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TechTidBit – Tips and advice for small business computing – Tech Experts™ – Monroe Michigan

TechTidBit - Tips and advice for small business computing - Tech Experts™ - Monroe Michigan

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Hassett Title Counts On Tech Experts To Keep Their Network Problem-Free

June 28, 2009

For  Bill, Dan and Doug Hassett, the principals of Hassett Title Company Inc., downtime is a “killer.” Their title and real estate closing company relies on their computer network to be up and running.

“Every aspect of our business is computerized,” explained Doug Hassett. “We use our network to examine the register of deeds records online. Our computers are vital in preparing title and closing documents, and let us complete every transaction with ease and confidence.”

Hassett Title Company is a family-owned and operated full service title and escrow agent, founded by Bill Hassett in 1988. The company has offices in the heart of downtown Monroe at 33 East Front Street. Hassett Title is an agent for Stewart Title Guaranty Company.

“We have a responsibility to provide not only the fastest, but the most accurate and complete title and closing service to our clients,” said Doug. “Our clients deserve the best.”

Tech Experts recently upgraded the computers at Hassett Title to include several new Lenovo workstation computers, and assisted in the integration of a new multi-function copier/printer/scanner into the company’s network. Hassett Title also hosts it’s e-mail and web site services with Tech Experts.

“One of the biggest business benefits we’ve realized in working with Tech Experts is near constant uptime,” Doug continued. “Any time we have a repair or upgrade, the technicians make sure we stay up and running. Tech Experts understands we can’t have downtime.”

Hassett Title takes advantage of Tech Experts’ monthly systems check service. Every month, a Tech Experts engineer visits Hassett Title’s offices to make sure the computers, server and network are functioning properly, that all antivirus software is updated, all Windows updates are current, and handle any issues any of the staff are having with their computers

“Freeing us from the worry and maintenance of our network lets us focus on the needs of our clients,” explained Doug. “Tom Fox and Bob Saylors have been working with us for years. They know what we need and understand our needs when we express ourselves in a non-tech savvy way.”

For more information about Hassett Title’s services, contact them at (734) 242-9393, or visit their website: www.HassettTitle.com.

New Phishing Schemes You Should Know About

June 28, 2009

I know growing up as a child, I loved to go fishing. I never caught very many fish, but just being out on the water “drowning worms” was good enough for me. As the years have passed, though, a new kind of “phishing” has emerged.

The term phishing refers to luring techniques used by identity thieves to fish for personal information in a lake of unsuspecting Internet users.

Their purpose is to take this information and use it for criminal objectives such as identity theft and fraud.

Phishing is a general term for the creation and use by criminals of emails and websites – designed to look like they come from well-known, legitimate and trusted businesses, financial institutions and government agencies – in an attempt to gather personal, financial and sensitive information.

These criminals deceive Internet users into disclosing their bank and financial account information or other personal data such as usernames and passwords.

Today a new form of phishing appears to be spreading through social websites such as Facebook. This new scam works like this.

As soon as you login to the site, it will steal your email and password and then log you into Facebook. Within a short period of time the system will automatically switch your password and block you from the site. It then begins to send the same URL to all of your Facebook friend’s inboxes.

As this spreads, the criminals gather thousands of email addresses and passwords before Facebook can stop all references to the website.

The scammers have developed a method to duplicate the scam immediately and the next thing you know they have four or five phishing scams going on at the same time all over Facebook. This allows them to gather hundreds of thousands of victims very quickly.

It is not known yet what these people intend to do with all these addresses, but you can almost guarantee that they will result in a malicious worm at some point. The potential to access a user’s financial information and accounts could result in the loss of millions of dollars.

Another form of phishing is called “in session” phishing. This form does not use email nor does it rely on the user having to be tricked into clicking on a link.

It works like this. Let’s say you go to your banking website that is secure. You login and take care of your business, then leaving that browser window open you innocently go to another website that has been compromised. All of a sudden a pop-up asks you to validate your login to continue your banking session.

