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	<title>Talk Tech To Me - GFI Blog &#187; Ben Vincenti</title>
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	<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog</link>
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		<item>
		<title>How to Prevent Users from Changing GFI WebMonitor® Proxy Settings in Firefox® Using Group Policies</title>
		<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog/how-to-prevent-users-from-changing-gfi-webmonitor-proxy-settings-in-firefox-using-group-policies/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=how-to-prevent-users-from-changing-gfi-webmonitor-proxy-settings-in-firefox-using-group-policies</link>
		<comments>http://www.gfi.com/blog/how-to-prevent-users-from-changing-gfi-webmonitor-proxy-settings-in-firefox-using-group-policies/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:18:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Vincenti</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[GFI Fixes It]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TTTM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Active Directory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Changing GFI WebMonitor® Proxy Settings in Firefox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Firefox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Firefox proxy settings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FirefoxADM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GFI WebMonitor® Proxy Settings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GPO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Explorer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Microsoft Windows]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mozilla Firefox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WebMonitor]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gfi.com/blog/?p=10473</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you’re in an environment where users are allowed to use browsers other than the default Internet Explorer (IE), you should know that these programs will use settings outside of the Microsoft defaults. Employees using other browsers will also need &#8230;]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/WebMonitor-Firefox2.jpg"><img class="alignright  wp-image-10475" style="margin: 10px; border: 0px solid black;" alt="WebMonitor Firefox2" src="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/WebMonitor-Firefox2-300x227.jpg" width="240" height="182" /></a><br />
If you’re in an environment where users are allowed to use browsers other than the default Internet Explorer (IE), you should know that these programs will use settings outside of the Microsoft defaults. Employees using other browsers will also need to have all their traffic sent through <a href="http://www.gfi.com/internet-monitoring-software?adv=13558&amp;loc=14">GFI WebMonitor</a>. In this post we’ll go through the procedure needed to ensure employees don’t get around security policies when using Firefox.<span id="more-10473"></span></p>
<p>Unlike IE, Mozilla Firefox is a third-party browser with no integration with Microsoft Windows, and it does not support remote administration by default. Nevertheless, there are ways to remotely configure Firefox like IE. In order to use this procedure you will need a freeware package FirefoxADM. It can be downloaded from the repository <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/firefoxadm">SourceForge</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> <b>GFI provides this for customers&#8217; convenience. We</b> <strong>do not</strong> <b>support the FirefoxADM package.</b></p>
<p>Before deploying the proxy settings for Firefox, download and extract the package FirefoxADM on a server with Active Directory.</p>
<h2>Pushing out Firefox proxy settings with GPO</h2>
<ol>
<li>Open the relevant GPO for the site, domain or organizational unit in the Group Policy Object Editor</li>
<li>Expand the following levels within the tree: <strong>User Configuration</strong><b> </b>&gt; <strong>Windows Settings</strong> &gt; <strong>Scripts (Logon/Logoff)</strong></li>
<li>Double-click <strong>Proxy-settings</strong> in the main policy area</li>
<li>Click the <strong>Show Files</strong> button; this will display the folder the script will be stored in</li>
<li>Copy and paste the script <strong>firefox_login.vbs</strong> from the <strong>FirefoxADM</strong><b> </b>package into the folder</li>
<li>Return to the <strong>Logon</strong> <strong>Properties</strong><b> </b>window and click <strong>Add</strong></li>
<li>Browse to the location of the start scripts folder where the script was just copied to, select the file and click the <strong>Open</strong> button</li>
<li>Click <strong>OK</strong> and then <strong>OK</strong> again to save the changes.</li>
</ol>
<p>This has now configured the GPO to run a script which locks down the Firefox settings when the machine first starts up. You now need to add and configure the Administrative Templates which will be used to define the locked down proxy settings:</p>
<ol>
<li>Expand the <strong>User Configuration</strong> level in the tree</li>
<li>Right-click <strong>Administrative Templates</strong> and select <strong>Add/Remove Templates</strong></li>
<li>Click the <strong>Add</strong> button and browse to the location of the startup template<b> </b><strong>firefoxdefaults.adm</strong>, select the file and click <strong>Open</strong>, then Click <strong>Close</strong></li>
<li>Expand the <strong>Administrative Templates</strong> level under <strong>Computer</strong> <strong>Configuration</strong></li>
<li>Select <strong>Mozilla Firefox Default Settings</strong> in the tree</li>
<li>Double-click <strong>Proxy Settings</strong> in the main policy area</li>
<li>Select the radio button <strong>Enabled</strong></li>
<li>At this point you can begin entering the proxy settings that are to be pushed to users; this information can be found in your provisioning email</li>
<li>Once finished click <strong><strong>OK.</strong></strong></li>
</ol>
<p>This policy and any subsequent changes will only be refreshed on user login, or alternatively you can force a GPO update from command prompt if available (the command is: gpupdate /force).</p>
<h2>Locking down Firefox proxy settings with GPO</h2>
<ol>
<li>Open the relevant GPO for the site, domain or organizational unit in the Group Policy Object Editor</li>
<li>Expand the following levels within the tree: <strong>Computer Configuration</strong> &gt; <strong>Windows Settings</strong><b> </b>&gt; <strong>Scripts (Logon/Logoff)</strong></li>
<li>Double-click <strong>Startup</strong> in the main policy area</li>
<li>Click the <strong>Show Files</strong> button, this will display the folder the script will be stored in</li>
<li>Copy and paste the script <strong>firefox_startup.vbs</strong> from the FirefoxADM package into the folder</li>
<li>Returning to the window, click <strong>Add</strong> in <strong>Startup</strong> <strong>properties</strong></li>
<li>Browse to the location of the start scripts folder where the script was just copied to, select the file and click the <strong>Open</strong> button</li>
<li>Click <strong>OK</strong> and then <strong>OK</strong> again to save the changes.</li>
</ol>
