Microsoft warns on Vista update Published by honey5 25th February 2008

Microsoft warns on Vista update Microsoft is warning Windows Vista users that a forthcoming service pack for the operating system may stop some third-party programs working. The software giant has released a list of programs that may be broken by the SP1 update for Vista. Most of the software hit by the upgrade are security programs that prevent Windows users falling prey to viruses, trojans and booby-trapped webpages. The Windows Vista update will be released to the public in mid-March. Update loop Service Packs are among the biggest updates Microsoft issues for its various operating systems. The software firm said SP1 makes Vista more secure and reliable and introduces some new features. The list of programs affected by SP1 is divided into three. Some will be blocked by the update, some will not run and others will lose some of their functions. PROGRAMS HIT BY SP1 BitDefender AV Fujitsu Shock Sensor Jiangmin KV Antivirus 10 Jiangmin KV Antivirus 2008 Trend Micro Internet Security Zone Alarm Security Suite Iron Speed Designer Xheo Licensing Free Allegiance NYT Reader Rising Personal Firewall Novell ZCM Agent Of the 12 programs mentioned, six block viruses or keep an eye on the places someone visits online. Microsoft warned that its list was not "comprehensive" and asked people to get in touch with the maker of any affected software to fix problems. Although the update will become widely available in March, Microsoft is releasing it to business customers in February. Microsoft has also been forced to withdraw an update to Vista that was required before Service Pack 1 could be applied. Writing on the Windows Vista blog, Nick White, Microsoft product manager, said the company had withdrawn the preparatory update while it investigated. Isolated reports suggest that some machines on which the preliminary update has been applied go into an update loop. He wrote: "We are working to identify possible solutions and will make the update available again shortly after we address the issue." Story from BBC NEWS: Published: 2008/02/22 10:45:18 GMT © BBC MMVIII ho hum says it all i guess honey x

By Jason1975 on 26th February 2008, 12:43

Re: Microsoft warns on Vista update I cant remember where I read it (PC Pro I think) but MS are so dissapointed with Vistas sales that they are looking to release it successor sometime in 2009. Sound familiar ( Win ME)?

By Quady on 9th March 2008, 19:23

Re: Microsoft warns on Vista update 12 programs obversely you never saw the list for Windows XP which ran into the 100's n 1000's About 100 million Vista licences or more have been sold so its not doing that bad. Home Consumers might not see much reason to update or your hardware might not be compatible in which case you would need a new PC which will come with Vista. Also if you was to walk in PC World and buy Vista Ultimate that would cost you near £300. If PC world was to offer the OEM version for £120 it would sell alot more copies and Vista Home Preimum OEM for £60. There are reasons why PC World don't sell it but many online retailers do with hardware which can be a cheap £1 mouse.

By Jason1975 on 13th March 2008, 20:02

Re: Microsoft warns on Vista update OEM software is only supposed to be sold with new built PC's. Online resellers can sell it if you also purchase a core component such as hard drive, mobo, so on and so forth. The real problem with Vista though is that it is so power hungry. Sales have picked up over the last 6 months or so but campared to XP, sales were down nearly 60% in the first 6 months. 100m sounds like alot but compared to the number of PC's across the world, its a tiny percentage. Another problem with Vista is there is nothing to make the end user any more productive hence businesses are just not interested in changing, there is no reason to.

