Microsoft is offering an online help utility to Office 2010 users having issues with the product key for their copy of the productivity suite to help them resolve their problems.

Earlier, we have posted many articles aiming to help out Microsoft Office users. Some articles related to Product Key problems. If you are having any issue with Office 2010 product key, you can refer to those articles. See this article to reset your Office Product Key using a small program. Or do you want to change Microsoft Office product key easily without the help of any other program? Wondering how to check the activation type and check the license status of Office? Want to use Office trial version for more than 30/60 days, up to 180 days?

Coming back, the special online help utility is aptly titled Office 2010 Product Key Solution. The online helps provided by the Redmond company is available free of charge to all Microsoft Office users as reported by Softpedia. Through the site, users will find simple step by step solution to: find their product keys, enter the product key to activate Office, troubleshoot various issues related to their product key and Office licensing, and get a replacement product key if they misplaced theirs.

As seen in the screenshot above, basically the online help and troubleshooter divided among four most common issues.

For example, if a user has lost his Office product key, than he has to select the last option, “Can I get a replacement Microsoft Office 2010 product key if I lost it?” The troubleshooter than asks a few more questions to find the exact solution for the user.

If the user is not satisfied with the troubleshooter in resolving the issue themselves, they can opt to contact a Microsoft Customer Service representative.

This is a good service for Office 2010 users, but what about those who are using the older versions of the productivity suite, such as Office 2007 and Office 2003? The Redmond company has only provided links to two websites for helping them enter product key.

• Enter the Product Key for Microsoft Office 2007
• Enter the Product Key for Microsoft Office 2003

Well, they can get some help when it comes to troubleshooting product key errors through a Knowledge Base article, KB 2549291.

Users can download Office 2010 60 days trial versions using the links posted in this article. Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 1 can be downloaded using the links provided in this article.

DevManView is a very good free alternative to the standard Device Manager of Windows.

The standard Windows Device Manager is a simple and handy tool when troubleshooting Windows problems related to device drivers. It basically lets you browse through all the devices to check for device properties and driver conflicts or driver errors. But in terms of user experience, it doesn’t offer much of a good experience. Sometimes while using it, we here have also felt how cumbersome it is to use sometimes.

DevManView is a freeware program from the popular NirSoft developers. The program takes a different approach in displaying all devices and their properties. Instead of displaying the devices in a tree viewer like in the standard Windows Device Manager, it displays them in a flat table view. In addition to displaying the devices of your local computer, DevManView is an advanced device troubleshooting program that also allows you to view the devices list of another computer on your network, as long as you have administrator access rights to this computer. The program is also capable of loading the devices list from external instance of Windows and lets you disable unwanted devices. This feature is very useful if you have a Windows operating system which is not booting, and you want to disable the problematic device to boot into the operating system.

DevManView is completely portable and doesn’t need any installation process or additional dll files. In order to start using it, simply download and run the executable file, “DevManView.exe”. After running DevManView, the main window displays the list of all devices found in your system. By default, the program doesn’t display non-plug and play drivers (LegacyDriver) are not displayed. If you want to show them, you can select the “Show Non-Plug And Play Drivers” in the Options menu. One of the advantages the program offers upon the standard Windows Device Manager is, you can select one or more devices from the list, and then save their details into text/html/xml/csv file (Ctrl+S) or copy them to the clipboard (Ctrl+C) and then paste the data to Excel or other spreadsheet application. Which you can use later for advanced troubleshooting.

DevManView allows you to easily disable, enable, and uninstall the selected devices. However, always be cautioned while using these system utilities. You must be very careful when using the disable/uninstall options, because disabling or uninstalling an essential device might cause troubles to your operating system.

As mentioned earlier, DevManView allows you to connect another computer on your LAN, and view the devices list in the remote computer. But, to successfully connect the remote computer, you must have full administrator access to this computer. The program allows you to view the devices list stored in the Registry of another instance of Windows operating system. In order to use this feature, simply go to Advanced Options (or Press F9 key), choose “External Windows Directory,” and then type or choose the right Windows directory.

Using this feature, you can disable/enable the selected devices. The program will write the disabled/enabled information into the SYSTEM Registry file of the selected Windows operating system. The next time when you start this Windows, the device will be disabled/enabled according to what you’ve set.

Warning: Use this feature only in emergency cases (for instance, when a system cannot boot properly). You should also backup the SYSTEM registry file before making any change on the external Windows system.

Another advanced feature offered by DevManView, the program by default loads the devices from the default ControlSet, which is loaded by Windows. However, through “Advanced Options” window of the program, you can choose to view the devices of “Last Known Good” ControlSet or any other ControlSet by its number. When you use non-default ControlSet, disabling/enabling a device, and save the changes in the Registry. The next time that Windows is loaded with the selected ControlSet.

