remotetechsupport's Xanga

Kodak introduces two wireless all-in-one printers

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:33:18 GMT

Hot on the heels of new wireless multifunctions from Canon and Epson, Kodak has announced two printers that are also Wi-Fi enabled and will compete with those other units. At $199.99, the Kodak ESP 7 All-in-One Printer will be priced similarly to the Epson Artisan 700, while the $299.99 ESP 9 All-in-One Printer goes print-to-print with the Canon Pixma MP980 and the Epson Artisan 800.

Kodak has tried to differentiate its recent forays into the printer market by offering low-cost ink cartridges—for example, replacing the ink in these ESP printers will cost just $9.99 for black and $14.99 for color. Unfortunately, a recent review points out that the previously released ESP 5 had some poor mechanical design choices that these printers will have to overcome, though print quality had improved over the ESP 3. In its favor, Kodak has added built-in duplexing to both of these units, with the ESP 9 also sporting an automatic document feeder and faxing capabilities.

Of course, in addition to Wi-Fi, the Kodak printers offer an Ethernet port for wired network printing. What’s interesting is that the company hasn’t been pushing Wi-Fi into its digital cameras (save the older EasyShare-One), which seems like a natural synergy if it wants to stay in the printing game. In any event, the trend is clearly to add wireless networking to all-in-ones at the higher end of the price range; the only question is how soon it will be added to budget multifunctions and then more inkjet and personal laser printers.

Source:blogs.zdnet.com

iYogi Announces Launch of Monitoring and Performance Tool For SMBs

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:35:19 GMT

iYogi – a leading provider of technical support services with horizons in the US, UK, Canada and Australia – today announced the launch of its exclusive server monitoring tools for small businesses. The new product offers integrated technology solutions to surmount the users’ unique IT support requirements thereby enabling them to derive and share information, data, enable network performance analysis, and security trends critical to plan and mana ge their set of servers – 24x7.

Uday Challu, iYogi’s CEO commented, “Holding a significant niche for itself in the computer support industry, iYogi has always known to be on the forefront of adapting breakthrough technology to exceed customer service expectations. This time we have developed a tool offering value-add functionality which will help small business customers maximize the business outcomes of IT.”

iYogi’s monitoring tool provides real time observation and monitoring solutions to ensure more robust and reliable IT support and infrastructure for small buinesses. Small Business owners also get a comprehensive assesment of their IT environment to meet technology needs with the scalability for future growth and create preventative measures based on quick analysis of network device alerts, pre-failure indicators, performance benchmark and security issues.

The new Monitoring and performance tool will provide small business with the opportunity to test all technical and non-technical aspects of their servers and help them to strengthen overall IT infrastructure. The array of services will include: Patch Management, Security Auditing, Site Inventory, Real Time Alerting Script Based Management, and Rights Management Services for all critical server issues.

“Irrespective of the business being small or large, when the consumer chooses iYogi, he leverages the potential of an elite taskforce of Microsoft Certified System Engineers and Cisco Certified Network Associates, ready to service their critical assets, using the most advanced network asset tracking and Performance monitoring”, adds Challu.

Another factor where the Company aims to distinguish itself from its competitors is product pricing. Embracing the concept of service quality, iYogi offers competitively priced technical support services at no-haggle, low prices.

As for its small business support, the Company has integrated its exclusive Monitoring and Alerting Services under one price umbrella of just $480 annually. per server i.e. $49.99 per month. The price is certainly hard to find anywhere else.

For more information on iYogi Small Business Support, visit http://www.iyogibusiness.com/

Remote login

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:09:52 GMT

Once you have logged in to the system, you can log in to other machines on the network or on other networks with the telnet and rlogin commands.

telnet

The format for the telnet command is:

telnet <hostname>

After connecting with the remote host, you will be prompted for your login id and your password just as if you were logging on via a terminal on that system.

rlogin

The command rlogin has the advantage over telnet in that you can specify a username on the command line, and can set it up so that when you rlogin to a host you will not be prompted for a password. Rlogin assumes you wish to login to an account with the same name as the account you are presently logged in as. If you wish to change this, use the -l option.

To have a remote system not ask for your password, edit your .rhosts file and put a line similar to the following in:

remotehostname userid

Where remotehostname is the name of the system you will be rlogin from, and userid is the name of the account you will be on.

The format for the rlogin command is:

rlogin <hostname>

To temporarily suspend the connection to the remote host is done by entering the sequence:

This returns you to the local host. To bring the remote host's job back into the foreground, use the fg command as described earlier.

source: http://www.umcs.maine.edu/~www-adm/docs/unixdoc/node67.html

The Expanding Reach of Remote Support

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:37:07 GMT

Standard remote control for desktops running Windows has been around for more than a decade, and while MS Windows continues to own the lion's share of the market there are other platforms to consider.

