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Vista is a fine operating system but it is a bit slow and quite bloated. I’m a performance junky that intends to squeeze every bit of power out of a system. I wrote an initial post called Vista Performance Tweaks - The Quick and Dirty but I’m excited to offer this more complete list that incorporates recommendation from a PCWorld piece on disabling unnecessary features to maximize Windows Vista performance. 12 Unnecessary Vista Features You Can Disable Right Now

1.) Disable Windows Vista Sidebar: Right click on the sidebar or sidebar icon, and choose properties. Then Uncheck the “Start Sidebar when Windows starts” checkbox. Finally, right-click on the sidebar tray icon, and choose Exit.

2.) Disable the Windows Aero Interface:Right-click an empty spot on your desktop and click Personalize. Click on the Window Color and Appearance link. This time the Appearance Settings window will not appear as before, but instead you’ll see a larger Windows Color and Appearance window. Click on the “Open classic appearance properties for more color options” link. (For more info on the terrible Aero see Petri’s article)

3.) Disable Visual Effects: Click Start, right-click Computer, and select Properties. Click the Advanced System Properties link, the Advanced tab, and then the Settings button inside the Performance box. Select “Adjust for best performance,”

For the next adjustments open Windows Services by Clicking Start and type “Services” and hit enter.

4.) Disable ReadyBoost: Find and double-click “ReadyBoost”. Then click the “Stop” button and thin in the ‘Startup type’ drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.

5.) Disable Search Indexing: Find and double-click “Windows Search”. Then click the “Stop” button and thin in the ‘Startup type’ drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.

6.) Disable Offline Files: Find and double-click “Offline Files”. Then click the “Stop” button and thin in the ‘Startup type’ drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.

7.) Disable Error Reporting: Find and double-click “Windows Error Reporting Service”. Then click the “Stop” button and thin in the ‘Startup type’ drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.

The last two tweaks involve uninstalling a couple of Vista features. To do so open Control Panel, then select “Programs” and under the “Programs and Features” click the Turn Windows features on or off link on the left. This will open the Windows Features dialog box.

8.) Uninstall Windows Internet Printing: Expand the Print Services section and uncheck Internet Printing Client.

9.) Uninstall Windows Meeting: Uncheck Windows Meeting Space

If you are running the tablet or Ultimate version of Vista there are some more tips in the article. For the full article please see 12 Unnecessary Vista Features You Can Disable Right Now by Lincoln Spector.

The good news is that in 2008 Conservative principles did not lose in an election. The bad news is that they weren’t even in the running. Conservative principles win elections. It is only when the Republican party of this country abandons the principles that it was founded on do we find ourselves losing.

Why did McCain fight an uphill road? Allow me to answer that with another question.

What difference has the GOP really offered in the past 8 years?

The Republican party has abandoned fiscal responsibility, limited federal government, individual liberty, and policy accountability. Sure there is a difference concerning defense strategy and foreign policy but those pale in comparison to the matters of domestic and economic policy. We are reaping the harvest of offering nothing but the same old same old to the American people.

The Bush administration & GOP has spurned federal oversight from Gitmo to FISA.

The Bush administration & GOP has spurned fiscal responsibility.

The Bush administration & GOP has done NOTHING about border control and immigration.

The GOP (not necessarily McCain) deserved to lose.

It is my sincere hope that this will be the opportunity to purge our bloated party and return to the ideals that make this country great. It took the Carter years to bring us Reagan. I honestly don’t know what this country will look like in 4 years but if Republicans will become Conservatives again we will prevail.

The race is over. Obama will be our next President. Obviously I am disappointed and I fear for the future of my country. However, I want to remind my conservative brethren that he is now the President Elect and deserves the respect of that office. I will continue to stand for the conservative principles that have built the greatest country the world has ever known. Slander nor disrespect have any place when speaking of any President. Let us hold ourselves to a higher honor.

May freedom and liberty overcome.

Congratulations President Obama. May God guide you and keep you.

ChuckWesterbrook has a great idea of how to publicize “small” blogs with great content. It’s wonderful and simple. Check out his idea and call to action at “How You Can Help End the Problem of Blogs With Great Content and No Readers”

It’s like a reading club for bloggers by bloggers. I can’t wait.

Thanks to Ken at Changeforge.com for the heads up.

Just wanted to let my wonderful readers know that my unplanned absence from KnowtheNetwork.com will come to end on Nov 7th.

