Whilst I was busy helping people:-

Blue Screen of Death (not a good start) Anti Virus Related

One mild Spyware attack, Spybot Nuked it.

Two machines refused to Upgrade to the latest Anti Virus software without a fight. So I now know more about NAVOpts.dll than when I woke up this morning.

An ISP that hosts a lot of customer sites on. Decided to terminate the ability for web enquiries to be sent from their hosted web sites (web forms), due to spammers using it to relay spam.

It would have been nice to be told about this, instead we find out retrospectively when things stop working.

So in a mild panic updating all the sites with the new web forms method my own ADSL died on me. It came back about 10mins later just long enough for me to weep quietly.

I have one SharePoint Team Server that’s not sharing today.

I have one CD-ROM that spun out of control and is now firmly lodged in the back of a CD-ROM drive. What makes this worse the site is 243 miles away.

Cant wait for tomorrow.

Seriously folks, its all in a days work.

PS: You know some people talk about being under a black cloud. Look at this bad boy over my head right now.

I’m not being poetic, its literally over my head right now.

Note: This is a 3 part Article and a long read. You can download the entire Audio Version Here

Ok, Quick Recap.

We are in some big, big trouble.

I wish I could say Technology is going to save us, but its not. It’s going to boil down to personal responsibility when you or your users access the Internet.

As a professional security technician I can tell you we have enough on our hands dealing with the holes in windows the exploits, viruses and the spam that we need your help with the biggest liability in this scenario.

THE USERS

We need to make sure your users of the Internet use it wisely. Adhere to your companies Internet Usage Policy.

But I can trust my users to behave cant I?. NO, now your just being naïve.

I frequent public Internet forums and regularly see users asking how they can bypass their own internal content filters that would allow them to “do what they want” on the Internet.

Giving your staff unrestricted access to the Internet is like giving them a really big hammer, eventually something is going to get damaged.

So if we can’t rely on Windows and you can’t trust your users will the next version of Windows be any better.

Well yes and no. Microsoft is awake now and knows that maybe we are not all going to play nicely together.

As a user of Windows Vista you will be operating in a limited account basis, this means when the system wants to do anything potentially “high level” the system will ask you for example “Hey do you really want to e-mail everyone in your contacts are you sure?”

As Vista is currently 16 months away it’s difficult to tell how good this is all going to work in practice.

Going against Vista is:

1) Its going to be the most targeted high profile Operating System in History from its first day of release.

2) To retain backward compatibility a lot of Vista’s internals are the same as Windows going all the way back to Windows95.

Oh Come on DiPonio, there must be a happy ending to this story.

Sorry folks it’s not going to happen remember Users+Windows+Internet=Trouble.

Based on what I know today, it’s going to be a very long time before things get better.

Personal Responsibility is your only hope.

Thanks for reading.

I want one of these…..too

1. Purchase a new Mac mini from the Apple Store online. You can also get an Apple keyboard and mouse, such as their new Mighty Mouse.
2. Set it up and start enjoying it.
3. If you don’t love it, call them within 30 days of your order and Apple arrange for you to return your system — including the Apple keyboard and mouse — for a full refund.

Link: AppleStore?family=testdrive

The smart money is on a Flash based 5gig ipod (shuffle)

Edited August 30th, Ok, its an Apple iPhone

I was looking for software to tune up my Laptop.

The laptop was over 12 months old and has had lots of software installed on it over that time, maybe 60/80 applications.

So I had a choice re-format it and start again or Tune it up. Normally I am a re-format it type of guy.

However I had heard good things about System Mechanic and decided to give it a go.

Key Features
Block annoying Internet pop-up ads.
Speed up your Internet and network connection by up to 300%
Clean, optimize, defragment, compress, and backup your system registry.
High-speed disk defragmentation, optimization, and new boot-time defragmentation.
Protect against dangerous spyware parasites.
Defragment and recover system RAM.
Tweak and customize many undocumented settings in Windows.
One-step PC Maintenance Wizard.
Hunt down and remove junk and obsolete files and drivers.
Clean up Internet clutter and maintain privacy.
Securely remove such items as browser cache, cookies, and history.
Find, fix, or remove broken Windows shortcuts.
Find and remove invalid uninstaller information.
Find and remove duplicate files and drivers.
Securely delete files and folders.
Manage the programs that start when Windows does.
Schedule system maintenance to take place unattended.
Log statistical information and quantify benefits of all above tools.
Automatically keep System Mechanic up-to-date with its self-healing WebUpdate feature.

I wasnt really looking to improve the performance, just clear it out and repair all the damage that has been done to the Windows Registry.

All in all its very comprehensive.

Product Link: http://www.iolo.com/sm/5/index.cfm

Tip: You can evaluate this product for 30 days, the trial is fully unlocked with access to all the features.

Tip: The normal price is $49.99, a link for a $10.00 Discount is here
Discount Link