Section: Windows XP
October 05, 2009 by
Jason
Redmond-based software company Microsoft released several months ago its own solution aimed at offering Windows 7 RC users the possibility to enjoy compatibility with the older Windows XP operating system, the Windows XP Mode. Available for download initially in a beta flavor, the RC iteration of Windows XP Mode is currently up for grabs for those who installed the RC version of Windows 7, and is bound to become final in the near future.
A recent post on the Windows 7 Team Blog states that Windows XP Mode was released to manufacturing on October 1 and that the final version of the solution is expected to become available for download as soon as Windows 7 hits the market, on October 22, to be more precise. The RTM version of this solution is meant to offer OEMs the possibility to include the XP Mode within the PCs they will bring to the market, the post also notes.
“Windows XP Mode is designed to provide small business and mid-sized businesses running Windows 7 Professional (or higher) the ability to run Windows XP productivity applications that may not be natively compatible with Windows 7. We expect many Windows XP applications to be compatible [with] Windows 7 however Windows XP Mode is meant to serve as an added safety net so small and mid-sized businesses can migrate and run Windows 7 without any road blocks. Windows 7 Professional is designed to meet the needs of small and mid-sized businesses,” Brandon LeBlanc describes the software solution. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7, Windows XP | 1 Comment »
October 04, 2009 by
Jason Following the same behavioral pattern as with the release of Windows Vista, software developers have striven to offer the masses the possibility to disguise Windows XP as Windows 7. There are plenty of freeware products on the market ready to emulate various features of the yet to be officially released operating system from Microsoft.
Seven Transformation Pack is the most prominent piece of software in the bunch, which has a tradition in making XP emulate the looks of ulterior operating systems launched by Microsoft. Vista Transformation Pack was created by the same developers and raked up positive attention. Also, there are various pieces of software dedicated to imitate different features in Windows 7, such as the new taskbar and system tray layout, Start Menu and even the font and icons, as well as the glass effect given by Aero theme.
SevenMizer is not a superset of all of the above, but comes with an extremely easy installation at the end of which you’re going to receive a makeover of the old, dusty XP look, turning it into a very close resemblance to the interface in Windows 7. The best part is yet to come: you don’t have to make any sort of configuration and what you see is all there is to know about the application. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7, Windows XP | No Comments »
September 19, 2009 by
Jason Microsoft has reached the end of the road when it comes down to the evolution of Windows XP through major updates. Moving onward, the Redmond company will focus exclusively on Windows Vista and Windows 7 with service pack releases. Specifically, if you are running Windows XP and still hoping for an SP, then by all means, don’t hold your breath. Or, if you were indeed holding your breath, then this is about the right time to exhale and move beyond the aging operating system. Windows 7 is now just a few days short of one month away, seeing how general availability is planned for October 22nd, 2009.
No more service packs for Windows XP, what does it mean? It means that SP3 was the last service pack for 32-bit (x86) XP and the SP2 was the last major update for 64-bit (x64). Immediately after the availability of SP3 for x86 XP, Microsoft confirmed officially that it was the last service pack for Windows Vista’s precursor. However, a potential SP3 seemed to be in the cards as far as x64 XP was concerned.
In fact, this is not the case at all. Microsoft offered official confirmation of the fact that it was not, nor would it be in the future, developing a third service pack for 64-bit XP. “We have received inquiries from our customers and partners on whether or not there will be a need for a Service Pack 3 for Windows Server 2003. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7, Windows XP | No Comments »
Even before the release of Windows 7 Release Candidate Build 7100 Microsoft announced that it would take extreme measures in order to increase end user protection and amputate the AutoPlay/AutoRun feature of the operating system. Over a months after Windows 7 has been released to manufacturing, Microsoft is applying the same security strategy to previous Windows releases. The Redmond company is making sure that the amputated AutoPlay/AutoRun in Windows 7 will make its way to Windows XP (including SP3), Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista (including SP2), and Windows Server 2008, for security reasons.
In this regard, Microsoft has already made available an update designed to limit the AutoPlay/AutoRun functionality in Windows 7’s precursors. Essentially, following the implementation of the refresh, the AutoPlay/AutoRun will no longer display the “Install or run program” option for USB drives.
“In Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2003, AutoRun entries were populated for all devices that had mass storage and had a validly formatted AutoRun.inf file in the root directory. This included CDs, DVDs, USB thumb drives, external hard disks, and any volume that exposed itself as mass storage. This update disables AutoRun entries in AutoPlay, and displays only entries that are populated from CD and DVD drives. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
Microsoft released no less than eight security bulletins for the various supported releases of Windows client and server operating systems, including for the latest service packs of Windows Vista and Windows XP. Out of the total of patch packages impacting Windows, half feature a maximum severity rating of Critical, with the remaining four being rated as Important. The security updates are available through Windows Update since August 11, 2009, and customers are advised to deploy the patches as soon as possible in order to bulletproof their systems against attacks.
