Working for a computer support company in Baltimore, MD, I run into many server and domain issues that I have never seen before. The other day I ran into the following error when deploying Office 2007 via a GPO in Server 2003.
Error 25004: Per-User install not supported.
The error is pretty much self-explanatory. I attempted to deploy the software under "User Configuration" in the GPO, but that is not supported with Office 2007. You can only use the "Computer Configuration."
This seemed easy to remedy. I would delete the incorrect GPO and create a new one with the proper configuration. So that's what I did.
It wasn't that easy. No matter what I did I always got that same error. I removed the bad GPO and logged in. When I tried to run Word 2007, I got the error. I then created the new GPO and restarted my PC for the group policy to refresh. Then I logged in, opened Word, and got the same error. I even tried to install Office from the CD. I got the same error again. It seemed like the incorrectly configured GPO would not go away. I even used RSOP.msc to see what policies were being applied, and the bad GPO was not being applied.
After hours of ripping what little hair I have out, and multiple phone calls to my friend, a computer repair technician in Columbia and Laurel, MD, I came to a realization. I was going to delete the user account I was using, and recreate the account. My thought was that this user account was having trouble forgetting about the "Per-User" installation of Office 2007 that I tried.
Sure enough, as soon as I logged in with my newly created account everything was perfect. The new GPO (properly configured) was applied at startup and I was able to open Office 2007 with no issues.
I was lucky because this was a new domain. Obviously, you cannot just go deleting and recreating users in a production domain, but if you can, this is the resolution to the 25004: Per-User install not supported" error.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Online Store Security with SSL
Online stores have become so common that a large percentage of online shoppers still forget to verify the security of the website they are using. Verifying the security of the online store is critical to preventing credit card fraud and identity theft.
A secure online store will use the HTTPS protocol to transmit information from your PC to its servers. This secure protocol encrypts your information so that even if the data was captured by a hacker, they could not read it in its encrypted form. But using HTTPS is not enough. The web server hosting the HTTPS website must also be using a SSL certificate. This certificate validates that the web server is from a trusted source and that they are indeed using encryption to protect your data. The presence of a padlock in the address bar or corner of your browser (location depends on the browser in use, i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, etc.) verifies that SSL is in use. You can click on this padlock and view the information about the website and the company that provides the SSL certificate.
For example, take a look at this Celtic jewelry website, http://www.repiland.com/. You can see that the HTTP protocol is in use on the homepage. No SSL security is in use. But that's OK because you are not sending them your credit card info. But now let's go to their Celtic jewelry online store. Then click on the "Checkout" button along the top navigation. You can see that you are directed to a URL that uses HTTPS, and there is a padlock in the browser window as well (location depends on browser). Clicking on this padlock verifies that the web server is using a valid Geotrust SSL certificate to encrypt the Celtic jewelry store. So now you can be assured that any information sent to the server through this website will be encrypted and protected.
Always look for the SSL padlock and always click the padlock to verify the date and name of the web server in the certificate. You will be glad you did, and you can sleep better at night knowing your credit card info was sent securely when purchasing online products (like our Handmade Celtic Jewelry and Celtic Rings).
A secure online store will use the HTTPS protocol to transmit information from your PC to its servers. This secure protocol encrypts your information so that even if the data was captured by a hacker, they could not read it in its encrypted form. But using HTTPS is not enough. The web server hosting the HTTPS website must also be using a SSL certificate. This certificate validates that the web server is from a trusted source and that they are indeed using encryption to protect your data. The presence of a padlock in the address bar or corner of your browser (location depends on the browser in use, i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, etc.) verifies that SSL is in use. You can click on this padlock and view the information about the website and the company that provides the SSL certificate.
For example, take a look at this Celtic jewelry website, http://www.repiland.com/. You can see that the HTTP protocol is in use on the homepage. No SSL security is in use. But that's OK because you are not sending them your credit card info. But now let's go to their Celtic jewelry online store. Then click on the "Checkout" button along the top navigation. You can see that you are directed to a URL that uses HTTPS, and there is a padlock in the browser window as well (location depends on browser). Clicking on this padlock verifies that the web server is using a valid Geotrust SSL certificate to encrypt the Celtic jewelry store. So now you can be assured that any information sent to the server through this website will be encrypted and protected.
Always look for the SSL padlock and always click the padlock to verify the date and name of the web server in the certificate. You will be glad you did, and you can sleep better at night knowing your credit card info was sent securely when purchasing online products (like our Handmade Celtic Jewelry and Celtic Rings).
Friday, August 8, 2008
Stumbling on Niche Market
Computer and networking consultants are everywhere. Every town has at least a few people going around fixing and repairing common computer issues. There are also those computer consultants that happen to offer a service that no one else in their town offers. These are the consultants that can really capture the town's market.
I accidently came across a niche a few months ago. I had bought a Sony PSP (Playstation Portable) for my 12-year old nephew for Christmas last year. He loves it and plays it all the time. He carries it with him everywhere he goes.
Well, he calls me one day and says, "Something is wrong with my PSP. The screen looks funny." So I went and looked at it to diagnose the issue. I was hoping it would be covered by the warranty. Nope. It was a cracked PSP LCD screen.
At first I thought it was done. The cost to get this fixed would outweigh the cost of a new PSP. I was upset at him for not taking care of it better and he was upset because I was upset. So I turned to my trusty friend Google. I found that replacing a PSP LCD screen was supposedly simple. A new LCD would cost me about $50, and I could put it in myself in just a short amount of time.I purchased an LCD online and sure enough, it only took about 20 minutes to repair the PSP so it could work again.
Now that I see how easy this was too fix, I decided to find out what companies in my area do this type of work. I couldn't find any. So I decided to begin offering PSP repair as a service through my computer consulting company. I added the PSP repair service to our website, and began advertising the service as well.
