Archive for the ‘Computer Tips’ Category

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5 Tech Scams That Will Ruin Your Holiday

Posted by South City Computer

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.  The holidays are a time for celebration and cheer and unfortunatly some folks in the holiday spirit will let their guard down and become victims to holiday tech scams and hidden holiday virus and malware. Don’t let any of these 5 tech scams ruin your holiday season.

Fake Holiday E-Greeting Cards

Many people like to share holiday wishes and greetings over email. E-Cards are an inexpensive alternative to traditional greeting cards. These emails usually urge a computer user to click a link to receive their electronic greeting card from a friend. However watch-out, this link could be to a malicious website meant to phish your personal information or to get you to download a virus or other malicious software onto your computer. If you think you may have been duped into clicking a fake e-card links it is probably time to get your computer checked for virus and malware at South City Computer or a local computer repair store.

Charity Donation Scams

The season of giving is upon us, and many people will be making generous donations to causes and charities in hopes to make the holiday a little brighter for those who are less fortunate. However, watch out for fake charity emails going around the Internet and Facebook trying to silicate donations to phony veterans’ charities, children’s causes and relief funds. Make sure to look into a charity before making a donation to be sure it is a legitimate 501c3 organization and not just a scam to take your generosity for granted.

Gift Card Scams

Finding the right gift for some people can be a real challenge. Gift cards are the perfect gift option for those on your list who are hard to shop for. However, watch-out for fake gift card offers on social media websites like Facebook and Twitter that are actually scams to phish consumer information and/or credit card details. A recent Facebook scam offered a free $1000 Best Buy gift card to the first 20,000 people who sign up on an identity phishing website.

Holiday Themed Screensavers and Games

Holiday themed computer games and screensavers are a fun way to decorate your computer for the holiday. But many of these screensavers and games are actually computer viruses or malware meant to infect havoc on your computer. Be very cautious when downloading and installing holiday games and screensavers, try to only use software put out by reputable software makers. If you think you may have downloaded and installed a fake screensaver or holiday game program onto your computer, bring it into South City Computer for a virus/malware scan and removal.

Holiday Deals Too Good to be True

Many people will scour the Internet for websites where they can save a few bucks when buying gifts online. However watchout for holiday deals that are probably too good to be true on craigslist and phony e-commerce stores that are only meant to phish personal information and credit card data from unsuspecting consumers that believe they are purchasing gifts. Every holiday season the BBB hears from irritated holiday shoppers who paid for a supposedly great deal online, but received nothing in return. Try not to purchase from websites that do not use trusted 3rd party checkout payment processing such as Paypal, Amazon, Google Checkout, or Stripe.

Nobody wants to be a victim of online scams and using a little caution this holiday season just might keep you from getting scammed and becoming a “Scrooge”. If you think you may have been victim to one of these scams bring your computer into South City Computer or a local computer store for a virus/malware checkup, and please have a happy and safe holiday season this year!

What is ‘The Internet of Things’?

Posted by South City Computer

Did you know the internet contains millions of connections and pieces of data that cannot be viewed on a PC or Mac? A common misconception about the internet is that it consists only of the websites and pages that you view in your browser on your home computer.

In fact, just recently, companies have started to extend the internet to other devices. These devices can be anything, from smartphones to light bulbs. Yes, light bulbs. By connecting the lighting in your home to the internet, you give yourself the capability to control it from anywhere, be it from your laptop, your smartphone, or your tablet.

Appliance manufacturers are getting in on this too. How would you like to have a washing machine that you can manage and control even when you’re away from home? These are the kinds of benefits that manufacturers are looking to give to consumers, which is why they are adding internet connectivity to their products.

Of course, this adds a risk factor to your everyday appliances. The possibility of some malicious person accessing your appliances through a security vulnerability that is not yet known is not out of the question. While someone gaining unauthorized access to your washing machine is not a big deal, what might happen in the future as the internet extends to even more things?

5 things to watch out for when getting your computer repaired

Posted by South City Computer

There are alot of computer repair scams and scammers looking for their next unsuspecting victim. Craigslist and Google searches can return results claiming to be computer repair businesses, but how can you be sure? Often when people become desperate from their computer being broken, they will make irrational decisions that end up costing them big time headaches, money, and possibly their computer. When getting your computer repaired, how can you be sure that you are not going to be scammed out of money or worst yet, have your computer stolen from you?

