Microsoft has released the following security patches (with a link pointing to the security bulletin containing additional information, deployment guidelines and download opportunities):

• MS09-050 Vulnerabilities in SMBv2 Could Allow Remote Code Execution (975517) (Critical) – This security update resolves one publicly disclosed and two privately reported vulnerabilities in Server Message Block Version 2 (SMBv2). The most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker sent a specially crafted SMB packet to a computer running the Server service. Firewall best practices and standard default firewall configurations can help protect networks from attacks that originate from outside the enterprise perimeter. Best practices recommend that systems that are connected to the Internet have a minimal number of ports exposed.
• MS09-051 Vulnerabilities in Windows Media Runtime Could Allow Remote Code Execution (975682) (Critical) – This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Windows Media Runtime. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opened a specially crafted media file or received specially crafted streaming content from a Web site or any application that delivers Web content. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
• MS09-052 Vulnerability in Windows Media Player Could Allow Remote Code Execution (974112) (Critical) – This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Windows Media Player. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a specially crafted ASF file is played using Windows Media Player 6.4. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
• MS09-054 Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (974455) (Critical) – This security update resolves three privately reported vulnerabilities and one publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
• MS09-055 Cumulative Security Update of ActiveX Kill Bits (973525) (Critical) – This security update addresses a privately reported vulnerability that is common to multiple ActiveX controls and is currently being exploited. The vulnerability that affects ActiveX controls that were compiled using the vulnerable version of the Microsoft Active Template Library (ATL) could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page with Internet Explorer, instantiating the ActiveX control. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
• MS09-060 Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Active Template Library (ATL) ActiveX Controls for Microsoft Office Could Allow Remote Code Execution (973965) (Critical) – This security update resolves several privately reported vulnerabilities in ActiveX Controls for Microsoft that were compiled with a vulnerable version of Microsoft Active Template Library (ATL). The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user loaded a specially crafted component or control. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
• MS09-061 Vulnerabilities in the Microsoft .NET Common Language Runtime Could Allow Remote Code Execution (974378) (Critical) – This security update resolves three privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft Silverlight. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution on a client system if a user views a specially crafted Web page using a Web browser that can run XAML Browser Applications (XBAPs) or Silverlight applications, or if an attacker succeeds in persuading a user to run a specially crafted Microsoft .NET application. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. The vulnerabilities could also allow remote code execution on a server system running IIS, if that server allows processing ASP.NET pages and an attacker succeeds in uploading a specially crafted ASP.NET page to that server and executing it, as could be the case in a Web hosting scenario. Microsoft .NET applications, Silverlight applications, XBAPs and ASP.NET pages that are not malicious are not at risk of being compromised because of this vulnerability.
• MS09-062 Vulnerabilities in GDI+ Could Allow Remote Code Execution (957488) (Critical)- This security update resolves several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows GDI+. These vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted image file using affected software or browsed a Web site that contains specially crafted content. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
• MS09-053 Vulnerabilities in FTP Service for Internet Information Services Could Allow Remote Code Execution (975254) (Important) – This security update resolves two publicly disclosed vulnerabilities in the FTP Service in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.1, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, and Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0. On IIS 7.0, only FTP Service 6.0 is affected. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution (RCE) on systems running FTP Service on IIS 5.0, or denial of service (DoS) on systems running FTP Service on IIS 5.0, IIS 5.1, IIS 6.0 or IIS 7.0.
• MS09-056 Vulnerabilities in Windows CryptoAPI Could Allow Spoofing (974571) (Important) – This security update resolves two publicly disclosed vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow spoofing if an attacker gains access to the certificate used by the end user for authentication.
• MS09-057 Vulnerability in Indexing Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (969059) – This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if an attacker set up a malicious Web page that invokes the Indexing Service through a call to its ActiveX component. This call could include a malicious URL and exploit the vulnerability, granting the attacker access to the client system with the privileges of the user browsing the Web page. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
• MS09-058 Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (971486) (Important) – This security update resolves several privately reported vulnerabilities in the Windows kernel. The most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logged on to the system and ran a specially crafted application. An attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to exploit any of these vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities could not be exploited remotely or by anonymous users.
• MS09-059 Vulnerability in Local Security Authority Subsystem Service Could Allow Denial of Service (975467) (Important) – This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow denial of service if an attacker sent a maliciously crafted packet during the NTLM authentication process.

Adobe will also release security patches later today for critical vulnerabilities in Acrobat Reader.

Related posts

• Windows Security Updates September 2008 (0)
• Microsoft Security Updates for June 2008 (0)
• Microsoft August 2008 Security Updates (0)
• Download All Updates For Windows From Microsoft (2)
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh (2)

The program works the following way: Users start by adding a list of IP addresses or computer names to the program. It is then possible to highlight some or all of them to perform actions on the selected hosts. Actions can be selected by either selecting them from the Actions menu or by right-clicking.

