Monday, December 18, 2006

Download Pick of the Week: WiseSoft Password Control

Hi All,
While thumbing through the lastest ission of Redmond Magazine I came across a suggestion for an Admin Password changing utility that can be give to Help Desk People. It is called WiseSoft Password Control. I installed the software on my Citrix PS 4 servers and published it as an app and it works a champ. Just for safety's sake I set windows file permissions on the executable so that no one else could "accidently" execute it. A nice feature of this utility is that it will let you disable and enable accounts also.
This is a FREE utility albeit you will be required to sign up for the website with a username and password and give up an email address to get it. To me it was definitely worth it.

Get it at:

http://www.wisesoft.co.uk/Products/PasswordControl/default.aspx

This site also has a few other useful utilities. One called NTFSFix that lets you do a global "fix" of permissions on user directories and one called scriptbuilder which helps you build and automate vbscripts.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

KB: Remote Desktop Connection 6.0 client update is available for download in the Microsoft Download Center

FYI:
Microsoft announced last week the Remote Desktop Connection 6.0 client update is available for download in the Microsoft Download Center.
This article discusses the Remote Desktop Connection 6.0 client update that helps you use the new Terminal Services features. These features are introduced in Windows Vista and in the Microsoft Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" operating system from a computer that is either running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2).

See

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925876/en-us

Friday, December 01, 2006

Is your company ready for the new document retention rules?

Is your company ready for the new document retention rules? 
 
The government recently enacted and law went in effect today requiring corporations to retain emails, blackberry messages and cell phone databases.
Would you be able to provide this info today.  This ruling is a golden ticket in Citrix's sales peoples pocket! Having all the word/email docs at the datacenter makes it a little easier to comply to this ruling.

Here is a couple links and an article on it:
Here is an article from todays Cleveland Plain Dealer
New e-records rules go into effect today
Companies must be able to hand over electronic data
Friday, December 01, 2006
Janet H. ChoPlain Dealer Reporter

If you got slammed with a court request for all of your company's electronic records, including e-mails, BlackBerry messages and cell phone databases, would you be able to dig them up and hand them over?

Starting today, you don't have a choice.

Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that govern electronic discovery take effect today, and they're far more expansive in terms of the kinds of data businesses have to keep, store and keep track of.

The new e-discovery rules require all businesses, both public and private, large and small, to hang on to e-mails, server backup tapes, home office computer data, BlackBerry messages, cell phone records and other electronic information - anything that could be sought in future corporate litigation, a fraud investigation, a mergers and acquisitions deal valuation or other proceeding. Penalties for non-compliance can include fines.

But some think the new rules could be as costly and burdensome for companies as complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which regulates corporate financial reporting and auditing.

Matthew Rechner, chair of the electronic discovery practice group and response team at the Cleveland law firm McDonald Hopkins Co. LPA, says the new guidelines formalize what the courts have been saying for years: that e-mails and other electronic data are relevant and can be requested as evidence.

Companies that update their policies can help insulate themselves against liability in future lawsuits.

"It's not something that happened overnight. This has been coming since the late '90s," said Tom Aleman, national service line leader for the analytic and forensic technology group at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services in Charlotte, N.C.

"Here now is written in stone: 'Thou shalt be ready.' "