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Microsoft End Of Support Expirations in 2010

Rod Hatley — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:56:35 +0000

Microsoft has several upcoming End of Support dates that all users of Microsoft Windows should know about. End of Support means that Microsoft will no longer create updates or hot fixes to address issues with the products. The most important point to this is that Microsoft no longer patch security issues for these products that are out of support.

All versions of Windows 2000 will go out of support on July 13, 2010. The only way to address this is to upgrade to a newer version of Windows. Please consult your IT provider on options to replace any Windows 2000 systems as soon as possible to limit your exposure.

Windows XP Service Pack 2 will go out of support on July 13, 2010. This can be addressed by upgrading to the latest service pack from Microsoft. It is recommended that all users of Windows XP apply Service Pack 3.

Windows Vista with no service pack (RTM) will go out of support on April 13, 2010. This can be addressed by upgrading to the latest service pack from Microsoft. It is recommended that all users of Windows Vista apply Service Pack 2.

For more information on Microsoft’s Product Lifecycle Policy, you can checkout their FAQ.

Filed under: Information Technology, Software News Tagged: Microsoft

Microsoft Emailing You Software Updates….NOT!

Rod Hatley — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:11:20 +0000

A common ruse that hackers will use to compromise your system is to send an email to an unsuspecting user claiming to be a software update to patch their system to correct some critical security flaw. In reality, the attached file is a virus or Trojan program that will compromise your system. An example email could look like this:

Update for Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express (KB910721)

Brief Description

Microsoft has released an update for Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express. This update is critical and provides you with the latest version of the Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express and offers the highest levels of stability and security.

Instructions

Install Update for Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express (KB910721). To do this, follow these steps:

Run attached file officexp-KB910721-FullFile-ENU.exe
Restart Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express

Quick Details

File Name: officexp-KB910721-FullFile-ENU.exe
Version: 1.4
Date Published: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:50:02 +0100
Language: English
File Size: 81 KB

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000; Windows 98; Windows ME; Windows NT; Windows Server 2003; Windows XP; Windows Vista

This update applies to the following product: Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express

In the case of Microsoft, the will NEVER email you an attachment to run on your PC to fix a problem. Microsoft will always direct you to go to their software update web sites at windowsupdate.microsoft.com or update.microsoft.com. Microsoft may legitimately send you a security alert email, but they will reference one of the previous sites to get the security fix they want to communicate about.

Don’t be a victim and don’t fall for this common ruse.

Posted in Information Technology Tagged: IT support, Microsoft, updates

Microsoft Updates

Rod Hatley — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:00:10 +0000

Microsoft will publish security and critical updates and make them available for you to install on your computer to protect your system from recently discovered security problems or other issues. Typically, Microsoft will publish these on the 2nd Tuesday of the month as part of their normal updating process. Because of the large number of products Microsoft develops, there is hardly a month that goes by that there is not a couple of updates for at least one of them (Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Exchange Server, SQL Server, etc.) Sometime after that 2nd Tuesday of the month, your computer should have an icon appear down by the system tray (bottom right by the clock) that informs you that updates are ready to be installed.

For Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 or Windows 7 systems, this icon will look like this:
For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 the icon will look like this:

If you are not being prompted to install updates, check with your IT staff to have them check your computer, the automatic updates mechanism may be broken or disabled. It is important that these updates be loaded within a reasonable amount of time (within a week or so of it being released.)

It is a good idea to load these updates WHEN YOU ARE PREPARED TO REBOOT YOUR COMPUTER. Too many times we will see customers install updates and then NOT reboot the computer when prompted at the end. We periodically get support calls with quirky things going on with a computer or server and when we log on, we notice the system has not been rebooted after installing updates. We reboot the system (as it is prompting us to do that) and “Ta Da!”, the problem is fixed. The problem was caused by NOT rebooting the system after updates were installed!

Once a month, you should be seeing the icons above and installing the updates. Don’t forget to install updates on your servers too. There is a good chance if your workstation is prompting you to install updates, the server is waiting to have updates installed to. Do not even start installing updates unless you are prepared to reboot the computer.

Posted in Information Technology Tagged: Microsoft, Software, updates

Microsoft No-Cost Consumer Anti-Virus Product

Rod Hatley — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:53:45 +0000

Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue it’s current Windows Live OneCare retail product offering on June 30th, 2009 and will create a new streamlined consumer anti-malware product code named “Morro”. This no-cost solution is good news for home / consumer PC users who are prone to not take necessary steps to have their systems protected.

This product is not positioned for the corporate / business market for protecting servers, email systems, and business applications. This stream-lined product will lack some of the features or capabilities that a full enterprise protection suite like those offered by Trend, McAfee, or Symantec offer. Businesses should continue to rely on business grade anti-malware protection to make sure their workstations are effectively protected.

Find out more about this from the Microsoft Press Release here.

If you’d like more information about malware protection for your business system, give us a call at 888-865-9425.

Posted in Information Technology Tagged: Anti-Virus, IT support, Microsoft, Software, Tips