Should I upgrade my computer to Windows 7?

This is a question that a lot of folks who have been frustrated using Windows Vista have been asking since Microsoft announced the new operating system was shipping. While I had tested beta version on a couple of computers, I recently decided to upgrade my working laptop computer because we are planning some Windows 7 seminars in the near future and I wanted to have something to show off.

Prior to Windows 7, when folks would ask me “is it worth the time and money for me to upgrade my computer?” I would respond with “just wait until you need a new system and just get it preinstalled.” This advice has changed with my experience upgrading my laptop to Windows 7.

My laptop is a Dell Vostro 1400, purchased 2.5 years ago. It has an Intel Duo-core processor and 2GB of memory and a 60GB hard drive. It was shipped with and running Vista Business very s-l-o-w-l-y. To be honest, I had a 5-year old laptop running Windows XP that I preferred using because it was so much faster. My hopes were that after this revamping process, my Vostro laptop would be much faster and usable.

The first task was to research if the laptop was Windows 7 compatible. I researched Dell’s support site only to find it was not officially supported. For most folks, this should have been a deal breaker. For a tech geek such as myself, I considered this a challenge. I knew that if it did not work, I could just reload Vista Business and go on.

I never, ever recommend doing an upgrade to an operating system. Rather, I recommend a new install. This keeps the registry clean and can prevent incompatibilities with older drivers, etc. So I stuck in my Windows 7 Business 64-bit DVD and started the process of installing the operating system.

To my surprise, the installation recognized all of the hardware in the laptop and everything installed without a hitch. Even the Bluetooth capability which I use with my iPhone tethering was enabled and worked properly. I could not believe how much zippier the computer seemed to respond. When I did this same thing going from Windows XP to Vista, the computer was noticeably slower. This was the exact opposite. It was much faster. Maybe Microsoft got it right this time?

After installing Windows 7, I needed to install my applications. Instead of using Office 2007, I opted to install Office 2010 Beta instead. WOW!! I could not believe how fast Outlook ran. In fact, everything ran much faster except Internet Explorer 8.0 which seemed to run about the same speed.

Not content with having my Internet experience slow me down, I decided to try out Google Chrome as my browser to see if it made a difference. I had tried Google Chrome when it first came out and was disappointed. After installing it this time, I was pleasantly surprised. It was much faster than IE 8.0 and the only limitation is that it does not support ActiveX which is required for us to remote control servers we manage. Not a problem, as IE 8 is still available to use for that purpose.

The final step in my re-install process was to encrypt my laptop. I needed to test this for a client and thought this would be a good opportunity. Microsoft offers encryption out of the box with some of the Windows 7 versions but it requires that the computer have a special feature built in to the system board. After researching the other options, I settled with Trucrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org/) a free, open source on-the-fly disk encryption software. I installed it and configured it per the instructions and all worked perfectly.

Now, back to the question, “Should I upgrade my computer to Windows 7?” My answer is: if your hardware supports it and you have at least 2GB of RAM, I would definitely consider doing it. After going through this process, my laptop runs much faster and more reliably. I feel I have increased the usable life of my laptop (pending any hardware failures) by a couple of years. Of course, your mileage may vary (YMMV) as all computers are different.

If you are interested in finding out more, please try to attend one of our upcoming Windows 7 seminars. We are planning them in conjunction with Microsoft and local Chamber of Commerce organizations. To get on the seminar list, please send an email to seminar@ciscom.com and we will keep you posted to upcoming events.

Over the Holidays Home Network Makeover

Every year at this time I try to get my life organized so I can start the New Year off on a good foot. So, this year I decided to spend my holiday vacation revamping our home network.

As you can imagine, we have a lot of computers in our household, even after moving all of CisCom’s servers to a data center this past fall, I count no fewer than 7 desktops, laptops, and servers still in use at our home.

Our biggest organizational problem was that we had data files scattered all over the place and no catastrophic disaster recovery process in place. I had a Nephew whose camera was stolen with all the photos of his son’s first year of life. My policy before my re-org would be to periodically copy all our photos from one computer. Not very efficient way of maintain backups.

Knowing a little about Microsoft’s Windows Home Server (WHS), I decided it was perfect for the job and I decided to take the plunge. Because we are a Microsoft Partner, I had access to the software via a special plan with have with them. For normal folks, you need to purchase a dedicated box with WHS pre-installed on it. You can purchase one anywhere from $350 up depending on how much drive space you will need.