The following is a short list of helpful questions you should ask a computer repair business and yourself before handing over your computer and/or money.

What is the average computer repair turn around time?
Some of the big-box store computer repair services can take several weeks to months for simple computer repairs that should only take a few days. Ask the computer repair business about how long their average computer repair turn around is based on your particular issue or one that is similar. If the time is over several weeks, this may be an unreasonable length of time for an average computer repair. How long can you really be without your computer? If the repair is going to take several weeks, ask the next question.

Will your computer be sent off to another place to be serviced?
Does this computer repair business perform the computer repairs on-site, or will they ship your computer to a third-party vendor in another city, state or country for the actual computer repair service. Are you comfortable with your computer data leaving the country where different computing laws and ethics apply? Does the middle man computer service company have the ability to dictate information to the third party company on your behalf, or will they have issues when important information needs to be passed to the computer repair technician. If they will be shipping the computer repair off then what turn around time should you expect (as it could be a very long turn around).

Does this computer repair business have a store location?
Many computer repair businesses claim they will only come to your house to service your computer. Before trying in-home computer service, insist to bring your computer into an actual store for repair service and support. If after a while you feel you have an established and trustworthy relationship, you can request in-home service and support. Be suspicious and leery if you end up having a “technician” come to your house instead of you being able to go to their commercial store. This may not be a real computer repair business at all, and in a worst case, could be a scam to steal your computer and money from you. Seriously, listen to this story:

“I thought I was saving a bundle by having who I thought was a laid off computer professional come to my house. I saw his advertisement on craigslist.org and he said he could fix any computer problem for fifty dollars cash! He came to my house, I gave him the twenty dollars and he said that he needed to take my computer back to his “lab.” That’s the last I ever saw my computer and he never returned any of my emails.”

Is the price TOO cheap?
Everybody loves getting a great deal. However, watchout for deals that seem TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. Craigslist for instance is full of these deals. A low price could mean you are going to get mediocre, at best, computer service. Don’t forget you only get what you pay for, and you don’t ever get what you don’t pay for. In order for you to receive top notch computer repair service from IT professionals running a business with overhead, you should expect to pay a reasonable price for those services based on complexity of the computer issue at hand.

Is this computer repair service reputable in the local community?
Who told me about this business? Have I heard my neighbor or friend speak highly? Does this business have positive reviews on the Internet? If it has none, then maybe nobody has been a raving happy customer, and could offer a bit of insight for you about the experience you are going to have. However if the business has a ton of reviews, keep in mind that some of the reviews on the Internet can be fake, so look for real people posting real reviews. If you notice a low ranking, don’t just take the reviewers word, see if the business responded in a professional manner that explains their position, and remember to not rely solely on reviews and ratings as these review services allow anyone to post reviews and rating even if they were never a customer at all. If possible ask around your local community to talk to anybody who has used computer services, and if they were satisfied with the price and service they received. Also see if the computer repair business is involved with or donates to any local neighborhood groups, business groups, and/or charities. Reputable businesses build their reputation and earn business by participating in their community.

These questions are also helpful to the many people that feel that they do not know enough computer technical lingo and have a limited knowledge when it comes to their computer and therefore worry they may not be able to communicate with a computer repair technician to get the help they need. They may worry that they will not know how to answer questions and voice their concerns and needs in a manner that a computer technician will understand in order to assist them with their computer repair service needs. This is a very understandable feeling, so instead of being hooked on only the technical aspect of computer repair service, you can ask the following non-technical questions, to try to provide you insight on how this computer repair business will treat you during the computer repair relationship.

ALERT: Craigslist In-Home Computer Repair Scam

Posted by South City Computer

Watch out for a new computer repair scam going around on Craigslist. The scammer posts a basic ad on craigslist; “In-Home PC Repair for ONLY $20.00 cash! Call today XXX-XXX-XXXX”. Most folks would jump at a deal so good! The number is usually a Google number. When the PC tech shows up to the victims house, after spending a few minutes on the computer, recommends that the computer goes in for service, and that the victim’s computer will need to come with them. The customer will pay the initial fee, and the computer is taken out of the victims home. It is hard to say what happens after that to the victims computer, but basically the victim never sees their computer, or the PC repair tech ever again.