DevManView works on any version of Windows, starting from Windows 2000 and up to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. It is compatible with both x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) version of Windows. You should download the x64 version of DevManView for 64-bit Windows, because the 32-bit version of DevManView cannot disable/enable devices on x64 operating system.

Download DevManView for x86 systems (32-bit) | Download DevManView for x64 systems (64-bit)

Living in an Internet age has its own set of headaches. Problems related to the Internet not working properly, connection issues, high pings, slow connections, or complete drop in pings for no reason whatsoever. All these problems leaves the users confused and in trying to get them fixed asap, they spend a lot of time and money.

Here’s a freeware portable application for Windows, called “Complete Internet Repair,” which will save you from having to go through lengthy troubleshooting sessions. It will instead try to fix the Internet or networking issues in Windows with the click of a button. The best thing is that it will also repair Internet Explorer 9 along with others.

The free portable application will help you reset, restore, clear or repair a variety of Internet related settings on your Windows computer system.

Particularly, Complete Internet Repair will do the following:

• Reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
• Repair Winsock (Reset Catalog)
• Renew Internet connections
• Flush DNS Resolver Cache
• Repair Internet Explorer 9
• Clear Windows Update History
• Repair Windows / Automatic Updates
• Repair SSL / HTTPS / Cryptography
• Reset Windows Firewall configuration
• Restore the default hosts file
• Repair Workgroup Computers view

It will come handy for users facing the following problems:

• Internet or network problem after removing adware, spyware, virus, worm, Trojan horse, etc.
• Loss network connection after installing/uninstalling adware, spyware, antispam, vpn, firewall or other networking programs.
• Unable to access any webpage or can only access some webpages.
• Pop-up error window with network related problem description.
• No network connectivity due to registry errors.
• DNS lookup problem.
• Fail to renew the network adapter’s IP address or other DHCP errors.
• Network connectivity issue with limited or no connections message.
• Windows update does not work
• You are having problems connecting to secured websites (ex. Banking).
• Internet Explorer stopped working or crashes all the time.
• Other networking problems.

Rizone3, developer of the application

How to repair network issues using Complete Internet Repair?

The freeware application is very easy to use and the developer has designed it keeping the novice users in mind.

1. Simply select the check boxes that appears before the items that you want to repair.
2. Now, click on the really big Go! button.
3. The status of the repair is displayed in a log.

Note: Some repairs may need a restart of the computer to complete.

Complete Internet Repair is a handy program for users who are experiencing Internet connectivity issues, or just want to repair Internet Explorer as it is a good Internet Explorer repair tool too.

The freeware portable program for Windows users is available for download at Rizone3, the website of the developer. If the developer’s site is not working, download the app from Softpedia.

Ever faced a situation where after uninstalling a software, you find that it has left behind its service or driver references in the registry, and when Windows tries to load them at every boot, it fails displaying an error? This mostly happens with the security programs (though other applications also causes trouble) that fails to remove its installed services or drivers. Even though we posted an ultimate list of antivirus removal tools, but it is not enough.

We need something which will solve the problem in general for almost every Windows applications that causes trouble. In this article, we will show “how to easily remove an orphaned or unwanted service or driver from your Windows system.”

Basically there are three methods to deal with the problem. You can either use Windows in-built sc.exe command, or use the Registry Editor, or using Microsoft Sysinternals Autoruns for Windows utility.

Warning: Use this tutorial with caution, once you delete a service from Windows system, it’s gone, and it will be very difficult to install it back.

The first thing that you’ll need to do is identify the name of the service. To do so, open Services through the Start Menu or Control Panel or press Windows + R key and type services.msc then press Enter. Find the service in the list that you want to delete. Now, double-click on the service name to open up the Properties dialog-box. Now, highlight the “Service name” value and press Ctrl + C to copy it to the clipboard. You’ll need this name to remove it. For more information, see the article: How to find the short names of services.

Remove unwanted services from Windows using sc.exe command

The sc.exe is a command-line tool in Windows 7/Vista/XP. It can be used to create, edit or delete Services. From the TechNet documentation, sc.exe:

Communicates with the Service Controller and installed services. SC.exe retrieves and sets control information about services. You can use SC.exe for testing and debugging service programs. Service properties stored in the registry can be set to control how service applications are started at boot time and run as background processes. SC.exe parameters can configure a specific service, retrieve the current status of a service, as well as stop and start a service. You can create batch files that call various SC.exe commands to automate the startup or shutdown sequence of services. SC.exe provides capabilities similar to Services in the Administrative Tools item in Control Panel.

Windows 7 and Vista users are needed to open up an elevated command-prompt, that is, right-click the command prompt and choose Run as Administrator. Windows XP users can open a simple command prompt but the account should have administrative rights.

The sc.exe command syntax used to delete a service is:

sc delete ServiceName

Where the text in emphasis/italics represents the short name of a service (which you have already copied as shown earlier in this article), and not its display name. For example, the short name for Automatic Updates service is wuauserv, but its display name is Automatic Updates.

