Automatic Disk Cleanup

Do you keep running out of space on your hard drive? Does your system seem sluggish lately? Perhaps what you need is to put your computer to work for you when you're not using it. The article here shows you how to setup a routine to automatically "cleanup" your computer so it keeps functioning well......

Click here to download the pdf file.

    - Harry M, Network Support Techinician

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

Read More

What is a Small Business Server and Do I Need One?

Every business uses computers and as your business grows, your business adds on new desktops, laptops, POS (Point Of Sale) systems, smart phones, tablets… Soon you have information everywhere that is only accessible on each separate device.

If this sounds familiar, it may be time for a server – a computer that delivers information and software to other computers that are linked by a network. A network of computers connected to a server is more efficient than employees working on individual non networked computers. If you have 5 or more employees, you need to consider investing in a network server. Below are a few of the reasons to invest in a server.

• Expensive hardware such as printers and scanners can be shared by users on the network.
• Data is stored centrally, allowing employees to easily find, share and modify data from their workstations/PCs.
• Security levels and password protection settings can be created in order to access information. Accounts for individuals and groups can be set up with rights assigned to the data stored on the server. For example, the sales staff could be set up so that they do not have access to employee personal records. 
• Increased reliability. A server differs from a regular PC because it can be equipped with redundant power supplies and multiple hard drives that work in a RAID configuration. To simplify, this means that if one of the server’s hard drives fail, it can operate on the other drives for a period of time until the failed drive is replaced. Also, if an employee’s work station fails, they can move to a new work station and continue working.
• Multiple operating systems can be loaded onto one server, using virtualization technology, allowing for less power consumption and much faster recovery in the event of a disaster. 
• Simpler backup.  Since all data is centrally stored on one system, rather than multiple systems, backup is greatly simplified.
• Resources can be freed up on all of your other computers. Since data and programs are not necessarily stored on each individual computer/work station, local hard drive space is freed up. 
• Make your work force more mobile. With the use of a remote server, employees that work from home or on the road, can access files on the server.

So what does a server cost? Many variables come into play, when determining what will work best for your network. A review of the systems that you have in place with one of our technology consultants will help to determine what is best for your situation. 

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

Read More

Protecting Vital Company Information - Security Audit

In today's world people want easy access to their business information. Some of this information will be considered sensitive therefore it is important to properly secure access to only those that should have access.

A security audit is really the final step in the implementation of your security defenses. Prior to this you undertake a risk analysis. Then you develop a security policy to define what you are going to defend and how you are going to defend it.

Various protective steps will be put into place to prevent unauthorized access. Perhaps access requires establishing a VPN connection beforehand. Almost certainly access will require a username & password and various policies will need to be in place as well. For instance, a requirement that passwords meet certain complexity rules or that all information on laptops be encrypted with password protection. A good security audit should find any gaps in your existing defenses.

Many people opt to have external security consultants perform the audit. If you are a small company you might not be able to afford security consultants and you also might not have the in-house expertise to do a sophisticated audit on your own. This however does not mean that you can or should do nothing. The exercise of understanding what you are securing and how you are trying to secure it is worthwhile on its own.

If in preparing for an audit you realize that vital company information is held on laptop computers then this will lead to questions like what happens if the laptop is lost or stolen? How easy can someone access the information on this laptop? We all know or should know that 100% security is impossible. There will always be risks. However often low cost simple security steps will significantly improve your security.

So how would you go about a simple security audit?

Security List

Begin by creating a list of items that potentially need securing. This list should include things like servers, desktop computers, laptops, routers, other networking equipment, printers, data (sales, customer & employee information), smart phones, PDAs, VoIP phones, VoIP or regular phone call recordings and records, email and so forth.

Threat List

Using your security list determine what is sensitive as well as how an unauthorized individual might access the sensitive data. This will constitute your threat list. Look at things like do all computers have passwords? Who knows the passwords? How strong are the passwords? Do passwords need to be changed periodically? Are laptops taken offsite? How easily could computers be removed from the physical premises? Do you have a list of the equipment? Are you creating backups of sensitive data? How are things being backed up, where are the backups kept, and who conducts the backups? How is access being controlled? Can information be accessed from outside the company premises?

Prioritize Threat List

After determining what threats exist you should prioritize the list. Look at the probability of unauthorized access coupled with the potential harm.

Security Threat Response Plan

Starting at the top of this list think about how you might reduce the risk of each item. This will become your security threat response plan. Remember lots of low cost simple steps exist that will improve your security. Stronger passwords, improved physical security (lock the server in a wiring closet), ensuring all computers are patched with security updates regularly, limiting web access, ensuring antivirus products are being used and are updated properly, implementing encryption of data with password protection, etc. If you do not have a backup of sensitive data you will need to devise a backup policy and plan as well. This should include some form of offsite storage for obvious reasons. Now that you have your security response plan you need to implement it.

Implement Security Threat Response Plan

After implementation you will periodically do a security audit, which essentially, is running through the whole process again. Each time you go through the process you will likely unearth new risks as well as cost effective ways of reducing risks.

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

Read More

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

Read More

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

Read More

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

Read More

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

Read More