Available actions are:

• Ping. The ping reply initially displays in black, then red if it times out, and then after 4 consecutive time-outs, any subsequent replies will turn blue to signify that the machine has been rebooted
• Install Windows Updates on the remote machine(s) (requires Microsoft’s SysInternals PsExec in your system path)
• View the WSUS installation log for the remote machine(s) – this log is stored in C:\RRx on all remote computers. (Tip: You can doubleclick a row to view the log file)
• Reboot the remote machine(s) (will also automatically start ping monitoring if you haven’t already started it)
• Retrieve the last boot-up time of the remote machine(s) – comes in very handy when you’re rebooting machines
• Load a | delimited text file to automatically populate the “Notes” column – this makes it simple to keep an ongoing list of any instructions you might have that are specific to certain machines, such as programs to start after a machine is rebooted and logged on.

Along with RemoteRebootX.exe there are 3 additional .NET executables included in the zip file below. To use them you must have the WSUS Admin Console 3.0 installed on your computer. They will allow you to connect to your WSUS server and …

• Retrieve a list of computers that have already downloaded updates but haven’t installed them
• Retrieve a list of computers that have already installed updates and are waiting to be rebooted
• Retrieve a list of computers that have not checked in with the WSUS server in more than 3 days

Additional information and usage tips are available at the developer’s website. Remote Reboot X has been developed in Microsoft’s Visual C# 2008 and requires therefor the Microsoft .net Framework. Doug does not mention the .net Framework version on his website though.

Related posts

• Software Updates Week 36 2008 (2)
• Software Updates Checker (18)
• ZoneScreen Finally Gets 64-bit Update (7)
• ZC DVD Creator Platinum [Free Full Version] (19)
• Youtube Videos Downloader TubeQueue (17)

The dialog offers no way of delaying the reminder or letting the operating system know that a manual start will eventually be performed.

There is however a solution to the problem instead of having to click on the Reboot Later button dozens of times. The dialog is fueled by the Automatic Updates service. All that needs to be done to get rid of the Restart Now Restart Later dialog window is to stop the Automatic Update service. This will also stop the restart message boxes from appearing. The Automatic Update service will automatically be started by Windows on the next system start.

Do the following to stop Automatic Updates:

• Press [Windows R], enter [services.msc] and hit enter.
• Locate the Automatic Update service and right-click it.
• Select Stop from the context menu to stop the service.

This procedure will stop the restart now restart later window from appearing on the computer system.

Related posts

• Windows Update Fix (3)
• Microsoft Security Updates October 2009 Online (3)
• Microsoft Security Updates August 2009 (2)
• Create A List Of All Installed Windows Hotfixes (7)
• XdN Tweaker for Windows (3)

Affected operating systems include Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and 2008, Windows 2000 but not Windows 7. Downloads are available from the usual locations including automatic updates, Windows Update, Microsoft Update or by following the links in the security bulletins below.

• MS09-043 Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Web Components Could Allow Remote Code Execution (957638)

  This security update resolves several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Web Components that could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted Web page. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

• MS09-044 Vulnerabilities in Remote Desktop Connection Could Allow Remote Code Execution (970927)

  This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker successfully convinced a user of Terminal Services to connect to a malicious RDP server or if a user visits a specially crafted Web site that exploits this vulnerability. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

• MS09-039 Vulnerabilities in WINS Could Allow Remote Code Execution (969883)

  This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS). Either vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user received a specially crafted WINS replication packet on an affected system running the WINS service. By default, WINS is not installed on any affected operating system version. Only customers who manually install this component are affected by this issue.

• MS09-038 – Vulnerabilities in Windows Media File Processing Could Allow Remote Code Execution (971557)

  This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Windows Media file processing. Either vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opened a specially crafted AVI file. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

• MS09-037 Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Active Template Library (ATL) Could Allow Remote Code Execution (973908)

  This security update resolves several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Active Template Library (ATL). The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user loaded a specially crafted component or control hosted on a malicious website. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

• MS09-041 Vulnerability in Workstation Service Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (971657)

  This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Windows Workstation Service. The vulnerability could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker created a specially crafted RPC message and sent the message to an affected system. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code and take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. An attacker must have valid logon credentials to a vulnerable system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability could not be exploited by anonymous users.

• MS09-040 Vulnerability in Message Queuing Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (971032)

  This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Windows Message Queuing Service (MSMQ). The vulnerability could allow elevation of privilege if a user received a specially crafted request to an affected MSMQ service. By default, the Message Queuing component is not installed on any affected operating system edition and can only be enabled by a user with administrative privileges. Only customers who manually install the Message Queuing component are likely to be vulnerable to this issue.

• MS09-036 Vulnerability in ASP.NET in Microsoft Windows Could Allow Denial of Service (970957)

  This security update addresses a privately reported Denial of Service vulnerability in the Microsoft .NET Framework component of Microsoft Windows. This vulnerability can be exploited only when Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 is installed and ASP.NET is configured to use integrated mode on affected versions of Microsoft Windows. An attacker could create specially crafted anonymous HTTP requests that could cause the affected Web server to become non-responsive until the associated application pool is restarted. Customers who are running IIS 7.0 application pools in classic mode are not affected by this vulnerability.

