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Vol. 13, #12 - Mar 24, 2008 - Issue #666
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The Verdict On The New WinXP SP3
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- Editor's Corner
- The Verdict On The New WinXP SP3
- CNET Declares CounterSpy #1 In AntiSpyware Top 10
- New VIPRE Beta 3 Released
- Benchmarks You Should Check Out
- Quotes Of The Week
- Admin Toolbox
- Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without
- Tech Briefing
- Death Match: Windows Vista Versus XP
- Admin Guide: Recover From Configuration Changes To Windows XP
- Intel Develops Long-range Wi-Fi
- Use Performance Monitor To Detect Exchange 2003 Message Queue Problems
- Large Monitors Boost User Performance Up To 52%
- Screencast: A Look At Windows Powershell's Security Features
- How The Service Desk Can Help Windows Shops Meet SOX Compliance
- Windows Server News
- Redmond Releases Feature-Complete Hyper-V
- What The New XP And Vista SP's Mean To W2K8 Admins
- WServer Third Party News
- New Ninja Update For Exchange 2000/2003
- Amazing, The Amount Of Vulnerabilities All The Time
- WServerNews FAVE Links
- This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
- WServerNews - Product of the Week
- FREE EBOOK: Administrator's Shortcut Guide to AD Security
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FREE EBOOK: Administrator's Shortcut Guide to AD Security
|
Take 2 minutes to download a 30-day trial of ScriptLogic's Active
Administrator, an industry-leading AD management and auditing
solution, and you'll get a free copy of the eBook The
Administrator's Shortcut Guide to Active Directory Security.
In this comprehensive, 93-page eBook, you'll learn valuable AD
security tips from industry experts Derek Melber and Dave Kearns.
Download Active Administrator and get the free ebook today!
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-ScriptLogic-eBook
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Editor's Corner |
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The Verdict On The New WinXP SP3
Since Vista SP1 was released this week and found wanting, the pending release
of XP SP3 is getting more attention and importance than you'd expect for an
officially obsolete OS. Well I still run XP in the office and at the house
and it runs just fine for me, thank you very much. I'm looking forward to
the new SP3 and the 10% performance gain we're going to get out of it.
The verdict is the new SP3 is a must-have update for XP 'life-extenders'.
Now, let's look at Vista SP1. The main issue with it that it does not
fix the performance problems. Yes, the file copy bug was fixed but that
does not address the overall sluggishness. So what's in SP1 that might
be somewhat valuable? Well, the kernel was updated to the same rev as
W2K8, the BitLocker code supports more drives, a bunch of bug fixes and
compatibility tweaks, and Windows Update has more drivers available.
Oh, and some notebooks might see better battery life. So, the Vista SP1
that was released this week is a ho-hum hotfix consolidator, but that's
about it. Make sure your apps support SP1 and test, test, test before
you roll out. (Still true for XP SP3 too by the way).
CNET Declares CounterSpy #1 In AntiSpyware Top 10
The news gets better and better. December 2007 CNET (the world's most
influential tech website), chose CounterSpy as their Editor's Choice.
In March 2008, they updated their Top 10 Antispyware Apps, and CounterSpy
came out first. They said "For antispyware protection, CounterSpy 2.0
comes out on top. We were pleasantly surprised by Sunbelt CounterSpy
2.0. For $20, you can't get better antispyware protection." Obviously we
are extremely pleased and we're happy to get this "Oscar for Antispyware".
For these 20 bucks, home users get a dedicated, hard working team that
will help you keep the bad guys out. And if you get in trouble, you have
toll-free, live tech support right here in the U.S. No freeware will
ever give you that kind of service when you really need it. Here is
the review with the ratings they gave all the contenders:
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-CounterSpy-Review
New VIPRE Beta 3 Released
The latest VIPRE Beta is available and you can download it for testing by
clicking on the VIPRE Downloads & Updates section, and next on the
Beta 3 link. No registration required for the download.
Please report bugs you find to this same beta forum, You can view/read
all the existing bug reports, but to post bugs you need to register !)
