Into Tech

My laptop has started to show steady data input and output as soon as it connects to the web via a wireless router. This continues for as long as I leave the machine connected. AVG 8, Ad-Aware and Spybot have revealed nothing.
Robert Caldicott

You are right to be concerned because the unknown data traffic could be spam or worse, if your PC has been hacked. However, the most likely cause is Microsoft’s Windows Update, which dribbles away in the background so as not to interfere with normal usage. Otherwise, your firewall should tell you which applications have your permission to access the internet, and which ones are active. Active processes should also be visible in the Windows Task Manager or the superior Process Explorer, a free download. In your case, the culprit may be setupxv.exe, which could be malware or fake anti-spyware.

The web is another common source of unknown data traffic. Some pages refresh adverts or update their contents periodically without telling you, but this should stop if you close down all browsers.

If you can’t see what’s sending traffic, you can try using a packet sniffer to capture and examine the data being transferred. Sadly, I use Wireshark (wireshark.org), which is not a simple option for beginners. There are alternatives listed at sectools.org and SnapFiles. SmartSniff looks easier to use. Other suggestions welcome!

We’ve pointed out for years, that Nicholas Carr is one of the smartest, most astute thinkers out there — and he always writes interesting articles, that make interesting points and get you to think about things in a different manner. However, it’s frustrating that he continually makes all these great observations, and then at the end jumps to a totally bizarre and often outright incorrect conclusion that isn’t supported at all by the points he made earlier in the article. Yet, because he leads people down the garden path so beautifully, many people take that fanciful leap with Carr, missing the fact that there’s really nothing holding up the structure on the other side.

He did this about a year ago, in pointing out that Google’s main business was in driving all sorts of complementary businesses forward by making them cheaper (or all the way to free), such that they helped its main business (getting eyeballs to sell to advertisers). That’s a good, and important observation — but where Carr went wrong, was to claim that building up complementary businesses was somehow unique to Google, and couldn’t (and shouldn’t) be replicated by most other businesses. That’s simply incorrect. As we’ve been pointing out, if you want to succeed in today’s digital market, you absolutely need to recognize the complementary markets that impact your business — because all markets have those complements.

Yet, it appears that Carr liked his mythological Google-uniqueness scenario so much that he’s trotting it out again, suggesting that Google is in a dangerous position because as it drives prices in those complementary businesses down, it’s apparently wreaking havoc on all sorts of other companies and business models, even if the end result is better for consumers.

What Carr’s missing (and this is common to much of Carr’s writing) is that these complementary markets where the price is being driven to zero isn’t a bad thing, but the natural efficiency of the marketplace, driving goods with zero or close to zero marginal cost down to their most efficiently priced positions — where they then help make many other businesses and markets (those the focus on scarce goods, such as selling attention) much more valuable. It’s the same thing as Luddites complaining about technology making things more efficient. Yes, automated phone switching equipment made phone operators obsolete, but it also enabled much bigger markets and the net benefit to society was huge. Making a market more efficient, even if it changes the business model of those who lived off of the inefficiency before, is not a bad thing. That’s the natural state of the market, and contrary to Carr’s assertion, it’s not just a few companies that are benefiting from this. Plenty of companies and individuals are understanding this every day, and using this basic concept of using infinite complements to make scarce goods more valuable. Carr does a huge disservice to his readers in suggesting that it’s somehow unique to companies like Google and Microsoft. It’s not.

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The recent Xbox price cut in the States seems to have done the job as far as Microsoft is concerned, the latest sales figures from analyst group NPD shows that figures have risen by 100% following the drop in price.

Over the two days after the price cut sales doubled compared to the previous weekend. Whether this interest will last is anyone’s guess, but with Microsoft lagging behind competitors with 205,000 sales of the 360 in July this year in comparison to 225,000 PS3s and 555,000 Wii consoles, it’s clear that something had to be done.

It’s like Attack Of The Killer Mice around here lately. Yesterday we had the slinky new Microsoft Arc Mouse and now we have BlueTrack.

We reported on a new MS mouse using something called BlueTrack last month, which the company was modestly touting as the next best thing in Mousedom. Well, the covers are off now and Microsoft still thinks BlueTrack kicks the ass of optical and laser mouse technology. A bold claim indeed.