My wife and I have found a new home. We are closing this week and moving next weekend. AT&T Uverse should be installed on Nov 7 giving me interwebs and I shall once again lift the high and not so mighty mantle of KtN.

In the meantime you’ll find me active on Twitter and Tumblr.

As always thanks for reading. See you soon.

To configure your banner in Microsoft Exchange 2003

1. Open command prompt and change dir to C:inetpubadminscripts
2. Type the following line, and then press ENTER:

In this line, vsinumber is the number of the SMTP virtual server, and Your Text is the text that you want to appear instead of the default response.

5. To complete this procedure, stop and then restart the SMTP service. To do so:
a. Type net stop smtpsvc, and then press ENTER.
b. Type net start smtpsvc, and the press ENTER.
6. Type exit, and then press ENTER.

To configure your banner in Microsoft Exchange 2007

1. Open Powershell
2. Enter the following Command

Testing via telnet

1. Telnet to the server via port 25
2. You should get a response with your modified banner.
3. Type quit to close the session.

Reference Docs:
1. Microsoft Technet: How to Modify the Default SMTP Banner (2007)
2. Microsoft KB: How to change the default connection response that you receive after you connect to the SMTP port in Exchange 2003
3. Petri: How can I change the SMTP banner seen when connecting to my Exchange server via Telnet?

Excluding the Human element, software patching can be one of the most difficult and time consuming tasks of any user or sysadmin. When you consider the number of applications we rely on and how often bugs are found and fixed it is a near insurmountable task to stay up to date with latest and most secure versions of your favorite programs.

Obviously some vendors have provided tools to ease the headache like Windows Updates and Apple auto-updater. (Which will gladly help you update Quicktime & iTunes as well as install Safari if you aren’t careful.) However, the challenge becomes keeping track of the other 25 apps we use during the week. Even if I install the latest version how can one be sure that the older insecure version is adequately removed.  Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to scan and locate insecure versions of software and if problems are detected then provide links for upgrade or mitigation?

Enter Secunia’s Software Inspector series. I’ve long been a big fan of their Online Software Inspector (OSI) but just recently tried out the Personal Software Inspector (PSI). PSI is an application that requires download and installation unlike it’s web counterpart but it provides much more information and scans for numerous applications. Secunia’s Vulnerability Scanning page states that OSI scans for 70 applications whereas PSI scans for 6900+.

PSI provides unprecedented information about your programs and patches and the scanning is very efficient. If it detects an insecure version it will provide version numbers and links to latest patches. My favorite feature can prove frustrating to resolve but Secunia does a great job of detecting older versions of software that you would have assumed were uninstalled during upgrade. It can be a hassle to remove some of the these remnants but you will be surprised at the legacy products it will locate.

If you are new to Vulnerability scanning feel free to start with the OSI but for a more comprehensive analysis I highly recommend Secunia’s Personal Software Inspector.

I pride myself in finding the best applications and utilities. Often the recommendations are for everyday users to improve their computer experience, security, or performance and other times the suggestions are for Network Admins to simply make a difficult job a bit easier. I’m pleased to announce a fantastic tool that fits both of these goals.

Introducing XP Tune brought to you by RefusetoSuffer.com

This is an excellent performance utility that was authored by a very good friend and colleague. The script was initially based on my paper “Supercharge your PC“. The paper was a guide to our tried and true performance tweaks. My friend Suffer decided to write a script to perform those tasks (and more) within a single portable script. Performance tweaks for the masses.

The Tune script performs the following tasks:

• Set PageFile to 2.5x the amount of ram (up to a 4000Mb limit)
• Disables System Restore.
• Disables Hibertation.
• Enables Remote Desktop.
• Sets the Default User wallpaper to nothing.
• Disables Windows Firewall.
• Disables Security Center notifications for disabled items
• Sest Power Scheme to Always On.
• Configure Windows Updates.
• Startup Entry Removal
• Set Windows theme to classic
• Set IE homepage to Google.com
• Set IE search to Google.com
• Add My Computer, My Network Places, My Documents, and IE Icons to the desktop.

All the tasks are optional and you can deselect any that you care to skip. The script does not require installation and works magic.

So if you have an XP system running slow or just want a lean machine download XP Tune let the fun begin.

Finally, take some time and peruse his site. I’ll be profiling the JointoDomain script and IPconfig utility in the coming days. He has also built forums and a script repository to assist users in submitting questions and issues as well as adding their own scripts to the collection. I’ve been using his software for several weeks now and I don’t know how I lived without it. It is truly great work. So check out RefusetoSuffer.com and feel free to donate if you like his work.

