The pagefile.sys file is the Virtual Memory file used by your Windows computer. If you have limited RAM, your windows machine to run programs and store data. It swaps out some of the RAM data to the page file and then reuses the freed up RAM.

You can improve the security of a computer running Windows if you delete pagefile.sys everytime you shut down your Windows machine.

How to do this?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Add the following registry keys:

Value Name: ClearPageFileAtShutdown
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

You need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

In an unprecedented move, Microsoft announced that they will continue to support Windows Vista up to 2014. While Microsoft’s support for their operating systems terminates after 10 years, Windows XP’s support will be extended by another 3 years. Perhaps the decision was made because most of Microsoft’s business customers have not upgraded to Vista due to cost of upgrading, resource requirements, and lack of compatibility with older applications.

Microsoft released Vista in January of last year. But the company has apparently accepted the fact that many of its largest customers will skip Vista altogether and will continue using XP at least until Windows 7 becomes available three years from now, and possibly longer.

Microsoft will still be supporting the “downgrading” of Vista to XP, an option for Vista users  wanting to get back to Windows XP.

Read the rest of the report here

Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) is an open source software application which aims to allow Linux/Unix-like systems to execute programs written for Microsoft Windows. Wine does not require Microsoft Windows, but it can use native Windows DLLs if they are available. Wine also provides a software library known as Winelib which developers can compile Windows applications against to help port them to Unix-like systems.

Finally, after 12 years of development, version 1.0 was released today, June 17, 2008 under GPL License.

Visit Wine website to download version 1.0.

Today’s much awaited mobile phone, the Sony ericsson XPERIA X1 has received minor changes to its appearance. The most noticeable changes are XPERIA X1’s new color which is called ‘Steel Silver’ and the ‘XPERIA’ branding under the screen (see image below). The button to activate the panel interface has also changed. However, it is still unknown if changes in the software have been made.

Other features of Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 include Windows Mobile 6.1, a 3.2 mega pixel camera, a custom interface, slide out keyboard, and WiFi and 3G. The much awaited mobile phone’s rumored launch is on September, although this is not yet confirmed.

While Microsoft Vista is struggling to get the public’s perception, Bill Gates said that 140 million copies of Microsoft Vista have been sold. However, Bill Gates did not clarify whether those were licenses or retail copies. Microsoft first made such an announcement when they crossed the 100 million mark of Vista sold at the end of last year.

HP introduced the HP Mini-Note 2133, a full-function, mini-notebook designed for the education market.

The HP Mini-Note 2133 is available with a variety of 2.5″ form-factor storage options unlike the ASUS Eee PC. The HP Mini-Note 2133 $499 model will get you a 1.0GHz VIA C7-M processor, 512MB of RAM and a 4GB SSD running Novell Suse Linux. The $549 will get you a 1.2GHz VIA processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 5400 RPM 120GB Hard Disk Drive. For Windows Vista lovers, all you need is to add an an extra $50 for the Home Basic edition. All machines are equipped with two USB 2.0 ports, SDHC slot, an ExpressCard/54 slot, VGA port and GbE. HP also makes 7200 RPM 120GB and 160GB HDDs available as an option.
The HP Mini-Note 2133 has an 8.9″, 1280×768 screen resolution display. The 2133 Mini-Note weighs 2.63 lbs with its base configuration and a 3-cell battery.