<p>This has now configured the GPO to run a script which will lockdown the Firefox settings when the machine first starts up. You now need to add and configure the Administrative Templates which will be used to define the locked down proxy settings:</p>
<ol>
<li>Expand the <strong>Computer Configuration</strong> level in the tree</li>
<li>Right-click <strong>Administrative Templates</strong> and select <strong>Add/Remove Templates</strong></li>
<li>Click the <strong>Add</strong> button and browse to the location of the startup template<b> </b><strong>firefoxlock.adm</strong>, select the file and click <strong>Open</strong>, then click <strong>Close</strong></li>
<li>Expand the <strong>Administrative Templates</strong> level under <strong>Computer Configuration</strong></li>
<li>Select <strong>Mozilla Firefox Locked Settings</strong> in the tree</li>
<li>Double-click <strong>Proxy Settings</strong> in the main policy area</li>
<li>Select the radio button <strong>Enabled</strong></li>
<li>At this point you can begin entering the proxy settings that are to be pushed to users; this information can be found in your provisioning email</li>
<li>Once finished click <strong><strong>OK.</strong></strong></li>
</ol>
<p>This policy and any subsequent changes will only be refreshed on system start up.</p>
<p>Do you have any questions? Leave us a comment below and I’ll reply to your query.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><b><i>Like our posts? Subscribe to our <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TalkTechToMe-All">RSS feed</a> or email feed (on the right hand side) now, and be the first to get them!</i></b></p>
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		<title>10 Easy Steps to set up your first Virtual Machine with Hyper-V</title>
		<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog/10-easy-steps-set-virtual-machine-hyperv/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=10-easy-steps-set-virtual-machine-hyperv</link>
		<comments>http://www.gfi.com/blog/10-easy-steps-set-virtual-machine-hyperv/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Jan 2011 14:14:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Vincenti</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech Zone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hyper-V]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virtual machine]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gfi.com/blog/?p=3105</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Open up Server Manager and click on ‘Add Roles’. At the ‘Before You Begin’ page, click Next. Select ‘Hyper-V’ from the list of Roles in the ‘Select Server Roles’ page and click Next through the wizard until you get the &#8230;]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<ol>
<li><a class="lightbox" title="virtual machine" href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/virtual-machine.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3108" style="margin: 10px;" title="virtual machine" src="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/virtual-machine-300x205.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="205" /></a>Open up Server Manager and click on ‘Add Roles’. At the ‘Before You Begin’ page, click Next. Select ‘Hyper-V’ from the list of Roles in the ‘Select Server Roles’ page and click Next through the wizard until you get the role installation Results, confirming that Hyper-V has been installed.<br />
<span id="more-3105"></span></li>
<li>Launch the Hyper-V Manager from Start -&gt; Administrative Tools. In the Actions pane on the right, click on Connect to Server… node if Hyper-V if you do not want to connect to localhost. In the actions pane, click on New -&gt; Virtual machine. Click next at the ‘Before You Begin’ page.</li>
<li>In the ‘Specify Name and Location’ window, enter the name of the new guest VM. If you do not want to store the VM in the default location (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\) select ‘Store the virtual machine in a different location’ and click on Browse.</li>
<li>Click Next and allocate the total amount of memory you want the VM to have.</li>
<li>Click Next to arrive at the ‘Configure Networking’ page and select a network adapter. A default adapter should have been created during the installation of Hyper-V. A virtual network can also be created later on.</li>
<li>Click next to proceed to the ‘Connect Virtual Hard Disk’ window. Here you can create a new virtual hard disk or use an existing disk. You can also opt to attach a virtual hard disk later. If you are creating a new virtual hard disk, you will have to specify the location where you want to store it as well as the Size.</li>
<li>Your final step is to configure the Installation Options. Here you will need to determine the installation media. You can install an OS from a boot CD/DVD-ROM, a boot floppy disk or from a network-based installation server. If you would like to install the OS at a later time, select the ‘Install an operating system later’ option.</li>
<li>The summary page that you get when you click Next lists the VM information you would have configured. You can choose to start the virtual machine after it is created or leave it set to default to start it up at a later time. Click Finish and you are done!</li>
<li>You will now see your newly created VM under the ‘Virtual Machines’ section in the middle pane. Clicking on the VM in this list allows you to select various options in the ‘Actions’ pane on the right. The Settings node allows you to configure any parameter, such as amount of memory, additional hard disks, etc.</li>
<li>To boot up your virtual machine, click on ‘Start’ in the VM pane and voila! You’re done. Congratulations on setting up your first virtual machine with Hyper-V!</li>
</ol>
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		<item>
		<title>4 Reasons why you need a Fax Server</title>
		<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog/4-reasons-fax-server/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=4-reasons-fax-server</link>
		<comments>http://www.gfi.com/blog/4-reasons-fax-server/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:30:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Vincenti</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SMB Zone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[compliance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fax server]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GFI FAXmaker]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gfi.com/blog/?p=3083</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fax servers offer more benefits than just sending and receiving faxes. Fax servers cater for the needs of organizations of all sizes, from SMBs to Fortune 100 companies. Here are 4 main reasons why you should deploy a fax server. &#8230;]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"><a class="lightbox" title="4 reasons" href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/4-reasons.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3084" title="4 reasons" alt="" src="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/4-reasons-300x212.jpg" width="300" height="212" /></a>Fax servers offer more benefits than just sending and receiving faxes. Fax servers cater for the needs of organizations of all sizes, from SMBs to Fortune 100 companies. Here are 4 main reasons why you should deploy a fax server.</span></p>
<h2>1.     Save money</h2>
