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Just in from our computer tech. Last night/early this morning. MS forced an update patch on all Windows users. We know it affected all running XP. It may have hit Vista and 7 as well. Many users had a forced Windows reboot/restart this morning. Seems the patch is causing havoc in email systems nationwide. Our computer guy normally gets 8-20 trouble calls a day. So far today, it's more than 250. His affiliates across the country report the same. Our internet access is fine (as others seems to be to) but emails are very slow (3 to 5 minutes from...

Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography. Heinous pictures and videos can be deposited on computers by viruses — the malicious programs better known for swiping your credit card numbers. In this twist, it's your reputation that's stolen. Pedophiles can exploit virus-infected PCs to remotely store and view their stash without fear they'll get caught. Pranksters or someone trying to frame you can tap viruses to make it appear that you surf illegal Web sites. Whatever the motivation, you get child porn on...

AV-Comparative.org recently released the results of a malware removal tests with which they evaluated 16 anti-virus software solutions: Avast Professional Edition 4.8AVG Anti-Virus 8.5AVIRA AntiVir Premium 9.0BitDefender Anti-Virus 2010eScan Anti-Virus 10.0ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4.0F-Secure AntiVirus 2010G DATA AntiVirus 2010Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010Kingsoft AntiVirus 9McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0Norman Antivirus & Anti-Spyware 7.10Sophos Anti-Virus 7.6Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 2010Trustport Antivirus 2009.The test focused only on the malware removal/cleaning capabilities, therefore all used samples were samples that the tested antivirus products were able to detect. The main question was if the products are able to successfully remove malware from an already infected/compromised...

Now that we in the northern hemisphere have had some time to digest the Windows 7 hype and settle in for the coming winter, we thought we would get some more hard data regarding Windows 7 security. On October 22nd, we settled in at SophosLabs and loaded a full release copy of Windows 7 on a clean machine. We configured it to follow the system defaults for User Account Control (UAC) and did not load any anti-virus software.We grabbed the next 10 unique samples that arrived in the SophosLabs feed to see how well the newer, more secure version of...

Personal computers are about to get a makeover with the launch of the latest Windows operating system.**************************************************************** The BBC's Jason Palmer investigates Windows 7's pros and cons***************************************************** Microsoft is hoping the successor to Vista will be more of a hit with users when it launches on 22 October. Many of the features take into account multimedia applications and the fact that users are beginning to store their data on the internet. In the UK some computer stores are due to open at midnight so keen PC users can get their hands on the software.

Some scareware scammers building botnets, too (USA Today can only be linked to) Previous article: New twist on scareware locks up your PC

Add-ons blocked because of serious security vulnerability for Firefox users. A war has been raging between different web browsers for a long time now. The two main combatants in the battle are Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Firefox from Mozilla. Microsoft is still in the lead in marketshare with IE, but Firefox is grabbing up a large portion of the market for itself. Firefox hit the one billion download mark in August and has 32% of the browser market while IE holds about 60% of the market. Mozilla and Microsoft are working together on a security flaw in some Microsoft add-ons...

[THIS IS A GOOD OLE' FASHIONED VANITY] OK, so my son calls me from Auburn ... Right after downloading and installing the latest updates from our friends in Redmond, the OS crashes into a memory dump/ BSOD. Vista Home Premium 64 bit on an HP notebook duo core 2 quad etc etc. It'll boot and run in safe mode, but something Microsoft sent out conflicts BIG time. I called Geek Squad to set up an appt for him, and the gentleman at Geek Squad said they had been getting a LOT of calls about laptops crashing after a Windows update....

If you have worked in an office in the Western world in the past 25 years, you will probably have sat through a PowerPoint presentation. But there's a problem. They're often boring, writes presentation expert Max Atkinson. In the past 25 years, I've asked hundreds of people how many PowerPoint presentations they've seen that came across as really inspiring and enthusiastic. Most struggle to come up with a single example, and the most optimistic answer I've heard was "two". So what are the main problems?

