Windows Vista’s Backup and Restore tools are completely different from the Backup program that came with Windows XP and so the backup files are incompatible. What do you do if you need/want to restore a Windows XP backup in Windows Vista?

Fortunately, Microsoft took this scenario into account and provided a supplemental utility called the Windows NT Backup - Restore Utility that you can download and install in Vista. You can then use it to restore a backup made in Windows XP from within Windows Vista.

Before you actually install and run the Windows NT Backup - Restore Utility, you must enable the Removable Storage Management feature. (If you don’t, you may receive an NTSMAPI.DLL error.) To do so, access the Control Panel from the Start menu and click the Programs item. Once the Programs window appears, locate and select the Turn Windows Features On or Off command under the Programs and Features heading. When you do, you’ll encounter a User Account Control (UAC) dialog box and will need to respond accordingly.

When you see the Windows Features dialog box, locate and select the check box next to Removable Storage Management option to turn the feature on. Then, click OK. When you do, you’ll see a progress dialog box and it may take a minute or two to turn on the Removable Storage Management feature.

Once the Windows NT Backup - Restore Utility is installed, you can launch it from the Start menu. Oddly enough, Vista doesn’t recognize the utility at all and displays a UAC that calls it an unidentified program. To continue, just click the Allow button.

You’ll then see the main Windows NT Backup - Restore Utility. The Utility window contains two tabs allowing you to either use the Restore Wizard on the Welcome tab or to perform a manual restore operation on the Restore and Manage Media tab.

Source: techrepublic

Attorneys general from eight states say they have information that thousands of sex offenders have profiles on MySpace. They are concerned that predators may be using the social networking site as a virtual meeting place with their underage victims and today they authored a letter calling on the company to disclose the exact number of offenders and identify each one.

The letter is the latest headache at MySpace, which by dint of its 177 million registered users and massive amount of web traffic has become a preferred target for spammers and scammers. Earlier today, we reported that a new wave of spam has turned one of the most popular groups on MySpace to a barren wasteland. Such problems show the powerful downside to Web 2.0’s viral nature.

Satellite television provider DirecTV Group Inc. may test delivering high-speed Internet service through power lines in a major U.S. city in the next year, its chief executive said on Monday.

DirecTV and others are talking to companies that specialize in providing broadband through the electrical grid, Chief Executive Chase Carey said at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York.

“We’re not the only ones talking to them,” Carey said, in response to a question on whether DirecTV would consider a test in a major city. “I think you’ll see some meaningful tests in this arena.”

DirecTV would like to test delivering Internet access on power lines in a “top 50 city where you’re covering at least half the city.”

Discount retail giant Wal-Mart Stores announced on Monday that it will add a special section that sells Skype products, including handsets, Webcams, headsets and other equipment, in more than 1,800 of its stores.

Skype calls are most often made using a headset with a microphone that plugs into a computer. But the company also offers traditional-looking handsets and cordless phones.

Companies such as Motorola, Plantronics, Logitech International, Royal Philips Electronics and others manufacture this equipment, which is already sold through consumer electronics outlets like Best Buy. But Wal-Mart is the first major retailer to dedicate a section to Skype equipment.

Advanced Micro Devices says its badly needed quad-core desktop processors are on the way, and they’ll arrive bearing a new name.

Later this year, AMD will unveil its Phenom processors in quad-core and dual-core iterations. Two quad-core chips will be available in the second half of the year, the Phenom FX and the Phenom X4, and a dual-core chip based on a similar design called the Phenom X2 will also appear by the end of the year.

The Phenom brand will become the moniker for AMD’s performance chips going forward, said Leslie Sobon, director of the company’s desktop division. The Athlon 64 X2 brand will remain for mainstream chips and Sempron will continue to bring up the rear, she said.

Microsoft claims that free and open-source software violates more than 230 of its patents, according to a magazine report published Sunday.

In an interview with Fortune, Microsoft top lawyer Brad Smith alleges that the Linux kernel violates 42 Microsoft patents, while its user interface and other design elements infringe on a further 65. OpenOffice.org is accused of infringing 45, along with 83 more in other free and open-source programs, according to Fortune.

It is not entirely clear how Microsoft might proceed in enforcing these patents, but the company has been encouraging large tech companies that depend on Linux to ink patent deals, starting with its controversial pact with Novell last November. Microsoft has also cited Linux protection playing a role in recent patent swap deals with Samsung and Fuji Xerox. Microsoft has also had discussions, but not reached a deal with, Red Hat, as noted in the Fortune piece.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is also quoted in the article as saying Microsoft’s open-source competitors need to “play by the same rules as the rest of the business.”

“What’s fair is fair,” Ballmer told Fortune. “We live in a world where we honor, and support the honoring of, intellectual property.”

Soldiers serving overseas will lose some of their online links to friends and loved ones back home under a Department of Defense policy that a high-ranking Army official said would take effect Monday.

The Defense Department will begin blocking access “worldwide” to YouTube, MySpace and 11 other popular Web sites on its computers and networks, according to a memo sent Friday by Gen. B.B. Bell, the U.S. Forces Korea commander.

The policy is being implemented to protect information and reduce drag on the department’s networks, according to Bell.

“This recreational traffic impacts our official DoD network and bandwidth ability, while posing a significant operational security challenge,” the memo said.

The armed services have long barred members of the military from sharing information that could jeopardize their missions or safety, whether electronically or by other means.

Microsoft Corp. introduced on Sunday phones, headsets and other devices to work with its software that aim to replace the traditional office phone and deliver e-mails, instant messages and phone calls over the Internet.

Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, said it worked with nine technology manufacturers including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and NEC Corp. to develop hardware to work with its unified communications strategy.

Instead of one system for phones and another for e-mails and instant messaging, Microsoft wants all communications to run over Internet networks on its Office Communicator program.

Microsoft forecasts that the shift to Web-based phone systems will gain momentum during the next three years, eventually generating billions of dollars in new revenue for the company.

The new hardware products will be unveiled at this week’s Microsoft Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Los Angeles.