Kaspersky Small Office Security 3 Proxy server is not found

On a system running Small Office Security 3 from Kaspersky Lab International Ltd., I was notified that the antivirus database was not up-to-date. When I had the software attempt to update the virus definitions, I saw the message "Update Center: Task failed. Proxy server is not found."

When I viewed the details, the "Detailed report" showed " Update Center: failure (65)"

I then realized I had recently configured Internet Explorer on the system to use a SOCKS proxy server - see Configuring IE 10 to use an SSH SOCKS Proxy Server - so Kaspersky Small Office Security 3 must automatically use the system proxy settings, since I had not altered the configuration of the Kaspersky software, but be unable to communicate with sites if the system proxy setting is configured to use a SOCKS proxy rather than an HTTP proxy. I encountered the same issue with Firefox when it was configured to use the system proxy settings.

I configured Internet Explorer not to use a proxy server and then clicked on the update button within Kaspersky Small Office Security 3. It was then able to update its databases.

[/security/antivirus/Kaspersky] permanent link

Changing the Forwarders in the DNS Manager for Windows Server 2012

If a Windows Server 2012 system is functioning as a DNS server and you need to change the DNS servers it is using as forwarders, i.e., the ones to which it is forwarding DNS requests for external DNS names it can't resolve locally, take the following steps:

1. Use Ctrl-Esc to get to the Start window where you can click on Administrative Tools.
2. Double-click on DNS.
3. In the right pane of the DNS Manager window, double-click on Forwarders.
4. Click on the Edit button to edit the list of forwarders. You can then add, delete, or modify IP adresses for forwarders.
5. Click on OK once you have made the needed changes, then click on OK again. You can then close the DNS Manager window.

A DNS server that is configured to use a forwarder functions as follows:

1. When the DNS server receives a query, it will attempt to resolve the query by using the zones that it hosts and by using its cache.
2. If it can't resolve the query using local data, the DNS server forwards the query to a DNS server that is designated as a forwarder.
3. If no forwarders are available, the DNS server will attempt to use its root hints to resolve the query.

When a DNS server forwards a query to a forwarder, it sends a recursive query to a DNS server designated as a forwarder rather than an iterative query that a DNS server sends to another DNS server during standard name resolution (name resolution that does not involve a forwarder).

If you would like further information on forwarders and conditional forwarders, see Understanding Forwarders.

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Reverting to a prior revision in Google Sheets

I sorted a spreadsheet created in Google Sheets on a column containing a date in order to revert to my original ordering of the data after sorting on a column containing numbers. The spreadsheet had a header row and another row at the bottom of the column where I summed values in the column I had first sorted on. I was hoping merely to undo the result of the numerical sort and get back to the sorting by date, but I found that the sort on the date column put the header row at the bottom of the worksheet along with the monthly sort by numeric value, i.e., it sorted on those rows as well. I could have avoided including those in the sort by selecting just the rows I wanted sorted by clicking on the first row I wanted sorted and then the last one while holding down the shift key, but I hadn't done that.

I couldn't find any way to unsort the data, i.e., to turn off the sorting to revert to my original ordering, but Google Sheets does provide the capability to revert to a prior version of a document. To do so, click on "File" at the top of the workbook then select "See revision history", which you can also get to by Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G. You will then see a "Revision history" list with the times of prior revisions. You can select one of those to restore a prior version of the workbook. When you click on the entry for a prior revision, a link will appear beneath it to "Restore this revision". You will also be shown the workbook as it looked for the prior revision, so you can decide whether that is the revision you wish to restore before actually restoring it.

[/network/web/services/google] permanent link