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OK, Let’s move to Office 365!

August 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I’m a traditionalist! My view of a networked office always focuses on a server for centralized management supporting a network of 3 or more workstations. The key for me is management centricity for the system, providing centralized shared file access, managed file security, network antivirus monitoring and control, file storage, housing for specialty lines of business software, and centralized scheduled backups. The challenge has always been the cost of centralization including: hardware, implementation, and maintenance. This is the cost of doing business and should be part of any technology plan. Businesses need to always be in control of their business data and that means always being in control of their technology. Control of technology means control of business image, message, and productivity.

 

Recently there has been a lot of push and hype about cloud computing services and a wide range of hosted (cloud based) offerings (Hosted Exchange, SharePoint, etc.).The salient point is to focus on the full time availability of networking/collaboration tools with increased security and productivity while deemphasizing hardware expenditures and maintenance costs. I recognize the practicality of such approaches but also am aware that this could be a threat to my livelihood.

 

My skepticism has always centered on “What if the Internet goes down?” “Where will user data be located?” “Who is in control and can I trust them?” While these questions are still valid, people have been using web based email for some time: AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc., but many business people have become familiar with Google’s Gmail because it initially offered users a more secure email. In addition, Google introduced a number of free web based utilities (Google Apps) which had immediate applied functionality.

 

With anywhere access and increased security in mind we adopted Google Premium Applications for Business. The Briscoe Network Solutions email is managed as a hosted Google business application (Gmail). Although, Gmail is always in conversation view (which I don’t always appreciate), I can access my business email from any location with Internet access; which was my primary requirement along with having email with my business domain name. I set up Google calendar to synchronize with my Outlook calendar but found that I always used my Outlook calendar and the Outlook synchronization with my phone more often. Therefore, I uninstalled my Google/Outlook synchronization tool.

 

My content manager and I also tried working with Google Docs and although she was not too concerned about Word formatting, this is essential for my writing comfort as I acquaint enterprise level productivity to mean professional quality. We both found the sharing option not satisfactory for us; although we were able to set up shared documents we found that we were not always able to edit those shared docs. This was also the experience when I tried to set up maintenance task lists with clients. In short paying $100/yr. for two accounts meets the minimum needs for Briscoe Network Solutions to have a domain name email account which is accessible from anywhere whether I have my laptop or not, but not much else.

 

I was introduced to Office Live and SkyDrive sometime ago and would periodically use it for \short term storage and for document sharing with other tech professionals. Then for months my Live Id would not work on the site; this past fall after Microsoft introduced Office Web Apps my logon problem was resolved. Since November I’ve been working with Office Web Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote) and have been quite pleased that the online versions have most of the same functionality as the Office applications already installed on my laptop. More impressive is that I’m able to integrate the desktop applications with the online applications with a minimum of problems. (Don’t forget to manually save no matter which format you are working with.) Plus, sharing documents for review and editing has been easy with no major problems. With this feeling of comfort, should Ebony Knight, Inc. (our parent company) move its network utilities online to Office 365?

 

Why? As already mentioned my focus is on small businesses and I think I should drink the “Kool-Aide” I promote and support. The Ebony Knight, Inc. domain is managed by a four year old custom made server running MS Small Business Server 2008, which hosts Exchange 2007 for email and SharePoint 3.0. In addition, we host Sophos Antivirus with Pure Message for spam filtering. Further, we filer all mail through a “smart host”, Reflexion, which filters spam and virus infected emails. I don’t plan to remove our server because I’m still committed to an on premises storage, file security, and backup but my primary utilities are email and the office suite of productivity tools. How about you?

 

My questions at this point:

 

  1. How simple is the mailbox transfer from Exchange 2007 to hosted Exchange?
  2. Will hosted Exchange provide the spam and virus filtering that I’ve become accustomed to?
  3. Will document management and collaboration (sharing) remain as convenient as with SkyDrive?
  4. Will setting up hosted SharePoint easily allow for remote user access?

 

There are a number of steps for setting my Email to function with Office 365 but I’ll report more on our transference later…

Filed Under: Blog, Office Tools, Online Tools

Are you Monitoring Professional News and Blog sites?

