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Useful Tech Tips, Tutorials and guides

Backup your computer automatically

/ By / In Backup, Operating Systems, Windows / Leave Comment

Setting up Windows 7 Backup Even having a basic Backup in place can help make sure that your files are safe in the event of an emergency. With automatic backups, you don’t have to remember to back up your files. You can change your automatic backup settings (such as how often you back up, the type of storage you use, or the types of files you back up) when you want. To set up automatic backups Even If you have never used Windows Backup before you can still setup a reliable backup with the Windows Backup wizard, it automatically creates a schedule for you, which you can change and it also tells you what the status of the last backup wa

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Disable Shut Down Restart and Stand by on a Windows machine

/ By / In Fixes, Operating Systems, Troubleshooting, Windows / Leave Comment

Disable Shut Down, Restart and Stand by button on a Windows machine This is useful for machines which are e.g. in a Meeting Room and always need to be on, Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe) in Run under Start Menu Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer and to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer In both these locations create or modify the Dword value ‘NoClose’ & set it to 1. This will prevent windows from shutting down If you want windows to get shut down again then set the above value to 0 Go to: Start > Control Panel > Administrative

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Prevent Facebook & Twitter from being hacked

/ By / In Facebook, Social Media, Twitter / Leave Comment

Steps to prevent you FACEBOOK account from being hacked! Recently, there has been a lot of fuss over facebook & twitter accounts getting hacked. I just thought of pointing out some important points to be kept in mind while dealing with this situation.90% of such incidents occur due to carelessness of people who tend to click on suspicious/unknown links. Well I don’t blame them as it is pretty tricky method and depends on how alert a person is. Definitely, by now many of you must have made it a habit to change your password frequently. If not, make it a practice starting from now. The most frequently used method used to hack accounts is

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Guide to Extend your laptop battery life

/ By / In Guides, Laptop, Workstation / Leave Comment

Few steps to extend your laptop battery life Extending your laptops battery life is easier than you think, a lot of the time its more about basic charging and battery care techniques (Tips Below). there are really a few things that impact on battery life like   Load: Load is probably the biggest killer of laptop batteries (Any battery powered device for that matter). Load comes in may different forms. Devices connected via usb, Anything connected via usb will always draw a little bit of electricity this puts additional power load on your battery, removing them will increase the life of your battery. Resource Utilisation is other form

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19 best Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts you should know

/ By / In Information / Leave Comment

Keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot time as you use Windows 10. You probably already know about Ctrl + C and Ctrl +V (copy and paste), Some of these shortcuts might already be familiar to you, but think of new users who just switched from a Mac or simply have relied more on mice or touchscreens. Keyboard shortcut Action Windows key + A Open Action center Windows key + C Open Cortana in listening mode Windows key + D Display and hide the desktop Windows key + E Open File Explorer Windows key + H Open the Share charm Windows key + I Open Settings Windows key + L Lock your PC or switch accounts Windows key + S Open

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Reduce Smartphone Roaming charges – Blackberry

/ By / In Blackberry, Guides, Information, Mobile / Leave Comment

Reduce Smartphone Roaming charges Reducing Smartphone roaming charges, is often ignored by users. especially blackberry users as most long time BB users are used to flat monthly data fees. Since BES10 however data is charged per megabyte and it’s become very important to educate these users on how to minimize roaming charges. All Smartphones are automatically “always on”, this means the device is constantly checking the internet for new mails, social app updates, etc. In the context of this notification (Blackberry), when a new email arrives, they are forwarded directly to your BlackBerry. When your BlackBerry receives the emai

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Phishing Scams: How Phishing Scams Work

/ By / In Phishing, Security

Phishing scams are just another attempt to get valuable information. Scammers send a mass email to every address they can find. Typically the message will appear to come from a legitimate institution or company. The email states that you should update or enter your information for one reason or another, and they usually provide a link that you can click to do so. This all sounds reasonable and it may look legitimate, but phishing scams are far form legitimate. The link provided takes you to a spoof website. Instead, you’ll be submitting your personal information to a website run by the scammers. Why Scammers Use Phishing Scams Why would

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How to remove Auto Complete cache entries

/ By / In Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, Software, Troubleshooting / Leave Comment

How to remove or reset the auto complete caches in Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 Outlook 2010 Open a new email. Type the first few characters of the cache entry that you want to remove. When the name appears in the “suggested names” list, move your mouse pointer over the name until it becomes highlighted. (But do not click the name). When the “X” icon appears next to the highlighted name, click X to remove the name from the list. Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2003 Open a new email. Type the first few characters of the cache entry that you want to remove. When the entry appears in the “suggested names” list, use the UP a