Now, I am not a lawyer. But, I've been reporting on IP (intellectual property) law issues for years now, so I know something about how these issues are resolved, and when I see that one attorney thinks there's an "easy technical work-around" for Microsoft's patent violation in Word, my alarm bells go off. There is no easy fix here, and, short of waving the white-flag, Microsoft may very well have to stop selling Word, and thus Microsoft Office, this fall. Here's why the "easy" solutions really don't work. First, there's the suggestion from the attorney that "All Microsoft has to...

A tipster just pointed me to the CA support forums where there’s a lot of chatter about CA Anti-Virus misidentifying key Windows system files as malware.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said Monday it would offer a free, Web-based version of its Office tools, the company's most significant acknowledgment that it needs to alter a decades-old model of selling boxed software as it battles competitors like Google Inc. (GOOG). The announcement is the latest milestone in an 18-month-old strategy by the world's largest software firm to offer more of its core products via the Web. The Office suite of products includes the Word word processing application and Excel spreadsheet. In offering Office over the Web, the Redmond, Wash.-based company is trying to grab a larger slice of a...

A critical ActiveX vulnerability used by hackers to exploit Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser is a prime candidate for another Conficker-scale attack, security experts said. On July 6, just hours after security companies reported that thousands of compromised sites were serving up exploits, Microsoft acknowledged the flaw in the ActiveX control that can be accessed using IE. The bug has been used by hackers since at least June 9. Microsoft said it will issue a patch for the flaw on July 14.The vulnerability "exposes the whole world and can be exploited through the firewall," said Roger Thompson, chief research officer...

I have a rootkit trace that refuses to go away. Macafee can't delete it. Malwarebytes Antimalware claims to delete it but it's right there as soon as it closes. I find hundreds of references to it via Google but nobody says how to get rid of it and nobody even discusses what it does besides annoy you. My cd burning programs have been disabled so I can't make an alternative OS like BartPE. I can boot off the Windows CD and get into the Recovery console. I use DOS commands to delete the files but they come right back again....

The FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service were forced to shut down parts of their computer networks after a mystery virus struck the law-enforcement agencies Thursday, according to an Associated Press report. A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that it had disconnected from Justice Department computers as a precaution after being hit with the virus, while an FBI spokesperson would only say that it was experiencing similar issues, according to the report. "We too are evaluating a network issue on our external, unclassified network that's affecting several government agencies," FBI spokesman Mike Kortan told the AP. The virus'...

Improving performance is one of Microsoft's design goals with Windows 7, and many early reviewers (including ours) have said that the new OS seems peppier than Vista. But tests of the Windows 7 Release Candidate in our PC World Test Center found that while Windows 7 was slightly faster on our WorldBench 6 suite, the differences may be barely noticeable to users. We loaded the Windows 7 Release Candidate on three systems (two desktops and a laptop) and then ran our WorldBench 6 suite. Afterward we compared the results with the WorldBench 6 numbers from the same three systems running...

Several months ago, my computer crashed on me. Wouldn't even get to the beginning stages of boot up. Lights flickered if you hit the button, but beyond that, nothing. So, I took it to Best Buy where I bought it and where it was still under warrantee. They determined it was a fried motherboard. Consistent with the warrantee, the Geek Squad replaced it. Ever since that time, it takes about 2-3 minutes to boot up. Everything else seems to run fine, but boot up is excruciatingly slow. Any ideas why what normally took 30 seconds or so now takes 5...

Microsoft wants laid off employees to return part of their severance pay. I guess over $50 billion is not enough money for Bill Gates. Microsoft recently laid off 1400 workers ,mostly in the US. They have now decided their severance package was too big. They have sent the a letter (see picture) to them asking for the money back. Perhaps some of those mosquitoes Bill Gates recently released at a tech conference have infected him with an insanity virus.

Remember when Vista was announced, and Microsoft decided to release six different versions of the operating system, much to the confusion, disappointment, and ridicule of potential buyers? Well guess what? Microsoft is back with the Windows 7 strategy. What has it learned in the last three years? Pretty much nothing. While Microsoft is touting the "two primary editions" of Windows 7 -- a Home Premium edition and a Professional (intended for business) edition -- the fact is it's sticking with the same six different versions (or SKUs, stock-keeping units) that it had for Vista. The real difference is that Windows...

