Thursday January 13, 2011
Microsoft has released the January 2011 update to their Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool:
Download Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool v3.15 (32-bit) / (64-bit)
What's in this update?
In version 3.15, Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool added support for the removal of one new threat, W32/Lethic.
You can see the complete list of threats that this tool can remove here, including details on the new one.
More Information:
The Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is available for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Sever 2008 & 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000.
Updates to this tool are always available via Windows Update but you can also download the file manually from the link above.
Important: Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is not an antivirus program. It is a malicious software removal tool that's great at ridding your PC of common malicious software programs but it will not prevent infection.
Microsoft does have a free malware prevention tool called Security Essentials.
More from Microsoft: Knowledge Base Article 890830
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Thursday January 13, 2011
The first Patch Tuesday of 2011 is small - just 2 updates correcting just 3 security issues. One update corrects one issue in Windows Vista only and the other corrects two issues in all supported versions of Windows including Windows 7, Vista, XP, and the server operating systems.
All of these issues could potentially allow a remote attacker to take completely control of your system. The attacker could then perform tasks on the computer like an administrator could including viewing, changing, and deleting information.
What these updates do:
These patches from Microsoft update several individual files involved in making the affected operating system work.
These updates may apply to you if: you're running any of Microsoft's supported operating systems including Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2008 R2, 2008, and 2003.
More Information:
These are serious issues with Windows and you should apply all updates that affect your specific version of Windows. Some of these issues are categorized as Important and some others are listed as Critical.
In all cases in the two updates, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the above Windows operating systems are affected.
Some updates may require that you restart your computer.
Automatically install: via Windows Update.
Manually install: via the individual Security Bulletins listed here.
Details from Microsoft: Monthly Security Updates for January 2011 and Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for January 2011.
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Thursday January 6, 2011
Microsoft has released the January 2011 construction data updates to their various Streets and Trips programs. These updates usually occur every month.
These patches allow your Streets and Trips program to show the latest available road construction information.
Here are direct download links for your particular program:
Important: These updates are not self-installable, as most program updates usually are. However, the links above also contain information about where to save the update files so your program can utilize them.
Wednesday January 5, 2011
Realtek has released version R2.56 of their High Definition (HD) Audio drivers.
You can download this latest Realtek HD driver for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and more here. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of this driver are available.
No fixes or features were added in this release, only driver customizations.
I don't recommend that you update your Realtek audio driver to R2.56 unless you were asked to do so by your hardware manufacturer's technical support or you're trying to solve an issue with your Realtek-based sound card and reinstalling the drivers is a good troubleshooting step.
More Information About R2.56:
Realtek Driver R2.56 supports the following chipsets in Windows 7 and Windows Vista:
ALC882, ALC883, ALC885, ALC888, ALC889, ALC892, ALC861VD, ALC660, ALC662, ALC663, ALC665, ALC260, ALC262, ALC267, ALC268, ALC269, ALC270, ALC272, ALC273, ALC887, ALC670, ALC275, and ALC680
These chipsets are supported in Windows XP and Windows 2000:
ALC880, ALC882, ALC883, ALC885, ALC888, ALC889, ALC892, ALC861VC, ALC861VD, ALC660, ALC662, ALC663, ALC665, ALC260, ALC262, ALC267,ALC268, ALC269, ALC270, ALC272, ALC273, ALC887, ALC670, ALC275, and ALC680
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