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Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-039 Vulnerability in Plug and Play Could Allow Remote Code Execution and Elevation of Privilege (899588) Issued: August 9, 2005Version: 1.0Summary Who should read this document: Customers who use Microsoft WindowsImpact of Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution and Local Elevation of PrivilegeMaximum Severity Rating: CriticalRecommendation: Customers should apply the update immediately.Security Update Replacement: NoneCaveats: None Tested Software and Security Update Download Locations:Affected Software: • Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 – Download the update • Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 and Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 – Download the update • Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64...

I was looking at the computer of a user who has Windows 2000, in the hope of setting her up to get Windows updates semi-automatically (that is, she gets the updates automatically, then chooses which ones to install). I found, however, that she has no control panel icon for "automatic updates." Furthermore, when I click on the "windows update" link on the left side of the control panel window, I see a message that says that apparently a person must be logged in as adminstrator to get updates. That seems really inconvenient. Therefore, can she do automatic updates at all,...

The first copycat of the widespread Mydoom worm appeared Wednesday on the Internet, and some analysts are warning it may be even more dangerous than the original. Dubbed Mydoom.b by most security firms, the variant strongly resembles the Mydoom, now tagged as Mydoom.a, but adds some new disturbing traits. Some of the subject lines used by Mydoom.b depart from the original, including new headings of 'Delivery error' and 'Returned mail,' both which try to trick users into believing that the message is legit and can safely be opened. Another change in Mydoom.b is the addition of microsoft.com as a target...

I notice that Zone Alarm sometimes takes forever starting on my computer (running Windows 2000 Pro) and causes long delays (up to 45 seconds) when I shut down. Disabling ZA makes the problems go away. This doesn't always happen and usually only slows things down, but every so often it hangs up solidly, either coming on or going off. This has happened on two different computers running W2K. On one of these computers, Zone Alarm worked fine under NT4 (and yes, when I changed over to W2K I downloaded the W2K version of ZA). The only advice I've seen so...