Facebook is for Sharing, Not Storing!

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When was the last time you held an actual photo album or actual prints of photographs in your hands? Maybe you look back at older photographs only when Facebook’s TimeHop app reminds you of a pic from five years ago. If so, you may be risking your visual history.

Facebook is a great way to share photos with friends and family around the world. You get to enjoy their comments and the affirmation of their likes. But using Facebook as storage for your photos is not a good plan. Here’s why.

Facebook photos

Some people treat Facebook as their photo album archive. They delete the originals from their devices or digital camera when they need more space. But Facebook compresses images for faster download. It satisfies impatient social media users, which means photo quality suffers. If you wanted to print those photos in the future, they wouldn’t look as good as the originals.

That’s not the only drawback. When you trust Facebook with all your photos, you’re letting a company control your visual archive. It’s hard to imagine, given Facebook’s reach today, but what happens to your photos if the company goes defunct? We don’t know. The people who were keeping their photos on Myspace in 2006 might have an idea.

The younger crowd is already moving onto other social platforms. Plus, Facebook’s growth rate in North America and Europe is slowing. Those daily active users are the primary source of revenue. So, you know Mark Zuckerberg is in some meetings about that.

Even if Facebook continues as the business behemoth it is today, we don’t know what policy changes it might make. It could change its terms of service whenever it wanted (if you even read those in the first place). Users have no guarantee for how long Facebook will store their images or any type of content.

Keep in mind also that many of the photos showing up in your timeline are actually taken by friends. Facebook provides an entire album of other people’s photos when they’ve tagged you, but if they decided to untag you or remove it, that photo would be gone.

Finally, there’s also the risk of your account getting shut down or hacked. You’ve probably had friends warn you not to accept any new friend requests from them because they’ve been compromised. You wouldn’t want a thief to steal all your photo albums. Similarly, you don’t want a cybercriminal to gain access to all your images.

Our Recommendation

Just as with data, we recommend you have a “3-2-1” backup system for your digital photographs. This means having three copies of the photos you care about. You don’t need to back up the blurry ones if you don’t want to.

You might keep one copy on the original device, but you’d have two other copies of the high-quality, uncompressed, original image as well. One might be kept on an external storage device such as a USB thumb drive, and the other you could upload to cloud storage.

The cloud backup gives you access to the photos from any device in any location. So, if a flood, hurricane, or fire devastates your home, and you lose your device and the USB thumb drive, you still have a backup. Your Facebook photos and videos are just there to be shared with friends and family.

Not sure where or how to safely store your photos and videos? We can help! Our experts may even become new Facebook friends. Then we can all like each other’s photos with the peace of mind that the original photos aren’t going anywhere. Call us at (970) 433-7454.

5 Common Computer Myths Debunked

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Common urban myths would have us believe alligators live in sewers or people put razor blades in kids’s candy. Common misconceptions about computers are just as persistent. Here are several IT myths debunked for your benefit.

Computer Myths


#1 A slow-running computer has a virus

A virus can be to blame. Spyware or other malware can also cause a computer to slow down. However, there are also many other reasons your computer might run slower:

  • You may have a lot of programs that start up when you boot up the computer. You could remove or disable programs that start every time.
  • The computer has gone into power save mode every night, but you haven’t rebooted the computer in a long time.
  • There are many programs running in the background. On a Windows PC, you can go into task manager and see what is running and the computer resources in use.
  • A security utility is running. If it’s an antivirus scanner, let the scan finish first, then see if your computer speed improves.
  • Temporary files or other junk are taking up too much hard drive space. Your computer needs at least 200–500MB of free space on the hard drive to be able to move and manage files.
  • Your computer doesn’t have enough RAM to run programs within memory. If your computer has to swap information on the hard drive to get enough memory to run programs, it’s going to work slower.
  • The computer is old. You may need to upgrade to a computer that can handle current software needs without slowing to a snail’s pace.

#2 Macs don’t get viruses

Many Apple owners believe their Macintosh computers are immune to viruses. If only. Macs do get viruses; they are simply targeted less than PCs. Why? There are many more computers running Windows, which means a bigger, easier target for cybercriminals.

As Apple’s market share rises, the threat to Macs is growing. Apple works to protect its users from malware, but you still need to use caution with downloads and when clicking on links from unknown sources.

