Categories
Computers

The Importance of a Laptop Service Center

By Daniel Mcbreen

In the present technology-driven society, laptop or notebook has been a part and parcel of our daily life. We do a lot of activities on it to make our life more comfortable and hospitable. Starting from train timetable checking to ticket booking till buying goods online, we use a laptop or notebook.

Being handy and lightweight, we carry it with us to execute many simple to complex tasks easily with the aid of it. This is why when our laptops face issues like overheating, malfunctioning and shutting down suddenly, we cannot concentrate on any work until we get it fixed or repaired. It becomes our headache.

How laptop service centers help us

To help us get rid of these issues, many laptop service centers have come to the scene. A significant number of these service centers are called dedicated service centers. A dedicated service center is a company authorized service center. It offers multiple services for a particular brand. A dedicated laptop service center never works for the other brands. Sometimes, it is directly controlled by a company. Besides, the company can hire a contractor or a third-party vendor to offer uninterrupted services on behalf of it. The contractor solves various issues faced by the users of a particular brand. In many cases, it never takes money from a customer- if the issues come within the warranty periods. In that case, the tech support professionals take the signature of a customer and deliver the product.

Offsite and on-site services

As the consequence of it, we get to see many dedicated laptop service centers belonging to various reputable companies like Dell, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Samsung, Toshiba, Compaq, HCL, etc. If your laptop or notebook does not work properly or you need to solve an overheating issue, you should visit a dedicated service center. Based on the manufacturing company, you just need to find one located very close to your home. If you have faced the issue within the warranty period, you do not need to pay for it. Besides, in order to enjoy all benefits- you need to check the facilities ensured by the company at the time of purchasing the notebook.

There are many notebook manufacturing companies offering on-site services. It means a company representative will come to your place in order to fix the issue at free of cost (within the warranty period only). You just need to bring the matter to their attention. To receive service at your place, you need to call them at their toll-free number or drop a mail. You will receive a call on behalf of a service center representative or directly from the company to confirm the email receipt and understand your problem better.

During the time of conversation over the telephone, the customer support executive will ask your product number and model number. After that, they will forward your matter to the concerned department. Once your matter is processed, you will receive a call or an SMS. This call or SMS will let you know the expected time and the name of the person coming to fix the issues. The company representative will ask you to show the bill. After checking and verifying it with your given information, he will start the work.

Daniel Mcbreen is a professional writer dedicated to writing articles in the tech niche. He has many published articles on Dell laptop service center.

Article Source: The Importance of a Laptop Service Center

Categories
Business

Voted as Best by ThreeBestRated.ca

Recently Max Pro-Tech was awarded one of 3 positions as the best computer repair companies in Coquitlam, BC.

ThreeBestRated.ca uses a 50-point Inspection checklist to designate these businesses.

Here is the writeup from ThreeBestRated:

Congratulations!

You are now listed as one of the Top 3 Computer repair in Coquitlam, BC. We would like to Thank You for providing consistent high quality in your area of business. Our review team either approved or updated your business listing using our 50-Point Inspection which includes everything from checking reputation, history, complaints, ratings, satisfaction, trust and cost to the general excellence.

You can view your business at https://threebestrated.ca/computer-repair-in-coquitlam-bc

Share this exciting news!

Max Pro-Tech
1148 Westwood Street #113,
Coquitlam, BC V3B 7M5

Three Best Rated® was created with a simple goal: to find you the top 3 local businesses, professionals, restaurants and health care providers in your city. We display only businesses that are verified by our employees since customers deserve only the best.

And that’s not all. Businesses do not pay us to list them ever. You do not pay us for the listing any time. We believe that local businesses provide better and personal services locally. Local businesses know your city better since they live there too. Our policy is free to list because if you can pay to list, then is it really the best business?

It has been an honour and a pleasure to work with you.

Sincerely,
Melinda Crawford,
ThreeBestRated.ca

Categories
Computers

7 Security Tips to Keep Your Computer Secure – Part 2

Continuing from Sandford Tuey’s Part 1 article, here are the next four Security Tips. Should you want to read the first 3 Security Tips click here.

