Sublime Computer Services Tech Blog

Working in Shared Office Space

2012-01-13T14:25:00.001-06:00

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.”

Disaster Recovery - Image Backups

2011-11-12T20:40:00.000-06:00

If your computer failed or got a virus today how much time and money would it cost to get it working again? In most cases it will take an entire day or two to get all of the data off of the computer and reinstall all of the programs and settings.

If you have an image backup of your computer it can be restored within an hour depending on how much data you keep.

An Image Backup is a snapshot in time of a computer (desktop, laptop or server).

Here is an example of how an image backup works: An image backup of a computer is taken of all of the data on the hard drive and saved to another hard drive. A week later the computer then gets a nasty root-kit virus that makes the computer unusable. Using the image backup taken the week prior the computer is restored completely. All of the settings and files are restored.

An image backup can be made of the computer manually or automatically.

A great time to make an image backup of a computer is right after one has their computer just the way they like it. Incremental backups can also be made daily.

In order to better protect your computer we would like to make a manual image backup or setup daily automatic backups on your working computer now.

For more information concerning image backups:
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

Sublime Computer Services - Desktop Optimization

2011-11-07T13:16:00.001-06:00

While you are taking holiday it is a good time for us to cleanup your computer and get a little more speed out of it.

We have been working on a process to help cleanup desktop computers to make them run as they did in their youth. As a result we have created an optimization process that will help cleanup the things that make your computer slower than it should be. As a service to our clients we will charge a flat fee of $125 to perform the following:

* Install needed updates to Microsoft, Java and Adobe products
* Cleanup all un-needed temporary files
* Cleanup all orphaned registry files
* Perform a full Adware and Malware scan
* Perform a de-fragmentation of the hard drive and schedule for automatic future de-fragmentations
* Confirm that the existing Antivirus is working

Your computer will need to be connected to a broadband internet connection and we will need uninterrupted access to the computer up to three hours.

In the event that there are problems with the computer we will discuss them with you before we take action. Actions taken outside of the optimization process do not fall under the flat fee and will be billed at normal rates.

Call us today and we will setup an appointment to Optimize your computer around your schedule.

Sublime Computer Services - Managed Services

2011-11-07T13:11:00.000-06:00

Do these thoughts cross your mind and you pretend like you didn't think them: Is my server online? If I have a disaster is there a backup copy of my data? Is my server being updated?

Sublime Computer Services offer managed services.

Is my server online? We setup an agent on your computer and receive alerts if any of the following things happen: The CPU Utilization is at 90% for over 10 minutes, The Server is offline for more than 10 minutes and when it comes back online, The C: drive has less than 10% free space, Software has been installed on the server, Software has been removed from the server and memory utilization is at 90% for 15 minutes.

If I have a disaster is there a backup copy of my data? We setup the backups to happen daily. At the end of each backup we receive an email that tells the success or failure results. We keep track of that every day. If there is a backup failure it gets addressed that day so a successful backup will happen that evening. At the beginning of each week you receive a simple summary that shows the results of last weeks backups. You know that your files are being backed up.

Is my server being updated?
We download and install the latest Microsoft and other 3rd party updates on the server monthly. We will check the results of the updates and event logs for errors. This method helps reduce unscheduled maintenance.

These managed services typically cost $150 per month for a single server. Call and let us worry about your server.

Do Not Be an Administrator

2011-09-02T15:27:00.000-05:00

You should not be logged in as an administrator on your computer. While you are logged in as an Administrator you have permission to initiate any task that the computer is capable of performing. You have permission to almost all of the files on the computer and the registry. What is the big deal? This is how a computer gets a virus or gets broken. You can install programs on your computer by simply visiting a website. Windows Vista and 7 both have UAC (User Account Control) which reduces the risk of installing programs without your knowing.
To reduce the risk of unwanted software being installed on your Windows XP, Vista or 7 computer make yourself a regular user and set the Administrator password to something that you can remember. When you need to install a program Windows will ask you for the Administrator password then it will install. Windows XP is more complex in handling administrative permissions which is why users are often administrators over their computer. When a program needs to be installed with Windows XP you often have to give yourself administrative permission again and set the permissions over folders and registry keys then return to being a regular user.
While doing these steps adds additional work to install software that you do want, it prevents installing software that you don’t want.
P.S. While running as an administrator Windows XP is the least secure of the three operating systems.

The Top 5 Cloud Apps to Edit Documents

2011-08-11T19:32:00.001-05:00

How to Properly Eject your USB key

2011-08-11T19:24:00.001-05:00

When Should You Properly “Eject” Your Thumb Drive?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

How Does Google Protect Your Data in The Cloud?

2011-08-08T18:37:00.001-05:00

How Does Google Protect Your Data in The Cloud?: "Google has one of the largest and most secure clouds in the entire industry. You do not often hear of a successful distributed denial of service attack against Google and rarely are Google applications hacked (unless, of course, it reportedly comes from the Chinese government). How does Google keep the data centers that comprise its cloud so safe and are they the gold standard in data protection?

Samsung Galaxy Tab MIFI Feature

2011-07-24T09:17:00.001-05:00

A few months ago I purchased a 7” Samsung Galaxy Tab from Verizon Wireless. I wasn’t sure if the tablet would be a valuable asset or a toy. Today if you ask me I will say that it is an asset. I run Sublime on Google Apps so the Android integration is very nice. The Galaxy Tab has a number of features but the one I would like to mention is the MIFI.

MIFI is a term for a device that shares its internet connection with other computers via wireless. This week I was experiencing an issue with my Comcast internet. In the middle of the day while the technician was terminating new cables I was down The cell phone was ringing off the hook so tethering to the laptop was out of the question. I decided to try the MIFI. I turned on the MIFI feature and the tablet told me the SSID for my wireless and the password. Within seconds my laptop was once again on the internet and I was making phone calls.

MIFI is a great feature for use in hotels and meetings. It is also handy when storms take out office power or internet. I did not even know this feature was included with the tablet but I am very pleased that it is.

Telecommuting: When You Cannot be in the Office

2011-05-20T12:50:00.003-05:00

This is written for the people who work on a computer every day for their job.

Telecommuting: One definition of telecommuting is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours.

Being able to telecommute can be a good thing or a bad thing. I am going to focus on telecommuting being a good thing. There are many things in our lives that keep us from being able to get to the office. Sickness, sick kids, bad weather and school holidays are a few things that keep us from being able to get to the office. That does not mean that we cannot work at all, that means it is time to telecommute.

There are many ways that telecommuting or remote access to the office can occur. I am going to talk about two ways that I recommend: VPN and Logmein

VPN: I recommend a VPN connection to the office when a user has a company laptop that they take home on a daily basis. The laptop is maintained by the company and deemed a secure computer. When the user has a secure VPN connection to the office they can work like they do when they are in the office. They can connect to network shares, email and printers. The speed of their connection will be slower than in the office because they are transferring data over the internet rather than over their local office network. However the user can work like they are at the office. If the user can forward their office phone line to their cell phone they can work almost anywhere with a solid internet connection. *NOTE* If the user is going to use a wireless internet connection at a public facility such as Starbucks they need to make sure they have a solid signal. A weak wireless signal will result in a problematic VPN tunnel.

Logmein: I recommend Logmein when a user does not have a company issued laptop that they can take home. Logmein is a software portal that uses a web browser to connect to the users work computer. The user will connect over the internet to their computer at the office. It will be just like they are sitting in front of their office computer. Because the user is just seeing a visual representation of what is really happening on their computer in the office the user will be able to work as fast as when they are sitting in the office. I use the Logmein Central portal for my clients which allows me to assign only one computer or a group of computers to a single person. In the event the person leaves the organization I can remove their Logmein account and they no longer have remote access. If wake on LAN is enabled on the office computer the user can turn on their computer even if it is turned off.

With new software and fast internet connections working from outside the office has never been better. If you would like assistance setting up secure remote access for you or your employees please contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

Adam Bell

Senior Systems / Network Engineer

Sublime Computer Services

We make your technology work

615-942-0850

adam@sublimecomp.com

www.sublimecomp.com

Suppliment Your Current Antivirus With Microsoft Safety Scanner

2011-04-25T20:20:00.001-05:00

Supplement Your Current Anti-Virus Software with the Microsoft Safety Scanner

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Why your wireless should be encrypted

2011-04-25T20:01:00.001-05:00

Seattle police say 'wardrivers' are hitting small businesses

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

How Carrier Exclusives Help and Hinder Mobile Devices

2011-04-20T20:17:00.000-05:00

How Carrier Exclusives Help and Hinder Mobile Devices: "We’ve all been there. A hot new piece of hardware is announced, and we wait with bated breath only to learn it's coming to a carrier other than our own. Device exclusivity can be a real bummer for users, but that doesn't mean it's always a bad thing for the product itself. There are reasons for manufacturers and carriers to enter into these arrangements, even if it frustrates us in the short term.

We're going to go over the ways these arrangements can both help, and hinder a product.

Carriers drop the marketing cash

The mobile carriers we all love to loath have to make a significant financial investment to sell a phone. We, the consumers, are not the direct customer of HTC or Motorola. Rather, it's the carriers that are buying all the phones. Usually in great great quantities before the product is even finished.

A carrier may guarantee a manufacturer that they will buy "X" phones. But in return for that guarantee, a period of exclusivity is usually granted. In doing this, a carrier knows that they will be able to talk up a handset as much as they like. They can also offer reasonable subsidies on the device to bring the cost more in-line with the consumer's pocketbook. They are buying the phones to get people into contracts after all.

You may be wondering why this matters. If they have the phone, they could still spend the marketing cash even if the competition does as well. Well, yes. But if they make a phone or tablet sound like the best thing ever out of the gate, consumers might just buy it from their own carrier. These companies want to lure new users in by pointing to the new hot piece of kit and reminding us that we can only get it from them.

Even in instances when there is not technically exclusivity, carriers like to pretend there is. Take the Galaxy S phones in the US for instance. Each one of them was redesigned and renamed for each carrier. T-Mobile could promote the Vibrant hard, and be the only place to get it. AT&T could talk about how great the Captivate was, and be the exclusive home of the phone. To most consumers, these were totally different devices, despite the fact that they were almost identical beneath a thin veneer of sameness.

It's about having the exclusive phone or tablet. That's what a carrier needs before they are willing to really sell a product. In the long run, that can be good for the product because it may end up selling a boat load.

Accelerated development cycle for hardware and software

Another hidden benefit of carrier exclusivity is that the development cycle of a phone is going to be accelerated. Manufacturers often approach their carrier partners with a sort of menu of possible devices. A carrier may choose to order one and work with the maker on development.

If there is just the one exclusive carrier for launch, the process of making the device could be much easier. Consider the additional time it would take to source, test, and build-in cellular modems for multiple carriers. When you're looking at GSM and CDMA carriers competing in the same market, the requirements are going to be vastly different. Focusing on one design and one hardware build is more efficient.

The software is also likely to be developed at an accelerated rate when there is just one version of a phone on one carrier. On Android, the updates are put together by the device maker (except for Nexus devices). These companies only have so many resources directed to these ends. We can complain about that all we want, but that's the fact of the matter.

If they are working on updates for four slightly different versions of a phone, instead of one phone, things are going to take longer. This is the reason Samsung states for taking so long with the US Galaxy S updates. Sure, if they just dropped the carrier modifications and custom UIs, it might not be an issue, but they're not doing that any time soon.