As always, thanks for reading.

Take a few minutes and see for yourself,

Stuart Johnson wrote a piece for WindowsSecrets.com with the following advice,

The bottom line is that if you’re using XP, there’s no point in upgrading to 32-bit Vista. It doesn’t make sense to upgrade your operating system without upgrading to 64-bit hardware and software in order to get the most out of both…

…The early word is that the successor to Vista, which is due to ship in early 2010, won’t be much different from Vista Service Pack 1.

I completely concur. Why move to Vista if you aren’t going to eliminate the 32-bit environment. Sadly, it sounds like Windows 7 may not be a major departure from Vista so there is no compelling reason to wait for it. If you need a new computer get 64-bit hardware and move into the coming generation of 64-bit computing.

There is little doubt that the government response to the financial crisis will be more regulation. An old adage states that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. This is especially tragic when one only has to observe recent history as a lesson.

In response to the Enron era the federal government introduced the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This nightmare has cost small businesses thousands of dollars in additional audit time. A report from my CEO stated that even his church had to pay $7,000 more for their audit because of the new rules.

Allow me to quote and paraphrase some of his thoughts,

Did the stricter regulation and reporting of Sarbanes Oxley highlight or prevent one of the current financial failures?  NO

“It costs around $3 million for a small, public start up company to comply with Sarbanes Oxley.  These same costs were approx. $250,000 before Sarbanes Oxley.”

He continues, “The regulatory response to the problems on Wall Street should be less but better and more effective regulation.   And the money that is spent on paper shuffling should be funding enforcement.

Finally, he noted, “there are plenty of solvent, private investment firms ready to purchase the problem assets from struggling financial firms, but Congress can’t get their hands on that money so that won’t happen.”

The taxpayer burden will be astronomical and I naturally assume I’ll never see any return on investment.

My final thought. If I as an individual or as an owner of a business can’t expect the same kind of cash infusion from Uncle Sam then why should any other organization expect me to rescue them from bad decisions. The federal government created the problem through regulation and “noble goal” of pressuring lenders to allow every American the privelege of home ownership. Never forget the words of Reagan, “Government is not the solution to the problem, Governement IS the problem.”

Ahoy, It’s that time of year again. International Talk Like a Pirate Day is upon us. So Celebrate and have fun.

I’m sure we will see other example from around the web but Google has already released, Google Searrrrch and friendfeed has a new logo.

If you need a pirate name check out the Pirate Name Generator. To increase your authentic pirate accent you should also try the Pirate Translator. Enjoy, you landlubbers.

-Iron Tom Flint

In late August it was announced that the first oil development contract our of Iraq was awarded to the Chinese. The announcement was met with great frustration and speculation of why this contract was not awarded to a U.S., or at least Western company.   My friends we finally know the answer.

The answer my friend is hydrocarbons. Or more specifically liberal idiots & hydrocarbons.

Frederick W. Kagan, writing for the Weekly Standard, revealed more information about what actually happened. The fact is Iraq was poised to award no bid contracts to American/Western Oil countries earlier this summer. Then, 3 liberal idiots, asked Sec. of State Rice to intervene to postpone the deal until a hydrocarbon law was instituted in Iraq. Sec. Rice declined but the correspondence spooked the Iraqi’s and the deal was dropped.

I am continually astounded by the actions of this ignorant and malicious representatives. Absolutely Unbelievable!!

These were originally posted on Car Talk’s website and they are just too good not to share.

Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.

– David J. Liszewski

The Web site you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist.

Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.

– Suzie Wagner

Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.

Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.

Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.

First snow, then silence.
This thousand-dollar screen dies
So beautifully.

With searching comes loss
And the presence of absence:
“My Novel” not found.

The Tao that is seen
Is not the true Tao until
You bring fresh toner.

Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.

A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.

You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.

Having been erased,
The document you’re seeking
Must now be retyped.

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank….

I once complained that Sun doesn’t see fit to assist the user in uninstalling old and insecure versions of Java when they install the latest version. Well Sun hasn’t done anything to help but someone else has. Introducing JavaRa by RaProducts. JavaRa does one thing and one thing only - It removes old versions of Java. It is Open Source, it does not require installation and it generates a log file of the actions it took. This is a great little utility and it works very well. Thanks RaProducts.