The most recent articles from What PC?

The most recent articles from What PC?http://www.whatpc.co.uk/The most recent articles from What PC? (Generated on Thursday 8 January 2009 at 09:27:38)VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/2009-01-08T09:27:38.076Z

The most recent articles from What PC?http://www.whatpc.co.uk/images/rss/wpc_logo.gifhttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/APC Lapdoghttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/hardware/2132774/apc-lapdogBen Lewis, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Tuesday 26 March 2002 at 14:32:56No bark and not much bite.<content page="1"><html><body>Each year in the UK thousands of laptop computers are stolen, increasing the need for security devices. Lapdog is designed specifically to stop the opportunist thief from making a clean getaway with your machine.A matchbox-sized dongle plugs into the notebook's serial port and is held firm with two special screws. These are tightened with a small Allen key and secured with plug covers, which prevent easy access.A USB version of the device is expected later in the year.The dongle contains a movement sensor which detects any migration of the notebook once it is armed. Triggered in this way, Lapdog automatically does three things. Firstly, it sets off an alarm to scare the prospective thief away - unfortunately, this can be turned off with the external volume control, found on almost all notebooks.Lapdog also transmits an alarm message to the supplied key-fob pager, which beeps to raise the alarm if you are away from your machine. The system boasts a wireless range of 200m but we found it often unable to register at even 20m.Admittedly, there are other wireless devices in our Labs that may have provided interference, but this device is especially designed for offices and should therefore be able to cope in close proximity to other cordless communications.By far the best part of Lapdog is the PC Lock software, which freezes the Windows Desktop upon activation. Unless the right password is entered, access to the notebook's programs and files is prevented. This worked every time we tried it and although not an out-and-out deterrent, it might make a thief think twice about actually stealing a notebook they can't access.The alarm is also raised if the dongle is removed from the machine.Replacement dongles cost £58.74 and replacement pagers, £35.24.Specifications<ul><li>Movement-sensor dongle</li><li>Remote key-fob pager</li><li>CD-ROM featuring installation and PC Lock software</li></ul>ContactCI Solutions: 020 8892 1222 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ci-s.com">www.ci-s.com</a></body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/hardware/2132774/apc-lapdogBen Lewis, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Tuesday 26 March 2002 at 14:32:56No bark and not much bite.<content page="1"><html><body>Each year in the UK thousands of laptop computers are stolen, increasing the need for security devices. Lapdog is designed specifically to stop the opportunist thief from making a clean getaway with your machine.A matchbox-sized dongle plugs into the notebook's serial port and is held firm with two special screws. These are tightened with a small Allen key and secured with plug covers, which prevent easy access.A USB version of the device is expected later in the year.The dongle contains a movement sensor which detects any migration of the notebook once it is armed. Triggered in this way, Lapdog automatically does three things. Firstly, it sets off an alarm to scare the prospective thief away - unfortunately, this can be turned off with the external volume control, found on almost all notebooks.Lapdog also transmits an alarm message to the supplied key-fob pager, which beeps to raise the alarm if you are away from your machine. The system boasts a wireless range of 200m but we found it often unable to register at even 20m.Admittedly, there are other wireless devices in our Labs that may have provided interference, but this device is especially designed for offices and should therefore be able to cope in close proximity to other cordless communications.By far the best part of Lapdog is the PC Lock software, which freezes the Windows Desktop upon activation. Unless the right password is entered, access to the notebook's programs and files is prevented. This worked every time we tried it and although not an out-and-out deterrent, it might make a thief think twice about actually stealing a notebook they can't access.The alarm is also raised if the dongle is removed from the machine.Replacement dongles cost £58.74 and replacement pagers, £35.24.Specifications<ul><li>Movement-sensor dongle</li><li>Remote key-fob pager</li><li>CD-ROM featuring installation and PC Lock software</li></ul>ContactCI Solutions: 020 8892 1222 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ci-s.com">www.ci-s.com</a></body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKBen Lewis2002-03-26T14:32:56.000ZHardware Reviewshacking-and-cyber-crimeFreedom Security & Privacy 3.1http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132640/freedom-security-privacyKyle MacRae, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Tuesday 12 March 2002 at 10:28:12With always-on internet connections becoming more common, having an effective firewall is more important than ever.<content page="1"><html><body>Internet security programs are all the rage these days, and with good reason. Broadband connections increase the opportunities for hackers to find and exploit weaknesses, and the prevalence of computers in the home makes it easier for kids to get up to no good online. This package aims to address these concerns.First up is the personal firewall, a security utility that monitors, blocks and logs all unauthorised attempts to access your computer across the internet. Similarly, it prompts for permission whenever a program tries to take itself online.Permanent rules can be set from the outset and changed at will, and it's all about as seamless and straightforward as you could wish for. It's also password-protected so your settings cannot be altered without your permission.Parental controlsThe next main ingredient is a collection of parental controls. Although explicitly 'not a substitute for parental supervision', these enable the administrator (you) to block access to undesirable websites, principally those concerning sex, drugs and crime but also optionally those encompassing lifestyle (whatever that's supposed to be), politics, religion, dating and web-based chat.There are limitations - there's no option to block the use of instant messengers, for instance - and any database of 'bad' websites is always going to be incomplete and less than foolproof. Still, we were surprised by the degree to which the software differentiates between obviously obscene or unpleasant sites and those dealing with grown-up topics in a responsible manner. In fact, this is the best software of its type that we've seen, but we wouldn't trust it entirely.Further featuresSecurity & Privacy Suite has plenty of other