In a panic he calls us at the office & brings it in for us to see what we can do since we do data recovery/drive forensics as part of our disaster recovery offerings.

In the NINE YEARS he’s owned it, he’s pretty much done nothing to it except run it 24/7. Needless to say, the dust in the system was extraordinary & it took us roughly 45 minutes with a air hose at 140 PSI to get it cleaned out enough to remove the drive to see if we could get the data off.

Well the drive itself was fine, all things considered (the power supply was so caked with dust that there was no airflow & it died) & we were able to recover all of Steve’s data.

So as a thank you, he did this commercial for us…which we all couldn’t stop laughing over, & we hope you find it as amusing as we did.

What we will be discussing is things to keep your PC working from a more “mechanical” standpoint.

Like a car, a PC actually needs some mechanical maintenance every now and then to stay healthy. Here are some tips to ensure good PC health:

1. Vacuum out your PC every six months.
When you’re changing the battery for the fire alarm(s), consider opening the side panel of your PC and giving it a good vacuuming. For most everyone who owns a desktop PC, the PC is normally on the floor or under the monitor. These locations are notorius for collecting dust and debris that over time will affect the PC’s ability to maintain operating temperature as well as hampering general operation.

2. Listen to your hard drive.
Has your system become more “noisy”? Just like your car, if there are strange sounds it may be time to get it looked at. Internal hard drives, CDs/DVDs, and power supplies are mechanical devices and over time will fail as part of normal wear and tear. This is where the backup often mantra comes in very handy!

Nowadays, it’s very easy to purchase an external hard drive that can allow you to backup your data in the event of a hard drive failure.

3. Clean/Replace your keyboard.
Studies have shown that keyboards (especially ones that are shared such as library systems, offices and homes, etc.) can keep and carry harmful bacteria: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7377002.stm. That being said if you also tend to eat at your keyboard, assume that crumbs have fallen into the spaces between the keys. These dust and dirt particles can create problems in the effectiveness of keyboard operations.

4. How about the mouse?
While we’re looking at the keyboard, also look at the mouse as well. How long have you had it? If the mouse is not an optical mouse (it has a mouse ball underneath that rolls around) then consider opening up the bottom of the mouse and seeing if it needs cleaning. Many times the ball attracts dirt and debris that is captured and rolled up into the housing, creating odd mouse operations…and I am sorry to say that smacking the mouse down on the desk will not fix it or clean it out.

5. What’s behind the screen?
There have probably been a few readers saying “I already do this stuff guys” but have you looked around or behind your monitor? May people tend to put the monitor in place and there it sits until it doesn’t. Take the time to check behind it and vacuum the back of the monitor and the area(s) around it. Even flat panel monitors have vents for thermal control so those same slots that allow the monitor to expend heat also let in dust & dirt!

IMPORTANT NOTE: AT NO TIME SHOULD YOU REMOVE THE BACK PANEL OF YOUR CRT OR FLAT PANEL MONITOR TO CLEAN IT!

So there you have it…some slightly different tips to ensuring your desktop pc stays running well. As we become more dependent on our PCs to maintain valueable data, these tips will ensure that they stay running longer.

Only three years in development, this upgrade is on a fast track (average deployment is about four years). While Windows 7 beta has has been around for developers, the general public was given the chance to download from the 9th January.

The release was also a red mark for Microsoft. While it was to be a limited public release (2.5 million public downloads) Microsoft servers quickly became overloaded and by the weekend they decided to remove the download limit altogether.

We downloaded the beta and loaded it on a test system that we felt met the basic requirements (P4 3.4gHz processor, 3GB RAM, 128 MB Radeon X700, 160GB HD, DVD) about what an average home user would have on their desktop that might be considering upgrading.

It took less than an hour to install and some restarts but it’s runs well and considering it’s a first release beta from Microsoft, it works incredibly well.

We were impressed with its speed and the new taskbar, where you can pin your favorite applications but also jump straight to opened documents and also pin favourites, too. We’ve not found any application that doesn’t run apart from needing a little tweak to Google’s Chrome browser.

So, in our limited example, it looks like Microsoft has a winner here – the next job will be to attempt to persuade those who have paid for Vista to upgrade again and to undo the negative press around the Vista story.

We’ll see how it goes.

From it’s simple & clean install to it’s “google centric” minimalist interface, this browser is a pleasure to use. If you are familiar with any other google service (mail, etc.) then you’ll easily be using this browser with no learning curve.

Some of it’s highlights:

• Fast browsing
• Minimalist interface
• Small resource footprint

It’s interface is stylish in that when you open up a new blank tab it provides you with a interface showing your recently visited sites (with screenshots), bookmarks, and recently closed tabs.

