Managed Computer Services

In a recent random customer satisfaction survey, 98% of 37signals’ Basecamp customers surveyed said they’d recommend Basecamp to their colleagues, friends, and family. Since the majority of their business comes from word-of-mouth referrals, this reflects remarkable success in a tough marketplace. 37signals is all about business.

Every day the world’s most respected brands, small businesses, non-profits, and entrepreneurs depend on products from 37signals to make their businesses run smoothly.

37signals believe most software is too complex. Too many features, too many promises. Instead, they build simpler web-based software with elegant interfaces and thoughtful features you’ll actually use. Not to mention safe, secure, reliable and proven since 2004.

37signals’ products are built for small businesses and individuals, what they we call the Fortune 5,000,000, but companies of all sizes use them every day. From 1 person to teams of 3-5 people to companies of 5000. Everyone loves simple tools that help get the job done. Try them yourself.

    

This would be our choice today;

Lenovo ThinkPad SL510 2847 – Core 2 Duo T5870 / 2 GHz – Centrino – RAM 2 GB – HDD 160 GB – DVD-Writer – GMA 4500MHD – Gigabit Ethernet – WLAN : 802.11 a/b/g/n (draft) – Windows 7 Pro – 15.6″ Widescreen TFT 1366 x 768 ( WXGA ) – matte black – TopSeller – Microsoft Office Ready

Wireless comes in all shapes and sizes depending upon your requirements. But, for out of the box networking in a small office, Hawking Hi-Gain Wireless 300N Access Point/Bridge devices can’t be beat.

Hawking Technology’s HWABN1 puts two solutions into one compact unit, saving you time and money. The includedSoftware Setup Wizard lets you change the function of your HWABN1 whenever you wish to adapt to your specific application and changing network environment.

In the Wireless Access Point Mode, the HWABN1 allows for any existing wired network to go wireless. Simply attach the Wireless Access Point using the included Ethernet cable to an open port in your router or switch and enjoy highspeed wireless networking.

You can also use the Access Point to cover “dead spots” in your existing wireless network by placing the unit in a room that is lacking wireless coverage.The Wireless Ethernet Bridge Mode enables any wired Ethernet-ready device to connect to your existing wireless network using the HWABN1. Connect your PC, notebook, printer, network camera, or even an entire wired network to the HWABN1 and establish a wireless connection to your wireless network.

Larger installations require a site survey and wireless network engineering work to produce a working plan to move your facility into wireless networking. Whether you need a service facility, warehouse, medical building or metro remote worker solution, we can get the job done. Contact us when you’re ready for wireless.

Pro active systems monitoring and intelligent self-healing computers sustain a modern business. Consider for one moment this scenario. You spend over an hour shopping for groceries, stand in line at the check-out, the attendant scans all of your items and just as she completes scanning your last coupon, up pops a screen on her cash register monitor saying that her computer is compromised and she will need to buy XP Internet Security 2010 before she can continue, the register freezes up.

No… this scenario will not happen. You see, her cash register or point of sale system comes from a major computer services company (look, the next time you’re at the check out counter) and is a sophisticated Intel based personal computer designed for a commercial environment. It’s not a toy, like the computer you have on your desk.

We do the systems stuff to Windows computer environments that make them perform like the cash registers and point of sale environment at your local grocery store. You don’t need to waste your or your employees’ valuable time on fixing toys.

Contact us to get your end user personal computer environment turned in the right direction and begin adding all that wasted time back to your work day.

If you’ve been hit with XP Internet Security 2010, Antivirus Vista 2010, and Win 7 Antispyware 2010 and your computer rendered non functional and if you use an ESET product, please drop us an email or contact us.

I have an open case with ESET to find out why this is repeatedly occuring on computers protected with ESET.

There are good instructions for removing XP Internet Security 2010, Antivirus Vista 2010, and Win 7 Antispyware 2010 from your computer at http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-antivirus-vista-2010

Essentially it’s two steps:

Download and run this file

Download and run Malwarebytes

Again, please drop us an email or contact us. This should not be happening with ESET protected computers.

Best practice requires removal of all malware, spyware and antivirus programs before installing new security software. ESET has a set of great tools to use. They say…

Running two antivirus products on the same computer can degrade performance and cause system instability. It is important that any previously installed antivirus software is un-installed from your system before installing your ESET security product. Typical un-installation using the Windows removal tool (Add/Remove Programs) is often insufficient.

Eset Security and Antivirus products consistently win press accolades for their fine software.

If you use or are thinking about using Exchange for file storage, you need to read this article at TechRepublic. We’ve long advocated that dynamic document management is the path to secure, version controlled document file management. You do not even need a local server to pull it off.

