IT Support Dublin Blog

One of the major I.T. fears of small business owners when it comes to updating their version of Windows is that, after the transition, their custom (or older programs) won’t work anymore. “It’s an old program we use it everyday– we need to keep on using Windows XP”, they lament.

Thankfully, there is a nice application brought out by Microsoft to help solve this problem. It’s simply called “Windows XP Mode”. This enables you to operate old legacy programs that were designed to work with XP to operate within Windows 7.  It is not a compatibility mode feature but a nice piece of virtualisation technology where the program is executed though a Windows XP emulator and interacts directly with your system’s CPU.

For “Windows XP Mode” to work, you must be using Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise edition. Moreover, make sure your desktop or laptop supports virtualisation or VT (virtualisation technology) mode. Some hardware, such as the Sony Vaio Z series does not support virtualisation (it’s permanently disabled in BIOS, which Sony claim is an extra security feature). In other cases, some Intel processors such as the Core 2 Duo E7200 or Core 2 Quad 8200 still do not have VT support.   Finally, make sure the VT function in your system’s BIOS is set to enabled.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

1 Dell laptop. 1 copy of Windows on it. 1 frustrated small business user who on Friday afternoon could not get his system to boot up. The last thing he witnessed the system performing was an automatic update, then it would not boot. So with this key piece of information in mind, we knew there was a high probability that the problem was related to Vista automatic updates – sometimes they “get stuck” and then prevent the boot-up process.

Anyway here is a neat fix to the problem:

1) Using a Vista DVD boot to the “Repair Your Computer” option.

2) Select “Command Prompt” from the recovery options.

3) Type “c:” at command prompt.

4) Then type cd Windows\WinSxS

5) Then type del pending.xml

6) Then reboot your computer.

7) This should take Vista out of it’s boot-up loop and you should be able to sucessfully get to the desktop.

Result. 1 fixed vista system. 1 contented computer user. 1 it support ticket closed.

Ask any small business owner what part of their I.T network they could not live without for 24 hours and the inevitable answer will be email. Email for the small business owner is up there with electricity, water, phone and cash flow.

Most assume that email started in the nineties, but the first ever email sent dates back to 1971 when Ray Tomlinson was working for Bolt Beranek and Newman on APRAnet (a very early version of the internet) for the United States Department of Defense. The email contained a simple line of text QWERTYUIOP and was sent using DOS.

Since the mid-nineties, when email reached the masses, it has remained the de facto written communication method for most businesses. Sure, it has been embellished with more bells-and-whistles over the years but the basic principle behind it has stayed the same. Person A sends a message to Person B.  Person B responds and the cycle continues. Now this model of communication is simple but if the communication is in anyway complex, detailed or of an ongoing nature email becomes very cumbersome and slow.

“I’m looking for the attachment”

“What date did you send it?”

“Can you forward a copy to John?”

and worst of all

“I think I never got it ”.

It’s a predictable dialogue and a time-consuming path that is well-trodden by many small business (and big business) email users.

Add more than two people to an email conversation and the cracks really begin to show.  There are a number of reasons;

-          Email doesn’t automatically save attached files and documents into a common folder archive. Attachments can only be found by trawling through email history, which is time consuming.

-          It is not possible to add “conversational” tags to emails so recovering conversations and content is more difficult.

-          You can “bcc” and “fwd” your emails all you like, but tracking who-responded-to-who can be a huge time burden.

A Dublin-based small business recently approached and explained to us they required a better collaboration tool than email. They had just got a new project approved and needed to collaborate with their branch office in the UK and a third-party contractor in Germany. The team leader in Dublin showed all the symptoms of email burn-out. He explained his frustration of having to track emails, of having to forward emails, the annoyances of lost emails and the wasted time of resending updated emails to team members. He wanted a smarter and leaner way to communicate. We setup and configured Basecamp for them in order to streamline their communication.

