Microsoft released today (May 13, 2014) a security update for the .Net Framework (KB2960358).
However, after applying this update, client backups on SBS 2011 Essentials, WHS 2011, Server Storage Essentials 2008, and 2012 Essentials will fail.
Microsoft has already released updates to fix this problem:
I was doing a recent migration of email from Windows Live Mail (WLM) to Outlook 2013. The built in transfer within WLM worked perfectly in moving folders over to Outlook with one exception. This customer has two mail accounts created in Outlook, and the folders being transferred over from WLM needed to go into the second (non-default) email account.
No problem, I thought. I’ll transfer them over to Outlook, and then drag and drop the folders from the default mail account to the second mail account.
But Outlook does not support selecting and moving multiple folders, and this customer had several dozen mail folders to be moved. I wanted to see if there was a workaround or a fix for moving multiple folders within Outlook, and I found Pandali Folder Master for Outlook utility.
I ran this on the customer’s Windows 8.1 laptop, and quickly moved the folders to the proper account.
In summary, I was very surprised that the WLM to Outlook transfer worked without a hitch, and that this utility program took care of getting multiple folbers moved to the right email account.
Microsoft has released today (May 1, 2014) a security update (MS14-021 / 2965111) that addresses the recent Internet Explorer (IE) issue that was first discussed in Security Advisory 2963983. More importantly, Microsoft has decided to make this patch available for Windows XP users, although XP is officially no longer a supported operating system.
If your computers are set to receive automatic Windows updates from Microsoft, then this patch will be automatically installed.
Read more here:
Post revised 4/30/2014
Over this past weekend (April 27, 2014), there have been numerous reports of another zero-day security flaw with Internet Explorer. Some sites have gone so far as to say :”stop using Internet Explorer” completely until this flaw is fixed.
But given that the vulnerability exists in a now deprecated VML vector graphics format, there is an easy workaround solution that is recommended by Microsoft and others — simply unregister the VGX.DLL system file that is associated with this deprecated format.
These instructions should work for XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 computers. Before starting, you will need to know if you are running a 32-bot or a 64-bit version of Windows.
For more information:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/2963983.aspx
Customer is running Exchange 2010 SP3 on a Windows 2012 Server. Email is running fine. But whenever I open up Queue Viewer and try to drill down to a message detail, I get the following popup error message:
Cannot process argument transformation on parameter ‘BookmarkObject’. Cannot convert the “Microsoft.Exchange.Data.QueueViewer.PropertyBagBasedMessageInfo” value of type “Deserialized.Microsoft.Exchange.Data.QueueViewer.PrpopertyBagBasedMessageInfo” to type “Microsoft.Exchange.Data.QueueViewer.ExtensibleMessageInfo”.
It appears that others have been encountering this same error for over a year (see this thread from Microsoft forum). The very last post in this thread offers a “resolution” to the issue, if you wish to call it a resolution.
In KB2931150, Microsoft says that this error is a known bug, and instead of using the Queue Viewer utility from EMC, you should use the Exchange power shell “Get-Queue” command.
So let’s open up the EMC Power Shell and try a couple of commands!
To get a list of queued messages, type get-queue and press enter.
To get details on a particular message, first take note of a specific message identity you wish to view. Then type get-queue –identity exchangeserver\messageid | fl and press enter
For a full list of options with the Get-Queue command, type get-help get-queue and press enter
Open up the EMC Shell, and type “get-queue” and press Enter. A list of queued messages will display
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Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is Microsoft’s free anti-virus program for personal use, and for businesses with 10 or less computers. Microsoft has indicated that is you already have MSE installed on Windows XP, then it will be supported and updated for another year, given that XP is no longer a supported platform.
To my surprise, I was at a client’s office on Wed April 16th and powered up two XP workstations. Both of them hung for the longest time right after logging in. Once they did come up, I was presented with various error messages about MSE. With no time to investigate, I went ahead and uninstalled MSE and then installed a different anti-virus program.
Today, I heard that the a bad definition file might have been the cause.
