Microsoft bugs make Windows lose networking [Newsletter Comp Version]

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Windows Secrets Newsletter • Issue 178 • 2008-12-11 • Circulation: over 400,000 Get some great tricks for a healthy space The new year is a perfect time to throw out old things and start anew. We've licensed a copy of the best techniques from Alison Haynes's new book, Clean Sweep, to help you rid your home and workplace of unseen pollutants and toxins, especially those that can cause allergies. The printed book won't be available in stores until January 2009, but all Windows Secrets subscribers can get our exclusive excerpt now through Jan. 7, free of charge. Just visit your preferences page and update your data, and a download link will appear. Have a great holiday season! —Brian Livingston, editorial director All subscribers: Visit your preferences page and download your bonus Info on the printed book: United States / Canada / Elsewhere

Table of contents TOP STORY: Microsoft DHCP bugs make Windows lose networking KNOWN ISSUES: A manual approach to reinstalling .NET Framework KNOWN ISSUES 2: Does the glitch in .NET patching put you at risk? WACKY WEB WEEK: Hang on, I've got the perfect song for this! LANGALIST PLUS: Boost performance by killing unneeded processes BEST SOFTWARE: Connect safely over open Wi-Fi networks PC TUNE-UP: Freeware helps to boot the bots off your network PATCH WATCH: Internet Explorer 7 is target of zero-day attack

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TOP STORY Microsoft DHCP bugs make Windows lose networking By Scott Spanbauer Numerous perplexed Windows users have discovered that attempting to connect their PCs (especially Vista) to their existing networks or Wi-Fi hotspots results in flaky or nonexistent connections. One reason: a change by Microsoft in Vista's Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) is causing conflicts with some networking hardware, which can require a Registry edit to fix. The many reports of Vista networking snafus range from the gravest of symptoms — no Internet connectivity at all — to occasional connection drops: No-Fi when in power-saving mode. Microsoft acknowledged last year that wireless connections on portable computers running Windows Vista would slow down or disconnect completely when battery management kicks in. The culprit is that, unlike Windows XP, Vista assumes that all wireless routers correctly implement Wi-Fi's power-save protocol. Unfortunately, many access points don't support this spec. The solution? Plug your laptop into an AC outlet or modify the notebook's power-saving plan, as described in Knowledge Base article 928152. Vista insists on the "broadcast flag." The same skewed reasoning led the wizards of Redmond to another infuriating decision, which Microsoft only belatedly explained. You bring home your new Vista computer, or you upgrade your XP system to Vista, only to discover that the machine won't connect to your local network or the Internet. You try everything to fix the problem. You waste hours — days, even — tweaking settings, plugging and unplugging, resetting, rebooting, and rehashing, but to no avail. The problem? Windows Vista assumes that your router's DHCP server — the one that hands out dynamic IP addresses to computers and other devices on the network — supports the DHCP broadcast flag. Again, many routers don't support this flag. The solution requires a Registry edit to toggle off Vista's broadcast-flag expectations. Refer to the Resolution section of KB article 928233 for step-by-step instructions. Two network adapters spell trouble. Yet another kind of network malfunction afflicts PCs running Vista or Windows Server 2008 that have more than one network adapter installed. The multiple adapters befuddle the Network Location Awareness service in those OSes. This causes the service to disable Internet access to both adapters and label them as Local only. KB article 947041 explains the problem but provides no solution. The only cure at this time may be to disable one of the network adapters. Thanks, Microsoft. How to troubleshoot XP and Vista network woes Network-connection problems are infuriating. Finding their source requires a step-by-step approach. Before editing your Registry for the umpteenth time or tossing your router into the trash, run through this network-troubleshooting checklist: Temporarily disable your software firewall. It sounds dumb, but often it's your firewall that's blocking your network connection. Even if the firewall has worked flawlessly for months, a small configuration change or automatic update could have caused a problem. At least twice this year, Windows XP users of Check Point Software's ZoneAlarm personal firewall have lost their ability to connect to the Internet due to a Windows update. Windows Secrets contribtuing editor Susan Bradley described this problem in her Oct. 16 Patch Watch column (paid content). This alone is not a good reason to stop updating, though. It's true that patches can introduce problems with firewalls, but subsequent fixes that remedy the issue will often appear within 24 hours. Check the physical connection. Make sure the router, modem, and other network devices are plugged in and powered on. Are the network cables between PC and router still connected firmly? With a device's power switch off, it doesn't hurt to unplug the component and then plug it back in again to make sure the contact is solid. If weak power-cable connections are ruled out, simply powering the devices off and back on can sometimes be all the resetting your network link needs. Renew your connection. Changes elsewhere on the network can sometimes knock out your connection. To reconnect quickly, click Start, Run in XP (or press the Windows key in Vista), type ipconfig /renew, and press Enter. Update your firmware and drivers. Makers of routers and network adapters may be caught unawares by patches to operating systems (such as the ones in Vista noted above). But the vendors often issue firmware or driver updates that fix the problems. Check the support pages of your router and adapter manufacturers' sites for downloadable updates. Return to default settings. Often, we are our own worst enemies as we poke around the configuration settings of our routers and network connections. You may not remember that you turned on your router's MAC filtering, but doing so could have blocked all of your devices from connecting, just the same. In general, it's best to change settings one at a time and observe the results of the change before making any other alterations to your system. If you don't see an obvious way to return your hardware and software to their default settings, you may have to uninstall and reinstall the device or program to regain its original settings. In all fairness, Vista isn't the only version of Windows that experiences network glitches. XP has its own series of connectivity aggravations, as you can see by a search-engine query of Microsoft's support center. If your connectivity problems aren't resolved by using the points discussed above, you may be suffering from an even more obscure issue. If so, ruling out the tricky configuration problems I describe here may at least help you isolate the real problem and restore your network link. Help people find this article on the Web (explain): Digg Delicious Reddit StumbleUpon Other Permalink Please tell us how useful this article was to you: Poor Fair Good Great Superb   Scott Spanbauer writes frequently for PC World, Business 2.0, CIO, Forbes ASAP, and Fortune Small Business. He has contributed to several books and was technical reviewer of Jim Aspinwall's PC Hacks. Table of contents

