1.         Your intuit.com order confirmation

Be on the lookout for fake emails claiming to be from Intuit.com. A common scare tactic is used to try to get you to download a malicious file or click a link.

2.         Verizon Wireless: Your Bill Is Now Available

This fake Verizon email has been making the rounds lately. The phony bill displays an astronomical “Balance Due” in an attempt to make you panic.

3.         Your package is available for pickup

There has been a recent rash of fake USPS emails circulating with subject lines ranging from “You should come to the post office to “Your parcel can’t be delivered by courier service”.

4.         USPS Delivery Failure Notification

This fake USPS email tries to get you to download and open an attachment. Under no circumstances should you do so.

5.         Better Business Bureau: BBB Case # 71608420

This email purports to be from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and goes on to inform you that a complaint has been filed against your company. You are then prompted to click a link or download an attachment to resolve the issue.

Courtesy of scam trends

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Our engineers are experienced in the design, installation and configuration of Home networks and in troubleshooting a wide variety of network related problems. Network Ethernet Cable Made To order any length, Network Re Wiring Service Available.

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Is your computer crashing or freezing in the middle of your office application or favourite game? Perhaps a hardware conflict is causing the problem, software has become corrupt or possibly the drivers for the graphics card need updating – whatever the problem, we have engineers ready to help

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We would be happy to install your modem, Xbox, PS3, set up or configure an ADSL (broadband) connection, BT Vision setup or help with any Internet or e-mail problems you may be having.

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Virus and spyware attacks are becoming more frequent and more serious. They can be amongst the hardest computer problems to deal with. You will need professional help to clear the virus and to repair the damage it may have done to your system.

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Are you having problems installing certain software or perhaps you have installed software, which has had unexpected side effects or caused conflicts with existing installed software? We can help with your software problems.

PC Not Booting

Your computer will not boot, there are error messages (blue screens) or it will only boot in ‘Safe Mode’. These are common problems and our engineers are experienced in identifying the source of the problem and in restoring your computer system to perfect health.

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This is what i done to fix it on a windows xp system. restarted in safe mode, clicked start run, input the following text:

“%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe” without quotes

this will start system restore, once the system has been restores download and install malwarebytes and run a full scan, restart the pc, go to disc cleanup and to more options and click on remove all but the most recent restore points. you can get malwarebytes for free at http://malwarebytes.org

Hope this helps

You can open all ports for a specific computer and/or selected ports based on application rules on the BT Business Hub. The BT Business Hub Ethernet LAN ports are 10/100 full duplex. The VoIP ports are also full duplex.

To set up port forwarding on the BT Business Hub:

1.Ensure that the BT Business Hub is connected.

2.Open a web browser.

3.In the address bar, enter the IP address of the BT Business Hub and press the ENTER

•For further information on locating the correct IP address,

•If you are unsure of the IP address of the BT Business Hub, try http://home or http://gateway.2wire.net.

4.Select the Firewall tab.

5.Click on the Allow Applications, Pinholes and DMZ link to display the Firewall Settings page:

6. Select the computer from the list to which port forwarding will be applied.

7.If you want to open specific ports defined by application rules, select Allow individual application(s).

8.If you want open all ports for the selected computer, select Allow all applications (DMZplus mode) and go to step 10.

9.From the drop-down list, ensure that All applications is selected.

10.From the list of application rules, highlight the name of each application rule which specifies the port that you want to open and click on the ADD button.

•For example, the SMTP server opens port 25.

•The names of the application rules selected are displayed in the Hosted Applications list.

•If you have accidentally moved an application rule into the Hosted Applications list, highlight the rule and click on the REMOVE button to move it back into the list of application rules.

If you want to open ports that an existing application rule does not cover, you can add them as a new application rule.

To add a new application rule:

1.Click on the Add a new user-defined application link to display the Edit Application page:

2.In the Application Name field, enter a name for the application rule.

3.Select TCP or UDP, depending on which protocol you want to use.

•If you are unsure which protocol to use, add a new application rule for each protocol.

4.In the From and To fields, enter the range of ports that you want to open.

•If you only want to open one port, enter the same number in both fields.

5.The remaining fields can be left blank. Click on the ADD DEFINITION button to return to the Edit Firewall Settings page.

