Have you ever wondered how secure a network that you set up actually is? Today I would like to share a tool with you that will allow you to easily scan a network for external port vulnerabilities. This tool is called ShieldsUp! and is web based which allows your scan to take place outside of your firewall. Just follow these steps to begin. photo credit: br1dotcom Other Posts You Might Like: Create a Batch File to Easily Refresh Network Settings How to Audit Your Microsoft Software Licenses How to Set Up an IT Helpdesk for Free
People often wonder what tools I use to do my job. So starting with this article, I would like to share with you what I keep in my immediate tech toolkit. These are the items that I use most frequently and are carried with me whenever I walk in the door at a customer location. In part two of this series I will highlight what I keep in my extended tech toolkit which is kept in my car at all times. photo credit: skistz Other Posts You Might Like: How to Permanently Wipe All Data from a Hard Drive How to Recover Data ...
Morris Rosenthal has written a book that includes 17 flowcharts to help walk you through the process of troubleshooting computer related hardware issues. He is offering eight of these flowcharts for free on the Foner Books website including a boot failure troubleshooting poster. Whether you are training new techs or are a new tech yourself these are great tools to help teach and learn the process of troubleshooting computer problems.
Back when I had a forum on this site someone posted a utility that allows you to back up printer drivers on one computer and restore them on another. This utility has saved me countless amounts of time, especially when setting up new computers. And since I don't have the forum anymore, I felt like I needed to re-share it. So in the following article I would like to show you how to use this great tool.Other Posts You Might Like: How to Copy Windows Drivers from One Computer to Another How to Restore Deleted Files After Emptying the Recycle Bin Easily Repair ...
As Macs continue to gain market share, there is an increased likelihood that you will have to support them if you are a tech. And even if you aren't a tech, it's good to know which tools are the best to use when it comes time to repair your own. I have put together a list of what are, in my opinion, the ten best repair tools for troubleshooting, diagnosing, and repairing a Mac.Other Posts You Might Like: How to Become a Certified Mac OS X Leopard Technician 10 Great Tech Tools That Boot from a CD Easily Repair a Corrupt Internet Connection
Morris Rosenthal has written a book that includes 17 flowcharts to help walk you through the process of troubleshooting computer related hardware issues. He is offering eight of these flowcharts for free on the Foner Books website including a boot failure troubleshooting poster. Whether you are training new techs or are a new tech yourself these are great tools to help teach and learn the process of troubleshooting computer problems. More »
People often wonder what tools I use to do my job. So starting with this article, I would like to share with you what I keep in my immediate tech toolkit. These are the items that I use most frequently and are carried with me whenever I walk in the door at a customer location. In part two of this series I will highlight what I keep in my extended tech toolkit which is kept in my car at all times.
Many people don’t realize that all USB flash drives are not created equal. Depending on the type of memory they have, their speeds can vary greatly. Being in IT, I have accumulated a small collection of these drives and have needed a way to test them to see which ones are worth using. I have found three great apps for doing this and I would like to share them with you. More »
Yesterday I reinstalled Windows on a laptop for one of our users at work. When the installation was complete, I popped in the driver CD to begin the process of installing the drivers that Windows didn’t install. For some reason the CD only contained two of the eight drivers that I needed. Normally, tracking down the right driver can be a huge annoyance, especially when your devices are showing up with generic names like PCI Device, Video Controller, System Device, or Unknown Device. But with the help of a little utility, I was able to find all of the drivers that I needed saving me lots of time and frustration. More »
After getting tired of taking power supplies into our local tech shop to be tested, I purchased the Nspire Power Tester Plus. It is very cheap, easy to use, and gets the job done quickly. With it, you can test 20Pin or 24Pin Power Supply Connectors, P4 Power Connectors, Molex Connectors, and Floppy Power Connectors. This is also one of the few testers for this price that has the ability to test S-ATA Power Connectors. Although this walkthrough is specifically for the Nspire Power Tester Plus, I’m sure that the following information can also be applied to other power supply testers as well. More »
Stuck pixels usually show up as small red, blue, or green dots on your LCD monitor and can be very annoying. The good news is that they can be fixed. In this article, I will give you instructions on how to get rid of them yourself without having to send your monitor off to a repair shop. More »
Making an Ethernet patch cable is easier than most people think. I am going to share with you one of the best tutorials that I have ever found on how to create one. Just follow the steps in this video by ViewDo to learn how to create your own. More »
I have put together a list of beep codes for the three largest BIOS manufacturers, AMI, Award, and Phoenix that can be folded and set up as a tent card for your desk or used as a pocket guide. I have also provided links to the manufacturer’s websites where I obtained the codes. Enjoy! More »
With so many different types of RAM these days, purchasing a memory upgrade is not as easy as it used to be. Since there are so many different types, you will want to make sure you know what you need before you place your order. I would like to show you some quick ways that will help you to determine RAM type without even cracking the case. More »
If you are a tech, then you probably know that hard drive failures are inevitable. Chances are that sooner or later it will happen to someone you support or possibly even you. Even with a successful backup, you still may not have files that were created or modified after the last backup. Even worse is when you don’t have a backup at all. There is still hope however. I would like to show you how you can use a simple freeware utility to recover files even when your hard drive will not boot. More »
