8 Tech Checks To Make Before You Travel

February 5, 2023

Our technology inevitably comes with us when we travel. Most of us won’t even travel to the end of the block without our smartphones. When you go on a trip, not having your technology there when you need it can ruin your day.

Travel smarter and more securely by doing several checks before you go. Use our handy tech travel checklist. It can save you from suffering from lost devices, missing chargers, or a data breach.

Check your apps
Have you ever sat at an airport gate wondering why it looked so empty? You then found out that your gate had changed, and you had no idea. You go rushing to the other end of the concourse, hoping you’re not too late.

How did everyone else know about the gate change? They most likely had the app for the airline and received a notification.

Before you leave for a trip, make sure to download any apps you may need. It’s better to download them when you’re at home on your own Wi-Fi. If you wait until you’re at the airport, reception may be an issue.

Some of the apps you may want to grab or update before your trip are:
• Airline app
• Train app
• Hotel app
• Theme park app
• Camping ground app
• Weather app
• City tourism app

Check your cords & adapters
People leave behind countless chargers and adapters every day. They litter airports, restaurants, and train stations around the world.

Make sure to bring a backup charger for your laptop, tablet, or phone. Otherwise, you may find yourself paying a premium for a new charger in a gift shop. Your device could also go black if you lose its charger and can’t quickly get a new one.

Check your power
A great way to ensure you have the power you need is to buy a small charging battery. You can find these in most major retailers or online. They are small “blocks” that hold a charge and can power up a cell phone in a pinch.

Having this extra backup also helps you avoid potential juice-jacking ports. These are fake or compromised public USB charging ports. Hackers use them to steal your data when you plug in.

Check your mobile plan
If you’re traveling out of the country, you’ll want to check your mobile plan. If you don’t have the ability to call internationally, then you may not be able to text or call home.

Carriers can add an international capability to your plan, but ask about pricing. It can get expensive if you’re on long calls or using mobile data.

An alternative is to set up a VoIP app you can use with your office, friends, or family while you’re traveling. These enable both calls and SMS, but you do need an internet connection.

Check or add a VPN
Free Wi-Fi may be a welcome site when you’re on the road, but it can also be dangerous. You don’t know who else is using that Wi-Fi. A hacker hanging out on the connection can easily steal your data if you’re not protected.

It’s better to use either your mobile carrier connection or a virtual private network (VPN) app. VPN plans are inexpensive and will keep your data encrypted, even if you’re on public Wi-Fi.

Check your backup
Unfortunately, mishaps occur when traveling. You may leave your phone behind on a boat, have your luggage lost, or get your device stolen while in a crowded area. Ten percent of all laptop thefts happen in airports.

Don’t lose all your data with the device! Back up your devices to the cloud or local storage before you travel. This ensures that you won’t lose the valuable information on your device. You also won’t need to think twice about enacting a remote “wipe my device” command if necessary.

Check your device security
Make your devices as secure as possible before you hit the road. When we’re traveling, our minds are occupied by other things. So, you may not think to check your antivirus or avoid suspicious phishing links.

Protect your devices before you go using:
• Antivirus/anti-malware
• DNS filtering
• Screen lock with passcode
• Sharing features turned off
• VPN application
• Find-My-Device feature turned on

Check your double checks
What do we mean by checking your double-checks? Use the buddy system as a backup. When the family is getting off a plane, each should check with the other that they have all their devices.

If you’re traveling alone, have a friend or family member check up by text. Did you grab your charger? Is your VPN turned on? Those little reminders can go a long way toward avoiding digital travel nightmares.

Improve the security of your devices now
Don’t leave your devices unprotected. This could mean a breach of your banking app or personal data. Contact us for device security solutions to reduce your risk.

Article used with permission from The Technology Press.

Filed Under: Backups, Tips Tagged With: , ,

You’ve Got Questions… We’ve Got Answers!

July 27, 2022

I think I’ve clicked an unsafe link. What should I do?

The faster you act, the less damage or data loss you’ll suffer. Get in touch with your IT support partner immediately. It’s always a good idea to have a response and recovery strategy in place for when this happens.

