Kortech Services

Announcing I Am Now Mac Certified

okorioth — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:13:59 +0000

Yes you heard that right. As of last week I am now a Max Certified Support Professional in Mac OS 10.6.

Whoops! Windows XP Update Causes BSOD, Here’s A Fix

okorioth — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:19:59 +0000

If you’ve been noticing that your Windows XP machine has stopped working as of last week, there is a very good chance I know why. I ran into this issue this week with a clients computer, and after much investigation into a cause it was a fairly simple fix. As per usual, Microsoft releases security patches every second Tuesday of the month, and there were several for February. One of them, KB977165 specifically, is causing some installations of Windows XP to have the dreaded BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) and renders the system unbootable, even in safe mode. Channelweb has posted instructions on how to remove the update and fix the problem. I followed this procedure and it worked like a charm! Microsoft has since pulled the patch to investigate these issues.

1. Boot from your Windows XP CD or DVD and start the recovery console.

2. Once you are in the Repair Screen, type this command: CHDIR $NtUninstallKB977165$\spuninst.

3. Type this command: BATCH spuninst.txt.

4. When complete, type this command: exit.

Update: According to the Microsoft Security Response Center, they have updated information on this problem. They are currently claiming this BSOD is caused by a rootkit that is present on the system before the update is applied. So, once the procedure to remove the update is performed, it is imperative the computer is checked for this infection. The investigation is still on going.

Update #2: After some investigation the sample computer I have was in fact infected with the suspected rootkit Rootkit.Win32.TDSS . After recovering of the system outlined above, download this program TDSSKiller.zip from Kaspersky. Run it on the system and it should detect and clean it right away. Then after reboot the computer can finally be properly updated. As added bonus you can try this program as well Hitmanpro 3.5, this program found all kinds of nasties. Its free for 30 days.

Important Patch For Internet Explorer, Update Immediately!

okorioth — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:09:17 +0000

If you have not heard the news this month, theres a little spat going on between Google and China over hacking and such. Turns out one of the techniques used to hack Google and other companies was through a security exploit in all versions of Internet Explorer, known as the Aurora exploit. Microsoft has since issued an out of band patch to plug this hole, so please run a Windows update! This pretty much affects all versions of Windows and Internet Explorer. At this point I would like to encourage everyone to choose another browser, how about Firefox or Chrome? Much safer at the moment to use these.

Microsoft Releases Massive Batch of Security Updates For October

okorioth — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:32:24 +0000

Its the second Tuesday of the month, and that of course means in the Microsoft camp its patch Tuesday. And what a whopper this one is, in fact its the largest amount of patches ever released at one time. The range of patches pretty much covers almost every major product line, from Windows, Server, SQL, Office and even the yet unreleased Windows 7. So I strongly urge everyone to take the time to install these updates. More info on these flaws can be found here.

I have seen the future, and I don’t know what it is

okorioth — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:43:02 +0000

I just got my first taste tonight of the much ballyhooed Google Wave platform. Like Twitter before it, this is something cool but I’m not sure how yet. Its one those web apps with mind so much blowing potential it could very well be the next killer app. Right now its clearly in Beta, possibly still Alpha stages but I can see this thing has enormous potential. Is it email? Is it collaboration? Social media integration? Cloud computing? I have no idea, and I’m not sure Google knows what it has either. But..its just so cool. It feels cool in a geeky way. Geeks know what I’m talking about. Check out the screen shot below:

No More Internet Exploder 6

okorioth — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:47:04 +0000

I have decided enough is enough and am joining the Internet campaign to eradicate the existence of Internet Explorer 6. Its old, full of security holes and frankly just does not play nice with Internet standards. If you are browsing this site with this version you will have no doubt noticed the huge warning banner to upgrade. Seriously, what is keeping you back from doing so or choosing a superior alternative? Personally I like Firefox and Chrome. So do us all a favor, upgrade or install something else today!

Microsoft Announces Windows 7 Pricing

okorioth — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:53:10 +0000

So, the cat is finally out of the bag. As an update to my previous post, Microsoft has finally released details on what Windows 7 is going to cost. Via this blog posting;

The estimated retail prices for upgrade packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:

Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade): $119.99

Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade): $199.99

Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade): $219.99

And the estimated retail prices for full packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:

Windows 7 Home Premium (Full): $199.99

Windows 7 Professional (Full): $299.99

Windows 7 Ultimate (Full): $319.99

Aww boo! Even though it less than what Vista costs today, this is still too expensive for my tastes. Two other tidibits of info, if you are a diehard first in line type Microsoft will be offering a Pre Order discount of about half off starting tomorrow (Friday June 26th 2009) at select retailers like Best Buy, Amazon etc. But only until July 11th! Fear not if you don’t want to take the early plunge, also starting tomorrow if you buy a new computer ” from a participating OEM or retailer with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate on it will all receive an upgrade to the corresponding version of Windows 7 at little or no cost to customers.” This is good until January 31st 2010.

OK, that doesn’t sound like a bad deal to me.

Windows 7 gets a release date

okorioth — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:12:19 +0000

The news was flying around the intertubes yesterday, Windows 7 will be generally available on October 22nd this year, just in time for the holidays of course. So if you are thinking of upgrading your computer, it may be in your best interest to wait. Windows 7 so far has proved, via the beta program, it is far superior than Vista in many ways. Details ares till forthcoming on the Windows 7 Option Upgrade program, how much this will finally cost etc etc. Of course, Microsoft is still sticking with its more is better mantra and will be offerring another confusing multiple versions of 7. Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. Thats a lot of versions, the only two consumers should care about would be Home Premium or Professional, the first two will only be sold in emerging markets for the most part. PCMag has a great article dissecting all this information on the different versions.

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 now available

okorioth — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:27:11 +0000

For those of you who can’t wait to dive into new releases from Microsoft, Vista users can now download service pack 2 directly from Microsoft ahead of the scheduled Updates rollout (happening sometime next month).

32 bit is here

64 bit is here

So what does this do? Upgrade to Windows 7? Uhm..not quite sorry. This is primarily a bug fix release, and most of the improved items are happening under the hood. Some notable changes in this Service Pack are:

SP2 includes ability to record data to Blu-Ray Disc media.
SP2 integrates the Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless, which contains support for Bluetooth v2.1 and Windows Connect Now (WCN) Wi-Fi Configuration. Bluetooth v2.1 is the most recent specification for Bluetooth wireless technology.
SP2 improves performance for Wi-Fi connections after resuming from sleep mode.
SP2 includes Windows Search 4.0

The full list of changes can be found here. Happy downloading!

New Site, New Look

okorioth — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:32:52 +0000

Welcome to the redesigned Kortech Services web page. It was definitely time for an update. For those technically inclined, I have installed the latest WordPress blog platform which also makes for an excellent content management system. I have used this on my other sites as well and so far it works just fantastic.