Unlimited Remote Support for $55 per Month per PC

No Setup Fee

Includes the Following Services:

• Break/Fix Repair
• Sublime Computer Services Managed Antivirus
• Spyware and Virus Removal
• Annual Desktop Optimization ($150 value)
• Automatic Microsoft Security Updates
• Automatic Hard Drive Defragmentation
• Monitor the Hard Drive for Potential Failure
• System Monitoring and Alerts
• Virus Alerts
• High CPU and RAM utilization
• Hard drive less than 10%
• Monitor critical services
• Software installation and removal

How it works:
We start by installing our remote access and monitoring agent on your computer. We will register your PC, setup alerts based on your needs, install our managed antivirus software, setup updates, and setup hard drive maintenance. We will then perform a desktop optimization. Your PC will be proactively monitored as we monitor servers. We will know about problems before they become major issues that bring your computer down.

The Fine Print:
With this plan you receive a discounted rate of $75 per hour for onsite visits for issues that cannot be resolved remotely.
This plan does not include servers.
The service is based on a 12 month period but can be cancelled at any time.  The hours used up to the point of cancellation will be billed at $100 per hour minus the monthly payments already collected.

What do you do when an employee leaves?   Do you have a checklist for when an employee leaves the organization?  You need one.  One item that needs to be on that list is computer access.  You need to make sure the ex-employee can no longer access the confidential company information.  This can be accomplished by disabling or changing the password on the ex-employees’ computer account.   Also make sure to disable remote access and email.  If your company falls under HIPAA or SEC regulations you want to make sure to take care of these accounts.  Unauthorized access by ex-employees can result in fines when confidential data is involved.  

Additional information concerning the regulatory authorities:
HIPAA - http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/index.html
SEC - http://www.sec.gov/about/laws/secrulesregs.htm

If you have employees who no longer work with you and you are not sure of their account status give us a call and we will give you a list of all accounts that are enabled. Once you have gone through the list we will change or disable all of the accounts that have access to your data.

Keep Your Computer on Time

Have you ever noticed that time on your computer was incorrect?  All clocks wander a bit and your computers’ clock can too.  This is something that can be easily fixed and set to synchronize automatically.  
If you work in an office that has a server, the server keeps the time synchronized and updates the computers’ time.  If your computer clock is incorrect you will need to get your IT administrator to update the time on the server and setup synchronization.  You can update the time on your computer but the server is going to keep setting the time to match the servers’ time.
If you do not have a server at your home or office you can download a free application called NetTime at http://www.timesynctool.com/.  It will automatically keep your computer time up to date.  It is a simple and fast to install.

The Best Way to Recovery From a Virus

We clean up viruses and/or malware every week.  Sometimes the user could have prevented their infestation, and other times they could not.  Antivirus software has to be able to protect your computer from  every virus that is on the planet.  With odds like that there is no way any Antivirus software can protect a computer from all of the viruses and malware out there.  The only real solution is data abstinence.  Never get on the internet and never add any media to your computer.  Since we must get on the internet and we must enter media into our computers to make them useful we have to come up with a better plan.  The better plan is a full system backup.

Full system backups (bare bones backups) are a snapshot in time of a computer.  If a snapshot is taken at 3:00 AM and the computer gets a devastating virus at 5:00 PM.  The computer can be restored to its’ previous state at 3:00 AM before it contracted the virus.

Windows 7 has Windows Backup, and Mac has Time Machine for full system backups.   If your computer does not have Windows 7 you will need to go with a third party backup software.  I use Acronis True Image Home (www.acronis.com)  for my PC’s because it gives me additional options for alerts and file management.

Whether it is a virus, hard drive failure or a user error, full system backups will save you time, money and headache.

Make Sure Your Battery Backup is Setup Correctly

Battery backups will give your computer a longer life.  They will protect your computer from minor surges and power outages.  When your computer shuts off without a proper shutdown there is a good chance that important operating system files will become corrupt.  These improper shutdowns will cause your computer to become unusable or unstable.  If you have a battery backup your computer can be cleanly shutdown in the event of a power outage.

