A2Z Computing / Az

Fitness Centre

2011-08-29T22:05:00.000+01:00

We have a local site that used pods (these are computers in large game type units with a touch screen)

The idea is public come in using their fitness keys which monitor their performance as and when the use the equipment.

The pod displays the data how they are performing and what they need to do.

These Pods costs approx £3000 each and are approx 5' high x 3' wide x 3' deep (feet).

A2Z computing had to design and build a equivalent pod which did everything and up to date for approx less then £1000 and only 3"deep x 16" wide x 11" high. (inches)

Here we can give you a breakdown what it looks like :

(assume there is a 14" Touch screen in place of the paper)

Here it is with a working screen in bits:

this is when we have just fitted ours the the wall:

ours again now with trunking and power with software installed:

Charity Event of the year 1st October 2011

2011-08-03T15:52:00.000+01:00

* NOT TO BE MISSED *

Link to above file

More Jobs

2011-07-29T15:39:00.000+01:00

David Llewellyn
Valleys Regional Park Coordinator / Cydlynydd Parc Rhanbarthol y Cymoedd

POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Closing date - August 19 2011

WECAN Project Manager

WECAN Administration Officer

Details and application forms available on www.thevalleys.org.uk

David Llewellyn

Valleys Regional Park Coordinator / Cydlynydd Parc Rhanbarthol y Cymoedd
Groundwork Wales, Unit G5, Main Avenue, Treforest Industrial Estate, Pontypridd, CF37 5YL
Groundwork Cymru, Uned G5, Y Brif Rodfa, Stad Ddiwydiannol Trefforest, Pontypridd, CF37 5YL
Tel / Ffôn: 01443 849963
Fax / Ffacs: 01443 844822

www.groundworkwales.org.uk / www.groundworkcymru.org.uk
‘Changing Places, Changing Lives’ / ‘Newid Lleoedd, Newid Bywydau’
www.thevalleys.org.uk
www.heartandsoulofwales.co.uk / www.calonacenaidcymru.co.uk

Virus Hidden Files

2011-07-09T21:01:00.000+01:00

Use Sophos Rootkit removal and Keperskey rootkit
Disable the system restore

KILL all the processes like AMVO.exe or AVPO.exe
Type "msconfig" without quote in run and press Enter.
Go to startup tab and uncheck any entry on amvo.
Type "cmd" without quote in run
type "d:" and then press Enter
type autorun.inf and then press Enter
a file will open in notepad. this would have the name of the .exe/.bat/.com file in it, which is mounted at the boot time.

Type "regedit" without quote in run and press Enter.
Press Ctrl+F and type amvo, do the search again and again and delete all the related entries.
Press Ctrl+F and type u.bat, do the search again and again and delete all the related entries.
Press Ctrl+F and type amva, do the search again and again and delete all the related entries. Generally it should be HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg\amva
search for the registry of file name which was entered in autorun.inf and delete all entries.

Now restart the computer. and do the followings

Go to regedit and then HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer \Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL
Double click on the entry called CheckedValue and replace the 0 with 1.

Now Close all the windows and Press Ctrl+E to open the explorer.
Enable the hidden option from the folder options.

Delete all the malicious files as mentioned above.

Run Spybot and Malware tools clean up as normal

Your computer is now trojan free.

Need a Job?

2011-06-25T22:43:00.000+01:00

15 New Jobs - who wants one?

Here is a list:

Broker Support Executive * 3 perm
Broker Team Leader * 1 perm
Underwriting Executive *2 perm
Underwriting team Leader *1Perm
Customer Services Executive *1 Perm
Transactions Executive *1 Perm
IDC Executive * 1 Perm
Investments Executive Telephony * 1 Perm
Recoveries Executive – 6 month fixed term contract
Java Developer
User Interface Designer
Data Analyst

The Company is : Targetloans www.targetgroup.com

Target Group provide financial services solutions including loan software, mortgage software, loan servicing, mortgage servicing and investment servicing, general insurance software, loan account management, arrears management software, debt collection software, software for finance brokers, collect

contact dave @ w3bb.co.uk

Top 10 Best Practice Tips For Email Marketing

2010-09-21T19:05:00.008+01:00

If you’re using email to communicate with current or prospective customers it's important that you apply best practice to achieve the highest response rates possible, whilst retaining valuable contacts.

1. How To Measure Success

Ensure you outline what your key performance indicators (KPIs) are going to be and bench mark each campaign against them. KPIs could include:

Open rate
Click-through rate
Click to open rate (number of unique clicks/number of unique opens)
Bounce rate
Delivery rate (emails sent, measured against bounces)
Unsubscribe rate
Referral rate ('send-to-a-friend')
Number, or proportion of, spam complaints

2. Personalise Where Possible

Improve response rates by personalising the email content. The more you know about your customers such as their topics of interest, their industry or company size the easier this will be.

3. Use Clear Calls To Action

Ensure the content is clear, consistent and communicates a clear call to action.

4. Experiment With Subject Lines

Keep subject lines short and to the point and try to refrain from using words which will be 'junked' by spam filters. A/B test alternatives to find out what most appeals to your audiences.

5. Test With All Email Clients

Test your email content with all the top email clients and providers (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL etc) to ensure it can be seen by the majority of users.

6. Test To Improve Performance

Continuous A/B testing of templates, subject lines, topics and sending day & times can help to optimise open and conversion rates.

7. Images & Alt Tags

Avoid putting text within an image. Most email clients don’t automatically download images, therefore image content is not viewable on first sight. If you have to use text within images, ensure you use an ‘Alt’ tag reiterating the text within the graphic.

8. Avoid Spamming

Try not to send too many emails to your audience unless you know they want to receive them. If you make the mistake of sending daily / weekly emails to your database you may find out that consumers quickly opt out.

9. Keep It Relevant

Consumers like to receive messages that are relevant to them. Don’t try and sell them something they did not sign up for.

10. Promote Key Content At The Top

Make sure you communicate key messages at the top of your email content. Many email clients don’t automatically display all email content therefore the top content needs to be motivating enough to encourage consumers to scroll down.

