[27 Feb 2009]
CCleaner v2.17
– Added wiping of disk free space.
– Progress bar changed to go from 0 to 100%.
– Improved Apple Safari history cleaning.
– Improved speed of Uninstaller Tool.
– Interface string changes and fixes.
– Added Ukranian translation.
– Installer language tweaks.
– Minor architecture changes.
– Minor bug fixes.
ATI Catalyst 9.2 Drivers
Nvidia GeForce Driver Release 182.06
This is a WHQL driver for GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, and 200-series desktop GPUs.
New in Release 182.06:
* Recommended for the best experience in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
* Boosts performance in numerous 3D applications. The following are some examples of improvements measured with Release 182.06 WHQL drivers vs. Release 181.22 WHQL drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
o Up to 8% performance increase in Fallout 3 at high resolution and AA.
o Up to 10% performance increase in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
o Up to 9% performance increase in Half-Life 2 at high resolution with AA.
o Up to 11% performance increase in Left 4 Dead at high resolution with AA.
o Up to 10% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID at high resolution and AA.
* Includes full support for OpenGL 3.0 on GeForce 8-series, 9-series, and 200-series GPUs.
* Automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0203.
* Additional information on specific bug fixes can be found in the release documentation notes.
* Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.
Time To Run Windows Update
Updates available for XP, 2K3, Vista, 2K8, IE7, IE8 (Windows 7 Beta), etc.
Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for February 2009
Ultimate Windows Tweaker v 1.1 Released
UWT is the only tweak program I currently use for Vista. If you are going to use this program, PLEASE know what you are tweaking beforehand. As always, backup first.
UWT 1.1 change log, Download & Info.
MS Sysinternals Tools Updates
Process Explorer v11.33: This update fixes a bug where the history graph tooltips could display the wrong data point and reduces the memory footprint of the structures that store graph history.
Autoruns v9.39: This Autoruns update fixes a couple of minor bugs and adds a new Windows 7 location.
Source: Sysinternals Site Discussion
Process Explorer v11.33
Autoruns v9.39
Engineering Windows 7 – UAC Feedback and Follow-Up
With this feedback and a lot more we are going to deliver two changes to the Release Candidate that we’ll all see. First, the UAC control panel will run in a high integrity process, which requires elevation. That was already in the works before this discussion and doing this prevents all the mechanics around SendKeys and the like from working. Second, changing the level of the UAC will also prompt for confirmation.
BleachBit – The privacy and disk space cleaner for Linux
A friend emailed me and asked if there was a CCleaner type app for Linux. Yep, there is:
BleachBit – The privacy and disk space cleaner for Linux
Many distros have this available within one of their repos (Packman for openSUSE) but you can also download the RPM’s / Deb’s from the BleachBit site.
BleachBit deletes unnecessary files to free valuable disk space, maintain privacy, and remove junk. Rid your system of old clutter including cache, Internet history, localizations, temporary files, cookies, and broken shortcuts. Designed for Linux systems, it wipes clean Adobe Reader, Bash, Beagle, Epiphany, Firefox, Flash, GIMP, Google Earth, Java, KDE, OpenOffice.org, Opera, RealPlayer, rpmbuild, Second Live viewer, VIM, XChat, and more.
Neowin – Microsoft: Update on Windows 7 UAC issues
Neowin – Microsoft: Update on Windows 7 UAC issues
links to Engineering Windows 7 Blog – Update on UAC
I’ve pretty much stayed away from this topic because we are talking about Windows 7 BETA, not RC1, not RC2, not Final.
At any rate, of note from the blog post:
The first issue to untangle is about the difference between malware making it onto a PC and being run, versus what it can do once it is running. There has been no report of a way for malware to make it onto a PC without consent…
One important thing to know is that UAC is not a security boundary. UAC helps people be more secure, but it is not a cure all. UAC helps most by being the prompt before software is installed.
IE7Pro v2.4.5
IE7Pro is a must have add-on for Internet Explorer, which includes a lot of features and tweaks to make your IE friendlier, more useful, secure and customizable. IE7Pro includes Tabbed Browsing Management, Spell Check, Inline Search, Super Drag Drop, Crash Recovery, Proxy Switcher, Mouse Gesture, Tab History Browser, Web Accelerator, User Agent Switcher, Webpage Capturer, AD Blocker, Flash Block, Greasemonkey like User Scripts platform, User Plug-ins, MiniDM, Google sponsored search,IE Faster and many more power packed features. You can customize not just Internet Explorer, but even your favorite website according to your need and taste using IE7Pro.
Changelogs: IE7Pro v2.4.5 (02/04/09):
1. Fixed some bugs.