XP owners infected with rootkit virus

A number of the newest Windows XP security updates will not update and be installed on machines with a rootkit virus.

A rootkit virus hides within the Windows OS and tries to avoid being found.

The problem came to light in February, as security updates issued caused machines that had been infected with the rootkit to continually crash the system.

This rootkit was identified as Alureon. It can pluck out usernames, passwords, credit card details etc from a system and send the details to the hacker. It can also leave a backdoor open and allow the hacker access to the system.

New updates from Microsoft can now spot if a system has been overtaken by the Alureon rootkit and stop the update installation. The updates also remedy problems in the kernel or core of the operating system, which is where the rootkit is found.

Microsoft is hoping that this will give owners confidence and continue to install updates. The fear is that some owners may stop updating, due to a fear of making their system crash.

It is not yet clear how many owners have been affected.

Sales rise for the PC by a quarter at start of 2010

Initial statistics for the sales of PC’s have rocketed for the first quarter of 2010.

Compared to the same quarter of 2009, the PC manufacturers have sold just over 24% more units.

The figures come on the back of an all time low retail price for the PC. Retail prices have slipped, due to consumers preferring netbooks and laptops.

The big winners so far at the start of 2010 are Lenovo (increase of 58%) and Acer (increase of 42%).

Lenovo had the second biggest number of sales worldwide, whilst Acer came in fourth.

It is expected that sales for April to June will also rise. All of the main PC makers have seen increases in worldwide sales for the start of 2010.

However, Hewlett-Packard is still a fair way ahead of the competition. In third place is Dell and in fifth came Toshiba.

Four new laptops launched by Acer

The computer manufacturer Acer has unveiled 4 new laptops.

The top end machine was the Acer Timeline X model. It has varying size screens from the 13.3 inch up to the 15.6 inch. Acer also revealed that an 11 inch version will be eventually released.

The Acer Timeline X will have 9 different configurations, with prices starting around £600.

Acer are eager to rid itself of being the low end bargain choice for customers. With this in mind, the Acer Timeline X looks really good with a chic keyboard and a blush mounted touchpad.

As for specifications, the cheapest version has an Intel i3 330M processor installed. The high end model has an Intel Core i7 670M.

The hard drives will vary from 250GB to an impressive 640GB. All model versions will have a minimum of 3GB of RAM.

As for graphics, AMD’s HD 5650 and HD 5470 are installed.

Also unveiled by Acer, 2 other mid range laptops were announced. These are aimed at laid-back gamers and people who wish for a Blu-Ray drive.

One of the models, the x754, boasts a complete range of Intel Mobile Core processors and are completed with graphics from AMD. There are3 versions available, the 14 inch, 15.6 inch and finally the 17.3 inch. All 3 have Dolby Optimised surround sound..

The largest model, the 17.3 inch, has DDR3 RAM slots for up to 16GB of memory.

As with the Acer Timeline X, the x751 and the x754 have starting prices of around £600.

Rounding out the new Acer releases is the Aspire Ethos 5943g 02Acer. The laptop sports an 18 inch screen. Whilst being a dominant machine, the look of the machine leaves a bit to be desired.

Whilst the Ethos looks to be the worst of the bunch, the Acer Timeline X, x751 and x754 offer good performance and should be good sellers for Acer this summer.

Apple delays its international release of the iPad

Apple has announced that it will be delaying its release of the iPad to its international consumers. The delay is expected to be around one month.

The worldwide release date has now been set back to 10th May 2010.

The reasoning for the delay, Apple says, was the overwhelming demand for the iPad in the USA. The company claim that they sold nearly 500,000 iPads in its first week of release.

As far as the United Kingdom goes, the companies O2, orange and Vodafone are hastily preparing price plans for the iPad.

In the United States, many users have complained that they cannot connect. Apple then put out a fix for the problem.

News of the delay is thought not to work in Apples favour. The delay may give other manufacturers a lead in with their own product.