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-VIPRE-Beta
Benchmarks You Should Check Out
Here are some very interesting benchmarks at the xpnet site. The Windows
Vista + Office 2007 combination represents the largest jump in overall
CPU and memory footprint ever recorded on the Windows platform. Not only
is the new combination "fatter" than previous versions, it's also a great
deal slower on comparable hardware. In fact, during OfficeBench testing they
found that Vista + Office 2007 took over twice as long as the slowest
Windows XP derivative: Service Pack 2 + Office 2003. The details are here:
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Benchmarks
Quotes Of The Week
"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5
years there'd be a shortage of sand." -- Milton Friedman.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
-- In memoriam of Arthur C. Clarke who passed on this week. (1917-2008)
Thank you for being a WServerNews subscriber. Please
tell your friends about us. They can subscribe here:
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Subscribe
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Get Rid Of Your Old Second Generation Exchange AV
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Yeah, it may work OK. But the yearly maintenance is scandalously high. You
can spend your valuable IT budget on something better than that. Get Ninja
for your Exchange AV. It is cheaper than Trend, McAfee or Symantec and true
third generation, integrated, policy-based antispam, AV, disclaimers and
more. It's very little money if you take advantage of the competitive
upgrade program.
Try Ninja for 30 days. You will be amazed how easy it
is to set up and run: it takes 50% less admin time than the others!
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Ninja-Email-Security
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Tech Briefing |
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Death Match: Windows Vista Versus XP
So there you are, signing the "Save XP" petition, shaking your fist in triumph
as you stick it to "the man." It's a liberating feeling. You've found the
courage to buck the trend and jump off the Wintel upgrade treadmill. You feel
empowered, enlightened. But still, there are these nagging doubts.
Does Vista have what it takes to knock XP off the enterprise desktop? Not by
InfoWorld's scorecard. Point by point and blow by blow, they offer 10 reasons
enterprises can skip Windows Vista and stick with XP. More of this article at:
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Vista-Scorecard
Admin Guide: Recover From Configuration Changes To Windows XP
In this three-part series, Microsoft MVP Brien Posey runs through the best
practices and strategies for returning Windows XP to a functional state --
with minimal effort. (registration required)
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-XP-Admin-Guide
Intel Develops Long-range Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is taken for granted by those who live in cites with well-established
infrastructures for cable and telephone networks, but the technology is not
nearly as ubiquitous in rural areas and the developing world. In light of
this, Intel has been developing a platform capable of extending a Wi-Fi
signal between antennas situated 60 miles apart with the purpose of
connecting sparsely populated villages to the Internet. More at TechSpot:
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Long-Range-Wifi
Use Performance Monitor To Detect Exchange 2003 Message Queue Problems
Even in a properly functioning Exchange 2003 SMTP queue, corrupt messages can
get stuck and cause mail flow issues. In this tip, learn how to monitor your
server for corrupt messages or denial-of-service attacks, in order to
circumvent these issues.
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Performance-Monitor
Large Monitors Boost User Performance Up To 52%
ComputerWorld reported something huge. Users working with dual 20-in. screens
boosted their performance by 44% in text editing and by 29% in spreadsheet
editing over a single 18-in. monitor. With a single 24-in. LCD, the same
tasks showed performance gains of 52% (text) and 26% (spreadsheet) over
one 18-in. monitor. The rest of the article is a must-read. Imagine the
improved productivity you get this way:
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Large-Monitors
Screencast: A Look At Windows Powershell's Security Features
The third of a four-part series on Windows PowerShell, this screencast
explains how new security features in PowerShell can help keep admins
from accidentally executing scripts obtained from outside sources.
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Powershell
How The Service Desk Can Help Windows Shops Meet SOX Compliance
By using IT governance frameworks like COBIT and Microsoft Operations
Framework, the service desk can help a Windows enterprise stay on track
with its SOX objectives.
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-SOX-Compliance
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Windows Server News |
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Redmond Releases Feature-Complete Hyper-V
Redmond's hypervisor product has been delayed a few times, but things look
on track now, and they might surprise us and release before the 180 days
they promised earlier. This week they put out a code complete RC1.
According to Mike Neil, Microsoft's general manager for virtualization
strategy, "This milestone is important to the hundreds of customers and
partners in the early adopter programs, and those of you trialing Hyper-V
on your own, because it's feature complete, better performing than the
beta, and you'll have a better experience using it."
This RC1 has a larger list of tested and qualified guest operating systems,
which now includes W2K3 SP2, Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, Vista
SP1 and WinXP SP3. Host server and language support has been expanded to
include the 64- bit (x64) versions of W2K8 Standard, Enterprise and
Datacenter, with English, German and Japanese language options.