Now if you press the F5 key to refresh Windows Services list, you’ll see that the service is gone for good.

The second method involves using the Registry Editor

If your edition of Windows XP or Windows Vista does not ship with sc.exe console tool, then you may have to edit the registry manually. Simply use the underlined steps:

1. Start Regedit.exe and navigate to the following branch:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
2. The Service and driver entries are present under the above registry key. Each sub-key represents a driver or a Service. You should be able to identify them easily by looking at the DisplayName and ImagePath values in the right-pane in the Registry Editor.
3. Once you spot the Service/driver entry, right-click on the key and choose Delete.

Warning: Before modifying or removing a Service, create a System Restore point and/or a complete Registry backup, just in case something happens.

The third method is easy compared to the earlier two and involves using Autoruns for Windows app

Autoruns is a must-have tool for Windows users which helps you manage Windows startup, services, drivers, Winsock providers, Internet Explorer add-ons, Shell extensions and much more.

1. Simply download Autoruns and run it. Windows 7 and Vista users are needed to run it as an administrator. To do so, simply right-click on the Autoruns.exe file and select Run as Administrator.
2. Click on Options, tick on Hide Microsoft Entries, so that you can filter out legitimate Microsoft Windows system Services and see only third-party entries. This make it easy for you to spot a third-party driver or Service.
3. Press F5 key to refresh the listing.
4. Now, click on the Services tab and you can easily remove unwanted drivers and Services from there.

Important: Before deleting any service think hard, search for it using any search engine like Google, Bing, etc to find out if that service is important or not, because it’s very difficult to get them back once they are gone. Deleting any important service needed by Windows may cause instability or may lead to loss of data. We will not be liable to you in any way for any kind of data loss that occurs due to mishandling of this information. Use with high caution!

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is an important update that includes previously released security, performance, and stability updates for Windows 7. Installing SP1 helps keep Windows 7 up to date, but if you encounter a problem with hardware or a program after installing the service pack, you might want to temporarily uninstall it to troubleshoot the problem.

In this article, we will show you how to uninstall Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1). The process is simple and you can do it by using the Programs and Features or using the Command Prompt.

Uninstall SP1 using Programs and Features

1. Click the Start button, next click Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Programs and Features.

2. Click View installed updates link present in the left hand side.

3. Click “Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932),” and then click Uninstall.

   

4. It’ll ask for confirmation, click on “Yes” button.

Note: If you don’t see Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932) in the list of installed updates, your computer likely came with SP1 already installed, and you can’t uninstall the service pack. If the service pack is listed but grayed out, you can’t uninstall the service pack.

Uninstalling SP1 using the Command Prompt

1. Click the Start button, and then, in the search box, type Command Prompt or cmd. In the list of results, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

2. Type the following: wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:976932

   

3. Press the Enter key.

Note: If you’ve used Disk Cleanup since installing SP1, the backup files needed to uninstall the service pack might have been deleted from your computer. To remove the service pack, you’ll need to reinstall Windows 7. If you installed SP1 yourself, you can uninstall it. However, if your computer came with SP1 already installed, it can’t be uninstalled. [source]

But, If you still is brave enough and want to delete the backup files read here.

I test a lot of applications everyday mainly for reviewing them here. I write about them if I find the app useful or interesting. While testing one such free internet download manager application, I found my system filled with crapware. I know that many developers includes toolbars or other types of adware or crapware bundled with their application. And, if we do not keep an eye on what we are selecting while installing the freeware, we may end up having those crapware installed on our system.

Even when we are extra careful crapware still manages to get into the system. I remember very well of deselecting every check box related to installation of Bigseekpro.com toolbar and changes to my Internet Explorer homepage and other settings. Still, the download application, SoMud, in question installed the crapware.

After installation was complete, I received from my trusted security app a warning about a change in my IE homepage, which I very well denied. I then opened IE and found that the homepage was not changed, thanks to my security app. But on opening a new tab, I found that my about:Tabs page hijacked.

Then I decided that its time for SoMud to go from my system. I removed it and carried IE reset but that didn’t solve the problem. I started digging the Registry Editor and found the entry modified. If you also faced the same problem and want to restore the default about:Tabs page, follow the steps below.

• Click Start, in the Start Search type regedit, press Enter (give your administrative credentials if prompted for or click on Yes at the UAC prompt.)

  

• Navigate to the following registry key:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs

  

• In the right panel, right-click on Tabs and click on Modify…

• Change the Value data: to res://ieframe.dll/tabswelcome.htm

  

• Click on OK and voilà about:Tabs page restored to its old glory.

  

DNS request are usually cached by our operating system. It’s a good way to speed up the DNS lookups, but sometimes we may want to clear the cache or “flush DNS cache” so that it doesn’t hold the old values that are no longer valid.

