Windows Update Broken? Fix it!

Microsoft has made available an automatic repair which will reset, and repair, the components of Windows Update. This can resolve issues where updates will not install.

To reset the Windows Update components automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Click Run in the File Download dialog box, and then follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.

Note: this Fix it Solution has two modes Default and Aggressive. You should run the Fix it solution in Default mode and determine if it resolves your problem with Windows Update before running it in Aggressive mode.

Note: this wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note: if you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the Fix it solution to a flash drive or a CD and then run it on the computer that has the problem.

Check whether the Windows Update components are reset. If the Windows Update components are reset, you are finished. If the Windows Update components are not reset, or do not solve your Update problem, you can contact Microsoft support — which is free for security-related issues such as this.

Today’s quote: “Promise only what you can deliver. Then deliver more than you promise.” ~ Unknown

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Don’t Want IE 9? How To Turn Off The Update Nag

For those of you not ready to switch to IE 9, or want to go back to IE 8, this article (written back when Microsoft was moving us from IE 7 to IE 8) tells you what you need to know.. I simply updated it by changing the number!

IE 8 9 is an “Important” Update, Yes, But I Don’t Want It

Sometimes we need to tell Windows Update to stop prompting us to install a particular Update.

When Microsoft has released important and/or critical Updates (aka “patches”) for us, Windows has various ways of letting us know, including a System Tray icon. [note: The normal route for accessing Update choices is Start >Windows Update, or Start >Programs >Windows Update. Click “View available updates”.]

I am a big fan of Updates. I (almost) always install them the moment I become aware of them. I use Secunia’s Personal Software Inspector to keep an eye on all my installed programs’ update state.. and I recommend you do too. Updates are ‘good’ and you want them.

Tip of the day: Manage Windows Updates prompts.
Currently, Microsoft Update is annoying me by continuously nagging me that there are Updates available. And when I click on the icon to see just what these updates are…

.. and I see that there is just one Update Microsoft wants me to install (the others only rate “optional”) — Internet Explorer 8 9.
Now, I understand why Microsoft wants us to be using a more secure browser (and I understand why it’s considered “important”) and I will upgrade from IE7 8 on most of my machines — but not all. Not yet.

So I right-click on the Update I don’t want to be nagged about and then click on “Hide update”.

That’s it. I’m done. Windows Update will no longer prompt me to install this (now) ‘hidden’ update. At a later date, to see Updates that I’ve hidden, I just click on “Show hidden updates”. I can undo my change.

Note: This technique can be used on any Update — such as troublesome Updates that cause incompatibility issues, such as a BSOD. If a Windows Update install causes you trouble, and you need to uninstall it, the “Hide” tip won’t help you (it’s too late). Please refer to the 3rd answer in this article, IE’s Menu bar, Taskbar icons, and bad Updates*, to see how to remove Updates.
After you get that Update uninstalled, (then) use the Hide feature to prevent Windows Update from re-Installing it on you again.

To uninstall IE 8 9: Uninstalling IE 8 9 will automatically restore your older version (IE 8). Please see Microsoft’s official How To, here, How do I uninstall or remove Internet Explorer 8? How do I install or uninstall Internet Explorer 9?

Today’s free download(s):
* Panda Cloud Antivirus Panda Security has a ‘new’ type of antivirus – Internet based. “FREE, antivirus service for consumers which is able to process and block malware more efficiently than locally installed signature-based products.”
[For more, also see Panda Cloud Antivirus – Is it netbook ready?]

* Adeona is the first Open Source system for tracking the location of your lost or stolen laptop that does not rely on a proprietary, central service. This means that you can install Adeona on your laptop and go.

Today’s quotable quote: “You can observe a lot just by watching.” ~ Yogi Berra

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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"This seems like a fairly simple question…"

“Hi Paul, I’m just a single user with a question I apparently can’t get answered very easily by searching for it via the Internet. I’m hoping maybe you can ‘square me away’ by answering it. On it’s face, this seems like a fairly simple question.

If I’m using an excellent antivirus program (which I am; it’s the Avira antivirus program) is it still necessary for me to install Windows so-called critical security updates to my computer…? I have a computer that so far still works very well but was built in 2001 and so, although I still have more than 75 percent of free space remaining on the hard drive, it doesn’t have tons of memory (and as you know, a lot of ‘critical’/?mandatory windows updates can use considerable mb’s of space).

Wouldn’t critical updates also be downloaded by/through the antivirus programs/companies, without having to separately download them as individual users…? I realize this is a two-part question and appreciate whatever appropriate response you may have.
Thank you,” ~ Anon

A: Your questions indicate that you are “mixing apples and oranges”, twice.

A program – and Microsoft Windows is a collection of programs – needs to receive security patches (these are usually called “updates”) to close holes and fix programming errors in the (program’s) code that hackers are (already) using to gain administrative control of the PC. (Currently, Apple  and Adobe software are the most exploited.)

You ABSOLUTELY want them.
(Each program author will write their own ‘updates’, and you want those too!) See, What’s With All These Updates?!*

They have nothing to do with AV.. and the ‘virus definition updates‘. Your AV will receive “fingerprints” (samples) of virus/trojan/keylogger/etc. from the authors so that it can have something to use (for comparisons) to find such code on your machine. You want those too.. which is why letting your AV subscription “expire” is a very bad thing (not an issue for you and Avira).
Though the word is the same, it is being used to describe two different things. You’ll find that a lot when dealing with tech and “geek speak”.

Secondly,
You are mixing your “memory”.
There are two kinds — the dynamic RAM.. which you don’t want to load up unnecessarily, and “storage memory” (your hard disk — “c:\”). Windows Updates use the latter. And so they do not “slow down” your aging machine. Okay?

Windows Updates closes holes (in Windows) the bad guys are using to climb in through.
I like to use this as an analogy — think of a program as a house made of brick and mortar.. the hackers are like little tiny bugs, trying to find a crack to get in. And they find them. Updates are mortar patches that fill those cracks.

Also — I don’t mean to alarm you, and certainly not offend you, but I am the type of person who speaks what is on my mind. I would not connect a vintage 2001 Windows computer to the Internet. I would scrap it.. or keep it around for playing my old games on.. but I would not access the Web with it.

If my finances were such that I simply did not have the option of buying an up to date computer (Windows 7, 64 – bit/ Apple OS 10.6 [64 bit]) I would purchase Wondershare Time Freeze, or use the free Comodo Time Machine and learn how to use them. They “sandbox” your machine.

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Help for Updates, “Stuck” Printer Jobs

This week included the second Tuesday of the month; or, as we here at T4E Headquarters call it, “Patch Tuesday” – the day Microsoft releases the majority of its new Updates and “hotfixes”. This time around there were “critical” patches released, and a known attack was “plugged” (“patched”.. “fixed”). Folks, I repeat: you want updates, and having to reboot to apply them really is a trivial inconvenience. Please read, What’s With All These Updates?!

If you experienced trouble (or, ever do) after installing an Update, click the link below and scroll down to the bottom answer. See IE’s Menu bar, Taskbar icons, and bad Updates*

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I came across a small, free utility which can help clear ‘stuck’ print jobs from your printer que. This tool is for when you have tried the proper method (see, The print job won’t stop printing) and you still cannot “delete” the file from the list. (Or, cannot “Cancel all documents”.)

The tool is called Stalled Printer Repair. It is “portable”, meaning it does not need to be installed, only “run”. You can get it here.

[note: If you should for some reason prefer (or need) the “manual method”, see How To Deal With Stuck Print Jobs]

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If you like tech websites: Bookmark4Techs
“Bookmarks4Techs is the largest repository of listed tech sites currently available on the internet. If you have the desire to learn about computers and information technology, then Bookmarks4Techs is your place to start!“

Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Patch Tuesday, Stuck Printers, etc.

Yesterday was the second Tuesday of the month, aka “Patch Tuesday” – the day Microsoft releases the majority of its new Updates and “hotfixes”. This time around there was three “critical” patches released, and a known attack was “plugged” (“patched”.. “fixed”). Folks, I repeat: you want updates, and having to reboot to apply them is a trivial inconvenience. Please read, What’s With All These Updates?!

For a review of yesterday’s Updates (and to see what they are and what they fix) click here.

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I came across a small, free utility which can help clear ‘stuck’ print jobs from your printer que. This for when you have tried the proper method (see, The print job won’t stop printing) and you cannot “delete” the file from the list. (Or, cannot “Cancel all documents”.)

The tool is called Stalled Printer Repair. It is “portable”, meaning it does not need to be installed, only “run”. You can get it here.

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There is a new website in town: Bookmark4Techs
“Bookmarks4Techs is the largest repository of listed tech sites currently available on the internet. If you have the desire to learn about computers and information technology, then Bookmarks4Techs is your place to start!“

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** My Latest Software License Giveaway Drawing **

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Sandboxie’s creator, Ronen Tzur, has graciously and generously donated five licenses to me, to award to my readers. I sincerely thank him for that. So I am going to do a random drawing contest from folks who “enter” my drawing. The contest will end midnight Thursday, July 15th, and the winners announced Friday the 16th.
A “registration” license is “lifetime” and can be used on as many computers as you own.

Put plain and simply, Sandboxie gives me a secure feeling when traveling around the Web, and I feel ‘naked’ without it. For the details (such as how to enter), click here.

Act now! Deadline nears…

Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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What’s With All These Updates?!*

Every time I sit at my computer, it says there’s an update available!

I understand. Really I do. It seems like every time you try to get something done on your computer, some little window opens and tells you that there’s an update available. You tell it not to bother you, but the persistent little devil keeps coming back.
But, listen. People. And please hear me. If you learn just one thing from me.. please learn this– those “there is an update available” pop ups are your friends. Learn to welcome them. Stop what you’re doing long enough to click on “Yes”.
I repeat: Just Say Yes.

Tip of the day: Thwart hackers, crackers, and ID thieves and let your software close its holes– let it download the patch. Answer those pop ups with the button-click, “Yes, download the update” and do so the first moment you see it.

It does not matter which IT security expert or professional source you ask, they will all tell you the same thing: a major method hackers use to  attack (networks and computers) is through unpatched holes in common software — like Internet Explorer, or Adobe Reader, or Real Player, or Word, or the operating system itself, or you name it.

The way the software industry protects itself – and us – is to issue “patches” of these holes (called “vulnerabilities”), so that when an Evil Doer launches the string of code that would “exploit” the hole (and give him command access to your machine), it no longer works like his vile buddies in the hacker forum said it would.
Patches are your machine’s best friend. (And so it kinda follows that patches are your identity’s and your privacy’s best friends too. Right?)
If it helps, when you see “update”, mentally substitute the word “patch”.

The main objection to updates I hear is, “I don’t want to have it reboot.” Not all patches (excuse me, “updates”) require a reboot; and most allow you to delay the reboot. But this is important enough that I say, Save your work, answer “Install”, and use the reboot as an excuse to stretch your legs and refill your coffee.

When I explain this “patches stop hacker exploits of vulnerabilities in your code” principle to folks, more than one has come back with the reply/thought, “So… CoolProgram 6.0 isn’t any good, then.” When I ask, why do you say that? They answer that it seems to ask to be patched quite often, while some of their other programs never ask to be updated. “It must have a lot of holes”.

This seemingly logical conclusion (on their part) is not usually the correct one. In fact, more often than not it is the wrong one; though it is true that some programmers make more of an effort than others. Let me explain.
Let us say there really is a little program called “CoolProgram”; and let us say that it is a slideshow widget; and let us say that it has sold about 5,000 copies. And let us also say that it was written in five minutes by a first-year computer programming student, with absolutely no aptitude for programming, as a class project (they received a C+) and let us further imagine that it contains more vulnerabilities (holes) than any other program on the market. With me?
CoolProgram would never be hacked. (And thus, never need an “update”.)

Why? How could that be? If it is so poorly written? Because of the number of sales. It’s much too low to interest a hacker. Also, the odds that “CoolProgram” is installed on a computer somewhere inside CitiBank, Pay Pal, the Pentagon, or on a website’s server, are next to none.
All you have to do is think like a criminal to understand– they want to hit the most targets, in the most places. This increases the odds of hitting paydirt, or makes for a larger botnet [to read my article about botnets, click here].
This is why Windows is hacked more often than Apple — Apple is on only about 5% of the world’s computers — and why IE is hacked more often than Firefox. [note: Today (mid-2010) Firefox is just about a large a target as IE.]

I’ve run longer than I intended, so I’ll wrap up with a recap of how it works:
1) Some criminal with programming skills finds a way to inject altered code into a program which gives him “rights” on a remote machine.
2) He posts his find on a hacker forum, or/and sells it to other hackers.
3) These hackers then start using this code to attack machines.
4) Security experts take note of this new attack and notify the authors of the program being exploited.
5) The programmers of the affected program examine the way the exploit works, and try to rewrite their code to stop it. [PLEASE NOTE: they are “playing catch up” with the hackers.]
6) When they finally find the counter-code, they have to get it onto your machine, so they release a patch, or “update”.
7) A pop up window opens on your machine saying “here’s the fix; please install me”.
All this while the hackers are reaping the rewards and infecting machines.

So don’t delay. Don’t dally. Just Say Yes. Besides.. if you answer “later”, the pop up window will come back again.

Today’s free link: Keeping your programs patched and up-to-date is the most effective method we have of keeping the hackers at bay. The best tool I have found for evaluating your currently installed programs, and helping you get them patched, is a ‘scan’ I have posted here before, but the Software Inspector at Secunia is just too important, too good, and too easy not to mention again.

Orig post: 11/23/07

Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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An Open Letter To Sun Microsystems

To: The Head Honchos at Sun
From: Every computer user (as voiced by Tech Paul)

Re: Open Office downloader/Yahoo toolbar.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Your practice of shoe-horning additional software into the update packages for the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) is morally and ethically wrong.

The most odorous aspect of this is the fact that you place a check in the checkbox by default, and thousands upon thousands upon thousands of unwanted installs occur because of it. This whole deal is shady at the time original install, but particularly vile in an update.

If we — for some unfathomable reason — actually want another toolbar, or the Open Office “downloader”, we will go get them.

This practice stinks. We all hate it. Shame on you.

Come on, guys — you’re better than this!

[note: we are aware that this unethical behavior is not by any means limited to Sun Microsystems, or Yahoo. This *crud* has become an industry practice, and people should pay close attention during any software install. Un-check those checkboxes! The ultimate responsibility is ours.]

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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