With a proactive Managed IT services plan, your old computers can have a new lease on life!

#1. Add Memory.

One of the most inexpensive and effective ways to improve a computer’s performance is to install more RAM (random access memory). This will speed up the applications installed on your computer and allow you to open and run more programs simultaneously.

#2. Upgrade The Processor Or Add A Graphics Accelerator. If you are just looking for a little more “zoom,” upgrading the processor or installing a graphics accelerator will give your computer the ability to process information faster and improve its overall speed.

#3. Perform Regular Maintenance On Your Servers and Desktops. Computers, like cars, need regular maintenance to perform at top speed and reliability. At a minimum, if you have an IT outsourcing company supporting your network, they should be running the ScanDisk and the Disk Defrag Utility on your machines once a month. This will make your applications and files load and run faster.  Part of any managed IT services plan would include these regular maintenance.

#4. Run A Spyware Scan Once A Week. One telltale sign that your computer is infected with spyware is slow, unstable performance. Spyware sucks up your system’s resources to carry out its evil intent, slowing down your computer and even causing it to freeze and crash.  Your network support plan from your IT services provider should include these routines as part of regular maintenance.

#5. Disable Or Remove Unnecessary Programs Running In The Background. Many computers have pre-installed software programs that use up system resources and slow down your computer.

While these recommendations will certainly speed up your system, they aren’t a miracle cure for a seriously out-of-date computer network. If your computer or network constantly crashes, freezes up, or runs painfully slow, then it’s time for an upgrade, or it could be a sign of a troublesome virus.

Your IT support provider should insist on a good quality, modern firewall to give your business the best protection from intruders.

In all likelihood your business has at least one firewall (and if you don’t, you’re asking for all sorts of trouble if you haven’t experienced it already).  You know a firewall is one of those “must have’s” for a secure network, but do really know why it’s so important to your business?

A firewall is the device that bridges the connection from your internal network to the outside world.  Anything you do that connects to the outside world (e-mail, accessing internet directly or indirectly) goes through this firewall before your data reaches its ultimate destination.  Conversely, anything received from the outside into your network (e-mail, remote access, handheld communications) goes through this firewall before the data reaches your network. 

     How Your Firewall Keeps the Gremlins Out

Your firewall has a set of rules which, depending on how they are configured, allow communications in or out, or block them altogether.   Essentially, it’s the security guard that’s checking everyone’s credentials before authorizing access in or out of your network.  It’s intended to prevent unauthorized access to your network by ne’er do well hackers and scammers. 

     Old Firewall = Lowered Productivity in Your Business

An older firewall can cause slowdowns in all of your day to day business functions that rely on the internet (e-mail, accessing websites, handheld device usage, cloud / hosted applications) .  This is because the demands put on firewalls to perform their “security guard” jobs are ever increasing due to faster internet access, faster computers and companies’ increased reliance on the internet.   Think of one club doorman checking ID for 100 patrons a night 3 years ago, but now he has to check for 500 patrons – it’s going to take him a lot longer now to determine who is eligible to get through the door.

As your firewall ages, these slowdowns will become increasingly noticeable, affecting the productivity of those of your staff who rely on anything where the internet is involved.

      An Old Firewall Is Opening Your Door To Hackers, Inch By Inch

The software of the older models can’t provide the same level of security as the newer models.  Further, hackers are constantly finding new techniques to attack a network and these older firewalls have a harder time keeping up or may not be able to detect the latest attack on your network that could result in stolen data and disabling viruses.

4 Reasons to Upgrade Now

1.  Is the latest security against hackers and infections important to you?

2.  Is it important that your staff have the very fastest possible access to the internet (this would include
e-mail flow, downloading of attachments, access to hosted applications). 

3.  Are you paying good money to your internet provider for fast service?  If you want to get the most from your current internet service, you may be unable to due to the age of your firewall.  So if you are paying for 15mbps download (which is reasonably fast) this speed could be considerably compromised while your network is at its busiest because the older firewall hardware can’t keep up with demands.

Essentially firewall hardware gets faster concurrently with the processing power of computers.  So a computer built 3 years ago, is much slower than one built today.  Similarly, firewalls built 3 years are much slower than those manufactured today.

