Software: A Bootable USB utility to create bootable USB drives for Win 7 and Server 2008

The following from askvg.com is another option for installing Windows from a USB drive. Another option to install from USB can also be found on the “How to install your windows operating system if you don’t have a cd rom” post http://techgeekandmore.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/tech-how-to-install-your-windows-operating-system-when-you-dont-have-a-cd-rom/ (http://techgeekandmore NULL.wordpress NULL.com/2009/08/07/tech-how-to-install-your-windows-operating-system-when-you-dont-have-a-cd-rom/)

(From www.askvg.com (http://www NULL.askvg NULL.com))

Imagine a situation where you need to install Windows Vista or 7 in a system but you don’t have access to DVD drive. We all know Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7 comes in DVDs and you’ll need a DVD drive to install them. Then how will you install them? The solution is, you can create a bootable USB drive which can be used to install Windows without using DVD drive.

nA askvg.com reader created a small utility which creates a bootable USB drive to install Windows Vista, Server 2008 or Windows 7.

Prerequisites:

A USB Drive (4 GB or more)
Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7 ISO image or DVD
Host OS: Windows Vista (SP1 or SP2), Server 2008 or 7

How to Use:

Once you meet the requirements, run the utility. Its a portable utility so doesn’t need installation. Simply run it and check the option "I have read and accepted the following License Agreement". Now click on OK button and it’ll launch the main application.

It also shows a Help window so that you can use the utility easily. The utility requires only 4 easy steps to follow:

Check USB drive (To check whether your USB drive is attached or not)
Format USB drive
Choose DVD or ISO image (To copy the required files to USB drive)
Start the process to create bootable USB drive

Download Links:

Download Link (http://rapidshare NULL.com/files/246754337/A_Bootable_USB NULL.zip) (Rapidshare)

Download Link (http://www NULL.mediafire NULL.com/download NULL.php?mmtditiydmm) (Mediafire)

Download Link (http://cid-f52381d9f2fd5fd8 NULL.skydrive NULL.live NULL.com/browse NULL.aspx/ABUSB) (Skydrive)

PS: It also works in 64-bit Windows versions.

Software: Windows 7 XPM (XP Mode) Install Procedure

(Updated 8/11/09 @ 7:30p to add a missing step) One of the best features I have been using with Windows 7 is called XPM or “XP Mode”. XP Mode is an optional feature for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions. The idea behind XP Mode is that it helps small businesses upgrade to Windows 7 by providing a virtual Windows XP environment capable of running many older (normally called legacy) Windows XP-compatible business and productivity applications, however, even home users would see a benefit if you run an application that is a couple of years old that you just cant live without, can’t afford to upgrade, if your moving to 64-bit Windows 7 but have an application that only works in a 32-bit environment

(That would be Cisco VPN software for me where Cisco lists on their site that the VPN software is only for 32-bit systems. With XPM I’m running it in Windows 7 – 64bit edition. You can Bing or Google your software and search will (name of software) work in a 64 bit operating system)

or software that the software maker has retired and isn’t making newer versions of.

Microsoft has had Virtual PC Software for a few years now, but in the past, it involved running the software inside of a VM window that you had to start manually and then you also could not read or connect any USB hardware as the VM could not recognize USB. Now with the XP Mode, you still have to use the VM window to install your programs that need XP to run, but once that is done, you will see a shortcut on your Windows 7 start menu and your program will run directly from Windows 7 just using the XP VM as support (the support XP gives to make the program run happens completely in the background). I am getting a little ahead of myself, so lets go thru the XP mode requirements and steps to install 1st

REQUIREMENTS:

Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate Editions.
PC with at least 2 gigs of memory (as XP Mode does use up additional resources to run)
PC with at least 15 GB (That’s gigabytes) of free hard drive space
PC that comes with a BIOS that includes either Intel – VT or AMD – V (The V stands for Virtualization, on some PC it may just say the word Virtualization) as the hardware virtualization is what is at the heart of XP Mode, without it you CAN NOT RUN XP Mode.
Download of the Microsoft Virtual PC and and Windows XP mode from the Microsoft website http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx (http://www NULL.microsoft NULL.com/windows/virtual-pc/download NULL.aspx) .

