Category: Windows Vista

As expected, the slow January Patch Tuesday has been made up for by an intense February, with a whopping thirteen security patches! For one thing, we saw a big release of out-of-band items near the end of January, including a critical security patch for Internet Explorer, and a pile of other things that could have and should have waited until the proper Patch Tuesday to be released.

This blog post is also available in the PDF format in a free TechRepublic Download.

Security Patches

• MS10-003/KB978214 - Important (Office XP, Office 2004 for Mac): Specially crafted Office files can be used to perform remote code execution exploits in Office XP and Office 2004 for Mac, this patch fixes the issue. The attacker is limited to the current user’s rights. I think that this patch is more critical than Microsoft’s rating, and you should install it on any affected copies of Office quickly. 4.6MB - 9.4MB
• MS10-004/KB975416 - Important (Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2004 for Mac): This is another remote code execution targeting Office, this time PowerPoint is the victim. Again, the attacker gets the current user’s right. This patch should be installed immediately. 3.4MB - 9.4MB
• MS10-005/KB978706 - Moderate (2000, XP, 2003): This is a new one, a bug in MS Paint allows remote code execution exploits to be delivered via specially crafted JPEG files. I don’t think many people have MS Paint as their default image viewer, so this is not too much of an issue. Install the patch during your next patch cycle. 610KB - 1.4MB
• MS10-006/KB978251 - Critical (2000, XP, W7, 2003, 2008 R2)/Important (Vista, 2008): This is another in the recent problems for Windows’ SMB handling; this one is a remote code execution exploit. The only nice thing about this one is that it requires the attacker to get you to try to connect to their rigged SMB server, and that’s pretty unlikely to go through many corporate firewalls. All the same, get this patch installed as soon as you can. 191KB - 1.2MB
• MS10-007/KB975713 - Critical (2000, XP, 2003): There is a bug in the ShellExecute API call (which allows programs to ask the OS to perform commands) which allows a remote code execution attack to occur. This patch should be installed immediately. 606KB - 1.4MB
• MS10-008/KB978262 - Critical (2000, XP)/Important(Vista, W7)/Moderate(2003)/Low(2008, 2008 R2): This is an important update to the ActiveX Kill Bits system that fixes a bug that could allow remote code execution exploits, and adds some addition controls to the kill bits system. Install this as soon as you can. 27KB - 1.0MB
• MS10-009/KB974145 - Critical (Vista, 2008): A problem in the TCP/IP stack of Vista and 2008 allows and attacker to perform a remote code execution exploit if IPv6 is turned on. You should install this patch immediate. 1.4MB - 2.7MB
• MS10-010/KB977894 - Important (2008, 2008 R2): An attacker who is logged in to a guest machine running under Hyper-V could execute a denial of service attack on the host. This is a fairly low level problem, and you shouldn’t bother with the patch unless you are using Hyper-V. 117KB - 189KB
• MS10-011/KB978037 - Important (2000, XP, 2003): An issue in the Client/Server Runtime Subsystem allows authenticated attackers to escalate their privileges, which makes this a fairly low importance patch. Install it during your next scheduled patch cycle. 506KB - 1.0MB
• MS10-012/KB971468 - Important (2000, XP, Vista, W7, 2003, 2008, 2008 R2): This patch solves another problem in Windows’ SMB handling, this time on the server side, which allows a remote code execution attack to occur. Since you should never have SMB exposed past your firewall, this should not be an emergency patch. All the same, you will want to install it on your next scheduled patch day. 224KB - 1.5MB
• MS10-013/KB977935 - Critical (2000, XP, Vista, 2008, W7, 2003, 2008, 2008 R2)/Important (2003 IA-64, 2008 IA-64, 2008 R2 IA-64): DirectShow’s AVI handling routines are open to a remote code execution attack if passed a rigged AVI file; the attacker gains the current user’s rights. Install the patch immediately. 564KB - 3.0MB
• MS10-014/KB977290 - Important (2000, 2003, 2008): The Kerberos system has a flaw which allows a denial of service attack on a domain controller with a specially crafted Kerberos ticket renewal request. You should install this patch during your next scheduled patch time. 189KB - 1.2MB
• MS10-015/KB977165 - Important (2000, XP, Vista, W7 32 Bit, 2003, 2008): A Windows bug allows a local user to escalate their privileges. W7 64 bit users are spared, as are 2008 R2 servers. This isn’t a critical item, and the patch can wait until your next scheduled patching. 1.6MB - 7.8MB

