Here is the step-to-step guide on using Windows Backup Or Restore Wizard.

To Backup

Next select a place to save the backup and a descriptive name for this backup.

To Restore

Finally review ur selection prior to perform the actual restoration.

Windows Backup Or Restoration Wizard is a simple tool for novice to perform files and system setting backup and restore. It lacks the more advanced features but hey, it is free and get the job done.

Windows XP N come out after European Union ordered Microsoft to remove Microsoft Windows Media Player before selling it in Europe. < table>
Link to WIndows XP N

So, does it solve the problem? Well, Yes and No, I would say.

Yes because Microsoft can avoid the hefty daily fine by EU.

No because as people in EU can continue to buy the full version of Microsoft Windows, which does not cost more than the reduced version, Microsoft Window XP N, thus making the whole thing pointless. Korean government has some similar experience with Microsoft too, but they are demanding for Windows Messenger to be removed too.

Here is some words from Microsoft Press Release:

“Originally released to computer makers in January 2005, the latest versions of the XP operating systems without Windows Media Player follow further clarifications from the European Commission. These products will be made available to computer manufacturers on June 15 in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, and will be available to other distribution channels, including the retail and volume licensing channels, on July 1. The remaining language versions ??Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese and Swedish ??will be available to computer makers on July 1 and to other distribution channels on July 15.”

You may not be able to download Windows XP SP3 yet because the news is from a blog by the guys at F-Secure and was mentioned at the Inquirer.

It was also mentioned that Windows XP SP3 will hit the road before Longhorn, which means by the end of 2006, as mentioned by Bill Gates himself at WinHEC.

The problem is that when you use the Automatic Updates feature, you may face an Access Violation error and after that, you will not be able to perform update downloads.

To download KB910437, click on the logo below.

KB910437 update was discovered and published on 12/12/05 and it only applies to Windows XP with Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2.

After applied the update, you may need to restart your PC to perform the Windows Update, in order to keep your Windows update to date.

KB908519 security update applies to users of several latest versions of Microsoft Windows. The impact of this remote code execution vulnerability is rated critical by Microsoft, and all Windows users are advised to apply the update immediately.

To download and apply the updates for KB908519, a table has been created to make it easier to find the applicable suitable updates.

Please refer to table below.

Windows Version	Download Update
Windows 2000 SP4
Windows XP SP1/SP2
Windows XP Professional X64 Edition
Windows Server 2003/SP1
Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-based systems
Windows Server X64

KB908519 security update is very important for your Windows system, as it prevents other from gaining unauthorized access to your system and stealing your data.

The remote code execution security bug is affecting almost all version of Microsoft Windows, including Windows Server 2003, Windows XP(with SP1 and SP2) and Windows 2000.

Refer to the table if you need to identify whether your Windows is in the list.

You may have updated KB912919 Security Update for Windows XP if you use the Automatic Windows Update feature in Windows XP.

If you are not, then please follow the step-by step guide below for the update:

• Goto Start -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs.
  
  

• Make sure to check the “Show updates” box in the upper center of the Add or Remove Programs window.
• Browse to Windows XP – Software Updates -> Security Update for Windows XP(KB912919). If you cannot find the entry, please also make sure to sort the list by Name.
• Once you have found KB912919, just update it to have your system patched.

If you cannot find KB912919 in your Add or Remove programs, then you will have to go find it from Microsoft website and download it.

To make it simple for you, here is the link.

Please make sure you download and patch KB912919 properly, you do not want other to gain access to your computer and mess around with it.

Remote desktop is a new technology in Windows XP that is based on Terminal Services technology which was last used in Windows NT and Windows 2000 PCs.

There are two parties involved in Windows XP Home, a remote PC and a client PC.

A remote PC is a PC that is being accessed or controlled, where else a client PC is the PC that is accessing and controlling the remote PC.

A PC with Windows XP Home operating system can only become a client PC, but not a remote PC, wehre else a PC with Windows XP Professional can become both client PC and remote PC.

To initiate a remote desktop session, the remote desktop PC must be configured to allow remote access from other Windows XP PC.

Here is the simple step-by-step guide to help you perform the remote desktop setting in Windows XP.