February 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Although we may have belabored the point with our following, Brian Posey’s wireless security articles in WindowsNetworking.com; it is important for all of us to be up to date with the latest developments and trends in our profession as well as understand the technological events that are shaping your industry.  News sites, Blogs, Newsletters, and list servers are the primary way of keeping up with the latest news and events.  “But I don’t have time to go to all of those sites every day to see what’s happening!”  If you are truly working none of us have that kind of time. Now enters RSS (most commonly expanded as Really Simple Syndication), as defined by Wikipedia as a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.[2] An RSS document (which is called a “feed”, “web feed”,[3] or “channel”) includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship.  In short, RSS feeds allow you subscribe to your favorite site or blog and have updates sent to you as needed.  A better understanding of RSS feeds in illustrated in the following videos:

and

Keep in mind that most smart phones either have an RSS feed app or you can download an RSS feed app. The only question at this point is what sites are you following?

Filed Under: Blog, Business Tools, Online Tools Tagged With:

SharePointHosting.com’s – SharePoint Demystified

January 24, 2011 By 1 Comment

When I  first started this site I added a number of “How to…” videos  from Robert Crane which now make up the core of our SharePoint section.  It’s has been awhile since I’ve added anything new to this section.  Too often I find that SharePoint sites have more to do with the technical/administration side of managing the software or touting the latest version rather than how to work with SharePoint as a tool.  We believe that browser based applications are the future of productive technology.

With that in mind, I direct you to a site that I just discovered that I think will help you understand how to use SharePoint in your business, SharePointHosing.com’s-SharePoint Demystified.  Whether it’s SharePoint, Dream Weaver, Excel or any new program, to become proficient with software requires training.  What I like most about the site is the included numerous videos for the visual learner, which give a clearer understanding of the user interface and functions of the application.  Interested in SharePoint? Take a look at this site:

http://blog.sharepointhosting.com/Downloads/SharePoint-Tutorials.aspx

Filed Under: Blog, Browser Apps, Business Tools, Sharepoint Tagged With: ,

Are you ready for the cloud? Part 2

November 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Much of the hype about browser computing is as if it were a great mystery or new slice of bread but most of us are already involved with various forms of “cloud” computing as we check our bank balance; send email using our Gmail, Yahoo, MSN accounts;  pay our telephone bill online; review our stock selections;  create online photo albums and order books or movies. So the concept of Cloud (browser) computing is not new but rather a different way to leverage the flexibility of internet-based applications. The questions is: will components of cloud computing replace your current hardware/software infrastructure?

One of the innovators in cloud computing that I respect is Scott Barlow, of Reflexion Networks. Scott noted the following in an article in ChannelPro Magazine:

“Technology practitioners increasingly recognize that we are moving toward a purchase/delivery model in which, as former Gartner Group VP Craig Baty observed, customers are shifting from the “acquisition of assets to the acquisition of access.” Of course, what’s driving this shift are the compelling advantages of the model, such as avoiding the time and expense of deploying and maintaining on-premises software and hardware, swapping capital budget dollars for operating budget dollars, and potentially freeing up internal resources for other priorities, even “going green.’“

The assumption is that the hardware and software costs of computer/server, operating systems, and business productivity software can be supplanted by ongoing less expensive monthly subscription web based services. Although we believe this to be basically true it is not all inclusive. Realistically, as a business owner you are looking at two aspects of the situation:

  • Are there online applications you will integrate into your network to leverage online computing power for a more reasonable cost without the hassles of on-site network hardware or software management?
  • Can you move all of your network computer functions to the cloud?

The first example is most easily demonstrated by Google Apps with a branded (xxx@yourdomainname.com) email, shared calendars and documents. At $50 per year per user this becomes an inexpensive option for a small company that doesn’t have specialty line of business software. Most significant, users no longer need to be in the same physical location to access work tools. Google Apps and Microsoft BPOS (soon to be Office 365) try to fill that all in one niche and although I think they are quite functional, they aren’t as helpful when specialty applications are needed, sensitive documents need to be stored or there are large capacity needs.

There are a number of specialty apps which can complement both a cloud and/or hardware infrastructure, such as customer relationship management tools such as Salesforce, Sugar CRM and Microsoft Dynamics CRM; accounting tools such as QuickBooks Online; secure professional document exchange such as Acct1st.com and Experience Denistry; or collaboration tools from 37 Signals. These niche online tools may serve your needs by not requiring additional hardware or software expenses for your network infrastructure; recognizing that the process of “going to the cloud”, doesn’t have to be an all in one solution.

