Top PC Support

Unless you’re a hermit and don’t use the Internet, you’ve probably heard by now that Microsoft has released the Consumer Preview (beta test) of Windows 8.  This will give you a chance to see the new Metro interface (tiles like on Windows Phone) and more features.  The launching page has links to videos, blogs much more information about Windows 8 that I can write about here (including the ubiquitous FAQ), so you may as well go directly to the source for it.  PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND READ THE DISCLAIMERS, ESPECIALLY THAT YOU CAN’T “UNINSTALL” THE PREVIEW, YOU MAY HAVE TO RESTORE YOUR PC FROM THE FACTORY RECOVERY DISKS.

You can download a Setup file or an ISO file to burn your own installation disk.  I haven’t installed it yet, so I don’t know which way is better.  If you’ve done it, please let us know in the comments and let us know how you installed it.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND READ THE DISCLAIMERS, ESPECIALLY THAT YOU CAN’T “UNINSTALL” THE PREVIEW, YOU MAY HAVE TO RESTORE YOUR PC FROM THE FACTORY RECOVERY DISKS.

You may not have heard about a trojan called DNS Changer, which has been infecting an awful lot of PC’s around the world, including those of many government agencies and Fortune 500 companies.  While the FBI was able to “take down” the infected DNS servers and replace them with their own clean servers, the legitimate servers will cease to work after March 8, 2012, due to the court order that allowed the feds to put up those servers up in the first place.

You can use this link to check to see if you’re infected, meaning your DNS entries are pointing to infected servers.  It’s the least you can do to help stop the infection!

Brian Krebs, a noted blogger on security issues in general, has a good article on the trojan and what you can do about it.

Here’s a humorous flow chart in graphical form (is that an oxymoron?) to help you make the decision if you should hit the Send button!  It really needs to be seen instead of written about here.

If you can’t boot your PC because of a virus, perhaps it’s time to try Microsoft Windows Defender Offline, even though it’s still in beta.  You can download the software and create a boot disk (CD, DVD or USB flash drive).  This will allow you to restart your PC and scan and remove any malware before Windows loads.  You do need to download the correct version (32-bit or 64-bit) so be sure to check your current version of Windows before downloading.  This works on XP, Vista and Windows 7.

It’s 2012. I remember in 1988 working at the first “imaging” company in my career, we were talking about the paperless office and how excited I was to be part of that “revolution.” Well, we were wrong. While I don’t know the statistics, I know that paper usage only went up in the years after that. The proliferation of laser printers and cheap ink jet printers only added to the use of paper. Document Imaging back then meant large (and heavy) monochrome displays, which were far from portable, while paper was, and remains, very portable. Now, with tablets proliferating, perhaps we can get closer to not hitting the Print button. Options include that Send Link from browsers (I can’t tell you how many times I send myself a link or two to follow up later that evening or some other time) or if you need to read something that looks like a printed page, try installing a PDF print driver and print to a file for later reading. While it may be “cool” to bring up a document on your smartphone, it’s not practical to read a document more than a few pages. It’s definitely useful in a pinch when you need a piece of crucial information before a meeting and you have access to it via your phone, but tablet size devices are more realistic for getting real work done.

AIIM has recently released an Industry Watch report that indicates that there is less paper in the office these days, although I was disappointed to read that 77% of invoices that arrive as PDF attachments get printed and 31% of faxed invoices get printed and scanned back in (who does that?!?). It was refreshing to see that 20% of organizations scan half or more of their inbound mail at or before entry (via a “digital mailroom”). A further 20% are more likely to scan at the point-of-process and 29% scan-to-archive after the process. These are just a few of the key findings of the report.

To download the complete report, check out the Research section of AIIM International’s website. Or click here for the direct page. If can’t access the report, think about becoming a member of AIIM. There is plenty of research materials available to Professional Members to make your membership fee well worth it. Plus, you are invited to attend local chapter meetings (Garden State Chapter) at a discounted rate. Feel free to post any membership questions or follow up comments.

Paper-free, paper-less, less-paper…? Let me know what you think in the comments!

When your boss says “Let’s move our apps to the Cloud!” do you start shaking?

According to Gartner, Inc. “…no alternative offers a silver bullet: All require architects to understand application migration from multiple perspectives and criteria, such as IT staff skills, the value of existing investments, and application architecture.”

For an overly simplified look at this, check the link here.

For those of you in the NJ/NY metro area, check out AIIM, specifically the Garden State Chapter, for more programs about Cloud Computing.

Top PC Support’s blog made it into the list of 50 Helpful Computer Troubleshooting Blogs published by ITdegreeOnline.org.  We are honored to make the list, even if we’re at the very bottom.

Streamlines document processing in the cloud while interfacing with major ERP systems

IPS today announced the availability of IPS Digital Workflow 3.0 third generation, web-based, modular workflow. The IPS cloud-based solution runs on state-of-the-art hardware and server technology, including latest Microsoft Server and SQL Server platforms, for maximum performance. The IPS private cloud provides all the benefits of public cloud solutions – no hardware or software installation necessary – with added security and reliability for mission critical document processing in regulated and non-regulated environments.

More…

Charles Goldstein, Director of Information Technology at Image Processing Systems (IPS), will be speaking at an AIIM Garden State Chapter event.  It will be held on May 10 and feature a panel discussion on the topic “Creating a successful strategy for moving from a paper-based to an electronic document environment.”

The panel will discuss topics around capturing physical and electronic documents, how to store, share and control documents within an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system, focusing on going paperless.  Attendees will be provided with recommendations, best practices and challenges that businesses and organizations face when trying to move to a paperless environment.

Charles has worked on a number of initiatives for reducing paper in the workplace and Business Process Automation through the use of workflow, which have been highly effective in lowering the “cost of doing business” and increasing the speed & efficiency of document processing.  He looks forward to sharing examples of these solutions.

The AIIM Garden State Chapter panel event will be on Tuesday, May 10 at the Woodbridge Hilton in Iselin, NJ. The event starts with a networking session at 5:30pm. Click here to learn more or to register.

Microsoft has published an article with some tips of working smarter and getting your work done a little quicker.  Some are great for laptops (power management tips) and others are more general.  Take a look, I’m sure there is something for you.

If you have any questions about the article, give us a call at Top PC Support and we will answer any technology questions you may have.