<p>Implementing a fax server such as <a href="http://www.gfi.com/fax-server-software?adv=13558&amp;loc=7">GFI FAXmaker</a> eliminates the need of dedicated analog fax lines (FOIP) as well as specialized fax equipment such as fax machines which also eliminates the cost of maintenance. Moreover, fax servers helps reduce telecom costs through Least Cost Routing (LCR) and provide a high return on investment usually realized within 3–6  months.</p>
<p><span id="more-3083"></span></p>
<h2>2.     Increase productivity</h2>
<p>With a fax server solution, users can send faxes from their own email client, for example Outlook, which eliminates the need of having to walk back and fourth to fax machines to retrieve faxes. This allows you to boost employee productivity. Apart from sending faxes from Outlook, users can also send from other desktop applications. Third-party applications and business processes can also integrate with fax servers through APIs. a Fax servers also provide a faster and more efficient way of fax broadcasting. Furthermore, you can deploy a fax server in a unified messaging solution where faxes and email share a common mailbox.</p>
<h2>3.     Focused workflow, security &amp; regulatory compliance</h2>
<p>Many fax server solutions give you the ability to implement clustering and load balancing for high-volume and fault-tolerant fax transmission. Furthermore, fax server solutions such as <a href="http://www.gfi.com/faxmaker">GFI FAXmaker</a> allow you to store faxes on disk, archive and generate reports on faxes. They ship with transmissions reports which advise whether a fax was sent or received correctly, or not. This creates an audit trail that facilitates regulatory compliance with regulations such as SOX and <a href="http://www.gfi.com/faxmaker/hipaa-compliance">HIPAA</a> amongst others. Furthermore, to ensure that only the person that the fax was intended for actually sees the fax, many fax servers can automatically route incoming faxes to the user&#8217;s mailbox or to a particular printer based on a DID/DDI/DTMF number or to the line on which the fax was received. Faxes can also be forwarded to a public folder or assigned to a network printer per installed fax port. This means that the fax goes through no other hands.</p>
<h2>4.     Various features</h2>
<p>Most fax servers integrate seemlessly with Active Directory or LDAP, so you do not need to maintain a separate database for fax users. This does not mean that fax servers cannot exist without AD and/or Exchange. Users can also send faxes from a web browser, for example by sending faxes from OWA. This  meets the requirements of mobile workers who need to send or receive faxes on the move. Fax servers also have high-image-quality, including colour faxing.</p>
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		<title>5 Benefits of switching to Virtualization Technology</title>
		<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog/5-benefits-switching-virtualization-technology/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=5-benefits-switching-virtualization-technology</link>
		<comments>http://www.gfi.com/blog/5-benefits-switching-virtualization-technology/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Dec 2010 18:39:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Vincenti</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech Zone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virtualization]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gfi.com/blog/?p=3066</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In today’s world, the main reason why IT organizations are considering virtualization of some, or all, of their computing infrastructures is that the technology helps reduce costs drastically. Consider, for example, the case of the server infrastructure where you would &#8230;]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In today’s worl<a class="lightbox" title="virtualization" href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/virtualization.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3072" style="margin: 10px;" title="virtualization" src="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/virtualization-300x212.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="212" /></a>d, the main reason why IT organizations are considering virtualization of some, or all, of their computing infrastructures is that the technology helps reduce costs drastically.</p>
<p>Consider, for example, the case of the server infrastructure where you would increase the utilization of your servers from 15% to 80%, thus eliminating the need of extra physical servers, which are costly to run and maintain. In this scenario, you are simply consolidating what would have been multiple physical servers onto one machine running a number of virtual servers.</p>
<p>Such a setup brings about several cost and productivity benefits that are described below. In this blog post, we will discuss the 5 major benefits of switching to virtualization technology.</p>
<p><span id="more-3066"></span></p>
<h2>1. Cheaper implementation</h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">Consider, for example, the case of the server infrastructure where instead of purchasing 5 Windows Server 2003 licences, which would cost you something in the region of $10,000 &#8211; $15,000 in licensing fees, you would simply purchase 1 license and host the remaining 4 servers without any extra cost. Furthermore, having fewer physical server saves you money on power bills, maintenance fees and datacentre office space and fees.</span></p>
<h2>2. Business doesn’t stop</h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">Consolidating software applications, operating systems and hardware platforms, leads to fewer redundant physical devices needed to serve as primary machines. Conventional high-availability setups often require a 1:1 ratio of software-to-hardware while in the virtualized environment multiple servers can fail over to a set of backup servers. This therefore allows for a many-to-one configuration ratio, which increases service uptime and availability.</span></p>
<h2>3. Higher availability and uptime</h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">One of the main advantages of virtual servers is that they are completely segregated from one another, running as though they rely on separate hardware, which decreases downtime during maintenance periods. This means that changes can be made to one virtual server without affecting others sharing the same hardware. This means that maintenance can be done in a production environment without affecting business and causing disruptions.</span></p>
<h2>4. Speedy Installations</h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">Virtual devices allow fast installations of new server applications or router and switch software services, because you no longer have to purchase equipment that can take days or weeks to get it ordered, delivered and set up. Instead, you simply configure a new virtual machine, router, switch or storage drive using the special virtualization management software tool you use. This process generally consists of simpoly copying an image, thereby significantly reducing setup times.</span></p>
