E-Musings Mon Immorata

Free Tools to Combat MyDoom New multiple MyDoom removal tools including one from Microsoft plus updated versions of MyIE2, Winamp 5.02 and the ultimate windows tweaker: Xteq's X-Setup It's interesting to find Microsoft in the anti-virus utility space. Which indicates that the company will probably be debut its "own-brand" antivirus product with Longhorn. Microsoft already has a deal in place with Computer Associates EZ Armor which is still available for a 1 year trial period. EZ Armor is an odd product. The application itself is free, but you need to pay after the trial period to download updated antivirus signatures. I'm not sure if this radical approach is working. Because EZ Armor has been offered as a trial product for 2 years running and shows no sign (so far) of going pay! Microsoft has often licensed key technology from other vendors and included stripped-down versions of commercial products with Windows. It began with Norton (now Symantec) ScanDisk on Windows 95. And other utilities include DiskKeeper (disk defragmentation), ZoneAlarm (firewall), and presumably an open-source file zip/unzip software that's standard with Windows XP/2003. Microsoft's MyDoom Worm Removal utility detects the virus and helps erase all traces of it from an infected computer. The software addresses the A and B worm variants and works only with Windows 2000/XP. Once you acknowledge the inevitable EULA, tool begins to locate and destroy these two variants. If you've been infected by MyDoom.B, the utility resets the Windows HOSTS file to its default version then makes the file read-only. This Microsoft's utility joins similar ani MyDoom/Novarg software recently released by Computer Associates and Symantec. Since all three are free and supposedly address different worm variants, its a good idea to download and run all 3 in succession to cross-check that no lingering traces of the virus remain. Also new this week is Xteq X-Setup Pro: the best Windows tweak utility I have even used. The new version is free for home (non-business) users and the licensing works on the honor system as there's no way for the software to check how many users on a company LAN have actually installed it1 Anyway, this app works with every version and variant of Windows from Ye Olde 95 through Server 2003. The software uses an Explorer-like view and organizes information about system settings into separate categories. Wizards to automate common tasks are included. And you can also save a script of the changes made so these can be applied to multiple computers subsequently. There are more than 1500 different tweaks covering system settings, hardware modification, Web settings, LAN, and even Office suites! There are lots of plug-ins available from the developer's site. And you can also develop your own using the X-Setup SDK. However, like all tweaking tools, use it judiciously. And after each major update, restart your system to verify that the tweak works: An approach also helps you roll back a tweak that breaks Windows. But before you actually feel a need to experiment with X-Setup, download and run SpeedGuide.net's TCP Optimizer. Make sure to select the Extreme Optimal settings. Then restart your computer to see what a difference this software's had made to your (default) IP settings. I recently ran it on my boss' computer which transformed itself from a fussy, semi-geriatric into a near speed demon. Opening Web sites with new-found alacrity. And as I subsequently discovered on my own computer, you need to run the TCP Optimizer every time you apply a major Windows update patch. As the latter seem to insist on rolling back TCP/IP settings to a throttled bandwidth default. The new Winamp 5.02 (available in Pro & Lite versions) is essentially another updated collection of bug-fixes. Although I was one of the Winamp 5.01 early-adopters, I notice that the software was highly unstable and would often crash by Windows 2000 computer. It also has major issues playing back CD Audio. In all, not a nice piece of software in hindsight! Last but not the least this week is yet another MytIE2 version (bUild 0.9.16). Along with the inevitable bug tweaks, this also adds support for an RSS feed search plug-in, improved browsing and load speeds, and you can limit the maximum number of Tabs (Windows) that can be opened in a single instance, and pressing ESC when the cursor is in the address bar restores the previously typed URL. Protect tabs too won't be closed regardless of browser settings. However, there remains one annoyance: unlike Opera you can't retain a list of URLs viewed in a Tab when you close the browser. This is because MyIUE2 is an Internet Explorer wrapper and tends to inherit several of the latter's "flaws". If you really want to improve your MyIE2 browsing experience, do look at the various plug-ins available. I use several including the IE History that allows me to save an HTML file of where my browser's been. Flash Save that gives me an option of saving Flash files. As well as Set Title that allows you to use any text from within a web page as that URL's tab title (sticky name). And the Click Here to Email Me