Many of our customers have been getting in touch with us lately about this. More and more common on XP systems is the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). It's a sad sight, both for users and administrators alike. Not always easy to troubleshoot, and often times even harder to fix, the BSOD usually means one thing, you're going to have to re-install your operating system. TH2 Technologies is able to do this for you, and more often than not, we can save your files as well.
The recent influx of blue screened machines is likely due to a patch that Microsoft pushed for a vulnerability. This patch works against Malware or Spyware that is hiding on a system, causing it blue screen. It's not Microsoft's fault (Well, it kind of is...), but it really brings up an interesting topic. There really are A LOT of people out there running their computer every day for tasks such as online banking, payroll, insurance, and even hosting massive client databases with private information who have spyware on their computer and don't know it. There are several easy and fast ways to protect yourself. Get in touch with a TH2 Technologies specialist to protect your system, business and client's information today.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
VoIP Telephones
How many people out there are interested in it? Do you know what VoIP (or VOIP / Voice over Internet Protocol) is, what it does, or how it can help you reduce business (or even home) overhead? VoIP is a form of internet phone (to put it simply). Instead of your calls going across the regular phone lines, they travel across the internet, and when they reach a local switchboard (where you are placing the call to), they are then transferred to the local telephone lines. This is far more cost effective for the providers, because every call is like a local call, and those savings are passed on to you and your business. Most home users would pay an average of $53 dollars a month (with tax) for unlimited nationwide calling for a regular phone line (Call waiting, voicemail, caller ID, etc). Many VoIP solutions can offer the same service to home users (Vonage anyone?) for $32 a month (also with tax), some going as low as free lifetime use after you purchase the equipment (Ooma).
This type of service only scratches the surface of what there is out there, and we here at TH2 are working to provide our clients with viable solutions, and even give them the option to keep their existing phone systems and numbers in place. We have taken a few clients phone bills and matched services for them with quotes. One company would save $900 a month, all while keeping their current configuration. This was very important to them, as they had spent quite a lot of money on a very complex phone system and phones.
If you would just like to see that you can save by switching to a VoIP phone system, give us a call! We would be happy to get you a quote.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
$500 Computer
Today I made the $500 computer, and I am extremely excited about the build. I compiled the build on Newegg.com exclusively. They tend to have the best prices, and it can save a lot of money to buy from one place (Shipping can add a lot to the cost, and can be cheap/free after a certain amount). The hardware is future proof, with the new AM3 socket and DDR3 RAM. The hardware is close to $500 without the operating system. If you were to get a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium would put the cost above $500, but there are several free, open source operating systems available. Ubuntu us a very popular free Linux distribution; Mint is another, and has a lot of eye candy.
So, the build is as follows:
MSI 785GM-E51 - $80 - (Integrated ATI Graphics with 1080P video and onboard HDMI connector) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130247
AMD Athlon II X4 630 - $102 - (Quad core running at 2.8GHz) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704
4GB (2x2GB) OCZ Gold RAM - $92 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227479
Rosewill Green Series 430W PSU - $40 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182202
1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD - $95 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433
Rosewill ATX Mid-Tower - $30 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147147
Rosewill 120mm Fan (2x) - $9 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048
Comes to $448 total. You still need a monitor, but most people have one from an old PC. The motherboard supports the major standards, HDMI, DVI and VGA. That means your current monitor will work until you can get a new one to replace it, if you would like to at all. It also has a PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot, so you can outfit it with an awesome graphics card later, if you ever want to game with it, or maybe use it with 6 monitors?
Good luck and happy building!
