Showing posts with label remote it support services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label remote it support services. Show all posts

Thursday, 26 June 2014

Has your router been cracked wide open?

linksys router smashed
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.
- See more...

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

Wednesday, 25 June 2014

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.

- See more...

Monday, 19 May 2014

Sporttracks v2 – Map problem fixed

 

With Sporttracks v2, there is an issue that the Terraserver map plugin no longer functions correctly. Maps cannot be zoomed, and over time, none of the routemaps appear to display at all. Thankfully, there is a user created plugin called Apply Routes. Apply Routes provides a number of extensions to the SportTracks functionality: It adds a number of MapProviders (google, microsoft, openlayers, geoportail) - See more...

Send test email via telnet

It’s often useful to test an email server manually – to ensure the port is open and redirected properly, and also that the server is delivering messages to the mailbox correctly.
Here is how to send an email manually with telnet:

Open a command prompt on the PC you will send the test email from telnet server.server.com 25​

HELO jaytag.co.uk (response will be 250 OK)

MAIL FROM:dmcmillan@jaytag.co.uk (response should be 250 OK – mail from dmcmillan@jaytag.co.uk)

RCPT TO:james@stephenrjames.com (response should be 250 OK – Recipient james@stephenrjames.com)

DATA (response should be 354 Send data. End with CRLF.CRLF) - See more...

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...

Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Office365 – Distribution list blank return path

When you are using Office365, you may find that external email addresses in a distrbution list do not recieve mails sent to the distribution list email address.

Many spam filters will block emails with a blank or empty return path, but Office365 sets this blank as default, to prevent email bounce loops.
This is normal behaviour – a large distribution list shouldn’t distribute a bounce/DSN report to the entire membership.
For a single membership list for use with Zendesk, Help Scout or other similar mailbox monitoring applications, it may be necessary. - 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.
Read more...

Monday, 14 April 2014

Windows XP Recovery Console – KB310994 download

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. - See more...

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
See more...

Installing Ubuntu 8.04 on a Viglen MPC-L

minipc 

The Viglen MPC-L (<– PDF link) is a low powered (both in terms of CPU speed and power consumption) compact computer. They are extremely similar to the Linutop machine (i.e. identical) and are actually an FIC ION 503 under the hood. It comes preinstalled with xubuntu, a version of ubuntu that substitutes the gnome window manager with XFCE. Better still, email Duncan Hargreaves at Viglen (tell them the ubuntu podcast sent you) and you can pick one up for a mere £79. If like us, you are a stickler for utilising similar OS environments for support reasons (including the window manager) then a full install of ubuntu is the way to go. - See more...  

Conficker Virus – Think you have it?

Conficker Virus – Think you have it?

biohazard

The Conficker virus has to be one of the most difficult to get rid of. But how can you quickly diagnose if you have it? There are some well known signs: Windows Update and Automatic Updates are blocked System Restore has been turned off You cannot access anti-virus websites (such as Symantec, McAfee, AVG etc.) There is now also an even quicker way: Click Here Think you might be infected? - See more...

A simple MySQL Backup Tool

A simple MySQL Backup Tool 

 

If you administer a website (or indeed a number of websites) you may need a tool which will allow you to simply backup a MySQL database on a regular basis. Although there are a number of tools available online, none quite fit our needs. As a result, we’ve quickly written a simple MySQL backup tool in PHP. Features
  • Tested compatible with PHP version 5.2.14 and MySQL 5.0 
  •  Allows for SQL and ZIP export of a single MySQL database 
  • Lists previous backups made This is version 0.1a – it is no doubt buggy. 
We would appreciate any feedback if you do decide to use the tool. The application is fairly self explanatory in its usage. 
Installation 
  • Extract the Zip file 
  • Copy the contents to a directory on your server 
  • Browse to the directory you saved the files to with your browser 
Features to be added in v0.2a (Release date 4th February 2011) Improved documentation Backup multiple databases Additional security (password for created ZIP files, and password for the utility) - See more... 

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WordPress Logo

This WordPress error message appears when a plugin update fails half way through. The fix is extremely simple: FTP to your WordPress installation directory Delete the .maintenance file at the root wordpress folder (where wp-config.php lives) Login and retry the plugin operation - See more...

Sage Accounts

Sage Accounts: Username in use 

Sage Logo

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...

Updating WordPress with 1&1 hosting

Updating WordPress with 1&1 hosting 

Logo for 1&1

WordPress plays nicely with most web hosts, although 1&1 are a little different. If you try to update a freshly installed copy of WordPress on 1&1 hosting without making this change, some functions (mainly the automatic update processes) will not complete successfully. The key is to edit the .htaccess file in the WordPress installation directory: FTP to your WordPress installation directory Download the .htaccess file Edit the file, adding the following line: AddType x-mapp-php5 .php Upload the file to the server, overwriting the old .htaccess file - See more...

Wednesday, 12 March 2014

Blocking browsing to website subdirectories – 1&1

If you are using a webhost like 1&1, you may find that adding additional domains to your hosting package sets the default directory (the ‘home’ directory) as a subdirectory of the main site. Imagine you have two sites: www.abc.com www.newsite.com After adding the newsite.com entry to your list of domains the home directory may be set to www.abc.com/newsite/ – this will allow a user to browse to www.abc.com/newsite and access the new site. Why is this a bad thing? It’s uncertain whether sites like google treat multiple domains pointing to content as a bad thing – there is some information out there, like here, but the situation isn’t 100% clear. The best situation is to have the content isolated properly, so that the new site we have created newsite.com cannot be browsed in this fashion. There are two methods to resolve this issue: Set the home directory of the primary website to a subdirectory
  • Configure abc.com to have a home directory of /http_docs/abc.com (or similar) 
  • Configure newsite.com to have a home directory of /http_docs/newsite.com (or similar)
See more...