Mach4 Computer Services

Microsoft are releasing their new Office version this week.

The microsoft newsroom for Office 2010 is here

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/2010office/Default.aspx

The biggest visible improvement is the loss of the Office ‘pearl’ and normal drop-down toolbars are restored.

For those customers who have purchased, installed and activated a licensed copy of Office 2007 since 05 March 2010, a free upgrade to the 2010 equivalent is available through the Microsoft website

http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/tech-guarantee/

Click in the right hand column to register. This offer does not apply to discounted versions (such as student discount editions), and is valid until 30 September 2010.

This opens the possibility of purchasing a reduced price 2007 edition after the release of 2010, applying the upgrade, and saving cash!!

Go for it.

If you would like a quote for a licensed copy of Office 2007 or 2010, email info@mach4cs.co.uk

All versions of Windows have a couple of self maintenance applications that will help to maintain your PC or notebook at factory speed.

This is particularly applicable to notebooks/laptops/netbooks, many of which are supplied with only 1GB of RAM and running Vista (which is quite memory hungry compared to Windows 7).

Back up your system files via the restore centre (set a restore point).

Go into ‘Programs’ >Accessories > System tools and right click on ‘Disk Clean up’ then pin to start menu. Repeat the process for ‘Disk Defragmenter’; both applications will now appear in your start menu and remind you to run them.

Disk Clean Up removes a lot of unwanted files that clog up your hard drive and make it harder to find files that are needed to run programs, each option for clean up will provide a description if highlighted; run this once a week to declutter your drive(s)

Disk defragmenter takes several hours to run in Vista and you should allow for this; it brings file segments together so that it takes less time to find and open the files. The more often you run it, the less time it takes!

You may also wish to check that your virtual memory (swapfile) size is set to be at least 1.5 times the size of your RAM and there are different ways to do this; for Vista/7 : Control Panel > Performance Info…….. > Advanced Tools > Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows > Performance options > Advanced > Virtual Memory > Change . You can set the size you like or let the system manage the size. If you have more than one hard disk in your system, set the file to run on a different drive to Windows and it will run more efficiently.

A system restart will be required to benefit from the new settings.

If your system continues to run slowly, contact Mach4CS for a system check and/or memory upgrade.

Our research shows that many computer users of my generation have different computing requirements to other age groups.
The 5 main uses are listed as:

• Word Processing
• Web surfing for shopping
• Digital Photo manipulation, printing and storage
• Email
• Video meeting through Windows Live or Skype

On the first day of Christmas, Windows sent to me, a corrupt registry.

On the second day of Christmas, a seller sent to me, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

On the third day of Christmas, the Postman brought to me, three more bills, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

On the fourth day of Christmas, a client brought to me, four hard drives, three more bills, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

On the fifth day of Christmas, a trader sent to me, five floppy disks. Four hard drives, three more bills, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

On the sixth day of Christmas, Yeller sent to me, six PCs crashing, five floppy disks. Four hard drives, three more bills, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

On the seventh day of Christmas, Thompsons sent to me, seven notebooks swimming, six PCs crashing, five floppy disks. Four hard drives, three more bills, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my website brought to me, eight screens a cracking, seven notebooks swimming, six PCs crashing, five floppy disks. Four hard drives, three more bills, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

On the ninth day of Christmas, a phone call brought to me, nine PC upgrades, eight screens a cracking, seven notebooks swimming, six PCs crashing, five floppy disks. Four hard drives, three more bills, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

On the tenth day of Christmas, an email promised me, a win in the lottery, nine PC upgrades, eight screens a cracking, seven notebooks swimming, six PCs crashing, five floppy disks. Four hard drives, three more bills, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, a virus brought to me, eleven worms a worming, a win in the lottery, nine PC upgrades, eight screens a cracking, seven notebooks swimming, six PCs crashing, five floppy disks. Four hard drives, three more bills, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, the sales brought to me, twelve discount vouchers, eleven worms a worming, a win in the lottery, nine PC upgrades, eight screens a cracking, seven notebooks swimming, six PCs crashing, five floppy disks. Four hard drives, three more bills, two dodgy mice and a corrupt registry.

