1: No Anti-virus or outdated antivirus. If I could fix one thing in the computer industry I would eliminate viruses completely from the planet. But since I can’t do that, I absolutely believe that every PC and Server should have an up-to-date antivirus program.

2: Many companies install a firewall but never update it! So the second biggest technology mistake I see is failure to keep firewalls updated. Just like antivirus programs need updates of virus signatures to catch new viruses, firewalls need updated signature files to catch new threats.

3: Failure to Patch. Microsoft releases patches every week to help protect your pc and server from being compromised. If I checked your office computers would they have all the security patches? Hint…. Some patches necessary to keep your system running properly are Optional patches, so if you’re only using Microsoft auto update and not downloading and installing appropriate optional updates, then the answer is no.

4: Nobody is checking the backup, let alone having a disaster recovery plan. Not only are 30% of businesses not getting good backups, but 60% of companies never check the backups by doing a test restore until they need that data.

5: Weak passwords. Yes we all are guilty of this one. Many offices have poor passwords; in fact some offices use a single number for their company-wide password.

6: Do it yourself tech support. Most business owners are smart people, but is it really the best use of their (or their employee’s) time, and does it have the highest probability of success for them to do their own tech support instead of hiring an IT company to do it for them? Why not concentrate on growing the business and allow professionals who deal with these issues every day and are trained in the latest challenges and their resolutions handle the computer support?

7: Buying the cheapest technology. If a $40.00 Belkin wireless router designed for home use could really protect your server and critical data from the dangers of the Internet, why would that and every other etworking equipment manufacturer offer units with vastly greater capabilities? Also, your largest expense is likely that of paying for your employee’s time. If you could increase each employee’s productivity by 10% by eliminating the time they sit and wait for a slow computer or a slow broadband connection to catch up with them, how much money could you save? If you have 10 employees making $30,000 per year, that’s $30,000 a year you’d save.  To realize those saving all you have to do is spend an extra few hundred dollars per person for a better computer, or spend a few hundred dollars for a high throughput firewall. 1000% ROI is good in anybody’s books.

Coupling all these items with the lack of a disaster recovery plan is a disaster ready to happen. Don’t let your company go down that path, call us to help plug all the holes and fix your infrastructure.

Written
by Mark Richmond, Micro Doctor Inc.

AVG 2012 first look
Micro Doctor, Inc. has recommended, supported, and utilized many antivirus programs over the years. Initially Norton Antivirus was our favorite, however viruses started getting through fully updated and functional installations of this software, and its processes started taking over the CPU cycles of the installed PC, which made the machine run significantly slower. The worst version release was Norton 360, wow what a hog. It took over the PC, firewall and basically made you re-open ports and program exceptions to get mail and Internet to work properly again. Anyway, over the years we have worked with McAfee, Kaspersky, Trend Micro, Sunbelt Vipre and AVG.

While no Antivirus program is perfect, AVG is what you will find on my personal and work PCs. I have installed the AVG 2012 version and have some pros and cons for you to consider. First, AVG is keenly aware of and attempts to minimize its “footprint”. The “footprint” is the amount of resources the antivirus program consumes while it is protecting your PC. AVG 2012 has improved its performance and startup speed since version 2011. The program is good at protection and when I click on a suspected virus download it pops up and asks me what I want to do; Move to Vault, Ignore or Delete infected files. Of course, many virus attacks now are known as “drive by” viruses. You are on a website and a pop-up says, “Some items on this page cannot be displayed, would you like to display blocked content?” The “blocked content” turns out to be a virus and you install it by clicking Yes where indicated. Another way viruses get invited in is by looking like an Internet Explorer add-on. Some say “The pictures on this website require a picture viewer add-on to view: Please click OK to install this Internet Explorer Add-on.” Once you do that virus pop ups aren’t far behind. The rule of thumb is… don’t download or install add-ons that you are not specifically requesting yourself. Also, make sure they are signed by Microsoft, Adobe, Macromedia or Sun Microsystems.

