This is just to prove my point - a single AV engine is not enough if you want to be secure.

I had this problem today at a customer - a user had received a link in her Messenger… And she clicked it and probably accepted to execute the thing => Pooof (all her MSN Messenger contacts were spammed with links to the worm)!

We tried to use some different online scanners - as the local AV engines (no names mentioned) didn’t find anything - even after updating the signatures. The online scanners I tried first didn’t show anything. So, this particular online scanner turned out to be VERY cool and effective:

I can recommend this scanning link whenever you have a suspicious file you want to scan: http://virusscan.jotti.org/

As you can see it uses several engines to determine if the file is infected or not - so nice, thanx!

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The ability to run decade-old applications on the newest releases of Windows has almost become a rite of passage. Most people would agree that software backwards compatibility on Windows is easily one of the important factors for its success. However with each release, Microsoft digs itself deeper and deeper into this pit of support as the breadth and depth of software grows exponentially. So much so some predict it will eventually ruin Windows, if it hasn’t already.

A recently published patent application, “Environment For Executing Legacy Applications On A Native Operating System” for those of you playing at home, filed in April of 2007 by Microsoft’s Hoi Vo and Samer Arafeh (who works on the Windows kernel) reveals some details of how they might (and emphasis on might because patents are just words on a piece of paper) accommodate and dramatically improve software compatibility in future releases of Windows.

As described in the patent, the problem of legacy applications support lies in binaries (DLLs and EXEs). As operating systems are updated, system binaries change. Older system calls, callbacks and exceptions may not exist at all in the new operating system, may exist to some degree or may

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Windows Media Player in Vista has Automatic Updates enabled. This means that even if you never use Windows Media Player it still downloads the updates that come available for it, as soon as you have connection with the internet.

• You can disable this by going by changing the following registry key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaPlayer]

• Create a registry DWORD key named DisableAutoUpdate and give it a value of 1

Alternative method is to use the built in policy editor:

1. Click on ‘Start’ and in the ‘Start Search’ box type (without the quotes) “gpedit.msc”. When it shows up hit ‘Enter’
2. Now the group policy editor should be on screen, under ‘Computer Configuration’ expand ‘Administrative Templates’ - then expand ‘Windows Components - then scroll down to the ‘Windows media Player’ item and click on it to highlight it.
3. On the right side you should see a policy item named ‘Prevent Automatic Updates’ - right click on it and choose ‘Properties’.
4. Click the ‘Setting’ tab, then click the ‘Enabled’ radio button - then click ‘Apply’
5. There ya go, no more auto updates for Media Player.

Both of the above do the same thing, they both add the registry…

Install this update to resolve a set of known application compatibility issues with Windows Vista. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer. This is a Customer Preview Release. At the conclusion of this preview phase, the final version of the update will be released via Windows Update. This update is provided to you and licensed under the Windows Vista License Terms.

Update for Windows Vista
Update for Windows Vista x64
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 943302

What is an Operating System?

An operating system, or OS, is software that enables you to operate the computer. It manages the opening of files, the monitor display, printing, access to networks, and so on. The chances are you are using a version of Windows as your operating system, but this is not the only OS available. Others include the various versions of linux (such as Ubuntu) which are generally available for free, and OSX, which is the latest operating system for Apple Macs. The various operating systems will tend to look different from one another, they will store files in different ways, and will also run different programs. So, a program written for Windows will not work on Linux unless it is run through an emulator or another piece of software that acts like a translator, such as WINE.

What on Earth is a GUI?

GUI (pronounced ‘gooey’) stands for Graphical User Interface, and this refers to all the visual elements of an operating system, all the windows, icons, menus, buttons, tick boxes, etc. The user can interact with each of these elements using a mouse or other pointing device, which helped to…