Process Throttler, Found!

About a month ago I posted a request for a service or task throttler. After doing some more digging, I came across Process Lasso and I have to say it really seems to fit the bill. Although it wasn't able to reign in the virus checker, it is able to kill that runaway process entirely. Not an ideal solution of course, but at least the computer's functional.

Incidentally it turns out I'm not the only one that's been griping about Symantec's Norton AntiVirus. Try searching for rtvscan.exe, the name of the AV process (or one of them, anyway) that was killing me. Nothing but "pegged the CPU" as far as the eye can see, for a wide variety of platforms and computers of varying horsepower.

Remember folks: security is meaningless if it turns your computer into a hot brick. What's the difference between not being able to use my computer because it's infected with viruses, and not being able to use my computer because it's looking for viruses?

Sorry For The Delay

Sorry for the quiet period folks, I've been playing with the mother of all allergy attacks. One of the big downsides of Austin is that there is no winter, so my sinus cavities never get any time off from pollen. Here's what my front yard looked like Christmas Day:

Yes, I really do need to rake and mow. I'm not going out there without a Darth Vader-style breathing apparatus, though.

Happy Holidays!

Windows Live Search For Mobile-Not Just For Phones

Gizmodo has an excellent review of Windows Live Search and declares it the winner vs. Google Maps Mobile on Windows Smartphones.

It's worth mentioning that Windows Live Search isn't just for Smartphones-it works great with my Axim 51v PocketPC both in its cradle and via WiFi. It's very responsive and navigation with the D-pad is quite good.

At left is a screen capture from my Axim, showing the conventional road view. This is with traffic updates enabled, so that every 2 minutes the maps update with the latest traffic details.

Seeing as it's a major pain to get Google Maps Mobile (or any other Java midlet for that matter) to run on a PocketPC, I declare Live Search the winner virtually by default of being the only contender for the platform. It's actually quite a polished application, though, so even if it had serious competition I'd probably still give it the gold star.





At right is the same map as shown above, but in aerial view.

To install on your PocketPC, just visit the Windows Live Search for mobile beta site with your PocketPC and download the CAB. Install as per usual and you're good to go. One hiccup I did encounter, though-it installs itself as Search in your Programs folder, or rather it tries to since I've already got a Search program there. So look for Search(1) in your Programs folder. It's a minor little quirk but you can always rename it later, right?

What Is It About The Wii, Anyway?

No doubt you've already been bombarded about the newest offerings from Sony and Nintendo, the Playstation 3 and the Wii respectively. I'd offer to link to someplace you could pick one or both up, but such a place does not exist. :)

Now, I am not a gamer. The last console I had was the NES I bought for $20 from my brother, who needed the dough to trade up to a SNES. During my last trip home my brother convinced me into playing a first-person shooter on his brand new Xbox 360. Cool game and all, but I got my butt handed to me in multi-player mode because I didn't have the 80 different button combos memorized like everyone else did.

Having said all that though, I find myself interested in the Wii. Here you have somebody who's never paid more than $200 in his entire life (counting PC, PocketPC, and the ol' GameBoy) on gaming, seriously considering plunking down that much and more on this new system.

What's the attraction? This thing looks like fun. I look at the PS3 and the Xbox 360 and I think they're cool, but the word "fun" never really pops into my head. Not having your typical button-studded controller, the Wii looks different to me. It looks like the kind of thing that takes all of 10 seconds to learn and you're off and running.

The other consoles also have an intimidation factor, for lack of a better phrase. I don't have a HDTV. I don't even (gasp!) have a large-screen TV, or even a home theater audio system of any kind. Sony and Microsoft's offerings would make me feel like I'm wasting their talents somehow, by hooking them up to an inferior audiovisual experience. The Wii looks like it would fit in just fine with my good ol' mono CRT TV.

If Nintendo can manage to get a good library of good games for the Wii, this thing's destined for greatness. The gamer crowd might turn up their noses but it could really be a hit for the rest of us. This non-gamer's already sold.

(Picture courtesy Marcin Chady. View the original entry here.)

Mini How-To: Recover A Notebook Hard Drive

So your notebook decides to go belly up, and you've got important files on the hard drive. If you're inclined to just "pop it in the desktop PC" you'll soon discover that it won't work-a desktop normally uses a 3.5" drive and your laptop's drive is probably a 2.5". Never mind the fact that they use different connections.

So what's the cheapest way to get at the laptop hard drive? Buy yourself a USB 2.5" Hard Drive Enclosure. For about $10 (such as this Sabrent model ) you get a box that houses your HD and turns it into a external USB drive. You plug the drive in on one end, mount it up, and close the box. Done. Your notebook hard drive is now the same as any other flash drive you've ever used and it'll plug in to anything with a USB port available. From here, you can run your favourite system diagnostics and recovery tools (I recommend System Rescue CD among others) if required, or otherwise just get at your files.

For the frugal out there, if you can't bear to toss out that "perfectly good hard drive" after you get a new notebook, why not use the enclosure to make yourself an inexpensive backup drive? If you think about it, you'll probably pay at least $20 to pick up a new 1GB flash drive...why not put that old 1GB hard drive to good use and save $10?

For the handymen types out there, I'd suggest picking up one of the 2.5" enclosures and one for standard 3.5" desktop PC drives. Handy in an emergency!