Microsoft's recent announcement that it will distribute free antivirus software was unexpected but in some ways it's just an expansion of efforts by Microsoft that have been ongoing for years. In 2006 Microsoft began including the "Malicious Software Removal Tool" in the monthly automatic updates for every Windows computer. Every month, your computer is checked for dozens of specific bits of malware and cleaned if necessary.

In the last couple of months, Microsoft has targeted the fake security programs that are prevalent now - here's my writeup about one variation that presents realistic, professional-looking warnings of viruses and insistently tries to convince you to surrender a credit card number for $49.95 of useless software.

The removal tool runs automatically and silently. It does not need to be run manually, although it's always possible to visit the Microsoft web site for the tool and download it as part of responding to any possible virus or malware attack. It's not a substitute for an antivirus program - it doesn't run continuously watching for threats and it is not directed at all of the malware out there, just a specific set of programs that represent the worst of the current malicious software.

Anonymous data is sent  back to Microsoft so it can track the effectiveness of the tool. In November, the removal tool cleaned bad stuff from almost a million computers in nine days, and in December, it removed the prevalent "Antivirus 2009" malware from 400,000 computers.

As always, the bad guys are getting better at imitating legitimate programs. Read carefully, be skeptical, and be careful out there!

Labels: Microsoft, security, software

posted by bruceb at 1/02/2009 12:05:00 AM | permalink

This morning Microsoft released a patch for Internet Explorer to prevent an exploit that became publicly known in the last couple of days. The fear is that the bad guys will quickly come up with ways to demagnetize your credit cards and kill your pets if you don't install the patch. Your computers will be updated automatically tonight and might restart. The patch has a severity rating of "Critical."

You should install the patch. But the usual articles are appearing about how this demonstrates that Internet Explorer is unsafe and anyone using it deserves scorn or pity, depending on how generous the author is.

The bad guys move very quickly and this exploit will presumably start being used more widely but at the moment its only public appearance has been on a few hundred Taiwanese or Chinese web sites set up to steal online gaming passwords. It's not a good time to visit porn, hacking, cracking, serials and key-gen websites. I dunno, maybe I just know nice people, but I don't know many people who will have a problem with that. If you follow the rules at the bottom of this post, none of these exploits will ever mean much to you!

It's natural to be curious about using another program when there is so much coverage of IE's patches.

A lot of people talk about Firefox, which achieved quite a distinction this week when it was named the Most Vulnerable Software Program running on Windows. "In 2008, Mozilla patched 10 vulnerabilities that could be used by remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via buffer overflow, malformed URI links, documents, JavaScript and third party tools." Four of those vulnerabilities have a severity rating of "Critical," three have a rating of "Severe," and three have a rating of "Panic."

Perhaps you'll consider Opera, an open-source browser with a good reputation, which yesterday released an upgrade that fixed seven security problems that "could lead to remote code execution if an Opera user is tricked into surfing to a maliciously rigged Web page." Two of the bugs are rated "Oh My God," three of them are rated "Apocalyptic," and two of them are rated "Purple."

You'll want to look into Apple's Safari browser, whose last patch in November fixed 11 security problems - four were rated "Meltdown," and the rest were rated "Zesty."

A few of you are so tired of constant updates and security problems that you'll buy Macs for yourself this Xmas. This week Apple released Mac OS X 10.5.6, the sixth update since the Mac OS was released just over a year ago. Apple recently urged all Mac users to install antivirus software, but it's not because Macs are insecure! Don't be thinking that! It's because, um, antivirus programs can be used by the kids for fun and interesting science fair experiments. Yeah, that's it.

Wanna be safe? Use Internet Explorer, keep your computer up to date, and follow these rules.

Antivirus software will not always protect you against malware if you click OK at the wrong time!

Don't click on strange URLs! Follow links with carefree abandon to and from legitimate sites, but don't click on links that arrive in spam e-mail, instant messages, web forums, or IRC chats, or that start from an untrustworthy web site.

Never, never, never open email attachments unless you know with 100% certainty that the attachment is something you expected and want to receive.

The bad guys are liars. They will say anything to get past your defenses, without conscience or remorse.

Please, be careful out there!

Labels: Apple, IE, Microsoft, security

posted by bruceb at 12/17/2008 11:31:00 AM | permalink

Lately I've seen this message turn up out of nowhere on Windows XP computers that do not run Outlook Express.

I don't know why it's turning up now after years of staying quiet but it reminds me that Outlook Express is one of several obsolete Windows components that can be safely removed from most Windows XP computers.

Open Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs and click on the left on Add/Remove Windows Components.

I routinely remove some of the items in the list that comes up. If you think you might be using any of them, please do not uninstall them. I don't want any silly mistakes.

• MSN Explorer  This was Microsoft's attempt to create a customized browser that looks like America Online. It's unclear why anyone would want to look like America Online.
• Outlook Express  This is now obsolete and replaced by Windows Live Mail. Look, let me reiterate - if you're using Outlook Express for your mail, don't uninstall it! This is not the same program as Microsoft Outlook, of course; if you're using Outlook, you can safely uninstall Outlook Express.
• Windows Messenger  This is NOT the same program as Windows Live Messenger, the one that most people use. If you have a useless instant messenger icon down by the clock that's always said "Not connected," it's probably a remnant of this program.

Uninstall them by unchecking the box by each item.

You may see an error message about MSN Explorer. I don't know what it means but in my experience it's harmless if you click OK.

Labels: mail, Microsoft, software, WinXP

posted by bruceb at 12/16/2008 01:52:00 PM | permalink

Microsoft has released Windows Live Sync, a free utility that syncs folders among two or more computers and makes it possible to share synced folders with others. It is the successor to Foldershare - and really not much more than a facelift for Foldershare. It accomplishes an important goal for Microsoft, though, by integrating the service with the Windows Live ID authentication that is driving all the other online services from Microsoft. Here's the blog from the Windows Live Sync team.

If you're not familiar with Foldershare, here's some background and an explanation of the basic principles. Windows Live Sync runs continuously on your computer; you can designate any folder and Windows Live Sync will copy the contents of that folder to any other computer of your choice running the software. The two folders will then always be kept in sync - if something is deleted from the folder at one end, the same file will be deleted at the other end, for example.

The program only copies files when both computers are turned on and running the program online at the same time. That can cause confusion - I know people who shut down their office computer at the end of the day, went home and turned on their home computer, and were disappointed that they didn't have their synced files. I was ready to criticize them for being unclear on the concept but what I found was that this is a hard concept and frequently leaves people confused or frustrated. I don't want to dissuade you from trying it! Just plan to give it some attention until you have that "Aha!" moment.

