Systems Support Group, Inc. Blog

The SSGI Team Is Awesome!

2011-11-08T07:22:00.000-05:00

I know we have great team here at SSGI. But, you never know what to expect when a disaster occurs. As everyone knows, Connecticut had one of the worst October storms in its history on Saturday, October 29th. The storm dropped over 12" of snow and caused power outages for 87% of the state. By Saturday night most of the state and most of the SSGI team was in the dark. Kim was the only one to not lose power. Today, November 8th, 30000 homes in the state are still without power and unfortunately for some, it may still be a couple of days before it comes back on.

On Sunday I checked our office and found it too was without power. In fact, 97% of Torrington was without power. I checked in with our staff via very spotty cell service. Everyone was ok but looking forward to the power coming back on. At home I got our generator up and running and got some Internet access via my Verizon MiFi device. Most of my family moved into our house where we at least had heat, water and a DVD player.

On Monday power was still out in most areas. However, East Main street in Torrington was now live. That meant several gas stations and DUNKIN DONUTS were open. I started contacting Clients that I could get through to. It was not looking good. Still over 80% power outage in the state. By now Northeast Utilities was indicating the power would be out for an extended period in many areas of the state. Dunkin Donuts and the gas stations were total chaos. A trip to the office verified we still had no power.

On Tuesday power was getting restored to a few more areas. I worked with several Clients helping them get their servers back up and running. None of our staff had power back yet. In the afternoon power came on at home, but the office was still down. I contacted the guys and scheduled a meeting at our office on Wednesday morning so we could get to Clients that needed us. Around 5:00pm Gayle and I took a ride to the office. Power was still out. But within about a half hour it came on. I got our servers up and running and verified we had Internet as well. We were back in business!

On Wednesday morning everyone arrived at the office. I was the only one with power at home. But we started working on tickets immediately. As power was coming on our Clients needed us and we were there. We had a Client that was told they would not have power for at least a week. Because of the nature of their business, they needed to get on-line to process orders. We made plans to move their servers and some staff to our offices. The guys went home that evening to homes still in the dark.

Thursday came and still no power for any of the guys. We proceeded to move our desperate Client to our office. And the guys continued to handle tickets. Sometimes they had to improvise routes to the Clients because of trees down in roads. The state was still over 50% without power,

Over the weekend we saw lots of power come on although the guys still had none. Everyone of them showed up for work on Monday. These guys worked their butts off during this event. Other than stopping home to fill generators and check on their families, they were there for our Clients.

I'm proud of our team and what we accomplished during this disaster. As I write this, John is still without power. He is also on the road taking care of our Clients.

This has been a tough experience. There is a lot to be learned from it. One thing I learned is that we have an awesome team. I thank every one of them for their extraordinary efforts. Because of them, our Clients were able to get back up and running as soon as possible after power was restored to them. Let's hope we don't see anything like this again any time too soon. But if it does, rest assured this awesome team will be there to take care of our Clients.

Connecticut Power Outage Update

2011-11-02T00:34:00.000-05:00

SSGI has had power and Internet fully restored as of 5:00pm on 11/1/11. Phones, email and the Client Portal are fully operational.46% of Connecticut remains without power. Several cities and towns are still at 100% outage. Many side roads remain blocked by downed trees and/or wires. Some locations are expected to be without power for at least another 7 days.The Northeast Utilities Outage map can be found here.

Urgent Message

2011-10-30T13:55:00.001-05:00

Due to the storm, SSGI has no power at this time. Currently, about 67% of Connecticut is without power, including 97% of Torrington. Because of the scope of power outages in Connecticut, it is expected that power outages will continue for up to 1 week or more.This outage is also affecting cell phones. However, you can call or text Ed's cell phone. We will also have an alternative support email account on-line by Monday morning. On Monday we will attempt to contact each of our Clients to access their status and update ours.We will update our status regularly here and on our Client Portal as well as our Twitter account @ssgisupport.UPDATE 11/1/11Still no power at the office. 46% of Torrington and 54% of Connecticut without power. Support requests can be made at 800-897-7002. We are responding to calls . Please be patient. Phones are being routed through cellular service which is not in the best of shape either. Clients are beginning to get power back. Unfortunately there are still many cities and towns it CT with 100% outage

“After the storm” a roundtable discussion of disaster planning

2011-09-12T10:24:00.001-05:00

While all of us have some type of disaster plan in place, even if it’s in our head, it’s a rare occasion that we can evaluate our plans with the fresh hindsight of an actual disaster. Hurricane Irene has provided us when one of those rare opportunities. Systems Support Group, Inc. will be presenting 2 roundtable discussions that will enable us all to be better prepared should another disaster occur.

These roundtables will bring together businesses that lived through power outages, internet outages, flood damage etc. We will have an open discussion on how well existing disaster plans worked and what can be done better. Bring your hurricane Irene stories and questions.

The first roundtable will be held at the Waterbury Courtyard Marriot on Thursday September 29th at 8:30am to 10:00am. Reservations can be made by calling our office at 860-496-8684.

The second roundtable will be held at the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce in Torrington on Wednesday October 12th at 8:30am to 10:00am. Limited reservations for non-chamber members are available by contacting our office at 860-496-8684.

Prepare for Irene

2011-08-25T11:17:00.001-05:00

It looks like hurricane Irene is heading in our direction. It’s current track has the eye passing roughly through the middle of the state as a category 1 hurricane on Sunday. Of course, these things can change at any time.

Hurricanes present several issues for IT equipment. The most common are flooding and wind. Flooding can be a problem for IT equipment that is on the floor especially in low lying areas. Make sure any of your IT equipment that fits this scenario is lifted up off the ground or moved completely. Water and electronic equipment do not play well together! Remember, that hurricanes can cause water damage in other ways besides flooding. Water can come in through roofs and windows as well.

Wind damage is the next problem. In addition to causing physical damage to your building, wind can take trees down and spread debris around. This in turn can cause power outages, which of course is a problem for your IT equipment.

Because this storm looks like it will hit over the weekend, it would be best to power off as much of your IT equipment as possible. If you are on our 24x7 monitoring service, please notify us that you will be powering down. If you can not power your equipment down, make sure it is in as safe an area as possible. Power surges can cause the most damage to your IT equipment. Any devices that are left on should, at the very least, be connected to a good UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply). Realize that these will only be good for about 15 or 20 minutes.

It would be a good idea to make sure you have a current backup offsite. For our Clients that use or remote backup service, we will be doing a basic test restore of a sample of your data by the end of the day Friday.

Make sure you have a good communications link with your employees and make sure your insurance information is close at hand. Mostly importantly, safety first! Make your preparations before hand. If you find equipment under water don’t try to move it until the storm has passed, even if the power is out! The power may come back on at any time and can prove deadly.

Hopefully, this storm will pass without any major issues. However, it is best to be prudent and prepare as much as possible. This would be a good time, where possible, to shut your IT equipment off. Pull out that Disaster Plan and review it before the storm hits. If you have questions about your specific environment, give a us a call.

This is a pretty good site for information about Hurricane Irene.

One way to avoid disasters is to not create them

2011-08-04T10:13:00.001-05:00

As IT support people, we are regularly responding to issues created by various types of disasters. We have pretty much seen everything. Fires, tornados, floods, roof collapses, loss of key employees have all been thrown at various Clients over the years. We spend a good amount of time with our Clients planning for these types of disasters. Disaster plans are developed and tested as much as possible. Most of the disasters listed here are not under our control. We can’t control the weather. But we can plan for these things, so if they do happen to our business we can minimize their effects.

There is a whole set of other types of disasters that are controllable. Not implementing proper security procedures, not replacing critical old equipment, using the server room as a storage area, not installing UPSs on critical equipment, and other “controllable disasters” should never happen. We often hear “we simply can’t have any down time”. At the same time, the cleaning people use the server room to store their cleaning supplies, or the server room is 100 degrees, and the server in that server room is 10 going on 11 years old. My question is if you can’t have any down time, why are you asking for it?

In fact, thinking over the last 28 years that we have been supporting Clients, my guess is that about 75% of the “disasters” that have been encountered were self inflicted. These self inflicted disasters cost time and money. Usually a lot more than the preventative measures that could have been taken to avoid them. So take a look at your IT environment. What disasters are you inviting in?

Ray Promoted To Service Manager

2011-07-22T13:44:00.001-05:00

As everyone already knows, Ray has been doing an excellent job for us since he came onboard a few years back. His attention to our Client’s needs has made us a better company. It’s as simple as that. He has helped us organize our growing helpdesk and has kicked all our butts regarding documentation. He has proven himself in working with our Clients and with our staff.

As my plate has been overflowing, it has come time for me to concentrate on our business processes and growth. With that in mind, I have promoted Ray to Service Manager. He is now responsible for all aspects of our providing the best support we can to our Clients. In actuality Ray has already been doing this for a while now. We are just making it official. One of his first tasks has been to get our service scheduling process more formalized. As many of you already have noticed, we have been much more proactive at communicating with you regarding the status and scheduling of your service tickets. The response for the few changes he has made so far has been great. Look for more!

As a reminder, the best ways to request support are:

Phone – Call our 800 number – Select 1 for support
Email – Send an email to support@ – A ticket is created and you are notified
Client Portal – Sign into our Client Portal – Create tickets, check on ticket status, check your inventory, licenses, invoices, etc
Fax – Yes, we still get support request though fax

Please do not send new support requests to any of us individually via email or voicemail. Use the support accounts as they are handled immediately whereas an individual email or voicemail will have to wait until the individual gets a chance to receive it. With illness, vacations, training, meetings, etc., that can take longer than we would like. As much as possible keep all correspondence regarding a ticket attached to the ticket. That simply means reply to the ticket emails that come from the system or add “ticket#XXXXXX/” (XXXXXX=the actual ticket number) to the Subject line of any email to attach that email to the ticket. (Do not include the quotes)

We are constantly striving to provide the best support possible for you, our Clients. As Service Manager, Ray will be a great force in meeting that goal.

And me? Well, I have a bunch of things up my sleeve that I will now get time to get started or completed. You will hear about several of them very soon.

Great Night at The Rock Cats

2011-06-09T12:54:00.001-05:00

Tuesday, June 7th was Technology Night at New Britain Stadium where the New Britain Rock Cats play. The Rock Cats are the farm team for the Minnesota Twins. They defeated the Akron Aeros, the Cleveland Indians farm team.

As a sponsor of the evening, we had several Clients and staff in attendance. Although the near 90 degree weather was a little tough, everyone had a fun evening.

It was great seeing everyone and we look forward to sponsoring again next year.

Nothing like a fire to dust of your disaster plan

2011-05-27T14:11:00.000-05:00

As everyone is probably aware, I was awakened last Saturday morning at 3am by our alarm monitoring company telling me our fire alarm at the office had gone off. On my way to the office I imagined everything from a false alarm to the smoldering ashes of a total loss. Not a good feeling. I arrived to find 4 fire trucks and a bunch of firefighters running around our office building. The bad feeling got worse. After speaking to one of the firemen, I found out that the office directly behind ours was where the fire occurred. The fire was out but the office was destroyed.

Due to our newly installed alarm system (installed in December) and the great response from the Torrington Fire Department, our office was spared any fire damage although we are still fighting the smoke smell.

Even though we were spared any real damage, this episode caused me to kick in various pieces of our disaster plan. The process highlighted several issues that I thought I would share.

