W3Galaxy Network

HP.com, a technology solutions provider, announced a free Comodo multi-domain digital certificate with each new MediaSmart Server that makes easier to run a home server like a business.

It avers that with the MediaSmart Server, home-based computer networks can support several different domains. The company says that the free multi-domain certificate reduces the administration needed to integrate the home network with home-based business needs. It explains that making home networks available as websites gives home users the ability to store their media at home but access it online: pictures, videos, music and computer backups. To publish information online, users protect it and control access by setting up a domain, states the company.

It further explains that it offers subdomains to MediaSmart customers free for the first year and for users who want custom domain names, it partners with TZO Corporation to offer them at cost-competitive fees. The company also adds that it ensures MediaSmart owners protect their domains, and it ends the warning messages, by including a free 5-year Comodo SSL certificate with each server.

Google shocked its users with a warning on Saturday. Those who used the search engine for one hour on Saturday evening were shocked to see a message – ‘This site may harm your computer’ – along with the search result.

In an explanation on its blog, the company blamed the mistake on human error. It apologised for any inconvenience caused to users and site owners whose pages were incorrectly labelled.

“This was clearly an error, and we are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to our users,” it said.

The company said it routinely flags any search results with that message if the site is known to install malicious software in the background or otherwise surreptitiously.

Google maintains a list of suspicious sites based on criteria developed with StopBadware.org, a nonprofit project headed by legal scholars at Harvard and Oxford universities who research consumer complaints.

The company periodically updates this list. And the error happened when it erroneously applied one of its periodic list updates in such a way that the warning would apply to all URLs.

“Fortunately, our on-call site reliability team found the problem quickly and reverted the file,” it said.

Microsoft wants users of its Windows operating systems to move to upgraded versions of the software, so it’s killing a tool that prevents upgrades from automatically self-installing.

“I have some important information for those of you who have installed the Service Pack Blocker Tool for Windows XP or Windows Vista,” wrote Brandon LeBlanc, Microsoft’s in-house Windows blogger, in a Friday post.

“The Service Pack Blocker Tool temporarily prevents the installation of a service pack through Windows Update, typically for one year after general availability of the service pack. We are announcing the upcoming expiration dates for the Service Pack Blocker Tool for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3,” LeBlanc wrote.
LeBlanc said the blocker for Vista SP1 will expire on April 28, while the blocker for XP SP3 will expire on May 19.

Despite the tools’ expiration, LeBlanc noted that companies that don’t want to upgrade to the Windows service packs won’t be forced to do so. Users that have the Automatic Updates feature turned on will receive an alert from Windows Updates indicating that an important update is available for installation. Users can then elect to install the service packs or ignore the update.

Users that don’t have Automatic Updates turned on will receive the alert only after manually checking for updates in Windows Update.

LeBlanc said Microsoft is urging enterprises that haven’t already done so to install the service packs. “Microsoft strongly recommends all customers move to Windows Vista SP1 if they are running Windows Vista or Windows XP SP3 if they are running Windows XP,” he wrote.

Software makers typically issue service packs to improve security, stability, and other product attributes.

“Our goal in announcing the removal of the blockers early is to provide you with an early notification to ensure you’re prepared to deploy the appropriate service pack when the blockers expire,” wrote LeBlanc.