Windows Live Sync closely overlaps the Live Mesh service, but as far as I know the two services run on completely different underpinnings. I have this vision of the two Microsoft teams fighting it out for dominance and we'll find out at some random time which one is the victor and which program will die. Maybe they'll both live forever. Maybe they'll both be renamed and squished together by spring. Who knows?

There's an interesting detail in one blog today: apparently Windows Live Sync will be quietly included with every copy of a new version of Windows Live Photo Gallery due soon. That might just be to help people make their photos available on every computer in the house, or perhaps to make it easy to share photos with friends and grandparents. But I've also seen speculation that it will be set up to automatically copy your photos to the online photo storage space provided for free by Microsoft (which is now tied in to the Skydrive service). This will take careful work - many people are overwhelmed by all the names floating around and are ready to drop out at the first confusing bit.

FOLDERSHARE USERS: You'll be prompted to install this update automatically. There may be some confusing bits - you'll have to associate it with a Windows Live ID (and create one if you haven't done that yet), and you'll have to start from scratch to set up shared folders with others. Let me know if you have any problems!

Labels: file_sharing, Microsoft, photos, software, web_services

posted by bruceb at 12/12/2008 12:42:00 AM | permalink

Let me leave a few notes behind about some of the glitches during the migration from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008. I don't have many answers but perhaps it will help someone to know that I'm able to commiserate with them. (Loyal clients - this is not aimed at you and it won't help you get your work done. I'll be back to general interest topics next week!)

As background: I was migrating an SBS 2003 server with a very basic configuration - no ISA, no use of Sharepoint, a single NIC and external firewall, and no particular pre-existing issues.

MIGRATION WIZARD

Microsoft provides a detailed guide to the migration procedure. (Have you noticed that Microsoft's documentation has been getting better and better lately? There's much less ambiguity about what to click next - each step is described in precise and accurate detail.) The guide was great.

SBS 2008 begins a migration when a USB stick with an answer file is inserted in the new server before the SBS 2008 installation starts. Several people have reported that the USB stick has to be present when the server is turned on or SBS 2008 is likely to miss it. After installation, the first and most important item on the SBS 2008 is the "migration wizard" that leads through all the steps required to be successful.

I was about two-thirds of the way through the wizard when I took a break and installed the Server 2008 updates that were waiting. When the server restarted, the migration wizard crashed with a mysterious error that proved impossible to fix. I researched it and got nowhere. I removed a couple of the updates that conceivably might have unsettled something and got nowhere.

The wizard never came back to life. Fortunately most of its steps only lead to help files that describe the process for actually accomplishing each task by going into AD or MMC consoles or the like. I think - I think - I was able to finish the migration and cover the remaining steps without the wizard. There is still room for some surprise glitch - I'm going to cross my fingers when I demote the source server.

MAIL MIGRATION

I expected the mailbox migration to be slow but was still surprised. The Exchange 2003 mailbox store was about 25Gb after I pruned and archived as much as I could from the biggest mailboxes. The mailbox move took just about ten hours.

PUBLIC FOLDERS

I had no luck moving the public folders, and didn't really expect to, given the reports I had read. That may have been the result of a pre-existing glitch on the source server - this server, like several other of my SBS 2003 servers, throws up an error message when I try to do anything to the public folders in Exchange Server Manager. I've researched that one, too; I've removed the SSL requirement from EXADMIN in IIS, and a few other things suggested in other places, to no avail. I exported the public folders to a PST and stored them for now, since public folders were not being actively used and may not need to be implemented at all on the new server.

BACKUP

The most mysterious problem involves the backup system. The firm had been using ShadowProtect to back up to an NAS and two rotated external Maxtor hard drives. The backup built into SBS 2008 looks like it will be just fine but it does not directly back up to an NAS. I connected a Maxtor drive, formatted it, and ran the backup wizard. Hmm. Error message at the very end.

Since the message says "Cannot configure backup schedule," I started trying every scheduling option - once a day, twice a day - as well as swapping in the other (identical) hard drive, and couldn't get anywhere. I couldn't find anything in the logs at all. I got the flavor that it might be caused by the server disliking the external hard drives.

I'd like to talk to the person who thought it would be helpful to write: "If this problem persists, contact the person who provides you with technical support." It made me irritable.

ShadowProtect claims that the current version will back up SBS 2008 servers. With any luck I'll be able to install that and never know the answer to this one.

PHONE PASSCODES

This isn't a glitch, just something to warn your users about. By default, Exchange 2007 enforces a new passcode requirement on Windows Mobile phones (and iPhones) syncing with the server. Users are forced to set up a four-digit password that will be tapped in every time the phone is used. I'm sympathetic to all the reasons that this is an important security measure, but I'm also sympathetic to the desire to keep my job and not be fired by the attorneys who began flipping out immediately. It's possible to turn the requirement off in Exchange Management Console / Organization Configuration / Client Access / Windows SBS Mobile Mailbox Policy, which then allows it to be turned off on the phones. The iPhone balked and refuses to relax, even after the policy was changed, which apparently is a known glitch.

SERVER CERTIFICATE

I was determined to allow my users to continue to use the familiar URL for remote access, even though it didn't match the naming scheme preferred by SBS 2008. The email domain is www.bigfirm.com, say, and my users have been reaching RWW at www.bigfirmnet.com for years. I have a GoDaddy SSL certificate for www.bigfirmnet.com and heck, I just like it. Plus I've got migrations coming up where I know it will be difficult to work with the web hosting company to set up a subdomain and MX records for the primary domain name.

The Internet address wizard insists on getting the primary address and only allowing RWW to be reached at the same address with a prefix - remote.bigfirm.com or something like it. I had to work around that by lying to the wizard that the primary domain name was bigfirmnet.com, which (in Advanced Settings) would then let www.bigfirmnet.com be the remote access address.

When that was in place, then I could set the primary email addresses back to @bigfirm.com in Exchange Manager / Organization / Hub Transport / Email address policies / Windows SBS Email Address Policy.

ONECARE

Windows Live OneCare has been a trusted friend but it does make me a little crazy sometimes. SBS 2008 expects to get feedback from each workstation about its security status and apparently OneCare isn't set up to let that happen. So far I haven't found the firewall port or other hack that will let the workstations report in, so they're all showing in the server console as "unknown." I can't even find a definitive statement that it's possible or impossible with the standalone version of OneCare. I'm not going to install OneCare for Server so I may just not get good feedback in the console until we switch to Trend Micro. I was hoping to procrastinate on that - everyone has been used to OneCare for a long time - but change happens.

