Pacmans Portal

Pacman's Portal start-up database - July 2011 updates

2011-08-05T02:01:00.000-07:00

Summary of the updates made to the Pacman's Portal startup programs database:

New items - 183
Changed items - 73
HTML changes -15
Corrections -29
Hyperlinks changed -46
Trend Micro hyperlinks changed -31
CA hyperlinks changed -28
Sophos hyperlinks changed -38
Removed - 12

Windows "services" database on it's way

2011-06-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

Working on a companion Windows "services" database to compliment the one already in place for start-up programs.

I've decided to keep them separate (unlike some) because the registry locations, column headings and way of handling them is different - lumping them all into a common database would be confusing. Of course, an "Introdcution" page similar to http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content/php will be included - as will similar pages.

The initial database will include current Windows 7/Vista/XP services (latest Service Packs), applications/utilities/etc I've been testing for start-ups and malware/HJT log entries. This will probably go live in a couple of months.

Pacman's Portal start-up database - June 2011 updates

2011-06-30T06:07:00.000-07:00

Summary of the updates made to the Pacman's Portal startup programs database:

New items - 192
Changed items - 76
HTML changes - 32
Corrections - 5
Hyperlinks changed - 16
Trend Micro hyperlinks changed - 37
CA hyperlinks changed - 37
Sophos hyperlinks changed - 31
"RapidBlaster" entries updated - 65
Removed - 4

New detailed entries added - 12

Pacman's Portal start-up database - May 2011 updates

2011-05-31T05:44:00.000-07:00

Summary of the updates made to the Pacman's Portal startup programs database:

New items - 189
Changed items - 88
HTML changes - 3
Corrections - 14
Hyperlinks changed - 12
Trend Micro hyperlinks changed - 32
CA hyperlinks changed - 29
Sophos hyperlinks changed - 32
Removed - 6

New detailed entries added - 39

Pacman's Portal start-up database - April 2011 updates

2011-05-09T05:54:00.000-07:00

Summary of the updates made to the Pacman's Portal startup programs database:

New items - 199
Changed items - 68
HTML changes - 16
Corrections - 20
Hyperlinks changed - 25
Trend Micro hyperlinks changed - 45
CA hyperlinks changed - 34
Sophos hyperlinks changed - 42
Removed - 3

New detailed entries added - 28

Pacman's Portal start-up database - March 2011 updates

2011-04-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

Summary of the updates made to the Pacman's Portal startup programs database:

New items - 225
Changed items - 87
HTML changes - 22
Corrections - 4
Hyperlinks changed - 25
Trend Micro hyperlinks changed - 40
CA hyperlinks changed - 56
Removed - 2

New detailed entries added - 70

Pacman's Portal start-up database - February 2011 updates

2011-03-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

Summary of the updates made to the Pacman's Portal startup programs database:

New items - 192
Changed items - 85
HTML changes - 10
Corrections - 7
Hyperlinks changed - 19
Trend Micro hyperlinks changed - 44
CA hyperlinks changed - 31
Removed - 3

New detailed entries added - 46

Pacman's Portal startup database - January 2011 updates

2011-02-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

Summary of the updates made to the Pacman's Portal startup programs database:

New items - 208
Changed items - 62
HTML changes - 3
Corrections - 27
Other corrections - 12
Hyperlinks changed - 13
Trend Micro hyperlinks changed - 31
TACTSLAY hyperlinks changed - 66
Rogue descriptions updated - 1
Removed - 4

New detailed entries added - 57

Twitter

2011-01-27T03:54:00.000-08:00

Now tweeting additions and new detailed entries for the start-up list

Pacman's Portal startup database - November 2009 updates

2009-11-30T07:51:00.000-08:00

Summary of the updates made to the Pacman's Portal startup programs database:

New items - 199
Changed items - 100
HTML changes - due to browser differences with special characters - 11
HTML corrections - online and/or off-line versions (mainly a missing "\") - 52
Other corrections - 12
Hyperlinks changed - 10
%System%, %Windir%, %ProgramFiles%, etc - in some cases replacing HTML "\" errors - 55
Rogue descriptions updated - 10
ThreatExpert links changed & descriptions reworded - 38
Removed - 3

I'm updating a portion of the Rogue descriptions, ThreatExpert links and %System%, %Windir%, %ProgramFiles% related entries each month so that each type has a common look and feel - so that it looks more professional.

Rogue section updated for the WiniGuard family.

New detailed entries added - 35

Pacman's Portal startup database - October updates

2009-10-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Summary of the updates made to the Pacman's Portal startup programs database:

New items - 207
Changed items - 13
HTML corrections - 28
Other corrections - 6
Hyperlinks changed - 2
%System%, %Windir%, %ProgramFiles%, etc - 25
Rogue descriptions updated - 32
ThreatExpert links changed & descriptions reworded - 12
Removed - 1

I'm updating a portion of the Rogue descriptions, ThreatExpert links and %System%, %Windir%, %ProgramFiles% related entries each month so that each type has a common look and feel - so that it looks more professional.