First, it's the little things that will get you. Of course we have various business insurances. But the contact info is (or was) in the office. In this case, once I was able to get into the office I could locate the info. I have now created a Microsoft OneNote notebook and store a synced copy of it in the "Cloud" on a SkyDrive account. This notebook is our complete disaster plan. Everything from contact info to specific procedures is in this notebook. Of course it is a constant work in process, but by having it synced to the "Cloud", I have access to it from any computer that has Internet access. This includes my home computer, my various tablets (don't ask - of course I need 3 tablets) and even my cell phone. The fact that the notebook is synced on several of these devices means I have access to the most recent version of the plan even if I don't have Internet access.

Next, disasters come in many forms. Our office was spared in this case. However, I did not have access until the Fire Marshall said I could go in. If the fire was of suspecious origin, which might have required ongoing investigation, I might not have had access to our office for an extended period of time, a disaster in itself. By having a list of our critical functions I am able to determine which of those functions have to be put in disaster mode. For instance, our service ticketing software is hosted. So, other then letting everyone know that they need to access it from home, I would not have to worry about this critical function.

So our little "disaster" turned out to be just that, little. But, I am more confident about our ability to react to a more serious disaster from the lessons learned. What else is in our Disaster Plan Notebook? You'll have to keep your eyes here on our blog. I will post more information soon.

HIPAA/HiTech Compliance Seminar

2011-04-22T12:42:00.000-05:00

SSGI will be presenting a HIPAA/HiTech Compliance Seminar at the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, April 27th from 8:30am to 10:00am. The seminar will help healthcare providers understand the changes in the HIPAA rules that the HiTech Act has introduced.

During the seminar SSGI will announce a partnership with eGestalt to provide web based HIPAA compliance assessements. These assessments will help healthcare providers determine their current compliance status and help them become and stay compliant.

For more information conact the Chamber of Commerce office at 860-496-8684 or SSGI at 800-897-7002.

Office 2010 Ribbon Bar to Menu Pull Down Help

2011-04-16T07:52:00.001-05:00

We have been converting many of our Clients to Microsoft Office 2010 from various older versions of Office. Overall, everything is going well. However, for some Clients the Ribbon Bar, introduced in Office 2007, is causing some problems. Even though the design of the Ribbon Bar is supposed to make finding all the the various Office functions easier, it can actually be more difficult for those that have already created a mental path to finding those functions in the old menu pull downs. This appears to be a common problem. To address the issue, Microsoft has created several tools to help users make the change. You can find them here.

I have found that the Ribbon Bar is actually easier to use, but I do find that sometimes I just can’t find something that I used to be able to locate pretty quickly. By using these tools and a little replication I can get my brain to accept the change.

Medi-Span Update Distribution Changes

2011-03-18T15:02:00.001-05:00

Wolters Kluwer, the company that owns Medi-Span, is making changes to the way it distributes the quarterly drug database updates. After June 30th 2011 they will no longer ship the updates via CD. Instead, they will publish the updates to a website to be downloaded. This means there will be one more CD update covering 2Q11. After that customers will need to download the updates from the website.

This affects our Allscripts Clients. We have partnered with Wolters Kluwer to take care of the whole process for our Clients. We will create the necessary website account and set up the process. For those Clients that we manage the Medi-Span updates, we will download and install them when they are released. We will be notified by Wolters Kluwer when updates are released. At that point we will download the updates and schedule an after hours installation.

In order for Allscripts Clients to be able to utilize the downloadable updates Allscripts must be at version 7.0.1.36 or higher. Clients that wish to have us take care of the registration process can simply contact our office.

Internet Explorer 9 Released

2011-03-15T05:38:00.001-05:00

The latest version of Internet Explorer was released on 3/14/11. Version 9 is more secure, faster and sports an updated user interface. On the technical side, it supports HTML5 very well. The new user interface is much slimmer than previous versions allowing for more viewing area. It takes advantage of hardware acceleration which allows for a very fast browsing experience. Expect some pretty neat stuff when web developers start taking advantage of IE9’s display capabilities. The address and search bar are now combined in the One Box. It takes a little getting used to, but quickly feels like the right way to work.

IE9 is tightly integrated with Windows 7. It also runs in Windows Vista but not Windows XP. Websites can be pinned to the taskbar and/or start menu in Windows 7. IE9 also allows users to protect themselves from marketing tracking that occurs on many if not most websites. You can manually block tracking on specific websites or utilize predefined lists that are provided by several Microsoft partners.

IE9 is much more standards compliant than previous versions of IE. While not perfect, it really does work much better on more sites than in the past. It’s adherence to HTML5 specs will insure that this is true moving forward as well.

I have been using IE9 for about 8 months. Other than the typical “beta issues” that comes with running beta software, it has been pretty good. By the time the Release Candidate was available, IE9 was pretty solid. Now that the final product has been released, it’s certainly worthy of replacing your existing browser. As with all new software, we do suggest taking some time to test IE9 in your specific environment to insure that your critical websites work properly before you roll it out to your devices. It’s a solid product. It will make browsing the internet safer, faster and much more enjoyable.

What is YOUR Time Worth?

2011-01-22T12:39:00.001-05:00

It seems like we go through phases when Clients or prospects begin asking whether they can do some of their own network support. Of course this really starts coming up more often when the economy is in a poor condition. We always try to get our Clients to take on some of the basic day to day support tasks. For instance, why pay us to replace a mouse or keyboard. In some cases, if the Client has a little more technical expertise we will help them take on higher level tasks. However, when it comes to items they may affect the security or reliability of their network, we draw the line.

Most often these requests are based on perceived costs. “If I do the task myself I don’t have to pay you and therefore I save money.” In the case of lower level tasks that may be true. However, in higher level tasks it may not only be untrue but can also be disastrous.

First, let’s think about pure cost. Over the years I have had doctors, lawyers, business owners and other high level people attempt to do their own network support. Let’s say that an IT Pro charges $100.00 per hour. A problem occurs on the network. The doctor, lawyer, business owner does his/her own troubleshooting and tries to resolve the issue his or herself. Let’s even say they get things going. Perhaps it took several hours, maybe a day, maybe more. So we saved the cost of the IT person, right? Probably not. Consider this. How much is the value of that doctor’s, lawyer’s, etc time? In most cases, the value of that persons time far exceeds the $100.00 that the IT Pro would have charged. Beyond that, how much faster would the IT Pro have solved the problem? If we just estimate half the time, how much is that in downtime cost to the organization? Do you know how much it costs your organization for every hour of downtime?

Another perhaps even more serious consideration is even if the network is up and running again, what might you have missed? Perhaps the hard drive is failing and simply turning the server off and on cleared the immediate problem. Everyone goes back to work and after a few minutes, hours, days, or weeks it goes down again. This time this system will not come up and after more time is spent trying to fix the problem you call in an IT Pro. What he or she finds is that not only is the hard drive now completely dead, the backup has not been running since the original issue. What is the cost of all that lost work?

While it is true that Clients have the capability to fix simple IT related problems, in most cases the perceived cost savings by trying to handle more involved IT issues is simply not there. And in some cases the results can be disastrous.

EPHI Information Breach Concerns

2010-11-15T06:34:00.001-05:00

As most of our health care Clients are probably already aware, a VNA here in Connecticut was in the news recently and it wasn’t good news. A nurse’s laptop was stolen from her car. The laptop contained information on around 12,000 patients.

Almost immediately, we started getting inquiries from some of our health care Clients asking about the security of their laptops. I decided to write this blog post to respond to these inquiries in a fashion that will hopefully help all our health care Clients.

First, laptops should be encrypted. Encryption insures that if a laptop is stolen or lost the information on the hard drive cannot be accessed by taking the drive out of the laptop and trying to access it in another device. Having a laptop encrypted means that if a laptop is stolen or lost you would not have to report it as required by HiTech/HIPAA.

Covered entities and business associates must only provide the required notification if the breach involved unsecured protected health information. Unsecured protected health information is protected health information that has not been rendered unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals through the use of a technology or methodology specified by the Secretary in guidance.

We use TrueCrypt, a free open source encryption tool to encrypt devices. There are some things to know about encrypting laptops. First, it is time consuming. Encrypting a brand new laptop can take 2 or more hours depending on the size of the hard drive and the speed of the laptop. It can take 4 or more hours on an older laptop. It can also affect the performance of the laptop, especially older laptops that are already running slow. Once the laptop is encrypted, the user will need to enter two passwords to start the laptop up. (there are several variations on how data can be encrypted) If the encryption key is lost, the data on the laptop is lost (we have processes in place to make sure the key is not lost)

Now come the hard facts. A large portion of the laptops we work on have the password attached to the laptop somewhere. Do you know if that is happening in your practice? If the password is exposed you have no security, even if the laptop is encrypted. Also, if the device is left logged on when it is being moved from location to location, you don’t have security either. If the laptop is lost or stolen, one simply needs to open the laptop and all the data is exposed. Again encryption doesn’t matter.

We have been getting inquiries as to whether an organizations laptops are encrypted or not. While this is a good question to ask, I’m afraid that you should already know the answer to the question. Also, this is not the only question to ask. What are your security policies relative to the laptops and your EPHI in general? Are your nurses and other staff aware of the policies and are they following them? What are the consequences if they don’t follow them. What happens if there is a breach? Does everyone in your organization know what the protocol is? If the media is asking questions, do you have a protocol in place? When was the last time you changed passwords? Do you have an inventory of all your devices? How often is it checked to see if anything is missing? etc., etc.

Unfortunately, security and ease of use are not synonymous. Security can be painful. We have to remember complex passwords and follow rules that make our jobs just a little more difficult. However, it is imperative that security be taken seriously today, in our personal and professional lives. We do not want to be the next security related news story.

Feel free to contact us if you would like to review your security status.

How To Use Signatures in Outlook 2010

2010-10-26T05:27:00.001-05:00

Microsoft provides some great resources to help users learn how to use their products. From simple How-To documents to videos and even live training. I will publish some of these resources on this blog.

In this multimedia training module you will learn how to create and use professional (or not) looking signatures in Outlook 2010. The concepts are similar for earlier versions of Outlook but may be slightly different.

One note I would add to this session. Outlook, Outlook for Web Access and Outlook mobile do not use the same signature template. You must create a signature in each of these Outlook modes. The session does discuss setting up a signature in Outlook for Web Access. You will need to use your mobile phone email application to create your “mobile” signature.

Be sure to click the next button to get through the whole session.

Use E-Mail Signatures in Outlook 2010

No More Pre-Installed Windows XP on New Laptops/Workstations/Netbooks

2010-10-22T09:50:00.001-05:00

Today is the 1 year anniversary of the release of Windows 7. And it is also the first day that Microsoft is no longer allowing Windows XP to be preinstalled on any workstations/laptops/netbooks.

For the most part, our Clients have been switching to Windows 7 when buying new workstations and laptops. We have seen very few issues. The phase out of Windows XP has been publicized for quite some time now, so it should be a shock to no one. It’s time to move forward!

Largest Windows Update Release Ever

2010-10-13T09:57:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, Microsoft released its largest set of security patches ever. Patches for 16 security related issues were released. 10 of these patches are rated critical, 5 are rated important and 1 is less critical. We have begun our testing process and will start releasing the updates to our Monitoring Plus Clients on Monday October 18th. More detailed information on these patches can be found here.

Allscripts and McKesson Post 2010 ICD-9 and HHRG Updates

2010-09-24T09:53:00.001-05:00

Both Allscripts and McKesson have posted their 2010 ICD-9 and HHRG updates for their home care solutions. These updates must be install as close to 10/1/10 as possible to avoid OASIS rejection and incorrect claim submittal. We have scheduled time to install the updates for our Clients. More information can be found on each vendor’s Client Support Portal.

