We have had a busy year so far, but we always have time to fit in another customer, the best way to contact us is via Text message, 24×7. We can respond as quickly as possible then.
Windows 10: The big question in many minds is upgrading to Windows 10 a good idea? The short answer is probably no, at this stage. Microsoft has been quite persistent with messages offering a ‘Free’ upgrade. In fact any upgrade within the first 12 months will be free. (until July 2016 although based on past experience this may be extended. ) We are getting a lot of upgraded machines through the workshop that have failed during upgrade. There are many reasons for this, usually because some important features are not working like printing, or its just frozen during the upgrade. Usually we revert the machine back to Windows 7 or 8.1 and it is fine again. (It’s relatively easy to do this in the first 30 days after upgrade) By Microsoft standards, Windows 10 is very young, and immature. There are definitely bugs in it, which we trust will be ironed out in the next release. So, unless there is a feature you know you need in Windows 10, then it’s not really worth the risk to upgrade until at least the next bug fix release.
For new machines used for business, we still supply and recommend Windows 7. It’s stable and it works! If you buy a brand new laptop or SurfacePro, it probably has Windows 8.1 on it. We recommend that you do upgrade this immediately, i.e. before you install any applications on it. We have done this many times without issue.
Viruses: We have seen a spate of Outlook based emailed viruses lately. The Outlook gets taken over and mass mails all your contacts with a virus. We tried twelve well known anti virus programs, only one detected it, and none of them removed the virus. So currently we are removing the virus manually and are getting pretty good at it! If you receive an email called “New program”, delete it immediately. If you receive a mail with an attachment, even from a known friend, that has an ending of .ZIP or .EXE , delete it. If your Outlook is firing out emails with the subject New program. Shut it down and call your Computer Guy ASAP.
Spring Clean and Health Check: Just as you (should) have your teeth checked every 6 months, an annual computer clean up and health check is important to ensure stress free computing. We inspect all the hardware and software, looking for any components that may be starting to fail (like Data Hard Drives), clean out redundant software and ensure that your anti virus is doing its job. When was you last check up? Text or email for an appointment.
Training:
Learn how to maintain your own laptop, in Hornsby Monday 19th and 26th October. Register here:
Learn the basic operation of a computer (Computer Essentials 2) in Hornsby 4 weeks from November 10th here
Learn how to use LinkedIn for business with Cheryl Alderman in St Ives Nov 23rd here:
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Oct 2015
