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Try Windows Intune For Free For a Year

PC Management, Security, and Windows 7. Now available for FREE for one year with absolutely no risk.

Microsoft Windows Intune is a cloud-based service for Windows PC management and security, and includes an upgrade subscription license to Windows 7 Enterprise and always-up-to-date antivirus with the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine. The Windows Intune cloud service centrally manages and secures PCs—whether they're in your main office, at a branch office, or on the road. A recent IDC study found that firms who deployed Windows Intune achieved a total savings of $702 per PC, per year. If for no other reason, one year free of the best always-up-to-date antivirus software on the market is reason enough to accept this no-risk offer.

Microsoft has partnered with InfinIT Consulting to enable us to build a special (and completely free) promotion just for you: the "Windows Intune Taste Test."

With our Windows Intune Taste Test you get a FREE one-year subscription to Microsoft's Windows Intune service for one PC. Additionally, InfinIT Consulting will: provision the Windows Intune account, install the Intune client on one PC, and provide a brief introduction on how to access the Intune web console—all for FREE. There is no cost to participate and no short or long term commitment of any kind.

What do I need to get started?
All you need to do is provide your name, phone number, and corporate email address by either emailing it to info@infinitconsulting.com, calling us at 866-364-2007, or fill out the form located at the bottom of this page. We will provision your free account and contact you over the next couple of weeks to schedule a further introduction to Windows Intune and installation of the client on one PC. Installation of the Intune client can be securely performed remotely by InfinIT Consulting experts at your convenience.

Great Video Explaining Intune

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Happy Valentines Day from the team at InfinIT!

 

You're invited to a special event: Office 365 and Dynamics CRM

Are you thinking of upgrading your business to Office 365? Are you ready for a CRM solution that beats Salesforce?

Join us for a special event: Office 365 + Dynamics CRM Online: Better Together

On Wednesday, March 7th from 9:00-11:00am, in the Microsoft Store in the Westfield Valley Fair Mall, the experts from InfinIT Consulting and Gateway Solutions will discuss how Office 365 brings a whole new level of office productivity and collaboration, while CRM Online turns sales teams into a juggernaught. Put the two together and you'll see why we think they're better together.

Office 365
InfinIT Consulting will be demoing the great new features found in Office 365, including:

    * Anywhere and up-to-date access to email, documents, contacts and calendars on nearly any device
    * New levels of collaboration and ease of use with Office Web Apps
    * Simple to design websites and document collaboration with Sharepoint
    * Working seamlessly with Microsoft Office and the other programs you depend on every day
    * The all-new Lync which features voice & video calls, and online meetings.

Dynamics CRM Online
Armanino McKenna will provide an overview and demo the great new features in Dynamics CRM Online.See why businesses are switching from Salesforce! With Dynamics CRM Online you can:

    * Generate and qualify sales leads quickly
    * Save money by hosting in the cloud
    * Find new opportunities faster than ever before
    * Access CRM Online no matter where you are, or what computer you're working from
    * Track your targets and prospects along your pipeline. You'll never miss a deadline again!

Register now for this free demonstration.

We'll be offering a light breakfast and free giveaway of an XBOX 360 Kinect—don't miss out!

 

Set up your Mac for Office 365

Microsoft Office 365 for enterprises is compatible with Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1 or a later version, and Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.9 Update or a later version. If you use Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.9 Update or a later version, you must also install Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition.

For information about how to purchase Office for Mac 2011 or Microsoft Lync for Mac 2011, see the following:

• Office for Mac Standard 2011
• Office for Mac Home and Business 2011
• Lync for Mac 2011

 

Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition is a separate update that is not included with the Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.9 Update. You can download Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition for free. To download and install it, go to Download Details for Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition.

This topic explains how to set up your Mac so that you get the most out of Office 365 on a Mac. For information about how to set up Lync for Mac 2011, see Set up Lync for Mac 2011 for Office 365.

After you have set up your Mac, you will be able to:

• Manage messages, tasks, contacts, and calendars by using Microsoft Outlook for Mac 2011, Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition, or Microsoft Outlook Web App.
• Open, edit, save, and co-author documents that are located on a Microsoft SharePoint site by using Office for Mac 2011 and Microsoft Document Connection.
• Open, edit, and save documents that are located on a SharePoint site by using Office 2008 for Mac and Document Connection.
• Participate in online meetings by using the Microsoft Lync Web App.