My external drive isn’t showing up when connected.

First, make sure it’s powered up! Then try it in a different USB port, and then a different device. This will let you know if it’s the drive or your device that’s the issue. You may need to manually enable it in Windows.

What’s the best antivirus software for my business?

Not all antivirus software is equal, and the best solution for your business may be completely different than it would be for the company next door. It depends on your infrastructure. We’d love to help with a recommendation, so get in touch.

How can I make my display more organized?

Consider adding a second monitor. Not only will this allow you to better organize your apps and windows, but it will also give you more workspace.

Can my phone be hacked?

Yes! As well as the risk of phishing and smishing (that’s phishing via text message), you also put your data at risk by connecting to public Wi-Fi. Fake apps can be an issue.

How do I know if my Teams app is up to date?

Just click on the three dots next to your profile picture and select ‘Check for Updates’ from the menu. If you’re using Windows 11, you’ll need to check under settings -> about Teams.

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With:

Tax Benefits You Should Reap Before The Year Ends

December 20, 2019

There are important tax benefits you can only gain by acting before December runs out. Preparing for taxes at the end of the year also puts you ahead of the game, eliminating the last-minute scramble to decipher receipts and new forms, so you can be calm and collected when tax season actually hits.

Perhaps the most important tax benefit small businesses should be aware of is that purchases like IT hardware or computer software that is purchased off the shelf are tax-deductible. Such capital purchases, however, must be dealt with before the new year, or they can no longer be used on your tax return. New special provisions dictate the cost of such equipment must be deducted within the year they were put into service, so you can’t afford to wait until the fiscal year ends and miss the narrow window for this tax benefit opportunity.

Small businesses should also be aware that many tax benefits are dependent on whether your activities are profitable or not. This is because the amount you can deduct for technological purchases changes according to your business’ total taxable income.

Be sure to reference Section 179 rules if you are showing a profit and Section 168 rules if you are in the red. You may even choose to consider if it is in your business’ best interest to be profitable at all, and adjust your inner workings to reflect your best tax advantage.

When making deductions for tech hardware and software purchased this year, make sure your record keeping is first rate. Keep all paper¬work that identifies the equipment, receipt for purchase, and anything that can point to when you actually put the equipment into service.

If necessary, you can then provide copies of that paperwork to the tax agency in the event that there is a question about your deduction. Before filing, if there is any doubt about whether a particular purchase is eligible for a tax deduction, consult with your tax adviser to be sure the necessary points have been met.

Filed Under: Tips, Upgrading Tagged With: ,

What’s The Best Way To Scan Old Prints And Negatives?

December 20, 2019

If you have old prints and you would like to share them with your family and friends you can choose from the alternatives listed below:

Flatbed Scanners
A flatbed photo scanner is a great option if you have a large number of photos rather than negatives. Your budget will pretty much determine the quality of those pictures if your intent is to print large-size photos.

However, if you intend to share those with family and friends over your social network sites, you may be ok with a low-cost scanner. Remember that scanning is time consuming, you will have to feed each individual print into the scanner and process the image, which might take weeks depending on how large your collection is.

Negative Scanner
If you would like to scan negatives only, you may be interested in acquiring a negative scanner. Negative scanners are meant to convert film into digital images in the most dedicated way possible. It will not only generate more accurate scans of your negatives, their software will speed up the process. Some scanners offer the comfortable feature of batch scanning, automating
the scanning of multiple 35mm films in a row, in as little as one minute.

Scanning Services
If you find that scanning your photos or films is very time consuming, you may want to try scanning
services that will do the work for you. These services are becoming quite popular. This can be a cost-effective solution for small jobs but may get expensive for larger jobs with higher quality requirements. It is best to research several options.

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: ,

10 Tips For Navigating Microsoft Excel

December 10, 2019

Learn 10 tips to improve your mastery of Microsoft Excel, including tricks for navigating, adding, deleting, renaming and grouping worksheets within a workbook.

Microsoft Excel has become a powerful tool used in businesses of all types. What started (and is still used) as an accounting tool, the product now is ever-present in offices around the world. Mastering some key functions in Excel can help your users work more efficiently.

