I had a call from one of my regular customers last week, telling his computer wouldn’t start up.

Whilst I was there diagnosing the problem, I mentioned that there seem to be a lot of scam calls at the moment, claiming to be representing Microsoft, saying they have received reports the person has problems with their computer. “Oh, funnily enough I had one of those last week”, he said. I asked him if he let them control his computer and paid them any money. “Yes, they downloaded some specialist software and charged me £180 for 2 years support”.

Oh dear.

The “specialist software” they downloaded and installed was Ccleaner and Malwarebytes Antimalware, both available freely to anybody. They cleaned up his temporary files with Ccleaner, then ran a scan with Malwarebytes. Quite a clever way of doing it as it speeds up the scan time as it won’t have any temporary files to scan.

The person controlling his computer also showed him the Event Viewer to demonstrate the errors and warnings generated by his computer. This is another way of  making the user think he has problems on his computer, as it’s normal to see some errors in Event Viewer.

Now it gets worse.

The fault turned out to be the motherboard. I took the system away for repair. When I returned it and set it up again for my customer, I mentioned that it would be interesting to see what Global PC Support could have done for him if he called them to report the faulty motherboard, seeing as he had paid them for 2 years support. “Oh them, they called me yesterday to say they had detected keylogging software on my computer. They said they could remove it for £180″.  That’s right, £180. To remove non-existant software, even though he’s already paid them. He told them no thanks and put the phone down. He was too polite to ask them how they’d managed to detect this keylogging software on his computer while it was in pieces in my workshop.

Please be aware of these scams. There are many of them using different names. Remember:

• Microsoft DO NOT respond individually to any error reports, no matter how many time you click to submit them.

• It is normal for the Event Viewer to show some errors, it’s understanding what they are that is important.

• Never pay for anything as a result of an unsolicited phone call.

• If in doubt, tell them to call back later, then phone us and tell us what you have been told.

Please report any calls you suspect of being a scam to us via our Contact page.

Great offer on new systems – AVG Internet Security 2012 free with every new system or laptop:
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
2GB RAM
250GB hard drive
DVD-RW
Keybooard and mouse
Stereo speakers
18.5″ widescreen monitor
AVG Internet Security 2012 (RRP £39.99)
£395 (inclucing VAT) including installation for local customers

A local church asked us to create them a website. They wanted something that showed the services and activities offered, but wanted to be able to update it regularly themselves, so they could keep people informed of upcoming events and news. This meant they would not have to pay somebody to edit the site, and could do it when they wanted. This also means that the only on-going cost would be the domain name renewal and website hosting, payable after the first year, as we include all costs in a one-off fee for the first year.

With this in mind, we decided to use the popular WordPress software, customising the theme to suit the customer. Since completing the site, the customer has uploaded their own images and text, with very little help needed.

Have a look at the site by clicking here

We decided to make the web design page a bit more dynamic.

For the scrolling image effect we used the excellent (and free!) plugin All-In-One-Slideshow by Sramekdesign

I have removed System Tool 2011 from 10 different customers computers this last week. This malicious piece of software is a fake anti-virus program that renders your computer almost unusable, telling you that you have to purchase it to remove various viruses it claims to have found.

Please DO NOT purchase this program. You will be paying your money for a program that is a fake, and the double-whammy is that your credit card details will be stolen and used.

The best advice is to switch off your computer if this appears, because the longer it is in use, the more it is likely to download more viruses/spyware, and your internet usage is likely to be monitored, if you can get online at all.

How does it get on your computer?
This is the question everybody asks but it’s impossible to identify exactly how it gets there, however, common ways seem to be visiting illegal football streaming websites, downloading films/music via Limewire or similar, opening attachments claiming to be from delivery companies, and visiting any dodgy websites. The creators of this software have also been known to have hacked into legitimate 3rd party advertising websites that link into legitimate wbesites, including Lon­don Stock Exchange, eBay and Auto­trader, so no wonder it’s everywhere!

Please give us a call if you need help removing this or any other malicious software. We are able to remove this without resorting to a reformat and reinstalling Windows, which should be a last resort.

Joining the program has enabled us to refurbish old computers and upgrade them, install a new operating system and licensed Office software for a fraction of the costs of new hardware and licenses.

Licenses are supplied directly by Microsoft, meaning our customers are safe in the knowledge they are purchasig genuine licensed software and will not fall victim to copyright theft.

Microsoft continue to release new versions of their Office suite. If you feel a bit annoyed if you purchased the 2007 version recently, anyone purchasing Office 2007 on or after March 5 will receive a free upgrade on the product.

The cheapest way of getting the most commonly used programs is by purchasing the Home and Student version that includes Word, Excel and Powerpoint. This can be installed on up to 3 computers and currently retails for only £85.

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Happy belated new year everyone.

So, it’s 3 months since the launch of Windows 7 and it seems to proving fairly popular in our experience. Customers are actively seeking new laptops with Windows 7, rather than trying to avoid Vista and purchase XP. They are now taking the opportunity to buy new desktops with Windows 7 preinstalled, and people are also inquiring about the possibility of upgrading their system to Windows 7.

On the whole, the majority of systems that have Vista will be able to be upgraded. If anything, they will run better, as Windows 7 starts up quicker and runs more efficiently. A memory upgrade will help but is not always necessary.

Before taking the plunge and purchasing an upgrade disk, it is advisable to run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor . Please note that you cannot upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. You will need to do a clean install.

It is advisable that you back up any data you consider to be important before attempting an upgrade, as there is always the potential for something to go wrong and you losing your data. A clean install needs everything to be wiped so a backup is essential. Programs cannot be copied using a backup, so they will need to be reinstalled using original disks or downloaded files. License keys and product activation will also be necessary afterwards, something that usually causes problems after clean installs, with people rummaging through drawers full of old disks in a frantic search for the originals.

The actually upgrade itself is usually pretty straight forward once the recommendations of the Upgrade Advisor have been followed (usually uninstalling incompatible software such as anti-virus), although it can take many hours, so be patient.

Once the upgrade is complete Windows 7 will have installed most of the drivers for your devices automatically and everything works!

Finchfield IT are pleased to announce the launch of a service for small business users who want to be able to synchronise their email, contacts and calendars on their mobile devices with their computer at home or in the office. Users can also create shared calendars to share with colleagues to track appointments.

Why use Hosted Exchange?
Hosted Exchange is ideal for the small business user that wants to keep their devices synchronised without having to dock the device and manually synchronise. Email sent from the handheld will be in the Sent Items folder on their email client (eg Outlook). New contacts added will be listed in their address book.
Users also get access to Web Outlook and emails are automatically backed up on the server.

How much does it cost?
Hosted Exchange services cost £9.50 per month per user.