Trick or Treat,  Visitor

Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog?

With witches running amok collecting items for their brews, it’s a tough time of year for lizards and frogs, but we’ve managed to evade the dangers to bring you this tale of spooky computing.

Earlier this month I experienced a spooky phenomenon while using my computer.  One night thousands and thousands of old emails started downloading from my email server. These email dated back as far as 2008, and I sat for a moment confused, annoyed and slightly concerned about what was going on as these phantom email filled my nearly pristine inbox. Fortunately I was able to piece together what had happened* and resolved the problem right away, but it got me thinking: Weird things like this happen to people who don’t have the knowledge or experience to know which spooky event can be written off as a possible fluke, and which are indicative of a growing problem. 

When should people reboot and hope for the best and when should they contact a professional for help? Too bad computers don’t have Check Engine lights. If they did you’d know just when it’s time to ask for some professional help (or if you’re like me, you’ll pull over immediately, stop the car and call one of your auto repair clients for some advice right from the side of the road!).

We find that computer users are generally pretty patient until they’re not. People just seem to accept that computers start to “act weird” over time and they tend to put up with it until the computer is virtually unusable, and that’s when we get calls. We’re usually able to bring the computer back to life as well as restore or improve its factory performance levels, which makes us look like heroes, but really it’s just that the user got used to computing in a bogged down environment!

Don’t wait until you’re thinking about putting your computer on the curb before calling for assistance or service. Whether you need training on how to perform a specific task, would like us to set your system up to be protected from the ghouls on the internet, or if your computer has already been haunted and you need us to clear the bats from your attic, we’ve got the skills needed to address your needs.

Now that I’ve completely taken advantage of the fact that Halloween is coming to talk with you about our IT services, let’s put the puns aside and give you some FREE HELP RIGHT NOW!

#1 Service Call in IT Services for 2009

Did you know that the number one service call that we’ve been performing in IT Services this year is repairing and recovering computers from infections from malicious software? When performed by Tech Lizard Web Design and IT these repairs can range from $100.00 to $250.00 depending upon the nature of the infection and the recovery process required. These costly repairs can be avoided with very little effort and computer knowledge. You just need to know a few things.

How to avoid being our next customer: Preventing PC Infections, reviews items each computer user should consider to protect themselves from the applications written to interfere with the use of their computers. We went beyond the typical “install anti-virus software” advice to discuss using a firewall, changing user privilege and adopting a healthy dose of skepticism while computing. Follow the suggestions in this article to keep your PC working for you!

#1 Call for Help in IT Services

Oddly enough, the number one call for help in IT Services is for assistance in setting up email programs. This is something that needs to be done for a new computer or after your computer has had the factory default image restored, or if you got one of those cool new PDAs or smart phones. We’ve written the article Setting Up an Email Program to assist you in setting up the two most commonly used email applications, Outlook Express and Windows Mail.

We hope you enjoy the articles and that you’ll consider the advice within. If the items discussed seem to be more than you’re willing to take on, please contact us, we’ll be happy to help!

I Must Confess

I must confess that I had a really good time with the corny Halloween references. Honestly I’m just disappointed that I couldn’t find a way to use the word Spooktacular, because it’s one of my favorites, especially when the O’s are stretched out to sound like “Booooooooo!”. I just love that. Yes, that’s a little strange and I’m ok with that.

Anyway, we’d like to thank you again for your continued support of Tech Lizard Web Design and IT. We appreciate your attention as well as your referrals. If there is anything we can do for you and yours, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Spoooooooooktacularly Yours, (he he he) 

Michele Gilhouse
Caramel Apple Lover

* What happened: I had intentionally configured an email profile set up to leave a copy of email messages on the email server resulting in years (thousands and thousands) of email stored on server. The server “keeps track” of what mail has already been downloaded, but it seems that information had been lost possibly due to a restore at my host, so my email client was instructed to download everything in the mailbox. I no longer need to keep a copy of email on the server so adjusting this setting in my email client resolved the problem.