In this article

• System requirements for Macintosh-based operating systems
• Install updates for Office for Mac 2011
• Install and configure updates for Office 2008 for Mac
• Participate in online meetings by using Lync Web App
• Configure Office to access your team site

System requirements for Macintosh-based operating systems

These tables list the Macintosh-based operating systems, browsers, and applications that are compatible with Office 365. For a complete list that includes Windows-based operating systems, see Software requirements for Office 365.

 

Desktop applications	Supported operating systems
Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1 or later version	Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later version
Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.9 Update or later version and Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition	Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later version

Important:

When you install Office 2008 for Mac on Mac OS X 10.7, you need to perform additional steps to make sure that you are getting the latest updates for Office 2008 for Mac. For more information, see Installing Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac on Mac OS X 10.7.

 

Web services	Supported operating systems	Supported browsers
Outlook Web App	Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6, or Mac OS X 10.7	Safari 4 or 5
Microsoft Office Web Apps	Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6, or Mac OS X 10.7	Safari 4 or 5, Firefox 3.5 or 4, Chrome 3
Team Site, powered by Microsoft SharePoint Online	Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6, or Mac OS X 10.7	Safari 4
Lync Web App	Macintosh OS 10.4.8 and later versions (Intel-based)	Safari 4 or 5, Firefox 3
Lync for Mac 2011	Mac OS X 10.5.8, Mac OS X 10.6, or Mac OS X 10.7	Safari 5 or Firefox 5

Install updates for Office for Mac 2011

To be compatible with Office 365, make sure that you have the latest updates for Office for Mac 2011.

1. Open an Office application (for example, Microsoft Word for Mac 2011).
2. On the Help menu, click Check for Updates.
3. Choose automatic or manual updates.

 

Configure Outlook 2011 for Office 365

1. Open Outlook for Mac 2011.
2. On the Tools menu, click Accounts. 
   • If this is the first account you're creating in Outlook for Mac 2011, under Add an Account, click Exchange Account.
   • On the Enter your Exchange account information page, in the E-mail address box, type your full user ID, for example, someone@contoso.onmicrosoft.com or someone@domain.com.
3. In the Method box, make sure User Name and Password is selected.
4. In the User name box, type your full user ID again (your email address).
5. Type in the Password.
6. Make sure Configure automatically is selected, and then click Add Account.
7. After you click Add Account, Outlook will perform an online search to find your email server settings. In the dialog box that asks you if you want to allow the server to configure your settings, select the Always use my response for this server check box, and then click Allow. After the new account is created you'll see the account in the left pane of the Accounts dialog box. Close the Accounts dialog box.
8. After the new account is created, you can view your mail by clicking the new account name in the navigation pane.

Install and configure updates for Office 2008 for Mac

If you install Office 2008 for Mac on Mac OS X 10.7, see Installing Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac on Mac OS X 10.7 for additional steps that you need to perform to make sure that you are getting the latest updates for Office 2008 for Mac. Also make sure that you have Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.9 Update or a later version, and Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition.

You also need to set up Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition with a new account.

Install Office for Mac 12.2.9 Update

1. Open an Office application (for example, Microsoft Word 2008 for Mac).
2. On the Help menu, click Check for Updates.
3. Choose automatic or manual updates.

 

Confirm that Microsoft Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition is installed

1. In Entourage 2008, click the Entourage menu, and then click About Entourage.
2. In the About Entourage window, look at the number next to Version. If the version number begins with 13, you are using Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition.

 

Configure Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition for Office 365

After you have installed or upgraded to Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition, you must create a new account to be used with Office 365.

1. Open Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition.
2. On the Entourage menu, click Account Settings.
3. Click the arrow next to New, and then click Exchange.
   If the New Account screen appears, click Setup Assistant.
4. In the Account Setup Assistant, type your complete user ID (for example, someone@contoso.onmicrosoft.com) in the E-mail address box, select the My account is on an Exchange server check box, and then click the right arrow to continue.
5. Follow the instructions in the Account Setup Assistant.
6. After the new account is created, you can view your mail by clicking the new account name in the navigation pane.