• MS09-042 Vulnerability in Telnet Could Allow Remote Code Execution (960859)

  This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in the Microsoft Telnet service. The vulnerability could allow an attacker to obtain credentials and then use them to log back into affected systems. The attacker would then acquire user rights on a system identical to the user rights of the logged-on user. This scenario could ultimately result in remote code execution on affected systems. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with

Related posts

• Stop Restart Now Restart Later Dialog After Windows Updates (8)
• Microsoft Security Updates October 2009 Online (3)
• Microsoft Security Updates April 2009 (2)
• Microsoft Patch Day March 2009 (4)
• Microsoft October 2008 Patch Day Patches 11 Security Vulnerabilities (0)

There are several situations where an ISO image with all Windows XP updates might come in handy. It is for instance possible to install Windows XP updates to a computer system prior to going online with the system. Another reason is easier distribution. Think of multiple computers in a computer network. Instead of downloading and installing the Windows XP updates multiple times (once for every computer system) they could be downloaded once in form of the PatchMate XP iso and applied to all computer systems.

The download and installation is also faster. Users who downloaded and installed updates from Windows Update in the past have most likely noticed how slow the downloads and updates would be commenced even on modern computer systems with broadband connections.

Patchmate XP (via Technix Update) can be downloaded as an ISO image from the developer’s website. It can then be burned to CD or DVD to be executed right from within the Windows XP operating system. The user interaction has been reduced to a minimum.

Patchmate XP will detect the Windows XP Service Pack and install the Windows XP updates based on the detection. Only post service Pack 3 updates would for example be installed on a computer system running Windows XP Service Pack 3.

The patches will be installed even if they are already present on the computer system. A restart is required at the end of the update.

An option to exclude updates from being applied would be helpful to cope with scenarios where updates cause problems on a computer system. Another useful feature would be the creation of a system restore point prior to installing the Windows XP updates.

Windows XP Updates can also be applied by programs like Offline Update, Autopatcher or Windows Updates Downloader.

Related posts

• Windows Update Fix (3)
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh (2)
• Windows Updates Downloader (6)
• Windows Update Error services not running (16)
• Update Windows with Offline Update (23)

This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability and several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office PowerPoint that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted PowerPoint file. An attacker who successfully exploited any of these vulnerabilities could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

The security update is available on Windows Update and Microsoft Update. Additional information and links can be found at the Security Bulletin that has been created for the security vulnerability. Users of affected software programs are encouraged to perform the security update as soon as possible.

Related posts

• Microsoft Security Updates April 2009 (2)
• Microsoft Patch Day March 2009 (4)
• Microsoft August 2008 Security Updates (0)
• Game Over For Windows Vista’s Security? (12)
• February 2008 Security Releases ISO Image (2)

Update Notifier is an alternative software updates checker which can be installed or run as a portable application. The program uses a clean interface that displays the installed version of scanned software programs, the latest known version in the database and a link to a website from where the application can be downloaded in case a newer version is available. The results were correct for all tested applications which is something that several of the previously tested software updater failed in.

A click on the download button will open the website of the software developer that contains information about the application. It takes another two clicks to start the download that is available directly from the same website. There is unfortunately no direct link to the website of the software developer itself to verify the findings or to download the software from there.

Update Notifier can be configured to filter the results list. Filters include the listing of only commercial or free software as well as listings based on the type of update available. The program can also be pointed at a folder on the local computer system containing portable applications to check those for updates as well.

Related posts

• Software Update Monitoring With SUMO (14)
• Keep Software Installers Up To Date (3)
• Cnet Techtracker Checks For Software Updates (7)
• Youtube Video Search Is A Barebone Youtube Downloader (2)
• Xkcd Comic Wallpaper Changer (2)

Windows Update can cause problems on some computer systems. The first and probably most common problem that is encountered is the error message “The site cannot continue because one or more of these Windows services is not running” (read: Windows Update Error services not running for a detailed explanation). This message is caused by several Windows Services that need to be set to specific parameters for Windows Update to work.

One of these services that are required for Windows Update to function properly is Bits, the Background Intelligent Transfer Service. Bits can cause additional problems on some computer systems especially after uninstalling software programs like antivirus or security programs or after an infection and removal of computer viruses and other malicious software. Most users will experience the following: Bits is not running on the computer system and the attempt to start it will result in an error message. The error messages can vary and it is probably a good idea to perform a search for the error on the Internet.

Another solution is to use the Fix Windows Update program that has been specifically designed to fix problems with Bits and Windows Update. Here are the instructions on how to use the program:

• First click “Open Services Window”.
• After the window has been opened, find a Service called “BITS” and see if it is running.
• If it is, this program cannot help you, and you can exit the program.
• If it is not running, close the Services window and click on “Start BITS”.
• If it is successful, this program has helped you and you can close the program.
• If starting the BITS fails, continue with other 2 buttons.

