Vol. 24, #16 - April 22, 2019 - Issue #1228
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This week we have a grab bag of mixed news and information that should be of interest to newsletter readers who spend most of their time down in the murky trenches of PC warfare. Enjoy, and feel free to send us questions or comments on anything by emailing us at [email protected]
And please tell others about WServerNews! :-)
Cheers,
Mitch Tulloch, Senior Editor
One tech site I follow religiously is AskWoody which reports problems with Microsoft patches for Windows and Office. I make it a habit not to apply Windows Update patches to any of our systems unless a week has been passed since their release and Woody Leonhard has not reported any serious problems associated with the patches.
Last week the following post on AskWoody sharply caught my attention because of the title of the post:
MS-DEFCON 1: There's no reason to stick your finger in the pencil sharpener – DON'T UPDATE
http://www.wservernews.com/go/9tqdi435/
DEFCON 1 is pretty serious--it means nuclear war is imminent:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/wm3h50aa/
Woody's advice concerning the April rollups is clear: "Don't patch"
The concerns are mostly around patches for Win7, 8.1 and Server 2008 R2 thru 2012 R2 but we still have one mission-critical Win7 PC in our business so we're taking a wait-and-see attitude before we try patching it.
If you're twitterphilic like I am then I highly recommend that you follow Woody here:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/4rz3uzrv/
and tweet him if you experience any problems yourself after installing the latest monthly rollups or security-only patches on your systems.
P.S. I may be twitterphilic but I'm facebookphobic. How about you?
Technophilic readers (there's that Greek suffix again) may have noticed that some popular TechNet blogs have disappeared lately or are in the process of being retired to neverneverland. For example, if you open the Ask Premier Field Engineering (PFE) Platforms blog you'll see the following announcement at the start of each post:
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR OUR READERS!
AskPFEPlat is in the process of a transformation to the new Core Infrastructure and Security TechCommunity, and will be moving by the end of March 2019 to our new home at https://aka.ms/CISTechComm (hosted at https://techcommunity.microsoft.com). Please bear with us while we are still under construction!
We will continue bringing you the same great content, from the same great contributors, on our new platform. Until then, you can access our new content on either https://aka.ms/askpfeplat as you do today, or at our new site https://aka.ms/CISTechComm. Please feel free to update your bookmarks accordingly!
Microsoft says that they're doing this "to provide you even more great content" but I've looked at the Microsoft TechCommunity site and find it difficult to find useful information there the way it's structured, so in my opinion this is another backwards move on Microsoft's part that makes it harder for IT pros like ourselves to implement, administer and support Microsoft products.
Fortunately someone who goes by the moniker Anonymous Coyote managed to archive a number of the TechNet blogs (and some MSDN ones) before they got erased from the Internet, and Woody Leonhard has a link to the Google Drive folder where these archived blogs can be downloaded for those interested in preserving this useful information:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/mvt0ve9d/
What do our readers think about this move by Microsoft away from blogs and consolidating technical support information into the TechCommunity site? Email your comments to me at [email protected]
And final, Windows 7 EOL (End Of Life) is barreling towards us like a train out of control. After January 14th 2020 Microsoft will no longer provide Windows 7 security updates or support. So maybe it's finally time for you to get rid of those remaining Windows 7 PCs by either upgrading them to Windows 10 or replacing them with new Win10 PCs.
The question is, should you replace or upgrade?
If you're thinking of upgrading your Win7 machines to Win10 you should be aware that there's no official support for running Windows 7 on processors/chipsets of Intel's 7th generation or AMD's 1st or 2nd generation Ryzen or Threadripper architectures. Intel's 6th generation (Skylake) architecture does support Win7 but Intel's own end-of-life date for that architecture recently passed and Tier 1 OEMs won't be shipping systems with this architecture after March 2020. In addition, any PC you have that's older than about half a dozen years probably only supports 4 GB of RAM and has a video card that is likely no longer supported by the vendor. And the older a PC is the more likely it is that the power supply or fan will give out.
There are other reasons for not upgrading older Win7 machines to Win10 but that should probably convince you.
Right?
Send me your feedback: [email protected]
WServerNews goes out each week to more than 500,000 IT pro subscribers worldwide! That's a lot of expertise to tap into. Do you need help with some technical problem or are looking for expert advice on something IT-related? Ask Our Readers by emailing your problems and/or questions to us at [email protected]
Got any IT pro tips you'd like to share with other readers of our newsletter? Email us at [email protected]
The following except from a recent interview of Linux Torvalds by Robert Young is priceless:
Bob: I asked how you were going to catch up with all the emails you missed by the time you returned to Helsinki. Your answer surprised me, and I've been quoting you ever since. You simply said you would send the backlog of emails to /dev/null. I expressed shock and asked you, "but what if there were important emails in your inbox?" You shrugged and replied, "If it was important, the writer would just send it again." Possibly the most liberating piece of advice anyone had ever given me. Do you still follow that philosophy of email handling?