BlueTrack Technology employs a large blue beam and specular optics working with a new image sensor and proprietary pixel geometry to enable a mouse to work on more surfaces than any other, from “granite worktops to the living room carpet”.

Are we assisting to the birth of the real battle for the next generation of movies for our home theaters? With the announcement by Apple of the availability of movies on their itune library and the release this fall of the Zune from Microsoft, we have the right to believe so. Other big players, like [...]

Microsoft said it wanted its new advertising campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld to “spark a new conversation”. And it did, provoking hundreds of news stories and thousands of blog posts. Whether it was the kind of conversation Microsoft wanted is another matter. My own blog post began by asking: “On which planet does this advert make any sense?”

For the benefit of the handful of people who have inexplicably missed the viral, “Shoe Circus” features Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates buying a pair of shoes. Jerry Seinfeld is passing by the store and pops in to help. It’s not a “soft sell,” it’s a “no sell”: an ad that is, like the long-defunct Seinfeld TV comedy series, about nothing.

I watched the ad again, looking for subliminals, and noted the message repeated on signs and posters: Why pay more? Gates is famously tight with money, and perhaps this is a veiled response to Apple, which doesn’t even compete in the mainstream market for PCs costing £250 to £500. But if that’s all Microsoft wanted to say, it could have said it better for less.

Nonetheless, there are a few points to be made. The first is that “Shoe Circus” is just a teaser for a $300m campaign. There are more to come. After years watching wretched TV advertising, I have no trouble believing that the ad agency is screwing it up, but really it’s too soon to say.

The second point is that the campaign is not about selling Windows, or even Vista, which is is already at least four times bigger than anything else except Windows XP, which is actually its main competition.

It’s true that Vista wasn’t delivered on time or with many of the features that were promised. It’s also true that Microsoft was let down by driver writers and that some PC manufacturers sold Vista poorly set up on barely adequate hardware. (There’s a US class action lawsuit about Microsoft’s use of the “Windows Vista Capable” label.) But those things should no longer be problems. When correctly installed on suitable hardware, Vista is now very good indeed, and better than XP at a similar stage in its life.

Remember, Microsoft had to devote 18 months to fixing XP’s woeful security with the release of XP SP2. Vista doesn’t have that sort of problem, and Vista code will provide the bulk of the next version, Windows 7. Much still needs to be done, and Microsoft is running a programme to improve installations. Basically it runs PCs through hundreds of standardised tests that measure things like boot time, compatibility, reliability and security, to show manufacturers where their systems aren’t as good as they could be.

Microsoft has also experimented with a mocked-up retail outlet, and some of the $300m investment in “Shoe Circus” will be spent providing US dealers with more than 150 in-store assistants. These won’t be like Apple “geniuses” and will provide no support. It’s an attempt - perhaps a foolish one - to improve the sales process.

Ultimately, then, the Shoe Circus project isn’t about selling kit, it’s about improving infrastructure - drivers, software compatibility, installation and sales quality. Given Windows’ advantages in the range of PCs from handhelds to supercomputers, the massive volumes of hardware and software available, the peripheral support, ease of use and price/performance, more than 90% of people are probably going to buy Windows anyway. Microsoft just needs to make moving to Vista a feel-good experience instead of, for some, a slightly scary one.

Going on 64-bit

I recently bought a new quad-core desktop machine, but I am considering increasing the amount of Ram from the 3GB now installed. Would I have to upgrade to the 64-bit version to increase my memory? I want to use my PC for gaming, but I have a fondness for my back catalogue of games.

Jez Robinson

JS: As you know, 32-bit Windows can only use 4GB of memory, which means about 3.25GB after you’ve allowed for graphics and system use. The 64-bit versions can access more memory than your motherboard can support. However, the upgrade path from your 32-bit Packard Bell version is not smooth. Although Microsoft sells “in place upgrades” (hence the 15GB of disk space devoted to Vista), you can’t upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit Vista without reinstalling it as a new operating system.

