The recent flooding in Thailand is having a big impact on availability of certain tech components, especially hard drives and cameras
Spotify. The answer to getting free music 23.01.2010...
ads news headlines
Thai flood causes hard drive shortage ..............01.11.2011
NOD32 version5 now available ..............14.09.2011
As the title suggests, there has been an update to NOD32 and ESET Smart Security to the latest version - version 5...
Internet Explorer 9.0 now available ................ 15.03.2011
Microsoft has launched the finished version of its Internet Explorer 9 web browser. The company said IE9's graphics handling, security and privacy features put it on an even footing with Firefox, Chrome, Safari and others......... .............but it's not available for Windows XP.
Windows 7 Service Pack 1 available........ 22.02.2011
The first major update to Windows 7, Service Pack 1, is now available to download........... Click below for details.
NOD32 version 4.2.71 latest news... 14.02.2011
As the title suggests, there has been an update to NOD32 and ESET Smart Security to the latest version - version4...
Rogue Facebook Apps........... 18.01.2011
We are seing many PCs that have been infected from the the use of rogue apps in Facebook. These apps can steal data and lead to unwanted software on users PCs........ read on................
Fake antivirus phone calls and emails........... 15.11.2010
Internet users are being warned about cold callers who offer to fix viruses but then install software to steal personal information. This is through either phone calls, emails or pop up windows that appear on hacked websites.....
Limewire effectively shut down............ 14.11.2010
Peer to peer file sharing utility Limewire has been forced to shut down operations, pending legal action. Read more.......
Problem with hyperlinks from email..........08.10..2010
We have had quite a few calls regarding email hyperlinks not working. After clicking on a link in an email, the chosen internet browser does not open at all.......
BT Broadband advert banned.......... 25.08.2010
It looked too good to be true, but worse still it mislead people, and led to many to switch to a service that just couldnt deliver. Its the BT advert with Adam & Jane. It's now been banned by the ASA for misleading customers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11075066
Browser Choice icon or window.................. 14.04.10
You may have had an icon appear on the desktop called "Browser Choice" and wandered what it is all about.................
Fake calls from "Windows".................... 10.04.10
Many customers are reporting getting phone calls from "Windows" telling them they need to re-register their PC at a price, or that they have a corrupt Windows log that needs looking at, for a price..............
Spotify. The answer to getting free music 23.01.2010...
One of the most regular discussions we have with customers concerns machines infected through the use of music/video download programs such as Limewire and BitTorrent...
Millions tricked by 'Scareware'
Scareware, or pop-up windows designed to look like legitimate security warnings, have become a major issue recently, conning many people into downloading and sometimes even paying for, software they do not need...
Ever wandered why your WiFi is so unreliable...
Taken from the BBC, this article goes a long way to explaining why many people using WiFi in their homes find it so unreliable...
What exactly IS spyware and Malware? ...
Spyware is software that hides itself somewhere on your computer collecting information about you and what you do on the internet...
Article on Cyber Crime...
The BBC have produced an excellent article on how cyber crime has become big, organised businessg...
Microsoft debuts quick fix clicks on some support pages...
Microsoft has started putting the button on its web-based support pages that detail the most common problems hitting PC and Windows users...
How spam works...
The BBC have done an interesting article on how spammers make there money...
Excellent article on Scareware...
The BBC have done an excellent article on a very common phenomenom at the moment - Scareware...
Scam Antivirus installation...
A lot of customers have fallen foul of the recent WinAntivir or Windows Antivirus 2008/2009 "infections"...
One of the most regular discussions we have with customers concerns machines infected through the use of music/video download programs such as Limewire and BitTorrent, and the legal stand point regarding their use.
As you probably already know, the use of these programs is essentially and effectively illegal (see here http://www.bpi.co.uk/digital-music/article/online-faqs.aspx ), and aside from the legal standpoint they effectively dismantle your existing security programs, and will inevitably leave you with an infected machine. The use of them on university campuses, for example, is heavily monitored, and can lead to being excluded from the course.
Along comes Spotify. This program allows you to select from an incredibly large library of songs, and listen to them there and then (it’s called streaming). You can set up playlists, and log onto any PC with Spotify on it to listen. If you want to permanently download songs to transfer to an MP3 player or iPod, then this can be done at a lesser cost than many other services such as iTunes. So, the obvious question is, how does this work? Spotify has two service levels, Free and Premium. The free service is driven by advertising between every few songs, and adverts within the program itself. It’s no different to listening to live commercial radio, except you get to choose all the songs. The premium service means no advertising, higher quality, an offline mode, and can be used on mobile devices as well. The premium service can be used virtually anywhere. What’s more, the music industry in general thoroughly approve of it, seeing it as the way forward against piracy.
Unfortunately, due to such heavy demand, Spotify is restricted in its availability for the free service at the moment. In order to use it, you have to be invited by another premium user. It needs more people to sign up before it can allow unrestricted free streaming music again.
The way to get online with it is to sign up for the premium service for at least two months, at £9.99. You may decide that £9.99 per month going forward is an excellent price to pay anyway for keeping the kids off Limewire etc and all the issues that it brings along. Once signed up for a month and then you renew for a second month, you get two invites and two more invites for each subsequent renewal. These can be used to get the family on the free service, and away you go. Legal music for a small payment.
You can also try the service for 24 hours on a day pass, at 99p.
Take a look at the Spotify website here- http://www.spotify.com/en/
And watch the BBC video about it here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7913959.stm
Downloads
Our convenient downloads section is full of the most useful Windows utilities and anti-virus/malware software to help keep your Windows PC clean and useable.
Have a good look to see what you need
[go to downloads]
Google web search
Quick tips
Our new quicktips section will be full of tips to questions we hear frequently.
Coming soon...
