Tag: updates
October 15, 2009 by
Jason
It has by no means been a slow month as far as Microsoft security bulletins go, with no less than 13 patch packages being released by the company for a range of products. In total, the Redmond company patched no less than 34 security holes across Windows, Internet Explorer, Silverlight, Microsoft Office, Developer Tools, Forefront and SQL Server, revealed Christopher Budd, security response communications lead, Microsoft. October 2009 is also the first month in the software giant’s security patch cycle when updates were made available for the gold version of Windows 7. October 2009 marks yet another first, namely the first time that patches for Windows 7 RTM have been included into a company Security Release ISO Image.
At the bottom of this article you’ll be able to find a download link for the October 2009 Security Release ISO Image. The ISO package brings to the table all of the security updates made available for supported Windows operating systems, including Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008 R2, etc. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 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 »
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 »
Just as it did for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has released a tool designed to fix issues in the next iteration of the Windows client and server platforms in order for future installations on top of the operating system to work smoothly. In this regard, the Redmond company made available for download the System Update Readiness Tool for Windows 7 client Release Candidate and Windows Server 2008 R2 RC. The tool has the same purpose as the version aimed at Windows 7 precursors, Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008.
“This tool is being offered because an inconsistency was found in the Windows servicing store which may prevent the successful installation of future updates, service packs, and software,” Microsoft informed. However, the Redmond company failed to pinpoint the specific inconsistencies that can prevent installations on top of its next version of the Windows operating system, even as the platform is in Release Candidate stage. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
Starting in the third week of April, Microsoft has debuted automatic upgrades to Internet Explorer 8. IE6 and IE7 users running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are being offered IE8 as an update via AU. Still, Microsoft has stressed the fact that Internet Explorer 8 delivered through Automatic Updates will not in fact install automatically. Instead, end users must opt in for the upgrade from previous versions of Internet Explorer for IE8 to happen.
“IE8 will not automatically install – the user has control over whether to upgrade to IE8. When offered IE8, three choices are offered: Ask later, install, or don’t install. If one chooses “Ask me later” then IE8 will continue to be offered via Automatic Update, and choosing “Don’t Install” will cause IE8 to no longer be offered via this method. Users who choose “Don’t Install” can still download IE8 [from the Download Center] or from Windows Update as an optional update,” explained Eric Hebenstreit, lead program manager. Read More»
Posted in Internet | No Comments »
While Microsoft is still hammering away at Internet Explore 8 in order to produce the second Beta, currently planned for August 2008, Mozilla is gearing up to release the first update to Firefox 3.0. The successor of Firefox 2.0 was released to the general public on June 17, 2008, and climbed to a record 8 million downloads in just the first day. Firefox 3.0.1 is the first security and stability update for Firefox 3.0, and Mozilla is targeting July 16 for the release date. Firefox 3.0.1 code freeze status was available at the end of June, and the Beta versions of the first update to version 3.0 are already live and up for grabs.
“Candidate builds of Firefox 3.0.1 are now available for testing. You can get the builds here. If you have previously downloaded a beta version of Firefox 3.0 or have manually set your copy to be using the ‘beta’ release channel for updates, you can update yourself to Firefox 3.0.1 by selecting ‘Help > Check for Updates’,” revealed Samuel Sidler, Quality Assurance Engineer at Mozilla. Read More»
Posted in Firefox, Internet | 2 Comments »
Microsoft is gearing up for the next stage in the delivery of its first service pack for Windows Vista. The Redmond company has confirmed officially that the automatic distribution of Vista SP1 is just around the corner. Still, at this point in time, the deadline for the debut of Vista SP1’s serving through Automatic Updates has not been made public. Microsoft has stated all along that it plans to start the distribution of Vista SP1 through AU by mid-April, but offered no additional information to pinpoint the release.
Service Pack 1 was released to manufacturing on February 4, 2008, concomitantly with the gold version of Windows Server 2008. Only on March 18 did Microsoft manage to make the service pack available to end users via Windows Update and the Download Center. At that time, the Redmond company only released the English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese language versions of Vista SP1. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
February 19, 2008 by
Jason Windows Vista Service Pack 1 might very well deliver users from the Reduced Functionality Mode black screen of death kill switch, but the prerequisite updates for the service pack are doing a wonderful job at cutting access to the operating system. Following Microsoft’s monthly patch cycle non-security updates released on February 12, 2007, containing two of the remaining prerequisite updates for Vista SP1, Vista users began complaining about installation failures. Some Vista machines, after the implementation of updates via Automatic Updates are thrown in an infinite reboot loop, while stuck on displaying the following message: “Configuring Updates Stage 3 of 3 0% complete. Do not turn off Computer.” Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
December 29, 2007 by
Jason
If you’re running IE 7 on XP SP2, you may get a Webpage cannot be displayed error when trying to access the Web. If so, any of several recent updates to IE 7 may have created a conflict with your antivirus or antispyware security suite. You should check your suite’s configuration to make sure the updated version of IE is still allowed to access the Web, or contact your security vendor for an update, as described in Microsoft KB article 942818.
Over the holidays, I visited my Dad, who was having issues using AOL. Once I removed his 2006-era version of an antivirus program, and updated him to the 2008 version, his system worked perfectly. While his antivirus signatures were being regularly updated via a paid-up subscription, the older version of his application itself was causing the conflict. Read More»
Posted in Internet | No Comments »
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