Support Autopatcher
Sep 3, 2007 Tech
Recently a app called autopatcher which contains current windows patches for patching offline windows installations was ‘terminated’ by Microsoft.
This is after 4 years of the app being in existence which is a bit odd tbh. Microsoft have said its not to do with WGA concerns, which is probably true because WGA is installed with autopatcher patches anyway.
my personal opinion is Microsoft is closing the project down now as they are creating thier own similar services (the windows update catalog) also with the first vista service pack on the horizon, they will want to restrict the ways users get the patches ensuring they go through a correct Microsoft channel to authenticate their windows installation.
the official reason from Microsoft is that they dont want the possibility of malicious code being installed alongside thier patches.
while microsoft have every right and concern to do this, it still pisses off a lot of people who used it.
more info on the subject can be found at these links:
the official “its closed down thread” at neowin. http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=584427
the official “its closed down story” at autopatcher.com
http://www.autopatcher.com/134#comment-3702
one user took it upon himself to form a one man protest outside a Microsoft campus:
http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=42304
Microsoft remains silent over autopatcher:
http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=42295
for those interested, the C&D email received from Microsoft:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=584427&view=findpost&p=588813856
register your protest by contacting Microsoft here:
https://support.microsoft.com/common/survey.aspx?scid=sw;en-gb;1348&showpage=1&WS=mscomukform1
letters others have written to Microsoft on the issue:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=584427&view=findpost&p=588814393
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=584427&view=findpost&p=588814439
more ways to contact Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/PR_Contacts.mspx
the story on digg:
http://digg.com/microsoft/Microsoft_Ceases_AutoPatcher_Project
cnet’s opinion:
http://news.com.com/Patch+service+shuts+after+Microsoft+request/2100-7350_3-6205191.html
the inquirer’s opinion:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=42008
the online petition to save autopatcher:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/SaveAutoPatcher/signatures.html
lunarsofts opinion:
http://lunarsoft.net/news-324.html
the register’s opinion:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/30/autopatcher/
the story at PC pro:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/news_story.php?id=123635
the story at slashdot:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/29/1917221
the story at tech spot:
http://www.techspot.com/news/26809-microsoft-shuts-autopatcher-down.html
the story at search security – aus.
http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com.au/topics/article.asp?DocID=1270060
Atomic – Aus.
http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=21&t=1796
As you can see the news has reached the far corners of the web, from australia to the UK and the US.
If you still want to download autopatcher or its updates you can still use this mirror:
http://windowsedge.com/Mirror/AutoPatcher/Autopatcher-XP.html
Also here are some alternatives to autopatcher:
DIY Service packs:
http://www.heise-security.co.uk/articles/80682
Get all the security updates in one .ISO file from Microsoft for august:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E4DCC3E7-36BD-4C6F-A8B6-421CB8902EAA&displaylang=en
(unfortunately this contains updates for every version of windows so the file size is huge.)
windows updates downloader:
http://wud.jcarle.com
at the moment there is no news on weather autopatcher will survive.
Support auto patcher by displaying this image on your web site. (or create your own)
Thanks goes out to all those on the autopatcher team and everyone that made it possible 
Tags: autopatcher, beta, neowin, site, support, Tech, updates, windows
Vista news & Site updates, etc..
Sep 3, 2006 Other, Site News, Tech
Well its been a busy week in the vista camp, Pre RC1 was released a week or so ago, and was restricted to 100,000 downloads, although im not sure that was a problem in the end because i dont think that many people downloaded it, ive added some screenshots of it in the galleries anyways.. also a few days ago, RC1 itself was released on connect, so im just waiting for a publicly available download, which should be monday or tuesday, there was so short a time in between the two releases i wonder why i downloaded it really 
lucky i didnt burn it to disc, there are two different versions of this build, an x86 build for 32bit processors, this will probably be the most commonly downloaded when its available, then theres the x64 version for 64bit processors which has a restriction on intalling unsigned drivers, (i believe you have to do it in safe mode) and with there not being many x64 signed drivers available, its probably wiser to wait for more drivers to be released / signed. the ISO info is as follows
x86
vista_5600.16384.060829-2230_x86fre_client-LR1CFRE_EN_DVD.iso
x64
vista_5600.16384.060829-2230_x64fre_client-LR1CxFRE_EN_DVD.iso
Beta testers on connect can download it from here: https://connect.microsoft.com/windows/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=2887
Screenshots of RC1 will follow shortly.
I was going to write about the apple rumours i heard the other day about a new iPod and new Mac, but thats old news now and probably not true since ive not heard anymore about it. maybe apple are just getting better at damage control :p Although i did read they secretly upgraded thier mac minis which is cool.
