Hide User Accounts from the Welcome Screen in Windows 7 and Vista

1. Click Start.

2. In the Search field, type regedit and press Enter.

3. Locate the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software \Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies \System.

4. In the right pane, double click the DontDisplayLastName and set its value to 1.

5. Click OK to confirm.

6. Restart the computer for the change to take effect.

If the above hack doesn’t work, try this:

1. Go to your Windows registry and locate this key: HKEY_Local_Machine \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ SpecialAccounts\UserList

2. Now, right-click the UserList folder located on the left pane and from the menu, select New – DWORD (32-bit) Value

3. Name the new DWORD as the username you want to hide and click OK.

4. Restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

5. Upon restaring your computer, you should see that the account you wanted to hide won’t disappear on the welcome screen!

Uninstall and Remove Software in Safe Mode in Windows

If you have installed software on your computer and for any reason it gives you issues, the best thing to do is to uninstall it. Period. But what happen if such a piece of software keeps restarting your Windows operating system or worst, disables certain services so that you won’t be able to performs some important operation anymore ? In this case Windows will help you with a special feature called Safe Mode.

Basically, in Safe Mode you will be able to troubleshoot your computer in order to fix issues. However, if you need to uninstall and remove some software, you have to know that this kind of “limited state” Mode has the Windows Installer Service completely disabled. Let’s see how to turn it on and uninstall everything… even in the Safe Mode configuration. Windows Installation Service is responsible for the installation and uninstallation procedure.

If you try to access it in Safe Mode you will get the following message: “The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your Support Personnel for assistance”. The following tutorial will teach you how to turn the Windows Installation Service in Safe Mode:

1. Click Start

2. In the Search field, type regedit and press Enter.

3. Locate the following registry key: HKLM\ SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ Control\SafeBoot\ Minimal\

4. Right-click on the Mininal key and from the menu select New – Key. Now name the new key MSIService and change the value to Service by double-clicking it.

5. If you are in the Safe Mode with Network Mode, repeat the above steps for the following registry key: HKLM\ SYSTEM#92;CurrentControlSet\ Control\ SafeBoot\Network\

6. The newly created MSIService will make available the Windows Installation Service in Safe Mode. However, I want to remind you that it is necessary to turn the new service on.

7. To do it, exit regedit, click Start and in the Search field type: services.msc and press Enter.

8. From the list, locate Windows Installer. Right-click it and select Start.

9. If the procedure to turn on Windows Installer doesn’t work try this one:

10. Click Start.

11. In the search field, type cmd. Do not press Enter.

12. Right click the Command DOS icon and click the Run it as Administrator link.

13. In the command prompt, type net start msiserver.

At the end of the whole procedure do not forget to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Windows 7 passes Vista, but trails far behind XP

Windows 7, which Microsoft released in October, has already passed Windows Vista in operating system market share, according to Net Applications. But its worldwide share of 14.46 percent is still a far cry from Windows XP, which in July was installed on 61.87 percent of computers, according to the analysis firm.

XP, mind you, is nine years old.

Microsoft has touted Windows 7 as its fastest-selling operating system. In eight short months, the software superpower sold more than 175 million Windows 7 licenses, Microsoft said two weeks ago.

It was during July that Windows 7's market share surpassed that of its stepchild predecessor, Vista, which many regard as Microsoft's biggest blunder. Though Windows 7 is somewhat seen as merely a Vista touch-up, it's Windows Vista done right.

In July, Windows 7 captured 14.46 percent of the market while Vista boasted 14.34 percent, according to Net Applications. Meanwhile, Apple's Mac OS X 10.6 was on 2.48 percent and OS X 10.5 was on 1.82 percent of PCs.

Microsoft delivers temporary fix for critical Windows flaw

Microsoft released a temporary "Fixit" workaround on Tuesday, to protect Windows users against a critical unpatched Windows Shell vulnerability.

