May 3rd, 2010
I get many questions regarding how to speedup Windows computers. Short of throwing your Windows computer out a window and buying a Mac, here are some tips to speed up your computer.
- Delete Files you no longer need
Old files slow hard drive access performance. Every time you open Windows Explorer to a directory, it has to get all files in the directory to display to the user. The fewer files the better.
- Move old files to an external hard drive
If you have old files or emails you need to archive, push them to an external hard drive. This gets it off your local machine, but allows you to keep them. External hard drives are great for backups too.
- If you don’t use the Windows Search feature, turn off Indexing
If you don’t use the Windows Search feature, turn off indexing. Indexing takes disk space and takes time to index the files. There is no point in having an index of files that you never use to find files.
- Clean Up your Hard Drive
There are lots of places files end up, that are no longer needed. Using the cleanup wizard is a great way to remove all the clutter. To run the wizard, click:
Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Clean Up
When its done examining, it will present a list of files Windows thinks it can delete.
I recommend clicking everything but “Offline Files” and “Compress old files”.
- Defragment Your Hard Drive
This is a big step to improve performance. Windows is like a teenage boy and his bedroom. Windows throws files on the hard drive where ever it finds space, sometimes splitting the file over 3-4 locations. Defragment collects portions of files and stores them together, improving performance. To run Disk Defragment, click:
Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragment
Click Analyze and wait for it to finish analyzing your hard drive. If there is plenty of Red like in the picture above, it will need defragmenting. Click Defragment and wait for it to finish.
- Check your Hard drive for Errors
This process is slightly more complicated the above. Your hard drive is a mechanical device which means it will slowly begin to fail over time. Hard drives are smart though, and try to mitigate failures using error detection and correction techniques. To check your disk for errors, right click on your C: drive, and click properties. Under the tools tab, click Check Now. This will probably require a reboot. During the reboot process is when this error check is performed.
- Add more Memory
Adding memory is very important to today’s computers. I recommend adding as much memory as your machine supports. I use Crucial.com to help me determine this for my machine. They have decent prices as well.
Good luck with accelerating your Windows computer. If you need help, let us know.
Posted in windows | No Comments »
January 21st, 2010
A great article discussing the results of weak passwords.
Posted in passwords, security | No Comments »
December 7th, 2009
I recently moved my “My Documents” folder to a FreeBSD File Server to allow for all of my Windows machines to synchronize my data. Here is a link to how I did it.
http://it.cas.psu.edu/Training/HowTo/ENComputers/offlinefiles.htm
Edit: Don’t forget to enable offline files by right-clicking the My Documents icon.
http://abacus.bates.edu/ils/helpsheets/network/filesynch.html
Posted in File Sharing, FreeBSD, Synchronization | No Comments »
December 7th, 2009
I was using the Ports collection to install Subversion on my FreeBSD server. I had been through the process once, and had selected options that later I had decided against. To remove these options use this command:
make rmconfig
This removes those configurations, allowing you to reselect your options. Thanks to Vivek Gite for the find.
Posted in FreeBSD, Ports, make | No Comments »
May 13th, 2009
I recently obtained a Macbook Pro for my design work. I needed to add my office printer which is an HP laserjet 2100 attached via a Dlink Parallel Printer Server. I found that none of the 2100 drivers worked. I found this forum entry saying I needed to use the PCL 6 drivers. Once I selected it, it worked like a champ. If you need assistance with network printing regardless of operating system, give us a call.
Tags: mac, printing
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
April 17th, 2009
Many small businesses, including ours, use Intuit’s Quickbooks software to manage their company’s finances. Many companies also use a Linux or a BSD distribution for their backend file servers. Linux and BSD distributions are far more stable than Windows and are bundled with many more tools to improve the end user’s backbone. However, Intuit only supports a few Linux distributions and no BSD variants. Here is how I setup a FreeBSD-based Samba Share to store a client’s Quickbooks files.
