Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification issued: December 9, 2010
Microsoft Security Bulletins to be issued: December 14, 2010

This is an advance notification of security bulletins that Microsoft is intending to release on December 14, 2010.

This bulletin advance notification will be replaced with the December bulletin summary on December 14, 2010. For more information about the bulletin advance notification service, see Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification.

To receive automatic notifications whenever Microsoft Security Bulletins are issued, subscribe to Microsoft Technical Security Notifications.

Microsoft will host a webcast to address customer questions on the security bulletins on December 15, 2010, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada). Register now for the December Security Bulletin Webcast. After this date, this webcast is available on-demand. For more information, see Microsoft Security Bulletin Summaries and Webcasts.

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I have written a guide for next week that explains running tasks as an administrator in Windows XP. Just like modern cars (some, not all) don’t fully turn off the traction control even when you press the switch, modern versions (including XP) don’t give you full administrative permissions (even with an Administrator account.) Thus, you’ll need to activate the “hidden” administrator account in Windows to have full control over your files and settings.

Please note: Only activate and use this account if you have a need to do so (i.e. tinkering with system files on a non-critical PC.)

Learn, in this guide, how to activate the hidden administrator account in Windows XP (Instructions for Windows Vista/7.)

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In a lot of the guides on this site, we ask you to show hidden files. If you are not sure of how to do this, this guide is for you.

Although the interface of Windows has changed since Windows XP, the steps taken to show hidden files are the same for Windows XP, Vista, and 7. I’ved used XP for the screenshots in this guide.

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I must admit that I am a big fan of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). Since Microsoft has the most popular consumer operating system in the world, why don’t they take up the responsibility in releasing a security program for their users for free? Of course, I am aware that Microsoft has previously released a few – less noticeable security programs, like Windows Defender (pre-installed in Windows Vista/7 and will be disabled if the user installs MSE) and Windows Live OneCare (which was a paid subscription and discontinued), but most Windows users still prefer to use some free security software offered by third parties (and most of them are ad-supported), due to various reasons. Don’t be surprised that some of new PC users aren’t aware of the importance of a security product for Windows, and some don’t have security software installed (and they aren’t aware that they are exposed to the various threats during browsing), so it is pretty important (and I think it’s quite fundamental) for Microsoft to have a competitive in-house security program for all Windows users, for free of course, and the answer is Microsoft Security Essentials. Read the rest of this entry »

Being infected by virus or malware is something very common these days. Sometimes it’s very hard to remove these infections. Modern forms of malware try to avoid detection by altering the Operating System. Others attack your antivirus so it cannot work properly. This means that if you get infected by a virus newer than your antivirus definitions there is a chance you can’t get rid of it.

In this post I am going to address this problem and show you a way to solve it.

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What’s one of the most common ways to get unauthorized access to someone else’s computer – especially that of a friend or family member? By guessing the password!

Someone who knows you well may be able to figure out your password, especially if he can try different possibilities before hitting on the right one.

If you’re running Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate edition (or the equivalent edition of Vista), you can set your Windows account to temporary lock if someone enters the wrong password several times in a row.

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