HyTek Computer - News Archive: May 2001

Quake 3 1.3 is out
posted by Andrew on Friday, September 28, 2001 at 11:28 AM EST

A new Quake 3 version, Quake 3 1.3 is out. Download it now!

Mandrake revamps Linux distro
posted by 1gigkid on Friday, September 28, 2001 at 12:09 AM EST

The latest version of the most popular desktop Linux distro, Mandrake, is available for download today for Pentium-class PCs.

It's based on the 2.4.8 kernel with some of the more recent mods in newer kernels backported. Several of Mandrake's own configuration tools have been revamped in this version, and it includes the latest KDE and GNOME environments: 2.2.1 and 1.4.1, respectively.

SuSE grabs Best-Business-Linux
posted by 1gigkid on Friday, September 28, 2001 at 12:08 AM EST

SuSE has been crowned as the most functional Linux distro by DH Brown Associates, whose exhaustive surveys have over the years become the bible of enterprise Unix capabilities.

New Windows XP features announced
posted by 1gigkid on Friday, September 28, 2001 at 12:06 AM EST

The operating system isn't even in the shops yet, but MS already wants you to buy add-ons for it. A whole bunch of groovy features like speaker enhancement, MP3 to WMA conversion, voice control and new games are available in Plus!, available on October 25 - the launch date for the OS itself. Cynics might observe [Go on then - Ed] that these slinky new features should have been included in the operating system itself, but at least some of them sound as if they might actually be worth paying the extra £29.99 for. We'll have to take Microsoft's word on this for the moment, as review copies of the product aren't yet available.

Micron 256mb DDR RAM Review
posted by 1gigkid on Friday, September 28, 2001 at 12:03 AM EST

With the maturation of the DDR chipset, newer memory is becoming more and more efficient and the gains over PC133 are becoming apparent as ever. Price used to be a major factor, but now that SDRAM and DDR are close in cost, there's not need to go for the slower stuff. We all know Crucial memory rocks, but that's not the point. Today we're taking a look at a "major brand" stick of PC2100 made with Micron chips. This one came inside an anti-static bag within a box, something that's pretty standard right now.

WTC Disaster Hoaxes
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 27, 2001 at 12:20 PM EST

This is a good read, check it out. Has a lot of information about the rumors that have been floating arround. Check it out when you get a chance...

Western Digital WD1000BB -
posted by 1gigkid on Wednesday, September 26, 2001 at 11:12 PM EST

Maxtor plans to ship 160 GB drives very soon, and yet it will still be difficult to outperform the recently released Western Digital WD1000. Read on for details of the performance of the fastest IDE drive out there!

More Than A SoundBlaster
posted by 1gigkid on Wednesday, September 26, 2001 at 11:10 PM EST

Tom's Hardware takes a look at other sound cards for gamers from Creative, Hercules, Aureal, Philips, and Turtle Beach.

The New Alliance of Microsoft-AMD-NVIDIA?
posted by 1gigkid on Wednesday, September 26, 2001 at 1:04 AM EST

There is a new team in town. No more Wintel. The partnership of Microsoft, AMD, and nVidia has been busy at work on a vast array of hardware products that are going to be tightly integrated with Microsoft's new operating system and its media services. This is Hailstorm - the XP project.

It is not coincidence that the next Athlon will be the Athlon XP. nVidia's new Detonator drivers are now 'XP' level. The most peculiar appearance of a glue chipset from nVidia (nForce) links the new Microsoft system hardware design nicely to XBox and to several other secret projects that will be appearing real soon now.

Microsoft: An Interesting Case Study
posted by 1gigkid on Wednesday, September 26, 2001 at 1:01 AM EST

How is it that one company can be both loved and hated at the same time with such passion and fervor? How is it that one of the greatest business success stories in the history of the United States has been so viciously challenged and attacked by their own country and customers? In this editorial we will take some time and speculate on the possible answers to those questions. We will take a look at some of the things that Microsoft has and hasn't done to deserve this bi-polar reputation.

AMD + Micron?
posted by Bobby on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 at 10:36 PM EST

There has been recent speculation that Micron (MU 20.91 -1.38) will purchase AMD. Another possibility is that AMD warns. It'll be a big mover one way or the other very soon....