DRIVE MAPPING

Drive mapping is supposed to be accomplished in Group Policy now. I was comforted that other people online said they had trouble with it, because I couldn't make a mapped drive appear on a workstation no matter what I did in Group Policy. After a fruitless half hour of researching and trying things, I put the nice simple logon script in the folder and assigned it to everybody. I feel kind of crude, but it works.

SHARED PRINTERS

Another little headache - it was easy to install 64-bit drivers for network printers and share them from the server. At least, it was easy once I stopped clicking on the "Add printer" button and getting an "Access denied" message when it tried to set up a TCP/IP port. Right-click in the Printers folder and click on Run As Administrator / Add printer - ah, that's intuitive! Sheesh.

Out at the first workstation, I was reminded forcibly that there were no 32-bit drivers around, so I downloaded the corresponding 32-bit drivers for a few of the printers (a couple of HP Laserjets and a Toshiba copier) and went to add them on the server using Additional Drivers on the Sharing tab. The server thought that was a terrible idea - it never agreed that the 32-bit drivers corresponded with the 64-bit drivers. (I read somewhere that it was known problem with some HP drivers but I had the same epxerience with the Toshiba drivers.) So I parked the 32-bit drivers where I could get to them, went back to the workstation, and browsed to the 32-bit drivers when the workstation tried to connect to the shared printer and rejected the 64-bit drivers. Nope! The workstation also didn't agree that it was a match. It was the closest match, trust me - these were the identical 32-bit and 64-bit drivers for the same model running the same PCL level.

Fortunately, we already had reason to be running a Windows XP virtual machine on the second server with Hyper-V. I've shared all the printers from there and I bet it's rock solid.

A migration is a complex project! I think it went smoothly. These are the kind of glitches that happen constantly, every day at every level. Some of them will happen to me the next time, others will come up that are brand new. It's the nature of IT today. With luck I'll bring good instincts and a lot of experience and use them both the next time I come to your office!

Labels: computers, domains, mail, Microsoft, mobile, network, OneCare, printers, SBS, security, software

posted by bruceb at 12/05/2008 12:09:00 AM | permalink

Windows Live Skydrive has been updated with a new look, 25Gb of free storage space, and new options for storing and sharing photos. There is some integration with an updated version of Windows Live Photo Gallery but I haven't yet explored how that works. If you're not using Skydrive yet, here are my notes about it.

That's 25Gb of free online storage space. That's a lot of space! Hotmail users have also been bumped to 25Gb of free storage space for email, in addition to the Skydrive space. You can share files with the world or with individuals and there's no longer a need for people to sign in with a Windows Live ID to see a shared file.

The redesigned front page for Skydrive is quite elegant. I don't see a big advertisement like the one in the screen shot from last month. Ah! I  get it now. The ad is displayed if you look at someone else's Skydrive space, or if you're not signed in. The elegant display is for your own Skydrive account after signing in.

Folders that contain photos are set apart automatically, and they look just great, with built-in controls for slideshows and very nice thumbnails. When photos are shared, it appears people can download the full-sized files instead of being limited to a low-resolution version of a photo - a common problem with online photo services until recently.

The folder shown below, by the way, contains my favorite wallpaper images for widescreen monitors, gathered from all over the web. You probably know this but bear in mind - if you get a full-sized image onscreen that you like, you can right-click it and click on "Set as desktop background" to make it your wallpaper. With these images, for example, if you click on a thumbnail, you're taken to a page showing a small version of the individual image. If you click on that image and click on "Open," you should see the full-size image. That's the one to use for your wallpaper. Go take a look!

Labels: file_sharing, Microsoft, photos, web_services

posted by bruceb at 12/04/2008 09:55:00 AM | permalink

Let me give you a quick overview of the kind of issue that makes it fun to be a consultant.

When you go to a web site where any personal information is going to be exchanged, you're likely to see the web site address change from http:// to https://. The data is encrypted (has a "Secure Sockets Layer" or SSL) and is reasonably well protected against eavesdroppers. You'll see it at banking sites or almost anything involving money or payment, as well as on web sites for access to company networks and other places where data should be confidential.

When you go to http://www.wellsfargo.com/, the bank's web server presents its security certificate from a known certificate authority, a big company that has done some checking to ensure that the server actually belongs to the company whose name is on the web site. Your browser examines it and agrees that it looks authentic, then it does some cryptographic things that convince it that the certificate was really issued by the big trusted authority. When it's satisfied, it proceeds automatically to https://www.wellsfargo.com/ and shows you a happy padlock icon in the address bar.

Until recently, SSL certificates were only used by big companies: they were expensive, required annoying paperwork, and the whole process was technically difficult.

Small Business Server 2003 wanted remote users to log into its great Remote Web Workplace over a secure SSL connection but couldn't saddle small businesses with the headache of buying expensive certificates, so it used a workaround. By default an SBS 2003 server presents a "self-signed certificate." Essentially the server vouches for itself and tells your browser that it's safe and trustworthy.

That sounds a bit flaky but it worked well enough for a long time, until security concerns began to trump everything else. Business people began buying Windows Mobile phones to sync their Outlook folders over the air and for a while it was possible to convince them to accept the SBS server's self-signed certificate, but it got harder and harder to accomplish - it required finding the right tool to install the certificate on the phone and the manufacturers were nervous about giving people access to the depths of the phone's operating system to do that. Now it's almost always impossible.

Meanwhile Microsoft began to add new security warnings to Internet Explorer as part of its hardening over the last few years. Now when you go to a site with an SBS 2003 certificate, you get this ominous warning:

If you go past the scary warning to the company's RWW site, you get the unhappy red IE address bar instead of the happy padlock:

Fortunately, a few companies began offering inexpensive SSL certificates with a minimum of fuss. GoDaddy.com offers SSL certificates for only thirty dollars per year that are accepted by most computers, phones and other devices. SBS consultants began to work out elaborate documentation for installing them on SBS servers. Many consultants made it a standard part of setting up a server running SBS 2003.

SBS 2008 still begins with a self-signed certificate but a wizard is included in the initial setup checklist to help purchase a third-party certificate.

The wizard wasn't helpful to me in a migration where I already had a domain name with an existing certificate. I found myself burrowing deeply into IIS and feeling my way through the process. I was successful but it took some interesting tricks to get everything to work correctly.

