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April 2013 Update Details

April 10, 2013 by Todd Sanders Leave a Comment

It’s the second Tuesday of April and that means it is Microsoft‘s Patch Tuesday, the day of the month when Microsoft releases several scheduled patches and updates for their various software products. In the arena of Third-Party applications, Adobe has updated a small number of products and Java still sits at version 7 Update 17. So, here is a quick break down of the updates:

Microsoft:

Two Critical bulletins that cover Internet Explorer and Remote Desktop Client. Both of these vulnerabilities allow for attackers to launch programs remotely.
Seven Important bulletins that affect various Windows versions (two impact Windows 8 directly), Office, and Windows Defender. 5 of these vulnerabilities allow for a user to increase their privileges on a computer, while 1 bulletin can results in a denial of service for Domain systems, and the last bulletin causes information disclosure.

Adobe:

One update to Coldfusion that could allow an individual with no credentials to the administrative console to gain access.
One update to Shockwave Player that could allow an individual to remotely launch programs on a computer.
One update to Flash Player and Air that could allow an attacker to crash the program and take control of the computer system.

Users are encouraged to apply these updates to a test system prior to deployment to their critical systems to test for conflicts and problems caused by the updates to existing programs. Microsoft Windows users are encouraged to test and apply both Critical updates as soon as possible to avoid potential exploitation.

There are currently limited known attacks in the wild for the Microsoft updates, none of which currently target either Critical bulletin.

Here are links to the security update advisories:

Microsoft: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms13-apr

Adobe: https://www.adobe.com/support/security/

Additionally, April 8th 2013 marks the day that Windows XP Service Pack 3 has 365 days remaining on its Extended Support. After April 8th, 2014, Microsoft will no longer be providing updates or patches for Windows XP Service Pack 3. Service Pack’s 1 and 2 are currently no longer supported.

For more details or to schedule an onsite service call to get updates installed as part of our Preventive Maintenance service, feel free to contact us.

Update – New Licensing Agreement for Office 2013

April 9, 2013 by Todd Sanders Leave a Comment

As reported previously, Microsoft has updated it’s licensing agreement for Office 2013 such that users are required to purchase a new copy of Office 2013 should they decide to re-install the suite on another computer, such as a new computer replacing a failed one.

However, after much complaint from users, Microsoft has decided to repent and update the EULA once again. Now, users may perform one transfer every 90 days (uninstall from one computer to install onto another), except for hardware failures when a computer is being replaced. Those situations allow for immediate re-installation.

It will take some time for the changes to be implemented in the activation process and users may be required to call in to active re-installed copies of Office 2013 for a short time period.

For more information, check out Office’s very own blog post: http://blogs.office.com/b/office-news/archive/2013/03/06/office-2013-retail-license-agreement-now-transferable.aspx

Questions or concerns? Just give us a shout.

New Licensing Agreement for Office 2013

February 15, 2013 by Todd Sanders 1 Comment

Changes are a given. In software, they happen quite often. And for Microsoft, they happen without so much as a whisper.

Microsoft released Office 2013 this past January, and with it, major changes in the licensing agreement. However, they didn’t mention anything at the time about the changes. Not until Valentine’s day.

Microsoft confirmed to ComputerWorld in an email exchange that Office 2013’s end user license agreement, or EULA, specifies that by installing Office 2013 on a specific PC, the software license is tied to that particular PC. Effectively, if you replace your PC, you must also purchase a new copy of Office 2013.

For reference, the previous Office version, 2010, allowed a user who purchased a single license retail copy to install Office on a PC, and then re-install it on a new PC that replaces the old PC.

Obviously, for an individual who may be replacing their computer in the near future, this can prove to be a costly change. However, this is an option from Microsoft to help avoid such a wallet rummaging headache.

Office 365 Logo Microsoft has been selling Office 365 since mid-2011. 365 is a subscription based service that allows a user to have access to the Office programs from multiple systems (up to 5 with Home Premium). Instead of paying upfront for a single license, 365 charges either a per year fee or a per month fee and can be used on any combination of PC’s and Mac systems. Also, should you replace a system, simply deactivate the license on that computer and you can put Office on a new one.

The changes in the EULA, plus the fact that you have to dig through multiple pages on Office.com to find details on Office 2013, show that Microsoft is pushing consumers more towards subscription based cloud services over conventional retail products.

