The Ports on Your Computer

What is all that stuff?

This is roughly what the back of your computer looks like. If you have a laptop you may have some of these items placed about the machine. A daunting task for anyone purchasing a new computer is seeing this and connecting the right cabling to the right port. Here is the good news; if it fits, you are probably OK. That doesn't mean forcing anything to fit either (almost all technicians can attest to seeing this at some point in time). 

Knowing that if it fits is also aided by the fact that most cables and connectors are coloured the same as the corresponding port on the computer. 

What do they do?

Starting left to right:

PS/2: These are your keyboard and mouse ports of old. Generally speaking, keyboards and mice use the USB interface.

VGA, DVI and HDMI: These are the video ports, whereby video is transmitted from the computer to your monitor, TV or projector.

Optical drive: This is the lesser used audio port, mostly used for high quality output of audio to home theatre or production level mixing boards.

USB: Where almost all accessories go into. Printers, flash drives, external hard drives, digital cameras etc.

IEEE 1394 (Firewire)/ eSATA: These are faster versions of USB that are lesser used. eSATA devices are gaining in popularity, expect to see more devices using this port in the future.

Of course if this all becomes too much and you have cables going places they likely don't belong, there are convertors available and you can also give us a call.

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner

#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2

Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896

Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca  or service@northerncomputer.ca

Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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Password Protection for User Accounts

If your computer is used in a multi-user environment, such as a workplace, home, or shared dorm-room, you may want to consider password protecting your user account. For most users, privacy is essential - which is why assigning a password to your computer's user-account is an excellent option for everyone. Windows 7 makes account password protection an easy process. To create a password for your account in Windows 7:

1. Open User Accounts by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking User Accounts and Family Safety, and then clicking User Accounts.
2. Click Create a password for your account. Note: If your user account already has a password, you can change your password by clicking Change your password.
3. Type the password in the New password box, and then type the password again in the Confirm new password box.
4. If you would like to use a password hint, type the hint in the Password hint box.
5. Click Create password.

- Clay P, Network Support Technician

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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What you Need to Know about Computer Warranty

When purchasing a computer it is important to consider your warranty options, and there are a few. Do you want onsite or depot warranty? How long do you want your warranty to last? What do you need it to cover?

hat’s covered under warranty: Warranty covers hardware defects. It does not cover software issues, viruses or breakage. Let’s say your computer won't boot because your hard drive has failed. Warranty will cover the physical replacement of the hard drive and the labour to replace it, but it does not cover reloading the operating system (Windows), transferring data, installing an antivirus program or any other software you have installed.

Some manufactures have local depots that do warranty repair for you, but others don’t. So it’s important to find out who can do warranty work for your brand of computer and where they are located. Here at Northern Computer we are warranty authorized for the following computer brands: Integra, Lenovo, Toshiba, business line HP computers as well as other server and printer brands. If you have a laptop that you travel with it’s important to make sure your warranty is international. But on top of that find out how many international depots there are. For instance if you buy a Toshiba laptop, you will have an international warranty, but in Canada there is only one international Toshiba depot and they are located in Ontario.  You would have to ship your laptop to them.  An onsite warranty option means that a technician will come to your site of business or home location (within a 100km radius of a Lenovo service center) and repair the problem there.

When you are buying a new computer it will come with either a one or three year base warranty. From there you can choose to extend to four or five years. You can also decide to add a warranty upgrade that covers breakage. Different manufactures call it different things such as Systemguard or Protection Plus. This covers breakage, spillage and basically anything that goes wrong with your hardware, even if it’s caused by you! At Northern Computer we are the warranty depot for Lenovo’s Protection Plus coverage.

If you live in a remote area, and there are no repair depots near you that can do warranty work, there is yet another option for you that some manufacturers offer. Lenovo calls it Easyserve. This allows you to call the manufacture yourself and explain your problem to them. From there Lenovo will arrange for a courier to pick up the computer and deliver it to a Lenovo repair depot. Following its repair, Lenovo will arrange delivery of the computer back to the same location. Shipping is included with the Easyserve warranty!

Since there are so many options to consider, be sure to have one of our Northern Computer Sales reps help you customize the best warranty that fits your needs and budget.

- Francine F, Warranty Coordianator

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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Home Security and the Internet

Some people live with the illusion that they have protected their home networks from internet attacks by purchasing a firewall.  Manufacturers even promote this by identifying their products as firewalls. Sadly, most users are not protected by a firewall, but by the simple router. 