Contest soon to come...
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 at 7:37 PM EST

I am awaiting the delivery of some "classified" contest items. If you want to get a headstart on the contest, simply register in our forums and post! I am thinking about getting some customized mouse pads to give away every Friday or possibly even sell. More news to come in the next week or so...

Tualatin review posted!!!!!
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 at 6:23 PM EST

Finally, after hours and hours of work, the Tualatin review is up! Check it out!

Intel Pentium III Tualatin Review Coming
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 at 3:37 PM EST

I just wanted to let all of you know that at the moment I am currently finishing up the last of the benchmarks on Intel's PIII Tualatin 1.2GHz processor. You should see the review later today. All I can say is that this looks like a great processor. Be sure to check back later! I am also trying to get a Pentium 4 & GeForce3 to review... So stay tuned! Lots to come.

ATI Radeon 8500 3D Mark 2001 Benchmarks
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 at 6:50 AM EST

These Benchmarks are the REAL MCCOY, from a undisclosed source.

NVIDIA's nForce 420/220: It's finally here!
posted by 1gigkid on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 at 2:04 AM EST

It's been three months, two weeks and six days since we introduced you to NVIDIA's nForce chipset. The chipset literally stole the show at this year's Computex. By the end of our stay in Taiwan our number one question to the motherboard manufacturers we visited was "what are your thoughts on nForce?" NVIDIA quite honestly had VIA very worried at Computex. The original launch schedule placed nForce review samples in the hands of editors towards the end of June; months before VIA could have their KT266A ready. After already receiving a heavy blow from SiS with the barrage of SiS 735 chipset reviews prior to Computex, VIA was in no shape to deal with an even more formidable opponent.

Worm Takes Advantage of Terrorist Attacks
posted by 1gigkid on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 at 2:02 AM EST

A new worm is exploiting user's interest in the recent terrorist attacks to spread its dangerous payload. Dubbed "Vote" by Computer Associates International, the worm can delete files from infected hard drives.

Vote is a mass mailer, which sends itself to e-mail addresses harvested from the Windows address book of infected systems, according to Ian Hameroff, business manager for security solutions at CA.

Exact details of how the worm works, however, are not yet clear as different security companies have different analyses.

Crucial Introduces New Automatic Memory Discounts
posted by 1gigkid on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 at 1:59 AM EST

New Drivers for the Radeon
posted by 1gigkid on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 at 1:52 AM EST

I've seen new drivers for the Radeon's poping up a little more often lately. Is ATI working on giving big brother NVIDIA some compitition. We should be seeing some interesting results out of the upcoming Radeon's. We'll keep you up to date on it. For all the Radeon fans out there you can get the new drivers at Maximum Reboot.

Intel Pentium III Tualatin Review AND New Site Design
posted by Josh on Monday, September 24, 2001 at 6:43 AM EST

Here's a snip:
The Processor wars have been a very interesting one, with the industry slowly slipping down in sales certain changes had to be down to counteract this effect. While the Pentium 4 was a great processor it was still not ready for mobile platforms or servers. Currently Itanium and Pentium III Xeon are the focus for servers. The Pentium III is known as one of the most widely used processors in performance and office applications. The Pentium III Tualatin is a completely redesigned Pentium III and it is built on Intel's .13 micron technology, so redesigned to find the need to require a new chipset revision to operate it.

Cruelty to Processors
posted by 1gigkid on Sunday, September 23, 2001 at 10:01 PM EST

There should be a law against this. Tom's Hardware has put together a video of unimaginable cruelty - four processors are tested with the heatsinks removed, two from Intel and two from AMD. Do you think a processor could survive having the heatsink removed in the middle of a Q3 demo? Who passed the test? It's a great article, you'll just have to read it.
I also recommend you download the video at the end of the article. (all 9Mb of it) You'll also need the Divx plugin (700K) which can be found at the same place. It's an amazing viewing experience.

Napster back from the dead?
posted by 1gigkid on Sunday, September 23, 2001 at 9:55 PM EST

Just when you thought you'd heard the last from every cheapskate's favourite music site, back it bounces with a statement that reads more like some mega record company's PR guff than something from the anarchic cool dudes everyone knew and loved.

CPU Cooler Comparison
posted by 1gigkid on Sunday, September 23, 2001 at 9:52 PM EST

Need a new cooler for that hot cpu? Dan's Data has the biggest Cooler shootout I have ever seen. Last count I had was 70 coolers. Thats right I typed it right the first time. WOW 70 COOLERS! All are tested the same way to get the most accurate results.

