Windows 10 appears to be “a keeper”. We believe it will be a long term benefit for most of our clients. For Windows 8 and 8.1 machines, it is a clear improvement. The case for Windows 7 machines is not quite so clear, but Windows 10 has some nice improvements.

That being said, there are issues you need to be aware of:

The most significant issue is that some business software will NOT currently run on Windows 10. If you are using specialized software, check with your software vendor BEFORE you upgrade the computers on your network. This includes cloud based software that you access via Internet Explorer. If you are using nothing more sophisticated than Quickbooks 2013 or newer, you should be fine with the upgrade.

Some older hardware isn’t quite up to the task. If your computers are less than a couple of years old, you “should” be fine. You may need to update some drivers. The two desktops we have tested internally both needed updated video drivers after the upgrade.

If you have several similar machines and are looking at upgrading to Windows 10, we recommend you upgrade one and thoroughly test everything before upgrading the rest. There is a way to revert an upgraded machine for the first 30 days, so the upgrade is relatively safe. Needless to say, always back up your data before doing any upgrade.

There is hope for some problematic hardware and software.  We are seeing new video drivers being published and software vendors are working hard to make their programs work with Windows 10.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with waiting until May or June to make the upgrade.

There is a great article on ZDNET regarding the Windows 10 upgrade program and how to disable the upgrade notices.  You can find it here.

As always, we are available to answer any questions you might have.

 

Rob Marlowe, Senior Geek

I’ve received quite a few questions about Windows 10.   If you are looking for a computer for your personal use, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Windows 10.  It may very well be the most secure version of Windows so far.

There are a couple of caveats:

1.  If you are using your computer for business purposes, you need to make sure that any special software you might want to use is compatible.
2. If you play games on your computer, you need to make sure that the games you like run on Windows 10.  Spider Solitaire is notable by its absence.  There are ways to download an install a replacement, but you have to make the effort.  Naturally, you shouldn’t be playing games on your business computer anyway.

The upgrades from Windows 7 are Windows 8/8.1 are fairly easy.  If you decide you hate Windows 10, you’ve got 30 days to roll your computer back to the earlier version.

If your computer currently has Windows 8 or 8.1, I strongly encourage you to upgrade after confirming that you aren’t going to have a problem with any special software you use.

If your computer has Windows 7 installed, the case for upgrading isn’t quite as clear.  Windows 7 will be supported by Microsoft for at least another five years.  At that point, you will have likely replaced the computer anyway.

If you have a dinosaur running Windows XP or earlier, don’t even think about upgrading.

Rob Marlowe, Senior Geek

 

We’ve been watching the unfolding train wreck that is Adobe Flash for the last week or so.  Multiple vulnerabilities have been followed with patches and yet more vulnerabilities.   It has become apparent that Flash is simply too dangerous to allow it to run on your computer.  At this point, we strongly recommend that you uninstall Flash on your computer.  For more information, see the US CERT notice that came out yesterday.

We can not stress enough how exposed the use of Adobe Flash is leaving your network.  There are several attack vectors that are possible  (including web pages, emails, and Word files)  if you have Flash enabled on any of the machines on your network.

Note:  Some software, eg. Quickbooks Merchant Services, requires you to use Flash.  If this is the case, you will need to be fanatic about keeping Flash up to date in order to minimize the risk.

 

GEEKNOTE:  One of the little “gotchas” involved in setting up a domain name and using it for your email or your website is that you have to designate two or more “DNS” name  servers.  The name servers respond to requests for information about your domain and send the appropriate information out for finding your website or mail server.

The reason for having two or more name servers is so that your domain can still be found in the event that one of the name servers winks out for one reason or another.  If your website or mail server is unavailable for a short period of time, that is not a big deal to the Internet.  If your domain disappears because no authoritative name server can be reached, that IS a big deal.

Some service providers will take a shortcut by creating two name server “A” records that point at the same physical server.  The downside of this is that they then have a single point of failure and that one server going down takes down every domain that is using the server.

Other service providers will use two physical servers, but have them sitting side by side or in the same equipment rack.  This works fine for outages effecting one server, but does nothing to protect you if the service provider’s Internet connection goes down.  This includes garden variety outages as well as larger outages like an area wide outage from a hurricane or other storm.

We have been updating the domains we host to include three separate name servers.  Two of the name servers are here for convenience, but the third one is out of state (typically Kentucky or Missouri) so that even a major weather event won’t result in our domains going down for extended periods.

Do you ever wonder how your domain is handled?  You can type in your domain name at http://www.intodns.com and find out.  If all of the name servers have the same IP address, you’ve got a problem.  If they all have numbers that only vary by the last octet (the fourth number), then you still ought to ask that the name servers be spread out.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

 

Rob Marlowe, Senior Geek

 

 

 

ZD Net posted an interesting article on Hillary Clinton’s latest email woes.  Regardless of your opinion of Mrs. Clinton, the article is worth a read.

Shadow IT refers to the practice of employees bypassing company IT department and installing their own IT solutions.

It is worth considering how Shadow IT effects your company.  While few employees will go so far as to install their own personal mail server at home, I know any number of companies where company business is conducted via personal email accounts.  There are several reasons why this is bad.

In my role as mayor, my email regarding city business is a public record.  I make a point of forwarding to a city account any email I get in my personal or business email that pertains to the city.  Likewise, I do a copy and paste so that any reply I send out comes from my city account.

Shadow IT isn’t just a public records problem. Some of our clients transmit information via email that needs to be encrypted.  That is easy enough to create and police if everyone is using business computers and business email accounts.  It is almost impossible to guarantee when some employees are using home computers and personal email accounts.

When you or your employees conduct business via email, that email address should be a company address.   Think about it.  Who would you trust more:  “haveawildtime@hotmail.com” or “employee@establishedcompany.com”?   Both accounts might well belong to the same person, but one is clearly better for business use.

The other part of Shadow IT that you need to consider is the issue of “BYOD” or “Bring Your Own Device”.  Personal gear that gets hooked up to your business network creates a massive security issue if those devices aren’t properly protected with anti-malware software and covered under an acceptable use policy.

If an employee gets their laptop compromised while surfing porn at home on the weekend and then brings it to work with them on Monday, the infection may well spread to the rest of the network.  More troubling is the employee who works from home via a VPN tunnel and can expose the entire office network to malware without ever leaving their couch.  You never see the notebook and may not figure out that your network has been compromised until after the damage has been done.

Gulfcoast Networking is here to help you get your IT requirements organized.  We can help you sent up professional looking email addresses for business use.  We can help you determine if Shadow IT is an issue in your company and can help you develop policies and take the steps necessary to minimize the odds of your company getting burned down the road.

Give us a call today at 727-847-2424 to schedule an appointment.  After hours, feel free to contact us via the web.