Tag: Windows
Users who have problems with their Windows computers now also have an easy solution to address some issues. With the Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services 1.0, the Redmond company is essentially automating the troubleshooting process associated with what it referred to as common glitches affecting its software. According to the software giant, the Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services 1.0 is designed to require nothing more from end users than a single click. But users have to keep in mind, that when it says common problems, Microsoft actually means common problems. The tool is obviously addressed at non-technical users.
“We launched the Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services, where with one click we can detect problems on your machine and automatically fix any common problems that are found. I know just about all of you reading this are computer experts and can fix these types of issues faster than you can run a wizard but if you’re like me, there’s always a friend or coworker (or parent) somewhere needing this kind of stuff fixed and if so maybe you can forward this along and save yourself some time,” explained J.C. Hornbeck, Manageability Knowledge engineer. Read More»
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Debuted last week for customers worldwide, the Windows Upgrade Option Program is designed to deliver customers and small businesses that buy designated PCs with premium versions of Windows Vista pre-installed free upgrades to equivalent flavors of Windows 7 once the operating system becomes available. The initiative is meant to feed consumers’ appetite for Windows 7 that could hurt Windows Vista sales and to make waiting for the next iteration of the Windows client drop pointless.
1. What is the Program Eligibility Period?
June 26, 2009 to January 31, 2010 – Only PCs preinstalled with qualifying Vista editions have to be acquired starting with June 26, but no later than January 31, 2010, in order to be eligible for a free Windows 7 upgrade through the Upgrade Option Program.
2. What are the qualifying Vista SKUs? To which Windows 7 edition will free upgrades be possible?
- Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
- Windows Vista Home Premium Full free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Read More»
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An integral part of the Software Assessment Management efforts from Microsoft, the Microsoft Software Inventory Analyzer 5.1 is available for download accompanied by a range of resources designed to streamline usage. MSIA is a tool designed to permit customers to scan either a local machine or computers connected to a network in order to identify and produce a report containing a list of core Microsoft software products installed. In addition to MSIA, the company is also offering for download documentation containing a User Guide and a FAQ. According to the Redmond giant, MSIA is capable of putting together software inventories only for networks with a maximum of 250 computers.
“MSIA reports the results of the scan in three possible formats, based on the user’s selection: HTML, Excel, and Text. These reports contain details such as the names of all the installed Microsoft products, links to the list of computers scanned, links to the error log, and so on. In addition, the summary report enables users to enter corresponding license purchase information for all software detected in the scan,” Microsoft revealed. Read More»
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The wait is over! Firefox 3.5 has reached the end of its development process. The gold build of the open-source browser from Mozilla, formerly codenamed Shiretoko, was finalized on June 29, 2009, and is now available for download (links are live at the bottom of this article). Mozilla is planning to ship Firefox 3.5 today, June 30, but at the time of this article the availability of Firefox 3.0’s successor hasn’t yet been announced officially. Still, the final development milestone of Firefox 3.5 has already been wrapped up and the bits went live on Mozilla’s FTP servers. It is only a matter of Firefox 3.5 being released to web, but you needn’t wait, just grab Firefox 3.5 from the links below for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
“The team here at Mozilla has been working hard on creating features, enhancing performance and adding other awesomeness to Firefox 3.5, and we’re very excited about sharing it with the world,” revealed Mozilla’s John Slater on June 29. Read More»
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It is nothing short of ironic that game password stealing malware is being associated with an exploit designed to target a vulnerability in DirectX. But Microsoft officially confirmed that malicious code designed to harvest account credentials for online games had been detected bundled with exploits targeting the DirectShow vulnerability impacting Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.
The flaw is Critical, the company warned in May 2009, when it revealed that users executing malicious QuickTime media files were at risk of remote code execution.
“Users, upon visiting a specially constructed web page that invokes the vulnerable media plug-in, will encounter exploit shellcode, which further execute and download additional malware to the infected machines. Intending to bypass antimalware protection, malware binaries are encrypted in the download data stream. New dog, same old tricks. To wrap up the attack scene, under the cover of the new exploits are the old long-lived online-game password stealers: PWS:Win32/Wowsteal.AP (drops PWS:Win32/Wowsteal.AP.dll); TrojanDropper:Win32/Dozmot.C (drops PWS:Win32/Dozmot.C and VirTool:WinNT/Dozmot.A); and TrojanSpy:Win32/Lydra.AE,” revealed Microsoft’s Lena Lin, Cristian Craioveanu, Josh Phillips and Patrick Nolan. Read More»
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Microsoft never sends out updates by email so you should instantly bin this latest threat, which has been doing the rounds over the last 24 hours, I’ve already had about 50 of them sent to me. It’s really easy to spot, the Subject line says ‘Critical Update for Microsoft Outlook and if you open it, it says: Update for Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express (KB910721). Obviously it’s nothing of the sort though it looks very plausible and has none of the usual clumsy spelling and grammatical errors. If you click on the link you will be taken to a spoof website and instantly download a nasty Trojan, though there are some reports suggesting that the payload may have changed in the past 12 hours. Either way don’t open it and do not on any account click on the link, and at the risk of repeating myself, remember that, Microsoft never sends out updates for Windows by email.
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With the advent of Windows 7, Microsoft is making sure that it will keep Windows XP available for an additional 18 months after October 22, 2009, the official launch deadline for the operating system. Through the Windows 7 downgrade rights, customers with select licenses and SKUs of the next iteration of the Windows client will be able to downgrade and run older releases of the platform. In this regard, Microsoft explained that Windows XP would be given priority over Windows Vista. What this means is that the option to downgrade from Windows 7 to Windows Vista goes live only after XP downgrades are discontinued, namely after the 18-month period that will kick in on October 22 will come to an end.
Starting with the launch of Vista’s successor on October 22, 2009, customers with OEM/Software Assurance/Volume Licensing will immediately be able to buy Windows 7 but downgrade, deploy and use XP. According to the software giant, companies will need one of the following licenses to access downgrade rights: Select License and Open License; Licenses Enrolled in Software Assurance or OEM End User License Agreement (LICENSE TERMS). It is important to note that the licenses referred to by the software giant as the Full Packaged Product (FPP) End User License Agreements for the retail boxed versions of Windows 7 do not come with downgrade rights. 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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Come June 23rd, 2009, Microsoft will open up codename Morro, its upcoming free security solution designed to replace Windows Live OneCare 2.0, to the public. The Redmond company offered official confirmation that codename Morro had been rebranded as Microsoft Security Essentials, and that the first Beta for version 1.0 was ready to debut next week. Access to Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 Beta will be granted to testers in the United States, Brazil and Israel, the software giant informed. The information provided by Microsoft comes after screenshots of Morro made it into the wild, followed by the actual bits, leaked a couple of days ago.
“The Microsoft Security Essentials Beta will be made publicly available in Brazil, Israel and the U.S. starting June 23 at about 9am PDT from www.microsoft.com/security_essentials, and general availability is scheduled for later this calendar year,” a Microsoft spokesman told pctipsbox. Read More»
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