Back up (Temporarily)
posted by Andrew on Saturday, September 22, 2001 at 11:58 PM EST

Well, we decided to get a redirection service, which means our sites are back up. However, to reduce the downtime in the future, we are working to upgrade our isp to get us a static ip with port 80 open. If we succeed, we will have to change what ip our domain points to, which will take a few days. However, other than that, or if we can't upgrade our isp, things should be back to normal.

Update...
posted by Josh on Wednesday, September 19, 2001 at 9:12 PM EST

I just wanted to let you know what is going on... As many of you probably have noticed you can't access the site using domain names at the moment. This is because our forwarding server was wiped by a virus. We are currently upgrading our ISP account to get us back up and running 100%. You can still access the forums at: http://24.45.176.213:81/forums We should be back to normal with in the next few days (hopefully by Friday). Visit James Crivellone's site at http://www.soundcardcentral.com to find out more details. Soon to come is a review of Intel's new Tualatin desktop processor line!

Light a candle!!!
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 18, 2001 at 4:29 PM EST

Virus Alert
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 18, 2001 at 4:09 PM EST

We don't usually post virus alerts, because they hardly have a large threat as the Code Red Worm. This new virus (or worm) is yet another that exploits holes in Microsoft's IIS, which is available on NT (2000) platforms. Just patch your systems already!

UPDATE: I just wanted to let all of you know that this worm looks much nastier than Code Red. It also spreads via network shares...

Software pirates not even charged
posted by Josh on Monday, September 17, 2001 at 10:02 PM EST

"So what if it's pirated? You don't have a right to be in here unless you have a warrant."

That was the reaction from a man selling more than 250 illegally copied games titles from a shop front in the Sydney CBD when confronted by distributor Take 2 Interactive Software.

Tech Firms Help NY Rebuild
posted by Josh on Monday, September 17, 2001 at 9:59 PM EST

When Mike Lackey sent an e-mail message Wednesday night to technology companies around the world asking them to donate any PCs, technical equipment, and expertise they could spare for New York City companies devastated by Tuesday's terrorist attack, he was unprepared for the response.

Within hours, his phone and e-mail inbox were swamped with hundreds of messages from willing firms offering office space, PCs, entire phone networks, or whatever companies affected by this week's terrorist attacks need to stay in business and recover.

Tech execs killed in terrorism attacks
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 15, 2001 at 7:54 PM EST

AT LEAST 11 top executives of technology companies were among those killed Tuesday when the aircraft they were traveling on were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

3D Cool HD Cooler Review at Tweak3D!
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 15, 2001 at 7:54 PM EST

Cooling a computer system is crucial these days, with everything from video card GPU to CPU requiring efficient cooling. The hard drive is no exception. As drives get larger and spin faster, more heat is generated, increasing the need for cooling. In the next page or so I will be taking a look at the “Ultimate Hard Drive Cooler” offered at 3Dcool.com.

Windows XP: Prepare your PC
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 15, 2001 at 7:53 PM EST

Thinking seriously about that upgrade to Windows XP? The new kid on the Microsoft block is strutting its stuff, and, between controversy and general buzz, it's all up in your face.

But is your PC ready? This OS makes for a hefty upgrade and might leave you feeling like Fear Factor is a walk in the park. To minimize the upgrade risks, make sure your hardware, peripherals, and software are ready. Follow CNET's easy-to-use guides to prepare your PC for a new eXPerience.

Twenty-something CD burners: the write stuff
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 15, 2001 at 7:52 PM EST

We looked at four next-generation CD-R/RW drives (20X to 24X) that burn like wildfire, don't cost a fortune, and come with all the extras you need to scratch your multimedia itch. Two of them were good enough to deserve an Editors' Choice--but for different reasons. Read on to pick the CD burner that lights your fire.

National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims Of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

On Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked America in a series of despicable acts of war. They hijacked four passenger jets, crashed two of them into the World Trade Center's twin towers and a third into the Headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense at the Pentagon, causing great loss of life and tremendous damage. The fourth plane crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside, killing all on board but falling well short of its intended target apparently because of the heroic efforts of passengers on board. This carnage, which caused the collapse of both Trade Center towers and the destruction of part of the Pentagon, killed more than 250 airplane passengers and thousands more on the ground.

