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Free PDF writer for Office 2007
I have been using Office 2007 for some time now, and I just ran across a free download from MS:
2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS
I like to save many of my documents as PDF, since they readable/printable across many platforms. I have been using FinePrint's PDF Factory - but I don't have a license for every system I use.
It turns out to be a great alternative. Simply download the plugin, and within any Office 2007 application you will see a new "Save As.." option:
I have tried it out on a few documents and it works great.
If you are looking for a quick and easy way to save to PDF in Office 2007 I highly recommend it.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Thursday, January 31, 2008
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Microsoft to force install of IE 7
A while back we released a IE 7 blocking tool. It uses a registry key that Automatic update checks. If it is present, IE 7 will not automatically install.
Starting February 12th, IE 7 will begin showing up on Automatic updates, and ignore the special registry key. It will be up to the user to continually reject the install.
It is unfortunate that Microsoft has not decided to extend this date. I know quite a few companies with third party apps - that simply will not work with IE 7.
Beyond the compatibility issue, I personally dislike IE 7 in its present form. It is a slow and clunky interface. Every time I come across a machine that has it - I find myself downloading Firefox.
I will be sad to see IE 6 to go. Even with all of its quirks, it was still far better than IE 7.
The same could be said about Vista and XP :)
At the end of February we will be deleting the IE 7 blocking tool from our website, and removing it from Network Administrator.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, January 29, 2008
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New version of IE 7 Tweak Utility Released
I received an email earlier this week from a reader (Brian):
The Hide/Show Menu main menu doesn’t seem to work with this utility. I can easily hide it via other means, but your utility doesn’t seem to do it. All other changes apply, but not that one.
He did quite a bit of research for us, and determined how our utility was writing to the registry. Thanks to Brian's diagnostic help we have determined that IE 7 no longer looks to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key for the changes described in my previous article on the subject.
Normally with preferences like this, a Microsoft application will search HKEY_CURRENT_USER, then check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. So if you want to make the setting system wide, you simply write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. If you want it for just the current user then you write to HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
The more I think about it, we should have been writing the updates to HKEY_CURRENT_USER anyhow. This allows you to customize the setting for each individual user on the system without impacting others.
We have updated it to write to HKEY_CURRENT_USER. To get it, simply browse over to our downloads page.
As always - no spyware, adware included - only freeware goodness.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Friday, January 18, 2008
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Microsoft Releases New Remote Desktop Client
Back in November Microsoft quietly added KB925876 to their list of "Optional Software Updates". I was foolish enough to simply select all, and install the latest version of Remote Desktop without even realizing it.
A few things annoy me about this release. First of all I wasted a considerable amount of time trying to figure out why the /console command line argument no longer works.
If you troll the MS blogs you will come across this post Look at the section "Why the /console switch is no longer needed". Read it and come back to my post. What the hell do I care if applications use session zero or not? This is an implementation detail for programmers - not administrators.
In fact their reasoning is silly. Most administrators use the /console argument so they can:
1. Keep reusing sessions without getting this message:
2. Connect to the console so they can see the same screen that you would see if you were sitting in front of the machine.
I have yet to run into administrator that says "Gee I need to connect to the console so this application runs correctly in session zero"
If you read further you will find that you can now use the /admin argument to have the same behavior as #1, but I have not tested yet to see if it allows me to connect to the same desktop that you would have sitting at the machine.
The least they could have done was popup with a warning or an error saying that the /console argument was no longer supported.
The next issue is a nit-pick. Maybe I was so annoyed by the /console problem that this change pissed me off more than it should have.
The location of the Remote Desktop Icon has been moved. It was under Start->Programs->Accessories->Communications...now it is right under the Accessories folder of the start menu:
This sounds like a silly thing to get upset about...but it can cause lots of frustration when trying to walk (less knowledgeable) users over the phone to connect to their desktop at work. "What do you mean there is no Remote Desktop icon under communications?..." You get the picture.
