Windows operating system

Three weeks ago I bought and installed a larger, faster hard (disk) drive for my laptop. The old drive sat safely locked in a desk drawer waiting for disposal until last Friday. That evening I took it home and hammered it to death in the street while one of the neighbor’s kids watched.

Not all legal nurse consultants have the energy or inclination to take their tech support issues out on an innocent hard drive. Other than taking it for a one-way boat ride in your cousin’s sailboat, how do you dispose of an old computer or drive?

We all store so much information on our computers that it can be scary when it’s time to dispose of the old one. Whenever you give (or throw) away a computer, the entire history of that computer and its users goes with it. Bank records, case reports, photographs, passwords and even military secrets are all-too-often still present on a computer that’s been disposed of improperly. Even legal nurse consulting files and folders can be easily recovered by anyone running readily-available software. Files that have been partially overwritten can be recovered and repaired, depending upon the extent of their “destruction.”

What steps do you need to take before disposing of your old computer? Unless you physically destroy the hard drive, (please don’t drop it in the ocean!) it will always be possible to recover some data from it. If you are giving the computer away, whether to a charity, friend or even to a recycling agency, we recommend that at the very minimum you take the following actions:

1. Delete all documents, mail messages and data files.
2. Uninstall any programs, applications or other software that is licensed to you personally.
3. “Sanitize” or “scrub” the remaining empty space on the system’s hard drive.
4. Reinstall the Windows operating system or give the next owner the “system restore” CDs to either reinstall the Windows operating system or to return the computer to its original configuration (if you’re simply disposing of the system there is no need to restore it).

If you do not want to do this yourself, there are independent companies that will dispose of your computer, either for free or for a small fee. Before you trust your old computer to one of these companies, make sure you ask the right questions. Determine how they will ensure that your data has been “scrubbed clean.” Are they scrubbing or degaussing? Ask how or where they actually dispose of the computer. They may be shipping it overseas for sale, they may be “parting it out,” donating to charities or even attempting to recover data themselves as an illegitimate side business. Check to see if they’re registered with the Better Business Bureau. Since you don’t know where it’s going to go, it’s always preferable to “wipe” your computer down to nothing and then “restore” it yourself prior to giving it away.

If you choose to “scrub” your old hard drive yourself there is software available that does a very good job. Not only can it scrub your data, some of these programs can achieve “governmental” levels of data security. These programs work by overwriting the portions of your hard drive containing either nonessential data or the entire hard drive. Depending upon the level of data “destruction” you choose, they may overwrite with a series of ones or zeros in a specific pattern, and will do so over a series of “passes” changing and then repeating the pattern each time. The more passes, the more complete the destruction. This writing and rewriting ensures that computer files previously stored on your hard drive are eventually overwritten with data, even down to the smallest portion of the file, rendering that data impossible to recover.

This software is cheap, relatively easy to use and readily available. One program from a reputable company is cyberCide. The software will help you create a bootable CD which will be placed in the computer’s CD drive while the computer is turned “off.” The computer will then be turned “on” and you’ll follow the on-screen instructions to clean the computer. Don’t expect this to be a fast process. The larger your computer’s hard drive the longer the “scrub” will take.

As a savvy Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, when disposing of any computer you want to be sure that all data has been destroyed prior to disposal. It’ll take longer to remedy any issues that may arise if a bad guy gets your data than it will for you to take the proper steps to destroy it.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

Any legal nurse consultant who owns a computer running the wonderful Windows^® operating system (OS), has, at some point been faced with the little pop-up that tells you something to the effect that “high-priority updates are available for your computer, would you like to download and install them now?” My answer is a whole-heartedly qualified “Yes! I sure would in certain situations.”

I live behind a firewall, I’ve got eight real servers, a couple of virtual ones and any number of different “legacy” (geek-speak for older) programs running across 25+ computers at any given time. Before I can do an OS update or upgrade, I’ve got to make sure it doesn’t “break” anything (geek-speak for causing an older program to no longer run correctly) causing your users, then you, much pain and grief. This update/upgrade issue is compounded by our numerous websites designed to be viewed with various versions of any number of different browsers (Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.) running different web services to collect and transfer data. So, when Windows asks me if I want to add a new service pack to my XP operating system, or high-priority updates to my Office programs or even to upgrade to a new level of Internet Explorer, I have to step back and think about it.

