Ask DACS
June 2012

Moderated and reported by Jim Scheef.

Q – When I shut down my computer, there is always a Microsoft update waiting to install. I finally realized it was the same update each time and it was failing each time. Has anyone else had this problem? The update is KB2659262 on Windows XP.
A - The first suggestion was to boot in "safe mode" from the F8 boot options menu. Then go to the Windows Updates website and let it scan the machine. It will note the missing update, realize you already have it on disk and offer to install it. What we failed to mention at the meeting was to use "safe mode with networking". After the meeting, the member reported finding a manual method to install updates:

Back in normal mode and querying "KB265962" at http://answers.microsoft.com, I found:

Method 3: Install updates manually and then check if it helps.
To install updates manually by follow the steps mentioned below.
a)            Go to http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/default.aspx
b)            Search for the updates using KB article number for the update.
c)            Download and install it. 

The update installed!

Q - In the new version of Picasa and in MSN, I can't enter any text in the login dialog window. It's as if the windows are disabled. I can click a link for help on the dialog and I can close the dialog. I just can't  enter any text. This is on a laptop running Windows XP. What's wrong?
A - One member asked if the window can be moved to the side to see if there is another dialog hidden behind the login window. I asked if the title bar on the problem window turns dark blue (i.e.: the window gets focus - focus means the window that is on top; you can only type into the one window that has focus) when you click on one of the text boxes on the form. The member said it does not. This would indicate that the dialog cannot get focus. Another suggestion was to use the Alt-Tab key combination to cycle thru all open windows. This might uncover a window that is hidden or minimized that is causing the problem. The fact that  one item on the dialog (help) was clickable, while everything else was inactive seems very unusual.

Q - What does it mean when someone says that there are "security issues" with Adobe Flash?
A - Flash is used on many websites to display active or animated content. When it does this it is executing a script or "Flash program" on your computer. Since Flash executes most often from within your browser (aka: plug-in, add-on, extension) it should be confined to the browser's "sandbox" where it has limited access to your computer. Unfortunately, there are many vulnerabilities (security holes) that malicious code can exploit to gain full access to everything on your machine. As these "security problems" are discovered, Adobe tries to patch Flash, Microsoft tries to patch Windows and the anti-virus/anti-malware people try to improve their defenses. This is why it is so important that you do your part and ensure that you keep everything up to date.

Q - When I go to several websites, J.Crew (a catalog clothing store) is an example; the site seems to hang until I get an error message asking if I want to cancel a script or to continue waiting. Is there some way I can speed up this process? The browser is Firefox.
A - Complex sites like the New York Times or a large shopping site like J.Crew typically use scripts from many other locations as part of their overall website. These scripts do things like authenticate your login, display or change graphic images, track your progress thru the site, build your shopping cart, display advertising based on information gathered from current or previous tracking, and more every day. In Firefox you can control which sites are allowed to run scripts using an extension called No-Script (noscript.net). Using NoScript you could determine from where the problem script is coming and tell NoScript that scripts from that site are "untrusted". Your browser will then ignore all scripts coming from that site. As an example, I use NoScript to ignore anything coming from DoubleClick. Once this is in effect, the J.Crew site will no longer hang waiting for that problem script. The downside to this is that the script in question may be needed for the site to function correctly and marking a domain as untrusted is global and affects all web sites that use scripts from that domain. During the discussion a member tested the J.Crew site and received a message about a blocked pop-up window. If a script were to open a pop-up window (which was blocked by the browser or some other means) and then waited for code in the pop-up window to run, that would cause the behavior seen by the questioner.
Something that came up but we did not discuss is that cookies and scripts are not the same. Cookies are small strings of data that are stored and retrieved by your browser under the direction of a website script. Cookies are not programs and cannot execute code. Their primary purpose is to save data between browsing sessions (aka: tracking). In the context of this discussion, scripts are small programs almost always written in JavaScript that execute within your browser. Scripts from websites are supposed to be limited in what they can do by the browser's sandbox, but this limitation can be removed when you give them permission to run. Such permission can come from a misleading question on a webpage. Remember: never expect bad people to tell the truth.

Q - Has anyone tried installing the new Windows 8 Release Preview? (Released May 31st) I tried it on a Gateway laptop and the sound does not work.
A - Others reported smooth installs with good sound support. After the meeting the questioner reported that a device driver downloaded from the Creative website (creative.com) installed and now the sound card is working. The driver was listed under Windows Vista which implied support for Win 7.

Q - A follow up on Win 8: has anyone been able to get the Mail app to work?
A - I reported success with the Mail app both with Exchange server and regular IMAP accounts. Setting for Win 8 Metro style apps are found by moving the mouse to the lower-right corner of the screen to make the settings bar pop out. Clicking the gear then opens additional settings.

Q - I installed Google Chrome and it keeps asking me to make it the default browser. Normally I click the Internet Explorer "e" icon to go online. I made Chrome the default browser but Internet Explorer still opens.
A - The default browser is the one that opens when you click on a shortcut on your desktop, click a link in an email, or any time you indicate that you want to open web content but do not specify the browser. The "e" icon specifically opens Internet Explorer whether it is the default browser or not; just like clicking the Chrome icon (that red/green/yellow beach ball) always opens Chrome. Of course if there is only one browser installed, as Internet Explorer is the only browser in a new Windows installation.

Q - Can I copy all the programs and data from one disk to a new hard disk and then boot from the new disk?
A - This is best done using one of the many disk cloning utilities. Acronis True Image (acronis.com) is one product mentioned at the meeting. DACS members can purchase this product at a discount thru User Group Relations (ugr.com) which is run by Gene Barlow, a former speaker at DACS general meetings.

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