RejZoR's little secrets

I've had massive problems with ultra slow Windows XP boot. First on friends PC, then on my netbook.
After a clean system restoration, everything worked fine. After doing full Windows Update, system slowed down to a crawl on a system boot. It took forever for Security Center icon to show up and network interface to initialize. And we're talking about 3 minutes here, not few seconds. And after 2 hour investigation, i found out the cause for this massive slowdown is, you won't believe it, .NET Framework 4 ! The problem is apparently limited to Widnows XP as i haven't witnessed anything similar on Vista or Win7 systems and they do have .NET Framework 4 installed. Though it makes me wonder how Microsoft managed to let such crap through. And i don't get it why .NET Framework 4 is even causing this.
Microsoft really needs to look into this problem as there is loads of ppl with this problem, it's just that half of them don't even know .NET Framework 4 is causing it.

Slowdown will happen if you have the following:
- Windows XP SP3
- installed .NET Framework 4

How to fix this problem:
Microsoft hasn't provided an official fix yet, but here is the fix that solves this slow system startup.

DOWNLOAD FIX TOOL

Just download the fix tool, unpack it and run. It will probably take few minutes to process.
In case if there are any errors inside this fix tool after running it, please contact me as this version is using a fixed execution path and will probably fail to work once .NET 4 minor version changes or if you have Windows installed on drive other than C:

It will probably be required to run this fix again after installing new .NET Framework updates unless MS will iclude fix for this in such update...

This time around, i've decided to leave beta and RC builds alone and grab Windows 7 in final stage.
And so i've installed it yesterday on my netbook and PC. And first impression is really good. I mean really really good. I was happy with Vista, but this thing is even better. Not much from functionality part, but more like an polished version of Vista.

Installation went pretty fast for both, DVD installation and USB installation for netbook.
I've used this tool called WinToFlash (http://wintoflash.com) to make bootable Windows 7 USB drive.
Lexar Lightning II 4GB drive was used. No problems at all!

There were loads of drivers already detected during installation and many during Windows Update check.
I guess Microsoft was trying even harder to provide all the needed drivers for as painless install as possible. No problems with drivers later. Other vendors were prepared for Windows 7 as well.

Interface isn't significantly different, but it's giving a warm good feeling of something new. Everything is transparent, glowing, really pleasant for my eyes. I'm still missing funky animations from hardware accelerated version of Ubuntu's interface, but that might get in the way after initial fun. Still, Microsoft has done a good job with interface.
Especially taskbar. At first i thought it's thickness will get in the way, but it doesn't. Not even on small netbook's screen. And there is bunch of small details that really make Windows 7 interface unique. In Vista, sure, Aero Glass was nice, but it had that feeling of blending Windows XP with transparency. Windows 7 interface doesn't look anything like it. Just like i said, it's all in fine details.

Performance is another impressive part. I have my system fast enough for any OS, but the fact that Windows 7 runs beautifully on ACER Aspire One with all eye candy enabled is impressive by itself.
I haven't tried games yet, but programs work really well. What's interesting is also the fact that my system is cooler with Windows 7 for some reason. It might be a fluke, but CoreTemp is showing 2 to sometimes even 3 degrees lower temperatures of my CPU in idle or casual desktop usage (browsing and foobar2k). Nothing scientifically confirmed though, it just caught my eye.

I'll have to test games, but i think the results will be just as impressive as everything else so far.

Microsoft today released a highly anticipated Microsoft Security Essentials. It's a freeware anti-malware protection without any advanced settings or features. But it still provides easy to use and very reliable protection for less knowledgeable users. You don't really have to tweak and adjust anything. It just works. You'll only know about it when it finds a malware. No need for registrations, no subscriptions etc.
Install and forget. Only thing you'll need is genuine version of Windows. That's the only requirement.
You do have original Windows right?

Official page and download:
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials

When you think things couldn't have gotten any wrong, think again. European Commission (EC) has decided that Microsoft has to bundle competitors browsers with Windows because of the monopoly position of Internet Explorer browser. Now the one and only question from my side is: "WTF!?"
Because the other way around, when Microsoft just decided not to include IE for European market, the EC was not pleased again. They want users to give "choice". Sorry, I'm from Europe, but this is just load of bollocks. Why on our freakin' Earth would anyone want a crippled OS for the same price as the one that's not crippled? If i want Windows, i want it in full feature, not in full lack of everything.
If i don't want to use IE (which i don't, I'm using Firefox), i can just do that since um forever. IE is there somewhere, i just don't use it. Big deal. Besides, this decision by EC makes no sense at all. It's like expecting Apple to bundle IE, Chrome, Firefox and Opera. They only bundle Safari with their OS and as such, it has a full monopoly position. Why no one complains over that? They are just as guilty as Microsoft if they want it this way.
EC can't be serious and expect Microsoft to actually do that. I mean it's like expecting Hyundai car manufacturer to give you option to chose from a full spectrum of engines. If i want Hyundai Coupe with Volkswagen engine, they'd have to provide it to me. Wait, what!? Well, that's what EC is expecting from Microsoft. I don't see this ever happening. If i buy OS, i want it to contain basic image editor, basic calculator, basic text editor, basic media player and basic browser. That's what Apple is doing, that's what KDE/Gnome (Linux community) are doing and that's what Microsoft has been doing for decades. Why the hell they have to change that now? And for what? There is loads of info on alternate browsers everywhere, people recommend alternate browsers to friends so there is seriously no need to do something this stupid just because EC wants to prove something.

I guess there is a way users can complain over this matter here:
http://ec.europa.eu/contact/index_en.htm

If you're from Europe, let them know that you don't agree with this stupid idea and that you want a full blown operating system. Because expecting some company to bundle competitors products just makes no sense and will never happen. No browser idea also doesn't work. How will you get Firefox or Opera if you can't access internet lol?

EC should be working on more important things, than constantly poking at Microsoft for every dumb thing they come up with.