ARCHIVED NEWS
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February 2009
AMD Overdrive 2.1.6
28 February 2009
AMD has released Version 2.1.6 of its Overdrive utility for AMD chipset motherboards. It allows users to tune various system performance, stability and cooling parameters.
CCleaner 2.17.853
28 February 2009
A new Version 2.17.853 of the free CCleaner system cleaning utility has been released. This version adds wiping of disk free space, improves Apple Safari cleaning, and has a range of minor interface and engine tweaks.
Winamp 5.55
27 February 2009
The free Winamp media player has been updated to Version 5.55 Build 2504. Changes include a range of fixes and improvements.
RivaTuner 2.24
27 February 2009
Unwinder has released RivaTuner 2.24. The latest version has some bug fixes and adds support for the latest drivers, as well as updating the D3DOverrider utility, and a range of other improvements and bug fixes.
Realtek HD Audio 2.17
27 February 2009
Realtek has released Version 2.17 of its HD Audio drivers. Note if you have problems with the link, click the 'High Definition Audio Codecs' link at the top of the page and select 'Software'.
Game Patches
27 February 2009
PerfectDisk 10
26 February 2009
Raxco has released Build 100 of the PerfectDisk 10 defragmentation utility.
Game Patches
26 February 2009
Flash Player 10.0.22.87
25 February 2009
Adobe has released Version 10.0.22.87 of the Flash Player plugin for browsers.
Game Patches
25 February 2009
Auzentech X-Fi Drivers
24 February 2009
Auzentech has released Version 1.0 audio drivers for the X-Fi Forte and Version 1.1 for the X-Fi Prelude sound cards.
Windows Updates
24 February 2009
Microsoft has released a range of non-critical updates for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. You can view them here, or wait for them to show up on Windows Update.
Game Patches
24 February 2009
SoundBlaster USB Beta 1.01.0091
21 February 2009
Creative has released a Beta 1.01.0091 driver specifically designed for USB-based SoundBlaster audio cards under Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 Beta.
ATI Catalyst 9.2
21 February 2009
ATI has released the Catalyst 9.2 graphics drivers. This version improves performance in some CPU-limited situations, such as Crysis & Crysis Warhead DX10 mode and World in Conflict. There are also a range of bug fixes. Note that there also appears to be an updated 9.2 Hotfix for ATI HD3000 and HD2000 series AGP-based cards.
Game Patches
21 February 2009
GPU-Z 0.3.2
20 February 2009
GPU-Z, a free graphics card information utility, has reached Version 0.3.2. The changes include a range of fixes, support for new drivers and chipsets, and a new feature to allow the choice of displaying either the current, lowest, highest or average readings on each sensor.
Crysis Warhead 1.1 Hotfix
19 February 2009
Crytek has released a 1.1 Hotfix patch for Crysis Warhead. This patch contains all the fixes from the previous 1.1 patch, but also contains several new miscellaneous bug fixes, including a fix for resolution changes in Vista. The Crysis Warhead Tweak Guide has been updated but there are no significant changes.
Realtek HD Audio 2.16
19 February 2009
Realtek has released Version 2.16 of its HD Audio drivers. Note if you have problems with the link, click the 'High Definition Audio Codecs' link at the top of the page and select 'Software'.
Game Patches
19 February 2009
Nvidia Forceware 182.06
19 February 2009
Nvidia has released the Official Forceware 182.06 driver for Windows XP and Vista. These WHQL certified drivers are for the GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9 and 200 series, and are designed specifically for use with F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. However they also have performance improvements in other games including Fallout 3, Half Life 2, Left 4 Dead and GRID vs. the 181.22 WHQL drivers. The package includes the 9.09.0203 PhysX drivers. Note that this driver appears identical to the earlier 182.05 Beta, with the exception of a single bug fix for the GeForce 9 and 8 series under Windows 32-bit.
Game Patches
18 February 2009
SoundBlaster X-Fi Extreme Audio Beta 1.04.0000
18 February 2009
Creative has released a Beta 1.04.0000 driver specifically designed to provide support for the X-Fi Xtreme Audio series under Windows 7 Beta.
Game Patches
17 February 2009
RivaTuner 2.23
17 February 2009
Unwinder has released RivaTuner 2.23. The latest version has some bug fixes and adds support for the latest drivers, as well as updating the D3DOverrider utility, improving hardware monitoring, and a range of other improvements.
Safari 3.2.2
16 February 2009
Apple has updated the Safari browser to Version 3.2.2 for Windows. The latest version fixes security exploits and has stability improvements.
