LPI Tips & Tricks

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Posted 01/30/10:
Your Computer is Infected.  Click Here to Clean.
Watch out for programs that seem to just pop up out of nowhere and tell you that your computer is infected.  These programs have names that are "too generic" like: "XP Anti-Virus 2009", "Windows Security Suite", "Anti-Virus Shield", etc.  Most of the time they have an accompanying "shield" or "red 'X' logo" which appears in your System Tray (bottom-right beside the clock).  These don't get removed very easily.  The best thing you can do is to back up all your data and call a computer professional.  Any message from your purchased anti-virus program will have the name of that program in the Title Bar of the message. 

Posted 01/28/10:
"Send this to everyone in your address book!!" E-mails 
Please don't be fooled by these E-mails.  Even though some of them have great messages like: "Support Our Troops - here are pictures of my son that is serving in Iraq.  Please forward this to everyone in your address book to show your support", "Little Susie is dying of Cancer.  If you send this to everyone in your address book, the National Cancer Society will send $1 to Susie for every E-mail address it gets to...", and my personal favorite, "Mirosoft is tracking this E-mail.  Bill Gates will send everyone who forwards it a $200 check!"
Now, c'mon.  Even if Bill Gates is the richest man in the US, do you really think he'll send you a check for forwarding an E-mail?!?  No, he won't.

The worst part about these messages is that they have Visual Basic or HTML code in them that collects every forwarded E-mail address it is sent to, and the recipients will get either SPAM, pop-up ads, viruses, or phishes sent to their E-mail address.  Please, please, PLEASE STOP forwarding these messages.  No matter how positive the message is.  You are doing your friends and business associates a disservice, and even possible harm if they fall prey to a Phishing E-mail.

If you can't stop sending them because thay contain a fantastic message and you are afraid of disrupting Karma, then call us.  We'll tell you how to forward the message without the malicious code.

Posted 01/19/10 
Which Anti-Virus program is the best?  
When Anti-Virus programs began, there wer two biggies - Symantec (Norton) and McAfee.  As time went on, one leap-frogged over the other in capabilities, so it was hard to say which was better.
Now, there are about 20 or more companies that put out Anti-Virus software.  We won't say which is better, since your environment will dictate that, but we will discuss some points to think about to help you make your choice and list a number of the leading packages.
First of all, as a general rule, just an "Anti-Virus" program simply isn't enough today.  Each company we will list also has a "suite" that is better because it has not only virus protection, but spyware protection, a firewall, a SPAM filter, "bot" (software robots) protection, and many scan for "rootkits" (they attack your operating system files), and other "malware" (bad software).  They may also include a browser filter, parental controls, and identity theft prevention.  These have names with "security suite" or "internet security" in them.  While the suites are more expensive, they are usually only about $10-$20 more, and are worth every pennny.
Second, all companies put out a free version.  Absolutely NONE of the free versions are worth anything (hence "free" - because you get what you pay for).  NONE.  (Did I say "none"?)
Some of the suite packages available today are:  Kaspersky Internet Security, ESET Smart Security (the "NOD"), Symantec/Norton Internet Security, Bit Defender Internet Security, MalWare Bytes, AVG Internet Security, Avast! Internet Security, McAfee Security Suite, Trend Micro Internet Security [Pro], Sophos Security and Data Protection, and so on. 
Again, the machines you have and your environment, along with what you do with your computers will dictate which will work best for you.  Call us for some free advice.

Posted 01/15/10 
Gigabit Switches/Cards: 
One thing that can speed up a network is a better switch.  Not all switches are created equal.  Many are of a higher quality with faster "backplanes" or "motherboards" (to store-and-forward your data faster), or many have more RAM in them to better remember all the machines on your network or the routes to and from the server or internet.  The LinkSys, NetGear, and others intended for home use may not stand up to business use.

