The most recent articles from What PC?

The most recent articles from What PC?http://www.whatpc.co.uk/The most recent articles from What PC? (Generated on Thursday 8 January 2009 at 09:19:10)VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/2009-01-08T09:19:10.652Z

The most recent articles from What PC?http://www.whatpc.co.uk/images/rss/wpc_logo.gifhttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/Microsoft red-faced after virus alerthttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132575/microsoft-red-faced-virus-alertWhat PC? staff, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Thursday 28 June 2001 at 23:00:00Update files infected with FunLove worm<content page="1"><html><body>Microsoft support customers received a nasty surprise when they were told that a number of the software giant's update files had been infected with the FunLove virus.According to an alert sent out to the company's Premier Support and Gold Certified Partners customers, the infection period spanned "approximately two weeks from 6 April to 20 April".Apparently, one server in a chain did not have antivirus software installed, although Microsoft has said that all other servers were protected.The FunLove virus infects .exe, .scr and .ocx files on Windows machines. It then copies itself to other machines on the local network. If it infects an NT 4 machine it will allow all users access at administrator level.Microsoft said around 170 infected update files were downloaded, and that customers have been notified.Concerned users should contact their Microsoft account manager. The company has blocked access to a number of update files to protect customers.</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132575/microsoft-red-faced-virus-alertWhat PC? staff, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Thursday 28 June 2001 at 23:00:00Update files infected with FunLove worm<content page="1"><html><body>Microsoft support customers received a nasty surprise when they were told that a number of the software giant's update files had been infected with the FunLove virus.According to an alert sent out to the company's Premier Support and Gold Certified Partners customers, the infection period spanned "approximately two weeks from 6 April to 20 April".Apparently, one server in a chain did not have antivirus software installed, although Microsoft has said that all other servers were protected.The FunLove virus infects .exe, .scr and .ocx files on Windows machines. It then copies itself to other machines on the local network. If it infects an NT 4 machine it will allow all users access at administrator level.Microsoft said around 170 infected update files were downloaded, and that customers have been notified.Concerned users should contact their Microsoft account manager. The company has blocked access to a number of update files to protect customers.</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKWhat PC? staff2001-06-28T23:00:00.000ZNewsbugs-patches-and-fixesMcAfee Utilities 4http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132637/mcafee-utilitiesAndy Gibbons, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Thursday 28 June 2001 at 23:00:00A feature-packed utility suite with a whole host of useful tools.<content page="1"><html><body>With successive versions of Windows serving up ever-improving system tools, the makers of utility software have really had to focus their efforts to maintain demand for their products. This brand-new version of McAfee Utilities packs in an impressive array of features, from spring cleaning tools to crash protection and automated data backups.With many of the tools working at such a fundamental level, we fully expected to have to reboot after installation. But we didn't think we'd have to reboot a total of three times before we finally arrived back at the Desktop. But once there, everything was accessible from the well-crafted front end, and on display were useful reminders such as the last time the Registry was backed up and the current fragmentation levels of the hard disk.The best time to install a product such as this is immediately after a clean install of Windows and, with it busy behind the scenes, the system should remain in fairly good shape. In particular, the new Active Tune defragmentation tool works in the background to stop files from becoming fragmented and, remarkably, does so without any noticeable performance hit.Crash Protector aims to help rescue the data being worked on in the event of a crash and seemed to work fairly well, while those who never quite get around to backing up their important data should appreciate Safe and Sound's ability to back up user-definable files automatically in the background to a protected volume file which can be restored if disaster ever strikes.Particularly user friendly is First Aid, with its easy to use graphical front end and ability to perform the computing equivalent of an automotive MOT check with just one click of the mouse. Every aspect of the PC's hardware and software configuration can be checked and more than likely fixed.It doesn't do much that the more 'hands-on' standalone tools don't already do but for less confident users it's just the ticket. It's by no means perfect though; we tried it on a well maintained two-month old installation of Windows Me and suffered several fatal crashes that Crash Protector was unable to remedy. We were more impressed with the Guardian: a background task that quietly monitors memory and resources, warning you when they drop below a predetermined level.Sensitive unwanted files can be comprehensively shredded to ensure total obliteration and the non-US version of Phil Zimmermann's encryption suite, Pretty Good Privacy, is also included for those worried about data security. Sadly, McAfee hasn't included the Windows Me compatible version of PGP.For those with an inquisitive nature, Discover Pro is able to provide a wealth of detailed information about any particular system. It appears not to have changed much from previous versions and this is borne out by benchmarking comparisons, which still only provide comparisons to 486 and 100Mhz Pentium machines. We were also quite bemused at the misidentification of our 1.1Ghz Athlon processor as a 500Mhz model, and there was a similar misreading of a Duron.FEATURES:<ul><li>Crash protection and recovery</li><li>Registry tune-up</li><li>Benchmarking and diagnostics</li><li>Repair of common hard disk problems</li><li>On-the-fly backup of critical files and data</li><li>Removal of unwanted clutter</li><li>Optimisation of system performance</li><li>First Aid for checking PC and peripherals</li><li>International PGP encryption suite (not Windows Me).