However, if I was a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant running Windows XP or Windows Vista and the Office family of productivity software (talk about an oxymoron!), I’d have a different answer. As an individual user not connected into any “legacy” software and whose system is working with existing printers, scanners, etc., I would install every service pack for Windows XP and Vista that comes down the line. Service packs are upgrades to the operating system itself and usually contain fixes for other issues that have arisen since the last service pack. They’re designed to cure deficiencies in the original program and make it into something safer and more stable than the prior version. In Windows XP’s case service pack support has been discontinued and only high-priority updates will be issued in the future. Service packs are a way to upgrade to a newer and better version of your operating system (keep your Vista service packed up). If you’re worried that an existing program won’t run correctly after a patch, do a Google search before you download and install the latest version to see if the new service pack is contraindicated for your software. If not, go ahead, download and install that sucker.

Even Apple offers OS upgrades (and patches) designed for the same purpose. According to an article in The New York Times, researchers at Symantec found 26 vulnerabilities in the Mac OS X in 2008 versus 27 for Windows Vista. The takeaway? No matter what OS you’re using – keep it current.

High-priority updates are different than service packs. High-priority updates are just that – fixes for something Microsoft has deemed a high-priority problem. Believe me, if Microsoft thinks it’s high-priority, it is (or was six months ago when it was identified and Microsoft started working on a patch [geek-speak for "emergency fix"] for the issue). Download and install high-priority updates. Always. Period. End of story. Your computer won’t be completely safe, they never are, but it will be as safe as can be as long as it’s fully patched and packed up.

How do you go about setting this up? There are a couple of ways. The easiest is to go into your Windows Control Panel (Start, Settings, Control Panel or Start, Control Panel depending upon what start menu you use) and adjust your Automatic Updates to download and install updates automatically. Then, every Wednesday night, or whatever time and date you set, your computer will contact Microsoft’s servers to check for updates and it will download and install the updates automatically. This is a great way for a CLNC^® consultant to keep his/her computer up-to-date.

If you don’t trust Microsoft to do this (and not everybody should), you can open Internet Explorer and go to windowsupdate.com and follow the instructions to check your computer against the lists of the most current service packs and updates. The computer will do so on its own, just give it permission to install the necessary applets and give it some time. Without releasing any private information to Microsoft, your computer will be checked and a list of “high-priority” and “available” updates will be generated for your computer. I usually select just the “high-priority updates” and then review the list to see what Microsoft feels is high-priority. You can deselect any that you don’t think you need, and then let the computer install them. Sometimes it takes a couple of reboots but I feel much safer afterwards.

If you have a company-issued computer or work for a company and access various programs through a virtual private network (VPN), you’ll want to check with the IT department to see what the company policies are on updates – automatic or otherwise – before you install anything. After all, you don’t want to be the one to “break” the system! Otherwise, if you’re using your own computer – go ahead and patch and pack it up!

Keep on techin’,

Tom

In line with our talk about the wonders of the Windows^® operating system, I’ve got a mixed bag of news. On April 14 of this year, Microsoft^® will end support for Windows^® XP, Office 2003 and Exchange 2003. For the majority of the Certified Legal Nurse Consultants out there, it’s the support for XP and Office 2003 that will hurt.

What does this mean to a busy CLNC^® consultant? Well, the endless stream of bug fixes and service packs that flow from Microsoft will finally cease – for the two products you’re likely to be using (Office 2003 and Windows XP). Microsoft will still issue security updates for these products, but only updates that Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom, deems to be critical.

Should you be scared? No. Both programs will still run just like they do today (and tomorrow and the next day) and you’ll have plenty of time to consider your next move – upgrading to a new computer that runs Windows Vista (or Windows 7 if you wait long enough) and Office 2007. The older programs are still good and will remain in service for some time. I know a number of major law firms that haven’t upgraded to Office 2007 due to compatibility issues with their legacy software, computer hardware and Vista. A lot of small businesses and consumers (that’s us) will just ride it out until our next (scheduled) upgrade (i.e., when our computer craps out). If you’ve got the cash, you can buy an extended support agreement from Microsoft, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

If you do decide to panic and upgrade, or simply to upgrade, make sure your new computer has 2GB or more of RAM (memory), a fast 2.4+ GHZ dual-core processor and a big ‘ole hard drive to hold all those medical-related case reports for your CLNC^® business. Conversely, you could always just buy a Mac^® and only have to worry about upgrading every 3-4 years.

Keep on techin’,

Tom