Did you know that improperly throwing away technology equipment pollutes landfills? With Earth Day just around the corner, think about what old and unused technology equipment you have laying around your house or office. Most likely that equipment is getting in your way and taking up space. As a service to the community, WingSwept and its supporting partners are holding the second annual Technology Spring Clean in a couple of weeks at 951 Heather Park Drive, Garner, NC 27529. It is a FREE drop-off recycling event occurring on April 17 from 10 am – 4 pm. It couldn’t get much easier! Get more details here: www.wingswept.com/recycle
Archive for category Technology Tips
WingSwept is a local IT consulting company helping small to medium sized businesses leverage technology, minimize downtime, and secure business. WingSwept has been delivering peace of mind since 1995, and focuses on businesses in Garner, surrounding areas in North Carolina, and provides certain services nationwide.
If you want to be able to hit “send” but have the email stay in your outbox for a time, use the following rule. When it is in your outbox, you are able to re-open it and make changes without using the Recall feature!
- In Outlook, go to the Tools menu Rules and Alerts
- Click on New Rule
- Click Start From a Blank Rule
- Highlight Check Messages After Sending, then click Next
- Do not select any checkboxes showing, then click Next
- Answer Yes to dialog box asking if this applies to all messages
- Select the last checkbox – Defer delivery by X minutes
- Under Step 2 that now shows, click on minutes
- Edit number of minutes you would like the delay to last (suggested delay 2 minutes), Click OK and Next
- Decide if you want an exception – Some use “Importance” to have emails go immediately
- Name your rule and click Finish! You can now go grab and delete from out Outbox for 2 minutes if you realize you didn’t mean to send a certain email
It seems pretty ironic, but electricity, the very thing that powers your computer, can actually hurt it more than help it. WingSwept wanted to let you know that electricity can cause your computer network to go haywire in a couple different ways:
First there are transients, also known as surges or spikes in service usually caused by weather, animals, or even damage to a power pole caused by a vehicle accident. Transients can occur pretty regularly, up to several times per week. Having a surge protector does not guarantee your computer and data safe, however. According to experts, surge protectors become burned out after just a few months of fighting off transients.
At the opposite end of the transient scale is what’s called a sag. This is what happens when power drops below normal. Everyone has witnessed a sag as they may come in the form of flickering lights caused by when some piece of equipment turns on or comes out of power saver mode. Experts say offices can experience up to 30 sags a day.
Another issue is a blackout. The definition is just what it sounds like—sudden power loss. No matter how long a blackout lasts, it can cause major problems for your computer to include not even starting back up again.
How do you protect your computers and data? Get yourself an uninterruptible power supply, or UPS. These devices can sense electrical problems and adjusts accordingly to maintain normal power. Make sure to get a UPS that will support your computer. Contact WingSwept with any questions you have regarding UPS compatibility.
With the pending storm, this is a good opportunity to remind everyone of some standard IT procedures. Before leaving the office for the weekend, we advise you power off desktops. All WingSwept client servers have been given peace of mind with preconfigured with battery backup and automated software to gracefully shut down in the event of a power outage. This is a good opportunity to review your server setup with your IT service provider. Please feel free to contact us with any questions/concerns.
WingSwept would like to warn you about the a identity theft scheme that is being accompanied by tax season. The newest scheme developed by identity thieves is to send an e-mail posing as the IRS. According to the Trend Micro Consumer Newsletter, there are different versions of scamming e-mails being sent.
One version of the scam IRS messages has victims receiving an e-mail advising they did not report all of their income to the IRS. The recipient is then asked to download an attachment which the scammer claims is a portion of their most recent tax return. When the attachment is downloaded, the victim’s computer has acquired a virus.
Another similar scam plays on a victim’s fear of being audited by the IRS. A bogus information form is sent to the victim by e-mail who is told they must complete and return it. If the victim does not complete the form, the scammer will then threaten them with levy penalties and interest.
In order to avoid the newest scam this tax season, it is important to remember one thing: The IRS uses the US Postal Service to contact taxpayers—they never use e-mail.
In this article by Ray Barber of Kaseya, seven questions are outlined to help you choose a technology partner that will allow you to focus on your business. The article states that ”you need your IT to work – all the time – and using an outsourced IT service can give small to medium-sized businesses like yours the enterprise-level IT capabilities needed to help achieve business growth, reduce costs and maximize profitability.”
Are you satisfied with the answers to these questions about your tech support?
What level of customer service do they provide you? Can their staff offer expertise? Do they offer fixed monthly pricing? Do they take a proactive approach?
If you aren’t satisfied with the service you are getting, consider WingSwept, an IT consulting firm and managed services provider in Garner. Customer service and IT expertise are founding principles of the company.
In 2009, millions of innocent consumers were harassed, defrauded, and robbed of valuable personal information that may have done serious damage to their credit and privacy for years to come. Some of the most memorable scams of 2009 and possible threats for 2010 are:
1. Spoofing Attacks – Scammers ask you to visit a website by pretending to be an official source, and rob you of your personal information.
2. Economy Related Scams – Scammers use the economy and enticing terms like loans, debt relief, etc. to get you to fall for their scam.
3. Work at Home Scams – Do you want to earn fast money while working at home? These are the type of things scammers will say to get you to participate in their scam. They most always ask for an upfront fee.
4. Social Networking Scams – The continued popularity of social networking sites is a target to scammers and malware makers looking to spread viruses, hack into people’s personal accounts, or con people out of money.
5. Classified Ad and Auction Scams – Although Craigslist can ebay can be a good way to find things you are looking for, it is also a good place for scammers to plot.
This WingSwept article was inspired by one by Trend Micro. Read their article here.
WingSwept’s IT experts offer businesses the chance to better understand their technology. How efficient is your network? Is your server and technology equipment holding you back? Are you on the brink of a computer crash? These are all easy questions to answer after getting a Technology SWOT analysis by WingSwept. It is our goal to help you leverage your technology, but first you need to know where you stand. To find out more, contact our consultants. This affordable offer could save your business!
If you are a business professional of today, then you are most likely on the move and rely heavily on technology to connect you to your work. When you are traveling, you may transfer important data to your laptop and work on it away from the office. Perhaps you have to go home at the end of the day, but find your self plugging away on internal corporate documents on your personal PC. If you are doing any of this, you are not alone! When was the last time you backed up your personal or corporate data on your off-site machines? You are also not alone if you haven’t ever backed it up.
Most people don’t understand how much critical information they carry around in their laptop or personal PCs until they crash, are stolen, or files are accidentally deleted. Some irreplaceable documents you may be carrying are HR documents, time/expense reports, and client files. Laptops often have a short lifespan and disasters are likely to occur.
Many believe that backing up files on a personal computer is too expensive and difficult to do, but WingSwept is here to clear up the misconception. Protecting your off-site machines can be simple, affordable, and accessible through the Internet. If you want to see for yourself, try out WingSwept’s reliable online solution for your laptop or personal PC with a FREE 30 day trial. If you want to know more about the benefits that Data Vault can provide you, click here.
What would happen if there was a flood, fire, or theft? Could your business operate? How long would it take you to be up and running again?
Some don’t realize how much they rely on data until after the fact…when it is too late. That is why every business needs a reliable backup at an affordable rate.
At the very least, business owners need to have data backup on the machines that hold the most critical data. At WingSwept, we offer a very affordable online solution for people like you to put on single computers, such as your off-site machines or coverage for main computers. It also recommended to have backup to your existing backup, and you can use our Data Vault Services to do so, because it is that affordable. We are even offering a FREE 30 day trial to test it out and help you protect your business.