IT Support

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyyB-OWr3So Technology Tips by Centrend Podcast: Episode 4 I love working with a whiteboard. In fact, I can think of no technique more effective for brainstorming a project than getting a team of folks to share ideas in front of a whiteboard.  In 2020, we are forced out of the office, but the need for project collaboration and groupthink doesn’t stop. Enter the digital whiteboard. A powerful team collaboration tool that lets you collaborate with up to 50 participants that can be located anywhere in the world. For this walkthrough, I’ll be showing you Google’s Jamboard. There are other tools, but this one is one of my favorites, and to get started, all you need is a Google account. Go to jamboard.google.com.  If you’ve used Jamboard already, your previous jams will be listed. If you’ve never used Jamboard or want to start a new jam, click the + sign in the bottom right corner. Experiment with the drawing tools on the left side. For example, select the pen tool and freehand draw shapes: You can then use things like the Text Tool to draw text on the whiteboard – either stand-alone or on shapes you’ve already drawn. You can also click the underlined A at the top bar to select a font color for the typed text. You can freehand draw shapes, just like on a real whiteboard. If you make a mistake, you can use either the eraser tool or the undo button to undo the last action. Here’s a really handy tip for you. If you want to draw a straight line, you can hold the shift key as you draw. Who needs a steady hand with this technology? You can type text, then rotate that text by clicking and holding on the top left of the text box. With the text rotated, you can still reposition it anywhere on the canvas. One of my favorite things about Jamboard vs. other whiteboard apps is the built-in image searchability. Instead of having to go to the internet in a new browser tab, find an image, save that image somewhere, go back to Jamboard, and import the image (remembering where you had saved it), you can do all this right inside Jamboard in just a couple clicks! First, click the Image Icon, then click the Google Image Search tab. This lets you search in the browser. Click the image you like and then click Insert. The jam is private until you share it. Sharing it unlocks the real power of this collaborative tool. To share, click Share in the top right. Then enter the email address of whom you’d like to invite. You can have them View only if you are presenting, or make them an editor if you want them to add and change the drawing. In the example below, I’ve added a technical consultant from Whiz Kid Support, our residential division of Centrend, to add the remote user part to our diagram. As they add elements, you will see their icon and initial appear. Usually, you would be on a video conference or at least a phone call while doing this, but you don’t have to be. You can have multiple pages on the whiteboard. To get a new whiteboard in the same file, click the arrow to the right of the whiteboard page marker in the top center of the screen: You can also click the shape icon and draw perfect shapes. Like this: Finally, the laser pointer is great for presenting ideas and talking about specific whiteboard areas in detail. You select the bottom tool from the left side toolbar, and then you can use this laser pointer effect to draw attention to an area of the whiteboard without actually drawing on it: The jam board software works on almost any internet-connected device such as an iPad or Android tablet or phone. On touch-enabled devices, you can draw on the device to draw on the board, and everyone will see your changes! As you can see, a digital whiteboard is a powerful, practical tool for team collaboration. There’s also a physical jam board for when you have some collaborators on-premises while working with remote team members at the same time. You can learn more about the physical jam board by clicking here. If you need help deploying this technology in your organization, please reach out for a free consultation. We can offer equipment, training, and consulting on many whiteboard solutions.   

https://youtu.be/8S-6LXy57Cg Technology Tips by Centrend Podcast: Episode 3 These days, when we aren’t on camera in a web meeting, it seems like we are typing on our computer keyboards. Typing skills are essential to be productive and competitive. I’m going to show you some effective and fun ways to improve your keyboarding skills. Everyone, no matter their age, should seek to develop their typing skills as much as possible. The faster you can get your thoughts out and into the computer, the more productive your entire day will be.  In this blog, I show you several great online resources for mastering the keyboard. First, www.ratatype.com. Ratatype is a good learning tool. Many teachers send their students here, and the format is a lot like an actual typing course. If you choose to create an account and log in, the site will keep track of your progress and present increasingly challenging lessons. I find this resource invaluable for practicing those harder letter/symbol combinations that you don’t get to type often but slow you down when you do need to type them. Next, www.typeracer.com. I have to admit; this one is my favorite. It can be very entertaining! I’ve watched entire offices playing during their break time to compete for high scores! You don’t have to log in here either. You can go directly to Enter a typing race.  Like Ratatype, if you log in, the site will track your high scores. Do you have problems with technology and want things to run better? For businesses, call us at 774-241-8600.  For support for home users or individuals, visit www.whizkidsupport.com or call 774-778-2800.