Microsoft issued a security bulletin on Friday to warn customers of a 0-day exploit involving the Windows Shell. The vulnerability is caused due to an error in Windows Shell when parsing shortcuts (.lnk). The flaw can be exploited automatically by executing a program via a specially crafted shortcut. Certain parameters of the .lnk are not properly validated on load, resulting in the vulnerability. Microsoft says it has "seen only limited, targeted attacks on this vulnerability."

On Tuesday the software giant issued a Fixit solution for customers, to help prevent attacks attempting to exploit this vulnerability. Applying the fixit will remove the graphical representation of icons on the Task bar and Start menu bar and replace them with white icons without the graphical representation of the icon.

Before:

After:

For the exploit to be successful it requires that users insert removable media (when AutoPlay is enabled) or browse to the removable media (when AutoPlay is disabled). According to Microsoft's advisory, exploitation may also be possible via network shares and WebDAV shares. Microsoft states that the exploit affects all Windows versions since Windows XP, including Windows 7. However, unsupported versions of Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2 are also affected by the flaw. Applying Microsoft's Fixit will prevent the vulnerability from being exploited.

Microsoft is still investigating reports of limited, targeted attacks. The company's next patch Tuesday isn't scheduled until August 10 but an out of band security update has not been ruled out.

Check Out The Windows Experience Index Share Site

Have you heard about the Windows Experience Index Share site?

WEI Share is a open source WPF application that takes your systems Windows Experience Index score and shares it with others who visit the site.

You might ask why share your WEI on the site – well there are two reasons:

• WEIShare enables you to go and compare what computers get for their WEI scores. Having thousands of machines WEI scores is a great reference point for customers shopping for a new PC.
• WEI scores, i.e. a computer’s speed, are dependent on the quality of the drivers. Sometimes WEI scores go up, sometimes they go down. WEIShare will allow you to see which drivers have the best performance on your machine.

WEI Share also lets you post your score on Facebook for bragging rights if you have an account there and they plan to add Twitter at some point as well.  Along with plans for an OData feed and other improvements this is will be a very handy site.

You can already download the source code which is available at http://weishare.codeplex.com/.

Now I heard about this site directly from its developer – Larry Larsen who is a Senior Technical Evangelist at Microsoft working in Developer Platform Evangelism (DPE).

We did a brief interview via email and I asked him two key questions.

Why did you decide to develop this application/website?

When it came time to get a new laptop, I looked all over for a list of WEI scores for various systems. There are lots of benchmarks for videocards and processors, but WEI is a good (fast) system for getting a general idea of performance across the 5 areas scored. I thought the best way to collect scores would be if we all saved them to the cloud. Being able to pull driver versions lets you see which drivers have the best scores.

Why give the source code away for this project?

Helping developers is in our DNA so there was never a question of it being free and open source. It uses Azure, WPF, and Silverlight, so there’s a wide variety of code. The company that I worked with on WEI Share, 352Media, is putting together an article on how it was built that will be on Coding4Fun.com soon.

Perfect – just what developers and programmers do. Identify a need and create something to fulfill it. Then they share it with the world. Sweet!

Visit WEISHare.net and upload your own WEI Score.  Feel free to link to your results in the comments.

Ballmer: Microsoft lost "thousands of man hours of innovation" on Vista

In a speech to fellow CEOs at Microsoft’s 14th annual CEO Summit, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer said something that gives us an insight into what went wrong with Vista.

Taking about the operating system, he said:

“We tried too big a task and in the process wound up losing thousands of man hours of innovation.”

The problem with Microsoft (specifically in the pre Windows 7 days) is that the company had a huge track record of vaporware announcements. During the development of Longhorn (the project that led to Vista), there was an almost daily flow of announcements and new features from Microsoft. Longhorn was going to be everything to everybody.

Then there were external pressures. Not only was Longhorn having to keep up with what Microsoft wanted from it, it also had to keep up with the tech industry and the changes and developments there. Feature creep built on top of feature creep, and eventually the project collapsed under its own weight and Microsoft threw out the existing code, took the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 codebase and added to this the features that would transform it into Vista.

Overall, Vista cost Microsoft around $6 billion to develop.

