Erich Stauffer

Category: Technology

  • External SATA (eSATA) Enclosures and MHT in Firefox

    Adaptec has been slow to release a 2.5″ external SATA enclosure compared to the major manufacturers relatively fast switch to almost exclusive use of SATA drives in laptops. My second choice would be Vantec’s version found at Newegg for $30.

    The MHT plugin for Firefox only works in version 1.5. Its called MAF which stands for Mozilla Archive Format. Although Firefox is forcing users to upgrade, the programmers have been slow to keep MAF up to date so I am forced to use Internet Explorer for MHT.

  • Vista Premium Prices

    For simplicity, I’m only going to compare Premium because its the lowest cost version that still maintains the main differences between XP and Vista (Aero Glass and Media Center).

    Upgrade (Must install on top of XP):

    Wal-Mart and Staples: $160

    Newegg: $120

    Complete (Fresh install):

    Sam’s Club: $218

    In general, the complete version is going to cost about $100 more than the upgrade. This is most likely because if you went out and bought XP today, you’d pay around $100 for it so Microsoft is getting their money one way or another.

  • VMware Converter for workstation to virtual pc and virtual machine migration: VMware – VMware

    VMware Converter for workstation to virtual pc and virtual machine migration: VMware – VMware

    Convert Physical Machines to Virtual Machines – Free!

    Use the intuitive wizard-driven interface of VMware Converter to convert your physical machines to virtual machines. VMware Converter quickly converts Microsoft Windows based physical machines and third party image formats to VMware virtual machines. It also converts virtual machines between VMware platforms. Automate and simplify physical to virtual machine conversions as well as conversions between virtual machine formats with VMware Converter.

  • IE7, IE6 Problems, Fixes

    First off, if you upgraded XP from Service Pack 1 (SP1) to Service Pack 2 (SP2) and did not start out with SP2, DO NOT UPGRADE TO IE7! It will not work! It will open, display “Connecting”, but go nowhere and, to add insult to injury, be unable to uninstall or roll back. The only two options if you have already installed IE7 in this situation is to use another browser instead such as Firefox or reinstall XP with SP2.

    Like I mentioned before, if you want to use Roxio’s DVD Builder, it WILL NOT WORK with IE7. You have to uninstall it for Roxio to work, but once you do, some of the features of IE7 stick around like the much-hated clipboard paste dialog box. Also, the new version of Blogger does not work in IE6 after rolling back from IE7. However Firefox works with it and that is what I am using now. A caveat about Firefox though, I do not reccommend upgrading to 2.0 yet.

  • Long-term Data Storage Threatened by Anti-Virus Scans

    Over time, data stored on writable media subject to virus scans will be deleted or moved regardless of the presence of a virus. This is due to the ever-expanding definition of what is a virus and through heuristic analysis. In other words, what was not considered a virus in the past may be considered one in the future despite its legitimacy.

    So what can we do about it?

    One way is to routinely back-up to an optical disk or some other write-once media. However, CDFS, the file system used on CDs and DVDs allows files up to 2GB. Large files have to be kept another way. There may be hope though. As file permissions and firewalls get safer in Vista it may be possible to set aside areas on your PC that do not get virus checked.

  • Taylor vs. Yonah, not Merom! Bulldozer vs. Merom!

    AMD seems to be playing catch-up with Intel. Apparently the Taylor chip is a response to Intel’s Yonah chip. The latest Intel chip, the Core 2 Duo is codenamed, Merom. This article explains AMD’s reaction to the Core 2 Duo:

    “Response to Merom

    Unfortunately, AMD will not be able to immediately match the performance of Intel’s next generation Core 2 Duo mobile processor, codenamed Merom. Instead, AMD will be focusing on the mainstream market, where performance is not a major issue. AMD maintains that Turion 64 X2 will still hold advantages in platform design at a value.

    According to industry insiders, AMD’s response to Merom, codenamed Bulldozer, won’t appear until 1H 2007.”

  • Laptops at Work

    Same new background. Aren’t I cool?

    [Update 1/7/2012: I still use a laptop like this that my parents gave me recently when they got a new one. It’s over five years old now.]