Well Windows 7 has been out for a year now and has overtaken Windows Vista. there are still many people that have the impression there is no need to go to Windows 7 as XP still works, Windows 7 is just a fixed Vista, blah blah blah. Unless someone uses it and understands the benefits they will always have preconceived notions of what it is or does. From the features below you tell me, should you?

The other question that goes along with it is what version to buy. Well talking on the business side of things. You need at minimum the Professional version, however there are some benefits to going to the Enterprise or Ultimate version that could save downtime or data theft. If either of those are of value or importance read on.

Ultimate and Enterprise are basically the same, only licensing and purchasing methods are different. Ultimate = Retail, Enterprise = volume license.

Now for the fun stuff:

The built in windows backup will make full system backups for quick recovery using Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) images. The VHD images are mountable and bootable making for easy file recovery and quick system restores or virtualization.

BitLocker is a feature to encrypt hard drives, volumes, and files. Using this encryption USB drives and hard drives can be encrypted in-case of loss or theft protecting valuable company data.

We’ve seen a TON of AntiVir pop-up windows, “virus” warnings, and the like, but recently it seems many of our clients are getting infected through the use of IM (Instant Messaging) software. For example, someone sends you a link through IM to view a picture, download a file, or approve a payment. Next thing that happens? You’ve unwittingly installed a little piece of malware called AntiVir.

It’s really more of a harassing program than anything, but you will have an extremely difficult time removing it unless you’ve had some experience with this kind of thing before. There are registry keys to edit, browsers to reconfigure, etc. In all of the cases we’ve seen thus far, only one machine was actually infected with a “real” virus, and that may have happened prior to AntiVir becoming a problem. The key is to have a professional look at your system right away!
BUT…

Here’s the quick & dirty way to get rid of this annoying software:

- Shut down your PC and reboot into “Safe Mode with Networking”

- Disable the system restore function (temporarily). Search Windows Help section for more assistance with how to accomplish this

- Perform a complete Disk Cleanup by checking the boxes to delete the files within

- Download software that will help you find and fix the problems. There are free programs that work well, but are not robust enough for a perfect removal.  Some FREE tools include (click to get it):

SpyBot S&D

Malwarebytes

- Install these programs and immediately update them

- Run FULL scans of all your hard drives

- Follow the recommended removal instructions (usually, “delete”)

- Reboot into normal Windows and run both programs again.Remove any additional remnants of the malware they found

- Reboot, then turn “System Restore” back on
All should be working as it did before, but to be sure, run a full virus scan with your favorite antivirus package.   For more info, search the words “antivir malware” on Google!