Participate in online meetings by using Lync Web App

If you don’t want to install Lync for Mac 2011, you can participate in online meetings on a Mac by using Lync Web App. Lync Web App provides many Lync features; these include meeting-wide instant messaging (IM), phone-based audio, file distribution, viewing a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, and viewing the screen that is being shared by the presenter. To participate in an online meeting, you must receive an email invitation from a Lync user.

To prepare for your first online meeting

1. Before you use Lync Web App for the first time, you need to install Microsoft Silverlight on your Mac. To install Silverlight, go to the Get Microsoft Silverlight page and then follow the instructions.
2. After Silverlight is installed on your Mac, it’s a good idea to check your online meeting readiness. Open your online meeting email invitation.
3. Click First online meeting? at the bottom of the invitation.
4. On the First Online Meeting? page, click Meeting readiness, and then follow the instructions.

To join an online meeting

1. At meeting time, open your online meeting email invitation, and then click Join online meeting in the invitation.
2. In the Lync window that opens, click one of the following links:
   Try Lync Web App
   Join the meeting using your web browser
3. Lync Web App is displayed in a web browser window.
4. When prompted, enter your user ID and password.

For more information, see Quick Start: Participate in online meetings with Lync Web App.

Configure Office to access your team site

Document Connection is a feature that is included in Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1 and in Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.9 Update. Run it to configure your Office settings so that you can more easily open and save Office files to your team site, which is powered by SharePoint Online.

To configure Office for Mac 2011

1. In Finder, under Applications, open Microsoft Document Connection.
2. On the Document Connection menu, click Preferences.
3. In the Preferences window, make sure that the Enable Basic Authentication check box is selected and then close the Preferences window.
4. In the main window, click Add Location, and then click Connect to a SharePoint Site.
5. In the Address box, type the address for your team site. For example, the address may look like this:
   https://contoso.onmicrosoft.com/teamsite/sitepages/home.aspx
6. Click Connect.
7. In the User name box, type your full user ID, like someone@contoso.onmicrosoft.com.
8. Type your password and then click Connect.

To configure Office 2008 for Mac

1. In Finder, under Applications, open Microsoft Document Connection.
2. In Document Connection, on the toolbar, click the arrow next to Add Location, and then click Connect to a SharePoint Site.
3. In the Address box, type the address for your team site. For example, your team site may look like this:
   https://contoso.onmicrosoft.com/teamsite/sitepages/home.aspx
4. In the Authentication box, select User name and password. In the User name box, type your full user ID, like someone@contoso.onmicrosoft.com.
5. Type your password and then click Connect.

 

After you’ve configured Office with Document Connection, you can save files from your Office desktop applications directly to your team site.

Set up Lync for Mac 2011 for Office 365

If your organization is using Microsoft Lync for Mac 2011, you can use it with your Microsoft Office 365 for enterprises account.

To use Lync for Mac 2011 with Office 365, you need to install Microsoft Lync for Mac 2011 14.0.1 Update and then provide the following information.

1. In the Microsoft Lync for Mac sign-in window, type your Office 365 email address, user ID, and password. Use the same user ID and password that you use to log on to Office 365, for example, jdoe@domain.com.
   
   
2. Click Advanced.
   
   
3. Under Authentication, clear the Use Kerberos check box.
   
   
4. Under Connection Settings, click Manual configuration.
   
   
5. In both the Internal Server Name box and the External Server Name box, type or paste sipdir.online.lync.com:443.
   
   
6. Click OK.
   
   
7. In the Microsoft Lync for Mac sign-in window, click Sign In.

Recover from Server Failure in Minutes with CompleteCare+ Cloud BDR

When a server fails and you're doing everything you can to bring it back online, the hours it can take are not just painfully slow, they kill your productivity.

With InfinIT's new CompleteCare+ Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery, you can recover from any server failure in minutes, not days. With our new technology you can resume use of the server directly from the backup file without the arduous wait to extract the full backup.

If a colleague needs a specific file ASAP, you can get them back up to speed in minutes. You'll have zero loss of productivity and be the office hero.

And just to be sure your file is 100% recoverable, we automatically test your backup file integrity, plus perform regular health checks and corruption detection. That way when your server--virtual or physical--goes down, you know it will come back up, 100%.

Learn more about recovering from your server failures faster than ever before.

