Effective June 1, 2008, we are pleased to announce that L&D Computer Consulting has merged with AverWeb Inc, a Long Island-based IT firm serving the tri-state metropolitan area. Over the past three years, L&D and AverWeb have been working together to support some of L&D’s existing clients and it became clear that combining operations would be most beneficial to our clients.

In August, L&D founder Leonard Shostak was a guest columnist for the CMP ChannelWeb tech industry site CRN Tech. He wrote about the way technology is changing the experience of events that used to be "off the grid." Read the column here: At Work Or Play: No Escaping The Network.

Here are directions for using the L&D Request Tracker system (RT). There are two ways you can use RT, either by email or through the web.

1. To use the online system:

If you would like to use the RT system through the web, you will first need to email support@ldcomp.net from the email address that you will be using for your support issues, to request your password.

According to an analysis that's been getting a lot of buzz in the technology industry and media, Windows Vista's stringent requirements for protecting privileged (copyrighted) content can play havoc with system resources and overhead - to the point of affecting even those who don't use Windows Vista! Content protection that prevents even legitimate purchasers from playing or viewing their legal possessions is carrying things just a bit too far, in our humble opinion.

Here's how to install a font on a Windows computer:

1. Download the font to the desktop of the computer where you want to install it.
2. Open My Computer
3. Open C drive
4. Open the Windows folder
5. Open the Fonts folder.
6. Drag the font file icon from the desktop to the Fonts folder. This will copy the file into the folder.

DO NOT download the font file directly to the Fonts folder!

7. Remove the downloaded font file from your desktop.

In case you're wondering what this means for your Postini service through L&D or WebHostNY, the short answer is no change for the immediate future. L&D's President, Leonard Shostak, was interviewed on the topic by Computer Reseller News, a leading tech publication. You can read the full article here: Google's Postini Acquisition Raises Channel Questions.

If you can't connect, you can try mapping the drive with a simple login script. Here's how:

Open the Notepad application and create a file with the .bat extension and type in the following text:

ping -n 30 -l 5120 (servername)
net use (drive letter) \\servername\sharename /USER:(domainname\username) password /PERSISTENT:YES

Of course, you would type in the actual names for the server, sharename, and the domain, and your actual user name.

Save this file somewhere where you can double-click it to run the script when you want to connect.

This occurs when the install or update of Sophos had some issue for some reasons or another. Usually only Microsoft can tell you what. If this happens, you need to:

1. Reinstall Sophos on top of the old version. (Note: You must do this when no other software is running.)

- or -

2. Remove Sophos, reboot, and then reinstall Sophos.
3. You should also launch the task manager on Windows to see what is using all the processes. Then check and make sure that all the Sophos services are running.

We ran across this item in "Bizbox" on Slate.com - a small business blog mini-site sponsored by AmEx. It offers a quick rundown of relatively simple and inexpensive technology tools to make running your business easier, such as VOIP and accessing office systems from elsewhere. Nothing earth-shattering, just a short list of some of the tools we use – and tools we also offer our customers.

Read the article here: Using Technology to Expand Your Business

Isn't it nice to have an independent third party confirm the advice we're giving? If you're interested in implementing any of these technologies for your business, or simply learning more about them, give L&D a call today!