By funhat on 14th March 2008, 14:51

Re: Microsoft warns on Vista update Quote: Originally Posted by Jason1975 OEM software is only supposed to be sold with new built PC's. Online resellers can sell it if you also purchase a core component such as hard drive, mobo, so on and so forth. The real problem with Vista though is that it is so power hungry. Sales have picked up over the last 6 months or so but campared to XP, sales were down nearly 60% in the first 6 months. 100m sounds like alot but compared to the number of PC's across the world, its a tiny percentage. Another problem with Vista is there is nothing to make the end user any more productive hence businesses are just not interested in changing, there is no reason to. The problem that Vista is facing is that with any advancement in operating system comes along a need for increased hardware requirements to run as intended. There's a big problem where there's a huge reaction to Vista claiming that XP is far superior because it runs better, which perhaps is true on outdated hardware but every computer that is shipping with Vista can't be compared to outdated hardware. Business are not adopting it because of the sheer complexity in upgrading the basis for your network. Staff training, bespoke applications, licensing tie ins etc are making it very difficult to actually do at present. A large majority of the public aren't going to see a difference, because if it goes on the internet, does wordprocessing, edits pictures etc where's the justification in spending a couple of hundred quid on something for the asthetics. The programs that SP1 will render inoperable is not the concern of Microsoft. They have, and continue, to make fundamental differences to their operating system to ensure that it is as secure as it can be. It is the responsibility of the software developers to make their software work. This is the problem that so many people cannot grasp, Microsoft make an operating system, it is the software companies responsibility to make their software work with it, not vise versa. In terms of Windows 7, that's scheduled for release at the end of 2009, which will probably get pushed into Q1 of 2010. Vista has been around since early 2005 in various stages, by 2009 it will be ready to be repalced. Windows 7 is not just going to be a desktop replacement for Vista, it's going to be a unifying operating system for mobile devices, pda's, computers etc. Microsoft need to stick to their guns and shift away from supporting previous versions of Windows. Lets not forget XP Service Pack 2 broke quite a lot of other programs too when that was released, not to mention the atrocious driver support when it was released. It's funny how none of this gets remembered.

By Jason1975 on 14th March 2008, 21:47

Re: Microsoft warns on Vista update Quote: Originally Posted by funhat The problem that Vista is facing is that with any advancement in operating system comes along a need for increased hardware requirements to run as intended. There's a big problem where there's a huge reaction to Vista claiming that XP is far superior because it runs better, which perhaps is true on outdated hardware but every computer that is shipping with Vista can't be compared to outdated hardware.. The problem is justifying it. If there is no real benefit other that it does "pretty" things then why waste RAM on doing these things? Quote: Originally Posted by funhat Business are not adopting it because of the sheer complexity in upgrading the basis for your network. Staff training, bespoke applications, licensing tie ins etc are making it very difficult to actually do at present. But again, why upgrade to an operating system that shows no added benefits and in fact requires more resources to run? It doesn’t make financial sense to spend a fortune on upgrades, even if it is just the OS and not a new system if there is no increase in productivity/security. Quote: Originally Posted by funhat A large majority of the public aren't going to see a difference, because if it goes on the internet, does wordprocessing, edits pictures etc where's the justification in spending a couple of hundred quid on something for the asthetics. Couldn’t agree with you more. The people that will see the benefits mainly are gamers because of DX10, and I have read some negative reports about that. Quote: Originally Posted by funhat The programs that SP1 will render inoperable is not the concern of Microsoft. They have, and continue, to make fundamental differences to their operating system to ensure that it is as secure as it can be. It is the responsibility of the software developers to make their software work. This is the problem that so many people cannot grasp, Microsoft make an operating system, it is the software companies responsibility to make their software work with it, not vise versa. Again, absolutely agree. That is the purpose of releasing the beta versions so software developers can test and adapt their software to accommodate the new OS. Quote: Originally Posted by funhat In terms of Windows 7, that's scheduled for release at the end of 2009, which will probably get pushed into Q1 of 2010. Vista has been around since early 2005 in various stages, by 2009 it will be ready to be repalced. Windows 7 is not just going to be a desktop replacement for Vista, it's going to be a unifying operating system for mobile devices, pda's, computers etc. Microsoft need to stick to their guns and shift away from supporting previous versions of Windows. I doubt it will be released before Q3 or more likely Q4 of 2010. The way Microsoft support its software is very fair. Cutting off after x amount of years is very sensible and will be a large part of why people stick to Windows. Imagine if every time a new OS came out the updates to the previous versions stopped and the end user was forced to spend £200-£400 just to continue using their software knowing that their OS was being updated with the latest security and critical updates. Quote: Originally Posted by funhat Lets not forget XP Service Pack 2 broke quite a lot of other programs too when that was released, not to mention the atrocious driver support when it was released. It's funny how none of this gets remembered. Defiantly something I won’t forget. I actually like Vista but I can’t justify the extra expenditure for no real benefit. XP is solid, has had all the bugs ironed out, runs everything I want and need it to, uses less resources than Vista does and I already have it. This is what I see Vistas main problems being, justifying the expense when XP just does it.