Data from : Approved Index

http://epidm.edgesuite.net/RBI/ApprovedIndex/AIBUY/BuyerMWSept2010.html

New IPads

2010-06-06T22:36:00.005+01:00

Nice New Asus Ipad (Eee pad)

ASUS Eee Pad will come in two varieties: the 12-incher running full-blown Windows 7 desktop OS underneath with an Intel Core 2 Duo ultra low power CULV processor, and the 10-incher running Windows Embedded Compact 7 with NVIDIA Tegra in its back. The form factor and everything else will almost remain the same. Both of these devices will give 10 hour of battery life (like iPad), and will feature webcams on the front for video chatting/conferencing. They’ll also feature USB ports for connecting other devices with the Eee Pad.

and here is the MSI Version

The price is the same as the cheapest iPad (£300) and the capacitive screen is effectively the same size (9.7" for the iPad, 10" for the MSI). The iPad runs iPhone OS while the MSI runs Android. That means the MSI will multitask of course, and Flash support in Android should be a given by launch time (though that isn't certain). It has a camera. It's running on an Nvidia Tegra2 chip which Ars Technica suggests puts it on par with the iPad's A4 as far as computing horsepower. And of course Android doesn't live in a walled garden.

here is a video

In a nut shell hold off from buying an IPad - I have seen even more..
Epad, Iped, list goes on..

Exporting Contacts from Thunderbird

2010-05-20T22:24:00.004+01:00

To export your contacts from Mozilla Thunderbird, use the Address Book: to open Thunderbird's address book, go to Tools > Address Book from Thunderbird's main window.

note:

Thunderbird supports multiple address books: the export address book functionality will export the contacts from the selected address book. To export contacts from other address books, repeat the procedure outlined below for each address book.

After having selected the address book you would like to export, go (from Thunderbird's address book window) to Tools > Export

The Export Address Book dialog will open, and let you pick a file name, a location and a file format for your exported contacts.

Thunderbird lets you export contacts from your address book in three formats: LDIF, for LDAP directories, CSV (Comma-Separated Values), the most compatible used format (where contacts are listed on each line, and contact information is separated by commas), or Tab Delimited.

The CSV format enables you for example, to import the contacts you exported from Thunderbird's address book into Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, even Excel with a single click.

I found saving the file and opening it in exel and import, this is the quickest way to work with mail merge.

Here is a tool it must be install into Thunderbird and restarted.
http://nic-nac-project.de/~kaosmos/ImportExportTools-2.3.3.xpi

Full info
http://nic-nac-project.de/~kaosmos/mboximport-en.html

hope it helps.

A2Z Computing PDF brochure

2010-04-11T23:08:00.003+01:00

Information Technology is a powerful business tool, and with the right solution can help your business succeed. Since 1994 we have been providing a range of IT solutions for businesses, schools and home users in the UK, helping them to harness the full potential of their systems.

Blackberry FAQs

2010-04-04T20:23:00.001+01:00

Blackberry FAQs

Email:

•How do you open attachments on your Blackberry?
•How do you view different sheets in Excel on your Blackberry?
•How do you get the BB to delete messages in your Outlook when you delete them on the handheld?
•How do you select multiple emails to delete at one time?
•How do you scroll horizontally?
•How do you copy and paste text?
•How do you quickly capitalize a letter in the middle of a sentence?
•How do you quickly add a period at the end of a sentence and make the next letter capitalized?
•Can you call a number from an email if the number is in the body of the email?
•How do quickly get to your newest message and your oldest messages?

Contacts:

•How do you get to the Global Address Book on the Blackberry?
•How do I quickly add new contacts in your Address Book?
•How do you create a group distribution list on your BB?
•How do you add radio numbers on your Blackberry?
•How do you import the numbers from your Nextel phone to your BB?

Calendar:

•How do you quickly view your schedule on other days?
•How do you add new appointments in your Blackberry and have them sync wirelessly with Outlook?
•How do you accept a meeting request in your Blackberry?
•How do you view your Weekly or Monthly agenda?

Phone:

•What are the quick shortcuts to make a phone call or radio call?
•How do you use speed dial on the 7510?
•How do you speed dial through voice mail passwords?
•How do you hide the call screen while you are on a call and look at other info (calendar, email, or contacts)?
•How do you send an alert and talk on the radio?

Web Browser (Not on All Blackberrys):

•What is the difference between the NOL browser and the Blackberry Browser?
•How do you enter a new web site address on the Blackberry?
•How do you bookmark a web page?

General:

•How do you change Font size on the Blackberry?
•What is the best shortcut to get to an icon without having to roll the track wheel?
•How do change syncing settings and redirector user preferences?

Pin Messages:

•What are PIN messages?
•How do you send a PIN message?
•How do I save the PIN Number when someone sent the email via it?
•How do I add the Pin to a Blackberry contact that already exists?

Profiles:

•How do you change the BB from ring to vibrate?
•How do you change the BB to notify differently if in the holster or out of the holster.

Trouble Shooting:

•Master Reset
•Master Radio Reset
•Master Clear
•Data Customer Care

Email:
•How do you open attachments on your Blackberry? ◦(Requires BES or Web Client, not possible with Redirector) - Open a message with an attachment; push the track wheel in and scroll down to Open Attachment from the menu. Push track wheel in again and select whether you want to download the Table of Contents or the full document.
•How do you view different sheets in Excel on your Blackberry? ◦Push track wheel in when viewing an Excel sheet and select sheet 2 from the menu.
•How do you get the BB to delete messages in your Outlook when you delete them on the handheld?
◦Open the message icon. Push track wheel in and select options. Scroll down and select Handheld next to Delete On. Push track wheel in and select change option and change it to delete on Handheld and Mailbox, push track wheel in and select save.
•How do you select multiple emails to delete at one time? ◦In the message inbox hold the Shift key down and roll the track wheel to select multiple emails, then push track wheel in again and select delete.
•How do you scroll horizontally? ◦Hold down the Alt key and roll the track wheel.
•How do you copy and paste text? ◦Position the cursor in front of the text you want to copy, press the Shift key and roll the track wheel to highlight the text you want to copy. Once the text is highlighted push track wheel in and select copy. Go to where you want to paste the text and push track wheel in and select Paste.
•How do you quickly capitalize a letter in the middle of a sentence? ◦Hold down the letter for 2 seconds and it will change from lower case to upper case.
•How do you quickly add a period at the end of a sentence and make the next letter capitalized?
◦Press the space bar twice at the end of a sentence and it will input a period and move over one space and capitalize the next letter.
•Can you call a number from an email if the number is in the body of the email?
◦Yes. You can also highlight a web link and go to that link by pushing the track wheel in selecting get link.
•How do quickly get to your newest message and your oldest messages?
◦Go to your Messages then press the letter "T" and it will take you to the Top of the list. Pressing "B" will take you to the bottom. Press the space bar will move you down one screen of messages at a time.
Contacts:
•How do you get to the Global Address Book on the Blackberry? ◦(Requires BES configuration) Go to your Contacts and push track wheel in and select "Look Up", type in part of the last name you are looking up and push track wheel in again on matches it found and select View Lookup. It will display up to 20 matches at a time. You can select the person from there and email them or you can push track wheel in and select Add to add them in your personal address Book. Adding them in your personal address book will automatically input their name, numbers, address, and email address.
•How do I quickly add new contacts in your Address Book? ◦When someone send you and email you can highlight the name in the email address and push track wheel in and select Add to Address Book. This will add their name and email address in your personal address book.
•How do you create a group distribution list on your BB?
◦Go to your Contacts and push track wheel in and select New Group. Name the group and push track wheel in select Add member, push track wheel in and select the people from your address book you want in your group.
•How do you add radio numbers on your Blackberry? ◦Put the entire radio number in under Contacts in the DCID field.
•How do you import the numbers from your Nextel phone to your BB? ◦You need to have the Nextel Address Book service active on your Nextel phone first. Then follow the instructions on the "Import Nextel Phonebook to Outlook" document. This will show you how to send your numbers from your phone to the Nextel.com Address Book, save that file, and then import that file into Outlook, and sync your BB. (If Instructions are not attached, please request if needed).