6.When you add a new application rule, the Edit Firewall Settings page is reset to its defaults and you will need to repeat steps 6 to 9. The new application rule is displayed at the top of the list of application rules.

7.Click on the DONE button.

8.The specified ports are opened.

9.To view which ports are open, click on the Firewall tab to display the Status page.

Ever wanted to access your home computer when you’re away from home? If you have a home network, you can use Remote Desktop Connection to access your home PCs from outside the network. This can be handy when you’re traveling or at work.

Note

The steps described in this topic are designed for advanced users who are comfortable with changing router configurations. To set up Remote Desktop Connections within the same network—a much simpler process

There are six steps you’ll need to follow to set this up. Each one is explained in detail below.

1. Allow remote connections to the computer you want to access.
2. Make sure Remote Desktop is able to communicate through your firewall.
3. Find the IP address of the computer on your home network that you want to connect to.
4. Open your router’s configuration screen and forward TCP port 3389 to the destination      computer’s IP address.
5. Find your router’s public IP address so that Remote Desktop can find it on the Internet.
6. Open Remote Desktop Connection and connect.

Allow remote connections to the computer you want to access

To access one computer from another computer, you first need to allow remote connections on the computer you want to access, which must be running one of the following versions of Windows:

• Windows XP Professional edition
• Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise edition
• Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise edition

On the computer you want to access, follow these steps:

1. Open System by clicking the Start button right-clicking Computer, and then clicking Properties.
2. In the left pane, click Remote settings.  If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
3. Under Remote Desktop, select one of the options to allow connections. For more information about these options,
4. Click Select Users.
5. In the Remote Desktop Users dialog box, click Add.
6. In the Select Users or Groups dialog box, do one or more of the following:
• To specify the search location, click Locations.
• To specify the types of objects (user names) that you want to search for, click Object Types.
• In the Enter the object  names to select box, type the user name that you want to search for, and       then click Check Names. If the user name isn’t found, click Advanced to run an advanced search.
7. When you find the correct name, click OK.

The name will be displayed in the list of users in the Remote Desktop Users dialog box.

8. Click OK, and then click OK  again.

Make sure Remote Desktop is able to communicate through your firewall

If you’re using Windows Firewall, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button, click Control Panel, type “firewall” in the search box, and then      click Windows Firewall.
2. Click Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall.
3. Under Allowed programs and features, scroll down to Remote Desktop and make sure its check box is      selected.
4. Under Home/Work (Private), make sure the check box next to Remote Desktop is selected.

If you’re using a non-Microsoft firewall, refer to the instructions that came with your firewall.

Find the IP address of the computer on your home network

Next, determine the IP address of the destination computer—the one you want to connect to.

1. Click the Start button,  click Control Panel, type “network” in the search box, and then      click Network and Sharing Center.
2. Next to Connections, click the link for your current network connection (either Wireless Network      Connection or Local Area Connection).
3. Click Details.
4. Write down the IP address listed next to IPv4 Address. You’ll need this address when you turn on port forwarding.

Forward TCP port 3389 to the destination computer’s IP address

To allow remote connections from outside of your home network, you need to set up your router to forward remote access requests to the computer that you want to connect to.

1. On any home network computer that’s connected to the Internet, open a web browser and type the internal      IP address of your router. This address will usually be 192.168.1.1,      192.168.0.1, or 192.168.2.1. Refer to the instructions that came with your router if you need more information about accessing the router’s      configuration screen.
2. Type the router administrator user name and password.
3. In the router’s configuration screen, look for a place to turn on port forwarding (also      called port mapping).
4. Forward TCP port 3389, the default port for Remote Desktop Connection, to the IP address of the home computer you want to access from outside the network.

To access more than one of your home computers from outside the network, you can forward an additional TCP port to each additional computer. For example, you can forward TCP port 3390 to a second computer, TCP port 3391 to a third computer, and so on. Then change the listening port, the port that Remote Desktop listens to for incoming network traffic that matches that port, on each computer to match the number you assigned. When you use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to these computers, type the IP address of the router, followed by a colon and the port number (for example, 208.147.66.254:3390).

