Category: Software

Where do you keep your passwords?

Farmhouse Networking has had a long standing policy that we do not keep a record of client passwords (except when needed for device administration). That is about to change, but before we talk about our new password policy let’s talk password storage:

Common Password Storage

Here are some popular places where many businesses store their passwords that make them very vulnerable to being stolen.

Passwords written on paper (that are not under lock and key):

On your desk under your keyboard (or taped underneath)
Under your stapler or desk decorations
On sticky notes stuck to your monitor or desk
On a scrap of paper on your desk or in a drawer
In a notebook or address book
In a old-fashioned Rolodex file
Paper printouts or photocopies of your passwords

Anyone with access to your office could easily find and steal passwords stored like this.

Passwords stored in your computer (without using encryption):

Remembered in your web browser
A document called “Passwords” that you’ve created anywhere on your computer, perhaps using Microsoft Word or Excel
A document with any other name on your computer (including the password as the name)
Email drafts that you’ve created (but not sent) containing password information

Anyone with access to your computer could easily find and steal passwords stored like this, including both a person with physical access to it as well as a virus or hacker gaining access via the internet, or scamming you into granting them access, even once.

Passwords stored in your smartphone or tablet (without using encryption):

Electronic “Notes” containing password information
Other documents or emails similar to the ones listed in computer storage above

Anyone with access to your device could easily find and steal passwords stored like this.

Passwords sent via regular (insecure) email:

Emails that you have sent to yourself containing password information
Emails that you have sent to anyone else containing password information

Any information that you send using regular (unencrypted) email puts that information at risk of being stolen. Email is neither private nor secure. Sending an email is like mailing a postcard, and hackers and thieves can easily read the contents. You should never send passwords (or any other confidential or sensitive data) via regular email.

Secure Password Storage

Now for the discussion of Farmhouse Networking’s new password policy. We are partnering with a company to provide a storage of passwords and other client documentation with military grade encryption. This partnership also allows us to address the dangers that common password storage present by offering our clients this same encrypted password storage service. Here are some of the benefits of this service:

Unlimited users
Unlimited passwords
Each user has a personal password vault
Shared company password vault
Security groups to manage access
Auditing & reporting (Compliance)
Secure password sharing
1-Click Login Tool (for all major browsers)
Mobile Device Access
Only $15 per month (Compared to Lastpass Business at $4 per user per month)

If your company is using common password storage of any kind do yourself a security favor and contact us to upgrade to secure password storage.

Simple Lightweight File Sync – Backvp2

Not sure if you have seen the same but it seems that techs who do server replacement work are using Distributed File System (DFS) to sync the file shares between two servers. This is overkill in my opinion and I recently found a simple lightweight file sync tool called Backvp2 from Switzerland. Now I setup similar shares on the new server then run this software from the new server. Configuring the target and destination are super easy and the syncing happens flawlessly. If there are issues with sync it has handy error codes that made troubleshooting file permission issues simple in a recent migration. I highly recommend it for all techs.

The Latest Technology, No Upfront Costs

Technology As A Service (TaaS)

Access to the latest technology your way.

FLEXIBLE, SIMPLE AND COST EFFECTIVE.

Technology as a Service [TaaS] enables organizations to procure the latest hardware, software, and services, without the expense of a large, upfront purchase. With TaaS, it’s easy to configure and deploy an all-inclusive solution to meet all of your needs, for a single monthly payment.

Orders can be fulfilled from a wide variety of new or refurbished equipment, and can include cloud software, services, and tech support – all in one monthly invoice.

Realize lower total cost of ownership [TCO] with payments spread out over time, while still enjoying the latest technology to meet the business needs of today.

Once a contract is up, the equipment can be returned or purchased at a reduced rate. Or, you can simply extend the contract – in some cases, month-to-month.

WHY TAAS?

Simple–Experts help to make product selections.
Variety–Choose from a wide range of hardware, software and services
Flexible–Ability to choose short-term rentals provides maximum flexibility

BENEFITS:

Upgrade to newer, faster equipment at the end of the contract
Easier to budget expenses more effectively with a recurring monthly invoice
No up-front capital expenditures means lower TCO over time
More flexible financing options so you can tailor your payments
Easier to implement hardware initiatives as needed without waiting for funding
Reduce the risks associated with owning the technology

If your company is looking to upgrade to the latest technology or just doing a hardware refresh, then contact us for assistance.

Is Email Down Again?

