Another Day With My PC

I’m sure you’ll agree with me that having the biggest or the latest doesn’t exactly mean having the best. There are things which just should not be altered or be reincarnated into something which purports to be a better version of the original.

Of course, I’m talking about software here, although I’m sure you could sew hundreds of threads on this subject without mentioning malware, antivirus, or God-forbid, Microsoft. Going back to my blabber, there are applications that seem to be already perfect as they are, even if they were made during the Reagan administration. Altering them would be unforgivable, while replacing them would be sacrilegious.

Necessary Evil

While I’m one with the nostalgic few in romanticizing 0.2 MB applications, I must admit that software must eventually put on some weight in order to be able to pack a punch that would actually hurt. While keeping it simple may be the way to go as far as keeping everything neat and practical is concerned, such is an ideal that only a handful of software makers are willing to embrace (probably due to lack of resources).

Dual Core, Do More

I’m sure you’re already familiar with Intel’s Core 2 Duo slogan. The chipmaker’s new processor could definitely do more than just run a single program. In fact, it could shuffle applications as big as the marshmallow man with such flamboyance that one might think that one processor would already be enough to power ten PC units.

It would be a shame then, if all those muscles would just go to waste. Naturally, software makers would be encouraged (or tempted) to pack their products with a few more pounds in order to exploit the steroid-enhanced chips that are fast becoming mainstream.

Man’s ideas are infinite. Programs and its functions are products of some geek’s wild but profitable imagination. Ergo, icons illustrating a program’s features or capabilities could clutter the whole user interface. And with the virtually unlimited might of processors today, you can be sure that software designers would not be holding their horses when adding components to their creations.

Security

Not every chowhound application is detestable, though. Many a times, there are valid reasons why programmers choke their creations with hundreds of megabytes.

Malware is one of the leading causes of software bloat. You can’t expect software authors to just let their applications be mangled by viruses. In order to insulate their masterpieces from cyber graffiti, they have to pump in vaccines in the form of additional algorithms or programming instructions in order to ensure that it won’t get easily messed up by any malicious application. While antivirus and anti-spyware programs are already becoming regular mainstays in every PC unit, software makers are still fencing their applications in order to forestall any attack that security suites might not be able to prevent.

Not So Evil After All

The next time Microsoft or Apple announces the arrival of a successor to a popular software of theirs, clip that eyebrow of yours for a sec and see if it deserves your cynicism. While having the biggest or the latest may not always be a good thing, the caveat is also definitely not the general rule.

Have you read PC World’s take on the various external hard drives in the market? It featured ten of the best, ranking them based on speed, price, and reliability.

External hard drives are great devices for back ups. In fact, it seems that it had already pushed the tape drive on the brink of extinction. If manufacturers would further improve on the peripheral’s reliability and portability, it might send many external back up products or solutions to the museum!

It’s still not a good alternative to the internal hard drive as far as using it as a primary storage device is concerned, though. Some are even questioning its practicability as a back up option. Many users are using DVD disks as secondary repositories of their data. While DVDs pale in comparison to external hard drives in terms of size, the former is believed to be more reliable in maintaining the integrity of the files burned to it. It is also more practical since many of the data files that are saved on back up devices are not that big, even collectively. Applications need not be saved since they can be reinstalled using the set up disks.

Despite the doubts that are being cast upon it, external hard drives are still great storage or back up devices. While it would seem too impractical to use it to create a mirror image of your primary storage device, such a move would definitely be very rewarding when the internal hard disk crashes due to viruses or problems with the system registry. While others would be spending a day reformatting and reinstalling programs after a crash, those who took a snapshot of their primary hard drive using their external hard drive could continue on with their tasks as if nothing had happened.

If you think that virus authors are quickly discouraged by knock out blows from antivirus programs, think again.

IBM’s Internet Security Systems has recently revealed that an old foe of anti-malware applications is slowly making its way back to center stage again. The worm, which debuted in January 2003, is known as Spammer. It damaged countless systems during that year, making it one of the most dreaded and unwanted programs in recent history.

Resurrected?

Many thought that the worm had already been completely wiped out of every PC unit after security suites focused on its eradication during the months and years after its discovery. In fact, many have already forgotten about it during the past two years. However, IBM’s revelation had brought back its ghost, along with the reluctant prediction that the worm may come back with a vengeance.

What’s the Worry?

Many are downplaying the possible dangers that Spammer could bring to present computer systems. For one thing, security suites have already dealt with it successfully in the past. Hence, they shouldn’t encounter any difficulty in doing a repeat of their bout with the worm a few years ago.

The problem though, is that security software are having a tough time keeping at pace with the release of new viruses or the modified versions of old unwanted programs. It’s not as if Symantec or McAfee will be able to automatically detect the release of every worm or virus that is born in cyberspace. That’s almost next to impossible. Most of the time, they only come to know about the unwanted program after it has already infected a number of systems. There are thousands of hackers and malware authors around the globe. The number is simply and obviously overwhelming.

Keeping the Program Manageable

It would be very easy for antivirus applications to just retain old virus definitions in order to stem future attacks from old worms. However, this is quite impractical. Without retiring old virus codes, the size of anti spyware or antivirus programs could easily swell to exponential proportions. I’m sure you wouldn’t want your antivirus to be as large as Windows Vista, would you?

This practice of trimming down antivirus programs to manageable levels by retiring old definitions creates gaps on the security of a PC unit. Hence, all that a defeated virus author has to do in order to make a comeback is to put his creation in hibernation for a few years, then resurrect it after a new version of the antivirus that eliminated the worm comes out. This is a very easy task for the malware maker, especially since he need not even have to make any modification anymore.

New Approach

Security suites and system utilities, such as registry cleaners, should come up with a new plan on how to prevent the resurrection of old worms and viruses without having to resurrect its old warriors. There must be some way by which an antivirus or anti malware software could efficiently protect a unit from all known forms of unwanted software without being bloated by definitions and other algorithms.

I know it’s already quite late to be talking about Christmas presents, but I can’t help telling everybody that I got an Acer laptop from my mom

It’s not the latest model though, but it’s not a Celeron either. It’s a Pentium M Centrino. It doesn’t boast much in terms of graphics, but the screen resolution is something to brag about.

There are many things to like about the Acer Aspire 3620. For one thing, it’s pleasing to the eyes. It doesn’t look like a brick like some laptops do. You won’t feel like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders either when you put it in your backpack.

Don’t get carried away by my review. It’s not the perfect notebook. It has no dedicated video memory. To make matters worse, it only comes with 256MB of RAM. It could be upgraded to 1GB, but for those who don’t have the extra bucks, you’re virtually stuck with a unit that constantly has amnesia.

I got my laptop to run faster without having to burn my savings for memory. It turned out that my system registry has been cluttered and modified by certain applications. They are not exactly viruses or malwares. However, these programs usually complicate the registry which, in turn, makes the overall system performance slow.

The screen still freezes sometimes even if I got some errors fixed. However, it now performs much better than it did before I got my system registry checked and fixed.

• Nov 21 : Microsoft Delays IE8 Release
• Nov 19 : Mac Fans are Just as Vulnerable as PC Users
• Nov 19 : Samsung Beings Mass Production of 256GB SSDs
• Nov 17 : Geneva Sound Systems Releases a Funky iPod Speaker
• Nov 14 : BlackBerry Storm Comes in Nov. 21