Here’s a look at 10 top navigation tips.

Use the arrow
If you have lots of worksheets open (Excel lets you have as many as 1,000) in your workbook, it can be difficult to find the one you need. On the bottom left are two black arrows that can be used to scroll through the different worksheets to find the one you need. Click on it and it becomes the active sheet.

You can also use the Ctrl key with the arrows to move to the first or last sheet. Right-clicking on either of the arrows brings up a pop-up window with a complete list of your worksheets. Click on the name and brings you to that worksheet.

Use the shortcuts
The following shortcuts can save you time moving through your workbook:

• Ctrl + Page Down: Go to the next worksheet
• Ctrl + Page Up: Go to the previous worksheet

Right-click to manage worksheets
Right-clicking on any worksheet brings up a list of helpful options. Here you can quickly change the worksheet color, rename a worksheet, or copy or delete it.

Insert a new worksheet
There are four ways to add a new worksheet to your workbook.

• Right-click on any worksheet tab and select the Insert option
• Shift + F11
• Click on the plus sign in a circle on the bottom right of the tab listings
• Go to the Home menu, go to the Cells section, click on Insert and select Insert Sheet

Delete a worksheet
Right-clicking provides you with the option to delete a worksheet. If there’s data in the worksheet a warning will appear.

You can also go to the Home tab in the Cells group and click on Delete and select Delete Sheet. A word of warning about deleting sheets. You cannot undo a sheet deletion.

Rename a worksheet
There are three options, from slowest to fastest:

• Go to the Home tab, click on the Cells group and the Format option. You’ll see a choice to Rename Sheet. This will activate the name box for the sheet
• Right-click on the worksheet tab and choose the rename option
• Double-click on the worksheet tab

Add a tab color
Large workbooks can make it difficult to organize and find a needed worksheet. Adding color tags to the worksheet tabs is a big help. Right-click on the tab, select Tab Color and choose the shade you want.

Move a worksheet
This is a simple tip. To move a worksheet, click the tab and hold. A mouse pointer will appear and you can move the tab to the spot you want.

Copy a worksheet
When you need to copy a worksheet within the same workbook, copying and pasting is not the best option. The copied data often does not look the same and can require a lot of time to fix.

Another option is to again click and hold the tab you want to copy, and hit the Ctrl key. Move to the spot you want to add the copied worksheet and a new tab will be added.

Group worksheets
When you want to add headers and footers or formatting to multiple worksheets, Excel does not have an intuitive solution. Using the Grouping function lets you handle several key tasks that apply to more than one sheet.

These tips will accelerate how fast work is done and give your employees more confidence and control of their Excel work.

Filed Under: MS Office, Tips Tagged With:

Time-Saving Tricks for Microsoft Outlook 2016

June 26, 2018

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

Microsoft Office 365 offers a number of useful tools for today’s busy professionals including some new shortcuts for Outlook 2016. With so many companies now using Outlook as their major email program, Microsoft works to improve its operation with each annual update.

A number of the great features in this program are also found in other MS Office programs. For instance, if you’re familiar with Word, then learning how to use Outlook will be much simpler.

New Changes for Outlook 2016
Using Outlook 2016, you can do a lot more than send and receive emails. You can also manage your calendar, set appointments, schedule meetings, and create/ manage groups.

In addition to being able to set up various types of groups, you can set up groups in Yammer. Yammer has become a central place where teams can exchange files, get updates and have conversations with others. [Read more…]

Filed Under: MS Office, Tips Tagged With: , ,

How To Protect Your Computers From Electrical Anomalies

March 5, 2018

Chris Myers is a field service technician for Tech Experts.

Many people will recognize these as risks of a power outage that can damage computers, but did you know that there are actually many different types of power anomalies? If the power dips for even a quarter of a second (250 milliseconds), your computer will use up its reserves of power and abruptly shut down after only 17 milliseconds.

Types of electrical anomalies

Sags, also known as brownouts and undervoltage, are temporary decreases of voltage levels. This is a very common problem, making up a majority of the power disruptions your computer will encounter. When a sag happens, computers may not get enough voltage to power all of its components. This can cause unseen data corruption, power loss to fans, and a freezing keyboard or mouse.

