As I mentioned recently I've had the honor of receiving a Microsoft MVP(Most Valuable Professional) award for 2009. Today DHL delivered some fun stuff to make me really feel special.
The MVP kit includes a lapel pin, certificate, badge and a nice crystal statue. The only thing missing was a MVP t-shirt.
Thank you Microsoft
If everything goes as planned I’ll be traveling out to Los Angeles later this month for the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference. I’ve attended a number of PDC’s in the past and always had a good time. In the old days Bill Gates would give the keynote address. This year we’ll be double teamed by Ray Ozzie, Amitabh Srivastava, Bob Muglia, David Thompson, Steven Sinofsky, Scott Guthrie, David Treadwell and Rick Rashid.
This is a big chance for Microsoft to get developers excited enough to begin programming for Windows 7. Microsoft says they’ll provide each participant with a 160 GB external hard drive with everything we need to get started. Like many I’ve been disappointed with Vista so I’m really hoping this event will get me engergized.
If any of my readers are attending this event be sure to let me know. You’ll recognize me in L.A. my WinPatrol sports shirt. 
I’m looking forward to seeing some old friends, meeting some new ones and doing a little California dreamin’. I’ll be bringing a camera, doing screen shots and will report all my findings here on BitsfromBill.com, so stay tuned for more.
By popular demand, I’ve released an update to the latest version of WinPatrol. In the last new version I added the ability to request PLUS Info directly from Windows Explorer. Unfortunately, I neglected to make this an optional feature. As always I like to make everyone happy so I found room for a new option.
If you’d like this option you can download the newest WinPatrol 15.9.2008.5 at http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html. Thanks again to everyone for their feedback and support.
I’m a big fan of all the folks who publish the Windows Secrets Newsletter but today an article by Scott Dunn gave me chills. Scott reviewed a number of keylogging programs under the premise of good parenting.
“Are your kids visiting sites you disapprove of, or is your schnauzer making unauthorized purchases of doggie biscuits on eBay?”
Scott did his homework on the functionality of keyloggers but neglected to understand how often these programs are used for malicious intent. In my own research, I spent a great deal of time listening to the folks at NNEDV(National Network to End Domestic Violence). If Scott had talked with anyone who deals with domestic violence he would understand just how horrible and dangerous these programs are. Their primary customers are not parents.
These programs know they’ll be used for no good and try to ease their guilt with weak warnings. They are not a replacement for proper parental supervision. The risk and degree of pain caused by the evil use of these programs doesn’t make up for any legitimate usage.
When I was researching keyloggers to verify WinPatrol would detect them I couldn’t help but laugh at the following disclaimers.
Aside from this faux pas, I still recommend the Windows Secrets Newsletter. They’ve given some good reviews of my efforts with WinPatrol in the past. They also announced that Fred Langa is coming out of retirement and will be contributing again which was the best news in today’s newsletter.
See: Ex-Husband Gets Jail Time for Keylogger
Thanks to all my friends on Twitter who helped me figure out how to spell “faux pas”.
I’ve often said, even some of the smartest folks I know can find themselves infected with malware. Last week a family member found themselves with frequent pop ups telling them they were infected. They didn’t do anything wrong. Their machine had a vulnerability that allowed the infection just by being connected to the Internet. They finally gave up and downloaded Antivirus 2009. Luckily, they had WinPatrol available to remove it but one simple step could have saved them a lot of anxiety.
It happen to me today as well. I clicked on a legitimate link and suddenly received the following pop up.
This appeared just by being on the Internet
It won’t do you any good to click any button including the X. The result will always be a fake scan by Extortion-ware Anti Virus 2009
STOP here, clicking on the Red X won't save you.
Eventually, most folks give up and end up downloading Antivirus 2009 which turns into Extortion-Ware. They try to convince you that upgrading and paying is the only way to clean up the viruses listed above.
Solution: Ctrl-Alt-Del
The answer to this situation is simple. As soon as you experience your first pop up that can’t be closed by the X in the upper right-hand corner your next step should be Ctrl-Alt-Del. This is your opportunity to open the Windows Task Manager. Check the list of Applications and Kill your browser.
Windows XP Task Manager
You could also use WinPatrol’s Active Task list to kill the browser but since you only need to kill a single task, Ctrl-Alt-Del is even easier. If however you did download AntiVirus 2009 you’ll want WinPatrol so you can sort, select and kill multiple tasks in a single operation. You can also use WinPatrol to “Delete File on Reboot” any files which don’t seem to want to go away. WinPatrol users see http://www.winpatrol.com/helpme.html.
Prevention: Security Updates
Your next step is to make sure you’ve downloaded all the available Windows security updates. Many of you know, I typically recommend against automatically installing new Windows updates on the day they’re released. Last month Microsoft did release a number of new security patches. Guess what? It’s time to update.
Let me repeat. The first pop up I received came with I clicked on a valid link. I went back to the same link and it was fine. IT’S TIME TO UPDATE!!!
Today, Microsoft provided the award of MVP (Most Valuable Professional) to number of bright and outstanding individuals who devote their time to help others. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Microsoft MVP’s and today I’ve been given the honor to join them.
Microsoft notified me this morning that I’ve been selected as a Microsoft MVP.
The Microsoft MVP Award Program recognizes and thanks outstanding members of technical communities for their community participation and willingness to help others. The MVP Award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who foster the free and objective exchange of knowledge by actively sharing their real-world expertise with technology users. The MVP Award celebrates the most active community members from around the world who provide invaluable online and offline expertise that enriches the community experience and makes a difference in technical communities that feature Microsoft products.
While I had been approached by Microsoft to see if I was interested, the award was still a little bit of a surprise. It’s no secret that I haven’t spent much time promoting Windows Vista and I have been slightly critical of the auto update process. I’m impressed and humbled that the folks at Microsoft honored me with this title. I promise to continue speaking out when I can offer some constructive criticism but I’m still thrilled to be included in a group of exceptional professions.
I would especially like to thank those MVP’s who nominated me and helped Microsoft think I was worthy. It’s been a decade since I worked out at the Redmond campus so I look forward to next years MVP Global Summit and meeting my fellow MVP’s.
This week our friends at Google are celebrating their 10th birthday. In the tradition of the Hobbits, Google had decided to give us all a present in the form of their oldest available search index.
Click on http://www.google.com/search2001.html and you can go back in history to 2001 and see what kind of results were delivered by Google. Search on Sarah Palin and you'll find nothing. A search on Windows Vista won't bring many computer related items. An iPod was an Image Proof of Deposit Document System.
I often use my own unique last name (Pytlovany) to test search engines. On Google in 2001 there were 77 items found when I searched. Today, Google reports that are 5,500 pages that include my last name. In 2001, WinPatrol was mentioned on 371 pages. This morning a Google search on WinPatrol shows well over a million.
What makes this really fun is that Google as partnered with archive.org so that when you click on the results there’s a good chance you can see what the resulting page actually looked like in 2001. Searching on John McCain or Joe Biden will give you access to many of their historic positions. There’s even a chat with John McCain on AOL.
Click on “View old version of the Internet Archive”
Here’s what our WinPatrol web page looked like seven years ago.
WinPatrol.com in 2001. Click for more
I’m told that Google 2001 will only be available for the month of October so use your imagination and see what fun you can have.
More screen shots:
Technologizer: Time Travel via Google