What are the problems with AVG? Main problems are the installer and installer defaults. I never let AVG just install everything by clicking next, next, next. If you do, it will install a toolbar, change your default search provider and install a desktop gadget, all of which slow your computer. These things are known as bloatware, or extra unnecessary installed programs that you do not need to run the software you originally wanted. Bloatware was invented by Dell with all the extra programs they started installing on their PCs. You prevent the AVG bloatware by choosing the “Custom” installation instead of simply accepting the default settings and letting AVG choose which components to install. Software manufacturers actually pay hardware manufacturers like Dell to install their programs on the PC. How many toolbars does one want or need on internet explorer? I recently was training a technician and was following up after a virus removal, he did a great job at removal of the virus but when I opened internet explorer it had 5 toolbars! Google Toolbar, Yahoo Toolbar, AVG Toolbar, Bing Toolbar, Favorites Toolbar and the normal menu toolbars. We finished cleaning those up before the PC left our shop.

Always when asked, choose custom install on all programs. It is not really too intimidating and, in fact, sometimes is just a couple of questions along with un-checking a box to install another toolbar. When I install AVG I choose Antivirus, Safe Search, Link Scanner, Email Scanner and Anti Rootkit. I do not install Identity Protection or any other modules. My status screen looks like this.

Pricing for AVG Antivirus starts at around $39.99 per PC per Year. However there are discounts for multiple years and multiple PCs that make it one of the most reasonable full featured antivirus programs available.

We include AVG antivirus software for free on all of our Proactive Service Plans at Micro Doctor. We currently monitor almost 1000 business customers with the help our AVG antivirus and we have several hundred on enforced antivirus from Sonicwall powered by McAfee Antivirus.

The key to success with any antivirus application, is to keep it up to date, apply anti-virus upgrades, and Windows Update patches when available. Some of these Windows patches must be applied manually as they are not included in the Critical updates that can be automatically applied. Most machines we find with a virus infection do not have up-to-date Antivirus or Microsoft Windows Patches.

If you would like a free security assessment, contact Micro Doctor, Inc. on our website form.

Written by Mark Richmond, MCSE, CSSA Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist at Micro Doctor Inc. 11/21/2011

Micro Doctor is upgrading its infrastructure to utilize a private cloud set-up. What is a Private Cloud network? There are 2 currently accepted interpretations. The first widely used definition is when the server from your office is placed in a data center in another city. If you run all your operations from the remote server via a secure VPN connection, that is considered a private cloud. This server in the cloud is private, meaning it is your company’s server, not a shared folder on a multi-tenant server.

The other interpretation of a private cloud is to take a server in your own building and load smaller virtual servers on one faster, more rubust machine. Hence, you are creating one cloud server that is private and runs multiple virtual servers in a virtual cloud on that single piece of hardware. The Cloud does not necessarily mean it is on someone else’s internet connection. Rackspace doesn’t own the cloud. They have a connection to the internet just like your office and our office has. The fact that Micro Doctor has remote users logging in from laptops, home offices and smart phones makes us a cloud provider also. Our private cloud server will house many virtual servers on one highly redundant multi-processer machine in our office data center with a fiber connection to the internet.

Why are we going to the Private Cloud model? Like many companies, we need to refresh or upgrade our servers frequently to keep up with the loads we place on them and experience peak performance. Our servers perform Email, Web Hosting, SQL Server, Remote backup and manage our business operations. Since our servers were due to be replaced for performance reasons, this model provides us both maximum control of our business assets and maximum performance. So why choose the Private Cloud with multiple Virtual Servers on it? There are many reasons for this decision. The first is energy savings. We have been certified by the Green Business League as a green company, which basically means we passed a series of tests that measured how we utilize technology to save energy. Things like emailing invoices, online statements, smart phone sign off sheets and now Private Cloud servers are all a part of this initiative.