So, the build is as follows:
MSI 785GM-E51 - $80 - (Integrated ATI Graphics with 1080P video and onboard HDMI connector) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130247
AMD Athlon II X4 630 - $102 - (Quad core running at 2.8GHz) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704
4GB (2x2GB) OCZ Gold RAM - $92 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227479
Rosewill Green Series 430W PSU - $40 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182202
1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD - $95 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433
Rosewill ATX Mid-Tower - $30 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147147
Rosewill 120mm Fan (2x) - $9 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048
Comes to $448 total. You still need a monitor, but most people have one from an old PC. The motherboard supports the major standards, HDMI, DVI and VGA. That means your current monitor will work until you can get a new one to replace it, if you would like to at all. It also has a PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot, so you can outfit it with an awesome graphics card later, if you ever want to game with it, or maybe use it with 6 monitors?
Good luck and happy building!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Computer Hardware
Computer hardware is coming down in price. Building a decent quad-core rig for less than $500 has, until recently, been a goal of only the most advantageous of us. Though, in the last few months, there has been a wave of new hardware that is incredibly affordable. This hardware makes it easy for average consumers to have a powerful quad core, HD capable computer. Later this week, I will be configuring a mid tower with the AMD quad core CPU, making sure it’s HD (with HDMI out) ready, and with at least 1TB of storage. I will also outline the pros and cons of building your own computer. Keep watching for updates, and we are excited to embark on this endeavor with you.Monday, February 1, 2010
Offsite backup? What’s that?
Offsite backup. You may have heard the term at the office, possibly come across it on the internet once or twice. You may even use a program like Carbonite. No matter what your exposure to the idea of backup, there is one thing everyone can agree on, your data is important to you.
That data consists of family pictures, home movies, important documents from or for your clients, an address book that you have spent several years making, and the list goes on and on. Do you have more than one copy of these files? Are those copies on different computers? Do you have copies on an external hard drive? With how integrated our lives have become with technology, and how easily data can be deleted, if you aren’t afraid for your files now, you will be when you suddenly can’t access them. Offsite backup is a solution where you have a copy of your data on your computer, but it is also copied to another secure location on the internet. Having this secondary copy is how you know that these files will be around long after your computer isn’t.
No one wants to talk about it, because it’s a scary thought. What if your house were to flood or catch fire? Home owners insurance may cover damages, but what about loss of data? It can cost thousands to recover files from a dead hard drive as a result of water or fire damage, if your files can be recovered at all. Offsite backup can cost as little as a dollar per month for 2 GB of online storage. If you were to store 2GB of data online for 83 years, you would still not have paid as much as you would to recover the data off of a failed or broken drive.TH2 Technologies is actively working to provide an Offsite Backup solution for our home and business clients that would be competitively priced and managed locally by TH2 Technicians. If you aren’t sure your data would be safe in the event of an emergency, get in touch with us by emailing me, ricky@th2tech.com, or following TH2 Tech on our Twitter Account. I can send you updates and info on pricing, and together we can make sure your memories and important data are around for a lifetime, and more!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Server 2008 R2 and Exchange 2010
TH2 Technologies is happy to announce that we officially have Exchange 2010 up, running, and fully functional. We are working on a excellent hosting solution that we could provide to our clients at a competitive cost right now. The setup was a fun process, and Exchange 2010 has so many easy to use high availability features built in that it just blows me away. Regardless of demand, we are eager to put another server online to be able to implement these features, and provide consistent and continuous services to our clients through this setup.
Being able to access your email anywhere at any time, all with a familiar face is one of today’s biggest demands for a hosted solution. Our solution would provide this, allowing you to use Outlook, Thunderbird, or any other mail client you prefer. There would also be access through Outlook Web Access (Web based), just in case you need to check your mail on the road or from someone else’s computer. The other big hitter is Smart Phone integration. We are already using this feature successfully with 2 iPhones as mobile test devices! Contact and Calendar synchronization, and email on the go will allow our business users to stay connected where ever they go.
This service is a big step forward for TH2 Technologies, and just another way that we are staying on top of our competitors by providing the services you ask for on cutting edge platforms. We hope you are as pleased as we are with the tremendous amount of progress we have made, and hope you will continue to follow us as we push forward to the latest and greatest in business oriented solutionsWednesday, December 30, 2009
Where did those files go?
