The IE Tab extension lets you switch between Firefox and IE rendering. Once installed, I had no trouble using the IE Tab add-on to run Microsoft Update. According to Mozilla’s Web site, the IE Tab works with Firefox versions 1.5 through 3.0a5. I used it with 2.0.0.6.

To install the IE Tab, go to the add-ons site using the above link. Choose Install Now. The installer will restart Firefox when finished or prompt you to do so before the changes will take effect.

To add the IE Tab button to your Firefox Toolbar, right-click the toolbar and choose Customize. Drag the IE Tab icon and drop it where you want it. When clicked, the IE Tab button will swap rendering engines. (more…)

administrator account, c program, Firefox, Internet, microsoft update, mozilla, mozilla firefox, program files, scheduled tasks, secunia, system tools, tab button, tab works, task wizard, update microsoft, Web, Windows

The Microsoft Update site in Vista has been replaced by a Control Panel applet. To automate the reminder in Vista, you’ll need to set up two automated processes: one for patching Windows, and another for launching a browser showing the Secunia Software Inspector.

Follow these steps to run Windows Update once a month after Patch Tuesday:

Step 1: Choose Start, type Task Scheduler, and press Enter. Click to confirm User Account Control.

Step 2: In the far right pane, click Create Basic Task.

Step 3: In the Create Basic Task Wizard, type the name of your task and (optionally) a description. Click Next.
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schedule, scheduled tasks, vista, Windows, windows vista

You can make Scheduled Tasks run a script that launches Internet Explorer 7 with Microsoft Update in one tab and Secunia Software Inspector in another. I use IE 7 in this example because Microsoft Update won’t run in most other browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox. The technique shown below is adapted from a Windows Scripting Host script published by Tony Schreiner in his MSDN blog.

Step 1. Open your favorite text editor, such as Notepad. Type or paste in the following five lines:

var navOpenInBackgroundTab = 0×1000;
var oIE = new ActiveXObject(”InternetExplorer.Application”);
oIE.Navigate2(”http://update.microsoft.com”);
oIE.Navigate2(”http://secunia.com/software_inspector/”, navOpenInBackgroundTab);
oIE.Visible = true;
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schedule, scheduled tasks, Windows, Windows XP, xp

This tutorial will show you how to schedule your PC to reboot at a given time and date, using the utility provided. This tutorial will work with Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows 98. For this tutorial I will be using windows XP.

First Schedule Windows to Automatically Restart Download. Save it to disk and extract shutdown.exe to your C:\ drive.

Now open the Control Panel by clicking Start > Control Panel (more…)

batch jobs, checkmark, computer restart, control panel, c drive, reboot, scheduled tasks, shutdown, task scheduler, task wizard, vista, Windows, windows icon, windows xp, xp