Individuals and small businesses struggle with ways to increase the lifetime value of their PC hardware. ​ What can you do​ to keep your computer running strong like you?​ Extending the life of existing desktops and laptops to reduce your cost and lower your budget is critical in today’s economic climate. Families and companies alike are dealing with limited resources and need their computers to last more than a couple of years. The truth is a quality computer that is maintained will last several years – perhaps even a decade! So how do you make sure your PC investment lasts? The first factor is your buying strategy. Start with a quality computer build. If you buy the cheapest, bargain-basement computer off the shelf, you can’t expect it to last as long as a solid business-class or mid-range residential system. The reality is for a few dollars more you end up with hardware that will last six or more years. Assuming you started with a decent build to begin with, a PC tuneup will go a long way toward extending your computer’s speed and overall life. Here’s a list of things you should be doing at least quarterly to keep your computer running well: Proactively clean and defrag your computer Repair registry issues with your system Keep up to date with hardware drivers Your operating system should be updating regularly – make sure that it’s happening Maintain antivirus software (besides what the computer operating system comes with) Check for add-ons and other unwanted leeches that sap your computer’s resources Centrend can take care of all these things for your business with our automated tools. Give us a call! If you are a home user or solopreneur, visit our whizkidsupport.com site for affordable maintenance plans tailored to your individual needs.

Centrend cares about our employees’ and our customer’s safety, and we’re doing our part to reduce the spread and flatten the curve. Read on to learn what we are doing to keep safe and keep our customers’ information systems running well. We are practicing social distancing and utilizing our extensive remote support and remote management tools to maximize efficiency and safety for our staff and our customers. We’ve limited our travel and on-site visits to only the essential times when we must be physically on-site. For the safety of our staff and our customers, projects requiring us to be hands-on at the customer’s location have been deferred until after the crisis is over, and the restrictions are lifted. Since Governor Baker’s announcement that only critical businesses would be allowed to operate, Centrend expanded our support hours and has been working tirelessly to implement secure remote access solutions for our customers.  We can help with secure, remote access, training on video conferencing tools, or support for your remote workers. You need your staff to work remotely and keep your business operating as best it can. We can help. Starting in Mid-April, Centrend will offer free consultation and free set up of remote access solutions tailored to your unique business environment. Stay tuned to our blog for more information. You can also give us a call at 774-241-8600 or submit the short form below. 

Are you trying to cobble together pieces of disparate systems that weren’t meant to talk to each other? Are you hopeful that connecting mismatched data sets will breathe life into your IT Systems? Don’t Frankenstein your IT! Read on to find out what I mean. You know the story of Dr. Victor von Frankenstein, right? He was a promising young doctor who was so devastated by the death of a loved one that he became obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. He worked feverishly to create a creature out of body parts and spends the rest of his time trying to decide if his creature can be trusted.  Is a maddeningly similar experiment taking place month after month, year after year in your own workplace?  Do you spend countless hours piecing together systems that have never talked to one another? Have you seen or even fallen victim to your company’s “separate islands” of information? If this sounds like your business I can help you break out of the scary, torturous pitfalls of information segmentation!  Contact me using the phone, email, or form below for a free consultation. Meanwhile, Happy Halloween!!

While any Chromebook, PC, or Mac can be used for email and web browsing, it’s all the other activities that determine what is right for you. Read this article to get some insight into the advantages of each option. They are all computers but Chromebooks run the Chromium operating system whereas PCs run Windows (typically) and Macs run Mac OS. Which one is right for your particular use, depends on how and where you’ll use it and what you will use it for.  Below I’ll describe key considerations when you choose a platform, then I’ll highlight the key advantages each platform has over the others. Key Decision Factors Do you want to run specific programs that require one of the platforms? How important is portability? Does it need to start up fast? Will you always have a strong internet connection? Will you use it for long periods of time and need a full keyboard, mouse, and large screen? Advantages of Chromebooks: Chromebooks start very fast  Chromebooks are secure against malware and viruses right out of the box Lots of free, easy-to-use software (Google Apps for example) which minimize your expense. Video streaming on Chromebooks works great  Chromebooks require little or no maintenance and can be wiped to factory defaults in just a few clicks Very easy to set up – you need a free Gmail account and an internet connection Long battery life and highly portable Advantages of a Windows PC or Mac: Don’t need an internet connection all the time Can attach just about any screen Have more ports for connecting printers, scanners, etc Very strong processors and graphic cards Applications are wide-ranging and powerful though some are quite pricey Very tight security is readily configurable with VPNs, Next-Gen antivirus software, etc. In short, you can do a lot more with a Windows PC or Mac but it will take more work to set it up and your cost of ownership will be higher.  If you need help deciding what is right for your small business, We’d be glad to offer a free consultation to discuss. If you are a home user or solopreneur, visit our whizkidsupport.com site for great free advice along with programs tailored to individual needs.

Many users leave their computers on all the time so that they can receive automatic updates and security patches. This is a great strategy but leaves users with the question, “How long can you go without restarting your computer?” Read on to find out. During use, programs open and close, background system processes filter network traffic, and your software updates regularly. When you reboot your computer, think of it as giving the machine a good night’s sleep. To your computer, the reboot is a Fresh Start that frees up memory from leaky applications and ends processes that are no longer needed. Rebooting also allows the system a chance to apply essential security patches that were downloaded during working hours.  Allowing, or even forcing a reboot is recommended to clean everything up. How often we recommend you reboot, depends on your operating system. If you are using Windows 10, for example, weekly reboots are adequate while Windows 7 may need to be rebooted more frequently.   The by-product of rebooting is that It not only speeds things up but can fix nagging, pesky problems that only a reboot can cure. So the next time a technical support person asks you to reboot, please don’t be insulted! They want your system to run well and not waste your time and money.

