New Terms of Service Posted

Check out our updated Terms of Service on our website here. (Javascript is required to view the TOS in-browser, but you can download the PDF from a link on the same page.)

These are the same Terms we've been operating under for the past few years, but we took the time to polish them and post them where it's easy to get to them.

The Big Story of 2010

We are not quite ready to close the books on 2009, but I wanted to give you a heads up on the big story of 2010: energy.

The EPA today announced that carbon dioxide has been labelled a pollutant and can be regulated. This is a big step forward for energy regulation and is our first real indication of what the energy economy will be experiencing over the next five years.

Simply put: in the near and middle terms, you should expect energy costs to rise under any form of regulation. Here in the Southeast, we get a significant fraction of our energy from coal. And that means the cost of running your computers - especially servers - is probably going to change from an afterthought to a real concern.

Given the slow pace of economic recovery so far, your organization is probably not ready to absorb a larger electricity bill every month. But here is the good news: the technology to improve performance AND save energy is already here in the computer industry! Servcom USA already has a long list of tools and technologies that can save your organization real dollars over the coming years: virtualization, server- and cloud-computing, power management optimization, and newer Operating Systems that use existing resources more efficiently.

Your IT department can - and should - be the model for how the rest of your organization deals with energy as we transition to a more regulated energy market. Let us show you how!

December and New Year's Closing Dates

Servcom USA will be closed from December 23rd through December 27th.

We will reopen on December 28th.

We will also be closed on December 31st and January 1st, returning on January 4th.

Windows 7 Upgrades from Dell

Many of our clients bought Dell computers with a Windows 7 upgrade option in the past 90 days. We are now receiving the upgrade discs and are ready to being performing the system ugprades.

Upgrades are priced as follows:

• $199 for all clients without an agreement


• Just 1.5 Hours under your Block Hours agreement


• Free for all Managed Services clients!

All prices are per-computer, include the Windows 7 upgrade, driver upgrades, and a system compatibility assessment.

Not sure whether your system qualifies for an upgrade? Grab your system tag number and call our office. We'll be able to assist you in determining whether your new Dell computer qualifies. (We can also help you find your system tag.)

Shawn's Favorite Windows 7 Feature

Today's Windows 7 favorite feature comes from Shawn, our Shop technician. Shawn works with all the systems that come into our shop. He's the one who has to whip reformatted systems into shape before they get delivered. He's also the technician who sees the most problems with incompatible hardware.

Windows 7 introduces an exciting new feature that enables complete compatibility for programs and devices that worked in XP, but may have not worked under Vista. Don't worry about replacing that old database or scanner - Windows 7's new compatibility features allow you to install and run the application on your new desktop or laptop, without any hassles or troubleshooting.

Check out this video:


Thanks to ZDNet for putting up this walk-through.

CLOSING UPDATE

ServcomUSA will be closed on Friday November 20th for technicians training.

It's Here!

Windows 7 launched yesterday. And by now you've probably seen it on store shelves, or at least heard about it in the news.

We have been using Windows 7 for a while now and we love it. All of our adopters have raved about the time savings, impressive new features, and ease-of-use.

Even people who have never liked Vista are getting on board. A good friend of mine, and long-time Linux user, installed Windows 7 on his system this week. I showed him a few features and he swears he's never going back.

So, in honor of the new Windows 7, we're going to be bringing you a series of videos showing you the new features that will make you want to upgrade.

Today's feature is actually my favorite: fast boot times. If you use a laptop, you'll notice a tremendous difference in start-up time over Vista and XP. This is true if you close the lid and put the system to sleep, or if you shut it down completely. My boot times are less than 30 seconds, and it takes between 2-6 seconds to wake my laptop up from sleep.



Look for more videos, coming soon!

Another Big Patch Release

This week, Microsoft release another series of critical patches. We will again be rolling out the following patches to all monitored servers as soon as possible. However, we strongly recommend that all users run Windows update immediately and install ANY and ALL patches marked "Important."* Or schedule a Servcom USA technician to deploy the patches on your network today.

