China can keep on denying that its People’s Liberation Army is responsible for infiltrating government networks, but good luck denying that it’s pumping out the most malware on the planet.

Sophos nailed China as the top junk-spewer back in its July 2007 Sophos Threat Report. In the report, Sophos said that China servers are behind 44.8 percent of the world’s malware-infected sites. That’s more than the next three top countries serving junk combined: the United States, at 20.8 percent, Russia with 11.3 percent, and Ukraine, at 7.7 percent.

The latest version of Process Explorer, v 11.0, promises a faster startup and better user interface responsiveness.

The popular tool, which has the ability to sniff out exactly which resources are being accessed by applications listed in the task manager, now has a new tree list control that improves user interface performance. It also has several Vista enhancements.

Microsoft will release five sets of security patches next Tuesday, including a critical update for users of Windows 2000, the company said Thursday. With the remaining four security updates rated as "important" by Microsoft, this latest round of patches appears to be less worrisome than the August updates. Last month, Microsoft released nine updates, six of which were rated critical.

Microsoft rates its bug-fixes as critical when attackers can exploit the flaws without requiring any user action. Also set to be patched this month are Visual Studio, Windows Services for Unix, SharePoint Services, and the Windows Live and MSN Messenger software.

This document lists 10 enhancements you should make to every new Windows PC, no matter whether it is a workstation or the family media computer.

Getting a new computer, even if it’s only a new workstation at work, should be a happy experience. A new PC means more power, faster processing, and usually a better display. However, all new PCs could stand some tweaking to make them even better. This download lists 10 tweaks that should be made to every new Windows PC. These tweaks will bring out the best in your new PC and give you a solid foundation for future applications and operating system updates.

If your computer powers up okay, but the Windows XP operating system won’t boot properly, you have some troubleshooting ahead of you. Here’s a look at the likely culprits and what you can do to fix the problem.

When you’re dealing with a Windows XP system that won’t boot, it helps to know what areas to target as you try to diagnose the problem. Windows expert Greg Shultz put together this list to help you identify and resolve the boot issue.

Sonasoft, provider of SonaSafe Integrated backup, high-availability and disaster recovery software announced the launch of affordable backup and disaster recovery appliances through the North American Components business unit of Arrow Electronics. Arrow offers an integrated, Intel-based appliance with Sonasoft’s SonaSafe software on its white box servers.

The appliance is targeted at the small and medium business (SMB) market and has many key capabilities. The appliance offers an affordable fully integrated hardware/software solution, quick implementation and increased productivity, ability to easily scale based on customer needs and easy integration into current environment.

Microsoft released details of a study it commissioned that found that total cost of ownership for Windows Vista on mobile PCs is $605 less annually than Windows XP.

According to research conducted by Wipro and GCR Custom Research and released Wednesday, total cost of ownership for Windows XP is $4,407 annually, while Vista’s cost is $3,802. The $4,407 figure was derived from costs of hardware, software, IT labor, and user costs. Mobile PCs were the focus because these units will outship desktop systems by 2010, said Hiroshi Sakakibara, product manager for Windows Product Management at Microsoft.

Peculiarly, the study actually was based on XP usage and extrapolations based on Vista capabilities because there was not a substantial base of Vista clients in use yet when the study was done early in 2007. Now, the installed base of Vista is 60 million PCs, Microsoft said.

What began as a ninth-grade prank, a way to trick already-suspicious friends who had fallen for his earlier practical jokes, has earned Rich Skrenta notoriety as the first person ever to let loose a personal computer virus.

Although over the next 25 years, Skrenta started the online news business Topix, helped launch a collaborative Web directory now owned by Time Warner’s Netscape and wrote countless other computer programs, he is still remembered most for unleashing the "Elk Cloner" virus on the world.

Microsoft will deliver an updated suite of Windows Live services, along with a new unified installer that customers can use to download all of these applications. This suite of services includes the first public beta of Windows Live Photo Gallery, as well as Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger 8.5, the Windows Live Writer blogging tool, Windows Live OneCare Family Safety, and the Windows Live Toolbar.

Pfizer disclosed a new data breach at the company that exposed as many as 34,000 employees to potential identity fraud.

In a letter sent by Pfizer attorney, Bernard Nash to state attorneys general around the nation, the pharmaceutical giant said an employee removed copies of confidential information from a Pfizer computer system late last year. It was the third disclosure of a data breach at the New York City-based company in the last three months.