After several failed attempts of getting the software installed only to have it fail, I came to determine I had a bad 1TB hard drive that was causing all the problems. I reinstalled it onto a 750GB drive I had laying around and all was well.

After getting the server software loaded, it was all downhill. I had to use a connector CD to connect all of our computers to the server, setup users, create backup schedules. Then I moved and reorganized all of our data files to the new server. Once all of the data was on the WHS, I then installed our own CisCom remote backup software to back everything up to our remote data center.

Another addition to our home network is a media computer. While there are operating systems and devices out there dedicated for pushing media content to your television, I opted to use Windows XP Pro since it was already loaded on the computer I was planning to use. Our television has a lot of inputs for connecting devices including a standard VGA port.

All I had to do was connect the XP computer to the television using a standard VGA cable then hook a cable between the audio port output on the XP computer and an audio input on the television. I changed the TV input to use the VGA and voila, we had a home entertainment media pc. Of course, the computer had to be hooked up to the network in order for us to access Internet content and other media stored on the WHS. One last note, I had to hook up a wireless keyboard and mouse in order to use the PC from across the room. I found an iPhone app to allow a mouse to be used through my iPhone but it did not work reliably.

My favorite sites to use with the media computer? http://www.hulu.com/, http://www.youtube.com/, and also downloaded content and personal pictures, music, and videos. I guess we could use the DVD player on the computer if we did not already have a dedicated one. Hulu.com gets our highest praise as they have a large amount of content - TV shows and Movies, that can be streamed free of charge. They offset the cost of their site with limited advertising which is much less intrusive as typical TV advertising.

All in all, I am feeling very organized starting off the New Year. Not only is my data organized and is getting backed up offsite, we also have expanded our viewing options by adding the media pc.

Remote Monitoring and Management Tools

We just purchased 500 seats of Labtech and cannot be happier.

Many years ago, we purchased Level Platforms. After a year of frustration trying to deploy and integrate with our existing backend systems, we pulled the plug on it.

We then moved to a hosted Kaseya solution. While we love the capabilities of the product, the user interface is awful. It’s counterintuitive and we find it’s difficult to perform simple tasks.

We also deployed Hounddog\GFI Max to a number of clients. While we really like the interface, we found the capabilities did not even begin to compare to Kaseya.

As our costs associated with “renting” hosted solutions increased, we realized it was time to purchase something again and standardize on a single solution.

We ruled out itControl Suite because we wanted an agent based solution, not an appliance. GFI\Max, in our opinion just did not offer enough capabilities. The cost is great for those wanting to get into basic monitoring. I consider it an entry-level solution.

Kaseya, while the capabilities are great has a miserable interface. What’s even worse is their sales\pricing model. I talked to them last week and wanted a firm price for 500 seats, financed over 3 years including maintenance. Simple request? Think again. I felt like I was purchasing a car and was stuck in the back room with their finance guy. They would not send me a quote, but wanted me to attend a webinar session instead. Give me a break guys.

Now to Labtech. I was very hesitant to even explore their product since they were so new to the market. A contractor we use suggested we look into them. “Wow” is all I can say. Functionally, it is the only product I’ve seen that can even be compared to Kaseya. The user interface, while not perfect, runs circles around Kaseya. It is Windows-based and so much more intuitive than Kaseya. Their sales\pricing model? Prices are on their website (Kaseya – take note – people want to know the cost of something without all the smoke and mirrors). And no backroom sales pressure like Kaseya.

As for the Cons (there’s Cons to everything!). They are a very young company and are going through growing pains. They need to ramp up some on their support and come up with a better system for initiating support requests and tracking them.

Bottom line, if you are considering purchasing Kaseya (or any other remote monitoring and management tool), you should definitely check out Labtech. I think you will be very impressed.

We are very happy to be a customer of theirs.

CisCom Introduces C-Now

We've been madly configuring our new monitoring software this month to prepare it for release. We've named it C-Now because it lets us see what your computer issue is right now. This product really is an awesome collection of tools, and we are all excited about it. Sure, we've been doing remote monitoring for some time. This is not new. What is new is the powerful breadth of services this new software provides. The product is based upon LabTech software and is much more comprehensive than our previous remote monitoring provider. In addition to remotely monitoring for common problems, this software has powerful network documentation abilities, configuration options and corrective action tasks. It is integrated with our ticketing and billing software and will make us more efficient in serving you. You can create a service ticket which is placed directly in our service queue to insure prompt response. It allows us real time access to machines via remote connection to evaluate and repair many problems. Comprehensive database elements are also present, so that relevant information regarding machine hardware configuration settings and software licenses can be stored as well.