Microsoft Releases 9 Security Patches for September

2010-09-15T07:25:00.001-05:00

Microsoft releases security patches on the second Tuesday of every month. The quantity of patches varies month by month. For September, there are 9 patches. 4 are rated Critical and 5 are rated Important. Patches are provide for all supported Windows platforms. (Currently Windows XP SP3 and above) We have started our testing process and will begin rolling the patches out to our Monitoring Plus Clients as soon as testing is completed.

More information on this month’s patches can be found here.

Upgrade Office 2007 to Office 2010 For Free

2010-08-24T05:07:00.001-05:00

If you purchased Office 2007 after March 5 and before September 30 2010 you are probably eligible to upgrade to Office 2010 at no charge. But you only have until October 31, 2010 to request your free upgrade. You can find the details here.

Office 2010 adds many new features especially in Outlook. However, there are a few menu changes that can be frustrating at first. File formats between the 2007 and 2010 versions are the same. We would suggest Clients that are eligible go ahead and upgrade.

Windows XP Downgrades Going Away

2010-07-19T10:19:00.001-05:00

Ever since Windows Vista came out, Microsoft has allowed OEMs (companies that build computers) to downgrade new computers to Windows XP if the customer wanted to. There were compatibility concerns and just general dislike of Windows Vista, so most customers opted for this option. When Windows 7 came out Microsoft continued to allow OEMs to downgrade new systems to Windows XP even though Windows 7 has been much better received by businesses. As we are an OEM ourselves, we have been able to install Windows XP for Clients that requested it. We are however, seeing more and more Clients move to Windows 7 with very few issues.

Microsoft has announced that OEMs may no longer downgrade new computers to Windows XP after October 22, 2010. This means that Dell, HP, SSGI and other OEMs will not be able to provide computers with Windows XP installed. This is what we have been preparing our Clients for for quite some time now. If you have not begun testing Windows 7 in your environment, you need to start as soon as possible. If you have Line of Business software vendors that are not yet supporting Windows 7 you need to push them to get moving. Otherwise you will be painting yourself into a corner.

Now, for the interesting part of the news. Even though OEMs are not allowed to downgrade new computers to Windows XP, the purchaser themselves can do it as long as the new computer is purchased with Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate. In addition, if a company has a volume license agreement for Windows 7, they may still downgrade to Windows XP.

Now, the issue is going to be that new computers may not run Windows XP very well. For instance, drivers will most likely not be created for new hardware functions such as wireless devices. new peripherals, etc. So even though you might legally be able to downgrade, you may not technically be able to downgrade. As I mentioned last week, support for Windows XP SP2 has expired. The last Service Pack for Windows XP is SP3 and support for it, and thus Windows XP will end in 2014. But hardware issues are sure to start becoming problems almost immediately now.

The bottom line here is that it’s time to start migrating to Windows 7. Clients that have started using Windows 7 have not had many issues at all. However, the move does require doing some analysis. We can help with that if necessary. Realize that Windows 7 and Windows XP computers can live on the same network without problems. Generally we do not suggest trying to upgrade older computers to Windows 7. Instead, Clients would start the Windows 7 migration when purchasing new computers.

It’s time to get moving on this. If you wait too long your business operations could be affected. Give us a call if you have any questions.

Microsoft Ends Support of Windows XP SP2

2010-07-13T13:33:00.001-05:00

Microsoft is ending support of Windows XP Service Pack 2 today. This means that Microsoft will no longer provide updates, including security updates for this version of Windows XP.

So what do you do? First, you can simply upgrade Windows XP to Service Pack 3. (Make sure you complete a full backup BEFORE installing any updates). Second, you can upgrade to Windows 7. Generally speaking however, we do not suggest trying to upgrade to Windows 7 on older computers.

You can find Windows XP SP3 here. Note that it is about 320M.

How can you tell what Service Pack your Windows XP is running? Right click on My Computer. Click on Properties. You will see your version of Windows XP in the upper portion of the window.

Keeping up with security updates is very important nowadays. If you are not running Windows XP SP3, you need to get going!

Security Issue With Microsoft Help Function

2010-03-08T16:08:00.001-05:00

A security flaw has been discovered in the Windows Help system. Generally, if you hit the F1 key in Windows, you will get a help screen relative to the function you hit the F1 key on. A programming flaw can allow this function to run a script file that can do harm to the workstation.

A potential exploit to this flaw can be made by creating a rogue page on a website. While the visitor is browsing the site, they can be requested to hit the F1 key while on the web page. This in turn can trigger the malware. Depending on how the malware is designed, various things can happen.

Microsoft is working on a fix to this flaw. In the meantime, users should be warned not to hit the F1 key on any websites. Generally speaking, it is unusual to have to hit the F1 key for any purpose on a website. Windows 7, Vista, Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2 are not affected.

All the Security In The World Starts With YOU

2010-02-25T11:51:00.001-05:00

I was just reading an article that indicated in a recent study, 50% of user passwords are easily guessable. Do you know what the most popular password is? 123456 yes, that’s 123456.

I have been working with several Clients this week helping them with PCI compliance. Tough stuff. Ports on firewalls, encryption, properly update software, policies, etc, etc, etc. And guess what, it’s all worthless! If we can’t get users to create and use secure passwords, we can just stop all this other stuff and stop kidding ourselves. Our business and personal data will never be secure.

I had a conversation with someone yesterday that told me he did not need a firewall at home because he is using a MAC. He just wanted to be able to connect to the corporate network remotely.

As business owners and managers, we have not done our job educating our workforce on security related issues. (Not to mention educated ourselves) As individuals we are not taking security serious enough. Data is lost and business/personal identities are stolen every day. We need to do a better job with this stuff. The most basic building block of any security strategy is the password. It’s certainly not the only thing, but it is the foundation. You can have all the security devices you want in your home. If you leave the key in the front door, you’ve wasted your time and money.

By the way, what are your passwords?

Problem with a Windows Update

2010-02-12T15:34:00.001-05:00

One of the Windows Updates released Tuesday is causing BSODs and making the device not bootable. The Update is MS10-015. I have disabled the update on our monitoring system. So Clients that get the updates from us will not be affected. However, Clients that self update could have problems. So far it looks like only Windows XP is affected and it appears that the affected machines may be in fact infected with malware that causes the problem. Microsoft has pulled the update from Windows Update and Microsoft Update.

Office 2010 Pricing and Requirements

2010-02-07T08:49:00.001-05:00

Office 2010 is expected to be released by June of this year. From everything I am reading and seeing, I believe that the June date is accurate and that it may even ship sooner. The product looks pretty good as it is right now.

There will be 4 versions of Office 2010

Home and Student	$149.00
Home and Business	$279.00
Professional	$499.00
Professional Academic	$99.00

These are retail prices. There will be upgrade pricing and of course quantity discounts. And lower, OEM pricing when Office is purchased with a new computer.

For most of our Clients, either the Home and Business or the Professional version will be what you would purchase. Home and Business includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. The Professional version includes all that plus Publisher and Access.

The requirements for Office 2010 are pretty much the same as for Office 2007. The processor needs to be at least 500Mhz, memory needs to be at least 256M and available disk must be at least 2.5G. Of course, these are not what we would suggest by any means! Our minimum configuration is 1.5GHz processor, 2G memory and 5G available disk space.

Office 2010 will be available in both 32 and 64 bit versions. The 32 bit version will run on Windows versions back to XP SP3. While the 64 bit version requires at least Windows Vista SP1.

Office 2010 is a very nice product. There are a lot of enhancements and I believe it is easier to use than previous versions. I will be posting info on each of the Office 2010 modules here over the next couple of months.

Microsoft Office Patent Infringement Issue

2009-12-24T11:24:00.001-05:00

A while back, Microsoft was sued by a Canadian software company for a patent infringement on some code in the Office products that has to do with Custom XML, which most of us would never see or use. Microsoft lost the suit and appealed. This week they lost the appeal and must issue new versions of Word and Office or stop selling it by January 11, 2010.

This has caused some concern from a few of our Clients. However, it is nothing to worry about. Microsoft has already corrected the issue and will have the corrected versions of Word 2007 and Office 2007 available by the January 11th date. Office 2010, scheduled for release in June of 2010 does not contain the affected code. Existing installations of Word and Office are not affected by the ruling.

Serious Adobe PDF Exploit

2009-12-15T16:25:00.001-05:00

A serious exploit of Adobe PDF files has been discovered and malicious PDF files are being detected on the Internet since December 11th or so.

There is no patch for this issue at this time and anti-virus applications are not yet able to detect the malware due to how it is packaged.

The problem appears to be in a JavaScript function inside of Adobe. If you know how, you can disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader. (Edit – Preferences – JavaScript – uncheck Enable Acrobat JavaScript). Note that this may mean some PDFs do not display or act correctly, but it will mitigate the current issue. Once a patch has been released you can turn it back on if you want.

Of course you should be careful downloading any type of file from the Internet. However, be extra careful with PDFs at the moment. Once a patch is released, we will post another article here.

Beware False Virus Warnings

2009-11-23T14:36:00.001-05:00

Over the last few weeks, we are seeing a bunch of malware infected workstations, more than normal. What is happening is the user is seeing a pop up when they are browsing on the Internet. The pop up indicates that the machine is infected and offers to run a cleanup function. The problem is that the pop up itself is malware. If the user clicks anywhere in the window that is popped up the machine is compromised. Even if they click the X to close the window.

This is being caused by websites that have been compromised. The user goes to what should be a valid website and gets infected because some malicious code has been injected into the web pages on the site without the site owners knowing. There have been reports that over 100,000 websites have been infected.

If the user sees a pop up that indicates that there workstation is or may be infected and the message is not a NOD32 (or whatever antivirus they are using) message, they should not click anywhere in the pop up or click the X to close the pop up window. Their best bet is simply to close any other open applications (not the pop up) and shut down or restart the computer. Once the computer restarts they should be OK.

AllScripts v6.0 Available

2009-11-21T12:06:00.001-05:00

AllScripts v6.0 has been released. This is a required update that must be installed by 1/1/2010 to comply with new OASIS-C and Hospice requirements.

The update requires that all laptops do a sync before the update starts and then not be used until the servers and laptops have the update installed.

The update takes longer than normal to install. It includes the OASIS-C Assessments but they will need to be imported and activated after the update.

Make sure you request the electronic update from AllScripts if your haven’t already.

Horizon 2009 Regulatory Update Re-Released

2009-11-21T11:31:00.001-05:00

McKesson has re-released the 2009 Regulatory Update after having problems with the original update. Updates for versions 10.2.2 an 11.1 are now available.

This is a major update that includes the OASIS-C v2.0 Assessments and Hospice changes that are required to be installed before Jan 1, 2010. It also includes a few other minor updates.

This update will take longer than normal. It requires that laptops do a transfer and remove all patients before being installed on the servers. There are also scripts to be run after the update has been installed.

It is extremely important that agencies review the release documentation before installing this update. I would also suggest that agencies notify McKesson when you have an anticipated installation date so they can be available should issues occur during the installation.

There is work to be done after the update has been installed so it should be scheduled as soon as possible.

Windows 7 For Small Businesses

2009-10-23T12:53:00.001-05:00

The definition of “Small Business” is a tricky bear. This Microsoft Windows 7 website breaks it down to companies with less than 50 PCs and those with more than 50 PCs. It’s a pretty good site for learning the advantages of Windows 7 for your size company. You can find the site here.

New Phone Dialing Rules

2009-10-20T15:35:00.001-05:00

In December 2009 there will be 2 new area codes available in Connecticut, 959 and 475. With the addition of these 2 new area codes we will now need to dial 10 digits for all local calls made in Connecticut.

10 digit dialing for local calls will become effective on 11/14/09 here in Connecticut. Most other areas of the country already use 10 digit dialing so we are just catching up. It actually makes things easier for automated systems.

