My Digital Life

Windows 7 in Place Upgrade of My Sony VAIO P

Since I purchase my VAIO P after June 26^th of this year, I was eligible for the free Windows 7 upgrade kit provided by Sony. The upgrade kit finally arrived Thursday. Here are the steps I followed to perform my in place upgrade:

The Sony Windows 7 upgrade kit came with 2 DVD, one containing Microsoft Windows 7 and one with Sony's drivers and applications.

1. I created an image of my system with Acronis True Image Home 2010 to a 120GB WD USB drive. Without OneCare, I think this is the best backup solution out there.
2. I downloaded, installed and ran the current version of the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

 

1. I reviewed the reports and followed the advice given. I hate that Microsoft discontinued OneCare, it was probably one of the most helpful home/small office program they ever put together, but this year has been the year of slashing in Redmond with MS Money, and other consumer apps going by the wayside (Today I just got an email that Office Accounting is being discontinued, maybe MS really wants me to try an iMac…WTF). It is interesting that the VZ Access Manager is listed for reinstall on the VAIO-P upgrade advisor report. I did not have to uninstall it on my X60 Tablet. It probably has something to do with the VAIO P's GOBI chip.

1. Once I completed the un-installs, I reran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Since I did not have the base VZ Access Manager Sony edition software to reinstall, I have decided to leave it alone and see what happens.
2. As I mentioned in my X60 upgrade list, it is a good idea to check for the latest BIOS. Sony has not released any new BIOS since the original pre installed one so I should be fine and if I need a new one the extra Sony specific disk should include it.
3. I then started the install process using the Microsoft DVD which came in the upgrade kit. The installation process validates and installs any required prerequisite Sony drivers and applications for the VAIO P. This is a big advantage of using a manufacturer upgrade kit and makes it rather idiot proof, versus downloading Windows 7 directly from Microsoft which recommends checking the manufacturer's web site manually.
4. The Windows 7 upgrade took about 4 hours, I then inserted the Sony VAIO P specific DVD and that took another hour. When I rebooted the system with Windows 7, I did have to reenter all of my network keys and network types (home, office, public) but all the drivers where updated automatically. As with the X60 I did have to uninstall and reinstall the Cisco VPN client version 5.0.04.0300.
5. I then needed to install a new Anti-Virus application. For this machine I decided to use Microsoft Anti Virus engine from the Microsoft Security Essentials web page. It is free to consumers and should provide adequate protection along with Windows Defender and Firewall (both come with Windows 7).
6. Since Microsoft is no longer shipping Photo and Video applications with Windows 7, Sony added it's Picture Motion Browser, which is great if you have Sony cameras since it recognizes them easily. I use it for importing AVCHD videos. For Video editing Sony included Sony VAIO Story; I have not tried it yet.

The VAIO P running Windows 7.

My upgrade experience so far has been excellent; it is faster and uses much less memory. Finally Sling Player works well in full screen mode…One more machine to go; my Dell XPS 720 H2C, thinking of rebuilding with Windows 7 64 bit.

Windows 7 Tip – Love Recently Used Attached to Program on Start Menu

Windows 7 provides easy access to recently used items by attaching the function to the specific application on the Start Menu. Click on the arrow to the right of the application and a list of recently used items will be displayed for you to select.

I can choose the server I want to Remote Desktop to from the Start Menu. Very nice feature.

Lenovo X60 Windows 7 Issues and Application Re-installs (update 10/28/09)

So far Windows 7 has worked very well. I will keep a list of issues over the next week, as well as required application reinstalls/repairs.

Issues/potential resolutions:

1. After several suspend/resumes the running copy of IE8 was unresponsive. I had to use the task manager to restart it.
2. Touch calibration was way off. I had to run the Windows calibration utility (start/search for calibration) and recalibrated both pen and touch. The X60 only responds to simple touch commands but it is great for paging and activating running programs on the task bar.
3. Acrobat 9.2 Standard was not loading, I performed a repair using the Acrobat install routine via control panel/Programs and Features, rebooted the issue seems resolved.
4. The automatic screen rotate and the tablet input panel did not work (first time I tried was today). Once I ran the Lenovo System Update and updated the ThinkPad Tablet Shortcut menu application, along with updating the WACOM pen and touch driver using Windows Update I was all set.