We are confident that many of you will choose to join our monitored clients after learning more about C-Now. For more information call (502) 253-4525 ext. 200.

AVG Promotion - Best Deal Around

We are selling lots of AVG this month. It is normally a very competitively priced product. Their current promotion, however, makes it the best deal around.
Special 4th Quarter Offer: Buy a 2 Year License of any AVG Business Product - and receive the 3rd year FREE!

To take advantage of this limited time offer, contact CisCom Solutions today at (502) 253-4525

Trusted Protection That Doesn't Get in the Way of Business

• Easy to use and manage
• Protection against viruses, spyware, adware, hackers and spam
• Protection for workstations and file servers
• Centralized installation and configuration
• Free support and service around the clock aross the globe

Gazelle.com and Recycling of Mobile Phones and Other Electronics

I had accumulated a lot of old mobile phones over the years as we have updated to newer technologies. I decided to try and find the best method of disposing of them. I stumbled across a website called http://www.gazelle.com/ and decided to check it out. They have the ability for you to get an estimated value for all sorts of stuff. The process is very simple. You first identify what phone you have and then provide a few other details such as if you have a battery and the general condition. The site will then calculate the value of the phone and prompt you to indicate if you would like to cash it in. I went through the process with 3 phones and was shocked to find out how much they were worth. Once you accept, you can box it up and paste a prepaid shipping label and send it off. They will also send you a box if you request one.

So, for a few minutes of my time, I was able to get a $97 amazon.com gift card and also get the peace of mind knowing I disposed of the phones where they will be either resold (reused) or recycled for the components. When I went to their site today, I realize you can also sell them other items. Their motto is "Get Cash for you Gadgets". I'll definitely will check out this site the next time I get the latest gadget and want to get rid of the replaced item.

Businesses Beware - Internet Security More Important Than Ever

Online business financial transactions are the target of a series of rapidly spreading trojan attacks. The trojans are reported to be spread through compromised websites or email links and are designed to capture login information to financial websites. Once the data is obtained, the logins are used to transfer funds to mule accounts using banks' automated clearinghouse systems. The trojans are described as being ubiquitous and easily able to slide through security programs.

You probably heard about the theft of over $400,000 from the Bullitt County government which was reported last month by Fox 41 news. We know also of Kentucky businesses which have been victimized. There are a two specific articles I want to draw your attention to. The first is the USAToday article over the weekend which discusses recent computer attacks. This article does a good job summarizing the general mode of attack and describing the severity of the rapidly spreading threat. The second is "The Growing Threat to Business Banking Online" by Washington Post blogger Brian Krebs. This article is full of specific examples and details about the lack of protection businesses have.

Of course, the threat of attack itself is ominous. What's worse, though, is the lack of protection most companies have if they are the target of an attack . If your company is unlucky enough to suffer a direct loss because of a virus or trojan, don't count on your bank or insurance company to save you. Your insurance may not cover internet theft. Such losses are generally not included in standard business insurance policies. Furthermore, the bank may also refuse to compensate your loss. Since the transfer requests were authenticated with valid logins, banks have denied responsibility in some cases. Brian Kreb's article indicates that the banks are not obligated to compensate businesses for losses because businesses are not granted the same consumer protection that private banking clients have. Sure, you can sue to try to recover the funds. That will surely be expensive and time consuming.

Obviously, following well known security recommendations now is a must. The strict recommendation is to conduct online banking on an isolated computer which is not used for browsing the internet or email. Many companies will find that recommendation hard or impossible to follow. At a minimum:

• keep your security and other software up-to-date;
• eliminate non-business related internet traffic on your billing computers/network;
• check with your insurance agent regarding your internet theft coverage;
• consider upgrading your software;
• check your banking and charge account balances frequently and review charges carefully;
• evaluate and mitigate security holes in your network.

The time has never been better for a security audit of your system.

If you need assistance implementing these recommendations, please contact CisCom's helpdesk at (502) 253-4525 x1.