“Of note, Microsoft released MS09-043 to help protect customers from attacks on the Office Web Components vulnerability previously addressed by Security Advisory 973472. I also wanted to let you know that MS09-037 addresses five privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Active Template Library (ATL). Security Advisory 973882 has been updated with a reference to MS09-037. Additionally, Microsoft has released Security Advisory 973811 to include a non-security update that enables new protection technology on the Windows platform,” revealed Christopher Budd, security response communications lead for Microsoft. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
The July 2009 Security Release ISO Image is now available for download from Microsoft, having been offered concomitantly with the company’s monthly patch cycle releases. In addition to serving each month’s security bulletins through Windows Update, the software giant is also packaging the patches aimed for the supported Windows client and server operating system as an ISO image. In this context, customers can now access Windows-related security updates, including for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows XP SP3 that went live on July 14, 2009, through the DVD5 ISO image package.
“This month we are releasing six bulletins. Three of those affect Windows and are rated Critical. All three of those also have an Exploitability Index rating of ‘1’ which means that we believe that consistent exploit code in the wild is highly likely within the first 30 days,” revealed Jerry Bryant, Microsoft security program manager. “The remaining three bulletins are all rated Important and affect Microsoft Office Publisher, Microsoft ISA Server, and both Virtual PC and Virtual Server. The first two also have Exploitability Index ratings of ‘1’ so please consider this while doing your risk assessment. In total, we are addressing nine vulnerabilities this month.” Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
Microsoft has warned users of Windows XP Service Pack 3 of an issue that can lead to digital pictures becoming corrupted when handled with the default image viewers available as components of the operating system. According to the Redmond company the problem is limited to XP SP3. Microsoft has explained that when using Windows Picture or Fax Viewer to manage TIFF images, in the eventuality that a specific picture is rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise, that document will become corrupted.
“When a TIFF image is rotated in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, the image is outputted. Then, the image is recompressed again,” Microsoft revealed. “This problem occurs because Windows Picture and Fax Viewer outputs a TIFF file in CCITT Group 3 format with 1D encoding. Therefore, when Windows Picture and Fax Viewer opens a TIFF file in CCITT Group 3 format with 2D encoding, the file is corrupted.”
CCITT stands for the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee. As far as TIFF images go, Read More»
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One of the issues that plagued Windows Vista when the operating system was launched in January 2007 was the slow copying speeds delivered. Over two years later, and after SP1 resolved the initial issues, Microsoft informed users that there were additional problems impacting performance. In this regard, the Redmond company noted that, while copying a file from Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 to a down-level system, such as Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, in the context in which Intel I/OAT
was enabled, users would notice that the performance was significantly slower compared to when the feature was disabled.
“Consider the following scenario: you have a computer that is running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. Intel I/O Acceleration Technology (I/OAT) is enabled on the computer. You copy files to this computer from another computer that is running a down-level operating system, such as Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. In this scenario, the file copying is significantly slower than when Intel I/O Acceleration Technology is disabled,” the company noted. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
A change in Windows’ complex and interconnected architecture of components can easily reverberate throughout the operating system. It is the case of the Critical Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-010, a security update designed to deal with vulnerabilities in WordPad and Office Text Converters which could allow remote code execution in the eventuality of a successful exploit. Although the flaws reside in WordPad and Office text converters, applying the patch managed to cause installations of Service pack 3 for Windows XP to fail. Effectively, attempting to install Windows XP Service Pack 3 via Windows Server Update Services is unsuccessful and the user is returned the following errors 0×8007f00d or 0×8007f02b.
“This can happen if the workaround for MS09-010 was applied to the client machines adding deny permission to file C:\program files\windows nt\accessories\mswrd8.wpc. This causes the WSUS installation to fail because we’re unable to access the file and update it. When trying to install SP3 manually (not using the Quiet switch), it causes an error reading the file above, prompting for a source to update the file or to skip the file. Since WSUS installs SP3 in quiet mode, the installation fails because it never prompts the user for file it’s trying to update,” explained Joao Madureira, WSUS support engineer. Read More»
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To disable unneeded startup services for a safer, faster XP, use the “Services” Admin Tool (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services). If you are a single user of a non-networked machine, you can disable the following items, with no ill effect.
- Alerter
- Clipbook
- Computer Browser
- Fast User Switching
- Human Interface Access Devices
- Indexing Service (Slows the hard drive down)
- Messenger
- Net Logon (unnecessary unless networked on a Domain) Read More»
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