Microsoft has pushed out a patch for a software bug responsible for crashing some Windows systems that had third-party antivirus and firewalls installed. The fix, which was sent out through the automatic Windows Update system this week, deals with a problem that only affects Windows XP computers with Service Pack 2 installed alongside Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 and Windows Server 2003. The bug causes those PCs to crash and display the "blue screen of death" and an error message.

Microsoft is expected to give details of its lineup of databases and prices for the coming year on Wednesday, a move that could lead to further price cuts in the database market. The company plans to introduce SQL Server 2000 Workgroup, a version for small businesses priced at $3,899 per processor, in the first half of this year. It will also add several features to the upcoming SQL Server 2005 update, which is due in the summer, and extend a reselling relationship with Dell, which will allow its customers to get support from the PC maker.

The FBI is warning the public about malicious emails designed to appear as if they were generated by the law enforcement agency. In a statement released late Tuesday, the FBI detailed the threat, which attempts to lure email users into opening an attachment containing a computer virus. The mail is disguised as correspondence warning people that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI’s Internet Fraud Complaint Center and that they have "accessed illegal Web sites." The emails then direct recipients to open the virus-laden attachment to answer a series of questions.

Microsoft is grappling with a Hotmail outage that’s keeping some users of the email service from using their accounts. A faulty server is apparently the root of the problem, according to a Microsoft customer service representative who confirmed the outage on Wednesday. The representative declined to immediately discuss the nature of the problem, when it began, or how many of Hotmail’s 187 million users are affected.

An email worm promising explicit pictures of hotel heiress Paris Hilton is spreading widely, antivirus experts warned on Wednesday. The mass-mailing worm, Sober.K, is currently the third most commonly encountered virus, making up 10 percent of all viruses detected in the last 24 hours, Sophos reported.

Microsoft and telecommunications gear maker Alcatel have created a development and sales partnership for software that delivers services to TVs over the Internet. The two companies said Tuesday that they will act as preferred suppliers for services designed around Microsoft’s Internet Protocol television (IPTV) software, which telecom operators use to send video and data services to consumers’ TVs via set-top boxes.

Five years after the world fell victim to the "I love you" virus, a malicous-software writer is trying a similar trick on unsuspecting users. Antivirus company Sophos unearthed the new mass-mailing worm, dubbed Assiral, on Monday. It mimics the earlier virus, which used the phrase "I love you" in subject lines to entice recipients into opening the destructive e-mail and attachment.

GFI has released GFI Network Server Monitor 6, a major upgrade over version 5, complete with a totally new interface that makes configuration easy and efficient. The new interface has been designed to allow network administrators to be up and running in half an hour.

Microsoft announced the purchase of ERP Complete, an implementation tool designed to cut time and costs of deploying Axapta, Microsoft’s enterprise resource planning suite aimed at the manufacturing, distribution, retail and services industries. The tool was acquired for an undisclosed amount from En’tegrate Software LLC of Rolling Meadows, Ill., a software and consulting vendor focused on Axapta implementations.

A U.S teenager has become the first person to be arrested on suspicion of sending unsolicited instant messages–or spim. Anthony Greco, 18, was lured from New York to Los Angeles under the pretense of a business meeting. He was arrested upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport last Wednesday. Greco allegedly sent 1.5 million messages advertising pornography and mortgages. According to reports, the recipients of the messages were all members of the MySpace.com online networking service.