Computer Troubleshooters national franchise announce CloudStrong as their strategic cloud partner.

Computer Troubleshooters Ireland and CloudStrong, two Galway based ICT companies, announce that CloudStrong will be the dedicated Cloud Computing Services Supplier to Computer Troubleshooters offices nationally.

Enda Folan, National Director, says “We have chosen CloudStrong for the comprehensive range of cloud-based services that meet our clients’ needs. The benefits of local technical and business support to Computer Troubleshooters strengthens the case for partnering with CloudStrong and we look forward to many years of mutually beneficial business”

Oliver Surdival, MD, CloudStrong says: “We are delighted to have a national client facing technical support services company like Computer Troubleshooters to offer our broad range of Cloud computing services. Our services are very competitive, both technically and commercially, and strengthens Computer Troubleshooters offerings to their customers.”

Computer Troubleshooters is a member of the world’s largest computer technical support services franchise, with 500 offices in 28 countries and 5 in Ireland.

CloudStrong has over 30 years ICT experience across Ireland and the UK. CloudStrong has experienced rapid growth within the cloud computing industry and has established itself as one of Ireland’s leading dedicated cloud computing services providers.

Recently, Google has been very busy implementing various changes to its privacy policy and to its search engine. Let’s look at these changes and how they may impact you.
You may have noticed the banner “We’re changing our privacy policy. This stuff matters.” on some of the Google sites you’ve been visiting. Now that Google is much more than just a search engine, it is consolidating more than 60 individual privacy policies across its products into a single one that promises to be “a lot shorter and easier to read.” Some products (like Wallet and Chrome) will retain their own policy for regulatory purposes and/or to help spell out that product in greater detail. Google believes this will allow them to consolidate your usage across their products and to bring you better integration with more relevant content.
Imagine a scenario where Google notifies you that you may be late for your meeting, because it combines your location, your calendar entry and the local traffic conditions. Sounds helpful, doesn’t it? And if your status on Google+ is often about horse riding, you may start seeing more horse riding videos in the Featured section of YouTube. The other side to this coin is that Google will have a much more detailed picture of you, enabling it to target you with specific advertising, which is a much more valuable commodity to pitch to advertisers. While Google still won’t sell your personal information, access to a tightly defined market will see advertisers running to Google to promote their products, as a targeted audience is much more cost-effective for them than a mass marketing approach.
To see your presence across the Google products and to access your personal settings, you can log into the Google Dashboard (https://www.google.com/dashboard/?hl=en&pli=1). To learn more about this topic, view Google’s official policy page here: http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/policies. The change goes into effect on March 1, and if you don’t agree with the change, your only option is to stop using Google’s products (with an account).
The other major changes impact website owners. Google will now lower your search result ranking if your site is packed with advertising ‘above the fold’ (in the top space before a reader needs to scroll down). It will also focus on how relevant your content is to your keywords – do you deliver a helpful website and a great user experience, or are you delivering some slick, copied sales pitch to promote an e-book on a different topic? More than ever, your website needs to focus on being relevant and recently updated. Webmasters also need to be aware the Google search results can now include content from other Google products, so items like your company’s Google+ page updates may also appear. This is good news for businesses who have embraced social media as it will add to their search results presence.
Talk to your local Computer Troubleshooters about your Google presence or any of your technology needs.

We have just been made aware by one of our customers of the latest in phone scams… people pertaining to be from Microsoft phoning and insisting that “your Microsoft Licence is about to expire in 1 hour and your computer will crash”.

Please take note: Microsoft DO NOT phone computer users, nor should your Microsoft Licence expire.

We previously informed you of calls being made by similar people from “Microsoft” stating that your machine is infected and that they could remotely log in and resolve the issue. We have been assured from Microsoft Ireland that these calls are not coming from them. These calls are normally made to landline numbers and are randomly selected from an automatic dialer with an (01) prefix. Once answered, these calls are automatically routed back to a foreign country to be answered and dealt with from a call centre.

The aim of these calls is to get remote access to your computer, run very little and then request payment by credit card for the service. Please do not entertain these callers, do not let them access to your computer or give out your credit card details.

We hope you have not been affected by these calls.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Computer Troubleshooters Ireland have received their Finalist Certificate from Galway Chamber for the 2011 Awards SME category.

Here we see Niall Folan, Computer Troubleshooters; Carmel Brennan, President Galway Chamber and David Hickey, Connact Tribune Group CEO.

CTS Galway West is now a reseller of Satellite Broadband services, with Onwave. If you are too far from your local telephone exchange and not broadband eligible, or your local wireless service is too slow… then contact us for a solution that works anywhere and comparable to landline speeds. Ideal also as a back-up service.

You can get us on : 091-867888

Computer Troubleshooters Ireland has been selected as one of three members of Galway Chamber to be shortlisted in the SME category finals. The Awards Ceremony and Dinner take place on October 15th in the Clayton Hotel, Galway.

5 Things To Do BEFORE You Lose Your Gadget

Tablet-style computers and smartphones provide convenient access to your information and to the internet, from wherever you are. Unfortunately, the downside to their portable nature is that they don’t stay within the secure confines of your office. They can be easily left at another location by mistake or even stolen. So, this month we look at the 5 things that you should do before you lose your gadget.

1. Add Identification – If you found someone’s tablet or phone, you’d look for any identification that told you whose it was, so you could return it. Just as parents label their children’s clothing, add some form of identification to your device. This could consist of a business card in your tablet case, a power-on message with your contact phone number or even engraving your phone number or business name on the device.

2. Password Protect – Most portable devices allow you to set a password or number that must be entered when the device is turned on. This will help prevent a stranger from gaining access to the information you have stored on it. You may also be able to set a ‘time out period’, which will automatically lock your device with the password after a period of time of inactivity.

3. Sync – Most tablets and smartphones copy (or ‘synchronize’) their information to another computer or to an internet-based service. Check that your synchronization is configured and working correctly, with no errors. Then if you do lose your device, you’ll have somewhere else where you can log in and access a copy of your information.

4. Backup – Not everything on your tablet or smartphone may ‘sync’ to another location. A great example of this is contact information that is only stored on your phone’s SIM card, or information that you have entered into an application that only exists on your portable device (such as notes). Make sure you have a plan for regularly taking a snapshot of this information too and storing it in a secure place, just as you should for your office-bound computers.

5. Add Remote Control & Tracking – For tablets and smartphones that have a GPS function, applications have been developed that will show you where your device is located, based on its GPS data. Most of these applications need to be installed or configured before you lose your device. In addition to locating your device, some services will allow you to remotely lock your device or even remotely wipe all of the information on it. Check out Find my iPhone, Find my iPad, Where’s My Droid and Samsung’s DIVE. Security software manufacturers are also starting to release anti-virus software for portable devices with remote locate and remote wipe features.
Talk to your local Computer Troubleshooter about the best protection mechanisms for your portable devices, or about any of your technology needs … before it’s too late!

Here’s what bugs me about our industry – there’s no real certification process.  Anybody who wants to can hang out a sign (or website) that says “Computer Repair” and – presto! You’re officially a computer repair person.  Unlike doctors, lawyers, accountants, HVAC companies, and pretty much any other reputable industry, computer repair is not regulated by anyone so there is a wide range of quality between one computer repair guy and the next.

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