Microsoft will not include a new feature recently recognised as a security risk in the first release of its new operating system, Vista.

Last week, just days after a beta of Windows Vista was released, an Austrian hacker claimed to have devised a series of viruses that targeted the Monad command shell and could be used to disrupt a system.

However, Microsoft has since confirmed that it will not include the shell in the first public version of Vista, expected at the end of 2006.

The Monad Shell lets users access the operating system using text-based commands rather than the traditional Windows graphical user interface. In the past, Microsoft has said that Monad will be part of Longhorn, the code name for both the next client and server versions of Windows.

Monad is expected to be included in Windows over the next “three to five years,” though, according to Microsoft’s director of product management, Eric Bergsaid. “Our intention is to synchronise it with both client and server operating systems,” he said.

Security experts had worried that if Monad were to be included in a widely used client, it might become an attractive target for hackers, especially if the shell were to be enabled by default. Whether it will be enabled by default is unclear. “There are multiple ways that we could introduce this technology to the client stream,” Berg said.

The first Microsoft product to use Monad will be the next release of Microsoft’s Exchange messaging server, codenamed Exchange 12, which is due in 2006. Monad is then expected to be included in the Windows Server “Longhorn”, expected in 2007, and then could be available in a future Windows Vista release, said Rob Helm, director of research with Directions on Microsoft. “Presumably, as time goes on, all of Microsoft’s products will have Monad scripting interfaces,” he said.

Posted by Dablu as Operating Systems at 4:54 PM IST

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You can automatically start programs whenever Windows launches. If you have programs automatically starting that you have not loaded then you can remove them using this tip as well.

Add a new startup application
Open your registry and find the key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run].

For each program you want to start automatically create a new string value using a descriptive name, and set the value of the string to the program executable.

For example, to automatically start Notepad, add a new entry of “Notepad”=”c:\windows\notepad.exe”.

Remove a startup application
If you’re trying to remove a program and can not find it in the StartUp folder (usually C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp), then it may be launching from one of the registry keys below. To remove it, delete the value associated with the program you want to remove.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows]

It may also be loaded from the [Load] or [Run] sections of your WIN.INI file, found in the Windows directory.

Posted by Dablu as Operating Systems at 6:26 AM IST

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• First, if you’re sure you don’t want the program at all, see if you can uninstall if from the “Add/Remove Programs” control panel. This is the best way to do it, since it will make use of any stored information about extra files that were placed on your PC at the time of initial installation.
• Look to see if it’s being launched from a shortcut in the start menu. Look for the folder corresponding to the “Programs, Startup” folder in your start menu. For example, on my NT box, this is:

C:\WINNT\Profiles\karelsf\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

I think in Win9x this would be in:
C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

depending on usernames, etc (I don’t have win9x on any of my computers). Also look in the startup folder for “All Users”, on NT this is in:

C:\WINNT\Profiles\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
Any shortcuts in those folders get run upon startup. To get rid of them, delete the shortcut.

On older systems, there may still be items getting launched out of the old initialization files from DOS or Windows 3.x. Look in:

• config.sys
• autoexect.bat
• win.ini (look for lines like “Load=” and “Run=”)
• boot.ini
• system.ini
• not sure of this one winstart.bat in the windows folder

These files can be edited using any text editor

Look in the registry under the following keys:

· HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
· HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
· HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
· HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
· HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
· HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
· HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
· HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
· HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\Setup
· HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit
· HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows
The registry can be edited using the command “REGEDIT”.

MORE INFORMATION on Run, RunOnce, RunServices, RunServicesOnce and Startup

Under Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Millennium Edition (Me) where all keys are supported, the keys are loaded in the following order:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

StartUp Folder

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

With the exception of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\…\RunOnce key, all keys and their entries are loaded asynchronously. Therefore, all entries in the RunServices and RunServicesOnce keys can potentially run at the same time.

Entries in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\…\RunOnce key are loaded synchronously in an undefined order.

Because the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\…\RunOnce key is loaded synchronously, all of its entries must finish loading before the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\…\Run, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\…\Run, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\…\RunOnce, and Startup Folder entries can be loaded.

The RunServicesOnce and RunServices keys are loaded before the user logs into Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me. Because these two keys run asynchronously with the Logon dialog box, they can continue to run after the user has logged on. However, since HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\…\RunOnce must load synchronously, its entries will not begin loading until after the RunServicesOnce and RunServices keys have finished loading.

Because of different system configurations (such as a computer that is configured to automatically log on), any application that is dependant upon other applications that are executed under these keys having completed must be prepared to wait until these applications are complete. Other than this exception, the above description applies to Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

References
specific

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q174/0/18.ASP
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q179/3/65.ASP
http://registry.winguides.com/display.php/109/
http://209.155.180.149/win98-54.html
http://www.chami.com/tips/windows/010397W.html

general

http://www.annoyances.org/
http://registry.winguides.com/
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/default.asp

Posted by Dablu as Operating Systems at 6:20 AM IST

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Microsoft today revealed the official name of the successor to Windows XP, long referred to as Longhorn, a name inspired by a bar in the Whistler ski area.

The software giant has settled on Windows Vista.

“Vista” is evocative of clear and distant views, and partly alludes to the Avalon graphical subsystem. The interface overhaul is expected to narrow the gap between Windows and Mac’s lauded GUI as well as harness the power of 3D graphics accelerators.

Vista’s official page, while sparse, already contains clues as to the message behind the product push.

Aside from the “bringing clarity to your world” tagline, the site suggests that security and flexibility are two of the main selling points. RSS integration, XML-friendly underpinnings and an upgraded networking model are among many of the features that have seeped into the OS during its development.

On August 3rd, the company is planning the release of Beta 1. Another beta is expected in 2006 before Vista’s official launch.

Posted by Dablu as Operating Systems at 8:07 AM IST

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