The experience exposed another interesting feature of Exchange 2007. If a company runs the web site http://www.bigfirm.com/, it can set up http://remote.bigfirm.com/ as a subdomain that leads to their internal company network. Set the company's MX record for incoming mail to http://remote.bigfirm.com/ and give that address to the business people for remote access. SBS 2008 has wizards to help get the domain names registered and set up in Exchange.

Then if a business person goes home and sets up Outlook 2007 for an Exchange Server at http://remote.bigfirm.com/, Outlook will configure itself automatically with the settings to connect over the Internet to Exchange Server at the office. It's not necessary in that case to configure the deep proxy settings that have been required until now to set up Outlook for RPC over HTTP. Microsoft thinks the technology is so cool that it blessed it with a new brand name, "Outlook Anywhere." (SBS 2008 does some of the magic to accomplish that, thank goodness - otherwise it requires deep surgery in ADSIEDIT and the Exchange command line console.)

That works fine, I'm sure, but I used a different naming scheme when I bought domain names for all my SBS clients for their remote access. SBS 2008 does not like that arrangement one little bit. And it's only easy to set up a subdomain and manipulate MX records if you have full DNS control over the ISP for http://www.bigfirm.com/. A small business will frequently have set up their web site with small hosting companies and web site designers that are, shall we say, not always easy to work with.

You see what I mean, I'm sure - it's fun!

Labels: domains, IE, Internet, mail, Microsoft, mobile, Outlook, phone, remote, SBS, security

posted by bruceb at 12/03/2008 12:46:00 AM | permalink

More notes on the new release of Small Business Server 2008.

Small businesses have more options than ever before as they grow to 5-10 people and begin to think about adding a server or two. Some businesses will be able to reduce costs by using a hosted mail service and only using a server onsite to share files and printers to a small group. But that won't be right for all businesses - SBS 2008 has across-the-board improvements in an already impressive product and it will still be the right choice for many offices looking to step up to a new level of technology as they grow, as well as for offices ready to migrate from an old server that's ready to retire.

Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 was the first polished release of a complex suite of products tied together with various wizards and limitations designed to make it easier to manage. It combined Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003, and Sharepoint, plus ISA Server (a complex firewall manager) and SQL Server for LOB database applications.

One of the best features in SBS 2003 was a management console that brought together virtually every administrative tool that an IT person might need, from a variety of places - Microsoft Management Consoles for various network services (DNS, DHCP, Active Directory, Group Policy), Exchange System Manager, IIS, and more, plus specialized screens for easy access to all the housekeeping necessary for users, computers, monitoring, and other tasks.

The new management console in SBS 2008 does not cover as many services as the SBS 2003 console. Instead, SBS 2008 requires far more use of the individual administrative tools built into Windows Server 2008. The SBS Console is, however, deceptively simple - it was the center of most of my setup chores and will cover 95% of the day-to-day network administration.

The redesigned consoles for Server Manager and Exchange Management Console aren't as visually pretty but they've been extensively reorganized to make them easier to use.

Make no mistake, though: although I keep talking about how easy it all is, the reality is that Small Business Server has never been easy enough for a non-technical person to set it up correctly. The IT world is getting more complex and SBS 2008 reflects that - I had to visit some very deep places indeed to accomplish a pretty straightforward migration.

Labels: Microsoft, network, SBS

posted by bruceb at 12/02/2008 12:05:00 AM | permalink

I spent the weekend migrating a 20-person law firm to new servers running Microsoft Small Business Server 2008. If I did my job right, the first impression on Monday morning will be that very little has changed - folders with firm documents will open up, Outlook will show mailboxes full of mail, and people will get to work. (Crossing fingers. Knocking on wood.)

In the next few weeks I'll tell you about some of the things that have made a very positive impression so far. Without making a big deal about it, Microsoft has developed a consistent look for many of its screens for administrators, just like the ribbon bars that first appeared in Office 2007 and are now being used for many Microsoft programs. It's a clean, intuitive layout.

The first improvement that will really be noticeable at the law firm will be when the attorneys connect remotely to the new server. Here's a screen that will be familiar to many of you - the first screen that appears when an Small Business Server 2003 user goes to the web site for remote access. It's not bad, except that the only choice that anybody ever clicks on is Remote Web Workplace. All the rest of the words and choices are superfluous.

This is the same screen in Small Business Server 2008.

After logging on, these are the choices in SBS 2003.

There's nothing wrong with that, but again, only two things matter - access to Outlook, and remote access to an office computer. The rest rarely matters to anyone trying to get their work done. Here's the same screen in SBS 2008.

The same design choices carry through to all the screens that I will see as the administrator. There are a lot of new places for me to look for things and a lot of new things to learn, but the design changes will hopefully make it easier to absorb.

Labels: Microsoft, network, SBS

posted by bruceb at 12/01/2008 01:35:00 AM | permalink

There was finally an official notice and some details about the plans to replace Foldershare with a new program named "Windows Live Sync" in December. Here's the blog post with the announcement today. If you're unfamiliar with Foldershare, I wrote this description a couple of years ago.

The program(s) do a simple job: they keep a folder in sync on more than one computer. You can have a folder on your desk at the office and another one on your desk at home, and the files will always be the same in both places - as long as both computers are online and running the software at the same time. If you edit a file at home, the edited version will be waiting for you at the office. You can share a folder with others and files will be copied among everyone, avoiding the need for email attachments. This is genuinely helpful in many circumstances but it was tricky to set up and I've known many people who found it confusing to use.

Microsoft purchased Foldershare a few years ago and is now revamping it so it fits with the other "Windows Live" branded programs. Among other things, that means that access to the new Windows Live Sync will be controlled by your Windows Live ID, just like all the other Microsoft services, instead of the separate, unrelated name and password used by Foldershare.

The migration to Windows Live Sync will cause some disruption for some Foldershare users - basically, if you've been using Foldershare then the new service will automatically begin syncing the same folders among your own computers but you'll have to re-create the shares with other people.

Windows Live Sync will allow you to sync up to 20 folders with 20,000 files each, doubling Foldershare's limits. That's nice but not what I expected. The service allows two computers to talk directly to each other with virtually no involvement by Microsoft's servers other than connecting the computers - I don't understand why you can't connect virtually unlimited folders and files.

Reportedly there will be particular attention paid to photos in the new program, making it simple to make your photos available on all of your computers as well as integrating with Windows Live Photo Gallery somehow or other.

