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Patch Tuesday

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Windows Updated
One Cumulative Update and a 1 or 2 .NET updates depending on which version you’ve installed.
20H2 & 2004: February 9, 2021—KB4601319 (OS Builds 19041.804 and 19042.804)
1909: February 9, 2021—KB4601315 (OS Build 18363.1377)

Firefox 85.0.2
“Fixed a deadlock during startup”
Download | Release Notes

O&O ShutUp10 Updated
“FIX: Determining registry key permissions has resulted in fewer displayed settings on some NT domain systems.”
If you aren’t on a corporate network (domain) then don’t bother with this update.
Download | Changelog

Security update available for Adobe Reader
Download | Security Bulletin

Google Chrome will no longer support dusty old computers from the mid-2000s
“Though admittedly small, the user base for Chrome users on devices dating back to the early to mid-2000s still exists. A new policy document published by the Chromium development team states that they will be dropping support for processors that lack something called SSE3, or Streaming SIMD Extensions 3, in x86 Chrome builds.”
SSE3 from Wikipedia:
“Intel introduced SSE3 in early 2004 with the Prescott revision of their Pentium 4 CPU. In April 2005, AMD introduced a subset of SSE3 in revision E (Venice and San Diego) of their Athlon 64 CPUs.”
From Intel: Products formerly Prescott

Google Chrome Updated

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“The Stable channel has been updated to 88.0.4324.150 for Windows, Mac and Linux”
2 days ago Chrome was updated to 88.0.4324.146. Between the 2 updates it covers 7 security issues.
Download | Info
Chrome for Android was updated to 88.0.4324.141 on the 1st.
“This release includes stability and performance improvements.”

Antivirus In Your Linux Mint VM

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I use my Linux Mint VM for most of my internet activity. Because of this I like to install an antivirus on that VM so that I can scan files before I transfer them to the Windows host.
To be clear, I do this to protect Windows, not Linux Mint.
I use ClamAV:
“Clam AntiVirus (ClamAV) is a free software, cross-platform and open-source antivirus software toolkit able to detect many types of malicious software, including viruses.”
ClamAV Manuals

Let’s Install It
We are going to install ClamTk:
“ClamTk is a graphical front-end for ClamAV using Perl and Gtk libraries. It is designed to be an easy-to-use, lightweight, on-demand antivirus scanner for Linux systems.”
[Read more…] about Antivirus In Your Linux Mint VM

UAC – Quick notes on why I disable it.

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Original article: Windows 7 UAC – Quick notes on why I disable it. circa 2009

***31 December, 2020
As of today my original article is over eleven years old. Links to sources have disappeared. I updated the links today, mostly to the Internet Wayback Machine archive. I’ve also backed up these sources to PDF and have linked to those where appropriate.

Microsoft introduced User Account Control (UAC) with Windows Vista. Windows 7 has an “improved” version of UAC. The purpose of this short note is to explain why I do not like or use UAC on my own machines (because I get asked so much), it is not to start an argument or to try to convince others to disable UAC.
[Read more…] about UAC – Quick notes on why I disable it.

Patch Tuesday

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Windows Update
You should be on 20H2, 2004, or 1909. I now have 5 PC’s running Win10 20H2, one running Windows 7 (no network), and 1 running TrueNAS.
Win10 1909 – November 10, 2020—KB4586786 (OS Builds 18362.1198 and 18363.1198)
Win10 2004 & 20H2 – November 10, 2020—KB4586781 (OS Builds 19041.630 and 19042.630)

New Graphics Drivers
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.11.1 Optional (11/6/2020)
Nvidia Geforce Game Ready Drivers 457.30 WHQL (11/9/2020)
Intel Graphics Windows 10 DCH Drivers (Version: 27.20.100.8935 Date: 11/6/2020)

Browser Updates
Google Chrome 86.0.4240.193 (1 security fix)
Firefox 82.0.3 (1 security fix)

Other Software
Cleanmgr+ 1.36.1141
EMDB 3.70

Off Topic

Veteran’s Day Deals For Vets
A ton of restaurants are offering something. Many national retailers are giving 10% off.
Military.com – 2020 Veterans Day Retail Deals and Discounts
Noteworthy:
Food Lion 10% off “active military, veterans and their families should present their MVP card, along with military identification”
Office Depot and OfficeMax 25% off “Valid in Office Depot and OfficeMax stores only for all Veterans, Active Duty Military Personnel, Retirees, Reservists, and their dependents. Must present a valid Military ID, Military Dependent ID, or form of Veteran ID at the time of purchase.
Publix “Veterans, active military personnel, and their families are invited to save 10% on groceries on Wednesday, November 11, 2020.”
Staples 25% off

Hot deals today! Up to 30% off on Data Storage from Seagate, Western Digital and more

Samsung (MZ-V7S1T0B/AM) 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB – M.2 NVMe
List Price $249.99
With Deal: $149.99 & FREE Shipping
You Save: $100.00 (40%)

Contact Tracing Apps

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Apple, Google Release Virus Contact-Tracing Tools to App Makers
“Apple Inc. and Google released the first versions of their Covid-19 contact-tracing tools to public health organizations on Wednesday so the agencies can start building applications ahead of the system’s launch in mid-May.”

Contact tracing apps can help stop coronavirus. But they can hurt privacy.

EFF – COVID-19 and Digital Rights
EFF – Apple and Google’s COVID-19 Exposure Notification API: Questions and Answers

Americans split on use of contact tracing apps powered by Apple/Google API
“Americans are divided on whether they would be willing to use coronavirus contact tracing apps powered by the joint Apple/Google API. A Washington Post/University of Maryland poll found an exact 50/50 split between those who would use it and those who wouldn’t.”

So what say you, are you gonna install it?

Patch Tuesday

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Windows 7-10 updated. Patches between 3 and 7 dozen vulnerabilities depending on OS and version.
Windows 7
April 14, 2020—KB4550965 (Security-only update)
April 14, 2020—KB4550964 (Monthly Rollup)
Windows 8.1
April 14, 2020—KB4550970 (Security-only update)
April 14, 2020—KB4550961 (Monthly Rollup)
Windows 10
1909 & 1903 – April 14, 2020—KB4549951 (OS Builds 18362.778 and 18363.778)
1809 – April 14, 2020—KB4549949 (OS Build 17763.1158)

Security Update Guide > Release Notes > April 2020 Security Updates

Patch Tuesday

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Windows Updates
Windows 10
1909 – March 10, 2020—KB4540673 (OS Builds 18362.719 and 18363.719)
1903 – March 10, 2020—KB4540673 (OS Builds 18362.719 and 18363.719)
1809 – March 10, 2020—KB4538461 (OS Build 17763.1098)

Windows 8.1
March 10, 2020—KB4541509 (Monthly Rollup)
March 10, 2020—KB4541505 (Security-only update)

Windows 7
March 10, 2020—KB4540688 (Monthly Rollup)
March 10, 2020—KB4541500 (Security-only update)
***IMPORTANT***
READ THE SECTION “Before installing this update”
Prerequisite:
You must install the updates listed below and restart your device before installing the latest Rollup. Installing these updates improves the reliability of the update process and mitigates potential issues while installing the Rollup and applying Microsoft security fixes.