PCTips Box

TCP/IP, an acronym for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, is a suite of protocols supported by Microsoft with the Windows family of platforms. Essentially, through its components, TCP/IP is used for communications on both private networks and on the Internet. As far as the world wide web is concerned, the most common aspects of TCP/IP are IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) and IPv6. The Redmond company is offering extensive documentation on TCP/IP as it is supported in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 and Window XP. TCP/IP Fundamentals for Microsoft Windows is available for download.

“This online book is a structured, introductory approach to the basic concepts and principles of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocol suite, how the most important protocols function, and their basic configuration in the Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 families of operating systems,” revealed Keith Combs, Microsoft IT Pro Evangelist, citing an excerpt of the documentation’s description. (more…)

Whilst the roll out of Windows XP Service Pack 3 has gone reasonably smoothly some problems have been reported. One of the first to emerge is a persistent reboot that affects some HP machines using AMD processors. Both HP and Microsoft are aware of the problems but neither has announced a patch yet, however, several fixes have been developed including this one on Jespers’s Blog. A second, potentially more serious problem concerns a conflict with several Norton products, which can results in a PC’s Registry being filled with corrupt entries. (more…)

It is tradition for Microsoft to release updates via Automatic Update, including major refreshes such as service packs, following their introduction on Windows Updates and the Download Center. This means that Windows machines with AU enabled would automatically detect and deploy a range of updates distributed by the Redmond giant. At the same time, Microsoft is offering the necessary tools for users to block the delivery of service packs through AU. As of May 27, 2008, this is only valid for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3, as far as the Windows operating systems are concerned.

In order to enable consumers, especially in the corporate environments, to get ready for the implementation of the next stage in the evolution of Windows platforms, the Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool permits the systems to ignore service packs on AU for up to a year. The transition period is over for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2. (more…)

Windows Sysinternals is a collection of advanced system utilities accompanied by technical information, designed to streamline maintenance, management, diagnosis and troubleshooting tasks under the hood of the Windows operating system. The resources are offered as free downloads by Microsoft since 2006, when the Redmond giant acquired the project put together by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell. As of May 28, Microsoft has enabled alternative access to the utilities via Live Sysinternals, which is still in tests.

“We’re excited to announce the beta of Sysinternals Live, a service that enables you to execute Sysinternals tools directly from the Web without hunting for and manually downloading them. Simply enter a tool’s Sysinternals Live path into Windows Explorer or a command prompt as live.sysinternals.comtools or view the entire Sysinternals Live tools directory in a browser,” reads the announcement from Microsoft. (more…)

At the beginning of May, security company PC Tools revealed that Windows Vista “is not so immune.” And in this attempt to wrap the obvious together with statistics from a limited pool of users and serve the result as a revelation, the security outfit went on to claim that “Windows Vista is more susceptible to malware than the eight year old Windows 2000 operating system, and only 37% more secure than Windows XP”. Apparently, PC Tolls had detected 639 unique threats per 1,000 Vista machines, in comparison to just 586 for Windows 2000, 478 for Windows Server 2003, and 1,021 for XP. The conclusion is, of course, nothing short of obvious and was stated as clear as possible, with a challenge to Vista’s malware immunity.

Now, the fact is that citing data from over 450 million computers, in respect to PC Tools’ just 1.4 million machines, Microsoft disputed the findings, and continued to claim that Windows Vista is the safest Windows operating system on the market. Microsoft has repeated this refrain since Vista was launched, and provided ample proof, from the data collected through the Malicious Software Removal Tool to vulnerability counting games involving the main platforms. (more…)

Wireless hotspots are changing the way people work. These wireless local area networks (LANs) provide high speed Internet access in public locations as well as at home and require nothing more than a notebook PC with a wireless card. From coffeeshops to restaurants, airports to hotel lobbies, hotspots are ubiquitous. They are the de facto connection method for travelers and remote workers to access the Internet, their e-mail, and even their corporate networks.

Hotspots range from paid services, such as T-Mobile or Boingo, to free connections at your local coffee shop or library. But they all have one thing in common: These are all open networks that are vulnerable to security breaches. And that means it’s up to you to protect the data on your PC. Here are a few tips to make working in public locations more secure. (more…)

Microsoft is accompanying the final version of Windows XP SP3 with additional resources aimed to complement the release. Case in point: the Symbols Package for Windows XP Service Pack 3, containing items made available in order to provide developers with the tools necessary to perform debugging actions on the third and last service pack for XP. At this point in time, there are no less than four packages accessible to end users, with both the symbols and DEBUG-symbols packs and their updates.

“These are debug symbol files that cover the files modified by Windows XP Service Pack 3. Standard requirements for symbols packages in previous releases of Windows XP apply. Select either the “Full” package to get all symbols, including those for Service Pack 3. or, select “Update” package, to get only symbols that apply to files changed by Service Pack 3. Symbols for both retail and checked builds are available,” Microsoft explained. (more…)

An update version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is now available for download and it’s a perfect fit for the latest service packs for Windows Vista and Windows XP. The Redmond company releases new versions of the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool on the second Tuesday of each month, accompanying the availability of the Security Bulletins dropped as part of the monthly patch cycle. The updated version of MSRT is distributed via Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Windows Server Update Services and is also up for grabs on the Download Center.

Microsoft has failed to emphasize the fact that MSRT integrates seamless with both Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3. However, tests reveal that the tool plays well with the latest releases of the two operating systems. Vista SP1, RTM’d on February 4, 2008, was released to the general public on March 18, and XP SP3 is accessible to end users since May 6, having been released to manufacturing on April 21. (more…)

Although Microsoft has hammered away at Windows XP SP3 in order to provide an experience as seamless as possible for end users when deploying the service pack, failed installation scenarios are still a valid possibility. In the eventuality of a failed installation of XP SP3 RTM, there are some troubleshooting steps end users can take before running to Microsoft Support for help. The troubleshooting methods involve nothing more than basic actions on the part of the end user and are designed to resolve an unsuccessful installation process while, at the same, time ignoring the error message.

First of all, Microsoft advises all end users to turn to Windows Update for the primary source of the gold bits of XP SP3. “Sometimes an installation is unsuccessful because a previous operation was not completed. By restarting the computer, you close any pending computer functions and restart the process. Wait until the computer finishes the restart process, and then log on to your account. Visit Windows Update to reselect and install Windows XP SP3. Click Express Install (Recommended),” Microsoft stated. (more…)

The Multilingual User Interface Pack for Windows XP is designed to enable the end user to swap the languages for the graphical user interface. Microsoft has available a version of the MUI Pack which is tailored to XP Service Pack 2. Now, with the advent of XP SP3, the Redmond company has not made available a new variant of the MUI Pack, but instead introduced an update set up to make the Multilingual User Interface package for XP SP2 play well with Service Pack 3. The update is, in fact, meant to fix an incongruity between the MUI Pack and the gold bits of XP SP3.

“On a computer that is running the English version of Windows XP SP3 with the Windows XP SP2 Multilingual User Interface (MUI) Pack, you can select a non-English language for the user interface (UI). However, text may appear in English in the UI instead of in the selected language. The English text may appear in lists, menus, dialog boxes, product Help, and other locations,” Microsoft informed. (more…)