Versatile Technology Group, LLC - News Blog

Two things you can do with your technology that may prevent the flu pandemic from affecting your company’s productivityThe United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) predicts that 1/3 of the US population will catch the flu this year, with the average employee missing between two and four weeks of work.  This pandemic will cripple many small- to medium-sized businesses according to disaster recovery experts. But believe it or not, how you deal with your computers can actually prevent the flu from affecting your employees and ultimately, your business productivity.

#1 Do Everything You Can To Slow The Spread Of The Flu
The flu spreads through personal contact like shaking hands, touching a keyboard or mouse used by an infected coworker and through the air by coughing and sneezing. So watch who you touch and use disinfectant wipes to clean your workspace including the keyboard and mouse before and after you use them. You can also reduce the amount of people who need to touch your computer equipment by using a program like our complete:IT managed services, where the engineer can work on your system remotely.

#2 Prepare For Employee Absence With Remote Access
No matter how hard you try to prevent it, you may still have some of your staff out sick at the same time.  While no one with the flu is going to do much besides lie in bed, many employees will work part time from home if they have access to their office computer.  Some doctors believe this could actually hasten their recovery by eliminating boredom. So, setting up a way that your employees can remote into their computer from home helps you both.

You’ll Be Needing It Sooner Than You Think.

The electricity your computer needs to run can also destroy it. In a flash, you could lose your computer along with all that data you’ve spent hours entering.  The makers of inexpensive surge protectors have bamboozled the public into thinking their computers and data are safe if they simply plug in to a “power strip”.  In truth, a few thunderstorms turn that surge protector strip into a fancy extension cord. The lighting and electrical surge can actually fry the surge protector’s components.

Plus, surge protectors don’t protect against brownouts and blackouts.

Basically, when the power goes out, it is an extremely traumatic event for your computer—one that it often doesn’t recover from. The US Department of Energy advises you to protect your computers because “power disruptions can result in data corruption, burned circuit boards, component damage, file corruption and lost customers”. Even Microsoft warns that if a computer can’t boot up after a power failure, it generally cannot be repaired.  So, if a surge protector isn’t actually protecting your computer then what are you supposed to do?

The simple & inexpensive solution is the battery backup, a.k.a. Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS).

A properly installed UPS will switch to battery power whenever any type of electrical problem or surge is detected and, once the electricity returns to normal, it will automatically switch back.  If a blackout lasts longer than the battery can handle, your computer is safely and automatically shut down then turned back on when power returns. No destroyed computer, no lost data, and no need for that emergency call.

5 Simple Ways To Tame The Outlook E-mail Monster

1. Put Junk Mail In Its Place With The Junk E-Mail Filter
From Outlook’s main screen, click on Actions / Junk E-mail / Junk E-mail Options…  From this window you can enable/disable the junk filter, set its sensitivity and designate specific email addresses as safe or blocked (aka white & black listing).  E-mail identified as Junk Mail is automatically delivered to the Junk E-mail box keeping your inbox clear of clutter.

2. Create Rules
Rules automatically process e-mail as it is received.  There are more than 20 things you can do with a message including auto-forward, delete, reply and move mail to a different mailbox based on the sender, subject and more.  Create a rule by clicking on Tools / Rules and Alerts…

3. Quickly Create E-mails Sent To A List Of Addresses
If you frequently send emails to the same list of addresses, create a shortcut on your desktop that opens a blank email automatically addressed to your list.  Right click on an open area of your Windows Desktop, point to New then click Shortcut.  In the “location of the item” box type the word mailto: followed by each email address separated by a comma leaving no spaces.  Click the Next> button to name your shortcut then click Finish.  Test by double clicking on the shortcut.  A new blank e-mail message should open with the list of addresses in the To: field.

4. Clean Up Your Mailbox
Click on Tools / Mailbox Cleanup… From this window you can check the size of your Outlook file, find items to move or delete, empty the deleted items folder and archive old items to the Outlook archive file.  Outlook slows down dramatically when its data file is 1GB or larger.

5. Read Email Without Having To Open It
Click on View / Reading Pane and choose to automatically view emails to the right or bottom of the mail box summary list.

Read On For An Easy Way To Remember Your Passwords And Maintain High Security…One of the hardest habits we struggle to get our clients to break is writing down their passwords on sticky notes by their PC. Obviously this is a security risk. Another bad habit is choosing really easy-to-remember passwords such as “password”.

