Windows 7 RC Expiration Approaches

Time does tend to catch up with us. In this case, time is catching up with the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC). Notifications will start appearing on February 15, 2010, with warnings that the operating system will soon expire.

More importantly, starting on March 1, 2010, computers still using the RC will begin shutting down every two hours. Any work in progress will not be saved during the shutdown.

The Windows 7 RC will fully expire on June 1, 2010. Computers running the Windows 7 RC will continue shutting down every two hours with no files being saved during shutdown. In addition, the wallpaper will change to a solid black background with a persistent message on the desktop. This will be accompanied by periodic notifications that Windows isn’t genuine, resulting in the inability to obtain optional updates or downloads requiring genuine Windows validation.

There are several solutions:

1. Reinstall a prior version of Windows
   
2. Upgrade to Windows 7
   
3. Install the Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial
   

In solutions 1 and 2, it will be necessary to do a custom (clean) install to replace the RC. First back up your data then reinstall applications and restore the data. Help is available at Microsoft Windows Help & How-To: Install, reinstall, or uninstall Windows.

Solution 3 is available to IT Pros who need more time to test application and hardware compatibility in Windows 7.

References:

• Microsoft Windows Help & How-To: Install, reinstall, or uninstall Windows
• Microsoft KB Article 91767: Description of Windows 7 Beta and Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) expiration dates and functionality
• It's time to upgrade from the Windows 7 Release Candidate
• Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial
• Windows 7 Team Blog: Important Reminder Regarding Expiration of the Windows 7 RC

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, Microsoft, Information, how-to, Windows 7


Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...

February 2010 Bulletin Release Advance Notification

On Tuesday, February 9, 2010, Microsoft will be releasing 13 bulletins - five rated Critical, seven rated Important, and one rated Moderate. The updates will address 26 vulnerabilities. Eleven of the bulletins affect Windows and the remaining two affect Office.

The summary table below from the MSRC Blog provides an indication of what to expect for your operating system:An updated version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool will also be available.

Version	Critical	Important	Moderate	Low	Total
Windows 2000	5	3	1	0	9
Windows XP	5	2	1	0	8
Windows Server 2003	4	3	2	0	9
Windows Vista	3	3	0	0	6
Windows Server 2008	3	4	0	1	8
Windows 7	3	2	0	0	5
Windows Server 2008 R2	3	1	0	1	5

There is also a timely reminder in the MSRC Blog post regarding the end of product life for three Windows systems. After the dates indicated, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates for those systems.

• "Windows XP Service Pack 2 will no longer be supported as of July 13, 2010. Many customers are still on this version, so we encourage upgrading to Service Pack 3 or to Windows 7 as soon as possible.
• Windows Vista RTM will no longer be supported as of April 13, 2010. Service Pack 1 will still be supported until July 12, 2011 but we recommend customers update to Service Pack 2 or Windows 7 at this time.
• Extended support for Windows 2000 will also be retired on July 13, 2010. At that time, we will no longer provide security or any other updates for Windows 2000."

References:

• MSRC: February 2010 Bulletin Release Advance Notification
• TechNet: Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification for February 2010

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, Security, Updates, Microsoft, Information

Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...

Security Advisory 980088 Released

Microsoft released Security Advisory 980088 to address a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer that may allow Information Disclosure on Windows XP or systems where IE Protected Mode has been disabled. Microsoft is not aware of any attacks using the vulnerability at this time.

From the MSRC Blog:

"Customers running Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8 in their default configuration on Windows Vista or later operating systems are not vulnerable to this issue as they benefit from Internet Explorer Protected Mode, which protects from this issue. Windows XP users, or users who have disabled Protected Mode, can help protect themselves by implementing Network Protocol Lockdown. We have created a Microsoft Fix It to automate this. The Fix It can be run on individual systems or enterprises can deploy it through their automated systems."

References:

• Download link: Microsoft Fix It
• MSRC Blog: Security Advisory 980088 Released
• TechNet: Microsoft Security Advisory (980088)

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, Microsoft, Windows, Security, Vulnerabilities, Information





Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...