Today is the 25th anniversary of the first virus that was written for the PC and I thought it was worth mentioning this on the blog. It was quite apt that we had a customer phone in today saying that they had been infected by a virus. Nothing was working and they wanted to know whether there was anything that iPing could do. (*Of course there was*)

After the virus problem was resolved and the baddies were removed from the customer's network, I got to thinking... Did the authors of  the 'Brain' virus, Basit and Amjad Alvi from Pakistan realise what they were unleashing on the world with Viruses and Malware and the effect it would have on the IT support & computer repair industry. 

At this stage I would like to again emphasise the importance of having an Antivirus application installed on your computer. There are many good antivirus applications out there, the important thing is that you have one installed on your computer and that you keep it up to date.

Here at iPing we use Eset Nod for antivirus and this is what we suggest to our clients to use. If you are having problems with viruses and would like to resolve these problems just give us a call on 01 5241350 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Again happy 25th birthday Brain virus.

Although XP is still a very big player in the home and business computer world , its becoming apparent that Windows 7 will soon takeover as old pc's give up and need replacing...

I know it can be daunting moving onto a new operating system, and getting used to it can take time, so over the next few weeks I will be posting some handy features of the Windows 7 operating system.

Windows 7 Snipping Tool --- Very Cool !

In XP and older versions of Windows there was a tool that most people forgot about or did not know about or just did not use.

It was the 'print screen' button. You could hit 'print screen', then paste the image into MS Paint or another program and send it to someone or use it on a blog like I do.

Introduced in Vista and also in Windows 7 is the Windows Snipping Tool. It is really useful and a much easier way of catching a screen shot than the print screen way.

To find it, you go to the Start Button >All Programs>Accessories> Snipping Tool.

When you open the tool, the screen goes sort of foggy, then you can drag your cursor around what you want to take a snap shot of.

You then have choices on the top menu. You can copy your snap shot to the clipboard and then paste it in a program or you can email it, or even save it.

The other really great feature is you can use the pen to mark it up and draw arrows or circle stuff, very handy for sending presentations which need to be highlighted.

If you have not used it, check it out!  It is really easy to use when you want to show something that is on your screen to someone.

It helps for troubleshooting problems on your computer like getting screen shots of those nasty virus, spyware and malware pop-ups etc etc

Have Fun ......

Having pondered for many hours, wondering which smartphone to buy and trawling through many reviews online, I settled on the Samsung Galaxy.

So why did I choose this one? Well my prerequisite was for business use, geared around IT computer support and this phone, on paper, seemed to fit the bill.

Having bought the 8gb version, on a contract basis, I was ready to go.  First impressions, out of the box, were impressive, the long slim chassis and the clarity of the AMOLED screen is second to none, very impressive.

The screen resolution and quality were very important as I needed the phone for remotely accessing our customers' servers and work stations via the device, so troubleshooting and computer support on the go was great.  Storage came internally with 8gb, however  I knew I could upgrade it to a 32gb which is unlike some of the other smartphones I looked at. This is very handy for storing all my troubleshooting tools and software.

Using Google Apps here at iPing, setting up my email through the device was so easy, I entered my username and password and that was amazingly it. It synced all my email and contacts flawlessly, and using the email is so easy, again very handy when on the go and you need to reply to your customers' IT computer support queries quickly and efficiently.

The camera however doesn't have a flash. For my purposes it didn't really matter.  It is very easy to use and has plenty of features and shows a great quality image, very handy when onsite providing IT support and you need a shot of a blue screen on a server or pc.

There are so many other tools and capabilities on the Galaxy, too many to mention.The Galaxy has definitely proved it's capabilities and it will only get better as time goes by with OS updates being released periodically.

I have just been working on an old computer that a customer asked me to see if I could repair it. It turns out that the computer is 10 years old

My client asked me to see if i could repair it and get the computer working so her niece could use the computer to type essays when she was home from college.

To repair this computer I had to spend one hour of my time working on it and my client’s niece now has a laptop that she can use to type her essays up on.

Grant it I have told her that i would not rely on this computer and she could end up spending even more money on repairing it in the future but at the moment I think she did quite well with her one hour computer repair.

Anyone out there have any thoughts on whether to repair or to buy new?

Is this Laptop better than this if we repair it? For more on computer repair contact iPing.

Hi everyone just sitting in the Computer / IT command centre in Dublin and I been asked a few times recently from customers to explain to them the difference between all  of the above baddies and how they can help with my computer repair.

Malware

This is the general term that is used to describe all the different types of software that are used to harm your computer and that also collect information from you. So Malware or malicious software is the general term for Viruses, Spyware, Scare Ware, Trojans & Worms. They can be fun to repair and remove from your computer.

Viruses

A virus is a program that copies  itself on your computer, and then copies it's self from file to file, infecting each file as it spreads throughout your computer. Then the virus will try to spread to another computer and this makes them harder to repair. It is vital that you make sure that you have antivirus installed on your computer and it is just as important to make sure that the antivirus software is kept up to date so it can protect you from new viruses and malware.

Spyware

Spyware is any software that you install on your computer that is collecting information from your computer and sending it to someone on the Internet usually without you knowing it. Spyware can be used as part of marketing campagains or it can be used to collect your passwords and credit card numbers. One very good example of Spyware is the multitude of different Tool bars that are now available for Internet browsers. The more Spyware you have on your computer the slower it will run.