Follow our guide below to “flush,” i.e., clear the DNS cache in Mac OS and Windows operating system.

How to flush DNS cache in Microsoft Windows operating system?

1. Windows 7 and Vista users, click on the Start button and in the search box, type cmd and open the command prompt.
   Windows XP and earlier Windows edition users, click on the Start button, click on Run to open the Run dialog box. Type cmd and press Enter to open the command prompt.
2. Now, in the command prompt, type the command: ipconfig /flushdns
3. Press Enter and Windows will clear it’s DNS cache.

How to flush DNS cache in Mac OS?

Mac (OS Tiger and below) users need to use the following command in the Terminal to clear the DNS cache:

lookupd -flushcache

However, in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, a new command has replaced lookupd -flushcache command. So, to clear DNS cache in Leopard, you just need to type the following command in your Terminal and hit enter:

dscacheutil -flushcache

Last day, we wrote about an emergency kit by Emsisoft for cleaning an infected computer system. But sometimes, to completely remove viruses and other malware from the system, you may need something that lets you scan and clean your system without booting into Windows first. This is when, the best solution is to reboot into a rescue disk and run a full virus scan to disinfect the PC.

Kaspersky Rescue Disk is designed to scan and disinfect x86 and x64-compatible computers that have been infected. The application should be used when the infection is so severe that it is impossible to disinfect the computer using anti-virus applications or malware removal utilities (such as Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool) running under the operating system.

In this article, we will show you how to use the Kaspersky Rescue Disk to clean an infected computer.

Download and burn the Kaspersky Rescue Disk image to a disc or use USB

The first thing you’ll need to do is download the latest version of Kaspersky rescue disk, and then use any of your favorite CD/DVD burning application to burn that ISO image file to an optical disc.

You can also install the Rescue Disk ISO image to a USB device and boot your computer from it (if you are not having optical drive option), follow the steps below:

• In order to use a USB device, you have to first make sure that the device is FAT or FAT32 formatted.

• Download a special utility Kaspersky USB Rescue Disk Maker (rescue2usb.exe).

• On the USB Rescue Disk Maker window, click Browse… and select the iso image of Rescue Disk.

• Select the required USB device from the drop-down menu. and click on the big START button.

  

• Wait until the process is complete.

Use the Kaspersky Rescue Disk to clean an infected PC

Once you have the disk or USB device ready, insert it to the computer and reboot it. After reboot, a message will appear on the screen: Press any key to enter the menu.

Press any key. A loading wizard will start (you will see the menu to select the required language). If you do not press any key in 10 seconds, the computer boots from hard drive automatically. You’ll now be able to choose between the Graphic or Text mode, we recommend using the Graphic mode for keeping the process simple.

Now, accept the End User License Agreement to continue. It then scans your computer for connected devices and searches for file systems of your local and removable disks. After that, within a few seconds you should see the full working environment of Rescue Disk.

Note: If the host operating system is in sleep mode or its operation has been completed incorrectly, you will be asked to mount the file system or restart the computer.

In order to boot from the hard drive to shut down the operating system correctly, select Restart computer.

• If you select Continue, the application will continue mounting the file system, but there is a high risk of file system damage.
• If you select Skip, the application will skip file system mounting. Only boot sectors and autorun elements will be scanned. There is a high risk of file system damage.
• Restart computer allow you to boot from the hard drive to shut down the operating system correctly.

Now, the first thing you should do is switch to the My Update Center tab, and then click the Start update button to download the latest anti-virus definitions.

After updating the virus definition files, switch back to the Objects Scan tab, select the drives that you want to scan, and then click the Start Objects Scan button. It will start scanning, and clean up any viruses that it finds.

Note: You’ll be prompted when it finds any virus, and you’ll have the option to clean or quarantine the files.

If you need to do some in-depth research on the system, you can use some very nifty tools, included in Rescue Disk, directly from the menu below. Utilities included are a file manager, fully working web browser, command line (Terminal), screenshot tool and network setup.

Download Kaspersky Rescue Disk (latest version)

For real-time protection of your Windows operating system, use Microsoft Security Essentials or AVG or Avast or other antivirus of your choice.

With the release of the latest Mac OS X 10.6.5 update, it was supposed that AirPrint or in simple terms, wireless printing from iOS devices like iPad/iPhone/iPod will be available to OS X users. But due to some last-minute issue, AirPrint support was pulled out in the final version of 10.6.5 release.

For users who wants to get back AirPrint support in the latest update of OS X, we found a manual work-around to enable AirPrint. But if you don’t want to mess around with files and do it manually, using this small app, “AirPrintHacktivator” is lot more easier.

Simply download the AirPrintHacktivator file, unzip the app, run it and click on “Hacktivate” to enable AirPrint Support in 10.6.5.