</li></ul>CONTACT: Network Associates 0800 092 7160 <a href="http://www.mcafee-at-home.com">www.mcafee-at-home.com</a></body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/software/2132637/mcafee-utilitiesAndy Gibbons, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Thursday 28 June 2001 at 23:00:00A feature-packed utility suite with a whole host of useful tools.<content page="1"><html><body>With successive versions of Windows serving up ever-improving system tools, the makers of utility software have really had to focus their efforts to maintain demand for their products. This brand-new version of McAfee Utilities packs in an impressive array of features, from spring cleaning tools to crash protection and automated data backups.With many of the tools working at such a fundamental level, we fully expected to have to reboot after installation. But we didn't think we'd have to reboot a total of three times before we finally arrived back at the Desktop. But once there, everything was accessible from the well-crafted front end, and on display were useful reminders such as the last time the Registry was backed up and the current fragmentation levels of the hard disk.The best time to install a product such as this is immediately after a clean install of Windows and, with it busy behind the scenes, the system should remain in fairly good shape. In particular, the new Active Tune defragmentation tool works in the background to stop files from becoming fragmented and, remarkably, does so without any noticeable performance hit.Crash Protector aims to help rescue the data being worked on in the event of a crash and seemed to work fairly well, while those who never quite get around to backing up their important data should appreciate Safe and Sound's ability to back up user-definable files automatically in the background to a protected volume file which can be restored if disaster ever strikes.Particularly user friendly is First Aid, with its easy to use graphical front end and ability to perform the computing equivalent of an automotive MOT check with just one click of the mouse. Every aspect of the PC's hardware and software configuration can be checked and more than likely fixed.It doesn't do much that the more 'hands-on' standalone tools don't already do but for less confident users it's just the ticket. It's by no means perfect though; we tried it on a well maintained two-month old installation of Windows Me and suffered several fatal crashes that Crash Protector was unable to remedy. We were more impressed with the Guardian: a background task that quietly monitors memory and resources, warning you when they drop below a predetermined level.Sensitive unwanted files can be comprehensively shredded to ensure total obliteration and the non-US version of Phil Zimmermann's encryption suite, Pretty Good Privacy, is also included for those worried about data security. Sadly, McAfee hasn't included the Windows Me compatible version of PGP.For those with an inquisitive nature, Discover Pro is able to provide a wealth of detailed information about any particular system. It appears not to have changed much from previous versions and this is borne out by benchmarking comparisons, which still only provide comparisons to 486 and 100Mhz Pentium machines. We were also quite bemused at the misidentification of our 1.1Ghz Athlon processor as a 500Mhz model, and there was a similar misreading of a Duron.FEATURES:<ul><li>Crash protection and recovery</li><li>Registry tune-up</li><li>Benchmarking and diagnostics</li><li>Repair of common hard disk problems</li><li>On-the-fly backup of critical files and data</li><li>Removal of unwanted clutter</li><li>Optimisation of system performance</li><li>First Aid for checking PC and peripherals</li><li>International PGP encryption suite (not Windows Me).</li></ul>CONTACT: Network Associates 0800 092 7160 <a href="http://www.mcafee-at-home.com">www.mcafee-at-home.com</a></body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKAndy Gibbons2001-06-28T23:00:00.000ZSoftware Reviewsbugs-patches-and-fixesY2K standards gain big-brand supporthttp://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132452/y2k-standards-gain-big-brand-supportnewmedia newmedia, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Wednesday 18 August 1999 at 23:00:00<content page="1"><html><body>With the millennium just five months away, PC manufacturers could be accused of being slow on the uptake by waiting until now to release a Y2K hardware compliance specification, but this is just what the PC Y2K Alliance has done.Alliance members include Acer, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, HP, and IBM, many of whom already use the existing Ymark2000 test as the benchmark to claim Y2K compliance. But the Alliance doesn't endorse this and has defined its own set of Y2K compliance standards, which you can read about on its Web site.Alongside this, the Web site provides information and advice about the year 2000 for PC users. It also has criteria for valid millennium compliance tests and direct links to the members' Y2K sites, so you can check if your PC is compliant.Since the Alliance is made up of hardware manufacturers, most of the advice focuses on this area, but there are links to software vendors that support the Alliance, including Microsoft and Symantec. www.pcy2000.org.</body></html></content>http://www.whatpc.co.uk/whatpc/news/2132452/y2k-standards-gain-big-brand-supportnewmedia newmedia, <a href="http://www.whatpc.co.uk/">What PC?</a>, Wednesday 18 August 1999 at 23:00:00<content page="1"><html><body>With the millennium just five months away, PC manufacturers could be accused of being slow on the uptake by waiting until now to release a Y2K hardware compliance specification, but this is just what the PC Y2K Alliance has done.Alliance members include Acer, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, HP, and IBM, many of whom already use the existing Ymark2000 test as the benchmark to claim Y2K compliance. But the Alliance doesn't endorse this and has defined its own set of Y2K compliance standards, which you can read about on its Web site.Alongside this, the Web site provides information and advice about the year 2000 for PC users. It also has criteria for valid millennium compliance tests and direct links to the members' Y2K sites, so you can check if your PC is compliant.Since the Alliance is made up of hardware manufacturers, most of the advice focuses on this area, but there are links to software vendors that support the Alliance, including Microsoft and Symantec. www.pcy2000.org.</body></html></content>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKCopyright © 1994-2009 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKnewmedia newmedia1999-08-18T23:00:00.000ZNewsbugs-patches-and-fixes