Civilized people around the world denounce the evildoers who devised and executed these terrible attacks. Justice demands that those who helped or harbored the terrorists be punished -- and punished severely. The enormity of their evil demands it. We will use all the resources of the United States and our cooperating friends and allies to pursue those responsible for this evil, until justice is done.

We mourn with those who have suffered great and disastrous loss. All our hearts have been seared by the sudden and sense-less taking of innocent lives. We pray for healing and for the strength to serve and encourage one another in hope and faith.

Scripture says: "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." I call on every American family and the family of America to observe a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, honoring the memory of the thousands of victims of these brutal attacks and comforting those who lost loved ones. We will persevere through this national tragedy and personal loss. In time, we will find healing and recovery; and, in the face of all this evil, we remain strong and united, "one Nation under God."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Friday, September 14, 2001, as a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001. I ask that the people of the United States and places of worship mark this National Day of Prayer and Remembrance with noontime memorial services, the ringing of bells at that hour, and evening candlelight remembrance vigils. I encourage employers to permit their workers time off during the lunch hour to attend the noontime services to pray for our land. I invite the people of the world who share our grief to join us in these solemn observances.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-sixth.

GEORGE W. BUSH

FBI steps up Net surveillance, following terror attack
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 5:27 PM EST

The FBI has been accused of using yesterday's disaster as a way to install more of its Carnivore listening boxes into Internet systems.

FBI agents have reportedly turned up at several Internet and network service providers with a number of boxes in tow and requesting permission to install them at the heart of people's networks. Many have said yes.

American Tragedy - Find out how you can help the victims
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 5:26 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Terrorists struck the United States Tuesday morning in harrowing, widespread attacks that included at least four commercial jet crashes into significant buildings. In the first attack, a plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan shortly before 9 a.m., followed by another plane into the second tower about 20 minutes later. Both towers later collapsed. About an hour later, a plane crashed into the Pentagon, part of which later collapsed. A United Airlines airliner crashed near Somerset, Pennsylvania -- police said initial reports indicated no survivors.

EBay Bans Trade Center, Pentagon Items
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 5:25 PM EST

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - The massive Internet auction site eBay is banning the sale of any items relating to the World Trade Center or the Pentagon, out of sensitivity to Tuesday's terrorist attacks.

Will Attack Hurt Net Privacy?
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 5:24 PM EST

Is stepped-up government surveillance of cyberspace needed in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.?

Government officials have not yet revealed any plans to curtail individual freedoms online. But concerned privacy advocates are urging authorities to take a long-term view of any new eavesdropping proposals

Tweakfiles is closing it's doors
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 5:22 PM EST

TweakFiles was started around 9/99 by Tim and I, (Jim), came on board around 12/99. Since then we have grown to around 500,000 ad views per day. The problem is ad views aren't worth what they used to be and the ftp service to host the files has grown dramatically. We found out yesterday that C|Net and GameSpot have decided to close TweakFiles down. Our final day will be 9/14/01.

Cisco and Verizon Team Up for Teleworking
posted by Josh on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 at 4:56 PM EST

Cisco Systems Inc., the No. 1 maker of computer-networking equipment and Verizon Communications Inc., the largest U.S. local telephone company, said on Monday they are teaming up to provide equipment and services to the 1000 companies so their employees can have the same connectivity at home as they do at the office.

Microsoft's suggestion for punishment?
posted by Josh on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 at 4:54 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) The same business changes the Justice Department may soon try to impose on Microsoft were proposed by the software maker last year as an alternative to the Clinton administration's breakup plan. Considering the Bush administration's decision this week not to pursue a breakup, however, legal experts predict the company now will take a harder line. Microsoft won't say what it would accept to end the four-year antitrust case.

Via Hits Back, Files Countersuit Against Intel
posted by Josh on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 at 4:53 PM EST

On Monday, after finding itself on the receiving end of legal action on Friday, Taiwan's Via Technologies blasted back at rival Intel. VIA filed lawsuits of its own alleging patent infringement, fair trade law violations, and destruction of company property.