If you are running an older version of OS X or iTunes, it will let you know. Otherwise, you will find two buttons, (see in the screenshot above) one to “Hacktivate” AirPrint service on your system and the other to “De Hacktivate“. The app makes a backup of your current files before replacing them.

You can visit Netputing for more details about this app and download AirPrint Hacktivator.

Remember, use it at your own risk!

AirPrint Hacktivator requires the latest 10.6.5 OS X update with iTunes 10.1+ installed. [via 9to5Mac]

Apple’s new AirPrint wireless printing service for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is now available for anyone running the golden master of iOS 4.2 on their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. It was also supposed that the recent Mac OS X 10.6.5 update will bring AirPrint support to OS X, as it was available in the recent 10.6.5 pre-release builds. But AirPrint support from the final version of 10.6.5 was pulled out due to a last-minute issue (patent troll?).

Mac OS X users who are running 10.6.5 can now get AirPrint wireless printing support working, thanks to developer Steven Troughton-Smith. He has come up with a simple guide for getting AirPrint work on all installations of Mac OS 10.6.5.

For AirPrint to work in OS X 10.6.5, all you need to do is pull some files from a prerelease version of 10.6.5. Here’s what he says:

The files you need are:

/usr/libexec/cups/filter/urftopdf
/usr/share/cups/mime/apple.convs
/usr/share/cups/mime/apple.types

If you migrate those from a 10.6.5 prerelease build (there seem to be many floating around torrent sites and file sharing sites — build 10H542 works; naturally I can’t link you to the files themselves, sorry!) to your machine you’re just one step away from having AirPrint working.

The final key thing is you have to remove and re-add your printer in the Print & Fax preferences pane. Once you do that (and share your printer in the Sharing preferences pane) it should show up on any iOS devices that support AirPrint.

Thanks to 9to5Mac, you can download those files. Here’s another mirror for those files.

They’re located in a hidden “/usr” folder in your Macintosh HD. You can get access to that folder either via Terminal or through the “Go to Folder” function present in Finder’s “Go” menu.

If you are using Terminal, simply type the following:

open -a Finder /usr/libexec/cups

If you are using Finder, simply type /usr/libexec/cups into the dialog of “Go To Folder” and hit Enter. Drop the files in the places mentioned.

Next, remove and re-install your printer, and activate sharing in the Sharing preferences pane, if you haven’t already done it.

Note: Don’t forget to take a backup of the files that you are modifying/removing. Don’t held us responsible if you mess with your system.

You should now be able to see and print to your printer directly over Wi-Fi, from your AirPrint-enabled iOS device of choice.

[via 9to5Mac]

Yesterday, we published the news about Apple Mac OS X 10.6.5 update being available. Well, it has been found that Mac OS users running 10.6.4 with PGP Whole Disk Encryption may render their systems unbootable after they update to 10.6.5. PGP has issued an alert for all those users and have asked them not to update their systems.

Alert: Mac OS X PGP WDE customers should not apply the recent Mac OS X 10.6.5 update. Compatibility issues may prevent the system from successfully booting.

In the interim, customers can accomplish the upgrade safely if the PGP Whole Disk Encrypted system is first decrypted, then apply the MAC OS X 10.6.5 update and then re-encrypt. We will provide a detailed update how to upgrade a PGP Whole Disk Encrypted system to Mac OS X 10.6.5 as soon as a solution has been identified.

For users who have already upgraded to 10.6.5 with PGP WDE encryption in place and thus are having an unbootable system, PGP recommend booting from the PGP Recovery CD.

You will also need to download the script “PGPwdeEFIUpdate.sh” from the PGP support site.

Procedure (as described at the PGP support site):

1. Boot the system using the PGP Recovery CD.
2. When prompted, authenticate with your passphrase. DO NOT press D to decrypt. Press any key (e.g. spacebar) to boot into Mac OS X normally.
3. Once logged into Mac OS X, PGP Desktop will automatically fix the boot issue and you should no longer need the recovery CD.
4. Download the script “PGPwdeEFIUpdate.sh” to your desktop.
5. Open terminal and navigate to your desktop directory by typing “cd ~/Desktop” and pressing enter.
6. Type in the command “chmod 755 PGPwdeEFIUpdate.sh” and press enter.
7. Type in the command “sudo./PGPwdeEFIUpdate.sh” and press enter.

Note: We haven’t tested this procedure and for the sake of it, we have kept the procedure as it was given at the PGP site.

If your computer is running Windows 7, or Vista, or Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2 and it freezes or stops responding when you try to rename a folder, then applying this hotfix KB980382 released by Microsoft may come handy.

The problem occurs in the following scenario:

• There is a volume in an NTFS file system on your computer. There are lots of files that are in a folder on this volume. For example, assume that there are more than 5000 files in this folder.
• Many files in the folder were opened at least one time previously.
• You try to rename the folder name.