Microsoft will be hosting a Windows 8.1 IT Camp on Friday May 9, 2014 from 9am-4pm. The day long session is titled “Empowering People-Centric IT with Windows 8.1 for Professionals”. The audience for this hands-on event is geared for IT Decision Makers and IT Managers.
This event takes place at the Microsoft Office in Tampa Florida. The address is: 5426 Bay Center Dr, Suite 700, Tampa FL 33609
Click here to register
In case you have missed it, Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system will not receive any new security updates beginning Tuesday April 8th.
Yes, this is a true statement. So, how does this impact you?
WINDOWS XP
Keep in mind that Windows XP will continue to run after Tuesday. It just means that Microsoft will not be pushing out any new security updates for the product after this date. Nor will Microsoft provide technical assistance. This could be an issue for people using Windows XP in regulated industries, such as legal, financial or medical. Microsoft, of course, is recommending that you to move to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.
MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS
Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is Microsoft’s free anti-virus software. If your XP computer has MSE installed, you may already have seen popup windows warning you support for the XP operating system is ending. These warnings may lead you to believe that MSE will stop working on April 8th and that your computer will not be protected. But that is a false assumption.
If you already have MSE installed, Microsoft will continue to upgrade anti-virus definitions for that product for another year! However, after Tuesday, if you have Windows XP, and you try to install MSE, you will be blocked from doing so.
THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE
Since Windows XP will no longer be a “supported” operating system after Tuesday, it is possible that various third party software companies may also choose sometime in the future to stop supporting or selling their product on Windows XP. If you have a specific concern about a particular product, you should contact the vendor of your software.
SHOULD I UPGRADE?
Eventually, yes.
Windows XP was released 14 years ago. A lot has changed in that time. Look at it this way: perhaps you have a 14 year old TV or car or washing machine. Not only does it still work, but you’ve grown to accept and understand it’s little quirks. It’s become familiar to you, and you would like to keep it for as long as you can.
The thought of getting a new TV or Washer or car may be frightening to you because all these new items have all sorts of fancy new features and gadgets that you’re not sure of. Moving from Windows XP to Windows 7/8 will be a similar challenge.
Yes, it is possible to install Windows 7/8 onto your current Windows XP computer, and not lose any data. However, if your XP computer is more than 3-4 years old, I would NOT recommend doing so. It’s like putting new wine into an old wine skin. That old wine skin is apt to break sooner than later!
The other issue is to determine whether the various software programs you are using on your XP workstation will run under Windows 7/8. To help you in this process, Microsoft does provide a Windows Upgrade Compatibility tool that will check all your software and hardware, and let you know which will work and which may need to be replaced or upgraded if you move to Windows 7/8.
Read more from Microsoft:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help
If you have questions, please contact me and we can determine the best solution for you.
Yes, this info is a year old, but I’m just getting around to having customers by Windows 8.1 computers 
One of my customers is using a Windows Home Server (WHS) 2011 system to backup his office computers. He just obtained a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro laptop. I install the WHS connector, and attempt to backup the laptop, and it died sitting at 1%. I rebooted both the laptop and the server, with the same result. Both systems are current on patches.
Then I discover that there is a Microsoft hotfix for the WHS server that is required to properly backup computers with UEFI/GPT disk partitions.
There are plenty of web sites posting this information, but none fully address the process, which I will do. What the KB article does NOT tell you is that after installing the hotfix, the workstation will need to apply an update to the Launchpad before the backup will function properly.
Part 1 – from the WHS Server
Part 2 – from the Windows 8.1 computer
I rely on StorageCraft’s ShadowProtect (IT Edition) for creating a full disk image backup of a workstation prior to replacing the hard drive. I’ve used it literally for years.
I was setting up a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro with Win 8.1 for a customer, and wanted to make a disk image of the laptop before proceeding. I use a bootable USB stick with ShadowProtect on it. But I was unable to boot from the USB stick on this new laptop.
The solution was simple, after contacting StorageCraft
In order to boot the ISO on the 8.1 machine you need to change the boot options on the system to Legacy instead of UEFI. Once that is done the ISO should boot with no problems.
