Windows News: The Living, Loving, Upgrading Edition

Mark 'Marcus_Soperus' Soper — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:14:01 -0500

Love XP? Your Vote Counts!

Neowin.net reports that Microsoft is now logging calls from users requesting a life extension for Windows XP. If you want to see Windows XP live on, US users should call (866)234-6020 (see the article for more numbers). Remember, your call must concern extending the life of Windows XP. If you also have a different problem, call back later.

More "Live" to Love

The Microsoft TechNet Sysinternals website, home of some of the best Windows utilities in the world, now offers those utilities in an instant-on, ready-to-use format.

As ZDNet's Ed Bott reports, the new Sysinternals Live page lists all of the Sysinternals tools and enables you to run them from the command prompt using Universal Naming Convention (UNC) syntax. For example, to run BGInfo (which displays system configuration information on the Windows desktop), open a command prompt window and enter the command \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\bginfo.exe.

If you don't want to click Agree to agree to the license terms for the utility, add /accepteula to the command and it runs immediately:

If you prefer, you can also enter the command into a Windows Explorer address box:

To learn more about a specific Sysinternals utility, visit the Sysinternals website.

Catalyst 8.5 Gives ATI a Big Boost of HDTV Support, Performance, and Reliability

The Catalyst 8.5 driver set for ATI GPUs adds:

- Lots of new features for HDTV support
- Support for Windows XP SP3
- An improved uninstaller
- Significant performance improvements for a number of DirectX 10 and DirectX 9-based games
- Many bug fixes for both Windows XP and Vista users.

Download it here.

What's New at TechNet Sysinternals?

Mark Soper — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:41:48 -0600

It's been a few months since we first dropped in on Microsoft's TechNet Sysinternals website, home of great free utilities like BGInfo and Process Explorer as well as fun stuff like BlueScreen Screen Saver. Since that first visit, the code jockeys have been cranking out new and improved free tools for exploring, managing, and optimizing your Windows PC, whether it's running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or a legacy Windows flavor. So, what's new, improved, or just plain got overlooked in our last go-round?

Better BGInfo for a Multi-Core, Multi-Screen World

BGInfo quickly discovers your PC's processor type and speed, RAM size, IP address, network type and speed, hard disk disk free space, and much more. Starting with version 4.11, BGInfo can now display all this information on any display in a multimonitor setup. Put that 15-inch LCD or 17-inch CRT to work and leave your prime real estate free for some serious gaming or media editing. Download version 4.12 or greater, and you also get better support for reporting what's under the hood of the newest multi-core PCs.

Reveal All That Happens at Startup with AutoRuns

If you use MSConfig, the System Configuration Utility built into Windows, you might think you know everything that happens at startup. However, if you really want the inside scoop, put MSConfig aside and give AutoRuns a try instead.

AutoRuns provides you with a staggering amount of information about what Windows is running at each and every startup. From startup folder entries to Run, RunOnce, and other registry keys, AutoRuns goes way beyond MSConfig to reveal what's happening at startup:

"Autostart locations displayed by Autoruns include logon entries, Explorer add-ons, Internet Explorer add-ons including Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), Appinit DLLs, image hijacks, boot execute images, Winlogon notification DLLs, Windows Services and Winsock Layered Service Providers."

Whew! AutoRuns displays information for both the current account and for other accounts on a system, so it's easy to find out what other users of a shared system are doing. It can be configured to display only third-party autorun applications and keys, to make it easy to sniff out changes made by third-party programs (including spyware and malware). To prevent a program, service, or driver from running at the next startup, clear its checkbox.

Want reports? Use the included command-line version, autorunsc, to output reports in CSV (comma selected value) database form. Autorun and Autorunsc work with any Windows version.

Process Explorer Gets Updated

Last time, we told you about Process Explorer, a great way to find out the DLLs and handles being used by a particular program. It's now been updated with improved support for Windows Vista, 64-bit Windows and with various usability improvements. It still works with any Windows flavor from 9x to Vista, including 64-bit versions.

ZoomIt Zooms Ahead with Updates

ZoomIt, which zooms your screen and adds annotations for a better look at application presentations, has also been updated, adding circle, arrow, and rectangle callouts. Use it to wrap up your work faster and get back to playing your favorite game.

A Real-Time Look Inside Your PC with Process Monitor

Process Monitor provides a real-time look inside your PC, showing file system, Registry, and process/thread activity. You can use it to find out what's going on inside your PC at any moment, which can be helpful for catching unnecessary programs, spyware, and malware in their tracks.

Note: Although Process Monitor is designed for Windows 2000 with SP4 rollup as well as newer Windows versions, some users report problems using it with Windows 2000.

Pick one or all of your favorite Sysinternals utilities, and get your system in shape for the new game or gizmo you might be getting for the holidays.

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