What’s the difference between a router and a firewall?  Without complicating it too much, a router acts as a junction point between the computer (or computers) in your home and the internet.  It has the ability to route your computers requests to the internet and route the responses back to your computer.  A firewall has this ability as well, but also offers another level of security by actually inspecting all the information and making some decisions about if it should allow it or not.    Since most routers are relatively simple devices, they act as a firewall because they are not capable of complex tasks, like routing internet requests back to your computer without some assistance. 

A very common attack on the internet is called a DOS (Denial of service) attack.  A hacker floods a website with requests for information that don’t exist and the website becomes overrun with requests, and service degrades.  Hackers have been known to exploit this attack to gain access to a site. How is it done? Usually a hacker will gain control of unsuspecting computers around the world, and use them to launch these attacks.  Your home computer could be infected and used as a pawn.  A router would simply pass your computer’s requests on but a sophisticated firewall could identify the traffic as suspicious and notify you.

So, how concerned should you be? It really comes down to your personal comfort level.  A basic router provides adequate protection.  Make sure if you have wireless access on your router, that you encrypt this as well.  Keep your computer’s antivirus updated and run a regular scan.  When you do have problems, deal with it promptly.  The old saying “locked doors keep honest people out” is pretty a good analogy.  You leave in the morning and lock your front door, as you head to work.  If someone wants access to your house, it’s fairly easy for a professional to gain access.  The same is true with the internet, if someone wants access, they will get it.  With millions of computers on the internet, and thousands of unprotected machines available, your chances of attracting attention are pretty slim.

- Mark S, Network Support Technician

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca  or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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Speed up Your Computer's Startup Time

One of the most irritating issues when using a computer is a slow start up time. For most it is as quick as hitting the login button, but for others, it’s a dreadful time. If you ever Google “how to speed up my computers start time” you will come across thousands of articles, all with different suggestions and ideas on what to do. Though I don’t agree with all of them, I went through and compiled a list of my top 7 suggestions that I find to be the most helpful.

7)      Disable Start-up Programs:

The first thing I do when I hop onto a user’s computer for the first time is check out what programs they have loading on startup. To check this out in Windows XP go into your start menu, click run and type in MSCONFIG. If you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7 open up your start menu and in the search box type MSCONFIG and enter. Now click on the STARTUP tab. This will tell you what each application is so that you can decide which you would like to turn off.

6)      Uninstall Unused Applications:

Your system is greatly affected by the amount of hard drive space available to it when it starts up. If you notice your computer’s hard drive is getting full or is in the red, it is time to clear out some of those programs. Go into the Start Menu, and press Control Panel; for Windows XP -  Add and Remove Programs, and for Windows Vista/7 - Programs and Features. Right click any applications you don’t use and click Uninstall. 

5)      Remove Unused Fonts:

This one I had never heard of before, but after looking at countless articles and blogs suggesting their removal I am a believer. When windows starts it loads EVERY font you have installed. Go to the Control Panel and find Fonts. For Windows XP if you find fonts you do not use delete them. With Windows 7 you can now hide fonts from start up. While holding down the CTRL key you can click on each font you don’t use. When done just click hide on the top of the window. Note that disabling a few fonts won’t make a difference but with Microsoft Office installed Windows will have over 300 fonts installed. Fonts to keep? Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma and any other fonts you like the previews of. 

4)      Installing New RAM:

As the saying goes after you buy a new PC it is out of date. But for most users, their computers can be between 3 – 5 years old and may have not been upgraded to meet the new requirements of applications and operating systems. RAM is a cheap and effective way to not only speed up the start up of your computer but the overall experience as well. 

3)      Scan For Viruses:

Many people are unaware that their computer has been infected with a virus. They take up computer resources to run and propagate. Running antivirus software and scanning software found online can remove the infection and bring your computer back up to speed.

Alright so you have tried all of these, but your computer is still running slow. There are two more suggestions to help make your computer run faster. 

2)      Reinstall the Operating System:

Yes it is what we like to call a wipe and reload. Erase the hard drive and start from scratch. Before you do this make sure you have backed up all your data to an external hard drive for safe keeping. This allows a baseline installation with no overheard to start over and only install the programs that you need. 

If this is not doing do the trick then there is only one more thing you can possible do...

1)      Buy a New Computer:

This day and age computers are mass produced and cheap. Often, for the price of a technician’s time to look and fix these issues, you can have yourself a nice new computer tower or laptop. If you purchase a system from Northern Computer, we can transfer over your data with your purchase. It may take some getting used to, but once you, do you will love it!

