Every year about this time, millions of people spend hours or even days cleaning up their computers. They weed through mail, files and other data, trying to determine what is to be kept and what should be deleted.
I suggest NOT cleaning. Sure, you can ORGANIZE, but why risk losing an important file?
External hard drives are inexpensive and easy to connect, as in plugging in! Then you can use the built-in archive functions in your Microsoft Outlook to move mail to a .pst file that can be saved to the USB drive.
I also advise using MULTIPLE means of archiving, whether it is a DVD disk and a USB drive, or two USB drives, just something that will be stored elsewhere. You could try one of the various cloud computing solutions as well, like DropBox…
With files stored on your system, say in the Documents folder, you can sort them by the date they were last modified and then move them to an external drive. Again, having data in more than one place is always desirable. You can never have too many backups in my humble opinion!
What do YOU do to archive your data, mail or do you? Do you just delete it?
If your business depends on Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security, Advanced or Standard, then you should have received notification that WFBS 7.0 Patch 1 Build B1435 is now available.
The patches that have been released by Trend Micro allow for better integration into Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2011 for one thing, but also fix important issues which have been reported. Even if you are not experiencing the issues, such as slow saves of Microsoft Office documents, you should install the latest patch.
It is available from the Trend Micro download center, or you can call upon your favorite computer & network service and support experts to apply the patch to your server/s.
Should you wish to try Trend Micro WFBS for your business, or require assistance, we are a Trend Micro partner offering sales and support to Greenville and the Upstate of SC. Email info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990.4748 for more information
What Friday isn’t good when you take it off?
Seriously though, in observation of Easter weekend, Homeland Secure IT will not open the office on Friday so everyone can spend time with family. We WILL be available via email and phone. Should the need arise, please do not hesitate to call us on Friday.
Have a very pleasant holiday weekend!
Our friend Brent with ShredDisk is offering free hard drive shredding and computer recycling during the Grow Expo event on May 17th!
Please read his blog post at http://www.shreddisk.com/blog/?p=146
Hard drive destruction remains the only 100% effective way to insure your data is protected when decommissioning a hard disk drive and this is a great opportunity to get rid of one you might have laying around from a computer upgrade or replacement.
If nothing else, be sure to stop by and see how it works!
If you are needing Microsoft products for your school in the Greenville / Upstate SC area, Homeland Secure IT may be able to save you money…
We are able to offer academic priced software through Microsoft Academic FPP, Open Agreement and School Subscription. The discounts can be substantial when compared to retail pricing!
To find out if your organization is qualified, or for Microsoft sales & support, please contact us at info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990.4748×201.
A recurring issue we find is that people are having difficulty in using their Microsoft Office 2010 product to its fullest.
A common complain is that the software needs to download components over and over and that gets annoying. This is due to the fact that you purchased Office 2010 online, or installed it as a trial, then purchased.
To fix this, insure you have your MS Office Product Key, then uninstall Microsoft Office 2010 from your system. (Control Panel and remove programs). Next, return to where you made the purchase of Microsoft Office and sign in with the same ID you used to make that purchase.
Click the “My Account” link at the top of the page and select “Download” for the Office Suite but do opt to “Download Now”, instead, select “Advanced Options”. From there, select the non Click-to-Run product.
That should put the smile back on your face! If you need assistance, or would like to purchase Microsoft Office 2010, please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Watch out for emails from Intuit and other software and service providers that appear to be legitimate and make sense on the surface…
I was told by one of our friends/clients today that they had become infected after receiving an email from “software@quickbooks.com” which read something like this:
Subject: QuickBooks Update: Urgent
<Official Intuit QuickBooks Online logo here>
You will not be able to access your Intuit QuickBooks account without Intuit Security Tool (IST™) after 10th of April, 2011.
You can download Intuit Security Tool here.
After a successful download please run the setup for an automatic installation, then login to Intuit Quickbooks online to check that it is working properly.
—
Of course, they thought it looked official and followed the link through and actually authorized the installation of a malicious software package onto her computer.
Refuse to be a victim and stop clicking on every link that comes in email! If you question the authenticity, simply don’t click it!
If you require help in Greenville or Upstate SC, Homeland Secure IT is a phone call away! We provide computer and network security, anti-virus, virus cleanup & removal and computer repair and service. 864.990.4748 or info@homelandsecureit.com
We’ve been hearing about Epsilon’s security breach for several days now. Some thought it was an April Fool’s joke due to how vague the initial press release release was, but obviously it was no joke at all.
Epsilon has since updated their press release to indicate that this breach affects only 2% of total clients, but what exactly does that mean?
Well, customers of a long and growing list of companies serviced by Epsilon may have had their private information exposed, namely email addresses and names.
This will undoubtedly lead to a slew of emails that APPEAR to be from the companies, addressed to you, explaining you need to update your privacy settings or that your account has been locked due to unauthorized access and that you should login and reset your account.
I personally have received two myself in the last 24hrs from one company on this list from Mashable and also from Best Buy.
The emails contained warnings that my data was at risk, and that I should login immediately and reset my password. One even included a great link to help me out… Which did NOT route to the official site, it instead routed to a domain that didn’t even resemble the official company site.
Yes, your data may have been exposed, and as of now, it appears that only your email address, first and last name, and possibly some other identifying information like a city or state of residence could have been harvested. Certainly no passwords to official sites of companies as Epsilon’s primary purpose is to provide email marketing services, not handle logins to sites.
The biggest threat comes from emails addressed to you that are too attractive for you NOT to click on the links… Phishing or “Spearphishing” attempts will surely increase in the days to come.
Avoid being scammed into following links through, type in the addresses manually, and use some common sense. A bank is not going to ask you for personal information in email for instance.
If you have a question about an email being legitimate I’m sure it is for good reason.
Microsoft Office 2010
Don’t forget about the Microsoft “Up-to-Date” promotion if you are considering upgrading your business to Microsoft Office 2010!
SMB (Small / Medium Business Organizations can receive a savings of 50 percent on the first annual payment on Office Professional Plus 2010 licenses!
To be eligible for this promotion, you must sign a new commercial Open Value Subscription agreement or Open Value Subscription for Government agreement and acquire Office Professional Plus 1010 licenses.
Please insure your Microsoft reseller uses the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 up-to-date (UTD) license SKU when they place your order so you can receive the savings. The reseller must also submit a signed Open Value Subscription Up-to-Date Discount form.
Act now to get your savings!
Compare Microsoft Office Standard and Microsoft Professional Plus 1010 – both available through Volume Licensing
Homeland Secure IT offers Microsoft sales and licensing to Greenville and Upstate SC businesses, organizations and individuals. Call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for additional information.
Don’t forget, TODAY is Internet Cleaning Day – Make sure you are prepared! PSE RT
t’s that time of year again when ISPs (Internet Service Providers) all around the world perform their yearly maintenance, call it “Spring Cleaning” if you will.If you have been living under a rock and missed the stories on the news and the countless emails flying around for the last week or so, then this may come as a total surprise to you.
In the past, Internet Cleaning Day has taken place during a 24hr period, but due to new techniques, ISPs have managed to narrow it down to only 1 hour which they have conveniently scheduled for 12pm to 1pm in each time zone.
While normal analog phone systems are not going to be affected, VoIP systems WILL be… This is often overlooked! You should follow the same procedure if your business is using Voice over IP technology. If you are unsure, it is best to disconnect the cables and place in the same container as your network cables.