As i mentioned earlier ive added a few pre rc1 shots to the galleries, theyre not very big pics though, sorry about that ive also added ome new babe galleries which ive had on my hard drive for a while and jut havent uploaded until now, well, a few days ago.
Hmm what else..
sorry for any typos and letters missing, this damn keybaord is annoying, its been doing it all night >.< and this wordpress thing is annoying too, it just wont use the WYSIWYG editor, no matter what i try grr, so sorry about the layout...anyways i'll probably uh, upgrade soon >.>
plus, might have a new default theme soon 
P
I met a cute girl last night at a party, unfortunatly shes married and has a kid lol, although she only looked about 23, she had a really nice, persona.. well, whatever, i was going to say personality, but that sounds way to cliche these days. heh.
Also happy birthday to my lil sis xx
edit: forgot to say the downloads section is under construction too…
Just testing this new WLW thingy… (Windows Live Writer)
Just testing this new WLW thing, Windows Liver Writer, Bea, its a bit like wBloggar but made by MS to go with the other live thingies, i dont usually like things like this because they’re not portable, meaning you cant just blog from anywhere, if you come too dependant on it, which can be slightly annoying, thats why i prefer web based apps for most things
Also the default font its Times New Roman, which is teh ugleh 
oh well lol
Bold text italics underline strikethrough coloured!
hmm i still think i like the WP interface, this has the annoying paragrpah thing where you have to hold shift to make line breaks instead of paragraph breaks
this is a blockquote, ya rly
i also hate the way the cursor resets to the beggining of the post whenever you press a button, maybe thats a bug though.. >.<
the spell checking is a good idea i gess, although i dont see much use for it myself since i tend to use slang etc on my blog
hmmmm :p i wonder if this supports smilies… i’ll see when i upload
the views button is nice, although it failed to pick up the proper CSS file for my blog, so its missing its style in the preview
all the shortcuts work though, which is good now if only it would reset the styling when i start typing a new paragraph..
come to think of it it takes a while to import the blog too… also i see no use for the sidebar, it was annoying in the versions of office and its useless here too
anyways thats probably enough moaning, ima go inspect the prefs dialog..
oh yeah i added a few things to the galleries a few days ago too, enjoy lol.
EDIT: well the post looks ok, (this is after submittal) the blockquotes look odd tho, im sure they wernt that wide before..
i guess the sidebar does have a use after all, the recent posts are shown there which allow you to edit it, although it doesnt seem to list any posts not created by WLW. oh well
The insert map feature looks interesting too but i dont see me having a use for it, i dont travel anywhere lol, plus it wouldnt be too good for privacy would it
A little WLM / Hotmail trick
Jul 4, 2006 Tech
Well I worked out a nice little trick to get a nice clean WLMail / Hotmail interface (aka without ads or ugly “action cancelled” / ad frame page time outs)
this tweak / hack was “designed for” & tested in IE, so im not sure if it’ll work in other browsers.
Here’s what my layout looks like atm (yeah, I never liked that reading pane )
ok, here’s how to do it..
add the following line to your hosts file:
-
127.0.0.1 rad.msn.com
(make sure there’s a space between the two)
This will effectively make the ads for WLMail / Hotmail timeout
You could leave it at this but you will get an ugly box at the top with an action cancelled message in it each time you load the page up, if you want to get rid of that too, follow these steps:
-
open C:\Windows\system32\shdoclc.dll in Reshacker
- open “2110″ and look for the resource “NAVCANCL.HTM”.
once you open that you’ll see the html code for the “Action Cancelled” page you get in IE
now if you know html well enough you could design your own page (but do remember it will show up in frames that timeout too so it wont always look good if you design a full page). otherwise you ca just create a blank page.
now just to be safe, instead of deleting everything that’s in there you can just “comment out” the existing html, this allows you to put back the original page if you decide you want it back.
to comment out the existing html, find this line:
-
and change to this: (remove the spacing between the < & the !)
< !--finally, find this line:
and change it to this:
-->
-
compile the script, save the file, and replace the original with the modified file using Replacer
yes thats it
Note: if you use the classic hotmail layout, (e.g. your not in the beta) then change your background colour to that of the header colour (yes, that shade of blue) you shouldnt see a white box (or two) then.
Note 1.5: this does mean you will get a blank page when a site times out, so just be wary of that
Note two: This also blanks out that little box ad below your folders list.
Note three: this was originally done to stop those annoying JavaScript errors I was getting from the ads in msn, it really annoyed the hell out of me getting an error whenever I opened the main contacts window, so I fixed it, and only recently thought about editing the system file to get rid of the ugly “action cancelled message”.
