Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on August 08, 2007 by CyberNet.

Last week there were some updates leaked for Windows Vista. These updates promised to cure the problems that have plagued many Vista users, including the slow file transfer times and slow resuming from standby.

Microsoft must have decided that it would just be best if they released the updates to the public instead of holding them back any longer. So here are the links you’ll need to download these packages:

Windows Vista Performance Pack (KB938979):

• x86 Homepage (Direct Download) – 9.9MB
• x64 Homepage (Direct Download) – 14.1MB

Windows Vista Compatibility Pack (KB938194):

• x86 Homepage (Direct Download) – 2.1MB
• x64 Homepage (Direct Download) – 3.6MB

Note: You’ll notice that the direct download links still retrieve the files from Microsoft, but bypass the WGA check.

These updates are the same as the ones that were leaked, so if you had already installed those there is no need to download these. Microsoft also said that they will be distributing the patches via Windows Update, but did not give a date as to when. Many people are speculating that it will be happening next Tuesday, August 14th which is when Microsoft will unleash their Windows patches for the month.

I’ve been using these updates for almost a week now and I have to say that they make a tremendous difference in Vista’s performance. File transfer times are lightning fast, it doesn’t take forever for the "time remaining" to be calculated, resuming from standby is much more prompt, and a number of other things have been fixed. Microsoft is extremely smart for releasing these patches now and satisfying their current customers, rather than bundling the fixes with SP1 just so that they can boast a more powerful service pack.

Here’s a detailed list of what issues the individual packs address:

Windows Vista Performance Pack:

• You experience a long delay when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• A memory leak occurs when you use the Windows Energy screen saver.
• If User Account Control is disabled on the computer, you cannot install a network printer successfully. This problem occurs if the network printer is hosted by a Windows XP-based or a Windows Server 2003-based computer.
• When you write data to an AVI file by using the AVIStreamWrite function, the file header of the AVI file is corrupted.
• When you copy or move a large file, the "estimated time remaining" takes a long time to be calculated and displayed.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, it takes a long time to display the logon screen.
• When you synchronize an offline file to a server, the offline file is corrupted.
• If you edit an image file that uses the RAW image format, data loss occurs in the image file.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, the computer loses its default gateway address.
• Poor memory management performance occurs.

Windows Vista Compatibility Pack:

• The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver.
• The computer stops responding, and you receive a "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error message. You can restart the computer only by pressing the computer’s power button.
• The computer stops responding or restarts unexpectedly when you play video games or perform desktop operations.
• The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) stops responding when the computer is under heavy load or when very little memory is available. This problem prevents diagnostics from working.
• The screen goes blank after an external display device that is connected to the computer is turned off. For example, this problem may occur when a projector is turned off during a presentation.
• A computer that has NVIDIA G80 series graphic drivers installed stops responding.
• Visual appearance issues occur when you play graphics-intensive games.
• You experience poor playback quality when you play HD DVD disks or Blu-ray disks on a large monitor.
• Applications that load the Netcfgx.dll component exit unexpectedly.
• Windows Calendar exits unexpectedly after you create a new appointment, create a new task, and then restart the computer.
• Internet Connection Sharing stops responding after you upgrade a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista and then restart the computer.
• The Printer Spooler service stops unexpectedly.
• You receive a "Stop 0x0000009F" error when you put the computer to sleep while a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection is active.

Thanks for the tip CoryC!
Sources: All About Microsoft, Windows Now, and Ars Technica

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on June 07, 2007 by CyberNet.

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If you’re a fan of DivX then you’ll probably want to take advantage of this limited time offer. the DivX team is currently offering a free version of DivX Pro for Windows and for Mac which would normally cost you $20. Basically you download the 21MB file, install DivX Pro, and after the installation is done it will prompt for your email address (as seen in the screenshot above). You’ll receive the serial number needed to register the software at the email address you provide.

