Month: July 2009

This morning I talked to my dad. After a few minutes of polite small talk, I heard the 10 little words I have come to dread: “I had some problems with my computer the other day.” The video card on his laptop had died. The screen was just black. He has a Dell Vostro, so he called Dell Technical Support. They sent a contractor technician out; with a motherboard. The technician, having no real qualifications other than the need for a job; and no real training other than how to fill out the repair paperwork, installed the motherboard. Three days … Continue reading Warning: The software you are installing does not match your mental model

For the past few days I've been following the Microsoft Video Control Vulnerability with interest. Basically, it's another vulnerable ActiveX control that needs killbitted. Last night, Microsoft posted a work-around which involves using a Group Policy ADM template (ADM is the template format that was deprecated in Vista and Windows Server 2008). Unfortunately, the template tattoos the registry, which is not really recommended. I contemplated for a while writing a work-around for this issue, but then remembered that I actually did; almost three years ago. The workaround I wrote then, for another ActiveX vulnerability will not tattoo the registry, and … Continue reading A better, more reliable, work-around for the Microsoft Video Control Vulnerability