bruceb news

If you have a computer running Windows 7, then you probably have seen a balloon popping up from the lower right corner alerting you that there are Important Updates waiting to be installed. One of them is Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

Things to know:

• Windows 7 Service Pack 1 will only be installed when you take care of it manually.
• It will not be installed automatically by the Windows Update system or by my monitoring service.
• It’s time to install Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 has been out for more than two months. If you think it may have already been installed, you can check by clicking on Control Panel / System And Security / System. […] continued

If you are a LastPass user, you may be required to change your master password. You will be prompted by the program if that’s necessary – for example, you may see the red browser toolbar pictured below. When you log in again, you’ll be led through a short process to pick a new master password.

[Update 05/06 1:30pm: The company has stopped requesting master password changes until its database catches up after two very busy days. If you see the request in the future, you will have the option not to change your master password if you know that it is strong. […] 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

Previously:
Battle Of The Browser Updates

The latest and greatest versions of the three major Internet browsers have been released.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9

Mozilla Firefox 4

Google Chrome 10

They are all streamlined and secure. Each has slightly different features, each has enthusiasts, each has its own world of add-ons that might make one preferable to another for you.

They all display web pages noticeably faster than previous versions. You’ll like that. Install any or all of them. (If you have more than one web browser installed, expect them to fight over which is to be the default.) If you can’t figure out why you’d care, don’t install any of them. […] continued

It’s probably a coincidence that major updates are being released for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome within a few days of each other.

It’s also not very meaningful for most people. Although each upgrade has something that the developers claim is new and shiny – increased security, speed, design changes – I haven’t seen anything in any of them that gets me excited. It’s all a bit of a yawn.

What’s funny is the development cycle and what it tells you about the culture at each company.

Mozilla has been moving so slowly that it’s embarrassing. Firefox 4 has been in beta for way too long, with lengthy delays and twelve beta releases of Firefox 4 – and it’s still not released! […] continued

I’m finishing a busy month rolling out the software agent that monitors workstations and installs updates to Java, Flash, Adobe Acrobat & Reader, and more. On Friday, clients will get the first weekly reports on the health of their servers and workstations. I’m adding checks to ensure that Microsoft Security Essentials is up to date and sorting out the initial reports about updates that stubbornly refuse to install correctly. It’s been hectic but the result is that several hundred computers are happy and up to date, and that helps me sleep better.

If you’re not signed up for my monitoring service, or if some of your computers aren’t covered, call me! […] continued

Previously:
Fear of Exchange
Moving Mail Online With Microsoft Online Services
Details About Microsoft Online Services

Some background, then some specific instructions about how to deal with the password for Microsoft Online Services. Sections below:

Background

Change your password with the Sign In Program

Check your password or change it online

Outlook displays “Need Password” message

Password resets

Microsoft is devoting its considerable resources to dominating the world of hosted services, starting with hosted Exchange email. Microsoft Online Services delivers reliable hosted Outlook mailboxes to small and medium businesses worldwide, with a major expansion due this summer under the new name Office 365. […] continued

Here’s a simple insight that bears repeating. It will help keep you safe.

Most malware is delivered by poisoned web sites that take advantage of some weakness in your system – usually because the computer is not up to date on recent patches for Windows, Java, Flash, Adobe Reader, or others.

For two years almost all malware has announced itself by pretending to have identified a virus on your system. The bad guys have discovered that people can be fooled more easily by phony security warnings than anything else.

Modern web browsers keep those programs in a sandbox, unable to affect your computer unless you give them permission. […] continued

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