Watching a business grow is very satisfying and rewarding. Whether opening a new office or employing a new person; it’s a positive step in the right direction. Upward growth often requires new office technology and IT changes to bring the new staff fully online. Continue reading
Headlines are often made by firms that have been hacked by cybercriminals. These events sound high tech and sophisticated. The truth though is that a lot of the times it is an amateur attacker chancing their luck with an unpatched security hole or bad password. Physical break-ins though can affect businesses far more, cause much more damage and are much more common but get talked about far less. Continue reading
The easiest way to think of a solid-state drive (SSD) is as a super quick hard drive (HDD). Thus swapping your current HDD for a quick SSD is a simple and effective upgrade to breath new life into your computer or laptop.
The start of a new year is a great time to evaluate your IT systems and here are five great resolutions for your business to make. Continue reading
Depending on what business you are in the start of a new year may be flat out dealing with customers or it may be an excellent time to take stock and evaluate what your business needs to go forward. Continue reading
IT support services can be one of the largest and most unpredictable expenses within a modern business. Unexpected failures, mandatory upgrades and sudden staff changes can happen quickly and the costs can soon add up.
These factors are a part of the IT world and make IT departments costly, hard to manage, and difficult to budget for.
Switching your business to a proactive IT support provider (or managed service provider – MSP) can lower costs and reduce unpredictable expenses. Making the switch can cut down management overheads and reduce budgets to a fixed monthly cost. Here are some tips on how this can be done:
Christmas will soon be here. The latest devices and gadgets are hitting store shelves just in time to keep up with the rush. Social media, blogs, magazines, television screens and the web are brimming with advertisements and reviews of the latest technology you can buy.
Before you rush out to buy the gadgets you’ve been waiting all year for, consider a few important questions before handing over your hard-earned cash.
The holiday season is upon us again. Advertisers have released their festive adverts and stores have dusted off their Christmas displays from last year. Most importantly, shopping centres have moved their latest and greatest devices to the front of the store.
There may still be work to do, however, before we can invite round family a little maintenance, updates and set-up goes a long way to ensure the holiday season goes without a hitch.
Sadly, not every device is ready to run straight out the box. Not every device even comes ready to interact with others when it’s first opened. Each new gadget comes with its own setup and new things to learn.
Often today, devices, toys and computers require extensive updates before they are ready to function. This commonly means large downloads and lengthy installation periods.
In previous years devices have been purchased for Christmas, only to be rendered useless waiting for updates while large numbers of requests crash the company servers. This can be highly frustrating and put a real dampener on the holiday spirit.
Here is how DP Computing can help you this season:
Setup New Devices
In the modern day simply purchasing a gadget doesn’t make it ready to use. Often they still need setup, updates, and extra steps to make it safe to access the internet too.
Bring your device to us and we can have it safe and ready to use the second you unbox it. We’ll perform initial setup, get it ready for the network, and install mandatory updates. By the time we’re done, your device will be the first one ready to use. For relevant devices, we can install additional features and software too: line of business software, MS Office suite, antivirus and security features and configure applications like email.
Whatever the device we can configure it to the way you want to use it.
Transfer Data and Retire Old Devices
Getting a brand new device can be fun and exciting. Before getting carried away with the latest technology, we must consider what happens to our old data too. Depending on the device there are any number of dangers and pitfalls to think about.
Replacing an ageing laptop or desktop computer with a brand new model has the inherent danger of what happens to the old data?
These computers typically use hard drive disks to store all their data. When disposed of improperly, hard drives are vulnerable to being removed and taken. These can often be read and copied by thieves looking to steal your data. Old devices containing data need just as much care and attention as new ones fresh out the box.
There are many cases where companies individuals have had important information stolen this way. In some cases the information has been used to access accounts, blackmail, industrial espionage and even identity theft.
Mobile devices typically have some form of data storage too. This may store applications or media that has been bought and paid for; but also data such as records and photographs that hold a great deal of value.
We can help transfer old files and data to your new device and safely dispose of your old one too.
We can ensure that every photograph, video, and bit of data is recovered from your mobile device or laptop so that you never lose a single file. We can securely wipe and even physically destroy old hard drives at your request. We strive to ensure you keep every bit of your old data and not a single byte falls into the wrong hands.
Troubleshooting
It sometimes happens that new technology has moved so fast and changed so much that it doesn’t play well with older devices already installed on your network. Sometimes it seems impossible to even connect certain devices at all.
Often simple configuration changes are all that’s required to introduce two pieces of technology successfully. With the right set of eyes and in knowledgeable hands the most complex of jobs can be turned into a quick fix.
If your goal is for a stress free, fun and relaxing Christmas season and you are in Adelaide South Australia please contact us on 08 8326 4364 or support@dpcomputing.com.au and we’ll get you up and running in time.
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Conventional wisdom says that messy work spaces lead to a disorganised mind. Mess prevents productivity and begins to hamper your professionalism. Shouldn’t that also apply to the computer desktop?
The easiest way to clean and organise your digital desktop is to add more space and the simplest way to do this is by adding another screen. This doubles the available room and makes organisation a breeze.
