Friday, May 02, 2008
As you all know by now, Vista is the latest Operating System by Microsoft and will soon be the only Operating System offered by Computer Manufacturers. Since this is the case, I thought that this week I would discuss a few items concerning upgrading or adding a Vista Machine to the Network.
Software Vendor
Before Purchasing any new Operating System it is a good idea to verify with any of your Software Vendors that first their Software will work with the new Operating System and secondly there are no additional modifications or add ons to make it work.
Hardware Vendors
Obviously if you are purchasing new equipment, it will meet the required specifications for the new Operating System. However, if you are looking at upgrading an existing pc to a newer Operating System, then you will want to verify with your IT Professional to see if there are any modifications or enhancements needed for the PC to run the Operating System optimally.
Testing
Finally, after either purchasing or upgrading to the new Operating System, it is a good idea to test the PC out before implementation. This is especially important with Vista. Vista has a few enhancements that make it not only look different, but it also has advanced features such as security that will need to be tested and get adjusted to.
Remember, when upgrading a piece of equipment vs. buying a new PC with a new Operating System. Remember to compare not only the costs of the new equipment vs upgrading but also remember to factor the age of the equipment being upgraded.
Scott McGillivray
Thursday, April 17, 2008
This week I would like to discuss the importance of Power Protection in regards to your office equipment. Most buildings are equipped with two types of outlets: Regular and Grounded. I am going to give a couple recommendations on what to use these outlets for and also a couple ways to help protect your equipment further.
Grounded Outlets: These are typically identified by being a different color (such as orange). I strongly recommend using these outlets for the typical business equipment (Computers, Monitors, Printers, Fax Machines, and Phones). This will help protect these more delicate pieces of equipment from Power Oddities.
Regular Outlets: These of course will look like the outlets in your home and will be either white or beige in color. I would recommend to use other devices in these such as (radios, heaters, pencil sharpeners, etc…)
In addition to the above or if you don’t have a Grounded Outlet, you can invest in one of the following devices: Surge Protectors or Uninterruptible Power Supplies to protect your equipment..
Surge Protectors: These are essentially a Power Bar with a special circuit inside that flips off to protect the devices plugged into it. While this does help protect the device, power is also lost. To reset the device, it is a matter of turning the switch back on and then powering on your devices.
Uninterruptible Power Supply or UPS’s: These take the idea of protection one step further. Not only do they have the circuit inside that protects from a surge. They also have an internal battery that will prevent the equipment from losing power. These of course cost a bit more and vary in price depending on model/make, and of course Manufacturer. These are commonly used on Servers, Switches, Hubs, and Routers since it is important for these to remain powered up.
Scott McGillivray
Rfms.totallytech@gmail.com
Thursday, April 03, 2008
On this entry I would like to discuss the importance of keeping your system recent on Updates. There are different forms of updates, we are going to go over Windows Updates, Program Updates and Definition Updates. As a technician, I have fixed many problems by simply doing an update, whether it is doing Windows Updates, Program Updates or Definition Updates and scanning.
Windows Updates/Microsoft Updates
Windows Updates are important to keeping your Operating System protected from both external and internal issues. If you haven’t already updated from Windows Updates to Microsoft Updates, I would check into this, especially if you have other Microsoft Programs on your computers. Microsoft Update goes out and checks for not only Windows Updates, but also Office Updates and even Microsoft SQL Updates. So instead of having to go to three or more separate Websites, you can now do this from one site.
Program Updates
These are updates to your programs, for example your business software, virus programs, adware/spyware programs, etc... If you are not currently doing these, I would recommend checking with your vendor to see if you have the ability to do updates, most are free or are provided if you are on a Maintenance Contract with them. A lot of times these can help prevent and/or correct issues in your Program.
Definition Update
Closely tied to Program Updates are the Virus Programs and Adware/Spyware Programs. These have both Updates and Definition Updates. What is the Difference? Well Program Updates are just that, updates to the Program. Definition Updates are Updates to their internal Database of Virus Protection or Spyware/Adware Protection. So once you have the Programs updates and the Definition Updates, you will then need to do a scan of the system to check for any newer viruses or spyware/Adware that may be on your system and then take appropriate measures to correct.
I would recommend getting with your IT Professional about doing these on a regular basis if they are not already doing this. Doing the above can help protect your system and also may keep your system running at its Optimum Performance.
Scott McGillivray
Rfms.totallytech@gmail.com
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
This article is one that I hope will help users prevent those annoying pop up messages. To get started, everyone has seen those messages pop up when searching online. Most of these are normal; however, a lot are actually harmful. Messages like “Alert! You have been attacked by virus.” or “Your system is affected! Scan your computer now!” for example.
To prevent these from occurring, simply go to Internet Explorer and go to Tools – Pop Up Blocker – Turn on Pop Up blocker. Now this is from Internet Explorer 7, previous Version are going to be a bit different, but relatively the same.
On a side note, there are other programs that will take care of this process for you, but no need to purchase something that can be done for free.