Start by clicking on the Phase 1 button. A popup will appear if the program was able to fix and start Bits. If this did not work continue by pressing the Phase 2 button. This will take longer and should result in a popup containing the information that Bits started running again. There might be cases where the Fix Windows Update program is not successful in restoring the Windows Update functionality. The only possible solution in this case is research on the Internet to find the cause of the problem.

Users who are desperate to update their Windows operating system can use the following tools to do so even if Bits and Windows Update are not working: Windows Offline Update, Update Windows Without Microsoft or Autopatcher.

Related posts

• Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh (2)
• Windows Vista SP1 all languages released (3)
• Windows Updates Downloader (6)
• Windows Update Error services not running (16)
• Windows Tip: Don’t replace any files while copying (10)

This week’s update of the week award goes to Locate32 which got updated to Locate 3.1.8.9210 Release Candidate 3 which is an excellent program to search Windows. It can search for files and contents and makes use of a database that needs to be updated regularly in the background to be effective.

• µTorrent 1.8.1. Build 12323 Beta – Lightweight, fast and easy to use Bittorrent client.
• AIMP 2.5 Build 297 RC4 – A great audio player resembling Winamp.
• CDBurnerXP Pro 4.2.1.976 – Free CD burning application that supports the usual most common operations.
• Cobian Backup 9.1.1.193 – A versatile computer backup software program.
• CodecInstaller 2.10.2 – Analyzes a multimedia file telling the user which codecs are needed to play it.
• doPDF 6.1.274 – Creates a virtual printer in Windows that can convert documents into PDF.
• DVD Flick 1.3.0.2 – DVD authoring software that can turn video files stored on the computer into video DVDs that play on DVD players.
• DVDFab HD Decrypter 5.0.9.5 Beta – Copies DVD movies to the computer hard drive removing copy protection in the process.
• FileZilla 3.1.3 – Open Source ftp client with good functionality.
• foobar2000 0.9.5.6 – An advanced audio player with great options and plugins.
• Foxit Reader 2.3 Build 3309 – Foxit Reader is an excellent PDF reader that can be used instead of Adobe Reader.
• Free Download Manager 2.6.805 Beta – Another popular Windows download manager.
• Google Chrome 0.2.152.1 Beta – New beta version of the Google web browser.
• Hitman Pro 3.0.0.2465 Beta – A tool that installs and uses multiple anti-spyware utilities to scan a computer system.
• IE7pro 2.4 – The one add-on for Internet Explorer that everyone should have installed.
• Locate 3.1.8.9210 RC3 – Probably the fastest way to search Windows.
• Microsoft Office Outlook Connector 12.1 Beta 2 – Users of Microsoft Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 can use this application to work with Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail or Microsoft Office Live Mail accounts.
• Microsoft Photosynth 2.0.1403.12 – Interesting technology by Microsoft that analyzes sets of photos to create a 3D model of the object.
• Microsoft Pro Photo Tools 2.2 – Microsoft photo organizer and editor that makes use of metadata properties.
• Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.17 – Latest version of Firefox 2 for those who have not yet updated to Firefox 3.
• OpenOffice.org 3.0.0 RC2 – The second release candidate of the Open Source Office suite.
• openSUSE 11.1 Beta 1 – First beta version of the upcoming Open Suse 11.1.
• Opera 9.60 Build 10433 Beta – Another beta version of the upcoming Opera 9.6 browser.
• Orbit Downloader 2.7.6 – A download manager that integrates nicely into the most popular web browsers. Comes with support for various video and multimedia portals.
• PC Wizard 2008.1.86 – Tool to identify and display system information.
• PDFCreator 0.9.6 – Another virtual printer solution that converts documents into PDF files.
• PeerAware 1.01 – Share spreadsheets, presentations and documents in private environments.
• Picasa 3.0 Build 57.24 Beta – Google’s image organizer and viewer.
• Pictomio 1.2.20 Beta – Another image organizer with geotagging add-on.
• RivaTuner 2.11 – A NVIDIA video card tweaker.
• Stellarium 0.10.0 Beta – A program that renders realistic (night-) skies.
• SUMo 2.3.3.59 – Software Update Monitor scans the Windows system for installed software and updated version of those applications on the Internet.
• VirtualDub 1.8.6 Build 30009 – Video capturing and manipulation software.
• VSO Image Resizer 2.0.1.11b – Straightforward image resizer that unfortunately comes with a nag screen.
• WildBit Viewer 5.3 Alpha 3.0 – A fast image viewer for Windows.
• WinBubble 1.76 – A tweaker and optimizer for Windows Vista.
• WinPatrol 15.9.2008.0 – Blocks applications from adding themselves as startup items or registering file extensions.
• Xfire 1.98 – The gamer’s instant messenger. Chat with your friends and see what they are playing.
• XnView 1.95 Beta 2 – Fast image viewer.

Feel free to add any missing application update in the comments.

