Alert- Conflicker C- Alert from the CHIEF

Alert! Rent-A-Geek Review Alert!
Computer Stop
204 9 Ave. S., Nampa, ID 83651
208-468-1056 www.cpugold.com www.nexgold.com
Lorren Loveless, MCSE, Sr. Systems Engineer

April 1, 2009
Alert - CONFICKER C - Alert

Dear Sherri,
Alert!

Quick Links

Virus Radar - Last 24 hours


Please patch your systems!

Affiliates:

Rent-A-Geek Review www.rentageekreview.com

Computer Stop is an Authorized Rep:
Alert - April 1st - it's not an April Fools gag - It's Real!
With the media hype and growing concern over the threat of the "April 1st Virus Threat", I want to provide some information and reassurance. You are protected if:

1. Your windows critical updates are current
2. You have an active license of Eset NOD32 antivirus software installed www.nexgold.com

If you are a Computer STOP client and get month server checks and our semiannual PC GoFast service, your protection is in place. We closely monitor your systems, and for any increased concern we are ready to respond if needed.

10 million PC's or more are infected with the newest Conficker worm, labeled Conficker C,. The original release targeted a critical vulnerability in the Microsoft operating systems, XP and Vista that do not have the patch MS08-067. People that have not patched their windows system with critical updates are vulnerable.

How do I know I have it?
Simple test is to perform a manual windows update. If you fail to get to windows update, then you MAY have the Conficker C. If you do, call us for a PCGoFast (to cleanup your PC)

Here's the detail from ESET
WikiPedia Info

If you are interested in ongoing reassurance about your Network, Security, Data, Backup and more.... Please contact us

samzink@cpugold.com or lorren@cpugold.com
Computer STOP, Inc.
Serving Treasure Valley since 1991
208.468.1056

Footnotes:
Conficker C - also known as Downup, Downadup and Kido
NOTE: There was a Microsoft patch BEFORE the conficker worm.
Quick Links

Virus Radar - Last 24 hours


Please Patch your systems!!!!
Affiliates:

Rent-A-Geek Review www.rentageekreview.com


Sincerely,

Your Chief Rent-A-Geek,
Lorren Loveless
Computer Stop, Inc.
lorren@cpugold.com

Operating Systems

Today, I would like to spend a little time on operating systems. Computer Stop has received a lot of questions concerning the different operating systems lately and what we recommend.

Well the most common operating system out there is Windows XP Professional. This is popular in the business world. This operating system supports older equipment and most software. This is also relatively stable. Microsoft will stop support with updates and security patches for this operating system in April of 2014. Microsoft will continue to make Windows XP available to manufacturers of low-cost PCs incapable of running Vista through June 2010. Computer Stop still recommends XP and we are planning on skipping Vista and going straight to the new operating system, Windows 7 when it's released at the end of the year.

Vista is the next operating system after XP and has given us a lot of headaches. The cpu usage has been a huge complaint especially if you purchased hardware and it didn't have enough memory to run the operating system. A lot of existing software programs are not compatible with Vista and the ease of use was an issue. There are many other issues and I care to stop here.

Windows 7 is the new operating system that will be coming out at the end of this year. Computer Stop is pleased to say we like this operating system much better. Windows 7 fixes many of the explicit and heavily reported flaws of Vista. The system looks more like Vista than XP, but "kind of sexy" and more stable. The look and feel is like Vista and it's definitely faster than Vista. Even with all the different changes to Windows operating systems there is always a learning curve with any new OS or new programs you are using.

Don't forget we are here to help, teach, and train you in using your technology to the best potential for you. Please email me with your questions or comments: sherri@cpugold.com
Have a great day!
Sherri

Positive Quote

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, your right.”

Harrison Ford

Social Networking this came from" Be The Bar" on the web

What is your most valuable asset?

The answer is your social network. The typical answers are things like experience, education, compensation package, real estate, investment portfolio, etc. In today’s environment each of these assets has become significantly devalued or destabilized. Over the past several months, some of the world’s most powerful companies have gone under or severely slashed headcount. Walk into any coffee house at 10:30 in the morning and you’ll see a dozen executive looking dudes (or ladies) working on their resumes sipping lattes prepared by an MBA barista. Real estate has almost become a liability and with the stock market crash and credit crisis an investment portfolio is at best speculative. Bottom line is that everything we formerly used to measure the probability of success has been placed in doubt. On the other hand, the people you know professionally or personally are a resource that with proper management consistently appreciates in value.