More specifically, my first question is what is your motivation? In tech parlance we often talk about what is your pain, i.e., what is the problem you are trying to solve? It becomes imperative that you become specific about what’s your motivation is and what problem you want to solve. From my point of view this can be two questions.

For example, it’s time to replace your server or upgrade your workstations or even purchase your first server. Traditional thinking would involve the cost of a new server, the cost of migrating data and services from the old to the new, the time commitment for this change and does it involve any down time effecting staff and clients. A more prudent way of looking at the situation would to consider what functions does the server perform?

  • Is or will you be hosting your email on the server? If so, will this include calendar sharing? Can this function be better served with hosted Exchange or another form of hosted email? Will the online solution integrate with your on-site server? Do you need it to? What is the monthly subscription cost?
  • Does/will your server host any direct business applications? Are there online offerings from your specialty vendor? Does the online version have the same functionality as the on-site version? Does the online version need to integrate into your on-site software or online email client? Client database? Inventory and price listing? What is the monthly subscription cost?
  • Many specialty solutions may not work for your business “out of the box” and may need to be customized; can you do the customizations? What are the costs associated with customizing the user interface or database?
  • Is your server used for document storage and collaboration? How sensitive is the information? Do you need to manage various versions of documents? If so, is there an adequate online solution for this? How much data do you need to store online? What is the security level of the stored online data? Where is it the online data stored?
  • Does the server manage data backup? Is there a cost effective online backup option? My bias here is that there should always be on site backup for rapid operational recovery and minimum business down time.

You and your technology support person should ask these questions to vendor tech support persons when considering online solutions. Note, I said vendor technology support persons, not the sales person. The motivation for the sales person is often too self-evident but a tech person should know how his/her solution will work with work with your needs and thus minimize the support calls you will have to make to them. We’ve all had some “sales” person offer a product just for pennies a day and that is one of the prime allures for online services, i.e., a subscription based approach is a most cost effective way to handle technology infrastructure. I suggest that you take a long look at the time cost of money. If your server costs you $2500 plus $2500 installation, that is $5000 plus normal maintenance over an expected life time of the server of 3-5 years. On the other hand, an hosted exchange option with SharePoint which costs $14/mailbox, the cost for a 10 user office over 5 years is $8400 plus setup and maintains; whereas, a 25 user office would cost $21000.

In conclusion, we aren’t trying to come up with an outline of specific rules for whether you should “go to the cloud”; because we realize that you are already using various browser solutions in your everyday life. More importantly, we have suggested that you begin taking a serious look at how you use technology in your business. Briscoe Network Solutions runs well with Google premier apps for email for two people ($50/year/person); Constant Contact ($135/year); and Word Press blogging site ($250 setup including hosting). On the other hand, Ebony Knight, Inc. our parent company is server based as we backup documents from workstations, host QuickBooks database, Exchange database, SharePoint, integrated antivirus for the network, and we use a smart host to filter our incoming email. What works for us may not work for you, but asking yourself some key questions can help you find the solution that is both cost effective and compatible with your business needs.

Filed Under: Blog, Online Tools, Resource Center Tagged With: , , ,

BizSpark! Do you qualify for free Microsoft Software?

May 18, 2010 By 2 Comments

A friend pointed out to me that for entrepreneurs and startups that are working on developing new online tools there is a Microsoft resource that can provide support for new businesses. I don’t qualify for a number of reasons but I thought I’d make you aware of BizSpark; a Microsoft initiative aimed at assisting startups and young entrepreneurial businesses. Not only do they have the opportunity to work with the latest tools, but Microsoft also provides technical support, assess to the MS Azure platform, and training in good business practices. You’ll find answers as to how it works, what you’ll get, and how to qualify at the following link:  http://www.bizspark.com

Filed Under: Blog, Microsoft, Online Tools, Resource Center Tagged With: , , ,

Corey’s Corner: I Have a Website, Now What?

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

So you’ve taken the plunge and created a website. Now what? Never fear, you’re not alone when it comes to not knowing the next step of internet marketing. My next series of blog posts should help get your mind going in the right direction as well as provide a few resources for you to lean on.

The first thing you should know about internet marketing is that it has very little to do with traditional marketing. This isn’t Valpak or your local newspaper. It’s the world wide internet, and it takes a different thought process to reach your target audience. One of the biggest mental block’s I’ve experienced working with my clients is the jump from a relatively captive audience to being forced to lure in your potential customers. Not only do you need to offer a valuable service, you need to offer it the right way with the right content and vehicle to capture your target demographic.