Remember two things must happen in order for this scam to work. First, a website must be compromised and infected—the higher traffic the better, obviously.

Second, the downloaded malware must be able to identify whether or not the unknowing user is logged into a relevant website.

Most banking institutions have taken steps to prevent this. One step is having a rapid disconnect of an idle session.

But in order to be safe we would recommend closing all browser windows after you have visited a secure banking website.

In addition it is very important to keep your system free of all spyware, malware and viruses.

Tech Experts has certified technicians that clean these types of infections and malware from computers every day. We urge you to take advantage of our system checkup and cleaning service to keep your identity to yourself.

Saving Money On IT: 8 Tips To Speed Up Your Systems, Extend Their Life, And Be More Productive

June 28, 2009

Sluggish computers got you down? You’re not alone – many people make the mistake of letting their slow computers cost them time, money and headaches. Sometimes, folks will even resort to buying a new machine rather than resolving the slow computer issues.

Here are eight tips that will help you speed up your systems, extend their life, and let you be more productive – all without investing a lot of money or time.

Physical Cleanliness
It is a best practice to clean your system at least once every quarter. You can use a vacuum to clean the outside of the computer case, and keyboard for starters. You should NOT vacuum the inside of the case – this creates static electricity which could damage the system.

Obviously you never want to get the inside damp, wet, or use liquid cleaners on it. The best way to keep the inside clean is to get a can of compressed air. Simply blow out the system fans and any accumulated dust and debris. Fans can become clogged after time, and prevent proper cooling, which greatly affects the performance.

Software Management
Over time, installed software can clutter up the system, and often, installed applications are forgotten about over time. Regularly checking your program list and removing anything that hasn’t been used in a while is another best practice.

Simply go to Start->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs. From there you can check through the list of installed programs, and decide which ones should go, and which ones can stay.

Start Up (Boot Up)
You may have noticed that the system used to start up a lot faster than it does now. In most cases, this can be easily resolved by clearing out the programs that are set to run at startup.

Most users don’t even realize there are several programs starting up when they turn their systems on. Ideally, you would want as few applications as possible to start up, and then open programs as they are needed.

Simply go to Start->Run>type in “msconfig” (without the parenthesis). This will bring up the Microsoft Configuration Utility. From there, you can choose the startup tab, and get a list of programs that are set to start when Windows is starting up. You can simply check/uncheck which programs you want.

Clean Up The Cache
Every time you visit a web site, the content and pictures are downloaded to a temporary holding area on your hard drive, called the cache. The Internet cache is useful because it helps websites load faster the next time you visit them. Over time, the cache can take up disk space, and cause the system to run slower.

I’d suggest keeping your cache cleared, simply by running a disk cleanup. This will allow you to remove the following: temporary Internet files, downloaded program files, offline webpage’s, files in the recycle bin, temporary files, and “compress old files.”

Disk Defragmentation
Sometimes when you install new programs, or create new data files, the files end up being chopped up into chunks and stored in multiple locations on the hard disk. This is called fragmentation.

Disk defragmentation basically takes all of your files, and arranges them in a logical order. It’s like having all of your files in a filing cabinet scattered, and then re-arranging so everything is in order, and similar files are grouped with each other.

So next time you go to call on a file, data source, program, etc.the specified data is all grouped together making it faster to access and load. This should be done at least once a month.

Antivirus Scanning
We all know the problems that viruses and spyware can cause! Spyware and virus activity is one of the biggest culprits of slow moving computers, and having an active antivirus program doing daily system scans is always a best practice. This will ensure your system’s performance is not at jeopardy due to malicious related software.

Keeping your Windows operating system up to date will ensure you have the latest service packs, security patches, third party device drivers, and many other critical updates to your Microsoft Windows operating system.

Keep Windows Up to Date
Microsoft allows the automatic update and installation of updates if configured properly. Simply right click the My Computer icon, and choose automatic updates tab. From there you can decide what day you want updates to run, and whether or not you want them to be downloaded and/or installed.