Continue at Source: www.zdnet.com

Microsoft Releases Updates for Windows Vista, Server 2008 and 7 to Support Secure Digital (SD) Cards Larger Than 32 GB

Microsoft has released updates for Windows Vista, Server 2008 and 7 to support Secure Digital (SD) cards that are larger than 32 GB.

Actually Windows Vista, Server 2008 and 7 contain a bug which appears when you try to connect a SD card larger than 32 GB. Windows can't calculate the correct size of the SD card.

In Windows, the capacity of SD cards that are equal to or lower than 32 GB is calculated correctly. However, for SD cards that are larger than 32 GB, the high bits are shifted incorrectly by 6 bits instead of 16 bits. Therefore, the capacity is calculated incorrectly.

Windows Vista and Server 2008 users can request for the update using following link:

Request Hotfix for Windows Vista and Server 2008

Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 users can download the update using following links:

Download Update for Windows 7

Download Update for Windows 7 (64-bit)

Download Update for Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)

Download Update for Windows Server 2008 R2 (IA-64)

Recover Windows Password

Forgetting your password in Windows can be troublesome at the least. Windows Vista and 7 have a place to backup your password and make a recovery disc, but that usually hasn't been done. Most people don't think they will forget a password. Of course, there comes a time in your life when your brain doesn't rememberwhat it used to, as you get older.... Or, you just forget a password after you try to set it to something hard to guess!
Here are a couple programs that can find or reset your password in any Windows NT based operating system (From Windows NT, 2000 - 7). You need to have the computer physically available, meaning you cannot do this over the network to try and "hack" a password.

1. Ophcrack
The first program, and often called "the best", is a very fast and easy to use password cracker. I've used the boot disk often enough with excellent results. There is also another version that can run on the local machine if you happen to lose the password of a different user, but still have access to another local user.

Download: http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
Ophcrack is a free Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. It is a very efficient implementation of rainbow tables done by the inventors of the method. It comes with a Graphical User Interface and runs on multiple platforms

2. Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
The second program is another boot disk that is quite a bit smaller of a download and can fit on a floppy if needed. It works good, but has a few more caveats and is text based, rather than a GUI, like Ophcrack. This is also available on the UBCD (available: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com), if you want a more feature rich CD for fixing a lot of other PC problems.

Download: http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html
I've put together a single floppy or CD which contains things needed to edit the passwords on most systems. The CD can also be installed on a USB drive, see readme.txt on the CD.

Either one of these programs will recover or reset your password in Windows. If you have any others you've had experience with, or have any suggestions, please feel free to comment!

Control Panel Applets in Windows Vista/7

Add/Remove Programs
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL appwiz.cpl,,0

Content Advisor
RunDll32.exe msrating.dll,RatingSetupUI

Control Panel
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

Delete Temporary Internet Files:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 8

Delete Cookies:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 2

Delete History:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 1

Delete Form Data:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 16

Delete Passwords:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 32

Delete All:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 255

Delete All + files and settings stored by Add-ons:
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 4351

Date and Time Properties
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL timedate.cpl

Display Settings
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL access.cpl,,3

Device Manager
RunDll32.exe devmgr.dll DeviceManager_Execute

Folder Options - General
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 0

Folder Options - File Types
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_Options 2

Folder Options - Search
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 2

Folder Options - View
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 7

Forgotten Password Wizard
RunDll32.exe keymgr.dll,PRShowSaveWizardExW

Hibernate
RunDll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState

Internet Explorer’s Internet Properties dialog box.
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,ConBring up trol_RunDLL Inetcpl.cpl,,6

Keyboard Properties
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL main.cpl @1

Lock Screen
RunDll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Mouse Button - Swap left button to function as right
Rundll32 User32.dll,SwapMouseButton

Mouse Properties Dialog Box
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL main.cpl @0,0

Map Network Drive Wizard
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,SHHelpShortcuts_RunDLL Connect

Network Connections
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL ncpa.cpl

Organize IE Favourites
Rundll32.exe shdocvw.dll,DoOrganizeFavDlg

Open With Dialog Box
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL Any_File-name.ext

Printer User Interface
Rundll32 Printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /?