The computer is most likely pawned off, and the scammer has made off with the profits from the stolen computer and also $20.00 in cash. Now the scammer may be able to aquire passwords to bank accounts, email accounts, and has an idea of the layout of the victims house and possibly knowledge of other expensive electronics the victim owns, and could possibly come back when the victim is not around to do even more damage.

Don’t be foolish when it comes to your computer repair needs. Don’t fall for the “In-Home Computer Repair Guy” scam. Beware of “Computer Repair Businesses” that can only offer in-home services, that cannot offer a real commercial location in which to take the computer in for repair. Next time bring your computer into South City Computer or a local computer repair store in your area.

Need Help Choosing the Right Computer For You?

Posted by South City Computer

As a technical support provider at South City Computer in the St. Louis area, people often come to us asking for help choosing the right computer. This is definitely something we can help you with, but there are a few important things that we need to know from you.

Decide what do you plan to do with it?
Do you use it just for the web, or do you do more? What kind of things do you do on the web? Do you watch videos? Upload videos? Are there special services like Netflix that you use? Outside of the web, do you have any programs that you use often? It is important to remember that as commonplace as a particular application, such as Microsoft Word, seems, it will not run on all computers. If you can come up with a list of every application you use, it would greatly help your IT provider.

Business or Pleasure?
If you are planning to use this computer to connect to your employer’s system, it’s important that we know. Many employers have special requirements regarding what kind of systems can be used on their networks.

Make a List of All Your Devices
This includes printers, webcams, microphones, external storage, and anything else that plugs into your computer. Due to the increasing popularity of operating systems other than Windows and Mac OS X, not all computers will be compatible with all devices. In order to make sure that your new computer will work with all your existing devices, we need to know the manufacturer of each device, and the model.

CDs and DVDs
CD/DVD drives are shrinking in popularity. Let us know whether you plan to listen to music or import CDs, watch movies from DVDs, or write your own content to a blank CD or DVD.

Form Factor
Because tablets, ultra-thin laptops, and other non-standard computers are becoming more and more popular, you have a much better chance of getting everything you need in whatever shape you want. Because of this, it should be up to you to decide whether you have a preference for one form factor over another. Just remember, preference often comes with price.

Speaking of price…
The general rule of thumb is the less you pay for a computer, the less it can do. Now, this is not necessarily a reasont to just go out and buy a very expensive computer. That’s where we can help you. Our job becomes taking all of the things that you say you need the computer to do, and finding a computer that will do all that, but not so much more that it becomes impractically expensive. Also important to consider is the price of your previous computer. If you paid $500 for a computer before, Google’s cheapest Chromebook will not have the same capabilities.

Ask questions
Don’t let us tell you what to do – let us help you decide what to do. If you think that what we are thinking is wrong, let us know, it can help us get an even better idea of what you need. If you don’t know what devices you have, or what you need to do with your computer, talk to us, and we will help you figure it out.

The most important rule
Just because it works on your current computer doesn’t mean it will work on your new one. We can tell you, though, if it will work on your new one, so make sure not to leave us in the dark about anything that the computer needs to be capable of.

What you should do if liquid spills into your laptop computer

Posted by South City Computer

There’s nothing better than coffee and computing in the morning (if you ask me). However I recently learned, “the hard way”, that coffee and computers do NOT directly mix well. I accidentally spilled my cup of coffee into the keyboard of my laptop computer. Water, coffee, tea, soda, and other liquids can be VERY DAMAGING to laptop computers.

Often people will have a drink next to their computer for ease of staying hydrated during a long computer session. While this is a convenient indulgence, it also is risky behavior. If you are like me, you are bound to bump the desk/table or drink container to the point of it spilling all over the place, and most likely into your laptop computer. Unless you have a tough-book or a waterproof computer this will cause serious damage.