But admittedly, it CAN be hard remembering all of those darn passwords that are always changing. To solve this little dilemma, we’re suggesting to our clients to stop using passwords and use “pass-phrases”.

What is a “pass-phrase” you ask? They are letters and numbers put together in an easy-to- remember phrase such as “GoEagles09!” These are MUCH easier to remember than a random cluster of letters and numbers, which means you won’t have to write them down on a post-it note anymore!

Pass-phrases can be built from anything, such as favorite quotes, lines from movies, sports team names, a favorite athlete’s name and jersey number, kids’ names and birthdates, pets, and so on.

All you need to do is be a little creative to get numbers, letters and punctuation into the phrase. Since introducing this to our clients, we’ve found (believe it or not) they actually have fun doing this! Just don’t get so proud of your pass-phrase that you share it with others!

4 Things To Consider As You Ponder The Choice of XP, Vista or Windows 7Do you remember the 1981 song from the rock group The Clash which could be about Microsoft and Windows XP?

Always tease tease tease
You’re happy when I’m on my knees
One day is fine, next is black
So if you want me off your back
Well come on and let me know
Should I stay or should I go?On October 16th, 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, responded “If people want to wait [stay with XP] they really can.”  This was the first time Microsoft acknowledged the lackluster acceptance of Vista in the business community. According to Microsoft, Vista has been growing faster than XP did after its introduction, but it’s the consumer market leading the charge not businesses. According to the Gartner research group, as of January 2009, only 6% of businesses have at least one computer running Vista.

Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
And if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know!

Like it or not, we must eventually move away from Windows XP.  Microsoft stopped fixing XP bugs on April 14th and will end all support, including security patches, in 2014.  Here are four things to consider as you ponder staying with XP, moving to Vista or waiting for Windows 7.

#1 Test your applications and peripherals
There’s a lot of business software that will not run on Vista, especially software written by boutique software companies and consultants.  Because Windows 7 is built on the Vista foundation, software and peripherals like printers that don’t work with Vista won’t work with Windows 7 either.  Conversely if it does work with Vista it will work on Windows 7.  Most vendors anticipate having Vista versions of their software available before the end of 2009.  Microsoft expects Windows 7 to be available in early 2010.  With Windows 7 looming on the horizon, it may be prudent to skip Vista and go straight to Windows 7.  The key here is to communicate with your software and hardware vendors and test everything.

#2 Migrate to Vista or Windows 7 as you purchase new computers
Once you have completed testing, consider staggering your switchover by bringing in Vista on new and replacement computers.  Unless you love migraine headaches and wasting money, forget trying to upgrade existing computers more than two years old to Vista.  In this uncertain economy, a migration through replacement approach is your least expensive option.

 There is a learning curve with the Vista user interface similar to that experienced with MS Office 2007.  However, most users like the Vista interface after using it a few weeks, and most of the Vista annoyances have been eliminated in Windows 7 beta versions.  If you want to play it ultra safe, purchase your new equipment with Vista Business and select the XP Pro downgrade option.  Your new equipment is ready to use out of the box with XP Pro, yet has the hardware, software and licensing necessary to upgrade to Vista when you’re ready.

#3 Skip Vista and migrate directly to Windows 7.
If you don’t plan on replacing your computers this year, consider skipping Vista all together. Most small businesses and many enterprise organizations are pushing out their hardware replacement schedules because of the uncertain economy. Consequently, skipping Vista altogether and jumping straight into Windows 7 is a reasonable alternative.  Hey, you even have permission from Microsoft to do this! You can continue purchasing new equipment with the XP Pro downgrade and have complete confidence that this same hardware will support the upgrade to Windows 7. If this is the decision you make, be sure to begin testing with Vista now in preparation for Windows 7.

