James Derk -- CyberDad

Windows Vista: Part 1

Much of the recent buzz in the computer world has been about the upcoming release of Microsoft Windows Vista, the successor and replacement for Windows XP.
Some of the talk has centered about Microsoft’s fabled missed shipping dates (the company has the inability to hit is self-announced deadlines) and some has been about Vista’s new features.
The missed date is huge; computer makers had been counting on a release date before Christmas so lots of people would run out and buy new computers. However, Microsoft says it will miss the holiday season in 2006 and will release Vista in the first quarter of 2007.
Regardless, I received a pre-release “beta” version of Vista from Microsoft and can share some first impressions in the next few columns.
Let’s start with the installation.
First, this will take a serious PC to take advantage of the system to its fullest extent. No more $299 units from Dell if you want the graphical improvements that Vista brings forth.
The Vista Web site (www.microsoft.com/vista/) will share the complete system requirements as they evolve but already Microsoft is dividing the world into two camps: your PC could be “Vista Capable” or “Vista Premium Ready”. The former means your PC will run Vista but in a lesser video mode when compared with “Vista Premium” PCs, which will be capable of using “Windows Aero,” the latest cool graphical interface.
Clearly the goal should be to experience Aero, which brings with it a rather stunning level of graphics for an operating system. The PC to run it will be hefty: a one gig processor or more, 1 gig of system memory (minimum), a graphics card with at least 128 MB of video memory on board and a DVD-ROM drive. (Vista ships on a DVD.)
I can’t judge the “real” installation by my experience with the beta version, which is not yet complete. I had to hustle a bit to find a few drivers for my video card and sound card, but that all will be resolved by the ship date. Based on what I am seeing, just make sure you have lots of hard drive space (Microsoft recommends at least 40 GB with 15 gigs free just for Vista.)
One of the key features of Vista is increased security. You will select an administrator password during the install that holds the key to your PC. Like Macs have offered for years, the PC simply won’t install most software, plugins or Web downloads without you physically entering this password.
It’s designed, of course, to make the Windows platform more secure and it is a good add-on.
My first impression on the initial boot is that Vista is beautiful, even in this pre-release version. Users are going to be impressed by the interface and the Aero experience, which brings with it a sort of semi-transparency that is very pleasing to the eye.
But does it work?
We’ll have to explore that in the weeks coming up but the short version is, yeah, pretty much.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: If you want to read ahead, check out this walk-through of Vista at www.seewindowsvista.com

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

posted by James Derk @ 5:31 AM  

How to secure laptop computer data

It seems like every passing day brings another story of a missing laptop computer with sensitive data on it. The most famous, of course, was the Veterans Administration computer, now recovered, that had personal data on 26 million U.S. military veterans on it.
Businesses are responding to this issue with increased enforcement of who can obtain sensitive data in portable formats as well as by using tools to protect data once it leaves a secured location.
What can normal users do to protect their data?
Most home computers don’t have highly sensitive business data on them but many people have tax returns, credit card information and other data on their hard drives. And it only takes one “smash and grab” of your car window to lose it all.
One study says 10 percent of all laptops are stolen or misplaced, a figure I think is high but still highlights the issue.
One thing a consumer can do is put an administrative password on the laptop. This is a simple thing, done in the setup screen right as the computer boots. (You get into setup by hitting DELETE or F2 or a different key that will display briefly just as your computer first boots.
If you put an admin password on your laptop, you will be prompted for a password when you first boot the computer. If you don’t know the password, it won’t boot. (Read that again: make this a password you will remember forever because if you forget the password your PC is now a paperweight.)
A second option is to add a disk password on some models, which will put a basic level of protection on your hard disk.
Both of the above are enough to stop the routine thief from using a stolen laptop. It won’t stop a seasoned data thief.
For that you need to encrypt the contents of your hard drive. There are many products on the market for this at the consumer level. Two I have tried are MySecureDoc from WinMagic and SafeHouse.
Both are reasonably priced at under $30. My favorite of the two was My SecureDoc, which installed seamlessly under Windows XP (and 2000) and was simple to use. The password hint features were especially good because if you forget your password you are never seeing your data again. (Just don’t make the hints too easy... if everyone knows your mother’s maiden name it’s not a good choice.)
You can see the product at www.winmagic.com
As for recovering your stolen laptop, a fine choice is the oddly named “Lojack for Laptops” from CompuTrace. Named for the Lojack system that recovers stolen cars, this software will “phone home” and let the authorities know where the laptop is connected even if it has been reformatted.
It costs $49.95 from www.lojackforlaptops.com

WEEKLY WEB WONDER: There are some key tips to keeping your laptop safe. Here are some good ones: www.scambusters.org/laptop.html

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail is jim@cyberdads.com

posted by James Derk @ 11:04 AM