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October 21st, 2008

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Windows 7 targets October 2009 RTM, retail soon after?

Connecting the dots is so fun. Usually I don’t speculate about release dates, especially if the only source is “I heard from my step-brother’s uncle who knows someone who works on Windows”, but I’m pretty confident about this one.

Twitter user “remtiwk” had pointed out to me something very interesting yesterday which only today I realized is not just bluff or a mistake. On the ever-changing WinHEC 2008 website now writes “there is not another WinHEC planned before Windows 7 is released”. Wikipedia then confirmed WinHEC was an annual event. This morning, Ed Bott links to an interview which the ASUS CEO is quoted as saying “in the second half of next year we will put Windows 7 on Eee PCs”.

If you put the two together then Windows 7 is scheduled to be released to manufacturing in late October 2009. Retail release should be a month or two after, so late November 2009, just before the holiday season.

Ninjas at Microsoft nodded at my guesstimations before quickly vanishing to do other ninja stuff.

Written by Long Zheng on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
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Handle Leak in Apple’s mDNSResponder.exe

A while ago, I noticed a handle leak in Apple's "Bonjour Service" (yeah, that sounds like something I want running on my system...) - mDNSResponder.exe. I knew right away that that was the executable for the "Bonjour Service" because the name is so helpful. (Joking. Even if it was named after the service, how the heck would I even guess what the "Bonjour Service" did. But I digress...)

The service description is:

Bonjour allows applications like iTunes and Safari to advertise and discover services on the local network. Having Bonjour running enables you to connect to hardware devices like Apple TV and software services like iTunes sharing and AirTunes. If you disable Bonjour, any network service that explicitly depends on it will fail to start.

I put up with the leak for a while, from time to time stopping the service when I thought of it after booting. Most of the time I didn't think of it and the leak did not appear to be having any kind of performance impact on my system (I never saw it get above 80,000 handles). An update (or two?) later, I thought it would be fixed. So I was surprised to find mDNSResponder.exe had more than 55,000 handles when I checked recently with Sysinternals' Process Explorer.


I tried to use Process Explorer's handle pane to see the handles in mDNSResponder.exe, but with that many handles to display, and with Process Explorer running with its default High priority and refreshing every second, the system became rather sluggish. I dropped the priority of Process Explorer with Task Manager, hid the lower-pane view, and gave Handle.exe a shot with handle.exe -a -p mdnsresponder.exe.

I found that the handles being leaked are handles to registry keys - specifically, HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Tcpip\Parameters. (ControlSet001 is the current control set on my system.)

Since there's not much I can do about the handle leak, I'll disable the service, and hope the next update fixes the problem as surely the next update will set the service to Automatic start. Wonder why the installer doesn't at least set a service such as this as "Delayed Start" in Vista...

Written by «/\/\Ø|ö±ò\/»®© on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
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Windows Media Center Gadgets for Windows SideShow Released

The Windows SideShow Team has announced that the final version of the Windows Media Center Gadgets for Windows SideShow is now available for download on Windows Live Gallery in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors!

Download: Windows Media Center Gadgets for Windows SideShow (32-bit)
Download: Windows Media Center Gadgets for Windows SideShow (64-bit)

The Windows Media Center Gadgets for Windows SideShow package is made up of the following 4 Gadgets for your Windows SideShow device:

  • Now Playing: View what is currently playing in Windows Media Center (includes playback controls)
  • Pictures + Video: Browse your Photos and Videos folders
  • Music: Browse your Music folder and play any song
  • TV: Look at what is on TV via the Windows Media Center Guide, Schedule Recordings, and View Recordings (in a Thumbnail view)

If you are a heavy Windows Media Center user and have a Windows SideShow device – these gadgets are a must-have. My main desktop PC is a Dell XPS 420 which comes with a built-in Windows SideShow display on the top of the system. It is great being able to walk up to the system to check and schedule TV recordings especially if I’m in a hurry and don’t want to sit down at my desk and fire up Windows Media Center. Quick access is awesome.

