SurfiOnline

& I thought Vista was supposed to be the most secure edition of Windows yet?

I much prefer the OS X security updates all rolled in to one nice package.

Dear NVIDIA,

Because of you and your inability to provide stable video card drivers for my NVIDIA based 6800GT video card, I’m now running Microsoft Windows Vista without any video drivers – just the generic adapter drivers Microsoft provides (“Standard PCI Video Card”)

Why, you ask? Because whenever I seem to boot my Windows Vista based PC, I’ve begun receiving a blank screen which shows up right where the login screen works. Safe mode works fine, and on the rare occasion Windows will actually boot using some form of NVIDIA drivers.

Without proper video card based acceleration and drivers I’m very limited in what I can do on this machine – I can’t play back videos or use Windows Media Center (the primary reason I have this machine), dragging Windows takes a ridiculously long time, and generally it’s just a major loss of productivity on my behalf.

Because you seem to lack the ability to actually provide support for your customers on widespread issues such as these, I’ve done your work and mine and taken the liberty of preparing a list of questions which I’ve also prepared the answers for.

When did this start happening?

This started happening in the middle of last week for absolutely no reason at all. I rebooted my Windows Vista based desktop PC and was presented with a blank screen right after the “Loading” animation and right before the login screen. Sometimes I’ll receive a dreaded blue screen of death (for nvlddmkm.sys) as a result.

I have not changed any of the hardware in this machine.

How do you know it is our crappy drivers?

When I boot in to Windows Vista using safe mode, I am alerted to the fact that Microsoft Windows has recovered from a serious error and asked if I’d like to report this to Microsoft and check for solutions. Of course I would – so I do.

Running the “Problem Reports & Solutions” applet in the Control Panel lets me know the problem was caused by an NVIDIA Graphics Driver and there is no solution available but I should check to see if there is an updated driver available, or contact yourself for other support options.

Windows Vista is only new – we haven’t had the time to polish our drivers.

Don’t give me that rubbish – you’ve had plenty of time. NVIDIA is a Microsoft Partner, you have had access to all of the beta releases throughout the Windows Vista development period and adequate information and assistance from Microsoft for developing WHQL based drivers – in fact, how are these drivers even signed WHQL drivers if there are so many problems with them?

This is not a widespread issue – our drivers work perfectly fine for everyone else.

No, they don’t. There’s a 90 page thread scattered with problems over on the official NVIDIA forums, a long with a 48 page thread on driver issues, and a similar 11 page thread filled with even more problems.

What’s more is you don’t seem to care very much about your customers – yes, you’re pushing forward a few new driver releases but it isn’t solving much and you aren’t communicating very well with your customers either. Acknowledge there are severe driver related issues with Windows Vista and actually participate in your forums a bit more to establish common causes and problems.

What version of the NVIDIA drivers are you using?

I’m currently running your latest “stable” drivers for Microsoft Windows Vista, v. 158.24.

Have you tried reinstalling our drivers?

Yes. Numerous times. I’ve completely removed the NVIDIA drivers from my system as well as run Driver Cleaner to remove all traces left by your drivers (you should really fix that too – when I uninstall something, I actually want it uninstalled)

The drivers will install again and I’ll be able to boot in to Windows Vista generally for the first reboot – subsequent reboots leave me with the blank black screen again.

Maybe it is your video card?

My video card works fine with Microsoft Windows XP and under the latest release of Ubuntu Linux. Don’t even try and tell me it is my video card.

I’ve also installed your “nTune” application which monitors the GPU of the video card – it’s well within a suitable temperature range and has not once overheated. The card is adequately cooled by the two fans also attached to the video card itself.

Could your RAM be faulty?

No. I’ve checked, double checked and then checked again for peace of mind. There are no problems with my RAM.

It could be your Windows Vista installation. Have you tried reinstalling?

Not yet. I don’t have the time at the moment but if it comes down to it, then yes, I will also try reinstalling Windows Vista but I don’t hold much hope.

Why would things go “bung up” for no apparent reason?

I’m not particularly happy here – as can be established from the above. I’m looking for a solution however everything I’ve tried has worked once and then the same problem still persists.

I got told I had to upload a photo of this. Almost a month ago, Microsoft sent out launch kits for Windows Vista & Office – being a distributor and OEM we received these kits. They came with the usual stuff, information brochures, lanyards with info sheets but also surprisingly they came with lollipops too – and they’re tasty!

