On-site Tech Support was recognized on December 4th as the winner of the 2012 Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics by the San Diego, CA Better Business Bureau (BBB). The Torch Award is presented to businesses that adhere to high ethical standards of behavior and demonstrate a commitment to customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and surrounding communities.

Scott Smeltzer and Sharon Smeltzer accept 2012 BBB Torch Award

Scott Smeltzer and Sharon Smeltzer accepted the award on behalf of everyone at On-site Tech Support.

We are honored to be recognized as a leader in business ethics. This award is the direct result of the outstanding service that all of our employees put into each and every On-site Tech Support client.

We have many goals for our company, and we have achieved many things, but our proudest achievements are those that you can’t really put a dollar amount on—the respect and loyalty of our employees and the friendship and trust of our customers.

About On-site Tech Support

On-site Tech Support provides computer consulting and outsourced IT support (i.e. Managed Services) to businesses with between 10 to 150 employees.  Founded in 2004 by Scott Smeltzer, On-site Tech Support’s focus is to deliver a solution that is driven by your business. We collaborate with you to translate your business strategy into the right IT plan. This process allows our technical support team to meet your IT needs with a perfect match of network security, computer support, proactive maintenance, and IT consulting.

Our team of IT professionals have all passed thorough background checks and bring deep expertise and experience to each client engagement. Our Customers are small businesses to mid-size enterprises across many industries, including financial services, franchises, legal and healthcare.

On-site Tech Support was also a finalist for the San Diego Chamber of Commerce Small Business Awards. 

I just received this email.  I have a Bank of America account yet I instantly knew this was fake.

Here is what it looked like and how you can tell it’s fake.

 First of all, Signin isn’t a real word.  This should be enough to make you delete it.

Second, Bank of America does not send email from customer@mail.com

Third, my email address is not even in the To: field.

Fourth, B of A will not attach an HTML form for you to fill out.  HTML is for the web.  They will either send you a link or ask you to call customer service.

Fifth, This font looks “totally” credible.

Sixth, Since they are sending me an email about my account, they know who I am, and therefore would not address it to “Dear Customer”.

When you get emails like this, do a quick exam.  This is actually one of the better ones.  Most of them have significantly more spelling and grammar errors.  Keep in mind, this is supposed to be coming from one of the largest banks in the world.  Does this really look like something they would send?

When in doubt, delete it and call customer support on a number you look up yourself, not one listed in the email.

Windows 7 pro 64 bit OS. 

Brand new install with all updates and service packs installed.

When I plugged in the printer, it searched Windows Updates and installed the printer.  It looked good in “Devices and Printers” but when I tried to print, I got this error:

Test page failed to print.  Would you like to view the print troubleshooter for assistance?  Operation could not be completed (error 0x0000007a).

Fix 1:

1. Open Devices and Printers
2. Right click on the affected printer and select Remove device.
3. Unplug the USB cable from the printer or PC
4. Click on the Start button and type Print Management and hit enter.  You will get this window.  
5. Click “All Drivers” to expand the folder.
6. Right click on the affected printer driver and click Remove Driver Package.  
7. Reboot
8. Plug the printer USB cable back in and it should re-install and work. 

Fix 2:

1. Reboot into Safe-Mode by pressing the F8 key during boot-up.
2. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers
3. Check all the folders for a folder titled “3″ and rename them to “3-OLD”.  
4. Close window and open Devices and Printers”
5. Right click on the affected printer and select Remove device.
6. Unplug the USB cable from the printer or PC
7. Reboot
8. Plug the printer USB cable back in and it should re-install and work. 

Recently there has been a lot of press on the DNSChanger Virus.  The reason you haven’t heard anything from us, is if you are a current OnePlan Managed Service client, you are taken care of.  Plenty of news outfits are amping up this DNSChanger malware “event” on Monday with stories with apocalyptic titles like “Countdown to Internet Doomsday: Will Your Computer Survive?” or “How to survive internet doomsday” or “End of the Internet? ‘Doomsday’ virus will crash thousands of computers on July 9.”

Here’s what’s going on.

“Criminals have learned that if they can control a user’s DNS servers, they can control what sites the user connects to on the Internet,” warns the FBI on its Web site. “By controlling DNS, a criminal can get an unsuspecting user to connect to a fraudulent Web site or to interfere with that user’s online Web browsing.”

The Internet isn’t shutting down. What is happening, is that the FBI will turn off two servers that it originally architected to thwart the spread of an opportunistic and irritating (but otherwise innocuous) bit of malware.  When the two servers do go dark, computers still infected with the malware will lose their ability to translate web addresses into IP addresses. For these people this means any network requests made using web addresses won’t work.

Here’s the deal. If you haven’t already, click this simple infection checker, run by the DNS Changer Working Group (The Good Guys) to determine if your computer has the malware.  You will get an instant GREEN or RED answer.  If you are infected visit the DCWG’s “fix” page today (or by this weekend) and follow a few simple steps to cleanse your computer.

If you are a business and need help, you can call On-site Tech Support.com at 619-717-8070.  If you are a home or home office user you can call our sister company CODE29 at 858-461-7275.

If you are looking for a DNSChanger Kaseya Script, it’s here.

Cloud Computing: To do, or not to do.

Cloud computing is more than a passing trend. Cloud computing is a way for small businesses to have enterprise class applications and infrastructure that once only large companies could afford.  Cloud Computing shares the overhead for data center security, bandwidth, monitoring and management.  Small businesses share infrastructure without having to invest in capital intensive projects. If you are considering a move to the cloud, here are some things to consider.

Public Cloud vs. Private Cloud

With cloud computing you are moving your data and computer processing to a location other than your own. The cloud location may be shared (i.e. public cloud) or dedicated environment (private cloud). The trade off for private cloud versus public cloud is that the private cloud is far more expensive, but you have more control.  The big knock on public cloud is security, but typically, public cloud is more secure than your office.

While sensitive data, such as, financial records, may be more secure in the cloud, you may have regulatory requirements that prevent you from sharing common resources such as CPUs, racks or cages to store your data in a public cloud. If you have compliance issues that require extra physical security, consider a private cloud solution.

Cloud Migration Consideration

Take the time to consider what data you need to migrate to the cloud.  This is a good time to clean up those customer lists. You may also consider archiving some of your information, like financial history and email rather than migrate it to the cloud. Either way, you need to consider the formatting and structure from your premise based software to the cloud based solution. Plan out the migration of your data. It will save you time and make your new cloud application work smoother in the long run.

Documenting IT Policies and Procedures

PCI and other regulations may require documentation of policies and procedures to ensure compliance for your company. When adopting solutions such as cloud based customer relationship management (CRM), remote backup or hosted email, take the time to revise policies and procedures to ensure your compliance.

Moving to the cloud is a great way to fix IT spending while transferring costs from a capital expense to an operating expense. If planned correctly, your migration to the cloud can be smooth and your cloud based applications will not only work better, but you will have improved security.  If you have any questions about the Cloud, call us at 619-717-8070.