Microsoft Office Updates
http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/

Microsoft Windows Updates
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

The Download Center provides access via pull-down menus to 500 Microsoft product releases on 14 different platforms. After specifying a product and operating system, you will be directed to a table containing links to all patches, updates, and relevant plug-ins. You can also download free software, such as Internet Explorer. For more specific information about Office and Windows, you can link to the Microsoft Office Updates page, and the Microsoft Windows Updates page.?

Microsoft Product Support Services — Custom Support
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/customer.asp

For those whose needs extend beyond ordinary product support, Microsoft’s Custom Support page links you to the support options available for Developers, Computer Manufacturers, IT Professionals, Premier Customers, Resellers and Consultants, System Builders, Internet Services Professionals, Certified Partners, and Gold Certified Partners. These services are of a more technical nature, and several are for qualified subscribers only. But there are still gems to be found by the persevering Windows user, such as the two below.

The DLL Help Database
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/dllinfo.asp

If you’ve ever received an error message informing you that a system file can’t be found, or is out of date, or corrupted, it’d sure help to know where it came from in the first place. Type the name of a system file into the DLL Help Database, and it will report the version numbers, sizes, OS releases, release dates, and the locations on the install CD-ROMs where that file’s CAB archive can be found. The database stores information on .DLL, .EXE, .OCX, .DRV, and many other file types.

You can also search the database by product name and retrieve an alphabetized list of all the files installed on the system by that product. If your missing file isn’t listed in the Microsoft DLL database, it probably belongs to another (non-Microsoft) program.

Windows Hardware Compatibility List
http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/default.asp

Lastly, there are good reasons for visiting Microsoft on the Web before you end up with a problem, rather than after the crash. For example, if you are upgrading your computer, the Windows Hardware Compatibility List supplies details on the hardware products–anything from audio cards to FireWire controllers to motherboards–certified to be compatible with the many Windows operating systems. In the computing world, caveat emptor isn’t enough: the buyer must also be informed. As elsewhere, knowledge is power, and forewarned is forearmed.

URLs of Note:

Microsoft Product Support Services
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/

Frequently Asked Questions & Highlights
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/faqs.asp

Knowledge Base Search
http://search.support.microsoft.com/kb/c.asp

Global Web Site Search
http://search.microsoft.com/us/SearchMS25.asp

Microsoft Download Center
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp

Microsoft Office Updates
http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/

Microsoft Windows Updates
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Microsoft Product Support Services — Custom Support
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/customer.asp

The DLL Help Database
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/dllinfo.asp

Windows Hardware Compatibility List
http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/default.asp

The Attorney General of the State of Florida, Charlie Crist, said the penalty to prevent these men continue to send emails tricksters is part of its first actions under the anti-spam law passed last year.

The men, Scott Filary, 25, and Donald Townsend, 34, both of Tampa, are accused of sending over 65,000 emails, many with a false case and hidden source.

Emails sent to recipients to websites that Crist said were related to fraud or illegal activities, such as selling pharmaceuticals and cigarettes over the Internet or to supply a platform for illegal downloads of copyrighted movies.

The research was assisted by the software giant, Microsoft, whose operating system, Windows runs on more than 90 percent of computers worldwide.

The anti-spam law in Florida may be fined up to $ 500 (385 euros) by email, or $ 24 million in the case where the two accused, said Crist in a statement.

The national anti-spam law took effect in early 2004 but has done little to stem the collapse of litter caused by email spam.

It is estimated that over 80 percent of email traffic consists of spam, costing companies billions of dollars a year, lost productivity and bandwidth.

A court in Virginia this week jailed a man in North Carolina for nine years for sending millions of spam emails, but the court postponed the sentence while the case was appealed. This is the first prosecution for a ’spammer’.