5 ms·
The good old times when you could execute an antivirus from a website and it would scan all files of your local disk. Thanks to ActiveX. Windows Update itself
by laurent92 5y ago
The good old times when you could execute an antivirus from a website and it would scan all files of your local disk. Thanks to ActiveX.
Windows Update itself was a browser app. You could upgrade from the browser.
If we had known better, we would have made people upgrade from Windows to Linux this way, and Microsoft would have closed the giant hole faster.
- meibo 5y agoActiveX was always signed, like regular binaries - if MS's Windows signing key leaks they probably have bigger problems.
- hnlmorg 5y agoActiveX needed to be registered[1] to execute. It didn't have to be signed though. This was true even within Internet Explorer (or "Internet Exploiter" as I affectionately called it at that time). [1] https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/8911c4/how-to-register-and-unregister-a-dll-or-activex-controls-usi/ https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/8911c4/how-to-regis...
- tentacleuno 5y ago> Windows Update itself was a browser app. You could upgrade from the browser. I'm very interested in this. Would you mind expanding, please?
- jmrm 5y agoI remember how Windows ME, 2000, and XP had an ActiveX in Internet Explorer to select what updates to download and install in a web page, and if i recall correctly, it was called Microsoft Update. That download and installation process were done in other process outside the browser. For me this process was a total pain in the back, because it was pretty common to have failed downloads, specially when you used dial-up internet connections.
- hnlmorg 5y agoIt never ceases to amaze me just how bad Microsoft Update and Windows Update are (and the macOS App Store too for that matter). Two of the biggest companies in the world can't seem to get it right while a team of volunteers manage to run not just OS updates on Linux and BSD, but an entire library of software too.