bruceb news

If you use Microsoft Security Essentials for antivirus protection, keep an eye on the icon in the lower right. The exclamation point means it’s ready to install the upgrade to version 2, released a few weeks ago as a manual upgrade and now being rolled out to everyone using the program. Double-click on the icon and click on the “Upgrade Now” button for a painless process that should take only take 3-4 minutes.

You may be asked to restart the computer when the upgrade has been installed. (I’m not sure when that’s required, but I’ve only had to restart on about half the computers I’ve worked on.)

If you don’t see the exclamation point, no worries – either it hasn’t been rolled out to you yet, or it’s already been installed. […] continued

Previously:
Bruceb Consulting Offers New Patch Management Service

Yesterday I announced that my monitoring software will also install patches and updates for my clients. Let me give you a few more details about that service.

This works just as well for home computers and laptops. Monitoring a single home computer is easy and effective and just as important as protecting an office computer. I can bill you once for a year of service (separately from the office account, if you like), and have you up and running in five minutes. Drop me a line or give me a call to get started! […] continued

I am excited to announce a new service for all my clients – patching and updating your workstations.

Bruceb Consulting Monitoring will review and install updates to Windows, Office, Firefox, Java, Flash, Adobe Reader, and other important programs and utilities – automatically and silently.

I will review the updates that are necessary for you to be safe online, and I’ll install them on your computers.

There’s a monthly charge for my monitoring service. It’s a small price to pay for two important reasons:

• SECURITY You’ll be at less risk from malware delivered by poisoned web sites, because browser add-ins like Java and Flash will be up to date on your computer.

[…] continued

Microsoft has released version 2 of Microsoft Security Essentials, with some nice improvements and new features. It is visually almost unchanged; MSE continues to be almost invisible while it operates, providing all the protection that you need with a minimum of fuss. It continues to be my preferred solution for individuals and very small businesses – the only security program that you need to run on your computer if you also use common sense and follow the rules of safe computing.

The version 2 update can be downloaded and installed manually from the MSE web site, but you do not have to do anything. […] continued

Your computer will restart on Tuesday night, after getting a particularly large collection of updates for Windows and Office. Close any open programs or files but leave your computers turned on when you leave the office on Tuesday.

It’s Patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of the month, and it’s one of the largest groups of patches that Microsoft has ever delivered. (An equally large collection was installed in October, followed by a relative handful of patches in November.)

You are all well-behaved, safe computing citizens and you install these routinely, right? If you’ve turned off Automatic Updates or you see the update icon by the clock on Wednesday, pay attention. […] continued

Previously:
The Future Of Small Office Technology
History Lesson, Part 1: Small Business Server

Some of Microsoft’s best technology has been overlooked for three years, hobbled by a poorly chosen name and a market that wasn’t ready for it. Microsoft is about to take that technology and put it front and center. I think it should be smashingly successful in its new incarnation.

Windows Home Server started life as a heavily customized version of Microsoft’s long-standing platform, Windows Server 2003. WHS then added some unique features that set it apart – the features that make the new products so exciting that will be arriving from Microsoft next spring. […] continued

Your computer will restart tonight. Close your programs, save your open files, leave the computer running. Your computer will restart in the middle of the night. (If it doesn’t seem to have restarted, look for the update icon by the clock and see if it’s waiting for permission to install the updates or to restart.)

It’s a particularly big crop of updates this month, by some measures the most vulnerabilities ever fixed in a single Patch Tuesday release. Here’s an article summarizing the updates, and here’s the official Microsoft bulletin.

The updates affect virtually everyone – all flavors of Windows and Office, servers and workstations. […] continued

Small businesses bought a lot of computers in 2004 and 2005. Windows XP had been on the market for three years and early compatibility problems had been resolved. Small businesses cleaned out the aging Windows 98 80386 computers to take advantage of the new OS and new programs.

This is the year to repeat the process. Windows 7 is a mature version of Windows Vista – for all intents and purposes, the current version of Windows has been on the market for three years and early compatibility problems have been resolved. Businesses should be clearing out the old Windows XP computers to take advantage of the new OS and new programs. […] continued

Microsoft released a patch yesterday that should be installed promptly on all Windows computers. Most of you will find that it was installed automatically on Monday night. If your computer restarted last night, you’re almost certainly fine – but be alert in case the Windows update icon is trying to get your attention from the lower right corner of your screen! If you want to make sure it was installed, look in the update history on your computer for KB2286198, the reference number for Microsoft’s security bulletin.

The patch fixes a particularly nasty vulnerability, yet another way that the bad guys could take control of your computer and force it to do evil deeds just by luring you to a poisoned web page or convincing you to click on the wrong thing. […] continued

Leave your computer on overnight and prepare for it to restart. It’s Patch Tuesday and Microsoft will install a large crop of updates on all versions of Windows tonight.

Tomorrow we should see the icon in the lower right corner alerting us to an important patch for Adobe Flash. Adobe has another important update for Acrobat and Adobe Reader scheduled for June 29.

After I look at the feedback and do some testing, I’ll be installing updates on client servers.

Install legitimate updates promptly – and be careful out there!