I give up. Windows is proof that people are too stupid to use computers. And too stupid or dishonest to report Microsoft Windows as the defective disaster that it is. If it were any other type of product it would have banned from every country in the world long ago. The BBC reports the latest Windows Conficker worm outbreak in typical "oh no big deal" fashion, does not identify this as a Windows worm until several paragraphs into the article, quotes industry security vendors as though they were actually worth listening to and not useless weasels, and then blames...

It’s enough to make you rub your eyes, blink and squint to make sure you’re not hallucinating. But it’s true. Microsoft plans to open its own chain of retail stores. On Thursday the Redmond company announced it had hired former Wal-Mart executive David Porter to make it happen. Microsoft seems to think it can duplicate Apple’s retail success, using a chain of stores to improve the “Microsoft retail purchase experience” and to combat the stereotypes – artfully reinforced by Apple’s “I’m a Mac” TV ads – that owning a Windows PC is fraught with difficulties. I hardly know where to...

French fighter planes grounded by computer virus French fighter planes were unable to take off after military computers were infected by a computer virus, an intelligence magazine claims. by Kim Willsher in Paris Last Updated: 11:43AM GMT 07 Feb 2009 The aircraft were unable to download their flight plans after databases were infected by a Microsoft virus they had already been warned about several months beforehand. At one point French naval staff were also instructed not to even open their computers. Microsoft had warned that the "Conficker" virus, transmitted through Windows, was attacking computer systems in October last year, but...

TED, the annual gathering of the most pretentious people from the fields of technology, entertainment, and design, just got punk'd. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates released a swarm of mosquitos into the crowd. Ending malaria is a particular passion of Gates's, whose Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent millions fighting the disease. But he apparently didn't feel like TED attendees were taking the threat seriously. "Not only poor people should experience this," Gates said as he let the bugs loose on his audience, according to Facebook manager Dave Morin. (eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and Twitter CEO Ev Williams confirm the...

Steven Sinofsky this week reaffirmed that Windows 7 would only have a single public beta release—build 7000, still available for download for a few more days. The current expectation is that there will be a single Release Candidate in April, with RTM around July, and Windows 7 hitting stores a few months later. This plan marks a significant departure from Microsoft's historic Windows release strategy. Previous editions have had at least two betas and two Release Candidates; even Windows XP, a minor update to Windows 2000, received this treatment. Windows Vista went even further during its extended development period. In...

SAN FRANCISCO – A nasty worm has wriggled into millions of computers and continues to spread, leaving security experts wondering whether the attack is a harbinger of evil deeds to come. US software protection firm F-Secure says a computer worm known as "Conficker" or "Downadup" had infected more than nine million computers by Tuesday and was spreading at a rate of one million machines daily. The malicious software had yet to do any noticeable damage, prompting debate as to whether it is impotent, waiting to detonate, or a test run by cybercriminals intent on profiting from the weakness in the...

The Conficker virus has opened a new can of worms for security experts. Drives such as USB sticks infected with the virus trick users into installing the worm, according to researchers. The "Autoplay" function in Vista and early versions of Windows 7 automatically searches for programs on removable drives.

A worm that spreads through low security networks, memory sticks, and PCs without the latest security updates is posing a growing threat to users. The malicious program, known as Conficker, Downadup, or Kido was first discovered in October 2008. Although Microsoft released a patch, it has gone on to infect 3.5m machines. Experts warn this figure could be far higher and say users should have up-to-date anti-virus software and install Microsoft's MS08-067 patch.

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/17245 Microsoft offers a Free Download of Windows 7 Beta starting today. Windows 7 Beta will expire on August 1, 2009. Note: The minimum requirements for running Windows 7 are a PC with a 1 Ghz Processor, 1GB of RAM, 16 GB of disk space, 128MB of video memory and support for DX9 graphics. After downloading, make sure to install media patch (32 bit or 64 bit) to fix a few issues with media files and mp3 corruption

Microsoft servers got quite a workout on Friday from potential testers as the company opened public beta testing of Windows 7 to a broad audience– so much so, in fact, that the company decided to delay the beta's opening until it can bring more servers online. "Due to very heavy traffic we’re seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta," said a posting on The Windows Blog at around 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday afternoon. It included a promise...