  1. Divulging Secure Sensitive Information Can Be Harmful

Never reveal your sensitive information on websites you are not sure are real and secure. Be extra careful of anyone or companies requesting funds or payments, even if you have dealt with the company for years. It is common for criminals to send you fake invoices and bills demanding payment. Be extra careful when you pay anything or give out financial data, passwords or a Social Security Insurance Number.

Disconnect from any suspected website or online connection and head to the real website you have visited before or phone and confirm that the company asking for your info or charging you is the actual real company you normally deal with. You should also be careful when you are using social media like Facebook, Twitter, Google and Instagram. It is alleged, that beside the minefield of criminals and their deceptive tactics, that International Intelligence companies are shareholders in many internet groups, like the ones mentioned above.

Revealing innocent information like your pet’s name, mother’s maiden name or short number combinations or common words can help identity thieves. Also, do not use personal known info as your security questions on websites, they could be figured out and tested until they choose the one that works.

  1. Avoid Opening Unknown Email

Never open email or attachments from suspicious or unknown sources. Contact directly any family, friends or especially strangers on your contact list and be even more wary of those that are not. Anyone’s account can be hacked and could be used to approach you or those on friends and contact lists. If an email from someone you regularly communicate with has a suspicious link or a suspicious URL and unusual content, delete it immediately. Then alert the authorities and person that his or her account may be compromised. Prevent phishing and hacking by bringing in a professional representative at Max Pro-Tech to protect you from becoming a target.

  1. Use Secure Strong Passwords All the Time

Don’t let your computer, laptop or mobile device remember your password if it prompts you to do it for any reason. It is more secure for you to enter the password and entry email every time. That way if someone steals your device, they cannot easily access your accounts. Well worth the extra time to get into your important accounts like your online financial institutions, secure servers, Intellectual Property accounts, legal counsel accounts, etc.

  1. Warning Rogue Websites

Clandestine Rogue websites are difficult to detect and very dangerous to click on or enter. Check for the Green lock in the address bar, then ensure the code prefix ‘http://’ at the beginning of every URL, especially when logging into financial Institution sites, entering your Debit card, Credit card info or when accessing email. Always be careful shopping online at websites that are located or ship items from overseas. Clicking on unknown links in your email Inbox is very dangerous and it is best to go directly to their website to check them out first.

Give yourself a protective shield with Max Pro-Tech. We can double-check your internet security and anti-virus software testing to confirm you are protected from spyware, viruses, malware and can even ensure all your parental controls you have downloaded or recently purchased are active. Become certain that you are as safe as possible, by letting a professional security analyst check your systems.

Categories
Computers

7 Security Tips to Keep Your Computer Secure – Part 1

By Sandford Tuey

If you have concerns about the security and safety of your computers, laptops and mobile devices, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself and your confidential data a secret.  By keeping your Antivirus software current and ensuring you use strong complex passwords for your online financial institutions, cloud storage, Skype, online internet accounts, changing them regularly can protect your data from nasty hackers and malware.  Keep the identity thieves from accessing your tech by checking out the following tips:

  1. Test Your Firewall

Check your firewall by testing the Wifi modem and internet provider by giving them a call and find out what kind of equipment is compatible with their company’s security products.   If you have a Windows Operating Systems (especially Windows 7 or 10), locate your control panel and type ‘Firewall’ in the search area.  Ensure your firewall is on & connected.  For Mac users, click on the Apple icon located on your toolbar, click on ‘System Preferences’, then ‘Security’.  Make sure you have a recent firewall product, it is the first line of defense and is considered the moat and thick stone walls around your computer fortress.  It is the most important first line of defense against identity theft and other evil entities lurking out on the web.   Sharing your folders, digital music & video data may be intercepted or stolen, send them on a secure network or use encrypted software.   Disable File and Media Player should you fear your files or folders will be intercepted, duplicated compromised and even viewed by other anarchist users with top of the line computer machines.  To be secure contact Max Pro-Tech to secure everything and set your concerns aside.

