Despite previous FUD claiming MS had closed the “Double Install Upgrade Loop hole” that existed in Windows Vista it now appears that the old trick STILL works with the cheap Upgrade Editions many of us pre-ordered some time ago. The “trick” allows one to clean install Windows (Vista or 7) onto a bare hard drive. This of course is the preferred method of install for geeks everywhere. Windows Upgrade edition retail media before Windows Vista would allow for clean installs simply by inserting older O/S media when prompted for “proof of previous ownership”. Vista closed THAT loophole and it was reported that Win7 closed this one. This bit of info has been argued over for months on various blogs and news sites. Microsoft themselves seemed pretty confused about the matter as evidenced by conflicting posts by their own employees. So now we have an answer….IF we can believe “jacobhpaul’s” post over in the Engadget comment section:

I’ve had a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate for over three weeks purchased from the Indiana University Bookstore for $20. They only had upgrade disks available, but there was a workaround that involved upgrading the fresh unactivated install (basically you have to install it twice).

So hopefully this is true. Maybe when Paul Thurrott gets back from the Netherlands he will put the Win7 Upgrade Media through its paces and give us a full report?

http://windowsitpro.com/windowspaulthurrott/article…

Got get it now:

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

And PLEASE uninstall that awful McCafee/Norton/Symantec garbage you are running (You know who you are!).

I looked at a LOT of keyboards online and in the stores and they all had various “problems” and many of them sucked hard with way too much extraneous crap stuck all over them! I even experimented with going all “minimalist” and using my number one “backup” keyboard I use to work on client boxes with as my primary for a few days. I am talking about the excellent Logitech Classic 200. This is great little board. It’s very compact yet has a NUM pad. The keyblocks are all straight and the ENTER is normal size/shape. It has an interesting laptop like key depth and is really easy to type on. All of this make it ideal for when I have a client box parked under my desk and I need a second keyboard in my lap as I multi-task on my main rig. But using it as primary I quickly discovered all the negatives. The biggest problem for me was the compact layout of the keys. Everything is shoved closer together and I found the arrow keys way to tight against the delete key for example. Also the INSERT/HOME/END/DELETE keyblock are in a non standard 3×2 layout that I found annoying in the extreme.

As for my mouse. I use a Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 3000. I been using this rodent for about 14 months now. I have worn the silver finish off of a small circular spot on the left button. But other than that it’s held up really well. This mouse uses Microsoft’s High Definition Optical Sensor that features 1000 DPI and tracks quite smoothly on most any surface. It has a tilt wheel that allows for horizontal scrolling (and yes I use that on really wide images and spreadsheets and such). This is a fantastic mouse that works great out of the box and even better after installing the Intellipoint software. Microsoft’s Intellipoint is the Gold Standard of input drivers. They just plain ROCK. Microsoft gets some stuff wrong there is no doubt but boy when they get it right they really knock it out of the park! Such is the case with their mouse/keyboard drivers. The magnifier thingie is one bit of awesome that has to be experienced to be truly understood/appreciated.

I checked out a couple of Logitech mice in hopes of besting and replacing my beloved MS mouse. First up was the LX 8 wireless mouse. The good – feels GREAT. The soft rubber side panels are wonderful and provide good grip. The wireless dongle thingie works really well – no weirdness with that. In fact it worked great without having to load any drivers. And that’s a REALLY good thing as the Logitech Mouse driver software called SetPoint is not anywhere near the quality level of the slick MS Intellipoint stuff. The Bad -the side buttons are insanely easy to accidentally press. I could never get used to that. YUCK. Also it is worth noting that although this is a Laser mouse rather than an LED based unit like my MS Comfort it still “only” manages 1000 DPI. Odd huh? Back to the store it went.

I also checked out the Logitech G3 Laser Mouse. This mouse feels GREAT in my small hand. It has the same great shape as my number one backup mouse the Logitech MX300. This is a 2000 DPI “gaming mouse”. Now I’m not much of a gamer but I thought maybe the extra DPI might help me when editing/cropping huge images in Photoshop. It didn’t. Also the silly thing can’t actually do 2000 DPI unless you install and continuously run their stupid SetPoint drivers! LAME. In fact you have to run this glitzy little Gamer App part of the driver to enable the 2000 DPI as a step in the scale offered through the mouse top button (just below the wheel). I could have quite possibly lived with this arrangement but there is NO DISPLAY of the current DPI on the mouse itself OR in the driver applet! You just have to “feel” for it. This is utterly ridiculous! This mouse is going back to the store shortly after I post this rant.

So the lesson learned here is twofold:

1) Every once in a while you have to step back from what you have to realize how great/bad it is.

2) Microsoft makes some GREAT hardware!

And yes I know I am a Microsoft Whore. What can I say? I like Good Stuff.

I understand that Microsoft’s long awaited Service Pack 3 for Windows XP is finally done. So why hasn’t MS released it as a stand alone download for “backyard” techs like myself?? It SHOULD be right here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/

but it’s not….it’s only listed as being available for TechNet Plus members. WHY MS? WHY??? Luckily for me (and you) Adrian Kingsley-Hughes over at ZDNet found the direct download linkage:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/….

And here is the Download Link:

http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/…..

There was some debate over the validity of this file. Some were saying it was still a beta RC build. But the ZDNet Blogger ran the hashfile comparisons and he says it matches what the TechNet Plus people are getting as FINAL. Read the whole debate and see the hash info yourself here:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/……..

Lastly here is Paul Thurrot’s XPSP3 FAQ:

http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/xp_sp3.asp

Now I’m gonna go slipstream an XPSP3 disc. I’m hoping I WILL get more jobs soon. Aside from a couple of websites I maintain I haven’t had a paying PC job in over a month! Really sucks….I blame the high price of fuel and the general FUD over the economy. My middle-class/lower-middle-class clients can’t afford to fix their PCs even at my cheap pricing. If they have to choose between replacing a hard-drive in their old XP box or keeping gas in the car and milk in the fridge….well the PC is gonna stay dead.

Sucks for me.