Other Updates

• KB979099: This patch fixes issues with the Rights Management Services Client on 2003, 2008 R2, XP, and W7. 1MB - 9.2MB
• KB973917: This patch is a reissue to correct some problems with the original version, and will need to be reinstalled. The patch adds Extended Protection for Authentication to IIS on 2003, 2008, and Vista. 867KB - 4.0MB
• “The Usual Suspects”: Updates to the Malicious Software Removal Tool (9.7MB - 10MB) and Junk Email filters (2.2MB).
• Changed, but not significantly: None.

Updates since the last Patch Tuesday

• MS10-002/KB978207 - Critical (2000, XP, Vista, W7, 2003, 2008, 2008R2): This patch fixes a remote code execution exploit Internet Explorer. You should get this patch installed immediately, if you have not already done so, because there are public exploits for it, and have been for some time. 3.3MB - 48MB

There have been a number of minor items added and updated since the last Patch Tuesday:

• System Update Readiness Tool (KB947821) to correct some issues installing updates, service packs, and other software. 11.5MB - 88.8MB
• Vista Reliability Update (KB970807) 1.3MB - 1.5MB
• W7/2008 R2 Reliability Update (KB977074) 1MB - 2MB
• Update for Windows 7 (KB976972) fixes a problem where transferring data on a machine with the NVIDIA USB EHCI chipset on W7 or 2008 R2, and more than 4 GB of RAM, causes issues like the computer locking up or the copy failing. 295KB - 363KB
• IE8 Compatibility View List Update (KB978506) 33KB - 681KB

Changed, but not significantly:

• Internet Explorer 8
• BITS 4.0 for 2008 and Vista (KB960568)
• PowerShell 2.0 and WinRM 2.0 for 2008, Vista, 2003, XP, and Windows Embedded (KB968930)
• W7 update (KB975891) - fix for HP printing problems

My colleague over at ZDNet, Mary Jo Foley, recently blogged about Microsoft’s lack of innovation. Her post “Microsoft’s Challenge: Innovation, Innovation, Innovation” wondered out loud whether Microsoft would ever be able to recapture its ability to develop innovative products. Mary Jo points to the behemoth size of the company and the political infighting that drains resources from what should be the main strategic focus — better, fresher products and growing market share.

I believe there are many creative people working for Microsoft, but, because of the large corporate culture, they are stymied from true innovation. And, until that culture changes, Microsoft will rely on the twin cash cows of Windows and Office to keep them afloat. I am not convinced that Microsoft will be able to change its culture to allow the risk necessary for innovation.

But, the real question is what do you think? When it comes to product innovation and creating new markets, how far behind has Microsoft fallen? Do you think the company will ever become a great innovator, creating new products and developing new markets?

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When it comes to surfing the Web, conducting a search is the most common way of getting to a site that has the information you are looking for. As IT professionals with a higher than average level of technical savvy, it is really just a reflex. We open a browser, type in a search word, check the results, and go from there.

But the question I want to consider is which search engine is your default choice. At one time it was Yahoo, but Google took the position in a hurry. Now Bing is making a challenge to Google, but I wonder how successful Bing has become at replacing Google as the default Web search engine.

So, please, consider these poll questions:

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It may be unfortunate, but the reality of the situation cannot be denied — we live in a time where computer viruses, malware, spyware, Trojan horses, keyloggers, and other nefarious dangers are everywhere. Connecting a computer to a network, especially a network connected to the Internet, should never happen without at least the bare minimum of protections.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a decent antivirus and antimalware application available for free from Microsoft. It integrates seamlessly with the Windows operating system and takes up very little system resources. Installing Microsoft Security Essentials and running the required initial updates and configuration is relatively straightforward.

This blog post is also available in PDF format in a free TechRepublic download and in a Photo Gallery.

Download

As you can see in Figure A, if your computer has no antivirus software, you will get some dire warnings in the Security Action Center. You navigate to the Security Action Center through the Control Panel.

Figure A

Heed dire warnings in the Security Action Center.

We can fix these problems in one action, by downloading and installing Microsoft Security Essentials. The first thing to do is go to the Web site and start the download, as shown in Figure B. You should also uninstall any previously installed antivirus software to avoid conflicts.

