May 21, 2012

Posts Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for Microsoft

International Patch Everything Week

August 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Security updates are really piling up this week to keep up with a number of vulnerabilities in lots of different programs and operating systems. So much so that we’ve declared this (un-officially!):

August 7-13th, 2011 is International Patch Everything Week

 

Computer Bandage

Microsoft Advisories

It started early this week when we were informed by the US-CERT that all of these products had vulnerabilities that would be addressed in updates from Microsoft:

  • Microsoft Windows
  • Microsoft Office
  • Internet Explorer
  • .NET Framework
  • Microsoft Developer Tools

That for the record is pretty much everything in the Microsoft world at least for the typical desktop user (except the developer tools of course). That was not the end of the notices for the week.

Adobe Advisories

Today we were informed of a plethora of Adobe product security updates:

  • Shockwave Player 11.6.0.626 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh
  • Flash Media Server 4.0.2 and earlier versions for Windows and Linux
  • Flash Media Server 3.5.6 and earlier versions for Windows and Linux
  • Adobe Flash Player 10.3.181.36 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Solaris operating systems
  • Adobe Flash Player 10.3.185.25 and earlier versions for Android
  • Adobe AIR 2.7 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, and Android
  • Adobe Photoshop CS5 and CS5.1 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh
  • RoboHelp 9 (versions 9.0.1.232 and earlier), RoboHelp 8, RoboHelp Server 9, and RoboHelp Server 8 for Windows

This array of products covers pretty much any PC based client computer and Android to boot. So don’t delay when you are notified of new updates available this week, just run them all.

Need help finding updates?

You can refer to the original bulletins for details on your device/pc:

For Adobe Products:

Security update available for Adobe Shockwave Player

Security update available for Adobe Flash Media Server

Security update available for Adobe Flash Player

Security update available for Adobe Photoshop CS5

Security updates available for RoboHelp

For Microsoft Products:

  • Security updates are available from Microsoft Download Center. You can find them most easily by doing a keyword search for “security update”.
  • Updates for consumer platforms are available from Microsoft Update

Warning: As always consult your IT department before applying software fixes. Also be aware that some software patches can cause problems.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Filed Under: IT Professionals, News, Security Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Windows 7 Video Tip – Adding new items to the sendto menu

March 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Example Sendto Menu

Typical Sendto Menu

When you right click a file or folder on your Windows 7 computer there are several menus available, one of them is the “sendto” menu. This allows you to easily send that file or folder to that program or folder. One important option that is missing in this menu is the notepad program. In this video I demonstrate how to add new items to the sendto menu or specifically the notepad program in the example. You can use it for almost anything a program, network drive even an FTP server.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed Under: Business/Productivity, Howto, Quicktips, Videos Tagged With: , ,

Outlook Tip Drag and Drop Scheduling (Video)

September 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This video demonstrates drag and drop scheduling in Outlook 2010. I’ve been using the Outlook Calendar feature and stopped using tasks all together for the most part. If you’re looking to improve your scheduling efficiency check out this video.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed Under: Business/Productivity, Howto, Quicktips, Videos Tagged With: , , , , ,

Powerpoint Tip Slideshow in a Window (Video)

August 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Ever try to record a screencast of a Powerpoint presentation? If you have you may have noticed like I did that you cannot easily run the presentation slideshow within a window small enough for a practical screencast. After doing some research I discovered that there are some not so well documented features for Powerpoint 2007/2010 that will allow you to run your presentation in a window. This would be particularly useful if you were doing some kind of mashup.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Business/Productivity, Howto, Quicktips, Videos Tagged With: , , , , ,

Quick Tip MrFixit for Windows Update Issues

July 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Have you ever encountered errors with Windows Update or had it just stop prompting you all-together? This might be the solution to your problem. Either way it is a web page at Microsoft that will provide the right tool depending on what Operating system you are running.

To run the utility navigate to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058 and click on the Microsoft Fix It icon or link:

Mr Fixit Utility

You will have one option that can be selected, only use this option if the first attempt without it checked was not successful:

Mr Fixit Aggressive Options

After running the utility in either mode an additional screen will pop up with other options:

MrFixit Complete

If after a restart you still experience issues, you can run the utility again to access the help links in the utility. Microsoft does provide free support for windows update issues.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Filed Under: Howto, IT Professionals, Quicktips Tagged With: , , , ,

Updated Windows 7 Application Compatibility List

January 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Microsoft has created a new Application Compatibility List for Windows 7. While they state it is for IT professionals anyone can access it via their website. If you are unsure if applications you need will work (use this link to learn about how to make anything compatible if it is not on the list below) with Windows 7 this is a great place to start:

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: IT Professionals Tagged With: , , ,

Windows 7 is Ready for Business

December 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

It has been a long time since we’ve recommended an initial release of a Microsoft Operating system for business use but we’ve reached that plateau again with Windows 7. We are encouraging our clients to implement Windows 7 when replacing existing systems. There are of course always exceptions to this recommendation, the most important being resource intensive older software applications such as design and cad software. They need to be evaluated for compatibility prior to making the shift. Your basic business machine will happily function with 7, and worse case you can offer reliable compatibility through the Windows XP Compatibility Mode.

If you are considering upgrading existing machines to Windows 7 or purchasing a new computer with Windows 7 installed feel free to contact us for an honest, experienced opinion on what you might want to consider in the process. You don’t have to be a customer or become one, but we’re pretty confident that once you get to know us you will want to be one.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: Business/Productivity, News, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Windows 7 Using Sticky Notes

November 29, 2009 By 1 Comment

Not everyone uses Outlook or a similar program to store their tasks and reminders, or perhaps they might seek something a little more visual. Windows 7 sticky notes will deliver that for you. This video will demonstrate to you how to access, create, change and delete sticky notes on your Windows 7 equipped computer.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: Howto, Technology, Videos Tagged With: , , , , ,

Windows 7 Quicktip Aero Snap Feature

November 28, 2009 By 1 Comment

The Aero snap feature on Windows 7 is really useful. You can use it to maximize a window by left clicking and dragging that window to the top of the screen or drag left or right to have the active program use that half of the screen. This is what you might see in the Microsoft commercial. There is a small problem, what if you have 2 or more monitors? It doesn’t work unless you drag it all the way to the right, left or top most screen edge. You can actually use this feature even with multiple screens by using the windows key + arrow keys, these are the affects:

  • Winkey + L/R Arrow cycles the active window through all available visible options (Right Half, Left Half, Normal, Maximize)
  • Winkey + Up Arrow Maximizes the active window
  • Winkey + Down Arrow Minimizes the active window

These are must know keyboard shortcuts for Windows 7 users with 2 or more monitors and I like them even on single screens. Please note this does require the Aero interface to be enabled and not all computers support it. For a demonstration of this feature check out this video:

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: Howto, Quicktips, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Office 2010 Beta is Public

November 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Microsoft made a couple of big announcements today, first that the 2010 Beta is available and anyone can participate. The second big announcement was the Social Media Connector included in Office 2010. If you’re interested in learning more check out this article on Microsoft’s MSDN blog. If you’d like to skip the article and jump to the goods go download the beta from Microsoft’s 2010 site.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed Under: News, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,
« Older Posts