What The New XP And Vista SP's Mean To W2K8 Admins
Here's how the newest client and server operating systems play together and
why you should care. Jonathan Hassell at ComputerWorld put them next to each
other and started with: "Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has been released to
most users, and Windows XP Service Pack 3 is right around the corner. So
why should you care if you're also considering adopting Windows Server 2008?
How do the respective service packs fit into the overall design? Let's take
a look at each." No need to repeat everything he said, just read this quite
useful article here:
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Service-Packs
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WServer Third Party News |
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New Ninja Update For Exchange 2000/2003
A new version of Ninja has been released for Exchange 2000/20003 and we are
recommending that all customers update to this latest build. Please follow
these step by step instructions in order to do so:
- Please ensure that you have .Net 2.0 installed on your Exchange server
before upgrading. You can get it at:
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Dot-Net-2
Warning: You will need to restart your server after the install of .Net 2.0.
Failure to do so will cause some issues with the Ninja installation.
- Make a back up of the \Settings and \Data directories in the
Sunbelt Software\Sunbelt Messaging Ninja ("Ninja Email Security" for more
recent versions) directory. It is also best practice to export your global
and policy rules to a safe place before you upgrade.
- Download and run the latest version of Ninja Email Security for Exchange
2000/2003 from this link to start the upgrade process:
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-Ninja-Download
- Click 'Finish'
At this point you will want to open the Ninja console and ensure that
all of your settings were retained. If they were not retained please contact
support at (877) 673-1153 or email us at support@sunbeltsoftware.com.
Release Changes (Fixes/Enhancements):
- Fixed: glossary page missing information about SMART filters
- Fixed: threads deadlocking while quarantining multiple messages for same user
- Update to the Sunbelt Advanced Engine
- Fixed: Sunbelt Advanced Spam Engine proxy configuration issues
- Added an aggressive option for the Sunbelt Advanced Spam Engine
- Fixed: 1720 error during the upgrade of Ninja
- Fixed: misc mail flow or mail delay issues
- Fixed: engine updates will show error if update server cannot be contacted
- Fixed: messages to/from the address of a mail-enabled contact are considered internal
- Redirect mailbox support for cluster environments
- Enhancements to the quarantine store
- Reporting Database defaults to 90 day delete threshold on new installs
- HTML disclaimers support extended ASCII char set
Amazing, The Amount Of Vulnerabilities All The Time
SNSI uses the latest Mitre Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) list
of computer incidents. It also contains the latest SANS/FBI top 20
vulnerability list. SNSI also uses the latest CERT, CIAC Microsoft and
FedCIRC (Department of Homeland Security) advisories. New Checks:W3309 Microsoft Office Web Components Could Allow Remote Code Execution
W3310 Microsoft Office Web Components Could Allow Remote Code Execution
L0508 Thunderbird multiple security vulnerabilities - RHE
L0509 Tcltk GIF and regex handling errors - RHE
N0077 CUCM SQL injection vulnerability - ICS MCS
S0379 Java Desktop System XscreenSaver Vulnerability - Solaris 10
S0393 IPC vulnerability - Solaris 10
S0403 ICU 3.2 library regular expression parsing - Solaris 9 - 10
Updated Checks
W3313 Microsoft Office Web Components Could Allow Remote Code Execution
Revised Checks
W2811 Adobe Reader 7,8 IE 7 URI handling vulnerability
S0438 Gzip LZH, unlhz related vulnerabilities - Solaris 8 - 10
Sunbelt Network Security Inspector version 1.6.94.0 was released March 17, 2008).
Sunbelt Software recommends you download the new SNSI version 1.6.94.0, scan,
and patch your machines today. To get the latest SNSI version, visit:
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-SNSI
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WServerNews FAVE Links |
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This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
|
|
WServerNews - Product of the Week |
|
FREE EBOOK: Administrator's Shortcut Guide to AD Security
Take 2 minutes to download a 30-day trial of ScriptLogic's Active
Administrator, an industry-leading AD management and auditing
solution, and you'll get a free copy of the eBook The
Administrator's Shortcut Guide to Active Directory Security.
In this comprehensive, 93-page eBook, you'll learn valuable AD
security tips from industry experts Derek Melber and Dave Kearns.
Download Active Administrator and get the free ebook today!
http://www.wservernews.com/080324-eBook
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