By funhat on 14th March 2008, 21:54

Re: Microsoft warns on Vista update Quote: Originally Posted by Jason1975 The problem is justifying it. If there is no real benefit other that it does "pretty" things then why waste RAM on doing these things? XP is so unsecure compared to Vista. UAC is a godsend, but people can't see past how annoying it is. SP1 is taking out a few nag levels on it, but overall it's a good few steps in the right direction. XP always was bad at handling accounts by having the main user of the computer as an administrator when they had no reason to do to, so vunerable considering you can get onto a lot of XP machines by changing the user to Administrator and the password being empty, that's just foolish. If XP is working fine for you then that's ok, it's not like Vista is the be all and end all of operating systems. Personally, I've tried to go back to XP and I can't, it feels dated and I enjoy the Vista experience a lot more.

By Jason1975 on 16th March 2008, 16:09

Re: Microsoft warns on Vista update Securing the admin accounts is what should be done first and therefore should not be an issue although I fully appreciate what you are saying as the average user would not think about things like passwords and securing the admin account. Someone with any IT savy would sit in an environment behind a firewall and have a decent AV installed but not everyone does. I use Vista on my work laptop and XP on my work and home PC and must say for day to day things there is not any real difference. I do watch the RAM on the Vista PC spike for no apparent reason though. UAC I personally found to be a bit annoying but it easy to see the benifits for the majority of users. I have Zonealarm security suite on my home PC and it does act in a very similar way but for some strange reason it doesnt bother me. J.

Review - some software I found  Published by LizzieW 8th November 2007

Review - some software I found   Like most of us, I have sometimes got into a muddle when arguing with a big company for a long time. You know you wrote to them about XYZ but can you find the letter? No way. So I was interested to hear about something called HomeSec. Basically, it's a way of recording anything that you do for future reference and it seems particularly good for tracking long running dixputes and the like. Ever so easy to sort your history with a person or a company and store as much information as you like. In fact, it even lets you email contacts or contact groups or print address labels for you to write a letter and then automatically created the Event for you - you just need to add the details. All in all, I don't think yu can go far wrong for £10 plus it is a multiuser system so anyone in the house can use it for one payment and make their data public or private. Liz

By stanroyal on 1st May 2008, 18:53

Re: Review - some software I found So - Liz - How many sales did you get from this advert? I recommend - don't waste your money on this.

By Spiceskull on 1st May 2008, 19:03

Re: Review - some software I found LOL...must say that I agree with Stan...there is nothing wrong with using Outlook (not Express) or better still, Thunderbird. The latter has built in calendar and event management, as well as document linking and note taking...all fully searchable...all for free! For what it is worth, I have just dug out all my old and archived Lotus Organiser files - this is to all intents and purposed a digital version of the Filofax. I used to live by this software when I got my first proper PC (1997) and was a religious user until about 2002 when the Internet took over my life. Organiser 5 is free, whilst Organiser 6 isn't. However, if you really are a "Filofax" person then this is the only software you will ever need, and I am sure the free version of Org5 is available on the net...I will try and find a link...

SpyBot - You are being watched. Keeping Secrets secret Published by Conniff 14th September 2007

