KB Zone
Vista Service Pack 2 released
Microsoft released Service pack 2 for Vista and Windows Server 2008 yesterday. Service pack 2 adds support for new hardware and includes all hotfixes and security updates released since SP1. To install SP2 you need to have SP1 installed in your system. See below for original description and release notes. Currently SP2 is available as a five language standalone package.
Overview
Service Pack 2 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista (SP2) is an update to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 that supports new kinds of hardware and emerging hardware standards, and includes all updates delivered since SP1. SP2 simplifies administration by enabling IT administrators to deploy and support a single service pack for clients and servers. Please see the Windows Server SP2/Windows Vista SP2 page on TechNet/MSDN for additional details and documentation.
SP2 is an update to Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista that incorporates improvements discovered through automated feedback, as well as updates that have been delivered since SP1. By providing these fixes integrated into a single service pack for both client and server, Microsoft provides a single high-quality update that minimizes deployment and testing complexity for customers.
Service Pack 1 is a prerequisite for installing Service Pack 2. Please make sure that your system is running Service Pack 1 before you install Service Pack 2.
Microsoft Office Suite 2007 Service Pack 2 released
Microsoft released its second service pack for the Office 2007 suite several days ago. Sp2 includes several major changes, in brief there’s a new feature to save as PDF/ODF formats, performance increases to Outlook and bug fixes for the office suite programs. Also it includes the security updates and hot fixes that were previously released.
Overview of Service Pack 2 (SP2) improvements
Description of some big areas of improvement that are included in SP2.
Microsoft Office Access
- Lets you export reports to Microsoft Office Excel.
- Supports memo fields in the mailing label wizard for addresses.
- Fixes issues that occur in the import data wizards, in report printing and previewing, in macros, in Excel integration, and in date filters.
- Includes updates to Access Developer Extensions.
Microsoft Office Excel
- Improves the charting mechanism in Excel 2007. This includes better parity with Office 2003, improved robustness, and targeted performance improvements.
- Adds a chart object model to Word and to PowerPoint.
- Improves shapes that are surfaced in Excel. This includes better parity with Office 2003 and targeted performance improvements.
- Improves the method by which Excel prints graphical content, especially when it prints to PCL printers.
- Adds conversion rates to the Excel Euro Currency Tools add-in for the Maltese lira and for the Cypriot pound.
Windows Vista SP2 RC Released to public
Original Site Description
Windows Vista introduces a breakthrough user experience and is designed to help you feel confident in your ability to view, find, and organize information and to control your computing experience. The visual sophistication of Windows Vista helps streamline your computing experience by refining common window elements so you can better focus on the content on the screen rather than on how to access it. The desktop experience is more informative, intuitive, and helpful. And new tools bring better clarity to the information on your computer, so you can see what your files contain without opening them, find applications and files instantly, navigate efficiently among open windows, and use wizards and dialog boxes more confidently.
Windows Server 2008 SP2/Windows Vista SP2 RC is prerelease code offered to the public through our Customer Preview Program. Please see the Windows Server SP2/Windows Vista SP2 Customer Preview Program page on TechNet/MSDN for additional details, documentation, and forums.
Windows Server 2008/Windows Vista SP2 RC apply to people, organizations, and technical enthusiasts who are comfortable evaluating prerelease software. This prerelease software is provided for testing only. Installation of Service Pack 2 Beta will result in Microsoft collecting information about the installation process, even if the installation is not completed. We do not recommend installing this software on primary or mission-critical systems. We recommend that you have a backup of your data before you install any prerelease software.
Windows Vista and Server 2008 SP2 RC (KB948465 Build 6002.16670.090130-1715 v.286) : Download Links
Earlier Microsoft released the Release candidate for SP2 in Vista and Windows Server 2008 to testers. This release comes as a evaluation build and is not available to the public yet. The build number for this version is 6002.16670.090130-1715 (v.286) and can be downloaded through windows update(testers only) and from Microsoft Connect (again for testers only). According to Microsoft they would be delivering the final build in Q2 2009. Anyway as usual the standalone versions got leaked and now can be found all over the place.
If you don’t want to wait for the public release make sure you at least download a clean copy as there are lots of files with malware being uploaded. (there are download links below which are good).
Installing Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) KB948465
Well the latest build of the vista SP2 (build number 6002.16497) is out, I know that a lot of you will be wanting to upgrade and some of you might be scared that it may ruin system stability (and with the history of Microsoft Betas, your fears are justifiable) but do not worry as I have tried it and it installs fine. SO I decided to make a small guide on how to install it without getting into a trouble spot.
Before even thinking of adding the registry patch using our script (see below), backup your System Drive (in most cases the C: drive) first.
View installed Operating System Service Packs and Hotfixes from the Command Line
If you want to view a list of service packs or hotfixes installed in your system from the command line see below. You can even print it to a text or html file if needed.
This is done by using the WMIC (Windows Management Instrumentation Command Line).
So here goes:
To view what is installed type the below code inside a command prompt
wmic qfe list
To generate a text file of these contents use this command
wmic /output:C:\updates.txt qfe list
Microsoft Security Releases ISO Image May 2008
This DVD5 ISO image file contains the security updates for Windows released on Windows Update on May 13th, 2008. The image does not contain security updates for other Microsoft products. This DVD5 ISO image is intended for administrators that need to download multiple individual language versions of each security update and that do not use an automated solution such as Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). You can use this ISO image to download multiple updates in all languages at the same time.
Important: Be sure to check the individual security bulletins prior to deployment of these updates to ensure that the files have not been updated at a later date. Also don’t forget to read the Knowledge Base Article.
Windows XP SP3 (KB936929) Standalone Update Package and ISO Images Official Microsoft Download Links
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) has been released to the public through Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center, after a slight delay due to incompatibility issue.
Now the official release is out.
Microsoft names the standalone installation package for SP3 as Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers and intends for who are downloading and installing on multiple computers on a network. But it?s essentially the same thing – a executable in .exe format that when ran, will install and upgrade the Windows XP PC on base of SP1 or SP3 to SP3 version xpsp3_5512.080413-2113, or 5.1.2600.5512.
The direct download links to the standalone setup install packages for the Windows XP SP3 hosted on Microsoft Download Center are listed here.
STOP 0?0000000A Error on Vista Installation KB929777
Recently a lot of people had problems installing Vista due to the 0×0000000A error vista installation was throwing. This is caused in PCs running with 4GB or more system ram. A workaround was posted in Microsoft support. To make life easy I thought of posting the steps to install vista and to stop getting this annoying error.
Here they are
Workaround for USB devices not getting detected in Vista after Windows update
Recently there was an update released by Microsoft that caused a disaster for USB devices. Microsoft is yet to release a fix for it and we hope there will be one soon. The main cause seems to be KB938371, a prerequisite hotfix that gets installed from windows update. Also there’s some people saying this similar incident is also caused by a recent windows defender update.(not officially proved)
The main problem the users face is that their USB devices such as flash drives,cameras,scanners,mice,keyboards …etc.. doesn’t get recognized after the update and that specific hotfix cannot be uninstalled from windows.
Alright so if you are having similar issues use the following workaround until Microsoft can get this sorted out.(keep in mind that it may work for some and not for some…that’s windows.. hehe)
