I’ve never owned a Nikon camera so I’ve never needed this codec. It’s helpful that Nikon provides one, but a bit worrisome that the last problem fixed was a security related buffer overflow with related CVE entry. “Fixed a vulnerability related to buffer overrun during file loading (CVE-2024-8025)”
If you need to open .NEF Nikon raw image files, here is the answer…
https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/sw/259.html
This is a tool that works well when moving someone to a new user account, but wishing to keep the exiting user profile paths files, registry and more. This not something that you can accomplish quickly or easily with tools provided from Microsoft. Here is a link to their website and the ProfWiz tool.
Here is a great collection of windows tools and utilities from Mark Russinovich. My personal favorites include disk2vhd.exe, procexp.exe and tcpview.exe.
You can explore this collection directly here is raw IIS file server format:
https://live.sysinternals.com/
A single download of the near complete collection in single zip file:
https://live.sysinternals.com/files/SysinternalsSuite.zip
Many of the tools have been around for over 25 years. Now they mostly buried away on the Microsoft website after the acquisition. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/
I’ve been using Malwarebytes Browser Guard for a while. I feel comfortable recommending this product to others. This tool blocks enough fake antivirus alerts and phishing attempts to make adding this extension to your browser a good idea. On occasion, you’ll need to disable it if it gets too aggressive with blocking trackers and ads on a trusted site.
Time is running out on these two operating systems from Microsoft. The end of support is slated for later this year on October 10, 2023. If you continue to use either of these operating systems after that date you are putting your business at risk. Security updates are available to those with an extended service contract from Microsoft. Another alternative is to move your server instance to the Azure cloud. If you want to continue using of your on-premise server, upgrading to Windows Server 2022 is recommended. More information from Microsoft is available here.
I’ve worn out the scroll wheel on quite a few mice. Apple’s Magic Mouse 2 lacks the wheel, but it’s touch sensitive top allows for scolling and other features that many mice have. When my current Dell wireless mouse wheel started acting up, I borrowed the Magic Mouse 2 from my Mac. After the Bluetooth pairing process, I had it connected and working. The only problem being that I couldn’t scroll. Same mouse works under Boot Camp on my MacBook Pro, so I determined it to be a driver problem. Apple doesn’t offer drivers for Windows directly, only through there Boot Camp installer. I temporarily ended up using Magic Utilities which does work well, but it requires a subscription. Also, I didn’t most of the extra functionality it offers.
My solution to this was found on GitHub using a project called Brigadier by Tim Sutton. This will allow you to download the Boot Camp software without using a Mac. I’m posting the resulting drivers here to help out those who may struggle with the command line.
Phishing and ransomware are the two big ticket items in cybercrime. It seems many people still don’t know what to look for to determine if an email is legitimate or if it’s fraudulent. Here are some links to help educate yourself and others about phishing emails.
How To Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams – FTC.gov
Protect yourself from Phishing – Microsoft.com
I’d also like to add that account takeovers and ACH / payroll fraud have also seen a huge jump. Email is not a good conduit to conduct financial transactions. Avoid using email to send any account or banking information. Use email encryption if you need to send sensitive information via email.
I’m posting my Tesla referral link for clients, friends, family or anyone else that might be interested in Tesla products. I’ve become quite educated on the Model S, Solar Roof, and Powerwall products. If you are interested or have questions about these products feel free to contact me. – Ryan Leed
There are times when malware can be so embedded in a system, then even a full scan will not be able to fully remove the malicious files, or worse yet, finds nothing at all. For those cases, running an “offline” scan is recommended or in any case where you need more confidence in clean bill of health from your antivirus software. This feature is built into Windows 10, but Microsoft also makes it available as a stand-alone product. I recently had a request to provide a clean bill of health for a system. I used it to perform a full system scan and provide the scan results to ensure the system was free of malware.
Here is a link to Microsoft’s Defender Offline page
I had the opportunity to test the new T-Mobile 5G Home Internet service. The 5G/LTE wireless gateway (manufactured by Nokia) is included for free when signing up. Cost is $50 a month with autopay. If you’re looking for an alternative to your current provider, I would recommend giving the T-Mobile Home Internet service a try. They do have an address qualification to make sure they have good coverage in your area. Here’s the link to the eligibility checker.
https://www.t-mobile.com/isp/eligibility
If you have slow or unreliable service with your current provider, cellular is a proving itself to be a viable alternative for some. With an average signal of 3-4 bars out of 5, download speeds were between 200-300 Mbps download. That’s fast enough to outpace DSL, basic cable and most fixed wireless. Only upper-tier cable plans have more bandwidth, FttH is still a long a way off in the old pueblo.