Calendar :
•How do you quickly view your schedule on other days? ◦While in the Calendar day view hold down the Alt key and roll the track wheel to go to a different day. You can also push the space bar to move forward one day.
•How do you add new appointments in your Blackberry and have them sync wirelessly with Outlook?
◦In the Calendar, push track wheel in and select New. Type in the subject, then set the time and date and push track wheel in again and select save. (Requires BES configuration to sync calendar wirelessly, otherwise it will sync when cradle).
•How do you accept a meeting request in your Blackberry? ◦Open the email and push track wheel in and select Accept or Decline with or without comments.
•How do you view your Weekly or Monthly agenda? ◦Open the calendar, push track wheel in and select view by week or by month.

Phone :
•What are the quick shortcuts to make a phone call or radio call? ◦Press the space bar on the home screen and it will open the phone screen. Press the space bar again it will display the last number called.
◦Press A for Address Book, search for the person you want to call and push track wheel in and select call or Alert.
◦Use the Speed dial capability on the 7510. (See next question).

•How do you use speed dial on the 7510? ◦Hold down a letter on the home screen for 3 seconds and it will ask if you want to assign this letter as a speed dial. Select Yes and select the person you want to assign this letter to from your Address Book.
•How do you speed dial through voice mail passwords? ◦Enter a new contact in address Book (name it Voice mail), enter your number in the phone field followed a pause, your password, three pauses, and the number 1. To put a pause in press the letter "N". (for example if your number is 602-757-1000 your password is 5555 your number will look like this: 6027571000p5555ppp1. Now assign this entry a to a speed letter on the home screen (see: How do you speed dial on the 7510).

•How do you hide the call screen while you are on a call and look at other info (calendar, email, or contacts)?
◦While on a phone call on the Blackberry, push track wheel in and select hide call or home screen. Then you can read email, access your Address Book or check your calendar.
•How do you send an alert and talk on the radio? ◦Go to the phone icon or Address and pick a person to call and push track wheel in and select Alert, then push the Push-to-talk number at the top of the BB to talk on the radio.

Web Browser (Not on All Blackberrys) :
•What is the difference between the NOL browser and the Blackberry Browser?
◦The NOL Browser is a WAP Browser that displays web pages that are written for viewing by mobile devices. The Blackberry Browser is a HTML Browser that can view most web pages. Some complex web pages may not be displayed correctly or only part of the web page will be displayed. (The Blackberry Browser requires a BES configuration).
•How do you enter a new web site address on the Blackberry? ◦Go to the NOL or Blackberry Browser and push track wheel in and select "Go To." Type in the URL and roll the track wheel down to OK.
•How do you bookmark a web page? ◦Once you are on web page that you want to Bookmark push track wheel in and select Add Bookmark.
General :
•How do you change Font size on the Blackberry? ◦Select the Options icon on the Blackberry and then select Screen/Keyboard. Then select Font Size and push track wheel in and select Change option roll the track wheel up or down to make the text larger or smaller. Select the size you want, then push track wheel in and select save.
•What is the best shortcut to get to an icon without having to roll the track wheel?
◦Press the letter that is underlined while each icon is selected. For instance press M for messages on the home screen and it will take you inside of the messages icon.
•How do change syncing settings and redirector user preferences?
◦Select the intellisync icon from your Blackberry Desktop Manager software on your computer and check the settings you wish. The configure PIM button will allow you to change what the Blackberry is syncing with.
◦Selecting Redirector Settings icon from your Blackberry Desktop Manager software on your computer can change the Redirector preferences.

PIN Messages:
•What are PIN messages? ◦PIN messages are messages that are sent from one Blackberry to another Blackberry without going through the email system. (Similar to Instant Messaging).
•How do you send a PIN message? ◦Select messages and push track wheel in select PIN Message or select a name from your Address Book that has PIN number saved in it. Then type out the subject and message just like you would with a normal message and push track wheel in select send.
•How do I save the PIN Number when someone sent the email via it? ◦First open the email on the blackberry, move the cursor to highlight the "From," click on the track wheel once and select "Show Qualified Address." Highlight and copy the PIN Number by holding down the NUM or the Shift key and moving the track wheel. Once the PIN Number is highlighted and selected, click on the track wheel and select "Copy Selection." Then create a contact address and paste the PIN Number in the Pin: field.

•How do I add the Pin to a Blackberry contact that already exists? ◦Edit the contact address and add the pin to the "PIN:" field.

Profiles :
•How do you change the BB from ring to vibrate? ◦Select the Profile icon and select a different profile to change the settings for notifications.
•How do you change the BB to notify differently if in the holster or out of the holster.
◦Select the Profile icon and select a different profile to change the settings for notifications. To view or change the profile settings push track wheel in and select Edit, then select the type of notification that you want to change. For instance select Messages and push track wheel in and select edit. The screen will show you how the Blackberry will notify you in and out of the holster. To make changes push the track wheel in and select change option then select save after the changes.