Clean The Registry
The registry is a database which stores most of the settings and options for Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains information and settings for hardware, operating system software, and per-user settings.

CAUTION: In most cases, only advanced users should edit the registry!!

Over time, programs can cause clogging of the registry, which will affect system performance; a great tool to run on this would be CCleaner; which is a free download available at http://www.ccleaner.com/.

So if you want to speed your systems, extend the life of your computer, and learn to be more productive with your pc, without spending a bunch of money or time doing so, follow some of these best practices, and you will be well on your way to a more efficient, and pleasant time on the computer.

QuickTime Video Software Target Of Hacker Attack

June 28, 2009

We all remember that it was not too long ago when Microsoft had left a huge hole for attackers to exploit in Windows XP.  Microsoft corrected the error by releasing a new security update and including it as an important update in the Windows Update service.

Now for the third time, attackers have found a new vulnerability in Windows. This attack only affects Windows XP, Windows 2003 server and Windows 2000. Windows Vista, Server 2008 and surprisingly Windows 7 aren’t affected.

Microsoft has already discovered that the attackers are using the code on many different video websites. The attack starts with a QuickTime video and exploits a problem in the Direct X software that Windows uses in almost everything you do, from watching videos to playing video games.

The hackers are using the code in QuickTime files which is the default video for Apple, but not in Windows. You most likely have QuickTime installed on your PC if you have an iPhone or iPod.

The malicious code is hidden inside video files, and allows the attacker to execute any kind of program he would like on the victim’s personal computer. Then, depending on what the attacker planned to do, they could take over your computer or make all your data disappear.

In order to get infected, you’d have to open an infected QuickTime file. Opening the file allows the hacker to have control of your computer. This virus code could be sent by an attachment in email or posted on any website. You’d just have to click and download the file in order to infect your computer.

According to the developers of QuickTime, QuickTime is not the flawed code, but rather, the code inside Windows that displays the QuickTime movie using Direct X is to blame.

The reason the newer operating systems are not vulnerable to these attacks is that the code was removed when Microsoft began development of Windows Vista.

Microsoft has already released two fixes for this security vulnerability. One is pretty technical and requires the user to edit the system registry. The second is a tool that Microsoft has built to automatically disable this feature.

Microsoft hasn’t released a patch, but said that once they do, users that used the automated tool will automatically have the parser turned back on.

How To Prevent Downtime On Your Network

May 28, 2009

With the national average of computer related repairs at $95 – $125 per hour, a troubled economy, and so many security vulnerabilities lurking around the Internet, getting downtime on networks to a minimum is becoming the number one goal of Computer/IT support companies like Tech Experts.

Preventing downtime on your network starts at square one: Who provides your IT support, and what do they have to offer to ensure you’re getting a high quality support at a reasonable cost to your business. With the right kind of IT support, your employees can focus on their own work and maintain a high level of productivity, without the hassle of downtime.

Using a service company to manage your network can be done in a variety of different ways, but for the most part, there are two main forms of service:  Break-fix, better known as pay as you go, or managed service protection (MSP).  So the big question is: Which is right for your company?

So what are the key differences between the two?  We’ll start with the break fix approach.

This is the standard service model – when something breaks, you call your service provider and they repair it. For some companies, particularly smaller networks, this works very well. The costs are relatively low, but every time you have an issue, there’s a cost involved. Oftentimes, you’re reluctant to call for support for what seems to be a “minor” issue. Instead, you save them up to combine service visits. The problem comes in when what seems to be a minor issue is really something more significant.

On the other hand, we have the managed service model.  This type of service delivery plan  is designed to provide a high level of IT support to a company at a fixed IT budget, so there are no surprises.

Typically, a fixed monthly price negotiated by the IT support company and the client.  There are usually different levels of support, starting from basic support of servers, workstations, and network devices, all the way on up to fully managed networks.