4  If your company relies on video via training or video conferencing, the load of these types of applications is quite intense and puts a lot of load on a network.  Video usage is where you’ll see a major improvement with an upgrade to a more recent firewall. 

Talk to a professional IT support provider today about what kind of firewall best suits the needs for your business.

Your IT Support provider should recommend the best battery backup suited to your business.

Is your computer plugged in?  Do you use a power strip with a surge protector?  If so, you are a heartbeat away from disaster and don’t even realize it. The same electricity you depend on to run your computers and network is also trying to destroy your data. 

Believe it or not, electricity is one of the biggest threats to your computer network and the data it contains. Here are four computer power problems you must know about and how to prevent them.

 1) Transients – Commonly known as surges and spikes, these are caused by lightning storms, wind, squirrels shorting out power lines, auto accidents, etc.  Several times each week these spikes can travel up the power cord into your computer damaging everything from power supplies to motherboards.  Conventional wisdom says use a power strip with a surge protector and you are safe.  As is often the case, conventional wisdom is dead wrong.  After several months, these surge protectors become useless having been zapped by the surges they were designed to protect against. 

2) Blackouts – Whether momentary or prolonged, the sudden loss of power can corrupt your PC to the point of not being able to start up again when the lights come back on.

3) Sags – This is when the power drops below normal.  Have you ever seen the fluorescent lights flicker for a moment?  Then you have witnessed a sag.  Sags are more common than surges and are caused when equipment like air conditioners, microwaves, water heaters, laser printers, copy machines and other electrical equipment are turned on or come out of sleep mode.  A typical small
office will experience 30 or more sags each day.  Sags cause many of the weird and unexplained problems computer users complain about every day.

4) Noise – Ever been watching TV and seen fuzzy pictures and/or white lines or dots when you turn on a
blender or vacuum cleaner?  This is the result of electrical noise. While a fuzzy TV picture is an annoyance, this electrical noise causes many computer problems including loss of data.. 

 So how do you protect yourself from electrical problems? The most simple and inexpensive solution to all four of these hazards is a battery backup.  The battery backup (also known as a UPS or Uninterruptible Power Supply) senses when there are problems with the power and automatically switches to the battery protecting you from computer damage and data loss. 

Choosing the correct battery backup for your computer or server can be tricky.  Having one with a battery too small is the same as having none at all.  For most desktop computers, a battery backup with a 500VA or larger rating should be sufficient to keep you going through momentary power problems.  Protecting your server requires detailed knowledge of the server functions and power consumption in order to pick the right battery backup solution.  Speak to a professional IT support provider about the right battery backup to protect your business.

Your computer support provider should urge you to break these bad habits!

Admit it; some of you have some bad habits when it comes to maintaining the security and “health” of the high-tech tools you dearly depend on. Since it’s a fresh, new year, we thought it would be appropriate to point out the top 5 bad habits you should work on fixing in 2012.

1. Not backing up your data. Funny how most people start their confession of not backing up their data with the words, “I know it’s bad, but…” If you know, then why are you still doing it? There’s absolutely no good reason to let this one continue.  Your IT support provider should INSIST you be doing this. As well they should be testing it monthly to make sure it’s always working so you’re not surprised when you need to rely on a backup.  

2.  Relying on tape drives to backup your data. This is almost as bad as bad habit #1. Why? Because tape drives have an average failure rate of 100% – and that’s not a typo. It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” is your tape drive going to fail. Trash ’em and get a better system in place!  Your computer support provider should warn you about the risks of tape drives. 

3. Using weak passwords. If you’ve ever used the word “password” as your password, we’re talking to you! A good password should contain a combination of numbers and upper and lower case letters.

4.  Not installing the latest security patches and software updates. Once a new patch is released by a software vendor, it acts like a green light for hackers who instantly implement viruses and scams to take advantage of those individuals who don’t regularly update (patch) their system.  As part of our Managed IT service plans, we take care of this for our clients so they don’t have to worry about it.

5. Printing and storing paper documents for everything. The cost of installing a document imaging (also called document management) solution has come down dramatically, and it is now easier than ever to implement. Plus you get the added benefits of saved storage space, saved time in searching for documents, instant access to any paper file via the Internet, fewer lost files, less chance of losing critical documents to fire, water, or wear and tear, AND a cost saving on paper and ink. With all these benefits, why would you still stick a paper filing system?