In this scenario, the computer stops responding for some time. Therefore, the computer responds to a mouse button click or to a screen update very slowly.

Note: If the Failover Clustering feature is installed on the computer, the cluster resources that are hosted on the computer fail over to the other nodes because of this issue.

The rename operation for a directory checks whether a file in the folder is opened by a user. During this operation, a volume control block (VCB) lock is obtained, and any other I/O requests to the volume are blocked. If the number of files in the directory is large, this process of checking whether a file is opened may take an unnecessarily long time. Therefore, the computer stops responding for this long time. However, the computer eventually recovers.

To apply this hotfix, you must be running one of the following operating systems:

• Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)
• Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Windows 7
• Windows Server 2008 R2

[ Download Hotfix KB980382 ]

My friend called me yesterday to help him in getting back Windows 7 in the boot menu. What he did was, repair his Windows XP installation and now after repair he cannot find Windows 7 in the boot menu. Now, he was having a dual-boot configuration with Windows XP and Windows 7. The problem that he was facing is very common and every user who is having a similar dual-boot configuration also faces this problem when they try to repair or reinstall an older Windows version.

If you install Windows 7 or Windows Vista as a second operating system on a computer system where Windows XP is already installed, the Windows boot menu incorporates the options from the older boot menu. But, let us suppose, if you install a fresh copy of Windows XP or on a system that is already running Windows 7, Windows will overwrite the MBR with the old one that doesn’t recognize the Windows 7 boot loader. Each time you install any version of Windows, it rewrites the MBR to call its own boot loader.

But there is solution available to repair the MBR damage. Follow the steps below and you will be able to get back the MBR settings that was lost. (This guide will work for Windows XP, Vista, 7.)

After booting into the older Windows (in this case Windows XP), insert your Windows 7 DVD. Now, open Command Prompt window (type cmd in the Run dialog box and press Enter) from within the older operating system. Run the following command from the Windows 7 DVD, substituting the letter of your DVD drive for x here:

x:\boot\ bootsect.exe /nt60 all

Now, after you restart your computer system, you should see the Windows 7 boot menu. But, wait a second, what happened to the entry to your earlier operating system? Well, don’t panic, to restore the menu entry for your earlier version of Windows, open an elevated Command Prompt window (right-click on cmd in Windows 7 or Vista, select Run as Administrator) and type this command:

bcdedit /create {ntldr} —d "Menu description goes here"

Substitute your own description for the placeholder text, being sure to include the quotation marks. The next time you start your computer, the menus should appear as you intended.

An even easier solution is to use boot-editing utilities like EasyBCD that supports Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2003 or 2008. EasyBCD can also be used to switch quickly from a Windows XP-style boot loader to its Windows 7 counterpart and back again.

Microsoft recently published a hotfix to fix poor printing performance issues in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft identified the issues as, “On a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, the printing performance may be poor compared to the performance on a computer that is running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. Additionally, a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 consumes more CPU resources when you print a document. For example, CPU usage remains at 100 percent for a long time in Task Manager when you print a document on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.”

The cause of this issue as identified by Microsoft, “occurs because of a performance regression in spooler behavior on single-processor systems that are running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.” Generally, this means that only single-core CPU systems running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 may be affected by the performance issue.

A hotfix is made available for users affected by the issue as a temporary solution. It is likely that Microsoft will soon release a patch to address the printing performance issue. A total of three hotfixes are offered, targeting 32-bit, 64-bit and IA64 systems. Each hotfix contains the fix for both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, you must be running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

Registry information

To use the hotfix in this package, you do not have to make any changes to the registry.

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace a previously released hotfix.

Download HotFix 333334 To Fix Poor Printing Performance in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2

More Information (KB2295825)

Stuxnet worm was primarily written to target Windows Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems used to control and watch industrial processes. It is the first-ever computer worm to include a PLC (programmable logic controllers) rootkit to hide itself and target critical industrial infrastructure. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability results in the injection of a backdoor, as well as the installation of two rootkits that will hide both the .lnk files and the accompanying .tmp files.

Russian digital security company Kaspersky Labs released a statement that described Stuxnet as “a working and fearsome prototype of a cyber-weapon that will lead to the creation of a new arms race in the world. Or, people can simply avoid the danger by not using Microsoft products.” Kevin Hogan, Senior Director of Security Response at Symantec, noted that 60 percent of the infected computers worldwide were in Iran, suggesting its industrial plants were the target. Kaspersky Labs concluded that the attacks could only have been conducted “with nation-state support”, making Iran the first target of real cyber warfare.