<h2>5. Corporate directives</h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">Corporate control mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley, Gramm Leach Bliley and HIPAA have implemented stringent privacy, security and auditing requirements on organizations. This has led organizations to use consolidated computing and networking infrastructures. Virtualization helps support higher management, security and tracking that the stricter directives required, in a lucrative way. It is innately easier to manage and enforce policies and to configure software from a central, common console than in a distributed manner, which makes it difficult to remain up to date with software updates.</span></p>
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		<item>
		<title>Patch Deployment in 3 Easy Steps</title>
		<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog/patch-deployment-easy-steps/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=patch-deployment-easy-steps</link>
		<comments>http://www.gfi.com/blog/patch-deployment-easy-steps/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:07:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Vincenti</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[GFI Fixes It]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GFI LANguard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[patch deployment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[patch management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security vulnerabilities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vulnerability scanning]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gfi.com/blog/?p=3007</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Picture a scenario of a network on 1000 hosts. On performing a network audit, it is found that 10 machines (servers and workstations) are un-patched. Although this might not seem like a large percentage (1%), one must keep in mind &#8230;]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="lightbox" title="patch deployment" href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/patch-deployment.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3008" style="margin: 10px;" title="patch deployment" alt="" src="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/patch-deployment-300x222.jpg" width="300" height="222" /></a>Picture a scenario of a network on 1000 hosts. On performing a network audit, it is found that 10 machines (servers and workstations) are un-patched. Although this might not seem like a large percentage (1%), one must keep in mind that it only takes one unprotected machine to infect and/or completely bring down an entire network.</p>
<p><span id="more-3007"></span></p>
<p>Here are some of the potential repercussions of simply having 1 un-patched machine on the network:</p>
<ul>
<li>Downtime and loss of productivity due to reinstallation</li>
<li>Questionable data integrity due to a successful exploit</li>
<li>Negative public relations due to systems unavailable for your customers</li>
<li>Legal problems should your patch management process go under a judicial microscope</li>
</ul>
<p>Here are the simple three steps to successfully manage the patch deployment process using <a href="http://www.gfi.com/network-security-vulnerability-scanner?adv=13558&amp;loc=9" target="_blank">GFI LANguard</a>:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Scanning for vulnerabilities and building an application inventory</strong>The first step would be to establish an inventory of your organization’s network and the software deployed on it. Without a proper inventory, patching becomes a very daunting task. In addition to this, machines should also be prioritized by creating a risk profile based on their necessity to the organization. GFI LANguard ships with an applications inventory which provides a list of all applications detected during past scans.For the inventory discussed above to be populated automatically, an initial scan of all machines must be done. You can choose to run a scheduled custom scan to simply detect for missing patches and service packs. This would scan the machines to list the software installed on each one. The scan results would then save the applications detected in the scans in the applications inventory.With each new scan, any new applications which may have been installed would also be detected by the scan and added to the applications inventory. GFI LANguard would then automatically download any patches and service packs for the applications that need patching.</li>
<li><strong>Analyzing the results</strong>The most important task following a network security scan is identifying which areas and systems require your immediate attention. This is achieved by analyzing and correctly interpreting the information collected and generated during a network security scan. Upon completing a scan, GFI LANguard immediately displays a scan summary that graphically displays the vulnerability level of the scanned computer or a combined interpretation of the scan results obtained following a network scan.The scan results also show a vulnerability level. A vulnerability level is a rating given by GFI LANguard to each computer after it has been scanned. This rating indicates the vulnerability level of a computer/network, depending on the number and type of vulnerabilities and/or missing patches found. <a href="http://kbase.gfi.com/showarticle.asp?id=KBID002573" target="_blank">See a complete list of software products supported by GFI LANguard</a>. Once a scan has been performed, and its results analyzed, the final step would be to remediate the vulnerabilities.</li>
<li><strong>Remediating the vulnerabilities</strong>Once you have performed a scan and analyzed the results, you can now configure GFI LANguard to automatically fix some of the issues identified during your network audit. This is achieved through the built-in tools that ship with the product. Available remediation actions include:</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li><strong>Auto-patch managemen</strong>t – This remediation feature automatically downloads missing updates and deploys them network-wide.</li>
<li><strong>Applications auto-uninstall</strong> – This remediation action enables the auto-uninstall of applications that support silent uninstall. This remediation action auto-uninstalls the applications of your choice from the application inventory outlined above. The process involves a test phase (called validation) during which an application is uninstalled automatically to identify if silent uninstall is supported by target application. If it is, all the other instances on the network will be automatically uninstalled during scheduled scans.</li>
</ul>
<p>Sometimes drastic action may be necessary to protect your organization’s network. You can always disable the machine’s account and immediately start the patch management process on this infected/un-patched machine.</p>
<p>If this doesn’t work, then disable the switch port that the workstation connects to or move the machine to a quarantined network. This will allow you to remediate the vulnerabilities on this machine in a confined environment, without increasing the risk of the entire network getting infected.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<title>5 tips for identifying signs of malware</title>
		<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog/5-tips-identifying-signs-malware/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=5-tips-identifying-signs-malware</link>