Related posts

• Software Updates Checker (18)
• Remote Control Reboots And Updates On Multiple Windows Computers (1)
• ZoneScreen Finally Gets 64-bit Update (7)
• ZC DVD Creator Platinum [Free Full Version] (19)
• Youtube Videos Downloader TubeQueue (17)

This can be achieved with a small batch file that will create a list of all installed Windows hotfixes and the date and time that they have been installed on the system. The information is taken directly from the KBxxxxxx.log files that are created for each individual hotfix that is installed in Windows.

Those log files are located in the Windows directory and it would take some time to check them manually to build the list. Here is a screenshot of the output which is saved in a text document in the root directory of the main hard drive.

The code which has to be added in one line is the following:

dir %windir%\*.log /o:d | findstr /i /r /c:q......\.log /c:kb......\.log /c:q......uninst\.log /c:kb......uninst\.log > %systemdrive%\hotfixes.log

Some of you might prefer a direct download, just download the knowledgebase file and unpack it to the computer system. It contains the same code that is shown above.

Related posts

• Windows Update Fix (3)
• Windows Cannot Find Msconfig (6)
• Stop Restart Now Restart Later Dialog After Windows Updates (8)
• Quick Launch Icon Size (9)
• Microsoft Security Updates October 2009 Online (3)

Each points to the website of the developer so that it should be easy to download the latest version from those websites. Sometimes those versions are only distributed in a forum or blog and not on the main download page.

It was not that hard to pick an update of the week. HTTrack is such a wonderful website downloader that it had to make it this week. With it users can download entire websites to their computer including password protected sites.

• µTorrent 1.8.1 Build 11962 – A lightweight efficient Bittorrent client.
• Autoruns 9.33 – professional application for analyzing all startup items of Windows.
• BitComet 1.04 – Another fast Bittorrent client.
• Blender 2.47 – Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite.
• BurnAware Free 2.1 – Perform the most common CD burning tasks with this free burning software.
• CDBurnerXP Pro 4.2.1.919 – free burning software that supports the most common cd burning tasks.
• Core Temp 0.99.3 – Monitors cpu temperature of every core.
• Crap Cleaner 2.11.636 – Removes temporary files on the system.
• DVD Flick 1.3.0.0 Build 683 – DVD authoring tool that can turn videos on the computer into a movie DVD.
• DVDFab HD Decrypter 5.0.8.8 – Copies entire movie DVDs to the computer removing any kind of protection in the process.
• FileZilla 3.1.2 rc1 – Filezilla is an Open-Source ftp client with many features.
• Free Download Manager 2.6.800 Beta – A free download manager supporting http, https and ftp downloads.
• GIMP 2.4.7 – Pretty good Open-Source image editor, probably the best free alternative to buying Photoshop.
• Gizmo Project 4.0.4.385 – A Voice over IP (VOIP) software that resembles Skype in many ways.
• HTTrack Website Copier 3.43 Beta 2 – Definitely one of the best programs to download entire websites to the local computer.
• KlipFolio 5.0 Build 5900-3 – A dashboard that can display all kinds of information from weather to RSS News Feeds.
• MediaCoder 0.6.1.4180 – Can transcode pretty much every video and audio format into another.
• MediaInfo 0.7.7.5 – Analyzes video and audio files giving information about the codecs that are needed to play the media file properly.
• Microsoft Photosynth 2.0.1403.5 – Interesting new application from Microsoft that takes several images of the same object to create a larger version of the object.
• Notepad2 3.0.20 rc1 – Another small lightweight Notepad replacement.
• Office 2000/XP/2003/2007 Slipstreamer 1.7 Beta 4 – Makes it possible to slipstream Office patches, updates and services packs into the Office installation effectively creating a new installation DVD that installs everything at once.
• Opera 9.60 Build 10408 – A new version of one of the best browsers out there.
• Orbit Downloader 2.7.4 – File Downloader that specializes in downloading content from video and audio portals.
• Paint.NET 3.36 – One of the big free image editors next to GIMP.
• Picasa 2.7 Build 37.64 – Picture manager from Google.
• ProduKey 1.31 – Displays Microsoft product keys by searching for them in the Windows Registry.
• RegDllView v1.15 – Displays a list of all registered dll/ocx/exe files on a system.
• Screamer Radio 0.4.1 – A program to listen to and record Internet Radio.
• Spamihilator 0.9.9.42 – A anti-spam mail proxy that establishes itself between the local mail program and the mail servers of the Internet providers.
• Spyware Terminator 2.3.0.488 – excellent anti-spyware software that stands its ground against the likes of Spybot and Ad-Aware.
• Sumatra PDF 0.9.1 – A lightweight PDF reader.
• SUMo 2.3.1.57 – Software Update Monitor that scans the system for installed outdated software to update them.
• Sysinternals Suite Build 08/21/08 – Contains all Sysinternals applications including Process Monitor, Autoruns and Process Explorer.
• TagScanner 5.0.525 – A tool to organize music collections. Can do most things automatically once the user has made a few decisions.
• Update Notifier 1.0.4.64 – Another program that scans the computer for installed software and checks online if software updates are available.
• VideoCacheView v1.15 – checks the Internet cache for downloaded videos with options to view or copy them.
• WildBit Viewer 5.3 Alpha 2.0 – A fast picture viewer with several additional image editing functions.
• WinMerge 2.11.1.4 Experimental – A tool to visually display differences between text documents and options to merge them.