Want help in breaking any of these bad habits in your Toronto business? Contact Joe Stoll at JStoll@TechnicalActionGroup.com or 416-489-6312 x 204 for a no-obligation, no-pressure consultation on how we can help you break these bad high-tech habits for good!

Network monitoring should be a staple of the IT services you purchase.

Think back to the last time your server went down or you weren’t able to get e-mail; remember how frustrating that was? Or perhaps you experienced a virus or other data-erasing disaster. Remember how painful that was to resolve?

There are very few business activities that don’t heavily rely on your computer network, e-mail and data – and if any of these components stop working, business grinds to a screeching, frustrating halt. And with viruses and hackers becoming more sophisticated (and smart) about accessing your network, you simply cannot afford to NOT monitor the health and security of your network daily.

A network monitoring system is simply a way for a trained professional to watch over your computer network for slow or failing components, security breaches, and alarms that signify trouble is brewing. It can also detect signs that your backup is not working, that you’re running out of space on the server, or that a firewall is not functioning properly. Think of it like a security camera watching over your entire network 24/7/365.

So if network monitoring is SO important, why aren’t more small businesses INSISTING that their IT services provider put a system in place as part of their network support plan? One of the biggest reasons we see is lack of knowledge. The reality is that many businesses DO have their systems monitored for problems; and the bigger and more sophisticated the company, the more critical this becomes. But smaller businesses are often outsourcing their IT support and, unless their computer support company offers this service, they may not even know it exists.

The second reason is complacency; the belief is that, “If it isn’t broke, why fix it?” This is akin to saying, “We don’t need locks on our doors because we’ve never had our house burglarized.” The reason you HAVE the locks is to prevent your home or office from being robbed – and the reason you have network monitoring is to make sure you DON’T have problems.

Plus, simple monitoring is cheap. For as little as $10 per employee per month, you can have a basic monitoring system in place. If you use IT outsourcing services, your computer support provider should have access to these monitoring tools.

Your IT support provider should be giving you advice on how to get your computers to run with maximum efficiency.

As a busy business owner or manager, nothing is more frustrating than being made to wait; especially when that waiting seems unnecessary. And when it comes to waiting for your computer to start up, most business owners, managers and employees are all too familiar with the frustration of impatiently watching as their computer goes through the slow and agonizing process of getting ready for you to actually use it. Most Microsoft Windows computers take between 3-4 minutes to completely rev up, not including opening any programs outside of the start-up menu. Multiply that time over a year, by your number of staff, and you’ve got each of you staring at the screen for 17 hours, drumming your fingers on the desk and trying to figure out how to be productive while your computer boots up. 

Want To Cut Down On Time-Wasting?

Here are some tips on how you can speed up your computer’s start-up process so you can get right to business:

1) Remove auto-loading software. If you have programs that start up automatically, you are significantly adding to the time it takes for your computer to be ready for use. Take these programs off the start menu or, if you don’t use them, simply delete them off the machine.

2) Restart Daily.  At the end of your business day save your work, close all files and do a restart.  This will give you a fresh computer when you start your next day.  Not restarting on a regular basis will cause your system to get slower as time progresses due to system resources not being released by software that is used throughout the day. 

3) Consider switching to a thin client. Thin clients are “dumb” computers that connect to a server which houses all the software, programs, and even processing power. Because nothing is loaded up onto these thin client machines, they can be ready to go in as little as 5 seconds after pressing the power button. Thin clients do require your network to be set up a certain way though, so be sure to check that before you install one.

4) Take off any “trial-ware”. Some computers come with software already loaded on them, like photo software or other utility programs. These programs, most of which don’t even show up in the list of available software you can remove, are called “trial-ware” because they came with the machine.  Typically, they run processes in the background while you boot up your computer, delaying the start-up process of your computer.

 5) Make sure your anti-virus and firewall protection are up to date.  Malware and other malicious software can also slow down start times.  These programs can embed themselves into the start-up menu and keep you waiting longer than necessary as your computer boots up. They also wreak havoc on your general use of the computer. So, it is important to protect your system from these kinds of attacks.