Changing the listening port is also helpful as a security measure, since a malicious user might first try port 3389, the default for Remote Desktop Connection. By changing the listening port, the malicious user has to guess which port you’ve chosen. For information about changing the listening port.

Find your router’s public IP address

While you’re still at home and connected to your home network, open a web browser and search for “find IP address” to find a service that will report your router’s public IP address. Unfortunately, some computers are given a different IP address each time they connect to the Internet. An Internet service provider (ISP) can use a few IP addresses to serve many customers that way, but it means that your computer’s address on the Internet is always changing.

To get around the problem of a frequently changing IP address, try a DNS dynamic update service, which allows you to assign a URL to your router that you can use instead of an IP address. The URL stays the same no matter how often the IP address changes. To find a service, search for “DNS dynamic update” on the Internet.

Open Remote Desktop Connection and connect

Now you’re ready to actually make the connection. Follow these steps on a computer outside of your network:

1. Click the Start button, type “remote” in the search box, and then click Remote Desktop Connection.
2. Type the router’s public IP address in the Computer field (followed by a colon and the new port number, if you’ve changed the listening port; for example,      208.147.66.254:3390).
3. Log on to the remote computer as you normally do.

Thanks to Microsoft for the information above

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/allow-remote-desktop-connections-from-outside-your-home-network

To begin manually fixing spool service errors, continue with the first tutorial below.

Clear the Print Queue

We should first attempt to clear the print queue as the problem may only be a simple jam. This is a simple fix and should only take a few moments.

1. Click Start

(Windows XP)

• Click Run. The run dialog will open. Type into the Run dialog: services.msc
• Press Enter

(Windows Vista/7)

• Type into the search field: services.msc
• Press Enter

A new window titled Services will open. This window lists all the services that are running on the computer. From here, services can be stopped, restarted or disabled from restarting.

2. Browse through the list of services and identify all services that name or describe themselves as Print Spooler. If you have a third party printer such as a Lexmark printer, there may be two Print Spooler services. There will be one for Lexmark that may have a filename like or similar to LexBce Server and there will be the generic Windows print spooler service.
3. Right-click the Print Spooler service and select Stop from the menu that appears.
4. Leave the Services window open but minimize it to the taskbar. Now return to the Desktop and double-click My Computer. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
5. Delete the entire contents of the PRINTERS folder but do not delete the folder itself. Deleting all files within this folder is equal to clearing the print queue. After deleting the files, close this window and return to the Services window.
6. Find the Print Spool service again. Right-click it and select Start from the menu that appears.

After completing the above steps to clear the print queue. Try printing out a test page. If successful, there is no need to continue with the other tutorials within this guide. However, this may not be a permanent fix. It has been observed that print spool services with further underlying errors will at first print correctly after clearing the queue but may later produce further problems. You can always return to this guide to attempt a different solution if the errors persist. If clearing the print queue did not solve the problem, continue with the next tutorial.

Uninstall Printer 3^rd Party Printer Management Software

Printers typically come with a CD or DVD containing driver and printer management software. This software is used to provide the printers functionality and give it instructions for completing print jobs. It is possible that this software is corrupted or out-of-date. Reinstalling the software may correct the issue.

Locate the CD containing the printer software that came with the printer. Keep this handy: It’ll be needed soon. First, we should uninstall the old printer software.

1. Click Start
2. Click Control Panel

(Windows XP)

• Click Add or Remove Programs

(Windows Vista/7)

• Click Uninstall a program

The Add/Remove Programs window will appear and begin populating a list of programs installed on the computer. It may take several moments to populate the list if there are a lot of programs installed on the computer.

3. Browse the list of installed programs and look for the printer software. The name will resemble or will include the brand name of the printer that you are using. Once you’ve found this software in the list, click it once and then click the Change/Remove/Uninstall button. The installer will guide you through the process of removing the printer software. If asked to remove the driver, agree to this option and continue. Once the installer is finished, close the Add/Remove Programs window and return to the desktop.

Uninstall Printer Driver Software

1. Click Start

(Windows XP)

• Click Control Panel
• 
  Click Performance and Maintenance
• Click System. The System Properties window will appear.
• 
  Click the Hardware tab and then click the Device Manager button.