As always: If you know of a program that is not in the list please notify me by leaving a comment.

Related posts

• Software Updates Checker (18)
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh (2)
• Windows Updates Downloader (6)
• Windows Update Fix (3)
• Windows Update Error services not running (16)

Please keep in mind that many versions of the applications listed here are Beta or Alpha versions which should not be used in a work environment.

This week saw lots of updates to file defragmentation tools and video players and codecs. My favorite video player SMPlayer was released as final in version 0.6.2. Try it if you want to try a great video player.

• µTorrent 1.8.1 Build 11882 Beta – The new version introduces 2x faster hashing and several other fixes and improvements.
• 7-Zip 4.60 Beta – One of the most popular file archivers out there. Supports all popular archiving formats.
• Belarc Advisor 7.2.24.8 – Creates a detailed profile of installed software and hardware.
• BitComet 1.04 Build 20080813 Beta – A popular Bittorrent client.
• Core Temp 0.99.2 – A basic tool to display computer system temperatures.
• CrystalCPUID 4.15.2.451 – shows detailed system information.
• Defraggler 1.02.085 – A popular file fragmentation tool. Can defrag selected files or a full drive.
• Digsby Build 16927 Beta – A multi-protocol Instant Messenger that saw a huge reduction in resource usage in the last version.
• doPDF 6.1.270 – Installs a virtual printer on the System that converts documents into PDF documents.
• DVDFab HD Decrypter 5.0.8.5 – Can copy entire DVD movies to the computer’s hard drive. It removes existing protections in the process.
• FlashGot 1.0.5.4 Beta – A Firefox extension that handles download managers in Firefox.
• Hamachi 1.0.3.0 – A virtual network application that can emulate Lan (local area network) connections over Internet. Great for playing games.
• IcoFX 1.6.3 – A great icon editor.
• IObit SmartDefrag 6.10 Beta – A defragmentation software that works quietly and efficiently in the background.
• KeePass 1.12 – An Open-Source password manager.
• MAME 0.127 – Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. Works extremely well and supports a wide variety of machines.
• Miro 1.2.7 – A great video player for watching Internet Videos on the desktop. Subscribe to shows and get updates in realtime.
• NetResView v1.15 – Displays all network resources on the LAN.
• nHancer 2.4.2 – A video card configuration tool for NVIDIA video cards.
• ooVoo 1.7.1.41 – ooVoo is a multi-user video chat application.
• Opera 9.52 Build 10108 – The Opera development team is publishing a new version of Opera nearly every week. Still Beta.
• Pidgin 2.5.0 – An all-in-one Instant Messenger supporting various networks.
• Quicksys RegDefrag 2.0 – Another system defragmentation tool.
• ResourcesExtract v1.03 – Extract Resources from files.
• Screamer Radio 0.4.0 – Simple Internet Radio player and recorder.
• Skype 4.0.0.161 Beta – Popular voip (Voice Over IP) client.
• SMPlayer 0.6.2 – A Mplayer frontend that plays videos out of the box without installing video codecs.
• Songbird 0.7 RC3 – A Web music player build on the Firefox engine.
• SpeedFan 4.35 – The final version of SpeedFan 4.35 after numerous Beta versions. SpeedFan is a temperature monitor that can regulate fan speeds and monitor hard drives as well.
• VirtualDub 1.8.5 Build 29963 – Video capturing and processing tool.
• Vista Codec Package 4.7.3 – A comprehensive codec package for Windows Vista that adds support for the most popular video and audio formats.
• WebVideoCap v1.30 – Capture and save videos and streams that are played on the Internet.
• WirelessNetView v1.10 – Makes it possible to recover WEP and WPA keys.

If you known of another application that has been updated in this week let me know.

Related posts

• Windows Updates Downloader (6)
• Software Updates Week 13 2008 (0)
• List all installed Windows Updates (0)
• Download All Updates For Windows From Microsoft (2)
• Zip Repair (3)

A third possibility came to light recently with the introduction of the Windows Update Catalog. Like the Windows Updates website the Windows Update Catalog only loads properly in Internet Explorer. It does offer however a nice and convenient way of download all updates for Windows in one go from the official Microsoft server.

The website features a search form that searches the entire Windows database of patches, updates and applications. Entering a generic name like Windows XP returns more than 1000 results which means that it makes sense to reduce the results by narrowing down the search.

Instead of searching for Windows XP a user could search for Windows XP Security Updates or Windows XP KB. Items can be added to the basket from where they can be downloaded at once. The updates will be stored in a selected folder from where they can be installed.

The Windows Update Catalog offers an enhancement by introducing the basket which makes it possible to add all files to it before downloading them in one go. This is a great way of downloading all updates for Windows in short time.

It is missing a few features like filtering search results by operating system or language which would greatly reduce the hits and time spent on the site.

