Tag: hotfix
October 12, 2009 by
Jason
Users that upgrade Windows Vista OEM computers to Windows 7 might find that the recovery applications set in place by the original equipment manufacturer are no longer accessible. This scenario is valid for some OEM machines that were acquired with Windows Vista pre-installed, the Redmond company explained. OEMs, in certain cases, will preload the Windows Recovery Environment inside the operating system. In this regard, users would be able to benefit from the System Recovery Options right in the graphical user interface (UI) and help topics.
âYou have a computer that is preinstalled with Windows Vista by the computer manufacturer. After you upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 on this computer, you notice that manufacturer-specific recovery applications are no longer available on the System Recovery Options menu,â Microsoft explained.
It is not uncommon for OEMs to customize the System Recovery Options. Original Equipment Manufacturers will in fact tailor Windows platforms to their specific needs, and always present custom build copies of the operating system along with their new computers. In this context, the Windows RE tools are customized in accordance with different OEMs. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7, Windows Vista | No Comments »
September 02, 2009 by
Jason
Customers testing the virtualization extensions of Windows 7, namely Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode have been experiencing performance problems in scenarios in which sharing folders are enabled. Ben Armstrong, Program manager on the core virtualization team at Microsoft, revealed that the issues reported are connected with the latest development milestone of Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode, namely the Release Candidate Builds. Fortunately enough, a hotfix is already available from the software giant.
âA number of users have seen performance issues using shared folders / having shared folders enabled with Windows XP Mode on the RC release of Windows Virtual PC. This can be addressed by installing this hotfix inside the virtual machine. Please note â this hotfix is for Windows XP and is installed inside the virtual machine, not in the host operating system,â Armstrong noted.
Knowledge Base Article 972435 doesnât mention Windows XP Mode, a Windows 7 feature, which is available as a standalone download. However, the resources designed to help customers resolve âslow performance when you try to open a redirected drive on a remote computer through a Terminal Services sessionâ applies to Windows XP Professional. And Windows XP Mode is indeed based on a free and pre-activated copy of Windows XP that is available for Windows 7. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 2 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.
âWhen a TIFF image is rotated in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, the image is outputted. Then, the image is recompressed again,â Microsoft revealed. âThis 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.â
CCITT stands for the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee. As far as TIFF images go, Read More»
Posted in Windows XP | No Comments »
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.
âConsider 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,â the company noted. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
With the advent of Windows Vista, Microsoft praised the boost in energy consumption efficiency in comparison with Windows XP. Still, there are exceptions to every rule. And while Vista indeed uses less energy over XP, users of the operating system can still experience excessive power use. One such example involves Vista SP2 and earlier during sleep or hibernation, and the HD audio controller, the Redmond-based company explained. The software giant has noted that there are two scenarios in which Vista SP2 sucks more power than it should.
âIf you put the computer to sleep or into hibernation when it is running on AC power, the high definition (HD) audio controller continues to use power. Additionally, even after the computer transitions to DC power while the computer is asleep or in hibernation, the HD audio controller still uses power. This behavior persists even though you disable the âAllow this device to wake the computerâ option in the HD audio controller properties,â Microsoft explained.
In addition, the company has revealed that there is also an issue associated with the Wake on Ring properties not responding to the configuration introduced by users. âAfter you disable the âAllow this device to wake the computerâ option in the HD audio controller properties, the Wake on Ring feature still wakes the computer from sleep or hibernation,â Microsoft stated. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
Windows Vista, even before the advent of SP1, namely as RTM, while it had its sins when it came down to compatibility and support, was extremely stable in comparison to Windows XP. However, given the necessary amount of abuse and the right triggers, Vista reliability can suffer just as much as its precursors. It is the case of repeated hot-unplugs of USB devices, which can easily lead to Vista Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2 crashing. A hot unplug refers to the action of disconnecting a USB device from a machine without turning to the Safely Remove Hardware feature.
Windows Server 2008 RTM and SP2 are also affected by this problem, the Redmond company revealed. The software giant indicated that it is sufficient to surprise remove a USB device several times in order to cause a crash of the operating system.
âAfter you plug the USB device into the USB port in this scenario, the device does not appear in Device Manager. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | 1 Comment »
Windows Vista Service Pack 3 gets its first hotfix from Microsoft. Yes, Service Pack 3, and yes, the error lies with Microsoft. The Redmond company is offering a hotfix designed to fix Event Viewer crashes associated with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 opening large event log files and attempting to sort log entries by a single column. But when it comes down to actually downloading the fix, the software giant offers it for the 32-bit, 64-bit and Itanium flavors of Windows Vista SP3. It is highly improbable that at this point in time Microsoft has debuted testing of Vista SP3 bits, and in this regard, the SP3 references are nothing more than an error. (via Neowin)
The Redmond company has recently wrapped up the code for Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista. The SP2 RTM bits are so âfreshâ that they haven’t yet been served to Vista users, and Microsoft only pointed to the second quarter of 2009 for the availability of the second service pack for Vista, while not offering any specific deadline. The Redmond company announced that it had released Vista SP2 to manufacturing on April 28, 2009. MSDN and TechNet subscribers already got access to SP2 RTM, and the bits have even been leaked in the wild. Still, the public will only get Vista SP2 in Q2 2009. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
On the heels of the Windows 7 Release Candidate public download going live, Microsoft has released a hotfix designed to fix the RC bits. The Redmond company has acknowledged the existence of an issue where incorrect access control lists (ACLs) are associated with the Windows 7 root. As a direct consequence of this bug, Windows 7 RC users will find that some applications fail to perform under normal parameters, and that the operating system fails to deliver on simple tasks. According to Microsoft, only the Ultimate SKU of the English version of 32-bit Windows 7 is affected by the problem.
âThe folder that is created as the root folder of the system drive (%SystemDrive%) is missing entries in its security descriptor. One effect of this problem is that standard users such as non-administrators cannot perform all operations to subfolders that are created directly under the root. Therefore, applications that reference folders under the root may not install successfully or may not uninstall successfully. Additionally, operations or applications that reference these folders may fail,â Microsoft explained. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
September 13, 2008 by
Jason
Even with Internet Explorer 8 in the oven, and Beta 2 available for download since the end of August 2008, Microsoft is not losing focus of IE7. As of September 10, the Redmond company started offering a fix for a memory leak affecting Internet Explorer 7 while running on Windows XP, including Service Pack2 and SP3, and Windows Server 2003. The hotfix delivered is available exclusively for the precursors of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 and not for the latest versions of the Windows Client and Server operating system. At the same time, Microsoft is providing the resolve only for IE7, and there is nothing yet for IE8.
âAssume that on a computer that is running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, you have Windows Internet Explorer 7 installed. After you run Internet Explorer 7 for a long time, you notice that system performance gradually decreases. Additionally, Internet Explorer becomes unstable or crashes. If you use Performance Monitor (Perfmon.exe) to monitor Internet Explorer, you see that the Internet Explorer process consumes many virtual bytes,â the company revealed. Read More»
Posted in Internet | 5 Comments »