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Is it time for an upgrade?

7/31/2017

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If your computer is slow it could be a couple of different things. A lot of times we decide to replace a computer when it could just be a part upgrade. Over the past two years Solid State Drives (SSD) have become much more popular and cheaper. I have upgraded multiple older computers (at least 7 years old) to the new drives and they run better than most new computers (for everyday use and better than the ones that are being sold without the new drives). 

SSD Pros:
  1. All electronic /no moving parts (dropping them from normal distances doesn't break them)
  2. Transferring items from location to location takes a fraction of the time
  3. Boot time is usually under 15 seconds for the average user
  4. Programs load faster

SSD Cons:
  1. More expensive than the older drives (currently)
  2. Due to being all electronic, having the drives not powered for months will cause data loss

If you have any questions, please give Tech Solution LLC a call at 251-597-5094
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What Antivirus do I use? Mac/PC

3/27/2017

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As a computer technician I have always used Antivirus because you never know where you might find a malicious file. Personally I have been using AVG Free Edition for the past 5 years and then supplemented that with some of my other removal tools. A new study has come out and shown that BitDefender is at the top of the charts for paid Antivirus on both PC and Mac (yes Mac does get viruses). 

Based on vulnerabilities in 2016, Mac is LESS SECURE than Windows 10.
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If you have any questions or need some help, you can email. text, or call me!
Hope all of you stay safe out there!
Daniel Sadlis
Tech Solution LLC
251-597-5094
Techsolutionllc@gmail.com
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Why Is My Computer Slow?

3/16/2017

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Computers can slow down for various reasons but there are some usual suspects depending on how old your computer is. 

You  may have a bunch of junk files on your computer, not just files you don't need but any time you install something extra files are left for the initial install of the program. Every time you visit a website, a little file gets saved to your computer which after years and years, the compilation of the files can cause slow computers.

Too many invalid registry keys. The data backing this is scarce but in my professional opinion and what I have see through working on local client's computers backs this up. If your computer has over 1,000 invalid or missing registry keys, you computer tends to be slower. I believe the reason to be the computer thinks something should be there and spends extra time trying to find it. When you remove the missing or invalid keys, it tends to make the computer performance smoother.

Overheating can happen. Just like a car engine overheating can cause serious issues, so can a computer. The processor runs at a much higher temperature than is good for it and uses thermal paste to keep it from overheating. Usually these pastes start to dry up, crack, and become useless after 4-5 years. Have a computer repair professional take care of this because you can fry the computer if you mess up. PS: These thermal pastes are very toxic to touch.

The hard drive can be the bottleneck. Even in many new computers, the hard drive tends to be the bottleneck. Most computers are still using the old hard drive style which is a spinning disk. It is the same method they have been using for at least 15 years and performance his improved very little since then. Solid State Drives are the new technology that can be 15 times faster than a regular hard drive. Want your computer to boot up in under 20 seconds and perform much better overall? You need a solid state hard drive.

If anyone reading this needs some help, please give me a call and we can talk about fixing your computer or upgrading to the newer hard drives. I can make it so you don't lose any files or programs when you swap over and usually have same day return!

Hope this helped at least one person!

Daniel Sadlis
Tech Solution LLC
251-597-5094
techsolutionllc.biz

computer repair, sales, orange beach, gulf shores, foley, alabama, pc, computer repair near me, computer repair services near me, virus, spyware, al, software, near me


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How To Avoid Being Hacked

3/14/2017

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As many people know, hacking has become a very common term in today's society. For those of you who are worried about being hacked; here are some tips to prevent it.
  1. Always question the emails that you receive. Especially those who deal in lots of email for business such as Realtors. Realtors are targeted often for viruses because they receive emails with attachments all the time. Therefore, do not download any attachments unless you are certain the person is who they say they are.
  2. If you receive an email with a website link in it, make sure it is in fact to a legitimate website. A lot of hackers use shortened website addresses to disguise where you are going if you click the link. If you copy the link address into www.Urlxray.com or http://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/redirected/, it will tell you where the link actually goes without risking your computer's safety.
  3. Use Two-Factor Authentication. While it may take you that extra step of using your phone to confirm that it is you logging in, it is an extra wall of security that is very hard for hackers to get through.
  4. Use strong passwords and not the same one on every site. I know that www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/redirected/passwords can be hard to remember when you have 30 of them, but you can use services such as LastPass that will store your passwords in a vault behind a master password for you to remember. They have no access to it, therefore hackers will only have access to it through you. Using an Upper-case, lowercase, number, and symbol in your password will make it so much harder for hackers to break. It will take your password from minutes to crack, to days or maybe weeks to crack. Hackers want easy solutions, so making them spend that much time on some passwords for simple sites will make all but the most determined hacker to run away.
  5. Don't use public wifi to check any sensitive websites such as your bank accounts.
  6. Finally, make sure you do virus scans often. Sometimes viruses may go undetected for awhile before anti-virus programs find it. Have a local computer repair shop take a look at your computer if you believe something may be wrong.

