The much anticipated Microsoft Windows Version 7 will officially be available generally on October 22, 2009. With the mixed reviews that current operating system Windows Vista has garnered over the past two and a half years, Microsoft looks to recapture the confidence of PC users with what they believe to be the best version of Windows yet. Read the rest of this entry »
Do you have a backup or disaster recovery plan in place to protect you in the event of data loss? Despite numerous threats to the safety of computer users data files constantly lurking about, very few back their data up on a regular basis, if at all.
A September 2008 study by Webroot Software Incorporated estimated that, “In 2007 alone, approximately 46 million people in the U.S. and UK lost personal files stored on their PCs.” The same study found that, “Two out of five PC users (43 percent) have lost digital files or data at some point in their lives” and, “One in five have lost files in the last two years alone.”
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On April 28, 2009 Microsoft officially released Service Pack 2 for the Office 2007 suite. Numerous updates and fixes are included in this service pack, but perhaps the most notable are the performance enhancements made to Outlook 2007. Described by Microsoft as a “user-focused update”, SP2 for Outlook 2007 contains many performance improvements that provide a smoother running, more responsive user experience. Read the rest of this entry »
A critical security vulnerability has been discovered recently with Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9 and earlier versions, which Adobe states, “would cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.” The vulnerabilities were first reported in February and affects Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 7 and 8 as well. It is highly recommended that users of Adobe Reader 9 and Adobe Acrobat 9 update to Reader 9.1 and Acrobat 9.1. Updates that address this security risk are also available for Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 7 and 8. Please refer to Adobe Security Advisory APSB09-04 for more information as well as download links for the software updates.
-Ted Eiler
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com
I’d like to share with you about a handy system clean-up and optimization utility for your PC called CCleaner. Similar to the Disk Cleanup utility in Windows, CCleaner safely cleans out temporary and unused files that build up and waste space on your hard drive over time, however it covers many more areas on the system making for a much more thorough cleaning.
CCleaner clears out the temporary internet files cache, URL history and cookies for most major web browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, it cleans out the recycle bin and Windows temporary and log files, crash dumps, most recently used file tracks and many more types of files that are either unneeded or compromise your privacy. There is also support for clean-up of temporary files from tons of popular applications, and for users with an extra concern for privacy there is a secure delete feature which renders the deleted files totally unrecoverable.
In addition to it’s exhaustive file clean-up coverage, Read the rest of this entry »
A number of features have been added to tecs-onsite.com this month which are aimed at enhancing customer contact and support. A request service form has been added allowing you to submit a service request online that will immediately be relayed to a technician via email and cell phone text message. Also, we have added remote support to our service offerings, whereby a technician can remotely access your computer over the internet through a secure desktop sharing system and solve many types of problems. Finally, a live help system has been installed and integrated with the web site, giving you the opportunity to chat live with us and ask any questions you may have about your computer system or network. We hope these new offerings will help you to more conveniently and efficiently receive the effective computer help and support you have come to expect from Ted E’s Computer Services!
-Ted Eiler
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com
Do you find it frustrating when you turn on your brand new computer for the first time and discover a multitude of trial programs and bonus software popping up on the screen demanding your immediate attention? The vast majority of additional software that comes on most mass make computer systems is never even used by the average user. For most people, this ‘bloatware’ is simply consuming hard drive space and often system RAM and CPU resources as well, since many of these programs are configured to load into memory automatically when the operating system starts up. Read the rest of this entry »
Yahoo Inc. released an updated version of it Messenger instant messaging client today, in response to a discovered pair of security vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to gain remote control of a user’s pc running the software. The bugs were found in the Messengers webcam ActiveX controls, which become installed and exploitable when the user views or streams webcam video content through Messenger. An attacker can then take advantage of the flawed ActiveX controls to compromise the user’s system when they unknowingly execute malicious code on the attackers website. Read the rest of this entry »
Users of Office 2007 running Windows Vista did not receive several of this months update patches, Microsoft Corp. said last week when it acknowledged that its security update services had failed to deploy the fixes. “We have updated the detection logic for the May 8th security and non-security updates for Office 2007,” said Mark Griesi, a program manager with the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), in an entry on the team’s blog. Read the rest of this entry »
A recent national study estimated that 60 to 70 percent of all wireless networks are unsecured. CNN recently reported that out of a survey of over 3000 detected wireless networks in US metropolitan areas, over 67 percent had no encryption enabled. Due to the convenience of mobility and no need to route network cabling between connected devices, more and more homes and businesses are turning to wireless networking. However, many may be unaware of the multitude of security risks that arise when making the choice to implement a wireless network. Read the rest of this entry »
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