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy Review
posted by Josh on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 at 4:53 PM EST

One question that many will ask when hearing about new features such as an improved 3D audio engine and support for early reflections in the new EAX Advanced HD is if Creative Labs used any of Aureal’s technology. The answer to that question is no, and Creative Labs also said they have no intention to ever using it. The reason, according to Creative Labs, was simply that the Audigy chip already been too long in development when the Aureal IP assets acquisition was approved. They now also consider their own technology superior to what Aureal had at the time so future improvements will build on what’s available in the Audigy chip and drivers rather than what they got from Aureal.

VIA 4-in-1 Drivers 4.33 Final
posted by Josh on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 at 4:51 PM EST

Update Via inf driver from version 1.20a to 1.30, add quickly and silent install function, modify Bitmap picture, and fixed setup issue under windows XP.

NEW Detonator 21.81
posted by Josh on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 at 4:50 PM EST

U.S. Disaster
posted by Josh on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 at 4:48 PM EST

We have just wanted to let you know that we are working on getting some sites up and running with information and resources for this tradgedy. We will let you know as soon as they are up and running. For now we will start bringing you some tech news...

Today's sick and sad events...
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 at 7:45 PM EST

I sit here almost 12 hours after the first of the events that has changed the U.S. today. I am sure that most of you have heard what has happened so there is no need in repeating all of what occured today. I send out my prayers to all those effected by these tragic events and would like to give a moment of silence. I am not far from New York, and can go 5 minutes away to see the smoke across the Long Island Sound. There are supposedly Naval ships near by, and "explosions" in Afganhastan. I am wondering if school will be held tomorrow, as because a lot of people have relative's that were involved in these heartless acts. Feel free to discuss your thoughts in the forum...

World Trade Center Attack
posted by Andrew on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 at 5:03 PM EST

As you probably know, both World Trade Center buildings have collapsed, and the Pentagon is on fire due to horrible hijacking and deliberate crashing into buildings, killing possibly thousands of innocent men, women, and children. Everyone's heart here goes out to everyone who was affected by this terrible tragedy.

Follow the price war ticker
posted by Josh on Monday, September 10, 2001 at 6:56 AM EST

The biggest vendors are fighting over your tech dollar. You can track their daily price drops and time your buys for PCs, portables, CD-R/RW drives, and more.

Dimension Technologies 2015XLS 15 Review
posted by Josh on Monday, September 10, 2001 at 6:55 AM EST

The Dimension Technologies 2015XLS display gives you one thing no other TFT or CRT display can. The ability to actually perceive 3D Depth!! No silly glasses required! How well does it work, and is it worth $1,699.00?

Linux Trojan spotted in the wild
posted by Josh on Monday, September 10, 2001 at 6:54 AM EST

A Linux-based Trojan, which security experts believe may have originated in the UK, has been spotted on the Net.

Michael Dell laughs at HP/Q dilemma
posted by Josh on Monday, September 10, 2001 at 6:54 AM EST

A REPORT AT THE END OF last week in Nashville newspaper The Commercial Appeal shows that Dell thinks it has nothing to fear whatever from the proposed "merger" of Hewlett Packard and the Compaq Corpse. Michael Dell, who apparently was grinning widely at the time, told Nashville's Chamber of Commerce that "large mergers are very hard to do" and "often don't work".

Intel Pimps 3.5GHz P4
posted by Josh on Monday, September 10, 2001 at 6:52 AM EST

San Jose -- Intel has always promised that the Pentium 4 could scale to super-high clock speeds. To back up the claim, Intel officials on Tuesday showed off a next-generation Pentium 4 running at 3.5GHz.

The hyper-clocked P4 was based on the upcoming "Northwood" core. Northwood, which many expect to be released later this year, marks Intel's transition to a 0.13-micron process technology for its flagship desktop processor.

PC Case Gear Braided IDE HDD cable
posted by Josh on Monday, September 10, 2001 at 6:51 AM EST

Round IDE ATA HDD cables come in many different colors now, different lengths, and now you can even get SCSI and FDD round drive cables. So what makes these new ones so special? The new breed of round IDE cables from our friend James at PC Case Gear is colored ribbon cable with shiny braided shielding wrapped and rounded in soft, clear plastic.

Microsoft Confirms Tagging Beta XP CDs
posted by Josh on Monday, September 10, 2001 at 6:50 AM EST

In a message to security expert Steve Gibson, Microsoft admitted yesterday that the company had secretly tagged the Windows XP downloads for technical beta testers to catch the software pirates who had been giving out builds of the product for the past year. The company inserted a universally unique identifier (UUID) into each download so it could determine whether testers had given out their copies of XP to others.