New rogue section added for the WiniGuard family.

New detailed entries added - 31

Travel section being added soon

2009-09-29T04:11:00.000-07:00

I should be adding some photo's from places I've traveled to in the recent past - even on business or pleasure. These won't include any golf course pictures - which will be added to the appropriate section in time.

Detailed startup program entry pages added soon

2009-09-29T03:35:00.000-07:00

I'll soon be adding detailed startup program entry pages linked from the Sysinfo.org database using the ID number from the database.

Entries will be based upon they way they are presented in either the registry "Run" keys (under "Name" and "Data") or the common/user startups (Start -> All Programs -> Startup) - as these are common across different operating systems.
Each page may be tied to one (or more) entry in the database. Using the "Reader_sl.exe" example from the Introduction page, the link from the database will be for the Adobe Reader Speed Launcher (Reader_sl.exe) entry but will also incorporate those for Reader_sl (XP MSConfig) and Adobe Acrobat (Vista MSConfig & Windows Defender)
Other useful information also be included (where available), such as the file location(s), sample HJT log entries, purpose and the program's own disable option
Due to the vast number of entries and limited resources available only a few will be added at a time
An index page will also be available - see here for a sneak preview

Host moved

2009-09-29T02:51:00.000-07:00

Main change this month was the change of host from Global Internet Solutions (GiSol) to Hosting UK. This one has a bit of a story to it and if you're considering hosting a web-site with GiSol (and in particular if you also take up a domain with them) I'd recommend you read on.

When the site went live back in 2001 I hosted it with Hosting UK as they were offering a good deal - and I stayed with them until March 2003. I had to move because at the time the Sysinfo.org startup program database wasn't live and the site bandwidth was exceeding the 80GB monthly limit due to the single page downloads.
GiSol offered a good deal - so I went with them and until December 2007 I was happy with their service - when things changed for the worst.
At that time they called me one evening - offering an upgrade from my existing package to an "unlimited" one which would normally cost $49.95 per month. They said it would work on a chargeback system - similar to those you get with mobile phones - and I would have to pay $1,798.20 for 36 months and claim back a refund of $1,755.36 at a later date.
In fact, because they had to move the site across servers they said I could either accept the upgrade or the account would have to be closed - so I reluctantly accepted.
I was advised that I would have to ring them between 9:30 and 18:00 PST on 11th August, 2008 to claim back the refund - which I duly did when I was visiting Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia at the time. They acknowledged the call but I heard no more and received no refund.
I rang them when I got back to the UK only to be told there was no refund! I can't remember the exact details (as I was obviously fuming at the time) but I think I was told that the chargeback only qualified me for an extra 12 months added at the end of the initial 36 months.
So, I was left with paying for 36 months at an extortionate $49.95 per month - and hadn't recorded any of the phone calls which were the only records I had. I accepted the loss and would be claiming a pro rata amount on expenses when I became self-employed. I would be looking at switching hosts again before it was due for renewal anyway - especially after seeing sites like this and this.
Anyway, on 22nd September I received an email from GiSol that they had been trying to get a hold of me (false) and that my account had been suspended for "using too many of the server's resources"!
As I'm based in the UK and they're based in the US (on the west coast) I couldn't contact them until the evening on my time. I anticipated I would have problems with them getting the site live again and couldn't afford the downtime with respect to the site popularity (No.1 response to a Google search on "startup programs") and paid-up advertisers. I therefore made the decision to cut my losses and switch back to Hosting UK - where the site is now again hosted for a more reasonable £6.95 per month.
GiSol contacted me later that evening and explained that the account had been suspended due to using too much CPU time and memory. As the DNS server change had already occurred as the site was going live with Hosting UK I simply cancelled the account early - as they wouldn't take it live again anyway.
It's a good job that Hosting UK were the registrar for my domain name - if I had registered it with GiSol as many others have I may have lost that as well - which would have been a disaster!

Emulators section revamped!

2009-03-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

The Emulators section has now been revamped and each platform now has it's own page with sample screen shots.

Startup programs section update

2009-03-23T06:38:00.001-07:00

I'll be verifying many of the startup program entries with a Y, U, N or ? classification where I can for the forseeable future - using virtual machines. This will likely mean an improvement in the description.

2008-12-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

Just starting out on this blog for my Pacman's Portal site which has sections on:

Windows startup programs (also see Sysinfo.org)
Emulators for old computers/consoles/arcade games (Amstrad CPC, Sega Megdrive/Genesis, Nintendo 64 (N64) and MAME)
Golf courses I've played an courses I've been a member of
Computers I've owned or built (way out of date I'm afraid!)
Other tips of my own or that I've found (also way out of date!)

Plenty more to come as I plan to update the site on a more regular basis in the future.

In the meantime, if you want to see how it's developed over the years since it started in Feb, 2001 pay the Internet Archive a visit. Obviously a few images have been deleted over time but the content is still there.