Cheaper Wi-Fi only tablets get delayed

It's not all rainbows an puppy dogs in the land of carrier exclusivity. One of the factors that really affects a product's perception in the market is price. Many normal people (read: not most of our awesome readers) look at the price tag first before anything else even enters their mind. For a product like the Xoom, price is a barrier to entry and carrier exclusivity is blocking the whole street.

Verizon got an exclusive on the Xoom Android tablet. Good for them, but bad for the Xoom. Why? The Verizon version was expensive with its 3G modem, data contract, and single size option. By getting their exclusivity deal, and pricing the device naively, they hurt the product as a whole.

There should have been a Wi-Fi Xoom at launch. Instead, it took months for the cheaper version of the tablet, the one that more people would actually buy, to become available. For Android tablets to take off, carrier exclusive deals can't be the norm. When a new tablet drops, it's going to be marketed like mad (see above). If consumers decide that Android tablets are too expensive because of these carrier deals, it's going to hurt not only those products, but the Android platform.

Smaller user base

This one almost goes without saying. If the new device everyone wants is only going to be on one carrier, that might hurt it in the long run. The majority of wireless subscribers are content (though probably not happy) with their carrier. We know the coverage, pricing, and plans. There is little impetus to change.

If the unicorn device (say the HTC Sensation) were to launch on a small carrier that's about to be bought out (say T-Mobile USA), things might not go so well. By putting a device on only one network, you effectively limit the number of users that are going to buy it. Often, the marketing might of a network that's bought thousands of units can overcome that. But not always.

Remember the Palm Pre? It was a hotly anticipated phone, but one of its major failings was that it was exclusive to Sprint for 6 months. A great number of users that might have bought it on their current carrier decided to pass because of this.

User Dissatisfaction

The final drawback comes from the deep, visceral core of human kind. We get honked off sometimes. When a manufacturer gets to putting all their best devices on one carrier, there is the potential for user dissatisfaction.

When you just can't get the device you might want because of an exclusivity deal, you'll buy something else. If the snub really hurts, you might even harbor ill will toward the handset maker that decided to keep you from getting the phone of your dreams.

So you get the other phone, and you end up in another manufacturer's ecosystem. Maybe that's just a different Android UI and set of services. But maybe it's a completely different platform. The original manufacturer can lose a potential customer forever if an exclusivity agreement goes awry. That is, as you'd expect, bad for a product.

To be clear, we don't much care for exclusivity agreements. That's based on the fact that it's a pain for us as users. It might still be advantageous for the device makers, and the carriers. If it wasn't, they wouldn't do it. That still doesn't mean consumers will like it. If the companies involved can work closely to deliver a better software and hardware rollout experience, they can avoid some of that ill will.

A poorly executed exclusivity arrangement is fraught with danger, a la the Palm Pre. There will always be alienated users and a reduced pool of potential buyers. The product just needs to make up for that. An overpriced, over-hyped device that might have done moderate sales with a wide release might become a cautionary tale because of a lengthy exclusivity arrangement. "

Desktop Optimization - CPU

2011-03-14T13:11:00.002-05:00

In continuation with our desktop optimization series I am going to talk about the Central Processing Unit or the CPU. The CPU is like the engine of a car. In cars engines are matched to meet the performance of the car. If a four cylinder engine is put in a semi truck that is expected to transport cargo across the country it is not going to go very far. The same is true of CPU’s in a computer. The more horsepower your CPU has the more computations your computer can complete in a timely manner.

CPU’s come in many different sizes and designs. Some CPU’s are meant to be work horses that use a lot of power and do a lot of work. There are times when a computer needs to be power conscious and a smaller processor is used even though it has less horsepower. An example of this is a cell phone, laptop or tablet PC. While the end user would like to have as much processing power as possible the battery life of the computer has to be considered. More heat is also generated from faster processors. CPU manufacturers are constantly trying to get more processing power out of their chips while consuming less electricity.

What is most important to the end-user is that the computer is able to run all of their programs without their computer crashing. If you are buying a computer that costs $400 you almost certainly purchased the slowest processor and RAM that was available for that computer. That doesn’t necessarily mean that all hope is lost for that computer. Brand name computers such as Dell, HP, IBM, etc. engineer their computers in most cases from the ground up. That means the component are designed to work with each other. The problem with that some components are proprietary. That means if you have purchase a computer that does not have enough CPU horsepower you may or may not be able to upgrade to a faster processor. Also you may only be able to upgrade the CPU to a small family of processors that are designed to work with that computer. Custom built computers are a bit more flexible in that components are more easily swapped because they are more generically manufactured.

Bottom Line: Some older computers can have their CPU’s upgraded to faster processors. This will help increase the speed and productivity of an older computer. When purchasing new computers I usually get the 2nd to best processor that can be purchased with the system. The 2nd best processor is fast but cheaper, more stable and more people are using it because it has been around longer. I almost never go with the cheapest processor. You usually get what you pay for. Users who are creating animations or 3-D renderings it is sometimes necessary to get the best processor.

If you would like to read more about CPU’s you can do it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit

If you could care less about CPU’s and just want someone else to think about it and take care of it we at Sublime Computers Services will do just that.

Adam Bell

Senior Systems / Network Engineer

Sublime Computer Services

We make your technology work

615-942-0850

adam@sublimecomp.com

www.sublimecomp.com

P.S.

Custom Computers: Custom built computers are not always better than a brand name computer. If you are going to have someone build you a custom computer make sure they have a long track record of building good machines.

Brand Named Computers: For businesses I recommend brand name computers. (We work mainly with Dell). I recommend a three year warranty on systems. The warranty costs less for the customer than having us come out and troubleshoot and fix the computer just once.

Desktop Optimization - RAM

2011-02-18T15:38:00.001-06:00

Since I have been running Sublime I have seen a lot of really “messed up” computers. We find a lot of computers that are painfully slow. Not all of these computers are 10 years old. It doesn't always make sense to either wipe and reload or purchase a new computer. As a result my team and I have been working on a desktop optimization process to help speed up desktops without having to replace them. If we can speed up or revitalize and existing computer we feel that is a benefit to our clients.

When you purchased your computer it seemed really fast. Did it slow down or did you just get used to the speed? Most of the time the computer has slowed down over time. I call that the Operating System creep. However, there are probably some task that have always been slow. It could be that your processor is not fast enough, you don’t have enough RAM, your network connection is inadequate or your computer is running out of disk space. I am starting a series discussing the different aspects of why a computer is slow and what can be done to speed it up.

RAM / Memory
The most common cause of computer not being fast enough is that there is not enough memory or RAM (Random Access Memory) The RAM is the “short-term memory” of the computer. The files that you are working on are stored in the RAM. If there is not enough RAM installed the “short-term” data has to be written to the hard drive. When data is being written to the hard drive that slows down the computers ability to work. The solution to that problem is to make sure that your computer has an adequate amount of RAM installed and the Paging File (The overflow of data being written the hard drive) is properly configured.

Here is the amount of memory that I recommend for computers based on the processor and operating system:

Windows XP, Vista and 7 32 Bit - 4 GB (3.33 will be usable)
Windows XP, Vista and 7 64 Bit - 8 GB

Compared to other upgrades RAM is inexpensive and can usually be added cumulatively to what is already installed in the computer. Not all RAM is created equal. You will need a technician or a sales assistant to make sure that you get the correct RAM for your computer.

If you really wish to geek out and read more on RAM you can do so at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory

Recommended Antivirus Programs

2011-01-24T10:16:00.000-06:00

I get asked a lot what Antivirus program that I recommend. I have yet to see a perfect Antivirus program. I have seen a virus or malware on every program that I know. It really depends on how badly you want to protect a computer to determine which Antivirus that you want installed.

If you are looking for a free Antivirus program I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. For the home user Microsoft Security Essentials does a good job of protecting without making the computer unusable. Version 2.0 adds network filtering and heuristic protection. I use Microsoft Security Essentials on my home computers. However I backup my computers every night in case I get a virus I can revert to yesterday.

If you are looking for an antivirus program that locks down the computer I recommend Kaspersky. It does lock the computer down but It doesn't seem to strangle the computer like other antivirus programs of that nature.

Antivirus programs are there to help us remain virus free but be careful where you surf. Not all of the internet is good.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Get what you pay for it
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Kasperksy - Business class Antivirus
http://usa.kaspersky.com/products-services/business-security/

My Favorite PDF Creator

2010-11-24T21:59:00.000-06:00

One of the tools that I use and make part of my standard desktop build for clients is PDF Creator. It is a free PDF creation program. It is fast and light. What I also like about PDF Creator is that it will print as a PDF, PNG, JPG, BMP, PXS, TIF, PS, EPS, TXT, PSD, PCL and RAW.

While it can create the PDF's and other formats it is not always the right tool for all users. It is not useful for users who want to create fillable form PDF's. If you want to create a straight PDF or the other file formats PDF creator is the right tool for the job.

I always remove the toolbar that it offers to install as part of the program.

PDF creator can be download here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

OpenDNS and Why You Should Use it.

2010-07-19T09:28:00.004-05:00

I have been using OpenDNS for a long time as a a name resolver. I just started using to OpenDNS for content filtering and network protection.

Many people including technicians have a hard time understanding DNS. The short answer is DNS is the phone book for computers. When you need to find www.google.com DNS tells your computer where to find the Google web server. By controlling the “phone book” OpenDNS is able to keep out a large number of websites that are unwanted. There are 26 different categories of filtering. Open DNS is useful in the home and at the office. I am currently using OpenDNS to protect my home and office network. I don't have to worry about my kids and/or employees seeing something unwanted or becoming victims of phishing and malicious websites.

OpenDNS basic is free to use for home and office. OpenDNS Enterprise will give you all of the features including malware protection. OpenDNS is easy to configure and it doesn't require any new hardware to work.

Here are links for more information about OpenDNS:

OpenDNS Website - Overview
http://www.opendns.com/solutions/overview/

Video of how to use and setup OpenDNS
https://store.opendns.com/videos/basic.flv

If you need OpenDNS setup or want to discuss the technology we are happy to help.
Sublime Computer Services, We Make Your Technology Work
Adam Bell
615-942-0850
www.sublimecomp.com
adam@sublimecomp.com

Monitor your Hard Drive’s Health with Acronis Drive Monitor

2010-06-16T18:39:00.001-05:00

Monitor your Hard Drive’s Health with Acronis Drive Monitor: "

Are you worried that your computer’s hard drive could die without any warning? Here’s how you can keep tabs on it and get the first warning signs of potential problems before you actually lose your critical data.

Hard drive failures are one of the most common ways people lose important data from their computers. As more of our memories and important documents are stored digitally, a hard drive failure can mean the loss of years of work. Acronis Drive Monitor helps you avert these disasters by warning you at the first signs your hard drive may be having trouble. It monitors many indicators, including heat, read/write errors, total lifespan, and more. It then notifies you via a taskbar popup or email that problems have been detected. This early warning lets you know ahead of time that you may need to purchase a new hard drive and migrate your data before it’s too late.

Getting Started

Head over to the Acronis site to download Drive Monitor (link below). You’ll need to enter your name and email, and then you can download this free tool.

Also, note that the download page may ask if you want to include a trial of their for-pay backup program. If you wish to simply install the Drive Monitor utility, click Continue without adding.

Run the installer when the download is finished. Follow the prompts and install as normal.

Once it’s installed, you can quickly get an overview of your hard drives’ health. Note that it shows 3 categories: Disk problems, Acronis backup, and Critical Events. On our computer, we had Seagate DiskWizard, an image backup utility based on Acronis Backup, installed, and Acronis detected it.