Figure B

Download the client.

When the Microsoft Security Essentials download starts, click the Run button, as shown in Figure C.

Figure C

Click Run.

The download and install is very quick. You won’t even have time to go and get a cup of coffee (Figure D).

Figure D

The download happens in no time at all.

Figure E shows Microsoft Security Essentials ready to install and explain what it is designed to do.

Figure E

Microsoft Security Essentials is now ready to install.

Of course, you will have to accept the licensing agreement (Figure F) and validate that your copy of the Windows operating system is genuine (Figure G).

Figure F

Accept the license.

Figure G

Validate Windows.

The ready-to-install screen (Figure H) reminds you to uninstall previously installed antivirus applications. It would have been much timelier to have received this suggestion earlier as I suggested.

Figure H

Finally, you’re ready to install.

Update

Once Microsoft Security Essentials is installed (Figure I), it will immediately update itself with the latest antivirus definitions (Figure J). This is an important step, as new variations of viruses and malware are released into the wild on a daily basis. No matter which antivirus software you choose to use, always keep it up to date.

Figure I

Microsoft Security Essentials is now installed.

Figure J

Update definitions.

Once the updates are in place, my test PC goes from a red warning that my computer is at risk to a green declaration that my PC is protected, as you can see in Figure K.

Figure K

My PC is now protected.

As further proof, head back to the Security Action Center (Figure L) and check the status of my PC now.

Figure L

Security is back.

Configure

From the main page of the Microsoft Security Essentials client application (Figure M), you can see the status of your computer’s antivirus security and perform a manual scan. From the other tabs on this screen you can manually ask for virus definition updates and check the history of antivirus activity performed by the application.

Figure M

Configure your computer’s antivirus secutiry on the main page.

On the last tab (Figure N), you can set a scheduled time to perform a Microsoft Security Essentials scan. The default is once a week, but you have flexibility to set the schedule to suit your needs.

Figure N

Set a scanning schedule.

Bottom line

Whether you are an individual computer user or the manager of an entire department of Internet-connected computers, the need for antivirus applications is very real. While Microsoft Security Essentials may be merely basic protection, it is an important first line of defense that can work for almost anyone or any organization. With the benefit of a clean install and tight integration with the Windows operating system, it is worth a look no matter how many computers are involved.

TechRepublic’s Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report newsletter, delivered every Friday, offers tips, news, and scuttlebutt on Vista and Windows 7, including a look at new features in the latest version of the Windows OS. Automatically sign up today!

In an article published on The Huffington Post Web site, Steve Ballmer suggests that 2010 will be the year of the “natural user interface.”

But I believe we will look back on 2010 as the year we expanded beyond the mouse and keyboard and started incorporating more natural forms of interaction such as touch, speech, gestures, handwriting, and vision — what computer scientists call the “NUI” or natural user interface. This process is already well underway through the proliferation of new touch screen phones and PCs, and in our growing reliance on voice-controlled in-car technology for communications, navigation, and entertainment.

Now, as is my way, I am skeptical that there will be a mass migration to a natural user interface this year or in the near future. There are still many kinks to work out with these interfaces. Making the same hand gesture three times just to get the page to scroll is not a good user experience. It is one I may accept on my smart phone, but not on my desktop.

What do you think? Are you ready to give up the mouse and keyboard for a natural user interface based on touch screens and hand gestures? Do you think natural user interfaces are ready to become the primary way we interact with computers?

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In last week’s blog post, “Exert Your Control with GodMode Folders in Windows 7,” I discussed a few of the so-called “GodMode” folders in Windows 7. As I mentioned in that post, Windows 7’s GodMode folders are simply special folders that are hidden until you enter a special, secret code.

Well, it turns out that the latter part of that sentence is only half true. The special folders are indeed hidden until you enter a special code, but the codes aren’t really secret.

Apparently all Windows 7 and Windows Vista Control Panel items have what is called a canonical name and an associated GUID (the infamous “special codes”). In this context, Microsoft describes a canonical name as being a nonlocalized string that the Control Panel item declares in the registry. A GUID, or Globally Unique Identifier, is a special type of identifier that is unique in any context, which Microsoft uses to provide an internal access point to Control Panel items.

