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Questions to Ask Before Leaving Your Computer for Repair or Service

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:42:38 +0000

Leaving your computer and its data with a service or repair center can be a little nerve-racking. Your data – email, pictures, music, documents, spreadsheets, presentations – are all contained on this computer and you don’t want it to be vulnerable.

Some service centers will wipe a hard drive clean without thinking twice. When your computer returns to you, it has returned completely to factory settings. A side note – there are some good services available for home and office data backup. They do cost on the front end, but save a ton of time, trouble, and possibly money in the event you need your data restored.

In other cases, the customer may arrive to pickup the computer, only to find exorbitant fees are due for the service. It would have been better to replace the laptop than pay the fees for repair.

To prevent situations like this, there are some key questions you should ask before leaving your computer for repair.

Will you backup my data before doing work that could compromise it?
What is the fee for doing a backup for me?
Will I receive a copy of my data if you wipe the hard drive clean?
What are the estimated charges for this repair? Can I get that in writing?
If the charges are significantly more than you estimate, will you let me know before doing the work?

This set of questions is a good place to start when getting service on a laptop or desktop computer. Depending on your service request, you may want to ask more questions.

For good data backup solutions, look at Dropbox, Cobian Backup, ElephantDrive, JungleDisk, Carbonite, and Mozy.

For good computer repair and service, look no further than Allyte Technology Solutions.

All Church Camp Websites

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:29:04 +0000

This week is All Church Camp in rural Helena, Arkansas. On the agenda this week is teaching a group of 12 teens how to develop a website using WordPress. A few pictures have been posted on Twitter – via @robmcbryde and @brandon_moore.

Here are the websites they’ve been building:

Home Away From Home Bed & Breakfast

JLST’s Bar & Grill

JJ’TD Jewelry

iOS4 How To and Guided Tour

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:37:18 +0000

Today the new iOS4 is released for Apples iPhone and iPad. This is a free upgrade. I love free stuff. There are some great new features you should know about in this update.

Here are just a few:

Multitasking
Folders
Improved Email
iBooks

If you’re ready to update to iOS4, be sure to use iTunes to backup your iPhone/iPod/iPad first. Then check for updates. When the update is available, iTunes will let you know and walk you through the process. I was able to upgrade a little early, thanks to these instructions from Jason Powell.

An excellent walkthrough of the features of iOS4 is in the video below.

How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 4

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:19:43 +0000

If you remember in “How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 1“, I wrote about market share. I mentioned Windows, Macintosh and Linux, all as having market share. I said that Windows was targeted because of its market share and that both Macintosh and Linux were prone to viruses as well, but that they weren’t targeted as heavily.

Most people think that if they don’t get a Windows computer, they have to get a Macintosh computer. Usually the decision goes something like this: “Do I pay less for a Windows computer now and take my chances with maintenance costs or do I pay more up-front and get the attractive, reliable Macintosh?”

I want to suggest a third alternative: What if you could purchase the Windows computer, but get the reliability of the Macintosh?

The way to accomplish this is by using Linux.

I will say up-front that this solution is not for everyone. When considering a switch to Linux, here are some things to keep in mind:

There will be a bit of a learning curve to switch from Windows to Linux (but wouldn’t there be a learning curve with a Macintosh, anyway?).
You may have to find replacements for your software (but wouldn’t you have to replace software with a Macintosh, anyway?).
There are not exact replacements for some software (like the iTunes Store).

There are some wonderful benefits to using Linux, however.

Vast library of free software at your fingertips
Lower maintenance costs – it “just works”
No issues and hassle with licensing/registration/activation
Largely compatible with the major functions of a Windows or Macintosh computer

I have been a Linux-only user for the last four years and have had a great experience with it. I used Linux through my last 2 years of a Master’s degree and had few, if any issues. I am confident in the current state of Linux and its ability to offer a solid computing platform.

Get in touch with me about switching to Linux. I’m glad to offer suggestions and tips for getting started.

How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 3

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:42:36 +0000

In “How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 1“, we established that Windows PCs are often targeted because of their large market share and that the brand of your computer makes no difference because viruses, spyware and malware occur at the software level.

In “How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 2“, we considered browsing and clicking habits that can be harmful for your computer and your privacy.

Let’s look at two different types of software that can help protect your computer.

Internet Security Suite

There are some tools available that can help secure your Windows PC as well. A question that is often asked of me is, “Which antivirus software is the best?“. My answer is always, “I can recommend a certain product, but you need to know that no security software is bulletproof. They will all let some things get through.”

It’s important to understand that antivirus software offers only a certain type of protection. So if you go to download one of the free anti-virus software packages (AVG, Avast!, and Avira are all popular), they will offer anti-virus only protection. In order to get a quality level of comprehensive protection from a single piece of software, you’ll need to pay for it.

PC Magazine has a good run-down of the best software for 2010 here. They rate Norton and McAfee above the rest of the suites in this particular review. On more than one occasion, however, I have had major software issues with both McAfee and Norton, so I typically recommend another software package.

In my experience, Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 offers the best value, features and pricing. I use this software with many of my clients and have had good results without inhibiting the computer’s performance. It’s around $80, which covers three computers for a full year. Contact me to get this software installed on your computer.

Consistent Environment Software

Wouldn’t it be great if your computer was exactly the same every time you turned it on? One software package makes that happen.

Windows Steady State, developed by Microsoft allows a computer’s administrator to configure other users for a consistent environment on every login. It’s free and compatible with Windows XP and Vista (sorry, Windows 7 users!).