Drive Monitor stays running in your tray even when the application window is closed. It will keep monitoring your hard drives, and will alert you if there’s a problem.

Find Detailed Information About Your Hard Drives

Acronis’ simple interface lets you quickly see an overview of how the drives on your computer are performing. If you’d like more information, click the link under the description. Here we see that one of our drives have overheated, so click Show disks to get more information.

Now you can select each of your drives and see more information about them. From the Disk overview tab that opens by default, we see that our drive is being monitored, has been running for a total of 368 days, and that it’s health is good. However, it is running at 113F, which is over the recommended max of 107F.

The S.M.A.R.T. parameters tab gives us more detailed information about our drive. Most users wouldn’t know what an accepted value would be, so it also shows the status. If the value is within the accepted parameters, it will report OK; otherwise, it will show that has a problem in this area.

One very interesting piece of information we can see is the total number of Power-On Hours, Start/Stop Count, and Power Cycle Count. These could be useful indicators to check if you’re considering purchasing a second hand computer. Simply load this program, and you’ll get a better view of how long it’s been in use.

Finally, the Events tab shows each time the program gave a warning. We can see that our drive, which had been acting flaky already, is routinely overheating even when our other hard drive was running in normal temperature ranges.

Monitor Acronis Backups And Critical Errors

In addition to monitoring critical stats of your hard drives, Acronis Drive Monitor also keeps up with the status of your backup software and critical events reported by Windows. You can access these from the front page, or via the links on the left hand sidebar. If you have any edition of any Acronis Backup product installed, it will show that it was detected. Note that it can only monitor the backup status of the newest versions of Acronis Backup and True Image.

If no Acronis backup software was installed, it will show a warning that the drive may be unprotected and will give you a link to download Acronis backup software.

If you have another backup utility installed that you wish to monitor yourself, click Configure backup monitoring, and then disable monitoring on the drives you’re monitoring yourself.

Finally, you can view any detected Critical events from the Critical events tab on the left.

Get Emailed When There’s a Problem

One of Drive Monitor’s best features is the ability to send you an email whenever there’s a problem. Since this program can run on any version of Windows, including the Server and Home Server editions, you can use this feature to stay on top of your hard drives’ health even when you’re not nearby. To set this up, click Options in the top left corner.

Select Alerts on the left, and then click the Change settings link to setup your email account.

Enter the email address which you wish to receive alerts, and a name for the program. Then, enter the outgoing mail server settings for your email. If you have a Gmail account, enter the following information:

Outgoing mail server (SMTP):	smtp.gmail.com
Port:	587
Username and Password:	Your gmail address and password

Check the Use encryption box, and then select TLS from the encryption options.

It will now send a test message to your email account, so check and make sure it sent ok.

Now you can choose to have the program automatically email you when warnings and critical alerts appear, and also to have it send regular disk status reports.

Conclusion

Whether you’ve got a brand new hard drive or one that’s seen better days, knowing the real health of your it is one of the best ways to be prepared before disaster strikes. It’s no substitute for regular backups, but can help you avert problems. Acronis Drive Monitor is a nice tool for this, and although we wish it wasn’t so centered around their backup offerings, we still found it a nice tool.

Link

Download Acronis Drive Monitor (registration required)

Similar Articles	Productive Geek Tips
Quick Tip: Change Monitor Timeout From Command Line Analyze and Manage Hard Drive Space with WinDirStat Monitor CPU, Memory, and Disk IO In Windows 7 with Taskbar Meters Defrag Multiple Hard Drives At Once In Windows Find Your Missing USB Drive on Windows XP	TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window
Latest Software Reviews	Tinyhacker Random Tips
HippoRemote Pro 2.2 Xobni Plus for Outlook All My Movies 5.9 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server	Convert BMP, TIFF, PCX to Vector files with RasterVect Free Identify Fonts using WhatFontis.com Windows 7’s WordPad is Actually Good Greate Image Viewing and Management with Zoner Photo Studio Free Windows Media Player Plus! – Cool WMP Enhancer Get Your Team’s World Cup Schedule In Google Calendar

How to Check if Your Gmail Account Has Been Hacked

2010-05-27T10:38:00.000-05:00

How to Check if Your Gmail Account Has Been Hacked: "Here is a step by step guide to help you check and determine if your Gmail account has been hacked or compromised in any way, and steps to take to ensure safety.

Using Linux to Disinfect Windows

2010-05-27T10:35:00.000-05:00

Using Linux to Disinfect Windows: "

Are you responsible for one or more Windows computers? If yes then the odds are really good that you have had to deal with cleaning viruses and malware. Did you know F-Secure offers a free Rescue CD built on Knoppix for just this purpose? Let's take a look at how easy the F-Secure Rescue CD is to use. more>>

Blackberry Enterprise Server Express is Free

2010-05-03T10:13:00.002-05:00

In March 2010 Research in Motion finally released the Blackberry Enterprise Server Express. It is a free version of the Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) . In my opinion this has been long overdue. Without a BES small and medium business users have been stuck with either IMAP or POP email proxied by their wireless provider. Calendar, contacts and tasks required 3rd party applications to make them work. For the average user that is a lot of different pieces to keep going.

The Blackberry Enterprise Server allows users to sync their email, calendar, contacts and tasks. The BES software is installed on an Exchange Server, Small Business Server or stand-alone server (virtual or physical). The synchronization with the Blackberry phone is done completely wireless. Once the phone is activated the need to plug in the Blackberry to the desktop via USB ceases. The only reason to plug up the Blackberry is to charge it. The desktop manager becomes a web application that is hosted on the BES so the software doesn’t have to be installed on each desktop. Overall I am very pleased with the new BES software. The BES software allows the small and medium business customers to utilize all of the features of their Blackberry device and simplify the service.

For more information about the Blackberry Enterprise Server Express go to Blackberry’s web site: http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/business/server/express/

If you need a BES server installed or want to discuss the technology we are happy to help.

Sublime Computer Services, We Make Your Technology Work

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

How I'd Hack Your Weak Passwords

2010-04-12T20:38:00.001-05:00

How I'd Hack Your Weak Passwords: "Internet standards expert and blogger John Pozadzides knows a thing or two about password security and he knows exactly how he'd hack the weak passwords you use all over the internet.

Free Shred Day!

2010-03-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

Free Shred Day!

Richards & Richards, in cooperation with the Nashville Better Business Bureau, invites everyone, individuals and small businesses alike to destroy their confidential documents securely for one day only – at no cost!

Location: 1741 Elm Hill Pike, Nashville
Date: Saturday, April 17, 2010
Hours: 10am – 2pm
What: Free Paper Shredding!

Note – no need to remove paper clips, binder clips, staples, etc. our shredder can handle all of it!

Richards & Richards and the Nashville Better Business Bureau want to help the commuity to protect themselves from identity theft. So, pack up as much paper as you want – in boxes, cars or trucks and bring it to our location. We’ll shred it all for free!

Wi-Fi 'Finders' Helping Thieves Locate & Steal Your Laptop

2010-03-09T08:37:00.000-06:00

Wi-Fi 'Finders' Helping Thieves Locate & Steal Your Laptop: "leaving your laptop in the car for any reason, but, if you must, make sure you turn off the Wi-Fi signal first. According to Network World, thieves are using devices meant to locate Wi-Fi networks to detect laptops and steal them. Apparently, just closing the screen won't prevent your laptop from being detected, either."

Recover Operating System After Virus Attack

2010-03-09T08:36:00.000-06:00

Recover Operating System After Virus Attack: "

One of the problems that many computer users experience after a computer virus attack are changes to the system cause by the malicious software. This can for instance mean that system tools like the control panel or task manager do not open, that security permissions have changed, services or startup items have been added or modified or that processes run in the background that have been loaded by the virus.

It is sometimes impossible to fix the damage done to the system which means that in those cases only backups or new installations are an option. But most changes are not as severe. They can be fixed either by the antivirus software cleaning the malicious program or by a third party tool like Virus Effect Remover.

We have reviewed Virus Effect Remover in the past but it has evolved since then which is reason enough to take a new look at it.

The software is a specialized tool which becomes apparent after startup. There are lots of buttons and information displayed in the main interface from access to tools in the left sidebar to a tab driven interface that displays a processes tree and links to various tools that can be used to check and repair specific system settings, files and features.

The tools on this page allow a user for instance to scan services, startup locations, check system files, show suspicious files, generate a process list and about a dozens of others. And that only from the main tab.

The other tabs list autorun details, process details, files and folders options, unlocker, other tools and options. Some of those, like the files and folders options display another tab bar below which demonstrates the complexity of the program.

Virus Effect Remover links to various Microsoft Windows system tools like the Registry Editor, Group Policy Editor or MSConfig.

The program provides the user with many useful information about the operating system and controls to repair some of the damage that has been done by a computer virus.

Best Tech Guy caller EVER with Leo Laporte

2010-02-21T21:07:00.001-06:00

Best Tech Guy caller EVER with Leo Laporte: "A caller to Leo Laporte's radio show wonders why her wi-fi connection -- which she's never paid for -- has suddenly vanished."

Chuck Norris Botnet Karate-chops Routers

2010-02-21T21:07:00.000-06:00

Chuck Norris Botnet Karate-chops Routers: "If you haven't changed the default password on your home router, you may be in for an unwanted visit from Chuck Norris -- the Chuck Norris botnet, that is. Discovered by Czech researchers, the botnet has been spreading by taking advantage of poorly configured routers and DSL modems.

Sublime Computer Services - Full Time - Systems Administrator Needed

2010-01-18T10:03:00.000-06:00

Title: Systems Administrator
Skills: MCSE or MCSA, Microsoft Server 2000/2003/2008
Term: Contract
Travel: 40% Metro Nashville and surrounding areas

Job Description: The System Administrator for Sublime Computer Services will be employed to maintain and operate a computer system and/or network. The duties are wide ranging and vary widely with multiple organizations. The duties will include installing, supporting, and maintaining servers or other computer systems, planning for and responding to service outages and other problems. The System Administrator must have a strong grasp of computer security. This includes not merely deploying software patches, but also preventing break-ins and other security problems with preventive measures. Other duties may include scripting or light programming and project management.
The System Administrator must demonstrate a blend of technical skills and responsibility in order to perform their job well. Knowledge of operating systems and applications are required, as well as hardware and software troubleshooting, but also knowledge of the purpose for which clients use their computers.
A very important skill is problem solving under various sorts of constraints and stress. The System Administrator is on call when a computer system goes down or malfunctions, and must be able to quickly and correctly diagnose what is wrong and how best to fix it.
The System Administrator will exhibit a desire to help people, good communication skills, patience, flexibility, good time management skills, the ability to follow and create procedures, the ability to create documentation and enjoy being in a constant state of learning.

A basic list of applications and hardware that our clients use:
Server Applications: SBS 2003/2008, Active Directory, WSUS, DNS, DHCP, Group Polcy, FTP, Exchange 2000/2003/2007, SQL 2000/2005, IIS, Print Server Management and VMware.
Antivirus: Symantec and McAfee.
Firewalls/Routers: Watchguard, Sonicwall, Consumer Routers for Comcast, and ATT.
Networks: Wired, Wireless and Network accelerators
Backup Software: Windows Backup, Acronis, Symantec, Image for Windows, Macrium.
Cloud Software: Logmein, Dropbox, Google Apps, MS Sharepoint, MS CRM, Zoho CRM.
Client Software: MS Office suites, Open Office and Quickbooks
Mobile Hardware: Windows Mobile, Palm, Blackberry, Iphone and Google phones.

