Archive for November, 2010
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010
Last week a client brought their PC into our computer repair office in Clifton Park, NY. The problem was the computer was crashing as it had the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).
When one of our techs took a look at it they discovered that the client had decided to remove the anti-virus system we installed and put on one they thought would be better. As this computer had a virus issue originally, I thought this was kind of odd.
On my way home I was thinking about the situation and it reminded me of my brother-in-law and a young man. My brother-in-law is a big man and has a great sense of humor. Several years ago he was talking with a teenager who had a wiffle ball bat. My brother-in-law asked the young man if he could see the bat. After the bat was given to him, he gently tapped the boy on the head with the bat and handed it back to him. He again asked for and was given the bat. Again he tapped the teen on the head, then handed the bat back. This happened for a third time.
How many times do we have to do something which causes a negative impact before we learn not to do it any more? In the case of our client above, he has still has another shot left.
This article was authored by The Boss at HITman Services. A computer repair and IT services company located in Saratoga County of New York.
Tags: AntiVirus, Bat, Blue Screen of Death, Brother-in-law, Malicious Software, Personal computer, Security, spyware
Posted in Technology | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 22nd, 2010
While I don’t live an extravagant life by any means, I do have a penchant for most things that go fast, providing I’m the one in control.
A couple of years ago I made what I consider to be a somewhat expensive purchase. Instead of purchasing a vehicle for substantially less, I chose to moderately indulge myself.
Every time I get behind the wheel, I derive a lot of pleasure. The weather or situation does not diminish my enjoyment one iota.
During the course of the past two years, small issues appear which require the vehicle be serviced. The dealer couldn’t be better. They are pleasurable and resolve the issue at hand. The problem is something else totally unrelated crops up and small items fail to operate properly. This should not be happening as no one I know has these experiences.
To date this has not ceased my enthusiasm for my vehicle. Perhaps it is because the dealer’s staff does such a good job of minimizing any inconveniences.
My take-away from this is, at every customer interaction we have the opportunity to renew our customer’s faith in us and remind them why they choose to reward us with their business in the first place, or give them a reason take their business elsewhere.
Tags: Business, Business Services, Consumer, Vehicle
Posted in Business | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 18th, 2010
Many years ago I started working on a project with one of our clients. Our collaboration has generated millions of dollars in sales for their company and a nice revenue stream for us.
A while after the project had launched we were having lunch together. During lunch he asked me not to produce similar products for his competitors. As we had (and have) a very close relationship I did not hesitate to agree. That was probably close to ten years ago.
Since that time we have received dozens of calls from their competitors asking if we would make a similar website for them. Some even use our client’s name saying he wouldn’t mind. Our answer is always the same, we gave our word and thank them for considering us.
We don’t have a voluminous agreement drawn up by lawyers, just our words and a handshake. In the end, that’s all it comes down to. If someone is not willing to stand by their word, why would anyone want to do business with them?
Tags: Business, Interpersonal relationship, New York, Project management, Revenue stream
Posted in Business | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 15th, 2010
Last year a construction company located in Maine experienced a cyber crime costing the company $545,000.00. The loss took place over six evenings. While Patco, the construction company had insurance, it didn’t begin to even come close to covering the amount of money they lost.
It appears Patco’s computer was compromised with Zeus. The Zeus trojan steals banking information by logging keystrokes. Once the information is obtained, it is sent to the perpetrators.
While the following suggestion may be a pain in the neck, stop for a few moments and weigh it against losing a substantial amount of money.
If you do any type of banking or security transactions via the Internet, do not use the same computer for browsing. For businesses, setup a dedicated financial transaction computer and have it locked down for only specific people to use.
Once we’re on the Internet, we become susceptible to becoming a victim. It is incumbent upon us to be diligent and put as many obstacles between us and the bad guys.
Tags: Business, Computer crime, Internet security, keystroke loggers, keystroke logging, Maine, Personal computer, trojan, United States, Virus, Zeus
Posted in Business, Security | 1 Comment »
Friday, November 12th, 2010
Last week we received two alerts from systems which we monitor, both were servers. Had the issues not been caught it could have brought down both systems, one almost immediately, costing thousands of dollars in lost time. Both systems were miles away from our office in Clifton Park, NY.
We monitor many network servers, computers, and notebooks for a myriad of potential issues and bottlenecks. Often times, the alert may relate to something which we need to resolve, but is not an immediate threat. Some of the items we keep watch over include; processes, CPU and memory load. We check the event logs for unusual or suspicious activity. Basically we keep a watchful eye over all the systems under our supervision.