Scott McGillivray
Rfms.totallytech@gmail.com
Thursday, February 28, 2008
I know we all have heard the stories of someone’s Computer crashing and all of their Personal Data lost. Well this can happen to a Business as well. The best way to prevent this from happening is to ensure that you are backing up your important data (whether this be documents or your business data). It is also a good idea to have a verification or quality control in place to confirm that this data is being backed up and can be read back.
Now you may ask, “How do I back up my data and how do I know that it is there?” Well this is an excellent question and the best resource for this is your local IT Professional, since they are the ones tasked with the Maintenance of your Computer Network. They are also familiar with what you software packages you use and what media used to backup. It is a good idea to have them set the software to print, email or display the results of the backup so that someone can confirm that the backup job did run, as well as set up a Quality Control Process where the tech can restore the contents of the tape and confirm that what is backed up can be read as viable data. You may want to contact any Software Vendor to ask them for suggestions on Backup Processes to make sure that the method of backup that you are using is acceptable for the Software.
Remember, it is always better to find out if you are not backing up properly now than to find out when it’s too late.
Scott McGillivray
Rfms.totallytech@gmail.com
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
I would like to discuss the importance of System Maintenance in your Business Network. We are going to go over Preventive Measures in this article, which include Virus Scanning, as well as, Adware / Spyware Scanning.
Virus Scanning
This is very important if you are on the internet, which most businesses are. There are several virus protection programs that you can purchase; however there are also several out there that are free. One example would be AVG, which has many useful functions such as online scanning, scheduled scans and scheduled system updates.
Adware / Spyware
This too is very important to protect against. Again there are several programs that you can purchase, but I have found that there are several out there that are free. I am going to list some examples below.
Spybot is a spyware scanning program that you can run to scan your system periodically and clean of Adware and Spyware. You don’t have the automatic scanning or automatic update features, but it is very simple to update and scan.
Adaware is another program very similar to Spybot. It too scans your system and allows the cleaning of the system of Adware and Spyware. This one also does not have an automatic scanning and update function, however, it too is very simple to update and scan.
Windows Defender is again a free program, but best of all it is from Microsoft. This program runs in the background and acts as a preventive measure against spyware and adware.
As always leave me Feedback to let me know what you think. Also post in the Feedback or E-mail me any questions you would like me to cover in the Totally Tech Blog.
Scott McGillivray
Rfms.totallytech@gmail.com
Monday, January 14, 2008
Today I want to discuss the different types of email services available. There are a couple that we are going to talk about today that can be used by businesses not counting the many free email programs like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc...
POP3 E-Mail Service
Many companies use this service if they have their own domain name present. This is the service used by most small to medium business. Usually hosted by an outside service such as your internet provider but it is possible to host this on a server on your own network. You will be able to use most Industry standard applications such as Outlook, Outlook Express or other Programs, and typically the service will come with a web interface that you can use when outside the building to check mail on a phone or other public computer. However, POP3 Email does lack the advanced services of other Email Services, such as email spam filters and virus protection.
Exchange E-mail Service
This, in my opinion, is the best e-mail solution. While this one can be more expensive, it is well worth the expense. Exchange is the industry Standard E-mail package from Microsoft. It is sold standalone but most people get it pre-installed as part of the Microsoft Small Business Server Operating System. You get built in Spam Protection. Virus Protection is an add-on but it is recommended. Exchange Servers have all of the features of POP3 service, with a few more features. For example, you can have Out of Office Auto Reply, Storage limited only by available Hard Drive Space, Easy ability to backup all users Email boxes, Folder and Document Sharing, Calendar Sharing, and the ability to easily integrate with devices such as Black Berry Phones or other E-mail capable Phones.
There are other E-mail services available out there but these are the 2 most common offered by Internet Providers and local technicians. As always leave me Feedback to let me know what you think. Also post in the Feedback or E-mail me any questions you would like me to cover in the Totally Tech Blog.
Scott McGillivray
Rfms.totallytech@gmail.com
Monday, January 07, 2008
Welcome to the Totally Tech Technical Blog. Here we will discuss a wide variety of Topics that will hopefully be of great assistance to you. This site will try to not just go over certain topics, but to put them in as close to a every day language rather than the more popular Techno Speak used by us Techies.
To begin our Blog, I want to go over some general terms that may come up in this Blog.
OS - Operating System
LAN - Local Area Network
WAN - Wide Area Network
NIC - Network Interface Card
PC or CPU - Computer
Some Terms that may be mentioned:
Patch Cable - This is a Network Cable. These simply connect Computers together to form a Network
Hub or Switch - This piece of equipment is what the computers connect to in the above.
LAN - As mentioned above the Local Area Network would be the Computers, Server and Switch in your Office
WAN - As mentioned above the Wide Area Network would be the addition of a Remote Store to your Office Network
Feel Free to send in any Technical Questions that you would like answered or discussed to totallytech@rfms.com. Or if you wish, you can post a comment on the Blog.
Scott McGillivray