Philipp

Taco Nuts has posted a review on the Vantec Bay Freezer The Bay Freezer fits into any standard 5.25 in bay. It has two 60mm fans that push a total of 31.4 cubic feet per minute (cfm) of air into the case. The fans are mounted on extendable tubes so that you can move them farther out if needed, which can be extremely handy if you have a CDROM or DVDROM below the Bay Freezer, but you want air to go past it. Read more

Trendmicro has posted new virus definitions (#923) for PC-cillin 98 and 2000 Download

Abit has released a new bios update (4B) for the AMD760 based KG7 motherboard. Download

Microsoft is facing calls for the courts to block its upcoming Windows XP operating system because of competitive concerns, but political and legal issues make such a move unlikely, analysts say. Read more

Thanks to Andy for sending the follow email from Microsoft UK to me: Thank you for contacting the Microsoft® U.K. Beta Programme regarding Microsoft® Preview Programme® software. At the moment, we currently anticipate that fulfillment of all pre-orders will began shipping early August. Windows® XP Professional RC 1, it will be delivered by The Royal Mail. We are unable to supply an exact delivery date, suffice to say that we will be processing all orders as quickly as possible following date order criteria. However, this issue regarding shipment times has been flagged on several occasions to the Preview Product Managers involved. Based on customer feedback already received, this is now currently under investigation. No payment will be taken from your credit card until the Beta software is shipped. It is a standard practice that for all pre-release software available through the Microsoft® Preview Programme, there is a small handling charge per item (costs cover postage & packaging for first copy only). Whilst a participant in the Preview Programme you would automatically be sent a resourse CD. Windows XP RC2 however will not be shipping in the UK Preview Programme. Instead you´ll receive a copy of Windows XP Professional 120 Day Evaluation Version. No release date for the Eval as yet, but when we receive claraifcation we will contact you. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us. Yours sincerely, David Treanor Beta Contact Executive Microsoft Connection

Windows XP Preview Program customers in the UK have received today their RC1 package. Thanks Neil.

Another beta build of NVmax 3.0 is out What´s new: A MAJOR bug fix has been implemented. To cut a long story short NVmax did not store the det version in a variable correctly and this could cause systems to use older functions or turn on/off random compatibility in the program for the various drivers. It could also mess up overclocking and color controls as well as anti-aliasing, anisotropy and many others. Download

OC Workbench has posted a ECS K7S5A SiS735 DDR mainboard review Installation has never been so simple with only one jumper to meddle with (the CCMOS if 150/150 fails when the ram timings are set too aggressively high). The FSB selections are limited but should suffice as I don´t see this as an overclocking board. 100/100, 100/133, 133/133, 112/112, 124/124, 133/166, 166/166. Read more

I am Not a Geek dot com has posted a review on the Delta 80mm 68CFM Fan This is a 68CFM fan, the fastest 60mm fans available are about 38CFM. Even the MC462 only has a 57CFM fan, so you could use this to upgrade your MC462 as well. Of course a 68CFM fan is going to be pretty noisy, it checks in at 48.dBA and of course will be louder when you put it against a heatsink. A 60mm 38CFM fan is about 47dBA. Although the 68CFM fan is just a little louder, I find it doesn´t drive me as crazy as the noise put off from a 7000RPM 60mm fan. The sound it makes is lower in pitch, most likely because of the lower RPM´s. Read more

PCStats has posted a review on the SonicBlue RioVolt CD-MP3 Player So, you built yourself a large MP3 collection, but what use is it if you can only listen to it at home? Never fear, the solution to this vexing problem is as simple as getting yourself a portable CD-MP3 player. The only question that remains, is which one should you choose? Well first off, there seem to be as many methods of storage as there are MP3 players. One of the most creative devices I´ve seen is the RioVolt by SonicBlue. Where other MP3 players either a flashcard, embedded memory or even a 2.5" portable hard drive, the Riovolt uses CD-R´s, and even better yet, CD-RW´s. And yes, it also plays regular CD´s, which still have their place in the great scheme of things. Read more

