For links to every topic in this issue, scroll down to the Index

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Backup your data with ZipBackup Finally, a backup program that is easy to use. ZipBackup's Wizard makes backups a snap for beginners. Filtering, scheduling, and disk spanning make it a powerful tool for experts. For a limited time, Windows Secrets readers receive 25% off. www.zipbackup.com

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By Brian Livingston We've added special links to help you use Digg, Delicious, Reddit, and other social-bookmarking sites to point to your favorite articles. If you're not yet using bookmarking sites, today would be a great day to start taking advantage of the wealth of content they bring together.

Bookmarking sites let you link to your favorites

A social-bookmarking site lets users save links to articles on the Web. Many such services show the most-popular articles at the top of the listings.

We got a first-hand example of how this works when our Sept. 13, 2007, article, "Microsoft updates Windows without users' consent," rose to the No. 5 spot on the home page of Digg.com, arguably the Web's biggest bookmarking site. As of Sept. 26, our story (with 2,847 diggs) and a follow-up at ZDNet were still rated No. 2 and No. 1 among all stories about Microsoft published in the previous 30 days (image, left).

And that was before we'd even added links to Digg and other bookmarking sites to our top stories.

This week, associate editor Scott Dunn has an even bigger story — the fact that Microsoft's silent update is actually preventing some Windows users from getting the latest security patches. Let's all use Digg today to help others find this article on the Web, shall we? Scroll to the links

Social-bookmarking sites are as different from each other as snowflakes. They all, however, allow you to register as a user (it's free) so you can see your favorite links from wherever you have Internet access. Some sites require a valid e-mail address to confirm your registration, but as far as we know, your personal information is kept private by these sites and isn't given out.

The bookmarking sites that attract the most traffic include the following:

• Digg, one of the 200 most-visited sites on the Web, according to Alexa, uses weighted voting to determine which stories rise to the top in eight major categories and numerous subcategories. More info, how to register

• Del.icio.us (pronounced "delicious") allows you to save and tag your favorite links, which you can keep to yourself or share with your friends or the world. More info, how to register

• Reddit uses terser descriptions of articles than Digg, but encourages users to vote up or down on links, training the site to adapt to your likes and dislikes. More info, how to register

• StumbleUpon offers nearly 500 topics to help users narrow their queries to the most relevant articles. More info, how to register

There are dozens of bookmarking sites, and it would be incredibly confusing for us to show icons and links to them all. For this reason, we've developed a link that lets you choose any bookmarking site you like:

• Other takes you to a long list prepared by AddThis.com. Once you register and indicate the bookmarking service you like, you won't have to choose again. More info, how to register

• Permalink shows you the permanent location of an article on the Web. This gives you a convenient way to send a link in an e-mail to a friend.

Initially, we're offering links to Digg and other bookmarking services only at the end of our lead story. In the future, we hope to find a way to help you bookmark other stories and our paid content, too.

Fred Langa's journey produces some great photos

Fred Langa, our editor-at-large, has finally come back from his five-month, cross-country motorcycle tour of the U.S. and Canada. His last article for Windows Secrets was on April 19, 2007.

In one of his adventures, Fred attracted the unwanted attentions of a wild bison (photo, left), which ambled within 4 feet of him. We don't have a close-up of that moment, because Fred in his Bullfighter Red motorcycle outfit was wise not to make any sudden shutter-snapping movements.

Fred's written a new series of eight columns documenting the technical support issues of Windows Secrets readers who won Housecalls, personal troubleshooting sessions with the Master.

Fred's columns will appear in the paid version of the newsletter. To make our paid content even more worthwhile, all paid subscribers can download Fred's best pictures from some of the remotest places in North America. We've collected the images into a .zip file suitable for use as Windows wallpaper. The photos are sized both for widescreen displays (16x9) and ordinary displays (4x3). Yes, the photos include Fred's bison buddy.

We don't require any set fee to get the paid version. Simply make a financial contribution of any amount — whatever it's worth to you — and you'll receive a full year of our best information, including Fred's new LangaList Plus columns and photographs. How to upgrade

Thanks for your support!

Excel 2007 displays 65,535 as 100,000

Commenters in the microsoft.public.excel discussion forum revealed on Sept. 22 that Excel 2007 incorrectly displays floating-point numbers around 65,535 and 65,536 as 100,000. A Slashdot user, however, reports that the affected cells work correctly in formulas and graphs, despite the errant display.

Microsoft blogger David Gainer acknowledged the problem on Sept. 25 and said the Redmond company is working on a fix. Until then, watch out when calculating those big mortgage payments!

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By Scott Dunn A silent update that Microsoft deployed widely in July and August is preventing the "repair" feature of Windows XP from completing successfully. Ever since the Redmond company's recent download of new support files for Windows Update, users of XP's repair function have been unable to install the latest 80 patches from Microsoft.

Repaired installations of XP can't be updated

Accounts of conflicts with XP's repair option came to our attention after Microsoft's "silent install" of Windows Update (WU) executable files, known as version 7.0.600.381, was reported in the Sept. 13 and 20 issues of the Windows Secrets Newsletter.

The trouble occurs when users reinstall XP's system files using the repair capability found on genuine XP CD-ROMs. (The feature is not present on "Restore CDs.") The repair option, which is typically employed when XP for some reason becomes unbootable, rolls many aspects of XP back to a pristine state. It wipes out many updates and patches and sets Internet Explorer back to the version that originally shipped with the operating system.

Normally, users who repair XP can easily download and install the latest patches, using the Automatic Updates control panel or navigating directly to Microsoft's Windows Update site.

