Upgrade XP/Vista to Windows 7 to Secure from April 1 Worm/Conflicker Virus
Written by Pavan Kumar on April 1, 2009
Microsoft in order to provide more security updates and prevent the ill effects of upcoming April Fool Conficker worm, has recently released security updates which convert your Windows XP and Vista into partly Windows 7. Current Windows 7 beta users are said to be little safe due to the advanced security features of the latest OS.
The company recent press release says Vista is more safer than XP and Conficker C targets more on Windows XP due to the high usage statistics and popularity of Windows XP. This worm after entering the Windows based computer systems, is going to multiply in a random number which is proportional with the processor speed measured in Million Instructions per second.
With your system being upgraded to Windows 7, it ensures that Microsoft could release security updates very easily to your system and it is recommended that you don’t turn your automatic updates off. With automatic updates, you will be able to receive all security patches which can block conficker virus entering your computer.
Users are also recommened to upgrade to the latest Internet Explorer 8 manually, this update will not be included in this Windows 7 Conversion tool. Mozilla has clarified that recent versions of Firefox are free from all security holes. Its better for you to switch to Firefox if you still use IE, if IE is only option for you, just update.
Microsoft also has released few precausions to be taken to avoid the worm into your computer. Here it follows:
1. Always run Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool.
2. Turn on your Automatic Security Updates.
3. Create a system restore point.
4. Use Antivirus, Antispyware and firewall programs and keep everything updated till the previous hourly update.
5. Turn off your wireless and bluetooth as these may also affect other computer in your network which are not connected directly into internet.
6. Download softwares should be turned off. You should not download any kind of stuff from any part of internet as these worms are also pointing into different servers. Only you should download security updates from Microsoft and also, they will be pushed automatically and you should not download them through browsers. Using torrents and other download softwares is a high risk.
7. You should avoid use of few Windows utilities like Calculator, Narrator, Sound Recorder etc, but using the Windows Media Player is safe as this virus is not targeting audio and video formats.
8. If you have third party softwares, its safe and wise not to use them. Its even better for you to uninstall those which are from non trusted sources. Even few trusted third party softwares which connect to internet have few loop holes and it may be a path way for conficker worm.
9. If you are good at registry tweaks, associate all your .exe files to open safely with Windows Explorer. IF YOU ARE NOT AN EXPERT, PLEASE LEAVE THIS OPTION, NEXT SECURITY UPDATE WILL FIX ALL ISSUES FOR YOU. A MINIMUM MISTAKE IN FOLLOWING THIS PROCEDURE MAY MAKE YOUR COMPUTER INACCESSIBLE.
10. If any third party software requires your system to be restarted, please don’t allow the restart. If you want to turn off the computer, use the hybernate option. Turning off or restart INITIATED BY VIRUS may make your Windows installation corrupt.
11. Vista users should turn on User Access Contol in Control Panel. Control Panel > User Accounts.
Instructions to upgrade Windows XP / Vista to Windows 7 for security updates:
1. Download the security update registry file from below:
http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/thanks.aspx?ln=en&&thankspage=5
Double Click on the downloaded file and you will be prompted with registry editor warning about the updating. Press Yes. This registry entry will fix some open ports on your computer which ensures security for your unused essential ports.
2. Download the security Windows 7 Updater tool from below link:
http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/thanks.aspx?ln=en&&thankspage=18
This is entirely different tool than any of the Windows updates. Open the file by double clicking, it may take some 5 minutes to fix all the bugs in your computer. In very few cases, you may be asked to allow for downloading high featured security updates. This usually happens when you have turned off automatic updates for a long time.
If you have any problems with any of the above, kindly drop comments and we shall try to fix it together.
Update: This entry was posted on April Fools Day, 2009 😀
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The only surefire way to safeguard against these types of attacks is to “upgrade” to Mac OS or Linux.