Written by Brandon LeBlanc on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
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Keystrokes Can Be Sniffed Without the PC Being Compromised

Two Swiss researchers have demonstrated, in James Bond-like experiments, that sniffing the keystrokes from a wired keyboard is possible by capturing the electromagnetic radiations that are emitted when the keys are pressed. The researchers devised four methods of attack, one of which successfully decodes the pressed keys from a distance up to 20 meters, through an office wall, with a rather simple wireless antenna.

The knowledge that computer systems generate compromising emanations or Tempest radiation is dated back to the 1960s, the military organizations being the first to run tests with it. However, it was believed that modern wired keyboards had been constructed in order to overcome this problem. Martin Vuagnoux and Sylvain Pasini, two researchers from the Security and Cryptography Laboratory at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, set out to prove that many keyboards sold today are still vulnerable to this type of attacks.

One of their attack techniques has been based on a previous more generic research by Markus G. Kuhn and Ross J. Anderson, from the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. This technique is already known in the security industry as the Kuhn attack. The two Swiss researchers have used in their test 11 different wired keyboards, USB and PS2, external and embedded in laptops, which were bought after 2001. All of the tested keyboards have been found vulnerable to at least one of the four attacks.


Read More..

Written by Madhukar on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
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Microsoft: Windows 7 Will Be Vista (but Better), Wait for Windows 7

Windows Vista is transforming from a stepping stone to Windows 7 into an intermediary Windows platform to yet another Windows Vista release. According to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, Windows 7 will be nothing more than a bettered version of Vista. Fact is that just as Windows 7 Server is Windows Server 2008 Release 2 (R2), so will Windows 7 be Windows Vista R2. However, Ballmer underlined that the next iteration of Windows is indeed a major release of the Windows client.

“Our next release of Windows will be compatible with Vista. The key is let’s get on with it. We’ll be ready when you want to deploy Windows 7,” Ballmer noted at the Gartner Symposium ITxpo in Orlando, courtesy of Between the lines. Microsoft’s CEO then stated that Windows 7 “is not minor because it’s a lot more work than a minor release. It’s a major release”. In this regard, Ballmer emphasized that the next version of Windows would improve on Vista, pointing to enhancements in the operating system's shell. As far as the user interface is concerned, he revealed that “Windows 7 will be Vista, but a lot better”.

In this context, the question of the relevance of Vista upgrades comes yet again into focus. Asked whether skipping Vista and going straight to Windows 7 would make sense given the current economic environment, Ballmer said, “if people want to wait they really can. But I’d definitely deploy Vista”.

It was in mid-August that Ward Ralston, group product manager, Windows Server, confirmed Windows 7 Server (or Windows Server 7) as Windows Server 2008 R2. On the heels of that announcement, Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, labeled Windows 7 as an awesome release. “Our goal is about building an awesome release of Windows 7. Not minor, not major... simply awesome,” Sinofsky stated at the time.

Still, the new details coming from Ballmer make it increasingly hard for Microsoft to pass Windows 7 along as a major Windows version. The Redmond company revealed early in the process of building Windows 7 that the operating system is developed as an evolution of Windows Vista. The fact that the code version of Windows 7 will be Windows 6.1, while Vista SP1 is 6.0.6001, is an illustrative move from the software giant in terms of the evolution of Vista into Windows 7.