Please submit your resume to resume@sublimecomp.com . In your email please list the applications and hardware that our clients use with which you are proficient and to what degree.

Why Maintenance Agreements Are Good for the Client and the Consultant

2009-12-28T11:14:00.002-06:00

When I first embarked on building Sublime Computer Services I had no intentions of using maintenance agreements. My plan was to make our service so good that clients would continue to use us. Oh the naiveté of the good old days. I have discovered good service is not enough. I now understand that there is a level of sustainability that needs to be met for both. A maintenance agreement provides the framework for a good working relationship between clients and the IT consulting firm.

Our focus at Sublime Computer Services is the SMB (Small and Medium Business) market. The SMB market doesn’t typically have full time IT (Information Technology) staff. The SMB market has real IT needs but the needs don’t justify paying someone $50-70K per year to do the work. That is where we come in. There is actually a symbiotic relationship that occurs between our clients and us. We need the client to be successful and make good use of their technology and the client needs us to be successful to continue to support their technology needs. When I was on the other side of the fence I used to think that it was the consultant’s problem to stay in business. To a degree that is true. However it is hard to find good and reliable technical support. When one does find good help, retention is very important. There is a cost of time, effort and money to retraining new IT support. By retaining good IT support the cost of doing business will actually decrease. This is a result of the IT support being able to schedule work rather than putting out fires. Even with good planning there are still fires. A company cannot guess when a server is going to fail. Nor can they guess when a person is going to install a virus on their computer. The full-time availability of the consultant will ensure that when there are fires someone will be available to help. The maintenance agreement ensures that the client will have expert support when they need it and the consultant will stay in business to provide the needed support in a timely manner.

There are also benefits to the client and consultant relationship by defining the relationship. The maintenance agreement defines the things that have been left unspoken. For the client: Is my data held in confidence? When will tech support call back? When will I see tech support? What is this going to cost me each month? When are payments due? What do they actually do? Are my systems really secure? For the consultant: How fast and when do you expect support? How often do I need to visit the client? What services does the client want to pay for? When will I get paid? All of these things are good to know. I expect that all of my clients know that I am keeping all of their data in confidence. Confidentiality of client data is the ethical standard of my profession. However everyone knows what happens when we assume. With all good relationships communication is a must.

Here is the shameless plug: If you are interested in the maintenance agreement or the services of Sublime Computer Services go to www.sublimecomp.com and go to the services tab or download the Maintenance Agreement Brochure at www.sublimecomp.com/images/MaintenanceAgreementBrochure.pdf

Sublime Computer Services, We Make Your Technology Work
Adam Bell
615-942-0850
www.sublimecomp.com
adam@sublimecomp.com

Dropbox the Cloud Hybrid

2009-11-30T10:39:00.010-06:00

The buzz is the cloud these days. I think it is ironic that we are getting back to the mainframe days. I know it is a hassle to maintain my own data. I have to make local backups then I make offsite backups and I want different versions of my files in case I mess one up. It just seems easier to maintain those files on someone else’s server that keeps multiple versions and backups for me. They keep the server up 99.99% and deal with the infrastructure. All is warm and fuzzy in the clouds…….

I am actually not going to talk about the cloud. I am going to talk about a product called Dropbox ( www.dropbox.com ). I have been using it for almost two years and I have been very pleased with it. I use Dropbox to keep files replicated between my file server, my laptop and my employee’s laptops. When I travel to my client’s offices I need to have my documentation and the latest files available to me. Because I have Dropbox installed I am then able to update documents on the road. The documents get updated real-time to all of the other computers where I have Dropbox installed.

Here is why I say that Dropbox is a Cloud hybrid product. Dropbox keeps a centralized server that stores 30 days of versioned files. The central server coordinates between all of my computers. From the web I can login to Dropbox and access all of my files that are being replicated. If I make a change to the file from the web it gets replicated down to the other computers. Replication is happening in a hub and spoke method rather than peer to peer. I don’t have to keep my computers on all the time to maintain replication. If a computer has been off for a few days the data gets replicated to the computer when it comes online. This gives me the ability to work offline. Being able to work offline is important to me because I don’t always have internet access available to me.

Dropbox also allows you to share your folders with other Dropbox users. I am able to share specific folders with my employees without giving them full access to all of my files.

Dropbox has a long list of features - https://www.dropbox.com/features . The ones that are most important to me are:

• Works on Windows, Mac and Linux
• Automatically Synchronization
• Access to my files from the internet
• Collaboration
• 30 days of file versions
• All files are encrypted and transferred over SSL

Dropbox is free to use up to 2GB of data. I didn’t write this for the purpose of getting Dropbox referrals but since I did here is my referral URL https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTM3MjI3OTk .

If you need any help setting up Dropbox we would be happy to help.

Sublime Computer Services, We Make Your Technology Work
615-942-0850
www.sublimecomp.com
adam@sublimecomp.com

Top Anti-Virus Software Tested, Some OK, Others Useless

2009-11-09T14:16:00.001-06:00

Top Anti-Virus Software Tested, Some OK, Others Useless: "AV-Comparative.org recently released the results of a malware removal tests with which they evaluated 16 anti-virus software solutions. The test focused only on the malware removal/cleaning capabilities, therefore all used samples were samples that the tested antivirus products were able to detect."

Secret software turns Win 7 into a Wi-Fi access point

2009-11-03T08:35:00.000-06:00

Secret software turns Win 7 into a Wi-Fi access point: "

Way back in 2008, Microsoft wanted to add a feature to laptops that would allow them to become wireless access points when connected to Ethernet. The feature, which appeared on the Win7 roll-out list, is missing from the finished product but may be closer than we think.

By downloading Connectify, you can enable the Win7 feature and create a wireless connection. It’s in Beta right now so beware. However, it’s a cool little feature, especially if you need to share a single Ethernet cable with the whole office.

via PCWorld

Warren Buffett’s Advice to Budding Freelancers and Entrepreneurs

2009-11-02T08:52:00.000-06:00

Warren Buffett’s Advice to Budding Freelancers and Entrepreneurs: "

In 2008 Warren Buffett was ranked the richest person in the world. He made his fortune from investing in the stock market and buying out companies. I recently read a biography about Buffett and it inspired me to learn more of this peculiar billionaire. I came to learn that Buffett was an amazing person and despite accumulating billions, he was still very much down to earth.

It may sound totally amazing, but I live in a house the same size as Buffett and drive a car very similar to his car. No, I do not have a Rolls Royce and I don’t live in a palace…neither does Buffett. Becoming the richest person in the world did not make him sell the house he had bought for $31,000 in the 60’s and once he was the richest person in the world he bought a car which had been repaired from accident damage because “It was cheaper”.

Being a freelancer I began to think about what I had read about Buffett. How can we apply his business ability and technique to our career in freelancing? Warren Buffett may be offended that I have assumed what he would say, but I hardly think he will ever come across this article not least because he doesn’t even have a computer in his office. I therefore give you, what I think Warren Buffett would say to freelancers.

1. Well Done

Warren Buffett is well known for flattering people and he would probably flatter you and point out the positive aspects of your career. This is an excellent technique which we should all learn from. By flattering your clients and pointing out positive aspects of their business you could secure their custom for life.

There are several ways of flattering. You could mention the positive aspects of your clients business on your blog, or on a forum. You could even just say it to them without a “kissing-ass” attitude. For example you could say “Working for a business as well known as yours will help build my rep, so I look forward to working with you”

2. Don’t Blow Your Money Away

Taiyab wrote about additions which you can make to your workspace in order to become a more efficient worker. An ergonomic chair, an extra monitor etc are great investments. Do not, however, start buying a chair or an extra monitor for silly prices expecting that by paying ridiculous prices you will get more comfort or work efficiency.

Warren Buffett is likely to ask you why you made some of the additions to your workspace or your life in fact. He is well known for having an eye for a cheap bargain and despite being the richest man in the world, he dines at his local affordable steakhouse, not some fancy pants restaurant where a glass of water costs what most people earn in a month.

Many freelancers are in the habit of overspending, assuming that by doing this they will give across a better message to clients and will somehow feel better about themselves. The richest man in the world bought an accident-repaired car because it was cheaper and freelancers will spend their hard earned money on a more expensive car! This leads smoothly to my next point.

3. Think Independently

Buffett is well known for being a totally independent thinker. He rides the subway as opposed to having a chauffeured Rolls Royce, but also when he looks at the market and makes predictions, he thinks independently here as well. When you begin a project, you should think independently and do what you research and instinct tell you is right.

I had a colleague once who would not start a project simply because another freelancer advised him there was no market for it. He had researched the market and made clear minded predictions, but on the basis of advice from a person who had not researched anything, he didn’t do it. Soon, someone else did his idea an made a lot of money.

4. Don’t Get Into Debt…EVER

Warren Buffett is very different from other rich snobs. He has never borrowed money…yes, not a loan or anything. He has never been in debt and everything that he has made is from his own money. If Buffett can do it, so can you.

There is no reason why you will need to get into masses of debt. If you believe in a project then work harder and make more money and use your own money to build up your fortune. Do not go to the bank or your family. If you lose that money you will hurt your credibility, end up living a worse life and possibly break up ties of kinship and friendships. With your own money, even if you lose it, you only have to deal with your own emotions.

5. Put Your Eggs Together

Buffett is a firm believer in his own research. He believes that if you have taken every aspect of an investment into account and believe it will rise through your independent thought, then you should go with your gut and put as much money as you want into it. Believe in yourself and believe in your idea. Get the courage and go for it!

6. Run Everything Together

Buffett uses the profits of one of his businesses to fund the other. This is exactly what Buffett does and this is what you should do. You may feel that you are funding one of your projects more than any other project but this doesn’t matter. A project which needed more to go in may give more return. Don’t tie up money and be stingy about investing it in your business (that’s not to say you don’t spend wisely, though).

7. Deal in What You Understand

This ties in with other points. I have known many young entrepreneurs who will get into a hype and blow their money away. When I was younger I thought I would give the stock market a shot and so without any understanding I invested into a company on the bases of what someone had told me. I did not understand, at the time, what I was doing and subsequently lost money.

If you understand web-related projects, then ensure your projects are based around your own area of expertise. Your experience and knowledge will accelerate your business to serious profit making.

8. Don’t Sell

If you have set up an income stream online, do not fall for the trap of selling out. The Google brothers wanted to sell out when they were just starting out, on the basis of an offer for a few thousand. Just imagine how different the world would have been if they had made that decision. Warren Buffett is no different. He has been in Coca Cola since the 80’s and never sold out.

If you create something you enjoy and put a lot of effort into then sit around and let it bear you its fruits.

9. Give it Away

Warren Buffett has pledged to give 85% of his fortune to the Gates foundation. All young entrepreneurs should have a vision to make the world a better place and this should mean donating your money to countries where they do not have the opportunities which we do in the west.

By the time you read the above paragraph four people died in the world from hunger, three of them were children. Like my children, like your children. Imagine if we were born in a country where drought and poverty thrive. This is the logic that Warren Buffett uses, and that is why he does not lead the high life, because he plans to give it to the poor.

I believe that he would stress this point more than any other.

Would Warren Buffett say this or something else? Tell us what you think below.

If you found this article interesting:

Subscribe to our RSS feed and keep updated

Opt-in to our mailing list (see sidebar) to receive 20% off our marketing ebook for freelancers

Promote this article via the social media buttons/icons below

Comment with your experiences

Newly Reformatted Computer? You’ll Want to Use Ninite

2009-10-26T21:48:00.000-05:00

Newly Reformatted Computer? You’ll Want to Use Ninite: "

Last January, I asked you what your list of first installs on a computer was. We all have our own suite of applications and utilities that enjoy first dibs on a new/reformatted PC, and easily hours are spent locating the apps’ homepages and clicking on their respective download links.