So that's all great, but you'll see one question asked over and over in the comments to today's announcement: why does Microsoft have two programs - Foldershare/Windows Live Sync and Live Mesh - that perform almost identical chores? Does it make sense to learn Windows Live Sync and start using it when Microsoft appears much more committed to Live Mesh?

That's a good question. There's no answer to it at the moment.

Labels: file_sharing, Microsoft, remote, web_services

posted by bruceb at 11/21/2008 01:27:00 AM | permalink

That rumbling you feel is a seismic shift in the field of security software. This will affect every single one of you and cause major changes in the entire industry.

Microsoft announced today that it will deliver free antivirus and anti-spyware software for all Windows computers, beginning in the second half of 2009.

Windows Live OneCare will be phased out and it will no longer be sold after June 30, 2009.

From the press release:

"Code-named "Morro," this streamlined solution will be available in the second half of 2009 and will provide comprehensive protection from malware including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans. This new solution, to be offered at no charge to consumers, will be architected for a smaller footprint that will use fewer computing resources, making it ideal for low-bandwidth scenarios or less powerful PCs. As part of Microsoft's move to focus on this simplified offering, the company also announced today that it will discontinue retail sales of its Windows Live OneCare subscription service effective June 30, 2009."

Here's the Microsoft press release, and the post on the OneCare blog. There are a few more details in this interview with Microsoft's senior director of product management.

As far as I know, this is completely unexpected. No one seems to have had a clue it was coming. There have been rumors about an imminent new version of Windows Live OneCare; now there's no word whether it will ever be seen. When Microsoft officially released Small Business Server 2008 last week, one of its features was a new product, Windows Live OneCare for Server, and central management for up to 25 workstations running OneCare. To me, that was one of the compelling features of the new SBS, but it is now dead on arrival; it should not be installed and will not be supported after June 30, 2009.

I can easily imagine that Microsoft is frustrated. Windows is frequently blamed for the onslaught of viruses and malware but computer users around the world have resisted buying subscriptions to security software for a variety of reasons: they can't afford it; they don't understand that it's necessary; they don't keep it current or they never activate an expired trial subscription; or their computers are underpowered for the security suites that are currently available. It's a particular problem outside the United States, where the percentage of unprotected computers is much higher. The press release suggests that Microsoft particularly wants to provide protection for emerging markets and the new low-powered netbooks and OLBCs.

Microsoft claims that it will deliver new software (not a repackaged version of OneCare) which includes only the security protection, with the simplest, least intrusive, and smallest footprint possible. It will not be automatically included with every copy of Windows but it will be free and presumably so easy to obtain that it might as well be built-in.

I assumed that Microsoft had not done this up to now because it would be attacked as "anticompetitive" by the other security software companies. Apparently Microsoft thinks it can avoid those claims - or who knows, maybe it thinks it's the right thing to do and is willing to see how it plays out. Norton, McAfee and the rest will have to adapt - maybe by criticizing Microsoft's software, maybe by adding value to it with other features, maybe by exiting the field and finding something else to do.

ONECARE SUBSCRIBERS: Do not let your subscriptions lapse! OneCare will be fully supported and updated through June 30, 2009 and we will have much more information before then about our options. If your subscription expires on April 30 and you have to pay $49.99 for two months of updates, I'm going to insist that you renew without hesitation. I don't want anyone running a PC without current anti-malware protection - this is not an excuse to procrastinate!

COMPUTER BUYERS: If you buy a new computer, get it protected! If you have to pay $49.99 for OneCare and you don't get a full year out of it, so it goes. You'll get three months or six months or eight months, and that's just fine. Or get another product, I don't care. As long as your security, backup and update needs are covered, I don't care - but this is not an excuse to procrastinate.

[Update 11/20: It's likely that Microsoft will keep OneCare updated for the entire subscription term. See this post and watch for more information to follow.]

A few more points:

Microsoft Equipt was the ill-fated subscription package bundling OneCare with Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition, sold only through Circuit City. Microsoft never committed to it, Circuit City is defunct, and Equipt is being withdrawn from the market.

How could this major decision be made with so little notice that it kills a key feature of a major product launched last week? Is the SBS team angry, embarrassed, or resigned?

OneCare includes features that its users depend on - printer sharing, backups, system maintenance, attention to Windows and other Microsoft updates, control over the firewall, and control over startup programs. Everything that needs attention is reported by a single icon, and necessary actions are described in a consistent interface. If OneCare is discontinued, will something else be developed to provide those functions? Don't tell me that products from third parties will take over - I'll cry, really I will.

Will the new software run on servers? Small businesses really need easy software to protect servers and provide centralized security management. The choices now are difficult and expensive.

This is a remarkable change that will affect all of us. I hope it's for the better but boy, are there a lot of questions left to be answered. More to come!

Labels: computers, Microsoft, OneCare, SBS, security, software, Vista, WinXP

posted by bruceb at 11/19/2008 12:05:00 AM | permalink

I am happy to announce that Microsoft formally unveiled Microsoft Online Services today.

I am a Microsoft partner authorized to sell and support Microsoft Online Services. I expect to set up many of my clients with Exchange Online for their mail. If you're interested, please call me or drop me a note! I do not need to be in your geographic area to assist you with this.

This is the first big step by Microsoft to deliver online services directly to customers, part of its effort to redefine the entire company and move some of your data to the online cloud. I've already written up the background information you need to understand Microsoft Online Services - click here for information about where this comes from and how it fits in your world.

Basically, each Outlook mailbox is hosted by Microsoft for a monthly fee. (An Outlook "mailbox" is the term for the entire set of Outlook folders, including contacts, tasks and calendar.) The hosted Exchange service allows you to connect to your Outlook folders in a variety of ways:

• MULTIPLE COMPUTERS  The same Outlook folders can be displayed on multiple computers at multiple locations. You can use your Outlook folders seamlessly from a desktop computer at the office, a desktop computer at home, and a notebook computer on the road, and Outlook is always up to date at all locations.
• MULTIPLE LOCATIONS  Office workers can be linked together and share Outlook folders even if they are in different offices.
• WEBMAIL  Outlook folders can be accessed online through Outlook Web Access - full access to all Outlook folders presented in Internet Explorer, like other webmail services.
• PHONE  Windows Mobile 6 devices can sync email, calendar, and contacts over the air continuously.
• SHARING  Calendars and address lists can be shared with other people in the office.
• SECURITY  Microsoft provides virus and spam filtering.
• REDUCED COSTS  Microsoft is responsible for backups, database maintenance, security updates, and upgrades.

