Windows XP Total Shutdown

Many times I have written newsletters in which I denigrate Windows and Microsoft products. Some may find them just, some may criticize, but this latest issue should seal the opinion of those few who give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt.

This month Microsoft FINALLY provided a patch for Windows XP, which addressed a security issue that has existed for 17 years. That is to say, there has been a security issue with Windows since pretty much whenever you started using it.

Now here's the clincher! Crackers (read: malicious hackers) have known about this for some time now. And there has been a botnet (read: a virus) that has existed for several years that has exploited this issue. But better yet, the creators of the botnet already figured out how to circumvent Microsoft's fix, prior to it's release! So, as far as the existing botnet is concerned, the fix is irrelevant.

Wait a minute.... that wasn't the clincher. The clincher rests in the fact that if your system had been compromised by this botnet, then forget about it. Your system is going to fail to work after you install Microsoft's patch, which would have been installed automatically for most of you.
And even if your savvy enough to know how to hack the system to get it working again, the best solution to get your system working optimally and to ensure there are no security breaches is to reinstall Windows XP completely.

You can read more here:
http://snipurl.com/uflap

Patch Tuesday

Last Tuesday saw a MAJOR release of patches for Microsoft products: 13 patches, which addressed 26 vulnerabilities.

Five of the "critical" fixes addresses issues with Windows operating systems (Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7).

The "important" updates addressed issues again with Windows operating systems, but also with Windows Office products (Word, Excel, etc.).