What you will need to check:

The 1st thing you will need to check is your bios to make sure you have the Virtualization option and that it is enabled. To access your bios, during the very 1st screen you see when you power your machine, look for a message that says “Press F1 to enter setup” or “Press delete (key) to enter set up” or something to that effect. Whatever that message says to press that’s the button you will press.

Once your in your bios, you need to look for the setting for “Virtualization” or Intel –VT or AMD – V. Once your find it, make sure its enabled. The press F10 (this is standard on almost all PC bios screens) to save your changes and restart your pc**.

**Note the bios also controls virtually all the settings in your pc, DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO ANY OTHER PART OF YOUR BIOS UNLESS YOUR REALLY SURE OF WHAT THE CHANGE WILL DO. THE ONLY ONE I’M TELLING YOU IS OK TO CHANGE IS THE VIRTUALIZATION ONE.

Installation of software:

1. Install Windows Virtual PC RC:
Double-click Windows6.1-KB958559-x86.msu or Windows6.1-KB958559-x64.msu (depending on if your using 32bit or 64bit Windows 7). Just follow the prompts by selecting yes or next to install after the double click. You may be prompted at the end of the install to reboot, go ahead and reboot.

(http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2fkb958559EULA NULL.jpg)

5-1-2009 2-55-52 PM (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2f51200925552PM NULL.jpg)

5-1-2009 2-56-34 PM (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2f51200925634PM NULL.jpg)

5-1-2009 3-31-57 PM (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2f51200933157PM NULL.jpg)

2. Install Windows XP Mode RC:
Double-click WindowsXPMode_nn-NN.exe (where nn-NN is the locale, for example: WindowsXPMode_en-us.exe) and follow the instructions in the wizard to extract and install Windows XP Mode RC.

virtual-windows-xp-vhd (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2fvirtualwindowsxpvhd NULL.png)

5-1-2009 12-56-32 PM (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2f512009125632PM NULL.jpg)

Virtual Windows XP Setup Complete (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2fVirtualWindowsXPSetupComplete NULL.jpg)

3. Reboot Windows 7 to complete the installation.

4. To start Windows XP Mode RC Setup:
Click Start, click All Programs, click Windows Virtual PC, and then click Windows XP Mode.

***If your PC does not have Virtualization built into the bios or if you do not have it enabled you will see the following message. If your still not sure if you have virtualization, check with your Tech neighbor, your Tech child or other Tech family member, or Tech Friend for additional support

Virtual Windows XP fail to start (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2fVirtualWindowsXPfailtostart NULL.jpg)

5. When the virtual machine starts for the first time, the Virtual Windows XP EULA appears. Accept it and click Next to continue.

6. On the next screen you will be asked where you want you XP mode files saved. The default is listed, however, if you have a more than one drive or a hard drive with multiple partitions (C:\ D:\ E:\ etc) you may want to consider changing that location to another drive. Also another trick, if you have more than 1 profile on your pc (we use 3 at home), then when you install XP mode under each profile (and yes you have to do the install for each person who is to use XP Mode) with an account (profile) on the pc that you plan to use XP mode on choose the same location for the install. That way you only have 1 install of XP mode and all users share the 1 XP Mode install. This also keeps you from having to install the same software multiple times.

7. On the next screen, Create a password for the User account. This is a required account with administrator privileges that the wizard creates automatically. It is the default account used to run Windows XP mode. **Its important that you remember the password you entered at this screen**

VXP Password Set (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2fVXPPasswordSet NULL.jpg)

During the setup process you will be prompted how you want to handle window updates for XPM. Choose automatic update settings for Virtual Windows XP and proceed next.

vxp update (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2fvxpupdate NULL.jpg)

Then you will see the following while XPM installs

(Took about 4 minutes on a dual core AMD 2.86 GHZ system)

Setting up VPC (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2fSettingupVPC NULL.jpg)

Initializing virtual machine (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2fInitializing
virtualmachine NULL.jpg)

Starting the operating system (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2fStartingtheoperatingsystem NULL.jpg)

Enabling integration features (http://www NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com/ct NULL.ashx?id=0a0a2ada-9322-436b-8710-39efd6184d38&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww NULL.bostonpocketpc NULL.com%2fimages%2fposts%2fHowtoinstallXPMXPModeonWindows7_2F7E%2fEnablingintegrationfeatures NULL.jpg)

8. After completion of first time start wizard, Windows XP Mode is ready to use.

At this point simply use the Windows XP window and install your XP programs into that window. Once installed you can select start –> Log off XPM User

Select Log Off

Then from the top of the XPM window select Action and close

You will see “Hibernating he Virtual Machine”

and with that your out of XPM. and then you can look at your start menu and you will see the programs you installed

Then select the program you want under Windows XP Mode Applications and you can run your program in Windows 7.