In last week’s post, I used the GUIDs to create folders that provided access to the so-called GodMode folders. However, as I began investigating canonical names, I discovered that you can also create shortcuts to the Control Panel items that have canonical names. I also discovered that typing, or even copying and pasting, all the canonical names while creating the shortcut was a tedious operation. I found sixty Control Panel items that have canonical names.

So I created a short little VBScript program that reads a text file containing the list of canonical names and, one-by-one, creates each shortcut. You can download that text file and script in the accompanying free TechRepublic download to this blog post.

In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll discuss the Control Panel canonical names in more detail and show you how to use them to create shortcuts to your favorite Control Panel items. I’ll then present the text file and script and show you how to use them. That way you can instantly create these canonical name shortcuts on your Windows 7 system and be able to easily conduct your own investigation to discern which of these shortcuts will be helpful to you and delete those that won’t. What could be easier?

Canonical names

As I mentioned earlier, in the case of Control Panel items, a canonical name is simply a nonlocalized string that represents Control Panel items in the registry. Microsoft’s canonical names use the format CorporationName.ControlPanelItemName. I discovered a list of Windows 7 canonical names on the Microsoft MSDN site in an article titled “Canonical Names of Control Panel Items.” Here you’ll find the list of sixty Windows 7 Control Panel items that have canonical names.

Accessing a Control Panel item using its canonical name is a pretty straightforward operation, once you know how. You use the Control Panel’s executable file, a special parameter, and the canonical name. For example, to access the Action Center, whose canonical name is Microsoft.ActionCenter, you would use the following command line:

Control.exe /name Microsoft.ActionCenter

If you want to experiment, just type this command line in the Run dialog box.

The Script

The short little VBScript shown in Figure A will instantly create sixty canonical name shortcuts on your Windows 7 system. There are basically five sections to the script.

Figure A

Instantly create all sixty canonical name shortcuts on your Windows 7 system with this short little VBScript.

In the first section, the script accesses the File System Object, allowing it to manipulate files and folders. It then accesses the Windows Scripting Host object, allowing it to create and configure Windows shortcuts.

The second section determines the folder in which the script is running, gets the name of the text file containing the list of shortcut names and canonical names, and then combines the two. This will allow you to easily create the shortcuts wherever you want.

The third section opens the text file for reading. The fourth section uses a Do Loop to sequentially read each line of the text file and create the associated shortcut. The fifth section simply closes the file.

Figure B shows the contents the CanList.txt file, which contains the data for creating the canonical name shortcuts.

Figure B

The script will read each of the lines from this text file and create the associated shortcuts.

To create your canonical name shortcuts, just copy both files, CanList.txt and CreateCanonical.vbs, to the folder of your choice and run the .vbs file.

What’s your take?

What do you think of the canonical name shortcuts? Have you found then useful? If so, what’s your favorite? As always, if you have comments or information to share about this topic, please take a moment to drop by the TechRepublic Community Forums and let us hear from you.

To get the script file and the accompanying text file, you need to download them from the corresponding TechRepublic download.

TechRepublic’s Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report newsletter, delivered every Friday, offers tips, news, and scuttlebutt on Vista and Windows 7, including a look at new features in the latest version of the Windows OS. Automatically sign up today!

For so many administrators and developers, virtual machines can be a very easy way to save time and money as well as beef up security. For Microsoft Windows users there are a few options for creating and using virtual machines. You can employ either Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines to run instances of a Windows operating system as a guest on a Windows host machine. But that leaves the question of where do you get the images?

You can always install a fresh image or visit one of a number of sites that allow you to download various images in vhd format that can then be imported as a virtual machine. But what if you want to create your own virtual machine? What if you have created the perfect installation that you want to import as a virtual machine? How does one do that? Of course, there are tools for just that task. One of those tools, Disk2vhd, was created by Sysinternals (makers of many fine applications).

In this tutorial, you will learn how to take your currently running Windows installation and create a vhd image that can then be imported into your virtual machine tool of choice (so long as it supports vhd files).

This blog post is also available in PDF format in a free TechRepublic download.

How it works

Disk2vhd can create images from any drive attached to a PC so long as the drive has the necessary files. The tool works by using the Windows’ Volume Snapshot capability found in any Windows operating system, starting with XP and later. In fact, the best method of using this tool is to save the .vhd file to an externally attached drive. If you save the image to the same drive you are taking the image from, performance will seriously degrade. Since the process is already fairly slow, you do not want to make matters worse.

