Bug Found in McAfee's Update Program

The McAfee update (DAT 4715) released on Friday was designed to protect computers against the W95/CTX virus. But because of a programming error, the update also incorrectly identified renamed and quarantined hundreds of legitimate executables including popular ones such as excel.exe, lsetup.exe, uninstall.exe, shutdown.exe and reg.exe.

For companies that had configured their McAfee antivirus program to automatically delete bad files, the error resulted in the loss of hundreds, and in some cases even thousands, of files on systems in which the update had been installed, said Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer at the SANS Internet Storm Center (ISC) in Bethesda, Md.

The full article can be found at http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,109525,00.html?source=NLT_AM&nid=109525

MDAC Component Checker

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, I found a Microsoft utility used to check the MDAC components and provide detailed information on all the related files. The utility can be downloaded from Microsoft.com at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8f0a8df6-4a21-4b43-bf53-14332ef092c9&displaylang=en&Hash=S9VTW5B

MDAC Version

Q: How do I find out what version of MDAC I have on my machine?

A: MDAC is short for Microsoft Data Access Components. The MDAC version information is stored in the registry in KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DataAccess\Version. To download the latest version of MDAC (currently 2.8), go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&FamilyID=6c050fe3-c795-4b7d-b037-185d0506396c.

Detecting Network Sniffers

I came across a cool utility on the MSDN web site. PromqryUI (short for Promiscuous Query User Interface) is a GUI tool that detects network interfaces running in promiscuous mode (i.e. network sniffers). To download this free utility, go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1a10d27a-4aa5-4e96-9645-aa121053e083&DisplayLang=en

SQL Server Report Pack for SPS 2003

Microsoft produced a report pack specifically aimed at SharePoint 2003 site utilization. This is a set of 8 Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services reports that work with a sample database of information extracted from a SharePoint Portal Server environment.

The Report Pack includes the following reports:

1. Storage ReportShows a listing of the virtual servers and the number of collections, sites, areas, lists, files and size. Also shows a size distribution and storage usage chart, and a top 20 sites based on size.
2. Storage Trend ReportShows four charts illustrating the virtual server storage trend, site collection growth trend, area growth trend and list growth trend.
3. Site Trend ReportShows hit counts for virtual servers, collections, areas and lists. Also shows the top 20 sites based on hits.
4. Comprehensive Site Collections ReportShows the list of site collections, who owns the collection, configurable characteristics about the owner and the date the collection was last accessed.
5. Detailed Site Collection ReportShows top 20 pages accessed (based on hit count) for this site collection.
6. Detailed Page ReportShows users who have access to the page, when they last accessed it, any referrer URL and number of hits. Also shows two charts illustrating user distribution and referrer distribution.
7. Best Bet KeywordShows top 20, top 10, bottom 10, or bottom 20 keywords used for searching. Also shows which keywords have best bets.
8. Search TermsShows top 20, top 10, bottom 10, or bottom 20 search terms used for searching. Also shows which search terms match a defined keyword.

For more info, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2005/11/ReportingTools/default.aspx.

To download the Report Pack, go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=49159368-544B-4B09-8EED-4844B4E33D3D&displaylang=en

Computer Myth Busters

I came across this link on Yahoo discussing computer related myths (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1740&ncid=1729&e=1&u=/ttpcworld/20060223/tc_techtues_pcworld/124807).

I thought it was worth while to post to show how the general public perceives computers. Let me know what you think.

Microsoft - Cisco Partnership

Microsoft and Cisco have entered into a partnership to develop products for voice and data collaboration, targeting business uesrs. The overall package includes 30 products, most of which are enhancements or updates to existing technologies, but 3 of them are entirely new:

1. The Cisco Unified Presence Server collects information about a user's availability status (such as whether they're on the phone or on a computer at any given time).
2. The Cisco Unified Client, a program that allows users to make desktop video calls as well as sort, view and play messages on their PCs.
3. The Cisco Unified Customer Interaction Analyzer, a service that can be used in contact centers, which can analyze the tone of a customer's voice as well as how and where to route a call.

The two companies will work together to integrate Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 and Microsoft Office Live Communications technologies with Cisco's Unified Communications System.

The package of tools will allow customers to move between instant messaging or phone sessions, as well as launch or answer calls from within the Office Communicator. Customers can also choose to start a call from either the computer or telephone. The companies expect the interoperable package of tools to be available in August 2006.

For information visit http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060306/ap_on_hi_te/cisco_microsoft;_ylt=AiDoBfOrIZRpPOx_EPPPad.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY

How Microsoft sets up their own SQL Servers.

