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As you saw in our last newsletter, the time for supporting Windows 7 is coming to a close. It’s time to upgrade.

Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 7 in January 2015. Since then, if you need assistance with a Windows 7 issue, you must pay Microsoft for support. Quo Vadis chose to continue free support four more years than Microsoft, until January 2019, when we too, will charge for any support provided to a Windows 7 computer.

The lack of security updates coupled with the old driver hassles in Windows 7 makes it imperative to upgrade/replace with Windows 10.

We have found the hidden tool that Microsoft provides to upgrade for free to Windows 10! Let’s upgrade your newer workstations as soon as possible. If you’ve got any computers that are getting long in the tooth, we can discuss the replacement options. Our engineers can show you how to upgrade them for free.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10ISO
We can boot from a USB stick or download from the web. Obviously, downloading will take a long time…

There are two options during the upgrade:

1. Upgrade it in place, keeping the data and Windows profile.
2. Start fresh, wipe the workstation and reinstall from scratch.

We recommend option 2, as it’s cleaner and ensures fewer complications. However, we can certainly attempt option 1, with our engineers assistance as a plan B.

Please call Joseph or David, to go over each option and what will work best for your business.
US: 704-814-0398 (Joseph)
CA: 519-357-1364 (David)

Imagine…your admin just received an email FROM YOU, instructing him to send money to a bank account in Bosnia. He resists, and emails you to request clarification. You immediately respond that you want the money sent right away – it’s so very important. Your admin follows your directions and sends your money to a hacker in Bosnia.

Here’s another one. One of your favorite clients calls up to ask why you sent him such an offensive email. And there’s another caller waiting to tell you the same thing. Your reputation has been tarnished and your business will suffer. We do a message trace and find that the email was actually sent from your mailbox to over 600 recipients.

Far fetched? I wish that were true. Every month we hear of a mail breach similar to this story. What really happened here? Your email password has been compromised. The hacker is IN your mailbox; watching; learning; prepping. When the timing is right, the hacker poses as you, attempting to move funds. Sadly, it works nearly every time.

There is a very simple way to avoid this from ever happening to you or your staff. It’s called two-factor authentication. You use it all over the place – except your mailbox. It’s time for that to change. Just like the fingerprint or face scanner on your phone; just like the numbers texted to your phone that allow you to view your banking records; you must lock down your mailbox!

2FA is a necessary security step for email protection. You no longer have to change your password periodically, because the account will be protected by more than a password, complex or otherwise.

Our team will be reaching out to implement 2FA for all our clients before the year is out.

If you do not wish to use 2FA, we will ask you to sign an Memorandum of Understanding that your email is at risk and you have chosen to avoid the only guaranteed protection available – even though the service is free.

It’s been a good run, but the old dog is now 9 YEARS OLD. Time to retire… out to pasture… in with the new!

Of course I’m not talking about your boss, I’m referring to Windows 7. As of the end of this year, Microsoft will no longer provide support for Windows 7, nor will Quo Vadis. We’ve been talking about upgrading those older workstations for many years now. So let’s look at the options ahead.

Windows 10 has been out since 2015. In the past three years there have been several major upgrades, and right now I find it quite stable, once the latest major update has been installed. Should you upgrade to Windows 10? Generally, I’d say, “probably not.” There are two reasons for this position. First of all, it’s probable that your Windows 7 computer is older than three years – and you’ve missed out on the free upgrade to Windows 10. So you’ll lose $100 for the software upgrade, not including any helpful labor. Second, there’s a good chance that a new workstation, which comes with Windows 10, will be far superior to your existing hardware.

As you’re shopping for a new computer, please remember that we support small businesses, not homes. Your operating system must be Windows 10 Professional, not Windows 10. If you purchase a home OS, you’ll need to upgrade it to Professional, which is another $99, plus labor. Any maintenance done after the fact on a computer upgraded in this fashion will need to be upgraded all over again. If you haven’t saved the upgrade receipt, you’ll end up paying a second time, too. Ouch.

Our track record for excellent partner selection continues. Many years ago, we partnered with PacketTrap for our remote monitoring and management tool (RMM). Not too long afterward, DELL purchased PacketTrap.

We partnered with SonicWALL and DELL found them worthy of purchase as well.

We partnered with Duo and Cisco has announced their acquisition of Duo.

We partnered with MozyPro many years ago and Carbonite has announced their acquisition of Mozy.

You have partnered with Quo Vadis, and we think this too, is a wise choice. 🙂

Dell computers are no longer shipping with VGA capabilities, so beware! You’re probably going to need a different video cable (HDMI is a good choice) or a new display. Here’s a quick review of the various connectors.

