Every time Microsoft patches Windows, the obsolete versions of earlier files and their settings are normally stored in the WinSxS folder( C:\Windows\WinSxS) . This helps if you needed to roll back a patch, Windows can pull it out from the previous version stored in the WinSxS folder. But it consumes huge amount of disk space. You can't just manually delete everything in that folder, because some files are needed if you want to roll back a Windows Update .
.
Microsoft has recently released a tool "Windows Update Cleanup" for Windows 7 that adds a new option in the Disk Cleanup tool.With this update (KB 2852386) you can free up several gigabytes of hard drive space .Once you have it installed, run Disk Cleanup and click the "Clean up system files" button to find the new Windows Update Cleanup option.After you install this update, you can use the Windows Update Cleanup option to delete Windows updates that you no longer need.
Right-click on your C: drive -> Properties-> Disk Cleanup button .Here you can see a summary of what files Windows can clean up -- temporary files, Recycle bin and log files. It is not bad , if you are able to retrieve 1GB to 3GB -- or more -- of C: drive on all of your Win7 SP1 machines .
Notes
![icon13[6]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE9x-9aOEZGAlHRIhvAn6EffRX4i1xuzMkNuUmczYrDDeB36CbmQv3xL0f3FVz74veS7n8vZDfFqGxG5gpXxtzuatTlPWJRWqzt19pyB88kj4hNmcd4rjmb3KzvI_RvF57d0M6AacDaxKg/s1600-h/icon13%25255B6%25255D%25255B4%25255D.gif "icon13[6]"){kind=small}
![icon13[4]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXfvuZE5M6GTZ4dfhDm5mqRzqVkb9dSkxw6b-rF02mNKNNm1JZ6xWOECJbDqpm_aweEr2Ci3-k8p9kPiPiTYWrwVpJwYPBREz4jNc1UakvNl5yvCkkMlXkjZU38A9s51Qm3YoUjm50xiVj/s1600-h/icon13%25255B4%25255D%25255B6%25255D.gif "icon13[4]"){kind=small}
Download the update package for x86-based versions of Windows 7
Download the update package for x64-based versions of Windows 7
Microsoft has released the first service pack for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The new service pack is available to everyone. The simplest and easiest way to install SP1,is the Windows Update,which only installs the new updates that were previously not downloaded. Single installable update is also available for users without internet connection, but it is much larger when compared to windows update service
Service pack 1 includes the following new features and improvements
- Higher-definition connections with Remote Desktop
- More Windows Live ID support
- An HDMI patch for improved reliability
- An XML Paper Specification fix
- Printing using the XPS Viewer
- "Restore previous folders at logon” functionality in Windows Explorer after restarting
- Support for Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
- Enhanced support for additional identities in RRAS and IPsec
- Improved Support for Advanced Format (512e) Storage Devices
If you installed any of the pre-release versions of SP1, uninstall them before installing the final release version of SP1.
Windows Service Pack 1 | Service Pack in ISO format
For more information please check
- Windows 7 SP 1-- Microsoft Download Center
- Information about Service Pack 1
- System Readiness Tool can help fix problems that might prevent Windows updates and service packs from installing.
Microsoft has released latest Security Updates that fixes critical vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, MS Word and a number of other programs.It contains 14 bulletins covering 34 serious security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Silverlight, Microsoft XML Core Services and Server Message Block.Eight of the bulletins are rated “critical” because of the risk of remote code execution attacks. The other six are rated “important.”
Critical Updates:
•MS10-052: Resolves vulnerability in Microsoft's MPEG Layer-3 audio codecs.
•MS10-055: Fxes a hole in Windows Media Player's Cinepak Codec .
•MS10-056: Resolves four flaws in Microsoft Office.
•MS10-060: Plugs two holes that could allow remote code execution, in Microsoft .Net Framework and Microsoft Silverlight
Full details available here :Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for August 2010 and Assessing the risk of the August security updates
Software developers updates their versions after improving its features, GUI, removing some bugs or security weaknesses in earlier versions or for some other reasons.So newer versions are more secure and stable.But most of the software don’t have automatic updates .It is very difficult to keep all the software on your computer updated to the latest versions.Also it is time-consuming if you have many programs installed.That's where R-Update is useful.It creates a list of installed programs and checks on a pre-scheduled time if there are new program versions available. When it detects a new version, it notifies the user that it is time to update the program
Features
Download |2.89MB|Freeware
Nokia Software Updater is a tool that allows you to update the software in Nokia phones and tablets.It is compatible with most Nokia devices that connect to a computer via a USB cable .
