ATI Issues Fix for Grey Screening 5800 Series

As promised, ATI and AMD have issued a fix for a previously reported problem that causes grey or colored lines appearing on screens and in some cases crashing.

Users of 5800 series cards will be glad to know that ATI has released a hotfix for intermittent grey screen and vertical line corruptions that randomly appear while watching movies, playing games or when the computer is sitting idle.

The hotfix applies to Windows 7 32bit, Windows 7 64bit, Windows Vista 32bit, Windows Vista 64bit, Windows XP, Windows XP x64 and Windows XP Media Center.

Click here to download the hotfix.

As of yet there is no word as to why some owners of 5700 series cards are seeing the same problem.

Click here and here to read more about the problem

UPDATE: ATI has said hotfix applies to both the 5800 series and the 5700 series. 

UPDATE2: ATI now says they're still working on a hotfix for the 5700 series cards. The hotfix released yesterday applies only to the 5800 cards. They're still working on a fix for the 5700 series.

Microsoft Patching 17-year-old Windows/DOS Bug

A patch is on the way to fix up that ancient Virtual DOS Machine flaw.

Last month we reported that Tavis Ormandy, a security researcher at Google,discovered a security flaw in the Virtual DOS Machine that can allow a nefarious user to inject code into the kernel and possibly install malware.

The flaw spanned iterations of Windows operating system over the last 17 years, including:

• Windows 2000
• Windows XP
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows Vista
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows 7

According to the BBC, Microsoft will be rolling out a fix to this bug in a February Security Update. The update will fix five vulnerabilities that allow attackers to hijack a Windows PC and run their own programs on it.

The patch is expected to hit on Tuesday, February 9 but it's a good idea to have automatic updates turned on so that your OS will do the checking for you.

Intel Announces Core i5, Core i7 With vPro

Businesses now have special Westmere parts made just for them.

Businesses looking to upgrade to the latest 32nm Intel CPU technology will be pleased to know that Intel today rolled out its fourth generation of vPro-enabled Core i5 and Core i7 chips.

Key features of vPro include Intel Anti-Theft Technology, which frustrates thieves by locking access to a PC if a central server or built-in intelligence concludes it is lost or stolen. New Intel Anti-Theft Technology version 2.0 enables encryption solutions to disable access to cryptographic keys through hardware to completely block access to data, and also makes it simpler to reactivate a PC once in rightful hands. Also, a custom message can be displayed in a pre-OS screen of the disabled PC for anyone who tries to access the computer.

vPro also packs a new Intel Keyboard-Video-Mouse Remote Control (KVM Remote Control), features available with dual-core Intel Core i5 and i7 vPro processors work in conjunction with Intel integrated graphics, bringing a stop to IT administrators' frustration with having to ask users, "What do you see?" Instead, they will see users' displays just as the users do and have full control of the PC, even if the operating system is inoperative. Previously, KVM functionality required appliances that cost as much as $200 and more per PC.

"Businesses, particularly those that haven't purchased PCs for several years, face a computing environment that no longer handles the applications many workers and IT are adopting," said Rick Echevarria, vice president, Intel Architecture Group, and general manager, Business Client Platform Division. "The integration of intelligent performance along with smart security and cost-saving manageability features in the Intel Core vPro processor family provide IT and SMBs a no-compromise platform. We also are excited about how Intel vPro Technology gives IT the flexibility to look at client virtualization, consumerization and rich cloud applications."

Windows 7 Build 7700 Spotted (Early Windows 8?)

Windows 7 build 7600 is the RTM version that's on all the new PCs today. It's the version that was completed shipped by Microsoft last summer – but it appears as though the developers are still tinkering away at it.
Neowin reported that a Russian site Wzor, which has a history of Windows leaks, posted screenshots from a post-RTM Windows 7 build 7700.
While many of you will find the screenshot completely uneventful, given that there does not appear to be any visual changes aside from the version number, the real news here comes from the build strings that tell us the progress that Microsoft is making.
The latest leak is 7700.winmain.100122-1900, which tells us that it is build 7700 and it was compiled in the 'winmain' lab on January 22, 2010 at 1900 hours.
Build strings leading up to this latest one are:
7650.0.winmain.090917-18437651.0.winmain.090924-18027656.0.winmain.091015-08337658.0.winmain.091019-18507659.0.winmain.091020-18307660.0.winmain.091021-17367661.0.winmain.091022-17557662.0.winmain.091023-16457664.0.winmain.091027-18257691.0.winmain.100106-18257692.0.winmain.100107-17357693.0.winmain.100111-18207694.0.winmain.100113-17537695.0.winmain.100114-18557696.0.winmain.100115-1725Watching numbers count upwards is fairly uneventful, but it does prove that progress is being made on top of existing Windows Vista and Windows 7 code – perhaps en route to the release of Windows 8 slated for 2011.

Dell Unveils Slim New Laptop Latitude 13

Dell's business machines just got a little sexier.

Although business-centric laptops don't have to be particularly sexy, Dell's latest business offering shows that those who need to get some real work done can have some style too.

Dell today unveiled the Latitude 13, which takes many design cues from the Adamo luxury series. This isn't the first business machine from Dell in the form; the Vostro 13 offered nearly the same things late last year.

Dell is touting the Latitude 13 as "the world's thinnest 13-inch commercial client laptop" at 0.65-inches thick, but hasn't revealed what might be under the hood. We expect specs to be similar to the Vostro 13: choices of either a 1.2GHz Celeron, 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo or 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo with integrated X4500MHD graphics, the notebook packs a 13.3-inch screen. That aside, it's also got eSATA, USB, Ethernet and SD and ExpressCard slots.

Expect it to show up on Dell's website for order in a few weeks starting at around $500.