IT Support Thornton Heath

People are too worried that computer support companies in Thornton Heath will charge a fortune. However, if you find the right one, you can get a great price.

At Jaytag, our prices are clear, and you will never be charged any hidden fees. If we quote you a price, this is what you will pay, even if we have to spend more time than first estimated on it.

Our technicians are waiting to help you solve any of your issues. If you have a support enquiry, then you can contact us here. Once we receive your request, we will call you to talk it over.

If you need to speak to somebody, please call our free-phone number; 0800 7879 258.
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Using Ansible to update MikroTik routers

Administering a large installed base of MikroTik routers can be difficult. You can use The Dude, but this has not been updated in some time, and MikroTik have not made their long term intentions clear in relation to the continued development of the software.

We use Ansible internally to remotely configure machines, so it seemed a natural choice to update the firmware of the MikroTik routers we have installed.

Firstly, you need to generate an appropriate DSA SSH key.
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Countdown to End-of-Support for Windows XP

On April 8th 2014, Microsoft will end support for its decade-old Windows XP. This means, you will no longer receive security updates, fixes or online technical support for PCs still running Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003. The security and privacy implications of this event could have significant impacts on your business, so if you’re running either of these products you should plan to take action soon.
As a precaution, we would recommend all our clients to consider upgrading to the latest supported operating systems such as Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. Customers migrating to these platforms will benefit from enhanced security, broad device choice for a mobile workforce and higher user productivity.
Why upgrade now?

1. No support: Microsoft support, including online and phone-based technical support, will end. As a result both Jaytag and any other IT support company will not be able to properly support Windows XP.
2. Security Risks: Critical security updates will stop, making machines much more vulnerable to viruses. Hackers are waiting to take advantage of this insecurity. If your computer gets a virus your machine will not only not perform properly – it may shut down entirely. Moreover, you are at risk for losing files and having your personal and business information stolen. Anti-virus software will also not be able to fully protect you once Windows XP itself is unsupported.
3. Compliance: Businesses that are governed by regulatory obligations may find that they are no longer able to satisfy compliance requirements e.g. PCI compliance.

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Has your router been cracked wide open?

We have had a number of customers report recently that their internet browsers have been hijacked. Quite simply, this means that when they try to browse to a website, such as google.com they are redirected somewhere else.
These websites that are displayed often ask for Adobe Flash player to be updated, or inform you that a virus scan needs to be completed on the computer.
These sites are not genuine. In fact, the reason that the pages are shown is because the settings on the internet router have been changed by a 3rd party.
More information about this security vulnerability is available here: http://www.isssource.com/routers-hacked-via-email/
This of course is extremely worrying, as it means an outsider has successfully accessed the computer network, and may in future try to infect connected computers with viruses, or otherwise attempt to illegally access data.

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How Cloud Storage Could Help Your Small Business

Cloud Storage is the term used to describe using an online facility to store your information. These are usually operated by a third party company using data centres and there are a number of different operators providing it such as Dropbox, Skydrive, My Secure Backup, and Google Drive.

Cloud storage is an increasingly popular concept, and many small businesses are embracing it to help them. But how can cloud storage help a small business?

One popular use of cloud storage is to store your important documents such as databases, spread sheets or client projects. By doing this, it doesn’t matter if your computer breaks down, is stolen, or the file is otherwise lost; you will be able to successfully retrieve it from your cloud. You can usually set up an automatic synchronisation, so that when you save a document to a certain folder in your PC, the cloud storage facility you use will pick it up and automatically save it there too. Alternatively if you log onto your cloud storage remotely from a remote device or there web site you can upload/maintain documents and these will automatically synchronise/update on your home computer.

It is also a secure way of storing your information. You can change privacy settings of the documents so that it can only be accessed by yourself, people listed, or people who you pass the link to. This allows you to share it with people if you need it, or stash it away in a private folder if it isn’t something you want to share.

The cost of cloud storage can be considerably lower than other solutions, with many companies offering you a small amount of start-up storage for free, with higher amounts becoming available to you for a small fee, often on a monthly subscription basis.

So lets take a look at the four services I previously mentioned and see what they have to offer:

 

Dropbox
Dropbox is a cloud storage facility which comes with an initial 2GB, which can be expanded to fit your requirements.

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Windows Server updates failing – Error 80072EFD

You may have found that your Windows Server won’t update via Windows Updates Services and the following error message is displayed on screen.

 

One issue which causes Windows Updates to fail with error 80072EFD is if the Windows Server is pointing at itself or another Server on the network to find the updates.

To check this click Start > Run > type “regedit”, and accept the UAC prompt to continue.

 

Now navigate to HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate.

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Windows XP Recovery Console – KB310994 download

To manually install the Windows Recovery Console, you have to have the necessary updates. It seems Microsoft have removed the link to the recovery console that used to be linked to from here.

This makes running tools like ComboFix for example, quite difficult.

I’ve sourced the files (at least for SP2 and up) they are mirrored here:

windowsxp-kb310994-sp2-home-bootdisk-enu.exe – For Windows XP Home SP2 and newer.
windowsxp-kb310994-sp2-pro-bootdisk-enu.exe – For Windows XP Professional SP2 and newer.
To install for combofix use, you can download the file to your PC and drag and drop onto the combofix.exe file, as detailed here.

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How to reset a network card in Windows

Open Control Panel
Click Hardware and Sound
Click Device Manager
In Network Adapters, find the LAN card you want to reset – this is often something like:
Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller
Intel PRO/1000MT Network Adapter
Right click on the adapter and click Uninstall
You will be warned that this will remove the device from the system – ensure that ‘Delete the driver software’ is *not* ticked if this is shown Note: Clicking OK will disconnect your remote access session if you are connected! - See more...

Convert plain numbers to MAC addresses with Excel

We use the following formula if you need a – between the octets:
 =MID(c2,1,2)&"-"&MID(c2,3,2)&"-"&MID(c2,5,2)&"-"& MID(c2,7,2)&"-"&MID(c2,9,2)&"-"&MID(c2,11,2)

We use the following formula if you need a :
between the octets:
=MID(c2,1,2)&":"&MID(c2,3,2)&":"&MID(c2,5,2)&":"& MID(c2,7,2)&":"&MID(c2,9,2)&":"&MID(c2,11,2) - See more...

No DAHDI modules on the system. Not starting

You need to retrieve the correct kernel-devel for the kernel of linux you are running, and remake DAHDI from source
SSH onto the machine and run: uname -r
Note the kernel version. then, google for kernel-devel (kernel version) find a suitable download source (i.e. from rpm.pbone.net) then on the machine rpm -ivh ftp://ftp.is.co.za/mirror/centos/6.5/updates/x86_64/Packages/kernel-devel-2.6.32-431.1.2.0.1.el6.x86_64.rpm - See more...

GParted – “Bad sectors” Error Message

When using GParted to resize a partition on a hard drive you have cloned you may notice an exclamation mark on the drive.

When you attempt to apply the resize it will most likely fail, and you may receive an error message, similar to the one below, stating that there are “bad sectors” on the disk. - See more...

Internet Explorer and HMRC – this file could not be downloaded

If you are unable to download P60, CT100 or VAT forms from the HMRC website, you may need to check that Adobe Reader is working correctly. Often, an issue with the installation will mean the PDF file from the HMRC site will not open automatically. The error message will then appear – “this file could not be downloaded”. Here is how to fix the problem: In Internet Explorer, go to Tools (or the small cog icon) then click Internet Options Select the Advanced tab Check the Do not save encrypted pages to disk option is ticked in the security section Click OK - See more...

Session setup failed: NT_STATUS_INVALID_PARAMETER

When trying to link to a Windows Vista, 7 or 8 shared printer from Mac OS 10.6 or newer, you may find that the printer gives this error message.
Essentially, SMB printing from CUPS (the Mac OS printing system) seems broken – it does not pass along the correct user name and password (even when entered manually). The solution is quite long winded… Firstly, ensure that the printer is shared on the Windows machine - See more...

On Hold (Authentication Required) – Mac OSX and Windows printing

The solution to this issue is the same as another error: Session setup failed: NT_STATUS_INVALID_PARAMETER We have detailed the solution here.
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Office 365 – Set the default domain

When you first setup Office365, Microsoft provides you with a default domain – usually companyname.onmicrosoft.com – for example, the Jaytag domain is jaytag.onmicrosoft.com.

This can cause a small headache – as it’s not obvious when you have added your companies domain where to set this as default – so when you add new users, the primary email address will be emailaddress@companyname.onmicrosoft.com.

To set the default domain to the domain you have added, login to Office365 and click into the adminin - See more...

Turnpike Six v6.07 entire.exe download

Since Demon internet discontinued support for Turnpike, it has been impossible to source a copy of the software – especially since the Demon FTP site has also gone the way of the Dodo.

However, we have sourced a copy of the installer for Turnpike Six v6.07 it is downloadable here:
http://www.jaytag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/entire.exe
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OSX Citrix Client Installation – Auto open ICA files from Safari

 

We have come across an issue recently with the new version of the Citrix online plugin (now called Citrix Reciever). Installation of the Citrix Reciever software from the OSX App store is not sufficient to allow the downloaded ICA file to auto open. The result is, you install Citrix Reciever and login to the Citrix site only for the ICA file to download, but not open. This makes it look like Citrix isn’t working properly.

The fix is simple:

• First, you have to modify what Safari considers as a “safe” file. Ensure that in Safari’s Preference panel that ‘Open “Safe” files’ is checked. 

• Next, download this zip file: http://www.jaytag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Auto_Open_ICA.zip Extract the plist (preferences file) from the downloaded zip file 

• Drag and drop the file to /Library/Preferences. (On OSX Lion, type \library in the ‘Find’ box and double-click into the preferences folder) 
• Restart Safari

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Sage Accounts

Sage Accounts: Username in use 

This is a very common issue with Sage – if the program crashes for whatever reason, you are unable to log back into the program. Before you start! I’d always recommend taking a backup of the company files before making any changes to Sage program or data files – just in case! The Sage file database system is a little antiquated and can be temperamental. The fix itself is simple: Browse to the Sage company file directory on your computer (this will vary, although if you check the COMPANY file in your install directory, it will be listed) Open the ACCDATA directory Delete the queue.dta file - See more...

Scheduled Tasks – Running Tasks Without A Password in Windows XP

 

If you try to run a scheduled task in Windows XP, it will balk if you don’t enter a password (or if your main account has no password, it won’t let you proceed). There are two potential fixes: Run the task as the administrator (i.e. your-machine-name\administrator) You can then enter the administrators password. You may need to set this in Computer Management first: Right click My Computer Click Manage In the right hand window, click into Users and Groups Right click the Administrator account, and click Change Password Enter a password of your choice. You can then run the task as the system administrator. - See more... 

Enable Telnet Command in Windows 7

 

Telnet is a simple but extremely popular protocol for exchanging data between two computers. It is often used for testing computer programs. The Telnet utility is included with Windows Vista and Windows 7 computers although it is not enabled by default. Enable Telnet for Windows Vista/Windows 7 If you would like to enable Telnet, follow these steps: 1. Go to Control Panel. 2. Click into Programs and Features. 3. Click Turn Windows Features on or off. - See more...