Software: Uninstalling Symantec (Norton) Anti-Virus Software when you DON’T know the uninstaller password

A regular issue I come across is people who put passwords on their installed programs and then forget what the password is. One of the common ones I find involves Symantec (or Norton) Anti-Virus Clients especially when using the Corporate Edition Clients. If you don’t know or forget the password, then the client is not able to uninstall or remove.

The A/V client uninstallation password for Symantec by default is “Symantec” if the software is setup to use a password but the not password itself is not changed. Thus, the first thing to try in order to successfully uninstall a Symantec A/V Client is by trying the default password “Symantec” for the uninstalling clients.

In the cases where the default client uninstall password does not work, the following hack will enable you to remove Symantec Antivirus without using a password:

Open Registry Editor (regedit).
Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\INTEL\LANDesk\VirusProtect6\CurrentVersion\Administrator Only\Security\
Change the value for useVPuninstallpassword key from 1 to 0.
Exit Registry Editor and now you can uninstall Symantec Antivirus Client.

I have used this trick on Symantec (and Norton) Anti-Virus client versions 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Software: One Big change in Windows 7 – Where the start menu list folders are located

I don’t have many OCD moments while using a computer but the way my start menu is organized can be considered one of those moments. I prefer all programs listed in my start menu organized and in there own individual folders so that everything is easier to find. There have always been a couple of folders in all versions of Windows that control what your start menu looks like.

To me an organized start menu should look like this (where everything is easy to find)

not like this Where files and folders are all mixed together and nothing has any order.

In the past versions of Windows if you went to C:\Documents and Settings\(your name)\start menu, you would see all the items list just under your sign on in the start menu

If you went to c:\Documents and settings\All Users\Start Menu then you would see all the files and folders that everyone with a user ID for the pc would see. The 2 locations were easy to access and to get files to move from one side to the other. Since it wasn’t difficult to access the folders from the My Computer Icon.

However now Microsoft has changed the locations of these files. In Windows 7 if you want to see the folder that holds the start menu items for all users, you need to go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. If you want to see the start menu items that are only for you, its located at C:\Users\Alex\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. To get to these file locations the easiest thing to do in Windows 7 is to go to Start –> Run and in the Run box type the address, since those file locations are hidden from normal view or

you can right click on the start menu (exactly at the bottom where it will say either all programs or back) and select Open to get to your folder or open all users to get to the shared start menu folder.

Software/Tech: RocketDock does not work in Windows 64 bit editions. Oh wait yes it does and here is how.

I have been a big fan of RocketDock ( http://rocketdock.com/ (http://rocketdock NULL.com/) ) for a couple of years now. I like the easy access shortcuts on my desktop (Organized). Its especially nice since its a Freeware product meaning, its free and it doesn’t have any ads or spyware on the install (and I hope they can keep it that way).

RocketDock from there own website explain their software as

“RocketDock is a smoothly animated, alpha blended application launcher. It provides a nice clean interface to drop shortcuts on for easy access and organization. With each item completely customizable there is no end to what you can add and launch from the dock.”

Yes I know that in Windows 7 you can pin programs to your task bar (Like what the quick launch bar did in XP), but I use that task bar for all my open windows (which during normal pc use can be as many as 20 windows open at the same time), so I want to save as much of that task bar space for the open windows.

I was a little concerned once I installed Windows 7 – 64 bit edition because RocketDock shows that “X64 editions are not yet supported”.

I downloaded Rocketdock and installed it, and yep as the warning said it did not work. However, since I don’t like to give up easy I tried something and discovered that yes you can make RocketDock work on a 64bit system. Here is what I did…..

1 – Downloaded and installed the latest version of RocketDock (v 1.3.5 in this case)

2 – I still have RocketDock loaded on a 32 bit Windows XP system. So from that system I copied the entire RocketDock folder located in C:\Program Files\RocketDock

3 – I copied the files to the 64 bit location (on my Windows 7 PC) that RocketDock installed which is c:\Program Files (x86)\RocketDock

You will be prompted to replace files, say yes to replace all.