Another reason to move multiple servers onto one platform is cost savings, both in the initial cost of not having to buy multiple physical servers and the long term cost of maintaining multiple servers. Both Microsoft Hyper V, and VMWare offer good platforms for hosting virtual servers. They run on a single host server but each virtual server has their own license and management interface. By building a private cloud onsite, you avoid the monthly hosting fees and bandwidth costs associated with placing your server offsite in someone else’s data center. With the server in your own office you have the fastest connection to it; typically 1Gbs compared to fraction of that speed for the typical (and expensive) high speed bandwidth pipes. This allows programs to run much faster than those hosted in the public cloud, where application speed is entirely dependent on the speed of your broadband connection. Security is another reason companies are keeping their servers in their own building.

There is one cloud offering that does make sense and that is offsite backup. In the event that something catastrophic happens to your building, off-site backup, combined with virtualization enables your business to be back up and running within hours, instead of days (with conventional backup), or never (if you don’t have a backup). Micro Doctor offers multiple options for offsite backup and disaster recovery. We don’t just offer a one-size-fits-all approach. We analyze our clients’ needs and find the right match of onsite and offsite backup that is safe and secure for their data. I still recall just last summer the amount of natural disasters and tornados that ravaged hundreds of businesses, from Joplin MO., to flooding in the Northeast. Those with solid disaster recovery plans are likely back in business and doing fine.  Those who didn’t plan ahead, are likely out of business.

We have already installed a number of private cloud server implementations for our customers. From our follow-up reviews, the feedback we’re receiving is that they like the security, speed, costs savings, manageability and peace of mind that this paradigm offers.

So what does this mean for you? If you are a current customer, you may notice our systems getting upgraded. You may notice a new web portal for logging service calls and new interface for email retrieval. It means your technology provider is constantly upgrading and learning new technologies, so when you are ready to upgrade your network infrastructure, you can count on us to provide the most effective technology at reasonable prices, because we have done it before.

If you are not a current customer you might want to invite us in for a free network assessment. Find out why Micro Doctor is the most experienced IT provider in Northeast Ohio

Written by Mark Richmond, MCSE, CSSA Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist at Micro Doctor Inc.

I am usually an early adopter of technology. My profession and position make it necessary to be on the bleeding edge of many new technology services and products to gain the expertise to implement them for our clients. One exception to this trend has been Windows 7 64 bit. I have been on Windows 7 32 bit for over 2 years and have resisted the move to Windows 7 64 bit. Even though most of the Windows Servers we have installed are 64bit most of the desktops have been 32 bit installations. There is nothing wrong with staying on Windows 7 32bit for most users. But for me the early adopter, gadget freak, technology geek, I needed more. Typically I have 8 to 10 internet explorer windows open on not 2, but 3 desktop screens. I use Outlook, Word, Quickbooks, and many additional programs all at the same time. It was amazing to see how much of my resources Iexplore (internet explorer) had allocated for itself on my old PC.

The biggest limitation for me on Windows 7 32bit was the amount of memory you can use with it. It is limited to 4 GB. While 4 GB is not bad I needed more than 4 GB to run my programs efficiently, and that is why I just upgraded to the new Intel  I7 Quad core processor with 16 Gb of ram. The conversion wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be because I used the built in Windows 7 Easy Transfer program. All of my shortcuts, favorites, documents and IE tweaks came across with ease. I still had to reinstall most programs but now I am running Windows 7 64 bit computer with 16 GB of RAM and programs are popping up much more quickly.

So if you are one of those people that need your PC to be amazingly fast, check out Window 7 64 bit for additional resources needed to
run todays applications, multitask and even run multimedia applications at explosive speeds.

There is however one problem I wanted to report to you. It did not have to do with Windows 7 64 bit, it had to do with Office 2010 64 bit. I figured I had Windows 64 bit and I should run Office 2010 64 bit, but to my surprise my link to scan to email from my printer no longer would work with Outlook 2010 64 bit. So I unistalled Office 2010 64 bit and went back to Office 2010 32 bit and I am much happier with my overall set-up.