With Ninite however, the process is streamlined. Simply visit ninite.com, choose the applications you want, and the site builds a customized installer for your convenience. And theoretically, it gets even better: if you’re really familiar with slipstreaming additional software onto your Windows installation disc, you can integrate your customized installer into Windows setup, potentially allowing a computer that’s usable from the get-go once you log in to your new Windows installation for the first time!

Check out Ninite at Ninite.com.

Post from: The Gadget Blog

Top 8 Programs That Can Make Your Computer Run Faster

2009-10-26T21:45:00.001-05:00

Top 8 Programs That Can Make Your Computer Run Faster: "It’s a common problem among computer users: after a few months, our computers become weighed down by programs and all sorts of other junk, and inevitably become sluggish. For the less tech-savvy users, this may induce thoughts like “Why is my computer so terrible?” or “I guess I could always upgrade this… what-cha-ma-callit RAM thing”.

Remove Fake Antivirus Software Programs

2009-10-19T20:35:00.002-05:00

Remove Fake Antivirus Software Programs: "

Fake antivirus software programs, also called rogue security software, are programs that seem to be antivirus programs when in fact they are not. They either are disguised viruses, trojans or try to sale another product to the user. Like “normal” trojans rogue security software is often difficulty to remove from a computer system as it usually uses background processes to protect uninstallation or tampering. Remove Fake Antivirus is a portable software program for the Windows operating system that has been designed to uninstall 27 different rogue antivirus software programs from the computer system. The following rogue security software programs can currently be removed with Remove Fake Antivirus:

Cyber Security

Alpha Antivirus

Braviax

Windows Police Pro

Antivirus Pro 2010

PC Antispyware 2010

FraudTool.MalwareProtector.d

Winshield2009.com

Green AV

Windows Protection Suite

Total Security 2009

Windows System Suite

Antivirus BEST

System Security

Personal Antivirus

System Security 2009

Malware Doctor

Antivirus System Pro

WinPC Defender

Anti-Virus-1

Spyware Guard 2008

System Guard 2009

Antivirus 2009

Antivirus 2010

Antivirus Pro 2009

Antivirus 360

MS Antispyware 2009

A click on the start button will initiate the process of removing these rogue security software programs from the computer system if they are installed. It starts by stopping running processes and removing the programs from the computer. The program seems to be updated fairly regularly by the software developer which makes it likely that new rogue antivirus programs will be added to future versions. Remove Fake Antivirus is available for download at the developer’s website. (via Raymond)

Windows Registry Watcher (5)

Secure Windows Services Configuration (2)

Password Protect Applications (9)

File Analysis (0)

Antivirus software Uninstaller AppRemover (19)

Why I Love Gmail

2009-10-17T13:19:00.006-05:00

I would like to just share that I was afraid of Gmail at first too. Now I could not live without it. (That is a bit dramatic. I could live without it but it wouldn’t be as much fun) I didn’t want to move from Outlook to Gmail. My friend Ken Scott sent me an invitation and I created an account in November 2004. I didn’t actually start using it until July 2005. After I made the effort and I migrated my data I have never looked back.

I am going to deliver some specifics that I like about Gmail better than Outlook. I am going to speak specifically to the client and OWA. There is a point that collaboration using Exchange can be better than Google Apps. I highly recommend Google Apps and Gmail for the Small and Medium business but I will not get into that in this discussion.

The Web Interface: The Gmail web interface is a better product that OWA (Outlook Web Access) for the following reasons.

1. OWA Requires ActiveX and Internet Explorer for full functionality

2. Gmail is written in Ajax and works in all major browsers this makes Gmail available anywhere on a computer that has an internet connection.

3. Gmail is hands down a faster product. Not just by a little but it blows OWA out of the water in terms of speed.

Message Preview:

1. I like the message preview in Gmail. It gives the subject and the first words of the message. This makes the preview process a lot faster. It also prevents a virus encapsulated email from automatically running on your computer. (not that you would need that since Gmail filters for virus’s freely)

Spam Filtering:

1. The spam filtering in Gmail has always been more accurate than Outlook. It is very frustrating in Outlook when you find something in the Junk folder and tell Outlook that email from that specific sender is a safe sender and the next mail from that person still ends up in the Junk folder.

Labels VS Folders:

1. I love labels. They are more powerful than folders. Outlook has tried to enter into this by using Categories. Kudos to Microsoft for Trying. But the categories in Outlook only focus on contacts. Here is why I like labels. Let say I have purchased an SSL certificate for a client. When I receive the confirmation email I will then label the email as “Purchases” and “Client A” now if I want to search for that email two months from now I can do a search or go to the Purchases or Client A folder.

2. Colored Labels. I love the fact that I create rules for specific clients that whenever they send me an email they automatically get labeled and each label is a different color. This helps me find emails visually.

Nested Email Strings:

1. The nested email strings save so much space and time. An entire conversation with multiple people shows as a single email with parenthesis and the number of conversations in the thread. You can read the unread conversation or expand the entire thread if needed. Outlook breaks each of the emails into separate emails. If you have had a long conversation or a project conversation over an extended period of time those emails can end up all over the place.

2. The conversation in the inbox - Screenshot

3. The conversation Expanded - Screenshot

4. Each email does not get created new since it is nested with the previous conversation. This also saves space.

Google Labs

1. Google Labs rocks. You can go to the Google labs and add multiple applications that will make your Gmail do much more than email.

http://www.googlelabs.com/

No Personal Folders

1. No more un-manageable and corruptible personal folders.

2. Google Apps free supports 7GB of email right now.

3. Google Apps Premium supports 25 GB.

Offline Copy

1. One of my concerns was that all of my email is online and if they go out of business or have a server failure all of my email is gone. Gmail has an offline version that will run in your browser even if you lose internet connectivity.

2. You can use Outlook and IMAP or 3^rd party software to download a copy off all of your email. I actually use Outlook with IMAP to download a copy of all of my email and it retains my folder structure.

Gmail can be used in Outlook or Web Interface.

1. You can straddle the fence and use Outlook from your office and have the Web interface available to you on the road or at home. I have a client who uses Gmail this way. It is not my favorite way but they are the client.

Synchronization

1. For the Blackberry Google provides Google Sync with synchronizes Calendar, Contacts and email via IMAP. Blackberry also has a Gmail client.

2. For the Iphone Google does Exchange Active Sync for Email, Contacts and Calendar.

CONS: It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t list some Cons.

1. You can’t do envelope printing like you can with Word and Outlook.

a. You can do mail merges by exporting your contacts.

2. The tasks are not currently synchronized. ( There may be some 3^rd party software that can be purchased to synchronize tasks)

3. There are specific collaboration things that Gmail does well and doesn’t do well. (once again outside of the scope of this conversation)

World's nastiest trojan fools AV software

2009-09-18T14:30:00.000-05:00

World's nastiest trojan fools AV software: "

Pounces on banking passwords

One of the world's nastiest password-stealing trojans evades detection by the majority PCs running anti-virus programs, according to a study that examined 10,000 machines.…

Case Study: WhatsUp keeps Legoland turnstyles ringing

Adventures in Forming My LLC

2009-09-14T10:35:00.002-05:00

When I started Sublime Computer Services in 2008 I wanted to be an LLC but I had no idea how to form the company. So I contacted a lawyer that I know who forms corporations for a living. I asked him if I needed his services to form the corporation. (Shame on me) He told me to come by the office and we could discuss what needed to be done. I did. In the back of mind I wondered how much this was costing me. We had a 30 minute meeting 15 minutes about kids and life and 15 minutes about the corporation. He told me that he would write up the paperwork but he would not file the paperwork for me and that would run me $1400 plus the filing fees. I told him “Wow.” I would have to get back to him. A couple of days later I was doing some more research on the topic and I wanted to make sure that my personal finances were separated from my business finances. I emailed the lawyer that I spoke to earlier and asked him should I wait to open a checking account until we have filed the LLC paperwork. I also told him I was not ready to file yet. (still didn’t have the $1400) He did not just reply back with a yes or no. He replied back with a “no” and an entire paragraph of legal jargon……. I knew it was coming……. The Bill.

I received a bill for $359 of legal services. I “assumed” one didn’t have to pay for services until they were rendered. Talking about working together really means billable hours for lawyers. I promptly paid the lawyer (what choice did I have) and told him that we are no longer doing business in any form or fashion he was out of my price range.

I didn’t give up there. I continued my research. I found http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/osbr/ You can go to the website and create your company and file your paperwork all for $300.

Now I was very confused. Why in the world would it cost $300 to file the paperwork that was going to cost me $1400+ from the corporate lawyer? In my experience when things are too good to be true they usually are. I marched myself downtown to hear it from the Secretary of State. They told me fill out my paperwork and write them a check for $300. In the afternoon I had my paperwork. They told me that I could have filled out the site online and formed the LLC. I have since checked out Tennessee Anytime and it is great.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the only thing I did wrong with the LLC. I filed the paperwork in November. I “assumed” that it would last for a year. It does. But that year is from January to December, period. I got to pay another $300 in January for my LLC paperwork. I should have waited until January to file.

The lessons I learned from the LLC process:

Take your time and do your research.
Don’t “assume”.
Don’t try to take it on alone. (Take pride in your service, don’t be too proud to ask for help)

Talk to other business owners. As long as they are not competitors they are happy to talk with you about getting started.
Get a good accountant.
Use caution before seeking legal advice. (it will cost you)

Make lawyers and everyone else clarify their billing process.

When filing online call your Secretary of State and confirm that the website you are about to use is legitimate. I found some sites that take advantage of ignorance.

Tennessee has good resources for starting a business

Sublime Computer Service - Bio's

2009-09-10T21:33:00.003-05:00

We have posted our Bio's to the website. I have tried to state our qualifications without sounding like a blowhard. You can see the pretty version by clicking here.

Adam Bell
Owner of
Sublime Computer Services, LLC

Adam Bell is the founder of Sublime Computer Services. Adam has been a professional in the field of Information Technology since 1997. He was formerly the Senior Systems/Network Engineer with Avondale Partners for Six years. Prior to Avondale He worked with HCA as a Systems Engineer and JC Bradford before that. Adam received his Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certification in 2003. He received his BS in Geographic Information Systems from Austin Peay in 1997.

Robin Bell
Operations Manager of
Sublime Computer Services, LLC

Robin Bell is the Operations Manager for Sublime Computer Services. Prior to joining Sublime, she was an Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Manager for the State of Tennessee and large industries such as Mattel, Home Depot and RR Donnelley Printers. She has been in a management role since 1990. She received a BS degree in Geology from Austin Peay State University in 1990 and a MS degree in Industrial Management Technology from Murray State University in 2002.

Jason Cannon
Systems Administrator of
Sublime Computer Services, LLC

Jason Cannon is a Systems Administrator for Sublime Computer Services. Jason is also a fellow entrepreneur. He has been an Information Technology professional since 1996. Prior to joining Sublime Jason has been an Independent Consultant, Telecommunications Engineer for HCA, a Systems Engineer II for Cisco Systems and a Network Operations Analyst II for St. Thomas Hospital. Jason holds a CCNA. He received his Associates of Engineering from Nashville State Technical Institute in 1988.

What is Software Piracy?