Getting work done with a single-monitor involves wasted time switching between windows and distracts from the work being done. Stacking windows together, side-by-side, or top and bottom on a single monitor wastes valuable screen real estate. The resulting clutter of windows also makes it hard to focus on what is important.
While tasks can be tackled feasibly with a single monitor; two or more monitors makes the same tasks faster, simpler, and much more enjoyable.
Two Monitors, Many Uses
Data entry with two monitors is far easier than data entry with one. Having source data on one screen, laid out in large type, and the destination on another makes the job a breeze. By eliminating the need to scroll tiny windows means that the same job can be done in a fraction of the time.
Graphic design, image manipulation, and picture editing are key areas that make the most of a multiple screen setup.
Stacking one image on each screen allows you to make quick comparisons to make sure your work is going in the right direction. Organising your editing space is made simple too. Stacking your tools, menus, and options on one monitor with your image maximised on the other helps to stay focused and finish the task much more easily.
Beyond Just Two
You can have tasks such as those below on a second or third screen, while keeping your main monitor free to focus on your immediate work:
It is not uncommon for stock traders or financial analysts to maintain 6 or more screens!
Many uses this to track various stocks or indices so they don’t miss any changes.
Setup How You Like It
Multiple monitors can be arranged in many different configurations. While traditionally positioned in landscape orientation, second, third, or fourth monitors can also be rotated 90 degrees to portrait orientation.
This portrait orientation is commonly used often by software engineers, editors and other users who need to review a large amount of text. The lengthwise orientation allows multiple pages to be read from the screen at any one time.
Multi-screen setups behave the same as if all the monitors were just a single screen, no matter how they are arranged. The mouse moves seamlessly from one monitor to another as if there was no difference between them. From the user’s perspective, there is no difference as to how they interact at all.
A Boost to Productivity
A survey by Jon Peddie research found that adding an extra monitor boosted a user’s output by as much as 20 to 30 percent! A productivity advantage of even 10 percent is prized and very hard to come by in the business world. Receiving a productivity reward of over 20 percent for just the cost of adding a second monitor is something few firms can afford to pass up.
So if you are in Adelaide, South Australia, give us a call to add a second or third monitor to your current setup – 08 8326 4364 or support@dpcomputing.com.au.
Laptop computers commonly heat up in normal operation. Electronic components, including large capacity batteries, become warm in use but your laptop should never become too hot to handle.
When a laptop turns hot to the touch or starts to sound like a jet engine, it’s likely something is wrong.
Modern laptops use nearly silent fans to cool components and keep the system safe to use. For the majority of users the sound the computer makes is the best tool you have to diagnose its running condition. Excessive heat causes the fans to work harder and faster to help cool the system down. This jet engine sound is one of the first clues you have to indicate all may not be well.
Due to their compact size and portability, laptop computers are particularly prone to overheating. Their tiny size means electronic parts are closer together and there is less room for cooling vents.
Most laptops have small fans that suck in cool air, passing it over metal fins to exchange heat from the system. The resulting hot air exhaust is expelled through vents back into the room. This helps prevent heat building up inside the machine. The constant air cycle is designed to keep the laptop running cool no matter the workload placed on it.
The process though, can be disrupted by any number of factors during operation. As well as cool air, computer fans also suck in dust, stray hairs and even cigarette smoke. Smoke in particular contains thick tar which coats the fins, fan blades, and internal components.
This foreign debris inside the machine prevents components from working at their best. Tar, dust and hair slows down the internal fan and coats the heat generating components and cooling fins. This coating prevents air exchange and keeps components warm as if they were under a blanket.
Sometimes the way a laptop is used can cause it to overheat. Resting a laptop on thick carpets, blankets, or soft furnishings can block vents, preventing the fans from sucking cold air in or blowing the hot air out.
Leaving the machine running on carpet or furnishings, particularly for extended periods of time causes overheating issues and introduces extra dust into the components too.
The best place for a laptop is on a hard surface such as a desk, table or lap tray. This allows air to access the vents and helps prevent dust and hairs getting inside the machine.
As the computer starts running hotter, the fan will attempt to compensate by running faster and more often. This results in the “jet engine” noise many users report when their computer is struggling to keep up.
Once dust, hair or tar has found its way into the machine it is notoriously difficult to clean out. The only way to properly clean the system is to disassemble the unit and clean out its components.
Much like a car engine, computer components have a designed temperature range in which they can safely and reliably operate. Extended periods of running above the temperature they are designed for causes damage, sudden failures and drastically reduces the lifespan of the computer.
Often random blue screen computer crashes can be traced back to components that have been overheating inside the computer. As heat builds up, vulnerable components start to fail or behave strangely and can cause a range of issues.
When the systems has cooled down and restarted the issue is seemingly resolved. Back in operation, the computer heats up once more and subsequently crashes again. These irregular crashes are highly inconvenient and can cause data loss.
However, these symptoms are minor compared to a completely dead laptop. For some users, the first sign that the machine is too hot is when the motherboard is burnt out or their data storage has been irreparably lost.
If your laptop is running hot to the touch or has started to make loud sounds, bring it to us for a thorough clean out. You can also call us at 08 8326 4364 or support@dpcomputing.com.au.