you’ve just bought a used PC with a short (typically less than 2 weeks) warranty. Or a new PC that’s not the brand you know and trust. Maybe you’ve built a new PC and you want to make sure it’s going to hold up before you start using it every day. Or you have a new server, and you want to make sure it’s going to hold up under heavy loads. What should you do to stress test computer hardware (or burn in computer hardware) like that?
Do what overclockers do.
Review: X-Kim GPTL-00A
I think the last time I saw a halfway original idea for a game was around 1992. Everything I’ve seen since then has just been a re-hash of something old, with incrementally better graphics to make it prettier to look at, better AI to make the game harder to beat, and perhaps a new setting.
So I don’t play a lot of games. And when I do, I’d rather play an old game for an old system, which of convenience’s sake usually means running an emulator. But video games on a keyboard–even a really good keyboard–isn’t much fun, so I bought myself a cheap USB game controller.
And that didn’t take long: Firefox 5 is out
Firefox 5 was released yesterday with comparatively little fanfare. Firefox 4 only came out 3 months ago. And realistically, this is more deserving of a version number like 4.1, not 5.0. It’s a marketing decision more than a technical one. But it contains 8 critical bug fixes, a few stability fixes, and a few rendering fixes, so it’s worth grabbing, and treating like a point release, not necessarily with the usual trepidation that accompanies a major release.If your browser hasn’t already grabbed it and prompted you for installation, I recommend you go get it.
And a new version, most likely to be called 6.0, is expected in another three months.
First impressions: Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper
Microsoft has released an antivirus/antispyware live CD that runs in the Windows PE environment called Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper. I wouldn’t use it as a full replacement for a Linux-based live CD from an antivirus vendor such as Bit Defender, which I’ve written about before. It is, however, a good supplement–a second opinion. Nothing catches everything, after all.
The idea behind all of these is to boot into a sterile environment to scan a dormant hard drive for things that evade or disable your normal antivirus software. The need for this grows just about every day, as there’s a lot of really nasty stuff out there these days. It’s not a substitute for normal antivirus software–it’s what you call on if and when normal antivirus software fails and a malware infestation prevents normal use of the computer.
Removing the Windows XP Repair scareware
Windows XP Repair is a fake system optimization and repair tool. It takes over the computer almost completely, and it’s a pain to remove. Worse yet, there’s at least one version floating around right now that standard no antivirus/antimalware tool I threw at it recognized.
Here’s how I removed it for someone.