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Home Computing Tip-of-the-Month:
"How to Create a Home Computer First-Aid Kit"
 As each day passes, and we enter further into the technology age, people become more reliant on computers to play vital roles in their personal and business lives.
It's interesting to note that although this phenomenon continues to progress each year, the average computer user does not take any preventative measures to preserve their personal data, programs, and overall daily workflow.
That is why we decided to dedicate this month's home-user article on helping our clients plan ahead to prevent any dreadful circumstances that can come from relying so heavily on a device that is not preserved in some backup state.
We've prepared a quick guide to creating your personal "home computer first aid kit," you can have peace of mind in knowing that your pictures, videos, programs, files, settings, banking data, etc. are recoverable should your computer crash or hardware fail.
3 Elements of a "Home Computer First-Aid Kit"
- You'll want to start by bringing your computer to a perfect state of operating. Many times this can be acheived by re-installing Windows, updating your Windows updates, optimizing your personal settings, installing all of your favorite programs, organizing your personal folders and files, etc. We realize this is a lengthy step to take, but it is important to establish a "perfect state of operation" where your computer is running at optimal performance.
- The next step is to create a "system image" of your hard drive. There are various tools you can use to create an image of your computer. In layman's terms, a "system image" is like taking a picture of your hard drive that can be stored on a DVD (or two). That "picture" can then be restored onto your hard drive at any time. If your computer ever crashed, or you were interested in purchasing a new hard drive, this "system image" would come in handy as a convenient way to restoring your computer back to that perfect state.
- The next step in creating a "Home Computer First-Aid Kit" is to choose an online or offline backup system. There are websites online that will automatically backup your personal files (e.g. pictures, videos, music, software data, etc.). You can also purchase an external hard drive that has auto-backup capabilities.
- Once you have your "system image" and auto-backup system in place, you'll have peace of mind in knowing that your data, programs, settings, etc. are all recoverable.
We realize that some of these steps are advanced and not everyone would feel comfortable performing them. Many of our clients hire us for the re-install, system imaging, and auto-backup installation. You are welcome to implement these steps yourself. If you feel you would rather a professional handle them, we are happy to assist.
We cannot stress enough how important it is to protect your computer. We receive calls every week from clients who've lost everything, and it can be an extremely sudden and costly situation to be in. You can prevent this from happening to you if you go in with a plan.
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Business Offer-of-the-Month:
"Free daily health checks with out online backup"
 Quickly – think about everything you have on your computer. Family photos? A music collection? Financial documents? Lots and lots of email?
What would happen if all of that suddenly vanished and left you high and dry?
That's why 4 Your Computer Repair now offers an online backup and recovery solution that's designed to protect your data. 4YCR ONE is a state-of-the-art solution that's geared for what you need. It's completely secure, reliable, fast and easy to use.
How's it work?
Once you get started with your 4YCR ONE account, you'll back up everything you want to protect on your computer to the cloud. But after that first time, you never have to back up everything again: 4YCR ONE has features like global deduplication and incremental forever, which mean that you only have to back up new files and the files that changed since the last time you backed up. And even better, you only have to back up the parts of the file that changed. 4 Your Computer Repair's Powered By Nine® solution is powerful enough to figure out what those changes were and send only that to the cloud.
There's no need to worry about how safe your files are: 4YCR ONE encrypts all data using the same AES algorithm that the federal government uses to protect classified data. Nobody can see your data, from the moment you click "Backup Now" until the moment you get your data back if you have to restore. And 4YCR ONE can get that data back to you fast when you need it.
Okay, but why not back up with one of those guys I hear on the radio?
It's a fair question – all online backup services work the same, right? Wrong. Not only
does 4YCR ONE have technological advantages, 4 Your Computer Repair has personal
advantages. If you need help with your computer, you can call 4 Your Computer Repair
and know who you're going to get on the phone. The folks there will take the time to
know you, know your data protection needs, and help you keep those files and folders
safe.
Take a look at our pamphlet showing both services
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Business Computing Tip-of-the-Month:
"Fighting the Malware Battle"
 Fighting the battle with malware can really hurt your business when you have to spend a great deal of your IT budget on software to protect your machines from infection. Here are some tips to do it for free.
First, let's start with a definition of "malware" so that we are on the same page. Malware is malicious software (e.g. viruses, trojans, worms, adware, etc.) that is designed to secretly install on your computer with the sole purpose of wrecking havoc to the code or harvesting data.
There are a few free tools we'd like you to be aware of that will help you create a "first line of defense" against an attack. While no "over the counter" software is a guaranteed cure-all, you can certainly decrease the effects of malware and save your organization dollars over the course of the year as a result of fewer attacks.
You can fight malware with these free tools:
- Combofix – this software will assist in tracking down and removing malware. Make sure to disable your antivirus software first before running Combofix.
- CCleaner – this handy tool does two things well. It cleans the Windows registry and removes cached web data. It's a good idea to do a backup of your registry before running this tool, but plan on experiencing a faster computer with less problems afterwards.
- Microsoft Security Essentials – looking for an antivirus program that is effective and causes little drain on your system? This tool is it, and the cost is zero.
- Malwarebyes – it always amazes us when clients are surprised that they need anti-spyware software in addition to antivirus protection. While antivirus software is effective at protecting against viruses, there is a long laundry list of other types of malicious code (a.k.a. malware) that you have to protect your machine against. That's where Malwarebyes comes into play.
- Clonezilla – one of our favorite tools for creating "clones" of your machine so that you can perform a restore in the future should something catastrophic happen to your data.
There are many tools on the marketplace for businesses to use to protect their data and increase their company productivity. These 5 programs are a great place for you to start. Just keep in mind that not all computer problems are created equal and there is still a possibility that you will run into a situation that requires professional intervention. We are happy to assist if such a situation were to arise; however, we do feel it is important to educate our clients and enable them to implement steps they can perform on their own.
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Our Clients Speak Out
"Steven saved me hours of work checking my PC setup up, giving me confidence in what I was doing and resolving problems for me. He turned up when he said he would and did the work quickly and without fuss. On the basis of my first experience of his service I intend to sign-up for his online backup and daily health check services. I would strongly recommend Steven to others."
 Sara Priestley
“Steven fixed a fault on my notebook keyboard after someone had told me I could try a new keyboard to see if that would work. Not only did he find and fix the fault the price he quoted for a new keyboard should I need one was half the price I had been given previously. I really appreciated having my notebook picked up from my house and delivered it just made my life so much easier. I cannot recommend him highly enough. His knowledge and professionalism were impressive, I will certainly be using him for any IT needs in future.”
Pat L
“I have now used Steven for a number of repairs to our PC and network problems which he has provided consistent quality of service at competitive rates. Quick reponces and reliable.”
George D
“Although Steven had only started in business less than a year ago he delivered his services like an old pro. He has a depth of knowledge in IT and computer hardware that will be of benefit to anyone who needs new or to upgrade their current machines. He is very helpful and trys hard to get a result for his customers.”
Tony L
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About 4 Your Computer Repairs
4 Your Computer Repairs is a full service computer consulting firm specializing in home user and small businesses. Our services range from virus removal, network support, data systems backup, hardware and software upgrades, as well as managed services.
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