Replies

Fosshub is an interesting site, and I very much like its opposition to spam and bundling. Although a few sites claim to oppose bundleware, most quietly profit from it– only Fosshub appears scrupulously honest on that point.

Your reference to UNetbootin seems to be exactly what I need, and the application works on many USB devices running Windows, as I had hoped.

The idea of running a security scan from a read-only flash drive appealed early, and plenty of references provide a means to put applications and operating systems on a flash drive. However, my doubts began when I found there are limitations, and even risks to the use of flash drive hardware to run an instance of Windows on a regular basis.

So, I have chosen what appears to be the more direct solution for Windows work, using a bootable external USB hard drive, made read-only. That will not work when the suspect machine has no USB boot device option, but such computers are increasingly a minority. For those and especially for “hard cases”, a simple CD should be enough.

Despite my concern about running Windows regularly from a flash drive, your PenDriveLinux reference may persuade me to run many of my field applications from a Linux-based flash drive, since I am already moving as quickly as possible into Linux.

You can rest assured I believe in prevention and proactivity over damage control, any day. The problem is my customers seldom do.

Thanks for the links!

There’s nothing new under the sun, as they say.
Hirens Boot CD
http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd
http://en.kioskea.net/download/download-24112-hiren-s-bootcd
Ultimate Boot CD
https://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
https://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html

I may be late to the party but the party continues at full blast, apparently.

Prior to my question, I never had been forced to consider using a flash drive, but the material sent promises to be useful.

TO TonyL–
Many Thanks! Your one-piece post-SP3 update pack is exactly what I need. And due to the fact I had stumbled upon my old friend nLite earlier, as I wandered Google in search of a solution, I believe I am on the right road.

Thanks for your last reference to Spotmau– I had dealt with them in the past, but the product did not work out / boot properly on my system, so they graciously refunded my purchase price. Could not have expected more.

Here is something which may interest you– a free product called UDC, provided by a website that also details all the Update Lists, and recommends use of nLite for slipstreaming a complete installation of XP. http://xdot.tk/

TO BruceR–
Many thanks! I called MS tech support on this issue, claiming my last Windows Update session was April 8, but the session never completed properly, and continually prompted me to install more updates. Technically, I explained, the session never ended, and all I wanted was to end the loop, and be done with it. With that minimally demanding request, I was confident of some response– only to be told there was nothing that could be done (and to step back while the door was slammed in my face).

The MS tech might have helped me break the loop, or failing that, he might have told me I had plenty of time to resolve the problem, since existing updates will still be available. But that seemed to ask entirely too much, and I requested to speak with his supervisor, who confirmed the CSR had addressed the issue satisfactorily (for whom?). Throughout, I was as reasonable and polite as anyone might be, so that incident has been filed under “Idiocy”. On other occasions with MS tech CSRs, I have been delighted with the response, and have commended the person to his supervisor.

Thanks very much for the link to XP End of Support (FAQ 8)

Since my original post, I have stumbled upon nLite and a wonderful utility called UDC– http://xdot.tk/

With MS dropping the updates and making XP more vulnerable, wouldn’t blanketing XP with antivirus, anti-malware (Malwarebytes), and 3rd party firewall (ZoneAlarm) provide as good protection or even better?

According to industry lore, Microsoft’s Bill Gates once observed, “It’s software. It’s buggy– get over it!” Meaning, moving to another verison of Windows does not assure safety. Likewise, remaining with an older, preferred version of Windows does not assure safety, either.

The paradox is new code introduces a host of new problems and security holes, and old code still hides old holes, despite years of effort by good and bad guys to find the vulnerabilities.

As poster RG observes on this thread, risk of malware infection is constant. All you can do is stay behind your router firewall, don’t wander too far off the beaten path, and run something like Web of Trust to alert you of “red light districts” where safety is more of an issue.

Since (1) not all Windows vulnerabilities are ever known and (2) new holes are discovered in all versions, all the time and (3) detection and repair of these security holes is always behind schedule and (4) some known holes probably never will be fixed (buffer overflow), the question you raise depends on how much Microsoft contributes to your overall security on the web.