(Windows Vista/7)

• Type into the search field: device manager
• Press Enter

Completing the above steps for your version of Windows will open the device manager in a new window. The device manager lists all of the devices that are connected to the computer and provides details about each device and it’s associated driver. Devices are placed into categories. Printing devices may be placed under the following categories:Printers, Imaging Devices, Other devices

1. Browse through the list of devices within the device manager and locate the printer that you are having difficulties with. You can expand a category by clicking the + symbol next to the category. Double-clicking a device will open a new window with details about the device.
2. 
   Once you’ve found the printer. Double-click it in the device manager to open it’s window. Click on the Driver tab in the new window and click the Uninstall Driver button. The uninstaller will guide you through the process of removing the driver and notify you when it is complete.

After uninstalling both the printer management software and the printer driver, we are prepared to reinstall both. Take the following steps to reinstall the software.

Reinstall Printer Management Software

If you still have the CD or DVD that came with the printer, insert it now. This disc will contain both the printer management software and the driver necessary for operating the printer. When the disc autoplays, a menu should appear with some options. Choose the option that will install the printer software. The installer will guide you through the installation process and notify you when it is complete.

If you were able to install the printer software using the disc that came with the printer or you do not have the disc, proceed to the Reinstall or Update Printer Driver section below.

Reinstall or Update Printer Driver

To install the most current driver software for the printer, go to the printer manufacturers web site and search for the printer for your make and model of printing device. Drivers are typically accessible by clicking the Support, Downloads or Drivers link that should be visible from the manufacturers home page. The driver hosted at the manufacturers web site is the most current driver for your device.

Download the driver and Run the installer. The installer will guide you through the installation process and notify you when it is complete.

If you cannot locate the printer driver software or are having difficulties installing the printer driver, there is an alternative method. You can use an automated driver update tool, DriverUpdate, to automatically find, download and install the most current driver for your printer and all other system devices.

After completing the above steps and taking the necessary action to uninstall and then reinstall all printer management and driver software, print a test page to verify that the printer is now working. If the printer is operating normally, there is no need to continue any further with this guide. If the printer is still causing errors or is not working properly, continue with the next tutorial to attempt a different solution.

Advanced Print Spooler Service Fix

The steps within this tutorial will guide you through the process of deleting certain printer files and editing certain registry keys that are associated with the printer. Use extreme caution and adhere strictly to only the steps that are provided here. Making changes to the registry can be extremely harmful to the computer if you do not know what you are doing.

1. Restart the computer and press the F8 key continuously until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears.
2. Select Safe Mode from the list of menu options and press Enter.

In a few moments the computer will boot into Windows Safe Mode. After you are logged in, we are prepared to delete some files within Windows.

1. Double-click My Computer.
2. Navigate to the file locations listed below and delete all contents within the last sub-folder.

• C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Printers
• C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Drivers\w32x86

Delete the entire contents of the above folders in bold but do not delete the folders themselves. After performing this step, we are prepared to edit a few registry keys.

1. Click Start

(Windows XP)

• Click Run. The Run dialog will appear. Type into the run dialog: regedit
• Press Enter

(Windows Vista/7)

• Type into the search field: regedit
• Press Enter

Taking the listed steps for your version of Windows will open the Registry Editor in a new window. The registry editor allows the user to navigate through the Windows registry, view registry keys, sub-keys and values, and make changes to the registry if necessary. The tutorial below will request the user to Expand registry keys and sub-keys several times to navigate to the correct location in the registry. To Expand a registry key, click the + symbol next to the registry key listed in the registry editor.

Once more, editing the registry can be harmful to a computer if done incorrectly and without care. Please take caution and make only changes that are described within this tutorial.

2. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
3. Expand SYSTEM
4. Expand CurrentControlSet
5. Expand Control
6. Expand Print
7. Expand Environments
8. Expand WindowsNT x86

Once in the Windows NT x86 subkey, there should be at least two keys:

• Drivers
• Print Processors

Any keys other than the two listed above should be exported as a backup to the Desktop and then deleted. Take these steps to export the keys…

1. Click File
2. Click Export
3. Enter a name into the text box appears that you will recognize later. Example: printerkeys1
4. Click Save

The exported keys can be restored to the registry if the current solution does not fix the print spooler errors. After exportin the Windows NT x86 key, delete any and all keys in the Windows NT x86 key except for the Drivers and Print Processors keys. To delete a key, right-click it and select Delete from the menu that appears. Click Yes when prompted to comfirm deletion.

