News tracker
 
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Windows secrets - Everything Microsoft forgot to mention
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Thursday - September 9th | | 3:00 | | A threat to common ".dll" files hits many apps
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| Microsoft's latest Security advisory on .dll-file vulnerabilities reveals a whole new chapter of Internet security troubles — and raises many more questions than it gives answers.
Many popular applications may be targets of this new threat, and there's no single patch that will fix it.
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| 1:30 | | Bug-counting is a false measure of security
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| Measuring the vulnerability of operating systems and applications to attacks from hackers is vital to safe computing on the Internet.
The most-common measure of computing security is counting vulnerabilities. But using this metric is horribly inaccurate and needs to stop.
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| 1:30 | | Bug-counting is a false measure of security
| | 2 hits |
| Measuring the vulnerability of operating systems and applications to attacks from hackers is vital to safe computing on the Internet.
The most-common measure of computing security is counting vulnerabilities. But using this metric is horribly inaccurate and needs to stop.
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| 1:30 | | A threat to common ".dll" files hits many apps
| | 1 hit |
| Microsoft's latest Security advisory on .dll-file vulnerabilities reveals a whole new chapter of Internet security troubles — and raises many more questions than it gives answers.
Many popular applications may be targets of this new threat, and there's no single patch that will fix it.
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| 1:30 | | Untimely USB drive disconnect causes data loss
| | 2 hits |
| Even the most conscientious PC users disconnect their USB devices before it's 'safe' to do so.
Accidents happen — a hand reaching for a cup of coffee knocks out the USB cord connecting an external drive, and critical data get lost. It could even cause hardware damage.
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| 1:30 | | Household clothes-washer meets garden brick
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Have you ever had one of those days where the bricks in your patio just won't get clean, despite vigorous scrubbing? How about tossing those dirty bricks into the washing machine?
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| 1:30 | | Get a free jump-start on using Windows 7
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We like to give our loyal subscribers a little something extra when we can.
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| 1:30 | | Recover from a disastrous hard-drive crash
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| Losing Windows' file names can be almost as bad as losing the files themselves.
Getting all your data back the way it was may be possible, but it'll take some serious digging.
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| 1:30 | | Spectrum-analysis tools cure Wi-Fi headaches
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If you're suffering from poor Wi-Fi performance, dropouts, or dead zones despite having the latest and greatest router, it's time to check your airwaves.
Metageek's inexpensive Wi-Spy spectrum analyzers will root out rogue access points, interfering neighbors, cordless phones, and more — giving you back control over your Wi-Fi net.
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Thursday - August 19th | | 1:00 | | Lost: 300 gigabytes of valuable drive space!
| | 8 hits |
| Most Windows and PC troubles fit into patterns, but every once in a while a truly weird, never-before-seen problem crops up.
In a novel and mysterious case, a reader's hard drive suddenly fills up with hundreds of huge files.
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| 1:00 | | Five tips for Windows 7's Media Center
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| Not so long ago, computers were for work and television was for entertainment — not so anymore.
Microsoft's Windows Media Center transforms the PC into an easy-to-use, remote control–friendly entertainment center; a few tricks can make the experience even better.
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| 1:00 | | Taking our summer break — see you Sept. 9
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| The Windows Secrets crew is taking our annual summer break for the next two weeks. Time to go out and smell the pine trees.
We'll be back with Fred, Woody, and the rest of the gang starting September 9, bringing you the latest in Windows and PC secrets.
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| 1:00 | | New analysis of stolen data brings surprises
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| Every year, the highly respected Verizon Business RISK data crime–investigation team publishes an analysis of major online data thefts it's been asked to study.
This year, a first-ever joint report by VBR and the U.S. Secret Service presents a fascinating view into the state of the data-stealing art, with many surprising facts that should interest all consumers.
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| 1:00 | | Perplexing print-preview problems with browsers
| | 5 hits |
| Reviewing Web documents with print preview can be deceiving.
Often, what looks fine in the preview emerges from the printer as a disjointed and difficult-to-read mess — if anything emerges at all.
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| 1:00 | | No good dog goes unpunished in age-old melodrama
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Avatar may represent the state of the art in digital moviemaking, but back in the '30s, it was an analog world in which clever dogs acted out classic human dramas. It was quite impressive for the time — and good for a laugh, too.
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Thursday - August 12th | | 2:00 | | Preparing Windows XP for the long haul
| | 6 hits |
| Microsoft's support for Windows XP may be fading, but a loyal horde of XP users plans to stick with this venerable OS for as long as possible.
If that's your long-term goal, there are a number of steps you can take now to ensure a finely tuned XP system for months — possibly years — to come.
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| 2:00 | | Dead language becomes dated placeholder
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| Although placeholder text has been used in word processing for decades, it's rarely the subject of scrutiny.
