by Arie Slob

Dear Windows-Help.NET Subscriber, After the revelations of Microsoft's Windows 98 privacy glitches (see our Newsletter of 13 March), it came to light that Macromedia's Shockwave is also suffering from a privacy hole. As reported on C|Net's News.Com, a part of Shockwave's automatic update feature sends the URLs a user has visited, including names, passwords and other information which is in some cases carried in URLs for password-protected sites. Marcomedia has posted an update on the Shockwave site, which strips out this information. Bulgarian bug hunter Georgi Guninski discovered another JavaScript bug in Netscape's browsers and he thinks all 4.x versions are affected. This bug lets others read your cache, browse your directories, read the content of HTML files, and probably some other things! He has posted some demonstrations on his Web site. Microsoft released the long awaited final version of Internet Explorer 5 on the 18th of March. If you want to download your version, be prepared for delays, your best bet might be to wait a week or two, until the initial "surge" has subsided. Our experience with very early morning hours US time has been pretty good. Also, don't be surprised if you are having problems reaching sites - any sites that is - during said period, as the Internet is under severe strain by all those millions trying to get the new browser - with downloads in the region of 7.5 - 18MB. OK, you want the download details? Have a look at this page on the Windows-Help.NET Support BBS. It lists most of them! Patch Available for Windows NT "Screen Saver" Vulnerability Microsoft has learned of a vulnerability affecting all versions of Microsoft® Windows NT® operating system, which could allow a user to gain administrative privileges on a computer. In most common usage scenarios, this vulnerability presents itself on workstations, terminal servers, and other systems that allow non-administrative users to interactively log on. Less common configurations could also be affected, and are discussed in the Knowledge Base Article linked below. A fully supported patch is available to eliminate the vulnerability, and Microsoft recommends that affected customers download and install it, if appropriate. For more information, and links to download the patch, see Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article No. Q221991. Patch Available for "Malformed Bind Request" Vulnerability Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a vulnerability in the LDAP Bind function for Microsoft® Exchange® 5.5. The vulnerability could allow denial of service attacks against an Exchange server or, under certain conditions, could allow arbitrary code to be run on the server. A fully supported patch is available, and Microsoft recommends that customers who are at risk from this attack download and install it. For more information, and links to download the patch, see Microsoft's Security Bulletin No. ms99-009.

WIN COOL Software!
Each week, InfiniSource will draw at random three names from the pool of visitors who have filled out our Site Survey form and entered their name and email address. First prize will win a free registered copy of TweakDUN and one other software of your choice... second prize a free registered copy of LinkFox and your choice of either ClipCache, The Cleaner or Rescue 911... and third prize your choice of DU Meter, Tweaking ToolBox for Windows, The Cleaner or Rescue 911.

Iomega Recalls Power Supplies
Iomega is recalling the power supply which came included with Jaz drives. Apparently the two-piece plastic housing in the power supply can separate and expose the internal electronics.

To check if you are affected, unplug your power supply and check if it bears model number GPC14-2001 and a serial number beginning with any three digits from 837 through 907. The serial number is located on the lower right-hand corner of the identification label.

If your power supply is affected, stop using it, and visit the Iomega Web site for more information.

Windows 95 & 98 Tip
Change the Start-up and Log off screens
If you want you own custom Start-up and Log off screens in Windows 9.x, follow these steps:

More (Win95)

More (Win98)

Windows 98 Tip
Version Conflict Manager
Sometimes, when installing software, you may have a newer version of a file on your system than the one being installed. Windows 98 Set-up automatically installs the (older) Windows 98 file over the newer file and stores the newer version of the file in the \Windows\VCM folder.

More....

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