On the flip side, the new client does support new features only available in Windows Server 2008:
· Network Level Authentication
· Server Authentication
· Plug and Play redirection
· TS Gateway support
· Monitor Spanning
· 32-bit color and font smoothing
If you want to try the new release out for yourself you can run automatic updates, and find it in the optional software items...or go to Knowledge Base Article KB925876
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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Prevent XP SP3, 2003 SP2, and Vista SP1 from installing
Neither of them have been released yet (Except 2003 SP2), but now is the time to start thinking about blocking the automatic install of these service packs. This will allow you to set your own timetable for deployment.
You have 4 options for preventing the automatic install of these service packs:
1. Download our Network Administrator to deploy the change across your network.
or
2. Download and use the free GUI tool we have to make the change on a single system
or
3. Download and use the free command line tools from MS
or
4. Update the registry manually. To do this you simply need to go to this key:
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
Create a new DWORD value named DoNotAllowSP and set it to 1 (To disable the SP install), or 0 (To allow the SP install)
Still no word as to the exact date these service packs will be released, but you can block them now and install when you have fully tested them within your environment.
One other final note - all of these blocking options are only valid for 12 months following the release of the service pack. After that, Windows will ignore the registry change and install.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Thursday, January 10, 2008
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Serious security flaw found in Windows
Microsoft announced on Tuesday a serious security flaw that needs to be patched immediately. It affects Windows 2000, XP, and 2003.
Here is the executive summary of the fix:
This critical security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) processing. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.
A more detailed explanation is that a hacker could create a specially crafted ICMP packet, send it to your machine over the internet and cause it to stop responding until you reboot.
In an even more scary scenario a hacker could create a specially crafted IGMP packet and take complete control of your computer!
There are a few ways to prevent this from affecting computers on your network.
1. Have your firewall block multicast traffic (IGMPv3 and MLDv2 specifically), and block ICMP traffic
2. Disable IGMP, and ICMP in the registry:
(IGMP)
-Click Start, click Run, type regedit and then click OK.
-Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
-Expand SYSTEM, expand CurrentControlSet, and then expand Services.
-Expand TCPIP, expand Parameters, and then expand IGMPLevel.
-Change the DWORD value to 0.
(ICMP)
-Click Start, click Run, type regedit and then click OK.
-Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
-Expand SYSTEM, expand CurrentControlSet, and then expand Services.
-Expand TCPIP, expand Parameters, and then expand Interfaces.
-Select interface_name and set the PerformRouterDiscovery value to 0.
3. (Best Option) Install the patches that fix the issue from Windows Update.
This is a serious flaw. I would update your Internet facing machines as soon as possible.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, January 09, 2008
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Office SP3 blocks older file types - The Fix
Update 1/7/2007 - Earlier I incorrectly gave the registry links for *enabling* the file block - doh! - The links are now correct, and I have included the link to re-enable the opening of Corel Draw files also (Thanks Bob B.!)
After getting back from the holidays I started setting up my Windows XP virtual machine for development and testing. Part of this was to install the latest patches for Office 2003.
After installing Service Pack 3 I could no longer open some old DBF files in Excel.
Did some searching on Google, and I discovered that Microsoft has done this for security reasons. Knowlege base article 938810 explains it all. The exact reason for disabling them is because:
"By default, these file types are blocked because the parsing code that Office 2003 uses to open and save the file types is less secure. Therefore, opening and saving these file types may pose a risk to you."
These are the file extensions that are disabled:
.cdr, .wk1, .wk4, .wj3, .wk1, .wks, .wk3, .wk3, .wj2, .wq1, .fm3, .wj1, .xlc, .dbf, .ppt, .pot, .pps, .ppa
Fortunately, If you decide that you can take the security risk in your own hands and want to still be able to open these files - you can.
Here are reg files that Microsoft is distributing to un-do the changes.
Download the Word Update
Download the Excel Update
Download the Power Point Update
Download the Update to allow opening Corel Draw files
To run them, simply open and allow the import into Regedit
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Sunday, January 06, 2008
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