ACHOOO!

One of the common blunders I used to make was getting confused between ‘viruses’,’trojans’ and ‘worms’ and use these terms interchangeably as if they are the same. So decided to look it up and get it clear. I know its just the basics and most of you people must be knowing it. Just for the ignorant here’s a note on that.
A computer virus attaches itself to a program and starts it’s journey. Mostly it comes along with an exe file(rj n other geeks out there..stop laughing:-P), means the virus may exist on your pc ,but wont infect it unless you run the file. ie, a virus cant be spread without a human action. Some of the main types of viruses are,
Boot sector infectors, which attacks the vulnerable boot program(which starts loading the operating system) which would be on the hard disk or bootable floppy disk or something. As we know the boot program is executed on start up which makes it a juicy target for virus writers…coz it is guaranteed the their code will be executed ,giving them full control of the system. Mostly these viruses are spread through infected bootable floppy disks.
File infectors, which modifies the program files, usually .exe or .com files and when the file is run, the virus executes and does whatever it was supposed to. These are spread through infected disks as well as through the net.
Macro viruses, which make use of the built-in programming languages in popular programs like Microsoft Word and Excel- which allow users to create programs that automate tasks, called macros. The virus writer writes malicious macros, which when opened unknowingly would spread like a regular virus. The regular viruses are written on low level machine language programs whereas the macro viruses are high level interpreted BASIC programs!
Trojans(people write from their own experience in tech blogs which is better than merely copy pasting…here’s something finally which I have had some experience at..sighhhh!!!)
,these are something which at your first glance will appear useful while in actual it may create a havoc!(yeah…my 40 GB HDD gone down the drain..thank god that the guarantee period wasn’t over). Those receiving Trojans are actually tricked into opening them because they appear to be receiving legitimate software or files from a legitimate source(ironic that I got it while I was installing antivirus). Trojans may create backdoor on your pc, but unlike worms and viruses it donot reproduce by infecting other files or self replicate. ( I think rj uses these to get into our pc, I’m not sure though)
Worms are a subcategory of viruses actually, but unlike a virus, it has the capability to travel without any help from a person. The biggest danger with it is that it replicates itself on the system thus it could send out hundreds or thousands of copies of itself, like sending itself to everyone listed in the e-mail address book. Due to the copying nature of the worm, it takes much system memory causing web servers or the computer itself to stop responding. Some of the popular worms are Mydoom, ILOVEYOU etc( which reminds me to wish u all a very happy valentine’s day :-) ).
I know this was boring, but hope atleast some were enlightened or got a clearer picture.
Courtesy: One and only rj, for making me write >>>>:D<<<<

P.S: do correct any error found in the blog:-)

FOSS - Wats the fuss??

First of all FOSS stands for Free Open Source Software. This post represents my personal views about open source in general and things ive gathered from reading about and using open source software for the last two months.

There is a VERY important distinction i would like to make. Its between Free Software and Freeware. Actually the expression open source was coined to make this difference clear. Freeware is simply the word meaning, i.e software u get for free. When u download something like say an alarm software for free its free ware but its not free software or open source software.

The word "free" in free software is used in a whole different context. As the GNU website puts it "the 'free' in 'free software' is not like the 'free' in 'free beer'. Its like the 'free' in 'free speech'"(damn...all those quotes reminds of VB). Free as in free software stands for freedom. U can always buy or sell free software.

Quoting the Free Software Foundation's "What is Free Software", the freedoms at the core of free software are defined as:

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.

• The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs.

• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others.

• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that everyone benefits.

In the case of open source software along with the working binary u get the original source code of the software. You are free to study it, add features and release it under your name or even sell it. I think open source software contributes to the education sector in a really remarkable way. Plus u get to give something back to the society through which u gained something.

Ive been using linux for over two months. Its free in both contexts(as in freedom and as in free of cost). I would have to say i dont see any difference between linux and windows as far as ease of use and performance goes(xcpt for gaming maybe) and linux has the upper hand wen it comes to system security. I would like to make the fact clear that i havent started programming in linux or anything. Im just using for all those purposes i was using XP for and so far its been real gud.

The main factor hampering the acceptability of linux is india is the fact here as far as the novice home computer user is concerned windows is as free as linux thanks to the huge piracy levels. But im hoping that'll change as soon as Microsoft tightens security with vista.

May the source be with you ;)

Vista's memory management

This is just the basic thing, which shows two new features ...Superfetch and Readyboost.

Superfetch - Reminds me of OS
Superfetch keeps track of applications dat you execute often and even in a sequence..Suppose everytime you start up your system and run an application,say the messenger, what superfetch does is, it keeps a track of this and puts these applications into the main memory the next time you boot up.. So what this basically translates is to start a chat session with your friend faster ..nd if Vista is reaaaly intelligent, it may even keep track of the users u chat to often which again translates even faster conversations.
Windows will not give Superfetch priority over a task that requests memory. Since the reader is well versed in Operating system and memory management, its very clear that data is preferably kept in memory(RAM) than in a slow hard drive (don't say 'my hard drive is fast', any hard drive is SLOW compared to RAM, contact rj for more info). The pic shows a normal PC, CPU->RAM->HDD.