6) Upgrade your computer. Older versions of Windows will look for a CD or floppy to boot from before the computer actually begins the process of starting up. Lower amounts of memory installed on a computer can also impact its ability to start quickly. And, of course, simply having a fresh, clean and fast computer eliminates any miscellaneous software programs you may have installed that can bog down a machine.

As part of a comprehensive network support  / IT Support Plan, your computer support provider who delivers your IT services should be taking care of step 5 for you, and recommending when to follow step #6

Preventative computer support as part of Managed IT services will maximize the speed and longevity of your computers.

Do any computers in your office run so slow so as to drive you or your employees blood pressure to rise?  Do any frequently freeze up, crash and take forever to open files?  Aside from the obvious frustration and reduced productivity slow computers cause, it may actually be due to one or more of the following reasons that your IT support provider might not be telling you:

 Slower boot due to installed software.  To increase your security, software such as firewalls and antivirus applications must start up immediately when you boot up your PC. This of course will cause it to start up slower.  Some software partially loads at boot so when you launch applications they seem to start faster. Plus, device drivers and helper software for printers, multimedia devices, and other peripherals may require being loaded at boot to make using such devices in a plug-and-play environment as seamless as possible. All of this increases your overall boot time.

Slower overall experience due to installed software.  Just as loading applications slow your computer’s boot time, they also may require additional CPU cycles, causing your main applications such as web browsers or word processors to run slower. Plus, more tasks consume additional RAM, requiring your computer to use your hard drive as virtual memory. Paging information to and from your hard drive increases the disk thrashing, slowing down your computer further.  You can help offset this somewhat by installing additional RAM if supported by your computer.

Uninstall software doesn’t always work well.  While most applications support an uninstall procedure, these don’t always work perfectly. Uninstallers may leave temporary files, items in the Windows Registry, startup tasks to files that no longer exist,, device drivers that now are not needed, etc. Install and uninstall many applications and the leftover garbage can drastically slow your computer’s overall speed if the garbage isn’t tossed out.

Unneccessary Programs.   Many PCs come with programs automatically installed to run at startup.  Over time, these programs (along with all the other programs you install) can significantly slow down your computer.  They are often running in the background, but are never used. 

Updates require more power.  Updates to your device drivers, software, and operating system just may require more computing power than older versions. This can be due to sloppy programming or the addition of newer features. Plus, as security holes are fixed and workarounds created, such software may require more CPU cycles, RAM, and overall storage space on your hard drive.  Security is one reason why an older version of Windows may run much faster than a newer version. While the older version may seem to work fine, its lack of protection features can expose your computer to all types of security risks.

 File fragmentation.  Over time, the files on your hard drive get broken into pieces when saved, which causes your operating system to take more time to find, open and update files.  To prevent this, your hard drive should be defragged on a regular basis.  Your IT support provider can do this for you. 

The dreaded malware.  Of course, viruses, spyware and other malware may be to blame. These create additional processes that put more strain on a computer and can increase its overall boot time. Other users may be lurking around your PC via an open port, causing all sorts of chaos. Malware may be running in the background using your computer to relay e-mail messages, attempt to shut down websites via denial of service (DoS) attacks, and more.  So though security software may adversely effect your computer’s overall speed slightly, not having such software (and keeping it updated) can cause an even worse situation.

Next steps:  Make sure you have a good Toronto computer support partner in place with regular preventative maintenance routines and 24/7 monitoring of all of your computers.  Through monitoring and maintenance, early detection of ailing hardware can give you time to properly plan a replacement, thereby avoiding an expensive last minute ‘panic purchase’.  Managed IT services providers in Toronto  most always include preventative components.

Avoid a server crash with proactive IT support in Toronto

 

Here are a few simple things you or your Toronto network support company can do to prevent your server and network equipment from overheating and crashing:

• Tidy up the server room; a neater room will increase air flow.
• If you have more than one server, ask your network support company to arrange them in a row so that the cold air comes from the front and is expelled out the back.
• Keep the doors to the server room closed and seal off the space.
• Make sure cold air reaches all the equipment.
• Have a redundant
  A/C that is specifically designed for computers.
• Buy a rack enclosure where the cooling is built in to the bottom of the rack.
• Keep the temperature at no more than 77 degrees.
• Use blanking panels over any empty spaces on your server rack.
• Consider virtualization or hosting in a cloud environment so you are generating a lower amount of heat in the first place.