Trouble Shooting :
•Master Reset - If Blackberry unit locks up try a master Reset. Take the back door off and push a paper clip in the small hole on the bottom that says RESET. The unit will power off then back on. (No information will be erased).
•Master Radio Reset - If Blackberry wireless service does not work after turning wireless on try a Master Radio Reset. Select the Options icon, then security, then push the track wheel in and select Master Radio Reset, select YES. Type in 0000 for the password and select OK. (To put in the 0000 you need hold Alt down and press 0000 at the same time).
•Master Clear - Use this if you want to erase all of the info off of the BB device, for instance, when the BB may have been used by one employee and now that device is going to be given to another employee to use. Select Options, Security, push the track wheel in on Disable (Password), select change option, and select Enabled, push the track wheel in again and select SAVE. Type in a new password (AAAA), push the track wheel in then re-type same password (AAAA). Go back to the home screen and press the letter K (shortcut for keyboard lock), push the track wheel in and then type in a incorrect password, repeat the unlock procedure 10 times entering an incorrect password each time. On the 5 th and 8 th attempt you will have to type the word "Blackberry." On the last attempt it will notify you that all info will be erased. The unit will power off and then back on and all the information will be erased (Email, contacts, calendar, etc).
•Call Customer Care - for Blackberry Technical assistance

Business Rate - rip off

2010-04-02T22:39:00.005+01:00

Hello everyone..

I should have put this in November when we were notified that our rates were going from £4800 per year to just under £12,000.. (I'm doing this as I've just been told my Rates problem got on the radio wales)

Well I hit the ceiling, asked everyone, even contacted Wendy (our previous accounts manager) Wendy confirmed that we have only paid about £400 per month..

so you can imagine from my surprise when I was hit with this, Every business is struggling, Newport is going downhill, we sticking allowing the developers to change things and make Newport better.

We are members of several Business Groups, and the same thing is mentioned time and time again, NEWPORT is not New anymore more its needs something urgently..

Several business I have spoken to stated Newport is killing itself.. the City Council (CC) just don't really care.. Look at the town, We did not purchase our premises in town as the rates to high. we moved to Maindee area, outside of the town, in a residential area, were the building was falling apart.

I gave the task to our office manager to find out what can be done, she informed me the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) said if they came down it could increase even more. at this point I was angry and very disappointed, in our city, but said tell them to come.

Early December we had a visit from 2 People who I think where from VOA, a male and female. The male opened a folder which had drawings in it (rough drawing in pen). and basically told me I would be paying the new rate as the old one might be wrong.

I tried to explain and tried to show them around, but they just said that was final and I could appeal in April. I even told them It means I have to let someone go to cover the costs. but they I guess were the messengers.

During January I got our new office Manager Jennie and myself to call all support agency's the chamber, Business Federation, different clubs and Mr Google. eventually between all this we found:

http://www.mybusinessrates.gov.uk/
http://www.voa.gov.uk/business_rates/
http://www.valuationtribunal.gov.uk/Home.aspx
http://www.valuation-tribunals-wales.gov.uk/Index.htm
http://wales.gov.uk/topics/localgovernment/finandfunding/nondomesticrates/?lang=en
http://www.ratesrecovery.com/

We found some forms, and made more calls, assumed nothing was going to happen, then in march we had our Rate Bill (hay happy day's for now..) its £430 per month totaling £5160 (I still recon high) but can live with this.

What I don't understand is Newport is failing in all areas. Schools, Homes, Businesses, there are more thugs out now then ever before, I guess that's what city status brings. But why does the Council not help. we all in this recessions.. some rubbish I heard that we are on the way to recovery. (dream on.) People are still wondering if they will have a job, companies are still being forced to close.

This is not going to stop in one go! I see this happening for a few years.

Who is going to benefit from the Rider Cup? well? I've been pushed to the side, as its been signed up by large American companies. (HP, etc..) I thought WAG was tiring to push welsh companies. but I see the same thing happens.. outsides get in. forget the local businesses. (I may create a new rant about this).

The BBC Radio Wales (1/4/2010) Snippit : (no its not April fools..)

http://sites.google.com/site/a2zcomputingltd/files-found/BBCRadioWalesJannet-Rates.wav?attredirects=0&d=1

Links to IWB support files

2010-03-17T20:51:00.001Z

Smart Board / IWB support files for lessons

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Interactive.aspx
http://www.schools.bedfordshire.gov.uk/NGFL/IWB/resources.html

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/15.cfm?s=15&p=250,index
http://www.woodlandgrange.leics.sch.uk/iwb/

http://smarttech.com/trainingcenter/material.asp
http://www.education.smarttech.com/ste/en-GB/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook+Activities/

ultra thin Laptop

2010-03-09T21:57:00.003Z

According to rumours just surfacing it appears that Fujitsu and Asus aren’t the only ones that are looking seriously at frameless laptops (ie., laptops without bezels) as it’s now said that Acer are also looking at producing a frameless laptop with the report suggesting that Acer’s frameless laptop is set to become available in the second half of this year.

The report is scant on detail and doesn’t name its sources – merely crediting ‘notebook players’ – and, we might add, at this stage, goes wholly unsubstantiated, but it suggests that Acer’s as yet untitled frameless laptop will come with a touchscreen keyboard and a reinforced glass substrate onto which the display will be printed.

“Acer is expected to adopt Corning’s reinforced glass substrate and simply print color on its back to allow the substrate to function like a notebook cover for a frameless design,” says the unnamed source. “The design will help reduce the thickness of the ultra-thin notebook and can also reduce material costs.”

Of course, there’s really not much to go on here, but the technology is certainly there so its not merely a flight of fancy but until Acer come out with an official release you’ll excuse us if we sit on the fence on this one in the meantime.

(TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities)

Faster Internet - for FREE

2010-03-02T23:16:00.004Z

BT have come up with a way of making more money from YOU..
Its called the Iplate.. costs about 6-7 quid.

Now It looks like this:

Here is a Video how to install it :

some spec :

What is the BT i-Plate & how does it work?
The i-Plate (iPlate) is a filter for use on ADSL Broadband lines to improve the speed & stability of the connection. Since they're easy to install yourself, (see YouTube video) there are no costly engineer visits required. When connected to the master socket, the iPlate filters the 'bell wire' which used to be needed to make our old-fashioned analogue telephones ring. However, with today's touch-tone phones, this bell wire is now redundant and its presence in a master socket actually causes digital interference on the ADSL line.

Please note that with an iPlate, you will still need to use micro filters.

