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	The BugBlog uses monthly archives. All the November bugs will be on this page. Use the links on the left or below to jump back to past months. The BugBlog is free- but if you want to help support its existence, please make a donation via PayPal using the button at left. Better yet, subscribe to the BugBlog Plus. A three month subscription is only $5.
11/30	Internet Explorer Vulnerability Announced New security flaws in Microsoft Internet Explorer were announced to the public by researchers, before they were reported to Microsoft. Therefore, vulnerability information is out there without a fix yet. This story on CNet has some of the background.
11/26	Microsoft Works Suite Vulnerable To Bugs Found Earlier Three security bulletins dating from September 2003 have been updated by Microsoft to recognize that the security bugs also affect Microsoft Works Suite 2004. (Probably since Microsoft Word is part of the suite. It only took two months to figure this out?) So if you are are Works Suite 2004 user, you are vulnerable to a flaw via Visual Basic for Applications that may allow an attacker to run code on your computer. You also face a buffer overrun in the WordPerfect converter, plus a bug in Word macros may also let an attacker run code on your machine. The BugBlog Plus has info on a number of hotfixes for problems with Windows Server 2003. The BugBlog won't be updated 11/27 and 11/28, although there will be updates over the weekend.
11/25	Security Fix for Novell iChain Novell has an update for iChain 2.2 Support Pack 2. This new version 2.2.110 fixes three security problems. One may allow one user access to another user's session. A second one eliminates a denial of service attack via WGET. The third takes care of known vulnerabilities on SSL. The update can be downloaded from http://support.novell.com/servlet/tidfinder/2967439.
11/24	Command Prompt Crashes Windows Media Player If you are using Windows Media Player (WMP) to play an AVI file on a Windows XP computer, don't switch between a windowed command prompt and a full-screen command prompt while WMP is playing. Microsoft says that if you switch multiple times, WMP may crash with a message like Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The file is either corrupt or the Player does not support the format you are trying to play. 0xC00D1199: Cannot play the file. Microsoft says to use the Windows Task Manager to turn off WMP. You can then restart it. Six more bugs in BugBlog Plus. Find out more about subscriptions.
11/21	nForce Updates Fixes a BSOD Bug NVIDIA has an updated unified driver (both Windows XP and 2000) for nForce, nForce2, and nForce3. They say it includes some general compatibility fixes, plus some specific audio fixes, including a fix for the bug that sometimes caused a blue screen of death when loading DLS files. You can get the driver at http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_winxp_3.13. See the BugBlog Plus for Access, Windows, Novell, and RealNetworks bugs
11/20	Excel 2003 Dumb About Smart Documents Microsoft says that if an Excel 2003 workbook has an Office 2003 Smart Document attached, and if the Excel workbook was opened either inside an OLE container or ActiveX document container, you may not be able to close Excel. Close that workbook or container, and Excel will still be in the Task list. Microsoft does not yet have a fix.
11/19	Webcam Crashes with Mandrake Linux Some USB webcams may crash Mandrake Linux 9.2. Mandrake points fingers at some Philips webcams, but there may be others. As a solution, they say to upgrade to kernel 2.4.22-18mdk. Microsoft web services patches, and Apple Final Cut Pro compatibility problems are in BugBlog Plus today.
11/18	Apple iTunes Too Fast for Dell Apple says that iTunes for Windows has compatibility problems with the sound cards on some Dell computers. (They aren't specific on makes and models.) The incompatibility may cause the songs to play faster than normal. If all your iTunes sound like they are being played by Alvin and the Chipmunks, then contact Dell for a sound card driver update. The BugBlog Plus has Apple, Microsoft, Novell and Red Hat fixes.
11/17	Microsoft Revises Security Bulletin Yet Again In the continuing saga of Microsoft Security Bulletin 03-043, Microsoft made two changes last week. This bulletin, about a bug in the Windows Messenger service that could allow attackers to run code on your system, was released 10/15/03 and then revised twice in October, once to include fix information and once to address an additional issue. The bulletin was then revised 11/13/2003, because it had the wrong file version for the Windows XP update. It was then revised 11/14/03 because the Windows XP update was putting some files in the wrong spot. To get the patch of the patch, go to http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms03-043.asp. Five more bugs and fixes for Apple and Red Hat are in BugBlog Plus, the subscription portion of the BugBlog. Subscription information is here.
11/14	Misleading Error Message in Windows XP Fax If you are using the Microsoft Windows XP Fax Service to send a fax both to someone in your address book and to a group in your address book, and that person is also included in the group, you will see this misleading error message: Some recipients were discarded because their addresses don't appear to be fax numbers. (IDS_BAD_ADDRESS_TYPE). Microsoft's workaround is straightforward -- remove the duplicate recipient. Six more bugs were reported 11/14 on the BugBlog Plus. Subscribe today (only $5 for a three month subscription) for even more trouble-shooting help.
11/13	Adobe Acrobat Capture Picky About File Names Adobe Acrobat Capture 3.0 - 3.03 does not like file names with more than one period. If you are doing a Capture image on one of these files, you may get one of the following error messages: " Could not commit because output file does not exist" " Capture step aborting: Reason: Unable to commit file." " Too many failures; forcing this page to image-only" " Created placeholder file [filename.xxx.acp]" The simplest workaround is to rename the file. You probably can't go wrong with an 8.3 file name, but at least lose the extra period. Adobe also says that this is fixed in Acrobat Capture 3.05. Three more bugs were reported 11/13on the BugBlog Plus. Subscribe today (only $5 for a three month subscription) for even more trouble-shooting help.
