bruceb news

These are the rules for being safe using a Windows computer in 2012. Memorize them, forward them to your friends, post them on Facebook, alert the troops, sound the alarm, and walk from door to door passing them out to your neighbors!

If a web site brings something up on your screen that might be malware, turn your computer off with the power button. Get your hands off the mouse and do not click on “OK,” “Cancel,” or the X in the upper right corner! Anything that you click might lower the defenses on the computer and install malware.

Antivirus software & UAC will not always protect you against malware if you click OK at the wrong time. […] continued

Microsoft released a particularly large crop of patches and updates on Tuesday. Your computer probably restarted on Tuesday or Wednesday night.

If you’re a subscriber to the Bruceb Remote Management service, your computer is also installing additional Microsoft updates that were released at the same time as the critical updates sent through Microsoft’s Automatic Updates system.

Java version 6 update 30 will be arriving on all your computers soon, too. If you install it manually, please make sure to avoid the noxious Ask Toolbar being pushed along with it!

If your computer is even a little wobbly on Thursday or Friday, restart it. […] continued

Previously:
Windows 7 Search
More About Windows 7 Search
Windows 7 Searches – Small Business
Windows 7 Searches – Libraries
Windows 7 Searches – Search Techniques

SUMMARY: Once you have some experience with Windows 7 searches, Mark Minasi has some tips for power users here.

Old Windows XP computers are falling over left and right, meaning every day people are being exposed to Windows 7 for the first time. One of its most important features for small businesses and law firms is the pervasive inclusion of indexed searches throughout the system. You can search for everything – the programs are indexed, your files are indexed (file names and all the words inside every file), your email is indexed, the metadata in music files about artist and album is indexed, the tags in your photos with the names of your children are indexed – every word is living in an index that’s created and maintained in a quiet, efficient way. […] continued

I’m about two weeks into one of the more amazing experiences I’ve ever had with a computer. I don’t say that lightly; over the years I’ve had a lot of amazing experiences with computers and this really stands out.

On the other hand, there are a thousand reasons why you might not have the same experience. Before we’re done I’ll hedge this story with cautions and qualifications and defensive Ifs and Buts.

The story is this:

• About two weeks ago I installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5 Home Edition on my office computer.
• I speak into a microphone. The computer writes down what I say.

[…] continued

Apple’s brilliant success since Steve Jobs returned in 1997 has made it the largest company in the world by almost any measure, with a market capitalization that exceeds Microsoft and Intel combined. iPhones define the smartphone market, even if they do not completely dominate it now that Android has taken the lead in market share. iPads, however, so completely dominate the tablet market that Amazon opted not to directly compete but instead to seek a different niche that will leave Apple as the undisputed king of the 10′” tablets – for now, at least.

Apple’s lineup of Mac computers and its releases of OS X upgrades are watched by bloggers and the media almost as lovingly as its mobile devices. […] continued

Microsoft will deliver five run-of-the-mill security updates for Windows and Office tonight, in the regular monthly Patch Tuesday release. There’s more information about this month’s updates in Microsoft’s security bulletin here.

Close programs and save any work in progress at the end of the day. Your computer will probably restart tonight.

Also on Tuesday, Adobe is releasing updates for all recent versions of Adobe Acrobat and Reader, for Windows and Mac. Reportedly the updates address a number of issues but we won’t know until Wednesday whether they fix the bugs introduced in the Acrobat 9.4.5 update.

The primary issue addressed by the Acrobat update stems from a hacked Dutch certificate authority. […] continued

Previously:
Say Goodbye To Six Year Old Computers

Windows XP computers are falling over left and right. Many of them are simply insufferably slow for all the reasons I wrote about last fall. Windows XP is a much heavier, slower OS than when it was first released, and six year old computers simply don’t have the processing power to run Windows XP at acceptable speed after years of security updates and patches.

Another trend has been quite noticeable. The wave of malware delivered from poisoned web sites continues unabated, and almost every computer I’ve seen taken down by malware in the last year has been running Windows XP. […] continued

Previously:
Battle Of The Browser Updates
Comparing The New Internet Browsers
Syncing Bookmarks And Favorites With Firefox 4 And Chrome 10
Syncing Bookmarks And Favorites With Internet Explorer 9

Windows 7 and Vista users are also likely to be seeing prompts to install Internet Explorer 9. Like Windows 7 Service Pack 1, IE9 will not be installed automatically by Windows or by my monitoring service.

Although theoretically Internet Explorer 9 is optional, you should install it when you’re ready. It’s safer and faster than previous versions of Internet Explorer, and it supports new technology that will slowly come to be used on the web sites you visit. […] continued

These are the rules for being safe using a Windows computer in 2011. Memorize them, tape them to your refrigerator, pass them on to your friends!

Install updates from Microsoft promptly. Look in the lower right corner for the gold shield (WinXP) or update icon (Win7/Vista).

Install updates to Acrobat, Adobe Reader, Flash, Java, and Quicktime promptly. Each will alert you from the lower right corner.

• The best way to keep up with updates: sign up for the Bruceb Consulting monitoring service.

Install antivirus software and keep it up to date.

Know the name of your antivirus software. […] continued

A large collection of patches and updates will be delivered tonight, Patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of the month. Last month was a paltry bunch of updates, not really worth mentioning, but this month brings 17 security bulletins fixing 64 different vulnerabilities, the most ever fixed in one month. Here is Microsoft’s official notification about the bulletins, and here’s an article with some more details about the individual fixes.

When you walk away from your computer at the end of the day on Tuesday, close all open programs and leave your computer turned on. You should be greeted by a login screen on Wednesday morning after the system has restarted. […] continued