Socket-A Cooler Roundup
posted by Josh on Monday, September 10, 2001 at 6:49 AM EST

Quite a bit has been happening on the cooler market. Today, we see more copper coolers than ever before, and more models are using larger fans.

AMD Website Redesign
posted by Josh on Monday, September 10, 2001 at 6:48 AM EST

Welcome to the new AMD website. We've redesigned our site to provide easy access to information about AMD products and services. Whether you're a gaming enthusiast looking for the latest processor benchmarks, or a system builder looking for detailed chip data, our newly designed site will help you find the information you need.

HyTek Computer: Update
posted by Josh on Sunday, September 9, 2001 at 10:55 AM EST

I just wanted to let you all know that our affiliate list has been updated with some new deals and new companies. Please check the list out here. In addition I have updated the archive and you can access it here. I am still working on getting some hardware to review and giveaway, so stay tuned!

Microsoft Windows XP Professional : First Look
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 8, 2001 at 10:54 AM EST

It's the greatest thing since sliced bread - that's what Microsoft wants you to believe. It is being touted as the single biggest new version of the Windows operating system since Windows 95 came out. It has been tested, retested and then tested again. Rumers have been circulating for months - some for more than a year. It is finally here.

Code Red Worm Changes Colors
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 8, 2001 at 10:54 AM EST

Like earlier variants of Code Red, Code Blue launches a denial of service attack. But unlike other variants, which launched a denial of service attack against the White House Web site, the Code Blue worm instead attacked an IP address (211.99.196.135) associated with the Web site of a Chinese network security provider, NSFocus Information Technology, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. EDT).

RAID Without Additional Hardware: Do It Yourself With Windows 2000
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 8, 2001 at 10:53 AM EST

Although IDE RAID controllers provide a cost-effective way of creating high-performance RAID storage systems, you can even do away with this piece of hardware by using Windows 2000 support for software RAID. We took a detailed look at this option and put several different configurations to the test.

Toys R Us sells out Xbox pre-orders in 30 mins
posted by Josh on Friday, September 7, 2001 at 6:55 AM EST

Toys R Us and its online store manager, Amazon.com, yesterday claimed that they had sold all of their initial batch of Xbox consoles within 30 minutes of the units going on sale.

A Beginner's Guide to Benchmarking Memory and Hard Drives
posted by Josh on Friday, September 7, 2001 at 6:54 AM EST

Ever wondered exactly how well your own system stacks up against the ones being reviewed on sites like Sharky Extreme? This guide will let you know how to benchmark your memory and hard drive SiSoft Sandra, HD Tach and MemTach and is the latest in a series of guides coming that will guide you through benchmarking CD-ROM's, CDRW's, hard drives, and CPU's.

Hawking: Re-engineer humans or risk machine rule
posted by Josh on Friday, September 7, 2001 at 6:53 AM EST

If humans don't watch out, computers will take over the Earth, says Stephen Hawking.

Since computers double their capacity every 18 months, there's a real danger they will develop intelligence, the Cambridge University physicist told the German news magazine Focus, which published the interview in its Monday edition.

Justice Department drops Microsoft breakup
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 5:02 PM EST

All of you know that Microsoft was trying to be broken up. Now the decision has been reached to drop the case. Check out they story...

Code Red busting code gets cool reception
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 6:44 AM EST

The use of virus-like code that is geared to patching security holes on vulnerable systems has received the thumbs down by members of the security community.

In the wake of the widespread (though at times exaggerated) impact of the Code Red worm and its variants, white hat hackers have posted programs on the net which repairs systems and guards against further infection.

Microsoft eyes Gateway?
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 6:44 AM EST

FOLLOWING HP's snap up of once-great Compaq, the rumour mill has moved into overdrive with all manner of weird and wonderful synergistic marriages of convenience being proposed.

Head of the list is speculation that Microsoft and Intel will gang up on poor little Gateway. The deal involves a generous payment well in excess of Gateway's actual share value - one copy of Windows XP Home Edition, a 500MHz Celeron processor and a cheese sandwich.

