For a while now, Microsoft stopped selling new licences for the consumer anti virus software Windows Live One Care. You can get all the details on this over on the Team Blog. In the next few days my extended subscription is due to end.

I’ve been using Windows Live One Care since the beta and I’ve never had any problems with it. In fact, I feel I’ve had fewer issues with this than I’ve had with any other Anti Virus products I’ve used in the past.

One of the things I really liked about One Care was that the one licence would cover up to 3 machines. So you could protect your machine, the family machine and perhaps a grandparents machine.

One Care is pretty basic and that was all I needed. But it would let you create a family circle covering as many machines as you had licences for. This would let you keep an eye on the other computers letting you see if one or more machines were needing attention in the form of updates, overdue virus scans or “tune ups”. You also had control over the backup process on each machine which would be a great where you had something like a NAS on your network.

Now that my subscription is due to expire, I need to decide on a replacement. The obvious choice is Microsoft's latest consumer anti virus product, Security Essentials. While this is a free, the product detail on the website is a bit limited. I’m going to have to take some time this weekend to find out more information about Security Essentials and the other competing products.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed my Windows Home Server, based on a Shuttle K45, wasn’t running. I thought this was odd, but assumed that someone must have accidentally nudged the power switch and shut it down. No matter, I tapped the power switch to fire it back up, and nothing happened. I pressed it again, still nothing.  I checked the power lead, fuses etc. I then came to terms with the fact that my WHS was actually dead.

I unplugged everything and popped open the case to check the motherboard, connectors and the PSU. My first thought was that the PSU had failed since it was often discussed on the various forums with some contempt. In my case, the fan on the PSU was really noisy when the machine started up. It was almost like it was off balance. It would eventually calm down when it warmed up or when I tapped it back in alignment. But then I noticed the PSU was still able to power the USB ports and the LEDs next to the memory slots were still lit. But the fans didn’t start, the hard drives remained inactive, there was no POST. I couldn’t see any obvious reason for this problem.

After a short while searching the Net against the expression “Dead Shuttle K45” I came across dozens of posts related to issues with a specific set of capacitors used on the K45 motherboard. I rechecked my Shuttle, looking at capacitors in question, and sure enough one was indeed at fault with a distinct bulge on the top.

The picture above shows the failed capacitor highlighted in red. Naturally, I feel rather disappointed.

Where do I go from here. First place is Shuttle to see what options they offer in terms of repair or replacement. However, I’m concerned that this won’t be economical and that they’ll simply replace a defective board with another equally defective one. The other option may be to replace the motherboard with one from a different manufacturer, but will the low watt power supply in the K45 suit another board and will another board fit the K45 case anyway? The final most expensive option is really a replacement of both the case and motherboard, keeping the processor and memory, assuming those components have survived. A larger case with more drive bays would suit its role as a WHS better, allowing me to add more drives internally, over time.

I don’t know how long this free resource has been available from Microsoft, but I’ve set aside some time and started on the first stages of the online training called .toolbox. This is pitched as a fun online learning environment, where you can learn basic design concepts along with the fundamentals of creating Silverlight apps.

Using Expression Studio tools, you’re taken through a selection of courses and tutorials of increasing difficulty. These are designed to introduce you to the rich tool set in the Expression Studio and demonstrate their practical use in the design and development of applications. At the end of each course, you can also take a test in order to build up your score and earn badges as you progress from “Rookie” to “All Star” status.

Combine this with a free 60 day trial of Expression Studio Ultimate and you’ll well on your way to establishing a really good foundation for the development of Silverlight and WPF applications.

This most be one of the most common complaints on blogs that I know of. Hopefully, the search engines won’t work for your attempt to up your search ratings by spamming my site. 

If you are about to post some spam, please don’t bother. I’m only going to delete it as soon as I can.