IE 11 Security Updates Available Only To Updated Windows 7 Users

Though Windows 8 is the latest operating system by Microsoft, and is claimed to be much superior to Windows 7 platform, not many Windows 7 users are buying the whole Windows 7 vs Windows 8 argument about security features and modern user interface in the new OS. Reports highlight that more than 50% of the Windows users are still using Windows 7.

Recently, Microsoft made it clear that all Windows 8.1 users should upgrade to Windows 8.1 Update 1 to receive future OS updates. Windows 7 and Windows 8 were not mentioned in this list, but it is reported that only updated Windows 7 operating systems will receive any Internet Explorer 11 patches from now on.

This has to do with Microsoft classifying some of their updates as critical. You are expected to install these updates if you want to stay protected against hacking attacks and malware infections, but Windows users tend to ignore these warnings and skip most of these updates.

When they do this, they are missing some of these critical updates designed to fix the OS or software flaws. That is why; Microsoft is making the installation of these updates mandatory for receiving any future tech support.

In the case of Windows 7 users, this only affects IE11 security patches. They will still receive the OS updates as usual, and if Windows 7 users are using some other browser application like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, they might as well ignore these warnings from Microsoft and just stick to the OS updates alone. Nevertheless, the point here is, if you do not install these critical Windows 7 updates, especially KB 2929437 update, then all the new IE updates will not even be displayed on the Windows Update Center.

This is very similar to the update policy that Microsoft followed in case of their older operating systems like Windows XP. After the release of Service Pack 1 for Windows XP, Microsoft stopped releasing patches for un-updated XP system and released patches designed for Windows XP SP1 version only. The update policy, however, is still same for all other operating systems and their Service Pack updates.

For more information about Windows 7 vs Windows 8 comparisons or OS update problems, go to our Windows tech support page or get in touch with experts over the toll-free number right away.

Microsoft Planning To Focus More On PC Gaming

Microsoft is getting ready to focus more on the PC gaming sector and the software giant has already taken a few steps in this regard. According to Phil Spencer of Xbox, the recent acquisition of Rise of Nations franchise is only a beginning.

Now, when one of the fans queried to Spencer why the company has taken over Rise of Nations and released it again for Steam, Spencer said, "Steam is a great place to sell Win32 games. We acquired the IP for future work; I'm a big fan of the franchise." However, to this answer, the fan’s response was that he was little interested in installing Steam even though he would love to play a Game set for Windows Live replacement. Spencer answered, "I agree that Microsoft needs to up our gaming presence on Windows. Part of my Xbox role is to bring back our Windows gaming focus."

According to Windows Live chat support, the games for Windows Live stopped the operations on July 1, 2014. Now, even though Spencer told about the refocusing plans in the gaming sector, he did not specify how exactly the company is hoping to rework in the sector. Keep in mind that this is not the first time Spencer had told about the company’s decision to refocus in the gaming sector. Earlier, in the Game Developers Conference, which was held in March, he told that gaming enthusiasts can soon expect more from Microsoft in PC gaming.

Even though the company is getting ready to focus more in the sector, it does not mean that gamers could expect a competitor for Steam in the near future. This is because Spencer made it clear at GDC that the company does not intend to battle it out with Steam and said, "It’s important to invest in a real way." Microsoft had earlier announced the release of DirectX12, which comes with many enhancements aimed at PC developers and Microsoft’s gaming device, Xbox One. This latest version of graphics API could bring in major changes in the gaming industry. This new API will help the developers to use the hardware resources more efficiently.

With the new developments, we might see major changes in the gaming industry in a few months time. According to Windows live chat support, Xbox One is gaining much popularity among the users and is giving tough competition to Play Station 4, which in turn has helped Microsoft to gain more confidence and put in more research in the gaming sector.

Repair Corruption In Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is a useful email program, developed to function as a personal information manager. Apart from its basic feature of sending/receiving emails, Outlook has many other useful features that make it easily customizable and flexible. All the outlook related information is stored in a special file known as Personal Storage File (PST). This file normally works error-free. It has a 2GB limit, beyond which it starts acting weird and gets corrupted. This is not only reason this file gets corrupted. Viruses, abrupt restart or shut down, some human errors etc can corrupt the PST file. This is quite irritating as your work gets affected because of Outlook not working the way it should. You need to take appropriate steps to resolve this problem.

Just consider a situation in which you have Microsoft Outlook installed in your computer, but when you try to open an email attachment you receive an error messing saying that your Antivirus software has stopped the attachment from opening. In this scenario, you need to make sure whether your antivirus has expired or is fully up to date. Now, try opening the email attachment again. Another thing you should note here is that the attachment may contain some virus or malware which your system’s antivirus software has been unable to Quarantine or remove. If this happens, you need to be careful before opening it. If we consider the aforementioned scenario, let us see some of the reasons why such an error message pops up.

• Sometimes, it may happen that your antivirus program is not compatible with Microsoft Office.
• Another reason may be that your antivirus software is not able to get rid of the virus from the attachment.
• The Personal Storage File (PST) file may be corrupted.

Here is how you resolve it

• The first two causes can be resolved by downloading the latest or updated version of the antivirus software. You can get it from the internet. This should resolve the problem.
• Now, regarding the PST corruption, you need to run an Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe) for repairing the corrupted components.

Usually, Inbox Repair tool should resolve minor corruptions that form a reason for Outlook not working. But, if the problem persists, then you require downloading third party PST recovery tool to repair the PST file corruption. Before installing it, you should read the reviews, to ensure that it is functional or effective. If you see many negative reviews, you can go for other similar free PST recovery tools available for download on the Internet.