Microsoft has a lot to answer for with its Patch Tuesday updates last week. I've lost count of the number of people using AVG and Zone Alarm who've phoned me up to say their Internet access has gone West.
At first I started advising my pals to update their security software but, of course, the Microsoft KB951748 update had terminated their Internet access.
The solution was staring in me in the face - use the Windows Restore function to roll back the PC to just before the update, run an update on the security software and only then install the Patch Tuesday updates. Phew.
(ed : That's assuming that you have enabled Windows Restore Function)
Unfortunately for most punters, both AVG 8.0 and Zone Alarm are free packages, which means that customer support is a bit thin on the ground. And you could raise a family with one hand waiting to get through to Microsoft Windows customer support.
Microsoft is keeping schtum on the whole affair, as are Check Point (Zone Labs parent) and AVG. No-one wants to upset Microsoft, even though the software giant we all love to hate is to blame for this widespread fiasco.
The only advise I can offer my novice PC pals is to only run the updates from any vendor about a week after they're released, if only to benefit from the fact that, if anything does go wrong, other people will have encountered the problem and - hopefully - a solution or workaround will have been developed.
Once again: Microsoft: nil points, the rest of the world: many points. No wonder Bill Gates has headed for the exit...
At first I started advising my pals to update their security software but, of course, the Microsoft KB951748 update had terminated their Internet access.
The solution was staring in me in the face - use the Windows Restore function to roll back the PC to just before the update, run an update on the security software and only then install the Patch Tuesday updates. Phew.
(ed : That's assuming that you have enabled Windows Restore Function)
Unfortunately for most punters, both AVG 8.0 and Zone Alarm are free packages, which means that customer support is a bit thin on the ground. And you could raise a family with one hand waiting to get through to Microsoft Windows customer support.
Microsoft is keeping schtum on the whole affair, as are Check Point (Zone Labs parent) and AVG. No-one wants to upset Microsoft, even though the software giant we all love to hate is to blame for this widespread fiasco.
Once again: Microsoft: nil points, the rest of the world: many points. No wonder Bill Gates has headed for the exit...
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