		<comments>http://www.gfi.com/blog/5-tips-identifying-signs-malware/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:36:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Vincenti</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech Zone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GFI VIPRE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malware]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gfi.com/blog/?p=3010</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We all know what a big hassle a malware infection can be. By identifying the symptoms of the malware infection and the means available to clean malware on your PC you can restore the machine to a stable state and &#8230;]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="lightbox" title="Virus Laptop" href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Virus-Laptop.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3011" style="margin: 10px;" title="Virus Laptop" src="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Virus-Laptop-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="210" height="210" /></a>We all know what a big hassle a malware infection can be. By identifying the symptoms of the malware infection and the means available to clean malware on your PC you can restore the machine to a stable state and also safe-guard it from any future malware attacks. The following 5 recommendations should go a long way to help you recognize any signs of a malware contamination.</p>
<p><span id="more-3010"></span></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Software</strong><br />
One of the easiest methods of locating malware on a machine would be to run anti-malware software. Many anti-malware and anti-virus software such as <a href="http://www.gfi.com/business-antivirus-software" target="_blank">GFI VIPRE Antivirus Business</a> include real-time protection, spyware and adware protection as well as unknown malware detection. The advantage of having real-time scanning is that all the 24/7 protection is done by the anti-virus product itself. This means that users do not have to perform frequent scans to ensure their machine is malware free.</li>
<li><strong>PC slowdowns</strong><br />
Malware is well known for slowing down machines, be it network performance or the speed of application use. Naturally, just having a slow PC does not necessarily mean your machine is infected. Other factors can cause a machine to slow down, for example a fragmented system and/or lack of memory. It would therefore be advisable to check these things and schedule some routine maintenance, such as defragmenting your hard-disks, running a check-disk and a disk cleanup. Should the machine remain slow, the most likely cause would be malware.</li>
<li><strong>Pop-ups</strong><br />
A recent, annoying sign of malware is the pop-up. Lately, there has been a boom of porn-related pop-up malware issues. Unwanted pop-ups are a sure sign of malware infection. The problem here is that they can’t always be removed in a conventional manner. In some cases, the machine must be booted into safe mode. As is the case with all malware, you’ll need a strong anti-malware application to remove them.</li>
<li><strong>Change of home and/or Google links</strong><br />
Another common sign of malware infection is the sporadic web browser home page change. The same is true if you search using a search engine, click on a provided link, and are sent to a random link. If you’re seeing this behaviour, you have a malware or virus infection.</li>
<li><strong>Browser offline</strong><br />
If you cannot get to the internet but you are sure that network connectivity is fine (you can ping a public DNS such as 4.2.2.2) you might be suffering from a malware infection. First thing to check is if you are using any foreign proxy in your Internet Options -&gt; LAN Settings. Some malware configures your browser to pass through an unsafe proxy. You’d definitely want to remove those proxy settings.</li>
</ol>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>13</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Top 10 Reasons to use Network Monitoring Solutions</title>
		<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog/top-10-reasons-network-monitoring-solutions/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=top-10-reasons-network-monitoring-solutions</link>
		<comments>http://www.gfi.com/blog/top-10-reasons-network-monitoring-solutions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:47:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Vincenti</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SMB Zone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GFI MAX RemoteManagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GFI Network Server Monitor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[network monitoring]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gfi.com/blog/?p=2951</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Businesses today are faced with the tedious challenge of maintaining their network to allow for consistent availability and productivity. So here are the Top 10 reasons for using network monitoring solutions for your business. Whether you are a CEO, executive, &#8230;]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="lightbox" title="Network Monitoring" href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Network-Monitoring.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2952" style="margin: 10px;" title="Network Monitoring" alt="" src="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Network-Monitoring-300x212.jpg" width="300" height="212" /></a>Businesses today are faced with the tedious challenge of maintaining their network to allow for consistent availability and productivity. So here are the Top 10 reasons for using network monitoring solutions for your business. Whether you are a CEO, executive, IT manager or IT Administrator, the following information will be beneficial for you.</p>
<p>Network monitoring solutions have become crucial nowadays because so many companies are relying on their internal network to be productive in their line of work. Network failures and irregularities, server downtime, service or application crashes can seriously threaten the livelihood of a business, costing thousands (if not millions) of dollars in revenue and productivity. Therefore, with the use of network monitoring solutions, you can deliver a better service and cut costs by fixing issues before any of your users notice a problem.</p>
<p><span id="more-2951"></span></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Keep informed</strong><br />
With real-time monitoring, if a failure or irregularity is detected, you can immediately be informed via methods such as SMS, pager, emails or a network message. Therefore, you will be notified of any problem on your network, wherever you may be thus allowing you to fix the issues swiftly. Without a network monitoring solution, you would have to look for issues yourself, or wait for the issue to be reported to you, to work toward a solution.</li>
<li><strong>Plan for change</strong><br />
Network monitoring solutions allow you to study a constant problem with a closer eye. For example, if a piece of hardware is constantly tripping, it may be the time to replace this hardware. The same would apply for a constant crashing service. Should you notice that a service or a particular application is frequently crashing, it might be a good idea to look into troubleshooting the application.</li>
<li><strong>Diagnose issues</strong><br />