1. Open Control Panel and go to Remote tab.

   

2. Under Remote Desktop section, make sure to enable “Allow users to connect remotely to his computer” by checking it.
3. By default, all members of the Administrator group can connect even if they are not listed. If you want to allow any other users not under Administrator group, open “Select Remote Users” and put in the user names that you authorize to have remote access right to your Windows XP PC.
4. One thing to check is that for any users\ to connect remotely to this computer, the user account must have password.
5. Windows Firewall will also be automatically configured to allow Remote Desktop connections to this computer.

Since you have configured your Windows XP PC to allow remote access, you can now try to connect to your PC from other PC as a client PC now.

If you do not know what the desktop icon looks like, here is the image

.

Well, most people accidentally deleted the desktop icon and cannot put it back because they do not know how to put it back or where to find the shortcut.
Actually it is just a plain text file named ShowDesktop.SCF that you can create by using notepad and type some text in the text file.

Here is the step-by-step guide to help you replace your missing Windows XP desktop icon:-

1. Right-click on an empty space on your Windows XP Quick Launch taskbar.
2. Select Open Folder. On the Quick Launch window that you just open, create a new text file named “ShowDesktop.SCF”
3. Open the new “ShowDesktop.SCF” file, type the following text:- [Shell] Command=2 IconFile=explorer.exe,3 [Taskbar] Command=ToggleDesktop
4. Save the file and voila! Your Windows XP desktop icon will appear again.

To simplify the process of solving your problem of Windws XP desktop icon missing, just download the “ShowDesktop.SCF” file

here

and put it on your “C:\Documents and Settings\user-name\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch” folder (replace user-name with your Windows XP login user name).

Some of the common problems are:

1. Error message Display problems. This program can’t continue.
2. Screen display is garbled or images flicker heavily.
3. Users cannot install their monitor because their Windows XP display driver not updated.
4. Display problems with multiple monitor feature setup.
5. Video or animations do not work correctly.
6. Sometimes users cannot set their screen resolution above VGA mode (640 x 480) with 16 colours.

The procedures of updating Windows XP video driver are often needed even if you just bought a new display card and installed the driver CD that come with the display card.

There are always newer versions of driver and utility for your display card, especially from major display card companies, such as ATI and NVIDIA.

So how do we perform Windows XP video driver update? It is very simple; just follow the step-by-step guide below.

1. Go to Windows XP Desktop, right-click on an empty space, a Display Properties window will show.

   

2. Go to Settings tab and look for Advanced button on the lower right.
3. Under Adapter tab, click Properties. In the Adapter tab, there are little information about your display card.

   The information displayed are Adapter Type and Adapter Information, with Chip Type, DAC Type (Digital Analog Converter), Memory Size of your display card, Adapter String which identifies your display card to Windows XP and Bios Information of your display card.

   

4. Look for Update Driver button and open it. A hardware update wizard will open. Just follow the on screen help and you will perform your Windows XP video driver update successfully.

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the rendering of Windows Metafile (WMF) and Enhanced Metafile (EMF) image formats that could allow remote code execution on an affected system.

Any program that renders WMF or EMF images on the affected systems could be vulnerable to this attack. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system.

Files that are affected by KB896424 patch are:

1. Gdi32.dll 5.1.2600.1755
2. Mf3216.dll 5.1.2600.1331
3. User32.dll 5.1.2600.1634
4. Win32k.sys 5.1.2600.1755
5. Gdi32.dll 5.1.2600.2770
6. Win32k.sys 5.1.2600.2770
7. Gdi32.dll 5.1.2600.2770
8. Win32k.sys 5.1.2600.2770
9. Arpidfix.exe 5.1.2600.2770

Some precaution on the KB896424 updates to these files. If you have previously installed a hotfix to update one of these files, the installer copies the RTMQFE, SP1QFE, or SP2QFE files to your system.

Otherwise, the installer copies the RTMGDR, SP1GDR, or SP2GDR files to your system. Security updates may not contain all variations of these files.

To verify that KB896424 security update has been applied to an affected system, you can use the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) tool. MBSA allows administrators to scan local and remote systems for missing security updates and for common security misconfigurations.

An article on KB896424 – Vulnerabilities in Graphics Rendering Engine Could Allow Code Execution.