Chuck's Blog

Adios USB 2.0–Hello USB 3.0

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Steve Bass’s Weekly Newsletter

TechBite’s columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the technology products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and the gotchas that can cause computing misery. Plus a couple of weekly laughs.

Adios USB 2.0–Hello USB 3.0; Freebie Photo Tool

Since 2004, over 150 million scans have been run at PC Pitstop, making Optimize the world’s most popular computer optimization software. The all new Optimize 3.0 is an incredibly powerful tool that will now do even more to boost the speed, stability, and overall security of your computer. There has never been a better time to run a FREE Optimize scan and rediscover your PC’s true performance.

USB specs are inflated… they always are. USB 2.0 is rated at 480 Mbit/s (about 57MB/s) while USB 3.0 is 4.8 Gbit/s (572 MB/s). In the real world, the only users getting these speeds are the marketing people who dreamed up the specs. On my PC, USB 2.0 moved files at 25MB/s and USB 3.0 can get up to 55MB/s.

Here’s a comparison between file transfers with USB 2.0 versus USB 3.0.

I used TeraCopy, a free copying utility, to measure the transfer speed.

TeraCopy shows you the speed of the transfer.

USB 3.0 Right Now
Unless you have a need to be on the edge, I’d say wait. But I know some of you want USB 3.0 now, so you have two choices: Buy a new PC with it built into the system board, or spend about $45 for a USB 3.0 adapter.

I used StarTech’s 2 Port PCI Express SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Card Adapter with two external ports. (For $60, you can choose a card with one external and one internal port for connecting internal USB devices.) They’re both backward compatible to USB 2.0. You’ll also need a USB 3.0 cable, about $15.

Installation is no different from sticking in any other adapter–open the PC’s case and insert the card into an empty PCI Express slot. You’ll need to make a connection from your PC’s power supply to the card using an LP4 molex connector (most power supplies have extra connectors).

Be aware that the maximum throughput of these cards is limited by your PC’s bus interface. PCI Express Gen 1.0 is stuck at 2.5 Gbps. (Use the freebie SIW–System information for Windows–to find out your PC’s bus interface speed.)

If you have a notebook, you can try StarTech’s Card Adapter. Because the adapter isn’t powered, though, the external device you use may need its own power source.

On a sad note, you’ll be disappointed to hear the USB connector that plugs into your PC is still dopey–you’ll have to continue guessing which side is up.

New USB 3.0 cables (you’ll still have to guess which way to plug it in…)

Need a USB 3.0 Device?
You’ve probably figured out that there aren’t tons of USB 3.0 devices out and about, and you’ll pay a premium for those that are available. USBEverything has a list of USB 3.0 gadgets (it also has a nifty FAQ with details about the new standard)

Use Windows Live Sync to keep your computers “on the same page”

If you have multiple computers (a home computer and a work computer, or a desktop and a laptop, for example), it’s handy to be able to keep the important files synchronized on both machines so you don’t have to keep copying new versions back and forth. There are many different services and programs you can use to do this. One free option is Windows Live Sync. Here’s how it works:
Sign up for a free Windows Live account if you don’t already have one.
Download and install the Live Sync application on both computers.
Make sure both computers are turned on and connected to the Internet.
Sign into the Live Sync web site.
Click “Create a personal folder.”
Find the folder on your hard drive that you want to synchronize with the other computer, or create a new folder for this purpose, and select it.
Click “Sync folder here.”
Select the other computer from the list.
Now pick a folder on the second computer where you want to sync the folder you chose on the first computer.
Select whether to use Automatic sync (the folders will be synchronized for you without you doing anything) or on-demand sync (you sync the folders whenever you choose).
Click Finish.
Now when you change anything in the synced folder on one computer, the changes will be propagated to the other computer.

To sign up for a Windows Live account, go to www.live.com

To download the Live Sync software, go to https://sync.live.com/clientdownload.aspx

Microsoft issues warning on F1 key

Microsoft is warning XP users not to use the F1 key. Pressing the key can trigger a new flaw discovered in Internet Explorer. A malicious site may prod users into pressing F1. The flaw could give attackers full control of a PC. I recommend using a safer browser until this is fixed. Read more:

Inkless printer with rewritable paper

We were all promised a paperless office in the future. That hasn’t happened. There are still reasons to print things. That means spending a fortune on printers, ink and paper. But a new solution may be on the horizon.

PrePeat is a printer that doesn’t use ink. And it uses special heat-activated rewritable paper. Done with a document? Just feed it back into the printer. It’s erased and reused. This is pretty cool. It’s also kind of expensive. The printer costs around $5,600. And a lot of specialized paper will run another $3,360. But we can still dream of a paperless future.

Roll Up Laptop

Much like a concept car, this German concept laptop shows what will be possible in the near future using flexible Organic LED (OLED) displays. OLEDs are much thinner, require no backlight, have higher contrast ratios, and draw five times less power than typical thin film transistors. You won’t need a suitcase to transport this laptop!

How to keep documents from being changed

The easiest way to protect files from accidental changes is to set the Read Only attribute on them. When a file is Read Only, any changes you make to it can’t be saved under the original file name. You can save changes with a new file name, but your original will remain the same. Here’s how you set a file to Read Only:
Navigate to the file in Windows Explorer.
Right click it and choose Properties.
Click the General tab.
Check the box that says “Read Only.”
Click OK.
If you want to make all files in a folder Read Only, you can check this box on the folder’s Properties sheet. Note that this will make all of the files currently in the folder Read Only, but it won’t affect new files that you put in the folder. Remember that others can still delete or move Read Only files, they just can’t make changes to them.

Emergency Patch for IE flaw released

In case you don’t have XP set to automatically download and install critical updates, be aware that Microsoft released an “out of band” emergency patch of Internet Explorer last Thursday. This addresses the exploit that was used in the attacks on Google and other companies. Be sure to do a manual update to ensure that your system is protected.
http://www.wxpnews.com/UHNJHV/100126-Google-Attack-Patch

Imagine a future with no keyboards or mice.

Removing autocomplete entries in IE

Have you wanted to get rid of autocomplete entries you don’t want, without affecting those you do want to keep? If you’re still using an older version of IE, just type the first letters to display the autocomplete list, then press the Down arrow to get to the entry you want to remove, and hit the Delete key. If you’ve upgraded to IE 8, you’ll notice that when you highlight an entry in the autocomplete list with your mouse, a red X appears at the end of it. You can delete the entry by clicking that X.

Windows 7 still has to battle XP

Gartner analyst Annette Jump said that Windows 7′s biggest rival will remain XP for many years. She said that XP is still too popular on business desktops, something that Vista could not defeat. Jump said that with the recession meaning that many IT departments were faced with reduced IT budgets many would delay the widespread adoption of Windows 7 until 2012.

Read more: