Windows XP SP3 now available on Windows Update!

http://blogs.technet.com/mu/archive/2008/05/06/windows-xp-service-pack-3-now-available-on-windows-update.aspx

Hello,

Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) is now available on Windows Update (and the Microsoft Download Center)!

If you’d like to install it via WU today, you’ll need to visit the Windows Update website. To do this, go to Windows Update and perform an express or custom install, make sure you see the service pack selected, and proceed with the install. After it downloads, you’ll see a series of screens and you’ll be asked to make a few clicks before the install will begin.

If you’re not in a rush, we recommend you use Automatic Updates to install Windows XP SP3. It provides the best experience because the download will happen in the background. We’re planning to begin automatically distributing Windows XP SP3 over AU sometime in the next few months.

You can find more information about the release here.

Hope you enjoy it!

-MU Team

P.S. You may have heard about an incompatibility Dynamics Retail Management System has with SP3 and Windows Vista SP1– we’ve added a filter to block WU from offering Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP1 to systems w/ RMS for now and will make a fix available soon (details here). You may have also heard that we temporarily suspended automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1 for this – we’re now also happy to report that we’ve resumed automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1.

Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 6:08 PM by muteam

AVG Free 8.0 to include spyware protection, coming April 24th

From the Register:

AVG Technologies plans to release a revamped version of its popular, free anti-malware scanner on Thursday.

Version 8.0 of the software will add anti-spyware and safe search features to its core anti-virus engine. Safe surfing features, that give users warnings about visiting insecure websites all the time not just when they search, will remain a paid feature of AVG’s full fat product.

Both the safe search and safe surfing features use Linkscanner technology, acquired by AVG when it bought Exploit Prevention Labs last December

Larry Bidwell, AVG’s global security strategist, explained that as well as keeping a small database of known bad sites Linkscanner looks for pointers to dodgy content, such as links to encrypted JavaScript files often associated with malware downloads, on analysed sites.

The increasing hacker tactic of planting drive-by-downloads on legitimate websites makes such real time analysis techniques more important, he added.

AVG 8.0 comes free of charge to consumers and will be available, initially in English only, from Thursday 24 April. Italian, French, and Spanish versions are also in the works. Previously, the free version of the scanner was only available in English.

Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is HERE!

After numerous reports of the increased performance of Windows Vista Service Pack 1, we can now see for ourselves whether it’s true or not.   It has now been released to the public via Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update.

Windows Vista SP1 (32-bit) – Download  [434.5 MB]

Windows Vista SP1 (64-bit) – Download  [726.5 MB]

If you are only updating one computer, please use Windows Update as it has a more appropriate download for your version that will result in a smaller download.  All versions have been reported as available now on Windows Update.

UPDATE: Read the Microsoft article for “Notable Changes in Windows Vista SP1“

New York’s Freedom Tower implements RFID technology

I love both architecture and technology, so days were I can post about both at the same time, well it makes my day. The use of wireless tags to monitor the setting of the concrete, that’s just sweet. While it’s limited to 6-years due to battery life, it should be sufficient to monitor a majority of the setting… but 20 feet thick concrete structure that takes 14,000psi… wow!

The concrete base of the 541 metre Freedom Tower, being built on the site of New York’s former World Trade Centre, will be embedded with RFID tags to make sure it’s setting properly and can sustain the pressure of 14,000 psi the tower will exert.

Monitoring the temperature of setting concrete is nothing new, but doing so wirelessly is a developing technique that was first trialled in 2003. The technology being used for the Freedom Tower comes from Wake Inc, which leads the relatively new field.

The wireless solution is more expensive, but the complexity of laying cables and keeping track of them largely offsets that expense.

The tags themselves are battery powered, which gives a much greater range (up to 300 feet according to the manufacturers) than the more familiar induction-powered tags, but limits the life to about six years. Where tags are powered by induction, the tag reader needs to be within a few inches, something hard to achieve when the parts of the structure are 20 feet thick.

The Freedom Tower is due to open in 2011, so the tags should still be functioning come opening day, which might give comfort to the first people to ascend.