Should I be worried?
If your computer is running any of the following Operating Systems, you need an update immediately:

1. Windows 2000, SP4


2. Windows XP, SP2 (x86/x64) and SP3 (x86 only)


3. Windows Vista, all versions


4. Windows 7

What dangers do these updates fix?
For anyone who goes online, the most important updates are 974455 and 957488 (see the list below), which address a problem with the way Windows displays graphics from web pages. These security vulnerabilities could allow hackers to install code on your computer after you click on virtually any image on any website. The code could be used to hijack a computer, steal passwords, or capture other personal data directly off the system without any user interaction.

What about my company's servers?
The following servers require updating:

1. Windows Server 2003, SP2 (all chipsets)


2. Windows Server 2008 (all chipsets)


3. Windows Server 2008, SP2 (all chipsets)


4. Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64 and Itanium)

For more information, check out theMicrosoft Bulletin.

Critical Updates - these updates must be installed immediately

• Vulnerabilities in SMBv2 Could Allow Remote Code Execution (975517)


• Vulnerabilities in Windows Media Runtime Could Allow Remote Code Execution (975682)


• Vulnerability in Windows Media Player Could Allow Remote Code Execution (974112)


• Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (974455)


• Cumulative Security Update of ActiveX Kill Bits (973525)


• Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Active Template Library (ATL) ActiveX Controls for Microsoft Office Could Allow Remote Code Execution (973965)


• Vulnerabilities in the Microsoft .NET Common Language Runtime Could Allow Remote Code Execution (974378)


• Vulnerabilities in GDI+ Could Allow Remote Code Execution (957488)

Important Updates - these updates are strongly recommended, but not required

• Vulnerabilities in FTP Service for Internet Information Services Could Allow Remote Code Execution (975254)


• Vulnerabilities in Windows CryptoAPI Could Allow Spoofing (974571)


• Vulnerability in Indexing Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (969059)


• Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (971486)


• Vulnerability in Local Security Authority Subsystem Service Could Allow Denial of Service (975467)

As always, you can request service via phone or through our
website.

Don't Wait - Try Windows 7 Today!

It’s October, and that means Microsoft is about to release a major upgrade to Windows Desktops. And I want to make sure that all of our clients know about this.

Windows 7 is big. It’s huge. And it’s a great product.

In fact, Windows 7 is so great that I’ll be arranging preview demonstrations for interested clients. We will bring live systems to your office so you can see exactly what Windows 7 can do for your business.

Already know everything you need to know about Windows 7? Arrange for a trial installation on your network. Let us install Windows 7 on a computer in your network to test it out!

If you are interested in either a preview or trial installation, send us an email or fill out a request on our new Contact Page.

Windows 7 will improve your relationship with your computer dramatically. I’ve upgraded both of my systems to Windows 7 and I’m thrilled with it! The upgrade has made me both more productive and happier with my computer. Here are a few ways I’m working faster with just an upgrade to Windows 7:

• Windows 7 starts fast. Getting to a login screen takes less than 45 seconds on one of my system, and under 15 seconds on the other. If I open the laptops from sleep mode, I’m up and running in about 5-7 seconds.


• Windows 7 runs fast. Applications load quickly and the entire computer responds to commands much faster than Vista. This is the same computer that chugged along before – no hardware upgrades at all! No more waiting for Office to open a document or IE to load a web page. That’s valuable time I’m now working instead of waiting.


• Shortcuts help me access information and programs quickly. There is a slew of new shortcuts and features that help me run the programs I want quickly. I do less work with my mouse and more work with my keyboard. It may only save me seconds on any task, but all that time adds up to hours in a month.


• Searching is better, faster, and more accurate. I carefully organize and store all my information manually. But accessing documents doesn’t have to be as time consuming. I just type in what I’m looking for and the document is right there, ready to open and edit. No more hunting across folders, looking on servers, or trying to remember where I saved something. Again, less time looking, more time doing.


• Libraries organize information for me. Even better than the improved search, Windows 7 includes a new feature called libraries. Libraries collect documents, pictures, or other types of files from your computer and your file shares and display them in groups. Searching for a specific picture? Open the picture library to see all pictures by date, image type, even by author. I can even search in a specific library (documents, for example) to only retrieve the types of files I am looking for. Again, the time I’m saving pulling up information means more time for doing real work.