Stuxnet attacks Windows systems using four zero-day attacks (including the CPLINK vulnerability and a vulnerability used by the Conficker worm) and targets systems using Siemens’ WinCC/PCS 7 SCADA software. It is initially spread using infected USB flash drives and then uses other exploits to infect other WinCC computers in the network. Once inside the system it uses the default passwords to command the software. Siemens, however, advises against changing the default passwords because it “could impact plant operations.” (via)

Many security vendors have released Stuxnet removal tool and Microsoft has released Stuxnet FixIt tool too. In one of our earlier article “Out-of-band Windows Security Patch to Address Windows Shell Vulnerability,” we have talked about the Microsoft Fix-IT solution, a solution called the G Data LNK Checker to block malicious LNK files, and a Stuxnet Rootkit Remover to clean the infected computers from common Stuxnet variants.

Now, BitDefender has also released a free Stuxnet (Win32.Worm.Stuxnet) removal tool. This tool is capable of removing all known variants of Win32.Worm.Stuxnet, as well as the rootkit drivers that are used to hide critical components of the worm. The tool can be run on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows operating system installations and will eliminate both the rootkit drivers and the worm.

[ Download Free BitDefender Stuxnet Removal Tool ]

In our previous we talked about how to use a system repair disk for rescuing Windows 7 or Vista in case of problems. In the System Recovery Options that Windows system repair disk offers, there is an option System Image Recovery that lets you recover your computer using a system image created during a backup.

In today’s article, we take a look at creating a backup image of your machine without the need for a third-party utility like True Image or Norton Ghost. In case of problem, you can choose the System Image Recovery option provided by the system repair disk and use this image to recover your Windows.

All editions of Windows 7 comes with a pretty impressive backup utility which lets you easily create an image of the system very easily. In case of Vista, only Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise editions allow you to create a system image, but Vista Home and Home Premium users don’t have the option. So if you are a Vista user running those supported editions you can follow this article.

What is a system image?

A system image is an exact copy of a drive. By default, a system image includes the drives required for Windows to run. It also includes Windows and your system settings, programs, and files. You can use a system image to restore the contents of your computer if your hard disk or computer ever stops working. When you restore your computer from a system image, it’s a complete restoration–you can’t choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced with the contents of the system image.

Creating a System Image in Windows 7

Note: To create a system image of a drive, it must be formatted to use the NTFS file system. If you save the system image on a hard drive or USB flash drive, it must be formatted to use the NTFS file system.

1. Open Backup and Restore by clicking the Start button, then clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Backup and Restore.

2. In the left pane, click Create a system image. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

3. Decide where you want to save the system backup image. You can choose an external drive, burn to multiple DVD’s, or store it on a network location.

4. At the confirmation screen check the amount of disk space the system image may take. If something doesn’t look right or you want to change something, you can still go back from this point and make adjustments.

5. After confirmation, a progress meter is displayed while the system backup image is created.

   

6. After the process is complete you will get the option to create a system repair disc (see our article on creating a system repair disk in Windows 7).

If you’re saving your system images on an internal or external drive, or on CDs or DVDs, you can keep several versions of system images. On internal and external hard drives, older system images will be deleted when the drive runs out of space. To help conserve disk space, you can manually delete older system images.

If you’re saving your system images in a network location, you can only keep the most current system image for each computer. System images are saved in the format of drive\WindowsImageBackup\computer name\. If you have an existing system image for a computer and are creating a new one for the same computer, the new system image will overwrite the existing one. If you want to keep the existing system image, you can copy it to a different location before creating the new system image by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the network location of the system image.

2. Now, copy the WindowsImageBackup folder to a new location.

Creating system image in Vista

The process is similar in Windows Vista as shown for Windows 7 above.

1. Open Backup and Restore Center by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, then clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Backup and Restore Center.

2. Click Back up computer, and then follow the steps in the wizard. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

   

If your install of Windows 7 won’t boot or has started giving you problems and you are thinking of reinstalling. Think again, you may only need to use the System Repair Disc to fix the problems. This will definitely save you a lot of trouble and may also save your data and user settings. Windows System Repair Disc is designed to rescue your system and lets you boot Windows when everything else fails. It provides several options for repairing the failing system and revive it.

For this to work, you either need the original Windows installation DVD or better if you have already created the system repair disc (see our article on creating a system repair disk in Windows 7). If you can’t create a repair disk, you can download one (see our article on downloading a system repair disk for Windows 7 or Vista).

If you don’t create one, you limit your recovery options as the recovery disk that came with your computer is not the same as this disk. This repair disk will not reinstall Windows 7 and it won’t reformat your computer and just provides access to Windows’ built-in recovery tools.

Use a System Repair Disc to Restore Windows 7

• Insert the System Repair disc in the DVD drive and restart the computer.
• For just a few seconds, the screen displays Press any key to boot from CD or DVD. Press any key to boot from the disk.
  If you aren’t quick enough, you’ll have to restart the computer again.
  
• Enter into the Windows Setup [EMS Enabled].
  
• When System Recover is finished searching for Windows installations, click Next.
  