3D Spotlight has updated their weekly price guide. A new week, a new price guide update. Our price guide covering Intel and AMD CPUs, Videocards, Soundcards, Memory and Motherboard prices has been updated with prices corresponding to this Tuesday, August 07, 2001. Read more

Overclocked Cafe has put up a review on the Dragon Orb 3 Placing the fan over the actual heatsink area of the Dragon Orb 3 , instead of directly on top, seems to help move more heat away from the copper. Maybe due to less of a "dead air" space that can happen when the fan sits directly on top of the heatsink (of course, a 7000 RPM/38 cfm fan helps). Read more

Adrian´s Rojak Pot has posted a new revision of their BIOS Optimization Guide The new revision 6.20 has the following updates :- Added the following new BIOS options :- - AGP 4X Drive Strength - AGP Drive Strength P or N Ctrl Rewritten the following BIOS option with new details :- - Boot Other Device Read more

Microsoft has released last month a new version of the Windows XP Application Compatibility Toolkit. Thanks DosFreak. The Microsoft® Windows® XP Application Compatibility Toolkit includes compatibility tools such as Application Verifier and the Compatibility Administration tool. These tools provide the means to create and distribute custom compatibility fixes for applications on Windows XP and profile existing applications for known compatibility problems. The toolkit also includes the Windows XP Logo specification as well as documentation to help Windows XP customers diagnose and resolve application compatibility issues. Download

Dan´s Data has posted a review on the Topower TOP-420P4 420 watt ATX power supply The Power Supply Unit (PSU) is far from the most expensive component in most modern PCs. Most no-brand clone PCs use the PSU that came with their case. Stock PSUs in half-decent mini-tower cases are likely to have about a 250 watt rating - not many small cases come with a 300 watt PSU as standard. Read more

M3DZone has posted new Detonator 14.40 drivers for Windows 2000 and Windows 9x. Thanks Eddie. Download

A new version of VDMSound has been released. Thanks DosFreak. This version (VDMSound 2.0.4) features the following changes and improvements: AdLib emulation, now fully integrated with the existing SB16 emulation; DirectSound support for audio mixing; Added optional low-level CD-ROM support in AUTOEXEC.VDMS for games that try to access the CD directly as part of their copy-protection scheme(s); Modified VDMSRun.bat to include the SB model type in the BLASTER variable. Download

PCinsight has posted a short review on a 12x DVD-ROM drive from Samsung. While the Samsung SD-612 lives up to its maximum speed claims, one still needs to realize that 12x DVD reads are not terribly important by today´s standards as the majority of software applications are still being distributed on CD-ROM. Luckily, this drive fares quite well with such discs. If you are looking for a replacement to an older CD-ROM drive, yet have been thinking about making the move to DVD, the SD-612 is a solid choice. Read more

