techhelp

I can't think of any good reasons to use Internet Explorer.

It's not as fast as other browsers, everyone attacks it, it's not standards compliant (though I believe IE8 is dramatically better in this regard), it does not handle the latest web technologies, the new open video standards for example.

There are plenty of other choices, Safari, Google Chrome - Opera is very nice too.

But I personally go for Firefox. These days it draws pretty much everything correctly and the only pages that don't work tend to be ones that are "optimised" for Internet Explorer's faults. There are a /lot/ of plugins for it, that permit you to customise the browser to your own tastes. For example, wap pages are usually only viewable on a mobile phone, since they were designed for that interface. There's a firefox plugin for that called WMLbrowser, I use this because it's text only and loads in a heartbeat when I just want to find out what trains are running at wap.nationalrail.co.uk. You can download addons that let you block Flash components of web pages, decide how to handle Javascript, ones that deal with annoying adverts, ones that let you view a preview of a page just by hovering over a link - all sorts of tools. There's even one that I use, that allows you to synchronise your bookmarks over every machine you own, so you will never be without your links on whichever machine you are working on.

Basically, what I'm saying is that if you value your privacy and security then it's worth checking out an alternate browser - and I personally get on very well with Firefox.

Cheers,

Andrew.

Let's be clear here, before I go in for a slag-fest - Dell make some beautiful kit, so long as you stay away from the consumer rubbish.  The boards are nicely laid out, usually use Intel chips (so are easy to support) and the drivers are readily available.  They have the nicest cases to work upon, all the cables are well laid out and the hardware all just slots in and out with ease and the airflow has been really well thought out.

BUT

They use far too much proprietary hardware.

I had a customer the other day who had his board blown by lightning.  It was not possible to simply swap the board out, as they use a non-standard connector to the buttons on the front, and the back panel (which is normally swappable) was part of the casing and could not be removed without resorting to a hacksaw, so none of the USB, VGA and network sockets would line up. 

His choice was to either change the motherboard and case together or to simply order a new board from Dell.  A new board was over £120 - four times what an equivalent board from Asus, Gigabyte or MSI would have cost.  Hardly a bargain.  But he and I felt it would be easier to simply swap the board, thereby obviating the need to repair his Windows installation and thereby reducing labour costs.  Not really a winner from my point of view but I do pride myself on giving fair advice.

So anyway, the board turned up.  Brand new, allegedly.  With screws and brackets rattling all over the board, just casually shoved in the plastic bag and not even encapsulated in their own bag.  This has severe implications for the Trade Descriptions Act, passing off a clearly second-hand board as new is very naughty.

But we went with it anyway.  So I fitted the board.  And it worked well for a couple of days - until it started failing to start and giving a beep code.  I think we see why this board had been returned.

So the customer calls Dell and asks them for a replacement board.  The one he had been sent was the last one available.  The machine is only a couple of years old.  This is very poor customer service.

So anyway, we're now in a position whereby we now /have/ to replace the board and case with something else.  And that, folks, is why I shall never again recommend Dell to anyone.  Which is a pity because their stuff is alright whilst it works.

Cheers,
Andrew.

Most of my customers have this file already on their computers - but here's a recap for those that don't.  They're not hard and fast rules, more guidelines than rules, but if you stick to them you should be okay.

The Rules :)

1.
If it's FREE and FUN
or
someone is trying to "do you a favour" out of the goodness of their hearts
don't touch it.

2.
No smileys - especially from Smiley Central, or other MSN messenger plugins, especially Messenger Plus

3.
Apart from Yahoo, MSN, Google - no toolbars.  Choose one only.

4.
Anything your mates pass you over MSN and they promise you it is fine on their machine - see rule 1.

5.
No screensavers, calendars, weather applications.

6.
If it did not come on a disc - see rule 1.

7.  NO LIMEWIRE!!!! or BearShare!!! - see rule 1.

Cheers,
Andrew.

It's Summertime! 

Yay!

And of course, this being Britain, we're in for lots of storms with occasional sunshine. 

I have seen quite a few customers recently with blown modems and computers.  One even had his microfilters blown down his hallway.  His modem was blown and his computer totalled.

Standard advice in a storm is to disconnect phones, routers and modems from the telephone sockets and any sensitive equipment (computers, TVs, video recorders) from the mains.  It doesn't take long and could save you a fortune.

Cheers,
Andrew.
 