Finding a niche market like this can be a boost for business. No one else offers PSP repair in Allentown, Bethlehem, Quakertown or Souderton, which are my service areas. I hope to build this part of my business, but not because I want to become a professional PSP repair guy, but because it will get my business name out to people that otherwise may have never heard of us. Reaching as many potential customers is crucial to gaining more business. The more people you reach, the more business you can get.
Find a niche for your business. The smallest, simpest niche can lead to increased business for your other services as well.
I accidently came across a niche a few months ago. I had bought a Sony PSP (Playstation Portable) for my 12-year old nephew for Christmas last year. He loves it and plays it all the time. He carries it with him everywhere he goes.
Well, he calls me one day and says, "Something is wrong with my PSP. The screen looks funny." So I went and looked at it to diagnose the issue. I was hoping it would be covered by the warranty. Nope. It was a cracked PSP LCD screen.
At first I thought it was done. The cost to get this fixed would outweigh the cost of a new PSP. I was upset at him for not taking care of it better and he was upset because I was upset. So I turned to my trusty friend Google. I found that replacing a PSP LCD screen was supposedly simple. A new LCD would cost me about $50, and I could put it in myself in just a short amount of time.I purchased an LCD online and sure enough, it only took about 20 minutes to repair the PSP so it could work again.
Now that I see how easy this was too fix, I decided to find out what companies in my area do this type of work. I couldn't find any. So I decided to begin offering PSP repair as a service through my computer consulting company. I added the PSP repair service to our website, and began advertising the service as well.
Finding a niche market like this can be a boost for business. No one else offers PSP repair in Allentown, Bethlehem, Quakertown or Souderton, which are my service areas. I hope to build this part of my business, but not because I want to become a professional PSP repair guy, but because it will get my business name out to people that otherwise may have never heard of us. Reaching as many potential customers is crucial to gaining more business. The more people you reach, the more business you can get.
Find a niche for your business. The smallest, simpest niche can lead to increased business for your other services as well.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
MacDrive
I came across a very valuable application the other day. It is called MacDrive (the latest version is 7) by MediaFour. This software allows you to read partitions formatted with Mac file systems on your Windows based PC. The standard HFS file system native to Mac computers cannot be read by Windows PC at all. Your Windows PC will see the HFS partition as unallocated.
Well, being a computer repair technician, all of my friends call me when their computers stop working. So this day, I had a Mac hard drive in my hands, and a friend of mine needed data recovery performed on it. His MacBook was no longer able to read this drive and he had 50GB of music on it that he had to have!!
I don't have a Mac, and I have never really used one to any great length. I used Google to see if there were any applications that I could use to alow me to view files on an HFS formatted drive. Good old Google found me MacDrive. I downloaded the trial version, installed it, and sure enough I could see all of his data right from "My Computer" in Windows Vista. I was able to pull his music from the failing hard drive successfully without ever needing a Mac.
I purchased the MacDrive software and I recommend that all computer support techs purchase this software. It works just as advertised and is very inexpensive. It saved the day for my friend.
Well, being a computer repair technician, all of my friends call me when their computers stop working. So this day, I had a Mac hard drive in my hands, and a friend of mine needed data recovery performed on it. His MacBook was no longer able to read this drive and he had 50GB of music on it that he had to have!!
I don't have a Mac, and I have never really used one to any great length. I used Google to see if there were any applications that I could use to alow me to view files on an HFS formatted drive. Good old Google found me MacDrive. I downloaded the trial version, installed it, and sure enough I could see all of his data right from "My Computer" in Windows Vista. I was able to pull his music from the failing hard drive successfully without ever needing a Mac.
I purchased the MacDrive software and I recommend that all computer support techs purchase this software. It works just as advertised and is very inexpensive. It saved the day for my friend.
Friday, August 1, 2008
SPAM Prevention with a SPAM Firewall
I think 7 out of every 10 emails I get every day are spam. Some people get an even higher ratio. There are hundreds of products out there to help decrease your inbox spam levels. Some work very well, some don't work well at all.
The latest product that I would recommend for medium and large businesses is the Barracuda Networks SPAM Firewall. This is a hardware device that integrates with your existing corporate email system. The SPAM Firewall is placed between your email server and the internet and all emails travel through the firewall before reaching user inboxes. Using a 12-tier filtering mechanism, all emails are analyzed and filtered based on numerous factors. Emails that are legit, simply get sent on to the receipients inbox. Emails that are tagged as spam either get deleted (only done to the most obvious spam) or sent to a user quarantine. Each user has his/ her own quarantine that they can manage. The can define safe sender lists as well as blocked sender lists.
Overall, the Barracuda Networks SPAM Firewall is an honor winning product that effectively stops 99% of spam. It is an industry leading solution that has proven to be successful in both small businesses as well as large corporations.
To find out more about the SPAM Firewall, locate your nearest Barracuda Networks Reseller.
The latest product that I would recommend for medium and large businesses is the Barracuda Networks SPAM Firewall. This is a hardware device that integrates with your existing corporate email system. The SPAM Firewall is placed between your email server and the internet and all emails travel through the firewall before reaching user inboxes. Using a 12-tier filtering mechanism, all emails are analyzed and filtered based on numerous factors. Emails that are legit, simply get sent on to the receipients inbox. Emails that are tagged as spam either get deleted (only done to the most obvious spam) or sent to a user quarantine. Each user has his/ her own quarantine that they can manage. The can define safe sender lists as well as blocked sender lists.
Overall, the Barracuda Networks SPAM Firewall is an honor winning product that effectively stops 99% of spam. It is an industry leading solution that has proven to be successful in both small businesses as well as large corporations.
To find out more about the SPAM Firewall, locate your nearest Barracuda Networks Reseller.
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