The highest level of support typically gives the business “whatever it takes” support, meaning that whenever you have an issue, it’s taken care of, and again the price stays as agreed.  It’s always in the best interest of the managed service provider to maintain maximum uptime for your network.

Managed service provides full network maintenance, and proactive management, reducing the number of future issues, which again keeps your network uptime maximized, which ensures productivity is at the highest level possible.

There’s usually no minimum or maximum number of users, which provides scalability for your network, giving it room to grow in the future. No matter how large your company might grow, your managed service provider will provide peace of mind in keeping your network up and running at full proficiency.

Lastly, there is typically a hardware replacement plan in place.  Because the MSP is monitoring your network at all times, they actually create a “map” of the entire infrastructure, which gives the company the age and health of the equipment on the network. In most cases, you’ll have insight into which hardware needs to be replaced ahead of time, which lets you budget for equipment upgrades.

Overall, I think a managed service is the way to go. It provides the business with peace of mind that the entire network is being monitored, recurring issues are prevented, costs and hidden fees are eliminated, and network growth is scalable and affordable.

Top Four Threats Attacking Your Network And What You Can Do About Them

May 28, 2009

Do you ever feel like your computer network could be more secure? Chances are, keeping a few simple things in mind will improve security and reduce downtime. Here are some things to look out for.

Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites like Facebook are exploding in popularity. Threats range from malware (e.g. viruses, worms,spyware) to scammers trying to steal your identity, information and money. Many businesses and government agencies are
using these sites to communicate with clients and constituents, so simply blocking access is no longer reasonable. Defending your company while allowing employee access requires social network education for your employees and the enforcement of strong acceptable use policies. We can help you develop a policy, then monitor compliance using a Unified Threat Management device that controls and reports on network
access.

Attacks On Mobile Devices
Everyone is going mobile these days not just the “road warriors.” Once limited to laptop computers, mobile network devices now include PDAs, handheld computers and smart phones, with new appliances appearing in the stores every month. Mobile devices often contain sensitive data yet they are easily lost or stolen. Be sure to password protect and encrypt data on all mobile devices whenever possible. Include mobile devices in your acceptable use policy.

Cloud Computing
“The Cloud,” in its most simple form, involves using the Internet to access and store your data. When you access email using a web browser, you are working in “the cloud.” Using the cloud for automated off site backup is rapidly gaining popularity and is just the beginning. Companies like Microsoft, IBM and Google envision the day when we will use inexpensive terminals instead of computers to run programs and access data located somewhere on the Internet. You need to be sure that any data you store and access across the Internet is secure not just where it is stored, but during the trip to and from the Internet.

Overconfidence
User overconfidence in security products is the top threat to your network. Failure to “practice safe software” results in nuisance attacks like porn storms (unstoppable rapid fire pornographic pop-ups) and more subtle key loggers that steal passwords. Surveys promising free stuff, result in theft of information like your mother’s maiden name, high school, etc. used to answer common security questions leading to theft of otherwise secure data. Think before you click!

Web Advertising Tips To Increase Traffic And Leads

May 28, 2009

A great way to get your small business name out there is to advertise on the web. If you already have a website, there are many things you can do to increase traffic to your site.

The number one key for people to find your website is to have great keywords on your site so that search engines such as Google and Yahoo will see your website. The purpose is so that anyone online can open the search engine and type in some keywords and your website will be listed. The better the match and the more people that click on your website will determine how high you will rank on the search engines.

Every chance you get online, list your website address. When you print out documents to give to customers or business cards make sure to include your web address. Even online, when signing up for a forum or sending a email, make sure you include your website.

You can also create a blog on your website to post articles related to your business. This will help people using search engines looking for something related to your business to be able to find your website. Some people think it is very expensive to create a blog but you can actually find free blogs online and then point your website in the direction of these blogs.