features, some more fruitful than others. Ad Manager, for instance, strips internet adverts from web pages to speed up surfing. Some ads, anyway: unfortunately, it seems to miss as many as it spots. Nor can it kill those irritating pop-ups.Elsewhere, Keyword Alert prevents personal information from leaving your computer without your knowledge. Its efficacy depends mainly on how much information you feed in at the outset: supply your address, credit card number and phone number and up pops a warning each time said details are entered in an email or web form.It is not case sensitive, which makes good sense; it ignores instant messenger chats, which doesn't; and it can only block precise text matches, so typos and wilful masking will always get through.Like the parental controls, this offers very much a first line of defence rather than complete peace of mind.Anitivirus omissionThe suite is fully featured but there's one glaring omission - antivirus protection. Off-the-shelf products like McAfee's or Norton's Internet Security include this as standard so are more attractive as an all-round solution (albeit at £50 each). Here, there is merely the promise of an antivirus component at some point in the future, and at an unknown price.Remember too that it's still possible to download the excellent ZoneAlarm personal firewall for free (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.zonelabs.com">www.zonelabs.com</a>).Just two quibbles: although the developers don't actually specify minimum system requirements, we found that the suite impacted significantly upon other applications, slowing everything down. And try as we might, we couldn't persuade it to work with a small home network (that is, two connected PCs).ConclusionA credible and effective alternative to the big names in internet security. But don't forget that antivirus protection, which remains more of a must-have than a firewall, is not included.Price $49.95 (about £35) for a one-year subscription. Download only.Contact No customer sales contact number. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zeroknowledge.com">www.zeroknowledge.com</a></body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132640/freedom-security-privacyKyle MacRae, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Tuesday 12 March 2002 at 10:28:12With always-on internet connections becoming more common, having an effective firewall is more important than ever.<content page="1"><html><body>Internet security programs are all the rage these days, and with good reason. Broadband connections increase the opportunities for hackers to find and exploit weaknesses, and the prevalence of computers in the home makes it easier for kids to get up to no good online. This package aims to address these concerns.First up is the personal firewall, a security utility that monitors, blocks and logs all unauthorised attempts to access your computer across the internet. Similarly, it prompts for permission whenever a program tries to take itself online.Permanent rules can be set from the outset and changed at will, and it's all about as seamless and straightforward as you could wish for. It's also password-protected so your settings cannot be altered without your permission.Parental controlsThe next main ingredient is a collection of parental controls. Although explicitly 'not a substitute for parental supervision', these enable the administrator (you) to block access to undesirable websites, principally those concerning sex, drugs and crime but also optionally those encompassing lifestyle (whatever that's supposed to be), politics, religion, dating and web-based chat.There are limitations - there's no option to block the use of instant messengers, for instance - and any database of 'bad' websites is always going to be incomplete and less than foolproof. Still, we were surprised by the degree to which the software differentiates between obviously obscene or unpleasant sites and those dealing with grown-up topics in a responsible manner. In fact, this is the best software of its type that we've seen, but we wouldn't trust it entirely.Further featuresSecurity & Privacy Suite has plenty of other features, some more fruitful than others. Ad Manager, for instance, strips internet adverts from web pages to speed up surfing. Some ads, anyway: unfortunately, it seems to miss as many as it spots. Nor can it kill those irritating pop-ups.Elsewhere, Keyword Alert prevents personal information from leaving your computer without your knowledge. Its efficacy depends mainly on how much information you feed in at the outset: supply your address, credit card number and phone number and up pops a warning each time said details are entered in an email or web form.It is not case sensitive, which makes good sense; it ignores instant messenger chats, which doesn't; and it can only block precise text matches, so typos and wilful masking will always get through.Like the parental controls, this offers very much a first line of defence rather than complete peace of mind.Anitivirus omissionThe suite is fully featured but there's one glaring omission - antivirus protection. Off-the-shelf products like McAfee's or Norton's Internet Security include this as standard so are more attractive as an all-round solution (albeit at £50 each). Here, there is merely the promise of an antivirus component at some point in the future, and at an unknown price.Remember too that it's still possible to download the excellent ZoneAlarm personal firewall for free (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.zonelabs.com">www.zonelabs.com</a>).Just two quibbles: although the developers don't actually specify minimum system requirements, we found that the suite impacted significantly upon other applications, slowing everything down. And try as we might, we couldn't persuade it to work with a small home network (that is, two connected PCs).ConclusionA credible and effective alternative to the big names in internet security. But don't forget that antivirus protection, which remains more of a must-have than a firewall, is not included.Price $49.95 (about £35) for a one-year subscription. Download only.Contact No customer sales contact number. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zeroknowledge.com">www.zeroknowledge.com</a></body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKKyle MacRae2002-03-12T10:28:12.000ZSoftware Reviewshacking-and-cyber-crimeBiodata Sphinx Personal Firewallhttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132626/biodata-sphinx-personal-firewallKyle MacRae, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Saturday 31 March 2001 at 23:00:00If your connection to the internet is "always-on" then it's time to consider installing a firewall....