• My desktop is organized better. Windows 7 includes a number of enhancements for displaying information on screen. If you need to compare information between two documents, or to copy and paste information between two programs, the new Windows display features make it simple and easy to show the information that I need quickly.

There’s a lot more that I could say here. How about the window preview feature? Or the enhanced driver support? The enhanced software compatibility? The fact that it just looks better?

When it comes down to it, we know you want to see what Windows 7 can do for you. So let us demo it for you today. Click here to submit a demo or installation request.

RSS Feed Updated

In order to improve our new main site, we've had to update our RSS feed services on the blog.

If you use Outlook or another RSS Reader to view this blog, please reconnect using the Link at the bottom of the blog's main page. If you have IE8 or Firefox 3, the RSS links in the browsers should let you drop the feed into your favorite feed reader.

Having trouble reconnecting to our feed? Call us - we can walk you through it over the phone!

First Website Update

We are currently rebuilding our website from scratch. You can see the new temporary site here.

More content will be added until our new website (currently under construction by ATierOne) comes online, early in 2010.

Love it? Hate it? Send us an email or write your review of the site in our new Contact Form.

Critical Microsoft Update

Microsoft has released a patch that affects the following operating systems:

• Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
• Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2
• Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2

Of these, the last five systems are most severely affected. If you want more details, check out the information in the MS Security bulletin and the Knowledge Base article for the update.

We are recommending that this update be installed as soon as possible for all of our clients.

For those clients with management agreements or network monitoring in place, we will be contacting you in the next few days to schedule the installation of this patch. Please note that this patch will require a reboot of your server.

If your network is not currently being monitored or maintained by us, please contact us to schedule installation of this update immediately. We can also demonstrate how network monitoring can help you stay ahead of the computer vulernabilities that could cost your company time and money.

Take 5.....

Life Before the Computer

• An application was for employment
• A program was a TV show
• A cursor used profanity
• A keyboard was a piano
• Memory was something you lost with age
• A CD was a bank account
• Compress was something you did to garbage not something you did to a file
• If you unzipped anything in public, you would be in jail for a while.
• Log on was adding wood to a fire.
• A hard drive was a long road trip
• A back up is something that happened to your commode
• Cut is what you did with a pocket knife
• Paste is what you did with glue.
• A web was a spiders home
• And a virus was the flu
  

Out of the Office

A note from Adam:

I will be out of the office from August 7th through August 16th, returning on August 17th. If you need assistance in my absence, please contact our office at (803)329-2867 and ask to speak with Jennifer or William.

Thank you,

Adam Marshall

President

Servcom USA, LLC

Take 5.....

The Lord's Prayer
A mother had been teaching her three-year daughter, Caitlin, the Lord's prayer. For several evenings at bedtime, she would repeat after her mother the lines from the prayer.

Finally, she decided to go solo. The mother listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer: "Lead us not into temptation," she prayed, "but deliver us some E-mail. Amen."

Take 5.....

Computers vs. Auto Industry

Bill Gates wanted to look good and impress everyone with his success.
He decided to measure the accomplishments of Microsoft against
General Motors. The comparison went like this:
If automotive technology had kept pace with computer technology over the past few decades, you would now be driving a V-32 instead of a V-8, and it would have a top speed of 10,000 miles per hour. Or you could have an economy car that weighs 30 pounds and gets a thousand miles to a gallon of gas. In either case the sticker price of a new car would be less than $50. In response to all this goading, GM responds: "Yes, but would you really want to drive a car that crashes twice a day?"

CLOSING DATES

**ServcomUSA closing dates**
July 3rd (Independence Day)
August 21st (Technician Training)
September 7th (Labor Day)
October 12th (Columbus Day)
November 11th (Veteran's Day) 26th-27th (Thanksgiving)
December 23rd-27th (Christmas)

Important Update to Servcom USA Support Icon

Our Servcom USA Support Icon has been updated. This update has improved the speed of our remote connections quite a bit. However, the old icon is no longer supported and will not work.