Printer Management Folder.
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,SHHelpShortcuts_RunDLL PrintersFolder

Power Options
RunDll32.exe Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL powercfg.cpl

Process Idle Tasks
rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

Regional and Language Options
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL Intl.cpl,,0

Stored Usernames and Passwords
RunDll32.exe keymgr.dll,KRShowKeyMgr

Safely Remove Hardware Dialog Box
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL HotPlug.dll

Sound Properties Dialog Box
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL Mmsys.cpl,,0

System Properties Box
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL Sysdm.cpl,,3

System Properties - Advanced
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL sysdm.cpl,,4

System Properties: Automatic Updates
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL sysdm.cpl,,5

Taskbar Properties
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 1

User Accounts
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL nusrmgr.cpl

Unplug/Eject Hardware
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

Windows Security Center
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL wscui.cpl

Windows - About
RunDll32.exe SHELL32.DLL,ShellAboutW

Windows Fonts Installation Folder
Rundll32 Shell32.dll,SHHelpShortcuts_RunDLL FontsFolder

Windows Firewall
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL firewall.cpl

Wireless Network Setup
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL NetSetup.cpl,@0,WNSW

Update FTP 7.5 for IIS 7.0 in Vista SP2 And Windows Server 2008 SP2

An FTP 7.5 update is currently available to customers running Internet Information Services 7.0, designed to resolve issues in which the directory listing for sites with over 50 virtual directories function incorrectly. Microsoft is offering two refreshes, tailored to the flavors of FTP 7.5 for IIS 7.0 supported by the company. Both updates are currently offered to customers free of charge through the Microsoft Download Center. (Update for FTP 7.5 for IIS 7.0 (KB977751) (x64) and Update for FTP 7.5 for IIS 7.0 (KB977751) (x86

“Consider the following scenario: you are running FTP 7.5 in Internet Information Service (IIS) 7.0.You create an FTP 7.5 site. You create more than 50 virtual directories under the FTP 7.5 site. You log on to the FTP 7.5 site. In this scenario, the FTP 7.5 site directory listing does not function correctly,” Microsoft stated.

The updates offered by Microsoft are designed specifically for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Server 2008 SP2. Of course, both operating systems need to first have FTP 7.5 installed on top of the two operating systems mentioned above. The software giant included FTP 7.5 by default on both Windows 7 and in Windows 2008 R2, but offers IIS 7.0 and FTP 7.5 separately for Vista and Windows Server 2008. According to the Redmond company, customers running FTP 7.5 for IIS 7.0 on top of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are not affected by this issue.

FTP 7.5 for IIS 7.0 in Vista SP2 “provides a robust, secure solution for FTP in a Windows environment. This new FTP service was written specifically for Windows Server 2008 and enables Web authors to publish content more easily and securely than before, and offers both Web administrators and hosters better integration, management, authentication and logging features,” Microsoft revealed.

FTP Service 7.5 for IIS 7.0 is available for download here.

Download New Free XP SP3 and Vista Releases as VPC Images

On March 30, 2010, Microsoft revealed that free Windows 7 downloads would be kept alive until the end of 2010. But when it comes down to free Windows clients available as free downloads from the Redmond company itself, there’s even more good news for customers. The Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC images have been updated and the new versions are now up for grabs from the Microsoft Download Center. What the company is offering users is virtualized copies of Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista, which can be run as virtual machines in Virtual PC.

There are no less than five VPC images available for download, three of XP SP3 and the remaining two featuring Vista. The images have been packaged as virtual hard disk VHD files, which need to be run in Virtual PC 2007. However, customers will be able to use any virtualization solution with support for VHD files, including Windows Virtual PC in Windows 7.