Does your computer still turn off when the power goes off, even though you have it plugged into a battery backup?  It is likely that only half of your battery backup is on battery the other half is surge suppression only.  

We see this often enough that I feel it is worth mentioning.  When you purchase a battery backup or UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) you need to make sure that you plug your computer and monitor into the plugs labelled “Battery Backup”.  You want to have your monitor plugged into battery backup so you can see to manually shutdown your computer.  You will want to make sure that you have installed the UPS software on your computer.  Once you have it configured it will automatically shut down your computer when it reaches a certain percentage of battery remaining.  Plug your non essential devices into the “Surge Suppression” only ports.  

I like using a UPS that has a digital display on the front.  It tells you how much electricity you are using and what load is on the battery.  The software tells you how much battery time you should have.  I recommend APC batteries today.  I would get nothing less than a 1000 VA sized UPS for a single computer and monitor.  

Batteries do wear out.  They wear out even faster if your UPS is sitting on a concrete floor.  You can expect to get 18-24 months out of a battery when it is not overloaded.  Your UPS will let you know that the battery is dead.  It is often cheaper to get new batteries rather than a new UPS every 2 years.  I get my batteries from a company called Gruber Power.  Make sure to take your old batteries to some place like Batteries Plus or your Metro recycling.  They will recycle them for free.

In the event of large electrical storms don’t make your UPS prove their worth.  Shut down your system completely and unplug your UPS power from the wall.  You can leave your computer gear plugged into the UPS.  Lightning strikes are pushing so much power they can jump through system even turned off but still plugged in.

Battery backups will help keep your computer system running for years to come.

Adam Bell
Senior Systems / Network Engineer
Sublime Computer Services
We make your technology work

615-942-0850
adam@sublimecomp.com
www.sublimecomp.com

Customer Service - How NOT to

I would like to share my experience of how not to give customer service.  I will leave the vendors name out of my article but you can probably guess it.  

I have a 7” Galaxy Tab - Tablet Computer.  I have found the device to be very useful.  I decided that I should upgrade to the 10” Motorola Xyboard.  I had a problem.  My contract would not be fulfilled until April 2013.  That meant that I could not break the contract without penalty or get a new Xyboard without paying full retail for the device.  I decided it was worth the price.  I would get the vendor to upgrade my account from 3G to 4G which would have cost me $10 more per month and I would have to pay $700 for the Xyboard.

I went to the storefront and told the sales representative what I wanted to do.  He told me that I could not do what I suggested.  He said the only way he could help me is to add another line to my account or pay the penalty for cancelling the Galaxy.  He said If I cancelled the Galaxy then I should sell it on Ebay to make up for the loss.  I repeated to him that I wanted to give him more money per month to upgrade my contract (not cancel it) and I wanted to pay full retail for the 10” Xyboard.  He told me there was nothing he could do.  I gave him my card and asked him to talk with someone else see if they could come up with a solution and call me.  

I never heard from him.  I purchased a Motorola 10” Xoom on Ebay for $290 and just replaced my Galaxy Tab with it.

I do not know about you but when my clients want to give me more money for more services, I give it to them.  

Adam Bell
Senior Systems / Network Engineer
Sublime Computer Services
We make your technology work

615-942-0850
adam@sublimecomp.com
www.sublimecomp.com

 

DNS Changer Malware Alert

I need to make you aware of a Malware that is hanging around undetected.  It is called a DNS Changer Malware.  It has been around since November. It appears that most Antivirus software is not fixing the issue.  If you have the Malware, then your computer will continue to appear to work properly until July 2012.  You will need to test your computer to confirm that you do not have the malware by going to:

http://www.dns-ok.us/

If you do not have the malware, then the web page will show up with a big Green background stating  “Your computer appears to be looking up IP addresses correctly!”