The big difference the free DivX and DivX Pro is that you get the DivX Converter (which didn’t work with Vista when I tried it) and the DivX Pro Codec. Here are the benefits each provide:

• DivX Converter
  • Drag-and-drop nearly any video format to create a high-quality, highly compressed DivX video
  • Merge and convert multiple videos into a single DivX file with an automatically generated menu
• DivX Pro Codec
  • Higher performance, including multi-threaded support for better performance on all HyperThreaded, dual core and dual CPU (SMP) systems
  • More encoding options, including six carefully optimized encoding modes that balance visual quality and performance for virtually any application

Even if you don’t need it right now, I recommend that you download DivX Pro for Windows or for Mac so that you can get a serial number. Unfortunately it requires that you immediately install it to get the serial number, but you can pick and choose which components you want installed.

Source: Ghacks

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on January 03, 2008 by CyberNet.

We’ve previously raved about the excellent Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI). It provides up-to-date information on over 5,500 applications, and since the Beta stage back in July 2007 they have revamped the interface to make it more user friendly.

This is the first Release Candidate of Secunia PSI, and I have to say that they are providing an incredible service at no cost. The new version, in addition the the updated interface, will let you track how well you’ve been keeping up with patches from week to week.

Some of you might be familiar with the web-based Secunia Software Inspector, and are probably wondering why it’s worth installing this program. As I mentioned earlier the Secunia PSI is able to monitor over 5,500 apps for updates, but the web-based version only checks 40 different programs. Naturally you can see the benefit of using the application.

Now it’s time for you to join the 200,000+ users that are already using Secunia PSI, which has monitored over 16 million programs. It can run discretely in your Windows System Tray, and only notifies you when your attention is needed. Looks like it is time to get your computer up-to-date!

Secunia PSI (Windows 2000/XP SP2/2003/Vista)
Thanks for the tip “S”!

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on August 22, 2008 by CyberNet.

Panoramic photos seem to be becoming more common these days as people carry cameras with them wherever they go. In the past we’ve shown you tools like AutoStitch and Windows Live Photo Gallery that make assembling panoramic photos effortless, but the free Hugin program is much more customizable.

Hugin will attempt to find points on the images that match up with each other, or you can manually specify control points. It can take some time to get used to because of all the manual settings available to configure, but with these tutorials and a little spare time this weekend you should be all set.

There are over 8,000 images on Flickr that have used Hugin for assembling some amazing panoramic shots. Once you get the hang of using the program you’ll be able to create shots using Hugin like this that started out with this typical panoramic.

Get Hugin for Windows, Mac, or Linux

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on April 05, 2007 by CyberNet.

Azureus 3 just announced today that their client, formerly code-named Zudeo, will be called Vuze. In addition to the name change the press release also says that the service is getting more content:

The service enables a robust community to browse and discover premium content from both worldwide media companies and high-quality self-published content. Vuze now offers dramatically enhanced features and premium content from around the world, including the U.S. premiere of the hit BBC television series Sorted, which will be offered in HD. Azureus also announced that it has entered into an agreement with Showtime Networks for distribution of its original programming, including award-winning hit shows Weeds, Dexter and The L Word.

I haven’t used the service since it was first introduced because it just wasn’t compelling enough for me. Not only that, but as Slyck File Sharing points out Vuze is not DRM-free:

And yes, Azureus’ Zudeo/Vuze outlet contains its fair share of DRM – much like the BEN. Material that Starz Media sells is wrapped within a DRM environment, as is BBC content. The difference between BitTorrent, Inc. and Azureus however, is Ashwin Navin and Bram Cohen has been aggressively vocal against DRM, while Azureus has been noticeably quiet.

As of right now the most popular videos on the site are mostly movie trailers, such as Spiderman 3 and Transformers, in which almost all are provided in HD quality. It definitely isn’t for people on dial-up though, because the 2 minute Spiderman 3 trailer is a whopping 99MB in size!

There seems to be a lot of competition in the video arena these days, which makes me wonder whether Vuze will be a success? If it is then it will probably be because of the Azureus name that stands behind it.

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com