However, after using the repair option from an XP CD-ROM, Windows Update now downloads and installs the new 7.0.600.381 executable files. Some WU executables aren't registered with the operating system, preventing Windows Update from working as intended. This, in turn, prevents Microsoft's 80 latest patches from installing — even if the patches successfully downloaded to the PC.

I was able to reproduce and confirm the problem on a test machine. When WU tries to download the most recent patches to a "repaired" XP machine, Microsoft's Web site simply states: "A problem on your computer is preventing the updates from being downloaded or installed." (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. After a repair install of XP, which resets the operating system to its original state, Windows Update can't install the 80 most-recent patches from Microsoft.
__________

Most ordinary Windows users might never attempt a repair install, but the problem will affect many administrators who must repair Windows frequently. Anyone who runs XP's repair function will find that isolating the cause of the failed updates is not a simple matter.

Beginning in July, it is not possible for Windows users to install updates without first receiving the 7.0.6000.381 version of nine Windows Update support files. (See my Sept. 13 story for details.) If Automatic Updates is turned on, the .381 update will be installed automatically. If AU is not turned on, you'll be prompted to let Windows Update upgrade itself before you can installing any other updates. Consequently, users are forced to get the silent update before they can attempt to install Microsoft's latest security patches.

The problem apparently arises because seven of the DLLs (dynamic link library files) used by WU fail to be registered with Windows. If files of the same name had previously been registered — as happened when Windows Update upgraded itself in the past — the new DLL files are registered, too, and no problem occurs. On a "repaired" copy of XP, however, no such registration has occurred, and failing to register the new DLLs costs Windows Update the ability to install any patches.

Registering DLL files is normally the role of an installer program. Unlike previous upgrades to WU, however, Microsoft has published no link to an installer or a downloadable version of 7.0.6000.381. Strangely, there's no Knowledge Base article at all explaining the new version. The lack of a KB article (and the links that usually appear therein) makes it impossible for admins to run an installer to see if it would correct the registration problem.

One possible fix is to install an older version of the Windows Update files (downloadable from Step 2 of Microsoft Knowledge Base article 927891) over the newer version. This involves launching the installer from a command line using a switch known as /wuforce.

That corrects the registration problem, although even in this case you must still accept the .381 stealth update (again) before you can get any updates. The fact that the /wuforce procedure solves the problem suggests that the installer for .381 is the source of the bug.

Manually registering files solves the problem

If you find that Windows Update refuses to install most patches, you can register its missing DLLs yourself. This can be accomplished by manually entering seven commands (shown in Step 2, below) at a command prompt. If you need to run the fix on multiple machines, it's easiest to use a batch file, as Steps 1 through 5 explain:

Step 1. Open Notepad (or any text editor).

Step 2. Copy and paste the following command lines into the Notepad window (the /s switch runs the commands silently, freeing you from having to press Enter after each line):

regsvr32 /s wuapi.dll
regsvr32 /s wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32 /s wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 /s wucltui.dll
regsvr32 /s wups2.dll
regsvr32 /s wups.dll
regsvr32 /s wuweb.dll

Step 3. Save the file to your desktop, using a .bat or .cmd extension.

Step 4. Double-click the icon of the .bat or .cmd file.

Step 5. A command window will open, run the commands, and then close.

The next time you visit the Windows Update site, you should not have any problem installing the latest patches.

In my articles in the last two weeks on the silent installation of the Windows Update support files, I stated that the stealthy upgrade seemed harmless. Now that we know that version .381 prevents a repaired instance of XP from getting critical patches, "harmless" no longer describes the situation. The crippling of Windows Update illustrates why many computer professionals demand to review updates for software conflicts before widely installing upgrades.

"I understand the need to update the infrastructure for Windows Update," says Gordon Pegue, systems administrator for Chavez Grieves Engineers, a structural engineering firm in Albuquerque, N.M. "But I think Microsoft dropped the ball a little bit communicating how the system works. Administrators should know these sorts of things, in case problems arise."

A Microsoft spokeswoman offered to provide an official response about the situation, but I received no reply by press time.

If you ever need to run the repair option on XP, first see the detailed description provided by the Michael Stevens Tech Web site.

I'd like to thank Windows Secrets contributing editor Susan Bradley for her help in bringing reports of this problem to light.

Have a tip about Windows? Readers receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of their choice for sending tips we print. Send us your comments via the Windows Secrets contact page.

Please help people find this article (explain):
Digg	Delicious	Reddit	StumbleUpon	Other	Permalink

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By Diane Korngiebel Reports of Microsoft's silent updates published on Sept. 13 and 20 by Windows Secrets raised security questions for many readers. But with a little bit of know-how, you can keep risks to a minimum when getting updates using Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.

• "I completely turn off Windows Update by disabling the Automatic Updates service and setting the BITS service to manual. I have an older machine so every little thing I can to help performance is welcomed.
  
  "When I decide to do a Windows or Microsoft update, I run a batch file that changes the Automatic Update service type to Automatic, starts it and also starts the BITS service.
  
  "I then run Microsoft update. When that's done, I run another batch file to turn everything off and disable the service."
  

• "I tried your method of using User Agent Switcher in order to run Windows Update, but it only works if you have the IE Tab installed. Then it automatically uses an IE Tab when you go to Microsoft Update. I think the problem is Windows Update uses ActiveX controls for access and Firefox, as far as I know, can't run ActiveX."
  

• ActiveX controls and plug-ins:
  • Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins: enable
  • Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting: enable
  
  
• Scripting:
  • Active scripting: enable
  

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In this Platoon parody, an office tech runs a gantlet of angry, and violent, co-workers on his way to revive a downed server. Many of us can sympathize with the frustration produced by a suddenly unavailable server, a situation cleverly spoofed in this late 2006 commercial by Canadian-based BlueCat Networks to advertise its Adonis DNS appliances. Play the video

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