Dual Boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 Consumer Preview - Not So hard

I went to Windows 8 Developer Cam yesterday.  Before going I tried several different ways of getting teh dual boot to work.  In the end I decided that most of the descriptions where a lot more difficult then they had to be and that some of the Microsoft Documentation was wrong, hence this post.

My Hardware

ASUS N53S
64Bit Quad Core with Hyperthreading
16 GB Ram
750 GB 7200 RPM Hard drive partition to 250 / 500 

Assumptions

• You have plenty of hard drive space 1 have 200GB. I would suggest a minimum of 80GB during the process.  60 afterward.
• You are a local administrator becuase this method requires access to Computer Management, Powershell and Command Window as Administrator
• You have downloaded Install-WindowsImage.ps1 from Microsoft 
• Windows is installed in c:\windows  If not you will need to substitue this for your windows path.

Recommendations

1. Unzip the ISO The install os faster than from DVD. I have PowerISO installed and thought it would be a good idea to mout the ISO instead of extracting it and this made the imaging time increase dramatically. The second time around I used WINRAR and it was much better.

Step 1 Create the VHD

• Created a folder to store the VHD file. I used d:\VMS
• Open Computer Management. By 
  • Administrative Tools / Computer Management, or 
  • right click my Computer and select Manage, or 

• Click Disk Management. After a minute (depending on your machine) the current hard drive details will be displayed.

• Right Click Disk management and Select Create VHD.  I set mine up as

• • D:\VMS\Windows8b.vhd
  • 60 GB
  • Dynamically Expanding
• Click OK. Windows will automatically mount it for you.  It will show up as an unknown disk type.
• Right click the whe disk name and select Initialise and click OK, leaving the default settings. 

•  The drive will now be Unallocated.

• Right Click the drive and select New Simple Volume

• The New Simple Volume wizard will be displayed
  • Click Next
  • Click Next.  This will ensure the entire drive is used
  • Set The drive letter to suit.  Write it down you will need it later. 
  • Click Next
  • Set the Name of the Volume and click Next
  • Click Finish
  • Windows will now format the drive and mount it so it is usable.  If the autorun window opens just close it.

So now you have a virtual drive ready and raring to go.

Step 2 Image the VHD

Ensure you have downloaded Install-WindowsImage.ps1

Click Start, and type PowerShell in the Start text box.

In the results pane, right-click Windows PowerShell with elevated permissions (run as Admin)

A pretty blue screen appears this will let you call the script and image your VHD.

On the install image will be an install.wims file.  This is the Windows Image file that is used by the script. In my case this is found in D:\vms\Win8\sources 

To display the available installation run the script enter (replacing the path and filename)

 D:\vms\install-windowsImage.ps1 -wim D:\vms\Win8\sources\install.wims

If a red message is displayed DO NOT PANIC.

In a lot of cases your machine will have scripts disabled.  This is the default isntallation. to enable scrpts enter

C:\Windows\system32> set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

and message will be displayed

Execution Policy Change

The execution policy helps protect you from scripts that you do not trust. Changing the execution policy might expose

you to the security risks described in the about_Execution_Policies help topic. Do you want to change the execution

policy?

[Y] Yes  [N] No  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"):

Hit enter for the default option

Now try running the script again.   The below installation detail should be displayed

Index   Image Name

[1]     Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Done.

Now I know there is only one installation option I can run the script and tell it to apply the image by entering the following.  Don't forget to change your paths and file location.  

DOUBLE CHECK THE INSTALL LOCATION

d:\vms\Install-WindowsImage.ps1 -WIM d:vms\Win8\sources\install.wim -Apply -Index 1 -Destination W:

Once you confirm that the script can run the below details will be displayed

Applying "Windows 8 Consumer Preview" to F:...

WARNING: This may take up to 15 minutes...

NOTE: Do not take this time frame as gospel.  I did this 3 time and it ranged from 25 - 40 minutes.

After the install is complete Powershell will tell you the time elapsed.

At this point you have created a virtual hard drive and installed windows and it is ready to run.  All you need to do is add the boot menu option.  This is where my first install went haywire.  

• Open the Command Prompt as Administrator
• Type the following F:\Windows\SYSTEM32\bcdboot F:\windows
  • REPLACE F:\windows with your your drive

When I rebooted my computer I got the Blue Screen of Windows 8 Boot Menu, Selected Windows 8, entered by Product key and off into configuration land we go.

Conclusion

There are a lot of steps and most of the are GUI driven and there is no need to do everything at the command line.

Winstars USB 2.0 to DVI/HDMI/VGA Adapter Review

Claimed Features 

• PC through USB2.0 connect input to these device and output through HDMI connect to HDTV(High Definition Television).
• Fully support LCD Monitor and LCD TV with HDMI input.
• Resolution including start from VGA Mode to Full HD (High Definition) Mode totals 15 kinds for your selection.
• Primary Mode, Mirror Mode, Extend Mode, and Screen Rotation Mode selection.
• Build in 2.1ch Stereo Sound effect output.
• Earphone Jack or act as a Line out to Amplifier makes sound effect full and rich.
  Microphone.
• Low Power Consumptions, only USB power input, no external power adapter requirement.
• Hot Plug device and monitor detection after driver installation.
• Microsoft Windows OS and Mac OS support.
• Mobility and easy installation.

Initially this appeared to be quite good.  It was easy to setup, software was automatically installed, all was well until I had been using it, via DVI,  for about half an hour when the screen suddenly went hazzy.

I thought it must be becuase I didn't screw the monitor cable in to the device causing a loose contact. No Joy

I did notice that it got extremely hot, so I let it cool down before plugging it back in.

This time it lasted about 2 hours but then the same thing happened.

