Hmmmm? Is this an improvement from Microsoft or just my dumb luck?

Just as I always do I hope for the best, but plan for the worst. I backed up all my data and have had my eyes on my test machine for some time.

If anyone has experienced any issues with xp sp3 that appear software or system specific drop me a comment.

By the way I have decided to add a link with each new post for software I find useful. Below is this weeks company. I added this one after the Vista issue. They offer other titles as well.

Recommended software

http://www.maximumsoftware.com

By design Windows Vista is supposed to be equipped with a better ability to address additions and removal issues in the registry. If so why all the problems though.

Yeah you would think “Just use system restore”, but no luck it failed…COMPLETELY! That wonderful “Not all registry entries could be restored. The restore operation failed” error appeared.

With all the problems that software manufacturers have had with developing software for Vista I didn’t think I would have much luck, but I ran acrossa software title which I ventured to give a try and see if it would help. The software was specifically designed to address registry structure and issues related directly to the registry.

We all know the registry is just a database that tells Windows how to operate, look and perform. Well I thought what the heck its either that or blow everything away, but for the little amount of money they wanted for the program I figured it would be worth a shot. My other option would be to lose most of the programs I had installed when I formatted and reinstalled, so you tell me…Which would have tried first?

I want to say that the program actually works! I didn’t have to format…I didn’t have to reinstall…..Thank God! If you find yourself in a similar situation where you have a bunch of errors and things just dont seem right with your Vista Operating system (Which is probably all the time right?) you should give it a try.

Get to the home page here http://www.pcregistrycleaner.com

I did a little research and found a company that put together a “Learn Vista” cd which outlines all of the new features and how to’s.

The videos are pretty indepth, but not so much that you have to be an MSCE to understand them.

After a week of using the videos they are more confident and have a better understanding of the Windows Vista operating system. I thought it might be a good idea to include it on my blog just in case anyone else was looking for a good but inexpensive option for a Vista operating system tutorial.

You can check out the product here http://www.myvistatutor.com/

Here are a few guidlines to consider before selecting any password.

You should never use the same password for all of your accounts. Ideally you should not use the same user name or password for any account. If a hacker acquires your password for one account this password will be the first thing tried by the hacker for any other accounts they detect.

Use long passwords which employ at least eight characters with a combination of numbers as well as lower and uppercase letters.

Often hackers use utilities designed to randomly generate letters and numbers. These utilities try different combinations of letters and numbers and will attempt to randomly guess passwords in multiple attempts over a selected time period until the password and user name are found.

Do not use common names such as titles, well known names or nicknames. This includes the names of your children, pets or the model of your vehicle.

The biggest mistake I see is people using default passwords such as “password”. If your account has a default password  you should change it immediately.

When selecting numbers to use do not select birthdays, social security numbers or any easy to remember number that may be associated to you.

The best practice is to randomly generate unique user name and passwords for each account. There are many programs available which will generate and store user names and passwords, and then store this information in a password protected database. This can be very helpful in remembering passwords. Not only do these types of software store user names and passwords, but as well will input the required data when an account or web page is visited.

This has generated many support calls, many of which nothing can be done without power. Of course this is good for business, but businesses need to listen better to their support contractors.

Many times it has been suggested for these businesses to implement battery backups and if they require offline operation a generator to maintain at-least internal operations.

I understand the cost of implementing such backup power hardware, but if as a company they wish to maintain operations and prevent data loss from automatic shutdowns the only solution would be to implement these plans.

It’s nice to know at-least when power loss does occur I can always think to myself “If they had listened to me the first thirty times I told them they need this we wouldn’t be here recovering data”.

You would think that experiencing situations they have been told to plan for still is not a good enough reason for implementation of such technology.

If anyone else who supports server or network hardware has a similar experience the best thing to do in such situations is to develop a cost analysis comparison showing the cost of implementing these technologies against the cost of support generated from the lack of having them.

With this comparison generally they can see its cheaper to implement backup power plans as opposed to not.

To access the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool, you can go to desktop search box and type memory. You may also access them by using the Admin Tools area of the control panel or by booting off of the Vista DVD and using the Recovery Environment. 

If using the utility from inside Windows you will be prompted with the option to restart your computer to begin the test or begin the test the next time you boot your PC. When your PC restarts, the diagnostic tool will begin and present you with a few test options: Basic, Standard and Extended. The Standard test is selected by default. Simply designate which option you wish to run.

After the test completes you can restart your computer and view the results. If you have bad memory you should replace or remove the faulty module immediately.

I can understand that in many rural areas there are not providers in some cases. Generally in those areas other technologies are available. Some of these technologies are more expensive and like satellite a little less reliable.

It’s just a little difficult understand why with everything available someone in a suburban area might choose this technology. Considering that you can acquire a DSL connection in many cases as low as $19.95/ month.

It is understandable that a free 56k connection is easier on the pocket book, but as someone who supports servers and desktops many people who use this type of connection experience many connection issues. These isssues mainly deal with speed issues. Every time I experience someone who has this type of connection and problems I direct them in many cases to contact their phone provider and examine the benefits and cost of obtaiing a brodband connection.

In most of these cases the client decides to obtain a faster connection after figuring out the cost is not as sigificant as they thought.  Whether this is due to a failure of companies to get the word out as to the cost and benefits of such services or other reason.

Users should review in detail the conection options available to them in their area, compare them, and make an informed decision as we know with the technology becoming more availble the cost decreases.

Of course you can encounter these types of issues any time you are using a Beta program. I contacted their support team hoping to obtain help, but usually when using a beta program support is not provided.

To my surprise their support team was more than happy to assist me. After sending them the report file on changes made by the Bug Doctor program they reviewed the information. With in one hour they had diagnosed the issue.

They had me reverse the changes through he programs restore option. This morning I received an updated version of the program from their development team with directions on installing and performing a clean to test the functionality and insure the program did not alter the same information it had previously.

The program worked fine this time. This post is to thank the Bug Doctor support team for their wonderfully efficient support team.

It’s nice to know there are companies out there which still care about their customers.

Thank you to the Maximum Software Support Team!

I signed up as a beta tester for a program I had used in the past named Bug Doctor. Of course it took a little while to receive their beta version designed for Vista, but it seems it was well worth the wait.

Of course I had to report all effects the software had to the company in order to use the software, but I was pleased once again by the performance of the program.

It cured my issue by grooming the registry and removing problem entries which can effect how Windows performs.

I have to say I am pleased that the company has continued its focus on developing the Bug Doctors performance. This is one program I will purchase.