Imagine a scenario where one of your company’s websites goes down. Without network monitoring, you may not be able to tell if the problem is with just the website, the web server or the applications which the site runs on. Network monitoring will pinpoint the point of failure, saving you time and money when having to diagnose the problem.</li>
<li><strong>Reports issues</strong><br />
Network monitoring reports can help you spot trends in system performance, demonstrate the need for upgrades or replacements and prove your value, by documenting the otherwise &#8216;unseen&#8217; work that keeps the IT systems you manage in top form.</li>
<li><strong>Remediate disasters</strong><br />
If you are immediately notified that there is an issue with one of your systems on a network, and the issue is going to take quite some time to fix, the time saved by being alerted immediately can be used to bring in a backup system to replace the current failure, thereby providing a seamless and efficient service to your users and/or customers. Furthermore, some network monitoring solutions, such as <a href="http://www.gfi.com/cloud-network-server-monitoring?adv=13558&amp;loc=3&amp;prod=NSMO">GFI Network Server Monitor</a> can automatically move to correct the problem by restarting a service (or multiple services) upon failure; rebooting a server upon failure; or launching an executable, batch job or VBScript.</li>
<li><strong>Ensure Operation of Security Systems</strong><br />
Although business spend a lot of money, time and resources on security software and hardware, without a network monitoring solution, they cannot be sure that the security devices are up and functioning as wanted to. With network monitoring solutions such as <a href="http://www.gfimax.com/?adv=13558&amp;loc=16">GFI MAX Remote Management</a>, you can effectively monitor and manage the health of these critical software and hardware security systems. With another feature this product offers, Patch Management, you can also streamline the automation and management of Microsoft software updates and patches.</li>
<li><strong>Keep Track of Your Web Applications</strong><br />
Many services that your company offers to your users and customers are really just web applications running on a server. Network monitoring solutions allow you to stay on top of website problems, spot issues before your users or customers notice and remediate the issues in a timely fashion.</li>
<li><strong>Fix problems, anytime, anywhere</strong><br />
Network Monitoring products nowadays are shipping with Remote Access features. These offer one-click remote support for any server or workstation in your environment. Apart from providing a much faster service, remote access also saves you a lot of money without having to commute to branch offices or customer sites.</li>
<li><strong>Ensure uptime</strong><br />
Network Monitoring maximizes network availability by monitoring all systems on your network, including servers, workstations and network devices and applications. Whenever a failure is detected, you will immediately be notified via the alerts you configure in the product allowing you to take corrective action in a highly efficient manner.</li>
<li><strong>Save Your Business Money</strong><br />
Network Monitoring products such as GFI Network Server Monitor and GFI MAX Remote Management, fix issues faster with instant alerts, spot small and big issues, eliminate the need for manual checks on event logs, backup systems, antivirus systems, hard disks and other devices. Having a network monitoring solution also avoids the need of complex and expensive systems. All this in turn facilitates cost saving and revenue building.</li>
</ol>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>DNS Blacklists: What are they, how do they work and why do we need them?</title>
		<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog/dns-blacklists-work/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=dns-blacklists-work</link>
		<comments>http://www.gfi.com/blog/dns-blacklists-work/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Oct 2010 11:16:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Vincenti</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech Zone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNS Blacklist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNSBL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam blocking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gfi.com/blog/?p=2931</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I would like to talk to you about DNS Blacklists. Most IT Administrators that deal with mail have heard of this term but some components are still unclear. This post aims to clarify these doubts and is split into 3 &#8230;]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="lightbox" title="DNS Blacklist" href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/DNS-Blacklist.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2932" style="margin: 10px;" title="DNS Blacklist" alt="" src="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/DNS-Blacklist-300x285.jpg" width="240" height="228" /></a>I would like to talk to you about DNS Blacklists. Most IT Administrators that deal with mail have heard of this term but some components are still unclear. This post aims to clarify these doubts and is split into 3 sections:</p>
<p>1) Definition of DNS Blacklists<br />
2) How they work<br />
3) Use of DNSBlacklists.</p>
<p>I have also added a bonus section at the end, which explains how to test DNSBlacklists.</p>
<p><span id="more-2931"></span></p>
<p>Domain Name System Blacklists (DNSBLs) are spam blocking lists which contain a number of IPs (mailserver IPs) which have been reported as sending out spam. These lists are based on the Internet&#8217;s DNS, which converts IP addresses such as 130.94.64.252 into domain names like spam.com, making the lists much easier to read, use, and search.</p>
<p>DNS Blacklists may also include a zombie check. These particular DNS Blacklists therefore check the addresses of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_computer" target="_blank">zombie computers</a> or other computers being used to send spam, listing the addresses of ISPs who willingly host spammers, or addresses which have sent spam to a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeypot_(computing)" target="_blank">honeypot</a> system.</p>
<p>Many anti-spam software programs such as <a href="http://www.gfi.com/exchange-server-antispam-antivirus?adv=13558&amp;loc=11" target="_blank">GFI MailEssentials</a> and <a href="http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/Ninja-Blade/" target="_blank">Ninja Blade</a> use these lists to control Spam by blocking any email that originates from one of these domains. These lists are developed and maintained by organisations such as <a href="http://www.au.sorbs.net/" target="_blank">SORBS</a> and <a href="http://www.spamhaus.org/" target="_blank">SpamHaus</a>.</p>
<p>The three basic components that make up a DNS Blacklist are the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>A domain to host it under.</li>
<li>A name server to host that domain.</li>
<li>A list of addresses to publish the list.</li>
</ol>
<p>The following four steps explain what is done when a mail server checks an email sender againts a DNS Blacklist:</p>
<ol>
<li>The receiving mailserver takes the sender’s mail server IP address, say, 174.36.154.100 and reverses the order of octets, yielding 100.154.36.174</li>
