Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

So I installed Windows Vista. Not a big deal, right? After all, I’ve been doing it for almost 3 years. I started with Longhorn 4074 within days after it was available. I have always tried to be among the first to install new builds as they came out, test them, take screenies, etc. The idea was to test them, of course. Meaning not using it the way a “normal” person would, but putting it through the ringer.

I went through this routine right up until RC1. Then…issues. I had been hoping all along that each new build would show improved performance. This was not happening for me. I went out and bought a Radeon X800 XT specifically to take advantage of Aero, which was iffy on previous builds with my Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra. Now, the X800 XT was state-of-the-art when I got it, yet I ended up with a performance rating of 1.0. I was frustrated to no end.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: hardware, vista, windows

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

trio of what appear to be new, yet-to-be-patched flaws in Microsoft Office has surfaced, according to security researchers at McAfee. The vulnerabilities were reported in online security forums on Monday, according to a posting on the McAfee Avert Labs blog on Tuesday.

All but one of the flaws results in denial of service, meaning the application would crash, according to the blog post. “There is one heap-overflow flaw that might be exploited for code execution,” Karthik Raman, a McAfee researcher wrote on the blog on Tuesday. Typically such flaws are exploited by tricking a targeted victim into opening a rigged Office document.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: office

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

Microsoft on Tuesday issued five security bulletins with fixes for eight flaws, including a “critical” zero-day vulnerability in Windows that also affects Vista. Four of the security bulletins released as part of Microsoft’s monthly patch cycle address problems in Windows. Three are tagged “critical,” Microsoft’s highest severity rating, while the other is pegged “important,” a notch lower.

The most serious rating is for bugs that could cause a computer to be fully compromised with little, if any, user action. Among the Windows patches is a fix for a zero-day vulnerability first disclosed in December. Security experts had initially deemed the flaw less serious, stating it could be exploited only by someone with access to a vulnerable computer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: vista, windows, xp

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

Use an antispyware scanner and removal tool
Windows Defender, which ships with this version of Windows, helps prevent malicious software, spyware, and other potentially unwanted software from infecting your computer. When Windows Defender is on, you’re alerted if spyware and other potentially unwanted software tries to run or install itself on your computer. You choose if you want to ignore, quarantine, or remove each item that is detected. For more information, see Scan for spyware and other potentially unwanted software.

Spyware scanners are also frequently included in antivirus programs. If you have already installed an antivirus program, check to see if that program includes spyware protection features or if you

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: computer, software, vista, windows

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

Maybe. You should be cautious about installing ActiveX controls, sometimes called add-ons, on your computer, even if they have a valid digital signature. While ActiveX controls can enhance web browsing, they might also pose a security risk, and it’s best to avoid using them if the webpage will work without them. However, some websites or tasks might require them, and if the content or task is important to you, you will have to decide whether to install the ActiveX control.

Before installing an ActiveX control, consider the following:

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: vista, windows, xp

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

In Windows Defender, you can choose to run a quick scan of your computer or a full system scan. If you suspect spyware has infected a specific area of your computer, you can customize a scan by selecting only the drives and folders that you want to check.

A quick scan checks the places on your computer’s hard disk that spyware is most likely to infect. A full scan will check all files on your hard disk and all currently running programs, but it might cause your computer to run slowly until the scan is complete. We recommend that you schedule a daily quick scan. At any time, if you suspect that spyware has infected your computer, run a full scan.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: computer, software, vista, windows