Step 1: Figure out who you want to target with your website. Everyone wants more sales, but who buys your products? What do you think you would be looking for online if you needed your own services? How would you look for your services? Putting yourself in the customer’s shoes is an excellent way to formulate a plan.

Step 2: Form a cohesive plan. You need to know what your expectations concerning your website are, and then you need to ask yourself what you need to accomplish those goals. This could require the hiring of outside professionals to fill in your knowledge or skill gaps, but we’ll talk about that later. Right now, you’re planning, and hopefully budgeting, for your website.

Another part of the plan is to figure out how your website will connect with your business. Is it meant to be your one and only way to get customers? Do you just want it so customers can see what your brick and mortar store offers? Perhaps you just want to have a web presence for now, and only want to post basic information and contact information. All of these are viable uses of a website, and can help your business. You just need to choose which is right for you, and build your plan around your needs. (Remember, the best part about having something on the internet is that it’s easy to change! Your website can always be updated to change with your needs.)

Step 3: Educate yourself! While it can be frustrating and uncomfortable to acknowledge that you don’t know anything or very little about creating a website, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t know what SEO, Paid Search or Local Search are? Research! Wikipedia can be an excellent resource, as can technical blogs and many other internet resources. In addition to Wikipedia, Google Webmaster Tools has a set of guidelines that are good to know. As they are dense and in what I lovingly call “netspeak”, I do recommend Feedthebot.com, where the guidelines are explained in a more friendly manner. Still confused about what some of the information means? Run unfamiliar words through an online tech dictionary.

I know it sounds and feels a little like researching a paper, but trust me, the better informed you are about the internet, websites and internet marketing, the better off you’ll be. Even if you only know the basics of what some things are and want to hire a professional to take care of it, knowing a little protects you from obvious swindlers that try to trick the unsavvy with doublespeak and buzz words. Avoiding even one of these can save you loads of  money and keeps you free to find a good specialist to help you manage your site.

I understand that this post only covers the rudimentary basics of managing your website. See it as a way to readjust your thinking on what this new website is and what it can do for you. There’s a very fine line between taking up real estate on the internet and having a useful, revenue-producing website, and walking that line takes dedication and passion. As long as you care about your internet presence and are willing to put the time in to keeping your website up to date, you’ll do fine.

Filed Under: Corey's Corner, Online Tools Tagged With: , , , ,

We don’t collaborate!

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Often when I talk to small businesses about collaboration, I’m told “we don’t collaborate” and I stand there with my mouth open. I think of how many emails are sent trying to finalize a report, update an inventory list, review a plan, etc. Email is immediate which makes us feel good because we got “it” off our desk or checked off our list and now we are ready for “next”. But email isn’t efficient, personal, intuitive or secure. Assuming that our email was received we are always waiting for the response. I think of collaboration as more than just sharing information; collaboration is working together on a common problem with a common goal, and tools. Our dependence on technology is sometimes like the “forest for the trees”; we forget the importance of personal communication to our business.

The real question of collaboration is whom do you work with and what is the nature of that relationship? Often current communications and information share approaches are impersonal and static. We download poor quality deck pages from presentation power point slides with limited or no context. The opportunity to work with someone on a project is a means to develop a relationship which could mean a more cohesive staff or better working relationship with a colleague or client. We believe that stronger working relationships make for more cohesive businesses and business relationships. Let’s look at those relationships more closely.

Whom do you share or work with? The obvious answer is our office or company colleagues. The more business minded of us expand these networks to include clients and some vendors engaging with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, MeetUp, BizNik, etc. What other relationships do you seek? In order to publish this blog, I collaborate with a content manager and a technical adviser. If you are a web designer and spend time complaining about a client who can’t get content to you, have you considered working with a copy writer who can assist the client to firm up their content and meet deadlines? Also, do you know a good cartoonist or graphic illustrator to shore up your weak areas?

I have a friend Aaron Lind, www.executive-data.com, who markets time keeping systems; of course he markets to employers but he also partners with accountants and payroll services. The issue isn’t the technology but who can he work with. If you are a real estate agent, in addition to a good client and mortgage company, what level of rapport do you have with home inspectors, home repair specialists, home stagers, plumbers, electricians, painters, carpet cleaners, and commercial and residential cleaning services? Can you think of more examples?