Source: Softpedia

Written by Madhukar on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
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Antivirus Plasma

Description of Antivirus Plasma and consequences of its residing on your PC

Experts would reasonably assure you that texts used as advertisement at the home-page of Antivirus Plasma (AntivirusPlasma) have already been used for marketing of notorious fake virus and malware removers. In general, this is sufficient background to accuse Antivirus Plasma of unfairness and failure to comply with declared performance. Of course, the tests of Antivirus Plasma has shown how “well” this software can protect you. Remove Antivirus Plasma immediately to stop its tricky and dangerous game.
The aim of Antivirus Plasma creation and propagation is to sell the product and obtain a profit; well, that is understandable and almost everyone works for profit. However, even very severe struggle for profit may be to the client’s benefits, unless the product offered is only an imitation. In such a case, you can only loose if purchase this merchant. What is worse, the product may also be harmful; while you believe that your need is satisfied, the concoction of rascals neither helps nor at least does not make any harm. This is exactly applicable to the situation with Antivirus Plasma, since Antivirus Plasma is a rude imitation of antivirus that, instead of protecting your machine, bothers you with ads and intentionally slows down your computer. Its impact may be so strong that even disks clusters are physically injured. No matter how ridiculous and unlikely is this statement, it is true and proved by replicated tests.
Click here to scan your PC free of charge and to remove Antivirus Plasma in a good time.  Be aware that failure to get rid of Antivirus Plasma as soon as you can is likely to result in hard system disordering and system crush that cannot be aborted afterwards.

Antivirus Plasma Technical Details

  • Full name: Antivirus Plasma, AntivirusPlasma
  • Version: 2009
  • Type: Rogue anti-spyware
  • Origin: Russian Federation

Antivirus Plasma Screenshots (click to enlarge):

Signs of being infected with Antivirus Plasma:

Antivirus Plasma is dangerous mainly due to its trail version. It does not mean, though, that registered payable version is mostly harmless.
The unregistered copy is offered for free upload at many web-sites, as well as it can be installed by means of trojans and using deceptive tactics. Antivirus Plasma trialware conducts scan by its own initiative, usually the scan is launched as user starts new Windows session. Scan window has pretty legitimate impression; however, if you would more closely and attentively eye at logo of Antivirus Plasma scan window you should see that it is only similar to Windows logo (but not the same). This is another evidence that Antivirus Plasma pretends to be legitimate software but is just another false and malicious product. Remove Antivirus Plasma when its presence is discovered.
Pay attention that Antivirus Plasma trialware during some time might be unable to “scan” and to generate alerts. Detection and removal of Antivirus Plasma within this period is preferable, but one may find it difficult to detect and remove Antivirus Plasma while it gives almost no signs of life, if not to count slight freezes of computer and few reboots (it is true that even free from malware computers may freeze and reboot suddenly).
Click here to scan your PC for free and to get rid of  Antivirus Plasma by means of the best, as to our opinion, malware removal tool with free scan, or skip this all and proceed to Antivirus Plasma manual removal instructions (scroll down this post).

Automatic Removal of Antivirus Plasma from your PC:

Automatic removal of Antivirus Plasma is recommended, because this way to remove Antivirus Plasma ensures identification and removal of related to Antivirus Plasma rogues which likely to abound at your PC. Follow the link below to launch free malware&virus scan and to get rid of Antivirus Plasma.

Download Antivirus Plasma Removal Tool

Manual Removal of Antivirus Plasma:

Make sure that you have at least half of hour available before you start to remove Antivirus Plasma manually. Concentrate entirely at the procedure of Antivirus Plasma removal to ensure correct and total Antivirus Plasma removal. Seize the opportunity to download free copy of the malware removal tool with scanner (click the link above) to che?k weather other threats pose an actual challenge to your PC

Remove Antivirus Plasma files and dll’s

Antivirus.exe
Antivirus Plasma.lnk

Unregister Antivirus Plasma registry values:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Antivirus Plasma
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “avpl”

Antivirus Plasma Remover with free scan

Written by admin on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Antivirus Plasma removal tool and Trojan horses and Antivirus Plasma remover and remove Antivirus Plasma and uninstall AntivirusPlasma and Spyware reviews and Removal tools and Adware and otherSoftware and rogue anti-spyware and spyware and Manual removal instructions and malware.

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