<content page="1"><html><body>The hardcore hackers of internet folklore may or may not be out to get you, but better safe than sorry. That at least is the fear factor underlying the popularity of firewall programs.It's certainly true that you're more at risk of attack with an 'always-on' service than through a dial-up modem connection, because a static IP address is a sitting duck.And so, with ADSL and cable access on the increase, a firewall might appear a compelling purchase. However, we can't help but feel that Biodata has misjudged the market with this one.The point of a firewall is to block Trojan horse-type programs and viruses from entering a computer system and opening it up to unauthorised outside access. Sphinx Personal Firewall stands guard over a live internet connection to ensure that no evil gets through without your explicit say so.The problem is that much of the time it's simply not possible to make an informed judgement. This is not through lack of information, mind, quite the reverse - but so little of it is intelligible.Who cares about the rate of denied packets of incoming network flow? A rocket scientist, perhaps, but not, we suspect, the home PC user.With Norton and McAfee flogging uncomplicated firewalls that require virtually no manual configuration, and with ZoneAlarm available as a completely free download, it's hard to see why anybody would choose the fiendishly complex Sphinx.That's not to decry its power and flexibility - it does indeed offer industrial strength protection and more tweaks than you can shake a geek at - but merely to question the appeal of yet another steep learning curve.More complicated than the competition, we can't recommend Sphinx Personal Firewall for domestic use. But system administrators of the white coat variety will love it.Features:<ul><li>Includes parental controls for monitoring internet access</li><li>Creates detailed logs of all internet activity</li><li>Safeguards a PC from hack attacks</li><li>Works on standalone systems or across a local or wide area network.</li></ul>Biodata: 01256 338438 www.biodata.com</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132626/biodata-sphinx-personal-firewallKyle MacRae, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Saturday 31 March 2001 at 23:00:00If your connection to the internet is "always-on" then it's time to consider installing a firewall....<content page="1"><html><body>The hardcore hackers of internet folklore may or may not be out to get you, but better safe than sorry. That at least is the fear factor underlying the popularity of firewall programs.It's certainly true that you're more at risk of attack with an 'always-on' service than through a dial-up modem connection, because a static IP address is a sitting duck.And so, with ADSL and cable access on the increase, a firewall might appear a compelling purchase. However, we can't help but feel that Biodata has misjudged the market with this one.The point of a firewall is to block Trojan horse-type programs and viruses from entering a computer system and opening it up to unauthorised outside access. Sphinx Personal Firewall stands guard over a live internet connection to ensure that no evil gets through without your explicit say so.The problem is that much of the time it's simply not possible to make an informed judgement. This is not through lack of information, mind, quite the reverse - but so little of it is intelligible.Who cares about the rate of denied packets of incoming network flow? A rocket scientist, perhaps, but not, we suspect, the home PC user.With Norton and McAfee flogging uncomplicated firewalls that require virtually no manual configuration, and with ZoneAlarm available as a completely free download, it's hard to see why anybody would choose the fiendishly complex Sphinx.That's not to decry its power and flexibility - it does indeed offer industrial strength protection and more tweaks than you can shake a geek at - but merely to question the appeal of yet another steep learning curve.More complicated than the competition, we can't recommend Sphinx Personal Firewall for domestic use. But system administrators of the white coat variety will love it.Features:<ul><li>Includes parental controls for monitoring internet access</li><li>Creates detailed logs of all internet activity</li><li>Safeguards a PC from hack attacks</li><li>Works on standalone systems or across a local or wide area network.</li></ul>Biodata: 01256 338438 www.biodata.com</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKKyle MacRae2001-03-31T23:00:00.000ZSoftware Reviewshacking-and-cyber-crimePowerquest PartitionMagic 6.0http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132618/powerquest-partitionmagicKyle MacRae, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Thursday 1 February 2001 at 00:00:00Wouldn't it more convenient to have smaller manageable disk partitions instead of your 30Gb monster? Partioning is easy using the latest version of Powerquest's popular utility.<content page="1"><html><body>There are several reasons why you want to partition your PC's hard disk, the most likely of which are to run two or more operating systems in parallel on a single machine, to create a secure storage bay for critical data, or to offload weighty application files to a separate area to boost performance. Then again, you might just like tinkering under the hood.Whatever the task, if it involves splitting a hard disk into smaller, more manageable and more efficient segments, PartitionMagic has long been the tool of choice. This latest release continues a strong tradition.Version 6 sports a few welcome tweaks. It now offers native support for Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium Edition, and a slightly revised interface that makes it easier to see what's happening disk-wise (amazing what a splash of colour-coding and an Explorer-style tree can do). Pretty much every task is aided by a Wizard, so it's fairly straightforward to create new partitions, resize or merge existing ones, or copy an entire partition from one location to another.A useful Undelete feature makes it possible to recover an accidentally deleted partition if you act fast enough - in other words, before new data is written to that area of the disk.As before, PartitionMagic sets up its tasks in Windows and then drops down to DOS to do all heavy-duty stuff. It takes sensible precautions not to write data to damaged areas of the disk - that way lies disaster - and, while you can override the default safety settings to speed up the process, we wouldn't recommend it. Nor would we advise doing anything at all without making a full backup first.An updated version of Boot Manager is included here for anyone installing multiple operating systems. It's not the most intuitive utility in the world but it lets you choose which system to boot each time you restart.The only serious quibble is that the manual really could use an overhaul. The language of partitioning is complex and this 150-page tome is far from the friendliest introduction to the subject. In part this is because PartitionMagic supports a range of operating and file systems and has to cover a multitude of permutations and eventualities. Power partitioners will have a field day here. But the fact remains that most people probably have simple goals - installing Windows 2000 or Linux alongside Windows 98, for example, or creating a secure partition for data storage - and a few step-by-step