Basically, here’s how it works: a user can login, browse the internet, download files and even adjust settings just like usual. Then when they log out, all the settings revert back to the way they were before the person logged in. This software is very useful on a computer that a family with children may use, or in my case, a computer lab with multiple users.

Other helpful features of this software are timed logouts, software restrictions, and user permissions. If these sounds fancy, I assure you that Windows Steady State makes it very easy to understand and adjust these settings.

With a little common sense and the right software, your Windows PC should operate smoothly without much effort on the part of the user. It may not be bulletproof, but the overall experience will be better than if no protection or safeguards were put in place.

There is one option still to consider when using a PC. We’ll take a look at that in Part 4.

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How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 2

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:52:47 +0000

To protect your Windows computer, the first and best rule of protection is to use your head and be pro-active in your browsing and clicking habits. This typically means two things:

Only visit websites that you know can be trusted
Use caution when clicking on links in e-mail that are unsolicited

Let’s look a little closer at #1:
How do you know which websites can be trusted? There is a difficult tension here – if you visit only the sites you already know, there are many useful and informational websites out there that you will miss in an effort to be cautiuos. But, if you go out willy-nilly and click on every site that comes up in the search results, your computer will get infected with malicious software sooner or later.

So the answer lies somewhere in between. More experienced users can take a little more liberty in clicking on unknown sites, but naive or less experienced users will need to be more careful when visiting unknown websites.

The truth is that malicious websites will do their best to look like a legitimate, reputable website. But these same sites will do damage to your computer that can be difficult to recover from.

Let’s look a little closer at #2:
E-mail is also a popular way to direct people to websites that are harmful not only to your computer, but to your privacy. If you get an e-mail from a financial institution, never click on the link in the e-mail. Instead, go to your browser to access the institution’s site directly.

It is very possible that the legitimate-looking e-mail you just received will direct you to a “phishing” site that will extract your login information and allow someone else to access your accounts and information.

In Part 3, we’ll consider two types of software that can help protect your computer from viruses and spyware.

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How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 1

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:10:20 +0000

According to NetMarketShare.com Windows PCs hold a market share of just over 90% of all operating systems. Because the market share of Windows is so large, these systems end up with more problems than any other type of computer on the market.

It’s not necessarily that Windows (XP, Vista, 7) is a bad product (okay, so Windows Vista was pretty bad). But with a market share so large, Windows is what people work with the most, so there are bound to be issues. Since Windows is also the biggest target, more malicious software is developed to bring down Windows machines as opposed to, say, Macintosh or Linux machines.

It’s important to note that both Macintosh and Linux are susceptible to viruses and spyware, but fewer cases of spyware exist for these operating systems because of their smaller market share (4.5% and 1% respectively).

Additionally, any Windows computer, regardless of brand (HP, Toshiba, Acer, etc.), is just as prone to viruses and spyware as the next Windows computer. If a computer acquires a virus or other malicious software from browsing websites of ill-repute, you should know it is not HP’s fault (or Toshiba’s, or Acer’s for that matter). Consider a real-life example:

Let’s say you have a Hewlett-Packard laptop running Windows 7. You get an e-mail forward from a friend promising wealth and fortunes by clicking on a link (you didn’t know this until later, but snopes.com determines it’s a fake). After clicking on this link, your computer won’t open Internet Explorer anymore and Antivirus Soft is asking you to pay $49.95 to get rid of 119 detected viruses.

First, you should know Antivirus Soft is malicious, illegitimate software – under no circumstances should you pay them a single penny. Second, this scenario would have played out the same way if you had a computer by any other name. The brand of computer simply doesn’t matter when it comes to software issues.

Now, armed with this understanding, the posts that follow in this series will help you to protect your computer from a number of issues related to software, saving you both time and money in the future.

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So… here’s my tip of the day

guest — Fri, 28 May 2010 17:33:19 +0000

Lisa Braithwaite has a great tip over at Speak Schmeak. What follows is an excerpt:

A lot of people are bothered by the filler words “um” and “uh,” but I’m noticing a far more distracting trend, which is the use of the word “so” to start a sentence.

I typically tell my clients that, unless their fillers are distracting and egregious, not to worry too much about them. After all, filler words are as much a part of communication as other words, according to Michael Erard in the book, “Um… Slips, Stumbles and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.”

Continue to Speak Schmeak to read the rest of this post.

8 Reasons to Switch to Windows 7

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:15:59 +0000

A writer over at Dumb Little Man wrote a good, short piece on why you should switch to Windows 7. Here are just 3 of the 8 reasons he lists:

Best operating system by Microsoft to date

Better security & interface

Speed

Read the rest of the story here.

If you want to make the switch to Windows 7, I can help. Give me a call at 865-686-6808 or send an email to bmoore@allyte.com

Google Voice for Students

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:00:19 +0000

Google Voice is a service I use heavily on a daily basis (I’ve also written about Google Voice before). Essentially, it’s a virtual number that forwards to any phone or multiple phones of your choosing.

It looks like Google is offering a Voice number to students now. If you have an email address with a .edu extension, go sign up for Google Voice now.

Here’s a quick run-down of the features:

Free text messaging
Call one number, ring many phones
Seamlessly switch between phones (if you’re talking on the mobile, press * to switch to your home phone), saving you minutes and $$
Voicemail transcripts sent to email (some of which turn out pretty funny)
Send faxes for free (honestly, I think faxes should die, but some industries can’t seem to live without them)

While you’re at it, check out another Google phone tool that I often find useful (turn down the volume, they have a silly video that plays auotmatically).