This means that systems that automatically dial out (to local numbers) may need to be changed to have the area code added to the local number. These devices include modems, fax machines, security alarms, cell phone address books, phone system call forwarding, etc.

Windows 7 Countdown Widget

2009-09-25T05:11:00.001-05:00

Conficker Worm Update

2009-04-13T11:57:00.003-05:00

April 1st came and went without the Conficker Worm seeming to do anything. Often, when the media gets a hold of these things they get a little out of hand. Don't take that to mean that the Conficker Worm is not serious. It is. The problem is that the writers of this worm are very clever. They have been able to get this worm installed on millions of computers and the worm is just waiting for more commands from them.

Here are 2 videos put together by F-Secure, a major Internet security provider. You'll be amazed at how clever and tough to catch these guys are. However, as you will see, the good guys can be clever as well.

Video 1
Video 2

Microsoft Changes Windows XP Deadline...Again

2009-04-10T08:03:00.003-05:00

Jun 09 was the latest date that Microsoft pegged for the end of Windows XP sales. Through that date system builders such as ourselves could sell workstations with Windows Vista but then apply downgrade rights and actually install Windows XP. This week Microsoft moved the date out to April 2010.

While I understand that many companies are reluctant to start migrating to Vista for various reasons, I do not think this is the best move for Microsoft. My reasoning may not be what you you expect. By continually extending the end of life of Windows XP, Microsoft is allowing major software vendors to continue to drag their feet in making sure their applications will run properly in Windows Vista and now Windows 7 which is expected to ship later this year.

If the April 09 date was kept, many major software vendors will still not be ready. This is just ridiculous. Windows Vista was released in 2007 and available to software vendors as far back as 2006 in beta versions. And at this point Windows Vista will be replaced with Windows 7 later this year. This affects you. If the June 08 date was kept, you would be in a situation where you would not be able to run these applications on new computers. This is not a good thing. Software vendors need to move faster in migrating to new operating systems. I don't think 4 years fast enough.

At least Windows 7 is fairly close to Windows Vista as far as software development is concerned, so software vendors should be able to migrate to Windows 7 fairly easily as long as they are at least close to rolling out there Windows Vista versions of their applications. Let's hope that is doesn't take another 4 years.

Conficker Worm In The News

2009-03-31T09:16:00.001-05:00

On Sunday night, 60 Minutes aired a story on the Conficker Worm (a virus). I thought the story had some pretty good information, although it came across as an ad for Symantec as well. Here is a link to the segment of the show.

Conficker attacks a known issue in Windows that Microsoft created a patch for back in October 2008. I posted an article here back in October that discussed how to get the patch and how to tell if the patch has been installed on your computer. You can view that article here.

This worm is getting a bit of air play right now because one of the variants is expected to cause various types of issues on April 1st.

So what should you do regarding this virus. First, make sure you have the latest virus definition files for your AntiVirus software. If you hover over or click on your AV icon on right side of your taskbar, you should see the version and possibly date of the last update. Make sure it is recent. Note that one of the symptoms of this virus is that it disables the updating portion of your AV program. If you are not getting updates you may be infected. The next thing is to make sure you have the latest Windows updates installed on your computer. If you are on our Monitoring Service that includes updates, you should be all set.

Make sure your staff are aware of this issue. Computer users need to be constantly reminded of safe computing practices. Your computer usage policies need to be constantly reviewed to insure that you are protecting your IT assets as well as you can.

Let me ask this question. You know those users that are logging in to your network from home. Do they have the latest AV updates on their computers? The latest Windows updates? Are they already infected and connecting in?

How about the person that comes in to your office for what ever reason, the accountant, consultant, auditor. If they connect their laptop to your network either by wireless or wire, can you answer the above questions? Just something to think about.

Internet Explorer 8 Released

2009-03-20T08:58:00.004-05:00

Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8 on Thursday 3/19/09. IE8 is the latest version of Microsoft's browser. It brings more security and several more features to the Internet browsing experience. A new, smarter address bar allows searches to be done right from the address bar. At the same time, the address bar will present search suggestions that can enhance the Internet Search process.

A new function called Accelerators is included. This features allows you to highlight text in any website and perform web based functions using that information automatically. For instance, you could highlight a street address and instantly go to a mapping site which will present the directions to that address.

Another new feature is Web Slices. Web Slices are a way to stay up to date with a small piece of a website. For instance, if you wanted to keep an eye on the weather in your area, you can install the Web Slice from the weather site and it will install a little button in your IE Toolbar. Any time the weather info changes the little button will light up and you can take a look. You don't have to keep going to the website to check the weather. I think you're going to see a bunch of Web Slices get created.

Tabbed browsing has been available since IE7. IE8 adds a bunch of new features and refines the tabbed browsing experience quite a bit.

I have been using IE8 at home since the early betas. I like it a lot. However, there can be some compatibility issues so you need to be careful. Some websites may not display correctly. Fortunately, IE8 includes a "Compatibility Button" that has corrected any problems I have run in to.

As usual, I suggest our Clients hold of a little on installing IE8. At least install it on one or two machines to test your environment before rolling it out to everyone. At some point it will be offered as a critical update in Windows Updates, so it will get installed automatically if you are not careful. My experience with IE8 has been very good. Because of the new features and the increased security, I suggest Clients move to it as soon as they complete their in house testing. More info on IE8 and the download link can be found here.

Crtical Patch For Internet Explorer

2008-12-19T11:14:00.004-05:00

As has been reported in the news, a serious security issue was recently acknowledged in most versions of Internet Explorer. On Wednesday at 1:00pm EST, Microsoft released a critical patch that mitigates the problem. Following our process of installing new patches on various machine configurations for testing, we installed the patch on several machines on Wednesday and Thursday. I also attended a Webinar presented by Microsoft regarding the issue. At this time we have seen no problems with the patch and advise all Clients to install the patch as soon as possible.

For Clients that are on our Remote Monitoring Plus service which includes Windows Updates, we have released the patch and your machines will receive the patch automatically. Note that the patch requires that the device is rebooted in most cases.

Clients that need the patch installed can simply call us to schedule service or download and install the patch themselves. The link to the patch is here. Be sure to select the proper patch for the workstation that it is being installed on. Please do not attempt to install the patch on your servers. We will do this remotely. As a general rule Internet Explorer should not be used on servers, therefore it is less urgent to install the patch on the servers.

Some notes about the patch

1. The patch will require that the device it is installed on gets rebooted. The patch will not take affect until the machine is rebooted. In some cases the patch may not require a reboot. Every machine we have installed it on has required a reboot.

2. Don't forget those laptops and other remote workstations. Those employees working from home need to install this update on the remote devices.

Links to KB958644 Security Patch

2008-10-25T12:04:00.003-05:00

I have posted the links to the KB958644 security patch on our Answers Website. You can find them here. I have also posted instructions on how to determine if the patch has been installed on your computer. You can find that here.

Don't forget to install these patches on your home computers as well!

Microsoft Releases Critical Patch

2008-10-24T07:26:00.003-05:00

Generally, Microsoft releases patches on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. This schedule is used to minimize the amount of server and workstation reboots that must be done as this process interrupts businesses. It also gives Microsoft time to properly test the patches against the various configurations of operating systems that are available, a major task.

On occasion Microsoft will release an "Out of Band" patch. The most common reason for an "Out of Band" patch is a serious security related issue. If the issue is serious enough and there are known exploits that are being seen they will release a patch as soon as it is available.

This is the case with a patch that they released on October 23rd. The patch resolves a very serious security issue with all versions of Windows although Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are a little less of a concern but not immune.

We are in the process of completing in-house testing of the patches on the various operating systems. I believe the patch is safe to apply at this point although there are some potential problems with some configurations of Windows Server 2003. We have fixes for these problems if they should occur. Installing the patch will require a reboot of both workstations and servers.

We are strongly recommending that all our Clients install the patch for their servers and workstations. For Clients that are on our Remote Monitoring Service the patches will be released over the weekend. We will be contacting you early next week to install the patches on your servers and to rebooot the servers. Note that this does not include Clients that are running the free trial of our Monitoring Service.

For Clients that are not covered by Remote Monitoring, we have 2 options. First, simply give us a call and we will take care of it for you. Second, we will be posting the various patches to our Answers Website later today. Please do not attempt to do these patches yourself unless you fully understand how to apply which patch to which operating system. The process is not difficult but you must do it right. We do NOT recommend users install the patch on any servers themselves. Again, the patch WILL require a reboot after it is installed.

As always, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to call us.

Misys Merges with Allscripts

2008-10-13T12:43:00.003-05:00

In a little bit of a surprise, I have learned that Misys has merged with a company called Allscripts as of today. The new company name is Allscripts. Allscripts has been involved in the medical technology business since 1986. They have several applications and services in various areas of healthcare.

The Misys website has already been changed to reflect the new branding. It is running slow today as I'm sure they are getting many hits.

Here is a link to the merger Press Release.

Another Problem Email

2008-08-05T15:49:00.001-05:00

There is yet another problematic email circulating. This one looks like an email from CNN. It contains THE DAILY TOP 10, a list of links to the top 10 list news article list. It looks very professional with the CNN logos and everything. If the recipient clicks on any of the links, a message appears that says Flash Player - Incorrect version and asks you if you want to download and install the new Flash Player. Again this looks very real. However, what gets downloaded is a piece of malware that proceeds to really cause damage to the computer.

This message looks very real. Users need to ask themselves, "Did I sign up for the CNN Top 10 List?" Also check the from address, it is not from the CNN domain. In short, users need to really be aware of what they are looking at in these types of messages.

We are seeing more and more of these very sophisticated messages. I received 2 of these CNN messages today myself. When they are mixed in with our daily email and newsletters they can very easily slip under our radar and end up costing serious issues with our computers and therefore cost businesses serious money.

Viruses and Malware Coming In Interesting Packages

2008-07-25T11:14:00.000-05:00

There has been a rash of very interesting viruses and general bad stuff coming through email lately. The most recent is an email that appears to come from UPS and says they are unable to deliver a package and instructs the user to open the enclosed attachment for the package details. The attachment contains a virus. Another is an email that indicates your firewall needs to be updated and directs the user to click on a link that points to a website that will infect the computer.

These types of messages are not new. But they are getting very sophisticated. The messages look authentic and sent to the right person are very tempting to open. If you ship UPS packages all day or you just happen to be waiting on a UPS delivery and your receive the very official looking UPS message you may be inclined to open the message.

The solution is the same as it has been. Make sure you have good antivirus software with the latest updates, make sure you have good spyware software with the latest updates and make sure you stay on your toes. Unfortunately, EVERY email is suspect at this time. This is a good time to do a little refresher course for your email users on the dangers of email. It's too bad that some much time has to be spent on this but unfortunately that's the way it is.

Blogging From Word 2007

2008-01-31T05:38:00.001-05:00

I was reading a few Blogs this morning and came across one that reminded me that Microsoft added a Blogging feature to Word 2007. This feature allows you to Blog directly from Word 2007. This is nice because I can take advantage of spell check and other tools built into Word. It's also nice because I can create Blog articles off line and post them later. This Blog Entry was created in Word 2007.

I also use Windows Live Writer which is another off-line Microsoft tool created for Bloggers. I will toggle between the two of them over the next few Blog articles to see which one I like the best. It's getting easier and easier to Blog. And it's a great way to keep in touch with your stakeholders. Do you have a Blog? Let me know if you would like some help getting one started.

