SMALL BUSINESS IT & TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICES IN BERKSHIRE

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Supporting small businesses in Berkshire

Technical Support | Desktop Computer | Networks | Servers | Internet

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Technical support

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Computer installation

This involves installing the external and internal hardware required to get your computer working! The external hardware of the computer involves all the peripherals that are connected to the desktop computer externally. The external computer hardware is connected to the computer via various ports, for example USB, serial and parallel ports, firewire, bluetooth, PS/2 and PC card. To install internal hardware, the CPU (Central Processing Unit) is opened and hardware is manually installed ino your computer. [Source]

Data back-up

In Information Technology, a backup or the process of backing up refers to making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event.

Backups have two distinct purposes. The primary purpose is to recover data as a reaction to data loss, be it by data deletion or corrupted data. Data loss is a very common experience of computer users. 67% of internet users have suffered serious data loss. The secondary purpose of backups is to recover data from a historical period of time within the constraints of a user-defined data retention policy. Though backups popularly represent a simple form of disaster recovery, and should be part of a disaster recovery plan, by themselves, backups should not alone be considered disaster recovery.

Since a backup system contains at least one copy of all data worth saving, the data storage requirements are considerable. Organising this storage space and managing the backup process is a complicated undertaking. A data repository model can be used to provide structure to the storage. In the modern era of computing there are many different types of data storage devices that are useful for making backups. There are also many different ways in which these devices can be arranged to provide geographic redundancy, data security, and portability.

Before data is sent to its storage location, it is selected, extracted, and manipulated. Many different techniques have been developed to optimise the backup procedure. These include optimisations for dealing with open files and live data sources as well as compression, encryption, and de-duplication, among others. It is also important to recognise the limitations and human factors involved in any backup scheme. [Source]

Crash recovery

A computer can crash in several ways - sometimes the screen freezes and you get a "Not Responding" message which usually means you have to close the programs you have open or restart your computer manually, and sometimes you are struck by the more serious operating system crash, such as the Windows "blue screen of death".

The Blue Screen of Death, or more properly the 'Windows stop message' occurs when Windows detects a problem or error from which it cannot recover. The operating system halts and diagnostic information is displayed on a blue screen. In newer versions of the operating system, the contents of the PC's memory are dumped to a file for later analysis.

This can result in your computer failing to load, and in some cases your programs or saved data may be lost. We can help recover your data and troubleshoot your computer in order to solve the problem. It is important to regularly backup your data (see Data back-up, above ) in order to minimise the risk of losing data if your computer crashes. [Source]

Repair and upgrade

Your computer may need to be upgraded for a variety of reasons, and there are lots of different areas that can be upgraded:

  • Add more RAM (Random Access Memory) to speed up your system
  • Add a hard drive so that you can store more data
  • Improve connectivity
  • Improve your graphics card
  • Add or improve an optical drive (cd, dvd or combo)
  • Improve your CPU
  • Upgrade to a newer operating system (e.g. Windows XP to Windows 7)

Likewise, if you have encountered problems with any of the above areas, it may be that they need repairing. Generally, a part is only repaired if the cost of repairing is significantly less than the cost of upgrading. After all, why fix an old one when you can have a new, better version for practically the same price!

Build and configuration

In order to have the most efficient computer which effectively meets all of your business needs, it may be necessary to have a customised computer built.

This allows you to choose what features are most important to your organisation, rather than relying on a standard off-the-shelf model. For example, you might be a graphic designer who needs lots of RAM to render large Photoshop files, or work in an environment which requires computers to run extremely quietly.

Security and virus protection

Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer to another and to interfere with computer operation.

A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer, use your email program to spread itself to other computers, or even erase everything on your hard disk.

Computer viruses are often spread by attachments in email messages or instant messaging messages. That is why it is essential that you never open email attachments unless you know who it's from and you are expecting it.

Viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files.

Computer viruses also spread through downloads on the Internet. They can be hidden in illicit software or other files or programs you might download.

To help avoid computer viruses, it's essential that you keep your computer current with the latest updates and antivirus tools, stay informed about recent threats, run your computer as a standard user (not as administrator), and that you follow a few basic rules when you surf the Internet, download files, and open attachments.

Once a virus is on your computer, its type or the method it used to get there is not as important as removing it and preventing further infection. [Source]

Antivirus or anti-virus software is used to prevent, detect, and remove computer viruses, worms, and trojan horses. It may also prevent and remove adware, spyware, and other forms of malware. [Source]

It is also beneficial to limit the users that can access your computer in order to avoid someone using it to purposefully download or spread viruses. The most common way to to this is by utilising security procedures such as password protection. This can also help to protect your files (particularly those that include business-sensitive information) by only allowing access to certain employees.

Software installation

Installation (or setup) of a program (including drivers, plugins, etc.) is the act of putting the program onto a computer system so that it can be executed.

Most programs come with a general-purpose or dedicated installer - a specialist program which automates most of the work required for their installation.

Some software can be executed by simply copying it to a computer and executing it with no further ado; no installation procedure as such is required. Other programs are supplied in a form not suitable for immediate execution, and require an installation procedure. Installation may include unpacking of files supplied in a compressed form, copying them to suitable locations, tailoring the software to suit the hardware and the user's preferences, providing information about the program to the operating system, and so on. The installer may test for system suitability and available mass storage space. [Source]

Consultancy (advice)

Information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, Computer consultancy, Computing consultancy, technology consulting or business and technology services) focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives. In addition to providing advice, IT consultancies often implement, deploy, and administer IT systems on businesses' behalf, known as Outsourcing.

Once a business owner defines the needs to take a business to the next level, a decision maker will define a scope, cost and time-frame for the project. The role of the IT Consultant is to support and nurture the company from the very beginning of the project till the end, and deliver the project not only in the scope, time and cost but also with complete customer satisfaction. [Source]

Would you like technical IT support?

We can tailor a package specifically for your needs to include computers, servers, cloud backup and printers.

Call 01344 426668/ email us for further information or view our popular price plans