#3 My Windows registry needs cleaning up

Registry cleaning companies will say that scanning your Windows registry can speed up the computer and avoid error messages. The cleaner finds unused registry keys and any malware remnants for removal.

But let’s consider the fact that Microsoft has not released its own registry cleaner. Why not? Because it’s really not necessary. Worse still, going in to clean your registry (when you don’t know what you’re doing) can actually do serious damage.

#4 My laptop battery needs to be dead before I recharge if I want it to last longer

This was once true. Nickel-cadmium batteries suffered from what was called a “memory effect.” If discharged and recharged to the same point several times, they would remember that point in the future and not go further.

Now, however, laptops typically come with lithium-ion (or Li-ion) batteries. They don’t suffer from this memory effect. In fact, they function better with partial discharge instead of letting the battery run down to zero.

#5 I don’t have anything hackers would want

Cybersecurity should be a priority for everyone, not only sprawling enterprises. Let’s put it this way:

  • Do you have any money?
  • Do you have an identity cybercriminals could use to access money or sell for money?
  • Do you work anywhere?

Hackers have all kinds of ways to profit from your data or from hijacking your computer’s processing power. They can turn your computer into part of a bot network or use your information as a bridge into a business target’s system.

Keep all your computers at top speed with the best security measures in place with the help of our experts. Contact us today at (970) 433-7454!

Time for What Matters: Essential Windows Shortcuts

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Time for What Matters: Essential Windows Shortcuts

The average person spends 90,000 hours at work. These hours can cost us sleep, affect our mood, and cause us to gain weight. Oh, and work can cause stress, too. We can’t give you a “get out of work free” card, but these essential Windows shortcuts will help you save time.

By gaining efficiency at your computer, you may find you have more time for what matters. At work, this may be devising new innovations or getting out in the field. At home, these shortcuts can free up time to play a board game with the kids or do some gardening with Grandma.

Ctrl + X to Cut

Think about X marking the spot in the text where you want to cut words, an image, or a URL. Drag your cursor over the selection to highlight the particular text/table/image/file (or a part of it). If you don’t want it at all, the cut function is another version of delete. If you want to move the selection, this is your first step.

Ctrl + V to Paste

With this simple shortcut you can place the information you just cut (or copied using Ctrl + C) anywhere you want. The important thing to remember is that the paste function only holds one selection in memory. So, if you cut a phrase from one place, don’t get distracted by an image you want to copy or other text to cut. You want to paste what you have first, then go back and copy or cut the next thing so as not to risk risking losing anything.

Ctrl + Z to Undo

If only this shortcut was available in real life. We could retract that thing we inadvertently said to Uncle Steve, or take out the salt we put in a recipe instead of sugar, or avoid leaving the house for the gym without our running shoes.

Still, Windows users are able to undo their most recent action with this key combination. Whichever Windows program you’re in, you can use Ctrl + Z to reverse your last action. To redo something, go with Ctrl + Y.

Alt then Tab to Switch Screens

There are many things you can do with Windows. Perhaps you’re multitasking: you have a PowerPoint open, as well as an Excel spreadsheet, and Internet Explorer, too. By pressing Alt and then the Tab key, you can switch between tabs or screens. If you hold down the Alt button while tapping Tab, you’ll scroll through all screens.

Ctrl + N to open a new window

Pressing Ctrl+N together opens up a new document file or browser window, depending on the program you’re in. It saves you a few drop-down menus and works in most Windows applications and Web browsers.

Ctrl + F to Find

This is another one we’d love to see in the real world. Using the find shortcut calls up a pop-up box where you can enter text or numbers. You can use this shortcut to find what you’re looking for on a Web page, in a PDF document, or in your rough draft of a speech. In fact, you’ll be able to see how many times your search text appears and toggle from one selection to the next.

Ctrl + Mouse to Zoom

Forget your reading glasses? Looking at a too-small infographic? Having a tough time locating the right tiny file on your desktop? You can zoom in with this shortcut. Using this shortcut on your desktop makes files and folders larger. In your browser, this function zooms in on the page.

Want to know more about Windows and technology to streamline processes? Our experts can help you find the right computer solutions for your home or office. Contact us at (970) 433-7454 today!

Loving your External Hard Drive

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External hard drives are relatively cheap and a great way to move around data. However, they can be somewhat fragile. Here are some tips to make your external hard drive last longer.