<li>It appends the DNSBL&#8217;s domain name: 100.154.36.174.dnsbl.example.org</li>
<li>It looks up this name in the DNS as a domain name (&#8220;A&#8221; record). This will return either an IP address, indicating that the sender is listed; or an &#8220;NXDOMAIN&#8221; (&#8220;No such domain&#8221;) code, indicating that the sender is not.</li>
<li>If the sender is blacklisted, what is done with the email then depends on what actions you configure on your mail server or anti-spam software.</li>
</ol>
<p>DNSBLs are used by spam blocking software like <a href="http://www.gfi.com/exchange-server-antispam-antivirus?adv=13558&amp;loc=11" target="_blank">GFI MailEssentials</a> where different blacklists are given point scores by SpamRazer, GFI MailEssentials’ main anti-spam engine, which can be mitigated by white rules to reduce false positives. They can also be used by mail servers like Exchange and Postfix to outright block email if the senders IP address or host name is listed in a DNSBL.</p>
<p>Some DNSBLs in anti-spam software also hold a cache of the requests that have been done in memory. All requests are retained in the cache for X days. This will result in faster responses for the items which are found in the cache, since DNS requests may be time consuming. The side effect of this is that the DNSBL feature may return that an IP address is on the DNSBL site, when in reality it has been removed.</p>
<p>Finally, I would like to give you a few tips on how to test DNSBlacklists using Nslookup.</p>
<ol>
<li>Open Command Prompt</li>
<li>Type ‘nslookup’ without the “‘”and press Enter</li>
<li>By default the query type is for A records. You can specify other query types, for example to request TXT records, use ‘set type=txt’ or ‘set q=txt’</li>
<li>Type the domain that you would like to query (e.g. sorbs.net or bl.spamcop.net )</li>
<li>When the domain does not exist, you will get a “Non-existent domain” in the response.</li>
<li>When the domain exists, the way the result is displayed will depend on the type of DNS record requested.</li>
<li>For A records, one or more IP addresses may be returned.</li>
</ol>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Green IT! Top 10 Tips for Administrators to turn Green</title>
		<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog/green-it-top-10-tips-for-administrators-to-turn-green/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=green-it-top-10-tips-for-administrators-to-turn-green</link>
		<comments>http://www.gfi.com/blog/green-it-top-10-tips-for-administrators-to-turn-green/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Sep 2010 09:57:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Vincenti</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SMB Zone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[enivronment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GFI FAXmaker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GFI MAX RemoteManagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tehcnology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gfi.com/blog/?p=2922</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Everyone can do their bit for the environment, and reduce costs, simply by being a little bit smarter about how they use information technology. Start here with these top 10 green IT tips, presented in no particular order. Setting a &#8230;]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="lightbox" title="green fields technology" href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/green-fields-technology.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2923" style="margin: 10px;" title="green fields technology" src="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/green-fields-technology-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>Everyone can do their bit for the environment, and reduce costs, simply by being a little bit smarter about how they use information technology. Start here with these top 10 green IT tips, presented in no particular order.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Setting a Green Goal</strong><br />
Set a green goal. Make sure everyone is aware of this goal and work towards reaching it. This can be something as simple as remembering to turn off all monitors, printers, water heaters and airconditioners each night at the office. Providing incentives or holding a competiton between departments could help as an added motivation to reach that goal.<br />
<span id="more-2922"></span></li>
<li> <strong>Switch IT off<br />
</strong>Educate your users to to turn off (or hibernate) their machines after work, especially over the wekeend.  Configure power management settings. These settings can automatically turn monitors, hard drives or entire systems off after specific periods of inactivity. Finally, speak to management to make this a company policy.</li>
<li><strong>Recycle IT</strong><br />
Use recycled paper and print on both sides of the paper. This can save a lot of wasted paper. Use digital format media rather than printed documentation for company handbooks, manuals, rosters etc.</li>
<li><strong>Get rid of IT</strong><br />
Replace all old CRT monitors with new, low-energy TFT monitors. Studies have shown a steep decline in power consuption when using TFT monitors.</li>
<li><strong>Virtualize IT</strong><br />
Switch to Virtualization and reduce the number of physical servers. Nowadays there are manufacturers who trade old hardware and give out discounts on new, green technology. Purchase energy efficient servers, always opting for low power servers and server components where possible. Review the power consumption of network devices such as switches and routers. If need be, replace with more environmentally-friendly devices.</li>
<li><strong>Re-use IT</strong><br />
When applicable, use reconditioned toner cartridges and get ink cartridges refilled. This one’s a no brainer. Not only does it help the environment but it’s also much cheaper!</li>
<li><strong>Re-condition IT</strong><br />
Where possible, buy or lease reconditioned photocopiers, printers and all-in-one machines (such as the new printer, scanner, photocopier devices).</li>
<li><strong>Certify IT</strong><br />
When possible, only purchase EPEAT Gold certified hardware. This prevents excessive packaging, plastics and another waste material from being dumped in the environment.</li>
<li><strong>Stop using paper</strong><br />
Rather than sending and receiving faxes the expensive, conventional way, deploy an electronic fax solution, such as GFI FAXmaker. It makes sending and receiving faxes an efficient, simple and cost-effective process and solves the problems with manual faxing: printing out the document, walking to the fax machine, waiting for the fax to go through, not to mention the cost of fax machine supplies and repair. Faxing solutions such as GFI FAXmaker allow users to send and receive faxes directly from their email client.</li>
<li><strong>Make the switch</strong><br />
Finally, rather than having to travel to remote offices and commute to customers new technologies such as GFI MAX RemoteManagement and Team Viewer  allow you to connect to any PC or server around the world within minutes.  Such IT Managed Services software solutions makes it easy to stay on top of your customers&#8217; servers, desktops, networks, hardware, software, inventory tracking, automated server and desktop maintenance tools, remote support – and more, without having to waste time, energy and money. Furthermore, instead of employees having to commute to attend board meetings, company updates and so on, use video conference solutions, such as Polycom.</li>