2009-09-01T09:20:00.006-05:00

I was doing some reading on Dice and I noticed a link about being a whistle blower for illegal software being used by companies. The reward can be up to 1 million dollars. I agree that software piracy is wrong. I really dislike the premise of whistle blowing. Companies and individuals need to purchase the software that they are going to use or they need to support the Open Source community by donating money, time or development. I don’t like the idea of IT Consultants or employees preying on companies for software compliance.

Most of the time that I encounter a client who is not software compliant is usually a result of client not understanding the software licensing. The software companies could really help themselves out by stating their licensing in plain English. Pay attention when you install software if it asks for license keys or if the disclaimer says “This software is for home use only”. If the software usage policy is unclear, talk to your IT staff or consultant. If they don’t know, contact a software vendor such as Dell, Insight or CDW. They have software consultants who can tell you for free if you are compliant in the way you are using the software. You may have to pony up some cash for some software but at least you can do it on your terms rather than on some lawyer’s terms.

We must have integrity as business owners and IT consultants. Our clients will notice and our businesses will show the results in profits.

If you need solutions or assistance with your software compliance we would love to help. Here at Sublime Computer Services we make your technology work!

Adam Bell
Owner of Sublime Computer Services
adam@sublimecomp.com
615-942-0850
www.sublimecomp.com

Here is the definition of Software Piracy from www.bsa.org:

Software piracy is the unauthorized copying or distribution of copyrighted software. This can be done by copying, downloading, sharing, selling, or installing multiple copies onto personal or work computers. What a lot of people don’t realize or don’t think about is that when you purchase software, you are actually purchasing a license to use it, not the actual software. That license is what tells you how many times you can install the software, so it’s important to read it. If you make more copies of the software than the license permits, you are pirating.

Simply put, making or downloading unauthorized copies of software is breaking the law, no matter how many copies or people are involved.

Whether you are casually making a few copies for friends, loaning disks, distributing or downloading pirated software from the Internet, or buying a single software program and then installing it on multiple computers (including personal), you are committing copyright infringement—also known as software piracy.

It doesn’t matter if you are doing it to make money or not — if you or your company is caught copying software, you may be held liable under both civil and criminal law. Civil penalties can be as high as $150,000 per software program infringed. In addition, introducing pirated software into your computing environment can open you up to the risk of damage to your network through defective software or malicious code.

How Freelancers Can Use Active Listening to Improve Business

2009-08-28T18:09:00.000-05:00

How Freelancers Can Use Active Listening to Improve Business: "

Imagine we’re having a conversation, and I’m telling you about where I live. I might describe how Eagleby is located between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and mention the names of important roads. I might explain that Eagleby is situated between twin rivers, and the bird life in our wetlands—including eagles—attracts bird watchers from around the world. I might also mention that the reputation of some parts of Eagleby is summed up by the name given it by the locals: “Illegalby”.

While I was talking, most likely you were only half-listening. Perhaps you were also thinking about lunch, organizing three things you need to get done this afternoon, daydreaming about how cool you think eagles are, evaluating some ideas for a new website, and wishing I would change the subject.

Now imagine that the context of the conversation was that you were about to drive to Eagleby to meet with me about an important job. You would have listened in an entirely different way. And that’s the difference between passive and active listening. In this article we’ll look at why active listening is an essential skill for freelancers.

What is Active Listening?

First we need to understand active listening a little better. What exactly is active listening? Steve Martin defines it like this:

Active listening is to make a conscious effort to hear and understand what others involved in a conversation [are saying]. In active listening, also sometimes known as empathetic listening, the listener paraphrases what the speaker has said and seeks confirmation that their understanding is correct.

It takes time to learn to listen like that. Here are four techniques that may help:

1. Learn to Hear the Non-verbals. Only 35% of communication is verbal. If you are only listening to words, you miss 65% of the message. Body language, facial expression and tone and rate of speech add to the message being conveyed.

2. Offer Feedback. Feedback lets the speaker know they are being heard. Giving feedback isn’t offering your own point of view, it is checking that you have understood the speaker’s point of view by rephrasing it. For example, “Fred, I hear you saying that you’re concerned I might miss the deadline.” Or, “It sounds like you’re not totally happy with the new design.”

3. The ‘What’ Technique. This technique involves asking questions that start with the word ‘what’. Some examples are:

What do you want?
What can I do for you?
What were you hoping for?
What do you see as possible?
What is the context of that concern?

David Flack explains the benefit of using ‘what’ questions: “Such questions reveal that the listener is open to any response. The listener has no agenda. He can then be surprised, informed or delighted—even outraged—by the speaker’s agenda.”

4. Don’t Give Advice Too Early. And never interrupt someone to give advice. It gives your client the message that you’re not interested in their point of view. And even if you think you know the right answer before you hear the whole question—after all, you’re a professional—you might be wrong. Or you may need to adjust your answer once you hear all the facts.

The World Needs More Listeners

We live in a fast-paced world. We lead busier and fuller lives than previous generations, try to fit more into our day, are more easily distracted, and are often trying to organize two or three things in the back of our minds. We have less time to listen.

And when we do listen, we multitask. We plan what to say next, or are distracted by unrelated issues. This isn’t healthy. We’re not giving the speaker our full attention, and they notice. And because we only remember 25-50% of what we hear, we’re missing out as well.

Some have identified one of the greatest psychological needs of our time is to be listened to. Active listening helps to address this need. It is a skill that must be learned—and people will notice when we do.

The Business Benefits of Active Listening

Active listening has proven very effective in counseling and conflict management, but it is also a very effective business tool:

It helps you clarify issues early. With active listening you are more likely to pick up on a different point of view or some misconceptions your client has. By hearing them, clarifying them, and offering some ‘what’ questions, you can stay on track and better a more satisfactory solution.
It helps you catch new opportunities. If you’re really listening to the needs of your client, you may pick up on specific needs they have that you can help them with.
It improves long-term client relationships. Chase Sagum explains: “Listening will set the tone for the rest of your communication. It will direct your efforts. By actively listening to clients, you’ll know the best way to communicate with them. Whether through email or phone, listening skills will foster the next steps in client relations. This can not only help businesses fine-tune their sales and implementation techniques but it will also help to create a long term client relationship, increasing visibility, referrals and market share.”

Where Can I Learn More?

Active listening sounds so easy, but it’s difficult to master. If you’d like to learn more, check out these detailed articles:

Avoiding Scams On Craigslist

2009-08-27T15:59:00.003-05:00

Avoiding Scams On Craigslist

I received an email from my advertisement on Craigslist asking for Sublime Computer Services to rebuild some laptops. It seemed like a normal deal right up to the point the client said they would send a check with the laptops. At this point I did a little Googling and guess what. It was a scam. They send you a check(BAD) for too much money then contact you and have you send them a check back for the difference.

It didn't happen to me. I am sharing so it also doesn't happen to you. I put together a fair deal I wasn't about to make a bunch of money but Life Rule: If it seems too good to be true it usually is.

Here is the correspondence for posterity:

**********************************************

ramond mark
to serv-2dhp6-134.

show details 10:00 AM (6 hours ago)
(Pay Attention to this warning)
** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY --- AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping
** More Info: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

--
Hello
Let us know if you are capable of repairing computers in volumes.

**********************************************

Adam Bell
to ramond

show details 10:09 AM (6 hours ago)

Can you tell me the volume and the time frame in which you need them repaired?

Thank you,

Adam Bell
Sublime Computer Services
We make your technology work

Read This Month's Tech Blog - Do you have a backup email server?
http://sublimecomptips.blogspot.com/

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

**********************************************

ramond mark
to me

show details 10:31 AM (5 hours ago)

got Pentium IV dell laptops . Below are the things needed to be done
one on each laptops.
1 Format Hard Drive
2 Install Win Xp with Service Pack 2
3 Microsoft Office Package
4 AVG Virus Software (Free Lifetime Updates)
5 Adobe Acrobat
6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case.
7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, cdsrom,
floppy, etc. Get back to me with your total cost for the services of
7 Laptops. I will pay you with a certified check .
I await your urgent response so that i can make Moving arrangements
and payment as soon as possible....Thanks

**********************************************

from Adam Bell
to ramond mark
date Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 3:43 PM
subject Re: IT Consulting For Small And Medium Size Businesses (Nashville, TN)
mailed-by sublimecomp.com

hide details 3:43 PM (27 minutes ago)

I estimate that it will take 8 hours to complete this project. We bill at $100 per hour for desktop work. We are running a Labor Day special until 9/11/09 where you would get 10% off. That would be a bill for $720.

I do have some questions for you.

Are all of the laptops identical? If they are all different they will require different drivers.

You asked for XP SP2. Do you specifically only want SP2 or do you want them to have SP3 and the latest updates? Do you have licenses for XP or did the machines come with an OEM license. It should be a sticker attached to the laptops if it came OEM.

Do you have licenses for the Office software either 2003 or 2007? Because MS requires activation you will need a unique license for each unless you have an Open License. - Or you could go with Open Office which is free.

Adobe Acrobat do you mean Reader(Free) to view PDF's or Adobe Acrobat(Not Free) to create PDF's. I use PDF Creator to create PDF's it is free.

Do you have the diagnostics disks with these laptops? - They can be downloaded from Dell's site if you do not.

Withstanding any hardware issues this should be accomplished in one or two days depending on what time of day we get the hardware.

Let me know.

Thank you,

Adam Bell
Sublime Computer Services
We make your technology work

Read This Month's Tech Blog - Do you have a backup email server?
http://sublimecomptips.blogspot.com/

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

**********************************************

ramond mark
to me

show details 3:49 PM (23 minutes ago)

Thanks for the reply. I am very sorry for the late in response and i
am okay with the price i have all the necessary software needed for
the service installations.... I will instruct my secretary to prepare
a check for you on your name and address . Do send me your full name
and address and your phone number so as to prepare the check and
shipping of the laptops to your address. i have a reliable shipper
that will pickup the laptops when you are done with it.I am looking
forward to hear from you,so we can have payment and shipping asap.
- Show quoted text -
**********************************************

This is when I knew it was a SCAM.

Here at Sublime Computer Services we don't SCAM you. We make your technology work! :-)

Adam Bell
Owner of Sublime Computer Services
adam@sublimecomp.com
615-942-0850
www.sublimecomp.com

How to Dispose of Old Computers Responsibly

2009-08-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

How to Dispose of Old Computers Responsibly: "

We all go through several computers and other electronic devices over a lifetime and getting rid of them is not as easy as throwing them in the trash. Today we take a look at how to dispose of your old machines in a secure and environmentally responsible manner.

With the new Windows operating system around the corner and an abundance of cheap computers on the market, you may find yourself asking what to do with your old PC and components. We will take a look at how to securely destroy private data on your old hard drive, ideas for repurposing, and how to get rid of them in a way that is friendly to the environment.

Ensure Data Is Destroyed

The biggest concern when getting rid of your old computer is ensuring important and private data doesn’t get into the wrong hands. Simply deleting your files and emptying the Recycle Bin is not enough. Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is the most popular free utility that will overwrite each sector on your hard drive making data unrecoverable. It is very secure and will deter people that use hard disk forensic analysis from retrieving your data. Burn the ISO image to disk and boot from it to get the main menu. From here you can choose the method you want to use to wipe the disk.

Using the advanced methods takes a considerable amount of time and unless you have government secrets or the KFC secret recipe on the drive, you might want to choose a quicker method. You can get a list of other methods by hitting F3 at the main menu. The quick method will overwrite all sectors with 0’s in one pass and might be the easiest method for home users. However, some with the right equipment could possibly still recover data from this method and is considered the least secure.