Having a good password (and using it) is essential, but is yours ’strong’ enough to resist persistent hacking attempts?

Test your password safely on this microsoft site

https://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/checker.aspx?WT.mc_id=09Home_Password_Checker

Remember to change your password regularly!!

So, your desktop computer has stopped working and you face the quandary of whether to repair, or replace it with a new one.

Replace:

• Cost from major retailer - £300 - £800
• Cost from Mach4 from £200
• You can retain the monitor, mouse and keyboard
• The printer may not be compatible if it has an parallel port connection; most new motherboards do not support parallel ports and this function has been replaced by USB, ethernet or wireless printers (for some motherboards, an add on parallel port is possible).
• If the hard disk is damaged, a new operating system may be required.
• Files and settings transfer can be expensive is carried out as a stand-alone service by some IT technicians.
• Programmes may have to be repurchased or replaced if supplied with the PC.

Data can be lost when the media that it is stored on fails, but can often be retrieved from corrupt hard drives, CDs, DVDs, memory cards and flash (USB) drives.

There are a variety of methods for this, the most complex being the dismantling and reconstruction of hard drives under laboratory conditions, the simplest being retrieval through specialist software. Neither method is quick, but both can be effective and save our customers many hours (or days) of work in rebuilding their databases or re-entering their tax returns!

Part of the process is to scan the corrupt media for malware, such as virus infection as, if corrupt files are transferred to the new drive, the problem will repeat itself when the file is accessed.

Contact Mach4 for estimates for recovery and sanitisation of your lost data.

We received this nice blog from Georgina at http://vocaltutor.wordpress.com

“As you can imagine Vocaltutor uses a lot of pc storage space, especially with 10,000 backing tracks. Twice in the last 18 months Vocaltutor has had problems with external hardrives, dying and eating files! Vocaltutor now have two external hard drives running, and the main one is backed up onto the other every Friday. Vocaltutor would strongly advise everyone with a PC to do this. Losing work, including a book you have written that took 6 months, can be stressful and heartbreaking. Well thanks to Mach4 Computers Ltd , the last time our external hardrive decided to have a fit, the brilliant David Stelmach stepped in. He was able to recover 70% of the files, which I am hugely grateful for, and has recently (in the last two weeks) been able to restore the Health Singing Book I have been writing, so I am able to continue working on it. David’s fees are incredibly low, compared to places like PC World, who can’t always help anyway. I was told, ‘just send it back to the manufacturer’ which at the time would have taken months and been no good to me.

So if you need advice on storage or need help with your PC, Mach4 can definitely help.”

Want a nifty little free broadband speed tester and advice? Check out this site:

http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk

It will tell you your current upload & download speeds and compare alternative internet service providers (ISPs) by postcode. It will even tell you how far you are from the telephone exchange!

A client recently reported that an intruder had ‘invaded’ their PC and laptop and ‘captured’ their desktop. The client was playing online poker and a ‘desktop.ini’ file had suddenly appeared on her desktop, they were unable to delete the file by conventional means and the computer was being controlled remotely. A previous computer local computer service company had formatted the hard disk, re-installed the operating system and loaded McAfee AV software, but the desktop was re-captured the next time they logged onto the poker site.

Firewall settings were upgraded, the computer was disconnected from the internet and the router switched off. McAfee was uninstalled and Kapersky Internet Security loaded. The anti-hacking software in Kapersky has detected and quarantined the file and all appears to be good.

It is advisable to contact your internet services provider and the site hosting the poker game to inform them of the event; they are keen to reduce such interference and may even be able to identify the hacker(s). Also, it is inadvisable to rely on Windows Defender alone to protect your system and anti-virus software alone is also often inadequate.

Another preferred option for regular surfers is to use an alternative to Internet Explorer, the most commonly used and hacked surfing interface, try others like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

Your system can also be hijacked locally, either via the WiFi connection or your Bluetooth enabled COM port (known as ‘bluejacking’); these are within the range of your device, so make sure bluetooth is turned off (or disabled) when not required and that your WiFi connection is secure.

If you think a particular website is acting as a gateway; don’t use it!

These bugs can be a swine to get rid of!!