Also, you will have to pay for your new operating system. If you buy a boxed copy of Vista, you can run either the 32-bit or the 64-bit version, so the upgrade is free. (There may be a charge for shipping you a new disc: only Vista Ultimate includes media for both.) But if you have a manufacturer’s pre-installed version, what you’ve bought is all you get. Unless Packard Bell can offer you a deal, you may have to pay £70 or more for a retail or upgrade version. See Microsoft’s guide at bit.ly/aj0023

Whether it’s worth it is a difficult question, but gamers were among the first to move to 64-bit Vista so you should be able to check for compatibility and performance of specific games online. In general, 64-bit Vista is faster and more secure, it runs 32-bit software, and cheap Ram means sales are now growing rapidly. However, it does not run old 16-bit software, and that unfortunately includes 32-bit programs with 16-bit installation routines. Two obvious solutions are to set up your PC as a dual-boot system, so you can switch between versions, or to install 32-bit Vista in a “virtual PC”. There are several free virtual PC programs including Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, VMware and VirtualBox (version 1.6.2 or later). There are lots of demos and tutorials on YouTube.

Office upgrade

I have Microsoft Office Professional 2000 and would like to know the cheapest legal way of upgrading to Office Professional 2007. I am not a student.

Bob Baker

JS: Microsoft’s website says you can upgrade to Office Pro from Microsoft Works 6.0-10 or any 2000-2007 Microsoft Office program or suite except Office XP Student and Teacher (bit.ly/aj0028). You could therefore shop around for the Microsoft Office 2007 Professional Edition (Upgrade), which you can install on two computers - normally your desktop and your laptop. A slightly cheaper option is the OEM version coded MSOEM162. This is designed for original equipment manufacturers and PC system builders to sell with machines, and can only be installed on one PC. It is not necessarily suitable for consumers, bearing in mind that the OEM (in this case, you) also has to provide the support. OEM versions of software may also come without boxes, manuals, or even discs.

Positively not Adobe

I need to update Adobe Acrobat/Reader to read bulletins, but my attempt to download version 9 has been blocked because AVG Anti-virus (Free Edition 8.0.169) has detected Trojan horse Generic11.PWW.

Cyril Braganza

JS: Adobe says AVG has acknowledged that this is a “false positive” and it will be fixed in an update: bit.ly/aj0027. Avast is also correcting a false positive.

Unknown data in and out

My laptop has started to show steady data input and output as soon as it connects to the web via a wireless router. This continues for as long as I leave the machine connected. AVG 8, Ad-Aware and Spybot have revealed nothing.

Robert Caldicott

JS: You are right to be concerned because the unknown data traffic could be spam or worse, if your PC has been hacked. However, the most likely cause is Microsoft’s Windows Update, which dribbles away in the background so as not to interfere with normal usage. Otherwise, your firewall should tell you which applications have your permission to access the internet, and which ones are active. Active processes should also be visible in the Windows Task Manager or the superior Process Explorer, a free download (bit.ly/aj0029). In your case, the culprit may be setupxv.exe, which could be malware or fake anti-spyware (bit.ly/aj0030).

The web is another common source of unknown data traffic. Some pages refresh adverts or update their contents periodically without telling you, but this should stop if you close down all browsers.

If you can’t see what’s sending traffic, you can try using a packet sniffer to capture and examine the data being transferred. Sadly, I use Wireshark (wireshark.org), which is not a simple option for beginners. There are alternatives listed at bit.ly/aj0031 and bit.ly/aj0032. SmartSniff looks easier to use (bit.ly/aj0033).

Automatic backup

Is there an external hard drive that is really automatic?

Michael Abraham

JS: Clickfree external hard drives are promoted as offering the “first out-of-the-box automatic backup” and can handle up to 10 PCs. I’ve not used one, but the 160GB model was warmly recommended by a reader who bought it from QVC.

Backchat

· Chris Berg wanted to help donate a computer to a village that has no electricity, and I suggested Aleutia (aleutia.com/). GreenNet, an ethical not-for-profit ISP based in London, says: “We work closely with Mike Rosenberg and are Aleutia’s official reseller to the charity and not-for-profit sector. If you could put Chris Berg in touch with us, we’d be happy to give him some more information and tailor a solution to his needs.” See gn.apc.org

Get your queries answered by Jack Schofield, our computer editor at jack.schofield@guardian.co.uk

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