Office 365 Self-Serve Password Reset Is Available Now

Microsoft recently updated the Administration portal to include a new feature— unattended password reset for administrators. Now your customers can reset their passwords without having to call Microsoft tech support for the admin password reset. It's important that customers' alternate email addresses and mobile numbers are accurate for this feature to work so please remind your customers to keep their contact profile information up to date and accurate.

Show administrators how they can change their own passwords.

How to bypass Office 365's 90 day password expiration

Office 365

1. Open the Microsoft Online Services Module for Windows Powershell and connect to Office 365.

2. Type

Connect-MsolService

3. Enter your administrator credentials.

4. To set all users to never expire, type

Get-MsolUser | Set-MsolUser -PasswordNeverExpires $True

5. To set a single user to never expire, type

Set-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName <username> -PasswordNeverExpires $True

BPOS

1. You will need PowerShell for Migration.

2. Export all users to a csv-File by using this script. It will create a file called user.csv.

$Cred = Get-Credential
Get-MSOnlineUser -Credential $Cred -Enabled | select-object -property Identity | export-csv C:\data\user.csv

3. Save the following script as disableexpire.ps1 in the same directory as your user.csv file.

$Cred = Get-Credential
$Users = Import-Csv -Path "C:\data\user.csv"
ForEach($User in $Users)
{
$User.Identity
Set-MSOnlineUserPasswordNeverExpire –Identity $User.Identity –PasswordNeverExpire $true –Credential $Cred
}

4. In PowerShell start the script with this command:

&"C:\Data\disableexpire.ps1"

Directory Syncing

Issue | Reason | Resolution

Issue:

Previously with Office 365, once Directory Sync enabled, there was no way to manage the synchronized objects through the Office 365 portal or Windows PowerShell. It wasn't possible for us to disable Directory Sync either. The only way we could manage users was to make changes in the local Active Directory. An update came out recently that allowed administrators to disable Directory Sync to fix this problem.

Reason:

There are three possible causes:

• Cause 1: The Microsoft Office Online Services Directory Synchronization tool is no longer running. Therefore, even if you update or delete the object from the on-premises AD DS, the deleted object does not synchronize to your Office 365 tenant.
• Cause 2: The on-premises AD DS is no longer available. Therefore, you cannot manage or delete the object from the on-premises environment.
• Cause 3: You deleted an object from the on-premises AD DS. However, the object was not deleted from your Office 365 tenant. This is unexpected behavior.

Resolution:

Please also refer to the Microsoft support page for more information.

For Cause 1 and 2:

1. Install the local Windows PowerShell cmdlets. To do this, visit the following Microsoft website:
   Use Windows PowerShell to manage Office 365
2. Start the Microsoft Office Online Services Module for Windows PowerShell.
3. Disable directory synchronization. To do this, type the following cmdlet, and then press Enter:
   Set-MsolDirSyncEnabled -EnableDirSync $false
4. Verify that directory synchronization is fully disabled by using Windows PowerShell. To do this, run the following cmdlet periodically:
   (Get-MSOLCompanyInformation).DirectorySynchronizationEnabled
   This command will return True or False. Continue to run this cmdlet periodically until it returns False, and then go to step 5.
   
   Note It may take 72 hours for the deactivation to be completed. The actual time depends on the number of objects that are in your Office 365 subscription account.
5. Try to update an object to verify that you can delete the object.
6. (For cause 1) Delete the object by using Windows PowerShell or by using the Office 365 portal. To view the cmdlet documentation, visit the following Microsoft website:
   Windows PowerShell cmdlets for Office 365
7. (For cause 1) To re-enable directory synchronization, run the following cmdlet:
   Set-MsolDirSyncEnabled -EnableDirSync $true

For Cause 3: You delete an object from an on-premises AD DS. However, the object is not deleted from your Office 365 subscription account.

1. Force directory synchronization by using the steps on the following Microsoft website: Force directory synchronization.

If you're having trouble with Direct Synchronization, refer to this page, leave us a comment, or contact Microsoft Support.

How to deal with Malware, Trojans, Viruses, and Rootkits

As an IT professional and self proclaimed geek, I have come across my fair share of malware, trojans, viruses, and rootkits. I also know that no one tool or piece of software can rid you of these annoyances once and for all. Over time I have come to rely on a few tools and applications that seem to thwart even the most determined infection. I've listed below the antivirus (AV) tools and applications I used to remove infections.