I have had several GPS units over the years. Unfortunately the cost of annual map updates makes the price of an updated GPS unreasonable. I could update my GPS for $100.00 or buy a new GPS for $129.99, but it hardly
seems worth it. So I just kept my GPS, ignored the nag screens from Garmin and hoped I still would get to my destination. I even tried using my iPhone for a GPS but this has its drawbacks because when you get a call, your directions disappear.

So when I saw an ad for a new Garmin with lifetime maps I was in. I ordered it and everything seemed great….. until, the ads started
showing up. Much like Facebook, AOL and Pandora the service is free but you must endure the ads popping up at inopportune moments. Isn’t that why we buy DVRs and TIVOs? So we don’t have to watch commercials? Well, it was like that for a while on those services, but now the ads are embedded inside the shows. If someone drives up in a BMW or drinks a Coca Cola in a sitcom, then that is part of the advertising package sold to support that show or network.

While so far the ads on the GPS are small and you can switch screens to get rid of them, it remains unknown how far they will take this. So
if you are looking for a GPS with free lifetime maps make sure you are ready for free lifetime ads on your GPS screen.

Nearly three years ago Micro Doctor took the leap into the world of VOIP and SIP phone lines by teaming up with Allworx and Xcast Labs. The experience of converting customers to Internet phones has been very rewarding
since we are saving the average customer 50% over what their old phone company was charging for phone service.  Since then we have been looking for a reasonable and reliable Internet Fax Solution. We are ready to introduce the IFaxDr product, which is combination of a small converter box and a FAX SIP line. We use your existing Fax Machine, Copier/Fax or Multifunction Printer, unplug the phone cable from the wall, and plug it
into a small “ATA device”, which also connects to a LAN or Internet cable. That’s it!

Below are some common questions we hear about this service and the answers that show how incredibly easy and cost efficient  it is.

1. But what about my FAX NUMBER?  Most times we can “Port” your fax number to our banks of fax modems so no change is necessary.
2. So we can cancel our fax line and save $50.00 to $70.00 dollars a month? You can cancel your fax line after we port your number and thecost on most normal usage IFaxDr fax lines is $28.90 a month.
3. How does it work? Well you go to the current fax machine, type in the destination fax number and hit send just like you do now. However, our ATA device converts that Fax to a HTTPS: (internet) signal and it gets sent to our Fax Modem Banks, where we convert it back to analog so it is completely compatible with all your vendors’ and customers’ analog fax machines.
4. What about when we receive faxes? Well, your sender still sends it normally to the same fax number. We receive the fax into our Fax Modem
   banks, then we send it across the internet to the IFaxDr ATA device, which then converts it to analog so your fax machine receives it as an analog fax just like before.
5. Wouldn’t it be great if my incoming faxes were automatically converted to PDF format and received into one or more e-mail accounts on my
   computer? IFaxDr does this with ease.  Fax Logs and Sent fax confirmations can be sent there also.

We are using this system ourselves and are converting customers every day. Find out how the IFaxDr service can save you money,
provide better service and help you go green by sending faxes to email.

October 22, 2009, Windows 7 was released from Microsoft as the new long awaited replacement to Windows Vista and Windows XP. There are 3 versions of Windows 7; Home, Pro, and Ultimate. The easiest way to decide which version to get, is when in doubt, go with “Pro”. Why? I knew you were going to ask this. There are some significant features that Windows 7 Home or Home Premium do not have. The most significant is Remote Desktop. Without  Win7 Pro, you will not be able to remotely access you Windows 7 Home PC using the free and built-in remote desktop application. That doesn’t mean you can’t use Logmein or Gotomypc, but why pay monthly for something you can do for FREE with Windows 7 Pro and Ultimate.

It has been 17 months since the introduction of Windows 7 and Windows XP has almost been completely removed from the marketplace. So what if you have an older application that is critical to your business and you are not sure if it will run correctly on Windows 7. Well that brings me to the second compelling reason to buy your next PC with Windows 7 Pro. Windows 7 Pro and Ultimate have a feature called XP mode. XP Mode also requires a decent processor with VT capability.