You will also need to make sure that you have plenty of space on the target drive. Most likely the installation you are using to create your image is not a clean installation, but a specific image with various applications and configurations. This will cause the size to grow quite a bit. This also brings up another issue: If the drive is a VFAT-formatted drive, your image file cannot be over 4GB. So make sure either your file system will accept larger files or your vhd file is less than 4GB.

So, with that said, let’s take a look at how this tool is used.

Getting and installing

There really is no installation involved with Disk2vhd. This application is not an installer file but a self-contained binary, which can be executed from any location (even a thumb drive). So when you download and extract the Disk2vhd file, you will see four files inside the newly created Disk2vdh directory. Of these files, the one you will use is disk2vhd. You can either double-click that file from within the Disk2vhd directory or pin the file to either the Start menu or the Quick Launch menu.

When you start the application, you will see the main window (Figure A). There is no configuration window, which makes this tool simple to use.

Figure A

The only configuration options available are selecting the volumes to include and determing the location of your target file.

As you can see, I have set the location of my target file to be on an external hard drive. This ensures that I have enough space for the image as well as keeps the process from dragging my machine to a crawl.

Once the minimal options are taken care of, all that is left to do is to click the Create button. Once you have done this, the process will begin. Depending on the size of your image file, this process could take some time. During the creation, you will see the progress bar very slowly inch across the window (Figure B).

Figure B

The time indicated on the bottom right of the window is an approximated completion time. In this case, the completion will take about thirty minutes.

Once the process is complete, you will have a file on your target drive named after your PC with the extension .vhd. It is this file that you can then import into the virtual machine tool of your choice. Without going into the specifics of each virtual machine tool, the process of adding these image files is simple:

• Create a new virtual machine with the characteristics that match the machine used to create the image file.
• During the process of creating the virtual machine, use the vhd file as the new machine’s IDE disk.
• When you first boot the new machine, the virtual machine tool will detect the machine’s hardware and automatically install the drivers.

Those steps could vary, depending on the virtual machine tool you use.

Final thoughts

If you are an administrator who depends on virtual machines, then you need to take advantage of this incredibly handy tool. With Disk2vhd, you can create a very specific machine image for deployment via virtual machine.

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I have used what seems like countless e-mail clients — everything from text-based e-mail (Pine and Alpine) to all-in-ones such as Evolution and Outlook. Each of these clients always seemed to be missing a feature I wanted, suffered from poor performance, was buggy, or bogged down whatever machine I was using. That is a big problem, because e-mail is one of those tools you simply cannot do business without. So I searched high and low for an e-mail client perfectly suited for me.

I came across Claws Mail on the Linux platform. This client struck me as something special right away. Ever since I found it, Claws Mail has been my e-mail client of choice. And now, I have found, it can be installed on the Windows platform as well. So Claws Mail can be your e-mail client of choice too.

This blog post is also available in PDF format in a free TechRepublic download.

About Claws Mail

Claws Mail was originally called Sylpheed-Claws and was the unstable branch of the Sylpheed e-mail client. Eventually Claws Mail extended beyond Sylpheed and became a separate entity. And although Claws Mail contains quite a bit more extra features than Sylpheed, it still enjoys the lightning-fast speed and reliability of its former parent.

Claws Mail now enjoys installation candidates for Linux, Solaris, BSD, OS X, Maemo, and Windows. Claws Mail features include:

• Very fast GUI and mail handling
• Multiple accounts
• Threaded display
• Filtering
• Mime attachments
• Usenet reading/posting
• SSL support
• GnuPG support
• User-defined headers
• MH and Mbox folder support/import/export
• Plugin capabilities

Most likely the feature that will get you hooked is the speed. I have yet to find a mail client that opens, runs, filters, and delivers e-mail as fast as Claws Mail. The only clients that can even compare are text-based clients.

Installation

The Windows port of Claws Mail is actually part of another package — gpg4win — and the only way to install Claws Mail is through this package. You do have to install gpg4win during the installation, which is a good thing as it will allow you to take advantage of encryption with Claws Mail. However, there are two other features currently missing from the Windows port of Claws Mail: LDAP and Spell Checking. I’m sure it will only be a matter of time before they make their way into the port.