Scare Ware

This is an attack on your computer that usually pops up when you are browsing a new website. What usually happens is the website displays a page that looks like an antivirus scan that says it has found hundreds of viruses on your computer and you better download a certain program to resolve this or else. You will usually find that you then have to pay a certain amount of money before you can get your computer working again. They are a real pain to IT and computer support companies and I am seeing them loads more here in Dublin.

Trojans

A Trojan is a piece of software that you think is doing a simple task on your computer but unbeknownst to you there is some malicious code in the software that is reaking havok on the Internet. A trojan could be sending hundreds of thousands of emails a day from your computer or attacking corporate websites holding them to ransom. There are usually thousands of computers with trojans installed on them doing these attacks.  The major difference between a virus and a trojan is that trojans don't replicate themselves—they must be installed by an unwitting user. Here at iping we also use Eset antivirus to help repair our computers.

Worms

A worm uses the network to copy itself and thus they can really travel rapidly around the Internet. They usually use a hole or a vulnerability in a piece of software. Whenever a hole in a piece of software is found the good software companies will provide a patch to remove the hole and fix the vulnerability. This is why it is so important to keep your computer up to date with all the latest patches from Windows Update.

The question is what can you do in FIVE hours. We did an extensive survey and here are the top things that we found that people would do in FIVE hours.

1. You could do all your Christmas shopping.
2. You could run the Dublin city marathon in FIVE hours.
3. You could go for a long lunch with some friends.
4. You could stay in bed one extra hour a day for a working week.
5. You could tell 100 people about this excellent offer from iPing.

iPing are happy to announce a limited offer of 5 free hours of IT support to the next 15 Dublin based companies who phone 01 5241350 to take advantage of this offer.

This is the iPing try before you buy service where we are looking to show you how good we are at fixing computers and installing networks.

In these five free hours we will also provide you with an extensive IT / Computer / Network audit to find out exactly how your network is performing.

You can use this time to do the following for example:

• Tune up the computers on your network so they are running at peak performance.
• Set up a new computer on your network.
• Get help with resolving problems you are having with Microsoft software.
• Install a new printer on your network.
• Get help in recovering from an attack from viruses.
• And get many more computer related problems fixed.

To take advantage of this offer from iPing contact Mark on 01 5241350

Taking a look this week at the costs of Mobile Broadband to the average SME and trying to choose which plan is best for you and your needs.

Advantages of Mobile Broadband

• You have broadband no matter where you are (or nearly). As long as you can get mobile coverage then you can also get Mobile Broadband coverage. The better the signal – the faster and more responsive your broadband will be
• You don’t need a landline. Say ‘No’ to the still ridiculous notion that you need to pay a monthly fee for the line rental to Eircom – just to get broadband
• You can share it with friends/colleagues. Just unplug the USB dongle and connect it to your friends/colleagues laptop/PC
• You don’t need a laptop! That’s right – you can use it with your home PC if you just want basic internet and don’t want the hassle of wired broadband. Good for SMEs who may need the power of desktop PCs but may not always have access to a landline
• It’s almost as fast as basic wired broadband. Depending on your coverage you can get up to 3-5Mbs, which is just as fast as some of the starter broadband packages that require a landline
• You can manage the costs by using a non-contract plan and tailor the cost of having broadband to a plan you can afford.

Which Plan for me?

A better question is: “How much data will I be using per month?”

If you’re using it for email and web surfing only choose the lower end plans (1-5GB). It’s more than you need.

If you will be working with media (images/video) as well as the above or often work with large documents (excel/word/pdf) consider a medium plan (5-10Gb)

If you have the luxury of not having to worry about the cost, or will be downloading large volumes of data (cd images, streaming audio/video) then you should really consider a heavy-usage plan. Maybe even consider switching to fixed-line broadband depending on your needs.

Comparing the plans available:

( Prices in the above comparison are correct as of Aug 5th 2010 – always check back with the operator for the most up-to-date prices)

Recommendation

Start with a low-usage plan. Unless you really use the internet for a lot of audio/video data there’s no real need to get a plan greater than 5Gb per month.

What’s most important is that it works where you need it most – so be sure to check the coverage maps before you choose

Hay everyone I have been using drop box for a few months now and I am really liking it. This handy little app allows you to keep a copy of your important files in a virtual folder on multiple computers. i.e. if I save something on my work computer it will then also be on my home PC also. 

I use this for keeping device drivers and the like in that are meant to be on that USB key that I always leave in the back of a customer’s PC. It also works excellent for keeping important documents that you never know when you will need them. 

You can sign up for 2GB of free space here https://www.dropbox.com/downloading?os=win. It works on Windows 7, Apple and Linux so all the major operating systems are covered. 

I also have it up and running on my Nokia phone so I can copy photos from my phone into the drop box and then they appear on my dropbox that I have configured on my PC in the office. 

All in all a very handy app and it gets the iPing approval. Let me know what you think.

iPing are currently looking for a new team member to help with providing IT support to our growing client base. If you know of someone who is currently looking for work and fits the following description please let them know about us. 

The successfully person must have at least 3 years experience supporting windows servers, desktops and have a thorough knowledge of Computer Networking. The person must be reliable, flexible & personable. 

If you have worked in IT support for small companies before you will know the kind of applications and hardware that will need to be supported so please let us know all your skills. 

Send your CV to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.