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
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.
Every once in a while I will download a program that is contained in an ISO file. This is usually because the file was intended to be burned to a CD / DVD first before installing it. However, instead of having to burn it to a CD / DVD first, there are some great utilities out there that allow you to mount the ISO file directly in Windows. In the following article, I would like to walk you through using my favorite ISO mounting utility. And the best part is that it even works with Windows 7. More »
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. More »
One of the features that I love about Mac OS X Leopard is the ability to set up multiple desktop workspaces which are called Spaces. Spaces are a huge help when trying to manage lots of windows at the same time or when working on multiple projects at once but wanting to keep them separate. My favorite way to use Spaces is to run Windows (using VMware) in one Space while using OS X in another. Now Microsoft has taken notice of the benefits of Spaces and is offering a free program called Desktops that allows you to do the very same thing in Windows. In this tutorial, I would like to show you how to use it. More »
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 »
If you have been using Windows Vista for a while then you probably know how annoying the security confirmations can be. Any time you install a program, install drivers, run programs that need administrative rights, change certain configuration settings, etc., you are forced to confirm your actions before continuing. Fortunately, there are ways to disable these prompts. More »
Keeping track of Microsoft licenses can be a daunting task when you manage a network with multiple computers. This can be especially true when you are given the task of inventorying computers on a network that you personally did not set up. You could go to each computer and inventory it individually but this could take lots of time depending on the amount of computers. Or, you could use a free program that will scan each computer on a network and do this for you. More »
If you are an emerging computer tech and you haven’t already become accustom to using the ipconfig command, you soon will. This command is most commonly used at the DOS prompt to see a computer’s current IP configuration. Using this command with three different switches also allows you to refresh a computer’s network settings which can be very useful when troubleshooting network issues. In the following tutorial, I would like to show you how you can create a batch file that will run this command along with its switches to quickly refresh a computer’s network settings. 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 »
Apple certifications are some of the fastest growing certifications in the industry and becoming an Apple certified tech is a great way to make your resume stand out from the crowd. With the release of Leopard, Apple has been updating their certification program to support their new operating system. I would like explain these newly updated certifications and show you what is required for each one so you can be on your way to becoming a certified Mac OS X Leopard technician. More »