Posting coupons on your website will help attract people too. There is nothing more appealing to customers than saving money.  This will get the customers wanting to check your site frequently just to see the new sales or coupons you’re posting.

Sending e-mails to customers can also help advertise. This will keep your customers up to date on whats new with your business and any other information you would like them to know. Also most people now days have e-mail addresses and spend at least a few hours a week sending and receiving e-mails. Make sure you only send e-mails to people who have given you permission; otherwise, you’re spamming.

Take advantage of free classified ads online. Just like in the newspaper, websites such as Yahoo have classified ads that anyone can post to and their business will be listed.

Create a banner for your website and post it on banner exchange websites. These websites have you put one of their advertisements on your site in exchange for them advertsing your banner on thousands of other websites.

Is There A New Computer In Your Future? Here’s A Tip To Help You Transfer Your Important Information!

May 28, 2009

It eventually has to happen, we need a new computer. You can buy one from the “BIG BOX” stores, or order online or worse yet buy one from “Freddie” on the corner, but the time will come that you need a new computer.

The technology advances so fast it is hard to grasp what you need, what the kids need, and what should you buy that will give you the most bang for your buck.

A bigger concern is: “What will you lose?” When you upgrade your computer, it’s important to preserve the “my documents” and “my photos” folders.

How can you transfer them to your new computer and not lose them?

If you are running Microsoft Windows XP, you are in luck. Not only does Windows provide you with a file transfer wizard, they have a feature called profiles.

Each person who has logged in to a Windows computer had created a profile that has all of  their favorites, documents, music, and photos stored in an easy to transfer directory structure.

The secret is in knowing how to move them to the new computer.  It is very easy. I mentioned thumb drives and external storage in my last article.  Using your external storage, it’s relatively simple to transfer things over. Since each person who uses the computer has their own profile, all of their information is stored separately – all you need to do is find your profile, which is under your user name and then copy the folder which is named after your login name.

For example, if I created a user called “BigBob” then a profile folder called BigBob would also be created. This folder will contain all of my documents, Internet favorites and music if I have saved them to the default location.

Once you find the user’s profile folder, you’d just copy the folder to your external storage or thumb drive. Then, on your new computer, you’d copy the folder back to the same place. I know this gets confusing, but it isn’t that difficult.

Microsoft has developed a way to keep all of your information stored in one central location, and keep each user’s information separate from each other.

This makes it so easy to do the transfer to a new computer.  But to play it safe! If you have very important information, or you haven’t made a recent backup, you may want to use Tech Experts to transfer your data, photos and music to you new system.

We do it every day, and we realize the importance of your data. Give us a call at (734) 457-5000, or e-mail support@mytechexperts.com.

Your Computer Needs A Spring Cleaning, Too!

April 30, 2009

Now that it is spring time, I thought this would be a good idea to remind everyone of how important it is to clean out your dirty PCs.

Your computer should be cleaned every three to four months, and more if your office environment is very dusty or dirty. Keep in mind, it’s not just for sanitation purposes, either.

The electromagnetic field put off by your computer attracts dirt, dust, debris, animal hair, and lint – just take a look at the back of your PC near the fan vent. Pretty gross, huh?

It’s Not Just Dirty…It’s Dangerous!
The dust clogging those case openings will cause the processor inside your computer to heat up—and heat is the biggest cause of component failure in computers. That dirt and dust can end up shutting down your PC and costing you real money!

So how do you keep your computer clean and free from dust? The best way I’ve found is to use a can of compressed air. You should also use some eye protection like safety goggles or eye glasses along with a dust mask. I’ve found that the dust that settles on computers is often a very fine type of dust and it easily gets into your eyes and nose if you aren’t wearing any protection.

First and foremost, take the computer outside! Blowing the dust off the computer and onto your desk or office carpet really won’t do much long term good.

When blowing the dust out of the ports, it’s best to use short quick bursts. Also, don’t aim the air directly into the port. Blow the dust out at an angle.

