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Performance and Reliability Fix for Windows Vista SP1

Mark Edward Soper — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:20:17 -0500

Stability Issues with Vista SP1? KB952709 to the Rescue!

Yesterday, Microsoft released a reliability and performance update, KB952709, for Windows Vista SP1. It takes a broom to the following problems, from the Knowledge Base article:

• This update improves the stability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by addressing some crashes that may occur when you try to check e-mail by using a POP3 e-mail client such as Windows Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird. The crashes may occur on a Windows Vista SP1-based computer in the following scenario:

• Incoming POP3 and outgoing SMTP traffic monitoring is enabled.

• Both a third-party antivirus application and an antispyware application are installed, such as the following applications:

• ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite by Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

• SpySweeper by Webroot Software, Inc.

• This update improves the reliability of the Windows Vista SP1 based-computers by addressing some problems that occur when you delete user accounts by using the User Accounts item in Control Panel. When this problem occurs, the system may stop responding (hang).

• This update improves the reliability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers that experience issues in which large applications cannot run after the computer is turned on for extended periods of time. For example, when you try to start Excel 2007 after the computer is turned on for extended periods of time, a user may receive an error message that resembles the following: EXCEL.EXE is not a valid Win32 application

• This update improves the reliability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by reducing the number of crashes that may be caused by the Apple QuickTime thumbnail preview in Windows Live Photo Gallery.

• This update improves the performance of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by reducing audio and video (AV) stuttering. Such AV stuttering may occur when the audio or video component is streaming high definition content from a Windows Vista SP1-based computer that has a NVIDIA network adapter nForce driver version 67.5.4.0 that is installed to a Windows Media Center Extender device.

If any of these problems sound familiar (or you must want to head off problems in the future), you need this update.

Not Available Automatically! Here's How to Order Download!

The update offered by KB952709 isn't being offered by Windows Update, so follow the link to the article, or save time with these direct links to the 32-bit version and 64-bit version.

Movielink

Michael Brown & Will Smith — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:59:51 -0500

The Movielink software client is integrated into both versions of Windows Media Center, so you can easily watch your rentals from the comfort of your couch, using an MCE-compatible remote.

Movie-rental outfit Blockbuster Entertainment acquired movie-download service Movielink in August 2007, but the company seems to have lost interest in its latest asset. When we contacted Blockbuster’s corporate communications department in preparation for this story, they couldn’t be bothered to provide us with Movielink’s phone number (which wasn’t listed on either company’s website). It’s easy to see why.

The fact that Movielink is integrated into Windows Media Center gives it a leg up over BitTorrent, but there’s nothing else about the service to recommend it over CinemaNow or any of the other services we tested. And if you’re interested in watching rented or purchased movies on a handheld device, Movielink isn’t for you—it supports only notebooks. Oh, and Movielink doesn’t support Firefox either, unless you install the Firefox add-on IE Tab. Now that’s just lazy.

Movielink’s catalog is comparable to that of CinemaNow, Unbox, and Vudu. Movie rentals and TV episode prices are the same as the competition’s ($2 and $4, respectively), but like the rest of the field, its movie purchase prices were $5 higher than Unbox across the board. The search engine in the Movielink Manager client enables you to locate films by category (including Coming Soon, Last Chance, and Award Winners, as well as by genre, director, actor, or keyword). Searches can be limited to rentals only, purchase only, or both. Movielink does have a cult cinema category, but Office Space was the only movie available from our list. It did have some other good catches, however, including Roger Corman’s Bucket of Blood, David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, and the blaxploitation classic Foxy Brown.

You can play downloaded content on up to three PCs, make backup copies on DVD (in their original format, which won’t play on a standard DVD player), and stream from a PC to your TV using a Media Center Extender (using either Vista or Windows XP). All of Movielink’s videos are in WMV format and in standard definition, so they suffer from many of the same scaling problems as the rest of the SD field.

Movie rentals: $3 to $4
Movie purchases: $8 to $20
TV episodes: $2

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It's TV! It's Internet! It Works!

Mark "Marcus Soperus" Soper — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 22:10:56 -0500

Windows Media Center's always been a convergence technology, erasing the once bright lines separating music, photography, video, and TV. With the launch of the Internet TV beta program for Vista's Windows Media Center, even the delivery mechanism's gone through a mashup: instead of using coaxial cable and a TV tuner, Internet TV uses your existing broadband connection and wired or wireless network to bring you TV.

Tuning In and Turning On

As soon as Windows Vista Media Center downloads the update, you will see Internet TV beta appear as one of the options in the TV + Movies menu (if you don't see it right away, go into the Tasks menu, select Settings, General, Automatic Download Options, and click Download).

So, What's On Internet TV?

As of the start date (9-28-07), you can choose from:

- Movie trailers, including current and forthcoming films in theaters and on DVD

- Music, including live in concert recordings, top videos (Bruce Springsteen does the initial honors), the MSN in concert series, and most popular genres from jazz to hip-hop

- Sports, from baseball and football to OJ and hockey

- News, bringing you current stories

- Entertainment, including MSN orginal live action and cartoon TV series, the cult classic Arrested Development (all three seasons), and about a dozen TV channels from HGTV and DIY to Biography and the History Channel, and your favorite shorts from JibJab, iFilm and others

- Top picks in various categories, including a rare Bill Gates/Steve Jobs joint appearance.

In sort, Internet TV beta brings you a well-rounded program collection designed to appeal to just about everyone. And now for the final question...how good is Internet TV?

TV via the Web - Surprisingly Good!

I gave the pilot episode of Arrested Development a viewing through a 54Mbps (more or less) 802.11g wireless connection to my cable modem:

Full motion - check.
Full screen display - check.
Audio/video synchronization - check.
Smooth playback (no dropped frames) - check.
Acceptable image quality - check (especially from across the room).

Does it rival a DVD? Not really - it's a bit softer (more like broadcast quality), but it's more than good enough for sampling of unfamiliar series, keeping an eye on the news, and so forth.

Your Money's No Good Here

The price? Free! Advertising pays for it, so put your wallet away. Unfortunately, the fact it's ad-supported means it's only for US residents right now.

Adding Internet TV to Vista Media Center brings it even closer to being a truly all-encompassing home entertainment vehicle. And, the ride's free.

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Discover how Windows Media Center, Windows Media Player, Windows Movie Maker and Windows Photo Gallery work together to make Windows Vista the most compelling multimedia platform for Windows yet. Get Mark's new book Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed: an Insider's Guide to Supercharging Windows Vista. It's available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, BooksaMillion, and other fine bookstores.