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KNOWN ISSUES A manual approach to reinstalling .NET Framework By Dennis O'Reilly The Dec. 4 Top Story in Windows Secrets described how to make sure your system has the Microsoft .NET that's needed by various applications, but doing so sometimes requires a brute-force approach. When it's time to reinstall vital Windows components — or the entire operating system — you'd best have a plan in mind. That's what reader Alan Crawford found out after stumbling through a reinstallation of Windows XP on one of his PCs: "I recently had to reinstall a PC that uses a handful of .NET apps. After installing Windows [XP] from an SP2 image, I used Microsoft Update to reinstall all necessary patches and updates, including the three .NET versions and their various service packs and other patches. Having already encountered problems with .NET patches on other machines, I wasn't surprised when .NET 1.1 SP1 wouldn't install. "In the past, I was able to uninstall all .NET versions and then proceed, one at a time, to get them all reinstalled. No such luck this time. After several rounds and many visits to the Microsoft Knowledge Base — even using the .NET cleanup tool — I still could not get this package to install. "My last-gasp effort was to try the whole exercise 'manually,' and it worked! Despite the extra time involved — and having to validate the PC on each download — had I started on this tack to begin with, I would have saved hours of frustration (seemed like hours, anyway, even if it wasn't). "Here's the procedure I used: • Step 1: I had previously downloaded the .NET cleanup tool. • Step 2: I removed all traces of existing .NET installations and then ran the .NET cleanup tool. • Step 3: I rebooted. • Step 4: I manually downloaded .NET 1.1, 1.1 SP1, 1.1 SP1 Hotfix, and 2.0 installers — individually — from the Microsoft download site. • Step 5: I installed them in the order downloaded, with reboots as required. I picked up at this point with downloads from Microsoft Update — installing the 2.0 Hotfix, then 3.0, then the 3.0 Hotfix in separate runs — and all now seems to be just fine. "Thanks, as always, for the best newsletter out there." Free option for controlling kids' Net access Becky Waring's Dec. 4 parental-control software review (paid content) led reader Rob de Santos to tell us about a new way to use an old, reliable — and free — Internet security service: "I highly recommend an option usually overlooked by most parents (and unknown to them): control access via your router. If you utilize Open DNS and follow their instructions to change your router's DNS settings, you can then use the easy-to-configure OpenDNS settings pages to block any category of sites you choose, be it ... porn, chat, or advertising. "This is an excellent supplement to any PC-based software and much harder for any child to override or avoid. It can also be remotely changed if necessary. Best of all, it's free!" Free is good. Difficult for a clever child to overcome is even better. And I know a lot of Internet users who'd be interested in a free, effective way to block Web ads. Note that in her July 24, 2008, Patch Watch column (paid content), Susan Bradley described how to use the OpenDNS forwarding service to improve the security of routers and Web servers. Speaking of Susan, since her lead story about problems patching Microsoft's .NET Framework appeared on Dec. 4, she's dug up additional information. Although she usually writes for Windows Secrets' paid content, her follow-up on .NET appears today as a free column. Readers Alan, Bill, and Rob will each receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of their choice for sending tips we printed. Send us your tips via the Windows Secrets contact page. Help people find this article on the Web (explain): Digg Delicious Reddit StumbleUpon Other Permalink The Known Issues column brings you readers' comments on our recent articles. Dennis O'Reilly is technical editor of WindowsSecrets.com. Table of contents