If you have the Servcom USA Support Icon on your desktop, please download the new one from this blog page using the links to the right of this post. Please make sure of the following:

• Remove the current icon from your desktop by dragging it to the Recycle Bin.
• If your computer is running Vista, please download the Servcom USA Support (Vista) file.
• If you are using an Apple, please download the Servcom USA Support (MAC) file.
  
• Save the new file to your desktop. (We usually put it in the upper right-hand corner for you.)

If you are the network administrator or you share a computer with other people (but you use different accounts), please call us to have us update the icon for you.

High Returns on Monitoring

We’ve been expanding our 24x7 Network Monitoring for a few months now, and I thought it was a good time to dig into the statistics of how our clients are doing. This afternoon I ran the numbers on our clients who have adopted a proactive approach to their network maintenance, and I found these statistics (all stats are from 1 January, 2009 to today):

 

·         Clients using our network monitoring program have an average network uptime over 95%.

·         Those same clients’ median uptime was greater than 96%.

·         30% have uptimes of 99.5% or higher.

 

This is the good news. The great news is that we are just getting started. Our goal is to push our median uptime over 97% and have 50% of our monitored clients at 99.5% by the end of the year.

 

How did these business achieve such outstanding number? By making the most of their IT resources. They have invested in a tool that lets them know how well those resources are being used. We use it to prevent downtime, which stifles productivity. And we help them identify inefficiencies that could hold back their businesses, especially in this economy. So even in a down economy, these clients are seeing substantial returns on their IT investments.

                                                                                                                                                                                    

So is your business one of our success stories? Without our monitoring, can your business achieve numbers like these? Are you getting the most out of your IT infrastructure?

 

Call or email us today to schedule a free demo of our 24x7 Network Monitoring program.

Launch of the New Portal Site!

The new portal is now up and running If you cannot get in please give us a call. Jennifer can set up an appointment to get your new account activated. And for a limited time, we will be offering free training.

Also don't forget to save the New Portal Link to your desktop or your favorites for easy access.

Our main office number is (803) 329-2867

Easter Closing

Servcom USA will be closed Friday, April 10th for Easter.

New Portal Site to be launched next Thursday!

As part of our commitment to provide exceptional and comprehensive technology support for your organization, we will be rolling out our new Client Access Portal in approximately 4 days. There will be a number of enhancements in the new portal, including an improved user interface and service ticket submission form. Additionally, the process of updating tickets with notes and attachments will be much easier.

Your existing user name and password will work in the new portal, and you will have access to online help and a training video as soon as you login. We will provide you with the new login page web address when a launch date is finalized. Please contact us with any questions.

Outage

Due to some technical maintenance, Servomusa will be experiencing a brief outage of the Internet at Servcom that will affect email, Sharepoint, and the VPN on Friday, March 6th, 2009 from 6:00pm-7:00pm. We are sorry for any inconvenience this might cause and we appreciate your understanding.

Server Outage

Due to a server change, our website and email may be down briefly (15 - 20 minutes) between 3:35pm and 5:00pm, EST, today only.

We appreciate your patience while we proceed with this upgrade.

Monitoring Platform Enhancements

During the next two weeks, we will be migrating and upgrading our monitoring platform. We will be providing free upgrades to the newest version for all existing monitoring customers.* During this period, we will experience temporary outages in our monitoring and remote access capabilities. These should be resolved by the end of the month.

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*Upgrades will be provided based on the recommended system performance. Clients whose servers do not exceed recommended system requirements will not receive this update until a individual review of their site has been finished.

Closing Notice

On Monday, 1/19, Servcom USA will be closed for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

We Used our Disaster Recovery Plan Today; Is Yours Ready?

Due to today's high winds, our Rock Hill and Columbia offices both lost power for approximately five hours today. From 4pm to 8:30pm, our internet connection was also not functioning. As a result, our website was temporarily offline and email delivery to Servcom USA addresses was delayed.

As of 9pm EST, both sites are back up and running without any problems.

Did your site suffer any downtime during the storms? Let us work with you today to prevent problems next time.

But what if your computers didn't survive a power surge? Can your business recover all of your data and be up and running tomorrow morning? If your answer is "No" or "I don't know," call us today. We will make sure your business can survive any disaster.