Spam and Viruses On the Upswing

2008-01-18T10:49:00.000-05:00

We have been seeing a fairly high increase in Client machines that are infected with various types of malware. It's not just us. The industry as a whole is seeing the same thing. It looks like for the moment the bad guys are winning. Current spam and virus detection tools are just not keeping up. This article confirms what we have been seeing.

Of course you still want to make sure that you have current anti-spam and anti-virus programs on all your computers. And make sure that users have a good understanding of how and where malware can come from. And let's hope that the good guys can get ahead of the game sometime soon.

Office 2007 SP1 Released

2007-12-31T08:53:00.000-05:00

Microsoft released the SP1 update for Office 2007 a couple of weeks ago. We have installed the update on several machines and have had no problems.

SP1 addresses issues in all the Office modules. One of the most significant is a fix for an Excel issue that was causing erroneous calculations.

If you are using Office 2007, I would suggest you install this update. You can download the update here.

Our New Phone System

2007-12-06T06:14:00.000-05:00

About a week ago we installed our new Microsoft ResponsePoint VOIP (voice over IP) phone system. Actually the phone system is manufactured by Syspine and the software running it is made by Microsoft. ResponsePoint is a phone system that is designed for small businesses. Although the marketing people say it can handle up to 50 phones (technically it can), right now it really fits the 5 to 15 phone scenarios fairly well. I believe that with upcoming software updates it will handle to needs of companies with 15 to 50 phones but not yet.

So what's cool about this system? Several things actually. First, our regular analog phone lines plug right into the system. Currently, it supports up to 8 lines right out of the box. Unlike traditional phone systems, the handsets plug in to a network connection. We just unplugged the network wire going in to our computer, plugged it in to the phone and then plugged another network wire from the phone back to the computer. This network connection allows us to do a bunch of things including connecting to Outlook.

The phone system is fully voice activated. On the inside, if I want to call someone I pick up the phone, push the ResponsePoint button and say "Call Gayle at Mobile". The system then dials Gayle's cell phone. If I say "Call Gayle at Work" it will call her at work. The system works the same on incoming calls. When the automated attendant answers callers can simply say "Ed" or "Ed Davis" and they will be transferred directly to my extension. Say "Operator" and you will be transferred to Ray. You can also ask for "Directory" which will list off all the people you can ask for. Want to know our fax number? Say "What is your fax number?" Of course you can also simply press zero for the operator or type in our extension number (mine is 101), but that's not as cool!

It took me less than an hour to set up the whole system with 7 phones and that includes taking everything out of the boxes! We are still playing around with the various operating options on the system to make sure it works the way we want.

So far we are pleased with the system. There are a few things we miss from our old system but one thing I don't miss is the cost of setting up a new phone when we hire or want to make a change. I can do that myself now and usually in 5 minutes or less!

I'll post more about the system as we become more familiar with it. Actually, we are the local authorized reseller of the system so if you would like to check it out, call the office number and say "Ed"

MS Office 2003 No Longer Available

2007-11-19T05:58:00.000-05:00

Microsoft released Office 2007 in January of this year. They indicated that Office 2003 would be available until June. It's now November and we are finally no longer able to find Office 2003 in the distribution channel. This means that from this point forward Office 2007 is the only version of Office that we are selling.

Although the Office 2007 interface is quite a bit different than previous versions of Office, most users should be able to use it without much difficulty, other than a search for the location of certain functions that might have moved.

Office 2007 file formats have changed as well. The new file format is much better but it does cause compatibly issues with older versions of documents. This will cause problems for employees or outside people that share your documents. However, there is a switch that can be turned on to save files in the older format. This will impede some of the new features of Office 2007 but will insure your documents can be read and updated by all users.

We can provide an overview of the Office 2007 changes for our Clients. We have also been posting Office 2007 tips on our Answers website. This should not be a major issue for most users. We have been using Office 2007 since the beta versions and find it to be a very good upgrade. It's time to move forward!

Some Email Tips

2007-11-11T07:50:00.001-05:00

We get lots of questions about email. One of the most asked is "Why do I get so much spam?" There are several reasons of course but there some that you may not be thinking about. Here are a couple.

First, some Domains are just more prone to spam due to the nature of the business. If you do business around the world and your email addresses are used by companies around the world, you will be more prone to spam. If you sell products and/or services to your local market you will be less prone to spam. Generally, there isn't much that you can do about this except to filter your email as well as you can.

We see companies that put email addresses on their websites. This is one of the easiest ways for spammers to target you. There are automated programs called bots that scour the Internet just looking for such addresses. There are ways to handle information requests from your website that will minimize if not eliminate this issue.

We also see users using both Out of Office Messages and Delivery Receipts with their email. While these functions can be very nice, they are another easy way for spammers to get your address. You see, spammers will often send a bunch of spam to random addresses that they don't know are valid. When they see an Out of Office Message come back they know they have a live one. This known valid email address is like gold to them. They can sell it to other spammers and make good amounts of money. Then before you know it, your on their lists.

And of course using your real email address to fill out forms on the Internet is asking for trouble. The fix for this is to use a disposable email address on these forms if you need to fill one out. That way you can kill the email account should you start seeing lots of spam come to it.

Spam is a pain in the neck. And unfortunately, it's here for a while. Spam filters do help. They actually capture the majority of the spam. If you see 10 spam items in your Inbox, you can be pretty sure that the spam filters have blocked an additional 90 to 95 from getting to your Inbox. Taking some precautions can help.

Spam Email Problems

2007-08-15T13:00:00.000-05:00

We have been seeing huge amounts of spam messages coming through email servers over the last couple of months. This news article describes the 1700% increase in spam during the month of July, the worst ever. Unfortunately, August is actually looking worse.

What does this mean. First, you will probably see patches of time where you will see an increase in spam messages hitting your inbox. Next, email performance will be slow as the spam and virus filters must process this huge increase in traffic. In addition, you will probably have issues sending or receiving messages to or from certain Domains as the IT people there try to mitigate the flood of spam messages.

We use 3 different email hosts and all 3 are seeing these issues. Hopefully, the sources of this increased junk will be located and shutdown as soon as possible. In the meantime, just be aware of the issue and be patient.

CCH ProFx Vista Compatibility

2007-08-13T08:29:00.000-05:00

CCH has posted this document which describes its roadmap for Vista compatibility for its products. It looks like by the end of 2007 its products should be compatible with Vista and Office 2007. Note that Vista Home versions will not be supported. The document describes several Office 2007 issues that you should be aware of.

I would suggest that accounting firms do not attempt a Vista or Office 2007 migration until after the upcoming tax season. Tax season is not the best time to see if something will work or not!

Windows Vista Modem Driver Update

2007-08-07T04:55:00.000-05:00

When I first installed Windows Vista on my workstation I found that my modem did not work. I checked the vendor website and found that there were no Vista drivers available for it. No problem, I can just get another modem. At least that was what I thought. I searched everywhere for a Windows Vista compatible modem. No luck. I have been living without a modem since then.

Over the weekend I spent some time revisiting the modem situation as I really need to send faxes from my workstation and I still connect to a couple of Clients via good old fashion dial up believe it or not. I was pleased to find that the situation is much better. US Robotics, Zoom, and Hawking Technologies have updated most of their current modem lines with Vista drivers. And they even work! Although I noticed a couple of interesting things when using the Vista dialer.

So the Vista modem situation is much better than it was a few months ago. For those of you using PCAnywhere, you must use version 12 or higher for Vista.

What's New In Windows Vista?

2007-06-27T15:51:00.001-05:00

Windows Vista replaces Windows XP as the next desktop operating system. Microsoft has spent several years building what it calls its best operating system yet. While Vista is still Windows, there are many changes, some visible and some under the hood, that will both help and frustrate users. Over the next several posts I will review some of these changes.

When Vista starts up the user interface presents changes immediately. The login dialog looks different but acts the same. You supply your password and you're in. The desktop has some major changes. First, there is no Start button, or at least it doesn't say Start. It's just a round button with a Windows flag in it. When you click on it, the menu make look similar at first but it really is a much better place to "start". I will get into more detail of the Start Menu in another post.

When you start Windows Vista you may also see the Vista Sidebar. The Sidebar is a place where you can put little gadgets (small programs) That can be fun and even useful. The Sidebar can be turned on or off and there are hundreds of gadgets that can be downloaded and run in the Sidebar. At first this may seem a little silly, but I have actually found some gadgets that are very useful.

You will also notice that when you right click on the desktop the menu presented is different than Windows XP. In fact, instead of selecting Properties from the menu, you now select Personalize. This brings up a whole new menu of items. At first I found this frustrating as I couldn't find things that I could easily find before. However, as I continue to work with Vista I am getting used to the new locations for things and for the most part, I like where they are located.

Click here for a short demo of some of the new Vista features. (Click on See it now)

Office 2007 Versions

2007-06-16T10:00:00.001-05:00

Just as there are several versions of Windows Vista, Office 2007 has several versions to choose from, actually 8. Similar to Vista, our Clients really only need to consider a couple of versions. The 8 versions are as follows: (Click on any item for more information)

Basic
Home and Student
Standard
Small Business
Professional
Ultimate
Professional Plus
Enterprise

This document describes what is included in each version. I will present an overview of each of the Office products as this blog series continues. For most of our Clients either Standard or Professional will be the suite of choice.

In addition to these Office versions, there are several Microsoft Office Server products. These server products are intended to help organizations that share Office files: (Click on any item for more information)

Forms Server
Groove Server
Live Communications Server
PerformancePoint Server
Project Portfolio Server
Project Server
SharePoint Server
SharePoint Server For Search

Most of the server based products are for larger organizations although some smaller organizations may find Forms Server, Groove Server, and SharePoint Server useful.

I know this seems like a lot to digest, but it really isn't. You will generally choose one Office suite and for most Clients no Office Server products.

Next, we will start looking into what makes Vista tick. You'll even get a chance to give it a test drive!

Windows Vista Versions

2007-06-09T08:21:00.001-05:00

Most people don't realize that there were 6 versions of Windows XP. So when I say there are 6 versions of Windows Vista you may be surprised.

The six versions are:

· Starter (Not available in USA)
· Home Basic
· Home Premium
· Business
· Ultimate
· Enterprise

For most of our Clients only two versions need to be considered, Business and Ultimate. In fact the Business version will be what most Clients will use. The Business version is the replacement for Windows XP Professional. Similar to the XP home versions, the Vista home versions will not connect to a business network. The Home versions are also missing some other critical business functionality.

The Business version includes the following features:

Instant Search - A great new search process. Searches drives, emails, databases, etc extremely fast and easy to use.

Windows Photo Gallery - Manages photos much easier and better than ever before.

Internet Explorer 7 - Internet Explorer 6 does not run in Vista. I will post a separate article on IE7.

Windows Defender - Built in, auto-updating spyware protection.

Windows Aero Interface - A very cool new way to view and use windows on your desktop. You'll see this at our seminar.

Windows Tablet PC Functionality - Tablet PC functionality is built in to Vista. It was a separate version of Windows XP.

Built in fax and scanning functionality.

New backup and restore functionality.

The Ultimate version adds Windows Media Center functionality which was a separate version of Windows XP and some cool Vista add-ons.

Price wise Vista Business is the same price as XP Pro. It will be the version that comes on most new PCs purchased for business.

Vista Enterprise is another business version that may be applicable to Clients with a large number of workstations.

So there are six Windows Vista versions but most of our Clients only need to worry about one, the Business version. See, it's really not that bad!

Next, I'll review the various versions of Office 2007. That is a completely different animal!

What Is Windows Vista?

2007-06-06T07:35:00.000-05:00

Over the past week I have had several conversations with Clients regarding some confusion over Windows Vista and Office 2007, so I thought I would try to clear up some of the confusion.