  1. Back Up Data Constantly

Your data is extremely important to you and if you own a small home business, critical to your success.  Protect all your data by Backing Up often (every day or once a week at the latest).  You can schedule this in your Backup program and it is recommended to have it repeat and have it conduct this while you are sleeping or late at night when you do not normally use your devices.  If your computer, laptop or mobile device crashes or they are plugged in and there is an electricity power surge or an electrical outage, buy a CSA approved Surge Protector with multiple outlets, it is better than just being plugged directly into a wall socket.  Should you fall prey to a Ransomware attack, don’t panic.  Immediately call the RCMP and report the crime, then contact Max Pro-Tech to keep your encrypted sensitive data secure.  They will want you to unlock your computers so they can research who and where the attack originated from.   Backing Up manually is too unreliable, so program your devices to do it automatically.  At the least, Back Up once a week (at the latest) on a repeating day so you can transfer important files, documents and folders to an external hard drive, or use a server outside your premises or even a virtual Cloud system.   If you have a limited amount of data to store, use a service like Dropbox, where you get 2GB of storage for free.

  1. Don’t Trust Deals That Are Too Good to Be True

When you locate deals that are surprisingly low priced or a major discount from regular retail prices, beware, their products could be counterfeit or not deliver them at all.  Deal with only reputable, well know entities online.  You may regret giving your Credit card information to a foreign website and then have to deal with your Financial Institutions for a longer time than desired.   Notify and warn all your contacts to correct your mistake and not open anything from you until your problem is corrected.  Don’t be embarrassed, contacted Max Pro-Tech to secure your data from professional Identity thieve, so they cannot assume your identity, destroy your data, hurt your credit rating by draining your savings or opening up new accounts (in your name) that you are not aware of.  Never trust any unknown users because you cannot trust anyone or especially if deals are too good to be true.

To view the remaining ‘7 Security Tips To Keep Your Computer Secure Part 2’, it will be made available within a week of this post’s publishing date. If you do these 7 things repeatedly and as often as you can, it will help provide a secure online experience.

Categories
Computers

Improve Your Computer’s Efficiency

By Sandford Tuey

Do you notice that your computer is running slower or taking longer to process data than it did when you first purchased it? Do you rely on your PC to get most of your work done? Isn’t it frustrating to wait for your laptop to process loading websites or to download a new application or program?

The best way of improving your computer’s performance is to get Max Pro Tech to solve common problems to get you back into enjoyable speedy performance.

Slow Computer

It is a common problem among Windows and Apple users. Some of the reasons behind a slower running computer include a corrupted registry, unnecessary programs, hidden cookies, spyware and fragmented data. You can easily get your speed back by having Max Pro Tech remove programs you don’t use anymore or add applications to clean the registry and run disk defragmentation software.

Computer Freeze

Viruses are a fact of operating a computer these days. Malware infections are on the rise and can lead to a frozen system. Computer hardware can also lead to this problem. Be careful when clicking on links you are not familiar with or may be suspicious of. Having Max Pro-Tech install anti-spyware, a firewall and antivirus software ensures you will always be updated and secure. We can also check hardware drivers for recent versions and uninstall components should you suspect the problem is hardware related.

Unexpected Turn Offs

Are you experiencing unexpected computer turn offs or shut downs, you could have bad cable connections or an inadequate power supply or even a defective battery. If your PC overheats, it is likely to shut down to be able to cool down. Max Pro-Tech can ensure cables are connected properly and check the cooling fan plus we will remove dust and clean. No matter if you are using a laptop or PC, you should check the battery regularly as it may be time to have it replaced.

Printing Failures

Should you need to print documents from the web but find that your computer won’t print Max Pro-Tech will figure out the problem. It could be that the document you are trying to print is password protected or not printable because you have turned on a pop-up blocker.