Increased speeds:
Some lines have seen up to 4Mb increases in speed although improvements of 1.5Mb were found to be more typical in a benchmark survey of 36,000 filtered lines. This indicates a potential 10Db extension in reach meaning iPlates can also help with poor performing ‘Long lines’. These benefits were realized on ADSL lines and they'll be at least as good, if not better, on ADSL2+ lines.

Improved stability:
Since the iPlate also helps to make ADSL connections more stable, there can be Broadband performance benefits even when line speed is not noticeably increased. The same benchmark study of 36,000 lines showed that filtered lines typically had 20% fewer re-trains (denoting lost connections) and a 45% reduction in error rate.

Who can use the iPlate?
7 out of 10 UK homes will benefit to some extent – that’s approximately 9m Broadband lines. You must have a BT NTE5 type Master Socket

Will I benefit from an iPlate?
A good way to tell if your line is likely to benefit from bell wire filtering is to compare Broadband performance test results when the modem is plugged into the master socket, versus plugging it into an extension socket. If you see an improvement in broadband performance when the master socket is used, this is a good indication that an iPlate will help.

Ok now its time for an Eye opener..

Solwise says that the I-Plate, which BT claims can improve your broadband speed by up to 1.5Mbps when fitted to your home phone socket, isn't worth buying.

The I-Plate is a self-install filter which needs to be fitted in between the front and back plate of the BT NTE 5 master telephone socket.

The I-Plate disables the bell wire that was used to make older telephones ring. Solwise, however, suggests a manual solution to disable the bell wire.

"The Solwise solution to this problem would be to detach the front section of your master socket and disconnect the bell-wire(s) (from pin 3) and re-fit the faceplate," the company said in an email.

"The BT solution is called the iPlate! This device places a filter on the bell-wire (which remember is not required!)," the email continued.

Just to inform all Yes it does work, so remove the wire from connection 3

Windows Audit Software

2010-01-03T22:26:00.001Z

Just letting people know two nice pieces of software for free:

Winaudit from : WinAudit

WinAudit is a software programme that audits Windows® based personal computers. Just about every aspect of computer inventory is examined. The report is displayed as a web page, which can be saved in a number of standard formats. You can e-mail it to your technical support or even post the audit to a database for archiving. When used in conjunction with its command line functionality, you can automate inventory administration at the network level. WinAudit supports the remote desktop and pre-installation environments.

MS Audit from : Microsoft
Microsoft Software Inventory Analyzer

You can use the MSIA to scan and inventory the Microsoft software that is installed on a single computer, or on multiple computers throughout a network. It generates a report that provides details of all installed Microsoft products, including the type and the number of licenses. The MSIA will work with networks that have 250 or fewer computers. The latest MSIA 5.1 features enable you to:

Identify and report all installed Microsoft products listed under Add or Remove Programs.

Consolidate the MSIA report with the Microsoft Licensing Statement (MLS) report (.xls only).

Project Natal (for XBOX 360)

2009-10-11T15:32:00.003+01:00

Microsoft finally took the wraps off the that rumored motion controller we'd been hearing about. Apparently the small, black device -- codenamed "Natal" -- will allow for an astoundingly wide range of actions by utilizing a group of sensors. The demo Microsoft showed off included a skateboarding game and a family playing a racing game.

The add-on will offer features such as auto sign-in for players to Xbox Live (based on complex facial recognition), and sports extremely detailed body tracking which will be able to follow the individual movements of separate limbs. A title was shown off which featured a woman interacting with a young boy on the screen (one of the company's creepier demos in recent memory.) Unfortunately for us. Everyone is still waiting for a release date from Microsoft.

Presentation Software

2009-10-11T15:17:00.002+01:00

Bored the powerpoint?

Here is a better presentation software (better then PowerPoint), that even Microsoft uses it.

http://www.ventuz.com/index.aspx

http://www.ventuz.com/references/projects/presentations/5/microsoft_at_cebit_2009.aspx

Of the Express Version is FREE and will do everything that powerpoint does

here is a section from their website:

It is the perfect solution for presentations given in a business or event surrounding, where every aspect, from location over decoration to catering, has been arranged by specialists. In a setting like this, you need a presentation that can impress your audience beyond their expectations.

At the same time your presentation needs to be flexible enough to be adapted to changes up to the last minute before the event.

Ventuz is the perfect combination of these two aspects: impressive 3D looks and a real-time environment.

Az

Locked Bios

2009-05-25T17:37:00.002+01:00

How to Bypass BIOS Passwords

BIOS passwords can be add extra layer of security for desktop and laptop computers, and are used to either prevent a user from changing the BIOS settings or to prevent the PC from booting without a password. BIOS passwords can also be a liability if a user forgot their passwords, or if a malicious user changes the password. Sending the unit back to the manufacturer to have the BIOS reset can be expensive and is usually not covered in an a typical warranty. However, there are a few known backdoors and other tricks of the trade that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS password on most systems.

Backdoor Passwords
Many BIOS manufacturers have provided backdoor passwords that can be used to access the BIOS setup in the event you have lost your password. These passwords are case sensitive, so you may wish to try a variety of combinations.

WARNING: Some BIOS configurations will lock you out of the system completely if you type in an incorrect password more than 3 times. Read your manufacturers documentation for the BIOS setting before you begin typing in passwords.

Award BIOS backdoor passwords:

ALFAROME BIOSTAR KDD ZAAADA
ALLy CONCAT Lkwpeter ZBAAACA
aLLy CONDO LKWPETER ZJAAADC
aLLY Condo PINT 01322222
ALLY d8on pint 589589
aPAf djonet SER 589721
_award HLT SKY_FOX 595595
AWARD_SW J64 SYXZ 598598
AWARD?SW J256 syxz AWARD SW
J262 shift + syxz AWARD PW j332
TTPTHA AWKWARD j322 awkward

AMI BIOS Backdoor Passwords:

AMI BIOS PASSWORD HEWITT RAND
AMI?SW AMI_SW LKWPETER CONDO

Phoenix BIOS Backdoor Passwords:

phoenix PHOENIX CMOS BIOS

Misc. Common Passwords

ALFAROME BIOSTAR biostar biosstar
CMOS cmos LKWPETER lkwpeter
setup SETUP Syxz Wodj

Toshiba BIOS
Most Toshiba laptops and some desktop systems will bypass the BIOS password if the left shift key is held down during boot

IBM Aptiva BIOS
Press both mouse buttons repeatedly during the boot

Using the Motherboard "Clear CMOS" Jumper or Dipswitch settings
Many motherboards feature a set of jumpers or dipswitches that will clear the CMOS and wipe all of the custom settings including BIOS passwords. The locations of these jumpers / dipswitches will vary depending on the motherboard manufacturer and ideally you should always refer to the motherboard or computer manufacturers documentation. If the documentation is unavailable, the jumpers/dipswitches can sometimes be found along the edge of the motherboard, next to the CMOS battery, or near the processor. Some manufacturers may label the jumper / dipswitch CLEAR - CLEAR CMOS - CLR - CLRPWD - PASSWD - PASSWORD - PWD. On laptop computers, the dipswitches are usually found under the keyboard or within a compartment at the bottom of the laptop.

