CA Antivirus Causing Windows 2003 Crashes
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An error in the virus signature files for CA's eTrust antivirus software caused the program to mistakenly delete a crucial Windows 2003 file, which in turn caused some systems to crash and fail to reboot.
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Microsoft has a technical work-around for users who found IE crashing after recent security update.
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By Michael Sluss, The Roanoke Times, Va.  Jun. 21--RICHMOND -- Two hardware failures in the state's central computer system forced Department of Motor Vehicles offices to close early Wednesday and created problems for other government agencies.
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A curious problem cropped up last month: Windows Vista users reported that the program that manages their Windows services (SVCHOST) would crash after having downloaded and installed a batch of updates. Microsoft recently issued a manual fix for this problem, though an automatic patch is now available.
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When I turn on my computer I receive a message that includes âWindows Defender Application failed to initialize.â What can I do to fix this error?
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Security researchers have released attack code that will crash Windows PCs that are susceptible to a recently patched bug in the operating system.
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Blog: Researcher finds a basic cookie-handling error that could compromise Windows PCs.
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If you think you don't like the program you just downloaded or the new computer you just booted up, wait. A bug-fix patch, a driver update or a new third-party program might arrive to smooth out the problems. Or maybe some lurking glitch or mechanical fault will surface and give you a reason to...
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New software addresses a vulnerability that allowed previous versions to crash and execute arbitrary code.
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If you have spyware installed on your computer system and you update your operating system with the latest Windows XP Service pack 2 (SP2) update, your computer could possibly freeze.
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By JORDAN ROBERTSON  SAN JOSE, Calif. - Your work computer just suffered a major meltdown. Maybe the operating system failed, or a virus crashed the hard drive.
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New antipiracy technology in Windows Vista will shut people out of their PCs if the operating system isn't activated within 30 days after installation.
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An exploit for PHP's COM objects on the 5.x series has been reported by shinnai - an issue that allows for a bypass of safe_mode and disable_function settings.   The exploit has been published as a PHP file for easy testing on your Windows/PHP installation (it was tested on WinXP Pro SP2 on both the CLI and Apache). No additional modules are needed for this exploit - only the COM functions and a Windows system.   The issue comes from an overflow in the str_repeat function allowing for the execution of whatever applications the developer wants on the remote Windows machine (including the ability to create and remove files and directories). There is no path for this issue currently (should be corrected in the next minor PHP release).
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Anti-virus protection turned against users CA has updated its anti-virus software to guard against a brace of flaws that created a means for hackers to turn the security protection software against its users.â¦
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A Windows feature designed to simplify computing for disabled users could be misused in Vista, a McAfee Inc. researcher reported Monday.
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I keep getting a message that says âCritical error message â Registry damaged and corrupted.â After years of using Windows, Iâve never heard of this. Is this a virus?
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Microsoft's consumer security software changes the AU (Automatic Updates) settings in Windows XP and Vista without telling users or getting their approval, a researcher said Thursday -- behavior that may explain recent reports of patches being installed and systems rebooting without permission.When Microsoft responded to new charges of silent changes last week, however, it denied that AU settings were ever altered without user approval, and it didn't mention OneCare as a possible culprit.Scott Dunn, an editor at the "Windows Secrets" newsletter, reported Thursday morning that OneCare silently changes AU settings as it installs. No matter what AU setting the user selected previously, OneCare's installer quietly changes it to the fully automatic option."Some security products have turned on AU in the past," said Dunn, who also tested several other current consumer suites, including Symantec's Norton 360 and Norton Internet Security, McAfee's Internet Security Suite, and Check Point Software's ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite. "But OneCare was the only guilty party."OneCare's willful way with AU may be an explanation for the reports two weeks ago of machines downloading and installing the Oct. 9 set of security fixes even though their owners had explicitly instructed Windows to ignore all downloads or notify them before they were installed.Several days later, after it wrapped up an investigation, Microsoft said AU settings were never changed without user consent, and it blamed absent-minded users for making modifications and then forgetting that they had."I find this surprising and very disturbing," said Dunn. "If they're going to change [AU] settings, they should let you know."Four options, down to one In both Windows XP and Vista, users can select from four options in AU: Download and install all updates automatically; download files but do not install them without user consent; check for but neither download nor install without permission; and disable Automatic Updates entirely.OneCare, sold for $49.95 and offered as a free 90-day trial, sets AU to the first, and all-automatic, setting, said Dunn, on both operating systems. "It does that even if Automatic Updates is completely disabled," he added. If users later uninstall OneCare -- for instance, after a trial has expired -- the software does not return the machine to the earlier settings; they must be reset by the user."Worse, OneCare silently turns on [Windows] services that have been disabled by the user," Dunn said, referring to the two services that some users, frustrated at earlier incidents in which Windows retrieved and installed patches without permission, have manually turned off: Automatic Updates and Background Intelligent Transfer Service. The services can be switched off manually using the Windows services.msc utility. Normally, once disabled, they remain that way until the user manually turns them back on.ComputerWorld confirmed Dunn's account of OneCare's AU changes by installing the security suite on both Windows XP and Windows Vista.At no time during installation, said Dunn, does OneCare tell the user that the software will modify Windows' settings or provide an opt-in dialog. Nor do the various online documents -- including Microsoft's privacy statement and an addendum for OneCare -- that are offered up early during the process contain any information about the changes. "It turns out there's a brief mention of it buried deep in one of the OneCare help files," said Dunn. "But that's not the same as telling users upfront."The help file (select "What does Windows Live Update do to help manage and maintain my computer's software updates?" to view the pertinent section) acknowledges that OneCare makes changes without bothering to ask. "When you first install Windows Live OneCare, setup automatically enlists your computer in Microsoft Update and changes your computer's settings to download and install updates automatically using Automatic Updates," it reads.Who's 'forgetful' now? Although Microsoft was not immediately available for comment this morning, it made it clear last week that reports of unauthorized updates, and even PC reboots, could not be blamed on its software."I want to stress that the Windows Update client does not change AU settings without users' consent," said Nate Clinton, a program manager with the Microsoft Update team in a company blog entry a week ago. He went on to list five possible explanations; all require the user to take action or accept one option from several offered.Earlier, a Microsoft spokeswoman had been more blunt. "It may be more a case of someone clicking to change their AU settings but not realizing/remembering doing so," she said last Tuesday. She also called out OneCare's installation as one such possible moment and claimed that the security suite offered users the option of changing AU settings. It does not."This is just one more example of Microsoft having the attitude that we know better than you do, that you should just stop asking questions and let us do what we want," said Dunn.Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate