Setting up a secure password is one of the simplest, and most important things to do to ensure your PC and information stays safe.
If you answer no to 3 or more of the below – it is probably time to change up your passwords:
- Do you use the same password for everything?
- Is your password less then 6 characters?
- Does your password include at least 2 numbers?
- Does your password include atleast 1 symbol like an ! or * or a $ or ?
- Have you updated or reset your password(s) in at least the past year?
Many people wonder if their logins are more secure if they change their passwords regularly. If you have the habit of telling others your password then the answer is yes, change them and change them often!
It is important to keep your passwords secure by adding in random variables, and to not use the same password for important logins (your bank, or an eCommerce store) as you do for potentially unsecure logins like a forum.
The reason is that if on of the sites you are using gets hacked they are most likely to turn around and use your information right away to try to get access to the rest of your digital life.
HINT: If you start seeing strange, small transactions that you don’t remember making – call your credit card company. These could be a hacker sending through test transactions to see if the card is still valid.
Please do us techy types a favor. Stay safe online!
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Bookmarks make life for everyone easier. It is much easier to click on a bookmark versus typing a url of a site that you use on a regular basis. You may have figured out this trick lies within the bookmarks of Chrome.
How many bookmarks can you fit under the address bar in your Chrome browser? 5? 10? Well you can fit a lot more, while keeping it neat and tidy. The trick is as simple as:
1. Add a bookmark to your bookmark bar by clicking the star to the right of the address bar.
2. Remove the title of the site.
Now you can have 30, 40, or even 50 icons sitting on the bookmarks bar. That is 30-50 bookmarks at your fingertips at any given time, not hidden by any folders. You may feel unorganized and like you will not be able to find a site with a sea of favicons floating below the address bar. That is simply not true because we humans are very visual creatures. I organize my bookmark bar in alphabetical order even though it is just the icon. You would be surprised that when you look at an icon your brain automatically thinks of the word.
The upside, since I have 50 bookmarks across the top of my browser of my most frequently visited sites I rarely have to type in a url. First world problems, right?
The downside, I have learned to despise any site without a favicon. I will not even consider bookmarking it.
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This article is made especially for those of you who have celebrated one of the various holidays this time of year and received or even gifted a new PC.
These days, PCs need a refresh every 18 months or so. That refresh can come in the form of hardware upgrades, or even just wiping it out and starting over with a fresh install of your Operating System. In any case a new PC is like a clean slate, an opportunity to properly setup and prepare your PC for prolonged use. Here are our top 7 tips:
1. Perform all Windows Updates
First things first: it is of utmost importance to catch up on all of the latest and hopefully greatest updates Microsoft has released. Even though your PC is brand new, the files that were used to install your operating system in the depot could be quite old.
In Windows 7 hit Start > All Programs > Windows Updates
2. Install an Antivirus program like Avast Free Home Edition
There is quite a debate out there on the topic of free vs. paid for Antivirus. Typically the argument of paid for is promoted by those who stand to benefit (hint hint) and backed by more robust features that stem beyond Virus and Malware protection.
At the end of day, we suggest to most of our clients that a paid for option is ideal – our stance constantly changes based on what the different vendors are releasing.
However, one thing that hasn’t changed is our stance on the best free antivirus product being Avast Home Edition. Avast regularly updates there virus definitions (the data that tells the software what to look out for) and offers cool features like Boot Scanning which runs an impressively deep virus scan before your Operating Systems boots up.
3. Remove the Free Trials that get crammed down your throat
The trend of jam packing new PCs with trial software ranging from Antivirus, to Microsoft Office, eBay, games and anything else that represents an opportunity to upsell you on something, or obtain your information for statistical marketing purposes for the vendors ecosystem.
We always remove all of this junk – and strongly advise our customers to keep them off unless there is a specific reason that compels you to opt into these programs sometime in the future.
The easiest way to do this is to select Computer > Select Uninstall Programs and comb through the list to find any programs that you do not need or include the words trial and demo. If you are unsure as to what a program does – make sure you Google it before you remove it, or if you are a Remote Techy customer – start a live chat support session with our team.
4. Turn off Aero and Adjust customer appearance settings
It is no secret that Windows Vista and Windows 7 are what we in the techy world would call resource intensive … or in regular english, pigs!
One of the big memory hogs is the Aero display – the feature that Microsoft has used to try to make their product stand above the look and feel of Apple’s Macintosh Operating System. Unfortunately, for most people who purchase reasonably priced PC’s – this means slow performance! Follow the below steps to fix this:
Right Click Computer > Select Properties > Click Advanced System Settings > Settings under Performance > Visual Effects > Custom > Check only the features shown in the image to the right.
5. Setup a mandatory page file
This little tweak often times helps increase the memory buffer used on your hard drive that helps you run programs on your PC. Typically this is automatically set but taking a few moments to force a minimum will help to simplify things – to change this follow the below process.