That was it…..started RocketDock and it works just as it did when installed on a 32bit Windows PC.

***Note RocketDock website has some ads (provided by Google Ads), I am not recommending / endorsing using any of the Ads to “Clean XP” or Fix Windows” or anything else you will see on the RocketDock website.

Software/How to :Windows 7 – How to give it look and act like XP

With the release of every new version of any software, it is common for changes to occur as to how the software looks on the screen and where everything is located. That is of course the case with Windows 7, and if your like me your more comfortable with the previous layout of Windows XP (Yes I know I could learn to like the new lay out, but for now I rather give Windows 7 that XP feel).

Windows 7 looks like this once installed.

Note: Look at the lower left, and see the difference in the start menu. In the picture next to the new start bubble, I have Internet Explorer, Windows Live Writer and Paint open as well as Windows Explorer and Windows Media Player which are pinned to the task bar.

I prefer the XP style since I normally have to many windows open at once that I like to see what is there without having to put my mouse over each icon to see what is open. So to get the changes in appearance you need to do that following.

1 – Right click on the task bar (The bar going across the bottom) and select properties. You will see the following window.

Now change the box that says “Taskbar buttons” to say Never Combine. Followed by clicking the box that says Customize in the notifications area.

2 – In the notifications window that pops up, put a check in the “Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar”. Then click ok.

3 – Now click on the Taskbar and Start Menu Window again and this time go to the start menu tab, then click on the customize button on the top right.

4 – Now you will see the customize start menu window.

Here are the changes I’ve made to my system (you may experiment wit this one to find what you like).

Computer – Display as a menu
Control Panel – Display as a menu
Default Programs – Uncheck
Documents – Display as a menu
Favorites menu – check (because I’m used to it being on the start menu)
Games – Display as a menu
Help – Uncheck
Run command – Check (Again I’m just used to it being there)

**All other items listed in the customize start menu window, I left as is. No changes.

5 – Now on the taskbar (This is because I’m not a fan of the quick launch bar in XP) you will find IE, Windows Explorer and Windows Media player “pinned”.

Right click on each one and select “Unpin this program from taskbar”

6 – Lastly, if you want the start menu to actually say start and not be the bubble go to start –> Control Panel –> System

On the top left corner click on Advanced System Settings. This will open the System Properties window.

Here click on the settings button on the top in the Performance window.

Uncheck the last box that says “Use visual styles on windows and buttons.

And with that You Windows 7 version will look and respond as close to XP as possible.

Tech: CA Anti-Virus software fails during update

One of the issues I have faced this week with a client is that they have CA A/V installed and on all 9 of their PC’s it would fail on update. You would get a message that says that “Package failed to install” then it would automatically try and download the update and try again. It seems that this can be a known CA issue (even though the CA solution did not work for me). Here is the solution from the CA support site:

Problem Resolution

1. If updates have never happened in the past on this PC, then do check if your system requirements meet minimum requirements (http://crm NULL.my-etrust NULL.com/login NULL.asp?username=guest&target=DOCUMENT&openparameter=3157) for CA Anti-Virus. (depending on your subscription)

2. Disable your firewall (http://crm NULL.my-etrust NULL.com/login NULL.asp?username=guest&target=DOCUMENT&openparameter=2636) to check if this is causing a problem.

CA Personal Firewall will not block your CA updates.

However, if you are not using CA Personal Firewall, and if updates are working with your firewall disabled, then add the following websites to the exception list of your firewall (your firewall vendor or firewall help manuals will help you with this step):
http://consumerdownloads.ca.com/ (http://consumerdownloads NULL.ca NULL.com/)
http://etrustdownloads.ca.com/ (http://etrustdownloads NULL.ca NULL.com/)

3. If your computer is behind a proxy, then configure CA Anti-Virus with proxy settings (http://crm NULL.my-etrust NULL.com/login NULL.asp?username=guest&target=DOCUMENT&openparameter=1888).

4. Force Update (https://remoteassist NULL.ca NULL.com/supportbridge/jsp/selfserve/processScriptRequestOwnWindow NULL.jsp?divisionID=7&scriptID=160) the CA Anti-Virus using our hot fix (https://remoteassist NULL.ca NULL.com/supportbridge/jsp/selfserve/processScriptRequestOwnWindow NULL.jsp?divisionID=7&scriptID=160).