Maybe this is why Vista needs so much RAM !!!
Superfetch needs certain amount of RAM memory of its own...so u run Vista(superfetch) and some 3-4 applications and ur 512MB of RAM is over. There is no more space to cache application data, so all the hype and advantages mentioned above is almost useless on ur 512MB of ram.. 1 GB will be enough to better performance frm XP, by using Superfetch....but to see the total potential 2GB will be enough (yeah, ENOUGH, not enough and more).
Most of our systems have 512 or 1GB ram, so MS ppl found a way to expand RAM without having us to buy more RAM chips.

Readyboost - It's just using what we always had with us ,but we just threw it around on the table, the bed and all other places.

Its the memory stick. The thing you connect to ur USB ports(pen drive,USB drive, whatever you call it). The thing is simple - instead of using 1 GB RAM, use the 1 GB flash memory that was simply lying on your bed. Flash memories dont have high data transfer rates, but what they have is quick access times. So memory expansion using flash drives does help...and its easy.. Just plug in your USB stick and the 'autoplay' window comes up(the one with options for opening da folder, play in media player nd all)..all u need is a click of a button which almost translates to more RAM....compare that with installing more RAM chips onto ur system...the easiness is obvious(i.e. if you have ever tried adding more RAM to ur mother board).






















If you gotta 1GB USB drive, you can either allot the whole 1GB or a part of it for Readyboost.
(in the pic, chk out wat Windows jusst RECOMMENDS).

The graphs
If you have read anything uptil now, the graph can be understood easily..and if you are the see-thru-the-pics kind of person...here's what it means... THE MORE OFTEN YOU RUN A PROGRAM, THE FASTER IT STARTS UP..hence lesser time, hence the length of the bars is lesser (the high-res pic cant b uploaded it seems,had to scale it, so poor image quality..sorry abt dat.)

In the end...
Below 1 GB ram, no need to upgrade to Vista..or rather superfetch doesnt work in its true colours
1 GB means sufficient
2 GB means your dad is quite rich.
>2 GB, don't waste time studying, you can live your entire life on your dad's money

On a more serious note, Superfetch asks for memory, Readyboost gives it using ur USB 2.0 pen drives..simple as that..next time somone asks you about memory management, make sure you dont say anything short of the memory management in Vista...cheers nd if they ask anything else regarding memory management.

*-*-PeAcE-*-*

Refernce: www.tomshardware.com

What exactly is overclocking?

Im sure most of u might have heard the term "overclock" at least once. I dont know much about overclocking. Read up a bit and thought i'll post here. Well for a pc to work correctly everythin in it is synchronised using a clock signal(the same square wave which we kept drawing for timing diags in mup). Every device inside the pc works in sync with a clock signal which a device may multiply and use according to its need. So technically the raw processing speed of the pc is based on the frequency of this clock signal. So IF we alter this signal we can get our pc to run faster. But like any good thing in this world there is a catch, in fact lots of them. Will come to them later.

Simply put, to overclock is to make your pc components run at a faster clock rate than they were supposed to run by the manufacturer.

There was a question that sprung up in my head after i came to know this much. If this is possible why cant the manufacturer simply make it run faster and sell it at the same price?? Think ive found the answer thanks to wiki. Its like this. Consider the processor. Manufacturers use the same assembly line/technique to manufacture processors of different clock speeds. The speed that appears on the label is the max speed at which that processor worked successfully under the worst operating conditions(highest temperature and lowest voltage). Hence the manufacture is sure that the processor will operate at the labelled speed over an entire range of temperatures.
So if we keep the operating conditions at a constant level(constant temperature) we CAN get them to run at higher speeds.

People overclock a variety of components like the CPU, RAM,graphics card etc.
One of the main motives is to buy a cheap component and overclock it to run at par with costlier components. Now the catch

When a component is overclocked it generates more heat that it used to generate. This calls for xtra cooling. Sometimes minor overclocks mayb possible with the existing cooling. But a considerable overclock calls for better cooling. People use more powerful fans, water cooling or even methods as far fetched as liquid nitrogen. The people at tom's hardware guide(the site thats there in the links section of this blog) actually used liquid nitrogen and overclocked a Pentium 4 3.4Ghz HT processor all the way upto 5Ghz which was faster than the fastest desktop processor under development at that time. I think the video is still available for download there.

Also when a component is overclocked its operating at conditions it wasnt designed for which can cause undesired functionality. An overclocked system maybe fast but may sometimes crash thrice every 10 mins. Sometimes the instability isnt visible but the data which gets written to the Hard disk and all keeps getting corrupted.

Also overclocking involving voltage increase can result in the component getting damaged beyond repair(plus in most cases ur violating warranty norms when u overclock). Another option is a factory overclocked component where the vendor tests the overclocking capability of a component and sells it overclocked for a slightly higher price with warranty.

I havent ever seen or done an overclock(though i have underclocked my pc). Underclockin is lowering ur clock speed and voltage settings to save power(especially wen ur pc is on all night for downloading). Underclockin is kinda harmless and i dont think it does any damage.

Another fact about overclocking is some vendors prevent overclocking by removing options for setting clock speeds and multiplier values manually(my motherboard dosent have any overclocking options). I dont think overclocking is something which each one of us should practice at home:D But its worth knowing. If youve read this far, do post a comment;)