11/12	Security Updates for Microsoft Excel and Word There is a new patch for Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, and 2002. This fixes a security hole that may allow an evildoer to run their own code on your computer via a spreadsheet. This happens because of the way Excel checks the spreadsheet before doing a macro. A fix for each version of Excel is available from http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms03-050.asp. Microsoft credits Kazuyuki Housaka with finding this problem for them. A bug in the way that Microsoft Word 97, 2000, and XP checks the length of macro names in a document opens up a security hole. This might allow a malicious user to run their own code on your computer, if you try to open a specially-constructed Word document. Patches for the affected versions of Word are at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms03-050.asp. Five more bugs were reported 11/12 on the BugBlog Plus. Subscribe today (only $5 for a three month subscription) for even more trouble-shooting help.
11/11	OEM Versus Retail Upgrade for Windows Server 2003 If you are upgrading from Windows 2000 Server to Windows Server 2003, be careful of your versions. You can't upgrade a retail version of Windows 2000 with an OEM version of Windows Server 2003. If you try, you will see this error message: " Windows Setup does not support upgrading from Microsoft Windows 2000 Server to Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition. " Microsoft says you should contact Microsoft Product Support Services to get the correct version of Windows. (Don't worry, I'm sure they won't ask any questions on where you got the OEM version, if it's yours, are you a pirate? Etc.)
11/10	Final Cut Pro Misses its Fonts In Apple Final Cut Pro 4, if you are using one of the Boris Calligraphy text generators, and the font you used previously is no longer on the computer, then Final Cut Pro 4 will crash. Apple says there are two workarounds. The first is to restore the previously used font. If that isn't possible, they say to delete the Final Cut Pro 4 Preferences files in your home folder at /Library/Preferences/Final Cut Pro User Data/. If you have other custom user settings in Final Cut Pro, this workaround will delete them. Apple doesn't say if it is possible to just edit the preference files to eliminate references to the missing font.
11/7	Information Rights Management in Word 2003 May be Wrong If you use Microsoft Word 2003 to open a .DOC file from an earlier version of Word, that had Editing Restrictions applied, you will not be able to edit even if you have been given the password permissions for the document. Microsoft says this is due to incompatibilities in the Information Rights Management feature. Instead, go to the Tools menu and click Uprotect. See http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=827397 for details.
11/6	Upgrades, and a Problem, for Mac OS X 10.3 There is a new version of Apple's AirPort. Airport 3.2 is for Mac OS X 10.3, and in addition to compatibility with the new OS, it also fixes problems with USB printing performance. If you've moved up to Panther (OS X 10.3), you can get the AirPort update at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120267. Apple says that Shake Qmaster, and especially its Extended Node Cluster feature, is incompatible with the Mac OS X 10.3 upgrade. For now, there is no workaround.
11/5	Windows Media Player Doesn't Know What Time It Is Microsoft says that if a computer's system time is not set correctly, or if the BIOS time is not set correctly, it may crash Windows Media Player running on Windows XP, with the detailed error message showing "error signature app name wmplayer.exe app ver 8.0.0.4477 mod name msvcrt.dll mode version 7.0.2600.0 offset 00034748" The workaround is to set the time correctly.
11/4	Patches for Lotus 1-2-3 and for Novell NetWare IBM has a patch for Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows 9.8. It fixes the bug that was keeping a .DBF file from being imported if it had more than 40 characters in its path. You can get the patch at http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24004364&rs=260. Novell has an updated iPrint Client for NetWare 5.1, Support Pack 6 (with NDPS 2.1.7) and NetWare 6 with Support Pack 3. It has a number of fixes, including for an ABEND caused by IPPSRVR.NLM, and for slow printing when too many printers are in an error condition. Get the update in ndp3sp3c.exe at http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/2967243.htm.
11/3	Can't Get Rid of Graf Mark in Microsoft Word 2002 Microsoft says that if you have a header with a paragraph mark in Word 2002, and you delete everything in the header, you may not be able to get rid of the paragraph mark. They have a hotfix for this, which will be in a future Office 2002 service pack. If you delete a lot of headers, and run into this problem, you may want to contact Microsoft Technical Support and ask for the hotfix described in Knowledge Base article 813816, which is a post-Service Pack 2 hotfix. Note that you may be charged for this call.
10/31	Mac OS X 10.3 Erases Some Hard Drives According to news reports, if you install the Mac OS X 10.3 update on a computer that has an external FireWire hard drive using the Oxford 922 bridge chipset with firmware version 1.02, all the data on that external hard drive might be lost. For now, Apple says to disconnect those drives before updating. As of now, there is no technical note in the Apple Knowledge Base; details for now are in this C Net story at http://news.com.com/2100-1045-5099878.html?tag=nl.
10/30	Apple Patches Mac OS 10.3, But not Mac OS 10.2.8 In a Security Update, Apple lists what security bugs have been fixed in Mac OS X 10.3. They also list the fixes for Mac OS X 10.2.8. The latter list is considerably shorter, causing many complaints about having to pay (since the upgrade to 10.3 isn't free) for security patches. To see the complete list of fixes, see http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798. To hear more grumblings about not getting free security fixes in 10.2.8, see this story in C Net: http://news.com.com/2100-7355_3-5098688.html?tag=nefd_top.

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