-Keenan F, Network Support Technician

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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Healthy Networks are Happy Networks, Part II

In the first article we explored what comprises a network, and how maintenance is important.  In this article, I want to expand on what is involved in the maintenance of a network.

Network health needs to be maintained.  An unhealthy network will eventually begin to experience problems and performance will be affected, to the point where significant down time will be experienced. 

Physical structures:

These are the visible parts of the network - workstations, switches, servers, printers and any other devices that make up the network.  Ensure workstations are replaced at the end of life.  A single slow computer can pull down the performance of the entire network.  Switches are notoriously reliable and can last for years and years, but a faulty or poor performing switch can be difficult to diagnose.

Backup systems:

Backups are like insurance.  Nobody seems to care about them until they are needed.  Check your backups regularly.  You should regularly verify a backup by restoring a file, and also monitor the size of the backup and how long it takes to complete. 

I once discovered that a client had not been getting a backup for over a year because of changes that were made in the system.  The problem was not detected because the backup was completing successfully. When the client reviewed the logs, he had failed to notice that the size of the backup had dropped to almost zero.  Backups are a great way of monitoring network health.

Updates:

This is a more difficult aspect of a network to maintain.  All computers, INCLUDING the server need to have windows updates applied regularly and event logs checked for errors.  Many updates are security fixes for weaknesses and potential faults that hackers will explore and exploit.  Failing to keep up with these updates can have serious consequences.  New viruses often take advantage of these faults and can consume the entire network, resulting in days of downtime while the problems are resolved. However, there can be a downside with installing updates. Sometimes the updates result in changes to the system, and various services need to be adjusted.  Windows updates, or even software updates, can fail to install correctly and cause problems.

Monitoring:

It is very common to overlook checking the event logs on a workstation or server.  Often everything seems to be working correctly and it can be several days, weeks or even months before an underlying problem causes the network to degrade. A common problem that I have seen is when a hard drive, which is used to store information, begins to fill up.  One of the first problems that occurs is the inability to print.  You restart the computer, and printing is restored for a period of time, only to fail again.  The event logs are full of errors, but they aren’t always visible to the user.

Northern Computer offers two programs to assist with maintaining network health.  IT Manager assigns a dedicated technician and sales associate  to your site that are responsible for looking after some or all of the above tasks.  We assume some of the responsibility for maintaining network health and the cost becomes a fixed monthly price.

We are also offering a new service where we will monitor and advise you of potential problems, allowing you to control what work is performed.  Talk to us about these programs and how we can assist to ensure your business has a reliable network. 

 

- Mark S, Network Support Technician

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca  or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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2 x The Monitors = 2 x The Work Efficiency?

Many people spend a good part of their day at their computers and most will have multiple windows open, moving from one screen to the next. I find that I will sometimes have so many windows open that I spend too much time looking for the window that I need. Adding an extra monitor can help to increase productivity when you are multi-tasking. I often compare documents or cut and paste from one document into another and I find it very productive to have two the windows open side by side.

Setting up a second monitor is easy too. If you do not have Windows 7, Vista or XP installed, you may have to install a display driver from your computer’s manufacturer.

Can you really increase productivity with multiple monitors?

1.      Do you ever spread out different items over your desk in order to organize?

2.      Do you often have to flip between an email and a related document?

3.      Do you find yourself having to copy or cut and paste from one document to another?

4.      Do you ever have to review two versions of the same document at the same time?

5.      Do you spend a lot of time switching between programs?

6.      Do you edit photos in a folder and refer back to the originating folder for more pictures?

7.      Do you use information from the web or documents when composing an email?

8.      Do you waste time trying to sort through different widows to find the application or document that you need?

If you answered yes to any of the above, an additional monitor will most likely help you to be more effective at multi-tasking.

Benefits of Multiple Monitors

1.      Eliminate the need to print pages of wasted paper that is thrown away after reviewing it.

2.      Increase efficiency, productivity and save time. Stop wasting time sorting through open applications and documents.

3.      Easy comparison of documents.

4.      Share data easily between applications.

5.      Use multiple programs simultaneously.

6.      Keep your email, POS system or other commonly used program open on one screen at all times and use the other screen for the project you are working on.

Dual Monitor Setup

In order for your computer to support a dual monitor, you must have more than one monitor connection on the back of the computer. The connections will need to match the monitor cables. These may be DVI connectors, VGA connectors, HDMI connectors, or S-Video connectors (for using your TV as a monitor). See the chart below for a description of the different ports. A laptop, if manufactured in the last several years, at a minimum should have a VGA port for setting up another screen.