These drives free up storage, offer portability, and provide a lifeline in case of computer disaster. It pays to take good care of these compact, convenient devices.

Here are some helpful strategies.

External HDD
1. Don’t knock the drive.

Depending on the type of drive you have, impact could damage it. The hard drive’s mechanical drives work a little like a record player. Envision a spinning platter and a needle reading it. Note, you don’t have to worry about this with a Solid State Drive (SSD) as there are no moving parts.

2. Don’t pull.

You can damage the drive port with a hard or sideways yank on its USB plug. Remove the device cable with a gentle pull. It’s best to unplug the drive cable when it’s not in use. Then, when you are reconnecting the external drive, inspect the connector before plugging the cable back in. Look for any damage, debris, or corrosion to help maximize the device’s lifespan.

3. Don’t skip steps.

You may be in a hurry, but always take the time to remove the hard drive from your desktop before physically unplugging it. On Windows, you’ll usually right click on the drive and press Eject. For Macs, you can drag the drive icon to the recycle bin (which changes to an eject button).  Never unplug the drive while moving data to or from the hard drive unless you want to risk data corruption.

4. Don’t suffocate the drive.

Ever put your hand on the hard drive after prolonged use? It’s hot. Don’t immediately store it away in a bag or tight space. Give it some time to cool off first.
When it’s out, and in use, keep the drive’s vents clear of other objects so that it has some airflow. Set it on a flat, level surface. Avoid placing it on paper, towels, or other cloth items that could add to its heat levels.

5. Don’t take the drive swimming.

OK, you’re probably not going to do that. Yet it’s our way of reminding you that condensation is an enemy to your hard drive. Hard drive failures can be caused by environmental factors such as temperature and air quality too.

6. Don’t expect immortality or invincibility.

A hard drive isn’t going to last forever. They aren’t built for that. They can also get lost or stolen. Don’t let one external hard drive be the only place you are backing up your data.
Have a backup on your computer, on the drive, and a copy in the cloud. Then, you’ll always be ready to move on to a new drive that you will love with the same care and consideration outlined above.

If you need help deciding on the best hard drive for your needs, give us a call at (970) 433-7454.

What is the Best Way to Backup?

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“That will never happen to me.” We get through our lives telling ourselves the worst won’t happen to us. It’s the same with business: “We won’t need this data backup.” Yet, whatever your industry, secure, reliable backup ensures business as usual. So, what’s the best way to backup? Here’s help.

Backup
Why You Need to Backup

  1. Business disruptions of any kind can be costly. The disaster might take one of several shapes:
  2. Natural (e.g. wildfires, floods, earthquakes, or hurricanes)
  3. On-site (e.g. hardware/software failure, power outage, inability to access building)
  4. Employee driven (e.g. damaging mistakes or intentional sabotage by a disgruntled employee)
  5. Cyber-attack (e.g. data breach, ransomware, or distributed denial of service attack).

Regardless, the best backup solution can help reduce downtime and damage.

Plan B: Approaches to Backup

There are several off-the-shelf backup options your business can use. Let’s consider the pros and cons of the most popular ones.

USB Thumb Drives — Also known as “flash drives,” “pen drives,” or “memory sticks,” these thumb-sized devices are compact and portable. But, they have size limitations compared to hard drives. Also, the mobility makes them easy to lose (which can actually set the disaster scenario in motion).

Additionally, a USB thumb drive is robust when not plugged in, but more vulnerable when attached. If someone inadvertently snaps the drive or employs too much force, they can put the data on that backup at risk.

The cheap ones also tend to be slow, which can make backing up sluggish.

USB Hard Drives — Portable hard drives increase the data storage available, often at a decent price. They are designed to be compact and mobile. You can prioritize durability, processing speed, storage volumes and more.

Hard drives are less likely to get damaged than a thumb drive. If knocked or jostled, the cables are flexible. Still, a hard drive can be prone to physical failure. Selecting an external solid slate drive (SSD) can help since it has no moving parts. Information is stored instead in microchips.

Cloud Storage — Backing up to the cloud stores data on an external, secure server. If thieves take your computers and USB backup, you can still access your data on the cloud. Cloud storage providers build in redundancy to ensure your backup remains safe.