Absolute Morpheus GeForce3 Review
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 6:43 AM EST

First up to bat is the Absolute Morpheus GeForce 3. The GeForce3 GPU from nVidia has rocketed to the top of the heap of gaming GPU's. The addition of a Pixel Shader, along with faster memory and a faster more powerful GPU this card represents the top-end of 3D Gaming. This card comes from Absolute Multimedia's 3DPower division. This company is not in the forefront of 3D Gaming cards, so I was a little skeptical of their product (especially after my bad experiences with PowerColor). Much to my relief, this card performed quite well and also comes with a great software package.

HERCULES ANNOUNCE NEW GAME THEATER XP 6.1
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 6:42 AM EST

Hercules is delighted to present its new Game Theater XP™ 6.1 sound card. Based on Game Theater XP™ technology, credited with more than 80 international awards, Game Theater XP™ 6.1 is the first up-market sound card able to offer 6.1 channel surround sound to gamers and DVD enthusiasts.

Official: Bush high-tech policy coming soon
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 6:39 AM EST

Nancy Victory, who heads the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said the Bush administration has been working on an inclusive policy and would announce its position on several high-tech issues, including proposed limits to the junk e-mail known as spam.

ALi’s New Southbridge for Ultra ATA/133
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 6:38 AM EST

Acer Laboratories (ALi) just let us know about the M1535D+ Southbridge, which supports Maxtor's Fast Drive ATA/133 hard drive interface. Maxtor’s Ultra ATA/133 uses the current IDE interface transmission but the company says it’s 1.3 times faster than Ultra ATA/100 and is backward compatible with ATA/66 and /100. ALi's M1535D+ is equipped with ATA 66/100/133, super I/O, audio processing, software modem, keyboard controller, fast infra-red (FIR), hot key power on, SPDIF, and 6 USB ports. Along with support for X86 architectures for Intel, AMD, Transmeta and RISE, ALi's M1535D+ can be used with most major CISC and RISC CPUs, as well as Information Appliance products, set top boxes, web pads, blade servers and workstations.

New VBASIC worm strikes: I-Worm/Apost
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 6:37 AM EST

caddmannq writes, "A new mass mailing worm written in Visual Basic is spreading as a file README.EXE in messages with the following details:

Thank you.
---
When the README.EXE file is executed it copies itself into Windows directory and alters the registry. Then the worm takes email addresses from Outlook address book, starts sending itself, and displays a message box with a button 'Open'. When you click on it, a fake error message appears:" WinZip SelfExtractor: Warning CRC error: 234#21

Radeon Tweaking
posted by Josh on Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 6:35 AM EST

The ATI Radeon series of graphics chipsets have proven to be an industry revolution. The Radeon has forced direct competition with nVidia's GeForce, thus lowering retail prices while introducing further technology advancements. However, ATI has several major obstacles to overcome in regards to driver optimization as compared to the extensive programming efforts offered by nVidia. Most Radeon video cards feature the same basic technologies, although ATI seems to use a varied approach for chipset specific driver optimizations. Luckily, most of these advanced options can be enabled through basic registry conventions.

Did the FBI ignore 'Code Red' warning?
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 4, 2001 at 4:08 PM EST

This article makes you wonder who is on top and in command. I mean we were affected by Code Red and to know it could have all been prevented whether starting with Microsoft or the FBI can make you upset.

What is it with these sharks?
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 4, 2001 at 4:02 PM EST

For some reason this season I have been hearing of shark attacks more frequently. From minor to critical attacks, but lately deaths. Just recently a 10 year old boy was killed by a shark, and now another man is left dead, and his girl friend in critical condition. I mean, why can't people learn to stay out of the water?! I say close those beaches already!

HP to buy Compaq
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 4, 2001 at 3:58 PM EST

Yes, you have heard me correctly. HP to acquire Compaq for approximately $25 billion. Does that mean better support for Compaq customers, or worse support for HP?

MS loosens XP WPA some more, to offer upgrade to Pro
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 4, 2001 at 6:37 AM EST

Microsoft has wobbled some more on Windows Product Activation (WPA) in WinXP, but from where we're sitting it by no means looks like the final wobble. The company seems to have just about decided on the extent to which it will loosen up on WPA, and at the moment the bottom line appears to be that it will be practically no trouble at all for practically everybody.

