Microsoft has been supplying beta testers with two special patches for Windows Vista, patches that are designed to improve the performance and compatibility of the operating system. The two patches, distributed through Connect to a select group of beta testers, have leaked onto the internet, and you can download them here (or here for 64-bit systems).
What do the patches do? The Vista Performance and Reliability Pack improves some things that hurt the performance of systems running Vista, including file copying, corrupted AVI files, Canon RAW files, memory corruption, and more. The Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack fixes some common compatibility issues Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | 4 Comments »
When installing a new device, and it doesn’t work, don’t automatically assume that the device is defective. The problem is more likely to be a driver issue, especially if you are running a different Windows version than the driver was specifically written for.
Visit the device manufacturer’s Web site and download any updated drivers or patches and install them. Only after you have installed the most recent driver and software versions should you seriously suspect a physical problem with the hardware. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware | No Comments »
Although it seem unlikely virus writers and hackers are going to give up looking for and attempting to exploit loopholes in Microsoft products, it seems some of them may be turning their attention to other popular applications. According to security experts at Symantec the defences on one of its PC’s, used as bait to attract and trap virus writers, was breached through known vulnerabilities in Apple QuickTime and WinZip. Read More»
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Okay, so Apple PCs are still a lot safer than Windows PCs, but the next time an Apple owner smugly reminds you of the fact, just ask him or her whether they’ve installed the security update issued in April 19th. This fixes no less than 25 security flaws in OS X and it includes three patches for ‘Zero Day’ bugs, and vulnerabilities that would allow hackers to gain access to data. So far this year Apple has issued at least one security update each month and whilst the level of threat and number of attacks are nowhere near the level PC owners have to put up with, it does appear that Apple owners may no longer be as safe as they once used to be. Read More»
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Microsoft has released a special security patch today (Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-017) to protect your computer against the Animated Cursor vulnerability first discovered a few weeks ago. Apparently, Microsoft decided that this was important enough to break their normal second Tuesday of the month patch release cycle to get this patch on computers.
According to the Determina security web site that first discovered the issue, “As Microsoft has pointed out, any web page, email or content that can load an animated cursor can allow an attacker to take advantage of the vulnerability and run arbitrary code on the users system.” Read More»
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