Microsoft has put together a very robust service that will be used by businesses of all sizes, including big enterprises that want to outsource their mail. It is best suited for small businesses if they fit within these parameters:

• The company has a domain name for mail, or wants to begin using one.
• There are a minimum of five email users.
• All computers are running Windows XP Professional or Windows Vista Business (or Ultimate), and all computers have Microsoft Outlook 2007 (or are prepared to buy it).
• The company is not set up with Small Business Server, which already includes Exchange Server. (It's possible to combine service from Microsoft with the onsite Small Business Server but I'm not sure the benefit would justify the cost for very small businesses.)
• In addition to the $10/month cost per mailbox, there will be some setup costs. You don't want to set this service up without assistance! As with anything new these days, I'm learning about hundreds of quirks and potential pitfalls as I set up clients. Call me before you sign up!

Here's Microsoft's press release about the new services, which include Sharepoint and other online services.

Other companies also offer hosted Exchange mailboxes which might be better matches for some people. I'll write more about those soon. Start to think about the advantages of having access to your Outlook folders from anywhere!

Labels: business, mail, Microsoft, mobile, Outlook, SBS, web_services

posted by bruceb at 11/18/2008 12:05:00 AM | permalink

Microsoft is updating and integrating all of its "Windows Live" services. The results are overwhelming and quirky but the changes  include some things that are even attractive for cranky old folks like me that have no idea what to do with a "social network." (I'm not sure but I think it requires friends, so I have no reason to go there.) In particular, Windows Live Skydrive is getting some exciting new features but there is still some confusing overlap in Microsoft's services for storing and sharing files online.

The updates are a bit of a blur, really - it will mostly be people under 25, I think, that have a lot of names in Windows Live People and sort them into Windows Live Groups so it's easier to send them invitations to Windows Live Events that are tracked on Windows Live Calendar, with RSVPs sent using Windows Live Messenger and photos shared afterward on Windows Live Photos. Honest, those are all names of interlocking pieces of this big social network, which is all free and all tied together, and that's just the half of it - there are pieces that will run on mobile phones and pieces that will interact with other online social networking sites and a toolbar for Internet Explorer and a piece that will deliver pictures straight from your cell phone to a digital picture frame (honest!) and on and on. Here's an article about the upcoming new releases, and here's a press release that runs through most of the highlights.

Let's focus on Windows Live Skydrive, a free place where you can store files online that can be accessed from anywhere. You're required to have a free Windows Live ID to get started but that's nothing new - all these services are built around your Windows Live ID. You can have private folders on Skydrive, or you can share folders with specific people, or you can have folders that are open to anyone. Skydrive is one of the services that I strongly recommend you become familiar with! It will quickly become a tool that you use routinely.

When Skydrive is updated, everyone will be able to store up to 25Gb of files online, up from the current limit of 5Gb. That's a lot of space! There are big improvements to the way photos can be stored and shared, with bigger thumbnails and instant slideshows and tighter integration with Windows Live Photo Gallery. Right now it's clumsy to move files around on Skydrive; the update will make it possible to move and copy files between Skydrive folders.

And in one welcome improvement, apparently it will be possible to share files with people even if they do not have a Windows Live ID. That's been a stumbling block, since many people aren't ready to figure out the Windows Live ID concept.

One change to Windows Live Skydrive leaps out at me from this screenshot of the update - Microsoft has decided to put really big advertisements on the web pages for some of these services. Oh joy!

Now for the confusing part. Look at this list of Microsoft services.

• Windows Live Skydrive lets you store files online and share them with others.
• Windows Live Sync will be the new name of Foldershare, which syncs folders among several computers, either your own or shared with others.
• Live Mesh lets you store files online, share them with others, and sync folders among several computers, either your own or shared with others.
• Office Live Workspace lets you store files online, share them with others, and open them directly into Microsoft Office programs.

The overhaul of the Windows Live services announced yesterday does nothing to simplify that lineup. If Live Mesh lives up to its potential, it can absorb and duplicate all of the other services; perhaps that's the ultimate goal and the other services are only temporary, since it will take several years to build out Live Mesh and the framework it rests on.

While we wait, go start using Skydrive and Live Mesh. They're worth knowing about!

Labels: file_sharing, Microsoft, mobile, photos, software, web_services

posted by bruceb at 11/14/2008 01:06:00 AM | permalink

"Windows Azure" is a terrible name but you need to be aware of it anyway. Windows Azure is a breathtakingly ambitious platform outlined by Microsoft at last week's Professional Developer Conference, another attempt by Microsoft to position itself to profit from a paradigm shift that will be just as important as the move to the Internet in the 90s.

Yesterday I used word processing as an easy example to imagine what it would be like if you had universal access to your files with the ability to open and edit them from any computer. Of course, it's just as easy to imagine having easy access from anywhere to your Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations, with the programs running in a browser if you don't have a copy installed on the computer nearby.

Okay, now stretch a little bit. Imagine that you could have something like the same experience on your phone - Windows Mobile can sync folders using Live Mesh and it runs little tiny versions of Word and Excel. Photos can be moved around from computer to computer and/or stored online, too, so you might not be surprised by this anecdote from someone who tried using Live Mesh on his phone to sync the folder where the phone stores pictures. There were the pictures on his computer a few minutes later with no muss, no fuss, no action required at all. The camera on the phone looks a lot more usable all of a sudden!

But now let's take a big step. Windows Azure is a platform that will allow you to run programs that are identical to programs installed on your computer but which are actually running from Microsoft's online servers. Microsoft's goal is to have all of its programs run from Microsoft's data centers in such a way that you cannot tell the difference between a program hosted online and a program on your computer. The developer tools will allow all the other software vendors to do the same thing.

Some of you already have experience with that. Businesses running on Small Business Server use Outlook to connect to mailboxes stored in Exchange Server. At the office, people open Outlook to do their work; away from the office, they might use Outlook on their notebook computer, or they might check their mail or calendar on their Windows Mobile phone, or they might use Outlook Web Access to display their Outlook folders in a web browser. Outlook Web Access is already significantly improved in Exchange 2007 so it more closely resembles Outlook, and it only takes a small leap of faith to imagine the experience being identical to using the full program.

The Azure framework is intended to give developers the ability to present their programs to you over your Internet connection so that virtually all the hard work is done by the online servers. Microsoft or Google or Amazon have responsibility for holding the data and backing it up; when a program is updated, the updates are applied at the source instead of requiring you to take steps to install updates on each of your computers.

