Ask DACS
July 2008

by Jim Scheef

We welcome questions from the floor at the start of our General Meetings. In addition, members who are not able to attend the General Meeting may submit questions to askdacs@dacs.org. We will ask the question for you and post the reply in DACS.ORG. Please provide as much information as possible since we can’t probe during the session.

The July Ask DACS session was abbreviated to allow extra time for our double main presentations.

Q - (from the podium) How many people have applied XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)?

A - A few people raised their hand.

Q - (from the podium) So what has been your experience?

A - Two members reported that it installed just fine and that they have had no problems attributable to the service pack. One member said the update took "nearly all day" because the update website wanted to "back up all of his data" so he allowed this to proceed to completion followed by the SP3 install.

Another member reported that according to the Windows Update website, SP3 does not add any critical updates to a machine that is current with all patches. SP3 does add some new functionality.

I asked if SP3 removes all the backup/uninstall files placed in hidden folders in the Windows directory. No one knew if it did or did not. I noted that I delete these directories periodically and keep only the most recent few to regain the space.

Q - Does SP3 require that Windows Genuine Advantage be installed?

A - The immediate answer from the floor was yes. My own experience with Microsoft Update (as opposed to Windows Update that only updates Windows) has been that a new version of the Genuine Advantage software is required for any updates over the last month when SP3 was one of the updates offered for installation. But, keep in mind that Microsoft Update, which provides updates for all Microsoft products (including server products), has always required installation of Genuine Advantage.

We did not know at the meeting if downloading the ISO image of the SP3 CD would allow one to bypass the Genuine Advantage check. Everyone at the meeting had installed SP3 from one of the Microsoft update sites. This is difficult to test definitively as one would need a machine that is clean of any prior Windows XP updates. (see sidebar)

Another concern mentioned with SP3 and Norton 360 involved registry corruption. If you use Norton 360, it might be wise to run Symantec Live Update before installing SP3 to be sure all patches are applied to the Norton product. A visit to the support pages of the Symantec website wouldn't hurt. Apparently, both Symantec and Microsoft have been pointing fingers at each other on this issue.

Q - I accidentally allowed the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool ("tool") to install with some other updates. I don't feel Microsoft is qualified to determine what is malicious. Is this a problem or is the tool ok?

A - The consensus from the floor was that the tool is good and should be installed. My understanding is that the tool is run once when it is installed by Windows Update and each new version of the tool addresses different malicious software threats. I do not recall if Windows Update applies multiple tools to a completely unpatched machine. This is left as an exercise for the reader when you next install XP.

Q - I'm using AVG Antivirus and it reports several locked files during a scan. What are these files and should I be concerned?

A - No one in the audience offered experience with AVG. Windows and other applications running on the machine will have files open and AVG may not be able to scan those files. On the other hand, if no applications like Microsoft Word or your email program are running, AVG should know what open files belong to Windows so files reported by AVG could belong to malicious software that is trying to hide from the antivirus scanner. If AVG reports the full path to these files, what other files are in that directory? The AVG website would be a good place to start investigating.

Q - I get a message that "Internet Explorer (IE) can't open the Internet" [sic] when I try to open a page in Yahoo Financial. When I click OK, everything seems to be fine. I cannot find a fix.

A - Firefox was suggested as a quip (in jest, but almost always a good choice). A member asked if this happens in other parts of Yahoo. The questioner said that it does not happen in other parts of Yahoo. Another member suggested that such an error could happen if Java is blocked (or Sun Java is not installed). Further discussion led to the Java settings on the advanced tab in the "Internet Options" applet in Control Panel (or the Tools menu of IE) and a discussion about Sun versus Microsoft Java. The latter is no longer available and should be replaced with the latest version of Java from Sun.

Q – I tried to connect my MacBook Pro to the projector in the Resource Center and could not get it to work. I have used the projector with another laptop without problems. The MacBook has Windows installed and the projector would not cooperate even under Windows.

A – Our (DACS) projector has a DVI connector but the cable has a VGA connector for the computer end. The questioner asked if s-video might be a solution. My experience with s-video (a composite video connector that supports more lines of resolution) is that the resolution is still conventional television (non-HD) quality and thus will not provide a picture of sufficient quality for this situation.

Further investigation (Wikipedia) finds that while the digital visual interface (DVI) was developed for digital displays, it can and does support analog signaling. Thus it is possible that even using a DVI-to-DVI cable would not work if one device only supports digital and the other only analog.

A Yahoo search turned up a document (tinyurl.com/6y8hoq) from the Wentworth Institute of Technology Help Desk that details how to do exactly what we want. It requires a VGA display adapter on the MacBook and setting the MacBook display preferences to “Display Mirroring” to turn on the external video. Our projector is generally limited to a maximum display resolution of 1024x768, so the MacBook should be set to this resolution. According to the document, if you do all this, it will work.

Last Q – As Ask DACS moderator it is difficult for me to run the session and remember enough to write up the questions and answers each month. Also, I would prefer to devote the time it takes to write Ask DACS to my regular column, Circuit Writer. So, I make this offer: if you will take over writing the Q & A from Ask DACS each month, I will give you a brand new Olympus digital voice recorder to use in this endeavor. Contact me at jscheef@dacs.org.

Submit any question to: askdacs@dacs.org.