Related posts

• Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh (2)
• Updatestar check if Software Updates are available (3)
• Software Updates Week 13 2008 (0)
• List all installed Windows Updates (0)
• Word Document Property Tool (0)

The easiest way to obtain those updates would be to head over to Windows Updates and install them directly from there. This option is only valid if Internet Explorer is used to open the website.

Users who prefer to download the patches manually can head over to the Microsoft Download Center and download the patches from there for their operating system. The following is a list of the security updates that have been made available:

• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-041 – Critical – Vulnerability in the ActiveX Control for the Snapshot Viewer for Microsoft Access Could Allow Remote Code Execution (955617)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-042 – Important – Vulnerability in Microsoft Word Could Allow Remote Code Execution (955048)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-043 – Critical – Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (954066)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-044 – Critical – Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Filters Could Allow Remote Code Execution (924090)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-045 – Critical – Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (953838)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-046 – Critical – Vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Image Color Management System Could Allow Remote Code Execution (952954)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-047 – Important – Vulnerability in IPsec Policy Processing Could Allow Information Disclosure (953733)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-048 – Important – Security Update for Outlook Express and Windows Mail (951066)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-049 – Important – Vulnerabilities in Event System Could Allow Remote Code Execution (950974)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-050 – Important – Vulnerability in Windows Messenger Could Allow Information Disclosure (955702)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-051 – Critical – Vulnerabilities in Microsoft PowerPoint Could Allow Remote Code Execution (949785)

As you can see a wide variety of Microsoft software programs and operating systems is affected.

Related posts

• Microsoft Security Updates for June 2008 (0)
• February 2008 Security Releases ISO Image (2)
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh (2)
• Windows Update Error services not running (16)
• Windows Security Updates September 2008 (0)

Windows Updates Downloader was initially designed to download all Microsoft patches for a specific operating system or program to create an unattended Windows installations. You might know that it is possible to create your own Windows installation CD by removing and adding components to it that are automatically installed. Since patches have to be installed anyway it is only logical to include them in the installation process.

The software works in combination with Program Files Update Lists (ULs) which are also available at the program’s homepage. The user begins by installing the Windows Updates Downloader application and starts to download the update lists once the application has been installed.

The website hosts nine English Update lists (for operating systems like Windows XP, Windows Vista but also Microsoft Office and Microsoft Exchange) and many more for different language versions of the Microsoft products. Just run the update lists after downloading them, this will automatically integrate them into the application. They can then be picked from the pulldown menu. Sometimes the refresh button has to be pressed so that they become visible.

Updates are divided into different categories like Critical Updates, Service Packs, Internet Explorer and several more. Categories can be selected as a whole or individual updates can be selected. By default each update will be placed in the category subfolder but it is possible to change that so that each update is placed in its own folder.

Descriptions are available when hovering the mouse over the individual updates which comes in handy if you want to pick individual updates.

The downloaded updates are available in executable format and can be installed right away or used to slipstream into a new installation CD.

Related posts

• Restart your computer to finish installing important updates (7)
• XP SP3 and Vista SP 1 available through Windows Update (6)
• Windows XP WGA To Mimic That Of Windows Vista (18)
• Windows Vista Critics Love Windows Mojave (44)
• Windows Update Error services not running (16)

Here is the list of updates that have been released. The easiest way to update them is by simply visiting Windows Update. If you want more control about the update process I suggest you follow the links below or use the Autopatcher Updater to download and install the updates.

Bulletin: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-030 (Critical)
Description: Vulnerability in Bluetooth Stack Could Allow Remote Code Execution (951376)
Impact: Remote Code Execution

Bulletin: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-031 (Critical)
Description: Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (950759)
Impact: Remote Code Execution

Bulletin: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-033 (Critical)
Description: Vulnerabilities in DirectX Could Allow Remote Code Execution (951698)
Impact: Remote Code Execution

Bulletin: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-034 (Important)
Description: Vulnerability in WINS Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (948745)
Impact: Elevation of Privilege

Bulletin: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-035 (Important)
Description: Vulnerabilities in Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) Could Allow Denial of Service (950762)
Impact: Denial of Service

Bulletin: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-036 (Important)
Description: Vulnerability in Bluetooth Stack Could Allow Remote Code Execution (951376)
Impact: Denial of Service

Bulletin: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-032 (Moderate)
Description: Cumulative Security Update of ActiveX Kill Bits (950760)
Impact: Remote Code Execution

Related posts

• Windows Security Updates September 2008 (0)
• Microsoft August 2008 Security Updates (0)
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh (2)
• Windows Update Error services not running (16)
• Software Updates Week 13 2008 (0)

The application quickly compiles a list of all Windows Updates, be it hotfixes, service packs or single updates and displays them in a table. It includes information about the name of the update, a description (only NT and XP), the date the update has been installed and by whom it has been installed. A click on a column sorts the table which means it is relatively easy to display all the updates that have been installed by a specific user or to get a chronological listing of the updates.

Even more interesting in my opinion are links to Knowledgebase articles that are included for every update, at least for those that I have checked. This directly opens a browser window with the corresponding Knowledgebase article from Microsoft.