Note: All these applications come with certain risks and you should always back up all your data before you begin.

 

Malwarebytes:

Price: Free for personal use / $24.95 for a Pro and Corp licensing available.

Time: ~ 30 Minutes +

Download: http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Malwarebytes is one tool that really compliments any AV application as it tends to find things AV applications miss or find when it is too late. Just make sure to do a database upgrade before every scan and you should be Malware free in no time.

 

Spybot – Search & Destroy:

Price: Free

Time: ~ 30 Minutes +

Download: http://www.safer-networking.org

Spybot S&D is another great tool to have in your arsenal because not only does it compliment your AV application, but it also has its own scanner that will help against infections. It also has a great function called Immunization which blocks a whole slew of web addresses that are known malware, trojan, virus, and rootkit spreaders.

 

ComboFix:

Price: Free

Time: ~ 15 Minutes +

Download: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix

ComboFix is a great tool for removing and cleaning common and latest malwares. This tool is not meant for everyone; please take extra caution when using this.

 

RKill:

Price: Free

Time: ~ 15 Minutes +

Download: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/anti-virus/rkill

RKill was made by BleepingComputers to kill running malware processes.

 

TDSSKiller:

Price: Free

Time: ~10 Minutes +

Download: http://support.kaspersky.com/faq/?qid=208283363

TDSSKiller is a Rootkit remover by Kaspersky.

 

These are just the applications/tools I know of. There are probably hundreds more that I am not familiar with. If you know of any good tools that are not on this list but are worth trying, please let me know in the comments. Another thing worth checking out is Hiren’s Boot CD as it has most of these tools on a bootable CD.

Side note: Whenever I tell people about these tools, I always get asked, “So what is the best AV application?” I believe that AV applications are only as good as the user using the machine.

My advice is to not depend only on these tools to fix the problem each time you get a virus. You should also learn to pay careful attention to what you click, download, and install. Follow common sense practices when it comes to web surfing because AV applications can’t stop you from clicking popups and installing random stuff that may be infected. Teaching yourself what to avoid does wonders to decrease the chances of computer infections. Watch out for those popups, especially the ones that look like fake malware scanners and tells you that "Your computer is infected. Click here to fix the problem." Clicking on those could actually be infecting your otherwise clean computer.

 

I currently use:

• ESET NOD32
• Microsoft Security Essentials / Windows Intune

I have used:

• Norton (360, Security Suite)  Personally I don’t recommend this one just because it’s a resource hog.
• AVG
• McAfee

Windows Recovery Malware Program and How to Remove it From Your System

Windows Recovery is a fake computer analysis and optimization malware program that displays fake error messages to scare you into believing your computer has problems.

How It Infects Your Computer

Your computer was initially infected by trojans. The trojans then display messages telling you there is something wrong with your computer's hard drive and then suggests you download and install a program to fix the problem. When you click on the alerts, Windows Recovery is automatically installed onto your computer.

The program can also be installed on your computer through email attachments.

What Does Windows Recovery Do?

It displays error messages when you try to launch a program or delete files. The program does this in order to protect itself from antivirus programs since you aren't able to start the antivirus and the antivirus can't remove it if found.

Windows Recovery will also ask you to scan your computer. The scanner will "find" a whole bunch of errors and asks you to buy the program in order to fix the problems. Do not buy this program. Your information will most likely to be used for credit card fraud. As a side note, please be wary of fraud whenever you make online purchases.

When the defragment tool is running, the program shows a fake background pretending to defrag your computer. It's really not doing any optimization.

Screenshot of the program

Windows Recovery will also hide some of your files to make it seem like your computer isn't working properly. What it does is change your files' properties to hidden and locks you out from viewing hidden files.

How to Remove it From Your Computer

1. Download and install RKill to terminate the virus's processes. Download by clicking the "Download Now" button.

2. Download and install Malwarebytes to remove the files. Download by clicking the "Download Now" button. Malwarebytes costs $24.95, but if you would like to use a different program, Spybot Search and Destroy is a free trusted malware removal tool.

3. Reboot your computer and run the program from step 2 again to be safe.

A set of more in-depth instructions on removing Windows Recovery can be found here.