Microsoft Windows Defender

Microsoft anounced last week that the infamous Antispyware, currenly in Beta 1 testing, will be renamed to "Windows Defender" when completed and released in 2006. The RTM (Release To Market) product will not only scan a system for spyware but will also look for malicous code like keystroke loggers. Defender will be part of Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest operating system scheduled for release next year. It will also be available for download for users with Windows 2000, XP, and 2003.

For more information, please visit the TechNet blog at http://blogs.technet.com/antimalware/archive/2005/11/04/413700.aspx or ComputerWorld at http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,106048,00.html?from=story%5Fkc.

New Microsoft Patches

Microsoft recently released two new patches/updates.

1. Security update for Windows XP (KB896424)Size: 0.9 MB - 2.5 MB
   A remote code execution security issue has been identified in the Graphics Rendering Engine that could allow an attacker to remotely 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.
   More information for this update can be found at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48901. ComputerWorld has also published an article that explains it in more detail, http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,106063,00.html?source=NLT_PM&nid=106063.
2. Windows Malicous Software Removal Tool - Novemeber 2005 (KB890830)Size: 198 KB
   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.
   More information for this update can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/malwareremove

Code Generator

Our last meeting was about code generators. Afterwards, I saw a link on the Microsoft site for a free generator that takes an XSD schema as input and generates sample code showing how to mark up C# and VB.Net classes so that when serialized with the XML serializer, the resulting XML will be valid according to the original schema. For more info and to download the code generator, visit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=89E6B1E5-F66C-4A4D-933B-46222BB01EB0&displaylang=en.

Microsoft Desktop Deployment

Microsoft offers a desktop deployment package that provides many capabilities, including desktop imaging. This is especially usefull when trying to duplicate a production environment in test. Afterall, the testing environment is an important factor to achieving correct results. For more information on Microsoft's Desktop Deployment, see http://www.microsoft.com/technet/desktopdeployment/default.mspx

Using FrontPage Search and Replace to Modify Infopath Data

One of the SIG attendees emailed me the following link for using FrontPage to modify an InfoPath form (http://msd2d.com/newsletter_tip.aspx?section=sharepoint&id=5f5abbad-b256-4377-b422-ea5ff87d2a7b)

Thanks to Mark H. for sending the link.

InfoPath Date Display

Q: While working on an InfoPath form the other day, I created a text box for the sole purpose of displaying date/time. When I set the text of the field to Now(), the date appeared as "2005-10-21T13:48:51".

A: To get rid of the "T" in the middle and make the date more readable, I changed the data field type of the text box from Text to Date/Time. The date then appeared as "10/21/2005 1:48:51 PM".

.Net Framework 2.0 RTM (Release To Market)

The .Net framework 2.0 was released to market yesterday (10/27/2005) and is available for download from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&DisplayLang=en)

How to Ask a Question?

Ever post a question to an online forum but got an answer that didn't quite hit the spot? I found an article on MSDN that discusses how to avoid such problems http://support.microsoft.com/?id=555375)

Combining C# and VB.Net projects in VS2005

Q: Can a C# project be combined with a VB.Net project in VS 2005?

A: You can compile each project separately then combine them together into a single assembly file using the assembly linker (AL.exe). This is a Microsoft utility that installs in the .Net framework folder (C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322).

Another option is to compile one project into a DLL or EXE then reference it from the other project.

MSN Virtual Earth (using ATLAS)

For those who attended PDC 2005, there was a discussion of ATLAS and how powerful of a tool it is. To further demonstrate its capabilities, Microsoft created virtualearth.msn.com, a very cool map site. To further explain how the site was put together, check out http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2005/09/14/425131.aspx. The ATLAS add-on toolkit will be available for Visual Studio.Net 2005 sometime in 2006.

Career Eye for the IT Guy (or Gal)

The Greater Cleveland PC Users' Group will be hosting a roundtable meeting about IT careers in Cleveland, featuring local industry leaders and developers. Some of the topics discussed include the future of IT in Cleveland, the value of certification, and many more.

Last year over 100 people attended our discussion about the state of IT careers in Northeast Ohio. This year the GCPCUG is pulling out all the stops. On Saturday, October 8th, we’re having four roundtable discussions to talk about what technologies and skills are in the greatest demand. And what you can do to get those skills.

As always, our meetings are free and open to the public. For more info, visit http://www.gcpcug.org/genmeeting.php

Is there a benign virus I can use to test the AV scanner?

Q: Is there a benign virus I can use to test the AV scanner?

A: Eicar.org offers a benignvirus used for testing purposes. Although they don't offer support for any specific Anti-virus scanning tool, they can provide a simple virus that would help test your AV application. For more information and to download the virus, visit http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm.

Thanks to Andrew H. for providing an answer to this question.

How to search multiple columns, in 1 or more tables, for a single string?

Q: How can I search all varchar columns in a given table for a specific string, without building the where clause for every field?

A: select * from table1 where val1 + val2 like '%xyz%'
/* where val1 and val2 are varchar columns */

Also, if you have full text indexes defined on the columns of a table you can use the contains clause to examine each column that is indexed. If all of the varchar columns in mytable are are included in the fulltext index, then following will return any row that has the string abc :

select * from mytable where contains(*, '"*abc*" )

Thanks to Pete F. for helping with this question.