Weird Noises

There can be strange vibrations or buzzes coming from within the computer casing. They are usually a result of failed or failing hardware. Component problems may cause noises due to a lack of ventilation. Our technicians will clean the fan or replace should it be necessary. Removing dust to ensure the air inlets are free of obstruction will extend the life of your computer. You may need to uninstall and reinstall sound drivers or replace the sound card.

Difficulty Getting Online

Software or hardware router errors and network misconfiguration are common problems we can fix. Max Pro-Tech can also check your firewall and network connection so you can reboot the router when necessary.

If you have a computer problem we can correct it.

Categories
Computers

Free Antivirus Software You Can Protect Yourself With

By Varun Kumar

1-Amiti free Antivirus

Amiti free Antivirus is a program that supports scanning and it has 4 different types of scanning, including the one that can currently check the viruses that are currently running in the memory. There’s a tool included that can be used to quickly clean all the files to free up its disk space. There aren’t a lot of settings or options, but it does monitor the scanning files automatically and supports updates to its database. Amiti Antivirus also provides some constant virus protection, called resident protection, for free. Works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and, XP.

2-Comodo free Antivirus

This Antivirus is from the Comodo security solutions and is another excellent program, easily one of the best Antivirus options. This Antivirus protects you from so many threat services, as many of them on this list do. Comodo Antivirus also utilizes some other technologies to make the process silent but still effective. Comodo Antivirus works with Windows 10, 7, 8,Vista, and XP.

3-FortiClient free Antivirus

It is an Antivirus, firewall, parental control, optimization, a program that’s powerful enough for a business to use. Also referred to as “threat management” tool. FortiClient is really easy to set up, automatically updates its virus definition files, full system scan once per week, all about you ever having to worry about it. Manage all clients from a single console. FortiClient supports WindowsXP and newer Window Operating System which includes, Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and can also run Mac OS X.

4-UnThreat free AntiVirus

UnThreat AntiVirus offers standard malware protection, including the threats via e-mail. UnThreat didn’t try to install extra software during the installation process, nor any of the browser settings changed. UnThreat AntiVirus provides constant protection, also called on access or resident protection. This totally means that UnThreat Antivirus can replace antivirus software from companies like McAfee and Norton. Advantages of the UnThreat AntiVirus include its automatic updates, quick download, and install, email protection, scheduled scans. UnThreat officially supports these operating systems – Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP and may work in others too.

With so many best AntiVirus available, you have no excuse for going without protection.And you’d be forgiven for thinking that this is all you need. After all, Windows Security Essentials/Defender is just about the easiest antivirus application to use and get to grips with, and it’s mostly invisible in the way it operates.

Varun Kumar Works for LatestOne.com as Content Writer. It is the e-tailer Company known for bringing the Mobile Covers| Smart Watches |Bluetooth Speakers|Power banks models from all major manufacturers at best discounts. The company has a fully operational office and warehouse maintained to make timely deliveries across the nation http://www.latestone.com/power-banks

Article Source: Free Antivirus Software You Can Protect Yourself With

Categories
Business

5 Questions You Need To Answer Before Starting An Online Home Business

By Jon Allo

Pay no attention to the over-blown advertisements you see telling you that you can earn millions online by just pushing a few buttons on your computer. If it was that quick and simple, everyone one would be doing it. Let’s take a look at 5 important questions you need to answer before starting an online home business.

1. Are You Prepared To Devote Time To It?

When you start an online home business it will require time. You don’t have to cut yourself off from your family and friends, but you’ll need to manage your time. To put in the work on your business may mean watching less TV, getting up a little earlier and working a few hours at the weekend.

2. Are You Ready To Learn New Skills?

It’s surprising how so many people jump head first into starting an online home business without any real idea what they’re selling or who they’re trying to sell it to. You don’t have to be a business expert but you’ll have more success if you take the time to learn how to run your own internet business computer the most effective way.

3. Do You Have Some Financial Capital?

The set up costs for an online home business are a lot less than the set up costs for a traditional offline business, but you’ll need to pay for website domain name and hosting and some have funds for marketing. If you put nothing into your business, you can’t expect to get anything out.