guides to the most common tasks would be welcome.A further grumble is that when you first come to create a new partition, the Wizard asks whether you wish to install a new operating system and then lists the supported options. Windows 95/98, NT and 2000 are there alongside Linux and OS/2, but Windows Me is nowhere to be seen - and this in a product that makes a show of its support for Me. Selecting the Windows 95/98 box works fine - after all, Windows Me runs in a FAT32 environment just like its predecessors - but it's an irritating omission.One final point: if you are looking to install a second operating system, you'll find the full extent of PartitionMagic's help on p38 of the manual - 'Install the operating system'. In other words, you're on your own. So, if you've never so much as opened the jewel case on your OEM version of Windows, proceed with care.Contact Powerquest: 0118 945 0200; www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132618/powerquest-partitionmagicKyle MacRae, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Thursday 1 February 2001 at 00:00:00Wouldn't it more convenient to have smaller manageable disk partitions instead of your 30Gb monster? Partioning is easy using the latest version of Powerquest's popular utility.<content page="1"><html><body>There are several reasons why you want to partition your PC's hard disk, the most likely of which are to run two or more operating systems in parallel on a single machine, to create a secure storage bay for critical data, or to offload weighty application files to a separate area to boost performance. Then again, you might just like tinkering under the hood.Whatever the task, if it involves splitting a hard disk into smaller, more manageable and more efficient segments, PartitionMagic has long been the tool of choice. This latest release continues a strong tradition.Version 6 sports a few welcome tweaks. It now offers native support for Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium Edition, and a slightly revised interface that makes it easier to see what's happening disk-wise (amazing what a splash of colour-coding and an Explorer-style tree can do). Pretty much every task is aided by a Wizard, so it's fairly straightforward to create new partitions, resize or merge existing ones, or copy an entire partition from one location to another.A useful Undelete feature makes it possible to recover an accidentally deleted partition if you act fast enough - in other words, before new data is written to that area of the disk.As before, PartitionMagic sets up its tasks in Windows and then drops down to DOS to do all heavy-duty stuff. It takes sensible precautions not to write data to damaged areas of the disk - that way lies disaster - and, while you can override the default safety settings to speed up the process, we wouldn't recommend it. Nor would we advise doing anything at all without making a full backup first.An updated version of Boot Manager is included here for anyone installing multiple operating systems. It's not the most intuitive utility in the world but it lets you choose which system to boot each time you restart.The only serious quibble is that the manual really could use an overhaul. The language of partitioning is complex and this 150-page tome is far from the friendliest introduction to the subject. In part this is because PartitionMagic supports a range of operating and file systems and has to cover a multitude of permutations and eventualities. Power partitioners will have a field day here. But the fact remains that most people probably have simple goals - installing Windows 2000 or Linux alongside Windows 98, for example, or creating a secure partition for data storage - and a few step-by-step guides to the most common tasks would be welcome.A further grumble is that when you first come to create a new partition, the Wizard asks whether you wish to install a new operating system and then lists the supported options. Windows 95/98, NT and 2000 are there alongside Linux and OS/2, but Windows Me is nowhere to be seen - and this in a product that makes a show of its support for Me. Selecting the Windows 95/98 box works fine - after all, Windows Me runs in a FAT32 environment just like its predecessors - but it's an irritating omission.One final point: if you are looking to install a second operating system, you'll find the full extent of PartitionMagic's help on p38 of the manual - 'Install the operating system'. In other words, you're on your own. So, if you've never so much as opened the jewel case on your OEM version of Windows, proceed with care.Contact Powerquest: 0118 945 0200; www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKKyle MacRae2001-02-01T24:00:00.000ZSoftware Reviewshacking-and-cyber-crimeMicrosoft suffers further hack attackhttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132557/microsoft-suffers-further-hack-attackWhat PC?, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Wednesday 10 January 2001 at 00:00:00Microsoft has suffered another breach in security just weeks after hackers infiltrated its systems and allegedly got their hands on the source code for Windows and Microsoft Office.<content page="1"><html><body>Microsoft has suffered another breach in security just weeks after hackers infiltrated its systems and allegedly got their hands on the source code for Windows and Microsoft Office.A hacker named Dimitri exploited a known security hole in the Microsoft Internet Information Server and uploaded a text file called Hack the Planet.He claims to have been in a position to alter files on Microsoft's download site and add Trojan horses to its software. He also claims to have an encrypted file containing administrative user names and passwords, but said he will not decode it.The software giant has been accused by the hacker of being "extremely sloppy" after failing to install its own security patches over the hole in the server. This comes hot on the heels of the previous infiltration by a mystery group who are believed to have infected and compromised Microsoft source code.The Russian mafia has been under suspicion as the hack was traced to an email address in St Petersburg, but another theory is that a group of hackers simply wanted to embarrass the company by compromising the integrity of new software.Microsoft admits that a hacker may have viewed some source code under development for a future product, but the company says that, based on all the evidence, it remains confident that no code has been modified or corrupted in any way.</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132557/microsoft-suffers-further-hack-attackWhat PC?, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Wednesday 10 January 2001 at 00:00:00Microsoft has suffered another breach in security just weeks after hackers infiltrated its systems and allegedly got their hands on the source code for Windows and Microsoft Office.