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What is up with Microsoft? Lately? WXPNews recently reported a “new” fix for a well-known memory leak in the tablet pc edition of Windows XP. Most tablet pc users know the longer you use it, the slower it gets. Some desktop owners have probably seen similar symptoms with their systems, but this “fix” is only for tablet pc users. Here is my problem with this fix and I’ll share the workaround further below.

On June 6, 2006, Microsoft sent out a “revised” knowledge based article announcing a fix for the memory leak present in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. I looked all over this new article, and it appears to me that the only update is a new requirement that users first call Microsoft support (at $35.00 per hour) to obtain the fix.

A Google search for “tablet PC memory leak” revealed a number of web links discussing a prior Microsoft article announcing what appears to be the same fix for the memory leak. This article was published July 5, 2005, a year ago. This article is also problematic because it came out right around the time that Microsoft started requiring people to re-validate their systems with the then newly introduced “Windows Genuine Advantage,” another anti-piracy shield by Microsoft which does nothing to stop software piracy and everything to annoy users. As discussed in one of my prior articles, Windows XP: Genuine Disadvantage, it’s yet another hoop created by Microsoft requiring that we prove we are the rightful owners of the “genuine” product before we get necessary updates and fixes we’re entitled to.

Microsoft’s position in these knowledge base articles is reprehenisible. Basically, Microsoft is prohibiting your access to a fix of their faulty programming until you take some specific action that should NOT be required from you:

• Last year, you were instructed to first download and use Windows Genuine Advantage and re-validate your product key before getting the hofix for the memory leak (an action that obligates you to first lower your Internet security to validate your product key);
• This year, you are directed to first call Microsoft support at $35 per hour so that support personnel can get whatever information they require before sending you the hotfix.

Microsoft continues to prove that greed, not quality, guides its customer support. It continues to present obstacles that are at a minimum ridiculous, and more often costly and time-consuming. I would have to be in absolute dire straights before I’d ever call anyone’s customer support. I can’t think of any reasonable reason for Microsoft to require its customers to call support for a downloadable fix. In the unlikely event there is a logical reason to essentially charge customers for the fix, Microsoft should provide a clear explanation in its knowledge base article. It’s more likely, however, that Microsoft has lost interest in its tablet pc software line which had been marketed primarily to businesses. It could be that charging for support (downloadable hotfixes) is merely a way to make more money in an essentially dead tablet pc market.

Well, luckily, some of the research and development guys at Microsoft maintain PR blogs. Last year TabBlogger, a test engineer at Microsoft who works on the tablet pc project, provided this blog with a direct download link to the hotfix for the memory leak. Hopefully, both the blog and link will remain available to tablet pc users who don’t feel like lowering their Internet security or paying customer support for this downloadable fix.

Obviously, I make no guarantees regarding this or any fix provided by Microsoft for its products. Let’s be realistic. Programming isn’t an exact science and I do recognize that, despite their best efforts, the developers at Microsoft are faced with way too many variables to provide a completely clean and reliable program out of the box. It would be naive and even perhaps unfair to expect that.

What I don’t like is Microsoft’s continued antagonism of its paying customers by forcing validation and revalidation of its products; its ineffective user-end anti-piracy measures; and its recent brass in requiring people to call support for downloadable fixes. Frankly, if it can get away with charging for that, there isn’t much incentive for Microsoft to release bug-free software, is there?

So what does all this have to do with browsing the Internet, which is what this blog is supposed to be about? Probably very little. Admittedly, I’ve gone off topic in my recent rants against Microsoft. In a feeble attempt to bring my blog back on track, let me turn to the Internet research I did here. Most of what I’ve learned about any problem I have with one of my computers has come from the Internet. People post questions and answers all over the net. The trick is to choose the right keywords and conduct a search using Google, Yahoo, MSN or whatever search engine you prefer. This article resulted from my Internet search for “tablet pc memory leak,” which in turn was prompted by my desire to see if anyone had already posted the fix for the memory leak so that I wouldn’t have to sit on the phone with Microsoft support (my time) at $35 an hour (my money). Internet research will similarly save you time and money. I strongly urge you to plug in a few keywords into a reliable search engine from time to time before you type in your personal data, credit card information, or anything else a vendor asks of you. Sometimes you get a good hit and you read a helpful blog that tells you how to download a potential fix, or something like that.

N. Saco is a contributor and founder of several information web sites, including WomensWebWatch.Com and WetwareSolutions.Com. Her blog is located at InternetExplorerBlog.Com and a copy of this article can be found there. She has a degree in Communications, focusing in critical analysis, a minor in cultural anthropology, and 20 years experience in research, writing and investigation, primarily in medical litigation support. [This article may be freely distributed at no charge to your readers along with the author’s bio and web links. Copyright 2006 Nikki Saco. All other rights reserved.]

