1.

2.

3.

*Firewall generally not included in the free versions of these downloads. Each provider has their own paid alternative with provides the complete internet security solution.

Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome & Safari

Removes temporary files, history, cookies, auto complete form history, index.dat, etc

Windows

Empties the recycle bin, clears recent documents, empties the temporary files and log files folders, etc

Registry Cleaner

Advanced features to remove unused and old registry entries.

Start-up Manager

Enables you to dynamically choose which programs to start up with windows.

And much more..

Why not prevent this at source? You can simply enable web filtering at the broadband level and remove access to specific sites instantly. You can choose from a range of categories such as ‘Gambling , ‘Social Networking’, or ‘Violence’, etc and block all such sites at once. If a website has been included by mistake, you can specify that it never be blocked. Say Goodbye to IrishJobs.ie or Daft.ie and setup Web Filtering today! No Server required, we only need to change your internet settings on the company router, setup your account and implement your criteria for future web browsing in the workplace.

Thankfully, there are now 3rd party websites which can send large files on your behalf. One of these companies, Dropsend allow you to send files up to a massive 1GB to your intended recipient. You Send It is another alternative. 

Note: We usually recommend not to send any attachments to colleagues internally. Instead, you should be copying the files to your shared folders and hyperlinking as required.

Understandably, most people faced with his prospect usually begin with a gentle email reminding staff that the shared drive is for office use only.

Initially, this will reduce space to a small degree and it may remind employee’s that the server is not a dumping ground for mp3 files, photographs, movies and various other space hungry file formats. This is good practice but it very rarely yields any dramatic reductions in space. Instead, a simple program like Tree Size Free or the professional version will enable you to scan your disk drive or folder and inform you instantly where the bulk of the disk space is being used. The professional version for example, will not only give you excellent reports and graphs but it will tell you the last time certain files were even accessed, thereby giving you some insight into whether the file(s) are actually in use.

A lack of active data management not only leads to disk capacity issues, but it will almost always affect your backups and their ability to run reliably.

During the course of this type of conversation, the agent is fully aware that this question usually results in an even slower process of finding the root cause of why the pc is not working to the customer’s satisfaction. The use of this unintentional oxymoron to describe their problem, is quite common but the answer to the question, however, is not. 

In general, most computer repair technicians would be fairly confident that they can resolve the matter without too much difficulty. The real choice though is whether to; 

  A:\ Troubleshoot and repair the problem

The PC could be slow because;

• Erroneous startup items in windows.
• Corrupt software or windows files.
• Virus or Spyware related.
• Disk errors or fragmentation.
• A failed windows update or patch.
• Faulty RAM
• And so on……

Or B:\ Backup the data and Reinstall Windows

I prefer to only take this route as a last resort as it is a huge inconvenience (to both parties) to have to reinstall windows! It’s always painful to have to reinstall windows on your computer, especially if you rely on several business applications that require database restores and license activations, etc. This doesn’t include the sometimes impossible Google search for windows device drivers on the web.  However, you may have already wasted several hours trying to find a reason why this computer is at a crawl (see Option A) and you may now have to face the prospect that the only way to get this working properly is to set it back to its original configuration.

Some computer repair companies will only ever take this route, since Option A is a time risk i.e. you may fix the problem but there’s no guarantee so you may as well skip A, and reinstall the operating system anyway. With Option B, you at least know from experience that the repair will take x amount of time to repair. In a lot of cases, they rarely even backup the customer’s data before the format. This is plain laziness and the only reason you should ever be told that your data is gone, is when the hard drive on your computer is completely 100% broken beyond any hope of repair.

Anyway, when the time has come and you’ve tried just about everything, there is no cowardice in admitting defeat and reinstalling Windows from scratch. Even I.T Technicians will tell you that they have often reformatted their own computers just to ‘start over’ and if they haven’t, then they are either very lucky to have never been faced with this situation, much smarter than most, or just plain lying..

The statement reads:

“Microsoft is investigating new public reports of attacks against a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer. Our initial investigation has shown these limited attacks are targeting customers using Internet Explorer 7, however the vulnerability affects all currently supported versions of Internet Explorer.

“We are actively investigating this vulnerability and upon completion of this investigation, Microsoft will take the appropriate action to protect our customers, which may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs.

“Microsoft continues to encourage customers to follow the “Protect Your Computer” guidance of enabling a firewall, applying all software updates and installing anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Additional information can be found at Security at home.

1. Good practice is to always keep your anti-virus software up to date
2. Run IE 7 in protected mode (this is a by default in Vista but not in XP)
3. Set your internet zone security on high
4. Set Windows Update to default.”

Alternatively, you might consider alternative browsers until the update is available for download….

Firefox – Download Here
Safari – Download Here
Chrome – Download Here
Opera – Download Here

Like most, when I heard the next version of internet explorer (IE8) was around the corner, I thought northing of trying out the beta version. Especially since it was in Beta 2! The new version of IE has a host of new & interesting features.

They consist of;
 

InPrivate Browsing

Internet Explorer 8 can disable adding any of the websites you visit to your Browsing History, should you choose to enable this option..

Accelerators

Accelerators allow you to complete your everyday browsing activities more quickly and even discover new services. You can start mapping, translating, emailing, and more in just a few mouse clicks.  

Web Slices

Keep up with changes to the sites you use most. Add a Web Slice and you won’t have to go back to the same website again and again for updates on news, stock quotes, online auctions, weather, or even sports scores.

Search suggestions

Search smarter with detailed suggestions from your favourite search providers and browsing history. See visual previews and get suggested content topics while you type in the enhanced Instant Search Box.

SmartScreen Filter

New security features help to protect you against deceptive and malicious websites which can compromise your data, privacy, and identity

Compatibility View

Internet Explorer 8′s built-in Compatibility View button enables you to display websites that were designed for older browsers. Simply press the Compatibility View button if you see display problems on a website like misaligned text, images, or text boxes. It’s located next to the Refresh button on the Address Bar.

As great as IE 8 will be, I have learned to never install any beta software on a machine I intend to work on. Patience is definitely a virtue! The browser would consistently crash, network connectivity was intermittent and some websites would not display correctly (despite the compatibility view add-in).

In the end I had to remove the software and go back to Internet Explorer 7. I have absolutely no doubt that Microsoft will iron out the problems during the beta testing but I have learned to forget about seeing it first, and to learn from other peoples mistakes, not my own.

The fact is, that the majority of users out there know that their mail server is working fine, when they can check their junk mail folder to find that they received a spam mail in the last 10 minutes. Believe it or not, it can be useful!

So I called the data centre and stated “I’m not complaining, but did you do anything to our Server?”, They responded with an honest “No” and unless a Spotty, 17 year-old King-of-Spam was suddenly arrested somewhere in Arkansas, there doesn’t seem to be any explanation as to why this has occurred.

I’m not asking Google or browsing the web to see if anything has happened ‘out there’ as It may only backup my hunch that this is only a short-term vacation from spam.

And I am certainly not phoning the Hosting Company again only to find out that they had mistakenly given free anti-spam protection and will turn it off straight away!

In this situation, perhaps ignorance is spam bliss..