<content page="1"><html><body>Microsoft has suffered another breach in security just weeks after hackers infiltrated its systems and allegedly got their hands on the source code for Windows and Microsoft Office.A hacker named Dimitri exploited a known security hole in the Microsoft Internet Information Server and uploaded a text file called Hack the Planet.He claims to have been in a position to alter files on Microsoft's download site and add Trojan horses to its software. He also claims to have an encrypted file containing administrative user names and passwords, but said he will not decode it.The software giant has been accused by the hacker of being "extremely sloppy" after failing to install its own security patches over the hole in the server. This comes hot on the heels of the previous infiltration by a mystery group who are believed to have infected and compromised Microsoft source code.The Russian mafia has been under suspicion as the hack was traced to an email address in St Petersburg, but another theory is that a group of hackers simply wanted to embarrass the company by compromising the integrity of new software.Microsoft admits that a hacker may have viewed some source code under development for a future product, but the company says that, based on all the evidence, it remains confident that no code has been modified or corrupted in any way.</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKWhat PC?2001-01-10T24:00:00.000ZNewshacking-and-cyber-crimeMicrosoft takes anti-piracy standhttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132555/microsoft-takes-anti-piracy-standWhat PC?, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Wednesday 29 November 2000 at 00:00:00Microsoft has set up an initiative to help anyone who has been sold counterfeit software.<content page="1"><html><body>Microsoft has set up an initiative to help anyone who has been sold counterfeit software.The scheme allows home and office users to send in any Microsoft title they suspect may be counterfeit and, if it is, the company will replace the product with the genuine article. But a few conditions must be met before the exchange can take place.The customer has to produce a receipt for the goods, fill in a Statement of Witness, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft website (www.microsoft.com/uk/piracy/productid) or obtained by phoning 0800 013 2222, and they must send back all parts of the product, including the box and manuals.Obviously, gold CDs bought at car boot sales and computer fairs will not be considered, but where the customer has bought an item in good faith, Microsoft will replace the product at its discretion.For a small business which has bought several copies of a software product, Microsoft will only supply one copy in return, but will also provide a letter stating why the product is counterfeit. Companies can then take the letter to local Trading Standards offices and pursue a claim against the suppliers.Microsoft says the scheme, run by its Product Identification Team, will help customers avoid the problems caused by using counterfeit software, such as infected disks and no software support.Julia Phillpot, anti-software piracy manager for Microsoft said: "We do not want people to be ripped off." However, she admitted the scheme will help Microsoft. "We hope this will help us to get more information about the counterfeiters."Microsoft will add all the information collected via the scheme to a database of illegal traders and will work with Trading Standards officers to bring the counterfeiters to book.Some estimates suggest that 26 per cent of all business software used in the UK is illegal in some way. For example, the product is counterfeit or has been loaded onto more machines than it is licensed for.The Consumers' Association estimates that in this country more than £8bn is lost to counterfeiters each year.</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132555/microsoft-takes-anti-piracy-standWhat PC?, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Wednesday 29 November 2000 at 00:00:00Microsoft has set up an initiative to help anyone who has been sold counterfeit software.<content page="1"><html><body>Microsoft has set up an initiative to help anyone who has been sold counterfeit software.The scheme allows home and office users to send in any Microsoft title they suspect may be counterfeit and, if it is, the company will replace the product with the genuine article. But a few conditions must be met before the exchange can take place.The customer has to produce a receipt for the goods, fill in a Statement of Witness, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft website (www.microsoft.com/uk/piracy/productid) or obtained by phoning 0800 013 2222, and they must send back all parts of the product, including the box and manuals.Obviously, gold CDs bought at car boot sales and computer fairs will not be considered, but where the customer has bought an item in good faith, Microsoft will replace the product at its discretion.For a small business which has bought several copies of a software product, Microsoft will only supply one copy in return, but will also provide a letter stating why the product is counterfeit. Companies can then take the letter to local Trading Standards offices and pursue a claim against the suppliers.Microsoft says the scheme, run by its Product Identification Team, will help customers avoid the problems caused by using counterfeit software, such as infected disks and no software support.Julia Phillpot, anti-software piracy manager for Microsoft said: "We do not want people to be ripped off." However, she admitted the scheme will help Microsoft. "We hope this will help us to get more information about the counterfeiters."Microsoft will add all the information collected via the scheme to a database of illegal traders and will work with Trading Standards officers to bring the counterfeiters to book.Some estimates suggest that 26 per cent of all business software used in the UK is illegal in some way. For example, the product is counterfeit or has been loaded onto more machines than it is licensed for.The Consumers' Association estimates that in this country more than £8bn is lost to counterfeiters each year.</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKWhat PC?2000-11-29T24:00:00.000ZNewshacking-and-cyber-crimeCenterprise GoBackhttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132606/centerprise-gobackJason Jenkins, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Sunday 30 April 2000 at 23:00:00Ever installed an application that has trashed your hard disk, or inadvertantly deleted a few vital files? Then you should take a look at GoBack, a utility that can help to restore an ailing PC to its former glory.