September Newsletter

I hope you had a good summer and you’re keeping fit and well. Here’s a roundup of the latest IT news:

ESET NOD32 Anti Virus

With an increasing amount of malicious nasty viruses, more being discovered every week, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your PC or laptop is properly protected. In my experience and opinion, the free antivirus programmes, such as AVG and Microsoft Security Essentials, are just not robust enough to deal with today’s sophisticated threats. I could give you numerous examples of how my customers’ computers have been attacked and even where all their documents, pictures etc have been destroyed, simply because their computer was not adequately protected.

The ONLY anti-virus programme I would use personally and recommend to my customers is NOD32 by ESET (eset.co.uk). In my opinion, it’s the best on the market for three reasons. Firstly, it just works, and does what it’s supposed to. It kills any virus or malware that’s lurking in your computer. Once your computer is clean, it will automatically block any suspected infections from emails or web pages.

Secondly, unlike a lot of other major brands, such as Mcafee or Norton, it does NOT slow down your computer, either at start-up, or while the computer is being used.

Thirdly, in the event your computer is infected, and a normal virus scan can’t clean it, their technical helpline is just a phone call away, and they are open 7 days a week, and are able to log in and share the screen with you, to eliminate any threats which couldn’t automatically be cleaned.

The best bit is that during September, the cost of a year’s subscription is half price. Usually £30 for the first year, it’s currently just £15, till the end of this month.

If you are not yet using NOD32, my strong advice would be to do it immediately. I can do it for you remotely, if you are subscribed to my technical support service, or you can call ESET directly on 01202 548 888.

BT Infinity

I’ve written before about the benefits of high speed fibre optic broadband, compared to normal broadband. Most broadband customers will get an average download speed of between 5-10 Mbps and an upload speed of around 0.3Mbps. For the average user, this may well be good enough.

I’m using BT super duper whizzy whizzy Infinity, which gives me a download speed of around 80Mbps and upload speed of around 15Mbps, which makes a huge difference when downloading large files, music, movies or watching streaming video such as BBC IPlayer or YouTube.

The best news is that you could have this for far less than you’re currently paying for snail speed broadband.

BT is currently offering BT Infinity for just a measly £5 per month, for the first 6 months, and the £15 per month thereafter. It’s a really good deal and probably much less than your current monthly bill, for a far superior service. It’s a no brainer.

AND you also get BT Sport free, included in the price, to watch on your TV, Tablet or Phone.

Check out the latest offers by clicking here, http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/products/broadband/packages?Infinity=yes

 Or call me if you need any further advice.  

Smart Phone Charging Cases.

In a recent survey by the major mobile phone manufacturers, when they asked the public what new ideas they would like to see on future smartphones, an overwhelming majority of the response was, simply make the battery life much better. As someone who uses my Samsung Galaxy phone all day, it’s so frustrating to have to keep it on charge constantly. My fabulous phone, which I love and adore, can start off the day at 100% charge, but by 10am, be down to 75%. By 2pm, it’s out of juice completely. I’ve got a car charger and a spare battery, but it’s just a real hassle and an unnecessary worry to make sure that I’ve always got enough battery charge. It’s an even bigger problem for Iphone users, as you can’t just pop in a spare battery; it only has a non removable chargeable battery.

So, what’s the answer? I’ve just bought a Charging Case for my Galaxy, and it’s just fantastic.

For less than £20 from Amazon, it’s a surprising light case, which when you plug it in, it charges the case itself, which I do overnight. So when the phone starts running low on battery, I switch the charging case on, and it charges the phone battery fully, in less than an hour, so I’ve always got fully battery power. It more than doubles the battery life. Perfect. It’s also available for most other smartphones, Iphone, Nokia, HTC and others.

Remote Technical Support Service.

I have many customers who subscribe to my Remote Technical Support service, so if you are one of them, you’ll already know the benefits of the peace of mind of knowing that in the event of a problem with your computer, I can usually assist you the same day, remotely from home, without you having to wait for me to come and visit you, then charging you for each visit.

However, if you are NOT yet subscribed, then I would urge you to do so. For a modest annual fee, all you need to do is call me whenever you have a problem with your PC, Mac or laptop. Unfortunately the technology is not in place to assist with Ipads, Tablets or Smartphones yet. I’ll then be able to log in to your computer and share the screen with you, as if I’m there at your house. I can usually diagnose and fix most problems remotely, unless it’s a problem where I physically need to be there, such as inserting a CD or cables or fixing physical problems with a printer. As long as you’re online, with your permission (I need a password which changes everytime you use it) I can share the screen with you and rectify the majority of problems, such as email not working, lost files etc. Many of my clients compare this to being a member of the AA or BUPA. You hope you’re never going to need it, but it’s comforting to know that when you do have a problem, it can be sorted out, for free, the same day.

If you would like to subscribe to this service, just call or email me and I can have you up and running within a few minutes.

Happy New Year

To all of my many Jewish clients, I wish you and your families a happy, healthy and safe New Year.

And Finally…….

I just love watch the amazing Dynamo, performing his mind blowing magic. He has just started this final series which you can see on Watch TV every Thursday night.

Here’s a clip which I hope you’ll like. If you want to see more, tune in this week, or just go you YouTube and search for Dynamo. Just incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR98daNdKI8

That’s it for this month. Keep well and I hope to speak to you soon.