<p>Microsoft Corp.'s Zune portable music player is suffering from a glitch that may have frozen thousands of units in the latest setback for the world's biggest software company.</p> <p>On Wednesday, Zune owners flooded blogs and Internet chat sites to complain that they couldn't listen to music on the 30-gigabyte version of the Zune, an early version of the device, because it wouldn't start up properly.</p>

Happy New Year from Microsoft Corp.: Your Zune is dead. Thousands of Microsoft's Zune media players -- the software company's answer to Apple Inc.'s iPod -- unexpectedly conked out Wednesday and showed users an error message, prompting references to "Y2K for Zunes." The problems appeared when people tried to start up their devices. Frustrated users lit up Microsoft's online support forum for Zunes with more than 2,500 messages by Wednesday afternoon. Late Wednesday, the Redmond, Wash.-based company said the outage affected only the 30-gigabyte Zune models and was caused by a problem with their internal clock. Microsoft expected the problem...

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is extending the deadline for making its supposedly retired Windows XP operating system available to custom PC builders. Under the plan, system builders will be allowed to take delivery of XP licenses and media through May 30. Previously, Microsoft had announced a Jan. 31 XP cutoff date for system builders, which are typically smaller, build-to-order vendors. The news was first reported Friday by InformationWeek.com sister site ChannelWeb.

Microsoft will issue an emergency security patch Wednesday for all versions of Internet Explorer. The patch is considered a critical fix for the security flaw currently plaguing the IE browser. So far, more than 2 million computers are believed to have been infected.

Bill Gates: I'd Work in Obama Administration Microsoft founder Bill Gates has met with Vice President-elect Joe Biden and said he's open to a role aiding the incoming Barack Obama administration. Gates is in Washington this week to promote the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's education and global health agenda. "Certainly my full-time job is being chairman of the foundation," he told The Washington Post. But he added: "If there was some committee or pretty focused task where I could contribute, I'd be glad to consider that, and I hope that the things we've learned about education, including the mistakes...

My initial evaluation of Windows 7 shows that it's really just Vista with a fresh coat of paint I have seen the future, and it is bleak. Windows 7, the next big version, the one that was supposed to fix everything that was wrong with Vista, is here (at least in pre-beta form), and I can now say -- with some confidence -- that Microsoft has once again dropped the ball. Based on what I saw in today's keynote speech, and on what I discovered while testing the Windows 7 M3 build during some down time this afternoon, Windows 7...

The only thing I can say is "Huh?" Watch the four minute 30 second ad: The second Microsoft Ad with Seinfeld and Bill Gates. i like the little old lady...

Excerpt - Dell Inc. is trying to sell its computer factories around the world, a move to sharply overhaul a production model that was long a hallmark of the PC giant's strategy but is no longer competitive. In recent months, according to people familiar with the matter, Dell has approached contract computer manufacturers with offers to sell the plants. One person briefed on the plan said he expects the company to sell most -- and possibly all -- of its factories "within the next 18 months." Other factories could close, this person said. Dell would enter into agreements with the...

Anyone see the new Microsoft commercial with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates? Is that a piece o work or what??? Methinks Bill oughta give up his closet hopes of being a big media star and at least attempt to bring us a reliable, secure OS.

Blue Screen of Death Strikes Bird's Nest During Opening Ceremonies Torch Lighting Well this is just perfect. At the exact moment Li Ning was rounding the lip of the Bird's Nest during the amazing torch-lighting climax, someone snapped this photo of our good friend the BSOD nestled amongst the Nest's steel twigs. Perhaps an Opening Cermonies IT dude spit out his coffee on the machines in the server room when Li took to the sky? Another question is what a projection screen is doing inside the Nest at that location, but I think the better question is what wasn't going...

I’ve confirmed that there’s some kind of problem on the Internet, that only seems to affect users of the Internet Explorer 7 web browser. Attempting to browse to many sites results in an ‘Operation Aborted’ error. No information about the problem elsewhere yet ... stay tuned. UPDATE at 8/1/08 7:20:27 pm: It appears to be related to Sitemeter.com — browsing to their web site with Internet Explorer 7 produces the error too.

