Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS)

Windows Contacts is a new application in Windows Vista, which is used to store information about people with whom a user regularly communicates. It has replaced the Windows Address Book application that was available with earlier versions of Windows.

Contact group is a collection of contacts made through Windows Contacts. The contact group is used by users to send a single e-mail to multiple users. It saves time and efforts of a user to manually enter e-mail address of each member of the group.

Color depth is a term that describes the number of bits used to represent the color of a single pixel in a bitmap image. It is also referred to as bit depth, as it is directly related to the number of bits used for each pixel.

A network printer is a printer that is not physically attached to the user’s computer but it is installed over a network. Any user connected to the network can install it and then use it. It is accessible to any computer that is connected to the network.

A local printer is a printer that is attached to a stand-alone computer. Users of only that computer are able to use the printer.

A default printer is a printer that accepts print requests automatically unless any other printer is specified manually. When more than one printer is installed on a computer, then one printer has to be a default printer to which all the print requests are sent automatically.

In the previous post of “Windows Automatic Updates“, I have talked about Windows Automatic Updates and their use. In this post I will be discussing about configuring the Windows Update settings.

The steps to configure the Windows Update settings are as follows:

1. Open the Control Panel window, and click Security.



2. In the Security window, click Windows Update.



3. In the left pane of the Windows Update window, click Change settings.



4. The Change settings dialog box will appear. Select the update options, and click on the OK button.

Windows Automatic Updates include the latest security and critical updates and service packs. These updates ensure that the computer is protected against the latest viruses and other security threats. Through Automatic Updates, Windows automatically downloads the latest updates on the computer on a pre-determined schedule.

Windows Update can be setup to automatically update your PC by automatically downloading and installing both Important updates and Recommended updates in Windows Vista. Windows Update is a free service built into Windows. It is designed to help you keep your PC more secure, reliable, compatible with devices, and able to run new features that may enhance your experience. With Windows Update, you can easily get the following:

For security reasons, a firewall is essential for a computer. It prevents any malicious program from running. It is a set of related programs configured to protect private networks connected to the Internet from intrusion. It regulates the network traffic between different computer networks. It permits or denies the transmission of a network packet to its destination based on a set of rules.

Sometimes there is a need to allow certain programs to pass through the firewall. In this post, the procedure to configure firewall to allow certain programs is discussed.

The steps for configuring firewall access for specific programs are as follows:

Malware is a combination of the terms malicious and software. It refers to a variety of hostile programs, such as a virus or a Trojan horse, designed to damage or disrupt a computer. It gathers information about a computer without the user’s permission or knowledge.

Adware is software that automatically downloads and display advertisements in the Web browser without user permission. When a user visits a site or downloads software, sometimes a hidden adware software is also downloaded to display advertisement automatically. This can be quite irritating to user. Some adware can also be spyware.

Windows Defender is a software product from Microsoft to prevent, remove and quarantine spyware in Microsoft Windows. It was formerly known as Microsoft AntiSpyware. It is included and enabled by default in Windows Vista and Windows 7, and is available as a free download for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Windows Defender features system scan capabilities similar to other free products on the market, and includes a number of real-time security agents that monitor several common areas of Windows for changes which may be caused by spyware. It also includes the ability to easily remove ActiveX applications that are installed. If it detects anything suspicious, an alert will appear on the screen.

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a full disk encryption feature included with the Ultimate and Enterprise editions of Microsoft’s Windows Vista and Windows 7 desktop operating systems, as well as the Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 server platforms. It is used to protect all files stored on the drive Windows is installed on. It encrypts the entire system drive and helps block hackers from accessing the system files they rely on to discover user passwords. By default it uses the AES encryption algorithm in CBC mode with a 128 bit key, combined with the Elephant diffuser for additional disk encryption specific security not provided by AES. BitLocker also prevents hackers from accessing the hard disk by removing it from a computer and installing it on a different computer.

Internet Explorer 7+ provides the following security features to help protect security and privacy when a user surfs the Internet:

1. Protected mode: The protected mode feature of IE 7+ prevents a computer from saving the files or programs of a Web site. Protected mode makes it more difficult for malware to be installed. In case such a program is installed, it makes difficult for the program to damage a user’s file and other operating system files. Protected mode is enabled by default for Internet, local intranet, and restricted sites. However, it is not enabled for trusted sites.