MSN has released the final version of their MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search, formerly known as the MSN Toolbar Suite with Desktop Search.Not a lot seems to have changed from a high level except for the user interface. The desktop band is smaller and the system tray (systray) icon has changed slightly, but build 02.01.0000.2214 is a b...

Last night the Windows Installer 3.1 redistributable was uploaded back onto the Microsoft Download Center. Version 2 of the redistributable addresses the issue where Windows Installer 3.1 would fail when trying to silently update a file under Windows File Protection.

Windows File Protection is a feature that prevents critical files from being replaced by unauthorized programs. Currently, the only applications capable of updating WFP-protected files are the following: Windows Installer (MSI) is not among the list of authorized applications. Any package that attempts to replace a WFP-protected file will caus...

In Getting Debug Symbols even for Retail Builds I detailed how to set up your machine and Visual Studio .NET to download public symbols from Microsoft's symbol server. This process has changed for Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2. When debugging your projects it's often helpful or even necessary to see the functions in the call stack. Without symbols, a s...

Here inside Microsoft we of course have access to private debug symbols to help debug issues like I do in Windows Script as a member of the Customer Product-lifecycle Experience (CPX) team. We use a host of debugging tools like Windbg.exe, ntsd.exe, and even Visual Studio .NET. You can even download some of these debugging tools and related documen...

Not so long ago, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 for x64 were released to manufacturing (RTM'd). Today, they have finally shipped and are available to consumers, but you won't find these yet on retail sales shelves.Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is available on x64 machines now, and users with x64 machines now can exchange their 32-bit Wind...

Bruce Schneier pointed out an interesting article that got me thinking and even made me laugh a little. From the article: Suppose you turn on your laptop while sitting at the kitchen table at home and respond “OK” to a prompt about accessing a nearby wireless Internet access point owned and operated by a neighbor. What potential liabili...

Surely by now you've seen the news on the Blogs.msdn.com homepage that both .NET Framework 2.0 Beta 2 and Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 (both also known as "Whidbey Beta 2") have been released, so I won't mention it. ;)I do want to share, however, after having written an article a long time ago entitled Windows XP Visual Styles for Windows Forms1, that...

Working on 32- and 64-bit patch support for Developer Division projects like the .NET Framework 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005, I've been involved with many threads and in many meetings about the various scenarios and solutions for producing patches that target our supported platform architectures. .NET will ship in three different flavors for x86...

Windows Installer 3.1 is now available as a redistributable from the Microsoft Download Center. Among the changes are support for MSIs targeting x64 platforms, which I described in a previous blog entry; some fixes for source resolution problems; and opt-in behavior for flyweight patching, which would've been a major burden for the Customer Product...