Many have said they’re not interested in Windows Vista, that Windows XP is just fine for them. And in fact, you could go so far as to say some of them actually hate the OS. Still, a new OS, Mojave, may just be the key to a new marketing campaign. Last week Microsoft told a focus group in San Francisco they were being shown a new version of Windows, codenamed Mojave. Feedback was quite positive; more than 90% gave positive feedback. Afterwards they were told that Mojave was actually Windows Vista.

Windows Vista, the OS that everyone loves to hate. Despite its enhanced security, improved CPU scheduler and excellent stability, it’s still the flawed gem in many critics’ eyes. But can Microsoft win back the XP crowd with its upcoming Windows 7 offering? The fact is, they have to. Being that gadget zone is still a fan of the Redmond, Washington, company (although we like Apple too), gadget zone contributor and computer expert, Vito Cassisi, has come up with the 20 Microsoft must do's to ensure the success of Windows 7.

We are investigating the issue with the MS update KB951748. For the time being we suggest you uninstall KB951748 until the issue has been resolved. We will post when we have more information Best regards, Forum Moderator

Microsoft has given its new Office-based software-plus-service bundle a new name — “Equipt” — and a due date (mid-July), company officials said on July 2. Equipt is the product/service that was formerly codenamed “Albany” (and inside Microsoft, known as “ValueBox”). Equipt, which Microsoft describes as its “essential set of software and services for consumers,” includes a version of Office Home and Student 2007; Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft’s PC management/security bundle; a few Windows Live communication/collaboration services; and Office Live Workspace, Microsoft’s online-collaboration add-on to Office. Equipt will cost $69.99 annually (for a license that can be installed on three PCs...

Excerpt - Redmond, WA (AHN) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is pulling the XP operating system from its product line come Monday. The move comes 18 months after the company launched the Vista operating system. Although Microsoft will not sell the XP program any longer, they will still generate revenue from providing support for the software as it will no longer be free. Microsoft will offer extended support packages for XP until at least 2014. ~ snip ~

"For the opening piece in our series on Gates leaving daily life at Microsoft, one goal was to give a clear picture of the Microsoft co-founder's role inside the company, as a gauge of the impact his departure will have," Todd Bishop writes for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Microsoft Blog. "As part of that, I went back through the internal e-mails turned over in the antitrust suits against the company, looking for new insights into his personality." Bishop found a doozy, which also happens to illustrate perfectly why Mac users have such disdain for the "Windows experience." If you've ever...

One of the most successful business partnerships in history was coming unraveled. It was early 2000, and Bill Gates had relinquished the chief executive's job at Microsoft Corp. to Steve Ballmer -- for the first time taking a back seat to his college pal and right-hand man of 20 years. Mr. Ballmer got the title. But Mr. Gates retained the power, triggering a yearlong struggle between the two men that until now has remained largely under wraps. Things became so bitter that, on one occasion, Mr. Gates stormed out of a meeting in a huff after a shouting match...

<p>Would you pay extra to have an American answer your customer-service call? Dell is hoping you will.</p> <p>The computer maker recently put out a press release announcing “new premium support service.” The plan: For a fee, people get the right to talk to “the same dedicated team each time they have an issue” with a Dell product. The kicker: The service will be provided by “an advanced support team in North America.”</p>

Excerpt - Microsoft is in a bind. Windows Vista has sold 140 million copies, but it's such a resource hog with unreliable hardware drivers that users keep asking Redmond to extend the support for Windows XP. Many corporations refuse to upgrade their server farms and cubicle-bound desktops at all. It's not often that 140 million copies of a software package that costs hundreds of dollars can be called a disappointment, but this one seems to fit that bill. Vowing to release a new operating system every three years, the company now has about 20 months until the supposed release date...

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) - Microsoft Corp. said its next operating system will be made for touch- screen applications, an alternative to the computer mouse, and its top executives reaffirmed interest in joining forces with Yahoo Inc. Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer on Tuesday unveiled the iPhone-like touch-screen feature at The Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference, calling it "just the smallest snippet" of the Windows 7 operating system slated for release in late 2009. A Microsoft employee showed possible applications like enlarging and shrinking photos and navigating a map of San Diego by stroking the screen. Microsoft...