Application Re-Installs:

1. Lenovo System Update. Installed version 4 (Win 7 specific)
2. iTunes, current version from apple.com 9.0.1.8
3. Cisco VPN client version 5.0.04.0300

Windows 7 in Place Upgrade of My Lenovo X60 Tablet (update 2)

I went ahead and plucked down $219.00 to upgrade my Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate Thursday night. Here are the steps I followed to perform my in place upgrade:

1. I created an image of my system with Acronis True Image Home 2010 to my 160Mb WD Passport USB drive. Without OneCare, I think this is the best backup solution out there.
2. I downloaded, installed and ran the current version of the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

 

1. I reviewed the reports and followed the advice given. I hate that Microsoft discontinued OneCare, it was probably one of the most helpful home/small office program they ever put together, but this year has been the year of slashing in Redmond with MS Money, and other consumer apps going by the wayside.

1. Once I completed the un-installs, I reran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. I was never able to figure out which application the Lenovo Utilities was referring to but I figured it is probably all of the Thinkpad applications which Lenovo has updates for. The total prep time through this step was about an hour.
2. It is a good idea to check for the latest BIOS from Lenovo for the X60 although the Lenovo System Update will also perform a BIOS version check. The current BIOS is dated 01/08/2009. (Thanks RBK).
3. I then proceeded to purchase and download the upgrade from the Microsoft web site. I decided to download the standard 32 bit version instead of the ISO version because I did not want to go through the extra step of burning a CD. The download seemed slow so I left it run overnight Thursday. Friday morning I copied the directory structure found in my user\downloads directory to my server for backup.
4. I then started the in place upgrade process. The process revalidates your system and on this round of checking it told me I should uninstall all of the ThinkPad utilities, as well as the Intel Pro Wireless 3945 ABG drivers. At this point I was ready to move forward and figured I could deal with the issues once the upgrade was completed (not that smart, but today I was feeling lucky...). It took about 3 hours to complete.
5. When I restarted the Lenovo in Windows 7, the first issue I had to deal with was the wireless driver which the in place upgrade system check had highlighted. I uninstalled using the device manager; Windows then detected the hardware and reinstalled the drivers automatically. I was now connected to my network. I did have to reenter all of my network keys and network types (home, office, public). On the network front I also had uninstall and reinstall the Cisco VPN client version 5.0.04.0300. It looks like Microsoft has revamped the network stack, we are back to quick connect times on the VPN (Vista was slow, and before SP2 prone to errors).
6. I then downloaded the new Lenovo System Update 4.0 specifically designed for Windows 7. And ran the update to bring my ThinkPad utilities and drivers up to date.
7. I then needed to install a new Anti-Virus application. From my research, it looks like people really like the AVAST on Windows 7, so I decided to try it. You can also download Microsoft Anti Virus engine from the Microsoft Security Essentials web page (free for home use). Thanks Adamzea for clarifying the release.

My upgrade experience so far has been excellent, but I personally view Windows 7 as Vista SP3. I was already on Vista SP2 so I never thought I would have any real issues upgrading. Windows 7 is definitely much faster and the boot time is even better than XP. Bottom line "I am loving it" and Windows 7 is what the original version of Vista should have been. The subtle UI and task bar changes are also great. I love the merging of the task bar icons with running applications, and the mouse rollover to pick your active window means goodbye to Alt-Tab…

Windows 7 Day is Finally Here

Time for to upgrade my 3 machines from Vista to Windows 7. I have never really had any issues with Vista, and I have come to believe that the problems individuals where having where associated with hardware/driver design. I think Microsoft did a really poor job educating its OEM partners or never brought them into the design cycle to build a coherent hardware and software ecosystem. I own three machines, all running Vista, a Lenovo X60 Tablet, a Dell XPS 720 H2C, and Sony VAIO P. The Lenovo works flawlessly, I only reboot it for updates. The Dell is very inconsistent, I can go for 7 days without a problem, then have multiple lockups in one day. The lockup issues seem to be related to USB devices and Bluetooth. The Sony is more stable than the Dell but I have had two serious driver issues which forced me to rebuild.