<content page="1"><html><body>GoBack is a product in the same vein as Powerquest's SecondChance - if something goes wrong with your PC, it can return your hard drive (and therefore your PC) to a time when it worked properly. It does this by taking snapshots of your system and storing them until they're needed, and occupies around 10 per cent of your hard drive's space. The advantage is that if something corrupts your system, you don't need to know what - you can just restore it to a previous state.When you first install GoBack, the program boots into DOS and creates a snapshot of your drive. After this, it interferes with the boot process so that you are always presented with a GoBack start-up screen when you switch on. From this point on, it runs quite happily in the background and, unless you need it, you'll probably never know it's there. If you do need it, pressing the space bar when the PC boots (or booting from a floppy, if things are really hopeless) takes you into restore mode.Although you can restore your entire hard drive, this isn't necessary in most cases and GoBack can be used for more selective purposes. It's possible to create a copy of a previously stored state and this appears as an entirely separate disk drive in Explorer. From here you can then cut and paste individual files, making it easy to recover anything that was accidentally deleted or overwritten by a program's installation.Don't be fooled into thinking GoBack does away with the need for normal backups, though. If something erases or physically damages your hard drive, everything - GoBack too - can be lost.Features <ul><li>Recovers from a system crash by reverting to archived working configuration.</li><li>Recovers deleted background operation files with minimal performance impact.</li></ul>Contact Centerprise 01256 378 060</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132606/centerprise-gobackJason Jenkins, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Sunday 30 April 2000 at 23:00:00Ever installed an application that has trashed your hard disk, or inadvertantly deleted a few vital files? Then you should take a look at GoBack, a utility that can help to restore an ailing PC to its former glory.<content page="1"><html><body>GoBack is a product in the same vein as Powerquest's SecondChance - if something goes wrong with your PC, it can return your hard drive (and therefore your PC) to a time when it worked properly. It does this by taking snapshots of your system and storing them until they're needed, and occupies around 10 per cent of your hard drive's space. The advantage is that if something corrupts your system, you don't need to know what - you can just restore it to a previous state.When you first install GoBack, the program boots into DOS and creates a snapshot of your drive. After this, it interferes with the boot process so that you are always presented with a GoBack start-up screen when you switch on. From this point on, it runs quite happily in the background and, unless you need it, you'll probably never know it's there. If you do need it, pressing the space bar when the PC boots (or booting from a floppy, if things are really hopeless) takes you into restore mode.Although you can restore your entire hard drive, this isn't necessary in most cases and GoBack can be used for more selective purposes. It's possible to create a copy of a previously stored state and this appears as an entirely separate disk drive in Explorer. From here you can then cut and paste individual files, making it easy to recover anything that was accidentally deleted or overwritten by a program's installation.Don't be fooled into thinking GoBack does away with the need for normal backups, though. If something erases or physically damages your hard drive, everything - GoBack too - can be lost.Features <ul><li>Recovers from a system crash by reverting to archived working configuration.</li><li>Recovers deleted background operation files with minimal performance impact.</li></ul>Contact Centerprise 01256 378 060</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKJason Jenkins2000-04-30T23:00:00.000ZSoftware Reviewshacking-and-cyber-crimeHackers halt Yahoo and Amazon tradehttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132521/hackers-halt-yahoo-amazon-tradeWhat PC and Software, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Sunday 26 March 2000 at 23:00:00The debate on just how safe the Internet is was well and truly reopened with the news that some of the biggest and most popular sites on the Internet, such as Yahoo and Amazon, have been the subject of a malicious electronic assaults that have put them out of action for up to three hours.<content page="1"><html><body>The debate on just how safe the Internet is was well and truly reopened with the news that some of the biggest and most popular sites on the Internet, such as Yahoo and Amazon, have been the subject of a malicious electronic assaults that have put them out of action for up to three hours.Using a technique known as denial of service, the hackers bombarded Yahoo with fake e-mails, effectively creating a cyber-traffic jam that prevented genuine users from getting through.Although Yahoo was quick to claim that no personal details were hacked, the hack is without doubt damaging to business.A similar attack on auction site eBay in June 1999 caused the service to go down for 22 hours, an event that wiped a quarter of the stock price off in one swoop. Such attacks not only deprive the site of revenue, but they also damage a site's credibility.Other sites known to have been targeted include the FBI, Buy.com and CNN.</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132521/hackers-halt-yahoo-amazon-tradeWhat PC and Software, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Sunday 26 March 2000 at 23:00:00The debate on just how safe the Internet is was well and truly reopened with the news that some of the biggest and most popular sites on the Internet, such as Yahoo and Amazon, have been the subject of a malicious electronic assaults that have put them out of action for up to three hours.<content page="1"><html><body>The debate on just how safe the Internet is was well and truly reopened with the news that some of the biggest and most popular sites on the Internet, such as Yahoo and Amazon, have been the subject of a malicious electronic assaults that have put them out of action for up to three hours.Using a technique known as denial of service, the hackers bombarded Yahoo with fake e-mails, effectively creating a cyber-traffic jam that prevented genuine users from getting through.Although Yahoo was quick to claim that no personal details were hacked, the hack is without doubt damaging to business.A similar attack on auction site eBay in June 1999 caused the service to go down for 22 hours, an event that wiped a quarter of the stock price off in one swoop. Such attacks not only deprive the site of revenue, but they also damage a site's credibility.Other sites known to have been targeted include the FBI, Buy.com and CNN.