You might be surprised that over 63 percent of all malware infection is based on user error– downloading infected files from the web. That statistic from security firm Trend Micro implies either Microsoft does such a good job, the only danger left is risky user downloads or (2) Microsoft is such a small part of typical security exposure on the web, patching Windows no longer matters nearly as much.

For its part, count on Microsoft never to admit its patches do not matter– they want you to keep buying a newer, and “more secure” version of Windows. But listen, once again, to Bill Gates explain why no patch will be issued before its time– “There are no significant bugs in our released software that any significant number of users want fixed.”

And no more taps on shoulder from Windows Genuine Disadvantage that it has decided (in its infinite wisdom) your copy of Windows is illigitimate!

All good points, especially the idea of using a Linux Live CD during web exposure. and the idea of creating a “good image” of the system, against the day when infection or other disaster strikes. Fred Langa is an imaging fanatic, with the scars of experience to lend wisdom.

This is difficult to explain, but after putting away the laptop in its case, after discovering an intractible problem with all USB2.0 ports (would not recognize known good USB2.0 ext USB hard drive), all USB2.0 ports recovered completely on my next session.

This result suggests the problem was not the laptop, itself. USB ports >> normally << do not flip themselves off without a cause, as other, helpful posters pointed out. The more likely cause is a driver issue, since I recently replaced the ext HD with a new model which does not use the same driver as the original.

Of course, this is sheer conjecture, based on the little I was able to establish. So far, the problem has not returned.

It turned out this unit– which has not been out of its case very often– was not clogged with dust, and the fan was OK. However, your suggestion about thermal grease on the heatsink is a keeper.

Thank you– that is a good suggestion, and I do have the standard PCMCIA slot.

Yes, I guessed I was in trouble with the Acer laptop when it refused to recognize the external USB driver plug. This is astonishing, since the ACER has had so little actual combat exposure.

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on my diagnostic– I do have a driver CD, and I believe ACER still has these posted.

Thanks for being there, for a second opinion.

BG

Many of us are especially appreciative for all the hard work that goes into writing what often amounts to a post-mortem on a bad Windows patch. It’s one thing to boost new products, and gleefully compare feature for feature, but another to discuss dismal technical details most users would rather ignore (to their detriment). Thanks for being there, Susan.

Alphaa10, please read my post above. Let’s just agree to disagree about market forces vs. gouging and greed. This is a tech advice forum, not the Nightly Business Report. With all due respect, of course. And as for Seagate, those two Best Buy 500GB Desktop Hard Drives (not their premium, 7200 RPM internal variety) have arrived safely, fired up just fine, and Acronis Disk Director and Acronis Drive Monitor report successful repartitioning, reformatting and normal operating temperatures and good disk health. In the long run, we shall see. I’ll be sure to post in The Lounge if either drive fails, or if there arise any service or warranty issues with Seagate. Let’s not vendor-bash unnecessarily.

My response and comments were directed to BackSpacer, not to yours (which, by the way, DID address hoarding and greed). However, because the issue of computer vendor and market abuse is very significant to most Windows Secrets Lounge visitors but not the general public, Nightly Business Report never would address it, preferring to leave discussion to forums like these.

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And in fact, discussion of abusive practices by vendors on these forums receives a great deal of attention, and since vendors do read and heed user comments, renders market abuse not only constructive but entirely legitimate territory for this forum.

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In regard to your earlier comments about hoarding and excess, it appears you actually agree that the current market situation is simply another instance of marketplace abuse at the expense of consumers.

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In any case, you are free to change the channel if you find any commentary does not suit your needs– with all due respect.

TREE SIZE is wonderful for every storage allocation “problem” to identify anomalies and correct them. I have a physical drive of relatively limited storage capacity, and periodically use TREE SIZE to locate and delete accumulated temporary files and routine system backups, as with those created automatically by ERUNT (The Emergency Recovery Utility NT).
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TREE SIZE is vital to my Windows maintenance and Joachim Marder, the German developer, deserves a round of applause. See his free personal version at–. https://www.jam-software.de/customers/downloadTrial.php?article_no=101&download_other_version_directly_x=Next.
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Developer Marder has other, full-featured versions of TREE SIZE in both personal and professional versions. See–
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http://www.jam-software.com/treesize_personal/
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http://www.jam-software.com/treesize/