MaximumPC 2007 H

watch dodogg MAXIMUM PC TAKES A BITE OUT OF BAD GEAR dog

■ I-O Data is recalling several hundred network

attached storage (NAS) devices that may over-

heat and pose a burn hazard. I-O Data says it has

received three reports of the AC adapters included

with the units overheating, deforming, and melting.

No injuries have been reported. The adapters were manufactured in Japan and sold with

the UHDL-160U and UHDL-300U Network Hard Disk Drives between December 2004 and

February 2007 in the United States. If you have either of the models listed above, examine

the AC adapter and look for part number IO-ACADP1510UL. If your adapter has that part

number, it may be one of the defective units. I-O Data is asking consumers to immediately

stop using it and contact the company for a free replacement. More information is available

at 877-878-2926 or by visiting: http://www.iodata.com/usa/.

Recall Alert

HOLIDAY 2007 MAXIMUMPC

the [monitor] industry to address this,” Mainelli

said. “They’re going to be the one the consumer

blames when it doesn’t work.”

Mainelli said the informal line on what gets

HDCP and what doesn’t seems to hinge on size

and aspect ratio. New monitor designs in the 24-

inch range and up usually include HDCP, but with

smaller monitors it’s a toss-up. Most business-

class monitors with standard aspect ratios don’t

include it while widescreens may. So why not just

create an HDCP logo? Mainelli said one problem

may be consumer education. While Maximum PC

readers are likely sensitive to it, the vast majority

of consumers have no freaking idea what HDCP

means, so one more logo on a box isn’t going to

help the situation.

What’s the Dog’s opinion? ViewSonic and

other display manufacturers are clearly walking a

thin line. The Dog thinks that a person shopping

for a new monitor is looking not to display his or

her Microsoft Word document at HD resolutions

but to watch movies. To expect anything else is

disingenuous at best.

Until the monitor industry can get its act

together and begin labeling monitors appropri-

ately, the only way to avoid getting burned is to

look for the Vista Premium Logo and do your due

diligence before you make a purchase.

CLEAN DRIVECLEANER

Recently, I found a program called DriveCleaner that

was supposed to speed up my system. I downloaded

it and purchased a license for $50. I promptly received

a login name and password along with confirmation of

payment. It worked for about two days and everything

was great. It seemed like it really had sped up my sys-

tem. Then everything started acting funny.

I called DriveCleaner’s tech-support center and

was told how to uninstall the program and reinstall

it. After I uninstalled, I found that I could not get to

DriveCleaner’s website anymore. And because of this

I can’t reinstall the software. I uninstalled the program

through Add/Remove Programs and then went and

deleted everything pertaining to DriveCleaner. I visited

some websites that gave instructions on how to fully

uninstall the software. During this time I noticed that it

seemed this software was a scam. Nobody talked very

nicely about it.

Could you please help me find out what the deal is

with this company?

—Lavon Smith

Bad news, Lavon; your suspicions, albeit

late, are correct. Most people who report prob-

lems with DriveCleaner say it’s due to “drive-by”

installs via browser exploits. The program itself

doesn’t enhance your rig’s performance; rather,

it helps cover your tracks after you’ve been surf-

ing porn sites. But, according to several antivi-

rus/anti-malware sites, the application (at least

the “demo” that gets installed on drive-bys)

just creates pop-ups and false positives. The

program’s recommended fix? That you buy the

full version of course.

Although the connection isn’t clear, the folks

behind DriveCleaner also seem to be responsible

for the infamous WinFixer and WinAntivirus pro-

grams, which the Dog wrote about in July. Both

WinFixer and WinAntivirus were also accused of

using similar tactics: drive-by installs and false

positives that induced people to pay for the apps.

A California woman is trying to take WinFixer to

court to recoup the money she paid to repair her

PC after installing the program.

The Dog couldn’t reach DriveCleaner.com

for comment, but you should probably count

yourself lucky that you were able to uninstall it,

as it’s not clear that it actually does anything.

You can probably kiss your $50 goodbye, but

you can count the experience as a life lesson:

Do some research on an application before you

buy it. Woof.

Some power bricks sold with

I-O Data NAS drives may over-

heat and melt.