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.

Windows 7 promises to be much faster and efficient than its predecessor, consuming less memory and using less time to connect USB devices and reconnect to wireless networks. Search capabilities are much improved, utilizing web search like methods to locate files quickly and easily. Files of similar type in numerous places can be organized into categories and libraries without having to physically move them into a single folder. There are also numerous navigation improvements that aim to make getting things done easier and take the confusion out of daunting tasks such as setting up a network and sharing resources between computers.

For more information about the soon to be released Windows 7, visit Microsoft’s official site at www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/. If you are interested in upgrading your Windows Vista operating system to Windows 7, you can download and run the Windows 7 upgrade advisor, which will scan your system, programs, and connected devices for compatibility, letting you know if your computer is ready for Windows 7 at go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=150737

-Ted Eiler
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com

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.”

These are some pretty scary figures, but just as scary are the statistics on data backup practices. A national survey conducted by Bruskin Research for Iomega Corporation found that, “41 percent of computer users do not personally back up their data. More than two-thirds (69 percent) of home computer users and nearly half (46 percent) of work computer users personally back up their data only once a month or less often, or they never back up their data.”

There are many different causes of data loss, some more prevalent than others. Over the course of many years of data gathering and statistical analysis while practicing as a data recovery firm, engineers at Kroll Ontrack Incorporated have identified the leading causes of data loss. The top culprits found are hardware or system problem/failure at 56%, human error at 26%, software corruption or program problem at 9%, computer viruses at 4%, and natural disasters 2%.

If you are currently backing up your critical data to an external medium of some sort on a regular basis, great; however, if you are backing up your data infrequently or not at all, then hopefully the aforementioned statistics will make a compelling case to proactively implement an effective back up plan. For starters, you want to make sure you know what and where all your critical data files are, and then back them up to a separate medium such as another hard drive, flash drive, optical disk, or a remote online back up server. The recommended frequency of back ups varies from user to user depending on how often new critical data is added to the computer. In general, I recommend a weekly full back up at a minimum, preferably daily if critical files are being added or updated on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, even among those who do perform data back ups, many periodically forget to do them as planned. The antidote to forgetfulness is to utilize software that will run your scheduled back ups for you automatically. There are many software back up solutions available allowing a user to specify what files and folders they would like to back up, and then perform the back up task at specified time intervals. It’s a good idea to back up to a permanently connected device such as an external hard drive when using this method so that the storage medium will always be available when the scheduled time arrives.

While regularly backing up to an external device in your home or office is a huge positive step towards safeguarding your data, this method isn’t going to help you in the event of a natural disaster such as a fire or flood. To protect yourself from such unfortunate events, I recommend using an online remote back up solution. With an internet connection and a subscription to one of many available online back up services, you can have your data automatically and regularly backed up to a safe, off-site location.

If you are unsure how to devise and implement a data back up plan for your computer or where to even begin, we can help. Don’t become another data loss statistic, make the decision to back up and safeguard your data today!

-Ted Eiler
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com

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.

In a knowledge base article detailing the updates, Microsoft states that the performance of Outlook 2007 SP2 is improved in four major areas, namely general responsiveness, start-up time, shutdown and exit predictability, and folder/view switching. Additional improvements are made to the reliability of updating and syncing calendar data. On a Microsoft Press Pass news release, group program manager Jane Liles discussed the enhancements of the newly relased service pack. When asked why should someone download this service pack for Office 2007, Jane stated, “This release builds on customer feedback and offers enhanced stability for Outlook, calendaring reliability, and many more improvements to applications that run on both PCs and servers…”

For more information about this service pack update as well as how to obtain it, please visit Microsoft support here.

-Ted Eiler
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com

-Ted Eiler
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com

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, CCleaner also boasts a very safe and effective registry cleaner, which can speed up computers that tend to collect many invalid and obsolete registry entries over time and use. Best of all this first class system cleanup utility is absolutely free!

I routinely run CCleaner on my customers computers during on-site and housecall computer service and repair visits and I am amazed at how much hard drive space it frees up, especially in cases where the customer has done few or no system clean-ups previously. Running CCleaner on my clients machine also serves as a great primer to executing a Virus and Spyware scan and removal, as the anti-malware scanners will not have to examine all of those previously intact temporary files, thus scanning the entire computer system much more quickly and efficiently.

So do not delay, download CCleaner and start using it today!

-Ted Eiler
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com

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

-Ted Eiler
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com

-Ted Eiler
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com

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. “In some cases, the original detection logic may not have offered the updates or the updates may not have been installed successfully on systems running Windows Vista,” Griesi added. The updates that failed to be deployed included ones for Excel 2007 and Office 2007 in general, all which were rated “important”, the second-highest ranking in Microsoft’s four-level threat system. More information about this issue can be found on the Microsoft support site here and here.

Ted E’s Computer Services
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com

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. The nature of wireless networking is radio broadcast oriented, whereby network communications are propagated through space with no boundaries and receivable by anybody in range with a wireless network adapter. This means that if you have an unsecured wireless network in your home or office, anyone within range can spy on your on-line activities. They can also connect to your wireless network and access your Internet gateway, leeching away your precious bandwidth that you are paying hard earned dollars to your Internet service provider for. Even more threatening, if the offending person is conducting illegal activities through your Internet connection, these activities can be traced back to You! If you are sharing folders and files on your network, anyone who gains network access can view and download their contents as well. Sensitive personal information you may have stored on your computer could be retrieved and you could end up being a victim of fraud or identity theft. A big contributing factor to the prevalence of unsecured wireless networks is that most wireless router or access point manufacturers ship their devices with no security as the default setting. The average customer sets their wireless device up, connects their wireless enabled computers, and upon finding that everything is “working”, decides not to configure any further. The lack of security on the device makes for an easy installation, however at the cost of serious risk of breach. An analogy would be to leave your car in a parking lot unlocked with the keys in the ignition, all for the sake of conveniently entering and starting it up. No one in their right mind would leave their car like this in public, so neither should they leave their wireless network in such a state. If you have a wireless network and are unsure about whether or not it is secure, or don’t know how to properly secure it, please give us a call today and schedule an on-site network security assessment. We will secure your wireless network to the highest possible standards available for your equipment, and give you peace of mind about enjoying the benefits of wireless networking!

-Ted Eiler
www.tecs-onsite.com
800.993.TECS (8327)
tedeiler@tecs-onsite.com