If you have deleted files or if you accidentally formatted a hard drive and now all your files are gone, don’t despair! TH2 Technologies has the equipment and software to recover files from many different situations. We recently had a client bring us his computer after installing Windows 7. He was going through the install with Asus Tech support, and ended up losing all his files without a backup. He immediately turned the computer off, and gave us a call. We were able to recover a lot of pictures, videos and documents from the hard drive, even though it had been formatted and new data was written to the disk.
If you find yourself in a position where you have just deleted something, or recently realized that you were missing files, you should do what this client did. Turn the computer off immediately. This will increase the chances that the data is not written over, and is recoverable directly from the hard drive.
With the tools that TH2 Technologies uses, we can usually tell within an hour as to whether we will be able to recover data or not. TH2 also understands that data recovery is often an emotional and very personal process. Computer hardware can be replaced, but the memories that it stores in the forms of pictures, movies, and documents cannot. We always treat your data with the utmost respect and privacy, while keeping you constantly updated on our progress and the health of your data. We hope the next time you accidentally delete a folder or files, you will give us a call, and let us get it back for you.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Virtualization; The First Steps
TH2 Technologies is very excited to announce that we have successfully migrated to a virtual infrastructure! We are using VMware’s ESXi 4.0 as our Hypervisor (the Host’s Operating system), and have already begun standing up more virtual servers to provide our clients with some exciting new opportunities. Our main focus right now is Exchange 2010 hosting. We have it installed on a Server 2008 R2 platform already, and are in the process of configuring and migrating our own mailboxes to the server right now.This new platform offers us several other advantages that are unique to a virtual environment. We can give resources dynamically to servers, and test various different open source alternatives to popular software. We are going to be able to look into more cost effective deployments for many small businesses, to include a local storage solution for a fraction of the cost of a commercial solution.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Is this compatible with Windows 7?
One of the best new features with Windows 7 that absolutely ensures compatibility with older programs is Windows 7 XP Mode. XP Mode is supported on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate. You also have to be running a processor that supports either Intel VT (Virtual Technology) or AMD’s AMD-V (AMD-Virtualization). All newer processors support these technologies, and some older ones do as well. And as always, there is an easy way to check.
XP Mode runs a virtual XP Machine in the background of Windows 7. What is truly cool and cutting edge about this technology is the fact that you can run your applications that you have installed in through XP Mode from the Windows 7 desktop. What this means is that after you install the application, you run it just like any other! This makes for seamless integration into your operating system and fluid operation for your high paced environment.
Windows 7 already has several compatibility features built in that require very little extra effort at all. Windows 7 XP Mode just adds that extra layer of availability just in case your business has an XP exclusive application you need to run. This effectively removes the question, “Is this compatible with Windows 7?” because the answer will always be, “Can you run it on XP? If you can, then it’s compatible.” This is a service that can be installed and configured remotely by TH2 Technology’s technicians, which make it convenient for any client. If you are on Windows 7 and your legacy applications are giving you problems, give TH2 Technology a call and we can help!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Remote Support
Hey friends, it’s Ricky again. This week, TH2 got hands on. I am so excited that Jeff and I make such a good team. Working with one another, Jeff and I get more done than either of us could in twice the amount of time, whether that means remotely or on-site.
Speaking of remote support, I’m very excited about the remote support tools that TH2 has at its disposal. If you are in need of help, and have internet access, TH2 can be at your computer with an extreme quickness. We use GoToAssist Express and Remote Desktop to support a majority of our users, and the ease of use with these tools is unbelievable. The best part about GoToAssist is that because it is Java based and browser initiated, it is completely platform independent. That means, no matter what operating system you have, we are able to deploy rapid support directly to your machine.
These tools are just a couple out of a large library that we have access to when providing you with support, on demand, when you need it most. No matter what your problem, big or small, we have tools to help.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)