So, you may be wondering what option is best for you. And just like the answer to most questions of this nature, simply put, it depends on you. Individuals with a single PC in their home or business will likely never see the need to have 5 or more computers licensed for Office 365 and would be fine with a retail copy of 2013, even if they replace the PC within a year or so.

Multiple PC households and small to medium sized businesses will likely find the subscriptions both cost effective and more efficient, with the ability to share and collaborate on documents, plus the inclusion of Office products such as Access and Publisher.

If you’re thinking of making the switch to the latest version of Office, give us a quick call or Contact Us and we’ll help you figure out what option is best for you.

ComputerWorld’s Article

The Importance of Routine Maintenance

August 8, 2012 by Todd Sanders Leave a Comment

Most individuals who own a car get it regularly serviced. Oil change, filter change, check other fluids, check brakes, honk the horn, flash the lights, etc. Manufacturers highly recommend this routine maintenance be performed to keep your vehicle running at tip-top shape and to help prevent breakdowns.

A computer system isn’t much different. It needs an occasional cleaning to keep it running at its peak performance: remove temporary files, update the operating system and other programs, check for malware such as viruses, adware, and Trojans, clean out the dust that’s accumulated inside, and ensure that all the fans are running and keeping that dust from settling.

Preventative Maintenance

While your computer doesn’t keep a ticker going to show how many computing miles it’s been through, it is recommended to have your system serviced for maintenance at least once every 6 months. If the computer operates in highly dirty area, such an industrial plant work floor or a wood workers shop, or even in that auto service station where your car is treated at regular intervals, then the maintenance should be performed more often, and would depend on how much dust and dirt gather inside the system every couple of months. Did you know that dust and nicotine on printed circuit boards actually conduct electricity? We’ve seen them short out systems causing a complete failure.

If your systems haven’t been looked at for maintenance in quite a while, consider giving us a call. Whether you’re a business or a residential customer, we can get you taken care of.

Business customer with more than 3 systems? Let us put you on a regular, 6 month schedule to get your maintenance done. Qualifying customers are eligible for discounted rates.

Is Facebook Killing the “Like”?

October 4, 2011 by Quincy Zikmund Leave a Comment

Over the last few weeks the Facebook announcement mill has been pretty busy. At their f8 conference Facebook announced the new profile called Timeline that will be released to the public within the next few weeks. However, before the announcement of Timeline and updates to Open Graph, Facebook also released the News Feed Ticker in the right sidebar of your news feed, changes to what type of content you see in your news feed and the ability to subscribe to people in order to see their public posts without being their friend.

Updates to Pages

We now come to a change that has already been made live and is something all Page admins needs to pay close attention to. There were two updates made to Pages recently which are the the Friend Activity tab and the ability for users to comment on and interact with a page without having to “Like” the page.

With the advent of business pages on Facebook, companies and marketers have put a lot of time and money into gaining more “Likes” on their Facebook Page. Getting people to Like your page on Facebook truly has been important because if no one’s on there with you how can it be effective? Unfortunately, a lot of businesses and marketers have put all of their efforts into gaining more Likes. The effect has been a lack of quality content, community and interaction. If you use the number of “Likes” that your page has as your only metric for measuring Facebook success then you’re doing it wrong. The best metric that you can use to measure your Facebook success is the quantity and quality of interaction with the people who already “Like” your page.

What These Changes Mean for Your Business

Is the “Like” button going away? No, not technically at least. With the ability for people to comment on and interact with your brand without being forced to “Like” your page you now have a few responsibilities that are not new but that will now be forced on you in order for your business to succeed on Facebook.

Use Your Page to Create Quality Content

This is something that I have been pushing for a long time. The simple truth is that if you don’t use your Facebook page (or any other social media outlet for that matter) it will be of no benefit to you. If you use your page to do nothing but sell something in every post then you won’t succeed. Content is king and it always has been. But now that Facebook news feeds only show the most popular posts at the top you really have to develop good content that creates interaction for your posts to even be seen.

The plus side to all of this is that once you start engaging the people who already “Like” your page their friends will notice when they interact with your posts. Now that users don’t have to “Like” and promote your page just to comment on your posts you have an opportunity to create even more interaction than what you can project by looking at the number of “Likes” that you have. Now you don’t have to force people to “Like” your page to do what really matters on Facebook – which is to create community and interaction.

To say that getting people to like your page is not beneficial would be a lie. You should continue your efforts for getting more likes on your page by promoting your page in your print media, running Facebook promotions and offering something of value to the users that like your page. Just be sure that you continue creating quality content that keeps your community engaged and participating.