</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKWhat PC and Software2000-03-26T23:00:00.000ZNewshacking-and-cyber-crimeMcAfee Utilitieshttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132601/mcafee-utilitiesJ Mark Lytle, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Tuesday 1 February 2000 at 00:00:00First there was Nuts and Bolts, now there is McAfee Utilities, a collection of utilities designed to keep your PC running smoothly<content page="1"><html><body>Once upon a time, the good people at Network Associates brought us a splendid little package of PC utilities called Nuts and Bolts. This was one of the most user-friendly of several similar products on the market and was also reasonably comprehensive. Now that the future is with us and just about everything is being rebranded, Nuts and Bolts becomes the slightly more descriptive McAfee Utilities.First impressions of the new, improved program are good, thanks to the flashy McAfee Central front end - the gateway to McAfee Utilities' two dozen or so features. Most prominent is First Aid, a utility designed to examine your computer for any problems, detecting common hardware, software and configuration errors that Windows itself isn't equipped to deal with. In our tests, it fared well and sorted out a deliberately mis-configured graphics card along with other minor disk problems. However, we had a few misgivings about the accuracy of some of the more technical reports.The other parts of the package integrate well into the whole. Of particular note is the inclusion of fixes specific to MS Office 2000 problems and a handy Universal Undo feature to turn back the clock on unwanted system modifications.One of the stranger aspects of McAfee is the ability to animate desktop icons - quite why anyone would want to do this, we're not sure. Also, beware of Web View, which is actually a customised version of the Neoplanet Web browser. This is supposed to guide users to online help, but can make an unexpected bid for browser supremacy on your PC - not a major problem, just an unnecessary frill. Overall, a good bet, particularly at the price.SPECIFICATIONSCrash protection and recoveryRepairs hard drivesRescues PC from disastersOptimises system performance Contact: McAfee 01753 827500</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132601/mcafee-utilitiesJ Mark Lytle, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Tuesday 1 February 2000 at 00:00:00First there was Nuts and Bolts, now there is McAfee Utilities, a collection of utilities designed to keep your PC running smoothly<content page="1"><html><body>Once upon a time, the good people at Network Associates brought us a splendid little package of PC utilities called Nuts and Bolts. This was one of the most user-friendly of several similar products on the market and was also reasonably comprehensive. Now that the future is with us and just about everything is being rebranded, Nuts and Bolts becomes the slightly more descriptive McAfee Utilities.First impressions of the new, improved program are good, thanks to the flashy McAfee Central front end - the gateway to McAfee Utilities' two dozen or so features. Most prominent is First Aid, a utility designed to examine your computer for any problems, detecting common hardware, software and configuration errors that Windows itself isn't equipped to deal with. In our tests, it fared well and sorted out a deliberately mis-configured graphics card along with other minor disk problems. However, we had a few misgivings about the accuracy of some of the more technical reports.The other parts of the package integrate well into the whole. Of particular note is the inclusion of fixes specific to MS Office 2000 problems and a handy Universal Undo feature to turn back the clock on unwanted system modifications.One of the stranger aspects of McAfee is the ability to animate desktop icons - quite why anyone would want to do this, we're not sure. Also, beware of Web View, which is actually a customised version of the Neoplanet Web browser. This is supposed to guide users to online help, but can make an unexpected bid for browser supremacy on your PC - not a major problem, just an unnecessary frill. Overall, a good bet, particularly at the price.SPECIFICATIONSCrash protection and recoveryRepairs hard drivesRescues PC from disastersOptimises system performance Contact: McAfee 01753 827500</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKJ Mark Lytle2000-02-01T24:00:00.000ZSoftware Reviewshacking-and-cyber-crimeDantz Retrospect 5.0http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132597/dantz-retrospectJason Jenkins, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Saturday 1 January 2000 at 00:00:00Backing up your data is vital, but it is often time-consuming and fiddly. Retrospect 5.0 from Dantz takes all the hassle out of the operation, leaving you with no excuse not to secure your vital data.<content page="1"><html><body>We're always being reminded about the importance of performing regular backups of our hard disks to ensure that if something goes wrong, we have a copy to fall back on. For most users, Microsoft Backup, the free program included with Windows 95, is sufficient. For those demanding more power from their backup programs, Retrospect 5.0 is worth considering.The program is controlled through an easy-to-use and self-explanatory graphical interface. If you have difficulties, there's also a well written and detailed manual to help you. All the advanced features you would expect in a program of this price are included. In its basic form it uses a system of scripts to schedule backup jobs. Luckily you don't have to know much about the scripting process, because an excellent Wizard asks you a few pertinent questions and sets the scripts up for you. If you feel brave you can also manually alter the scripts to give you maximum control over the settings.Like most backup programs, it verifies that the backup has been completed successfully, and can also encrypt the files so that nobody else can read them. If you run the same backup job twice, the program is intelligent enough to realise which files have been stored previously, and if they have not changed it does not store them again, thereby increasing performance and saving space.Overall this is an excellent product, but it will punch a fairly big hole in your wallet. You'll also need some sort of storage device, such as a Zip or a CD-RW drive, to write the data to.SPECIFICATIONSEasy-to-use backup softwareVerifies each backup jobDetects your storage devices and uses the appropriate drive. Incremental backups save time and spaceSchedules jobsComputers Unlimited: 0181 358 5857</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132597/dantz-retrospectJason Jenkins, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Saturday 1 January 2000 at 00:00:00Backing up your data is vital, but it is often time-consuming and fiddly. Retrospect 5.0 from Dantz takes all the hassle out of the operation, leaving you with no excuse not to secure your vital data.