Tag: Network
A DNS server translates a human address like google.com into a numerical IP address so your computer can take you to the right site. Usually, this takes a few hundred milliseconds to complete so it’s barely noticeable, but over time, these milliseconds can really build up. Also, your ISP’s DNS server isn’t always reliable as witnessed by Comcast subscribers recently when their DNS server failed, leaving customers unable to access Google and other sites. By using OpenDNS and FastCache, you can solve the two problems of reliability and speed.
OpenDNS runs a distributed network of DNS servers so using it is more reliable. It filters out bad addresses so phishers and spammers can’t direct you to their site. OpenDNS also detects typos in the URLs you enter so entering craigslist.og leads you to craigslist.org.
A piece of software called FastCache takes care of the problem of speed. It stores the IP address that is returned by your DNS server so your computer doesn’t have to request it every time you want to go to a particular site, saving a few hundred milliseconds each time. Read More»
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With the advent of Internet Explorer 8 Microsoft has expanded the list of ports blocked by the browser, in comparison to previous versions of IE, namely IE6 and IE7. While past releases of Internet Explorer blocked eight ports, with IE8 Microsoft has extended the list to no less than 10. This behavior is by default and is designed as an extra mitigation set up to protect end users. With its 10 blocked ports, Internet Explorer 8 trails behind rival browsers, which are blocking a more extensive list of ports.
“Internet Explorer (actually, WinINET, the network stack beneath IE) prohibits use of certain ports for HTTP(S) connections. The intent of this blocking is to prevent Cross Service/Protocol Request Forgery attacks. For instance, an attacker could use HTML Forms to send a request to an unprotected mail server such that the mail server interprets the request as a poorly-formatted, but valid request, to send an email message. Such attacks are obviously interesting to spammers and other bad guys,” revealed Eric Lawrence, a program manager on the Internet Explorer team. Read More»
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Contrary to some of the stories circulating in the more excitable sections of the media millions of PCs didn’t suddenly blow up following the much-anticipated reactivation of the Conflicker C virus on April 1st. In fact, at the time of writing nothing much seemed to have happened and the world moved on to more important matters. Nevertheless, this virus, and its ilk do present an ongoing threat, especially for PC owners who do not keep their security software and Windows Updates current. By the way, if you have any concerns about Conflicker C and malware in general and you think your PC may be infected I wouldn’t ask Google. I typed in ‘Conflicker C Removal’ a couple of days ago and the first three hits all led to websites carrying the virus!
If you have been lax with your security updates then your best bet is to download the free Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, which scans your PC for Conflicker and a raft of other nasties, but in the end the best way to avoid becoming infected is to install a decent anti-virus program and regularly sweep your PC with cleaners like AdAware, A-Squared and Spybot.
Posted in Software | 1 Comment »
At the end of the past week, Microsoft made available to the public the results of a “browser measuring contest” involving Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.05 and Google Chrome 1.0. What the Redmond company did was to measure the browser load times for the top 25 websites worldwide. In the software company’s own comparison, IE8 managed to come out on top of its rivals, besting the open source Firefox and Chrome which were released in 2008, and not the current 3.1/3.5 version of Firefox or the 2.0 flavor of Chrome. But the real question is does it matter?
Obviously, Microsoft is rather a new comer to the browser measuring game. Simply because Internet Explorer, while considered by rival browser makers a reference point, never actually needed to compare itself to competitive products, especially from the perspective of the dominant browser on the market. IE continues to account for the lion’s share when it comes down to browser usage share worldwide, but Firefox has made a dent in its dominance that is harder and harder to ignore. And fact is that for the first time in the long life of Internet Explorer, Microsoft has a release that it’s worth comparing, as it is bound to score at least on par with rivals, if not even best them in certain scenarios. Read More»
Posted in Internet | 3 Comments »
Interested in moving your Exchange Server messaging environment into the “cloud”? Want to maintain an experience that’s seamless to your end users, allowing them to continue to use Outlook, while providing a completely maintained Exchange environment in our datacenters.