The table or selected rows of it can be exported as html or text files which is extremely useful if you want to compare two installations. Just fire up a tool like Winmerge and compare both reports to see if updates are missing.

Related posts

• Software Updates Week 13 2008 (0)
• Download All Updates For Windows From Microsoft (2)
• Word Document Property Tool (0)
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh (2)
• Windows Updates Downloader (6)

This week saw a lot of updates and it was quite hard to pick one that would receive the update of the week award. Since the Open Office update has not been made official yet on their homepage I’m giving the award to Orbit Downloader which is in my opinion the best free downloader out there.

If you know of an application that has been updated but is missing in the list let me know, I will surely do my best to monitor it from now on and add it to the list.

µTorrent 1.8 Build 9137 Beta – a new Beta version of this lightweight Bittorrent client.

7-Zip 4.58 Alpha 5 – another popular archiver with support for many different zip extensions.

aTuner 1.9.82.17453 – a tiny tool that can change several settings of Ati and Nvidia video cards.

BitComet 20080320 Beta – a fast Bittorrent client.

CCleaner 2.06.567 – cleans the computer from temporary and other unnecessary files.

Cobian Backup 9.1.1.166 Beta – an excellent backup software with options to backup to an ftp server.

CodecInstaller 2.9.1 – analyzes multimedia files and displays information about the codecs that are needed to play them.

doPDF 6.0.257 – sets up a virtual printer that creates pdf documents.

DVDFab HD Decrypter 4.1.2.0 – copy DVDs to your hard drive and remove protections – if any – in the process.

FeedDemon 2.6.1.0 Beta – a desktop feed reader.

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 3.8.5 – a highly popular codec package.

Locate 3.1.8.3260 Beta – Locate offers one of the fastest ways to search for files and content in files in Windows.

MediaCoder 0.6.1.4077 – a batch transcoder for audio and video files.

MediaMonkey 3.0.3.1147 Beta 3 – music organizer, manager and player.

Nokia PC Suite 6.86 Release 6 – applications to transfer to and backup data from your Nokia mobile phone.

ooVoo 1.5.1.96 Beta – offers multi-user video chat.

Norton Removal Tool 2008.0.3.15 – Some call it the best software Norton ever produced. Use this if you want to completely remove a Norton / Symantec product from your computer.

Open Office 2.4.0 – the final version of Open Office 2.4 after several release candidates. A popular replacement for Microsoft Office.

Orbit Downloader 2.6.4 – a fantastic download manager with many advanced features.

PeaZip 2.0 – an alternative to the more popular packers like Winzip and Winrar.

Recuva 1.12.291 – recover accidentally deleted files on your computer.

Songbird 0.5 RC2 – a multi-platform multimedia player.

SpeedFan 4.34 Beta 44 – manage the speed of the fans in your computer.

SUMo 1.7.0.42 Beta – Sumo scans your computer for known applications and checks their version against an online database to let you know if the computer is having the latest version installed.

Vista Codec Package 4.6.2 – add several missing video and audio codecs to Windows Vista at once.

WildBit Viewer 5.2 Alpha 4.0 – another update of this popular image viewer.

WinSCP 4.1 Beta – I’m almost exclusively using WinSCP to update my websites.

Related posts

• Software Updates for iTunes, uTorrent and more (2)
• List all installed Windows Updates (0)
• Download All Updates For Windows From Microsoft (2)
• Word Document Property Tool (0)
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh (2)

It seems that one needed a special Registry key from Microsoft to download this new Service Pack Release Candidate for Windows XP. This is not necessary anymore, at least not on my end. The Service Pack 3 was offered to me even though I did not make the changes to the Registry.

The Service Pack 3 is also available right from the Microsoft website with a size of roughly 315 Megabytes. Only the English, German and Japanese updates are available right now but it surely will not take long until the two other languages (French and Spanish) are added as well.

The same website also contains the Registry key that needs to be added to Windows XP to download the Service Pack 3 in Windows Updates.

Related posts

• Download All Updates For Windows From Microsoft (2)
• XP SP3 and Vista SP 1 available through Windows Update (6)
• Windows Update Error services not running (16)
• Updatestar check if Software Updates are available (3)
• Steps to take before you install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (5)

I started services.msc and set all three services to manual to be able to start them afterwards. I refreshed the Windows Update website but received the same error message that one or more of the services were not running. I double checked and all three were running.

After reading the error description more carefully I discovered that it was not sufficient to just have the service running. No, it was necessary that two of the services, Automatic Updates and Background Intelligent Transfer Service, had to be set to automatic.

Once I did that the error message went away and I was able to update Windows XP using Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1. Yes, that did work which is why I’m writing this article instead. If you run into troubles with services and Windows Updates make sure the two services I mentioned are set to Automatic.

Related posts

• Restart your computer to finish installing important updates (7)
• XP SP3 and Vista SP 1 available through Windows Update (6)
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh (2)
• Windows Vista Critics Love Windows Mojave (44)
• Windows Updates Downloader (6)