XP Mode will run the older operating system (Windows XP Pro) in a virtual environment inside of Win7 for maximum compatibility with older applications. In fact, Microsoft is claiming that XP Mode provides near perfect Windows XP compatibility within Windows 7. A minimum of 2 GB RAM is needed for XP Mode. XP Mode will utilize and require virtualization technologies in recent processors such as Intel VT. Often hardware virtualization will need to be enabled in the system BIOS too. Now the confusion surfaces for many owners of recent Intel CPUs. Even if you have a Core 2 Duo or Quad , that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have what it takes to run XP Mode in Windows 7.

Micro Doctor supplies only VT enabled PCs to its customers. Some of the value with dealing with us versus Dell is “we got your back”. Other companies will sell you a $299.00 pc with Windows 7 Home that will not run XP Mode. WE WON’T DO THAT!

Here is the latest list I could find of VT supported processors.

Intel Processors with have VT-x

EXTREME: i7-980x, i7-975, i7-965,
DESKTOP: i7-970, i7-960, i7-950, i7-940, i7-930, i7-920, i7-880, i7-875K, i7-870S, i7-870, i7-860S, i7-860,
DESKTOP: i5-760, i5-750S, i5-750, i5-680, i5-670, i5-661, i5-660, i5-655K, i5-650,
DESKTOP: i3-560, i3-550, i3-540, i3-530,
CORE 2 EXTREME: X6800, QX9775, QX9770, QX9650, QX6850, QX6800, QX6700,
DESKTOP CORE 2 QUAD: Q9650, Q9550S, Q9550, Q9505S, Q9505, Q9500, Q9450, Q9400S, Q9400, Q9300, Q8400S, Q8400, Q6700, Q6600
DESKTOP CORE 2 DUO: E8600, E8500, E8400, E8300, E8200, E7600, E6850, E6750, E6700, E6600, E6550, E6540, E6420, E6400, E6320, E6300,
DESKTOP: Pentium 4 HT 672, Pentium 4 HT 662,
DESKTOP: Celeron E3500, Celeron E3400, Celeron E3300, Celeron E3200, Celeron 1.83GHz 1M cache 667MHz FSB, Celeron 1.66GHz 1M cache 667MHz FSB,
ATOM: D525, D510, D425, D410,

it appears that all the currently shipping processors have virtualization except for some lower-end models. so don’t buy cheap.

Windows 7 Home would be OK for a college student or home user who never brings their computer to the workplace.

Windows 7 Pro is the business standard and with features like Bitlocker (encryption), Remote Desktop and XP Mode. This is our pick.

Windows 7 Ultimate is Windows 7 Pro with Media Center functions like recording TV and controlling home media centers.

We have released our latest Platform for Business Level PC’s using Windows 7 Pro

Here is our new MDI Intel I5 PC offering.

Copyright 2011 – Mark Richmond, MCSE at Micro Doctor Inc.

Posted via email from Micro Doctor’s Blog Central

Facebook started rolling out an HTTPS: option of connecting to Facebook a few weeks ago. I logged in today and got this notice.

I agree on the surface, HTTPS: would be a more secure way to access Facebook.

However this feature is very new. It was just added to some accounts last week as an option.

Facebook is still testing https:

There are a few things you should keep in mind before deciding to enable HTTPS.

Encrypted pages take longer to load, so you may notice that Facebook is slower using HTTPS.

In addition, some Facebook features, including many third-party applications,

are not currently supported in HTTPS. Facebook will be working hard to resolve these remaining issues. Facebook is rolling this out slowly over the next few weeks, but you will be able to turn this feature on in your Account Settings soon.

What happens now is that Facebook will automatically ask you to switch to unsecure access when the APP does not support HTTPS: or SSL.

Here is the message you get when you leave the secure connection to work with an APP.

While on FB, look at your URL address (the very top box on your screen.)

If you see “http:” instead of “https:” then you DO NOT have a secure session.

To manually set HTTPS: login preference Go to Account – Account Settings

- Account Security – click Change. Check the box labeled “Secure Browsing” – Click Save

Copyright 2011: Mark Richmond, MCSE at Micro Doctor Inc.