This is an interesting blog article from Microsoft.com Operations (http://blogs.technet.com/mscom/archive/2006/02/13/419406.aspx). It details how they setup their SQL Servers. It is interesting that they do not use clusters, preferring log shipping to keep multiple servers up to date, and perform "manual failover" from web sites by modifying connection strings. Also interesting is that they run SQL Servers behind Network Load Balancers.

Thanks to Mark H. for passing this article along.

Versions of Windows Vista (Europe)

On yesterday's blog (http://clevelanddotnet.blogspot.com/2006/03/versions-of-windows-vista.html), I posted a summary describing the 6 versions of Windows Vista. In addition to those 6 versions, Microsoft will be releasing 2 additional "N" versions to comply with the European Union's anti-trust rulings. Vista Home Basic and Vista Business will be both be offered as "N" versions, without a Windows Media Player. For more information, goto http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/story/0,10801,109097,00.html?source=NLT_PM&nid=109097

Versions of Windows Vista

Windows Vista is Microsoft's latest operating system, due to be released in the 2nd half of 2006. The product will have 6 different offerings, targeting the 6 major segments of the user population. Each offering will have different capabilities to accomodate that particular segment.

The 6 versions of Windows Vista are comprised of 2 for businesses, 3 for consumers, and 1 for emerging markets:

1. Windows Vista Business: For small business users.
2. Windows Vista Enterprise: For high-end business users in large global organizations with highly complex IT infrastructures.
3. Windows Vista Home Basic: For consumers with basic PC tasks (browse the Internet, e-mail, basic document creation).
4. Windows Vista Home Premium: For more sophisticated home users using Tablet PCs or digital entertainment.
5. Windows Vista Ultimate: For high-end home and business users. This version that has it all! It's the first operating system that brings together all the entertainment features, mobility features and business-oriented features available in Windows Vista.
6. Windows Vista Starter: For entry level PC users wanting to experience the world of social and educational benefits that personal computer technology and the Internet makes possible.

All new versions are available for either 32-bit or 64-bit systems, depending on the needs of the customer. Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate and Business will be available as a full-packaged product at retail and on new PCs. Windows Vista Enterprise will be offered only to business customers participating in Microsoft’s Software Assurance program.

For more information, see the following:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/versions/default.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/evaluate/overvw.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/feb06/02-26WinVistaProductsPR.mspx

LC.EXE

Q: What is LC.EXE?

A: LC.EXE (License Compiler) is a command line utility provided with .Net Framework 2.0. By default this utility is installed in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\Bin. When executed, LC.exe will read license information from a text file and include it with .Net assembly. For more information, goto http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ha0k3c9f.aspx.

Recently a KB (Knowledge Base) article was published for a bug regading this utility. The License Compiler (Lc.exe) throws an exception when a .NET Framework 2.0 application consumes licensed components on a computer that is running a 64-bit operating system. For more information, see KB article 913961.

Using Shutdown.exe

Q: How can I remotely shutdown a machine in a workgroup?

A: Use the Shutdown.exe command with the –m switch. This command is found in the Windows System directory (i.e. C:\Windows\system32 for Win XP), and will allow you to specify a remote computer name to shutdown. See the following for more info

Usage: shutdown [-i -l -s -r -a] [-f] [-m \\computername] [-t xx] [-c "c
omment"] [-d up:xx:yy]

No args Display this message (same as -?)
-i Display GUI interface, must be the first option
-l Log off (cannot be used with -m option)
-s Shutdown the computer
-r Shutdown and restart the computer
-a Abort a system shutdown
-m \\computername Remote computer to shutdown/restart/abort
-t xx Set timeout for shutdown to xx seconds
-c "comment" Shutdown comment (maximum of 127 characters)
-f Forces running applications to close without war
ning
-d [u][p]:xx:yy The reason code for the shutdown
u is the user code
p is a planned shutdown code
xx is the major reason code (positive integer less than 256)
yy is the minor reason code (positive integer less than 65536)

This can be executed from a script or a .Net program.

Special Offer for a C# Class

Interested in taking a "Programming with C#" class? Due to a last minute cancelation, Solutient is in need of students for next week's class, Class 2124 for Feb 27-March 3, 2006.
This class provides students with the knowledge and skills they need to develop C# applications for the Microsoft .NET Platform. The course focuses on C# program structure, language syntax, and implementation details.

Next week's special price: $995 Learn More
If interested, please contact Steve Luc at Solutient by email (sluc@solutient.com) or by phone at 216-654-0025. Visit Solutient on the web at http://www.solutient.com.