Remember to unplug your PC and use a grounding strip before reaching into your PC and touching the motherboard. Once you locate and rest the jumper switches, turn the computer on and check if the password has been cleared. If it has, turn the computer off and return the jumpers or dipswitches to its original position.

Removing the CMOS Battery
The CMOS settings on most systems are buffered by a small battery that is attached to the motherboard. (It looks like a small watch battery). If you unplug the PC and remove the battery for 10-15 minutes, the CMOS may reset itself and the password should be blank. (Along with any other machine specific settings, so be sure you are familiar with manually reconfiguring the BIOS settings before you do this.) Some manufacturers backup the power to the CMOS chipset by using a capacitor, so if your first attempt fails, leave the battery out (with the system unplugged) for at least 24 hours. Some batteries are actually soldered onto the motherboard making this task more difficult. Unsoldering the battery incorrectly may damage your motherboard and other components, so please don't attempt this if you are inexperienced. Another option may be to remove the CMOS chip from the motherboard for a period of time.
Note: Removing the battery to reset the CMOS will not work for all PC's, and almost all of the newer laptops store their BIOS passwords in a manner which does not require continuous power, so removing the CMOS battery may not work at all. IBM Thinkpad laptops lock the hard drive as well as the BIOS when the supervisor password is set. If you reset the BIOS password, but cannot reset the hard drive password, you may not be able to access the drive and it will remain locked, even if you place it in a new laptop. IBM Thinkpads have special jumper switches on the motherboard, and these should be used to reset the system.

Powertoys for your Windows XP

2009-04-08T22:40:00.002+01:00

This is the second version of the PowerToys set, and is a major change from the Windows 95 version. The tools are now included in separate downloads rather than in a single compressed executable file, and many tools that were distributed with Windows 95 PowerToys are no longer part of Windows XP's PowerToys as some functionality of the Windows 95 PowerToys has been incorporated into later versions of Windows, such as the ability to treat .CAB files like ordinary folders.

In all, the following tools have been released as Windows XP PowerToys. Some of them have been later retired and are no longer available.
Alt-Tab Replacement Task Switcher - Replaces the simpler Alt-Tab switcher with a more visual one which shows live window previews.
Background Switcher - Adds a slideshow tab to Display properties and allows automatically changing the desktop wallpaper periodically.
CD Slideshow Generator - Generates a slideshow from photos burned to a CD.
ClearType Tuner - Allows customizing ClearType settings to make it easier to read text on the screen.
Color Control Panel Applet - Allows managing color profiles, changing color profile associations for devices, viewing detailed properties for color profiles (including a 3D rendering of the color space gamut).
HTML Slideshow Wizard - Generates an HTML slideshow presentation.
Image Resizer (Photo Toys) - Allows right-clicking on multiple image files inside Windows Explorer to batch resize them.
Internet Explorer Find Bar - Adds a toolbar similar to the Find on this page function in Internet Explorer.
ISO Image Burner - Burns ISO images to a CD burner.
Open Command Window Here - Allows starting a command prompt from any folder in Windows Explorer by right-clicking.
Power Calculator - Calculator with support for functions, conversions and graphing.
RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer - Provides thumbnails, previews, printing, and metadata display for RAW images from within Windows Explorer.
Shell Audio Player - A Windows Media Player-based compact player which allows playing music from the taskbar.
Super-Fast User Switcher - Allows Fast User Switching using the Windows key+Q combination without requiring to switch even to the logon screen.
SyncToy - Allows synchronizing files and folders.
Taskbar Magnifier - Magnifies part of the screen from the taskbar.
Tweak UI - Allows customizing Windows XP's user interface and advanced settings.
Virtual Desktop Manager - Allows switching between four virtual desktops from the taskbar.
Webcam Timershot - Takes pictures at specified time intervals from a webcam.

Some of the Windows XP PowerToys, namely, Background Switcher, Internet Explorer Find Bar, ISO Image Burner, Shell Audio Player and Super-Fast User Switcher have since been retired. Shell Audio Player only worked with Windows Media Player 9 Series, while ISO Image Burner was a third-party PowerToy and an updated version is available as ISO Recorder. Background Switcher is available in an updated form as part of the Creativity Fun Pack. Video screensaver, another PowerToy released as part of the PowerToys Fun Pack.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Making Better photos

2009-02-08T20:08:00.001Z

Well not sure how I found this, and test all the packages, "WOW is all i can say as its all FREE"

The test i did was upload my little girls photo and got the software to turn it into a magazine type picture, (it automatically added new face colours and tones and air brushed it).

The are also several other packages, One of which is Funny Photos, I used the same photo to create a high quality printable photo with someone painting her..

you can find these here: http://www.pho.to/

have a go upload a photo and download the results straight away.

DON'T SPEND ANY MONEY..

FREE Exchange Monitor

2009-01-27T22:59:00.000Z

I found this excellent tool from solarwinds,

This free desktop dashboard continuously monitors Microsoft Exchange servers to deliver real-time insight into Exchange services, mail queue sizes, and host server health. With Exchange Monitor at your fingertips, you’ll be able to track Exchange health at-a-glance and ensure this mission-critical app never fails you.

Quickly identify and troubleshoot Exchange server problems, preventing email delays and calendaring issues

Spot growing mail queues that can indicate bigger issues, like transport failures, Internet connection failures, and virus activity

Leverage out-of-the-box settings based on best practices to start monitoring Exchange immediately

Prevent performance issues before they impact users with built-in red, yellow, and green health indicators

Monitor critical server health indicators, including disk space, CPU utilization, and memory utilization, to ensure optimal hardware functionality

No problems getting it running on Standard Windows, or SBS, Quick and Easy..

download file here:

http://sites.google.com/site/a2zcomputingltd/files-found/SolarWinds-Exchange-Monitor-I.zip?attredirects=0

SBS 2003 Memory Problems

2009-01-20T08:40:00.000Z

Have you added more RAM into your server, and suddley your getting memeory Allocation errors.

in these cases where allocated memory errors were caused by adding RAM to the machine. This happens because we are actually making use of the new memory (which is a good thing, the server is using the resources you have added more effectively), but you may want to modify the threshold to avoid getting an unneeded alert.