Microsoft is offering “IE6-on-XP-SP3.exe [that] contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE6 VHD file. Expires July 1, 2010. IE7-on-XP-SP3.exe contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE7 VHD file. Expires July 1, 2010. IE8-on-XP-SP3.exe contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE8 VHD file. Expires July 1, 2010. IE7-VIS1.exe+IE7-VIS2.rar+IE7-VIS3.rar contain a Vista Image with IE7 VHD file. Expires 120 days after first run. IE8-VIS1.exe+IE8-VIS2.rar+IE8-VIS3.rar+IE8-VIS4.rar contain a Vista Image with IE8 VHD file. Expires 120 days after first run. For The Vista image, you will need files in that set, downloaded and in the same directory, then run the EXE in the root directory.”

Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Images are available for download here.

Microsoft Windows 7 90-Day Eval VHD is available for download here.

Another Windows 7 RTM Enterprise 90-Day Evaluation is available for download here.

Windows Themes Installer – Easily install 3rd party themes in Windows 7 & Vista

Windows Themes Installer is a freeware portable utility which allows users to install custom 3rd party theme, remove a theme and restore defaults easily in Windows 7 and Vista. The new version automatically patches system files without the need of any 3rd party system file patcher.

You can now use any custom theme completely using this single program. Just browse to the directory of theme files and click Install theme. There is also an option to Restore default system files. I tried this utility and found it really handy. Do try it out!

It is developed by Kishan Bagaria.

Download Here (147 KB)

Support for Windows XP SP2 and Vista RTM ending soon

If you are waiting for a good opportunity to upgrade to Windows 7, now would be a good time to do so.  Support for Windows Vista RTM and Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2) will be ending soon.

Support for Windows Vista (without any service pack installed) will be ending on April 13, 2010, meaning users must be running Vista SP1 or SP2 to receive any further product support.  Users can upgrade to the latest service pack, SP2, for free, providing them with the latest security updates.

Support for Windows XP SP2 will be ending on July 13, 2010.  Users still running Windows XP SP2 will no longer receive updates after this date, and are urged to update to Windows XP SP3, a free upgrade, or switch to Windows 7.

Users running Windows XP SP2 64-bit will still receive product support up until April 8, 2014, since Microsoft never released a 64-bit service pack 3.

Users that need help with any upgrade can visit Microsoft’s end-of-support webpage.  The webpage provides useful tips for consumers including how to tell what version you are running, and helpful information about Windows 7, for users that haven’t made the switch yet.

Support end dates for Windows Vista, XP SP2, Windows 2000: Mark your calendars

Microsoft is sounding the support warning bell a few months early for customers who are running Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 2, Vista (with no service packs applied) and Windows 2000.

On April 13, 2010, Windows Vista with no service packs installed will reach the end of support. End of support means there will be no more security updates for this version, though customers who are on SP1 or SP2 will continue to receive security updates and support.

On July 13, 2010, Windows XP SP2 and all versions of Windows 2000 also will reach the end-of-support milestone. In addition, Microsoft will be ending support for Windows Server 2000 and moving Windows Server 2003 from the Mainstream Support phase to the Extended Support phase. (Extended means security updates remain free, but all other support is paid.)

More information on the XP SP2 and Vista support deadlines is available on the TechNet site. More on the end-of-support plans for Windows 2000 and Server 2003 is available here.

Speaking of upcoming deadlines, next week is March 1. That means thoseusers still running the Release Candidate (RC) test build of Windows 7 will start experiencing bi-hourly shutdowns as a reminder that they need to take some action before June 1, when the RC will be phased out completely.

Vista SP2 with over 64 GB RAM Consumes 100% of CPU Because of W3wp.exe

A problem which also affected Windows Server 2003

It’s extremely hard, if not even somewhat inconceivable, for users to understand how a computer equipped with in excess of 64 GB of RAM could have performance issues. However, according to Microsoft, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 machines can, in fact, deliver extremely poor performance precisely because of the fact that the hardware resources available include more than 64 GB of system memory. Of course, additional factors have to contribute to this exception, which is caused by an Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 process labeled W3wp.exe.

“You run Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 on a computer that is running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. The computer has more than 64 GB RAM. Unexpectedly, the W3wp.exe IIS process consumes 100% of CPU resources. Therefore, the computer experiences low performance,” Microsoft reveals. “This problem occurs because the highest memory address of the kernel mode HTTP driver (Http.sys) is defined as 64GB.”

