Archive for October, 2009

If you think blacking out information in Microsoft Word  using the highlighter and then saving it as a PDF will hide your sensitive data, you are mistaken.   A quick copy and paste into notepad, will reveal that the blacked out information is still available.

I wrote about how to properly redact a PDF document, but I just found a handy redaction tool for MS Word 2007.  It is not an official Microsoft product, but it works great.  Once downloaded and installed, the tool  appears under the tab “Review”.  Highlight the information you’d like to redact,  click on “Mark” and continue through your document marking everything you want blacked out.   When you are finished selecting and marking,  click on “Redact document.”  Your sensitive data will be inaccessible.

Word 2007 Redaction Tool

If you are using Firefox as a browser and you ever come across the notice above – it’s both a good and bad sign.

The bad news is the site was compromised by viral activity.  The web host is cleaning it up, as several sites under their care were infected, but it also means the site is unavailable for a time. Not so bueno.

The good news is Firefox knows and throws up the warning, thereby quarantining the site  (visit at your own risk). If you are using Firefox make sure you have this setting turned on.  Go to Tools/Options/Security  and put a check mark by “Block reported attack sites”

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Tab browsing is so efficient!   In Firefox you can set your browser to open to more than just one home page.  So upon launching, you can have your most frequented or favorite sites opened in tabs ready for viewing.

Here is how:  open a new Firefox window, open in new tabs all the sites you’d like to set as your “home pages,”  once the tabs are all opened click on tools/options/,  in the Main menu under the home page address bar select the button “use current pages”, select OK to finish.

Using multiple pages for home pages not only automatically loads your favorites, but also frees up space for other favorites in your Bookmark Toolbar.   Such economy!

One of the worst things about starting fresh with a new reinstall of Windows (or a new computer) is that you have to hunt down updated installers for the software that you use.  I just stumbled across this great site which streamlines looking for software and installing it into one super quick process.

There’s really not too much to say about it honestly.  You go to their website, put a check mark next to the applications you want to install, hit the “get installer” button and then a small app runs (doesn’t even install itself on your computer)

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This type of error has been popping up more and more frequently with some of our clients.  It’s caused opening multiple attachments in Outlook that have the same file name.  Outlook’s secure temp folder fills up with these files and throws this error when you have 100 files with the same name.  This folder is really difficult to find on your own (it takes digging around in the registry to find it), this tool simplifies the purging and you can even set it up via scheduled tasks to do it automatically.

OutlookTempCleaner has a minimal interface.  Just double click the icon, then press “Clear Folder” and it’s done.  If you want you can also open your secure temp folder before running it just to be sure you’re not going to lose anything.

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Today is the day Windows 7 officially launches!  As an IT person I’ve had access to it for a couple months already and have been running it on my primary system to learn some of the ins-and-outs of it.  If you’re in the market for a new system of purchased one in the last couple months I’d recommend the upgrade (computers purchased since June 26th are eligible for a free upgrade).  Hit the READ MORE link for some tips, tricks and links that will help make Windows 7 a smooth upgrade for you.

New user interface refinements:

If you drag a window to the top of your screen it maximizes, drag it to the left or right it resizes to take up half of the screen, and if you click and hold a window and shake it (no, really) all other open windows minimize.  Repeat to restore all the other windows.

There’s are a host of new keyboard shortcuts built into Windows 7 focused around the unloved little windows key. Hold down windows and press the right or left arrow and the active window snaps to the right or left of the screen.  Hold windows and press 1 through 9 and it will launch the first through ninth application pinned to your taskbar.

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In this age of information overload and constant communication, you might be looking for more ways to manage your Inbox.  Folder making and filing might just be passé, or under implemented because you’re lacking the “big picture” approach to email management.

If this sounds about right, try out this skillful strategist’s techniques:

10 Steps to Become an Email Ninja

[Image by obo-bobolina]

In less than 10 days, the highly anticipated Windows 7 will be available to the public.  Have you caught the buzz?

In the coming weeks we will be offering write-ups about Windows 7 features.  We have worked in its environs for a few weeks now and generally like its functionality.  If you are running Vista, Microsoft says your PC is likely ready for the upgrade.  If you are running XP, check your PC for the following requirements:

• 1GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1GB RAM (32-bit) / 2GB RAM (64-bit)
• 16GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

For more FAQs about upgrading to Windows 7, click here.

Is it you or is it the site? It happens. Websites go down, meaning they become inaccessible to users surfing the web for various reasons – the servers they’re hosted on need scheduled maintenance, hardware malfunctions, etc. A good webhost will have redundancies in place so that the sites they manage experience minimal interference during maintenance procedures or unexpected interruptions, but from a user’s perspective one can’t always tell if an unavailable website is because of an external condition.

Fortunately, a sparse but useful tool exists for you to test a suspected down-age. It is so simple, its use requires no explanation AND it has a sense of humor (which always helps when we are uncertain about something).

Give it a go:   downforeveryoneorjustme.com

If you’re like me you use the built-in functionality of your web browser to save and manage your passwords to various online sites.  If you’re being careful and protecting your passwords from prying eyes you’re using a master password to protect your password list.  What happens if you forget your master password?  Before now you were kind of stuck.  Your passwords would remain safe but inaccessible, rendering them useless.  Now a recovery tool called FireMaster that can help you recover your passwords.

Before I go any further I’d like to remind everyone that these tools can be used for both good and evil.  Please use this to recover a lost password for yourself or someone that asks you, don’t use this to snoop on someone else’s online business.  These tools are a godsend for tech guys, but if people misuse them it just makes it harder for legitimate users to get their hands on them.

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