Lorem ipsum is the Latin-derived placeholder text used by graphic designers and layout specialists. But in this age of sophisticated digital-document product, is it time for an updated version?
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| 2:00 | | How to make your day at the zoo a blast
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The zoo can be an exciting place — the lions roaring, the hyenas cackling, the elephants trumpeting. Too bad that every time you visit, the residents are taking naps. If only there were a way to get the wildlife back on their feet.
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| 2:00 | | Tracking down and preventing unwanted reboots
| | 6 hits |
| Unwanted restarts can be more than an exercise in frustration and wasted time — they can easily result in lost data.
Fortunately, there are only three main causes of unintended reboots, so finding — and
controlling — them is usually not hard.
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| 2:00 | | Software organizes your photo collection
| | 7 hits |
| The most daunting task for digital photographers of all types, from snapshooter to pro, is organizing the hundreds or thousands of images they've captured.
You can put your images into simple folders, but free or inexpensive photo organizers are a better way to wring order from chaos.
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| 2:00 | | Record number of Windows patches released
| | 6 hits |
| If this seems like an especially heavy patch week, you're not mistaken — this might be the largest batch of Windows patches released at one time.
The most-critical patches address flaws in Microsoft's Internet Explorer and two Adobe products.
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Thursday - August 5th | | 1:30 | | Forecast for cloud-based servers is hazy
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| Home-office and small-business users once had few network server options, but now we're awash in offerings.
With a bewildering number of choices such as data centers, storage in the cloud, and new local-server hardware, deciding what is right for your business is harder than ever.
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| 1:30 | | Microsoft releases critical out-of-cycle patch
| | 5 hits |
| When Microsoft releases a patch outside its normal twice-monthly cycle, it's usually not one to ignore.
Hackers are already attacking PCs, using the vulnerability fixed by the out-of-cycle patch in Security Bulletin MS10-046.
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| 1:30 | | Eliminate Flash-spawned 'zombie' cookies
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| Way back in a 2008 column, I spotlighted one of the most insidious and least-known features on the Internet: Adobe Flash cookies that were not subject to the usual cookie rules.
Almost two years later, these special Flash cookies are still living in our PCs, and enterprising privacy-busters now use them to create zombie cookies — regular cookies that come back from the dead.
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| 1:30 | | Keep your computer cool in the summer heat
| | 6 hits |
| It's the peak of summer, and staying cool isn't just a question of comfort: it can mean survival.
In homes and offices without air conditioning, that fact can be just as pertinent to personal computers as it is to us.
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| 1:30 | | Goat calls for help in a most human way
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| When someone cries for help, it strikes at core of our humanity. Only the most heartless of us could ignore the pleas of someone in distress.
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| 1:30 | | Are the benefits of defragmentation overblown?
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| One of the never-ending, always-simmering debates between PC users is whether defragging modern hard drives provides any measurable benefits to PC performance.
Unfortunately, the answer is not an absolute yes or no but instead depends on how you defrag your system.
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| 1:30 | | It's been 20 years of investigative journalism
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| When I started writing articles for technology magazines 20 years ago, I wondered whether the principles of investigative journalism could be applied to the computer industry.
Little did I know then that there was an endless supply of dirt to be dug up.
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Thursday - July 22nd | | 1:30 | | Windows Live shares your Messenger contacts
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| Anticipating its 'Wave 4' Windows Live rollout of new Hotmail and Messenger apps, Microsoft made sweeping changes in how it connects you with its latest social-networking construct.
With the new Live format, Microsoft pays a great deal of lip service to maintaining your privacy; but my tests show you can't trust what you see on the screen.
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| 1:30 | | Audio conversion project stopped by Win7 upgrade
| | 11 hits |
| Microsoft has done a reasonably good job of making the Windows XP-to-Win7 upgrade process as painless as possible.
But as with most operating system changes, it's the legacy drivers for audio and video that cause the most problems.
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| 1:30 | | The world's most effective fly swatter
| | 10 hits |
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There are few things more annoying than a pesky fly, buzzing around the house, landing on your food, then on the wing again before you can grab your swatter — it's exhausting.
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| 1:30 | | Learn even more tricks to avoid wireless hacks
| | 10 hits |
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This month's free bonus download for all our subscribers is a two-chapter excerpt from Hacking Exposed Wireless, Second Edition by Johnny Cache, Joshua Wright, and Vincent Liu. The book provides valuable information to keep your wireless networks safe from potential hackers.
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| 1:30 | | A step-by-step guide for improving boot times
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| Even powerful, capable hardware can sometimes get bogged down, and few things are more irritating than a needlessly long boot.
There are many causes for slow PC start-ups, but some simple maintenance will usually set things right.
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| 1:30 | | Clean up your Windows notification area
| | 11 hits |
| On most PCs, the Windows notification area, originally meant for small apps you always want running, is choked with all sorts of programs that shouldn't be there.