[ The Register ]

Microsoft Releases Internet Explorer 8 Beta (IE8)

Ready, Set, GO!

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/ie8/readiness/Install.htm

Microsoft released the public release of IE8 Beta 1 at the MIX Conference in Las Vegas today. Over the last year they’ve been developing a “standards” mode that they say will pass the Acid2 test, a huge plus for us web developer’s out there.

More news at [ DailyTech ]

[ IE8 Release Notes ]
[ IE8 @ Microsoft Download Center ]
[ IE blog ]

HOWTO: Disable Restart after Installing Windows Update

Ok, after coming in to work today to find my computer rebooted without saving jack squat, I immediately disabled “Restart” after installing Windows Updates:

So here is how you can disable the restart & reminder of Windows Automatic Updates:

1. Click Start -> Run
2. Enter “gpedit.msc”
3. Go to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
4. Double-click on “Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations”
5. Disable it!
6. Double-click on “No auto-restart for scheduled Automatic Update installation”
7. Enable it!
8. Reboot the computer

windows xp sp3 release candidate 2

windows xp sp3 release candidate 2 is out!

go get it from microsoft here:

[ www.microsoft.com ]

instructions:  the download will add a registry entry to your computer.  then proceed to Windows Update to download the latest release candidate.

truecrypt 5.0

I’ve been using TrueCrypt since its inception and find it to be a great tool to store sensitive data on my computer hard drive and my flash drives. The highlights? It’s free, open-source, works on multiple platforms, very lightweight (there’s even a portable app for it), and includes some of the best encryption methods available today.

TrueCrypt is a free open-source disk encryption software for Windows Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux. Some of its main features include: Creating a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk, Encrypting an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive and ability to Encrypt a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).

Download: TrueCrypt 5.0a | 2.4MB (Freeware)
(Windows Vista/XP/2k)

defraggler – free defrag tool from creators of ccleaner & recuva

Finally, a decent defrag tool that doesn’t cost an arm & a leg. From the makers of CCleaner & Recuva, a file system cleaner and a file recovery tool respectively, comes a freeware app for defragmenting your hard drive called Defraggler. Not familiar with defragmenting? If you run Windows you should be. Defragmenting is the process in which all the file fragments cluttered about your hard drive are reorganized to keep the fragments in the same area of the hard drive and attempts to create one fragment per file thus reducing the seek time on your hard drive. The result? A faster response when you open applications and files. Faster everything. Typically good defragmenting tools cost $50 or more if you want a good commercial grade defrag application. It’s about time someone made a decent freeware app. The people over Piriform have done it again — this one’s going to be popular for sure!

Defraggler
http://www.defraggler.com/

Piriform Ltd.
http://www.piriform.com/

Want a fully automatic, easy to use, fast, low overhead, freeware alternative?
Try JkDefrag!
http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/

microsoft photosynth, a new 3d interface for photos

Ever wish you could re-live some moments from a vacation or from a special occasion? Or how about see a 3-dimensional representation of a place you’ve never been before? Well now you can! Take numerous photos of the surroundings then bring them home and organize them (or rather let this software organize them for you) with photosynth. Or if you wish enter keywords into flickr and pull from a community of photographs to visualize places and things. Microsoft’s Photosynth brings a whole new social dynamic to photographs.

Microsoft’s new technology (powered by in part by Seadragon & DirectX implementing the new Windows Media Photo format) actually recognizes similarities in different photos and then ’stitchs’ an actual 3-dimensional representation of the place. Not only that but photosynth also allows you to browse actual high-resolution images in a fast, easy, intuitive manner without having to wait ages for high-definition images to load.

Check out the tech preview:
Microsoft Photosynth

Photosynth, a new technology from Microsoft Live Labs that takes a large collection of photos of a place or an object, analyzes them for similarities, and displays them in a reconstructed three-dimensional space.We’ve assembled a few collections for you to play with, and we’re working on adding more. In the future you’ll be able to “photosynthesize” your own photos, but we aren’t there yet.