SpyBot - You are being watched. Computer viruses can make the news when they infect some some big corporation but we hear little about them in the mean time. A computer that is running anit-virus software as well as a firewall rarely has a problems with viruses as they are stopped before they can enter your pc as long as they are kept up to date. There are two other computer nasties that causes more problems for pc users than probably any other and that is Spyware and Adware. These are usually grouped under the heading of Malware or Scumware. A great many computer problems are blamed on the software or the computer hardware but turn out to be Scumware. Adware usually sends advertising in many forms including popups and popunders and can be very annoying but are generally harmless and only create a nuisance, but they are a form of spyware. Spyware on the other hand can be very dangerous. It is installed without the knowledge or consent of the pc user and can be downloaded piggybacking onto free games and utility programs. One of the biggest installers of spyware is 'smilies' sites where you get those little yellow faces for free. But they are also installed from many other downloads and p2p file sharing software like limewire. Some even masquerade as security software and call themselves anti-spyware but all you are downloading is spyware. It's very important to download and use only reputable anti-spyware programs as well as reputable anti-virus programs. Norton contains spyware and when installing their suite it will ask you to remove Spybot Search & Destroy first as spybot detects the spyware it contains. Of course Norton do not tell you the reason it wants you to remove Spybot, nor that it contains spyware. Probably the most respected and certainly one of the best anti-spyware programs you can get is actually free and is call Spybot Search & Destroy. It is recommended by major manufacturers and even Microsoft so really is a must have. Just a few of the things they can do as well as slow your pc immensely is: Stealing your passwords. Stealing your credit or debit card details. Watching every site you visit and sending the details back so they can bombard you with advertising. Use massive amounts of your chip power so slowing you down. Steal your bandwidth so making the internet slow. Install dialers (for those on dial up internet) and redirect the dial up to your ISP through an international or premium rate number. A search on google for 'spybot' will bring up very similar sounding names, so I have included a link at the bottom for you to click. Spybots are increasing daily by the hundreds and at the time of writing this, spybot search and destroy can wipe out in excess of 78,000, so you will see that it is not a small problem. Many of the problems associated with window is in fact spybots and not the fault of windows at all. Users have even bought new computers thinking that the slowdown is because their pc is old or broken. Anti-spyware programs are as important as anti-virus and firewalls, and should be installed on all computers connecting to the internet. There are other anti-spyware programs available but non is as respected as Spybot Search & Destroy, it has set the standard which all antispyware programs must conform to. The home of Spybot-S&D! They also have a forum at Safer Networking Forums I hope this is of some use to those not protected and you will head the warning.

By demon_x_slash on 14th September 2007, 18:22

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. Seconded - Spybot S&D is free, easy to use and roots out even the toughest of stains

By saintly_1 on 14th September 2007, 18:31

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. Have used spybot S&D for years wouldnt run a pc without it

By Bookworm on 14th September 2007, 19:28

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. Hear hear.

By Imalittleteapot on 17th September 2007, 11:09

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. Upgrading to the latest firewall for example, Kerspasky 7.0 has all the internet protection one will need. Since I got the the Kaspersky internet security 2 months ago, I also had Spybot installed aswell. Although I had to turn off kaspersky to install it due to the sensitivity of kaspersky with regards to any modification of the registry. I have gone to websites such as serials and cracks sites to try and pick up spyware/adware, and clicking on a link here or there. Kaspersky pops up and either blocks the likes of spyware/adware or It prompts me (which is what I have it set at). So for the past two months I have also ran spybot almost daily to see if it finds anything. Thankfully nothing. I am in no way affiliated with kaspersky, I just like it so much.

By reduk054 on 8th October 2007, 20:30

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. Spybot is a must. Having had my pc hijacked last year, I would not turn on with out it! Red

By Curlyben on 8th October 2007, 20:33

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. Totally agree and the inbuilt registry monitor, Teatimer, is excellent and unobtrusive.

By miss muppet on 8th October 2007, 22:38

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. Very much agree. We had a crash about a year ago and think the nasties came in on a Yahoo update, we had some american casino programme which came up and totally froze the computer until we found spybot in computer active, downloaded and literally saved us from the mire, now run it as often as possible

By bmw trucks on 10th October 2007, 17:03

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. It's the best all rounder there is, I also use Adaware as a compliment to it they have know known conflicts, not on my system anyway. Happy surfing.

By 68904 on 27th April 2008, 13:06

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. One of the worst viruses I have come across in CoolWebSearch(CWS). If you get a dose of this, it stops your pc dead in its tracks. I have used spybot for ages, and finds all these nasty things, and removes them. It may take a little time to scan your PC, but if its there, it will find it. 68904

By jokerdisco on 14th June 2008, 17:17

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. Just installed it and what a wonderful little tool. will be adding to the laptops asap.

