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
One of my favorite tech tools is called Restoration. It’s a stand-alone Windows based file recovery program. It allows you to restore deleted files even after they have been emptied from the recycle bin. Restoration requires no install and because of this, you can put it on your flash drive and take it with you wherever you go. In the following article I would like to show you how to use it. More »
If you support multiple users, computers, networks, printers, or servers then you know that keeping track of current problems or keeping inventory on all of your devices can sometimes be overwhelming. It can be even tougher if you have multiple techs and are trying to keep track of what has and hasn’t been done. The good thing is that there is a free solution that will greatly help you with all of this. In the following tutorial, I would like to show you how to set up and use this tool. More »
Instant messaging is not just for personal use. It is also a great way for employees to communicate with one another in the corporate world. If you are in IT, then setting up an instant messaging server can be a great benefit to your company. And the best part is that you can set one up without spending a dime. In the following tutorial, I would like to guide you through the easy process of installing my personal favorite IM server software, Openfire. More »
As an IT manager, I am constantly setting up new computers. I wish setting them up was as easy as just plugging them in and turning them over to the user but it’s not. Before I can do this, not only do I have to install all of the typical company software, but I also have remove all of the preloaded trial software. This can take lots of time depending on the manufacturer of the computer and how much software has been preloaded. This is time that I could spend doing other things like managing our servers. In my search to make this process much easier, I have found a program that will automatically uninstall preloaded software for me, and I would like to show you how to use it. More »
With so many different brands of antivirus software, choosing one can not only be difficult, but also expensive. With this being said, I would like to share with you some of the best free antivirus programs available including a site that ranks all antivirus software based on how successful they are at removing viruses. 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 »
My previous job was at a state university. Before sending our old computers off to auction, we had to wipe all hard drives according to Department of Defense 5220-22.M standards. This was to ensure the next owner would not be able to recover any sensitive files that were stored on the computer even through forensic analysis. Now I would like to show you how to wipe a hard drive following this same technique. More »
If you support users like I do, then you will know how frustrated they can get when their hard drive fails and they have no backup. Even worse is when this happens to you. That is why I would like to share with you an easy way to automatically back up your hard drive using a very powerful free backup utility. Just follow these simple steps. More »
Have you ever come across a computer that wouldn’t connect to the Internet after removing spyware or other network related software? Or maybe you can connect, but you can only visit certain sites while others time out. This problem is associated with winsock corruption in Windows XP. At this point most people reload the machine. Now you don’t have to. This utility has helped me a countless number of times so I would like to share it with you. More »
In the following article I am going to show you how to host a web site from your own computer. Why would you want to do this you might ask? Well for one, it’s free. It’s also great for hosting small web sites or sharing large files with friends. However, if you are planning on running a site with high traffic I would not recommend this. Just follow these simple steps and you will have your own web server up and running in no time. More »