Because of this, the alerts were simply that. We were able log in remotely to the networks and resolve the situation before it became a major issue. At both sites, there were no user interruptions and if it wasn’t for the fact that we contacted our clients afterword to inform them of that we took action, it was just another business day as usual.
As all of us depend so heavily on technology, it is important to have someone looking out for your best interest and the health and safety of your network infrastructure. We can be that someone 
Tags: Central processing unit, Clifton Park, Clifton Park computer repair, Clifton Park New York, Components, Computer, Hardware, Hardware virtualization, Infrastructure, networking, notebook, Servers, Virtual machine, VMware
Posted in Business, Technology | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
As an IT provider we work with many different types of people and a in variety of situations. Some can be awkward at times. Case in point is from an issue we dealt with earlier in the week.
It is very rare that we have a computer come back regarding a virus removal. Usually we remove the virus and/or malware, secure the computer and the computer is good-to-go. When we setup the computer for this client, he stated he wanted a less stringent security policy than one we normally use.
We received an urgent call from Mr. X’s office, his administrative assistant said he had a virus and it was very important we got over there to take care of it as quickly as possible. While working on the system it became obvious the owner was using his computer to surf porn sites. As the owner, he certainly has the right to do with his time whatever he chooses, and he doesn’t complain about us charging him for the almost periodic virus removals.
This does put our technicians in a very peculiar situation when they come upon an issue such as this. In all my years of working on computers, I only came upon a scenario such as this once, and while it wasn’t the owner, the man held a very high position in the company.
If someone wants to browse for porn, that is their own business. But for the sake of their company’s security, they should not do it on a computer used for the business.
Tags: Anti-Virus, Malicious Software, malware, Personal computer, Security, spyware, Spyware and Adware, Trojan horse (computing), Virus, Viruses
Posted in Business, Security | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
Recently we worked on a client’s computer in an attempt to retrieve data stored on the notebook as all of the data had been deleted. The issue arose when with his Sony notebook was not working properly. As it was under warranty he decided to contact Sony directly.
During the process of Sony attempting to diagnose and resolve the problem, they had him format his C: and D: drives. Whatever possessed the Sony support person to suggest this is beyond my comprehension, but our client believing the Sony representative knew best, followed the instructions.
Needless to say, this was not the correct course of action to resolve the issue and only caused considerable frustration and lost time and money for our client.
We have had many similar examples when people try to save a few dollars by contacting a manufacturer directly. Many times the people on the front line do not have the expertise to fully diagnose the issue and offer a proper resolution. It’s easy for someone thousands of miles away to simply say “you need to reinstall the operating system”, but it’s quite another to have to deal with the ramifications of the horribly poor advice.
The take-a-way is just because someone in a “position of power” says to do something, doesn’t mean you should do it. If you’re unsure, question.
Tags: Apple, Clients, computer help, computer support, Customer service, Sony, technical support, VAIO
Posted in Business, Technology | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
Our company has been in business for over twenty five years, and has the opportunity to work with many different vendors. We have purchased everything from stick of memory to desktop computers to network servers to specialized software, along with many different peripherals.
Going back to well over fifteen years ago, we started purchasing the majority of computers, servers and Okidata printers from Seneca Data out of Syracuse. Through the years I have had the opportunity to work with their technical staff, many are still there today. For quite some time now our account representative has been Marcy Korczakowski, and has always been great to work with. While we could shop around to save a few dollars here or there, we know that long term, building relationships has a greater impact on the bottom line.
Last month I ordered a computer for a client running GarageKeeper software. Our client is in Syracuse and our office is located in Clifton Park, so I had to travel a couple of hours to install the new computer. When I got on-site and went to connect the printers there was no parallel port, which is required to run the GarageKeeper software. At around 10:00 am I placed a call to Marcy at Seneca and explained the situation. Marcy asked if she could get the port to me by 11:30 or 12:00. When I indicated I was close to finishing, Marcy said she would be right over. Within 20 minutes I had the port.
Regardless of how diligent we are, from time to time things do not go as planned. One of the benefits of doing consistent business with the same people is that they also want you to succeed. In this case Marcy and Seneca were there to help. We were on time and our client was up in a very fast manner.
Tags: Business, Clifton Park computer repair, Desktop computer, Hardware, Servers, Syracuse New York
Posted in Business | 2 Comments »