Most cloud storage services back up to secure centers with thousands of servers storing data. Oh, and they’ll have their own server backups too, just in case they’re the ones hit by a disaster. The providers also encrypt data during transit to further ensure compliance and security.

Migrating to a third-party cloud storage service also cuts the clutter at your premises. You can count on expert help to ensure security and compliance. Plus, you can cut operational costs by offloading in-house storage or external hard drive expenses.

OK, What’s the Best Answer? 

Don’t think disaster won’t strike your business. Research has found data loss and downtime are most often caused by:

  • Hardware failures (45% of total unplanned downtime)
  • Loss of power (35%)
  • Software failure (34%)
  • Data corruption (24%)
  • External security breaches (23%)
  • Accidental user error (20%).

We recommend the 3-2-1 backup strategy. This means having 3 copies of your data. Two (2) of these would be located on different devices (e.g. on your computer and on a backup drive). The other remaining backup copy (1) would be secured offsite, in the cloud.

Want to secure your data for the worst? Give No Ware Computer Repair in Grand Junction a call to set this up. (970) 433-7454 

Time is Running Out for Windows 7 Users!

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Windows 7 EOL

The clock is ticking!

There is now less than one year left before Microsoft drops all support for Windows 7. After January 14th of next year, computers running Windows 7 will no longer receive security updates or support from Microsoft.

Computers still running Windows 7 after January 14th 2020 will become more vulnerable to malware infections and cyber attacks.

Fortunately it’s not all doom and gloom. Most computers still running Windows 7 are perfectly capable of running Windows 10, which will be both more secure, and have more features that many computer users find extremely useful.

Now would be the perfect time to get those computers up-to-date and more secure with Windows 10.

Call No Ware Computer Repair in Grand Junction to beat the rush and schedule your computer upgrade today!

Browser Add-Ons

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web browserWith so many of the mainstream browsers supporting add-ons; from Google Chrome to Mozilla Firefox, a myriad of extensions are offered to try to make your life a little easier. The options can all be very overwhelming at first, but here are a few simple suggestions to help get you started.

Emsisoft Browser Security

An add-on that focuses on filtering out malicious websites and unwanted substance. They even boast on their website that it can increase a web page’s load time significantly, because it strains out much of the unnecessary content. It also blocks third party ad trackers from continuously bombarding you with the same ads while you are surfing – making your web browsing a bit more private.

Get Emsisoft Browser Security here for Firefox, and here for Chrome.

Ublock Origin

A free ad-blocker that is incredibly user friendly and easily accessible, with several different options at the user’s disposal. Ublock is easier on your CPU and memory while being able to enforce thousands more filters than many of the other ad-blockers available.

Get Ublock Origin here for Firefox, and here for Chrome.

Last Pass

Last Pass is a very convenient password managing add-on to have at your disposal. Sure you could just write your passwords down, but having Last Pass gives you the advantage of having to only remember one master password. You can even use the same account across multiple devices at once. This can be quite useful if you have many different accounts, each with a different password. It can keep your online accounts more secure.

Get Last Pass here for Firefox, and here for Chrome.

Browser add-ons and extensions are designed to enhance our web browsing experience. This was just a short list of some of our favorites. If you have any questions about add-ons and extensions, feel free to give your friends at No Ware Computer Repair a call at (970) 433-7454. We are always happy to help!

5 Signs Your Computer Might be Infected

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Computer Virus
You’ve probably heard quite a bit about computer viruses enough over the years – how threatening they are, and how dangerous they can be. Viruses or Malware are often explained in a slightly confusing manner – and though we’re all told to download an antivirus and stay away from sketchy email attachments, not many of us know what it’s genuinely like to be infected by a computer virus.

Often the symptoms of a virus or malware infection are easy to miss, or commonly associated with other computer issues that can be solved by simply rebooting the system or clearing the cache. That makes viruses especially scary, because we don’t often take these symptoms seriously until they’ve done a significant amount of damage.

Here are five things to look for that could mean that your computer is infected:

Start-up, opening program or internet speeds become drastically slow.

Viruses or malware working in the background can use a lot of memory, making it harder to open and close the apps you normally work with.

Pop-ups appearing not just when your web browser is open, but also when it is closed.

Some viruses will try to imitate your anti-virus or an anti-virus you don’t remember installing. These programs will pop-up telling you you have a virus and to call a phone number to get it cleared up. We strongly advise you don’t.

