More than just websites!

Newsletter for January 2010

Backups – how and why you should do it!

 Print This Post | Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Would you be able to replace all your data quickly if your PC was stolen, damaged by fire or the hard disk unexpectedly crashed ?  Any one of these scenarios can spell disaster unless you have an up to date backup of your PC’s data.

Performing regular backups is your insurance again theft, fire and major hardware failures.

We are often asked about backups and these are our recommendations for a simple and effective backup system:

1. Purchase two identical external disk drives to ensure a copy of your data is always stored off site.  Swap the two disks over every day.  That way if there is a fire, break in or hard disk crash you have a backup that is only one day old and you know that you can be back in business in less than 24 hours.
2. Use Microsoft’s “ntbackup.exe” program as your backup software.  This is included with Windows XP.

If you use Windows XP Professional, the Windows Backup utility (Ntbackup.exe) should be ready for use. If you use Windows XP Home Edition, you’ll need to follow these steps to install the utility:  [Download complete Backup Document]

Posted in Office Efficiency | No Comments »

What are Google Ads ?

 Print This Post | Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Anyone can advertise on Google.  All you need is a Google “Adwords” account.

No matter what your budget, you can display your ads on Google. Connect with potential customers at the magic moment they’re searching for your products or services and only pay when people click on your advertisement.

We have vouchers offering new Google Adword’s customers $75 worth of free advertising.  Just ask and we’ll send you the details so you can use one to setup your new Adwords account.

We can help you set up accounts so that adverts will usually cost less than $30 per month.  For small businesses these can be configured to cost as little as $5 per month.   This is free if you design the adverts and have chosen your required keywords.

Generally what we do to reduce fees to less than $30 per month is to set up your account so that your adverts only appear when potential customers enter specific keywords.  Competitive businesses such as plumbers, electricians, physiotherapists, etc would spend $30 per month to target their local area and should expect to generate well over $200+ of new business.  Less competitive businesses can use Google Ads for as low as $5 per month.

We can set up and monitor your Google Ads account for a small fee.  We can also set it up so adverts only appear for specific keywords (eg “plumbers Kenmore“ rather than generic terms (eg “plumbers”).  This means fewer potential customers but less cost per new customer.

To sign up for Google Ads you need a credit card.  Google will then bill you whenever your account is over a set $ amount (usually every month).

Check out the following links for more details:-
http://www.google.com/adwords

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay-per-click

Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

Is this email genuine ?

 Print This Post | Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Don’t download viruses, trojans or get sucked into a scam…

Everyone using email receives mail from unknown sources and we often get asked to check if an email is genuine or not.  Unfortunately, some mails are scams; others carry more sinister viruses which get activated if you click on programs attached to the mail.

Check out the the top 10 email scams currently circulating the web at this link (About.com: Internet for Beginners website)

The most common e-mail scams are the surprise inheritance letters (usually from Nigeria), surprise lottery wins (where you never actually purchased a ticket!), domain name scares (you have to renew your domain name with a particular company before it’s too late) and what are called “phishing” emails which link to phoney web pages.  It is the phishing emails that are the most dangerous because they appear to be sent from a company you know (such as a banking institution) and asks you to verify some details online.  You unknowingly enter your account details and password and before you know it, your well-earned money is sucked out of your account.

Watch out for the disaster relief scams.  Whenever there is a natural disaster and there are genuine bank accounts set up to receive donations from the public, there will also be a multitude of fake emails linked to fake websites ready to receive your money.  When you want to donate to a disaster, visit the bank in person or use the banks normal website.

Finally, there are the chain mails which arrive from your best friends and you have to pass it on to 10 of your friends or else you’ll get bad luck, lose all your friends or disappoint a poor child.  These are what we call time-wasters and Internet blockers.  If you are too worried to delete the mail without carrying through the instructions (and annoying your 10 friends in the process), please pass them on to us and we’ll break the chain!

Here is a simple way to determine if an email sent from your financial institution, facebook, Microsoft or Adobe is real or not.  You should do this to every email you get before clicking on any link.

Sample email:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your trust in Adobe’s various software and office applications.

Adobe PDF is pleased to announce a new version for PDF Reader/Writer which enables you to view, create, edit  and print PDF documents. Please follow our step-by-step instructions to either download or upgrade your Adobe PDF Reader/Writer application.

1. Visit Adobe PDF website or copy and paste the following link to your web browser: http:// bogus website address.com/downloads.
2. Get instant access, Download new version of Adobe PDF, install and get your application most updated.

Thank you for choosing us, the worldwide leading PDF Reader/Writer solution provider.

Adobe PDF

Hover mouse over the link and you will see its URL (web address).  Does the URL look valid?  If not then delete the email.

Even if the email looks valid I still delete it.  It the company wants to tell me something I am sure they will still tell me when I next log on.   It’s always best to log onto a company’s official website to check out details of any new updates or news; never go via an email link.  Note that all genuine banks never ask for personal password or account details by email.

If you are unsure about a suspicious email you have received, check with us – we’ve probably also received it (and already deleted it).

Posted in Anti-Virus Software, Email | No Comments »

Is my website down or is it my computer ?

 Print This Post | Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Sometimes when a website is not accessible, the question is whether the problem lies with just your computer or whether the site is down for everyone.  Follow these steps to diagnose what has happened when you cannot get onto a website and you see the all too common 404 ‘Not Found’ error.

Step 1: Online Checker

Use an Online Checker such as www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com to see whether the issue is related to just your computer.  The online checker program will then tell you if the site is up and running or not. If it says it’s working then you have a problem on your computer.

For complete instructions on how to use the Online Checker program and for other tips to diagnose the possible cause of a website problem, please download this document Unable to see my website.

If you experience on-going access problems, you may want to try a different hosting provider.

Posted in Internet Problems | No Comments »

Installed AVG Free, now what ?

 Print This Post | Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Last month we gave instructions on how to install the free AVG virus checker.  Here’s how you check the results of the AVG Virus scan which your computer should be automatically doing when you leave it turned on overnight.

1)  Double click on the little coloured AVG icon which you’ll find at the bottom, right-hand corner of your screen.  (It’s a small square consisting of 4 little boxes, yellow, blue, green & red).  If you can’t see it, click on the “<” icon to display any hidden icons and hopefully the coloured AVG one will be there.

2)  When the AVG Anti-Virus Free screen is displayed, click on the “Computer Scanner” button which is the 2nd button on the left hand side.  Note the date and time of the next scheduled scan.

3)  Click on the “Scan History” button which is found at the bottom of the screen.

4)  A list of the scan results will display.  Anything with a green icon next to it means everything was ok (ie no viruses found).  Anything with a red icon next to it means a virus of some kind has been found.  Note that you are only interested in the last scan that ran.  Double click on the last scan time to see more details.  If it was all ok, you’ll see the words “No infection was found during this scan”.  If a virus was found, you’ll see the number of infections found and whether they were removed or “healed” or not.  If they were removed then your pc is safe again.

5)  Exit the AVG program by clicking on the small red “x” in the top right hand corner of the screen or by clicking on the File/Exit menu item.

If you need advice on any viruses found which were not removed or healed by the AVG program, please give Peter a call on 3374 1361 or 0413 792 448.  He’ll help you get rid of them.

Posted in Anti-Virus Software | No Comments »

What disks should I keep with my new pc?

 Print This Post | Thursday, January 28th, 2010

In the excitement of purchasing and installing a new PC, the diskettes or CD-ROM’s that come with it are often cast aside.  New PC packages often include several disks or CD-ROM’s containing hardware configurations or software such as:

a)       Drivers (eg network card, sound card, video card)
b)       Operating system (eg Windows v7 or XP)
c)       Other software (eg MYOB, MS Office)

These disks often get misplaced before they are suddenly needed again in the future.  You are unlikely to need them until the PC is about two years old when you may need to upgrade software or hardware such as a new monitor, mouse or keyboard.

We recommend putting a sticker on a new PC so that you can easily link any stored diskette to the PC.

Keeping all disks associated with a PC in a readily accessible place means that your PC can easily be rebuilt if it has a hardware problem or if you sell it to another person.  This can mean an instant return on your initial investment.  For example, a second-hand five year old XP machine could be worth $300 to a buyer versus negligible value without the diskettes.

Posted in Office Efficiency | No Comments »