HelpWithWindows Newsletter

01. Windows Vista RC1 Available for Public Download

by Arie Slob

Hello Windows users,

Earlier this month Microsoft made Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) available for download to the public through its Customer Preview Program (CPP). According to Microsoft it will make roughly 5 million copies of RC1 available across all distribution channels (MSDN / TechNet and CPP).

"Now that we're expanding the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program, an even broader audience will get to experience just how much Windows Vista has to offer," said Mike Sievert, corporate vice president for Windows Client Marketing at Microsoft. "The expansion of the CPP program really sends a strong message to the industry and our customers: the time to prepare for Windows Vista has arrived."

If you want to have an early peek at Windows Vista, here's a good chance. Just make sure you realize this is still beta code, so it should not be used in a production environment or on a primary computer in the home. RC1 is intended for developers, IT professionals, and technology experts to continue or begin their testing of Windows Vista. Before you decide to use RC1, you should feel comfortable with installing operating systems, updating drivers, and general PC troubleshooting.

You should start by going over the System Requirements and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. Reading through the release notes is also recommended.

You can order a DVD with Windows Vista RC1, or choose to download an ISO file from Microsoft's Windows Vista Get Ready web site. Please realise that RC1 will expire June 1, 2007, and NO, you will not get a free upgrade to the final version.

I plan to publish a review of Windows Vista RC1 at a later date on the HelpWithWindows Web site.

02. Microsoft Security

Microsoft Windows Security Bulletin Summary for September, 2006

The security update for September 2006 includes two fixes for Microsoft Windows.

Severity Rating: Important

Vulnerability in Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) Could Allow Remote Code Execution (919007)

Severity Rating: Moderate

Vulnerability in Indexing Service Could Allow Cross-Site Scripting (920685)

03. Tweaking Toolbox XP v2.1

Tweaking Toolbox XP v2.1

The utility for any serious Windows tweaker! Change hundreds of registry settings from Windows XP, improving appearance, performance and functionality. Prevent others from changing your settings, increase Windows security. Lock down Control Panel applets, Internet Explorer options, even choose which applications can or can't be run on the computer.

Tweaking Toolbox XP now also includes an option to export/import settings, so that you can easily configure multiple systems!

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Download Trial [840 KB]

04. Recent Support BBS Postings

System Restore not working - Windows XP
Error 0x8DDD0009 using Windows Update - Windows 2000
Dsl Modem Speed - General Internet
How to password protect USB Flash Drives - Hardware
New Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles

05. Update for IE 6 for Windows XP Service Pack 2

Microsoft released a fix for a problem that occurs when visiting a Web page that uses a custom pop-up object. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 can sometimes close unexpectedly and generate an error in the Mshtml.dll file. This problem occurs after you install security update 918899 on a Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)-based computer.

For more information about this update, read Microsoft KB Article 923996

06. Recommend This Newsletter!

Do you enjoy reading this Newsletter? Why not tell your friend(s) about it?

Recommend this Newsletter!

07. How to Set up and Use Automated System Recovery in Windows XP Professional

Windows XP's Automated System Recovery (ASR) is an extension to the conventional backup-and-restore. It provides a framework for saving and recovering the Windows XP operating state, in the event of a catastrophic system or hardware failure. Windows XP ASR recovers the target system in a two-step process.

Read Full Article

08. Update for Windows XP

A problem has been identified in Filter Manager that can prevent you from installing updates from Windows update. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft.

Supported OS: Windows XP SP2,
XP Prof. x64 Edition

For more information about this update, read Microsoft KB Article 922582

09. Latest Microsoft & Windows News from around the Internet

Latest Microsoft & Windows News from around the Internet

10. Update for Windows 2000

Microsoft released an update to prevent an issue in which, after you install security update 920958 (MS06-049) on a computer that is using NTFS file system compression, compressed files that are larger than 4 kilobytes may be corrupted when you create or update the files.

Supported OS: Windows 2000 SP4

For more information about this update, read Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 925308