</ol>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>My emails aren’t being archived by GFI MailArchiver. What do I do?!</title>
		<link>http://www.gfi.com/blog/emails-arent-archived-gfi-mailarchiver/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=emails-arent-archived-gfi-mailarchiver</link>
		<comments>http://www.gfi.com/blog/emails-arent-archived-gfi-mailarchiver/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Sep 2010 10:38:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Vincenti</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[GFI Fixes It]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[email archiving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Firebird database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GFI MailArchiver]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SQL Express]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gfi.com/blog/?p=2908</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[GFI MailArchiver archives emails by polling them from the journal mailbox you set up in Exchange and storing them in the databases you configure. You can choose to store emails in the inbuilt GFI MailArchiver Firebird database, SQL Express or &#8230;]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2909" style="margin: 10px;" title="email archiving" alt="" src="http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/email-archiving-300x225.jpg" width="270" height="203" /></p>
<p><a href="http://www.gfi.com/email-archiving-exchange?adv=13558&amp;loc=10" target="_blank">GFI MailArchiver</a> archives emails by polling them from the journal mailbox you set up in Exchange and storing them in the databases you configure. You can choose to store emails in the inbuilt GFI MailArchiver Firebird database, SQL Express or Full database or in a SQL + File System database. Therefore, as you can imagine, there are quite a few points of failure and various reasons why your mail might not be archived. You can easily check whether mail is being archived or not by going to ‘Archives Stores’ in the GFI MailArchiver and clicking on ‘View Statistics’ for the active database.</p>
<p><span id="more-2908"></span></p>
<p>Let’s break it down, step by step.</p>
<p>The first thing to check would be your journal mailbox and the account you use for this mailbox.</p>
<ol>
<li>See if you can access this mailbox using OWA or Outlook. If you cannot access this mailbox, chances are the account is locked out in AD or the credentials you specified are incorrect.</li>
<li>If you can access the mailbox, check if emails are entering and leaving the mailbox. An easy way to test if emails are arriving at the journaling mailbox is to go to ‘Mail Servers to Archive’ in the GFI MailArchiver configuration and uncheck ‘Archive emails from this server’ . Then send a couple of outbound, inbound and internal emails and see if they arrive in the inbox. If they do not, then the problem is with your journaling rules in Exchange. You’d might want to create a new journal mailbox as a test. If emails are seen in the journal mailbox, go back to ‘Mail Servers to Archive’ and check ‘Archive emails from this server’. If the emails are polled, then the problem lies within GFI MailArchiver and not in the journal mailbox.</li>
</ol>
<p>Once you have taken the journal mailbox out of the picture, you can then move onto investigating GFI MailArchiver.</p>
<p>First thing to check here is that the database schemas are up to date. To do this, click on ‘Archive Stores’ in the GFI MailArchiver configuration and click on ‘Edit Settings’ for the active database and go through the wizard until you get to the page where it checks for database schema. If the database schema needs updating, the wizard will prompt you to upgrade it.</p>
<p>If the database schema is the latest, you should then go on to check  the &lt;..\GFI\MailArchiver\Core\Queue&gt; and &lt;..\GFI\MailArchiver\Core\Pickup&gt; folders.  GFI MailArchiver will stop polling mails when information on 1000 emails are found in these folders.</p>
<p>There are a number of reasons why emails back up in these folders , mainly Anti-Virus or Backup Software scanning the GFI MailArchiver directory.  Another  would be that GFI MailArchiver cannot communicate correctly to the Firebird or Microsoft SQL database. Reasons for this would be an unstable connection to the database server, or incorrect auto-growth settings for the database, or the transaction log files are not optimally configured. Database timeouts could also cause emails not to transfer to the database.</p>
<h2>What to try – Firebird databases</h2>
<ul>
<li>Ensure that the GFI MailArchiver directory is excluded from real-time backup and/or virus scanning software.</li>
<li>Keep the physical size of the firebird database under 2GB in size &#8211; roll over to a new database every 2 months or every quarter as needed.</li>
<li>If you have a large firebird database, stop archiving, set indexing to a scheduled time of 30/60 minutes and allow everything to settle down (i.e.: finish indexing, archiving the e-mails in the queue, etc) then create a new database and start archiving to that new database.</li>
<li>Ensure that &#8220;disk write caching&#8221; is enabled on the disk that hosts the firebird databases.</li>
<li>Try to keep the databases on another physical disk or spread out over different disks (a spanned volume where drive &#8220;D:&#8221; for example would behind the scenes have 2, 3, 4 disks running, so you don&#8217;t just have one disk head doing all the work and spinning like mad).</li>
<li>If you are getting timeout or deadlock errors, you can also try the following:</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li>Open ..\MailArchiver\Core\Data\LogSettings.xml with notepad.</li>
<li>Change &lt;MaxThreads&gt;5&lt;/MaxThreads&gt; to 2.</li>
<li>Change &lt;BatchSize&gt;100&lt;/BatchSize&gt; to 50.</li>
<li>Save the file and restart the GFI MailArchiver Core service.</li>
<li>The issue should be resolved.</li>
</ol>
<h2>What to try – SQL databases</h2>
<ul>
<li>Ensure that the GFI MailArchiver directory is excluded from real-time backup and/or virus scanning software.</li>
<li>Ensure that GFI MailArchiver has a stable connection to Microsoft SQL server and that Microsoft SQL Server has enough resources to cope with the load.</li>
<li>Run a scan to check for hard disk errors.</li>
<li>Run a disk defragmentation tool to defragment the hard disk that hosts the SQL databases.</li>
<li>Run an integrity check on the problematic GFI MailArchiver database.</li>
<li>Ensure that there is enough memory and hard disk space to cater for the load.</li>
<li>Ensure that the timeout values from SQL Server itself (including connection timeout) are set to a high value (not the default of 2 minutes).</li>
<li>Ensure that the autogrow of the DATA and TRANSACTION LOG are set to a fixed size (not percentage) and ensure that the database has enough space to grow automatically.</li>
<li>Stop any other applications from making use of the SQL Server, so that GFI MailArchiver is the only one making use of it, and check if the problem persists.</li>
</ul>
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