Many users live with boot problems or re-install Windows and start again, but there is a better way. If you learn what happens during the boot process then you'll be able to diagnose and fix any issues that might arise.
The BIOS
The boot starts with your PC's BIOS, which grabs its settings from CMOS RAM before initialising your video adaptor and any expansion cards. A Power On Self Test does basic hardware checks, tests your RAM if required and usually delivers a single beep to indicate that everything is working.
If there's a problem at this point then the BIOS will display an error message or issue a number of beeps; check your motherboard manual to figure out what they might mean. If it's accessible, launch your BIOS setup program to confirm that no settings have been changed. If they have, this could mean that your motherboard's CMOS battery has failed, in which case you'll need a replacement.
On Friday, Microsoft gave computer makers a six-month extension for offering Windows XP on newly-shipped PCs. While this doesn’t impact enterprise IT — because volume licensing agreements will allow IT to keep installing Windows XP for many years to come — the move is another symbolic nail in Vista’s coffin.
The public reputation of Windows Vista is in shambles, as Microsoft itself tacitly acknowledged in its Mojave ad campaign.
IT departments are largely ignoring Vista. In June (18 months after Vista’s launch), Forrester Research reported that just 8.8% of enterprise PCs worldwide were running Vista. Meanwhile, Microsoft appears to have put Windows 7 on an accelerated schedule that could see it released in 2010. That will provide IT departments with all the justification they need to simply skip Vista and wait to eventually standardize on Windows 7 as the next OS for business.
The public perception of open source software is changing fast, said Mark Shuttleworth, who leads distribution of the Ubuntu operating system (OS).
A new version of Ubuntu, a version of the Linux OS, is released on Thursday. Mr Shuttleworth said the success of the Asus Eee PC and the work of the One Laptop Per Child programme had driven awareness of open source.
"There has been a sea change in the way people think of Linux, which is very healthy," he said.
"We have seen a real shift in the last six months from folks seeing open source as either a super-specialist thing for people who run data centres or as an enthusiast thing, to something which is energising a lot of the straight commercial PC industry," said Mr Shuttleworth.
Platform development
He manages Canonical software, which is the primary sponsor of distribution for Ubuntu, and a key element in the platform's development.
The Australian division of Hewlett Packard issued a warning regarding the optional USB stick the company ships with its ProLiant servers. According to the company, the stick comes not only with drivers for the hardware components, but also with a free copy of malware-infected software.
The USB sticks come from a batch of 256 MB and 1 GB pen drives that have been infected with "Fakerecy" and "SillyFDC" viruses prior to their public distribution. Designed to carry the optional drives for floppy-disks, they arrived to the customers infected out-of-the-box. The company could not estimate how many of the shipped pen-drives carry the malware code.
Both "Fakerecy" and "SillyFDC" viruses are low-risk threats, but they use to duplicate themselves onto the removable media installed on the infected computer. Given their spreading method, the incident is believed to have occurred during the USB disc cloning process inside the factory, rather than to have been the result o... More »
Microsoft is warning Windows Vista users that a forthcoming service pack for the operating system may stop some third-party programs working.
The software giant has released a list of programs that may be broken by the SP1 update for Vista.
Most of the software hit by the upgrade are security programs that prevent Windows users falling prey to viruses, trojans and booby-trapped webpages.
The Windows Vista update will be released to the public in mid-March.
Update loop
Service Packs are among the biggest updates Microsoft issues for its various operating systems. The software firm said SP1 makes Vista more secure and reliable and introduces some new features.
The list of programs affected by SP1 is divided into three. Some will be blocked by the update, some will not run and others will lose some of their functions.
Of the 12 programs mentioned, six block viruses or keep an eye on the places... More »
The number of malicious programs found online has reached an unprecedented high, say security firms.
Reports vary but some estimates suggest there were five times as many variants of malicious programs in circulation in 2007 compared to 2006.
Security company Panda Software said it was getting more than 3,000 novel samples of so called malware every day.
Criminals pump out variants to fool anti-virus programs that work, in part, by spotting common characteristics.
Threat landscape
Security software testing organisation AV Test reported that it saw 5.49 million unique samples of malicious software in 2007 - five times more than the 972,606 it saw in 2006.
AV Test reached its total by analysing malicious programs and generating a digital fingerprint for each unique sample.
The organisation said the different ways malware can be packaged will mean some duplication in its figures, but the broa... More »
A 20-year-old ethnic Russian man is the first person to be convicted for taking part in a "cyber war" against Estonia.
Dmitri Galushkevich was fined 17,500 kroons (£830) for an attack which blocked the website of the Reform Party of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip.
The assault, between 25 April and 4 May 2007, was one of a series by hackers on Estonian institutions and businesses.
At the time, Estonia accused the Russian government of orchestrating the attacks. Moscow denied any involvement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC in May 2007 that the allegations were "completely untrue".
Minority attacks
The attacks took place against a backdrop of riots by ethnic Russian Estonians prompted by the removal of a Soviet war memorial from the centre of Tallinn.
During the unrest, one person was killed and more than 150 injured.
Moving the so-called Bronze Soldier was seen as an affro... More »
Back in July, we covered the appearance of a sophisticated malware generator named Pinch Pro. Although not a Trojan itself, Pinch Pro provided a framework for malware authors to create and design their own worms and trojans, each of which could be specifically tailored to report certain data, zombiefy the PC, or kill certain commands/files. Imagine something like Build-A-Bear, but designed for malware rather than fuzzy bear creation, and you've got the right idea.
Pinch became popular in Russia, which meant is also became something of a headache for IT services generally and government services in particular. In effect, the malware-builder proved a bit too popular for its own good, and ultimately attracted the attention of Russian authorities. According to Kaspersky Lab, the Russian FSB (Federal Security Service) has identified the two authors of the program, Ermishkin and Farkhutdinov, and will soon take expose them to the cheery Russian legal system.
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