OCZ Tech Titan 3 video card review
posted by Josh on Tuesday, September 4, 2001 at 6:36 AM EST

Stock GeForce 3 not fast enough for you? Then take a look at The Tech Zone's review of the Titan 3 video card from OCZ Tech. This is the fastest GeForce 3 video card in the world! While other GeForce 3 cards ship running at 200Mhz core and 460Mhz memory, the Titan 3 runs at 215/515!

Fury breaks out over IBM HDs
posted by Josh on Monday, September 3, 2001 at 12:08 AM EST

END USERS ARE GOING incandescent over IBM's 75 series of hard drives, with hundreds of people deluging a popular Web site with complaints about the failure of Big Blue to address the problems.

I had one of these drives (the 61 GB model) and it broke. I called IBM and they gave me hell, I ended up getting a new one from Maxtor for free (long story). It makes you wonder what IBM is up to...

WinXP eval cracked to Corp Edition
posted by Josh on Monday, September 3, 2001 at 12:06 AM EST

THE HACKERS AND THE CRACKERS have been fiddling around with the evaluation copy of XP and have managed to make it into the Corporate Edition.

Internet from space
posted by Josh on Monday, September 3, 2001 at 12:05 AM EST

You want high-speed Internet access, but you're miles away from DSL or cable. Satellite could save you. CNET investigates two options.StarBand Satellite vs. EarthLink Satellite

New Beta VIA 4-1 drivers
posted by Josh on Sunday, September 2, 2001 at 10:19 AM EST

These Beta 4.33 drivers are the first driver set from VIA in a while, and are looking to please. As always, these are not on VIA's official driver page yet, please consider and treat them as BETA. Here is a list of what's new:

1. Update Via inf driver from version 1.20a to 1.30
2. Add quickly and silent install function
3. Modify Bitmap picture
4. Fixed setup issue under windows XP

Chipmakers angle for Linux support
posted by Josh on Sunday, September 2, 2001 at 10:18 AM EST

Linux--with a strong developer community and a flexibility that allows the Unix clone to run on numerous chips--has become an asset the chipmakers want on their sides as they prepare future chip designs. Linux has become a tool to secure quick support for a new chip.

Download of the day
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 1, 2001 at 12:56 PM EST

Today's download of the day is Download Accelerator Plus. A great tool for online downloading and file transfers that gets you the best speed off the servers you are downloading from and much more. Get it here.

2.0 GHz AMD Hammer Chip Coming Soon?
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 1, 2001 at 12:47 PM EST

Industry sources, moles, and various others have rumored the fact that AMD is MUCH closer to completion of its Hammer series of MPUs than the chipmaker lets on. The Hammer, AMD's next generation line of 64-bit processors, is perhaps sampling already and could be ready to sell in Q1 of next year. AMD's public line on these chips is that they won't be ready until the second half of next year.

MS releases IIS 'lockdown' utility
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 1, 2001 at 12:47 PM EST

Microsoft has released its latest security-oriented utility, this time addressing the many vulnerabilities in Internet Information Server (IIS) with its free 'IIS Lockdown Tool'.

Geeks, nerds rally at LinuxWorld Penguin Bowl
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 1, 2001 at 12:46 PM EST

SAN FRANCISCO, California (IDG) -- LinuxWorld's own version of the Weakest Link game show, The Golden Penguin Bowl, proves that knowing the difference between TCPIP and CPIP as well as the breed of parrot in Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch can come in handy.

Intel's Value PC Processor Breaks Gigahertz Barrier
posted by Josh on Saturday, September 1, 2001 at 12:45 PM EST

Intel Corporation released three new Intel® Celeron processors. The desktop Intel Celeron at 1.10 GHz, 1 GHz and 950 MHz represent Intel's fastest offerings for the price sensitive desktop value PC market segment. In addition chip prices are starting to drop thanks to a major price drop on Intel's processor lines.

Server back up...
posted by Andrew on Saturday, September 1, 2001 at 1:53 AM EST

After a few days of being down, 5 linux installations, waiting for our new ip to update on the internet, and hours and hours of work, we finally have a working linux router and our site is back up. Some people may still be unable to access it for another day because it takes a day or two to update our ip change globally. We are sorry for the downtime, and we work as hard as we can to keep our site up as much as possible. If you experience any problems, please e-mail administrator@hytekcomputer.com.

September 2001