Supported devices:
Telephones - E50, E51, E60, E61, E61i, E65, E66, E70, E71, E90 Communicator, N70, N70 Music Edition, N71, N72, N73, N73 Music Edition, N76, N77, N78, N79, N80, N80 Internet Edition, N81, N82, N85, N90, N91, N91 8GB, N92, N93, N93i, N95, N95 8GB, N96, 3109, 3110, 3120, 3250, 3500, 3610 , 5200, 5220, 5300, 5310, 5320, 5500, 5610, 5700, 6085, 6086, 6110 Navigator, 6120, 6122, 6124, 6125, 6126, 6131, 6136, 6151, 6210 Navigator, 6212, 6220, 6233, 6234, 6267, 6270, 6288, 6290, 6300, 6300i, 6301, 6500, 6500 slide, 6600 fold, 6600 slide, 6630, 6650 fold, 6680, 6681, 6682, 7210 Supernova, 7370, 7373, 7390, 7500 Prism, 7510 Supernova, 7610 Supernova, 7900, 8600 Luna , 8800 Arte, 8800 Sapphire Arte.
Tablet - Nokia 500 Auto Navigation, Nokia N810 Internet Tablet Nokia N800 Internet Tablet Nokia 770 Internet Tablet.
Its operation is easy , connect your Nokia mobile phone to a PC via the USB cable and run the program. In an automatic mode, this tool detects your particular model of phone, download the appropriate update and install it.
Download :Nokia Software Updater 2.5.2
Os:WinXP, Windows Vista, Windows Vista x64, Windows 7, Windows 7 x64 |24MB
Here is the list of new versions of software's released recently .Check your versions , and update
1.Yahoo Messenger 10.0.0.1270
2.Ccleaner Version 2.32.1165
3.Nokia PC Suite 7.1.40.6
4.Glary Utilities 2.23.0.923
5.IrfanView 4.27
6.Google Chrome 5.0.375.55
7.SuperAntiSpyware Free Edition 4.38.1004
8.Spybot - Search & Destroy Personal Edition 1.6.2.46
9.Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.1
10.VLC Media Player 1.1.0 RC1
Protect yourself against outdated Software! Old Software can lead to problems and system crashes. It can even leave you vulnerable to attacks from outside.It may be due to lack of time or proper instinct many of us usually fail to update our installed software and always love to have a program that can do the updating job for us. Vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers to perform code injection attacks are an important kind of implementation error.So it is always remember to protect your computer from Internet worms and hackers' attacks, which become possible due to the operational system and software vulnerabilities ("exploits").
That’s where UpdateStar comes. It has both free and paid version. Where free version checks for update weekly, paid version always ping with update servers.Earlier I had covered UpdateStar free version in this blog:Protect Yourself Against Outdated Software With UpdateStar.Here is an opportunity to grab Update Star Premium Edition , which usually costs you $29.95(USD) but you can get it free for 6 month as a promotional offer.
Visit this Promotional page to get the UpdateStar Premium Edition .
Fill the given field with working email id. Check your inbox for the confirmation link and other details .After the confirmation , the registration code will be received in the next mail. Download UpdateStar Premium Edition and register it with the registration code provided.
While I checked my system, 13 software updates were found.What about yours?
How many occasions you have to leave your computer, after a format, to download the Windows updates you had before it?Is there a solution?Try Autopatcher .It was one of the first software based services that allowed Windows users to download all released service packs and patches for their operating system and Microsoft Office. The service had been in troubles in the past thanks to an disagreement with Microsoft. They did come back from that and have changed the way AutoPatcher operates.
The main benefit of using AutoPatcher is that it will download all patches that have been released to the local computer system with the option to install them afterwards. This means that the patches can be installed while the computer is offline. It also means that the patches can be distributed to other computer systems to patch those as well.
Using AutoPatcher is really easy.After downloading you’ll have to extract the file’s contents in order to run AutoPatcher.It will display a list of all available release packages that can be downloaded to the local computer system.If you want to burn AutoPatcher on a CD (so it can run directly off the CD), just burn the contents of the folder in which you extracted the contents of the file you downloaded. It has now been updated to support Windows 7. The biggest benefit of AutoPatcher is that it is able to effortlessly install multiple updates in a batch without requiring repeated user intervention.
In addition to downloading updates for Windows 7, the program is able to download updates for Windows XP, 2003/2008 Server and Vista (32 and 64 bit), Microsoft Office XP, 2003 and 2007. NET Framework, DirectX, Java and Adobe Reader .
Download: AutoPatcher |1.07 MB
Manual updation of hardware drivers is a tedious job , you may spend hours of your valuable time to hunt for the new driver versions on hardware manufacturer’s websites.That is the reason why most of your computer hardware drivers are outdated.
Driver Easy , a tool to quickly locate the most current drivers specific to your computer system through its user friendly interface and access to an extensive database.If you are using using up-to-date drivers , definitely you will experience fewer crashes, blue screens, errors and other computer problems due to outdated drivers.