Basecamp is a superb team collaboration tool from 37Signals that solves the inefficiencies of traditional email when it comes to dispersed teams. The clients in question have been using it for the past 4 months and the feedback we have got has been excellent. They have spent more time getting their project nearer successful completion and less tracking down lost emails and attachments Well done 37Signals. More information available at http://basecamphq.com

With wifi hotspot usage now nearly ubiquitous in cafes, airports, and hotels many of our clients ask us how their data can be totally secure when using wifi-hotspots?

You can never be “totally secure” when sending or recieving  data over a “public internet connection” but you can help mitigate the risk by using a secure VPN server.

One such encryption is provided by Hotspotvpn

http://www.hotspotvpn.com/

Using this connection service, you create a secure client-to-internet gateway connection and eliminate many of the most common techniques people use to sniff or intercept network traffic. Recommended.

Again and again we see small offices with the same problems causing them to experience a slow and frustrating network.

Here are some of the common reasons for an under-performing network.

Bad Network Cards

Network cards that are faulty are a recurring problem that will lead to annoying intermittant network slow-downs. Always visually inspect your cards LED link lights.

Failing Routers and Switches

If your network goes down and the problem can be resolved by power cycling the router / switch then it is possible that the switch or router is failing. (Powercycling the router/switch is only a temporary solution)

Daisychaining

A common problem for small businesses, who have undergone incremental expansion is daisy-chained networks. A typical daisy-chained network will have a router connected to another router and then maybe two or more switches thrown into the equation. This all leads to more “hops” for the data flows  in your office, making data transmission slow.

DNS configuration errors

DNS configuration errors lead to general network slowness. Always have your DNS servers as close to your networks systems as possible. Always make sure your systems are configured to use proper DNS servers.

Network-Based Programs bottle-necking the network Bandwidth

Database applications, VOIP,  video streaming, Anti-Virus applications can all place strain on 10/100 Mpbs network.  Implement policies and educate you staff to prevent applications from overloading the network all at the same time.

We were dealing with a client recently who had a really annoying problem with their VPN network using Windows Vista Business. Each time they went to save work to a network folder, their engineering design program would freeze. We investigated. The network path was correct. The network shares were correct but Work Offline was disabled.

In most cases, the simple fix to this problem is simply turning on Work Offline button to temporarily disconnect the shared folder so that you can make changes to files locally and then sync them over the network.

With Work Offline you can force Windows to use a local, cached copy of a document while you edit it, then sync it back up after you’ve saved your changes.  Here’s how to do it;

1)      Find the particular network folder in Windows Explorer. Right-click and mark it “make available offline”. Open the folder, the click the button “Work Offline”.

2)      Make changes to the file, as you wish.

3)       Then, click “Work Online”. This should run the Sync Centre and copy your changes back to the network.

When saving files over a VPN network, the Work Offline feature enables smoother and quicker updating of network files.  Please note however, that you cannot rename folders when using Work Offline mode. (unless your administrator has enabled this feature)

When most users are installing printers to their PCs they assume that if the printer will not install, it is somehow the fault of the printer. This is not always the case. If you are having difficulty installing a new printer the problem most likely resides on your computer and not the printer.

When installing your printer here are a few simple things to look out for:

-          Follow the instructions in the Quick Install Guide that usually comes in the box.

-          Do bear in mind that with some printers need you need to have your USB connection to your PC disconnected before installing the driver.

-          If your using a third-party firewall make sure to “allow” the install of the driver files.

-          Make sure the printer is properly assigned to the right printing port.

-          Make sure you have the right printer driver installed. A 64-bit printer driver will not work with a 32-bit computer.(Bizarrely though, if your running Vista or Windows 7 and your printer manufacturer has only released XP drivers, the 64-bit XP driver can sometimes work as a very nice reliable substitute.)

-          When dealing with a network printer, make sure makes sure its shares are properly configured and/or it gets its own IP address on the same subnet as the rest of your network.

The most common problem of all why a printer will not install is because the print spooler service will not start. The printer spooler is a Windows service that runs in the background of your operating system that enables print drivers to be installed and is called upon every time you execute the print command. If the service is not running, you won’t be able to print.

At last, Microsoft have brought out a fix from this common problem and it can be found here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324757

It’s a Microsoft Fix-It solution that actually does exactly what it say on the tin.

When most people think of hackers and “IT criminals” they usually think of a lone-ranger hacker who operates out of a basement somewhere. While this may be true in some cases, according to the latest findings of the FBI’s cyber division, http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/cyberhome.html the miscreants of the IT world are now starting to have well defined roles and specialisations.

In this network, you have;

The coders – the guys who write the code that exploits weaknesses in operating systems such as Windows XP and software like ActiveX.

The “information brokers”, they specialise in the selling of compromised data from people’s computers. This includes credit card information, social security details and banking transaction details.

The Fraudsters – The people who “create” the phishing and spam attacks. Some of these guys are better than any Madison Ave advertising agencies when it comes to creative work. Some of scams reported to us by our customers recently include, fake delivery notices from UPS (the courier service), fake messages from Facebook and fake tax rebate notices from the UK’s Inland Revenue.

Hosting Providers – Operations that host spam-bots and are used as launch pads for phishing attacks, virus and malware distribution.

Money Mules – The people who setup bank accounts and transfer funds under assumed identities.

To find out more information, you can visit the publications section of the UCD centre for Cybercrime Investigation. http://cci.ucd.ie/biblio

Many customers ask us “how do I know If I am infected with a virus or spyware?” Here are a few symptoms:

-          You find your web browser’s home page has been changed to another site without your approval.

-          You see a strange new toolbar in your web browser.

-          When you perform a web search, you end up at some strange site. (This is a favourite trick of spyware developers)

-          You find that your anti-virus and firewall programs have been turned off, without your knowledge.

-          Windows displays strange icons in your taskbar or new shortcuts on your desktop.

-          You find new programs in the Add or Remove programs list in the Control Panel.

-          You receive frequent alerts from your third-party firewall about some unknown program or process trying to access the internet.

-          You find one or more strange new sites in the Favourites section of your browser.

-          Your computer becomes slower and slower to use, particularly when surfing the internet.

-          Some websites just “time-out” just as they are about to be opened or displayed.

-          Windows crashes for no apparent reason as spyware can be especially draining on your systems performance.

-          Your computers hard disk / or your routers network activity lights are constantly blinking. This indicates a lot of hard drive activity or internet access. Unless you yourself are causing this activity, it is likely due to spyware as it reports back to a remote server, without your explicit approval.

-          You get a lot of returned or bounced back emails. Many spyware programs take control of your email program and use it to mail out loads of spam – without your knowledge.

We were dealing with a very frustrated small business client on Monday who has spent a substantial part of his weekend trying to install Windows 7 on his office desktop PC. (The joys of running a small a business eh…)

They had their Windows 7 Professional DVD at hand, their HP desktop all ready, believing the process would be “simple enough”. About 10 minutes into the installation process they encountered some difficulties. Windows 7 refused to install onto their 500 GB Seagate S-ATA hard drive. They reformatted the drive a second time but still the problem persisted. They tried installing special  S-ATA drivers for the hard drive thinking it was a driver issue but this did not work either.

They eventually called us, the disk was fine, the connections were fine, the partition structure was fine but Windows 7 was behaving as if their were other drives connected. There were none. On closer examination we noticed there was a tiny 2GB Sandisk camera card attached to SD-card port at the front of his PC. Was Windows 7 identifying this disk as another hard drive? We removed it and tried the installation again. Perfect! Windows 7 thought that the small camera card was a secondary hard drive and Windows 7 does not really like secondary drives attached when a new installation is being performed. This feature of 7, whether intentional by Microsoft or not, is actually quite a good feature because there is always a small proportion of users every year who accidently format their drives. (e.g. they install Windows onto their “D” drive instead of “C”).