As the “cloud” grows, more tools will become available for all types of businesses. the option for small businesses to grow through collaboration is enormous as more niches are created from specialty skills and unique relationships. Technology, the tool, is a fact of business life and a critical investment for your business but in growing your business I challenge you to examine your concept of collaboration. Review the list categories and members in your social and business networking groups, who can you, share with? Can you create a unique niche in which to market?

Filed Under: Blog, Business Tools, Online Tools, Social Media

Corey’s Corner | Is Flash Dead?

March 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

You’ve probably already heard about what Apple’s Steve Jobs has to say about Flash already. As explained in numerous blog posts, one linked here to give you the gist of the situation, the Apple guru himself indicated that he felt Flash was dead, and HTML5 was the future, at least for Apple products. He cited that Flash is a “CPU Hog”, and several other unflattering things about the program.

So, no Flash for the iPad. Or the iPhone apparently. Now, what does that mean to the rest of us? While HTML5 is an interesting prospect and an emerging technology for sure, could it actually kill Flash? Not if Adobe, the company that created and continues to develop Flash, has anything to say about it. They’ve already rallied with claims that there aren’t any problems with Flash they are aware of, and that if Apple wants improvements, they need only ask. On top of that, Flash is used so widely throughout the internet, once hailed as the new avant-garde way to design interactive web pages, a gradual phase out could take years.

That said, we have to realize that Flash is indeed an older, matured program. Users have had a chance to give the program limits, and have found what it can and can’t do. HTML5 is new, shiny and can appear limitless. This is what I think Jobs was getting at. It’s not so much Flash not performing the way he wants, but it hasn’t done anything to absolutely wow him lately. HTML5 could be the cutting new wave of the internet, and he doesn’t want Apple to miss out. So far, they’ve managed to squash competition by staying ahead of the game by bringing completed products to market that grab an almost captive fanbase. It could be a legitimate fear that Flash will hold them back while other developers run with HTML5 and create the new internet. Steve Jobs wouldn’t want to miss out on that, and neither should you in the long run. Yet, the big question is: why does this matter to those of us that don’t build websites?

The first is that if you have a website, there is a good chance you have Flash somewhere on it. Remember that slick image that changes the picture when you put your mouse cursor over it, or how your site is more one seamless image than blocks of text with images? Surprise, your site has Flash on it, or another of the interactive animation programs out there, such as Silverlight, offered by Microsoft. If Flash were to suddenly fall out of favor with developers and companies that build products that use the internet, it would mean support for that program would slowly start to drop from browsers and cause customers coming to your site to not see it properly or even at all if your site is more Flash than traditional content such as text. It would cost you money to upgrade your website, and more than likely cause a headache as your web designer tries to recreate the feel you loved with new technology.

Flash isn’t evil, or a dinosaur quite yet. It has its uses, and Adobe could shock and wow us in the near future as they develop the program further. What it means to all of us that use Flash on our websites is that we should be mindful of how dependent your site is on Flash, or really any technology beyond HTML and CSS coding, which should always be supported. If that sentence just now didn’t make any sense to you, talk with your site designer! While you don’t need to know everything there is to know about web design, you should know what it uses to work. It’s the same as knowing how fast your internet connection is, while not going into the details of WHY it’s fast.

All of this falls back on what I would like to accomplish through this blog. Everyone should know the “whys” of owning and maintaining a website, even if they don’t have to time to focus on the “hows”. Just as knowing your network is important, knowing at least vaguely how your site operates can help save you a lot of trouble in the end. Especially if, for instance, Flash is suddenly gone one of these days.

Filed Under: Blog, Browser Apps Tagged With: , , , ,

Online Backup Vendors: Major Players Lists

March 25, 2010 By 1 Comment

In preparation for my last article on online backup, I asked some of my peers what online backup tools they preferred; my intent was to compile a list of most favored by local small business IT support professionals. In true tech fashion I got two suggestions: a reference to other lists and a question regarding capabilities. As I reviewed the lists I was well aware that I was looking for options other than iBackup, which I directly resell, and BackupRX, which I like but thought was priced higher than I thought reasonable for my client base. For you, the consumer, it’s more than likely relevant that I note why IT pros support/partner/resell for a particular vendor(s):

  1. Establishing a secondary source of income is self-evident: It’s simply a good business practice to offer additional value above and beyond IT support.
  2. Familiarity with utilities that a service provider deploys from site to site simplifies and standardizes the support process: using familiar tools eases installation and support maintenance, thus saving time and costs to the client. Further, this standardization makes troubleshooting more efficient site to site over time.
  3. The more familiar a vendor becomes with a reseller the better the vendor technical support when needed.

