Hey folks!
Microsoft released a dozen updates today covering stability and security issues in Windows, Internet Explorer and MS Office. This includes security updates. A restart is required. Use Windows Update to obtain these updates.
http://update.microsoft.com/
Adobe released critical security updates today for Adobe Reader and Acrobat. Use the Help, Check for Updates function. A restart is required. If you don’t have the current major build of Adobe Reader, get it from:
http://get.adobe.com/reader
Apple released iMovie 9.0.2, iDVD 7.1.1, and MacBook Air, which consists of primarily stability and compatibility updates. These are not security updates. Use the Apple Updater to get the most current versions of all affected software.
Looking for an upgrade?
As many of you know, I do a lot of local PC and tech support. You wouldn’t believe how often people forget their passwords – or don’t remember how many accounts they have for a certain server. Over the last couple weeks I’ve seen people forgot they had both a personal and a business account at PayPal (and misplaced $2k in one of them), forgot their Gmail passwords (x3!), or suffered due to new and improved password requirements for one service or another that require more complex passwords than they’re used to using.
This is a trend that will only continue to get worse. Instead of relying on your mind to remember your many passwords (difficult!), using the same password everywhere (very insecure and doesn’t always work), and struggling to remember your account details…do yourself a favor and install RoboForm. It’s supported by most operating systems, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android and Linux – and in any scriptable browser (pretty much all current browsers). It encrypts and backs up your passwords, too, and helps you keep notes and other information about your accounts – like who your favorite musician was, your first pet and all that stuff so you don’t have to struggle to pay your phone bill just because you were having a “Cindi Lauper day” when you created the account. Hey, it happens to all of us.
Anyway…RoboForm is simply an amazing plugin that I don’t know how I would function without. We manage well over 200 websites with it, in addition to the many product and service websites we use as well. It’s secure, stable, and constantly improved. And you can share your accounts across as many devices as you want for only $10/year (called “RoboForm Everywhere”). Check it out:
https://12pd.com/click?re
Important Notes
Everything above this section should be checked by everyone on every computer. Chances are good that close to every single computer you touch will be affected by those updates. This is not the case with the items below, though you should still check each line item below to see if it applies to software you have installed.
Please remember that while I list many different applications within these updates, most people should ONLY install updates for a program if they already have a previous version of that program installed.
It is essential to maintain all the applications you have installed on your computer, but often you can minimize the time investment and the potential for exploitation simply by uninstalling software you do not need.
Also note that using the applications own “check for updates” function, when available, will best preserve your current settings, and often avoid any crapware that might come with a fresh installer. Use this option if it’s available to you.
Driver Updates
If you’re using this hardware – these updates are for you.
nVidia 266.58 adds software support for 3DVision to capable hardware, DirectX compatibility details, additional hardware and performance updates. This is not a security update.
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index5.aspx?lang=en-us
Email Updates
One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.
OutlookAttachView 1.56 adds visual improvement to the interface. Recent changes also include the ability to seed the folders you wish to scan through a CSV file to minimize the time required to perform the PST file attachment scan and export. This is not a security update.
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/outlook_attachment.html
Internet Updates
One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.
Skype 5.1.0.112 corrects camera issues and crashes at startup for some users. This is not a security fix, but if you have Skype installed, this could make it operate much better.
http://www.skype.com/intl/en/home
EA Download Manager 7.3.0.87 doesn’t provide a changelog, so it should be treated as a security update. If you have EADM installed, install this update.
http://eastore.ea.com/store/ea/html/pbPage.welcome
Codec Updates
One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.
Win7 Codec Package 2.7.4 updates included codecs and improves default options. To install the update, you must uninstall and reinstall the application. Don’t forget to uninstall the Bing toolbar this software installs in the background after you install the update. This is not a security update.
http://shark007.net/win7codecs.html
Win x64 Codec Support 2.7.8 updates included codecs and improves default options. This update applies only to 64-bit computers, and requires either the Win7 Codec Package or the Windows Vista Codec package. Don’t forget to uninstall the Bing toolbar this software installs in the background after you install the update. This is not a security update.
http://shark007.net/x64components.html
Media Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
ImgBurn 2.5.5.0 adds additional hardware support, new logging and performance options, and corrects a DLL load order vulnerability. This is a security update.
http://imgburn.com/
iTunes 10.1.2 adds important stability and performance improvements. This is not a security update. Use the Apple Updater to install the most current version (preferred), or use the link below:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
MPC HC 1.5.0.2827 updates most integrated codecs, and corrects a couple dozen stability, interface and consistency bugs. This build also adds support for additional subtitle handling, QT and alternative processor encoding of media files. This is not a security update. Download the build appropriate to your CPU at the link below:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mpc-hc/
VLC Media Player 1.1.7 adds security, codec, demuxer, subtitle and visualization updates. This is a security update. Get the most current build here:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html
Office Updates
One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.