The next set of keys in the registry that we will focus on are within the Drivers key that should have been left alone within the previous section. Expand the Drivers key to view it’s contents. The registry entries for printer drivers installed on the computer are stored in the Version-x subkey or subkeys, where x is a number. Export all Version-x subkeys to the Desktop.

1. Expand the Drivers key.
2. Click File
3. Click Export
4. Enter a name into the text box appears that you will recognize later. Example: printerkeys2
5. Click Save

After exporting the Version-x subkeys, expand each Version-x subkey and delete any and all contents of each Version-x subkey. To delete, right-click an entry and select Delete from the menu that appears. Click Yes when prompted to cofirm deletion.

After the Version-x subkey contents have been deleted, we need to back up a few steps to a key that was previously expanded. Look back up the tree of keys for:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors

Now in the above registry location there should only be these subkeys for the default print monitors:

• BJ Language Monitor
• Local Port
• PJL Language Monitor
• Standard TCP/IP Port
• USB Monitor

Any subkeys other than the ones listed should be exported to the Desktop and deleted. To export these keys for backup, take the following steps…

1. Click File
2. Click Export
3. Enter a name into the text box appears that you will recognize later. Example: printerkeys3
4. Click Save

After exporting the key, delete all keys other than the ones listed above. To delete a key: right-click an entry and select Delete from the menu that appears. Click Yes when prompted to cofirm deletion.

This concludes the changes to be made to the Windows registry. Exit the registry editor.

Now, disconnect the printer from the computer if it is not already. Reboot the computer normally and log-in to Windows.

Verify Print Spooler Service

We will now verify that the Print Spooler service is enabled and running.

1. Click Start

(Windows XP)

• Click Run. The run dialog will open. Type into the Run dialog: services.msc
• Press Enter

(Windows Vista/7)

• Type into the search field: services.msc
• Press Enter

A new window titled Services will open. This window lists all the services that are running on the computer. From here, services can be stopped, restarted or disabled from restarting.

2. Browse the list for the Print Spooler service. Once found, double-click the service to open a new window.
3. Make sure that the service is configured to Automatic on the drop-down menu next to Startup.
4. If the service is Stopped press the Start button to enable it. If the service has already been started and is configured to startup automatically, exit this window.

After verifying that the Print Spooler service is enabled, reconnect the printer and begin Windows Add Printer Wizard. Take the following steps to complete this action…

1. Click Start
2. Click Printers and Faxes or Devices and Printers
3. Click Add a printer. The Add Printer Wizard will open in a new window.

The wizard will guide you through the process of adding a new printer to Windows. It will notify you once it is complete. After doing this, print a test page to see if the printer is working. The collective solutions within this guide should have solved any and all errors that you were experiencing with your printer. If you experience any further errors in the future, you can refer to this guide again.

We make cables to order any size up to the maximum recomended length we also rewire networks, give us a call to find out what we can do for you.

The first step in troubleshooting any PC problem is to confirm that the power supply is functioning properly. And don’t be the Hasty he who rushes to replace the power supply when the true failure is a bad AC outlet in the wall or the power strip. Power supply regulation can degrade on the path to failure, rather than going “pop” all at once. Both the cheap PC’s sold in stores and the cheap “case plus power supply” deals on the web are equipped with power supplies that are barely sufficient for the job. The main culprit for intermittent problems that aren’t related to software or the Internet is the ATX power supply, if replacing the power supply replace it with a good quality part with enough wattage for the job.

While there are a large variety of video problems that may need troubleshooting at one time or another, when we talk about outright failure, that usually means nothing appearing on the screen. It’s easy enough to diagnose the problem if the monitor, whether an LCD or an old CRT, isn’t powering up, but most other issues can be due to either the monitor, the video adapter in the PC, the power supply or the motherboard. Modern video cards run so hot and require so much power that failure is often due to overheating. It’s not uncommon for older video cards without latches to simply to pop out of the bus slot.