While troubleshooting an email encryption issue after a WHM / cPanel web server migration, my thoughts turned to email down time and what it is worth to a small business. This is the core concept behind business continuity – “Business continuity encompasses planning and preparation to ensure that an organization can continue to operate in case of serious incidents or disasters and is able to recover to an operational state within a reasonably short period.” (Wikipedia) The best way to recover from a disaster is to have planned in advance for the eventuality and have systems in place that provide redundancy when the incident occurs. When it comes to business email continuity only one name comes to mind:

Microsoft Office 365

Guaranteed Uptime – Microsoft provides a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that financially backs their services based on a guaranteed amount of uptime per month. If service is down for more than 45 minutes (99.9% uptime) in a month then a 25% credit will be given, if service is down for more than 7 hours (99% uptime) in a month then a 50% credit will be given, and if for some reason they are down for more than 36 hours (95% uptime) in a month then a 100% credit will be given. Considering the literal billions of users of their products, having to give away credits for downtime would seriously cost Microsoft so it is in their favor to keep the services flowing.

Geographic Redundancy – Microsoft has Office 365 data copied to servers in no less than 8 datacenters around the United States including one nearby in Washington. This means that a hardware failure or lost data in one center will not effect the other 7 datacenters – email will continue to be routed through the others until services can be restored to the one. With redundancy like that there should be no worries about downtime or data loss.

Unparalleled Support – Office 365 email is running on Microsoft Exchange being administered and supported by the people who created it. There is nothing like going to the creator of something to talk to them when there is a problem. They have the breadth of experience that comes from using their own products for the past 20 years. This level of knowledge is unparalleled in the industry and it shows in the quality of service and support that is received.

If your company needs the best in class reliability and service that comes from switching to Office 365, then contact us for assistance.

Now Featuring: third-party software updates

In a continuing effort to offer the best remote monitoring & maintenance available and to enhance the security of our clients even more, we are now offering updates to several of the most popular third-party software packages. This is in addition to the Windows patching, system health checks, system maintenance, managed antivirus (included for free), and website blacklist monitoring that now come standard with our remote monitoring & maintenance service. Here is a summation:

Third-Party Software Updates

Google Chrome: web browser made by Google.

Firefox: web browser made by the Mozilla Foundation.

CCleaner: system cleaning utility (now owned by AVG).

Adobe Acrobat Reader: PDF viewer made by Adobe.

Adobe Flash Player: website animation plugin made by Adobe.

Java Runtime: website programming plugin made by Oracle.

There is a long list of other software that we can update for you automatically, but have chosen these in particular to update as they are the most likely to be exploited and least likely to be updated regularly.

If your company has software that needs to be automatically updated or would like to sign-up for remote monitoring and maintenance, then contact us for assistance.

Microsoft Office 2007 EOL Approaches

All good things must come to an end and all software will one day reach End-of-Life (EOL). Microsoft Office 2007 EOL is coming in October 2017 as per the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Site. This will mean that all patching and extended support for the product will end and anything new that goes wrong with the product is ignored by Microsoft. This allows malicious hackers to use these flaws to easily infect systems, encrypt data, exfiltrate data or basically have their way with your systems. Now is the time to consider updating your systems to Office 365 which includes the opportunity to use their fabulous new Exchange Online service along with many other useful cloud based services.

Multi-user Switching Quickbooks H202 Error

Had a client with a simple peer-to-peer network of three machines that was using Quickbooks for their accounting and customer database. Their main bookkeeper’s workstation was the “file server” for their network with the rest as “client” workstations on their network. This allowed the secretary to access the customer data while scanning in contracts. Regularly these computers would become disconnected and their secretary was unable to connect properly. It would give a Quickbooks H202 error when trying to open across the network. This was causing multiple files to be created and their bookkeeper was often contacted to “fix” the problem. When I got an opportunity to work on their network there were several issues that needed addressing to properly fix the issue:

In a peer-to-peer environment, hosting should only be enabled on the hosting computer (file server).

On each workstation (not the file server), open QuickBooks and choose File Utilities.
If you see Host Multi-User Access on the list, this computer is not hosting the company file and you can go to the next computer. Note: Don’t change anything if you see Host Multi User Access at your workstation.
If you see Stop Hosting Multi-User Access, select that option.

Click Yes to confirm. In the Company File Must Be Closed window, click Yes.
Repeat steps 1-4 on each computer.

Verify QuickBooks Services

When working with QuickBooks in a multi-user mode, QuickBooks services need to be running on the file server computer.