5. Replace signature files manually:
a) Delete or rename the following signature files (found in the location where you installed CA Anti-Virus):
C:\Program Files\CA\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\vet.dat
C:\Program Files\ca\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\vete.dll
C:\Program Files\ca\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\isafeEngine.dll
C:\Program Files\ca\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\caavresource.dll
C:\Program Files\ca\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\caavproduct.dll
C:\Program Files\ca\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\modules.txt

b) Empty your recycle bin

c) Right click on the CA Shield icon on the bottom right, and choose Update Product.

6. At this point, if the update fails, then please contact Technical Support through the additional support options below.
7. To fix this issue without contacting Technical Support, please follow these guidelines:
a) Go to Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs list and uninstall CA Anti-Virus alone from here.
b) Go through the on-screen instructions to uninstall and restart the PC.
c) Download a fresh copy (http://crm NULL.my-etrust NULL.com/login NULL.asp?username=guest&target=DOCUMENT&openparameter=3111) of your product, from your online CA account.
d) Run the downloaded setup and follow on-screen instructions to install.
e) Once the installation is complete, restart your PC and your CA Anti-Virus will be up to date.

I did everything CA said step by step and even after the reinstall CA would not update. I even tried on 2 of the pc’s before contacting CA support with no luck. Once I spoke to CA support, I had about the same amount of luck as all they could say is that because CA was “broken” when Conflickr (Yep the same one) infected the pc’s on this network, that the only way to get CA to work again was to reinstall Windows. (Yes like I want to have to reinstall 8 different pc’s and then reload software including some custom applications that are from a different vendor and I had no clue about).

So I got an “old school” idea. Using the CA files already loaded and working fine from another pc. I went back in and uninstalled CA on one of the pc’s. Then rebooted to clear the last of the files …… The I went thru the following steps

On restart – reinstalled a fresh copy of CA and rebooted again for safe measure.
On this restart – I went into Task Manager

a. To start Task Manager, take any of the following actions:

Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then click Task Manager.
Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.
Right-click an empty area of the taskbar, and then click Task Manager

3. In task Manager – Highlight the following files and select End Process on each one.

- CAVRID.exe
- CCprovsp.exe
- CCTray.exe
- ISafe.exe
- vetMsg.exe

4. Now go to c:\program files\CA\CA Internet Security Suite on the PC with a working copy of CA and copy all the files in the CA Internet Security folder (Note I said copy not cut) onto a USB flash drive or other storage area (If you know how to transfer via the network you can do that to). Once you have the files, go to the pc with the Bad CA, and paste all the files to the same c:\program files\CA\CA Internet Security Suite location on the broken CA pc. You will be prompted to replace files, say yes to all.

5. Now go to start – programs – CA – CA Internet Security – Update Product and then select the update button. CA will now update and prompt you that your Software is up to date.

6. Lastly reboot 1 more time and you now have a full recovered and working copy of CA.

Tech: How to install your Windows Operating System when you don't have a cd-rom

As a proud owner of a Samsung UMPC (OK everyone else seems to go for the Netbooks I just had to be different), who also has a couple of clients that use these units for business purposes, I’ve had to come up with work arounds for a couple of issues. They are great especially when your somewhere with very limited space and you need to get work done (ever try and open a full size laptop while sitting in coach on a plane).

The one problem is that if you ever need to reinstall Windows, you have a issue. As noted there are no CD drives on the unit (yes there is an option for an external cd drive but what if you don’t have one) and the unit only comes with one (or 2 depending on your version) restore cd’s (actually DVD’s).

For the solution to this I will turn to Dennis Chung, an IT Pro Evangelist at Microsoft who has written a Tip on TechNet (Article is in the free section of TechNet, so everyone should have access to this link). The posting entitled “Tip: Use a USB Key to Install Windows 7—Even on a Netbook” speaks about Windows 7, however 2000, XP and Vista can all be installed using the exact same steps.