• Choose Use Recovery Tools That Can Help Fix Problems Starting Windows. Click Next.
• Windows will offer several tools that you can use to repair your system, including using the system image, if you have one available. Choose from different recovery options to help you get your machine back up and running.
  

Recommendation: Try to revive your computer by using the first three options in the order listed, restarting after each one.

Exactly What Each Windows Recovery Options Do?

Startup Repair: This option automatically fix common problems that are preventing Windows from starting properly.
System Restore: It helps you Restore Windows to an earlier time. Choose this option if Windows 7 starts, but due to some change since a recent installation or update it is not working properly. You’ll pick a restore point based on date and time (start choosing the most recent). Note: Using this option you may lose recent program changes, but not your data.
System Image Recovery: Recover your computer using a system image you created during a backup. Choose this option if the first two don’t fix a problem and you have a relatively recent system image.
Note: With System Image Recovery, you will lose data created or changed since the image was created, unless you have that data on a separate device, such as a portable flash drive.
Windows Memory Diagnostic: Check your computer for memory hardware errors. This diagnostic tool won’t do any damage and might uncover the reason your PC hangs, freezes, or crashes.
Command Prompt: Open a command prompt window. Mostly used for advanced recovery or by advanced users. Use this if you’re familiar with typing commands at a prompt.

After using any of these tools, click Restart to see if it worked else click on the Shut Down button if you’ve had enough.

Note: Windows Vista Repair options are very similar to Windows 7, so if you are a Vista user, you can use this as reference.

Microsoft has released a hotfix for fixing a very serious issue in Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 that is affecting users whose computers are attached with hard drives larger than 2 terabytes of disk space. The consequences of this bug is very fatal and may cause volume corruption and if the corrupted volumes include the system partition, than users cannot start the computer.

This issue occurs because of the crash dump disk driver (Diskdump.sys) cannot address more than 2 terabytes of disk space. The Diskdump.sys driver can address up to 2 to the power of 32 sectors. If the sector size is 512 bytes, the driver can address up to 2 terabytes of disk space. If the actual offset is larger than this limitation, the driver incorrectly truncates the offset and saves data to a wrong location. Therefore, one or more volumes on the disk are corrupted.

This issue also occurs when the operating system enters into hibernation and generates a Hiberfile.sys file that is at a disk offset greater than the 2 terabyte disk offset of the hard disk drive. It may also occur when the operating system crashes, generates a Stop code error message, and saves memory data to a dump file. In this scenario, one or more volumes of the hard disk drive may be corrupted. Additionally, all data on these volumes are lost.

Microsoft has created a hotfix that should only be installed by users with computer systems with hard drives larger than 2 terabytes. It is recommended for the users who may have similar system configuration to install the hotfix and avoid any possible corruption issues. The computer needs to be restarted after applying the hotfix.

[box type="alert"]Users without hard drives larger than 2 terabytes do not need to install the hotfix.[/box]

The hotfix can be directly downloaded from the Microsoft Knowledgebase through the link below:

[box type="download"]Download HotFix KB2249857[/box]

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The computer screen dims after you log on to resume a computer from hibernation in Windows 7. Microsoft acknowledges about this problem in the knowledge base article KB982635 and have confirmed that the issue affects all editions of Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit version. Microsoft has released a hotfix to fix the hibernation issue found in Windows 7.

Problem Symptom:

Consider the following scenario:

• You have a computer that is running Windows 7.
• You configure the power button to be used for hibernation on the computer.
• You change the setting of the Password protection on wake up setting to the Require a password (recommended) option.
• The computer is put into hibernation.
• You press the power button to resume the computer from hibernation. You are prompted to enter your user account credentials.
• The computer is put into hibernation again while you try to log on to the computer.For example, the computer is put into hibernation because of low power or because the power button is pressed by mistake.
• You press the power button to resume the computer from hibernation again.

In this scenario, the computer screen dims after you log on to resume from hibernation.

Cause:

This issue occurs because two threads try to fade out the monitor at the same time.

The hotfix might receive additional testing, hence, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next software update that contains the hotfix.

Download the required hotfix using following link:

[box type="download"]Download FIX317706 for Windows 7 Hibernation issue[/box]

An issue has been founded where a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 stops responding randomly and freeze for no reason (KB2265716). Applications or services that are running on the computer stops working correctly. Additionally, you cannot log on to the computer by using the remote desktop connection utility.

This issue occurs because of a deadlock condition between the Lsass.exe process, the Redirected Drive Buffering Subsystem (Rdbss.sys) driver, and the Winsock kernel. A supported hotfix (Fix322397) is available from Microsoft.

The hotfix might receive additional testing, hence, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next software update that contains the final hotfix. To apply the hotfix, your computer must be running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7. You must restart the computer after applying the hotfix.

The same fix will also be provided with Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

[ Download Hotfix Fix322397 to fix Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Random Freezes ]