Microsoft Online Services is very likely your easiest, most secure, & cost-effective answer. Here’s a document that goes through the process of migrating existing Exchange mailboxes to Microsoft’s Exchange Online Services.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Understand Migration
1. Simple Microsoft Online Services
2. Microsoft Online Services Using Your E-Mail Domain
3. E-Mail Coexistence
4. Directory Synchronization
5. Mailbox Migration
6. Migration Tools Read More»
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Microsoft is offering not only pre-release versions of Windows 7 but also resources accompanying the development milestones designed to highlight the best aspects of the next iteration of the Windows client. An illustrative example in this regard is a set of guides offered for the IT professional audience of Windows 7. Which is not to say that the documentation is not available to all users to read and get an idea of what Windows Vista’s successor will bring to the table. Via the Windows 7 IT Pro Guides, Microsoft is offering the Windows 7 Manageability and Windows 7 What’s New resources for download.
These documents include:
1) A What’s New in Windows 7 Guide, covering many new and changed Windows 7 features of interest to IT professionals, including DirectAccess, BranchCache and other networking technologies, VHD boot and other deployment technologies, and AppLocker, Biometrics, and other security technologies.
Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 1 Comment »
Symantec Security Response encourages all users and administrators to adhere to the following basic security “best practices” to prevent the virus attack to your computer:
1. Use a firewall to block all incoming connections from the Internet to services that should not be publicly available. By default, you should deny all incoming connections and only allow services you explicitly want to offer to the outside world.
2. Enforce a password policy. Complex passwords make it difficult to crack password files on compromised computers. This helps to prevent or limit damage when a computer is compromised.
3. Ensure that programs and users of the computer use the lowest level of privileges necessary to complete a task. When prompted for a root or UAC password, ensure that the program asking for administration-level access is a legitimate application. Read More»
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February 02, 2009 by
Jason 1. Your computer isn’t turning on? “Oh, no!” You think, “I’d better get a new one!” STOP right there. Before you get too frustrated, be sure you have checked that the power cord is actually plugged into your wall socket properly. You may think it sounds silly, but believe me, it’s more common than you think even for the computer savvy. If your computer is connected through a power board, you should try plugging it directly into the wall (note for the safety conscious: by plugging the power cable directly into the wall, you lessen the chance of power failure and damage to your machine). Another reason that your PC may not start is if you have made any repairs or modification to your machine. You may have unwittingly pulled out a connect plug; check all connections.
2. If your computer is starting but is spitting error messages at you, then you might need to take out any memory modules such as RAM and then reset them by plugging them back into different RAM slots.If you get an error such as ‘Unexpected Interrupt in Protected Mode,’ then there is a problem with the settings you have entered in BIOS. To fix it go into BIOS and set it to default settings. If the problem still won’t go away, then you must remove the CMOS chip on your motherboard then put it back in to clean BIOS completely. Read More»
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February 02, 2009 by
Jason 1. Turn off unnecessary animations. When maximizing and minimizing windows, Windows does a little animation before the window goes away. Going into the “System” section of the Control Panel and turning this off in the Advanced Features section can reduce the amount of memory used by Windows, resulting in a more responsive operating system. Also, in this section, turning off shadows for the mouse cursor and shadows for windows can reduce memory and increase performance. This is definitely worth looking into.
2. Turn off startup items. Turning off items that start whenever you log on can decrease logon time drastically. QuickTime likes to start itself the second you log on, so turning it off is a good idea; if you don’t use QuickTime at all then you won’t ever need the process, and starting QuickTime manually is always an option. Other startup items to look out for are Google Update and instant messengers.
3. Run as few applications at once as you can. Just because you have a dual, quad, or even octo core processor doesn’t mean you should abuse it. Read More»
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January 12, 2009 by
Jason
Microsoft went live with the public release of Windows 7 Beta on January 9, 2009, just to discontinue downloads by the end of the very same day, citing server overload due to the high volume of traffic and the need to beef up its infrastructure. However, fact is that, while all the official sources of Windows 7 Beta have stopped offering the operating system, the bits continue to be available via direct download links. In this context, Windows 7 Beta is available for download right here on Pctipsbox, both the 32-bit version 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD, and the 64-bit flavor 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.
Initially, the company planned to deliver Win 7 Beta to up to 2.5 million users starting January 9. Windows 7 Server (Windows Server 2008 R2) was indeed released to the general public ahead of the weekend, with the public Beta program of the server edition of Win 7 offering a smooth experience. Not the same could be said about Windows 7 client Beta, with Microsoft.com servers incapable of dealing with the huge traffic numbers, a scenario which prompted the Redmond company to announce that the availability of the public Beta was postponed. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
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