April 2006 - Posts

Microsoft Sends Windows Live to College

Microsoft to host student e-mails for colleges for free ad free. Microsoft reserves the right to turn the ads on once they graduate. This is the perfect way to grab them when they are young and may not switch in the future.

http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_Sends_Windows_Live_to_College/1145650063

Posted by ericvogel with no comments
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Microsoft Auto Update Causes Issues

I posted this comment on Susan Bradley's SBS Blog (Patch Status Report - April Patches) , so I thought I would post it here too:

My work computer, home laptop (Desktop does not have office on it mainly MCE), Mom's Laptop, Friends Desktop and Fathers Desktop and possibly' bosses laptop. All have the Outlook Junk Mail filter not install. Seems the best thing to do is to remove, install and replace the OSE.exe from the CD.

I removed office, installed it with all updates still happened.
then:
Step 1: Tool does not work.
Step 2: Was fine
Step 3: Replaced OSE and it worked. Seems my laptop and friends did not work with this step because Office was not removed. The fathers computer was fixed by PSS do not know what they had him do other than remove office.
Step 4: Seems the only fix (Then do step 3) and to be honest with you, these Auto Update's breaking is happening too much. Before this I had it break other ways at work, home and friends house causing nightmare repairs. I do not know what happened to the quility of the updates and AU.

-----PSS----
Step 1: Disable Local Installation Source ===================================
1. Download the Local Installation Source Tool from:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=10FA7AA3-695B-4
2C3-9045-B812BA0FED3E&displaylang=en

2. Extract LisTool.exe and LisTool.chm to some location.
3. Run the GUI tool (LISTOOL.exe) and choose the Disable LIS option.
Click next. Select all the check boxes in the subsequent dialog. Then proceed to Finish.
4. Check and install Office updates again.

What is the result? If this does not fix the problem, then move onto the next steps. They are taken from the following KB article to fix similar issues.

903772 You receive an "Error 80070643" error message when you try to update
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=903772

Step 2: Determine the status of the Office Source Engine service =====================================================
To determine the status of the Office Source Engine service, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type services.msc, and then click OK.
2. In the list of services, double-click Office Source Engine.
3. View the Startup type list.
4. If the startup type is set to Disabled, change the startup type to Manual. To do this, click Manual in the Startup type list, and then click OK.
5. Try to install the Office update again.

Step 3: Repair the Ose.exe file
=========================
To repair the Ose.exe file, copy the Ose.exe file from the Office 2003 CD. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Determine where the Ose.exe file is located. By default, the Ose.exe file is in the following location:
path:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Source Engine\ 2. Insert the Office 2003 CD in the CD drive.
3. Right-click Start, and then click Explore.
4. Use Microsoft Windows Explorer to locate the following folder on the Office 2003 CD:
path:\Files\Setup
5. Right-click the Ose.exe file, and then click Copy.
6. Locate and then click to select the folder in which the Ose.exe file is located on the computer. For example, locate and then click to select the following folder:
path:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Source Engine 7. Right-click the Source Engine folder, and then click Paste.
8. If you are prompted to replace an existing file, click Yes.

Step 4: Remove and then reinstall Office 2003 =====================================
To remove and then reinstall Office 2003, follow these steps.

Note: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
1. Insert the Office 2003 CD in the CD drive.
2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
3. Click Add or Remove Programs.
4. In the Currently installed programs list, click the version of Office
2003 that is installed, and then click Remove.
5. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm that you want to remove Office 2003.
6. After Office 2003 is removed from the computer, click Add New Programs.
7. Click CD or Floppy.
8. In the Install Program From Floppy Disk or CD-ROM dialog box, make sure that the Office 2003 CD is in the CD drive. Then, click Next.
9. Click Finish. Then, follow the prompts to complete the installation of Office 2003.
10. Click OK when Office 2003 Setup is finished.
11. Remove the Office 2003 CD from the CD drive.

Does it help? Please understand that if none of the steps work, I would suggest that we completely remove Office 2003, including deleting the related registry keys and files, and then install it again to resolve the issue. It will be recommended since I find many Application Failures related to Outlook in your system information. However, this process will take some time. It will be used as a last resort. Thank you for your understanding!
-----------************-------------

Posted by ericvogel with no comments
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Windows Live! Roaming Favorites Updated

Bugs fixs and some updates. Please remove the old version first for best results.

http://addins.msn.com/livefavs/

Update: See LiveSide for whats new: http://www.liveside.net/comments.php?shownews=184

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Best Buy Accused of Software Piracy

System recovery software maker Winternals said Wednesday that it had been granted a temporary restraining order over alleged copyright infringement by Best Buy and its Geek Squad subsidiary. Winternals claims the retailer has been using pirated and unlicensed copies of its Windows recovery software following a breakdown in licensing talks.

http://www.betanews.com/article/Best_Buy_Accused_of_Software_Piracy/1144860952

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MSN Messenger Most Used IM Client

Analytics firm comScore Networks announced Monday the results of its February measurement of instant messenger usage around the world, with Europe surpassing the United States in IM users for the first time. MSN Messenger was also ranked as the most used client, garnering 61 percent of the worldwide market.

http://www.betanews.com/article/MSN_Messenger_Most_Used_IM_Client/1144778820

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Microsoft Strider URL Tracer with Typo-Patrol

When a user visits a Web site, her browser may be instructed to visit other third-party domains without her knowledge. Some of these third-party domains raise security, privacy, and safety concerns. The Strider URL Tracer, available for download, is a tool that reveals these third-party domains, and it includes a Typo-Patrol feature that generates and scans sites that capitalize on inadvertent URL misspellings, a process known as typo-squatting. The tool also enables parents to block typo-squatting domains that serve adult ads on typos of children's Web sites.
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