[storage_name]
comment = Quickbooks File Storage
valid users = @qbusers
path = /this/is/the/path/to/the/shared/files
force create mode = 0770
force directory mode = 0770
oplocks = no
read only = no
Some Quick Explanations
- comment: This is a quick comment to clarify the purpose of the shared workspace
- valid users: You can list individual users, or list groups. Groups are specified with the @ sign
- path: this is the path of the directory you want to share
- force create mode: this forces new files to be created with 0770 permissions
Permissions are defined using Octal Numbers
1: allow execution of files – needed for programs
2: allow writing of files
4: allow reading of files
The first number specifies functions outside the scope of this doc
The second number specifies the user’s permissions
The third number specifies the group’s permissions
The fourth number specifies the rest of the world’s permissions
- oplocks: beyond the scope, but you can read about it here
- read only: enables read only permissions regardless of the file permissions
If you are interested in using a stable, free (as in speech) operating system to support your office backend, give us a call for a complimentary consultation.
Posted in FreeBSD, Quickbooks, samba | No Comments »
April 9th, 2009
Conficker is the latest worm wandering the internet these days. It apparently infects your machine, downloads a keylogger* and then spreads. Here is some news coverage. Make sure your Windows-based systems are fully updated. Here is Microsoft’s reaction to the worm.
*A keylogger is software that logs all of the buttons you press on your keyboard. When you browse to your bank website, and log in, a keylogger will track which website you browse to, as well as your username and password. It can be very dangerous.
If you need help protecting your system, cleaning an infected system, give us a call.
Posted in worms | No Comments »
April 7th, 2009
Wireless security is very important if you want to own a wireless router in your home or business. I recently had a client find out why not securing their wireless router is a very bad thing. Their internet suddenly stopped working. They called their ISP’s technical support to find out some one was using their wireless internet connection to download movies. The ISP shut down their account to investigate. Apparently, some one was using their unsecured wireless network to download movies. They called me very scared about what would happen to them. I was able to secure their wireless network in under 10 minutes. The scary part about this situation is that it could have been worse than someone downloading movies. Someone could have been viewing child pornography or something criminally illegal instead of civilly illegal. Law enforcement typically does not accept the ignorance card, “I didn’t know any better.” Its better to secure your network than take the chance. If you need help securing your network, give us a call.
Posted in wireless security | No Comments »
April 6th, 2009
Properly protecting your systems includes many layers the first of which is a strong firewall. Firewalls like OpenBSD’s PF are very good at securing the network connections of servers. Its important to keep your firewall updated (to prevent known vulnerablities from being exploited) and keep the firewall rules tight (only letting in known good traffic). Limiting port accesses, protocols, and states is also very important. For an in-depth review of your systems security, give us a call.
Posted in firewalls, security | No Comments »
March 23rd, 2009
Nobody sends money for no reason. Please don’t fall for this scam.
Attention
To The Owner Of This E-mail,How are you today, I write to inform you that we have already sent you USD5000.00 dollars through Western union as we have been given the mandate to transfer your full compensation payment total sum of USD850,000.00 via western union by this governemnt.
I was calling your telephone number to give you the information through phone but you did not pick up my calls throughout that yesterday eventhis morning.Now, I decided to email you the MTCN and sender name so that you will pick up this USD5000.00 to enable us send another USD5000.00 today as you know we will be sending you only USD5000.00 per day.
Please pick up this information and run to western union to pick up the USD5000.00 and call me back to send you another payment today, My direct phone line is +xxx-xxx-xxxx, Manager Mr.Paddy Moris Email (xxx)
) call or email me once you picked up this USD5000.00 today.Here is the western union information to pick up the Money;MTCN: 2473015302 Sender’s Name: Icha Kamizo Text Question: HOW MUCH Answer:$5000 Amount:USD $5000.00 I am waiting for your call once you pick up this USD5000.00,
Please email me your direct telephone number because I need to be calling you once we send any payment for the informations.
Thanks
Mr.Don D s Johnson +xxx-xx-xxx-xxx
Posted in Scam | No Comments »