Most switches in most companies presently are 10/100 speed, or "Fast Ethernet".  The Gigabit switches (or 1000 speed) have come down in price to the point that for between $150-$250, you can raise the internal speed of your network 10 times!  Now, if your computers are older and only have 100-speed network cards in them, you can buy Gigabit cards for between $20-$40/machine.  Any computer purchased in the last year or two will have a GB card in it.  Servers are usually ahead of the workstations, so most have GB cards in them.

Call us for a free network assessment to see if your network would benefit from a Gigabit switch.

*NOTE:  Installing a GB switch does NOT raise the speed of your internet connection, but it will SEEM like it does, because your computer will store downloaded graphics and files faster.

Posted 01/05/10 
Fix, Reformat, Buy New?  
With the right technician, a reformat of a used machine is more often preferable than spending many hours and dollars trying to fix something that, ultimately, may not be entirely fixed.  With a reformat, you get the machine's speed and function back to when you bought it, fresh and ready to go.  There are many techniques to doing this and they are different with different brands of machine.  We at Little Pines specialize in knowing the idiosyncracies of machines and can bring them back to you, ready to go, and at a flat fee.

Most businesses and people buy a new machine that has close to the top-of-the-line hardware at the time of purchase.  This hardware should be sufficient for the next operating system, the next couple versions of internet browser, the next couple Acrobat Reader versions, etc.  The processor should be fine and the disk should have enough space.  One "part" that could be upgraded inexpensively and quickly, and that would make the most difference, is the RAM memory.  You can usually double your RAM for around $60 - $100.

Posted 01/03/10
Many of our customers ask about backups.
What do I use to back up my data?  How often should I back up?
The answers to these questions are as different as businesses are different.

What to use?
 - If you have one machine and the data amount is small, we suggest the good old burn a CD or DVD method.  CDs hold about 700MB and DVDs hold about 4.5GB (single layer) or more.
 - If you have a couple/few machines, and more data (especially if you have lots of graphically-intensive files or your children download music and such), then an external USB backup drive/disk is probably best.  It can be taken from machine to machine and a technician can write and automatic backup program.  These are also called "DAS" drives (Direct Attached Storage).
 - Be careful about those "One Touch Backup" USB disks.  You never know what exactly they are backing up.  Most of them do your "My Documents" area and that's it.  They don't actually look for, say, QuickBooks files that are stored under the QB program directories by default.
 - For more data, there are NAS drives (Network Attached Storage).  These are similar to another computer on your network that act as a shared dirve/disk and you can copy files to them across the network.  Many come in multiple Terabyte sizes (a TB is 1000 GBs) and even have multiple and RAID Arrayed disks for redundancy.

And, with most backup programs, programs/applications are never backed up.  If you have a complete or true "crash", then you will most likely need to replace the disk, reformat the machine, reinstall the programs, and restore your data (see "Fix, Reformat, Buy New?" below").  Even if they are, you can't just copy them back, because of the Windows registry, thay have to be re-installed.  KEEP YOUR INSTALL CDs and DOWNLOADS!

Servers are a little different.  We'll cover that later.

Posted 01/01/10 
Do I need a server?
Many small businesses don't have servers.  If they want to share files, they just pick a machine and save all their data there to be shared.  Some say they are too small for a server.  Well, that depends on how much data you have and how efficient you want to be.  Sure, servers are expensive.  They can run anywhere from about $2500 - $5000, depending on the features you want, the speed, the disk space, and the redundancy/failover you want.

We have many small businesses (fom 5-users to 30-users) that have realized that a server has been their best investment.  A server can keep all your data in an environment that is safer than a PC, make it more secure, section it off into directories that only certain users can access, provide you with an in-house E-mail system with great message/calendar sharing and remote access capabilities, receive incoming faxes and saving them to files, fax from the desktop for all, and backup all your files in one fell swoop.  All files, even each user's "My Documents" are saved on the server.

The most important feature, by far, is roaming profiles.  This allows you to log in to any machine on your network, and get YOUR STUFF!  Your My Documents, YOUR desktop, etc.  This also allows your technicians to be able to swap out a machine that has problems with a temporary one, and you don't lose any work, and not much time.

Call or E-mail us to discuss what a server can do in your environment to make your company and staff more efficient.