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Restore deleted files from recycle bin

/ By / In Data Recovery, Troubleshooting

restore deleted files even after they have been emptied from the recycle bin One of my favorite tech tools is called Restoration. It’s a stand-alone Windows based file recovery program. It allows you to restore deleted files even after they have been emptied from the recycle bin. Restoration requires no install and because of this, you can put it on your flash drive and take it with you wherever you go. I would like to show you how to use it. Step 1: Download Restoration. Step 2: Open up Restoration and choose the drive you want to scan. If you know the file name or at least part of it, type it into the “All or part of the file” box. If

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PGP Drive Encryption Problem Lenovo X220

/ By / In Desktop, Fixes, Laptop, Operating Systems, PGP Encryption, Windows, Workstation / Leave Comment

PGP Drive Encryption Problem Lenovo X220 Newer Lenovo x220 laptops come with an updated BIOS version which is not compatible with PGP 9. If you encrypt the laptop using PGP9, after reboot, the PC it tries to load the PGP GUI where you enter the password and then gives following message on a black screen: Loading stage2 PGPWDE disk data are corrupted. Please use PGP recovery disk. Cannot continue. Press any key to halt the system. If you run the PGP boot disk it gives same message.   Cause: Laptop models: x220 or any older laptops where the BIOS has been upgraded to a recent version. X220s are shipped with an updated BIOS version w

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Speed up Folder loading on Windows

/ By / In Desktop, General, Information, Laptop, Operating Systems, Troubleshooting, Windows, Workstation / Leave Comment

Speed up Folder loading on Local System If folders take a lot of time to load in Windows, especially when the folder size is quite big. There is a really simple fix to speed up folder loading that should be part of any initial troubleshooting which is done. Right-click on the folder in question and choose Properties. On the Properties window, navigate to Customize tab. Select the General Items or Documents from the drop down in “Optimise this folder for” drop down Check apply this template to all sub folders. Click Apply and Ok. Rebuild the Index The indexing of files and folders can get messy and slow over time with the add

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Unable to browse network shares via VPN

/ By / In Operating Systems, VPN, Windows / Leave Comment

Unable to browse network shares via VPN Iv been getting a few requests with help on a problem that users are unable to browse network shares while connected to VPN. Network file sharing and printing require NetBIOS name resolution. The chances are that NetBIOS over TCP IP is disabled. To resolve this issue, change the following registry values for all TCP IP interfaces from 0 to 1. [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrent¬ ControlSetServicesNetBTParamete¬ rsInterfacesTcpipXX}] “NameServerList”=hex(7):00,00 “NetbiosOptions”=dword:00000001 This should Fix the issue.

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IT Employee Confidentiality Agreement Template

/ By / In Documents / Leave Comment

IT Support Employee Confidentiality Agreement template* The overall benefit of a confidentiality agreement is to protect proprietary information of a business by restricting an employee or client from sharing that information with anyone. As most IT employees have the administrative rights to users files, network locations and systems, it is vital that all IT staff are under some form of confidentiality or nondisclosure agreement. The confidentiality agreement is generally signed when the IT employment begins working with the company but it can also be signed at the start of a particular project or phase of work. It may be used in both em

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IT Document Template

/ By / In Document Template, Documents / Leave Comment

IT Document Template (ITS Department or Desktop Support). We all know that IT engineers are not renowned for creating the most visually appealing support documentation. In order to give a good starting point Iv created a general document template. this will standardize and give a general look of structure to IT documents. The template can be used for almost any Document, Process, How to or guide. IT is not intended to be distributed to users directly however, the document would work as a formal policy document with a few minor changes. The document was designed to be used by ITS, IT, Service Desk and or Desktop Support departments, So al

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BlackBerry Internet E-mail setup via your BlackBerry

/ By / In Blackberry, Mobile / Leave Comment

To set up BlackBerry Internet E-mail via your BlackBerry, perform the following steps: Verify that your BlackBerry handheld is connected to the wireless network and is displaying uppercase GPRS in the top right corner. If your device is not displaying uppercase GPRS, go to BlackBerry Internet E-Mail Management and Troubleshooting. From the BlackBerry handheld Home screen or Tools menu, select the Set Up Internet E-mail or E-mail Setup icon. If prompted, read the Terms and Conditions, and then select Accept. Enter your e-mail address and password for the account you would like to access from your BlackBerry handheld. Confirm the password and

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