4. Have You Got Somewhere To Work?

Set aside an area of your home where you can work and establish your working hours. Choose an area where you won’t be disturbed. If possible try to have a business computer and not use your family computer. This means you won’t have to worry about your children needing the computer while you are working. If you don’t have somewhere at home, is there a local internet cafe that you can use? All you need is a computer and access to the internet.

5. Are You In For The Long-Term?

Every entrepreneur encounters set backs at one time or another with their business. You have to be willing to accept unexpected set backs as part of your ongoing business journey. Not everything will go to plan with your online home business. But if you regard any mistakes you make as part of a learning process and you understand what went wrong, it will help you to progress forward.

If you’re new to the world of online business it can be bit overwhelming. You might feel that you’re too old, too young or too inexperienced for the business world and now you’re trying to start an online home business! If you’re not sure where to begin, here are the 5 steps every online entrepreneur takes when creating a home based business on the internet: http://jonallo.com/start-a-home-business-online/

Article Source: 5 Questions You Need To Answer Before Starting An Online Home Business

Categories
Computers

Protecting Your Business Website From Malwares

By Prince N

With ecommerce sites on the rise and over a million new stains of malware developed every day, protecting your business site from attacks from viruses and malware has become a priority now. Hackers are continually creating various new means to gather credit card details and other personal information from their online transactions. Adopting the best security practices has now become very crucial for merchants. It has become essential to install the proper website protection to stop various attacks and today, there are several programs that can be used to protect your computer from such malware attacks.

It is seen that attackers are not actually developing new means to penetrate sites, but they are taking the advantage of poor passwords, unpatched vulnerabilities, weak permission settings and ownership in the file system. Small to medium sized enterprises are the largest targets of cyber-attacks and about 30,000 SMEs are targeted every day. Don’t allow your business to be the victim of expensive cyber-attack damages, instead, be proactive and take essential steps to prevent security threats. So, to ensure the highest levels of security, here are some means to protect your site from malwares.

Patches and updates: If your website is running on a Content management system like WordPress, then make sure that your website security is tight. Though a CMS is an easy and cost effective means to update your website content, but they are also to a large extent large target of cyber-crimes. There are many CMS platforms and extensions or plugins that are easy targets for the hackers and often allow access to your server and personal or vital data. Ensure that your plugins, themes and systems are always up to date. There are CMS solutions that automatically update the files for your site.

Firewalls: Continuously removing the existing website threats is a good idea, but it is also important to stop them from coming back again and again. With over 1 million fresh malwares created, your business site has a chance to get infected by a new virus every day. Using a web application firewall can help to prevent cyber criminals from attacking your site. The firewall will act as a filter and will only allow legitimate traffic to access your site while blocking malicious traffic.

Comply with PCI standards: The PCI or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is a security standard that online businesses should adhere to if they are involved in online payment transactions and accept major credit cards. This will help to ensure that your customers are protected from any cyber threats and frauds. Businesses that fail to comply with the standards can result in financial damages, government fines and also ruin brand reputation.

Create a strong password: Good and strong passwords always help to protect your files. Your password should always contain over 8 characters, a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters, include digits and special characters and etc. Unfortunately, most people are not careful while choosing their passwords and this allows brute force hacking techniques to access website easily and gather private data. Since hackers use various decoding programs to attack your site, the more unique your password is, the more protected is your site from cyber criminals.

Cyber criminals always tend to target small or medium sized business as they don’t have very high security measures. To protect your site from malwares, proper and effective measures should be adopted so that the site is always free and secured from harmful damage.

Article Source: Protecting Your Business Website From Malwares

Categories
Computers

Using The Print Screen Function on a Mac

By Satvik Mittal

Are you a Mac OS X user? If so, you know that Mac OS doesn’t work the same way as the Windows operating systems. For instance, the method of taking screenshots is different on both the operating systems. If you have been struggling to find a way to use this feature on your Mac machine, read this guide till the end.

First off, you will be happy to know that taking a screenshot on a Mac is easier than taking one on Windows. A Mac doesn’t feature a Print Screen button. But there are many simple ways to perform this function on this machine. Let’s see how you can get this task done with a few clicks of the mouse or trackpad.