The installation process is fairly straightforward. What you need to do is first download the gpg4win installation file. If you look at the Windows port page, you will notice two versions to download: the “official” release from the gpg4win team and a more recent snapshot. Go with the latter of the two for a more up-to-date version.

Once you have the file downloaded, double-click it and walk through the installation process. The installation will offer very little out of the ordinary. The only exception might be when you come to the components screen, shown in Figure A. In this screen you can choose what you want to install. You have no choice but to install gpg4win, but you can choose whether or not to install Claws Mail. Make sure the Claws Mail component is selected before you click Next.

Figure A

It uses only 34 MB of space for both components, not bad for a full-featured e-mail client AND encryption system.

Once the installation is complete, the first thing that Claws Mail will require is the creation of an account. This is done with the help of a very simple wizard that will walk you through the process. There is nothing in this wizard that should cause you any grief.

Finally, once you have finished setting up your first account, you will be greeted with the main window (Figure B). And, as you see, the Claws Mail e-mail client is very much like any e-mail client you’ve ever used — on the surface that is.

Figure B

It’s not until you start scratching under the surface that you see how much more Claws Mail has to offer.

Unique features

This is where Claws Mail starts to stand out. There are features found in Claws Mail that you will not find in most other e-mail clients. Some of these features are a bit too geek-chic for the average user, and it’s just those features that will appeal to the IT crowd. Let’s take a look at some.

Templates

This is the feature that was such a breath of fresh air to me. I belong to a lot of Linux mailing lists. If any of you have ever belonged to such a mailing list, you know what I mean when I say the phrase “top posting.” The users of many of the Linux mailing lists stand strong with the idea that all posts’ replies to posts should either be done in-line or at the bottom. So instead of replying to a post at the top of the reply you should either answer questions (or replies) within the body of the original e-mail (where those replies are necessary) or wait until the very end of the mail. This retains the flow of the conversation, so the reader doesn’t have to go back and forth.

The problem is that the average user doesn’t adhere to this and most likely doesn’t want to have to search for replies to an e-mail. Most users want the reply on top for easy access. So what do you do when you e-mail both types of users frequently? Sure you could just manually place your cursor where you need it. OR you could use Claws Mail templates to do this for you.

If you are using only one account, click on the Configuration menu and then select the Preferences entry. If you have more than one account, have that account selected and then click on the Configuration menu and select Preferences for Current Account. Either way you are going to open a Preferences window that contains the Templates section, as shown in Figure C.

Figure C

You can also see how many different configuration sections Claws Mail contains here.

There are three tabs in this window:

• Compose: The template used to compose e-mails.
• Reply: The template used when replying to e-mails.
• Forward: The template used when forwarding e-mail.

You can configure any or all of these types of templates to be used. But for our example, we are going to configure a reply template. Click on the Reply tab to reveal the Reply template space (Figure D).

Figure D

You can also change the quotation mark character here. This is the character that is printed at the beginning of every line of quoted text.

As you can see in the example above, symbols are used to include special fields. In the default reply template you have:

On %d

%f wrote:

%q

%X

The symbols above are:

• %d - Date
• %f - From
• %q - Quoted body from original email
• %X - Placement of cursor

As you can see, this places everything in the body above the cursor. This is perfect for replying to mailing lists, but for other users, not so much. For average users, you would want to reverse this like the sample below:

%X

Is what %N has to say about the email, from %d, quoted below:

%q

The above sample places the cursor at the top, a brief message, and finally the quoted body.

Now, the tricky part — how do you create filters for different types of replies? Here’s how you do it. For our example, we are going to use the ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com. The steps for this process are as follows:

• Create a folder that all the mailing list e-mails will be filtered into.
• Create a filter that will move all e-mails from the mailing list into the folder.
• Right-click the folder and select Properties.
• Click on the Template tab and create your template.

Now when you reply to an e-mail that is in that folder, the template for that folder will apply.

Plugins

Although there are not many available plugins, there are some handy ones. To enable plugins, go to the Configuration menu and select Plugins. In this new window (Figure E), click the Load button, select the plugin you want, and click Open.

Figure E

You can also remove a plugin by clicking the Unload button.