Like other browsers, you can set a homepage or you can leave it blank to open up to the interface (showing the most visited, etc). In IE or Firefox, if you set the main page to a blank page you get just that…a blank page.

Google also allows for a seamless integration with “cloud services” where you can create a desktop shortcut, quicklaunch shortcut, or start menu shortcut to a web application (such as mapquest), creating a true 21st century desktop.

As with Firefox, if the browser crashes you can restore the previous session after restarting (such a handy feature that Microsoft is adding it in to IE 8).

There are downsides to Chrome that we have discovered: it’s not available for the Mac or Linux/Unix and Microsoft Silverlight will not function with it.

All in all Google Chrome is a welcome addition to the browser market. Coming from the other 400 pound gorilla, it adds another dimension to browsing and shows that Google is making it’s minimalist interface ”cloud service” computing model the future of desktop computing.

As we have blogged previously about security holes and data leakage, we wanted to alert everyone about the report by US-CERT about the malicious exploits of USB devices (which includes cameras, smartphones, and PDAs) and an earlier security tip of protecting USB devices (http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST08-001.html).

Remember that a USB device is just as prone to malware, badware, and viruses just like any other hard drive on your system so taking the proper precautions to protect your USB device is just as critical as taking care of your company or personal PC.

A great podcast on data security issues can be found here: http://datasecuritypodcast.com, or on iTunes: http://itunes.datasecuritypodcast.com.

Dell has identified a potential issue associated with certain batteries sold with Dell Latitude™, Inspiron™, XPS™ and Dell Precision Mobile Workstation™ notebook computers. In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies, Dell is voluntarily recalling certain Dell-branded batteries with cells manufactured by Sony and offering free replacements for these batteries.  Under rare conditions, it is possible for these batteries to overheat, which could pose a risk of fire.

Potentially affected batteries were sold with the following models of Dell notebook computers or separately as secondary batteries:

• Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810, D530, D620ATG
• Inspiron: 500M, 510M, 600M, 700M, 710M, 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, E1505, E1705
• Precision: M20, M60, M70, M90
• XPS: XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170, XPS M1710

In addition, these batteries MAY have also been provided in response to service calls. The batteries were shipped to customers between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006. The words “DELL” and “Made in Japan” or “Made in China” or “Battery cell made in Japan, Assembled in China” or “Assembled in Taiwan” are printed on the back of the batteries.

NOTE: In October 2008, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission made an announcement affecting a small number of battery packs sold by Dell. Pursuant to that announcement Dell has added [268] part identification numbers to this website. The battery model numbers affected by the 2008 Sony announcement are indicated by an asterisk in the table below and the affected part identification numbers have been added to this database.

Potentially affected batteries were sold with the following models of Dell notebook computers or sold separately as secondary batteries:

• Latitude: 110L, D530
• Inspiron: 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150, 5160

These batteries may also be used in the following systems:

• Latitude: D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610
• Inspiron: 500M, 510M, 600M
• Precision M20

There is a two (2) step process to identify if your battery is affected:

1. Check if your battery model MAY be affected. If your battery is not listed, you are not affected.
2. Check if your specific battery PPID (Dell Part Piece Identification) is affected. This step is necessary to identify if your battery is affected. Only some batteries within each model are affected. If the battery is subject to this recall you will be automatically connected to a replacement order form.

For more information visit: www.dellbatteryprogram.com

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10328&tag=nl.e539

While that is good for their books (they have been loosing the battle against Intel for some time now) and shareholders…what does it mean for the many people out there with AMD products and those who prefer AMD over Intel?

According to AMD, this continues allowing AMD to do what it does best – design award winning processors. The manufacturing (of which they will retain 44% ownership) will now be run by ATIC of Abu Dhabi.

AMD has always emphasized the importance of owning their own fabrication process but according to the report, this deal is structured where AMD would retain many of the traditional benefits of fabs, since part of Foundry will be dedicated to serving AMD and will remain in close communication with the company’s engineers.”

The good news is this split will allow AMD to create a new plant in Malta, NY giving them three fab plants (Dresden overseas and Albany in the US) and IBM has, with this announcement, agreed to a technology pact with AMD to 2015.

So…how does it affect you?

As an existing owner it should have no effect whatsoever and for the AMD fans of the world, this will allow AMD to continue (part of thie split is the new – as yet to be named – company will take on 1.2 billion of AMD’s debt) as a company.

In this time of financial crisis, AMD has made a very smart financial move to keep the doors open and the fab plants manufaturing.

Hopefully this will be the boost needed to make AMD a real innovator in the processor market once again.