There is an icon for a software program or app you don’t remember installing on you desktop or in your apps menu.

You may have meant to download and install a program, but some programs can be sneaky, bringing unwanted friends.

When you open your web browser it opens to a page you have never heard of rather then the homepage you asked it to.

When you installed that app that you downloaded right before bed, you probably hurried through, not noticing that a toolbar wanted to install right along with your download. A lot of toolbars, or other junkware like this will also change your homepage.

In the middle of a project you computer freezes, or reboots itself.

Malware uses up a lot of a system’s resources, straining the hardware, causing your computer to stop working or force a restart in an attempt to sort things out.

Viruses don’t always announce themselves, and can be quite crafty. If you are experiencing any of the issues listed above, give No Ware Computer Repair at (970) 433-7454, or come by our office in Grand Junction today!

How Do You Know When You Need A New Computer?

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new computer old computer
As we all know, a computer can slow down over time. No matter how many tune ups you get, and how well your general maintenance is, no amount of regular upkeep will prevent the inevitable decay in performance. While all that caution certainly does help prolong the lives of our devices, at one point, you will want to replace your old computer with a newer model.

The real question is “when?” When should you stop bringing your computer to a repair shop and instead seek out something more “modern”? Well, there’s a lot to consider before making that decision.

Some experts suggest replacing your computer every few years or so – A desktop computer can be expected lo last anywhere from 5-7 years, and a laptop about 3-5. That might seem like a relatively short amount of time, but there’s a method to the madness – The technological climate is always rapidly evolving, and older computers simply aren’t built to adequately run newer software.

That isn’t to say you can’t use a computer that’s a decade old. One of the most important factors in deciding when it’s time to invest in a new computer is what you intend on using it for. Gaming for instance is a demanding hobby, as game developers are constantly improving on different aspects of the games they make – and by extension making games that are harder on our computers.

Alternatively, if you’re using your computer to complete everyday tasks, casually browsing the internet or working from home on applications that don’t have many system requirements, you might be fine to just keep that old computer going until you just can’t anymore.

Sometimes the cost of the parts needed to repair the computer simply exceeds the cost of the machine – in that case you’re better off just getting a new computer altogether. Often this happens with older models because there aren’t many companies manufacturing these parts anymore, and they’re not in high demand, so they can cost quite a bit.

Another thing to keep in mind s that when a computer has become so old that it begins rejecting updates completely, and when it doesn’t even meet the minimum system requirements needed to upgrade to the newest version of your operating system, it’s definitely time to start looking for something new.

If you’re unsure whether you old computer can last you just a little bit longer, or if you need to finally upgrade to something a little more “new and improved”, your friends at No Ware Computer Repair in Grand Junction can help you to determine which course of action would best fit your situation.

The Blue Screen of Death

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BSOD
If you’ve spent any amount of time around a computer, odds are you’ve heard about the infamous “Blue Screen of Death.” Though if you’ve never experienced it yourself, you might not know what it actually is – and might not be prepared for if and when it happens to you.

The “Blue Screen of Death” can sometimes be referred to as “BSOD” or a “stop error”, and there are a wide variety of reasons as to why it might happen to your computer, but that doesn’t mean your device will never work again. It’s not irreparable, it only means that your computer encountered an error that required it to completely stop in its tracks.

While stop errors are more prevalent with older versions of Windows, it still occasionally pops up, though it’s pretty rare to find on newer versions like Windows 10. One major cause of a stop error is a malfunctioning memory, or a failing Hard Drive. If either of these components happen to be defective or not compatible with the rest of the system, it could result in a blue screen.

Overclocking the CPU or RAM could also cause a blue screen. Increasing the performance of your hardware components past their factory settings in general probably isn’t the best idea, as they can easily become overworked which could lead to some serious damage.

Though of course these stop errors aren’t only caused by hardware disruptions. Faulty or missing drivers mean that the device it belongs to, like your graphics card, can’t communicate with the rest of the computer. So software errors, and even computer viruses can lead to blue screens as well.

While the “Blue Screen of Death” definitely isn’t as terrifying as it looks or sounds, it’s still a serious problem to come across and can be especially stress inducing to those who work from home or haven’t backed up their data in a while. If you ever have the misfortune of coming across a stop error, give your friends at No Ware Computer Repair in Grand Junction a call, we can get your computer back up and running in no time!