How To Take A Screenshot On a Mac: Shortcut Keys

  • Taking the “photo” or screenshot of your computer screen is easy with the following shortcuts:
  • Press and hold both Cmd and Shift keys and then hit 4
  • Now, drag the crosshairs across the desired area on your computer screen, and then release the mouse button.
  • That’s it. The screenshot will show up on the desktop of your machine. The file will be saved as PNG file with the time and date.

Another method:

Here is another method: All you have to do is press and hold both Shift and the ‘Apple key” and then hit 3. It will grab the screenshot right away saving the image on the desktop. Here it’s important to note that this method will take the screenshot of the whole area of the desktop.

Taking a screenshot with this method has a limitation. The resulting file will be in the PNG format, and you may not be comfortable working with this format. The most common file formats for pictures are JPG and JPEG. You can convert your PNG screenshots into JPG files to suit your needs. You can use any image editing app for this purpose.

Taking A Screenshot With Or Without The Shadow Effect

You may beautify a screenshot with the shadow effect. How can you do it? It’s quite simple. Follow the previous method, but when you see the crosshairs on the screen, hit Space. As soon as you hit the button, you will see a camera icon in place of the crosshairs, and the color of the window will change into blue. Now, you should click in order to take the screenshot of the blue window. You will see the image has a beautiful shadow effect.

But what if you want a screenshot without the shadow effect? You can get rid of this shadow without a problem. All you need to do is hit the Alt or Option key, and the shadow effect will go away. It sounds odd, but it does work.

As said earlier, working on a Mac is different from working on Windows, as both of the operating systems work slightly differently. However, with a little bit of practice and reading, you can easily perform all the function on your Mac as well. There are many helpful sites and blogs out there. And hopefully, this one also helped you with your problem.

For using Print Screen function on Mac or Shortcut keys, you can also check out this guide.

Article Source: Using The Print Screen Function on a Mac

Categories
Backup Computers

Is It Possible to Recover Deleted Files From an External Hard Drive?

By Leo Eigenberg

The use of an external hard drive for storing data is popular for a variety of reasons. It makes it possible to save a large volume of business or personal information (documents, songs, movies, pictures, etc.) without taking up the standard space on the PC or laptop. Plus, the external hard drive is portable which makes it possible to travel with and use with virtually any laptop with the right connection port.

But, even though the external hard drive is great for storing the extra data, there is the risk of data loss similar to any other storage device.

What happens to lost files?

Most of the external drives have no recycle bin like the desktop so once the files are lost or deleted in error they will disappear. However, even if the delete key is used, this does not mean the file or folder is lost forever. To improve the chance of avoiding permanent data loss, the first thing to do is to stop using the external hard drive. If new data is saved to this device, there is a real risk of suffering from a permanent loss of data. By taking the quick action there is a greater probability of being able to retrieve the important files. The use of free or premium file recovery software is the best course of action to help recover the deleted data.

What are the major causes of file deletion?

Human error – one of the main causes relates to human error and mistakenly deleting a file or folder that is important instead of something that is no longer needed.

Malware attack – any sort of virus like a trojan horse, worm, or other infection can lead to the unwanted removal of files without the user’s knowledge.

Mishandling – using poor operating practices can result in the lost of data. For instance, not ejecting the external hard drive in the proper manner can leave files corrupted or unable to open.

Other Reasons – there are several other reasons that can lead to file deletion, such as a sudden power failure, hardware malfunction, application error, or dropping the storage device.

Using the right file recovery program

In a situation like this, it is essential to put in the time and effort to source a file recovery program that is reliable and gets a lot of praise from users. There are plenty of freeware options that can complete the recovery, as well as numerous premium software programs. It benefits to go online and search for the preferred type of software that gets the most positive reviews and recommendations.

Learn more about the best free data recovery software for safeguarding your important data.

Article Source: Is It Possible to Recover Deleted Files From an External Hard Drive?