Windows Live Essentials 2009 QFE2: What is new?

“QFE” is short for Quick Fix Engineering—and that is exactly what the latest Windows Live Essentials updates are for. In this post, I will highlight the Release Notes for Essentials 2009 QFE2. So, what is new or changed?

• Windows Live Messenger conversation window: Chinese/Japanese/Korean IME (Input Method Editor) reset to English in the Messenger conversation window
  On a computer running Windows XP SP2 or SP3, if you receive an instant message while the Messenger main window is closed, and then try to type Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters in the conversation window using IME, the input mode will be reset to English and you won’t be able to input Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters. To resolve this, reopen the Messenger main window and then resume typing in the conversation window.
• Video: Webcam control and effects add-ins may stop working and not appear for webcams
  Some webcam manufacturers provide controls for camera operations or effects that you can apply to the video experience within Messenger. With the new release of Messenger these add-ins may stop working. If you don’t see the webcam manufacturer’s camera control and effects icon under your display picture in Messenger during a video call or webcam session, please consult your hardware manufacturer for an update.
• Windows Live Mail: S/MIME certificates need to be re-established
  S/MIME (Secure/ Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) is a security standard for public key encryption and the signing of e-mail with a digital ID or certificate. If you use the Secure Mail (certificates) feature of Windows Live Mail to send or receive mail, you’ll need to re-establish your S/MIME certificate and the certificates of each of your contacts with whom you exchange secure e-mail.
  You can set up your own S/MIME certificate by selecting the correct certificate in Windows Live Mail:
  • In Windows Live Mail, click the Menu button on the toolbar, and then click Safety options.
    Click the Security tab.
  • In the Secure Mail section, click Digital IDs.
  • In the Certificates dialog, select the certificate you use for your S/MIME e-mail.

  You can set up the certificate for each of your contacts by adding the certificate to your contact list:

  • In the main window of Windows Live Mail, select an e-mail message you’ve received from that contact that includes a digital certificate.
  • Click the certificate icon for that e-mail.
  • Click View certificates.
  • Click Add to contacts.
• Windows Live Movie Maker: not installed with Windows Live Essentials
  Movie Maker requires Windows Vista or Windows 7. If you install Windows Live Essentials using any other operating system, Movie Maker won’t be installed.
• Movie Maker may not run properly on some video hardware
  Movie Maker makes extensive use of your video card’s GPU (graphics processing unit). PCs with video cards not intended for high-end graphics usage may encounter issues rendering video and effects in Movie Maker.
• Videos may not render in Movie Maker if Nero software is installed on your PC
  Some Nero software installs video filters that may conflict with Windows Live Movie Maker. If you encounter this issue, please contact the software manufacturer to see if an update to their software is available. For an immediate workaround, you can unregister the NDParser.ax installed by Nero Ahead. Note that you will need to re-register NDparser.ax to allow Nero to function correctly again.
  To unregister or re-register NDParser.ax, do the following:
  1. On the Windows Start menu, click All Programs, and then click Accessories.
  2. Right-click Command Prompt and then click Run as administrator.
  3. Type: CD %programfiles%Common FilesAheadDSfilter and then press Enter.
  4. To unregister or re-register NDParser.ax, do one of the following:
     a. To unregister, type: regsvr32 NDParser.ax /u and then press Enter.
     b. To re-register, type: regsvr32 NDParser.ax and then press Enter.
• Only TrueType fonts are supported in Movie Maker
  Movie Maker only supports TrueType fonts. If you select a Raster font, Movie Maker will default back to the Arial font.
• After upgrading to Window 7, you cannot download photo albums from photos.live.com
  To solve this issue, you need to repair your installation of Windows Live Photo Gallery.
  1. On the Windows Start menu, click Control Panel, click Programs, click Programs and Features, and then in the list, click Windows Live Essentials.
  2. Click Uninstall/Change.
  3. Click Repair, and then click Continue.
  4. The installer will repair your Windows Live programs.
  5. Close all instances of Microsoft Internet Explorer, and then restart Internet Explorer.
  6. Open the album you were having trouble with, and try downloading it again.
• An error may occur if you have an extra DLL file in your System32 folder
  You might receive the following message when you open the Family Safety Filter on a computer running Windows XP:
  “The procedure entry point IsThreadDesktopComposited could not be located in the dynamic link library USER32.dll”
  This probably means there is a file dwmapi.dll in your Windows XP System32 folder. To solve this issue, remove the .dll file by doing the following:
  1. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
  2. Double-click the hard disk icon for C:.
  3. Double-click the WINDOWS folder, and then double-click the system32 folder.
  4. Find the file dwmapi.dll, and then delete it.
• Windows Live Family Safety: No Windows Live IDs needed for children
  Family Safety can now supervise Windows accounts. There is no need for parents to register Windows Live IDs for each of the children to be supervised.

Download: Full release notes for Windows Live Essentials 2009 QFE2 (PDF; ~ 700 kB)