Right Click Computer > Select Properties > Click Advanced System Settings > Settings under Performance > Advanced > Change (under virtual memory) > Select the Custom Size radial > Set the Initial and Maximum Size to whatever the recommended amount is at the bottom of the window (see the screen shot for an example). If you have more than 1 drive, do this for each!
6. PC Performance Optimization with CCleaner
CCleaner is a free PC management tool that lets you: increase browser speeds by clearing your cache, manage startup items, perform basic registry optimization and manage your installed applications.
While this and a lot more proactive features are included and maintenance tasks automated with the Monthly PC Tune Ups included in our support programs – for those of you who are not currently customers, you can mimic part of this by downloading and installing CCleaner.
Click here to download CCleaner today – it is one of the preferred tools by our team.
7. Promise us that you won’t install any toolbars this time around!
Toolbars are the bain of any techie’s existence. Not only do 99% of them out there create security threats to your PC and interfere with your web browsing experience and the performance of your web browsers. Promise us and yourself that you will do it right this time by not installing any toolbars!
And remember, if you don’t know how to do something, or wish there was an easier way to get the instant tech answers you need check out our online tech help services perfect for small business owners in any field.
]]>In the name of the illusive New Years Resolution we decided to embark upon preaching the importance of an automated, little to no cost data backup apps.
As I am sure you know, there is no shortage of options out there to choose from, but the main backup options that stand out (and have been thoroughly tested by our team) are SugarSync and Dropbox.
While we have all heard about the security mishaps with cloud based Amazon offerings, there have been no major issues (at least that we are aware of with either of these two options).
SugarSync at a Glance:
Unlike other tools, SugarSync doesn’t require a lot of system power to run in the background. So there is no need to worry about your PC’s performance dipping as your files get backed up.
Every new user gets 5 gb of free storage in the SugarSync cloud which is hosted in the Pheoniz, AZ based Carpathia Data Centers. Click here to learn more about their setup with Carpathia.
Upon signup, you are presented with a fairly simple install process which let’s the app install into your system tray (we want to try to avoid jargon but to clarify this is down by the clock).
You can then select which folders you want to backup, or just have it backup your entire My Documents folder, and perhaps Desktop if you are the type of person who stores a lot of crap there (tsk tsk!)
Once you are all setup you can add a second computer plus a mobile phone and set them to automatically sync across all devices. If you upgrade to the paid version for $5 per month, you can add more even more devices, perhaps each desktop in your office, and expand to 30 Gigabytes of storage.
While there have been reports of file sync errors, and trouble dealing with the support team on these matters – for the most part our clients and our team have not had any major issues.
SugarSync Mobile
Our team found the mobile feature especially cool. If you are on the road a lot and need access to the odd PDF, Powerpoint or Word Doc – you can install the SugarSync App and pull up anything you need pretty quickly. You can also share files with people via email, if say your colleague needs a presentation or report that you have stored locally on your PC at the office.
After playing with the mobile piece, it became apparent pretty quickly that it would be nice to be able to attach files from your SugarSync to your corporate email account on your phone rather then send using your registered SugarSync account and send through the SugarSync email system. For those of you who want to send from your desktop or laptop – there is a SugarySync to Outlook plugin available to make this easier so you dont need to actually attach the file – but can just include a link in the email.
Another down side to SugarSync is that you cannot easily share files with other SugarSync users. You are forced to setup share folders – which make for accessing files and sharing files a bit difficult as it must be done through SugarSyncs file manager and cannot be done right from within the typical file explorer window (show screen shot of the file manager)
The 600lb Gorillla that is Dropbox
To be upfront. For business purposes – this is our definite favorite (and we were not even paid to say that!).
Dropbox is simple to use, gives you 2 gb for free on sign up, and has a similar install process to SugarSync (with the exception of some nicer graphics and instructional information).
The potential downside is that Dropbox uses the Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) Cloud to store backups of your data. In our opinion, that mishap earlier this year (read more about this here) is not one worth losing sleep over – any, and just about every tech company has had their hiccups. Especially while pushing the envelope as Amazon has done.
Now for the good stuff.
The major, major benefit to Dropbox in our opinion is that you can easily drag and drop files to your Dropbox storate location right from within your usual file explorer. No apps to deal with – just business as usual!
Admittedly, the Dropbox folder will take some getting used to and possibly a bit of rearranging of your file structure – but once you get it ironed out, all of your files are accessible by anyone who you choose to share your specific folders with – whenever, whereever.
Pretty powerful stuff when it comes to keeping everyone informed and information easily accessible!
Dropbox Mobile could be Better
While the base functionality comes stock with the Dropbox Mobile App, the experience is missing the ability to easily send specific files via perhaps what Dropbox views as more archaic means of communication – like email!
Adding and removing users from Boxes is also only available from the Desktop app. However that said, if you can overcome these two deficienicies – the ease of use and the peace of mind knowing that Dropbox is simply working makes it all worthwhile.
As an added bonus, check out this Lifehacker Article on tips to maximize your free Dropbox storage!
That’s all folks!
We hope to hear your thoughts, and about your own experiences with either of these services.
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