OpenOffice.org 3.3.0 adds extended password support, a number of interface changes, better PDF handling, and many bug fixes. This is a security update.
http://download.openoffice.org/
Notepad++ 5.8.7 corrects the zero-length langs.xml bug that many have experienced with an improper shutdown. If you’ve already experienced the error, you may have to delete the langs.xml file, then reinstall 5.8.7 to get around the bug. This is not a security update.
http://notepad-plus-plus.org/
Kindle for PC 1.4.1 Build 31629 adds touch support for capable Win7 devices, community commentary, built-in dictionary and improved library management. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?kindle4pc
Capture Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
Fraps 3.2.8 significantly improves performance, 64-bit crash issues, and counter display problems. This is not a security update.
http://www.fraps.com/
VideoCacheView 1.85 adds support for Firefox 4 Beta. This is not a security update.
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/video_cache_view.html
Converter Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
DVDFab 8.0.7.3 improves Blu-ray and PS3 compatibility, and makes several other minor changes. This is not a security update.
http://www.dvdfab.com/en/download.htm
Any Video Converter 3.18 corrects the DVD menu “burn” bug, optimizes YouTube downloading and improves the Win7 interface. This is not a security update.
http://www.any-video-converter.com/
Utility Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
Daemon Tools Lite 4.40.2 fixes BSOD bugs within Advanced Emulation and an error during driver initialization. This is not a security update.
http://www.daemon-tools.cc/eng/products/dtLite
RoboForm & RoboForm2Go 7.2.0 corrects an initialization bug and a version comparison issue in Chrome. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?roboform
Goodsync & Goodsync2Go 8.6.1.1 fixes an NTLM authentication bug, merges processing of Analyze + Sync, and correct an issue in the Browse dialog. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?goodsync
CCleaner 3.03.1366 adds multiple additional applications, improved browser, MS Office and Windows Search handling. This is not a security update.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
Speccy 1.08.218 adds additional hardware support, extended OS profiling, improved network details, PCI Data, minor bugfixes and GUI improvements. This is not a security update.
http://www.piriform.com/speccy
GPU-Z 0.5.1 adds a bunch of new hardware to detection and improves automatic update check. This is not a security update.
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/
LogMeIn Mac 4.00.1162 reduces Java dependencies and improves networking, performance and multiple security improvements, as well as a large number of other changes. This is a security update. Use the LogMeIn Updater to install this update.
Memtest86+ 4.20 adds a failsafe mode (F1 at startup), support for newer hardware and multiple bugfixes. This is not a security update.
http://www.memtest.org/
NirCmd 2.47 fixes a bug with the sendkeypress command pushing Function keys.
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html
Nmap 5.50 greatly extends scripting capabilities, adds echo mode, multiple broadcast scanning scripts, and dozens of other features. This is not a security update.
http://nmap.org/
Developer Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
MySQL x64 5.5.9 adds default authentication support, as well as several dozen bug fixes. This is not a security update.
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/
Web Package Updates
These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.
WordPress 3.0.5 is a security update. This version corrects user-escalation vulnerabilities, permissions issues, upload and input sanitization. This is a critical security update.
http://wordpress.org/download/
BuddyStream 1.0.3.2 corrects import and post-from-forum and reply issues, and updates libraries. This is not a security update.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddystream/
phpMyAdmin 3.3.9.1 corrects a path disclosure vulnerability. This is a security update.
http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/downloads.php
DotNetNuke 05.06.01 corrects a dozen bugs, adds 301/canonical support, Razor scripting, and Child Portal aliases, as well as multiple security issues. This is a security update.
http://dotnetnuke.codeplex.com/
That’s all for now folks. Keep it clean out there. 😉
Regards,
Shawn K. Hall
https://SaferPC.info/
https://12PointDesign.com/
