A&J Computers Inc Blog » Equipment

Yes, Small Business, There Is a Helpdesk Solution

Julie Settle — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:17:57 +0000

Let’s face it — if your business is supported by computer technology, you need a Helpdesk. You deserve a Helpdesk. One of the main reasons a business fails (outside of negative revenue generation) is the inability to recover quickly from an IT disaster. Disaster — it’s a big scary word. And if your only desktop computer or your only server goes down and no one is able to recover the data from it, or recover it in a timely fashion, you’re toast. No longer do you have a customer database, no longer do you have an accounting history, no longer do you have a viable business.

This year, give yourself the gift of security. Enlist a capable and responsible IT company to be at the ready when you need them.

Better yet, give yourself the gift of preparedness and proactiveness. Take the time to have your systems upgraded and cleaned up. Create a plan of action for the New Year to extend the life of those precious machines. Allow an IT professional to research the best equipment for your needs now and into the near future at the best price (because many are approved vendors and can get a better deal than you might).

A viable IT company offers professional service and advice on:

Preventative Maintenance
Remote Patch Management
Equipment Purchases
Helpdesk and Support Services
On Call for Break/Fix Issues

As you, business owner, prepare for the annual holiday party, grant vacations and leave of absences, think about who’s taking care of your business while you are out running your business. Have you checked with your IT guy to see if he’ll be around on Christmas morning for you if need be? A back up plan of action is always a good idea.

A&J Computers Inc. has provided Helpdesk and IT support services for 21 years.

Julie Settle

A&J Computers Inc.

8 Tips to Stay Cyber Safe

Julie Settle — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:45:52 +0000

The month of October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). NCSAM is a national public awareness campaign to encourage everyone to protect their computers and our nation’s critical cyber infrastructure. Cyber security requires vigilance 365 days per year. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), the primary drivers of NCSAM, coordinate to shed a brighter light in October on what home users, schools, businesses and governments need to do in order to protect their computers, children, and data.

Online:

Keep your personal information private on social networks.
Install a URL scanning tool to alert you of potentially harmful web links.
Review your bank account and credit card statements regularly for questionable charges.
Review your credit report and credit score regularly.
Choose difficult encrypted passwords, consider using KeePass to safely store all your passwords.

On Your Computer:

Keep your operating system and software programs up to date.
Install these type software programs: anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall .
Back up your computer data regularly.

Below are our recommend downloads to keep your computer safe:

Anti-Virus: AVG Antivirus, Symantec Anti-Virus, Trend Micro AntiVirus
Firewall: MS Windows firewall
Anti-Spyware: Webroot’s Spy Sweeper
URL Link Scanner: AVG LinkScanner
Credit Report: Federal Trade Commission
Credit Score: Credit Karma
Password: KeePass

Below are additional sites listed by the NCSAM:

Anti-Virus: ESET NOD32 Antivirus, F-Secure Internet Security, Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Norton AntiVirus, Webroot Internet Security
Firewall: ZoneAlarm, Norton Internet Security
Anti-Spyware: PC Tools Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 2011, STOPzilla (removal)
Credit Report: Equifax, TrustedID
Credit Score: myFICO

A&J Computers offers solutions for all your IT security needs. Visit us at ajcomputers.com for more details or contact with questions.

^ Julie Settle
A&J Computers Inc.

Still Need to Buy Windows XP? Better Act Now.

Julie Settle — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:02:24 +0000

Microsoft has announced that the last day to purchase Windows XP is October 22nd. This means it will no longer be stocked and available from Dell, HP or on the shelves at Best Buy. And if you still need to order computers with XP preinstalled, that date is October 1st (less than 2 weeks away).

Here are the 2 main questions we are hearing regarding XP’s discontinuation:

My whole business relies on Windows XP. What if I need technical support?
A&J Computers Inc. is here to support your technical needs, and Microsoft will continue to directly offer Extended Support until April 2014.
Can my Windows XP programs run on Windows 7?
In most cases the answer is Yes. Microsoft has a Windows 7 Compatibility page to help you find out if your programs or hardware will work with Windows 7.

View the Microsoft announcement for full details about Windows XP End of Life at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-xp/end-of-sale.aspx.

Please contact us as soon as possible to place any computer orders that require Windows XP preinstalled to ensure they ship by the 10/22 deadline.

Julie Settle
A&J Computers Inc.

Can Buying a Computer Warranty Now Save Me Time and Money Later?

Julie Settle — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:11:13 +0000

I recently replaced my laptop and was asked the age old question: would you like to add the extended warranty service? Hmmm, do I?

If you are like most folks, the immediate response is NO. It normally doesn’t pay for itself in the long run. But before you do that, regardless of whether you are a single user or a small business office, consider some of these key points:

Do you know what to do or where to look when there is a problem?
Can you fix most minor issues on your own?
Do you proactively maintain and back up your equipment?
Can you resolve an issue involving multiple third parties (ie–when they are pointing the finger at each other)?
Do you have the time to research and implement updates and repairs?

Today’s IT warranties are tailored to you and your environment and are simple, expedient and on your terms. Your support solution helps resolve the situation, not get in the way. Many are also designed to provide tech-to-tech support, allowing your IT staff to fix the situation and free up your time to focus on the bigger picture.

Warranties may not be such a bad idea anymore, the choice is yours.

^JS

Hard Drive Crash

Joe Vivona — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:50:27 +0000

For those of you who have heard me preach about the possibility of a hard drive crash and the steps necessary to protect yourself, you can rest assured that hard drive crashes happen even to the technology guys. Earlier this year, I decided to upgrade my laptop with a removable memory card (like a jump drive/flash drive) to store all of my documents, web site code and other items. This helps me jump from computer to computer by allowing me to pull out the memory card, stick it in my netbook (has anyone not fallen in love with my Dell Mini ?) and away I go.

Well last night, while working on a problem for a customer of course the inevitable happened – my computer froze. When I rebooted windows, the memory card gave me an error mesage about it being corrupt (can you hear my screams – ARRRRRRRRGGGHHHHH!). Now for the positive:

Just like I tell you to do, my backups were up to date – the downside was backups run once a day at 1AM – so of course everything I did Tuesday wasn’t in the backup. So first things first, I got myself a new memory card and started restoring my files to it. This morning I have the crashed memory card in our lab attempting to recover yesterday’s work.

So what are the lessons learned from my experience? Here’s the quick list

Backup, backup, backup (decide if you need twice a day backups even)
Know your hardware
Pay attention to little problems before they become big ones (I should have noticed the little things that were happening to the memory card)
Have a plan (what would you do if your drive crashed – panic, or know that you are prepared).

If you want to talk about the possibility of your drive crashing (no one really wants to talk about it) or you want us to help you build a recovery plan – just drop us an e-mail or call us and I’d be more than happy to help. Here’s to a long hard drive life and no crashes!