The plugins you will most likely want to load are:

• gtkhtml2: Allows you to view HTML e-mail.
• Vcalendar: Adds a calendar to Claws Mail
• Bsfilter: Provides an anti-spam filter

Final thoughts

Claws Mail offers a full-featured, lightning-fast e-mail client for the average and the hard core e-mail user. If you’ve grown tired of slow, unreliable, bloated e-mail clients, let Claws Mail sink its claws into you; you’ll be hooked.

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In June 2009, I suggested that it may be time for IT professionals and leaders to, at the very least, begin considering what to do after Windows XP is no longer a viable operating system choice for business. The results of the polls I used to gauge my hypothesis, found in the blog post titled “IT Professionals Will Not Drop Windows XP Quietly (if Ever),” revealed a strong reluctance to migrate away from XP for any other operating system at all.

But now that Microsoft Windows 7 has been released, I am wondering if that sentiment has been relaxed and if more of you are considering an operating system migration? So, here are a few more poll questions that we can use to assess where we stand as a community on this idea. Please, take a few moments to share your thoughts in the ensuing discussion thread, because we really want to know your thinking on this subject.

TechRepublic’s Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report newsletter, delivered every Friday, offers tips, news, and scuttlebutt on Vista and Windows 7, including a look at new features in the latest version of the Windows OS. Automatically sign up today!

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The XCopy command has risen from the ashes of deprecation to save you time and make your file management tasks easier. This tool automates the process for XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

If you needed to copy hundreds of files from one local hard disk to another or from one system to another across a network, would you perform the operation from Windows Explorer? Possibly. However, if you wanted to do something fancy, such as copy only those files that have changed on or after a certain date or maybe copy only those files that have the archive bit set, performing the operation in Windows Explorer would be time consuming and difficult. So you’d probably shell out to a Command Prompt window and use the good old DOS-based XCopy command, along with its detailed set of switches.

Microsoft tried to do away with the XCopy command in Vista (when you run xcopy /? you see the message NOTE: Xcopy is now deprecated, please use Robocopy) in favor of its powerful cousin, Robocopy. But too many XCopy fans must have complained, because XCopy is back in Windows 7, and there’s even a new switch added to the extensive list.

Since XCopy is still a viable file management tool, I updated the XCopy Tool, an HTML application I created back in 2002. This updated version, which you can download for free, works in Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

Installation

Once you download the Windows Vista IP Configuration Tool package, simply copy its three files to a folder of your choice:

• XCopy Tool.hta
• FileCab.ico
• XCopy Tool-ReadMe.doc

The XCopy Tool.hta file is the HTA file that you’ll use to launch the application. The FileCab.ico file contains the icon that the HTA uses for the control menu and the taskbar. Vista XCopy Tool-ReadMe.doc is the documentation file.

Using the XCopy Tool

Using the XCopy Tool is easy: Just double-click on the HTA file. Once you launch the XCopy Tool, you’ll see the main screen, shown in Figure A. As you can see, all XCopy command’s switches are available as check boxes. You can simply hover your mouse pointer over a switch to find out what it does.

Figure A

The XCopy Tool makes it easy to take advantage of the DOS-based XCopy command and its parameters.

To get started, click the Select Source and Select Destination buttons and make your folder/ drive selections. When you do, you’ll see the Browse for Folder dialog box, shown in Figure B. In addition to providing a nice interface for selecting your source and destination folders, the Browse for Folder dialog box allows you to easily create new destination folders via the Make New Folder button.

Figure B

The Browse for Folder dialog box lets you choose your source and destination folders.

Once you’ve selected both the source and destination folders, you’ll see a confirmation dialog box like the one shown in Figure C. If you click Yes, you can begin selecting options. If you click No, both the source and destination will be cleared out and you can start from scratch.

Figure C

Before you select any options, the XCopy Tool prompts you to confirm your choices for the source and destination folders.

You can then choose from any of the 30 available XCopy command options. However, you have to understand the XCopy command and know how the options work together when selecting a combination of options.

When you click OK, you’ll see that current command line displayed in the dialog box and you’ll be prompted to confirm the operation before you proceed, as shown in Figure D.

Figure D

The XCopy Tool will display the command line so that you can confirm that this is indeed the command you want to use.

When you click Yes, a Command Prompt window will open and display the results, as shown in Figure E.

Figure E

In the Command Prompt window, you’ll see the XCopy operation unfold.