Computerworld has reported that Microsoft released a security advisory which says that users who are using their Internet Explorer version 7 software through Windows XP or Server 2003 are at risk for a security bug.

The bug is about how its internet browser mishandle some Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI).

“We’re working on a security update. Our plan is to revise our URI handling code [within Windows],” said Jonathan Ness, who is a member of Microsoft’s Security Response Center, in a blog.

The company did not say when the update will be released.

Source: COMPUTERWORLD

Lets say that you went down to the video store to get the latest movie on DVD, only to find that 5 other video stores opened next door to it. Now you have 5 video stores in a line and you aren’t a member at any of them, and they all have the DVD you want in stock. Which one are you going to choose to buy from? Since the DVD you want is identical at each store you would most likely go for the one with the best price.

But this doesn’t happen in the real world. You choose your video store over another one for a certain reason; there is something different about it. It may have the friendliest staff, the best movie range or simply the closest to you. Every time you go out to buy something you are making this choice. So, what makes your business different?
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Appsnap is a free, installable application designed to make it very easy to download, install, upgrade or uninstall freeware applications. This application is extremely useful to any computer technician and is a must have in any kit. You simply check the box next to an application you want to install such as Firefox and Thunderbird. Press the Install button and AppSnap will download the latest version of those programs and install them silently. (eg, no “next next next finish”).
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A fix has been released for a calculation flaw in Microsoft’s Excel software. The bug is that the software give wrong answers when calculating numbers around 65,535 and 65,536 according to the article in The Register that was posted today.

This affects both Excel version 2007 and Excel Services 2007. It will be included in Office 2007’s first service pack.

It is not clear how the bug was discovered but David Gainer of Microsoft thanked users of those two softwares for their patience on waiting for the patch.

The people who really need the patch are the hardware and software engineers.

Source: The Register

Internet Explorer, Word, and Outlook Express were fixed today by Microsoft. Windows users should have received these updates from the Windows Update function.

There was a total of nine fixes that was released earlier today including four critical updates. Actually, there should have been more fixes included in the recent update according to PC World’s article.

A patch for a flaw in Windows 2000 and Windows Sever 2003 is not included in today’s update.

The Internet Explorer patch fixes four bugs said Amol Starwate who is the manager of Qualys’ vulnerability research lab.

Source: PC World

Microsoft Windows hasn’t natively used DOS since the days of Windows98. However, for a computer technician DOS commands are still very useful even in the XP and Vista environment.

For many techies this stuff is old hat and is mainly for the younger generation, however the old hats may see some commands that they didn’t know about. By no means is this exhaustive list of DOS commands are there are thousands more (Google them if you need them). This list has commands that are particularly useful to technicians repairing computers.
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Vnunet.com has posted an article that the upcoming service pack for Windows XP operating systems has been leaked.

It is a 370 MB file which consists of hundreds of fixes and some enhancements for improving network capabilites as well as changes to look and feel of some operations. The fixes have already been released but some people may not have installed some fixes yet which is why it is in this service pack.

The package was sent to a few developers this summer under a strick non-disclosure agreement.

It is not clear whether the leaked package will be the final release of Service Pack 3.

Source: Vnunet.com

Are you someone who runs their life on credit card debt? If you are someone who constantly runs in the negative and cannot put money aside to purchase the things you want, then going into business probably isn’t for you. The most important things with running a business is managing money. It isn’t just part of running a business, it IS running a business. In this article we’ll show you how to manage your funds by keeping your costs down.
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Sophos.com has posted an entry yesterday in their Security Information blog about a spam.

The email is about someone who needs money for a 5 year old girl who has a brain tumour. The girl’s name is Vick Ljah and she is from Russia. She needs to be operated somewhere in Germany according to the email.

The author of the blog says that the originating IPs come from all over the world and most of what he’d seen from a small sample are registered as portable addresses.

Source: Sophos

The Register has published an article on what type of updates Microsoft will release on their next batch.

There will be four security updates that have a rating of “critical.” These will patch remote execution vulnerabilities in Windows and software for Windows such as Office, Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, and Windows Mail.

Vista owners will receive one patch which has a rating of “important.”

An updated version of Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool will also be released.

These patches, seven in total, will be released on Tuesday, October 9.

Source: The Register