Putting some order back into the notification area will remove app clutter, plus it might help your PC boot faster and possibly fix those previously unexplainable system problems.
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| 1:30 | | Novel antivirus product works in the cloud
| | 9 hits |
| I've been hearing about a new community-centric AV program that purports to use your social network to fight malware.
The free version I looked at has some intriguing features, such as the ability to run alongside other AV programs, but the community part seems something of a stretch.
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Thursday - July 15th | | 1:30 | | Learn even more tricks to avoid wireless hacks
| | 10 hits |
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This month's free bonus download for all our subscribers is a two-chapter excerpt from Hacking Exposed Wireless, Second Edition by Johnny Cache, Joshua Wright, and Vincent Liu. The book provides valuable information to keep your wireless networks safe from potential hackers.
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| 1:30 | | Run Windows on iPad using remote-computing apps
| | 6 hits |
| Windows users might dismiss Apple's new ultra-light, ultra-sleek iPad as just another frivolous toy for Mac heads.
But add remote-computing software and services, and the iPad's combination of light weight and nicely sized screen makes Apple's pad a dandy Windows terminal.
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| 1:30 | | At some point, you just have to move on
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| When I say it's time to move on, I'm not talking to the millions of PC users who continue to use Windows XP and refuse, for now, to upgrade to Windows 7.
No, I'm talking to those procrastinators who cling to Windows XP SP2 in spite of Microsoft's July 13 support cutoff date.
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| 1:30 | | Support ends for Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2
| | 10 hits |
| We bid farewell to Microsoft support for Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2 this month.
The complex security systems we live with today that protect us from malicious Internet attacks have their roots in these two venerable operating systems.
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| 1:30 | | How to pick and optimize your home router
| | 10 hits |
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Staying safe on the Internet requires the combined forces of a router-based firewall, security software, regular updates, and a secure browser.
In this column, I provide recommendations and tips on how to pick the right router and how to set it up for maximum protection from malicious Web sites.
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| 1:30 | | Troubleshooting broken apps and shortcuts
| | 9 hits |
| If you click on an icon to run a program and nothing happens, the program could be hosed — and that's bad news.
But it might only be the iconized shortcut that's messed up, and that's a cinch to fix. This week's first item illustrates both these possibilities.
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| 1:30 | | Where to send your annoying Apple friends
| | 12 hits |
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Apple fans can be really annoying. They're always crowing about some sleek new laptop, phone, or music player. And don't even get them started on the iPad — they just won't stop.
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Thursday - July 8th | | 1:30 | | Windows' primary disk-checking tool gets stuck
| | 10 hits |
| Windows' built-in disk-repair tool, chkdsk.exe, has come a long way over the years, but some disk problems are simply beyond its ability to remedy.
When Windows' disk check is not up to the task, third-party repair tools may be your ticket back to a healthy hard drive.
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| 1:30 | | Rescue Windows with a bootable flash drive
| | 12 hits |
| Using Windows system rescue CDs isn't practical if your machine isn't equipped with an optical drive.
Fortunately, a clever solution may be sitting on your desk: take a flash drive you have at hand, add some software, and create a custom, USB-based, bootable Windows recovery toolkit!
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| 1:30 | | New iPhone OS is not always an easy update
| | 11 hits |
| Apple usually has relatively pain-free updates, but the latest iPhone operating system, iOS4, is causing headaches.
The phones most affected are those connecting to Microsoft Exchange servers, but those synching with Gmail also have problems.
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| 1:30 | | Learn even more tricks to avoid wireless hacks
| | 12 hits |
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This month's free bonus download for all our subscribers is a two-chapter excerpt from Hacking Exposed Wireless, Second Edition by Johnny Cache, Joshua Wright, and Vincent Liu. The book provides valuable information to keep your wireless networks safe from potential hackers.
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| 1:30 | | iTunes account theft strikes close to home
| | 11 hits |
| These days, even online security experts can get burned by identity thieves who strike at popular online services.
A recent attack on an iTunes account dramatically points at the need to regularly change passwords and manage online billing info.
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| 1:30 | | What's the best choice for a novice Linux user?
| | 9 hits |
| It's unlikely that Linux will ever be on every desktop PC, but there's a growing and dedicated corps of PC users that find it far more than a curiosity.
Linux use ranges from simple desktop terminals to super computers, and advocates point to its flexibility and open-source coding as just some of the reasons it makes a superior development platform.
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| 1:30 | | Outclassed by his canine exercise partner
| | 11 hits |
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You know what they say: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. When someone copies your workout technique, it's subtle proof that they admire your style.
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Thursday - July 1st | | 1:00 | | Unresponsive USB drivers stump Lounge member
| | 11 hits |
| Every PC user knows how useful USB flash drives are: from importing pictures from a camera to making portable backups, their uses are endless.
When a flash drive suddenly stops working, the question arises: is it the drive or the PC that's failed?
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