Wheee, check this out... there's thing called a Download Wizard that "offers suggested updates" for software on your hard drive... Now buys and girls, can we guess what else it will do? i.e. give to Microsoft a list of? Hrrmmm? =====================================Kaos=Keraunos=Kybernetos============== .+.^.+.| Ray Arachelian |Prying open my 3rd eye. So good to see |./|\. ..\|/..|sunder@sundernet.com|you once again. I thought you were |/\|/\ <--*-->| ------------------ |hiding, and you thought that I had run |\/|\/ ../|\..| "A toast to Odin, |away chasing the tail of dogma. I opened|.\|/. .+.v.+.|God of screwdrivers"|my eye and there we were.... |..... ======================= http://www.sundernet.com ========================== ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 13 Aug 1997 01:00:48 -0400 From: "Donald M. Barnard Jr." <barnardm@tiac.net> To: "ntsecurity@iss.net" <ntsecurity@iss.net> Subject: RE: [NTSEC] Hotfixes Meanwhile MS gets a nice database of installed software?<G> Don -----Original Message----- From: Paul Leach [SMTP:paulle@microsoft.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 1997 12:56 PM To: 'Russ' Cc: ntsecurity@iss.net Subject: RE: [NTSEC] Hotfixes As it says on the page you refer to: The Download Wizard will now check your computer for exisiting Microsoft software files and make suggestions for file updates that may be appropriate for your computer's configuration. The Download Wizard will NOT automatically change, add, or delete any files on your computer. You will be given the choice to download and install each of these files yourself. Important: Before downloading any files, be sure to check with your system administrator. I.e., we make it easy to find out if there are updates that _may_ apply to you (and screen out lots that for sure _don't_) -- you still have to decide if you want them. The backend for this is pretty heavyweight and labor intensive -- it's not ready to be a product. ZAW is the product that is supposed to support automation of admin of workstation and servers in a corporate environment.

---------- From: Russ[SMTP:Russ.Cooper@rc.on.ca] Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 1997 4:15 AM To: Paul Leach Cc: ntsecurity@iss.net Subject: RE: [NTSEC] Hotfixes

Paul,

Can you then comment on the Download Wizard available from http://www.microsoft.com/kb/softlib/default.asp which supposedly detects which files/patches etc... you need and automates the installation of these? I haven't tried it with a machine that was "Ok" in its eyes, so I haven't seen what it actually does, but the concept is quite cool for Intranet server management. Would seem to be parts of SMS for Intranets, which despite having risks that would have to be managed, could seriously improve the remote configuration management of machines.

Can you get someone to comment for us as to precisely what it does and how it does it? Is the underlying dB available with some instructions on how we might modify it for our own use?

I'm asking on behalf of the list because I think this would seem to be the answer to this thread's questions.

Cheers, Russ R.C. Consulting, Inc. - NT/Internet Security owner of the NTBugTraq mailing list: http://www.ntbugtraq.com