News Blogs

How to install Java in Windows

Chances are, there is a copy of Java on any computer you walk up to. According to Sun Microsystems, the company behind Java, it has been installed on more than 800 million computers. There are versions of Java for many operating systems, including Windows, OS X, Linux, and Solaris, just to name a few. You can see if Java is installed on a computer by visiting Javatester.org.

If there is a copy of Java on a computer you own or maintain, it may be old. JavaTester.org not only reports the installed version but gives you some idea of more

Time to patch Windows again, ASAP

If you use a Windows computer connected to a network, a newly discovered bug makes it possible for a bad guy to wreak havoc on the computer without your doing anything. The most vulnerable versions of Windows are XP, 2000 and Server 2003. Vista and Server 2008 are also vulnerable, but not as badly. Microsoft considers the bug important enough to issue the patch immediately rather than waiting for their normal once-a-month patch Tuesday.

Susan Bradley, writing for the Windows Secrets newsletter recommends immediately installing the just-issued patch. Then she offers some unusual advice, suggesting people first restart their computers "

The main problem with Windows Vista

The New York Times published an article on Friday about Windows Vista that included this: "The main problem with Vista, Microsoft said, was that given the delays, uncertainty and significant changes in the software, the rest of the industry was not ready when Vista finally arrived."

This is, of course, self-serving; companies rarely admit their mistakes. How convenient that the fault lies with the "rest of the industry."

In fact, Microsoft released Vista prematurely. One can only assume that there was pent-up pressure stemming from the delay in getting it out the door. But few Windows users care about the more

Be safer than NASA: Disable autorun

NASA confirmed this week that a computer on the International Space Station is infected with a virus. (See "Houston, we have a virus" at The Register.)

The malicious software is called W32.TGammima.AG, and technically it's a worm. The interesting point, other than how NASA could let this happen, is the way the worm spreads--on USB flash drives.

Randy Abrams, director of technical education at ESET, alerted me about this. Touching on both interesting points, he said:

To start with, no computer going into space should have autorun enabled. Simply disabling autorun would have almost certainly rendered the

Microsoft: No tech support for you

The day Windows XP SP3 was released I advised waiting a long time before installing it. In the three months since, I haven't installed it on a computer that mattered to me. Today, I installed it on a computer that didn't matter much, and it caused a problem. So, I tried to take advantage of the free tech support Microsoft offers for SP3 - and got a lesson in fine print.

The computer shipped with Windows XP SP2 and some vendor utilities installed. It was a good guinea pig for SP3 because there were no user-installed applications and more