Windows Live
15 February 2009
Microsoft has released a range of updated components in the Windows Live suite of products, including new versions of Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Photo Gallery.
CPU-Z 1.50
14 February 2009
A new Version 1.50 of the CPU-Z information utility has been released. This version includes support for new CPUs and chipsets, and has some bug fixes.
Hardware Confusion 2009
14 February 2009
I've finally prepared the Hardware Confusion 2009 article, detailing one man's journey through the PC hardware selection, purchasing and building process. It's lengthy, and a tad self-indulgent at times, but within lies what I hope to be not only some useful information for those who wish to build a Core i7 system, but also a range of interesting facts and issues to consider for virtually anyone thinking about upgrading their system in the near future.
Game Patches
14 February 2009
Game Patches
13 February 2009
EVGA SLI Enhancement Patch
13 February 2009
EVGA has released an SLI Enhancement Patch which updates the SLI profiles in the latest Forceware drivers to include SLI support for Burnout Paradise and Necrovision. EVGA plans to release new SLI updates as games are released.
Game Patches
12 February 2009
Nvidia Beta Forceware 179.48
12 February 2009
Nvidia has released the Beta Forceware 179.48 driver for Windows XP and Vista. These drivers are only for notebook graphics cards, specifically the GeForce Go-7, GeForce 8M and GeForce 9M series. The package also includes the 9.09.0010 PhysX drivers.
Microsoft Security Updates
11 February 2009
Microsoft has released its monthly set of Windows security updates which you can get through Windows Update, or if not there by viewing and downloading them individually from here.
Realtek HD Audio 2.15
11 February 2009
Realtek has released Version 2.15 of its HD Audio drivers. Note if you have problems with the link, click the 'High Definition Audio Codecs' link at the top of the page and select 'Software'.
Game Patches
11 February 2009
Nvidia Beta Forceware 182.05
11 February 2009
Nvidia has released the Beta Forceware 182.05 driver for Windows XP and Vista. These drivers are for the GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9 and 200 series, and are designed specifically for use with F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. However they also have performance improvements in other games including Fallout 3, Half Life 2, Left 4 Dead and GRID vs. the 181.22 WHQL drivers. The package includes the 9.09.0203 PhysX drivers which are also available separately below.
Nvidia PhysX 9.09.0203
11 February 2009
Nvidia has released the 9.09.0203 PhysX drivers for both Ageia PhysX hardware and Nvidia PhysX-capable GPUs.
Game Patches
10 February 2009
Game Patches
9 February 2009
Site Update
8 February 2009
A quick update to confirm that the Hardware Confusion 2009 article I mentioned previously will go up in a few days' time. Problems with getting a replacement graphics card for my new system are the cause of the delay in finalizing the article.
Windows Updates
7 February 2009
Microsoft has released an update for Windows XP to resolve 0x0000008e Stop errors after installing a recent security update. It's available for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of XP.
ATI Catalyst Hotfix
7 February 2009
ATI has released a Hotfix driver which resolves problems for HD3000 and HD2000 series cards using the AGP interface under Windows XP and Vista.
AutoRuns 9.39
7 February 2009
Microsoft has released AutoRuns 9.39, updating this free startup software identification utility. This version fixes some minor bugs and adds a new Windows 7 location.
Process Explorer 11.33
7 February 2009
Microsoft has released Version 11.33 of the free Process Explorer utility which is a more detailed version of Task Manager. The changes include a bug fix.
Game Patches
7 February 2009
Chrome 1.0.154.48
6 February 2009
Google has released a final Version 1.0.154.48 of the Chrome browser.
Game Patches
5 February 2009
Firefox 3.0.6
4 February 2009
Mozilla has released an update for the Firefox browser, bringing it up to Version 3.0.6. This update has stability and security fixes, improves the way scripted commands work with plugins, fixes some display issues, and removes the client ID from crash reports.
Windows 7
4 February 2009
Microsoft has revealed the different editions in which Windows 7 will ship. These are: Windows 7 Starter; Windows 7 Home Premium; Windows 7 Professional; Windows 7 Enterprise; and Windows 7 Ultimate. The Starter package is a stripped down version only recommended for things like netbooks, the Home Premium and Professional packages will be the mainstream consumer products, while Enterprise and Ultimate are the same, with the former a business product and the latter for consumers.
Game Patches
4 February 2009
Game Patches
3 February 2009
Java Runtime Environment 6.12
3 February 2009
Sun has released an Update 12 to the Java Runtime Environment 6.
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