I've had a number of people recently who have fallen prey to this.  You get a message, usually on a web page, that states that your computer is infected (or might be) and you should "click here for a free scan" - a small piece of software is placed on your computer and you are told that you have lots of viruses and trojans but you can just pay $40 and have the problem cleared up.

Oh, and your computer will not now go on the Internet, you no longer have administrator privileges, and you have a large window on your screen that won't close for more than 20 seconds, flashing at you and making you click "Ok" or "cancel" all the time.

This is not a free scan, this is a free sca*m*. 

Think about this for a moment.  You're giving your credit card details, including the security code on the back to someone you have never met on information that is a lie.  Would you fall for this in the street?  No.  But you do it online because you don't know enough about computers and you just believe whatever anyone tells you. 

This is "taking sweeties from strangers" scenario. 

Don't trust them.

Cheers,
Andrew.

Advertising costs a fortune.  I'm up for about £300/month in advertising costs, before I make a single penny. 

So, if you have a friend who needs help and have been satisfied with my service in the past, please feel free to pass my number along.  I would be very grateful, there's nothing so satisfying as knowing that someone is sufficiently pleased with your work to be confident in recommending you.

Cheers,
Andrew.

I have been playing with Avast, being less impressed with AVG since they added the anti-spyware component in 8.0 .  Machines don't feel as responsive with the new version and the anti-spyware tools are not as good as I would like. 

You're still better off with external tools such as Spybot Search and Destroy, Malware Byte's Anti Malware, CCleaner etc.

Avast is, like AVG, completely free for home use and also completely lacking in support.  It is also slightly harder to get running in anything like a tolerable fashion - but it's really not that difficult.

First of all, you only get a few days to try the program before you have to register.  Once you have registered you are provided with a licence key that you have to copy/paste into the relevant box.  You will probably also be driven to distraction by the animated globe and the voice announcements - these can be turned off in the advanced settings area.  Once done you are left with a sensitive but unobtrusive anti-virus program that you can promptly forget about for the next 18 months.

PRINT THIS!

If your copy of AVG is expired (you are STILL on 7.5???) then it could be worth downloading Avast, disconnecting from the Internet, removing AVG, restarting and installing Avast, then re-connecting to the Net in that order. 

Cheers.
Andrew.

I had a call the other day from an existing customer, "Microsoft" called him to say that they "had noticed an error on his computer and would he mind just visiting this page at www.logmein.com and typing a code in.

NEVER, EVER DO THIS.

Doing so would grant access to your machine, to someone you don't know, who could then do anything they like with it.

I want to be really clear about this next point.

Microsoft do not know who you are when you are browsing the Internet.

They do not have your phone number.  They do not call customers to report a fault to them.  You call Microsoft, or your friendly neighbourhood computer guy if you have a problem.  They don't call you.  And there's probably nothing wrong with your computer.  And even if there is, no-one is going to call you up and fix it for free.  Would you fix some stranger's car for free if you saw it was running badly?  No.  Nor would I. 

Think about it for a moment.  There are literally millions of computers on the planet, in hundreds of different countries, speaking many different languages and dialects.  If you were Microsoft, would you even consider supporting that lot on a pro-active basis?

Actually, logmein is a perfectly legitimate tool - but like a pen that can be mightier than a sword, sometimes good tools are used for bad activities.

Luckily this customer's wife was talking to me on the mobile whilst he was on the landline, so I was able to tell them to disconnect the call.  The cheeky devils called him straight back!  This time they were told in no uncertain terms not to call again.

Update 2009 01 15 - another customer almost fell foul of this - the people that called him wanted £60!  Apparently this outfit called themselves "Windows Tech On" or something similar.  Tech Con, more like.

Cheers,
Andrew.

A few people have called me recently to say that their AVG 7.5 is now out of date and that AVG wants money to upgrade to the latest version.


This is not necessarily the case - generally, the upgrade encourages you to spend money, in order to get extra features, but in actual fact there is usually a link to the free version too.  They just make it a little harder to find, because they are running a business and would prefer it if you pay.

If you are really struggling, just visit http://free.avg.com for the latest version, it will remove the old version as part of the install of the new version, that is now up to 8.5 .

However, I find that AVG is not as responsive as Avast these days, and am moving slowly over to that.  It takes a little more setting up but is worth it.  I'll deal with that in a different post.

Cheers,
Andrew.