Windows Vista is a computer operating system. It replaces Windows XP. A computer operating system is the brains of the computer. It is software that makes the box of hardware into a computer. It communicates with all of the hardware components to make them do the functions they were designed to do. For instance, it is the operating system that makes characters and graphics appear on your video monitor, saves data and reads data to/from your hard drive, keeps track of the date and time, handles system security, etc, etc, etc. When a programmer writes a program to run on the computer he does not have to worry about how to do these things as they are taken care of by the operating system. For instance, the programmer can just say "save this file" and the operating system does all the dirty work of formatting and writing all those 1s and 0s to the hard drive, CD, DVD, etc.

Office 2007 is a computer application. Office 2003 is an application, Misys is an application, Internet Explorer is an application. Applications are computer programs that accomplish tasks for you. These tasks can be simple or very complex.

The relationship between the operating system and an application is crucial. When a programmer writes an application he/she takes advantage of the operating system's "brains". The application becomes dependent on the methods that the operating system uses to perform technical functions like saving files, etc. When new operating systems are created new functions are included (Vista has lots of new DVD stuff, whereas XP was not aware of DVDs as they were not mainstream when it came out), and existing functions may be changed to take advantage of new technologies or to address security issues.

What does all this mean? Basically, programs are written and are dependent on certain operating systems. Some programs are generic enough to be able to run on several operating systems and some are very dependent on a certain operating system version.

Office 2007 will run in Windows XP and Windows Vista, although it is optimized for Vista in some areas. Office 2003 will run in Windows XP and Windows Vista although, it is more comfortable in XP. Currently Misys runs in Windows XP but not Windows Vista.

You can migrate to Windows Vista and still use Office 2003. (Other office versions will be problematic). You can can install Office 2007 on Windows XP workstations.

Migrating to a new operating system is much more challenging than simply upgrading to a new version of a program. I think brain surgery is more complicated than trying a new diet!

Next, we will look at the different versions of Windows Vista that are available.

It's Time To Think About Windows Vista and Office 2007

2007-05-29T15:12:00.000-05:00

At the end of January 2007 Microsoft released Windows Vista, the replacement for Windows XP, and Office 2007, the newest Office Family release. As is always the case, we have been advising Clients that they should not jump out and purchase new releases of software as soon as they become available. In the case of Windows Vista, there are several issues that need to be evaluated before a plan is put into place to upgrade to the new operating system.

However, this does not mean that Clients should not plan on doing the updates at some point, and the time to develop that plan is now. I'm not saying to start buying computers with Windows Vista on them or buying Office 2007. I am saying that you need to start evaluating these two products now so that you will be ready to migrate when the time comes. The issue is that you will no longer be able to purchase Office 2003 after June 30, 2007 and you will not be able to purchase a computer without Windows Vista after January 31, 2008. So its time to get to work on determining what this means to your organization!

We are here to help our Clients with this process. Over the next several weeks I will be writing articles on this Blog that will overview Windows Vista and Office 2007. We will be presenting a couple of seminars in July that are intended to present an overview of these products and yes, we will be demonstrating both products during the seminars. We will also assist our Clients in setting up a test environment at their locations to help them test their applications and look for issues specific to their environment. We have installed and have been using both products in our own office for some time now. This will help us help our Clients with issues that may arise during their implementation of these products.

So let's get started! Check back here regularly to catch the articles or better yet, subscribe to this feed with your RSS reader. If you don't have an RSS reader (one is built into Internet Explorer 7 and Outlook 2007), you can simply enter your email address on the sidebar and click Subscribe to this Blog. When I post new articles an email will be sent to you. Details on the seminars will be posted here and will be emailed to you as they are finalized.

Now that DST has occurred ......

2007-03-11T05:28:00.000-05:00

Now that the DST time change has occurred there are a few things you should check and monitor. Here’s a short list.

1. Check the time on your computer. If it’s right, good. If it’s not, double click on the tine and set the time manually. Make a note of the computers that you have to do this to as it indicates the DST patch was not installed. The patch can and should still be installed.

2. If after you set the time on your computer the time reverts back to the wrong time, you probably need to check the time on your servers. If it is wrong, you can manually set it but give us a call as this indicates that the DST patch has not been installed on that server.

3. Check your Outlook appointments. If they are correct, good. If not, you can manually fix the appointments or you can run the Outlook DST tool which we can send you. Keep your eye on your reminders as well.

4. If you use any other scheduling programs (that means you VNAs), check the schedules to insure they are correct. All appointments and schedules should be suspect until verified.

5. Remember that even if you took care of all the DST stuff and your systems are fine, others may not have dealt with the DST changes. If you use meeting invitations to either invite others to meetings or if they send you meeting invites, you need to keep your eye on the meeting times and verify everyone invited to the meeting has the correct time.

6. Check your phone and voice mail systems. Many of them may not have handled the DST changes. If your phone system is not switching to day and night mode properly, the problem is probably that the DST transition did not occur.

7. I have found that if applications were running on your desktop when the time changed, those applications may not operate properly until they are restarted.

8. Continue to monitor your system backup to make sure everything is working correctly. DST changes can affect them.

9. Check your watch and other clocks.

10. Please change the batteries in your smoke detectors!

And of course feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

More DST Updates

2007-02-22T05:48:00.000-05:00

This Daylight Savings Time issue is getting fun! Microsoft has updated a couple of its fixes and moved most of them to the Critical Update section of the Microsoft Update Service. One nice thing is that they have created a website where Windows Mobile 5 cell phone users can browse to to download the DST fix directly to their phone. I've tried it and it worked flawlessly. I have updated our DST document to reflect the most recent changes. It can be found here. Just open the PDF attachment. I will update this document as more information is available.

One new thing since I updated the DST document; Symantec has indicated that Backup Exec uses the Windows date and time functions for backup scheduling. As long as you have the Windows DST updates installed you should be good. However, if your backup is scheduled between 2:00am and 3:00am, you may have problems. When DST comes on in March there will be no 2:00am to 3:00am and when DST ends in November there will be two 2:00 to 3:00am! Fun right?

2007 DST Changes Need Some Attention

2007-01-22T15:44:00.000-05:00

The beginning and ending dates for Daylight Savings Time will change this year. The start date will be the second Sunday in March (March 11) instead of the first Sunday of April (April 1). The end date will be the first Sunday of November (Nov 4) instead of the last Sunday of October (Oct 28). Because Windows is aware and adjusts for DST, it will need to be updated to properly handle the change. I have created a document that details the changes and what need to be done. You can locate the document here.

Microsoft is still in the process of testing and releasing patches for the various programs that are affected. I will update this document as new information is available.

It would also be a good idea to check with your other software vendors to see if the change affects their software. This would be mostly applications that use date and time functions like scheduling applications.

I Was Wondering When This Would Happen

2007-01-11T06:11:00.000-05:00

This week, at MacWorld, Apple announced the long anticipated iPhone. It's looks like a pretty cool phone, although I think I will stay with my Windows Mobile phone for now. However, there is one slight problem. Cisco released their iPhone a couple of months ago. It turns out that a company that Cisco purchased several years ago launched the iPhone product in the late 90s. Cisco patented the name in 2000. So Cisco is now suing Apple. This blog written by a Cisco legal VP, is Cisco side of the story. Obviously, Apple is aware and must think they have a good chance to beat this. Otherwise a lot of money and marketing will go down the tubes.

Another cool or at least amazing CES product launch is the Hitachi 1 Terabyte hard disk drive. 1 Terabyte is 1000 Gigabytes! Truly amazing! Just think, the first hard drive I worked with was 5 Megabytes. 1 Gigabyte is 1000 Megs, 1 Terabyte is 1000 Gigabytes. And to think that I am constantly telling people to clean up old files! Here is more information on the drive.

Busy IT News Week

2007-01-09T06:18:00.000-05:00

This week is one of the busiest IT related news weeks of the year. The Consumer Electronics Show is happening in Las Vegas (I should have gone). CES is where all the major (and not so major) consumer electronics manufacturers show all the new cool stuff that they are working on. Some of the products are available now and some will be available over the coming year. My technology blogs are going crazy with articles about all this new stuff.

So far, the most interesting thing to me is the Microsoft Home Server. Yes, a server for your home. Think about it. How many homes now have more than one computer. The home is now where small businesses were 6 or 7 years ago. Multiple computers mean the need to share stuff and the need to back stuff up, and how about the need to access your stuff when you are away. You can bet there will be a Microsoft Home Server at 87 Barton Street!

Here is a video of an interview with Bill Gates. The interview was run by Robert Scoble, one of the bloggers I follow, and several other industry news people. Very interesting. Gates looks and sounds better than ever. And here is the link to his CES Keynote Address. If you want to see some really cool stuff check it out.

Next year I will be at this thing!

So What's Microsoft Windows Vista?

2006-11-20T06:14:00.000-05:00

Windows Vista is Microsoft's latest operating system for PC's. It is replacing Windows XP, their current PC operating system. It will ship to large Enterprise customers on November 30, 2006 and to the general public January 30, 2007.

This is a big deal! A new operating system means lots of things. In the early stages of the rollout there will undoubtedly be compatibility issues and plenty of user frustration. However, these will pass and in the long run Windows Vista will bring a whole new wave of applications and technologies that will take advantage of the features built into the operating system.

My experience with Vista so far is that it is faster and has some really nice features. However, I have also struggled to find things that I was previously able to find with my eyes closed. Over the next couple of months I will be posting articles on what's new in Windows Vista as well as what's new in Office 2007, the latest Microsoft Office version that will ship at the same time as Vista. My plan is to publish at least one article on each per week. So stay tuned.

Big Week at Microsoft

2006-11-10T15:25:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has officially released the latest versions of their flagship products to manufacturing this week. This means that all of the testing is done and the products are being pressed to CD/DVD's. They will be packed in really cool boxes and shipped to retailers to place on their shelves.

Windows Vista, the next version of Windows, and Office 2007, the next version of Office will be available for retail purchase on January 30, 2007. Large corporate customers will be able to purchase the software in early December.

We have been testing both products for about a year now. During that time the products have been improving regularly. I will post more information on each of the products here over the next couple of months. We will also provide demonstrations for our Clients after January 1, 2007. Stay tuned for more info on the demos here.

Both products are substantial upgrades that will provide our Clients with a more reliable, more robust desktop working environment. They both provide a very good return on investment and will allow for a stream of new technologies to be implemented.

Be sure to subscribe to this feed so you can learn how these products will help your organization continue to move forward with technology. Don't know how to subscribe to an RSS feed? Give me a call.

Windows Defender Now Live

2006-10-29T12:14:00.000-05:00

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.

Yahoo Email Issues

2006-10-18T09:50:00.000-05:00

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.

Windows Vista Licensing To Be Tougher

2006-10-07T08:26:00.000-05:00

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.

Toshiba Battery Recall

2006-09-19T08:08:00.000-05:00

Toshiba has issued a recall for about 170,000 batteries. 100, 000 of those are batteries that came in laptops sold within the United States. The recall covers laptops manufactured between March and May of 2006. This recall IS NOT related to the overheating and potential fire hazard battery recall announced by Dell. The recalled batteries simply do not hold a charge.

Further details and instructions can be found here.

Technology Is Changing Interaction With Doctors

2006-09-16T11:18:00.000-05:00

We do a lot of work with VNAs. Over the last several years we have seen a steady stream of changes in this industry. Most nurses are carrying laptops, many take them right into the patients' homes. Because of these changes, VNAs are getting exposed to many technologies that they never would have thought of even a couple of years ago. Laptops, VPNs, PDAs, email, wireless, digital cameras, scanners, and Intranets are a few technologies that are almost second nature in this profession at this point. And the changes keep coming.