Please contact us if your interested. See the content of the article below:

1: Microsoft says they’re going awaySince before the release of Exchange 2007, Microsoft has been telling us that public folders will eventually be discontinued. This hasn’t happened just yet though. Public folders are alive and well in Exchange 2010. Even so, public folders probably won’t be supported in the next version of Exchange.

2: Public folder stores can be resource intensive (full text indexing)Public folders can rob your Exchange Server of memory, disk, and CPU resources. By offloading your public folder data, you may be able to improve your Exchange server’s performance.

3: Public folders are not designed for archiving dataMany public folder stores are misused. According to Microsoft, public folders are not designed for archiving data. If you use public folders to archive Exchange data, you would be better off using a journaling mailbox instead.

4: Public folders are not designed for document sharing and collaborationMicrosoft also says public folders are not designed for document sharing and collaboration, yet that is exactly what many organizations use them for. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server is much better equipped for collaboration tasks and for document sharing than public folders have ever been.

5: Public folder data can be difficult to restoreIn Exchange 2007, Microsoft introduced the recovery storage group feature as a way of making it a whole lot easier to perform granular restorations of mailbox data. Although public folders are a part of the information store, just like mailbox databases, they can’t be restored using recovery storage groups. This means that if you ever have to restore a public folder, you may be in for a headache.

6: Public folders are finally optionalPrior to the release of Exchange 2010, public folders were used for storing free/busy data, and they were also used for OAB (offline address book) downloads. In Exchange 2010, however, public folders finally became an optional feature. As long as all of your clients are running Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2010, you can get rid of your public folder store.

7: The concept of public folders is dated (long filenames, indexing)At one time, there was a good reason for using public folders. Back in the days of Exchange Server 4, not many organizations were using long file names yet, and server indexing was still primitive. Public folders provided organizations with a great way of describing their data in granular detail and indexing it. Today, though, there are better tools for the job.

8: Public folders have been deemphasizedIn Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft decided to deemphasize public folders. They’re still fully supported, but no new features were introduced. Public folders are also supported in Exchange 2010, but once again, there aren’t any new features. Essentially, this means that public folders are a stagnant feature because they have changed very little since Exchange 2003.

9: The management tools leave a lot to be desiredWhen Microsoft initially released Exchange Server 2007, you had only two options for managing public folders. One option was to manage public folders from the command line, using EMS commands. The other option was to keep an Exchange 2003 server on your network and use the Exchange System Manager for public folder management. SP1 for Exchange 2007 contains GUI-based public folder management tools, as does Exchange Server 2010. Even so, the tools aren’t anything to write home about.

10: Public folder data tends to collect dustSeveral years back, I worked for a large organization that had an absolutely massive public folder hierarchy. The problem was that most of the public folder data had been in place since the days of Exchange 4. None of the current employees had a clue what the public folders had actually been used for, but nobody wanted to take responsibility for deleting them. My point is that you may have unimportant public folder data that’s just taking up space. What better time to prune the archives?

Archived File System, well known to the public as bank check online viewers, email retention and other scan to server systems.

From Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archive ;

An archives is a collection of historical records, as well as the place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization’s lifetime.

In general, archives consist of records that have been selected for permanent or long-term preservation on grounds of their enduring cultural, historical, or evidentiary value. Archival records are normally unpublished and almost always unique, unlike books or magazines for which many identical copies exist. This means that archives (the places) are quite distinct from libraries with regard to their functions and organization, although archival collections can often be found within library buildings.

An archive within a company may look more like an application as opposed to the typical file/folder paradigm. A well known Archive product, Documentum Archive Services from EMC, ensures compliance with various regulatory and litigation requirements in very large corporations. Many solutions exist for archiving documents, but the important thing to remember; they are not dynamic file systems for ongoing work. Please contact us for more information.

No discussion is complete without resolving hardware procurement and break – fix situations. Your business can drive cost savings by leveraging computer company opportunities with warranty, service contracts and asset management tools using major computer equipment manufacturer’s value added services.

You can certainly purchase discounted hardware through our partnership with Amazon, but you might want to consider how you would deal with a desktop computer failure under warranty. Four hour same day service response to your special situation returns savings to you by not taking a supervisor offline and the end user off line for two days while waiting for an on site tech to show up.

We can deploy automated computer maintenance and monitoring as well as 24/7 help desk services. We offer Lightning Quick Support, Laptop and Desktop Computer Repair and frequently publish our business computer recommendations.

We also have sources for sources for office printers as well as scanners and fax machines.

Contact us, we can make hardware ownership almost enjoyable.