What you should do if you spill liquid into your laptop computer:

  1. LEAVE THE COMPUTER OPEN, DO NOT CLOSE THE SCREEN. In order to avoid damaging any other hardware on the computer (such as the screen). Leave the computer in the open position.
  2. UNPLUG IT RIGHT NOW!!!!! First things first, just stop the electricity from traveling to the computer. But be careful not to get electrocuted. Your life is worth more than your iTunes collection, or your work documents.
  3. POP OUT THE BATTERY!!!! Hurry!!! cut off all electricity from the computer. Most likely you will have to tip the computer over to accomplish this, be careful to not damage the screen since you should leave the computer in the open position. It is a fact of nature that electricity and water do not mix at all. The computer is bound to malfunction due to the liquid touching the motherboard.
  4. TIP THE OPEN COMPUTER OVER SO THE SCREEN AND KEYBOARD FACE DOWN, if you haven’t already while removing the battery. Be sure the computer is in the open position so that the excess liquid can drain out the way it came in. The most important thing to do to try to salvage the computer is to get the computer completely dry again.
  5. Take out the hard drive. Most likely the hard drive is still dry, but to avoid any moisture damage take it out while you have the computer turned over. Even if the computer is shot, the data may still be intact on the hard drive. After you get the hard drive popped out, go ahead and put the hard drive into a dry paper bag or container and completely cover the hard drive with dry rice. DO NOT PLUG YOUR HARDRIVE INTO ANY OTHER COMPUTER FOR AT LEAST 72 HOURS OR LONGER IF YOU CAN WAIT.
  6. Let the laptop dry out completely. Leave the computer unplugged from the wall and the battery out in the open position for at least 72 hours. I would even recommend longer just to be sure. If you are savvy with your computer hardware, you may even want to take the keyboard off the computer in order to open up the computer so it may dry out faster. However this is probably a job better left to the professionals at South City Computer since we have the tools and expertise to take apart most laptop computers including Apple Mac computers.

At this point it is probably best to have a computer technician at South City Computer diagnose the computer to determine if it the laptop can be salvage, and also determine if the data on the hardrive can be salvaged.

Most importantly don’t beat yourself up! Accidents happen it is a fact of life. Just stay calm and cool since the ultimate outcome of the computer is unknown until the South City Computer technician can diagnose the state of the laptop computer.

Changing the Zoom in Microsoft Word

Posted by South City Computer

One frequent issue people ask about at the Lindenwood Park area computer repair shop is the default font in Microsoft Word. The way that microsoft word handles this is somewhat unusual, but before you delve deep into Word’s settings, there is one simple thing you should check: the zoom level.

The zoom level doesn’t actually change the size of the text on the document, just how big the document is portrayed on the screen. Because of this, if you choose to print your document, you will notice that the text will appear to be normal-sized.

To change the zoom level, simply locate the slider in the lower-right corner of Microsoft Word.

Slide the slider to the right to increase the zoom level, or slide it to the left to decrease the zoom level. If you want it to appear on your screen in the same size it will be printed in, set the level to 100%. Since changing the zoom level won’t affect the printed product, you can move it away from 100% if your document won’t fit on the screen, or the other way if the text is uncomfortably small for you to read.

How to turn an iphone into an itouch

Posted by South City Computer

Are you wondering how to turn your iphone into an itouch? It’s quite simple really.

To convert your old iphone into something more useful, like an itouch follow these simple instructions:

1. Remove the sim card. You might find it easiest to remove the sim card in the iphone by getting a paper clip, opening it up, and putting the paper clip into the hole where the sim card is located in the iphone, releasing the sim card tray.

2. After the sim card tray is released and it slides out, remove the sim card and push the tray back into the phone until it clicks into place.

3. Navigate on the screen to the iPhone Settings->General->Network-> menu. Uncheck “enable 3G” and “Cellular Data”

That’s it, now you can plug your new iTouch into your computer using the special USB connector and sync it up with your iTunes!

Tips for choosing a new laptop

Posted by South City Computer

Deciding to purchase a new laptop may seem like an easy choice but once you get assaulted by an army of technical terms you may have second thoughts. If you don’t feel like spending a few hours to research terms and look up reviews you can always contact us at South City Computer and we will be happy to pick a laptop that would best suit you and set it up for your specified needs. But if you do want to put in the time I will give you a few things to look for when making your decision.