I plan on doing in place upgrades on all machines. Dell does not seem to support Windows 7 on the XPS 720, which is probably why this will be the last Dell I ever buy. I spent a lot of money on this machine and for them to stop supporting it barely two years after I purchased it is a crime. It looks like they are supporting the 730, which tells me that the 720 had design issues. That said the Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor seems to think I will be fine. I agree, I don't think it will be worse than the lockups I currently encounter.

I will be buying upgrades from Microsoft for the Lenovo and the Dell, and I am waiting for Sony to deliver my free upgrade kit which has been approved but with no ship date.

My plan for the Lenovo and the Dell is the run the Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, Backup using Acronis True Image Home, and follow the instructions the Upgrade Advisor generates.

I will post my experience on the process.

Apple – Another Quarter, another Blowout!

Apple and the iPhone just keep trucking along with a record quarterly sale of 7.4 million iPhones and 440,000 Macs. The only disappointing news was slightly lower iPod sales, but Apple still holds 70%+ of the MP3 player market. Maybe the Zune HD is having an effect! (I had to say it)…

The interesting tidbit in all of this is that smartphone competitors are throwing everything they have at the iPhone and are barely dinging it. It seems that even the mighty Verizon is growing concerned and have now started to attack the iPhone with the Motorola Droid TV ad.

 That said Apple still has a formidable opponent; Research In Motion's BlackBerry holds 51% of the smartphone market (IDC), while the iPhones is at less than half with 22%. The basic reason is that Apple has neglected corporate functionality especially on the email front (when do we see full Exchange ActiveSync functionality?). Tim Cook's (Apple COO) response is that iPhone is being piloted or deployed in 50% of Fortune 100 companies and he is very pleased. From my contacts in the Federal government and corporations, IT is begrudgingly allowing the iPhone but they are not supporting it. This means users are on their own, which is very problematic for most users. Until Apple can show they are serious about corporate requirements they won't make a real dent in RIM's lead.

My International Roaming Experience – Credit Card Alerts and Fees

I know this is a bit off subject, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Most credit card companies have now implemented alerts systems which allow you to define a transaction limit amount that triggers an email or SMS. Since most thieves attempt to charge high value items this is a great way to find out if someone has gotten a hold of your account number. On my last trip to Europe I received an alert from Chase for a high value transaction which was made in Japan. I did not even have the card with me, but was able to call Chase collect, and have them cancel the card. By the time I got home, I had a new card waiting for me.

On this trip I used my Capital One credit card. They have an international transaction alert option. It was extremely helpful and unbelievably fast. Every time we used our credit card, I would receive an email within 30 seconds of the transaction's completion with the US Dollar amount and location. When you are abroad you are always guesstimating the amount in US Dollars, but with this feature you can easily validate that you were charged a valid amount while you are in the vicinity of the retail establishment.

 

Email alert on my iPhone.

On the fee side, it amazes how diverse international transaction fees can be. I chose Capital One because they have no transaction fee and from my calculations the bulk foreign exchange rate follows what you find in the Wall Street Journal. I found this great WIKI which lists what providers charge on international debit and credit transactions. As with everything, you should always call the institution directly to make sure your account provides the benefits described.

My International Roaming Experience – Today’s Cruise Ship = Connected for a Price

I have taken 2 cruises in the last 3 years, one to Alaska and this recent one in the Mediterranean. The cruise in Alaska was on Holland America, a cruise line owned by Carnival Corp. and this recent cruise was on Regent Seven Seas owned by the Apollo Group. Both cruise ships had internet and cell phone service. Both services are offered via a satellite link provided by SeaMobile, although the cellular service (Cellular@Sea) is managed by a subsidiary called Wireless Maritime Services which is joint venture with AT&T Mobility.