The actual text of the error message is:

Alert on SBSSERVER at 2006.06.27. 0:05:00

A large amount of memory is committed to applications and processes. Consistently high memory usage can cause performance problems.

To determine which processes and applications are using the most memory, use Task Manager. Monitor the activity of these resources over a few days. If they continue to use a high level of memory and are less critical processes or services, try stopping and then restarting them.

You can disable this alert or change its threshold by using the Change Alert Notifications task in the Server Management Monitoring and Reporting taskpad.

To modify the value, do the following:

1. Click START -> Run -> mmc

2. Click File -> Add/Remove snap-in in MMC

3. Add health monitor and click ok back to the main screen.

4. Navigate to Health Monitor -> All Monitored Computers -> SBSSERVER -> Small Business Server Alerts -> Core Server Alerts -> Allocated Memory. On the right-hand pane, right-click on "Allocated Memory" and choose Properties. Edit the "is greater than" value to reflect the correct amount of RAM. Default is 2 GB/2147483648 (3 GB = 3221225472, 4 GB = 4294967296).

Thats it..

This was obtained from the official SBS Blog : http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/ - not easy to find.

Video Player for various formats

2009-01-06T23:09:00.000Z

Had a call today regarding how to play Videos over the network, and not kill the system. also be able to play various formats.

Well I said "VIDEOLAN"

It allows you to play lots of video formats, more that Microsoft's, and is FREE, will allow you to stream files over the IP Network. What more do you need..

Put a Video on a network share access it via 20 machines, buy double clicking it and watch the network come to a crawl.

Now do the same thing but create a shortcut using videolan so its loads (needs to be install on all computers) hay look no dropouts and still completely usable network.

The Link to download this program is on favorits also :

Download VideoLan

Here is a huge : feature list

Rebit Backup

2008-12-21T16:27:00.000Z

Well we all use backup devices ! Don't we?

NOW there is a new device that I think will save time..

Rebit is an external USB hard drive. Unlike other external solutions, which can be used as “just a hard drive”, the Rebit isn’t designed, nor will it let you, use it as basic external storage.

Instead, it’s designed to provide complete, real-time, continuous backups (more like synchronizations) of everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) on your PC’s internal drives only. Now I don’ t have any inside information, but I think I have a good idea how it works - and my guess is that involves things like Windows Change Journals VSS and other ways that the average user probably never has heard of, and certainly doesn’t want to concern themselves with. But that’s the beauty of Rebit. It does some pretty complicated things to make sure it always has the most up to date copy of any given file on your computer, and it does it all with you barely even knowing it’s there.

Installing & Configuring Rebit

To get Rebit up and running all you need to do is plug it in to your PC via USB. Because its innards are comprised of a laptop-sized hard drive, it doesn’t require an external power source. In most cases, a single USB port is sufficient to power the device. If your computer can’t provide enough juice over one port, the Rebit’s USB cable has a second plug which you can use for additional USB power.

As soon as you plug in the Rebit you’ll be prompted to “Start” Rebit. You’ll need to click OK to the license agreement as well. After that you can pretty much forget Rebit exists. It will do everything it needs to do, and it won’t need any additional help from you.
It’s worth mentioning that Rebit will install a couple of service on your PC. It will also kick off a couple of additional processes when you login to Windows. It sounds like a lot, but I found Rebit’s resource footprint to be practically non-existent; certainly far less than any backup solution I’ve seen to date

Restoring with Rebit

Easy Just use Explorer and drag your files out.. if you completely screwed your PC OR Need everything onto a new one, ITS easy as A.B.C - Insert the Rebit recovery CD and boot, restore the whole Image back. DONE..

The Versions its available in are 160Gb, 320Gb and 500Gb. There will be a version for SBS and Network Environments. REMEMBER is currently for a single computer.

Get the PDF

More updates will be added as I figure them out.

Copy IPod Music from 1 Pc to 2nd PC

2008-12-12T21:15:00.000Z

Well Don't invest in software when you can do in manually - But hay if you can't copy and paste then may be you should pay!!

I'm like to thank Chris for testing this out and lending me his Ipod.

Apple does not ant to make it easy for you so it encrpts the names of all your music on your ipod and mixes up all you albums.

Do the folowing:
1. Plug your ipod into a computer with itunes installed.
2. When it is detected by your computer you will see it as a hard-drive under My Computer
3. Right click on the icon & click open
4. You now have to make all folders visible -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View -> Show hidden files & folders
5. Once you have selected to allow hidden folders to be visible, you will now see a folder called Ipod_Control, open this. Here you can see all your music you have stored on your ipod except as I said at the begining the names of each track is renamed to something like XYGB. Also each folder may contain 12 different tracks but these tracks are no longer the same album but a mixture of all your tracks from all your albums....................this makes it impossible to know what songs or albums you are looking at.
6. if you double click on each track (XYGB for example) it will be automatically opened in itunes, & itunes will then decode the encryption and give you back the track name along with album and artist as usual in itunesIn conclusion, you can pain stakingly double click all the tracks (or likewise import them through itunes) and you will get back all your music from your ipod into your PC WITH all the music attributes but where they are stored on your PC will always remain encripted and mixed up......but who cares about that as long as they are organised in itunes, which they will be. This will take a while.

Thats All, If you get a chance you can always put your ipod into a cracker.. :-)

On a serious note DUMP Itunes and get http://www.mgtek.com/dopisp/

That's right, kiss iTunes goodbye and start syncing your iPod with Windows Media Player! Finally, there is a solution that is fully integrated into Windows Media Player.

Some more info:

http://www.itreviews.co.uk/software/s479.htm

I don't think this is the only software that does its job and DUMP Itunes.. If use anyothers please let me know.

Fix your Nintendo DS Light

2008-12-03T23:55:00.000Z

At first, my daughters Nintendo DS Lite won't turn on, Light Flashes then goes out. When it did turn on - after about 20 seconds in to the game it freezes and you had to turn off the game to restart. Now it won't turn on at all. You turn on the switch and the green light comes on but nothing else does. What should I do? DON'T PANIC..