I'll be writing more about Live Framework, the unified underpinning of the various Windows Live services as they become increasingly integrated, and Microsoft Online Services, which will introduce hosted online Exchange mailboxes to many of my clients. They're early signs of this movement to online services that will change your life, whether you're ready or not. There are many miles and many competitors and the future is not assured for Microsoft, but make no mistake - the company has staked its future on this ambitious transformation.

Here are some more early comments on Windows Azure: Dan Farber on "Microsoft's Manhattan Project"; Robert Scoble says not to underestimate Microsoft's ability to turn a corner; CBS News on the Azure launch; and Joe Wilcox on the significance of the project:

"I simply cannot overstate how enormous an undertaking is Azure. Microsoft plans to support cloud services in every product. Azure is hugely ambitious and will transform Microsoft, whether or not the vision stated on Monday makes it to market. As such, Azure is enormously risky and its success as envisioned is uncertain."

Labels: business, computers, file_sharing, Google, Internet, mail, Microsoft, mobile, Outlook, photos, software, web_services

posted by bruceb at 11/04/2008 12:05:00 AM | permalink

There are lots of projects intended to move our computing lives online. Let me try to paint a picture of where our world is heading over the next 5-10 years. I'll use Microsoft projects as examples but keep in mind that other companies have similar projects and goals.

Start with hundreds of thousands of high-powered servers all over the world, run by big companies, providing storage space and computing power to do interesting things. Amazon and Google are already in that business, and one of Microsoft's big announcements at last week's conference was that it intends to commit the future of the company to providing services from its own global network. Assume that the companies are doing what it takes to convince you that they have the resources to keep things safe and working at full speed.

Take a step forward from where we are now (a small step, really) and imagine that when you click on File / Open in Microsoft Word and see a list of the files in your Documents folder, you're seeing a list that is the same regardless of where you're sitting or what computer you're using. Your documents are listed when you're at your desk, but the same list appears when you're at a friend's house or at an Internet cafe in Paris. You don't give that a second thought - you expect it to happen and it works.

Well, it doesn't work yet but you might be surprised at how many steps you can take right now toward that goal.

• You can store documents in Office Live Workspace; on your own computer you can open them from within Word after installing a little plugin, and from any other computer you can access them in a browser and open them in Word if it's installed on that computer.
• If you set up Live Mesh, you can have local copies of your documents on all the computers you use regularly, appearing in your Documents folder when you click File / Open in Word, plus you can access the same files online by logging onto the Live Mesh website.

Those services are still in their early stages of development and will become easier to use. I have some criticisms of the way some Office Live Workspace features are designed and those will be addressed, but I've also seen references to the likelihood that Live Mesh folders will be accessible in Office Live Workspace and you'll just have to trust me - that moves us a huge step closer to that picture I painted up there of universal, easy access to your files from anywhere.

The bigger picture goes far beyond the basic ability to store files online - there are lots of ways already available to store documents online. The future lies in whether you can create and edit your files from any device.

So let's add one more element. Microsoft announced that you'll be able to use online versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote to work on your files if you're sitting at a computer where those programs are not installed. There are many, many details to be worked out about price, features (these will start out as "light" versions of the programs), and integration with your online files, but the concept immediately makes sense. Here's a screen shot of Word running in Internet Explorer - click through for shots of other programs:

Imagine that the experience of using Microsoft Word is identical regardless of whether you're using the copy installed on your computer or the online version, and you can open the same files regardless of where you're sitting. Under the hood, let's say Microsoft has done the heavy lifting to ensure that security precautions are observed for businesses. Interested yet?

Let's stop there for today. Tomorrow we'll take that a step further and try to understand just how wildly ambitious the plans are that Microsoft outlined last week.

Labels: business, file_sharing, IE, Internet, Microsoft, mobile, Office, software

posted by bruceb at 11/03/2008 12:33:00 AM | permalink

Windows Live Mesh has just been updated, as of about noon on Thursday 10/30. If you are using it already, you will be notified to install the update; it will stop working until the update is installed on each computer running it. If you are not using it yet, it has been fully opened up to everyone - read about it, make sure you have your Windows Live ID set up, and you are free to sign up.

Windows Live Mesh is a place to store files online, a program that runs on your computer to keep folders in sync on multiple computers, and a way to get remote access to your computer from anywhere. Live Mesh now supports Macs, and limited testing has begun for Windows Mobile devices. (Click here for more information about the Windows Mobile client.) You will be able to take a picture with your cell phone and have the photo show up immediately on your PC and your Mac, or share files with anyone by sharing a Live Mesh folder so they can access it online or synced to their own computer.

The remote access is extremely well designed and will make it unnecessary for most people to pay for a subscription to LogMeIn or GoToMyPC. Connecting from one computer in your Mesh to another one is a single click - hover over the Mesh icon and click on "Connect." Files can be transferred between the local computer and the remote computer by dragging and dropping copying and pasting them.

[Addendum 10/31: Although files can be transferred between the local and remote computers by copying and pasting them, Live Mesh does not currently support dragging and dropping them. Live Mesh Remote Desktop also apparently does not implement any support for printing at all, so you can work on your remote computer but you can't print something directly on your local printer. Those will be compelling reasons for some of you to use LogMeIn Pro instead of Live Mesh for remote access!]

Other updated features:

• Tips for new users.
• Better support for large monitors in remote sessions.
• Permission levels for shared folders - creator, owner, contributor, reader.
• Drag and drop files between your PC and Live Desktop.
• Multiple file upload to Live Desktop.

Microsoft showed only a couple of applications built on the Mesh framework at the PDC this week. The BBC demonstrated a Meshified version of its iPlayer, an extremely popular service in England for watching TV shows online. The Mesh version will remember what you've watched and spread that information to all your devices. If you watch part of a show on your computer, the episode will start where you left off when you tune in on your cell phone or on another computer.

But that's just a taste of what's coming. Under the hood, Live Mesh has been moved to the Windows Azure framework that Microsoft announced at the PDC underlying all of their upcoming web services, and it's powerful stuff indeed. You are watching and taking part in a transition that will affect you just as deeply as the initial shift to the Internet. I'll write more about that in the next few days!

Labels: Apple, file_sharing, Internet, Microsoft, mobile, remote, software, Vista, web_services, WinXP

posted by bruceb at 10/30/2008 12:51:00 PM | permalink

If you're using my favorite web service Live Mesh, watch for an update in the next few days. It will be required to continue using Live Mesh; file sharing and remote access will go dead until the update is installed. I'm going to do a backup of the files stored in Live Mesh folders, just in case of any problems during the upgrade. Live Mesh is about to be opened up to a wider audience as a "beta" release and the update goes along with moving the service onto servers that can handle a bigger load. Here's more information from the Live Mesh team.