The cellular functionality on Regent's Seven Seas Navigator provided GSM/GPRS and CDMA/1XRTT voice/data services. As I remember it the Holland America ship only had GSM service, but by now it probably has been upgraded to handle CDMA traffic as well. The ship's cell site only operates when the ship is out of range of local cellular service. It is a roaming service where your cellular carrier bills you for all voice and data. The costs seem to be fixed across all US carriers at $2.49 per minute for voice calls, $.50 to send an SMS, $1.30 to send an MMS, and $.0195 per KB for data. The fact that all carriers are charging the same seems like price collusion but who am I to say. The Bottom line it is expensive, but much cheaper than using the wired phone in the cabin at $6.95 per minute. Also carriers offer data plans which can be very beneficial for heavy email users, Verizon offers a global unlimited email plan for $69.99 per month and includes cruise ships. AT&T International Data plans do not include cruise ships which is a real shame. I talked to both AT&T and Verizon customer service before I left. They gave me detailed information, provided me with alternatives and more than once warned me about the costs. Given the articles that have surfaced about surprise bills (especially with the iPhone); it is clear that carriers are going out of their way to educate consumers. The catch you have to call them. Even if you think you understand it all, I strongly urge everyone to call their carriers before leaving on trip abroad. AT&T emailed me an FAQ about the iPhone, and Verizon emailed a detailed rate chart with the list of countries I planned to visit.

On the internet front, both cruise ships I have been on had Internet cafes with workstations, the Regent Seven Seas Navigator even had WIFI throughout the ship. The service is run by another arm of SeaMobile called MTN Satellite Services. They charge by the minute and the cruise line can offer several different plans to its guests. On the Seven Seas Navigator I had the option of 250 and 500 minutes. As part of Regent's loyalty program, after you cruise 21 nights you get free internet which is a very nice benefit. The 250 minute plan was $87.99 with a first time registration of $3.50. The 500 minute plan was about double. Additional minutes on the 250 minutes plan were $.35 and $.25 on the 500 minute plan. I find it interesting that they charge by the minute rather than the Kilobyte, but given all the activity I saw in the Internet Café I can understand why; minutes should get people off of the workstations faster but I was amazed how many people seemed oblivious and where typing email tomes in web based editors. I was told by the Internet Café manager that the average speed is about 65Kbps per user. Unfortunately I neglected to run a speed test, but from an end user perspective it was not broadband but response times where decent. If you want to see the world and have some IT skill they are looking for people, here is the job description.

I ended up purchasing the 250 minute plan which over 11 days gave us about 22 minutes a day. Since I had problems with my Sony VAIO P's wireless drivers, my wife and I ended up using our iPhones. We would connect to download email, disconnect, respond off line, then connect again to send. One of my major pet peeves with the iPhone's email application (ActiveSync/Hosted Exchange) is its inability to deal with deletions offline (you get an error message). I would love to know how Apple thought that was a good idea…Anyway, the plan worked out well and I even had some minutes left over to go to the Internet Café to check in with United Airlines online and print our boarding passes. I also tried Skype on the iPhone using the $2.95 per month unlimited subscription plan to call phones in the US and Canada. It worked well, the person on the other end heard a little breakup (I would expect that with constrained satellite uplink speeds), but we heard them very clearly. This made calling much cheaper ($.35 per minute on our plan) than using the in cabin wired phone or on board cell system, but still more expensive than the calling card (although you need a dry land wired phone!). During the entire 12 day trip we only had a couple hours one evening where we could not get connected. The default web page told us that interference was blocking the satellite signal.

I think bringing your own computing device makes a lot sense so you can perform tasks off line to save your minutes, and then connect for data transmission. I saw a couple of Dell Mini notebooks, and a Mac book. On the mobile device front, the BlackBerry was king (looked like mostly corporate types), although iPhones were around. I did see one bulky satellite phone (it reminded me of early cell phones), why someone would think you need one on today's cruise ship intrigued me, maybe they owned it or their company wanted them to have failsafe communication. The gentleman had to stand outside on the pool deck to make a call. I also thought that newer satellite phones could switch between cell and satellite.