Obviously, because of the amount of RAM involved, as well as of the IIS 7.0 usage, the issue described above is associated with machines used as servers, rather than home computers. According to Microsoft, customers would have to be running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2) in order to be affected by this problem. The Redmond company has already produced a hotfix, which is available for download via Microsoft Support.

Customers that have been using Windows to power their servers even ahead of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 might have already come across similar performance issues because of the W3wp.exe process. In fact, W3wp.exe has been responsible in the past for high memory usage on Windows Server 2003 computers with Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 installed.

In addition, although on Vista it can consume 100% CPU resources, on Windows Server 2003, W3wp stopped at 99%. “On a computer that is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003, the W3wp.exe process consumes up to 99 percent of the CPU resources every several minutes. This problem occurs if the following conditions are true: microsoft Exchange Server 2003 is running on the computer.Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) is installed on the computer. The Front-end server only option is enabled in Exchange Server 2003,” Microsoft explained.

Why are Some Files Colored in Windows Explorer?

The NTFS file system allows you to easily compress or encrypt entire directories or files. Compressing a file or directory allows you to save space on your hard disk, albeit, with a slight performance hit. Windows compresses the hotfix directories found in your Windows root directory.

If you want to keep people from viewing certain files on your computer, then you can encrypt those files so that only you can access them.

Feature	Color
Compression	Blue
Encryption	Green

How to Turn Off the Coloring

If you prefer not to use colors to denote a compress or encrypted file, then you can easily turn it off. To do this, use these steps:

1. Open Windows Explorer, and then click “Tools->Folder Options”.
2. Click the “View” tab.
3. Scroll down and uncheck “Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color
4. Click the “Apply” button.
5. Click the “Apply to All Folders” button.
6. Click “OK” to close the dialog.

Now all your compress or encrypted files and directories will be displayed in their default color.

Force rebuild icons cache in Windows Vista

In the elevated command prompt, type the following commands and press Enter after each command :

cd %systemdrive%\Users\%username%\AppDataLocal
attrib -h iconcache.db
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
del iconcache.db
start explorer.exe

This would close the Windows Explorer, delete the icon cache and again restart the Windows explorer. When Windows Explorer restarts, icon cache would be rebuilt.

Windows Vista RTM, XP SP2, 2000 support will end soon

If you're still using Windows 2000, Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or the original release of Windows Vista – first of all, why? But second of all, Microsoft will stop supporting your operating system in the next few months.

The Windows Vista RTM – the original version Microsoft released to manufacturers in 2006 – will no longer be supported after April 13, 2010. And, by the way, if you're still using it with Service Pack 1 (the latest is Service Pack 2), your support will end on July 12, 2011.

Microsoft also will stop supporting Windows XP SP2 on July 13, 2010.

"Many customers are still on this version, so we encourage upgrading to Service Pack 3 or to Windows 7 as soon as possible," Jerry Bryant, a senior security communications manager, wrote on the Microsoft Security Response Center blog.

And if you're for some reason still running Windows 2000 on your dinosaur of a machine, it's time – it's really time – to upgrade. Extended support for Win2000 will end on July 13, 2010. That means no more updates and no more security, Bryant wrote.

Ah, product life cycles.

Meanwhile, Microsoft also announced a slew of security updates for 26 vulnerabilities in Windows and Office. More info is in the same blog post.

Via @thurrott

13 security bulletins next Tuesday!

Bulletin 1

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3

- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2

- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2

- Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems

- Windows 7 for x64-based Systems

- Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems(Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Impact: Remote Code Execution

Bulletin 2

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3

- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Impact: Remote Code Execution

Bulletin 3

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3

- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2

- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2

- Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems

- Windows 7 for x64-based Systems

- Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems (Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation not affected)

- Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Impact: Remote Code Execution

Bulletin 4

- Affected Software:

- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2

- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2

- Impact: Remote Code Execution

Bulletin 6

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 - Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3

- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2

- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2

- Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems

- Windows 7 for x64-based Systems

- Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems (Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation not affected)

- Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Impact: Remote Code Execution

