Microsoft has confirmed that its OneCare software changes the Automatic Updates function so that the important downloads will download automatically to their users.

“When you first install Windows Live OneCare, setup informs you that if you choose to proceed, your computer settings will be changed to automatically download and install important updates from Microsoft Update,” according to a blog entry by a OneCare team member.

“This behavior is by design and is not unique to the latest version of OneCare It helps ensure that your computer continues to receive important updates as soon as possible after they are released,” it added.

PhotoRec is a free, stand alone utility for recovering data off flash memory, hard drives and CDRoms. What makes PhotoRec special is that most other data recovery software wont recover data on flash based memory such as a camera memory card or USB thumb drive. PhotoRec will.
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The Register has posted a news article that the latest Macintosh operating system does not support the latest version of Java.

“This is a show stopper for me, and I will have to revert to 10.4, since my job as a software engineer for Sun requires Java 6–this will likely prevent a lot of people from upgrading, and there’s a well represented Mac userbase at Sun,” said one of the users.

Java 1.6 has new functionalities and it fixed some bugs. There is no comment yet about this story from Apple. Moderators on Apple’s support forum has deleted topics about Java 1.6. according to The Register’s article.

Source: The Register

NumannH of Sophos reported that he came across a fake spyware/malware cleaner. Two screen shots were included in the blog entry of what the program looks like.

Here are some of the things that happened to his computer:
1. His desktop wallpaper was changed. It changed to a message which read: “WARNING! YOUR PC IS INFECTED!
2. It prevented him to start any new programs.
3. His PC will not let him run command line tools.

The software basically forced him to purchase the full version of the software in a secure webpage.

Source: Sophos

Sophos has posted a blog entry about an identity theft experiment that was made by BBC.

It involves the the social networking site, Facebook. BBC set up a fake user named “Amba Friend” and they contacted 100 random people. The objective was to learn how many of those people will accept invitation from a total stranger.

They found that home addresses and dates of birth were given by some people who accepted their invitation. This can lead to identity theft.

Sophos mentioned that they made a similar experiment in August.

Source: Sophos

Many people dream of running their own successful business. However, those dreams never include the sweat, blood and tears that are part of getting there. Here are 10 reality based tips for starting a computer business.
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The Register posted an article that many Mac users are having problems on installing the latest Mac OS that they have bought which is Leopard. It is version 10.5 of the Mac OS X.

One of the users said:

I’ve just been on the phone to Apple AU support for an hour (around half of that spent on hold, but on-and-off as they sometimes consulted other techs), and they definitely know of the BSOD issue, said they started taking calls from 9am Friday as the first (early courier!) deliveries of Leopard were installed, and they’ve been flat out, “phones ringing non-stop” since then. Implied that Apple stateside has been swamped (as you can imagine) and they haven’t been able to pinpoint the issue causing the BSOD but “they’re looking into it”.

Source: The Register

I got an email today from a Technibble reader regarding raising his prices. He says that for the past year his prices have been at least half of everybody else is charging in his area. Due to his low prices hes become known as the local cheap computer place which is an image hes trying to shake and gain more higher paying clients.
“How do I raise my prices or better yet; how do I get a bunch of people who wont pay $10 to start paying $70 a repair? How do you explain a price rise if its just a service and thats all you have ever charged?”.
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Various tech sites have reported that Microsoft’s OneCare software as the culprit that changed Windows’ Automatic Update settings without telling users or getting their approval.

“Some security products have turned on AU in the past. But OneCare was the only guilty party,” said Scott Dunn who tested other similar softwares such as ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite and Norton Internet Security.

“I find this surprising and very disturbing. If they’re going to change [AU] settings, they should let you know,” he added.

Both Windows XP and Vista users have four options to choose from in their AU settings. With this news, their choice is down to one.

Source: PC World

This computer advertising trap is a trap that can effect both beginner and veteran business owners. It is very sneaky because you don’t know its happened until you are right in the middle of it.
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