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Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2007

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Purchasing Assistance

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Thought of the day

Knowledge is knowing what you don't know.

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292 Main St, Suite G1
Northborough, MA 01532
508.393.3090

DST is changing - Microsoft Vista - Microsoft Windows - Get rid of Spam for free - Make backups easy

Daylight Savings Time is changing March 11!

Since 1966, most of the United States has observed Daylight Saving Time from at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of April to 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October. Beginning in 2007, most of the U.S. will begin Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March (March 11, 2007) and revert to standard time on the first Sunday in November (November 4, 2007).

How will this affect you?

Our computers are pre-programmed to change the date automatically based on the DST we have had for years. If updates are not applied successfully you may face one or all of the following issues:

• Your Outlook calendar will be an hour off - making you an hour late for all meetings.
• Your Palm/Treo/Blackberry will also be an hour off.
• Emails will be received an hour into the future (due to the time being incorrect)
• You may be locked out of your server due to time discrepancies

Some of the product affected by this legislation are:

Let Swiftec help you with a seamless transition to the new DST rules. Please contact us NOW to arrange to make this a non-event in your business.

Microsoft Vista

Recommendation: If you do not NEED to purchase a computer right now, wait until the summer.

Vista is cool and Office 2007 will knock your socks off, but...

Microsoft has a reputation of releasing software before all the bugs are worked out. At the moment we are seeing issues with Internet Explorer 7 not working with a variety of web sites, VPN software has not been certified to work with Vista, certain pieces of hardware (routers, video cards, specialty cards, and almost everything over 2 years old) may have issues with Vista.

Who can use Vista now? Anyone who is purchasing a stand-a-lone machine that does not need remote connectivity, specialty software or application sharing with co-workers. Vista will work for you and Office 2007 has some very nice features which makes it easier to use.

Microsoft Windows

It is not just Vista that is being affected by recent updates. Microsoft has slowly been releasing updates to "improve" Windows XP - but in the process they are breaking current infrastructures. If you have hardware that is over three years old - it may hiccup one morning and stop functioning.

What to do:
This is the age old question - should you have your computer automatically download critical updates from Microsoft or not? If you download the latest security updates then you will be protected against much of the malicious code on the web, but you may also download a "patch" that will break something in your office. If you don't automatically update, then you are MUCH more susceptible to malicious code written by someone who has too much time on their hands.

Your data is very important, so our recommendation is to automatically download the critical updates. We can help you navigate the issues with older hardware/software.

Get rid of spam for free

Wow. It is not often that technology excites us, but it is very welcomed. During the last two weeks our web server processed 50,000 messages - and filtered out 29,000 of them due to Spam, phishing or viruses. So, 21,000 CLEAN messages were delivered to our clients - and it cost them nothing.

The filtering we implemented earlier in the month is INCLUDED free in all of our web hosting packages. Our most common hosting plan starts at just $15/month for most businesses.

Tired of spam, let us help you get rid of it once and for all!

To existing clients using our hosting

Here are the new tags you may see on your emails:

• {Disarmed} - indicates that the email contained html tags that are considered dangerous, e.g. iframe and form tags
• {Virus?} - indicates that the email contained a virus and has had the attachment removed.
• {Filename?} - indicates that the email contained a dangerous file attachment which has been removed.
• {Spam?} - indicates that the email is likely to be spam - you should filter these emails into a separate folder in your email client. (see link below)
• {Definitely Spam} - you will not see these as they are definitely spam.

You can set Outlook 2003 to remove the spam you are receiving by creating a rule. An explanation may be found here: http://www.outlook-tips.net/howto/junkmail.htm. If you have further questions, please let us know.

Make backups easy as 1-2-3

We have an effortless solution to your backup needs. It is:

• Automated - so you don't have to think about it
• Off-site - in case of fire or water damage in the office
• Communicative - you are sent an email informing you about success or failure
• Secure - each backup requires a password which protects your data
• Inexpensive - just $30/month for piece of mind and no hassle

Contact us to schedule your last backup.

Feel free to send us comments or requests for future topics.  You may also forward this email or link to someone else who may appreciate the information.  The link for our newsletters is: www.swiftecit.com/news

2007 calendars are in! Email us and we will send you one!

Reward yourself!

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Examples of previous awards!

4 hours IT Support

1 year Web Hosting

1 hour of Web Updates

Dinner at Texas BBQ

Lunch at Bertucci's

Swiftec Promotional wear

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Get Rid of Spam once and for good.