Microsoft has released Windows Defender as a live product. It has been in beta testing for about 2 years. Windows Defender is Microsoft's free anti-spyware product. We have been using it all the way through the beat process. The program is stable and does a pretty good job.
We will be installing Windows Defender on all new workstations purchased from us effective immediately. For Clients that are under our Site Maintenance Program, we will install the program during our next maintenance visit. We will install the program on other Client workstations when we visit them.
More information and the download file can be found here.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Yahoo Email Issues
Over the past couple of days an issue has come up with email being sent to Yahoo.com or any of its hosted domains. (ie. sbcglobal.net, etc) The result of the problem is that users sending email to Yahoo or any of its sub domains may get a message indicating the message is being temporarily deferred. The message that is bounced back will contain something like the following;
Failed Recipient: username@yahoo.com.cn
Reason: Remote host said: 451 Message temporarily deferred - 4.16.50
The Remote Host is Yahoo. There is a long,technical, and stupid reason that this is occurring. I won't get in to all the details here. Unfortunately, there is very little that we or other ISPs can do to try to resolve the issue. Our hosting group has been trying to locate someone at Yahoo that they might be able to work with, with no luck. One thing that can be done is for Yahoo (or SBC) users that are not able to receive the emails that are being sent to them to complain to Yahoo (or SBC).
The issue has to do with the method Yahoo has chosen to try to block spam. While blocking spam is a necessary evil nowadays, the method they have chosen has gone way to far and in fact is broken. Our hosting group is trying several workarounds that are helping somewhat but none of them is a permanent solution.
I wanted to let our Clients know about this problem, the cause, and what we are trying to do about it. Unfortunately, in this case we must depend on Yahoo to resolve it at their side. Note that some email will in fact get through, but a large portion is failing. We will continue to attempt to resolve this issue with Yahoo. Our Clients can feel free to contact me with questions or for an update.
Failed Recipient: username@yahoo.com.cn
Reason: Remote host said: 451 Message temporarily deferred - 4.16.50
The Remote Host is Yahoo. There is a long,technical, and stupid reason that this is occurring. I won't get in to all the details here. Unfortunately, there is very little that we or other ISPs can do to try to resolve the issue. Our hosting group has been trying to locate someone at Yahoo that they might be able to work with, with no luck. One thing that can be done is for Yahoo (or SBC) users that are not able to receive the emails that are being sent to them to complain to Yahoo (or SBC).
The issue has to do with the method Yahoo has chosen to try to block spam. While blocking spam is a necessary evil nowadays, the method they have chosen has gone way to far and in fact is broken. Our hosting group is trying several workarounds that are helping somewhat but none of them is a permanent solution.
I wanted to let our Clients know about this problem, the cause, and what we are trying to do about it. Unfortunately, in this case we must depend on Yahoo to resolve it at their side. Note that some email will in fact get through, but a large portion is failing. We will continue to attempt to resolve this issue with Yahoo. Our Clients can feel free to contact me with questions or for an update.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Windows Vista Licensing To Be Tougher
With Windows XP and Office XP Microsoft introduced software activation as a way to thwart software pirates. The idea is that after you install the software the activation software gathers some information from the machine it has been installed on and then contacts an activation server at Microsoft to record the information. If another installation of the software with the same key is attempted the activation server will block the installation. If the software is not activated it will cease to work properly. Microsoft says it needs to do this because piracy is so prevalent. Generally I don't have a problem with software activation as long as it works and as long as it is fast. That is not always the case.
Corporations that have volume license agreements with Microsoft were not subjected to software activation. That's all about to change. Windows Vista will require software activation for volume license customers. There will be several methods available, but the bottom line is that corporate customers will have to activate. In fact the activation engine that Microsoft has developed allows for other software vendors to use the Microsoft activation engine to enable activation of their software products using the engine.
Again, I generally do not have a problem with Microsoft protecting their products. However, the process must be fast, reliable, and maintain the privacy of the user. Not all corporations will agree with me on this and Microsoft may be in for some backlash.
Corporations that have volume license agreements with Microsoft were not subjected to software activation. That's all about to change. Windows Vista will require software activation for volume license customers. There will be several methods available, but the bottom line is that corporate customers will have to activate. In fact the activation engine that Microsoft has developed allows for other software vendors to use the Microsoft activation engine to enable activation of their software products using the engine.
Again, I generally do not have a problem with Microsoft protecting their products. However, the process must be fast, reliable, and maintain the privacy of the user. Not all corporations will agree with me on this and Microsoft may be in for some backlash.
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