Up to this point the patient hasn't had much of an active role in pushing technology for their healthcare. That's begining to change and I believe the patient will be a major factor in the push for technology adoption in healthcare soon. This article highlights how some people are already pushing the edge.

The article points out many of the issues that will need to be resolved before there is a wide apoption. I predict that over the next 5 or so years this will be a major factor in the industry. As younger doctors, nurses and patients move into the system these technologies will simply become the norm. Everyone in this profession has to be prepared and ready.

Read This If You Have a Dell Laptop

2006-08-16T05:18:00.000-05:00

Dell has announced a major recall of laptop batteries. Over 4 million batteries are being recalled due to what is being called a manufacturing defect. The problem is fairly serious as there are many reports of laptops that have literally caught on fire because of the battery problem. One of these reports includes the laptop catching on fire on a plane.

Dell has a special website located here that will tell you everything you need to know about the recall. If you own a Dell laptop you need to check this out....now!

Microsoft Releases 12 Security Updates

2006-08-10T16:27:00.000-05:00

This month's Security Update bundle from Microsoft includes 12 updates, 9 of which it rates as critical. Details can be found here. One of these updates, MS06-040 is a very serious issue. Even our friends at The Department of Homeland Security are saying that this update should be installed as soon as possible. There are already rogue programs published to the Internet that are taking advantage of computers that have not applied the update.

Security Updates are released by Microsoft virtually every month. This month's updates are more critical then normal at this point. Update your computers!

Microsoft Getting Into Health Care Software?

2006-08-05T10:01:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has purchased a health care software company named Azyxxi. The program was developed by a group of doctors involved with Medstar Health, a conglomerate of hospitals and other health care related companies in the Baltimore-Washington area. The purchase includes hiring 2 of the 3 doctors that designed the program and about 40 members of the development team.

The Azyxxi software retrieves and quickly displays patient information from many resources, including scanned images, EKGs, XRays, MRIs, etc. It is currently used in only a hand full of hospitals.

There is a lot of hype going around about how this purchase puts Microsoft in the applications business instead of the traditional infrastructure business like operating systems and databases that it currently associated with. I disagree. The Azyxxi software IS an infrastructure program. It simply ties data provided by other applications together. This will help the health care industry. One of the biggest issues in automating the health care industry is the incompatibility of data generated by a wide range of applications. I see Microsoft's interest in eliminating this barrier at a infrastructure level and not at a traditional application level.

If Microsoft can accomplish this goal it will not only greatly benefit health care in general but also keep the cash flowing in in the future. It will be interesting to watch.

Internet Explorer 7 Will Be a "Critical Update"

2006-08-01T13:21:00.000-05:00

Microsoft will release Internet Explorer 7 later this year if all goes as planned. They have decided to distribute IE 7 via Windows Updates as a Critical Update. This means that if you have Windows Updates set to automatic you will have IE 7 installed automatically. Their reasoning is that there are so many security related fixes and enhancements in IE 7 that it fits into the Critical Update category.

Is this good or bad? Well, obviously being more secure is a very good thing. But, IE 7 is quite a bit different. Although I really like IE 7's features (Tabs and RSS are my favorites), it is visibly different. You will need to play around with the new design a bit to get used to it. For a lot of users change can be difficult. I suspect that everyone will be just fine, after some interesting words and faces. And yes, some web pages may not work correctly so be aware.

If you are a Microsoft Enterprise Client, Microsoft has a tool that will temporarily disable the download so you can do your testing. Of course you are already testing with the beta release aren't you? Remember, we do not suggest that you run any beta software on production workstations. Beta software can and will cause problems.

Is Zune the iPod Killer?

2006-07-23T07:55:00.000-05:00

Microsoft confirmed this week that rumors of an iPod like device will be coming from them are true. Zune is the brand name for a family of media devices that they will introduce. The rumors are that the first pieces of the family will be available in October or November. The first hardware devices will include a hard disk based media player which will support wifi wireless.

This is the typical Microsoft path. Let someone else innovate, see if the market is there, see where things can be made better, introduce their own products, watch the innovators struggle. Although I'm not sure that Apple will be an easy target. The iPod is like the Mac, the users are extremely loyal and will not change platforms. The vendors that are vulnerable are the Creative Labs, iRivers, and other vendors that produce "me too" portable media players.

As with all of these technologies, the winner will be determined by who has the best products and services. And is the best at a little thing called customer support.

Here's some more info on Zune. Get ready for a laugh!

Don't Let A Software Vendor Compromise Your Security

2006-06-29T05:09:00.000-05:00

I've spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks working with various software vendors both on site and remotely. These vendors were in various stages of trying to install software on several of our Clients networks. I have to say that it amazes me that the skill level of some of these technicians is terrible. And their understanding of network security is non-existent.

Most of these people probably know their software very well (I would hope). But many of them know nothing about the servers or networks they are trying to install on. This can be very serious for the stability of your network as well as the security level. Most of these vendors think nothing of asking for the administrative password or asking me to open up folders to "Everyone". Many have installed software that has caused network related issues. (Ooops, sorry!)

For our Clients, watch those software vendors! They may not be as smart as you or they think they are. They can compromise the security of your data and/or cause harm to your network. Don't give them free reign.

For you software vendors, security is not something you should be compromising. Make your software works correctly, and train your installers better. Getting your software up and running at all costs is simply not acceptable.

Verizon Pulling The Plug On In-Flight Phones

2006-06-24T06:06:00.000-05:00

Verizon has decided to discontinue its in-flight phone service on commercial airlines. I can understand why. How many people have you ever seen use them? The cost was ridiculous! Actually they probably see the writing on the wall. In-flight cell phone usage is getting close to being approved and several airlines are testing WiFi Internet service which will allow not only browsing but VoIP service as well. By 2010 Verizon expects to have the phones removed on all the airlines.

In the meantime Carnival Cruise Lines is beginning to offer cell phone service on one of their ships. You can use any cell phone anywhere the ship goes. Very cool. But what will this do to my vacation? They expect to offer it on all their ships eventually.

Bill Gates Stepping Down At Microsoft

2006-06-15T20:32:00.000-05:00

Bill Gates announced today that he will be stepping away from his full time position at Microsoft over the next two years. Ray Ozzie will be taking on the Chief Software architect duties. Gates will remain Chairman of the Board "for the foreseeable future".

I really hate to see this guy leave. I have been a fan of his over the years. I am always impressed with his communications skills. He is truly the brightest visionary in this business. But he is also 50 years old. He is the richest man in the world. I'm sure he has a few other things he would like to do.

His departure comes at a time when Microsoft is feeling pressure from companies like Google, Yahoo, and other web based companies that have developed new and innovative programs. Microsoft seems to be trying to catch up for the first time in a long time. But they have been there before and have always managed to pull it together. Even during this "tough" period they are able to net about a billion dollars a month. How can you not respect this guy?

You can find the Microsoft press release here.

Vista Beta 2 Woes

2006-06-15T05:02:00.000-05:00

I've been using Windows Vista Beta 2 for a couple of days now. Overall I like what I see so far. Things are moved around a bit so it can be frustrating to try to do something that was a simple click or two before. That will pass as I become more familiar with the new Interface. Glass (the new Graphical User Interface) is very cool. Does it make me more productive? I doubt it.

It's not all roses though. I have had several hangs, I can't print properly to my computer and I'm generating a huge amount of traffic on my VPN. This can be very frustrating, and time consuming. However, this is part of what you bargain for when you beta test software.

I might mention that I am also beta testing Office 2007. When I was running Office 2007 in Windows XP, I saw very few if any issues. Now that I am running it in Windows Vista several problems have came up. Very interesting.

Windows Vista Beta 2

2006-06-12T05:15:00.000-05:00

I installed the new Windows Vista Beta 2 over the weekend on my home computer. Vista is the next version of Windows that is expected to be released to the public in early 2007. The installation takes a long time! The beta is a 3.2G download which you must burn to a DVD in order to install. The installation went without a hitch, although I had to remove Windows Defender and Norton AntiVirus as they were not compatible with the installation. Windows Defender was reinstalled during the installation process. I will look for a compatible AntiVirus program today. The only other application that would not run so far was the Symantec enterprise VPN client. I will try reinstalling it after Vista is installed to see if that corrects the problem.

So far I like what I see. Screen handling in Vista is very nice. Windows and menus fade in and out nicely. Note that the video hardware requirements for Vista are not light. You must have good video in order to run Glass, the very cool video UI in Vista. The first few machines I put Vista on were not able to run Glass. Vista itself ran OK but without the nice video stuff.

The other thing that is very noticeable is the security in Vista. Almost everything I do for the first time requires that I approve the application. This is good but I wonder how the everyday user will feel about it.

I haven't had a lot of time to play around with the new stuff in Vista but as I do I will post my findings here. Remember that we do not suggest our Clients run any beta software on their production machines. Windows Vista is no ordinary beta. You will probably cause yourself some problems if you install it.

Microsoft is not always the bad guy

2006-06-06T05:13:00.000-05:00

One of the nicest features of the upcoming release of Microsoft Office 2007 is the ability to save files from any Office program to PDF format natively. I've been using this feature in the current beta version of Office 2007 and it works great. This is one of those things that a lot of our Clients have been asking for over the last couple of years. Last week Microsoft announced that it is removing this feature from Office 2007 due to a threatened lawsuit by Adobe, the owners of the PDF technologies.

Adobe has stated in the past that the PDF format is open. This means that anyone can utilize the standard to create PDF content. I guess that means anyone except Microsoft or anyone else that Adobe may feel threatened by. Microsoft has said that they will remove the feature but offer it as a free download. Adobe wants Microsoft to charge for the download, presumably to ride the coattails of the extremely popular Office product.

This doesn't speak well for Adobe. Going back on public statements is never a good thing. There are several free programs on the Internet that allow you to print to PDF. Why hasn't Adobe gone after them? Perhaps they will now.

I Like Internet Explorer 7

2006-05-22T05:09:00.000-05:00

I've been using IE7 Beta 2 on a couple of my computers and so far I really like it. I have yet to run into a problem. IE7 Beta 1 had several issues some of which were rather serious.

I really like the tabbed browsing function. With it you can have several websites open at a time and jump between them simply by clicking on the proper tab. Very useful to me at the office. You can also save a tab group. This allows you to open a whole group of websites as one Favorite. Very nice!

I think my favorite thing in IE7 is printing. In the past when I printed webpages I would many times lose the right side of the page on the printed document. This made reading the document off-line very difficult if not impossible. In IE7 web pages are reformatted for printing and the whole page prints every time. This in itself is worth the upgrade if you do any printing of web pages.

I'm starting the play around with the RSS reader in IE7 but haven't used it enough to know how I like it yet. Overall IE7 seems like a worth while update. Remember that we do not suggest using any beta software on your critical office computers. Beta software can and does cause problems that can sometimes be serious.

Testing Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2

2006-04-28T09:43:00.000-05:00

First, let me remind you that we do not suggest that our Clients install any beta software on their production computers. Betas always have problems and will most likely cause you grief. Let us geeks do the beta testing.

I had installed IE 7 beta 1 on one of my computers and had problems with several sites including Blogger, this blogging site. I waited a little while after beta 2 came out to download and try it. I finally did it earlier this week and so far no problems.

Some things I like in IE 7 are tabbed browsing and an RSS reader. Tabbed browsing allows you to open several websites or webpages at a time and tab between them. You can save sets of tabs for easy recall. This is very useful for me. I am just playing around with the RSS Reader so I'll have to let you know what I think later. Generally I use FeedDemon for RSS feeds, and I am very happy with it so I don't know if I will end up using the IE reader at all. But I will give it a shot.

