Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
December 17, 2006
Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter
http://www.terryscomputertips.com
A computer tips newsletter for users of PC's.
Volume 2, Number 27 — Sunday, December 17, 2006
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
IN THIS WEEK'S ON-LINE ISSUE:
1. "Safely Remove Hardware" — Flash Drives
2. Updates Last Week
3. Dirty D: Drive
4. WalkThru - The Windows XP Security Center
5. HOWTO: Setting, Changing or Removing a Windows XP Password
6. My Computer Security Software Recommendations
7. What I Hate About New Program Versions
8. Recommend my Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter to Your Friends
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1. "Safely Remove Hardware" — Flash Drives
I answered a question this week about the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon, which is found in the Windows Status Bar, usually at the bottom right-hand side of your Windows Desktop, if you have connected any removable devices.
In this case, the person thought that clicking the Safely Remove Harware button was an unnecessary step in using his computer. He just wanted to wait until the activity light on his flash drive went out — and then unplug the flash drive.
Unfortunately, it really is a necessary step. You can often unplug a flash drive without any apparent problem, but there are a couple problems that can occur (and I've experienced both), if you don't use the Safely Remove Hardware step.
The first problem is that, if you pull the flash drive without going through the Safely Remove Hardware step, Windows doesn't internally reconfigure itself. Then, when you plug the flash drive in again, it won't recognize the drive. The fix is easy -- reboot. Read more in my article Flash Drive Not Recognized.
In the particular scenario above, the problems should just fall into the Flash Drive Not Recognized category.
There is a more catastrophic problem, though, that can occur if you unplug the drive just because Windows seemed to finish copying to the drive (as evidenced by the copy status box vanishing).
In that case, I've actually lost all the data that was already on the flash drive in addition to the data that I was writing.
The problem is that Windows defaults to a "delayed write cache" " meaning that it will write to memory as a preparatory step, in order to let the program think it has finished writing. It does this so that you can do more stuff. Unfortunately, if it hasn't finished writing everything, you can mess up.
As the saying goes, "Been there. Did that. Wore the T-shirt."
I find that often want to re-insert the flash drive after I've unplugged it.
If I didn't do the Safely Remove Hardware step, I'd have to reboot...
Learn to Tune Up Your Windows XP Computer
Would you like to learn how to make your Microsoft Windows XP computer run faster And more reliably? Do you have trouble reading technical articles and technical books?
This may be just the tool for you... It's a set of 11 videos to teach you -- step by step -- how to tune up your Windows XP computer. Watch the Sample Video now. [Link opens in a new window]
2. Updates Last Week
Microsoft (operating systems, email, web browser, office suites):
Last week included "Patch Tuesday" — Microsoft releases almost all updates once per month, on the second Tuesday. These are the updates that Microsoft Update found (and installed) on my computers:
Microsoft Windows XP
Security Update for Windows XP (KB926255)
A security issue has been identified that could allow an attacker to compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
Cumulative Security Update for Outlook Express for Windows XP (KB923694)
A security issue has been identified that could allow an attacker to remotely compromise your Windows-based system using Outlook Express. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
Security Update for Windows Media Player 6.4 (KB925398)
A security issue has been identified that could allow an attacker to remotely compromise your Windows-based system using Windows Media Player and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
Security Update for Windows XP (KB923689)
A security issue has been identified that could allow an attacker to remotely compromise your Windows-based system using Windows Media file formats and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - December 2006 (KB890830)
After the download, this tool runs once to check your computer for infection by specific, prevalent malicious software (including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom) and helps to remove any infection found. If an infection is found, the tool will display a status report the next time you start your computer. A new version of the tool will be offered every month. If you want to manually run the tool on your computer, you can download a copy from the Microsoft Download Center or run an online version from microsoft.com. This tool is not a replacement for an anti-virus product. To help protect your computer, you should use an anti-virus product.
Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer for Windows XP (KB925454)
Security issues have been identified that could allow an attacker to compromise a system running Microsoft Internet Explorer and gain control over it. You can help protect your system by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
This was on my desktop which I'm keeping as Internet Explorer 6, instead of IE7.
Microsoft Office 2003
Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB925254)
This update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail. This update was released in December 2006. ..
Microsoft Office 2002/XP
Security Update for Excel 2002 (KB923089)
A security vulnerability exists in Microsoft Excel 2002 that could allow arbitrary code to run when a maliciously modified file is opened. This update resolves that vulnerability.
Firefox (web browser, http://www.mozilla.com, free):
None this week. Current version 2.0. Latest v1.5 version is 1.5.0.8 -- Mozilla.org urges all users to upgrade to Firefox 2." Firefox v2.0 was released on Tuesday, October 24th.
Opera (web browser, http://www.opera.com, free):
No update last week. Current version 9.02 was released during late September.
Netscape (web browser, http://browser.netscape.com, free):
No update this week. Version 8.1.2 was released during the week ending September 30.
US-CERT issued a press-release on November 8th that recommended that Netscape users turn off JavaScript. (Mozilla Firefox, SeaMonkey and Thunderbird were subject to the same issues, but new versions were released on November 8th to solve the problem.) AOL has not updated Netscape to the new version of the underlying "Gecko" browser.
SeaMonkey (web browser, email, HTML editor, newsreader; http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey; free): No updates this week. Current version 1.0.6 was released on November 8th.
Eudora (email, http://www.eudora.com, options: paid, sponsored or free/lite):
No update last week. Version 7.1.0.9 was released October 11, 2006. This was announced as to be the last commercial version before Eudora becomes open-source in the first half of 2007.
Mozilla Thunderbird (email, http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird, free):
Thunderbird version 1.5.0.8 was released November 8th. This is fixes a significant security problem.
OpenOffice (office suite — spreadsheet, word processor, presentations, graphics, web design; http://www.openoffice.org; free):
Version 2.04 was released on Friday October 13, which was also the 6th anniversary of OpenOffice.org. What's new?
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Volume 2, Number 27 — Sunday, December 17, 2006
Copyright © 2006 Terry A. Stockdale. All rights reserved.
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