Note four: I am not responsible if you mess your machine up, do it at your own risk.
Note five: im sure there was something else I was going to say, I just forgot, dammit.
Enjoy!
(and yes, I know I changed back to my old theme, the CSS was doing my head in.)
Vista beta 2 resources, how NOT to steal a sidekick, other random stuff
Well Vista Beta 2 (aka build 5384.4) has been released to the public, so i thought id post a list of resources
download from here: (official ms link)
(a download manager is recommended when downloading)
http://download.windowsvista.com/preview/beta2/en/x86/download.htm
mirrors:
http://fileforum.betanews.com/browse/DesktopManagement/OperatingSystems
http://rapidshare.de/users/933H49
http://isohunt.com/torrents.php?ihq=vista+5384.4&ext=&op=and
(make sure you check the size before downloading)
or here for the direct x86 link (“official” ms link) http://download.windowsvista.com/dl/preview/beta2/en/x86/iso/vista_5384.4.060518-1455_winmain_beta2_x86fre_client-LB2CFRE_EN_DVD.iso (3.12GB)
how to get a vista key “early”: http://bartysblog.be/content/get-your-windows-vista-beta-2-keys-early
MSBlog: (source) http://www.msblog.org/?p=746
plenty of links there to get you started 
although the MS servers are getting hammered i would say to try a mirror, but there is no guarantee that the mirrors are “ok”.. (virus free etc)
And now for the sidekick story…
http://www.evanwashere.com/StolenSidekick/
its pretty long, but if your bored :p
click here too to digg the link http://digg.com/technology/How_NOT_to_steal_a_Sidekick
=)
also had a few things going on this week, i started coding my own CMS on monday and its going pretty well, up to now i would consider it to be in “beta 1″ stage.. its fairly stable, but has quite a lot of features missing, I have most of the intended features coded, they just need either finishing, testing or implementing, I probably wont use it when its done because, im only doing this for fun really and to learn, and ive learnt quite a bit about SQL over the past few days, I never thought id do that, it always seemed to complicated so i just stuck to flat text files, which kind of suck compared..lol, anyways, theres also my revamped guestbook script that im still in the middle of working on, and then theres the jobscript which I still need to do a few formatting tweaks to and a few backend bits… oh and create a gui for the letter creator and add some more features / options, although thats a while away yet
anyway (grr i keep saying that, maybe its the new ‘lol’) bye for now
Site updates, Office 2007 Screenshots, Microsoft origami, NASA finds life in space….possibly
Ooooh site updates….ive added pics of the latest vista build (5308) to the galleries, also shots of 5270 because i was supposed to upload those a while ago, but i must have forgot..also added a few new pics to the babe galleries, a few new ones to the funny pics galleries, not many, but i found them on my hdd while i was clearing up, thats about it really, one thing i do need to do is get a posts permission plugin for wordpress.
Next up, Microsoft office 2007 screenshots!, this is only a beta refresh mind, so there arnt many.
The update will ship to 10,000 beta participants in the private Beta Place testing zone next week. It’s expected that the refresh will sport more UI enhancements and much more stability than the previous Beta 1 release last year. Microsoft is expected to release Office 2007 Beta 2 in Spring with a full retail release expected before year end.
Source: neowin.net
Also having being hyped all week, microsofts new project, “origami” was revealed this week..
Microsoft Corp. finally took the wraps off its mysterious Project Origami on Thursday, unveiling a computer that’s about the size of a large paperback book but runs a full version of the Windows XP operating system.
The ultracompact, wireless-enabled PC is everything a full computer or laptop is, minus the keyboard. Weighing about 2 1/2 pounds, the 1-inch thick device sports a 7-inch touch-sensitive screen that responds to a stylus or the tap of a finger.
Also this week NASA has a “big annoucement”, supposedly relating to finding life in space..
NASA is planning to make a huge announcement today, about possible life in our own solar system.
Exact details of what we can expect to hear have not been released. We do know that evidence has been found that could point to life relatively close to the earth.
Official word is expected this afternoon at 2 p.m. We’ll have complete coverage of today’s big news when it is released. Tune to News 13 for the complete story.
Source (Currently down due to heavy server load / maintenance.. )
Tags: beta, computer, funny, life, site, Tech, updates, windows, wordpress
Blue-ray disc pricing, MS OnceCare, Ram Prices increase..