Make sure the QuickBooksDBXX (XX represents the year of QuickBooks) and QBCFMonitorService services are started.
1. Click the Windows Start button.
2. Press the Windows key + R to bring up the run box.
3. Type services.msc and press Enter.
In the services window, scroll down and look for the QuickBooksDBXX service. Note: XX represents the year of QuickBooks you are troubleshooting.
- If you do not see the QuickBooksDBXX service, open QuickBooks, go to File– Utilities– and make sure hosting is enabled (it should say Stop Hosting Multi User access. If it says Host Multi User mode, click it to enable hosting on the server)
Double-click the QuickBooksDBXX service and make sure the Startup Type is set to Automatic and service status is Started.
Click the Recovery tab.
Click the drop-down menu for First failure and select Restart the Service. This will automatically restart the QuickBooksDB service if it fails. Do the same for Second failure and Subsequent failures:
Click OK to save the changes.
Repeat steps 1-6 above for the QBCFMonitorService.
Open QuickBooks in multi-user mode on each affected workstation. If the issue persists, try to make sure the QuickBooksDBXX service is a member of the administrator group and has the appropriate permissions.

Open the Network Ports QuickBooks Uses to Transmit Data

Perform the following on each computer:

Access Windows Firewall Settings
- For Windows 8
  1. Hover the mouse in the upper or lower right-hand corners and select Settings
  2. Click on Control Panel and choose Windows Firewall
  3. On the left, click on Advanced Settings
- For Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows Server 2008
  1. Click the Start menu and enter firewall.
  2. Click on Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.
On the left, right-click on Outbound Rules, and choose New Rule
- Note (Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows Server 2008): It’s a little tricky, you have to left-click Outbound Rules first to highlight it, then right-click on it.
Choose Ports and click Next.
Select TCP and in the specific local ports box, enter in the following ports:
- QuickBooks 2016: 8019, 56726, 55368-55372
- QuickBooks 2015: 8019, 56725, 55363-55367
- QuickBooks 2014: 8019, 56724, 55358-55362
- QuickBooks 2013: 8019, 56723, 55353-55357
Click Next and select Allow the Connection.
Click Next to enter a name in the name field (for example, “QuickBooks ports” ) and click Finish.
Repeat steps 1-5 for the Inbound Rules.
Open QuickBooks in multi-user mode.
- If you have a third party antivirus/firewall program, you may need to configure any other firewall or antivirus software.
- Note: For a temporary solution, you may disable the anti-virus/firewall program to identify it as a problem and make sure to re-enable it when you’re done with the test. If the error persists, continue to step 3 (Ping the Server Computer).

Once these three items are configured properly on each of the network workstations then there should be no problems with connectivity or get any further Quickbooks H202 errors – that is of course as long as the “file server” workstation is not turned off or allowed to go to sleep. Also the file cannot be switched to single user mode on any computer unless it is then set back to multi-user mode once advanced configuration is done. If your company is using Quickbooks for your accounting or customer database and need help getting the network connected to the file, then contact us for assistance.

Issues After Office 365 Migration

Keep running into this issue at client sites where an on-premise Microsoft Exchange Server (especially from Microsoft SBS Server) to Office 365 migration has taken place. Client workstations are unable to connect to Office 365 servers via Autodiscover for their migrated email accounts. During Outlook first run it would pre-populate their email correctly but then try to connect to the old email server instead. If the DNS settings for the workstation were changed to non-domain external DNS servers then the email would not pre-populate but the setup would complete successfully. Checked the Autodiscover URL using NSLOOKUP to the Microsoft servers from local domain DNS servers successfully, so felt a little stumpled. Research pointed to the Service Connection Point (SCP) object in Active Directory which can be either deleted from the server or excluded on a per workstation basis, so both will be shown here. Starting with the server first:

Deleting SCP from Server after Office 365 Migration

Login to a server with Active Directory Domain Services installed as administrator
Launch ADSIedit from the Start Menu
Right click on the root of the console and choose “Connect to…”
Under “Select a well know Naming Context” choose Configuration
Navigate down through the tree as follows (these are always listed from the bottom up on other tech sites for some reason):

CN=Autodiscover,CN=Protocols,CN=,CN=Servers,CN=Exchange Administrative Group,CN=Administrative Groups,CN=First Organization,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services
Delete the entire CN=Autodiscover object if you no longer have any on-premise Exchange Servers
Reboot the workstation to clear the DNS / AD cache and try to connect to Office 365 servers again

Deleting SCP from Workstation after Office 365 Migration

Lauch Regedit from the Start Menu
Navigate to the following key based on your version (16.0 for Office 2016):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\x.0\Outlook\AutoDiscover
Add a 32-bit DWORD called ExcludeScpLookup with the value of 1 to enable
Next navigate to the following key based on your version (16.0 for Office 2016):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\x.0\Outlook\AutoDiscover
Add a 32-bit DWORD called ExcludeScpLookup with the value of 1 to enable
Reboot the workstation to effect the Registry changes and try to connect to Office 365 servers again

If your organization needs any help with troubleshooting issues with Office 365 or with migrating from on-premise Microsoft Exchange Server, then don’t hesitate to contact us for support.

