“Our website sucks!”

“Our website sucks!”.  Those are the words a client recently used to convey his feelings.  A website for your business has long passed the phase of being a luxury.  Customers both current and prospective expect businesses to have a web presence.  Now, more than ever, customers are not just looking to your website to learn more about you, they are wanting to interact with your business online.  A website is the single most valuable marketing tool yet many business owners give it little or no attention. Continue reading ““Our website sucks!””

3 Reasons to Monitor Your Server Status

What would happen if your server went down today? Apart from the panic and flurry of activity to get things back online, a good number of employees would be twiddling their thumbs and your boss would be wondering how much this is going to cost the company. And wouldn’t it be even more embarrassing if the server crashed because you ran out of disk space or another issue that could have been easily avoided with proper monitoring?

As the saying goes, prevention is far better than cure and a similar situation to the above can be avoided by using a network monitoring service to check on your server status and spot potential issues, before they turn into critical problems. We look at three key benefits of using this solution – to avoid hearing those dreaded words: “server down”. Continue reading “3 Reasons to Monitor Your Server Status”

Beware – “Update Your Windows Installation Records”

A website residing at microsofts(dot)us/speedlogin/ wants you to know that your “computer is out of date”, and that you should “update your Windows installation records” due to a high risk situation.

 

As it turns out, updating your Windows installation records is a simple matter of selecting your email provider then handing over your login credentials. Wait, what? Continue reading “Beware – “Update Your Windows Installation Records””

South Carolina Department of Revenue Hacked!

If you haven’t heard yet, the SC Dept. of Revenue was hacked a couple of weeks ago by an international hacker.  This information was just released today to the public, along with some steps every person affected by this should take.

As a gentleman taking part in the press conference pointed out, these types of hacks take place all the time.  Some times they are successful and some times they aren’t.  As with most crimes, many hacker crimes go unreported or are not newsworthy if they are reported.  I would also add that many companies, especially small businesses, have no idea hackers are even trying to break into their systems.

For South Carolina residents who may have been affected by this, Governor Haley recommends ” everyone who has filed a tax return in South Carolina since 1998 to Continue reading “South Carolina Department of Revenue Hacked!”

What’s the difference between Windows RT and Windows 8?

reposted from www.microsoft.com

Windows RT contains many of the same features as Windows 8, but is a new operating system for thin and light PCs. Some of the features of Windows 8 and Windows RT are:

  • Fluid, intuitive, and easy-to-use interface design that you can easily customize.
  • Built in apps like Mail, Calendar, Messaging, Photos, and SkyDrive with many more apps available in the Windows Store.
  • Internet Explorer 10, for fast, intuitive browsing.
  • Touch-enabled so you can interact with Windows in a whole new way.
  • Mouse and keyboard–enabled so you can be as productive as you need to be.

Windows RT also includes some different features: Continue reading “What’s the difference between Windows RT and Windows 8?”

Microsoft confirms security breach in Internet Explorer

Originally posted on September 19, 2012

Yesterday Microsoft announces it discovered a vulnerability within their web browser (Internet Explorer) which could allow hackers to corrupt a computer’s memory and take control of the computer.  Microsoft has not said when it will patch this security hole, other than to say it will likely be fixed in the October scheduled updates.  However, Microsoft did say that if it appears to be a larger problem they would release an update sooner.  Read more about this from Microsoft here.

In the meantime we at Carolina Computer Concepts recommend the following: Continue reading “Microsoft confirms security breach in Internet Explorer”

Microsoft Support Call Scam

BEWARE – Some of my clients have been reporting they have received phone calls, some claiming to be from “Microsoft”, telling them that their computers are infected. The caller asks the User if they are online and if their computers are performing slowly.  If their computers are not running, they will ask the User to boot the system and report on the start up time or, if the system is running and online, they will tell the User that a tech can take over control of it and clean a “virus infection”.

THIS IS A SCAM !!! Continue reading “Microsoft Support Call Scam”

Malware 101

As if viruses themselves aren’t enough to worry about these days, there are plenty of other nasty things floating around the Internet.  Let’s discuss very briefly what these are, in general, and what you can do to protect yourself.  As well as, how to respond should you become a victim. Continue reading “Malware 101”