"'The only thing I can guess at is the person who created this is scared,' said Eric Sites, chief technology officer with Sunbelt Software and a member of the working group.

"'This thing has cost so many companies and people money to get fixed, if they ever find the guys who did this, they're going away for a long time.'"

This from a Network World write-up on Conficker, 1 year later.

What a lot of folks find perhaps most interesting about Conficker is,

"Despite its size, Conficker has rarely been used by the criminals who control it.

"Why it hasn't been used more is a bit of a mystery.

"Some members of the Conficker Working Group believe that Conficker's author may be reluctant to attract more attention, given the worm's overwhelming success at infecting computers."

Regardless of whether or not it has been used a lot 'til now, the fact of the matter is, that the Conficker Working Group estimates 7 million PCs have been infected thus far with variants A and B of the worm.

Another thing that caught our eye about the worm was that it's apparently very (perhaps most?) common in China and Brazil, which according to the Network World piece (although we could not confirm this) cites the Conficker Working Group, as,

"suspect[ing] that many of the infected PCs are running bootlegged copies of Microsoft Windows, and are therefore unable to download the patches or Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool, which could remove the infection."

This policy of Microsoft's is definitely a subject of some debate.

Clearly, regrettably, a lot of people pirate Microsoft's software; that Microsoft in effect actually punishes others by helping to perpetuate the worm by refusing to allow the pirates to update their copies of Windows (or download the Malicious Software Removal Tool), really doesn't make sense.

Microsoft's belief, no doubt, is that if pirates can't use their computers because of the worms, they'll wise-up and buy legitimate copies of Windows.

I doubt it.

If a computer is infected, the solution to the pirate is most often just to re-install their OS from scratch if needed and to take other steps (i.e. like installing antivirus firewall software) to prevent re-infection. Others just think their computers are slow and don't know why or ignore the worm altogether and go on about their day.

Whatever the case in the mean time though, by preventing updates, Microsoft's policy allows Conficker to spread, grow, and perpetuate.

Ten years ago a young family in Shanghai or Beijing looking to buy a first home did well to land a new two-bedroom condo for about $40,000. Of course, back then, “new” in Shanghai equated to “the projects” in most U.S. cities. To tamp down costs, Chinese builders would slap “For Sale” signs on homes that were little more than concrete boxes with windows. And families happily moved in without changing much at all.

Problem is, Chinese builders have little expertise with either type of contracting, leaving homeowners to hunt down their own designers, architects, carpenters, and so on. And that, Leglise says, leaves a big hole in the market to be filled by small, regional contracting firms that can deliver it all. In fast-growing cities like Chengdu or Wuhan, “a nouveau riche American builder with a sense of adventure and some business savvy could make a fortune,” Leglise says. Recent market data supports the idea. Annual sales of home improvement products and services in China hit $92 billion in 2004 – nearly double the 2000 figure – and are projected to climb to $122 billion by 2009, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group. That’s opened the door to a flood of home improvement retailers, including Britain-based B&Q, Ikea, and Wal-Mart, which have all set up in the major cities. And Home Depot has reportedly been courting Chinese home improvement chain Orient Home for a joint venture.

Despite the retail stampede, Chinese homeowners nouveau riche don’t yet share the same do-it-yourself gene of their American counterparts, making the need for small finishing contractors even more alluring. “Among white-collar workers in China, there isn’t the same culture you find in the United States,” says Anna Kalifa, head of research in the Beijing office of global real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle. “They don’t like to do any manual labor, and they’re willing to pay extra for someone to come and do it all for them.” So how does an entrepreneur with construction industry savvy reach all those customers? The easiest way, Leglise says, is to become an approved home designer or contractor for Orient Home or another big-box home improvement chain. At a minimum, you’ll need a designer or architect with Western expertise and a Chinese foreman who can source local labor and deal with the bureaucracy of building codes. “It certainly helps if you speak Chinese,” Leglise says. “But the great thing about China nouveau riche is, if you are providing people with something they want and can’t get anywhere else, they’ll do business with you.” — M.V.C.

From jagxk in the PC Support Forum:

Updated Quicktime and the final step was to restart the PC (running XP Prof). The screen which follows a crash and offers: normal, safe mode, etc appeared. Clicking any of the options produced the same result, a brief flicker of the Windows logo before the screen cycled through a power saving message, the manufacturer logo and back to the first screen with its start options.

I have tried starting using the original product recovery CD-ROM from F-Siemens but even clicking random keys during the start-up process produces no result other than freezing the 30 second countdown to "start normally" as does clicking F2.  A 'wiggle' test has not made any difference. The PC has no previous history of this sort.

How do I begin to analyse and then correct the problem when I can't get it to turn on?

Any thoughts for jagxk? Head over to the post and see if you can help.

PC Cycles... But Doesn't Boot originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 11:52:36.

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Anyone having any major problems with Windows 7? If so, be sure to head over the PC Support Forum and ask for help.

The installation should be a breeze and considering the breadth of beta and RC testing, there should be few bugs with installations on major systems. Nevertheless, stuff happens.

Remember, if run into problems, you can just do a clean install of Windows 7 and start the process over. In the worst of installation disaster scenarios, you could always do a clean install of your previous version of Windows.

Problems With Windows 7? originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 11:13:57.

