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Microsoft had an article up that purported to lead to an updated package, briefly, but that has been removed and there is now no official ETA for re-release.

In the meantime…

You’ll need to uninstall KB2412171.  How depends a little upon your operating system.

• Windows 7/Vista: Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a Program > View Installed Updates…find KB2412171 and remove it.
• Windows XP: Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.  Make sure “Show updates” (at the bottom) is checked.  Find KB2412171 and remove it.

After uninstalling KB2412171, if you are still having errors sending and receiving mail you may have to go to the settings for your e-mail account (Tools > Account Settings > E-mail accounts) and change the Secure Password Authentication setting.  Once you do that, service should be restored.

AntiVirus
So you have a computer and you need to keep it running.  What suggestions can we offer you so that you don’t end up frustrated and worse yet, loose important data?

Here are some suggestion and recommendations that may save you time, aggravation and money.

Use good AntiVirus.  Speak to a dozen different computer support people and you’re likely to get 15 different recommendations on the best AntiVirus to use.  Our choice, based on experience in the field is AntiVirus.  We don’t believe it’s necessary to purchase the Internet Security versions of ANY AntiVirus products, even if you choose a product other than AVG.  If your Windows is up to date, and we do recommend that you keep up to date with all available downloads (Windows Update) you are less likely to encounter intrusions like spyware and viruses.  Also, keep your AntiVirus definitions and programs up to date.

We are often questioned by our clients about why they should buy AntiVirus software when they can get it for free.  Here’s the answer we tend to give…

Firstly, you get what you pay for!  The free versions give you basic protection against viruses, but you really need much more.  The other consideration is that with a program like AVG (which is our antivirus of choice) it will cost you around $60.00 for 2 years of AVG Professional protection.

Improving System Performance
Performance of systems degrade over time, mainly due to fragmentation of the files on the Hard Disk as well as the collection of dust and lint (dust bunnies) inside the case.  This collects around the processor (CPU) heat sink and power supply because of the airflow through the case.  This causes heat build up in the CPU and failure of power supplies.  When this happens, the CPU slows down so as to lower the heat generated.  Heat is also the worst enemy of electronic components.

In order to deal with the above two items you may want to do two things.
1.  Run the Windows Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter utilities
2.  Get the system cleaned regularly.  The best way is to removes the covers and use a high pressure air stream to blow out the collection of dust and lint.  We use a compressor that develops over 100 pounds of air pressure to do the job.  The little aerosol cans of “air” available really don’t do much so save your money!

Backup
When last did you think about backup?  Your Hard Disk Drive in your computer is the component under the most stress.  Besides the cooling fans in the computer, the drive is always spinning and will fail over time; sometimes early and sometime later, but it will fail.  If it does, will the data contained on the drive be missed?   If not, don’t read any further.  If it’s your business, you might want to have a backup.

The best backup method is automated on-line (off-site) backup.  Second is a set (three recommended)  of external USB drives that store your important (critical) data and use the automated backup process available in Windows.  Both Vista & Windows 7 have the setup of the backup in a “wizard”.  Please backup your data daily.

Hope these topics help you develop a mindset of safer computing?

Web Broweer Wars
There is much debate about web browsers.  Our opinion is that with Internet Explorer 8 and all updates applied, there is really no need to use any of the others.  Some will argue that Mozilla Firefox is better, some say Apple’s Safari works very well and of course Google Chrome.  We’ve used them all and from a pure web browsing experience, IE8 offers the better visual appearance.

Here’s a link to a list of what’s available for Windows:
http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/design/browsers_for_windows.php3

And here are the Mac browsers:
http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/design/list_of_browsers_for_macintosh_system.php3

Don’t forget to install the Adobe add-ins like Flash and Shockwave and of course the Java plug-in too.