Windows XP
Windows MS10-015 security patch re-issued
The security patch that caused trouble in systems that had a rootkit has been updated. See the Microsoft Security Response Center post for details.
Windows XP just keeps going and going
According to the logs that are kept on several Web sites I run, nearly 60% of the visitors are still using Windows XP. The durability of XP was demonstrated by the news that the Winter Olympics are using Windows XP systems. Ina Fried reports at CNET:
The good news for Microsoft is that all the PCs [...]
Check out your CPU capabilities
Steve Gibson often comes up with free little utilities that do some useful task. With the trend to 64-bit computing, you might want to see if your CPU can handle 64-bits. Another CPU feature worth checking is to see if the security feature called hardware DEP is supported. Gibson provides a free program called SecurAble [...]
You can’t keep a good hacker down
When it became clear that a rootkit was behind the Windows XP crashes caused by Microsoft update MS10-015, the hackers swung into action—not to remedy the rootkit but to “improve” it. The whole point of the rootkit was to sit there unknown to the owner of the infected system so that various nefarious Internet activities [...]
Windows XP patch problem due to rootkit
Microsoft has confirmed that the previously reported problem with Window XP update MS10-015 was caused by a rootkit called Alureon. If you are having trouble because of the update, Microsoft advises:
Customers who believe they are experiencing this reboot issue after installing MS10-015, or require support removing it or repairing their systems, are encouraged to contact [...]
Install, reinstall, or uninstall Windows
Sometimes you have to reinstall Windows to repair corrupted files or a malware infection. Or you may want a clean, new installation to improve performance. Maybe you just got a copy of Windows 7 and want to install it or even dual-boot with it. For all these scenarios and more Microsoft has a useful site [...]
Disk defragmenters
Defragmenting your hard drives is one of those computer maintenance chores that has to be done now and then. In Windows Vista and 7, defragging is pretty much automatic with a default setting that runs the built-in Windows utility once a week in the background. Thus, most home PC users with Vista/7 no longer need [...]
Windows Start-up & Shutdown Sounds from Windows 3.1 on up
It seems that people will collect almost anything. Vince Bognot has put together Windows Start-up and Shutdown Sounds from Windows 3.1 to Windows 7. I am not sure who cares but here is his collection:
Via the Windows Club
Scrap files scrapped
Windows is a complicated operating system and has many properties and features that most PC users are unaware of. One of the odder and lesser known features in Windows 98/XP was something called a scrap file. I wrote about scrap files some years ago in connection with their use by virus writers. I visit the [...]
Fixing Windows update problems
For one reason or the other, it sometimes happens that a file or a Registry entry gets corrupted in one of the never-ending Windows updates. In that case, it often becomes impossible to carry out updates without getting error messages. The problems are common enough that Microsoft has come up with a tool to fix [...]
Microsoft patches patched
Some of the Microsoft security patches from the October patch Tuesday were buggy. Microsoft issued some fixes yesterday. So you may need to check Microsoft Update. Details at InfoWorld.