“Putting the Windows 7 installation on a USB thumb drive has a few advantages—a small USB key is much more convenient for carrying around than a DVD, the OS will actually install much faster, and you can use a USB key to install Windows 7 on systems that do not have a DVD drive, such as a netbook. In fact, you can even install Windows 7 on netbooks that have fairly modest hardware. Dennis Chung, an IT Pro Evangelist at Microsoft recently posted a video demonstrating how easy it is to prepare your thumb drive and use it to install Windows”

You will find the entire posting on http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd535816.aspx (http://technet NULL.microsoft NULL.com/en-us/magazine/dd535816 NULL.aspx)

Software (Alert!) – Another Anti-virus maker issues a false positive update that breaks something. This time its i-Tunes

Reports on the Apple support forums this morning ( http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2092831&start=0&tstart=0 (http://discussions NULL.apple NULL.com/thread NULL.jspa?threadID=2092831&start=0&tstart=0)) are that users are no longer able to able access i-Tunes. It seems that an AVG anti-virus update overnight is reporting that i-Tunes files are part of a “small.BOG” virus/Trojan. This is causing the AVG program to quarantine files and if you say yes to delete when you are warned about your machine being infected, causing i-Tunes files to be deleted.
A work around posted on the apple forum ( http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9877057#9877057 (http://discussions NULL.apple NULL.com/message NULL.jspa?messageID=9877057#9877057) ) is to add "C:\Program Files (x86)\ipod" as an exception under Resident Shield>Manage Exceptions>Add Path. For those who still have the update from AVG that cause the problem.

Additionally, there are reports that AVG has fixed this issue with an update this morning, so you do want to make sure your AVG software is updated. Depending on if AVG only blocked the i-Tunes files or actually deleted them, will then tell you if you need to just restore them from the AVG program or reinstall i-Tunes.

This is only that latest false positive problem that has appeared for anti-virus software makers in the past few weeks, recently CA ( http://techgeekandmore.wordpress.com/category/ca-anti-virus/ (http://techgeekandmore NULL.com/category/ca-anti-virus/) ) and McAfee ( http://techgeekandmore.wordpress.com/2009/07/04/alert-if-your-a-mcafee-anti-virus-user-do-not-update-your-av-until-you-see-this/ (http://techgeekandmore NULL.com/2009/07/04/alert-if-your-a-mcafee-anti-virus-user-do-not-update-your-av-until-you-see-this/) ) have both seen that same type of issues.

Software: (UPDATE) CA Apologizes for A/V Issue

The following post (Apology) comes directly from CA ( http://www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?cid=212102 ) concerning the Anti-Virus issues that started last week (http://techgeekandmore.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/alert-ca-anti-virus-update-for-79-causing-problems/ (http://techgeekandmore NULL.com/2009/07/09/alert-ca-anti-virus-update-for-79-causing-problems/) ).

Security Advisor News

False positive detection of Win32/Amalum

Published: 9 Jul 2009

“We apologize to our Internet security customers for the recent false positive detection of Win32/Amalum. We detected the errant file quickly and worked to resolve the issue as fast as possible to minimize its effect to our customers.

Historically, CA has a very low rate of false positive detections. We have stringent processes in place to make sure we are delivering the most comprehensive detection of malware. When we inspect a program for malware, our practice is to take all necessary steps to protect the customer rather than risk subjecting their systems and infrastructure to a security breach. Unfortunately, as malware has increased exponentially this has brought with it the increased possibility for false positives from all vendors.

We take this incident seriously and will learn from it to further improve our processes to prevent this from happening in the future. We will also continue to improve our detections and protect our customers while continuing to maintain the best quality possible.”

False Positive Alert

Issue: A recent CA DAT file release contained improperly formed malware detections that errantly detected clean files from Microsoft Windows Service Pack 3 and from the commercial Cygwin application. Affected files will be detected as “Win32\Amalum” variants with extensions such as ZZNRA, ZZOFK, ZZNPB, and ZZNRA.

Problem DAT: 6604 released July 8, 2009 at 11:00am EST

Impact: All files falsely detected as malware by these errant signatures will be quarantined and renamed with the following text appended to the file name “*.AVB”. This will prevent the affected files from running as the “.exe” file extension was changed. Please note the affected files remain intact as only the file extensions were modified.

Corrected DAT: 6606 released July 9, 2009 at 3:30am EST

Resolution: Update DAT files to DAT version listed above or later. ISS users should restore affected files from quarantine using the GUI. ITM customers should search local hard drives for files with the extension .AVB and manually rename to their original file extension by removing the appended text on the original file name. Please contact CA Support if further assistance is required. A tool to search a machine for files with .*.AVB extension and restore them to their original extension is available on request from support.

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