That's not the only reason, though. Microsoft is hosting the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles over the next four days and new features added to Live Mesh will be the focus of some of the more interesting announcements at the show. The details are a closely held secret - I can guess that Live Mesh may begin to support Macs and Windows Mobile devices, perhaps, and there are likely to be new collaborative applications that leverage the Mesh platform's ability to securely communicate among several computers on widespread networks.

That won't be the only news out of PDC. Much of the development of personal computing over the next few years will be outlined at this conference! Many of the announcements will be directed at developers rather than consumers and there may not be many services that you can start using the day after the conference ends, but this is the one to watch if you want to know where things are going. The media will breathlessly cover announcements concerning "Windows 7," next year's successor to Vista, but that's a marketing distraction that you can safely ignore for another few months.

Instead, watch for announcements of new and upgraded online services and lots of talk about "cloud computing" - and ready or not, here it comes, that's the world we are moving into faster than you realize. The services that will change your life are the ones that move your programs and files online where you can be connected to them from any device - desktop computer or notebook or mobile device or game console. There are lots of issues to be addressed before we will be fully committed to that vision - the programs will have to look familiar and work in familiar ways and you'll have to be convinced that your data is secure and backed up and under your control. The announcements at PDC will give us a good look at some of the steps we will make toward those goals in the next few years.

I'll keep you posted!

Labels: file_sharing, Microsoft, mobile, web_services

posted by bruceb at 10/27/2008 12:44:00 AM | permalink

Access everywhere! Lots of interesting services are being set up to make it easy for you to have access to files, folders, photos, and computers from anywhere, whether it's working on an office computer from home or bringing up pictures from your home computer on a mobile phone.

The latest entry comes from Dell, strangely enough. Dell just introduced Dell Remote Access, a ten dollar per month service for a number of tasks loosely related to "remote access." It's designed to be extremely easy to use. You'll install some software on the computer to be controlled; the software will run continuously and periodically check in with Dell Server Central Command. Then when you go to my.dellremoteaccess.com and log in, you can control your computer remotely as if you're sitting in front of it. That's not all, though! You can stream music and photos to your remote device or upload files to the computer running the Dell software. Plus one more interesting feature that I haven't seen before - you can send a link to someone by email that gives them an encrypted connection to a folder on your computer, so they can look at pictures, say, with very little fuss.

Here are a couple of places where people say nice things about the new service. The people saying those nice things work for Dell. Haven't seen much feedback from the real world yet.

That's pretty cool stuff, and you might want to try it, but I'd offer two thoughts before you jump in.

This is an increasingly crowded field. You have alternatives to choose from at a range of prices, with simple or difficult interfaces, and with similar or different features. You can jump into whichever one gets your attention first - just be aware that's what you're doing. LogMeIn will let you run its software and connect remotely to a single computer for free; its paid subscription adds very easy file transfers and the ability to email a link to a single file on your computer. GoToMyPC is slightly more expensive and aimed more at business users. Windows Live Mesh is a free service from Microsoft that will let you connect remotely to a number of computers, along with file and folder sharing and syncing and more to come; it's a little complicated to get started but might be worth the learning curve for its extra capabilities. Windows Home Server sets up remote access and photo sharing along with its file storage and backup features. Businesses running Microsoft Small Business Server already have remote access to their office computers using Remote Web Workplace.

Which leads to a point that gets more important all the time. A new program or service requires a commitment! Do not install programs or sign up for services on a whim! Each program will require time to learn its features and its quirks; it will require periodic attention to keep it up to date when security issues inevitably appear; if it's a good choice, it will require time to figure out where it fits in your life or your business. You'll likely have another web page address to memorize and another login name and password to add to the notes you can never find when you need them.

There are exciting new services out there! Choose them wisely and stick with the ones you choose so you can make them work for you. If you flit from one new thing to another, installing programs and abandoning them quickly,  you'll wind up talking to me about why your computer is slow and programs are crashing. You'll be depressed when I click on your Start menu and nod my head sadly and give you an economics lesson in the cost of cleanup versus the cost of a new computer.

With that in mind, get connected remotely! You don't have to leave computers behind any more.

Labels: computers, Internet, Microsoft, mobile, phone, photos, remote, SBS, software, web_services

posted by bruceb at 10/21/2008 01:36:00 AM | permalink

Microsoft released security updates on Tuesday night, following its normal monthly schedule. Your computer should have restarted during the night.

We're all overwhelmed by updates but we're stuck with them. The holes fixed today are the ones that the bad guys will be hammering on tomorrow. You should be installing the updates for Windows and other Microsoft products when they're released. Some of them will not be installed automatically - it's up to you to take care of the ones that require extra clicks!

Take a minute to check your settings!

(1) If you're running Windows Live OneCare, the icon should be green. If it's not, it may be waiting for you to install updates manually. Open OneCare and follow the instructions and keep the icon green!

If OneCare is green, you're covered for everything else I mention here. Go be productive.

(2) If you have a little gold shield (Windows XP) or update icon (Vista) by the clock, it's waiting for you to download and/or install updates.

• The Vista update icon is supposed to look like the figure at the left. I wondered about that! I couldn't have told you that by looking at the little blob down by the clock.

(3) Click on Control Panel / Automatic Updates (Windows XP) or Control Panel / System and Maintenance / Windows Update (Vista), and make sure your computer is set to automatically install new updates.

(4) Visit the Microsoft Update web site (Windows XP) or Control Panel / System and Maintenance / Windows Update (Vista), and make sure your computer automatically installs updates for Windows and other Microsoft products. The updates for Microsoft Office are just as important as the ones for Windows.

Updates for other programs can also be important but keeping up with the security fixes for Windows is a fundamental requirement of using a computer today. Be safe out there!

Labels: Microsoft, Office, security, Vista, WinXP

posted by bruceb at 10/16/2008 12:05:00 AM | permalink

I routinely set up a Windows Live ID for my clients when they get a new computer. There are many programs and online services in the world; Microsoft's programs and services under the Windows Live name are well designed, free to explore, and reasonably simple - a good choice for people who want to do some new tricks without being overwhelmed.

Here are the steps to get started.

Windows Live ID is a single sign-on service from Microsoft that allows people to log into many websi