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MSN has struggled in the last several years to try and out run Google and Yahoo.  Sometimes it manages to get ahead of Yahoo, but Google has always remained the top search engine.  Now MSN has launched the new search engine called Bing.  Bing has several upgrades over their earlier versions and the new name seems to be helping it get consumer attention.
Now Bing is seeing another growth spurt in their results.  A recent report is telling us that Bing is definitely growing in size, helping to get more consumers interested in MSN again.  They have had a shocking 20 percent increase in use since the launch of Bing.  This is almost unheard of in recent years.  In fact Google is the only search engine to have outdone this growth percentage when they first came on the scene.
For search engine optimisation practitioners this means that consumers are using the site.  You always have to concentrate on the top three search engines, but now you should really focus hard on Bing.  With the growth they are seeing it means you have consumers hoping to find you.  If you have not already begun to target Bing with new articles do so now.

Rugged Tablet is a convertible laptop than others, but the screen jumps around and changes appear on the screen, so with this getac stuff you are able to write like a tablet of paper. And that’s how robust are packed in a ebonite and sometimes, as material that may involve many elements, such as dust, wind, water and snow can defy. So, there will be a drop of several meters without breaking or resist cracking or damage to data stored on the disk drive. The LCD screen is unbreakable.

They are great when you make an stock or others what they can not show because the screen circumvolve around a screen to see everybody, or one that simply poses on the notebook. Take a rugged convertible security tablet with you if you are a seller in the field is an excellent idea because you are able to present your clients or discoursing products and services on the fly without a lot of confusion of roles or been demolished in the outside presentation of attest. The convertible notebook, rugged, ideal for when you show someone what you think, but I can’t see your words on the screen, you’ll be able to write or draw directly on the LCD.

If you have a presentation, tablet convertible, robust, is a big job to make their presentations. You are able to design your demonstration with charts and graphs, and even a PowerPoint presentation and then allow all to sit at a table ascertaining it. The screens are usually all but 10.4 “-12,1″ what good is great, depending on what you have.

You may want to see the video on a TV in the room, from where starview equipment is very necessarily to be installed; you should conceive obtaining wireless video transmitter. They are two-component system, comprising of a radio transmitter and a receiver. Called for to function, first connect the transmitter, a video source such as a cable box and TV receiver in the second case, in the garage. Illuminates the transmitter beams TV signals through the air continuously for the receiver. The receiver in turn, feeds the images from live TV in the 2nd TV in the garage. Now you are able to enjoy TV programs, live in the garage, if you were modeling in the lounge. The radio signals can penetrate walls and caps, which means that the sender and receiver in the line of vision must be apart.

The main advantages of using such devices are appliance, flexibility and cost decrease. It is convenient for you do not run long cable system* around the house to the connecter between the video source and video display. It is compromising, because the wireless receiver to be easily acted to redirect without new wires or installs seniors. You save money because they can buy another equipment such a cable or second DVD player with video in a 2nd room has a view.

This is not only the cable TV box can be affiliated to the transmitter. Other video sources like DVD players, digital video registrars or TiVo boxes, satellite boxes, etc. can also be connected. In this way you are able to see not only live TV, but also DVD movies or TV show* recorded on the second TV.

Windows 7 is finally available to the public beginning today. While there have been several ways for anyone to get their hands on a beta or RC version, the final product is now available at your favorite retailer.

My Microsoft TechNet subscription (a service for IT professionals) has provided me access to the full version of Windows 7 for a while now so I've had time to fall in love with it and prepare a number of helpful guides for those of you just starting with it this week.

Here's some helpful stuff that should make getting going with Windows 7 a bit easier:

How to Perform a Windows 7 Clean Install

There are several ways to install Windows 7 but since you'll be replacing your existing operating system, a clean install is your best bet in my opinion.

Download the Latest Windows 7 Drivers

Sometimes Windows 7 won't find a piece of your hardware. No problem - most hardware manufacturers now have Windows 7 drivers available. This updated list will get you the files you need fast.

More on Windows 7:

• Best Windows 7 Gadgets for System Monitoring
• Create a Windows 7 Password Reset Disk
• Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc
• How to Update Drivers in Windows 7
• How to Auto Logon to Windows 7
• Complete List of Windows 7 Command Prompt Commands

If you've just installed Windows 7, what are your first thoughts? Do you like what you see?

Windows 7 Available Starting Today originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 14:12:02.

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From lou_2010 in the PC Support Forum:

"I have XP home. My grand kids hit a key that turned my display sideways.What keys will return it to read upright again?"

Any thoughts for lou_2010? Hop on over to the forum post and give your thoughts.

Sideways Screen originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 17:50:26.

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Many insurance companies are stood recently. And they compete to find customers. They offer many facilities too. For customer, it is become harder to find the best insurance for them.

And because of that, many customers are only use cheap auto insurance instead of looking for the best one. Therefore, many customers be fooled by that. The customers thought that every company are the same. That is not true. With so little time that they only had, they don’t have much time to looking for the best.  With technology we have today, we don’t have bothered about that anymore. Many insurance company were offer facilities now. So that the customers be able to looking for insurance easier. With online auto insurance, customers are able to looking for it right from their home. Don’t have to go here and there to get the best. And besides it is a lot easier, online auto insurance usually give many discounts. So, you can save your money for other purpose.

All you need to do is fill the auto insurance quotes, and it is not confusing to do. If you interesting and wanted to now more or learn about it, visit Autoinsuranceselect.com and find out more about insurance.