#4 Microsoft’s history of software releases.
Microsoft considers Windows 7 a major release.  Other major releases were Windows 2000 and Vista, both of which were late and in the case of Vista, required the release of Service Pack 1 before it lived up to its hype.  Windows XP was considered an evolutionary release, but it too performed poorly until Service Pack 1, then finally lived up to its promise with the Service Pack 2 update.  Calling Windows 7 a major release may be more marketing than meat because the kernel (think of this as the guts or foundation of an operating system) is the same as Vista. The good news is that this kernel has come a long way since the initial release of Vista. Windows Server 2008 draws on the Vista kernel and has proven to be a solid server operating system. Windows 7 is in beta release now and gets better with each update. Many in the industry believe that 2010 will be the year of Windows 7, but only time will tell. If you decide to wait for Windows 7, be sure to make a contingency plan that includes Vista knowing that the pain of migration from Vista to Windows 7 will be minimal.

This indecision’s bugging me
If you don’t want me, set me free
Exactly whom I’m supposed to be
Don’t you know which clothes even fit me?
Come on and let me know
Should I cool it or should I go?Let us know if we can help with this decision!

#1 Overconfidence
User overconfidence in security products is the top threat to your network.  Failure to “practice safe software” results in nuisance attacks like porn storms (unstoppable rapid fire pornographic pop-ups) and more subtle key loggers that steal passwords.  Surveys promising free stuff, result in theft of information like your mother’s maiden name, high school, etc. used to answer common security questions leading to theft of otherwise secure data.  Think before you click!

#2 Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites like Facebook are exploding in popularity.  Threats range from malware (e.g. viruses, worms, spyware) to scammers trying to steal your identity, information and money.  Many businesses and government agencies are using these sites to communicate with clients and constituents, so simply blocking access is no longer reasonable.  Defending your company while allowing employee access requires social network education for your employees and the enforcement of strong acceptable use policies.  We can help you develop a policy, then monitor compliance using a Unified Threat Management device that controls and reports on network access.

#3 Attacks On Mobile Devices
Everyone is going mobile these days not just the “road warriors”.  Once limited to laptop computers, mobile network devices now include PDAs, handheld computers and smart phones, with new appliances appearing in the stores every month.  Mobile devices often contain sensitive data yet they are easily lost or stolen.  Be sure to password protect and encrypt data on all mobile devices whenever possible.  Include mobile devices in your acceptable use policy.

#4 Cloud Computing
“The Cloud”, in its most simple form, involves using the Internet to access and store your data.  When you access e-mail using a web browser, you are working in “the cloud”.  Using the cloud for automated off site backup is rapidly gaining popularity and is just the beginning.  Companies like Microsoft, IBM and Google envision the day when we will use inexpensive terminals instead of computers to run programs and access data located somewhere on the Internet.  You need to be sure that any data you store and access across the Internet is secure not just where it is stored, but during the trip to and from the Internet.

New data from NPD Group suggests that RIM may have caught up with some of the iPhone marketing hype, taking the top spot in U.S. consumer smartphone sales for the first quarter of 2009.  The BlackBerry Curve (of which there are several models across multiple carriers) bested the iPhone for the first quarter of the year, with RIM taking three of the top five spots.

We get a lot of Apple fanboy grief here in the CNET Blog Network, but I’m a BlackBerry user. Personally, I prefer the BlackBerry keyboard and form factor but feel that the iPhone interface and applications are superior.

But more important than the applications or the interface, I need my phone to work. I want it to be able to make calls, receive calls, send e-mail, etc. The iPhone, for all its glorious features, is at best a mediocre phone with occasionally terrible coverage.

AT&T, the lone iPhone carrier in the United States, has been slow to fix network issues and slow to respond to customer complaints, and it lacks a certain amount of customer service social grace. Most of the gadgety or techie types of people I know who don’t use the iPhone avoid it entirely because of AT&T.

Realistically, there should always be more BlackBerrys sold than iPhones simply because of network diversity. While the iPhone may be acceptable–even good as a business smartphone, the spotty coverage and weak customer service makes the device a questionable choice for on-the-go business users.

The Blackberry Storm got a big marketing push from Verizon that no doubt helped grow the customer base, but the Storm is not an iPhone killer.

I’m looking forward to seeing what RIM has to offer in the future, as well as seeing if/when Verizon will finally get the iPhone. Until then, I’ll stick with the BlackBerrys, which, despite the occasional random java error and simplistic user interface, have served me extremely well for the last five years.