After the installation , you can run a scan.This tool detects all latest version of drivers available from the database, which will be displayed.You can download and install those drivers from that list.Driver Easy is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7
Features
- Windows XP or Vista or 7
- Pentium III or higher
- 128 MB of available RAM
- 25 MB of free Hard Disk space
- Internet Connection to Download Driver
- .NET Framework 2
Download : DriverEasy |1.92MB| Freeware
Also Read
Update Latest Drivers With Device Doctor
In many occasions it is impossible to find all of your drivers, when you format and reload windows.
Unknown Devices1.4.20
Here is a free tool called “Unknown Devices” ,which helps you find what those unknown devices in Device Manager really are.By checking Device Manager for unknown devices and extracting information from it, this program attempts to figure out what the device is.
You can search on Google to get all of your drivers .
Download Unknown Devices 1.4.20 | Homepage
Limitations
This program only knows about PCI and AGP devices. It will not be able to help with ISA based devices and original PCMCIA cards
Unknown Device Identifier 7.00
Unknown Device Identifier is a useful utility that can identify unknown devices in your system especially after you reinstall your system and cannot figure out what all those yellow question mark labeled devices really are.And reports you a detailed summary for the manufacturer name, OEM name, device type, device model and even the exact name of the unknown devices.
With this utility, you might immediately convert your unidentified unknown devices into identified known devices and find proper driver on the Internet and contact the hardware device manufacturer or vender. Known devices recognized by Microsoft Windows will also be analyzed independent of the operating system.
Features
- Identify USB 1.1/2.0 Device
- Identify IEEE 1394 Device
- Identify ISA Plug&Play Device
- Identify AGP Bus Device
- Identify PCI, PCI-E Device
- Multilingual interface: English, French
- Find Drivers for Hardware Devices
- Contact Hardware Vender directly
- Save or Print Hardware information
Download Unknown Device Identifier | Win 9x/ME/2K/XP/2K3/Vista/7
Microsoft Windows Update service is integrated with every Windows Operating System.It lets you to download updates, patches and automatically updates your Windows.However, it requires Internet access, you can not use it to upgrade computers without Internet access.
If for some reason your Windows Update stops working or you are working on computer not connected to internet, then you may miss some important critical updates & patches. To help to update Windows offline here is WSUS Offline Update utility.This free utility allows you to download updates and fixes for Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows so you can upgrade computers without Internet access securely and quickly.To update computers without Internet access, the utility offers the option of creating a CD / DVD updates (ISO) or a copy of the updates automatically to a USB device. It also includes a tool for automatic installation of downloaded updates and options to filter the updates downloaded and automatically clean up the download directory after installing the updates.
Features
- Supports Windows 7, Vista, XP (32-64bit)
- Supports Office XP, Office 2003 & 2007
- Create ISO option
- Clean download directories
- Copy Updates to USB
How to use it
- Unzip the downloaded file and run "UpdateGenerator.exe".
- Select the updates you want to download.
- Select the option to create ISO image (optional)
- Click "Start" to start the download process
- At the end of the download the ISO image created in the subdirectory "ISO"
Automatic Installation of facilities
- Burn the ISO file created on CD or DVD (You can use the ImgBurn)
- Insert the CD / DVD drive on the computer you want to update
- Run the "UpdateInstaller.exe"
- Check the installation options and click "Start"
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/979267.mspx
This security issue affects Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Service Pack 3. The warning is also applicable to users running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2.You can download latest version of Adobe Flash Player v 10.0.42.34 from here
More details here :http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb10-02.html
Microsoft's Patch Tuesday (08-12-2009) fix will solve a reported twelve security flaws.Among the critical patches, two affect Windows, and there is one each that addresses issues in Word, Excel, Visual Basic, and Internet Explorer.Three of the six bulletins will be rated “critical”.
The patches will fix security holes in:
- Internet Explorer 5, 6, 7 & 8
- Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 & 3
- Windows Vista Service Pack 1 & 2
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2008 Systems Service Pack 2
- Office XP Service Pack 3
- Office 2003 Service Pack 3
For more details visit Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for December 2009
Security Patches
Other Updates
Software developers usually release their new versions after improving its features, GUI, removing some bugs or security weaknesses in earlier versions or for some other reasons.So with every update a software becomes more secure and more stable.Some software will have automatic updates,but many don't have.It is very difficult to keep all the software on your computer updated to the latest versions.Also you might find it difficult and time-consuming if you have many programs installed.That's where Seven Update is useful.
Seven Update is an open source update platform for windows. It allows an easy way to keep your software updated. It offers automatic update notification and installation.It also provides end users with a clean and intuitive interface, and also provides a user-friendly way to easily update their applications.
Features
- Provides automatic updates for software
- Full update history
- Application Repository - a list of applications that can be updated with Seven Update
- Add an application to Seven Update by clicking a link on a web site
- Automatic search and download of updates (depending on settings)
- Hide & restore updates
- Intuitive user interface
- Hash verification, no corrupt files!
- Displays download counts and sizes.
- Informative progress, know exactly what Seven Update is doing.
Also Read
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