<content page="1"><html><body>We're always being reminded about the importance of performing regular backups of our hard disks to ensure that if something goes wrong, we have a copy to fall back on. For most users, Microsoft Backup, the free program included with Windows 95, is sufficient. For those demanding more power from their backup programs, Retrospect 5.0 is worth considering.The program is controlled through an easy-to-use and self-explanatory graphical interface. If you have difficulties, there's also a well written and detailed manual to help you. All the advanced features you would expect in a program of this price are included. In its basic form it uses a system of scripts to schedule backup jobs. Luckily you don't have to know much about the scripting process, because an excellent Wizard asks you a few pertinent questions and sets the scripts up for you. If you feel brave you can also manually alter the scripts to give you maximum control over the settings.Like most backup programs, it verifies that the backup has been completed successfully, and can also encrypt the files so that nobody else can read them. If you run the same backup job twice, the program is intelligent enough to realise which files have been stored previously, and if they have not changed it does not store them again, thereby increasing performance and saving space.Overall this is an excellent product, but it will punch a fairly big hole in your wallet. You'll also need some sort of storage device, such as a Zip or a CD-RW drive, to write the data to.SPECIFICATIONSEasy-to-use backup softwareVerifies each backup jobDetects your storage devices and uses the appropriate drive. Incremental backups save time and spaceSchedules jobsComputers Unlimited: 0181 358 5857</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKJason Jenkins2000-01-01T24:00:00.000ZSoftware Reviewshacking-and-cyber-crimeVulgar virus caused chaos in its wakehttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132433/vulgar-virus-caused-chaos-wakenewmedia newmedia, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Friday 30 July 1999 at 23:00:00<content page="1"><html><body>The Melissa macro virus caused chaos when it struck PCs at the end of March. Melissa didn't damage data, but harvested e-mail addresses from a user's Microsoft Outlook address book and sent a purportedly personal message containing a list of pornographic Web sites to them.The problem was the scale and rapidity of Melissa's spread, which caused mayhem as business servers collapsed under the weight of virus-spawned e-mail.Melissa's origin was traced to an account holder with ISP AOL who denied involvement. The alleged author was then tracked to New Jersey with AOL's help.David L Smith, arrested by federal and state officials on April 1st, was charged with interrupting public communication, conspiracy to commit the offence, attempting to commit the offence, theft of computer service, and wrongful access to computer systems. If convicted, he faces 40 years in prison and fines of $480,000. www.cert.org/tech_tips/Melissa_FAQ.html</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132433/vulgar-virus-caused-chaos-wakenewmedia newmedia, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Friday 30 July 1999 at 23:00:00<content page="1"><html><body>The Melissa macro virus caused chaos when it struck PCs at the end of March. Melissa didn't damage data, but harvested e-mail addresses from a user's Microsoft Outlook address book and sent a purportedly personal message containing a list of pornographic Web sites to them.The problem was the scale and rapidity of Melissa's spread, which caused mayhem as business servers collapsed under the weight of virus-spawned e-mail.Melissa's origin was traced to an account holder with ISP AOL who denied involvement. The alleged author was then tracked to New Jersey with AOL's help.David L Smith, arrested by federal and state officials on April 1st, was charged with interrupting public communication, conspiracy to commit the offence, attempting to commit the offence, theft of computer service, and wrongful access to computer systems. If convicted, he faces 40 years in prison and fines of $480,000. www.cert.org/tech_tips/Melissa_FAQ.html</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKnewmedia newmedia1999-07-30T23:00:00.000ZNewshacking-and-cyber-crimeMore concern over privacyhttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132432/concern-privacynewmedia newmedia, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Saturday 24 July 1999 at 23:00:00<content page="1"><html><body>Last month Intel came under fire from privacy advocates, concerned about the processor serial numbers included in the Pentium II. Now it has been revealed that Windows 98 and Microsoft Office report your identity direct to Microsoft.Word and Excel generate a unique 32-digit number, based in part on your network adaptor if one is installed, and encode it in every document you produce. A further hardware identifier is also stored in your PC's Registry and, most worryingly for privacy campaigners, is passed to Microsoft when Windows 98 is registered.Microsoft claims not to store these IDs in its marketing databases but has promised to stop collecting them immediately and release software patches.Meanwhile another patch has been urgently needed for some Windows users.Windows 98 may crash without explanation after 49.7 days of continuous operation, but then again it may not. The cause is apparently a timing algorithm: a patch is available but isn't recommended unless you leave your PC on for a month-and-a-half at a time.As we went to press, we learnt that it's not just the PIII which includes the CPU ID feature. Intel's latest mobile Pentium IIs - previously codenamed Dixon - and the Pentium II Xeon server processor also include serial numbers.Intel has promised a BIOS fix allowing users to turn off the Dixon IDs.Microsoft: 0345 002000 http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q216/6/41.asp.</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132432/concern-privacynewmedia newmedia, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Saturday 24 July 1999 at 23:00:00<content page="1"><html><body>Last month Intel came under fire from privacy advocates, concerned about the processor serial numbers included in the Pentium II. Now it has been revealed that Windows 98 and Microsoft Office report your identity direct to Microsoft.Word and Excel generate a unique 32-digit number, based in part on your network adaptor if one is installed, and encode it in every document you produce. A further hardware identifier is also stored in your PC's Registry and, most worryingly for privacy campaigners, is passed to Microsoft when Windows 98 is registered.Microsoft claims not to store these IDs in its marketing databases but has promised to stop collecting them immediately and release software patches.Meanwhile another patch has been urgently needed for some Windows users.Windows 98 may crash without explanation after 49.7 days of continuous operation, but then again it may not. The cause is apparently a timing algorithm: a patch is available but isn't recommended unless you leave your PC on for a month-and-a-half at a time.As we went to press, we learnt that it's not just the PIII which includes the CPU ID feature. Intel's latest mobile Pentium IIs - previously codenamed Dixon - and the Pentium II Xeon server processor also include serial numbers.Intel has promised a BIOS fix allowing users to turn off the Dixon IDs.Microsoft: 0345 002000 http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q216/6/41.asp.</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKnewmedia newmedia1999-07-24T23:00:00.000ZNewshacking-and-cyber-crime