I will first give you a list of terms and a brief description of what you should expect in terms of specs. The main components you will want to compare are:

Hard Drive size- 300GB to 1TB is ideal
Amount of Ram- Between 4GB and 8GB is ideal
Screen Size- 14″-17″ average, affects portability
CPU- Quad core is the norm, speed depends on manufacturer
Videocard/GPU- mainly for visual intensive applications
Reviews- Nothing will tell you more about a product

A combination of your CPU and RAM will determine the speed of your laptop and your multitasking capabilities. If you are picking a laptop for gaming/rendering then you will want to make sure that it has an adequate video card. Most laptops with video cards come with an Nvidia 6 series or 7 series.

Remember, nothing is more helpful when choosing any product than customer reviews.

Once you choose which laptop suits you best bring it in to South City Computer and we will run the first time Windows setup for you and install Anti-virus software and ensure your computer is up to date. We can also install and set up any needed software.

Signs your Hardware is failing

Posted by South City Computer

No computer lasts forever. Just like parts in a car, each component of a computer has a lifespan and, also like a car, each component usually gives off signs of failure before it goes. Being able to see these signs can mean the difference between having your computer down for few minutes and losing all of your data on your hard drive. You should always backup your data to an external drive or even to cds. I’ll be showing you a few signs that your hardware may be failing.

HARD DRIVES

First, we will go over the Hard Disk Drive. The Hard Disk Drive, or HDD as we will call it, is where your operating system and all of your data is stored. Due to this the HDD can cause the most damage if it fails but it also has some of the most obvious signs of failure.

One of the easiest ways to tell if you HDD is failing is to just listen. Hard drives make very distinct noises mostly of whirring and ticking. If you hear any strange grinding noises it means that your HDD is very close to failure and you should back up important files immediately. Learn the sound of your hard drive when it is healthy and it can save you later.

Another sign of hard drive failure is if you drive is unrecognised by your computer. If you get this error more than once, test it in a friends computer to see whether it is your HDD that is the cause or your computer.

Your HDD can also cause your computer to crash or blue screen. There are many things that can cause your computer to crash, but if it happens particularly when rebooting your system or accessing files, this may indicate that it’s your hard drive.

The last sign of hard drive failure I will go over is slow access times when opening files. This means when you click on a file it takes takes a while for the file to open. This is one of the beginning signs of hard drive failure.

MOTHERBOARDS

The motherboard is the board in which every other component plugs into and communicates through. Signs of motherboard failure are far more subtle than hard drive failure because most of them are visual and you must open your computer to look at the motherboard.

A good indication that your motherboard will fail soon are the capacitors. If the capacitors look swollen or there is a liquid leaking out of the top it’s a good sign your motherboard is ageing.

Some other symptoms would be, if you smell burning semiconductors, if you see anything burnt on the motherboard, if your ports stop working, or if you randomly get blue screens.

PROCESSORS

Troubleshooting a CPU is fairly easy. If the computer boots, it’s not the CPU. Mainly the only thing a CPU will do is overheat and either turn off your computer, or it will blue screen and then turn off your computer.

RAM

Random Access Memory, RAM, is what the computer uses as temporary storage that it needs to access quickly.

If you notice your computer getting slower and slower throughout the day it could mean that your ram is on its way out. Bad RAM can also cause your system to randomly reboot in the middle of a task.

The best way to tell if your RAM is going bad is to run a bootable program called memtest+. Usually running this for 10+ hours will tell you exactly what is wrong with your ram or if you have a problem.

POWER SUPPLY

A power supply is also called a PSU. Most of the time a PSU will suddenly stop working and gives no signs. PSUs can go bad for a number of reasons. The main causes of failure are lightning, overheating, and, age. Keeping your computer clean and dust free will ensure that your PSU gets proper ventilation and will not overheat, and it will also help it last a while longer. The best way to protect it from lightning is to just unplug it whenever you hear thunder.

GRAPHICS CARD

Many computers have a built-in graphics card that is integrated with the motherboard. While most higher-end desktops have a separate card that plugs into the motherboard.

The main signs of a failing Graphics Card, or GPU, will be tearing or artifacting while running graphic intense programs, randomly freezing/crashing your system, or the card will not be recognized by your system. Always test your GPU in another computer before declaring it dead.

Conclusion

As you can see, not every component has its own unique problems. Correctly matching the symptom to its corresponding component is not always easy and can sometimes lead to unnecessary replacement of hardware. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms bring your computer to a professional.

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