The bottom line is that staying connected on a cruise today is possible and easy. You just have to do a little research on plan options with your cell phone carrier or purchasing an on board internet plan (I suggest bringing your WIFI enabled smartphone or netbook) make to cost manageable if you need to stay connected without needing to be online 24/7…

My International Roaming Experience - What I Took With Me

My goal when traveling is to minimize what electronics I need to take with me to ensure some level of connectivity for voice and data. Since this trip was a vacation my computing requirements where email, basic multimedia entertainment (no HIDEF video playback required), basic photo editing (EXIF tag management), surfing, and flash media backup/storage. I also brought a Verizon HTC Ozone (thanks to the folks at Verizon Wireless for providing me the device and service) to test international roaming for an upcoming pocketnow.com article on how well you can travel with a Verizon Windows Mobile device.

Here is what I decided to pack:

1. Sony VAIO P 1.6GHZ Atom/128GB SSD. My experience was disappointing. For some reason the network drivers failed early on and I could only get connected in safe mode. I tried using a restore point but that did not work. I ended up just using it as my flash media backup and EXIF editor. I am now rebuilding it. I will be very happy to get the production Windows 7 drivers from Sony (hopefully they will release them on 10/22).
2. PowerBright XR100/12 mini power inverter. I have never been a big fan of power inverters, I would rather purchase the correct power supply for the job, but Sony does not seem to care about providing traveling power chargers for its notebooks so I was forced to purchase one. That said I actually used it more as a USB charger for my iPhone in a rental car (used Navigon) and on the United (EmPower plug required) flight back home. On our Lufthansa flight over to Europe we had 110V plugs (very nice touch).
3. iPhone 3GS 32MB
4. Jawbone BT headset. I never used it but it was good to have and small enough to carry just in case.
5. iPWR battery backup iPhone charger. This battery backup has been a life saver in the past but with email push turned off on this trip, I never used it but it is small enough to carry as insurance.
6. Griffin PowerBlock Dual Universal Charger. I bought this at BestBuy for $20. It is small and charges 2 USB devices at once. It worked great and worth $20.
7. Sony HDR-CX12 HD Flash based video/still camera. I love this camera for the good quality 1920 HD video, the 10.2MP still pictures, the great 12x optical zoom and its diminutive weight in my hand.
8. And of course the Verizon Wireless HTC Ozone CDMA/GSM Worldphone.

The one item I did not bring and missed was my old D-Link Travel Hotspot device. Our hotel in Athens (AVA Hotel, by the way it was very nice) had wired internet and all my devices were WIFI only. Our remaining accommodations had WIFI.

On the services sides I signed up for the following before I left:

1. Boingo Mobile $7.95 per month. This was a total bust, never found a Boingo HotSpot I could use. I cancelled the service since with my Verizon FIOS WIFI feature (Verizon/Boingo relationship) and the iPhone's AT&T data plan I get plenty of WIFI coverage in the US. Bottom line check locations before leaving and look into iPass, I think they are more popular in Europe.
2. Skype Unlimited US/Canada landline/cell calling plan for $2.95 a month. It worked well (more on that later).
3. Verizon/Costco $30 international calling card. Worked well when we had access to a land line.
4. AT&T 50MB international data plan. I used the same iPhone strategy I posted about before and it worked well for me. I think this strategy along with Skype is a winner for getting around high roaming fees. I will update my post.
5. Verizon International plans (article on pocketnow.com coming soon).

The only connectivity service I purchased while on the trip was 250 minutes of Internet on our Regent cruise ship (more on that tomorrow).

Back After a Two Week Hiatus

I am back at work after a two week whirlwind vacation around Greek, Egyptian, and Roman sites in the Mediterranean. I am still getting over jet lag and a cold I must have caught on the flight back. I have a lot of material to write about international digital roaming, how Verizon makes it work well with its dual standard (CDMA/GSM) Worldphones (I used an HTC Ozone), and managing the high cost of being connected.

The Pyramid of Khafre. It is too bad about the parking lot, but tourism is Egypt's second largest source of foreign income after the Suez Canal fees (according to our guide).