Office 365 Meeting Rooms

Shared calendars for the use of shared meeting space reservation is becoming a thing of the past. Office 365 has a better type of calendar specifically made for rooms. This guide will show you how to set up these Office 365 Meeting Rooms in Microsoft’s Office 365 admin portal. Login to the Office 365 Portal with an administrator account and do the following:

Setup Office 365 Meeting Rooms

Click on the Meeting Rooms tab on the left of the Office 365 admin center.
Click on the + symbol to begin the creation of the meeting room object.
Fill in the needed information (Name, Email Address and Room Capacity) then click Create.
Now users can access these meeting rooms when creating a new Meeting in Outlook by clicking on the Rooms button and selecting them.
Once selected that room for that date at that time will be marked off on the associated calendar. There are also color coated indicators as to the availability of the meeting rooms on the selected date in the calendar.

The meeting room will also now appear in their Calendar tab of Outlook and can be used similarly to other calendars. If you have any issues setting things up for your site, please feel free to contact our Office 365 experts to guide you through the process.

Fab-ulous New Software Experience

Big thanks go out to the fellows at the PodNutz Podcast for the recommendation of Fab’s AutoBackup Pro as this has been one of the best investments I have made in automating my business in recent years. I was hesistant at its expansive claims to basically grab everything from every profile on an old computer or even removed hard drive and automatically put it into the associated new profiles on a target computer. The claims are all true and really have to be experienced to be believed, so don’t do this kind of thing manually anymore as Fab’s will take care of all the heavy lifting. It will move the following:

Fab moves Personal folders:

Windows desktop’s content
Windows desktop’s wallpaper
Quick Launch toolbar’s shortcuts (for Windows XP and Vista : this tool bar has been removed from Windows since Windows 7)
Windows Start screen/menu Modern UI layout (only shortcuts, not applications)
My Documents
My Pictures
My Music
My Videos
Downloads folder (Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10)

Fab moves Web browsers:

Windows Internet Explorer favorites
Windows Internet Explorer main start page
Windows Internet Explorer settings (proxy, security zones…)
Microsoft Edge favorites
Google Chrome profile
Chromium browser profile
Apple Safari profile
Opera profile
Firefox settings : bookmarks, extensions…

Fab moves Mail:

Outlook Express messages and settings (mail accounts, rules…)
Microsoft Office Outlook PST/OST files and email accounts (messages, address book and calendar are stored in)
Outlook signatures files
Microsoft Office Outlook typed email addresses history
Windows Mail messages and settings
Windows Live Mail messages and settings
Windows Address book, used by outlook Express or Windows Mail
Mozilla Thunderbird messages and settings
PostBox messages and settings
IncrediMail messages and settings
Opera Mail

Fab moves Misc :

Windows Vista’s calendar
Sticky Notes
Screen saver settings (enabled or not, password protected or not, delay before activation)
Documents templates
Skype data and settings
Trillian data ad settings
ICQ data and settings
Windows Gadgets (installed by user)
Network drives connections
Network places
Picasa (albums and database)
BlackBerry Desktop settings
BlackBerry devices backups
Logitech SetPoint settings
Microsoft IntelliType Pro settings
Microsoft IntelliPoint settings
Apple IOS devices iTunes backups (iPhone, iPod, iPad)

Fab moves Common items:

Common documents
Common desktop
Common pictures
Common music
Common videos
Public Downloads folder (Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10)
Fonts (useful if you have installed some by yourself or bundled with software)
Microsoft Office XP, 2003, 2007 and 2010 activation files (Microsoft Office 2013 is not handled)
Modem settings file (fichier rasphone.pbk), except credentials
Intuit QuickBooks data (experimental)
NCH ExpressInvoice data
Steam (downloads)
Installed printers list

Fab moves User defined:

Additional files (manual selection or using wildcards search on selected operating system partition)
Additional folders

I cannot say enough good things about this software. Buy it and tell everyone you know about it too.

Category: Software

Where do you keep your passwords?

Common Password Storage

Secure Password Storage

Simple Lightweight File Sync – Backvp2

Simple Lightweight File Sync – Backvp2

The Latest Technology, No Upfront Costs

Technology As A Service (TaaS)

Access to the latest technology your way.

Is Email Down Again?

Microsoft Office 365

Now Featuring: third-party software updates

Third-Party Software Updates

Microsoft Office 2007 EOL Approaches

Multi-user Switching Quickbooks H202 Error