By Dave Rosenberg
CNET News

Moving is always a pain in the rump, but it doesn’t have to be a horrific, expensive experience. The number one lament from someone who’s experienced a “bad” move is, “I didn’t know I needed to…” followed closely by “I completely forgot that…” In other words, it’s what you don’t do that makes the move a disaster.  To make your move easy and effortless, here are the 5 most common mistakes you want to avoid:

Mistake #1 — Not Using A Checklist
This may seem like a no-brainer to those who manage projects, but project management may not be a forte of someone placed in charge of your move (like an office admin). Even those who use a list typically fail to make the list detailed enough. See page 2 of this newsletter for a free starter guide.

Mistake #2 — Trying To Save Money By Using Your Employees To Move Your Computer Network
Don’t ask your staff to disconnect, move and reconnect computers, phones and other devices just to save a few bucks. You’ll frustrate them and end up with phones ringing at the wrong extension, lost cables, and workstations that get dropped rendering them useless. You don’t want to let the movers do this job either; they may be great at moving furniture, but a network is a lot more sophisticated and sensitive. Be smart and hire an IT pro to pack and move your network. Doing so will help you avoid communication blackouts and extended downtime.

Mistake #3 — Not Hiring The RIGHT IT Firm To Move Your Network
While we’re on the topic, make sure you know what to look for when outsourcing the move. A few things to look for would include references from other clients, proof of insurance (get them to fax you a copy), a service level guarantee limiting the amount of time you are down, and a professional, organized approach to quoting the move.

A real pro will insist on visiting your current location as well as your new location to conduct a detailed site survey. NEVER hire anyone who wants to quote moving your network over the phone. Additionally, look for an IT company that will apply the charges for conducting your site survey against the total cost of the move if you choose them.

Mistake #4 — Not Giving Your Phone, Internet And Cable Vendors Enough Advance Warning
Eighty percent (80%) of unexpected communications blackouts and cost overruns on network moves are caused by failure to properly plan voice, data and electrical installation in advance. Just because the prior tenant had computers and telephones is no guarantee that the cabling is suitable for your phones and your computer network. Advance planning will help you avoid emergency rush fees or band aid fixes to make things work.

Internet and telephone connections require as much as six weeks advance notice to be installed, tested and ready the day you move in.

And if you are building a new office, don’t leave it up to the builder to decide how many power outlets, network and phone connections you will need. Remember, changes and additions after the walls are up are at your expense. With printers, scanners, faxes, and other technologies connecting directly to the network these days, the rule of thumb of one electrical outlet, one phone and one network connection per employee is woefully outdated. Consult your IT provider in the early planning stages to ensure you have what you need before the drywall goes up.

Mistake #5 — Poor Communication With Vendors And Employees Prior To, And During The Move
Failure to communicate changes before and during the move results in confusion, downtime and increased expense. Remember, your computers and phones will be unavailable for a period of time before, during and immediately after the move. A little planning can minimize the impact on your business.

• Give your employees, customers, and vendors the anticipated downtime schedule.
• Make a cell phone list of important phone numbers (like tech support contacts, the phone company, cable company, etc.) and give it to your employees. You may also want to provide vendors and customers with a list of employee cell phone numbers to use during the communication blackout that will take place during the move.
• Confirm, confirm, confirm! Call your vendors several times to make sure they have the move on their schedule and planned; don’t assume anything!
• Ask your IT provider to temporarily reroute important e-mail and phones to another location during the move, or set up a web portal to enable you to access e-mail from a laptop or home computer so you’re not completely disconnected.

April 20, 2009 (Computerworld) One of the most hated features of Windows Vista will be seen a third less often by users of the upcoming Windows 7, a Microsoft executive promised today. “You’ll see a lot fewer UAC prompts in Windows 7,” said Paul Cooke, director of Windows 7 client enterprise security.

User Account Control, or UAC, the security feature that debuted in Vista, was designed to reduce the chance that malware could hijack a PC by forcing users to confirm that they really meant to do such things as install new software or modify key operating system settings.

People hated it, calling it intrusive and worse, forcing Microsoft to reduce the number of UAC prompts - pop-ups that prevented the user from doing anything but dealing with the dialog box - even before it launched Vista. And earlier this year, a senior-level executive cited a study that said user “click fatigue” had convinced the company to further scale back the prompts in Windows 7.

Today, Cooke claimed that Windows 7 users would face UAC significantly less often than people running Vista: “From our beta and internal testing, we expect a 29% decrease in UAC prompts compared to Windows Vista,” he said.