No, they don’t kill you they may however be, like any Microsoft product, susceptible to viruses.

Interestingly enough after Microsoft did such a fine implementation of UAC (User Account Control) in Vista, they seemed to have forgotten about it in the lollipop and you’re not asked every 5 to 10 seconds if you’re intentionally trying to eat it or if you meant to take the wrapper off. Finally, a Microsoft product that lets you get on with it.

I’ve created a Windows Sidebar gadget for users of Mint so they can get a quick glance at their statistics similarly to the Junior Mint widget for Mac OS X.

Read about it & download a copy if you’re interested.

The gadget when docked to the sidebar

The gadget when undocked from the sidebar

The configuration window

Today I attended TechEd 2006 Student Day where Microsoft showed off their latest technologies (Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007 and Expression Web Designer, Live Anywhere, IPTV, DirectX 10, Xbox 360) and how they’re going to make student life more productive (well, some of them).

Speakers also covered employment opportunities at Microsoft (what they look for, requirements and programs such as interns or MACH) as well as what I’d describe as a bit of Intel promotion.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Long Zheng who I’ve known for a while, just never actually met. Long gave a demo of Office 2007 with Microsoft’s Frank Arrigo. These guys covered what students will be looking forward to with Microsoft Office – adding style and creativity to their documents, spreadsheets and presentations all in a few clicks.

During the Windows Vista demo, I noticed they were running an RC1 branch, build 5700 which should no doubt be making its way to CTP customers soon (which I’m looking forward to). The build, from the bits we saw, ran faster and had been cleaned up a bit. Long took the following photo of the build number:

We were then given the opportunity to enter the expo halls (only for an hour). Basically, a few stands, heaps of Xbox 360s (including those connected as Media Center Extenders) and lots and lots of demo PCs available for use including two hands on labs.

You can view the rest of my photos in my TechEd 2006 photoset.

There’s also a bit of other coverage on the web you can check out:

• Long Zheng – TechEd Day 1 – Student Day
• Jeff Alexander (Microsoft) – TechEd 2006 – Day 1 – Student Day
• Frank Arrigo (Microsoft) – TechEd Sydney Student Day

Only days after a 10,137 page petition was sent to Microsoft’s Antispyware department, containing over 400,000 signatures from Messenger Plus! fans around the globe, Microsoft has released updated detection signatures for it’s Antispyware product which no longer detect Messenger Plus! as a run-time threat anymore.

A little over a month ago, Microsoft Antispyware began detecting Messenger Plus! as a spyware application. For those who do not know, when installing Messenger Plus!, you’re given the option of installing a sponsor package. If you chose not to, there is nothing from the sponsor installed on your computer. MSAS (Microsoft Antispyware) detected “msgplus.exe”, the core of Messenger Plus! as a spyware application – though the file is the same whether or not you install the sponsor or not and doesn’t contain any spyware at all. Many users believed, along with Patchou (The author of Messenger Plus!) that it was wrong to accuse Messenger Plus! of being a spyware application and automatically blocking it from being ran – even when the sponsor wasn’t installed!

Patchou became frustrated, feeling that Plus! was unfairly targeted and various emails to the MSAS team did not yield any answers or the results he wanted – they denied it. He left, quite possibly what was the future of Messenger Plus!, in the hands of it’s fans: an online petition which would be printed and sent to Microsoft as the last stand between the little software developer and the major software giant.

Now, Messenger Plus! isn’t any small program – it’s installed by thousands of users every day and used by millions around the globe to enhance the functionality of MSN Messenger. It came as no surprise as we watched the signature count for the petition climb every day, that the petition ended up with over 400,000 signatures a month on from it’s creation. Surely Microsoft would have to do something seeing the popularity of Plus! and the potential harm that this petition could have done to their Antispyware product.

Now, even though Cyril hasn’t received any official word from Microsoft, and the petition probably hasn’t been received yet, as noted, the updated signatures (dated 23rd September 2005) no longer detect Messenger Plus! as a run-time threat. The little software developer took on the software giant, and through the support of his user base, Microsoft has listened.

Related Links

• Petition to save Messenger Plus!
• The MSAS petition has been sent
• Microsoft Antispyware steps back!