Gigabyte EX58-UD3R with Intel i7 920

Got a PC set up last month with the latest Intel chipset : The i7. Due to $$$ constraint, I had to forgo my favorite Asus motherboard and got a Gigabyte EX58-UD3R instead. While its not bad, I had a hard time getting my Linux up. In the end, I simple give up. I guess Linux just need to wait. Windows 7 works fine on it, which is a relief. It at least means that I have a Windows 7 read system now. 

However, I wanted to point out one weird problem I am having now. I do not know if I mentioned, but DDR3 triple channel actually means you need 3 pieces of RAM. While happily I gotten 2 pieces, I was running the whole PC fine. Problem started when I got my third piece of RAM. It was the same model and build. I started getting blue screen in my Windows Vista with error like:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONE_PAGED_AREA

IRQ_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO

This totally got me. It get very unstable until I have to reboot a few times sometimes to boot up.  So, I got a bad RAM. That was my thought. I gotten a new piece and after plugging it in, things started again. The strange thing was, when I had only 2 pieces of RAM, it work fine and stable for hours.

So, I guess I am pretty much screwed by my motherboard. In any case, I will proceed with a RMA for the motherboard. I hope this certainly solved my issues.

Exit, but do not enter?

You notice the EXIT sign clear in the green light. However as you approaches, you notice that there is a sign that say DO NOT ENTER with a red circle sign on the door? I mean, WTF?

M1 to replace SingTel shop in Kallang Leisure Park

When a shop closes and get replaces by another, its pretty normal. Except it gets a bit funny in this case.

Why? Because Singtel is closed to be replace by a M1 shop instead :)

Windows Vista Ultimate going to be uncracked once again

Microsoft has just announced that a new patch will be delivered specificly to Windows Vista Ultimate only which may (I do not use the word WILL yet, because nobody is sure, for all it's worth, the patch may not work properly) disable the softmod used by many pirates to install OEM version of Windows Vista Ultimate.

This has the same effect when SP1 was launched together with 2 of such checks.

Read more about it at:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/022509-microsoft-renews-vista-anti-crack.html

Enter Mcafee to the Windows 7 Antivirus

A recent check at:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/antivirus-partners/windows-7.aspx

shows that Mcafee has somehow made it there too. Thats makes the total number of vendors to 4. Of which 1 I has strike off because their product totally did not install properly and did not work even after installing. That is Symantec.

However, instead of being able to find the software to test, Mcafee redirects to a Beta programme page at:

http://beta.mcafee.com/BetaMcAfee/Home.aspx

Actually, what you really need to do is to read the FAQ or register online here:

http://beta.mcafee.com/BetaMcAfee/Register.aspx

I had just done so. Not sure what they will send me in my email. Will update again once I get to try out Mcafee's solution.

Norton 360 on Windows 7

In a previous post, I had discussed the options available for anti-something on Windows 7 and Norton 360 v3 is one of the choice. I had tried Kaspersky and AVG, which I do not want to talk too much about in this post. So, for the sake of being fair and independent, I decide to run Norton 360 on another instance of my Windows 7 beta.

Norton 360 v3 is a beta as well, but unfortunately for me, this IS really beta. Even the basic installation crashed on me a few times before I got it to even install.

Basically, this is what I got when I started the installation. Being very determine, I tried a few times and finally got it to install. But I encounted some errors along the way, such as this:

Well, at least I got it up, so I believed. After click on the Norton 360 icon, nothing happens. Even the Norton 360 widget hanged on me.

This, if you recall, was very similar to my Vista experience and immediate, fear enters my mind. In my vista experience, I could not remove Norton and ended up reformatting. I can only hope this time it doesn't come to that.

I launched the uninstall program and it kind of just disappeared for a few times, until I finally got it to work... Lucky for me, the uninstall actually works and after a reboot, my Windows 7 was still alive.

I had bad mouthed Symantec in many instances and this is some of the basis why I would do that. I do understand beta is after all BETA, but I suppose Symantec should at least test it before releasing it as a beta. At least, if not the function, test the installation!

Looks like I had to strike Norton 360 off the list of compatible antivirus for Windows 7.

Windows 7 is Vista R2

Windows 7 is basically Vista. The proof? Just open a DOS prompt and you can clearly see that it says Windows 6.1.7000. Vista is Windows 6. So technically at this point of time, Windows 7 is just like R2 of Windows Vista.

More proof? Just run "winver":

Windows Live Messenger 2009 14.0.8064.0206

A new version of the Live Messenger 2009 has been quietly released. Notice the build of the inital release was 14.0.8050. 