KNOWN ISSUES 2 Does the glitch in .NET patching put you at risk? By Susan Bradley People using Windows XP Service Pack 3 may not be offered all the .NET security patches their applications require. However, if none of your PC's programs requires a version of .NET Framework, this problem will have no impact on your system. My Dec. 4 Top Story stated that, due to a bug, Windows XP SP3 users aren't being offered security patches for Microsoft's .NET Framework 3.0. I'm publishing this special column today because several of you asked whether your XP SP3 systems are at risk as a result of this glitch. First I'll give you some background on .NET Framework, and then I'll describe how to tell whether you need to be concerned about the matter. Microsoft created .NET Framework to provide building blocks for applications. .NET is not a component of Windows itself. I strongly recommend that you avoid downloading .NET until you install an application that requires one, at which time the program will likely install the necessary version for you. To determine whether you have any versions of .NET Framework installed on an XP PC, open the Add or Remove Programs applet in Control Panel and look for entries reading Microsoft .NET Framework. If you don't see any such entries, you needn't worry about the update failure. If you do see .NET Framework in the list of currently installed programs, you need to make sure you're receiving all the updates your system requires. When you open the Microsoft Update service on Windows XP, you'll see buttons labeled Express and Custom on the Welcome screen. Click Custom to see three patching categories under Select by Type in the left pane: High Priority; Software, Optional; and Hardware, Optional. Figure 1. Clicking the Custom button on Microsoft Update's Welcome screen shows a list of high-priority and optional updates for your PC. While all three categories can be considered security-related, in reality only the top section lists critical patches. The second section shows optional patches for Windows and your apps; the third lists driver updates. Always install patches listed in the upper section. You can selectively install patches from the Software, Optional section, but I recommend that you never install driver updates directly from the bottom section. In the past, drivers I've downloaded from Microsoft's update service have caused problems. Instead, go to the vendor's own site and download driver updates from there. And remember: if the device isn't causing any problems, refreshing its driver software may be more trouble than it's worth. When I tested several XP SP3 systems, the upper section of the update window — which lists critical security patches — looked much the same as it did on XP SP2 machines. However, SP2 and SP3 showed many differences in the middle section listing optional software updates, including those for .NET Framework. There's a very good reason the updates in the middle section are listed as "optional." Until an application on your system requires .NET Framework to function, don't install any .NET Framework patches. Microsoft's update service will offer systems running XP SP2 an update to .NET Framework 3.0, but machines using XP SP3 won't see it listed among the optional patches. Because of this difference — and the fact that .NET installs can fail, as I discussed last week — I urge you to regularly use a third-party software-update service such as Secunia's free online Software Inspector or the company's standalone program, Personal Software Inspector (obtain PSI from its download page), to check the vulnerability of your PC's software. PSI scans for outdated and vulnerable versions of Sun's Java, Apple's QuickTime, Adobe's Flash and Acrobat, and other common programs that put your system and data at risk if they're not patched. After scanning 20,000 machines in a recent seven-day period, Secunia reported on Dec. 2 that fewer than 2% of the computers were fully patched. By the way, several readers notified me that they had problems with the Secunia software scanner. I'll investigate these issues and report what I find in a future Patch Watch column. Here's the bottom line: don't install any .NET Framework patches listed in Microsoft Update's "Software, Optional" section unless you're sure you have the corresponding .NET Framework installed on your system. Any application requiring a specific .NET Framework, such as Intuit's Quickbooks accounting program, will install the necessary version automatically. Once the Framework is on your machine, install any offered security patches for it, but be prepared for potential installation glitches. Aaron Stebner's .NET Framework cleanup tool (download page) can help you out if a .NET update gets stuck. You may have to uninstall that version of .NET and reinstall it, as described by Alan Crawford in this week's Known Issues column. Help people find this article on the Web (explain): Digg Delicious Reddit StumbleUpon Other Permalink Please tell us how useful this article was to you: Poor Fair Good Great Superb   Susan Bradley recently received an MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award from Microsoft for her knowledge in the areas of Small Business Server and network security. She's also a partner in a California CPA firm. Table of contents

WACKY WEB WEEK Hang on, I've got the perfect song for this! By Katy Abby It's no wonder that portable music players have become so popular. With the right song playing in the background, ordinary actions can be transformed into extraordinary experiences. Everyday activities beg for personalized playlists: get in the groove of your daily workout, rock out while cleaning the house ... the possibilities are endless, even if we're not! Take a look at this video of a guy who's ready for anything ... or his iPod is, anyway. I wonder what he listens to while reading Windows Secrets? Play the video Help people find this article on the Web (explain): Digg Delicious Reddit StumbleUpon Other Permalink Table of contents

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