Never believe that your business data isn’t of interest to people outside your business.

In today’s world of inexpensive thumb and pocket drives, data capable smart phones, iPods (Yes…iPods! An iPod can be set to hard drive mode – where you can use the iPod as a storage device for PCs and Macs.), and large storage web mail the ability to move data from point a-to-b is becoming simpler.

To truly have protection from data leakage, the detection tools have to be placed on the workstations as well as the server and network. Most large organizations have their networks setup to capture unauthorized data collection attempts, however the servers and workstations are typically left alone (or better said, left to the standard security of the operating system).

Businesses assume that the confidential information employees use daily is secure…through various means such as policies, system configurations, etc.

What is forgotten is that people will invariably find workarounds for the ability to have access to the data.

An example I’ll use is from a company I worked for in the past. The finance people started making and using spreadsheets that detailed sales commissions they could share amongst people in and out of the finance group because not everyone interested in sales commission data had access to it (the company’s procedure to get access to financial data was tedious at best). Later on, this spreadsheet got to our largest competitor who used the numbers in a campaign ad to show how we overcharged for the same services.

Another example was a client who wanted us to lock out an employee that was leaving because the reason the person was hired was that the person came to them with their competition’s information and the client did not want that happening to them now that that person was leaving their firm.

What value would you place on the above examples? How does a business prevent data getting away from the business to outsiders?

The hard truth is…securing against data leakage is not easy.

This TechRepublic article lists some simple data leakage protection strategies making it a good place to start: http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5293877.html

Now what happens if you suffer a breach of information? The loss of large volumes of protected information has become a regular headline event, forcing companies to re-issue cards, notify customers, and mitigate loss of goodwill from negative publicity.

With these headlines, there are increasing regulatory compliance for business such as HIPAA in health and benefits, GLBA and Sarbanes-Oxley in finance, and Payment Card Industry DSS standards. Many of these regulations stipulate regular audits, which business can fail if they lack suitable security controls and due-care (processes) standards. These same regulations also have significant penalties in the event of a breach.

Your data is valuable to your business, and its safekeeping is vital to maintaining a good reputation. In addition, much data, such as personal healthcare information and financial information, is protected by federal or state legislation, and its exposure, whether intentional or not, can lead to significant fines.

Luckily, data leakage can be prevented through standard precautions such as strictly enforced authentication and authorization, and tools (beginning at the workstation level).

Firefox 3 looks slightly different than its predecessor (minor changes to the user interface similar to the minor changes from version 1 to version 2). However, in version 3 the browser buttons and window frames have been redesigned to conform with the look of whichever OS you’re running—Windows XP, Vista, Macintosh, or Linux.

One of the many new features is a “suggestion bar.” As you type a web address Firefox will suggest a URL for you…very handy for those long web addresses. Also if you type in a search term and the search is high enough it will take you directly to the site as opposed to giving you a list of search items (I tested it by typing go daddy and was immediately taked to www.godaddy.com). Very handy features.

One of Firefox’s more infamous components – plugins – has also had a face lift, making management of add-on and extions a breeze.

Another management feature is the less obtrusive password manager. Unlike most browsers, Firefox 3 places a button at the top of the browser asking if it needs to remember the pasword entered. After 15 seconds it leaves assuming you do not want the password saved. A very welcome feature.

A unique feature with Firefox 3 is that you can now specify a webmail account (Gmail, Yahoo!, etc.) without a POP address as the target for email links!

All in all with it’s stramlined interface, standards compliance, faster rendering, and low operating system resources…Firefox 3 is worth the download/upgrade.

Get it here: http://www.mozilla.com/

I’ll mention some classic ones here that will hopefully show areas that are needed to be looked at, if not closed outright.

• USB ports – Today a 4 gigabyte usb memory stick costs less that $50. Most people move their USB memory sticks from one PC to the next without concern for the fact that, as a recognized drive it is also vulnerable to viruses, malware and anything else you PC system is because it is recognized as a system disk just like the floppy days.
• CD/DVD – Again, as people move data from one point to the other many people believe that a CD/DVD is less susceptible to viruses and malware. Untrue, especially if it’s created buy another user.
• Internet - You’re probably saying “DUH” but many small companies do not monitor internet usage at their office, making them vulnerable to misuse by employees as they download programs, games or illegal software…
• Smart phones – Since 2004, there have been cell phone viruses! Really… Most smartphone users simply sync their phones constantly, potentially moving files that are secure to an unsecured device.

These examples are just that, examples. You should consult your IT professional(s) to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, anti-virus and patches are up to date.

Also have your IT professionals review IT security sites and publications to ensure that they are up to date on the latest threats to you organization