You Don’t Get Anywhere Alone

You need people and people need you. There comes a time in your professional career where your success ceases to depend on your technical expertise, education or experience and instead depends on your ability to find someone with the right talents and expertise to help you solve your problem. This requires the development of relational skills, or in other words, the ability to develop, cultivate and utilize a social network. For many high achievers, the notion that their success depends on anyone but themselves is terrifying. When times are good, it’s easy to justify the blinders of self aggrandizement that come in times of plenty. It’s when your own carpet is pulled from under you by outside forces that cause you to turn to people for answers. You are not and never have been good enough to succeed on your own. Sun Tzu in the Art of War perhaps says it best, “When in difficult country, do not encamp. In country where high roads intersect, join hands with your allies. Do not linger in dangerously isolated positions.”

Changing Your Mindset

Studies have found that for many successful people cultivating an effective social network is the most important but simultaneously loathed processes they face. In recent years, the importance, complexion and structure of social networks have begun to be studied. In the 2007 Harvard Business Review article, “How Leaders Create and Use Networks,” this is described as follows:
[W]e’ve found that networking—creating a fabric of personal contacts who will provide support, feedback, insight, resources, and information—is simultaneously one of the most self-evident and one of the most dreaded developmental challenges that aspiring leaders must address.

Effective social networking should not be confused with its evil twin, the game of power plays and office politics. Where politics involves scheming, positioning, throwing rivals under the proverbial bus, and utilizing the knives stuck in colleagues’ backs as footholds on the climb to the top, effective social networking is, on the other hand, the art of developing and cultivating allies. True allies provide each other with a symbiotic relationship in which the strengths of one balance the weaknesses of the other and vice versa. A true alliance involves an alignment of interests, not just connections of convenience when the enemy of your enemy is your friend.
People are the ultimate resource. Resources can be cultivated and developed which requires investment, patience and unselfishness. Resources can also be carelessly used up. Effective networkers treat people like a vineyard where the grapes are cultivated for years or even decades knowing that the wine will get better year after year. On the other hand, a swarm of locusts moves in and leaves behind a barren landscape of dead fields and destroyed livelihoods.

Ask yourself a couple of simple questions … how many people can you honestly say have enjoyed working with you and would drop what they’re doing right now if you needed a favor or advice? How many dead bodies have you left in your path? When you need help from someone you know do you ever ask yourself if the association or transaction will benefit them as much as it benefits you.
This last question addresses a phenomenon that I call “Tom Sawyering.” One of my favorite parts of Mark Twain’s classic is the part where Tom Sawyer swindles every kid in town to paint a fence for him by convincing them that he’s doing them a favor by letting them do his work. Too many of us treat our social networks in a pure “what’s in it for me” mindset like Tom Sawyer or a swarm of locusts.

Conclusion

In times of economic difficulties, you can’t just muscle and hustle your way to success. It is times like these that collaboration and collective creativity become not just beneficial but crucial to success. As such, it’s now time to reevaluate those people who comprise our personal social networks and look for unique opportunities to creatively help each other solve problems and create new opportunities.

Part 2 “Understanding Your Social Network” Coming Soon

 

Thanks,

Be the bar: http://bethebar.com/

Lesson Learned in January

I want to share a major lesson I just learned this past week. Sometimes in life it shows you something and all you can say is I learned from that one.  I didn’t realize what a lesson it would be until now.  

Never promise confidence unless you’re sure you can die with the information you were given or don’t do it. I also learned unless it serves highest and best good for all parties don’t do it.  I’m not sure what is going to come of it. Time will tell.

Sincerely,

Sherri Swihart

 

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3791 (20090122) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

Goals for 2009

Goals for 2009:

This year I have had several people ask me what my New Year’s resolution would be.

T

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3778 (20090119) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all that are following my Blog.

I don’t have a poem like Chief Rent A Geek, but I do have a few things to say today.

Today, I’m very grateful for everything I have. This can seem like a blanket statement, but in the economy everyone is freaked. I can be still and say that if we are looking for the bad we will find it and if we are looking for the good we will find it. The most profound thing that I have learned this year is prospective. I also have learned to shut up and listen a whole lot more. It’s amazing what that will do and the doors that it will open. Paying attention to my surroundings and being attentive and not in my head has also helped. I know that this seems random and maybe won’t make any sense to anyone else the main thing is it does to me and that’s ok. I have accomplished some powerful goals this year buying my home, buying my car, and not worrying about our finances or being able to breath. Work is incredible and I have the BEST TEAM  I can ask for.  I found my favorite cd’s today. My kids and family are healthy. What else could a girl ask for.

I’m incredibly GREATFUL.

Thank you to all who have helped me be successful.

Love,

Sherri

 

 

Computer Stop Inc.

ESET Representative

Sherri Swihart

204 9th Ave So.

Nampa, ID 83651

(208) 869-7272 Cell Phone

(208) 468-1056 Office

 

sherri@cpugold.com

www.nexgold.com