With that in mind, here is the current online backup matrix I give to clients: (Please note entries marked in red are noted to be most popular for home use.)

Company Service Link Cost: $/Gb/Mo Contact Comment
Ibackup* Online Backup and Storage https://www.ibackup.com/p=briscoe_network_solutions $9.95/10GB 1-800-949-355/Reseller Includes server, PC’s, Linux, Exchange, SQL and Mac’s
Carbonite* Online Backup for Your Small Business http://www.carbonitepro.com/ $10/20GB 1-866-596-7988 SQL and Exchange? No Mac or Linux support
Mozy Pro* Mozy Home and Business backup http://mozy.com/pro
 •Desktop Licenses: $3.95 + $0.50/GB
•Server Licenses: $6.95 + $0.50/GB		 877.669.9776/Reseller Includes server, PC’s, Exchange, SQL and Mac’s
BackupRx* Online Backup Manager http://www.backuprx.com/ $98/20 GB/Annual Reseller Total backup and storage solutions for business offices
Intronis* Online Backup and Recovery http://www.intronis.com/download/index.php Reseller Online/reseller I’m currently testing
Most popular for home computer use
* Offer free trial.

I don’t mean to imply that my list is the best or most exclusive, but merely that these are the products that I will install or set up trials for my customers. There are other lists which you may find more to your liking:

My take is online backup is a good resource for easy backups, quick file recovery, and disaster recovery. That said, I still like to have physical backups for full or bare metal restores. Take your time, do a little research, and you’ll be sure to find a backup that fits both your needs and your budget.

Filed Under: Backup and Security, Backup Software, Maintenance Plans, Online Tools Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Are Cyber Criminals Stealing from You?

March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

How redundant can we be regarding safe Internet communicating and web browsing? As much as we preach maintenance, I’ve noticed that in the current year all of our clients have had at least one malware infected computer; granted, most of those infected machines have been laptops which are used out of the office but no one environment has been safe from infection. Quite often I’m asked what spammers, hackers, and other malcontents hope to gain. In the old days, the purpose was a tech arrogance and a sense of dominance and destruction, you know, striking out against Microsoft and the corporate world. At some level we seemed to put up with cyber vandals and their ilk but so much for computer bad boys and girls. That complacency has opened the doors for cyber criminals who seek to steal your personal information: i.e., social security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account information, and passwords. This criminal assault has increased not only with spam and infected websites but also with instant message programs and social network sites, not to mention file sharing sites.

More specifically, recently I was discussing this matter with John Joynt, Manager of Data Network Services for NPower, a non-profit organization which provides technology support to non-profits in this area. He related a story of one of their long time clients, Evergreen Children’s Association, which had $30,000 removed from their checking account. Please read the full story in the NPower Blog, http://community.npowerseattle.org/npowering/cyber-theft-p1/. Better yet please review the NPower blog periodically about security and tech tips. In addition to the story, John turned me on to a couple of security sites that you might find helpful:

On the other hand, you know that there is danger out there and you work at being careful. Yet you still get infected, so what do you do? At this point your existing antivirus didn’t catch the culprit in time and you need to run a removal tool. I’ve found the following utilities helpful most of the time:

Free removal utilities

Free Antivirus Utilities

Online Scanners

No system is immune to pirates and scalawags but I think these tools can help. Download a tool of your choice and run a scan on your system. If you are infected, restart your computer in “Safe Mode with Networking”, disable “system restore”, update the tool of your choice, and run a scan. If your system is clean, restart in normal mode and run a second scan or two; if you are still clean, enable “system restore”. If you can’t restart in “safe mode” or install or update the removal definitions on your removal utility, either find a tech who will spend the time to find a way to remove the infection or, best yet, reformat your hard drive and reinstall. Find your re-installation media now and backup or image your computer tonight.

Filed Under: Anti Virus, CyberCrime, Malware Software, Network Security, Online Tools Tagged With: , , , , ,
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