Among the changes Microsoft’s made to UAC that will drive that decrease, Cooke cited several specific examples, then pointed to the new “slider bar” that will let users fine tune the intensity of the security feature. “We’ve reduced 16 different points of prompting,” Cooke claimed, ranging from allowing a standard user to pull operating system updates without seeing a prompt to viewing (but not changing) firewall settings without a pop-up. Nor will Windows’ own components throw up a UAC prompt, Cooke added.

Microsoft has already modified Windows 7’s UAC for reasons other than prompt reduction. In February, the company responded to critics who argued it could be easily disabled by attackers, saying that it would change the feature to make it more secure when it rolled out a release candidate.

The company has not confirmed a ship date for Windows 7 Release Candidate, but a page on Microsoft’s site that was live for several hours this weekend pegged May 5 as the availability date for partners.

Cooke said he expects the reduction of UAC prompts in Windows 7 to exceed the preliminary data Microsoft’s acquired so far. “Personally, I expect that number to go up as it gets in the hands of more unsophisticated users,” he said, referring to the time when Windows 7 is pre-installed in new PCs and in the hands of people who don’t typically bother beta-testing software.

Windows 7 has been tweaked and tuned a bit since the launch of the operating system’s initial public beta in January, as is evident in the new release candidate (RC) Microsoft unveiled Thursday.

The RC is now available to MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) and TechNet subscribers, and it will be released to the general public May 5.

Microsoft will also soon release to beta the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, which will check users’ systems for their ability to run the new operating system. However, the software giant did not disclose when the upgrade advisor will be offered in beta or when Windows 7 will reach the market. The company declined to comment.

Teensy Weensy Changes
Although the Windows 7 RC contains some new features and has incorporated changes suggested by beta users, the improvements are, on the whole, relatively minor. “If you make too many changes this late in the process, you’re likely to destabilize the operating system,” Michael Cherry, a senior analyst at Directions on Microsoft, told TechNewsWorld. “So many of the new features they’re announcing, such as virtualization, have been ongoing work, and they’re just synchronizing them with the operating system,” he said.

New Features in Windows 7 RC
One of the key changes to the RC is the inclusion of the Windows XP Mode feature that lets users shift to Microsoft’s older operating system. Another is improved security.

Windows XP Mode
XP Mode will be available for Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise. It lets businesses run multiple Windows environments on one desktop, using Microsoft’s Virtual PC technology. However, businesses may have a few reasons to think twice before deciding to set Windows XP Mode as their default OS.

For one, they will have to manage multiple instances of Windows, Gartner analyst Michael Silver told TechNewsWorld. Also, sticking with Windows XP, even if it’s virtualized, could lead to trouble down the road. “Organizations that decide to run XP Mode instead of fixing their applications will run into problems when Microsoft ends support for XP,” Silver said.

Microsoft will end extended support for Windows XP in May 2014.

Improvements to Security
While removable storage media has often proven very useful in the enterprise, it also poses a major potential security threat to a business.

Users can not only illicitly download corporate information onto these drives, but also provide open doors for several types of viruses and worms that target USB drives and other removable media. They include the SillyFD/AA worm that emerged in 2007 and the infamous Conficker worm, which recently hit millions of PCs.

The Windows 7 RC disables AutoRun on non-optical removable storage devices such as USB drives. AutoRun will still work for CDs and DVDs, however.

The RC also includes improvements to AppLocker, a mechanism that lets IT professionals control access to applications. One such improvement is an audit-only enforcement mode, which lets IT professionals test rules before deploying them to govern access to applications.

Remote media streaming is a brand-new feature in Windows 7 RC. It lets users access their home-based digital media files over the Internet from other PCs running Windows 7.

Is It All Worthwhile?
Users who want to upgrade to Windows 7 when a final version is released may have to buy new computers.

“A lot of laptops probably can’t run Windows 7,” said Directions on Microsoft’s Cherry. “They need the Intel or AMD chips that have built-in virtualization.” Those are the Intel VT chips and the AMD-V chips.

New computers will include these chips, Cherry said. “Now that an application warrants using these chips, more manufacturers will begin using them.”

By Richard Adhikari
TechNewsWorld
04/30/09 1:27 PM PT