Tags: antipiracy, fix, internet security, knowledge base, memory leak, Microsoft, tablet pc, Windows XPantipiracy, fix, internet security, knowledge base, memory leak, Microsoft, tablet pc, Windows XP

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Broadband access is also known as high-speed internet access. The popularity of broadband access is increasing these days. It is because broadband access is much faster than a dial-up connection. There is no need of dialing. Consumers can use the phone line while they are connected to the internet. The downside is broadband access is more susceptible to hacker attacks. Therefore, a good firewall program is a must for broadband users.

Broadband users are more susceptible to hacker attacks because their internet connection is always on. This is true even when they do not open the e-mail program and web browser. Broadband connection usually has a static IP address with unprotected or “open” ports. Hackers or crackers can locate these unprotected computers easily using routine port scans.

Once they gain access to the computer, hackers can do different things. They can install an application in the computer, hijack the data files, steal confidential banking and identity data, or use the computer to hack another computer.

Although many computer users have antivirus and antispyware software installed, these programs cannot block hacker attacks.

A personal firewall is what broadband users need to protect their PCs from hackers. It does the job in different ways. A firewall program masks the IP address, making the computer invisible on the internet. PC users can use program controls to allow or deny internet access to programs. Sophisticated firewall software also have ID lock feature, which prevents personal information from leaving the computer without permission. Personal firewall can also block pop-up ads and cookies and provide other features for overall protection.

Kwan H Lo is the owner of http://software.4reviews.net, an online review site which promotes the best antivirus, antispyware and personal firewall software.

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Computers have become a daily need for most people. We use computers for all types of things including entertainment, work, and corresponding with others. Most of the files on our computers are important and we don’t want to risk losing them since that would be a loss of money and time. The best way that you can prevent file loss is by doing backups.

Don’t believe that backups are just for large companies, computer experts, or a job that you’ll do when you have time for it. Backups are necessary for anyone who has a computer. One day your computer will fail, even if it has been running fine for many years. You’ll eventually get a virus or your computer will fail from age.

There are two things that will occur on the day your computer fails: (1) you’ll lose great amounts of music, passwords, financial and personal information, pictures, and software, or (2) you’ll be able to replace or repair your computer and restore all your information from the backups that you’ve make on a regular basis. The first option will be a disaster while the second choice is just mildly annoying.

There are many ways that you can lose data on your computer. This includes the failure of computer hardware or damage from floods or fires. Your computer hard drive can potentially be damaged by surges of power that come from lightning. Or you may lose data if your child hits keys randomly on the keyboard. As well, a virus can erase your hard drive or infect your computer system.

The only way that you can get your data back is to have it available to be restored.

What to Backup?

For most users it won’t be necessary that every file on their computer is backed up since this would require a lot of storage space. At the very least PC users should do a backup of their personal files and software that they can’t replace. This includes such information as legal documents, financial records in spread sheets, and any work that they have in progress.

Backup don’t need to be complicated.

The easiest and fastest way to do a backup is to use software that is included with the operating system. Windows has a backup program that is free to use. At the same time you can get similar backup programs for Linux, Mac, and other operating systems. This type of software is very simple to use and all you have to do is choose which files you want to back up. Some programs even have a scheduler so that your computer will do backups at certain times.

For a small cost you can buy backup software that will back up only those files which have been changed after a last backup or a particular date. As well, you can copy new files every day to a backup folder where they will then be backed up by the program. You can use your computer’s “Search” option to identify which files are newer than a certain date. When the list has been completed they are copied to the backup folder. This allows you to run the software program for that folder only.

Data, such as your email, can be a bit more difficult to backup. You can configure some email clients so that they keep a copy of the email that you have sent and received onto the mail server. If this isn’t an option you might be able to export your email messages to a folder which can be backed up later.

You can do backups for any type of media that is removable, such as removable hard drives, keychain devices (which plug into a USB port on your computer), or writable DVDs/CDs. In some cases you can even still use a floppy disc because some documents will take up very little space. All you have to do is use about seven discs and rotate them every week.

Doing a daily backup is just one more thing that you’ll need to do in your already busy schedule. However, the day that you lose that one file you really need and can’t get back you’ll find that you’re a lot busier.

Paul Wilcox writes about virus protection, internet security and other related topics for the Internet Security Squad website. Sign up for my free newsletter and receive my special report “How To Lock Your Computer Down - Internet Security in 2006″ at http://www.internetsecuritysquad.com/freereport

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