Clutch (Thanks) forward the follow news from IISAnswers to me: I am posting a message about a new variant of the Code Red virus that has started circulating. This one is much worse and if you are infected, probably ought to reformat. This morning, AFAIK, a new Code Red variant was released. Ok, here´s the latest on this new variant. 1. It makes a copy of CMD.EXE called ROOT.EXE in the; inetpubscripts and program filescommon filessystemmsadc directories. Does this on both drive C: and D: (doesn´t fail if D: doesn´t exist). 2. It then runs its attack program code to infect itself upon numerous other boxes. This is done randomly, although there is a bias to attack boxes that are part of the same class A as infected attacker (so it hits your own boxes sooner rather than later). Attack code runs for 24 hours, 48 hours on Chinese language systems. 3. After attack code runs (and it seems to be based on clock ticks, not date), it then writes out a Trojan. File Explorer.exe (8192bytes or 7K as displayed by Windows) is dropped (from the code in the original attacking URL) to the root of drive C: and D: (again, doesn´t matter if D: doesn´t exist). 4. The system is then rebooted (probably a forced reboot). 5. When the system restarts, it loads the trojan Explorer.exe from the root directory on the boot drive. This code then does several things; a) Launches the real Explorer.exe, so the system looks normal. Sets SFCDisable in hklmsoftwaremicrosoftwindows ntcurrentversionwinlogon to some undocumented value. Presumably this disables Windows File Protection (so critical files could be overwritten) c) Creates two virtual directories (via the registry) in hklmsystemcurrentcontrolsetservicesw3svcparametersvirtual roots. Called "C" and "D", they are mapped to the root directories of the two drives and permissions are established in the virtual directory to allow script, read, and write access as well as setting execute permissions to scripts and executables. d) goes into an endless sleep loop. The end result of all of this action is to leave your box wide open to remote connection and total compromise. Unlike "Code Red", this worm doesn´t attack any single target at any point, although its attack strength seems to be much higher (it launches 300 threads right off, although some may only launch 100), so its propagation seems much higher. The attack only works properly on Windows 2000 systems (preliminary analysis). ICSA Labs tested against an NT 4.0/IIS 4.0/SP3 box and received a standard error message. Reports from subscribers suggest that XP IIS 5.1 RC1 is invulnerable also. Its expected that it works on PWS and OWS equally to IIS (all on W2K). Its obviously a short-lived attack, at least the process of collecting victims. What would be done with them once collected is another story. No attempt is made by the worm to send anything "home", although detecting compromised boxes is far too easy (very unfortunately) for anyone outside your network. Cleaning a compromised box should really be done by reformatting. Although logging is left on for the new virtual directories created (meaning you´d see access in your IIS logs), there´s really no way to be sure that files haven´t been implanted to leave other backdoors (not as part of this worm, but as part of the use of the opening it creates). Credits: The bulk of the analysis was done by Nick Fitzgerald of Virus-L (and friends) and Roger Thompson of TruSecure. Additional help came from Bruce Hughes of the ICSA Labs. Cheers, Russ - Surgeon General of TruSecure Corporation/NTBugtraq Editor --------------------------------- Now Registering for IIS FastTrack http:/www.iistraining.com Brett Hill - IISAnswers.com brett@iisanswers.com (303) 543-7502 MCSE MCT A+ Net+ CIW-TT

Netscape has released the final version of Netscape Communicator 6.1. Thanks Mark. Download

GideonTech.com has posted a review on the Icemat, a mouse surface unlike any other. The easiest way to clean the Icemat is to use a mild glass cleaner. Don´t stick it in the dishwasher, it will break. Read more

TweakFiles has posted a new version of Tweak XP Tweak-XP - The tweaking eXPerience. The First Tweaking And Tuning Utility Especially For Windows XP. Unlike other tweaking utilities, Tweak-XP bundles more than 22 different utilities in one: tweaks, tools, hardware optimizations and a lot more - too much to list here... New in this version: feature added: protect any folder on your harddisc and hide its content language selection box that appears on the very first start of Tweak-XP some changes to the language selection several changes and minor bug fixes Download

A new Windows XP compatible version of RAM Idle is out. RAM Idle is a free memory management program that is designed for Windows. With an easy to use interface, RAM Idle enables your applications to load faster and more responsively by making more physical memory available for the system. Use it to free up a selected amount of physical memory when the minimum level is reached. You can also use it to free up a selected amount of physical memory at a regular interval, and free up the physical memory manually as needed. Download

Symantec has released a new virus definitions update for Norton Antivirus. This update will work on the following products: NAV for Lotus Notes (Intel) NAV for MS Exchange (Intel) NAV 4.0, 5.0 and 2000 for Win9x NAV 4.0, 5.0 and 2000 for WinNT NAV 2000 for Win2000 NAV for Firewalls pcAnywhere32 7.5 and higher for WinNT Norton Utilities for Windows 95/98 (all versions) Norton SystemWorks (all versions) Download

A new and possibly more virulent version of the "Code Red" computer worm was detected circulating the Internet over the weekend, attacking machines and leaving them vulnerable to other intruders, a leading Internet security site reported. The Systems Administration, Networking and Security Institute (SANS) said in an advisory on its Web site that the latest variant of the computer virus seems to leave a "back door" in infected systems that makes them easy for an intruder to infiltrate. Read more