Feb 8, 2006 Tech
Sony this week announced pricing for blu-ray discs & UMD. Catalog Blu-ray titles will wholesale at $17.95, which is roughly the same price that DVDs debuted at in 1997. New releases will wholesale for $23.45, a 15 to 20 percent premium over new release DVD titles.
Sony also said they are also planning a “bundle” type thing with different formats as a taster for the consumer of whats to come in the future. Combos will be priced at $28.95, which is considerably lower than the retail price for each format purchased individually. see here for more info on that. I think thats actually a decent price, shame the writers will cost so much, but thats to be expected really.
Also this week microsoft have released prices of thier OneCare Service. Already in beta, the subscription-based package will be officially released in the US in June from retailers and via the Web. A year’s subscription will cost $49.95 and will cover up to three personal computers. The service will offer anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall components, as well as performance optimisation utilities and back up and restore tools. Technical support – in the form of e-mail, phone and chat, will be included as part of the package. more details on that here. I Dont think i’ll be buying it from people ive spoken too its rather slow and buggy atm, although it is still in beta. I think this will be like Microsofts version of Symantec’s “Internet security suite”.
Also announced this week, DRAMeXchange, a research company which tracks prices of DRAM modules and flash memory, increases in contract rates from major RAM manufacturers have sent up DDR2 prices 18 percent from the second half of January.
Hynix hiked prices 5-10 percent, while Samsung, which chose not to give specific numbers, raised prices “significantly”. More info here.
That doesnt really bother me, im not going to be buying DDR2 for a while yet :p
*hugs kin*
Lots of tech stuff
Sep 16, 2005 Tech
Ooooh havent updated this for a while, so thought id add a bit of tech stuff 
Lots of cool tech stuff happening over the past few weeks
number one.
Steve gibson explains how to take down the Internet
[link to video goes here when its uploaded]
I know this would work too, because this is just the waythe internet works, because the default DNS TTL request is 24hours on the root servers in america, the internet would be down for a whole day, causing god knows how much loss in money, all you do is simply bomb the root servers with DNS queries, not that i would ever think of advocating / doing that.
Steve Gibson is great at networking and other stuff like that.
number two
the newest build of Vista (2159) was demonstrated at PDC 2005 recently, this build has now been released to beta testers and MSDN subscribers. (even though it was already leaked too the wild a few days before)
The Pre-Beta 2 x86/32 build is a DVD image just over 2.8 GB in size and carries the label vista_usa_5219.050830-2010_x86fre_win-dvd.iso, slightly different than the demo build.
Ive not bothered to download it, my connection isnt fast enough
I have plenty of screenshots though (of this build) which im going to upload to to a gallery soon, this build has finally updated the games in it such as solitare and minesweeper, which actually look quite nice now.
number three
a new iPod has been released!
Apple unveiled its latest addition to the iPod line today, the iPod nano. The announcement came at a special music event hosted by Apple.
The iPod Nano comes in two sizes, a 2GB and a 4GB, capable of holding 500 and 1,000 songs and will cost $199 and $249 USD respectively. The iPod nano is the second model of the iPod family to utilize flash memory after the Shuffle.
I so want one the black one looks gorgeous.
Thats all for now. (im sure i had more to write, dammit).
Windows Vista Content & Resources
Jul 28, 2005 Tech
Well ever since the new name for tne next version of windows was announced, theres been a huge influx of ‘things’ created with that name. So i thought id collect them all up and list them here Read the rest of this entry »
Windows Vista – The Next-gen OS
Jul 25, 2005 Tech
Windows Vista – The Next-gen OS
The new Windows will be called Windows Vista. From now on the name Longhorn will not be used by Microsoft anymore, but it’s possible that you’ll encounter the name Longhorn in the two upcoming beta’s.
This article contains information about how Windows Vista will handle 2D and 3D graphics and information about Vista’s new features.
Vista uses the Windows Graphics Foundation, or WGF. WGF 1.0 will use DirectX 9.0c as its primary interface, but Vista will also have the Next-Gen 3D API build in. You can see it as DirectX 10, but it’s officially called WGF 2.0.
One of the important features of WGF is the Longhorn Display Driver Model (LDDM). It is possible with LDDM to install a new graphics driver without even rebooting your system. LDDM will ship in two stages. The first, called basic, supports current generation graphics hardware: shader model 2.0 and 3.0 capable hardware. The second stage of LDDM, advanced, will support hardware features that ship at the same time or after Vista is released, but will work with the new features in WGF 2.0. Because of the competitive way of graphics hardware development, we’ll probably see advanced LDDM capable hardware before Vista is released. The current Windows XP driver model is still supported, but will be frozen going forward. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: beta, computer, rant, software, Tech, updates, video, windows