Using a degausser to wipe a hard drive clean is aimed at businesses and corporations that need to wipe out several at a time. A degausser magnetically erases all of the information on the disk platters. Buying a degausser is not very practical for home users as they cost around $2,000 and higher. You can pay for services from companies like Garner and SEM that will degauss and destroy your hard drive completely.

Another cheap and effective (and much more fun) method is taking an axe or hammer to the hard drive and smashing it into bits. Of course make sure you wear protective goggles and other protective clothing when smashing it up.

What Happens to E-Waste?

Even with best intentions and bringing your old computers and other electronic devices to recycling centers, it’s shocking how much is dumped in developing nations. Computers and monitors contain toxic levels of mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, and beryllium which are very unfriendly substances to the environment. PBS and 60 Minutes have done stories where they track items from US recycling centers to dumping areas in China and Ghana.

A digital dumping ground in Ghana.

From a 60 minutes story, a dumping ground in China where workers are using a vat of acid to extract gold components.

It is not all gloom and doom when it comes to disposing of old computers and other electronics though. Get to know your local recycling centers and find out how they dispose of toxic e-waste. A great site is from the Basel Network (mentioned in the videos) that have created a list of rigorously tested recycling centers certified as e-stewards.

Alternatives to Recycling

Just because a computer is too obsolete for your needs doesn’t mean it it cannot help someone else. There are several donation programs that will take your legacy computer , get it in working order, and give them to others who need a starter machine to get into the information age. One thing I do is destroy all my data with DBAN and put on a fresh version of Linux or Windows and bring it to a thrift store.

Other Options

Sell it. If your old computer has some value left you might be able to sell it on ebay or craigslist for a bit of spending money.
Repurpose it. Figure out a new way to use the old machine. Install a light version of Linux like Damn Small Linux or Puppy Linux to breathe new life into it, turn it into a firewall, give it to your child or grandparents for web browsing, simple word processing and games.
Keep it around for parts. I do some computer repair on the side from my home and it has been awesome having extra memory, NIC cards, and hard drives laying around. Even having an extra CRT monitor is nice to use in case one of the LCD screens goes bad.
Keep it. If your current machine goes down for some reason you will have a spare to hook up while getting it fixed or getting a new one. You can also use it to do geeky things like trying Linux or creating a network.

Conclusion

If you have private data like credit card numbers, security number, heck even your favorite pictures on the hard drive it is extremely important to make sure it is wiped out. If you need to recycle it, make sure it’s with a trustworthy company. Even if you donate or repurpose a computer, ultimately it will need to be disposed of but hopefully with more awareness we can help do it responsibly. Leave us a comment about how you get rid of your old machines.

Links

Download DBAN

Certified E-steward Recycling program

Full PBS Frontline Video About Digital Dumping In Ghana

60 Minutes Video about Toxic E-Waste

Similar Articles	Featured Wiki Articles
Increase the Cached Logon Count for Windows Computers on a Domain Friday Fun: How-To Videos Galore! Fixing Problems with Synergy on Windows Vista Stream Media To Other Computers on a Home Network with Windows 7 Disable Logon to Windows Computers When Not Connected to a Domain	Windows OS Code Names Get Diablo II Working on Windows Vista Why Codec Packs Are Bad Easter Eggs Tweaking a Dedicated Virtual Web Server Disable Smart Quotes in Word 2007
Latest Software Reviews	Quick Linux Tips
Blaze Media Player Pro ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 My Audio Studio AnyBizSoft PDF to Word 2.0	Copy Just the Last Two Days of Files to Another Directory Fixing Authentication refused: bad ownership or modes for directory Mounting a Shared VirtualBox Folder from an Ubuntu Guest Change the Hostname on a Redhat Linux Machine
Geek Arcade	Popular Forum Threads
Mad Monday Desktop Tower Defense Pro Frantic Boxhead: The Zombie Wars	(Solved) - your power plan information isn't available (vista desktop) File Extension Program Texting, PC to Mobile open with problem. i need help

Do You Have a Backup Email Server?

2009-08-17T17:33:00.001-05:00

So your office is large enough to warrant an Exchange server. You are done with the days of popping your email off an ISP. You have your own domain, your own Exchange server a fat T1 and you are in the world of collaboration. You have shared folders, contacts, calendars, Blackberry’s and Iphone’s. Everyone is working and life is good…… Things are good until a mid-week storm comes through town at 9:00 AM. The storm knocks out your power and your internet. The power comes up in 30 minutes and your internet returns after 2 hours. What happened to all of the email that was coming to your exchange server during that time? It all bounced back to the sender. Unless they call or keep trying to send that correspondence is gone. The sale, support or joke has dropped into the SMTP underworld. Now you start asking yourself “Why don’t I have a backup email server?”

What do you mean you are a small business and cannot afford to have two email servers? All it takes is another $2500 plus labor and you will have a spare email server sitting in your office next to your existing email server. However when the power or internet goes out then both servers will be offline. Well then let’s host it at a local data center. That won’t cost more than $500 more per month and now you are redundant. Or maybe not…

These are the kind of things that small business owners deal with all of the time. There are solutions that cost too much money then there are practical solutions. Fortunately the problem of a backup email server is an inexpensive problem to fix. If you do a search for backup email servers there are a number of providers. I have used dyndns.org, tzo.com and dnsmadeeasy.com. They are all affordable and fairly easy to use.

Here is how it works: You sign up with one of these backup email providers it will cost somewhere between $50 and $80 per year. You setup your MX records with a primary and a secondary record. Make the primary your server and the secondary their server. In the event that your server is down their server will receive the email. When your server comes back online their server will send the email to yours. Voila! I have also used this solution for clients who are moving offices. While the server is down they are not losing emails.

This is one solution of many. It is not very magical or sexy but these are the kinds of things that small business owners do to keep moving forward. It is not about throwing money at the problem it is about coming up with a solution.

If you need solutions or assistance with your email in any capacity we would love to help. Here at Sublime Computer Services we make your technology work!

Adam Bell
Owner of Sublime Computer Services
adam@sublimecomp.com
615-942-0850
www.sublimecomp.com

Free Tools to Back Up Your Online Accounts

2009-08-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

Free Tools to Back Up Your Online Accounts: "Cloud computing means you can store your data in web applications and access it from any browser, anywhere --but that doesn't mean you don't need a backup plan. Safeguard your data when a storm's a-brewing in the cloud with these tools."

4 Ways to Remove the Malware

2009-08-11T09:44:00.000-05:00

These are a series of postings from The How to Geek on how to remove the Spyware and Malware that get on ones computer.

Spyware and Malware are one of the largest culprits for computers becoming slow and "messed up". I should be grateful because it generates work for me but it also causes unhappy clients.

Here are the links to the removal methods. I hope you don't need them.

Remove Malware with Ad-aware 2009

Malwarebytes Antimalware

Spybot Search and Destroy

Super AntiSypware

Adam Bell
Sublime Computer Services
We Make Your Technology Work

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

How Does Spyware, Malware or Crapware Get on My Computer?

2009-08-09T22:20:00.000-05:00

A good Blog on How Spyware and Malware gets on ones computer from the How to Geek.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/2998/how-does-spyware-malware-or-crapware-get-on-my-computer/

Watch Out for that Bus!!!

2009-07-20T16:57:00.000-05:00

Is your IT contractor or employee allowed to go on vacation? Can you fire your IT personnel if they are a bad employee? Do you worry that the only person that has the keys to the kingdom has just left the country for his/her honeymoon? Do you know if your IT personnel gets hit by a bus that your domain name is still yours?

A business owner should know the answer to these questions.

Now don't freak out. These things all need to be addressed sooner rather than later but there is no fire.

Here are the basics of being responsible with your IT information. You cannot possibly understand all of the things your IT staff is telling you at all times. That is OK. You have figured out that you need to know the big picture and your IT staff is going to help get you there. However you need to have the information that is vital to your companies IT infrastructure. You would not let your accountant run without books why should your IT department be any different?

Passwords
As a business owner or manager you must have either a password safe or a spreadsheet that has all of the passwords for all things related to your company on file. The IT staff should update that list every time a new username or password is created. e.g. Administrator accounts, Vendors, servers, printers, related websites and domain registrars. (With the obvious exception of user accounts that change on a regular basis.)

I have two clients right now that do not have ownership of their own domain name. Their IT consultant at the time setup their domain name and made themselves the owner and the technical contact. Now we are going through the process of getting the domain ownership transferred over to the owner of the company. It is not likely that the IT consultant would do something malicious to the domain name now that you no longer work together. It is more likely that when it comes time to renew the domain that it won't get renewed. When you call up the domain registrar and tell them your website is down they will tell you that they cannot talk to you because you are not the owner of the domain.

Solutions:
Domain registrars allow three types of contacts. Owner, billing and technical. Make sure the IT staff sets up as many contacts as possible. Make sure those vendor services are registered to someone in the company.

In the event that an IT employee or contractor is leaving for a long vacation or leaving for good make sure to pay them to write put together a list of passwords and all things IT if they don't already have one.

Hardware Inventory
A hardware inventory is needed to help keep track of depreciation, location of equipment, warranty status and serial numbers.

Network Diagram
An inventory of the network can easily be combined with the hardware inventory. This is the map of your network. This will tell you the IP addresses of the printers, servers, firewalls, routers and DHCP scope.

Vendor Contact Information
This will save you and your company a lot of time when there are problems. When the T1 goes down you need to know who to call right away. They are going to ask you questions about your circuit ID and account numbers. That information should be compiled for each vendor in an easy to read list.

Solutions Documentation
Your IT staff should have a document or a ticketing system to write down solutions to major or chronic issues. There are free solutions like Spiceworks (www.spiceworks.com) and paid for tracking solutions. Or a simple spreadsheet can be created to keep up with these problems and solutions.

Conclusion
Documentation, Documentation and Documentation. Documentation will allow you to sleep at night, delegate projects to new employees, allow IT personnel to take a vacation and have the IT services run a bit more smoothly.

If you need any assistance with any of the things above feel free to contact us.

Adam Bell
Sublime Computer Services
We make your technology work

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

Using an Encrypted Database to Store Passwords

2009-06-23T14:57:00.000-05:00

As the world constantly moves into a closer relationship with the online services of the internet more and more passwords are required to keep our information safe. There are many methods to keeping passwords. E.g. Post-it notes, legal pad, text document or an encrypted database. Of those choices the encrypted database sounds the most secure however it also sounds the most complicated. On the contrary keeping an encrypted database is not any more complicated than writing passwords on a legal pad and locking them in a desk with a key.

Creating and maintaining an encrypted database is actually quite easy. There are many free, open source and retail products on the internet. The tedious part is finding and entering all of the passwords into the database.

You are probably still asking why is this better than my legal pad. Here is a list of benefits to the encrypted database.

One password will protect and access all of your other passwords.
You have the ability to search the database for specific entries.
If someone steals your computer and gets your database file it is encrypted. The thief is not going to have the computing power or time to crack it without Jack Bauer’s help.
Database entries contain usernames, passwords and website addresses. If you go to a website and it prompts you for a username and password open the database copy the password to the clipboard and paste it in the website. You don’t have to worry about typing long passwords correctly.
Random passwords can be generated and applied to websites. E.g. When a bank asks for a complex password and three security questions it is always a task to come up with a unique password that can be remembered. A solution to this problem is to create the entry in the database and let the software generate a random password that you don’t have to remember like this: 89vqIXOy .

There are always caveats with technology. One password controls them all. Don’t lose that password. Backup your database. If the hard drive on your computer fails the database is gone.