If you do have the malware, then the web page will show up with a big Red background stating “Your computer appears to be looking up IP addresses incorrectly!”  

If your computer shows the Red background, then give us a call and we will remove the malware and its’ effects.

You can read about the malware here:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/november/malware_110911




Adam Bell
Senior Systems / Network Engineer
Sublime Computer Services
We make your technology work

615-942-0850
adam@sublimecomp.com
www.sublimecomp.com

Internet Safety Class

Date: Tuesday April 3rd

Time: 6:00-7:20 PM

Location: GodWhy. com 

                 100 GodWhy Ct. Hendersonville TN 37075

                 (Across from Glenbrook Shopping Center)

We want our children to enjoy all the benefits of the internet but also provide age- appropriate safeguards to protect them while online. As we put more powerful devices on their desks and in their pockets, we as parents need to know the dangers and how to safeguard these devices.

This class will make you aware of dangers, show you how to secure a Mac or PC, as well as iPhone, iPad, iTouch or Android device in an age-appropriate way.

Free to the public

 

 

10 ways tech can boost sales for SMBs | TechRepublic

10 ways tech can boost sales for SMBs | TechRepublic

SMBs that are smart about leveraging technology can see impressive sales increases. Here are some ways to use your IT resources to accomplish great things.

Sublime Computer Services - K9 Web Protection - Recommended

A former colleague of mine who is now a pastor asked for my assistance in preparing a presentation on Internet protection for kids. This gave me cause to look into what new Internet protection software was out there. I tested some software that I had not tried before and that brought me to K9 Web Protection. As a result of my testing I am now running K9 Web Protection on my computer.

K9 Web Protection Defined from their website: “K9 Web Protection is a free Internet filter and parental control software for your home Windows or Mac computer. K9 puts YOU in control of the Internet so you can protect your kids.”

The K9 software meets two goals for me. It reduces the amount of unsavory Internet content and it keeps my computer clear of the websites that want to give me viruses. K9 is free for home use and $18.49 per PC for business use. Another feature that is important to me is that the software does not slow down my computer. I do not notice K9 is running until it blocks a site for me. It is also very easy to add a legitimate site.

My recommendation for the home PC is to run Microsoft Security Essentials as a good stand alone antivirus software with K9 running to keep the content clean. I additionally run Open DNS on my home network to supplement K9.

My recommendation for the business PC is to run a manged antivirus with K9 and Open DNS.

More information from the K9 Web Protection Website
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

Information about Microsoft Security Essentials
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials

Information about Open DNS
http://opendns.com/

Working in Shared Office Space

Shared office space has been a good idea for businesses for a long time. It allows a business to focus on its’ business rather than its’ real estate. Each office suite has varying amenities like hotels. Internet security for your business computers needs to be considered while working in shared office space. The internet service provided at shared space is often shared with all or most of the other tenants in the space. In most cases one can see all of the other tenants computers by browsing the network. If a person is not careful they could be sharing their files with all of the other tenants in the office. This breach in security can be prevented by using the following:

• Physical firewall or router
• Physical firewall to place all of your computers behind.
• http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Linksys-WRT54GL-Wireless-G-Broadband-Router/dp/B000BTL0OA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326484704&sr=8-1
• Or - Turn on the firewall software on your computer or antivirus program
• http://www.andyrathbone.com/2009/09/10/making-sure-windows-firewall-is-turned-on/
• Turn off simple file sharing on your PC - If you are sharing files with coworkers you will need follow the instructions for sharing your folders with other users.
• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307874
• Make sure that you have a complex password
• http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/passwords-create.aspx
• Make sure that you have automatic updates turned on so that your computer is getting the latest Microsoft, Adobe and Java updates.
• http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Turn-automatic-updating-on-or-off

These settings will help keep your business private. As the saying goes “Good fences make good neighbors.”