For those who installed, hopefully you will be getting the new messenger version prompt soon. Otherwise, you may upgrade by installing it from:

http://download.live.com/messenger/

And you can grab the latest version of A-Patch which is compatible with this version. Although, there are some things that can still not be removed.

http://apatch.org/files/downloads/A-Patch143b2_WLM9.zip

Installing Windows 7 on Virtual PC 2007 SP1

Windows 7 Beta build 7000 has been out for quite some time. I had already installed it on several system including my core desktop as well as some laptops such as the Dell Inspiron 6400 which I had mentioned earlier in my post. 

Today, lets go through the step by step installation on the Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 Sp1 which I guess anyone can do from any system. Virtual PC provides a great way to test the Windows 7 environment (except for drivers).

Ok, lets I presumed you have a Microsoft Password account to login and download the Windows 7 beta and obtain one of the corporate beta CD-KEY. Otherwise, do so here:

32 bits

64 bits

and the CD-KEYs are: 

Windows 7 Beta 64-bit Product Key

7XRCQ-RPY28-YY9P8-R6HD8-84GH3
JYDV8-H8VXG-74RPT-6BJPB-X42V4

482XP-6J9WR-4JXT3-VBPP6-FQF4M
D9RHV-JG8XC-C77H2-3YF6D-RYRJ9

6JKV2-QPB8H-RQ893-FW7TM-PBJ734

HJRK-X6Q28-HWRFY-WDYHJ-K8HDH
QXV7B-K78W2-QGPR6-9FWH9-KGMM7

TQ32R-WFBDM-GFHD2-QGVMH-3P9GC
GG4MQ-MGK72-HVXFW-KHCRF-KW6KY
CRJ8X-Q3D3G-V6T98-HMX62-2W3KX

Windows 7 Beta 32-bit Product Key

6JKV2-QPB8H-RQ893-FW7TM-PBJ73
TQ32R-WFBDM-GFHD2-QGVMH-3P9GC
GG4MQ-MGK72-HVXFW-KHCRF-KW6KY
4HJRK-X6Q28-HWRFY-WDYHJ-K8HDH
QXV7B-K78W2-QGPR6-9FWH9-KGMM7

D9RHV-JG8XC-C77H2-3YF6D-RYRJ9
JYDV8-H8VXG-74RPT-6BJPB-X42V4
7XRCQ-RPY28-YY9P8-R6HD8-84GH3

482XP-6J9WR-4JXT3-VBPP6-FQF4M
RFFTV-J6K7W-MHBQJ-XYMMJ-Q8DCH
XGD8W-B6WBM-8FDJ2-R43TQ-XP3KM

And before you scream at me for posting these keys, I would like to clarify something. If you recalled, I had previously posted a way to "keygen" the CD-KEY from Microsoft website, but I realized its nothing more than a random generator which will pick from the set of keys above. And these are the official corp cd-key used for the beta. So I do not really see a problem here. Well, maybe other than allowing some of you to download the ISO and install without creating a Password account.

Anyway, here we goes. Boot up the DVD and you shall see:

Well, if you do not, then there is seriously some hardware that is totally incompatible with Windows 7 and you should thrash that hardware before Windows 7 launches. In this case, its a virtual pc, so it should not happen at all.

Next, choose Install to start the installation.

You will notice that somehow there is an upgrade option enabled. Well, according to some sources, Windows 7 will upgrade any Vista installation. So, its good to know that we probably can choose NOT to reinstall when Windows 7 launches.

Since we are using a virtual pc, we have to set up the drive and format it for the installation. 

And here we goes. I did not had much problem with the installation, so I suppose you should not have as well since its a similar Virtual PC.

Next, you shall see the familiar, yet a bit different Starting Windows screen after a few reboots.

You shall need to login with the account you created along the way in the wizard. However, you will notice something new, which is the sharing account password, also known as Homegroup. This is a new feature in Windows 7.

After which, you should see the desktop below.

Lastly, do not forget to check for updates. Windows 7 has provides not just security patches, but drivers updates using the build in windows update function.

Well, it is a lot more simple and straight forward as compared to installing Vista on Virtual PC.

中村由利子 Yuriko Nakamura ~ Eternity

Here is another nice piece for the dreamers. I really must sleep now...

中村由利子 YURIKO NAKAMURA ~ LONG LONG AGO

This is a real beautiful piece, especially during times like this when I am about to go to bed.

痛也说不出口的我 ~ 楊培安

楊培安 - 這該死的愛