Electric companies purposefully induce sags in order to deal with periods of high power demands, such as high usage of air conditioners on a hot day.

Blackouts are when all power is lost. They are typically caused by power grid equipment failure, lightning, ice, car accidents, and natural disasters. When a blackout occurs, all data in your RAM and hard drive caches is lost. If critical system files like the File Allocation Table are damaged, it may render your hard drive inoperable.

A spike, also called an impulse, is a sudden and dramatic increase in voltage usually lasting less than one millisecond. It can be caused by a lightning strike or a large section of network equipment coming online. Spikes can cause catastrophic damage to computers, often overloading power supplies and burning circuit boards.

A surge, also referred to as a transient, is a short period of increased voltage typically lasting between 8 milliseconds and 2.5 seconds. Depending on the voltage, surges can cause damage similar to that of spikes.

Noise refers to both Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). Electrical power is transmitted with sine waves, usually as an alternating current (AC). The usage of many electronic devices in close proximity to each other can alter the pattern of these waves. When this occurs, it can result in overheating, data loss, and distorted audio or video.

Frequency shifts, also known as harmonic distortion, usually happen when lighting equipment shifts the sine wave frequency to something other than the standard 60 Hertz. This can result in the overheating of electrical wiring and power supply errors leading to unscheduled shut downs.

Preventing Damage

Surge protectors are the easiest and most affordable way to provide your equipment with an immediate layer of protection. When buying a surge protector, you want a high amount of joules and low let-through voltage.

Joules are basically how much energy the device can absorb over its lifetime. Let-through voltage is how much voltage is passed on to connected devices when the surge protector is hit with a 6,000-volt surge.

The best surge protectors will even have outlets for phone, TV, and USB cables. All of those cable types can be damaged from power surges. Just make sure you aren’t getting a power strip string only, which is simply an extension of a wall outlet and offers no protection.

For the best protection you will need an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). These power supplies will provide power to your equipment whenever it sags or stops completely. Most small power supplies will keep your computer running for about 10 minutes or just network equipment for about an hour. Having enough time to properly shut down your equipment can mean all the difference when it comes to saving your data and hardware.

Filed Under: Power Protection, Tips Tagged With: ,

Easy And Common Steps To Resolve Internet Issues

June 30, 2017

Luke Gruden is a help desk technician for Tech Experts.

The Internet is key in almost all that we do on computers. A computer without Internet would have limited use — not only because of the browser, but because many programs require the connection to function.

That’s why when we are right in middle of working and we lose Internet, we can get very frustrated very quickly. Luckily, there are a few things you can try to potentially restore your Internet with minimal time and effort.

Calling your Internet service provider or your IT techs can result in an issue taking longer to resolve as someone may have to drive out to your business or you have to wait for the next available phone representative. Why wait when, most likely, you can fix your own Internet in about 15 minutes or less with minimal experience?

However, before we talk about how to bring back the Internet, we must talk about terminology and devices.

The first device that handles your Internet from the outside of your building is the Internet modem. Your modem usually has your Internet provider’s logo on it and is plugged in by a cord going outside (usually through a wall). You also need to know what a router is. A router plugs into all the computers with either wired or wireless connections. Sometimes, the modem is also a router when it’s a two-in-one device.

Finally, you should know what a firewall device is. Firewalls are usually a box that is plugged in between the router and modem, protecting your network. That said, not every business has a firewall.

Now that you have the basic terminology, we can potentially fix the Internet. First of all, if you lose your connection to the Internet, try a reboot of your workstation.

If the reboot does not work, see if anyone else has Internet. If it is just you that’s lost connection, try to see if you can push your Internet wire (Ethernet cable) into your computer. Sometimes, the connection can become loose and that’s all there is to the problem.

If you are using a wireless connection, turn off your Wi-Fi with a button on your computer and turn it back on. If your Internet is not back, you might have to contact your IT. If no one has Internet, take a look at the modem. The modem usually has lights showing the status of the Internet connection. If it shows that there is no Internet, try to unplug the power from it and wait 15 seconds and plug it back in.