Apple Macintosh. While only at 6-8% of the PC market, there are concentrations of Mac users: college students, marketing, desktop publishing are good examples. In fact, Princeton University says that 41% of students and faculty had Macs in 2007, up from 31% in 2006.
Linux. IDC expects Linux revenues to exceed $35.7B this year, with market share currently at 12.7%; higher for some industries. Internet traffic for December 07 was from Firefox 16% of the time.
Wireless applications. In-Stat reports that 75% of all US business use at least one wireless data application, with email, SFA and field service all popular wireless apps.

Having a remote control solution that only support Windows PCs means you are unable to extend this powerful tool to an expanding band of users. The good news is that remote support vendors are expanding the operating systems they support. While a couple of providers support Mac and/or Linux, LogMeIn Rescue supports both AND wireless applications.

Logmein provides a virtual replica of a smartphone on a support technician's screen, who can then manipulate the screen, use its keypad, and control it as if it were in the agent's own hands — all over the web. Wouldn't that be handy to have as you roll out Salesforce on Treos to your entire sales division?

The scope of remote support has come a long way, and we are close to being able to access and fix any Internet-enabled appliance or device. I used to talk about the web refrigerator in presentations--how if your fridge was web enabled the manufacturer could monitor it, dispatch repair when it breaks, troubleshoot problems looking at usage records, etc. There are a few example already out there, such as onstar being able to diagnose engine problems, or my favorite, the i-pot, which tracks how many times a day you boil water (popular in Japan to keep tabs on elderly parents who live alone). But the LogMeIn product is the first I've seen to support enterprise applications on mobile devices, and I hope it sells like crazy so they continue expanding the mobile devices supported.

Source:blogs.pcworld.com

Ways to avoid VIRUS

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:48:40 GMT

Most of the computer users found the difficulties avoiding virus. What is “VIRUS”? How does it harm and destroy our computer? What is the effective ways to avoid it? all these will definitely come to our mind when you find there are something wrong on your computer.A virus is a program - a piece of executable code - that has the possibly of cloning itself. Computer viruses can spread fast and they are hard to eradicate. They can be attached to any type of file and they are spread as files copied and sent from person to person. They can be contacted from a floppy disk or CD, they can be launched when opening a program or accessing a file, any file, or they can be brought from the internet by downloading a file or accessing a web page and as attachments to e-mails.Besides replication, some viruses have something else in common: their infecting routine. The behaviours of viruses vary from showing messages or images to destroying files, formatting the hard disk drive and other severe damage. If the virus does not inflict damage it can still cause problems by taking up space and memory, lowering the performances of the computer.9 rules for avoiding computer viruses would be: 1. Use an anti virus program at all times.2. Install and keep active a firewall.3. Make sure your system is up-to-date with all the existent updates.4. Keep your browsers security settings at maximum.5. Never click yes when your browser asks you if you want to install or open some content coming from an organization you don't know or don't trust.6. Install an anti-spy ware program to enlarge the protection.7. Never install a browser help or search bar accepting the times it comes from a reliable source.8. Use a different credit card for online shopping.9. Don't click on email attachments that are executable files even if they look as if sent from known persons.

Free version of SpywareDoctor released

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:03:11 GMT

PCTools produces several programs including, firewalls, anti-virus but the company is probably most well known for its SpywareDoctor software. SpywareDoctor has won plenty of awards for its detection rates, low false positives and fast updates for new threats. Previously, only pay versions of the program were available but partnering with Google, there is now a free “starter edition.”

If SpywareDoctor isn’t the most awarded spyware scanner, it’s a close second. SpywareDoctor Starter Edition is only available as a download with the Google Pack but if you so choose, you can only pick to download SpywareDoctor Starter.

It doesn’t offer the same level of protection as the full version does but includes the most important features. You get OnGuard Protection (file guard and immunizer only), Updates, Scan and Remove functions, protection from Adware and Spyware and the award winning detection rates.

You do not get the Startup guard, browser protection, process scanner, cookie/site blocker, keylogger/network guard or behavior scanner, all of which are included in the full version.

Surprisingly enough, it does include email and community support. This is the best you will do for free and is the only one I would actually consider purchasing the full version. The free version should be sufficient for home users, everyone else should consider the full version.

Source: vista.blorge.com/2008/01/14/free-version-of-spywaredoctor-released-for-vista/

Tips: How To Use Remote Shutdown Tool to Shut Down & Restart Computer

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:32:34 GMT

Hello Friends

Here you will find some tips about how to use the Remote Shutdown tool (Shutdown.exe) to shut down and restart a local or remote Windows 2000-based or Windows NT 4.0.

Shutdown.exe is available in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit. It is a command-line tool that you can use to shut down or restart a local or remote computer that is running Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0. If you want to schedule a computer to shut down and restart at a specific time, use Shutdown.exe in combination with the at command or Task Scheduler.