No doubt, solid-state drives are fast, energy-efficient, and long-lasting. Unfortunately for users on a budget, solid-state drives can be too expensive to justify the cost. Here’s some advice on how and when to use solid-state drives (SSD) and how to stretch your budget on this crucial technology. Because SSDs are significantly faster and longer-lasting than traditional hard drives (HDD), I recommend their use whenever the budget allows.  The downside to SSD is the cost. SSD can cost 2x to 10x the cost of traditional hard drives with the premium increasing significantly as the total size of the SSD increases.  A good solution may be to use an SSD for the operating system and program files but use an HDD for your data files. By putting the operating system on the SSD technology, you will be able to boot up much faster and load or change programs at a higher speed.  Your data can reside on the slower HDD drive, and you probably won’t notice a speed difference.  Your IT provider can set program defaults so that your data automatically ends up on the HDD and you don’t fill up the primary, premium booting SSD. It’s worth mentioning that Hybrid drives also exist, but in our experience, they are not a good value. While less expensive than SSD, they don’t provide nearly the same benefit because you are very limited in the solid-state part. The drive logic decides what data goes on the SSD, taking control away from you. My advice is to buy the largest SSD you can practically afford. If you can have your operating system, programs, and when possible, the data all on the SSD, the speed and reliability of the technology will justify the expense. 

Technology is great. I believe in its development and use to the benefit of all humankind. However, there is a real danger that we are losing our ability to communicate with each other because of the way cell phones are way overused.  I’m sure you’ve seen the scenario. A set of parents with their two children are out to a nice family dinner at a restaurant. Rather than talk, they are all on their phones accessing social media or texting friends. It’s not just the kids; it’s adults as well. People are on social media and texting others instead of talking to one another. They are using cell phones at the dinner table instead of having a conversation with the people they are with.  We see this in families, couples, and friends that are out to dinner, at social gatherings, even while they are walking around!  Sometimes the behavior is just rude, and they are disengaged from those they are with due to a lack of respect or lack of interest. Other times it can be caused by a condition called FOMO, or Fear of Missing out. Psychology Today has an article that describes experiments done to prove that a Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is a real and valid condition. The article continues to say that FOMO has become prevalent among young adults across America and in many other parts of the world as well. If you think it’s not really a thing, I’m sorry to say that it is. The American Addiction Center, LLC, a leading provider of rehab for addicts, has a website called PyschGuides.com on which they have published an article “Signs and Symptoms of Cell Phone Addition.”  I’m not the only techy to pick up on the dangers of excessive smartphone use.  Check out this article on the popular website, PC Mag. If this sounds like you, your family, or your friends, I urge you to get cell phone use under control and be present with the people you are physically with.

Who doesn’t love their email?  Ok, maybe love is a strong word, but we all tend to save a lot of email, don’t we?  How much is too much and what are the risks of letting Outlook grow out of control? This article assumes you are using MS Outlook so the steps may be different for you, but the same general principals apply to any email program. Depending on your version of Outlook, you may be well below the technical limit which, by default, is 50gb in Outlook 2013 and higher. From a practical standpoint though, you will have a much better experience, and much better hope for recovery from outlook data file corruptions if you keep your outlook file much, much smaller than that. We recommend keeping outlook to less than 10gb in size. When the outlook data file is larger than 10gb, it is going to be much harder to back up and take much longer to scan for errors if you encounter a problem. I’ll cover how to scan your Outlook data file for errors in a later blog entry. For now, though, know that it is something that can happen due to disk errors or data corruption from sudden power loss, etc. This past week I helped one of our users with a data file that was close to 48gb in size. Her outlook file had become corrupt and would no longer properly send/receive email. I started the scan at noontime and was checking on it throughout the day. By 11:30 at night it had been running nearly 12 hours but was still not done!  She could not access her outlook file while it was scanning, which was a significant inconvenience for her. If your organization doesn’t have its own MS Exchange server, your outlook data file is most likely stored in .PST format. This file is vulnerable to data loss because a copy of its contents does not exist anywhere else. It’s important to make a copy to another location such as a memory stick or external USB drive. It’s going to take a long time to copy the file if it gets much bigger than 10gb so the risk is you won’t take time to do it or you won’t back it up often because you can’t have outlook open during the copy. Finding the outlook data file can be tricky. Here’s how to do it: With Outlook open, click File, then Account Settings. Click the Data File Tab. Click Open File Location. In the list of files presented (see image at right) right-click the image and then click properties. Viewing the properties of the file, you will see how large it is in megabytes or gigabytes. You will want the PST to be less than 10 gigs in size. As you can see from my file, at right, I am just under the recommended limit and will need to archive soon. For now, though, I can copy the file to a USB stick or to my file server to back it up. Close the properties window and from the data file folder shown, you can right-click and copy the data file to another location such as your USB stick, an external USB hard drive, or a network share. Remember: It’s important to keep this file backed up because it is going to contain data that no longer exists on the servers of your email host.