You can read Linus's reply to Bob's question about two-thirds of the way down the interview:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/09go0twq/
I think I'll make that our Tip of the Year and adopt Linus's approach right away! ;-)
GOT ADMIN TOOLS or other software/hardware you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected]
Identify bottlenecks, address issues faster, improve server efficiency. AI-powered monitoring, customizable dashboards, instant alerting and more.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/rfwhwpu8/
Read the short analyst report by 451 Research that provides their view on the importance of backing up your Office 365 data.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/59o09cr2/
If native Office 365 reports are not sufficient for you and if you need more details on your email traffic such as the sender, recipient and email subject, try PROMODAG Reports for free now!
http://www.wservernews.com/go/8k0sm0od/
Altaro VM Backup removes the complexities of backing up Hyper-V & VMware. Easy to use, sets up within just 15 mins & comes with the best deduplication in the industry. Download the free copy here
http://www.wservernews.com/go/y6pq2p4g/
This Outlook 2013 add-in adds extended appointment calendar to see events for several upcoming days, and enhanced new email notification system to delete/flag incoming emails:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/pnety5iu/
ActivePasswords is a lightweight, powerful and fully customizable password strength & account synchronization tool:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/kon0u4nx/
Enterprise Policy Management Framework is a reporting solution on the state of the enterprise against a desired state defined in a policy and can be extended to all SQL Server instances in the enterprise:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1ded87vh/
Last week's factoid and question was this:
Fact: It appears that social media like Facebook and Twitter are starting to lose ground to an earlier one-to-many form of electronic communication, namely the good old-fashioned email newsletter.
Question: How many of our readers still prefer email newsletters as a way of keeping in touch with friends, family or customers?
A reader named Logan responded with:
Still prefer email as a way of keeping in touch with friends, family or customers. Safer, more private, and easier to control.
Agreed. And another reader named John who is a Systems Administrator in Massachusetts, USA said:
Would rather talk to them.
Of course that raises the question of what form of communication one might prefer for talking with others. For example, would you prefer to Skype them, call them on the telephone or meet them in person for tea and biscuits (or espresso and a croissant)? Which brings us to this week's factoid:
Fact: Skype has hundreds of millions of monthly active users:
Source: http://www.wservernews.com/go/r7gclazn/
Question: Nevertheless Skype sucks IMO, both its interface and reliability, so I'm looking to abandon it. I'm currently trying out a similar program called Zoom which seems much better crafted than Skype. So my question is: If one wanted to ditch Skype, what would YOU recommend replacing it with? And why?
Email your answer to [email protected]
>> Got an IT conference happening in North America that you'd like to promote in our newsletter? Email us at [email protected]
Nov 4-8, 2019 in Orlando, Florida
http://www.wservernews.com/go/d9xi0005/
Register for your city's Tour event here:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/okhpsmfz/
Microsoft Build - May 6-8 in Seattle, Washington USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/wq1kja2v/
Microsoft Business Applications Summit - June 10-11 in Atlanta, Georgia USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/oyl03v4k/
Microsoft DevDays - June 17-21 in Redmond, Washington USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/jztia6i7/
Microsoft Inspire - July 14-18 in Las Vegas, Nevada USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/p2d5wkyj/
Microsoft Ignite - Nov. 4-8 in Orlando, Florida USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/e2tv1bcu/
Cyber Security Summit - April 25 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/dftvpw2f/
European Identity & Cloud Conference - May 14-17 in Munich, Germany
http://www.wservernews.com/go/g7u3hhj7/
Cyber Security Summit - May 15 in Dallas, Texas USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/hf72jmbf/
Infosecurity Europe - June 4-6 in London, England
http://www.wservernews.com/go/zz0h6wxg/
Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit - June 17-20 in National Harbor, Maryland USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/502kt8ez/
Cyber Security Summit - June 27 in Washington D.C. USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/ywyrbvrk/
RSA Conference 2019 - July 16-18 in Singapore
http://www.wservernews.com/go/4mb7ya6d/
Cyber Security Summit - July 18 in Seattle, Washington USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/0eq6g60b/
Black Hat USA - August 3-8 in Las Vegas, Nevada USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/4kp09wbs/
Cyber Security Summit - August 27 in Chicago, Illinois USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/01qq8rus/
Cyber Security Summit - Sept. 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/do4ctnlk/
Dell Technologies World - April 29 to May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/aaxfqwm7/
SharePoint Fest - April 29 to May 3 in Washington D.C. USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/yuxfhc0v/
VeeamON (Veeam) - May 20-22 in Miami, Florida USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1i4pa8hb/
Citrix Synergy - May 21-23 in Atlanta, Georgia USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/gml9ojsw/
SharePoint Conference - May 21-23 in Las Vegas, Nevada USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/jt4vsrgt/
Computex - May 28 to June 1 in Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.wservernews.com/go/iv8zvw05/
Microsoft Azure + AI Conference - ;June 10-13 in Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.wservernews.com/go/zmd1bkt7/
Cloud & DevOps World - June 12-13 in London, England
http://www.wservernews.com/go/2dmtv8ro/
Microsoft Inspire - July 14-18 in Las Vegas, Nevada USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/59otluf2/
SPTechCon - August 25-28 in Boston, Massachusetts USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/uw96wxqd/
VMworld - August 25-29 in San Francisco, California USA
http://www.wservernews.com/go/bxq4qymf/
Xtreme Podcast: Is there still an 'I' in innovation?