• VGA adaptors have 15 pins and the cable head is normally blue.
• HDMI is a spade connector with the corners angled on two sides.
• Display Port is similar in shape to HDMI, but has only one side angled.
• Mini Display Port is primarily used on MacBooks. It is a small rectangle which is almost square.
• DVI is a pain in the neck. The cable head is either white or black and there are three or four flavors. It has many pins and bars in the head, and I find it too tedious to get right the first time, if I’m buying online. I think it’s safer to move to HDMI or Display Port.
• USB-C is the latest USB connector. It handles video, audio and data. New MacBooks have USB-C. It is a skinny rectangle that can be inserted either way. It’s the future… get over the change.

The take-away here is to remember the video cable when ordering any computer replacements. Using the old monitor was the norm in years past, but perhaps not today.

I want to give you a quick primer on sending email. So, here’s the straight skinny.

When someone sends you an email, your mail server accepts the message from the sender’s mail server, unless it has been blacklisted. So far, so good.

If you have a good spam service, it will confirm that the email was delivered from a server authorized to send email for that domain. This is the easiest way to tell if an email is spam. The Internet provides very simple ways to confirm: if the server is legit, the mail gets through. Done.

The take-away in this article is that YOUR MAIL SERVER must be properly authorized so your own emails are not deemed to be spam. This is a task that Quo Vadis takes care of for you. Not to worry. UNLESS… you are using a service to send bulk mail on your behalf. You MUST tell us! We’ll do the heavy lifting in the background, but we need to know what service you’re using (Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, etc.) so we can adjust your DNS SPF records. This will ensure your mail doesn’t get mistakenly marked as spam.

Why use a bulk mail sender? If you try to send out a marketing piece or a newsletter from Outlook, you’re almost guaranteed to raise red flags these days. Internet Service Providers (ISP) all over the planet are being pummeled by their constituents to halt the delivery of spam. They check all kinds of things.

• Is your server authorized?
• How many recipients are there?
• How many messages are being sent per minute?

All these factors make it virtually impossible for the average Outlook user to send an “email blast” out to a congregation, client list, etc. For these tasks, the use of a valid, authorized bulk mail sender is crucial. Don’t try to do it yourself or you will end up getting blacklisted.

We have begun deploying “smart” power strips that can be managed from the Cloud. These devices allow us to monitor the power consumption and reboot devices, as needed, without having to call and ask for your help. We can also schedule reboots for any connected device.

Leveraging the Cloud for power management is another way that we can remotely monitor and manage your network equipment.

We recently made an upgrade to our phone system to allow our callers a new feature. Now, if you can’t wait on hold for an Engineer, you will have the option of hanging up while retaining your place in the queue!

When you choose to drop out, the system will keep your place in the queue, and will dial back the number from your Caller ID when an Engineer is given your call.

Note: If you block your Caller ID, you will not be able to use this feature.

If you did not call from a DID (direct inbound dial) number, then you must tell your receptionist that you’re expecting a support call back from Quo Vadis. The Engineer will not know who called in. If your receptionist has not been informed, we will have no choice but to end the call. 🙁

If you have to call support, we hope this will help make it as pleasant as possible. Keep in mind that after our recent hiring, your average wait time for an Engineer is 51 seconds!

For many of us, sending secure mail is becoming a regular practice. It’s required by U.S. law now for certain types of data. I anticipate that ALL email will be securely delivered, by default, within two more years. The various software out there to get the job done is daunting. Every company seems to choose a different service and it’s a horrible mess. We have three encryption choices that we have found to work well depending on your needs.

Azure Rights Management (ARM) works without requiring the recipient to establish an account with the encryption authority. ARM does not require any add-ons or additional software to send OR receive. ARM costs less than everything else.

CipherPost Pro (CPP) provides the email sender with two great benefits. First, they get a Send Secure button in Outlook sitting next to the Send button. Second, their conversations stay within Outlook, if they are using the CPP Outlook add-on.

EchoWorks (EW) could not be easier. Every user in the domain has encrypted email capability, not just those, as above, who get signed up. Everything is encrypted if it meets the sending rules established and customized by the client. No add-ons, no fuss, no mess. If the email cannot be sent securely, the recipient gets a secure link to read the message – without any authentication.

Pricing

ARM $2.50 per user. No minimum.

CPP  $8 per user. $25 minimum.

EW  $8 per user for every domain user plus a $1,000 setup fee.

Do you have questions about which option is best for your business? Call the Help Desk today and choose option 2 for Wise Counsel.