1.      All that needs to be done at this point is to plug in the monitor cable to the corresponding port on your computer and make sure that the monitor is turned on. Your computer should automatically detect the second monitor. If not you may have to restart your computer first.

2.      Lastly, you may have to configure your displays if you are connecting a laptop or your desktop does not automatically detect the second monitor. For a desktop,  your settings should be set to automatically extend your display, but just in case, follow these instructions for Windows 7 (Vista and XP may vary a bit).

·        On your desktop, right click and select screen resolution or click on the start icon and click on the control panel, then select appearance and personalization. Click on adjust screen resolution.

·        Select extend these displays from the multiple displays drop down menu. This will allow you to spread your desktop over two screens. Other options include only using one of the monitors or duplicating the monitors.

To move windows between displays, click on the title bar of the window and drag the window to a new location.

Monitor prices are much more affordable than in the past (19” LCD for $150.00) and LED monitors are energy efficient. So how do you get your company to implement dual monitors? Start with the boss. Have him/her connect a second monitor and then after a month, ask how he/she would feel about having that second monitor taken away. After discovering how much more efficient they have been, they may panic and tell you that they could never go back to one monitor.

We have both LED and LCD monitors and a variety of mounting options. If you would like help on deciding on a size, mount or setup of an additional monitor, give us a call or send an email and we’d be happy to help out.

- Janet F, Marketing Coordinator

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896 Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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What is the Cloud?

“Cloud Computing”.  You may have heard or seen this new catch word that many organizations have adopted in to there line up of services. What is “Cloud Computing”? This can be a hard question to answer as many people have their own definition on this type of computing.

The items that Cloud Computing Services provide that intrigue most organizations are the following: saving your company money, access to the latest technical advancements in software, and anywhere access via the internet to your hosted cloud services, that operate on a very reliable/redundant hardware platform.

The infrastructure that allows us to provide Cloud computing is still built on server hardware similar to what you may have in your office. The main differences are the hardware is more reliable, components are redundant, and for the most part, the software is the most feature rich release from the vendors. Small and Medium size business now have Enterprise software available to them that is normally out of reach, as normal IT budgets would not be large enough.

Now the best part of all this technology is you don’t have to purchase any of it. All of the services in the “Cloud” are provided for a monthly fee. These services can scale up and down as your business grows or shrinks. You can think of it as an elastic environment.

Instead of the hardware being in your office, it is now located in a secure building called a data center. Security is of the highest importance in data centers. Data centers should only allow access to individuals that pass criminal record checks and technicians that are highly qualified. All access in and out of the data center should be recorded and monitored via video cameras. You will find that many of these data centers are located in concrete bunkers protected from fire and theft. Multiple levels of access are required to gain entry to the equipment.

If you have a server or application that you need to run that operates your business, in many cases we can host this server in a “Cloud” Environment. There are some applications that require more work than others but for the most part if the application runs on Windows it can also run on Windows in the “Cloud”.

Hosted servers can run Microsoft and Linux operating systems and access to these servers can be provided via multiple secure methods. If the workload increases on the server and it starts to run slow, we can scale up the hardware resources providing a better performing system suited to the workload demand. Your data backups will also be looked after for you with out the need to take home tapes or hard drives.

Storage can also be provided via Cloud hosted servers. There are some applications that require a back end SQL server or database of some kind. These databases can be setup on a server in the data center and secure access can be provided to the resources. We have multiple ways of providing access to these types of data. You can host almost any type of data that resides on a windows environment, from Microsoft Office Documents, to Simply Accounting or Quickbooks Databases.  Dedicated or Secure Shared storage can be provided based on the customer’s requirements.

Cloud hosted servers and applications can be bundled with system maintenance packages. There are some services where all maintenance is looked after for you. Instead of having an Exchange Email server in your office that you have the expense of maintaining, this can all be looked after for you via Hosted Exchange in the Cloud. The maintenance to run any server in your office can be costly over the long run. The ability to have a set cost on your IT/Cloud Services is a very attractive concept for most organizations.

The operational costs vs investment costs should be reviewed when looking at purchasing new equipment. When you acquire expensive hardware to run your services it is considered as a capital expenditure and can be a large one at times.  Also, the acquisition depreciates over the years. The Cloud computing model allows you to spread your expenses over several operational cycles, becoming part of operational costs. Your accountant will most likely tell you this is a much better alternative.

To summarise, cloud computing is growing at a phenomenal rate, both in the range of services offered by cloud vendors and also in the way companies are using these services to improve their own business.

Please contact us at Northern Computer and we can provide a consult to see if Cloud Computing fits your business needs.

- Martin O, Network Support Technician

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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