In this week's Xtreme Podcast: Where are the next tech innovations coming from? Also, business taglines can be funny; cyber insurance, not so much.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/22pqayv5/
New System Center 2019 focuses on datacenters, security, hybrid cloud
The brand-new Microsoft System Center 2019 allows users to deploy and manage Windows Server 2019 and is perfect for those with specific datacenter needs.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/dv2h1a4j/
Move over, Photoshop: How AI fakes are the next-generation forgery
It's unreal what artificial intelligence can do. AI fakes -- real-looking photos, videos, audios, or documents — may create a giant problem.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/ouhzsp2t/
What is the true driving force behind technological innovation?
Where will the inspiration for the next technological innovation come from? If the past is prologue, it can come from anywhere.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/3cu7ws9i/
Microsoft Threat Experts offers attack notifications, experts on demand
Microsoft is adding another layer of protection to Windows Defender. Microsoft Threat Experts offers targeted attack notifications and experts on demand.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1dbwk457/
Rocket Powered Golf Club
Custom golf club maker Kevin Moore testing a new golf club prototype with a rocket engine that adds speed and power to his golf swing:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/bsm48rt0/
Amateur Rocket Reaches 121,000 ft (37 000 m)
The 'Qu8q' amateur rocket reaches an altitude of 121,000 ft (37 000 m) - three times above the typical cruising altitude of an airliner (39,000 feet):
http://www.wservernews.com/go/u1q8oc3m/
Grenade Explosion In Super Slow Motion
This high-speed camera shows how a grenade inflates before it explodes. A mirror next to it provides a side view. Explanation below:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/c41jii7w/
'Life Is A Job' - Father Guido Sarducci
Comedian Don Novello as 'Father Guido Sarducci' explains how 'Life is a Job' on Saturdau Night Live (1980):
http://www.wservernews.com/go/svcstkvv/
How to find Wi-Fi Settings in Windows 10
In Windows 10, the Wi-Fi -- and wired -- connectivity settings are in a new spot, but they're as easy to access and configure as ever. You just have to know where to look.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/ha0gd38w/
Test Your Digital Workspace Services Prowess With This Quiz
Citrix and VMware each have workspace platforms with features that control mobile notifications, workflows and more. Find out if you know what they are with this workspace quiz.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/vy4lkdfa/
Q&A: Will Microsoft artificial intelligence change your job?
Technical architect Jason Wynn says the data center is already on the path to a more autonomous future due to the acceleration of Microsoft artificial intelligence efforts.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/wrpzq5rv/
How to defend against malicious IP addresses in the cloud
Cybercriminals have found a way to use the cloud to mask their locations. Expert Rob Shapland looks at the options organizations have to deal with malicious IP addresses.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/xzvxq3ni/
Got feedback about anything in this issue of WServerNews? Email us at [email protected]
Free Tool for Monitoring Exchange Server Status & Performance
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Mitch Tulloch is Senior Editor of WServerNews and is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, deployment and virtualization. Mitch was lead author of the bestselling Windows 7 Resource Kit and has been author or series editor for almost fifty books mostly published by Microsoft Press. Mitch is also a ten-time recipient of Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for his outstanding contributions in support of the global IT pro community. Mitch owns and runs an information technology content development business based in Winnipeg, Canada. For more information see www.mtit.com.
Ingrid Tulloch is Associate Editor of WServerNews and was co-author of the Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking from Microsoft Press. Ingrid is also manages research and marketing for our content development business and has co-developed university-level courses in Information Security Management for a Masters of Business Administration program.