Notes From Microsoft Seminar

2006-04-26T14:00:00.000-05:00

I attended a Microsoft seminar in Branford yesterday. The seminar covered Windows Vista, the Windows XP replacement, and Office 2007, the next version of Microsoft Office. Both products are scheduled to ship in January 2007.

I really like what I see in Office 2007. The user interface is very intuitive. Several very good features have been added. Files are now saved in XML format which is an open standard and it seems to make them smaller in size as well. The newest version of SharePoint Services was also demoed. In combination with Office 2007, this will form an excellent document mangement and workflow product.

We will be setting up demonstrations of Windows Vista and Office 2007 later in the year to give our Clients a chance to see what's new. Stay tuned!

Vista Release Delayed - Again

2006-03-22T06:32:00.000-05:00

Microsoft announced yesterday that the Windows XP replacement, Windows Vista will be delayed until January 2007. The previous release date was November 06. They say that they need a few extra weeks to make sure everything is just right. Large corporate customers should be able to get the software before the end of the year, however. The general public will need to wait until January.

I don't have a problem with the change in dates. Our Clients will not be jumping on the Vista bandwagon for 6 to 12 months after the release anyway. This is a new operating system, there WILL be problems that will need to be addressed.

We have been working with the beta releases of Vista and will of course install the live version as soon as it is released so that we can assist our Clients with making the migration. I will be posting Vista information here as soon as it is appropriate to do so.

Will You Use an Ultra Mobile PC?

2006-03-20T06:01:00.000-05:00

There was a lot of hoopla a couple weeks ago about a new product that was going to be introduced by Microsoft. It was code named Origami and information started to show up a couple of days before it was officially released. The official name is now the Ultra Mobile PC and it is not actually a product that Microsoft sells. It is a new PC that is smaller than a laptop and larger than a PDA. It runs Windows XP Tablet PC version and can run all Windows XP applications unlike the PDA.

The device has no mechanical keyboard. Instead you can write on the screen or use an electronic keyboard that can appear on the screen. It has several methods of communications including WiFi and Bluetooth in addition to the standard 10/100 network adapter. Several manufactures are releasing these devices in about a month. They will weigh less than 3 lbs and will sell for between $600 and $1000.

I'm not sure how new this idea is. I have a Hand Held PC from several years back that is rather similar although it did not run a standard Windows operating system. I think that was a big draw back. Hardware has gotten much better and now that the UMPC devices run Windows XP, there might be some traction here. I think our Health Care Clients might just fall in love with this device for their Point of Care needs. I will be evaluating a unit as soon as they are available and will post my findings here. What do you think? Check out some information here and here and let me know.

Deja Vu ?

2006-03-06T11:14:00.000-05:00

AT&T is bidding to buy Bell South for $67 Billion. They certainly have lots of billions floating around don't they?. They spent $41 Billion in 2004 to buy AT&T Wireless. (I know it's confusing, but in 2004 they were still Cingular and then SBC and now AT&T. Those marketing people are so smart!) And those financial people.... it is expected that the buyout will save $2 Billion a year, after layoffs of course! They cut around 7000 jobs after the AT&T Wireless buyout. And the ROI is what?

I wonder when the next telecommunications monopoly investigation will be triggered and exactly how much will that cost us. I am running short on my Billions!

RIM Gets The Message

2006-03-04T07:25:00.000-05:00

RIM has settled a long running patent lawsuit filed against it by NTP. The lawsuit threaten to potentially shutdown the Blackberry email service that millions depend on. The $612.5 million dollar settlement insures that email junkies will still be able to get their fix on their Blackberries.

I believe this is just the beginning of troubles for Blackberry. Their monopoly on push email services is over. Microsoft has built push email services into their Exchange email servers. It is easy to install and setup and costs nothing more once you have purchased the Exchange Server. The Blackberry solution costs more and is much more difficult to setup. I setup a remote salesperson for one of our Clients yesterday to be able to receive his Exchange email on his cell phone. It took a total of 15 minutes.

I think RIM has won a battle but the war isn't over.

Never Happen!?

2006-01-07T06:11:00.000-05:00

VoIP Watch: Clinton in Redmond..Is Ballmer Stepping Aside

Now here's one for you! This article rumors that Bill Clinton may be taking the President's position at Microsoft, replacing Steve Ballmer. Is it April 1st already?

Critical Windows Flaw Being Exploited

2005-12-30T14:10:00.000-05:00

The cyber-idiots are at it again. A flaw in a Windows Graphics function has been discovered and the instructions on how to exploit the flaw have been posted on the Internet. There have already been a good deal of reports of computers being affected by various exploits.

Basically, the problem involves how Windows processes certain types of graphic images. When the image is loaded via an infected website or an infected image in an email, the hacker can take control of the computer with the same security rights as the user of the machine. At this point the hacker can do a wide range of damage from destroying data on the computer and/or server to monitoring for personal or sensitive information.

Microsoft has posted more information here. Users are advised to be vigilant and to keep anti-virus and anti-spyware programs up to date. We will continue to post pertinent information here.

Check That UPS

2005-10-18T13:29:00.000-05:00

We have had several calls over the past couple of weeks where servers or other equipment have unexpectedly shutdown. Upon investigation we found that a UPS with failing batteries caused the problem. Normally a UPS is responsible for supplying power to critical network devices if there is a power outage. The power can be maintained for from several minutes to an hour or so depending on the capacity of the UPS and the load on it. This is a good thing. We don't want servers crashing when the power goes out.

However, UPSs use batteries and batteries age and fail. We have found that when UPS batteries fail the UPS can do strange things including shutting the power to the connected devices off even if there is no power outage. This is not a good thing!

Because UPSs are quite and not usually highly visible we tend to forget they exist until a problem occurs. To avoid any surprises, UPSs should be tested regularly. The test is simple, make sure no one is connected to the devices that the UPS is connected to, make sure no applications are running on your server. and pull the plug. The UPS is plugged into a power outlet on the wall. Pull the plug from the wall. The devices connected to the UPS should stay running. The UPS will usually start emitting some type of sound indicating power has been lost. After you have confirmed that the UPS can withstand a power outage, plug the plug back into the wall. The beeping should stop. Be careful with this test. You are playing with electricity and it doesn't always play fair. If you are unsure about this test get someone who knows this stuff to do it.

I also suggest that UPSs connected to critical devices be replaced after 5 or more years. They are not that expensive anymore and the value of not having problems caused by a crashed server far out way the investment.

We have included this test in our list of items that we perform for our Maintenance Program Clients.

Microsoft Releases Several Security Hotfixes

2005-10-13T09:26:00.000-05:00

Microsoft released 3 Critical, 4 Important, and 2 Moderate Security Updates on Tuesday 10/11. This is their scheduled October Security Update. These hotfixes cover Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Exchange, Internet Explorer and some other Windows components.

Our Maintenance Program Clients will have these updates installed on our next maintenance visit to your site. Other users can install the updates via the Windows Update Service. Be sure to have a backup and read the update information BEFORE doing any updates. We do not suggest users do server based updates.

Notes From Microsoft TS2 Meeting

2005-10-07T15:07:00.000-05:00

Microsoft holds a quarterly event for its Partners called TS2. This event is generally of a technical nature, but designed to help us resellers sell and support Microsoft products. I have been to several of these events and have found them to be very useful. The most recent was held Oct 6 in Plainville, which was nice because I normally have to travel to the Boston area for these.

There were several new products presented at the event. The first was a new product called Microsoft Small Business Accounting. This accounting package is designed for small business with sales generally under $2M. It competes head on with Quickbooks. It looks very good. The interface is designed like Outlook which makes it pretty easy to navigate. It has pretty much everything a small business needs. Payroll, however is a little weak, although it does interface with ADP. (They are working on more payroll options) We don't sell accounting software, so other than possibly using it ourselves you won't hear much more from us about it.

The next product was another one that we won't be selling but it is a very cool system for small retailers. Microsoft Point of Sale is a full retail management package for small stores that might have 1 or 2 cash registers. It is a very cool system and very well priced.

There was a session on Windows Mobile 5, which we will be getting involved with. Windows Mobile 5 enables remote users to connect to Microsoft Exchange with a PDA or cell phone. Users have full access to their email, contacts, calendar, etc. This is really cool stuff. You will be hearing more about this from us. If you have Windows Small Business Server 2003 you will be ready to utilize these features when they are available.

There was a lot of other technical stuff that I won't bore you with. As always this was an excellent Microsoft event.

Click here for Microsoft Small Business Accounting info
Click here for Microsoft Point of Sale info
Click here for Windows Mobile 5 info

Microsoft Releases Several Service Packs

2005-09-28T16:17:00.000-05:00

Microsoft released MS Office 2003 Service Pack 2, OneNote Service Pack 2 and Windows SharePoint Services Service Pack 2 today. These Service Packs address security, reliability and performance issues in the related products.

We have installed the Service Packs on our machines and are in the process of testing them. Clients that are on our Maintenance Plan will have these Service Packs installed on our next scheduled visit after October 15th, which will give us time to complete our testing. Of course the Service Packs are available from the Microsoft Website for do it yourselfers.

Has It Been 10 Years

2005-08-25T05:10:00.000-05:00

On this day 10 years ago, Microsoft released Windows 95. It was quite an event. People stayed up all night camping at computer stores to buy the new Operating System. Similar to Harry Potter books today I guess. I remember being impressed with Windows 95 but I also remember it was very buggy. Since that time, there has been Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP and BOB (Don't Ask!). Many of those operating systems had update releases like Windows 98 Second Edition (SE). Of course time and gas prices move on. We are now waiting for Windows Vista, which is scheduled to ship next year. I don't foresee any lines at Staples. However, the line is all ready forming on the Internet! Microsoft says this will be the most reliable and most secure Operating System yet. Funny, I thought that's what they said about Windows 95!

I Would Not Have Thought Of This

2005-08-23T05:11:00.000-05:00

I am a big believer in using technology where you can to make things better, faster etc. But I never thought of this. Not sure what I think about it yet. But I am gathering content just in case. Be sure to check out the sample video. I wonder if they have a 42” model. Check it out!

New Virus On The Loose

2005-08-15T09:34:00.000-05:00

A new virus, Zotob, which exploits a Windows vulnerability made public last Tuesday, is spreading on the Internet. The virus takes advantage of an issue with the Microsoft Windows Plug and Play Service. The virus is a worm that can spread itself to unprotected computers. It will affect the workstation's access to the Internet and opens a backdoor for an intruder to gain access to the machine.

One of the patches released by Microsoft last week closes the hole that this virus takes advantage of. If you are running Norton AntiVirus, check to make sure your Virus Definition File is 8/14/05 rev 16 or higher in order to detect this virus.

If you do not have a method in place to update your workstations and servers with the latest Windows Updates give us a call. We can help you get this important function done.

More information on Zotob can be found here.

Problems With Norton Corporate AntiVirus 10.0

2005-08-11T11:02:00.000-05:00

We have several reports of serious issues with Norton (Symantec) Corporate AntiVirus 10.0. These problems include the server rebooting at random times. Norton has posted a couple of fixes but I would suggest that 10.0 is not installed until it is verified that the problems are fixed.

Get Ready For Windows Vista

2005-07-22T05:16:00.000-05:00

Microsoft's next desktop operating system has been in development for some time. It is expected to be released in 2006. During the development process Microsoft always uses code names for the project. Longhorn has been the code name for this Windows XP replacement. Today Microsoft is expected to actually name the operating system. The rumor is that it will be named Windows Vista.

Don't know if I like it yet. Sometimes these things take some getting used to.