Description of the Shutdown.exe Tool

loadTOCNode(2, 'summary'); Shutdown.exe uses the following syntax:

shutdown \\computername /l /a /r /t:xx "msg" /y /c

You can use the following switches with Shutdown.exe:

•	`\\computername`: Use this switch to specify the remote computer to shut down. If you omit this parameter, the local computer name is used.
•	/l (Note that this is a lowercase "L" character): Use this switch to shut down the local computer
•	/a: Use this switch to quit a shutdown operation. You can do this only during the time-out period. If you use this switch, all other parameters are ignored.
•	/r: Use this switch to restart the computer instead of fully shutting it down.
•	/t:`xx`: Use this switch to specify the time (in seconds) after which the computer is shut down. The default is 20 seconds.
•	"`msg`": Use this switch to specify a message during the shutdown process. The maximum number of characters that the message can contain is 127.
•	/y: Use this switch to force a "yes" answer to all queries from the computer.
•	/c: Use this switch quit all running programs. If you use this switch, Windows forces all programs that are running to quit. The option to save any data that may have changed is ignored. This can result in data loss in any programs for which data is not previously saved. Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/317371

Remote Tech Support Reviews

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 03:57:00 GMT

Online remote tech support on computer services is cheaper than taking system to any computer repair shop and far cheaper than calling tech professional to premises. Online support vendors offer a range of service packages featuring set of series of operations to be performed by technicians.

Why not take advantage of the Internet facility, which can often get you identical results, faster and cheaper? For example, the same geek squad service online costs just $129—and that's on the pricey side for remote tech-support services. For most of the services reviewed here, there's almost no wait. For each you simply go to a Web site, click on a link, and within minutes a technician will have control of your machine.

Some problems require on-site help, but plenty don't—system slowdowns from performance killers like clogged Registries and spy ware, for instance, or finding out how to get software like Microsoft Excel or Word to do what you want. The expert on the other end of the phone can even help you set up hardware.

For online support to work, though, you need a few basics. Number one is a high-speed Internet connection—remote control running over a dial-up line won't cut it. And although these services all have text-chat capabilities, you'll need a working phone. At some point in the troubleshooting process, support personnel will need to speak with you. If you have only VoIP through the PC that needs work, you'll be stuck transporting the system to a repair location or scheduling a tech visit.

Next, you need to choose a plan. All of the tested services offer one-shot tune-up packages ranging in price from about $70 to $120. These usually target computer and OS setup, spy ware, viruses, and slow performance. They also generally carry a five-day guarantee.

If you have a small or home office and can't afford downtime, the multi-month plans provide good value and the peace of mind that someone will always be available to remedy bugaboos that unexpectedly crop up.

Source: pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2227350,00.asp

PC resolution through remote access

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:13:01 GMT

we love problem solving, learning, and applying that knowledge to efficiently fix and repair PC, network, programming, database, website and other tech support issues - daily.

We have seen that with the rise of technology, a strange thing has happened. It seems that the technology that makes us more productive should allow us to work less. However, it seems that we work even more now than we used to. What does this mean?

People have less free time than before As part of this group, We know that we all want to be able to use the valuable limited amount of time we have efficiently. That is why people are personally doing less of the time consuming, laborious tasks that they used to do themselves. Many, if not most, people are having their oil changed, grass cut, cars worked on, and PCs repaired by hired help. Does this mean that these people couldn't do these things on their own? No, it means that they realize that the time and effort required to do these things on their own takes away from their valuable time and quality of life.

Onsite tech support and remote tech support services we provide actually help these clients be more productive and lower their stress. Even we will admit that having a non-functioning or even misbehaving PC can cause a lot of stress. People need to be able to have their PCs, the equivalent of the modern day hammer, to work properly. Please let us help you with whatever technology problem or project you are needing assistance with. It is our pleasure to help and we have been doing so for over 25 years in the PC industry. We have the tools, training and experience to fix your problem ASAP.

Remote Tech Support

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:44:53 GMT

Today, multiple ways of logging into remote computers and controlling them from afar. They include:

Remote Desktop (built into many versions of Windows)
Virtual Network Computing
Third Party Services

Now, the first two are perfectly viable and can be done for free. However, you may run into some more complexities with these options. If you are trying to connect to a computer which is behind a network firewall, you may not be able to get past the firewall without some router configuration. Usually, this involves opening up certain ports on our router Also, neither VNC or Remote Desktop are secure connections. While both can easily be protected with a password, a may be able to get through and gain access to the machine.

I highly prefer using a third-party service. The good news is that it doesn’t have to cost you anything offers it for free.

Using VNC Instead

If you just refuse to use a convenient service, then you can give VNC a try. VNC will involve installing a server to their computer and a client to your’s. I prefer TightVNC. It is open source and free. Just install TightVNC to both your computer and their’s. Make sure to specify their’s as a server and your’s as the client. Then, you will need to configure their router to allow the VNC ports through the firewall. Lastly, you will need to look up their IP address so that you can connect to the IP address directly using yout TightVNC client.