Microsoft Press has made available a free eBook, written by Ed Bott, titled Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT Professionals Technical Overview.
That certainly is a mouthful – but this 130 page eBook is jammed pack with information.
Here is the Table of Contents:
IntroductionSeveral new Windows updates were recently released. The word from a trusted security MVP is to be careful, especially with KB2862330 which has caused some BSOD’s on some systems (Read more on this issue).
Once again, I always encourage people to make sure that they create a system restore point before installing updates, or better yet, do regular full backups of your computer.
If you do encounter a BSOD with any Microsoft update, call Microsoft:
“We can offer anyone who has this issue and is willing to go through troubleshooting a free-of-charge support incident and Support will work with you 1-1 to get your computer(s) back into a working state. The teams who released this update do know that there may be a problem and are doing additional testing to identify the root cause of the issue that folks are experiencing,” (Ben Herila, Microsoft product manager).
The much-anticipated upgrade to Windows 8 …
Windows 8.1
is now available today (October 17, 2013).
Upgrading to Windows 8.1 is free and easy. Just start up Windows 8, click on the Windows Store tile, and click to start updating!
After Windows 8.1 has been installed, and you restart your computer. you will be have a chance to set additional Express Settings. You can choose to take the default settings, or customize them on your own.
After logging in, you will have an option to generate a security code (6 digit pin code) for you to use in case of suspicious activity with your account.
Enjoy!
You installed a trial version of Microsoft Office 2010, and the trial version has now expired. Now, when you try to double click on a Word (.doc, .docx) or Excel (.xls, .xlsx) file, you get a big screen saying you don’t have Office 2010’s Word/Excel installed.
What happened is that when the trial version expired, it flipped you to running the Starter version of Microsoft Word and Excel. All that needs to be done is to update the file association for those specific file types.
Here’s what you need to do:
* If you see Microsoft Application Virtualization DDE Launcher listed instead, use that instead.
The past few weeks have been filled with reports of workstations and servers being hacked with the Cryptolocker / Ransomware malware. It is being called one of the worst malware attacks ever seen. And these attacks are occurring even when anti-virus and anti-spam filters are in place.
http://blog.emsisoft.com/2013/09/10/cryptolocker-a-new-ransomware-variant/
Please do not treat this lightly!
The result of this attack is that files on your computer will be encrypted with a high-level 128-bit encryption key. And it will quickly spread to any mapped drives or USB drives that are attached. And even worse — there is no known tool to unencrypt these files.
This malware often comes in through rogue emails that appear to be from FedEx, UPS, Amazon or other similar purchasing sites. It may be a link in the email, or an attachment. But clicking on the link or the attachment is all that it takes.
You will know if you have been infected with the Cryptolocker malware, because you will see a large message on your screen telling you to pay a ransom to get your data files back.
Do not attempt to run any anti-virus or anti-malware utilities. If you see the ransom message, turn off your computer immediately. Power it off and disconnect your network cable.
The best advice anyone will give you is to make sure you have up-to-date backup of your servers, workstations and your data. Because if you get caught by this malware, you will need to restore your data from backup. It primarily seeks out office files (Word, Excel, etc.), but will also look for database files (Access, FoxPro, etc.)
Cryptolocker can be removed using well know malware removal tools, such as MalwareBytes. But these tools CANNOT unencrypt your infected files.
The Cryptolocker malware will display a large warning message that your computer has been compromised, and that you can recover your files if you pay the required ransom (anywhere from $100 to $300). But they say that you only have a limited amount of time to pay this ransom, generally 72 hours.
Even though there are some people who have reported paying the ransom and getting their files unencrypted, I cannot condone such actions. Not only is there is no assurance that the cleanup will take place if you pay the money, it still remains that your system has been compromised.
I strongly advise to reformat infected systems and restore Windows, either from backup or as a clean install.
Admit it.
More than once you’ve misplaced your phone, and it was right under your nose the whole time. With my Windows Phone 8 I can now use the WindowsPhone web site to locate my phone. It displays a map of it’s current location. And it gives me the ability to send out a really annoying beep to help me locate it if it’s close by, or lock or erase it if it has been stolen.
Microsoft Press recently released another free ebook, this one titled: Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview Release.
It is available in three formats (PDF, EPUB, and MOBI).
Click here to go to the Microsoft Press blog site to download your copy.
Enjoy!!!
I finally made the jump from Outlook 2010 to Outlook 2013 last week on my primary work desk computer. There are many things that I really like about Outlook 2013, which I will put in a separate blog post.
But almost immediately on using it, Outlook 2013 appeared to be “sluggish” (is that a technical term?) compared to Outlook 2010. No hard facts, just end user observation. Switching from mail to contacts to calendars, for example. Also emails with graphics appear to take more time to open than before.
It turns out that I am not the only one with these observations. You can do your favorite web search to find similar remarks.
But, the purpose of this post is simply to identify how to speed up the interaction between Outlook 2013 and the end user, because out of the box, I’m not ready to drop 2013 on my customers who are heavy Outlook users.
Here are the three changes that I have implemented to date to help speed up performance:
You may find that a reboot may be necessary as well.
Steve Ballmer, in an internal letter to Microsoft employees, announced his plans to retire as CEO of Microsoft within the next 12 months. This letter was posted to the Microsoft News Center today (August 23, 2013).
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2013/aug13/08-23StatementPR.aspx
Steve has been the target of a lot of kudos and bashing over the years. I don’t intend to bash him.
My only experience with Steve is when he would come and speak to the worldwide MVP Summit. He appears to be very much at home with an audience of 3,000 techies drilling him with questions. He would stand up on stage, take questions from the audience, give his answers (all without any notes or teleprompters), and quite often, jot down notes on comments he received.
He truly was larger than life on that stage. He would move all around, rarely sitting. You could feel his passion for Microsoft.
Here is a photo I took at the 2009 MVP Summit when one of the MVP’s gave him a “Windows Home Server (WHS)” sticker:
It’s a dawning of a new era for Microsoft. I wish Steve well.
Microsoft released several security updates for Windows last week, including KB 2859537. Well, it turns out that for some people, this specific update may cause programs to not start, or worse, a BSOD (blue screen of death).
So far this only affects a small handful of people – including some gaming programs that modify the Windows kernel, some computers with existing root kits, and even users running Avast A/V. By the way, I understand Avast has already pushed out an update fix for their software.
Solution?
The problem is that we get suckered into complacency: updates come, updates are applied, we keep working. And suddenly we forget little things like creating a restore point, or making a backup before proceeding, or doing a check for the existence of root kits.
To check your computer for existing root kits and remove them, download and run Kaspersky Lab’s free TDSSKiller.