Most annoying error ever?

The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped because a program is still accessing it.

This isn't that helpful. I want to know the name program that is using the drive, and the name of the files that are still open.

Darn, my VMware virtual machine was detected

I wanted to install the software from yourcursor.com to see if they bundle some additional software with their cursors. To my surprise, their installer detected it was running in a virtual machine:


Looking around for workarounds... To be continued..

Antivirus Plus

Ran into the good old rogue Antivirus Plus application today:

Update October 27, 2009

Today I ran into AntiVirus plus again. I capped a FreeFixer log so you can see what changes this rogue antivirus program did:

FreeFixer v0.48 log
http://www.freefixer.com/
Operating system: Windows XP Service Pack 2
Log dated 2009-10-27 18:06


Registry Startups (3 whitelisted)
HKLM\..\Run, AntiVirus Plus = C:\Program Files\AntiVirus Plus\AntiVirus Plus.70155.exe
HKCU\..\Run, AntiVirus Plus = C:\Program Files\AntiVirus Plus\AntiVirus Plus.70155.exe

Autostart shortcuts
AntiVirus Plus.lnk, , C:\Program Files\AntiVirus Plus\AntiVirus Plus.70155.exe
AntiVirus Plus.lnk, , C:\Program Files\AntiVirus Plus\AntiVirus Plus.70155.exe

HOSTS file
78.159.125.60 us.search.yahoo.com
78.159.125.60 uk.search.yahoo.com
78.159.125.60 search.yahoo.com
78.159.125.60 www.google.com.br
78.159.125.60 www.google.it
78.159.125.60 www.google.es
78.159.125.60 www.google.co.jp
78.159.125.60 www.google.com.mx
78.159.125.60 www.google.ca
78.159.125.60 www.google.com.au
78.159.125.60 www.google.nl
78.159.125.60 www.google.co.za
78.159.125.60 www.google.be
78.159.125.60 www.google.gr
78.159.125.60 www.google.at
78.159.125.60 www.google.se
78.159.125.60 www.google.ch
78.159.125.60 www.google.pt
78.159.125.60 www.google.dk
78.159.125.60 www.google.fi
78.159.125.60 www.google.ie
78.159.125.60 www.google.no
78.159.125.60 www.google.com
78.159.125.60 www.google.de
78.159.125.60 www.google.fr
78.159.125.60 www.google.co.uk

Goodbye GoogleUpdate.exe

GoogleUpdate.exe is the shared component that keeps Google Toolbar, Google Chrome and other Google products up to date. Google got a lot of critic for creating yet another process that kept running in the background.

The good news is that upcoming version of Google's software will use the Windows Task Scheduler which only run at periodic intervals, not 24/7 like GoogleUpdate.exe did.

Invited to the Dreamhost Private Servers

Got an invitation to the DreamHost private servers a few days ago. Basically, the invitation allows me to start a private server starting at 150MB and $5 / month. I'm currently running my sites in the shared environment and I'm happy with the response- and up-time.

Anyone tried the Dreamhost PS? And how long will 150MB last? I'm currently using around 1400 CPU seconds/day.

Hey again Roger!

Last week we again sent you an email inviting you to try our still-new
DreamHost PS (Private Servers) and/or our DreamHost PS MySQL service!
But again it looks like you never checked it out at:

http://www.dreamhostps.com/

Nor did you choose to sign up by visiting:

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=vserver.provision


Well, it's hard for us to understand how you couldn't give it a shot for
just $10/month (33% off). But not impossible for us to believe. What's
IMPOSSIBLE for us to believe is if you don't take advantage of this, our
final and greatest offer!

$10/month off.. forever. That's 100MB free.. meaning you can get your
very own Private Server with 150MB of ram for just FIVE dollars a month!
Awooooooga!

The main advantages of DreamHost PS are:

* You get your own PROTECTED system resources for improved stability.
* You get more flexibility than regular hosting to run any process.
* You can scale your resources on the fly, and reboot your own PS.
* It's currently only +$10/month for every 100MB of memory. ($10 off!)
* It's a completely seamless transition from our regular shared hosting.

You can also sign up for DreamHost PS MySQL, which is just like PS but
for your databases. If you get both PS and PS MySQL, you get another 20%
off both, forever!

Now, this is really our final final offer. And, it expires one week from
today (by 2009-07-05) .. sign up and we'll be able to provision you
ASAP!

Thanks one final time,
The Happy DreamHost Evite Team!

P.S. If you'd prefer not to be notified by email in the future should
you be given any more invitations, please visit our contact preferences
page here:

https://panel.dreamhost.com/id/?tab=contact

And select to not receive "DreamHost Promotions" anymore!

Following_me, Followers_me

Another Twitter bug :)