Be careful that you don’t hold that plastic straw nozzle too close to any part of the computer – the freezing cold could damage the components. For best results, hold the nozzle about 3 – 6 inches away from the area that you are trying to clean. Sometimes people think using a vacuum cleaner is better than the compressed air, but I don’t recommend it. A lot of vacuum cleaners come with crevice attachments or other brush heads and the problem is that the plastic can cause a large build up of static electricity which can damage delicate electronic components.

Never spray or squirt any type of liquid onto ANY part of your computer. If a spray is needed, spray the liquid onto a cloth and then use that cloth to rub down the component.

When cleaning the monitor, use a lint-free cloth (like the one you use to clean your eyeglasses). Paper towels, dryer sheets, and other cloths may scratch the monitor. Also, never use Windex or a commercial cleaning product, and never spray anything directly onto the screen. Instead, lightly spray a mixture of rubbing alcohol and water onto your cloth and wipe it down.

We’ll Clean Your  Computer For You!
Want us to do the dirty work? Then just give us a call and ask for our spring computer clean-up service. For just $39 per computer, we’ll clean your system, remove any dust and debris, make sure all of your security updates are installed, and perform an additional 23 essential system checkup steps.

No more grime, germs, or dust bunnies—we’ll get rid of them all as part of our Spring-cleaning special! Just call the office at (734) 457-5000, or e-mail us at info@expertsmi.com, and we’ll make sure your computers shine!

Conficker And Other IT Security Issues Got You Worried? Here Are Some Tips To Keep You Out of Trouble!

April 30, 2009

If you watch television or read the news on the web, you no doubt heard about the April fool’s virus, also known as the conficker worm. I have been asked by numerous people “What about Conficker?” This worm is designed to have all the compromised computers “phone home” at a certain time and launch a denial of service, or DoS, attack on an unsuspecting website.

A DoS attack is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. It generally consists of the concerted efforts of a person or persons to prevent an Internet site or service from functioning efficiently or at all, temporarily or indefinitely.

One common method of attack involves saturating the target machine with external communications requests, so that it cannot respond to legitimate traffic, or responds so slowly as to be rendered effectively unavailable. That was the goal of the Conficker worm – to make sites unavailable on the Internet.

So, what should you do to prevent this from happening to you? Here are a few simple rules to follow to protect your system from these worms.

Disable the autorun feature
Although this is a nice feature to have cds auto start, this risk is not worth the few extra seconds it takes to launch a cd on your own.

Update your protection
Do not just rely on the automatic update features of your virus and malware protection software. It is smart to visit these update centers and make sure you have the latest software, particularly when you’re doing a lot of sensitive work on your computer.

Check your Windows updates
It should go without saying that in addition to your virus definitions, you should regularly check windows updates and do not rely on the automatic update feature. In the case of the Conficker C worm, Microsoft has had this patch available since October of last year. Still, as you heard on the news, thousands of computers still got infected.

Get a second opinion
Have a trained, certified technician review your computer to determine if you have the latest updates and security patches in place, along with removing any malware infections you might already have.

Back up your data
I can’t stress enough the importance of maintaining a backup schedule. All your important data needs to be protected. And, you should always take a copy of this critical data off site, so that if a natural disaster strikes, you have an undamaged copy of your data available.

You never know when tragedy will strike, or some brand new virus or worm will attack your system before anti-virus software can be updated.

Contact Tech Experts and we can help you select the perfect backup solution for your office.

We’ve seen our fair share of worms and viruses come and go, and have an arsenal of tools and years of experience to keep your systems in top condition.

If you currently have a server and you have not been taking advantage of the Tech Experts server monitoring and maintenance plans, I would urge you to contact us as soon as possible to discuss the various options for your firm.

Technicians are always available to review your current network configuration and give you expert advice on security.

If you perform these few simple things I’ve listed above, you will be protected from the vast majority of malware and worms that are currently circling the Internet. With diligence in the future, you will be protected from most of the variants of these worms as they are released.

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