The modem will take time, potentially 10 or 15 minutes, but you will see if the Internet connection comes back. If the modem does have Internet, try to unplug the firewall (if you have one), then plug it back in after 15 seconds. If the Internet still is out after 15 minutes, try to do the same thing with the router by unplugging and plugging the power back in. If the Internet is still out for everyone, you probably have to call your Internet service provider as there could be an outage in the area. Most of the time when the Internet goes out, following these steps can likely bring back the Internet connection. This is especially true if you are at home.

Hopefully, following these steps can resolve your lost Internet connection. Sometimes, your equipment essentially needs a restart to get things back into working order. Should you need further help, we at Tech Experts have you covered!

Filed Under: Internet, Tips Tagged With: , , , ,

What Are The Signs Of A Failing Hard Drive?

June 7, 2017

Anthony Glover is Tech Expert’s network engineer.

As a network engineer by day, I can say that have seen a lot of hard drive problems and, if they’re not taken care of properly, they can cause a severe technical headache. It is important to notice the signs that are present to you and, fortunately, there’s several to note.

Sluggish performance of your workstation is one of the main issues. This can occur without warning and it can even seem like a virus or cause a blue screen of death (BSOD).

Another sign is your PC or workstation making clicking or grinding noises. This can cause a read failure to occur and cause the drive to be inaccessible, which in turn causes data loss. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hard Drives, Planning, SSDs, Tips, Upgrading Tagged With: , , , ,

Who Should Be An Administrator On Your Network?

June 7, 2017

Luke Gruden is a help desk technician for Tech Experts.

In the world of computers, administrators have access to everything in Windows. Having administrator rights allows you to download anything, change any policy, and even change registry entries in Windows. An administrator has enough control over Windows to radically change how it works, even break Windows permanently.

So, who should be an administrator? The answer is different depending on the environment and work being done. In general, the administrator account should only be used by a person who is very experienced and knowledgeable in computers, like a professional IT tech. An inexperienced person with an administrator account could permanently damage the operating system or even destroy the computer itself on accident.

A user that has admin (administrator) rights, even without being in the core files, could still cause unintentional harm to the computer. This can happen because malicious files can be accidentally downloaded and ran and, when you run a program as an admin, you give that program the rights to change your computer inside and out. Malicious programs run by an admin can ruin entire networks of computers. This, sadly, has happened to many businesses.

Domain Networks

On a domain network where many computers are connected to a server, there should be a very small amount of administrators. Ideally, just one. The more people with admin rights, the more likely the wrong program ran by the wrong person can ruin an entire building of computers or an entire business. This is usually how cryptoware spreads.

For domain networks, only professional IT techs should be administrators. The risk is too great to have someone accidentally change a policy or spread an infection that can do irreversible damage to all the computers on the network.

Business Computers

A computer used for business should be treated with more security and care as to make sure no avoidable threats harm or compromise the device. Confidential data and work can be stolen if the wrong websites are visited or by downloading the wrong software on a business computer.

For a business computer user, you might want to consider using a normal account and only use the admin account in extreme situations where recovery needs to be done. If your IT tech has access to the admin account, they can make sure that only best practices and the proper programs are implemented on that profile.

Home Computers

Computers that are used for everyday activities that do not have confidential work data should still be choosy on who has admin access. Having children or teens freely exploring the Internet and downloading odd programs or messing with the internal settings of Windows could potentially cause serious issues.

Home computers should have an admin user with a solid knowledge of computers who will be wary of suspicious websites and programs. More inexperienced users should not run admin accounts.

Generally, the best rule of thumb for admin accounts is that they should be granted to people who can handle the responsibility. Those with less experience or less important needs should have accounts with limited access.

However, if a business or network is bigger, it’s even more important than the only people granted admin privileges are their professional IT team or those who have experience. The title of administrator should be looked as one with responsibility in doing what is best for a computer, a server, and a business network.

Filed Under: Network, Security, Tips Tagged With: , , ,
Next Page »