Here are two encrypted database programs that I like:

Password Safe - http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/
Kee Pass - http://keepass.info/

I did not go into tutorial on how to actually use the encrypted database because both sites have detailed instructions on how to use their software.

Mac and Linux have built in key chains or password safes.

Protect your information.

If you need help applying safe passwords to your organization contact me.

Adam Bell owner of Sublime Computer Services

We Make Your Technology Work

adam@sublimecomp.com

615.942.0850

www.sublimecomp.com

A Case Study of How Virtualization Can Save Your Business Money

2009-05-31T15:20:00.000-05:00

What is a virtual machine and how is it useful to my business?

A virtual machine is simply an instance of one computer running on the hardware of another. One computer can host many virtual machines with different operating systems. i.e. Windows Vista can have Window XP, Linux and Mac virtual machines running all at one time on one computer.

Scenario:

One database application that requires a Windows Server for multiple users or can be installed as stand alone.
One traveling manager with a laptop who wants to offload some of the data entry work to a new employee.
One traveling employee with a laptop who needs to help the manager enter data.
Another employee who works on a 64 bit Vista desktop computer.

Problems:

The existing desktop is 64 bit Vista and it is not compatible with the database application.
The Vista desktop user cannot install Efax because the software is not currently compatible with 64 bit.
The Vista desktop cannot install the HP scanning software because the software suite is not currently compatible with 64 bit.
The manager and the employee are not usually in the office at the same time.
A new server will cost at least $1000 plus the cost of the install.

Solution:

Install a virtual machine on the existing Vista 64 bit desktop using an XP Home license.
Install the database application in standalone on the virtual machine.
Install remote management software on the existing Vista 64 bit desktop so the manager and employee can access the virtual machine from anywhere.
Install Efax and the HP scanning software on the virtual machine because they are both compatible with XP Home.

Draw Backs:

Only one user can be in the virtual machine at one time.
The Vista desktop employee has to make sure that they don’t interfere with the virtual machine.

Conclusions:

The manager and the new employee can now both access the database application from anywhere.
A temporary solution for the company has been created. The manager and new employee can work in this capacity until the budget has been met to purchase a dedicated server.
The Vista desktop user can now use Efax and scan files with the HP printer/scanner until 64 bit drivers have been written.

Virtual machines are very useful tools which provide a small business the flexibility to solve problems without the need to purchase additional hardware.

Technology is changing and growing every day. If you have problems give us a call. There may be an inexpensive solution just like this one that your company needs today.

Adam Bell owner of Sublime Computer Services
We Make Your Technology Work

615.942.0850
www.sublimecomp.com
adam@sublimecomp.com

How to Save Time with Google Docs Forms

2009-02-16T11:09:00.000-06:00

Google Apps has a number of useful tools. While I don’t feel that Google Docs is ready to be the replacement for Microsoft Office at this time it has a number of great tools. Google Docs is a making great stride to replace the need to have Microsoft Office installed on ones computer. The tool that I am going to discuss in this Blog is Google Docs Forms.

Google Docs Forms allows you to quickly create, publish and receive data. A couple of practical uses are timesheets and surveys. Google Docs Forms does not require one to understand how to program any HTML or database repository. A proficient programmer can quickly punch out the code or reuse old code and make a form very quickly. With Google Forms a person without programming skills can also quickly create public or private online forms without the need to be proficient in web programming.

To create your own form simply go to Google Documents > New > Form.

Simply fill out the information that they wish to gather. You can play around with the different fields and form types that are available. Once you have created your form you have the ability to publish and email people to come visit your form. Once someone has filled out your form you can view the data in a Google Docs Spreadsheet or you can view a summary by going to form > show summary. One of my favorite features is the background color rules in the spreadsheet you can select a column and choose that if it has specific text to highlight that data in a specific color. As data is being entered it is automatically highlighted based on your rules.

As you work with Google Docs Forms you will find many uses for this tool. I personally use it for surveys and as an online Timesheet. I hope that you find it as useful as I do. The other great thing about Google Apps is that it is free. You don’t have to get the paid for version unless you are seeking the advanced features.

Adam Bell
Sublime Computer Services
We make your technology work

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

Google Apps – A Case Study

2008-12-17T14:00:00.001-06:00

Every person who has ever been associated or heard of small business knows that in small business every dollar has to count. The small business person has to think smart to survive. Google has created Google Apps which is a set of tools that are excellent resources for the small business owner.

Google Apps Standard Edition is Free or the Premier Edition is $50 per user account per year. The Standard Edition is loaded with everything that I have needed for over a year. I recently moved to the Premier Edition for the Postini email security.

Google Apps has a number of tools. The tools that I consider the most useful to my business are Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Sites. These tools are a beneficial to me because they can be implemented without the overhead of having a data center, VPN’s or expensive software.

Here is one case study to how my Office Manger and I can collaborate using Google Apps. Friday afternoon I have planned my activities for the following week and input my appointments on my calendar. I can also input the address of where I am going and Gmail shows the location on Google Maps in the appointment details. Monday morning I take my laptop and hit the road. I am scheduled to be with my client at 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM that day and my afternoon is open. While I am working with my existing client a new client has called and would like for me to visit them in the afternoon. My office manager goes into her calendar and she can see that I have the afternoon open. She also gives me a call to confirm that my afternoon is open. She can then enter into the calendar the name of the client, address and their phone number. I have Google Sync installed on my Blackberry which then synchronizes my updated calendar. My Office Manager also creates and shares a case file for the new client in Google Docs. I can open the file on my laptop, my Blackberry or any computer that has internet access. After my meeting with the new client I can update the case file for the new client. My Office Manager can now view the latest information about the client, how many billable hours I worked and how we can serve the client in the future. All of this was done without an Exchange server, file server or Microsoft Office.

To read in detail about Google Apps go to: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html

Adam Bell
Sublime Computer Services
We make your technology work.

615-942-0850
www.sublimecomp.com

Personal Backup Software

2008-01-22T17:06:00.000-06:00

There are a number of personal backup software packages out there. There are image backups, backup to disk or ROM, tape backups and online backups. With all of these choices it is overwhelming to a user which backup they should use. I personally recommend a double layered backup system.

Most people may think that having two layers of backup is going to be expensive or not necessary. That is not true. Services and software are much cheaper than they were in the past. As far as being necessary just wait until you have a single hard drive crash or a operating system go south on you and the only solution is to have the Geek Squad indiscriminately wipe your hard drive clean without even asking. All of those MP3's that you legally downloaded or resume that took three hours to build are now gone.

Ok. On two the good stuff. For a home user I would recommend a two fold backup system as follows:

Acronis True Image Home Edition $49.99 - http://www.acronis.com/
External USB 500 gb Hard drive to store your image backups. $139 - http://www.tigerdirect.com
Mozy Home $4.99 per month unlimited data backup - http://mozy.com/

How it would work:

Install Acronis on your computer to make an exact copy of your computer as it sits. Create the Acronis boot disk. (Done from Acronis in the start menu) Acronis can schedule or manually backup the computer while it is running. You want to let it do it's job while you are not in the middle of yours. Why would you want to run an image backup? Let's say you have a hard drive failure. You would go out and buy a replacement hard drive put the new hard drive in your computer. Boot the Acronis boot disk and restore the image of your old hard drive back on to your computer. Now you are back online. Acronis is also useful to recover a single file. If you overwrite or delete a file that you needed you can browse the backup drive, look for the last backup that had that file and restore it. For a single file it take about 30 seconds. You need to check your backups from time to time to make sure the disk isn't full or that backups aren't occurring because of some error.
With Acronis covering your assets why would one need another backup? Sometimes we assume a backup has been running and we have not just taken a look to make sure backups are happening successfully. We have a failure, lo and behold the last successful backup was 18 months ago. In some cases a computer and hard drive could be water, fire,virus or child damaged. Now you are looking for your Mozy Backup. Once you purchase Mozy you download the small Mozy client and install it on your computer. Choose the folders you wish to backup. Since Mozy allows you unlimited storage you can backup everything. Mozy does not allow you to backup the operating system. The inital backup can take days to complete depending on the amount of data you have on your hard drive. Once the initial backup is complete the daily backups will happen quickly. Mozy is web based. Now you can restore files and folder from anywhere.

This should give you a good idea of what you should do. You will need to go to Acronis and Mozy and get more in depth installation and usages instructions. Acronis and Mozy both have enterprise versions that are much more expensive.

Don't let your recovery be a disaster!

Sublime Computer Services Tech Blog

Working in Shared Office Space

Disaster Recovery - Image Backups

Sublime Computer Services - Desktop Optimization

Sublime Computer Services - Managed Services

Do Not Be an Administrator

The Top 5 Cloud Apps to Edit Documents

How to Properly Eject your USB key

How Does Google Protect Your Data in The Cloud?

Samsung Galaxy Tab MIFI Feature

Telecommuting: When You Cannot be in the Office

Suppliment Your Current Antivirus With Microsoft Safety Scanner

Why your wireless should be encrypted

How Carrier Exclusives Help and Hinder Mobile Devices

Carriers drop the marketing cash

Accelerated development cycle for hardware and software

Cheaper Wi-Fi only tablets get delayed

Smaller user base

User Dissatisfaction

Desktop Optimization - CPU

Desktop Optimization - RAM

Recommended Antivirus Programs

My Favorite PDF Creator

OpenDNS and Why You Should Use it.

Monitor your Hard Drive’s Health with Acronis Drive Monitor

How to Check if Your Gmail Account Has Been Hacked

Using Linux to Disinfect Windows

Blackberry Enterprise Server Express is Free

How I'd Hack Your Weak Passwords

Free Shred Day!

Free Shred Day!

Wi-Fi 'Finders' Helping Thieves Locate & Steal Your Laptop

Recover Operating System After Virus Attack

Best Tech Guy caller EVER with Leo Laporte

Chuck Norris Botnet Karate-chops Routers

Sublime Computer Services - Full Time - Systems Administrator Needed

Why Maintenance Agreements Are Good for the Client and the Consultant

Dropbox the Cloud Hybrid

Top Anti-Virus Software Tested, Some OK, Others Useless

Secret software turns Win 7 into a Wi-Fi access point

Warren Buffett’s Advice to Budding Freelancers and Entrepreneurs

1. Well Done

2. Don’t Blow Your Money Away

3. Think Independently

4. Don’t Get Into Debt…EVER

5. Put Your Eggs Together

6. Run Everything Together

7. Deal in What You Understand

8. Don’t Sell

9. Give it Away

Newly Reformatted Computer? You’ll Want to Use Ninite

Top 8 Programs That Can Make Your Computer Run Faster

Remove Fake Antivirus Software Programs

Related posts

Why I Love Gmail

World's nastiest trojan fools AV software

Pounces on banking passwords

Adventures in Forming My LLC

Sublime Computer Service - Bio's

What is Software Piracy?

How Freelancers Can Use Active Listening to Improve Business

What is Active Listening?

The World Needs More Listeners

The Business Benefits of Active Listening

Where Can I Learn More?

Avoiding Scams On Craigslist

How to Dispose of Old Computers Responsibly

Do You Have a Backup Email Server?

Free Tools to Back Up Your Online Accounts

4 Ways to Remove the Malware

How Does Spyware, Malware or Crapware Get on My Computer?

Watch Out for that Bus!!!

Using an Encrypted Database to Store Passwords

A Case Study of How Virtualization Can Save Your Business Money

How to Save Time with Google Docs Forms

Google Apps – A Case Study

Personal Backup Software