 Next steps:  With a Toronto IT support partner that has a proactive and preventative approach to network support, server crashes can be avoided!

Cloud based e-mail can reduce your technical support in Toronto costs.

Is e-mail communication the lifeline of your Toronto business?  Would your productivity grind to a halt if your e-mail was cut off for any time at all?  Are you tired of new hardware and software expenses and the endless maintenance from your technical support company needed just to keep everything up to date? If so, I’ve got some great news for you.

Cloud Based E-mail (aka “Hosted Exchange”) is often a much easier way of eliminating e-mail downtime, slow performance and annoying spam messages. Here’s how it works: Instead of purchasing and maintaining your e-mail in-house, which can be costly and time consuming, your e-mail server is hosted (and maintained) in a high-performance, high-security hosting company “in the cloud” where you can access it securely from any device or PC.

Best of all, you or your Toronto network support team doesn’t  have to make any changes in HOW you access your e-mail – your messages will simply be delivered to your inbox, phone or other device faster and with fewer issues, and it will always be synchronized and up-to-date!

Here are just a few of the advantages of cloud-based e-mail: 

• Synchronized access to your e-mail and calendar from anywhere. You don’t have to remote into your office PC; now you can securely access your e-mail from any device or PC.
   
• No more software, hardware or maintenance costs. YOU don’t have to purchase the hardware and software, nor do you have to maintain the system. This is all included in a very low monthly fee.
   
• High speed, “always on” e-mail. The hosted Exchange platforms we provide to our clients are high-performance systems with multiple “fail over” backup servers, maintained and monitored like Fort Knox, which is a level of service you wouldn’t typically need for your small business. However, since you are hosting on this platform, cloud-based e-mail gives you all the benefits of a high-performance system without the costs. Your in-house network could go down and you’d STILL have access to your e-mail, contacts and calendar.
• Automatic backups and archiving. What would you do if your in-house e-mail server failed and erased your messages? Or what if a disgruntled employee deleted all their e-mails? If you were hosting your Exchange, these would be non-issues since your e-mails are backed up daily and secured.

An established technical support Toronto company should be able to offer these services as part of their network support services provided in your business.

Your IT support services Toronto provider should warn you about these dangers!

You can’t beat the convenience of checking e-mail and hopping on the Internet at (Wi-Fi) hotspots found in airports, coffee shops, bookstores, and even in some major parks. For the uninitiated, Wi-Fi hotspots are areas where you can use your wireless laptop to surf the Web and check e-mail.  But the question you have to ask yourself or your IT support provider is, just how safe is it to connect? With the proliferation of hackers, viruses and identity theft at an all time high, you are smart to be concerned. Wi-Fi spots are very attractive to hackers because they can use what’s called an “evil twin” connection to access your laptop.

An evil twin is a wireless hotspot set up by a hacker to lure people from a nearby, legitimate hotspot. For example, when you log in at your favorite coffee shop, you might actually be logging onto the evil twin Internet connection set up by the innocent-looking person working on a laptop at the next table.

The most dangerous evil twins remain invisible and allow you to do business as usual. But in the background, they record everything you are typing. Buy something online and they are recording your credit card information. Log on to your bank account, and they can grab your password. Some hotspots may even feed you a fake Web page after you log on asking you to update your billing information. This is the same tactic used in phishing scams.

So what can you do to make sure you are not giving an evil twin access to your laptop?  First, know the name of the hotspot by asking someone who works there. Some businesses will give you printed instructions that include the hotspot name. Again, be careful. Hackers will try to name their evil twin network by a very similar name as the real hotspot, and may even show up as a stronger signal.

The best protection you can have is connecting via your company’s VPN (virtual private network). A VPN will protect your online information by encrypting your data and activity even if you’re connected through an evil twin.  If you don’t have a company VPN, you should assume that someone is looking over your shoulder and recording everything you type in. The BEST protection without a VPN is to never type in information such as credit cards, passwords, or social insurance numbers when connected to a public Wi-Fi hotspot.