Important Security Bulletins:

Bulletin 7

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3

- Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac

- Impact: Remote Code Execution

Bulletin 8

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2002 Service Pack 3

- Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 Service Pack 3

- Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac

- Impact: Remote Code Execution

Bulletin 9

- Affected Software:

- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems (Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation affected)

- Impact: Denial of Service

Bulletin 10

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3

- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Impact: Elevation of Privilege

Bulletin 5

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3

- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2

- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2

- Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems

- Windows 7 for x64-based Systems

- Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems (Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Impact: Remote Code Execution

Bulletin 11

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 4

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Impact: Denial of Service

Bulletin 12

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3

- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2

- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)

- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2

- Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems

- Impact: Elevation of Privilege

Moderate Security Bulletins:

Bulletin 13

- Affected Software:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3

- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Impact: Remote Code Execution

Other Information:

Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool:

Microsoft will release an updated version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool on Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Windows Server Update Services, and the Download Center.

Open security advisories

A summary of the three open Security Advisories so customers know what to expect on Tuesday:

· Advisory 980088, Vulnerability in Internet Explorer Could Allow Information Disclosure: this advisory was released yesterday (Feb 3). We do not have an update for this issue planned for the normal February bulletin release. However, this vulnerability only affects versions of windows older than Vista in their default configuration, and there is a “Fix It” available so customers in non-default configurations can protect themselves.

· Advisory 979682, Vulnerability in Windows Kernel Could Allow Elevation of Privilege: we are on track to release an update for this issue next Tuesday.

· Advisory 977544, Vulnerability in SMB Could Allow Denial of Service: we are still working on an update for this issue so it will not be addressed in the February bulletins. As a reminder, this issue cannot be used to allow an attacker to take control of a system remotely, but instead results in a system becoming unresponsive due to resource consumption.

We are not aware of any attacks on these vulnerabilities and continue to encourage customers to implement the mitigations and workarounds outlined in the advisories.

Windows versions end of support:

Important information about Windows versions that are reaching the end of their product lifecycle. Customers using these versions should consider upgrading before support for these products end as, once they do, we will no longer provide security updates:

• Windows XP Service Pack 2 will no longer be supported as of July 13, 2010. Many customers are still on this version, so we encourage upgrading to Service Pack 3 or to Windows 7 as soon as possible.
• Windows Vista RTM will no longer be supported as of April 13, 2010. Service Pack 1 will still be supported until July 12, 2011 but we recommend customers update to Service Pack 2 or Windows 7 at this time.
• Extended support for Windows 2000 will also be retired on July 13, 2010. At that time, we will no longer provide security or any other updates for Windows 2000.

Microsoft Releases "Automated Troubleshooting Services" for Windows XP & Windows Vista

Automated Troubleshooting Services:  Automatically detect and fix common maintenance problems such as broken desktop shortcuts, unused icons, disk volume errors, and incorrect system time display.  (Thanks Chris)

How it works . . .

1. Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services scans your computer and detects the root causes of common problems, then
2. Automatically fixes the problems that it finds, and
3. Offers additional resources if the problem isn't fixed

What it fixes . . .

• Problems with desktop shortcuts and icons

- Shortcuts on the desktop don't work or are broken
- Desktop icons are broken or have not been used in 3 months
- Startup items don't work or are broken

• System maintenance tasks

- Free up disk space by repairing disk volume errors such as bad sectors, lost clusters, cross-linked files and directory errors
- Free up disk space by removing error reports and troubleshooting history older than 1 month
- Set the correct system time and synchronize system clock with the time server

• You receive the following errors:

- Windows update error 0x80072F8F
- The item that this shortcut refers to has been deleted

Click Here for --> Automated Troubleshooting Services

NOTE:  Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 users can access the built-in diagnostics by following the instructions below.

1. Click Start, Control Panel
2. In the Control Panel, click System and Security
3. In the System and Security window, under Action Center, click Troubleshoot common computer problems
4. In the Troubleshoot computer problems window, click a specific task to automatically diagnose and fix a problem. To view more troubleshooters, click a category.