By postggj on 14th June 2008, 17:44

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. any advice on installing spybot i have kaspersky 7 at the moment would like to run spybot along side kaspersky with no conflicts

By Conniff on 14th June 2008, 21:42

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. I am not too conversant with kaspersky, but it seems from the post above that it is the registry monitor that conflicts. In Spybot search and destroy the same monitor is called 'Teatimer', but you don't have to run teatimer. Make sure you are getting 'Spybot search and destroy' and not other fake programs with the word spybot in their name. The home of Spybot-S&D!

By wowiezowie on 20th July 2008, 01:08

Re: SpyBot - You are being watched. I use webroot spysweeper

Mdaemon Email server Superb email system and excelent support. Published by JASON 19th February 2008

Mdaemon Email server I am the IT manager for a group of companies and we have 4 sites all running this email server. The set up is very simple and takes minutes and is compatible with Microsoft Outlook. There are loads of addons including Kapersky antivirus scanning and Outlook connector to unlock exchange features such as calender sharing and out of office response. We are currently running the same domain for email in 3 different locations and the setup was straight forward and was given support from people who knew the product inside and out. Definatly worth a look if your looking to host your own email server, Internet communications software for the small to medium sized enterprise market in the UK and Ireland - MDaemon email server, 3CX VOIP PBX, RelayFax Fax Gateway and WinGate Proxy Server..

By MrShed on 3rd June 2008, 20:58

Re: Mdaemon Email server Can I be cynical and ask....why not use Exchange?

By mnrbig on 3rd June 2008, 21:00

Re: Mdaemon Email server Why pay for email servers? Open Source.

By MrShed on 3rd June 2008, 21:11

Re: Mdaemon Email server Open source = great in theory. Wouldnt trust it with my organisations email though...

By dave on 4th June 2008, 15:43

Re: Mdaemon Email server I wouldn't trust Exchange.

By MrShed on 4th June 2008, 16:09

Re: Mdaemon Email server Is this a typical Microsoft=bad post? Because although yes MS have documented issues with their OS's, Exchange as a mail server is excellent software, and generally very secure.

By Jason1975 on 4th June 2008, 23:01

Re: Mdaemon Email server When I started at this company Mdaemon was already there and for me to convince them in spending £1000's on moving to Exchange was a no hoper so I had to learn to get on with it. I'm not saying it is better than Exchange but the support is infinitely far superior than anything I have ever had from MS. The cost is also very good with allot of options for support and mail box numbers. Personally I would have preferred Exchange but this is a good piece of software with the best support engineers I have ever dealt with and the support is the reason I would recommend the software. It’s easy to look good when things are running fine but it’s when the problems occur that a decent company shines.

By dave on 23rd June 2008, 12:43

Re: Mdaemon Email server It wasn't supposed to be a M$ bashing post - I simply wouldn't trust Exchange all the time there are better alternatives out there that are proven to handle many more users - that are free! Secondly, you would also have to be running Windows as well, which is server OS software I wouldn't trust with serious stuff either.

Fritz & Chesster learn to play chess - chess software for Windows PCs BankFodder Published by BankFodder 8th December 2007

Fritz & Chesster learn to play chess - chess software for Windows PCs Turns beginners' chess into an ordinary computer adventure game. Kids can learn everything from simply the names of the pieces, the moves they can make through to quite complicated games in a fun and "non-chess way". Kids almost get tricked into learning the rules. I'm really quite amazed at how sympathetically this series of learning CDs has been written. Someone really understands chess and how children learn. I've seen parts 1 and 2 so far and will definitely be getting the third in the series very soon. The kids are hooked. Published by Excalibur publishing. Works on XP, Vista, Vista 64. I got mine through Contact Simulations but it took 6 weeks of emails and phone calls to actually get my goods - so recommendation there is find somewhere else to get them from.

By FritzBlog on 20th December 2008, 19:11

Re: Fritz & Chesster learn to play chess - chess software for Windows PCs A great game for the kids and such a gentle introduction to Chess as you say, there are many more reliable suppliers now. Just try the big name online retailers all of which stock these 2 games plus the full Fritz 11 chess program. Regards

By Goko on 4th February 2009, 02:56

Re: Fritz & Chesster learn to play chess - chess software for Windows PCs Hmm since a piece of good software, I think my kid will definitely loves it. Thanks for your posts!