I was reading an article at PCMag about PatchMateXP. They have had all the patches for XP on one convenient CD.

Unfortunately for PatchMateXP, this breaks a license with Microsoft and they shut themselves down before they got into legal trouble.

This got me thinking – is there a way to get MS Updates on DVD or CD?

My findings were quite interesting.

After tons of digging, I found this Microsoft Knowledge base article: 913086

At that link, Microsoft provides ISO files that contain all of the security updates by month. They update it regularly.

This works fine if you are already patched up, and just need a few months. What if you need all of the patches for Vista, XP, or 2003? That won’t really help.

I dug some more, and I came across a free utility called Offline Update. You can download it from here.

It allows you to create an ISO file with patches for a specific version of Windows. It gets around those pesky legal issues by having you download the patches to generate the ISO file.

To use it, download the package from the above website, and extract it into a folder. In the root directory you will find a program named UpdateGenerator.exe

Launch it, and you will see that it has a simple, but effective interface:

It even includes patches for Office – a nice bonus.

Select the patches you want, and click start.

A command line window will popup and it will download for hours or days, but eventually it will finish.

When it completes, you will find the completed ISO file in the folder named ISO under the root:

In my case it was the 64 bit version of 2003/XP patches.

Want to know the coolest part?

The ISO it builds is more than a collection of patches, it includes a custom program that will automatically install all of them in one shot.

Simply pop your burned DVD into the drive, and a window will show up:

Don’t be confused by the list of options, it is just giving you a choice on non-patch items included in the ISO.

If you just want the patches, simply select nothing and click start. It will only install the patches that have not been installed on your system:

That is all there is to it. The program will install all of the patches, reboot, and the system is up to date.

Now, I can burn that ISO, and give it to my friend Brett, since he lives in an Internet dead zone.

This little utility can be a huge time saver. I highly recommend it.

I noticed over the weekend that Microsoft's Solution Accelerator team has just released a Beta of Project Codename Sundance. This Solution Accelerator builds on previous Microsoft security guidance and is aimed at helping you configure and deploy security settings for both Windows and Office 2007. With more than 700 security setting recommendations, the guidance and tools included should help fine-tune the security posture of your Windows and Office 2007 deployments.

After deploying the security settings, you can even verify the settings and monitor policy changes by using one or more of 18 new configuration packs designed for the Desired Configuration Management (DCM) feature of Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

This solution accelerator can help you in a number of ways:

• Accelerate and secure deployments
  Predefined templates and automated tools enable you to greatly reduce the time required to deploy security settings and monitor security baselines.
• Provide higher reliability
  Eliminate a number of manual steps and get faster, more reliable security results.
• Comprehensive solution
  Includes information about hundreds of security and privacy setting options, as well as recommendations for each one based on best practices.
• Manage risk
  Manage security setting changes in Windows operating systems and Office applications that otherwise could place the integrity of your IT systems at risk.
• Right Price
  It's free from Microsoft Connect.

I invite you to join the Beta Program for Project Codename Sundance and take a look at how it might help you secure your Windows and Office 2007 installations.

To join the Beta Program for Project Codename Sundance, please click on the following link:
https://connect.microsoft.com/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=2682&InvitationID=SUN-698V-PYJF&SiteID=715

After you have joined the program, add the following link to your favorites
https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=715 

[Edited on 12/17/2008 to provide best user experience for beta program links.]

After the last Adobe vulnerability found in Windows XP SP3 in Adobe Flash Player, recently, more serious vulnerabilities were found in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat. In result, Adobe released a new security update on Monday to patch up that security hole. The vulnerability is defined as CVE-2008-2641, and is now out wild on the Internet.

According to Adobe, if this vulnerability gets exploited, your system may crash and allow the hacker to gain control on it. This is what Adobe’s site says:

A critical vulnerability has been identified in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 8.1.2. This vulnerability would cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

Following Adobe products are affected with this vulnerability:

• Adobe Reader 8.0 through 8.1.2
• Adobe Reader 7.0.9 and earlier
• Adobe Acrobat Professional, 3D and Standard 8.0 through 8.1.2
• Adobe Acrobat Professional, 3D and Standard 7.0.9 and earlier

This vulnerability does not affect Adobe Reader 7.1.0 and Acrobat 7.1.0.

Download Latest Adobe Patches

Some PDF creator will add restrictions to the PDF documents to protect the contents from being copied or printed by users. Users still can print, copy and paste the PDF documents, if they have the passwords to unlock the documents.

However, with PDF Unlocker, you can easily remove these restrictions. After installing the application, a shortcut will appear on the dekstop. Simply drag and drop any PDF documents to PDF Unlocker’s icon and all restrictions will be removed.

If the PDF documents required password to open/read, you can use PDF Unlocker to remove the password. But, you need to know the password before unlock them.

download PDF Unlocker