CST News
We continue to be busy at CST with the Windows XP runout ensuring a steady supply of work.
To ensure that we are kept busy, I am teaching a few hours at Telford this semester as well. It is just like to old days – preparing lessons and labs. But at least no interminable paperwork and this time students who want to be there.
XP Runout
A final reminder that Microsoft intends to pull support for Windows XP on April 8th. What this means is that there will no further updates or security patches for XP after April 8th. If you use your computer for anything on the internet, we strongly suggest that you look at some form of update – either of your computer or of your operating system. Your old system could well be open to attack by anyone who wants to get in.
There are a number of options available. We suggest people pop in and have a chat with Dave or Blake or me to look at the options and what will be best for you. This does not have to be an expensive exercise.
Five Tips to Help You Recover From a Virus Attack
We can spend hundreds of dollars and countless amounts of hours purchasing and setting up anti-virus software in hope of never having to deal with the horrors that come with a computer virus. But, what happens when we actually get one? What do we do? Are there certain procedures that should be followed?
A virus can attack your computer without you knowing. With all the downloading and installing we are doing nowadays, we are more prone than ever to catching one of these computer diseases. So it pays to know exactly what we should do and how we should deal with this situation.
1. Disconnect
Chances are that if you’ve caught a virus, you’ve probably caught it from somewhere on the internet. Therefore, disconnecting you PC from the internet is the first thing you should do as soon as you feel you may have a virus. Disconnecting your PC not only stops your PC from getting more viruses, but also can stop the virus from spreading onto other computers that are connected to the ‘home network’.
2. Scan
The next step should be to scan your computer with the anti-virus software you should already have installed. Running a full system scan is your best bet in finding the virus, and once the scan identifies the virus be sure to choose the option to remove and clean out the predator.
After the anti-virus software has removed the virus, reboot the PC and run another scan just to be safe. You want to be 100% sure you have removed the virus before doing any online shopping or sending any emails to your friends and family.
If your anti-virus software has not identified the unwanted visitor, it would probably pay to run anti-malware and anti-spyware software. Or, if you know the type of virus or even where it came from, try searching the internet (from an uninfected device) for more specific directions on how to successfully remove it from your PC.
3. Re-install
Hopefully, prior to having caught the virus, you had backups of your files and programs. Viruses are known to remove and uninstall files and programs from your PC, so you may have to access your back-up files and install them all over again. This can be a time consuming task. You are probably going to have to go through your computer and find what has and what hasn’t been removed to find what needs to be re-installed.
4. Back-Up
Having experienced the dread of dealing with a virus attack, you will understand the importance of backing up all your data. This relieves a bit of the stress that comes with a virus attack. There are a number of ways in which you can back up your data such as using removable devices such as hard drives, CDs, or USBs or using the cloud storage.
5. Prevent Future Attacks
Having been attacked probably suggests that you need to up the ante on your computers security. Doing this may involve having to constantly check that your security system is up-to-date. Some software however, allow you to set an automatic update scan to ensure that it is always up to date.
If you want to change your anti-virus software, we strongly recommend NOD antivirus here at CST. We run it on our own computers here at work and also on our laptops and home computers – we put our money where our mouths are! NOD is not an expensive antivirus but we find it to be extremely effective.
Obviously if this is too much, just contact us and we will have one of the guys deal to it for you. There is some nasty stuff out these, so take care and do not be afraid to ask for help.
Appraisal Conversation
An employee goes to his boss to discuss his appraisal. Boss starts asking questions:
Boss – There are 50 bricks on an airplane. If you drop 1 outside. How many are left?
Employee – That’s easy. There are 49 left.
Boss – How would you put an elephant into a fridge?
Employee – Open the fridge. Put the elephant in. Then close the fridge.
Boss – How would you put a deer into the fridge?
Employee – Open the fridge. Take the elephant out. Put the deer in. Then close the fridge.
Boss – It’s the lion’s birthday. All animals are at the party except one. Who is missing & why?
Employee – Deer is missing because it is in the fridge.
Boss – An old woman wants to cross a swamp filled with crocodiles. How will she do it?
Employee – She just has to cross from 1 side to the other because all the crocodiles are at the lion’s birthday party.
Boss – Last question. The old lady still died while crossing the swamp. How?
Employee – Err… I guess she drowned?
Boss – No! She was hit by the brick that fell from the airplane.
For more of these silly things, go to this website.
New Laptops
If you want a reliable, hardworking laptop for work or home, we would strongly recommend the HP ProBook range. These are genuine commercial grade laptops rather than home user grade as illustrated by their warranty – a one year next business day on-site warranty. This means that in the unlikely event of a warranty claim, either you can ring the 0800 number and the technician will come from Dunedin to your home or workplace or we can phone for you and the technician will come to CST to fix your laptop. No chance of being lost or taking extra time with a courier – how good is that?
HP Probook 450 G1 i3 $1121.25 inc GST
- Intel Core i3-4000M 2.4 GHz processor
- 15.6” screen
- Intel 4600 shared graphics
- 4 GB RAM
- 500 GB Hard Drive
- DVDRW
- Wireless
- Webcam
- Bluetooth
- Windows 7 Professional with free Windows 8 upgrade (discs supplied)
- One year parts and labour onsite warranty
We can get lots of variations on this theme – 13.3” screens, 17.3” screens, with or without docking stations etc etc. Just ask if you have a special requirement.
St Patrick’s Day
Seeing it is St Patrick’s day in a day or so, I thought a couple of Irish jokes might be appropriate….
Murphy had studied the facts carefully and had come up with the following conclusions.
The odds against being on a plane which had a bomb on board were 10,000 to 1.
However, the odds against being on a plane which had two bombs on board were 10,000,000 to 1.
‘That settles it,’ he said. ‘From now on, every time I fly I’m taking a bomb with me!’
Mary Clancy goes up to Father O’Grady after his Sunday morning service, and she’s in tears.
He says, “So what’s bothering you, Mary my dear?”
She says, “Oh, Father, I’ve got terrible news. Me husband passed away last night.”
The priest says, “Oh, Mary, that’s terrible. Tell me, did he have any last requests?”
She says, “That he did, Father …”
The priest says, “What did he ask, Mary?”
She says, “He said, “Please Mary, put down that damn gun.”
Amazing Balancing Act
We saw some a bit like this when we were in the Northern Territory last year but not as spectacular as this. This is in Finland apparently.
Second Hand Sales
We have a number of second hand items for sale at present – come in and make an offer!
- Canon MP 280 colour inkjet multifunction printer
- Brother MFC8860DN laser multifunction printer
- Canon MF4570dn multifunction laser printer
- A number of LCD screens
- A couple of laptops and PCs
- Small computer desk
Some of these are “on behalf” sales and some are CST sales. Come in, make an offer and maybe take away a really good bargain.
Last Laugh
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read” – Groucho Marx