I tried

• DVI connector with same monitor different cable
• DIV connector with different monitor and original cable
• DIV connector with different monitor and different cable

• VGA connector with same monitor different cable
• VGA connector with different monitor and original cable
• VGA connector with different monitor and different cable

each time I had thing happen just with differing intervals.

I also noticed that if I pushed the device and the cable in hard that it would start working.  

Conclusion
It get hot very fast and this prevents it from working properly.  Do not purchase this item I am returning mine for a refund.

Apple iPad's 4G claims misleading: ACCC - Try Reading

This morning the Sydney Morning Hearal published an article filed by AAP titled Apple iPad's 4G Claims Misleadcing:ACCC It quotes the ACCC 

"The ACCC alleges that Apple's recent promotion of the new 'iPad with WiFi + 4G' is misleading because it represents to Australian consumers that the product 'iPad with WiFi + 4G' can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case," the watchdog said in a statement on Tuesday.

This is obviously some pratt at the ACCC has purchased the iPad without reading any of the pages on the Apple website.  

Go to the Apple Website and click on the picture of the iPad and you get taken to the main iPad Landing Page.

At the bottom of the page is If you click on the Learn More link under Ultrafast wireless it takes you to the iPad features page. Which has a footnote on the main banner to teh bottom of the page that states

Next click on the Learn more about iPad with Wi-Fi and 4G.  this takes to you to the 4G information page and guess what it says at t he bottom on the page.

Lets assume for a minute that we were really dump and didn't want to know anything about the product and went straight to the buy no page.

The Process is as follows.  

• Click Select iPad
• Pick your colour by clicking on it
• Choose the model. See t he text directly under the 4G models... no it not hidden away at the bottom of the page as a footnote its right where the product is.

Not exactly hard to read is it.  Pretty clear

You can also connect to the 4G LTE networks of AT&T in the U.S. and Bell, Rogers, and Telus in Canada.

You are told what you can connect to locally and overseas.

Australian Internet Carriers Ripping Of Customers

As a computer geek I know that 1024Mb = 1Gb however most Australians dont understand or probably care about this until they realise just how much Internet Access is being stolen from them every month.

I'll use my self as an example.  My carrier states

 In delivering data services Exetel deems that 1 gigabyte equals 1,000 megabytes and that 1 megabyte equals 1,000,000 bytes for the purposes of calculating usage.

This is a misrepresentation of the facts 1 gigabyte actually equals 1024 megabytes.

On its own this appears to be a very small about, 24 mb probably the size of a few music tracks album. however when you add itup over time it becomes substantial.

I get 300Gb per month so if we multiply the 24Mb * 300 this gives us a monthly total of 7200Mb or 7.03125 GB or 3% of my monthly cap or approx 7 full length movies.

We need to start a concerted campaign of complaints to the ICCC and Fair trade offices to force the carriers to give us what we pay for.

DNSChanger malware

Malware which alters a computer's DNS (Domain Name System) settings, known as "DNSChanger" malware, has been in circulation for some time. DNS is an Internet service which translates user-friendly domain names (e.g. ssoalertservice.net.au) into the numerical Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (e.g. 203.15.34.230) which are used by computers to communicate with each other. By infecting a victim's computer with this type of malware, criminals are able to alter the DNS settings on a user's computer. By controlling the DNS settings on victim's computer, criminals force the infected computers to communicate with "bad" or "rogue" DNS servers, rather than legitimate "good" DNS servers. The criminals can then use these "bad" or "rogue" DNS servers to redirect the unsuspecting users to fraudulent websites or interfere with a user's web browsing. For example, if a user's computer is infected with the DNSChanger malware, a! nd the user enters "google.com" in their web browser, rather than take the user to the legitimate "google.com" website, they would be taken to a fraudulent website instead.

In November 2011, the FBI uncovered a network of rogue DNS servers and took steps to disable them. However, by disabling the rogue DNS network, victims who are infected by the DNSChanger malware could lose access to DNS services entirely. To address this issue, the FBI developed a private-sector, non-government entity to operate and maintain clean DNS servers for the infected victims for a temporary period. As of July 9th 2012 the FBI will no longer be operating this service; computers that are infected with the DNSChanger malware could lose access to DNS services, preventing access to the Internet, including access to legitimate websites.

What we recommend you do

The Australian Government has created a diagnostic website which will, in most cases, confirm whether or not a user's computer is infected with DNSChanger malware: Australian Government DNSChanger Diagnostic

The FBI has provided a PDF document with detailed instructions (including screenshots) to manually check the DNS settings on both Windows and Mac OS X based computers: FBI DNSChanger Malware Document

As a minimum step, we recommend that you click on the Australian Government's diagnostic website and see whether it displays a green box with the words, “You do not appear to be affected by DNSChanger”.

Then, if you want to be more certain that this diagnosis is correct, it is also recommended that you follow the detailed instructions in the FBI's PDF document to help to determine whether your computer is infected with DNSChanger. You should also perform a thorough virus-scan of your computer using an up-to-date virus scanner to ensure that it is not infected with the DNSChanger malware.

If you do find that have been infected with the DNSChanger malware, you should seek professional assistance to ensure that the malware is removed successfully.

Where you can find more information

The Australian Government has also provided some additional information regarding the DNSChanger Malware here: DNSChanger Information

The FBI has also provided further information regarding internet fraud associated with the DNSChanger Malware here: Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges Seven Individuals for Engineering Sophisticated Internet Fraud Scheme That Infected Millions of Computers Worldwide and Manipulated Internet Advertising Business

Additional information regarding the DNSChanger Malware can be found at the DNS Changer Working Group (DCWG) website: DNS Changer Working Group

Source: Stay Smart Online Service