Hope this helps at least one of you out there!

Daniel Sadlis
Tech Solution LLC
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251-597-5094

computer repair, sales, orange beach, gulf shores, foley, alabama, pc, computer repair near me, computer repair services near me, virus, spyware, al, software, near me

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Are You Safe From Ransomware?

3/6/2017

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As many of you know, Ransomware has hit the headlines a few times and you might wonder what exactly it is. Ransomware is a type of virus that once downloaded will start to password protect all of your precious files, documents, and pictures. It will then hold those files ransom for money. Usually it is at least $200 but can be in the tens of thousands if you are a business.

Are you safe? That depends on if you have performed your windows updates, virus updates, and don't open links from emails. Even if you do all of that, you still are at risk. Anti-virus programs run on a signature based system so when someone writes a virus, the anti-virus program reads it and looks for similarity to other known viruses. Now if this virus was written by someone who is different than the ones they have caught, you are unprotected.

What can you do?

Perform backups of your precious files that you cannot lose often and to an external drive not hooked to the computer all the time. The reason being is that if your computer does get infected, the particularly nasty Ransomware password protect everything that is connected to your computer which includes those files you backed up if it can connect to it. 
There are other ways to protect, but this is the best way to make sure you do not lose everything you need, plus if your computer ever crashes, you will at least have your files!

If you have any questions or would like us to help out in protecting you or your business, please give us a call.
Tech Solution LLC
251-597-5094
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How to Avoid Computer Viruses

3/2/2017

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Here are a few tips to avoid viruses. While this will not be 100% effective, it should help you to avoid most.
  • Do not open files attached to an email from unknown sources
  • Avoid opening attachments from any email even from friends unless you are expecting it
  • Delete chain emails and do not respond to them
  • Do not download any file from people you do not know
  • Make sure to update your anti-virus as often as possible
  • Make sure when downloading files off the internet it is from a trusted source
  • Back up your file to an external drive. That way if they get destroyed you can replace them
  • If you have a feeling something might be a virus, there is a good chance you are right
  • If downloading something, make sure that if it ends in .exe that it is in fact what you want
  • If your screen locks up and claims you have a virus, do not call that number. Call a local tech
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Have a virus?

2/28/2017

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Sometimes your computer has a virus that normal antivirus programs can's find. We can help you out. Computer repair is our specialty and we would be glad to help you out. The above picture is of a client who had the same issue. Give us a call! 251-597-5094
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Ever wondered what the terms Malware, Adware, Bot, Bug, Ransomware, Rootkit, Spyware, Trojan Horse, Virus, and Worm mean?

2/27/2017

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​Malware: Short for Malicious Software meaning that it may compromise your computer, steal data, or cause harm to your computer. Malware is the general category for everything listed below.
Adware: Adware shows advertisements, usually in the form of pop-ups.
Bot: Can be used for automating purposes or maliciously for attacking servers and other computers.
Bug: A flaw that causes a result not intentionally created, sometimes these bugs cause freezing, allow access to something that shouldn’t be accessible, or makes a program act differently.
Ransomware: Malicious in nature, holds information or the computer captive while demanding a ransom.
Rootkit: Used to control or remotely access a computer that can execute commands, steal information, and modify a computer.
Spyware: Spies on user activity usually without their knowledge to collect data, passwords, and account information.
Trojan Horse: Disguised as a normal file to trick users into downloading and installing. This software gives remote access to do anything from steal data to install other malware.
Virus: Capable of cloning itself and spreading to other computers, these can steal information, cause damage, and even steal money.
Worm: Spread over networks and replicate causing slower networking or even damage depending on what the intent of the worm was.
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    Author

    Daniel Sadlis
    Orange Beach Local
    Cyber and Information Security.
    ​15 years of Information Technology

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