It could be a battery or a charger problem.
Get a different battery/charger. I recommend borrowing your friends, so you don't have to spend money, And, if you determine it is one, you didn't have to buy the other to find that out!

If that doesn't work, try cleaning all of the contact surfaces on the DS Lite (Where the charger plugs in, the metal that touches the battery)

If you fix it with one of these methods, then that is all there is to it.
If none of these help,

If the DS is under warranty then take it back why waste time, Or Try calling Nintendo's support hotline, use their online support:http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/Online support may not have the answer to what you need, in which case it will lead you to a webform E-Mail service to get personal help.

If your DS Lite is over 1 year old, and it needs to be repaired, you will have to pay £50-£80 to get it repaired. But Here are the steps:

Alright the first thing you are going to need to do is determine you have a DS with a blown fuse. Try to turn on your DS. If the light goes on for a second, and then turns itself off, there’s a good chance that this is your problem, and this method will provide a fix. If not, then you may want to try it anyway. It’s not like you have anything to lose…

1. Tools you need :

Soldering Iron (Low wattage)
Very thin wire (Gauge 10 or 22)
set of Very small Screw drivers (0.9mm and 1.2mm)
cup of tea..

2. Take 8 of the screws out : 2x under the battery, 2x under the black feet, 3x near each corner, 1x under slot 1.

3. After you have the DS disassembled, you’ll have something that looks like this. The section in the red square is the section we’ll be dealing with:

4. Take a look at the mainboard find the F1 and F2 Fuses. These are the ones that are causing the problem. We will take a look at F2 first, and then if needed F1

Take your soldering iron and heat it up. When heated, carefully desolder F2. Do this by putting the tip of your iron on one end of the fuse and heating it up. Gently pry upwards on the fuse until it comes loose. Then do the same on the other side. or attach your gauge wire to both ends of the fuse.. There’s such a minuscule amount of solder on the board that you will only need to hold the iron to the board for a couple of seconds to get it loose. This is good; the less heat applied to the DS’s board.Once you’ve gotten rid of the F2 Fuse, clip a little piece of wire just big enough to bridge the two contacts left behind from where the fuse was. It might take a bit of maneuvering to get it there because it’s so small. Once you get it in place, apply some heat with your iron and solder it to the two contacts. Before you start messing with F1, put your battery in and test it. If it turns on, great! You’re done. Close it back up and you’re good to go! If it still doesn’t work, move on to the F1 Fuse and repeat the process again for that one. Close your DS back up and you’re good to go!. The F1 and F2 fuses will be on different places on the board however, so you will have to do a little bit of searching to find them. Just do the same process as above once you’ve found the fuses. if you want to replace the fuses :

get them here:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=150296374809

More reading:
http://m3wiki.com/index.php/Nintendo_DS_Lite_:_Repair_a_broken_console_(blown_fuse)

Video : (not by me!!)

Affordable iScsi System

2008-12-02T21:08:00.000Z

Well the last one I designed and build was 12Tb, at cost around 8K, now I have a challenge to sort out one, that means it might not be as flexible as the original one but MUST cost be less the 2.5K.

Idea 1: 500Gb, Storage, with a E2140, 512M Ram designed in a PC, running E-Open Software cost £700

Idea 2: 2Tb Storage, with a E6650, 1GbM Ram designed in a nicer case, running E-Open Software cost £1400

Idea 3: 3Tb Storage, with a E8400, 2GbM Ram designed in a nicer case running with a Sata Raid 1, running E-Open Software cost £2300

Idea 4: Utiliase SS4200 or SS4000, add your own HDs costs from £400

Idea 5: Use the Bufflow Iscsi TerraServer cost £1800 for 2Tb

Idea 6: Netgear ReadyNAS with Iscsi Option, cost £1900 only 3Tb Storage

Idea 7: Overland Snap Server : 4Tb cost £2400 with Iscsi Option

Well the list can be endless, here are the reasons why I chose what I did: Ideas 1 and 2 were more PC Based, software choices were E-Open and EMC. These did everything we needed to just did not look right. I wanted it small as a 1U Rack Server, and have Hot swap bays.

Idea 3, Utilised the SR1530HSH Server which was based on the 1U Rack, and 3 Tb Drives, Still have to rely on E-Open Software.

Idea 4 has been designed by Intel, and yes can handle upto 4Tb, but the software is just - say no more, Yes I have picked holes and written to support getting more options. not very reliable with AD. You can add E-Open, Plugin, but then can have ISCSI.

Idea 5, is cheap, not really for business, excellent for home users, slow with connection transfer and apparently crashes allot.

Idea 6 was one of the best, it supports 4Tb can be upgraded on the fly using Netgear's own RAID-Extend technology, has options for Iscsi, but did not allow integration of Multiple Targeting for Iscsi. also failed when it came to integrating a second unit.

Idea 7 was the one I ended going for, Supported 4Tb of Storage, Fast offered Network Card Teaming, and Consolidation of Several units, support of attaching Scsi Card and Tape Drives. testing this system offered all the options need, also able to extent the array as and when we went along.

Plasma vs LCD

2008-12-02T19:46:00.000Z

At first glance, plasma TVs and LCD TVs look the same. Both are thin and stylish. They have totally flat screens and both offer amazing clear pictures. Most have cutting edge widescreen technology. However, there are some key differences between LCD and plasma TVs that might influence your decision about which type to buy.

But first, what are at the advantages of LCD and plasma TVs over traditional televisions:

Advantages of LCD and plasma TVs
Crisp and clear
LCD and plasma screens have more pixels per square inch than a CRT (or "normal") TV, meaning you get a sharper image (it's worth remembering that, as with all TVs, some screens have better clarity than others)

They look good - even when turned off
Okay, so this might not be your first concern. But LCD and plasma TVs are sleek and slim, easily mounted on a wall or fitted snug against the side of your living room.

Wide viewing angle
Because LCD and plasma TVs are totally flat you can watch them from a wide angle

Save space, look sharp
LCD and plasma TVs are so compact that a 15" flat panel screen gives you the same amount of viewable screen as a traditional 17" CRT display.

Films, as they were meant to be seen
Plasma and LCD screens often come with a widescreen aspect ratio. Put simply, this means that you can watch movies and DVDs the way they were intended, and not "boxed" in to fit a CRT screen - perfect for a home cinema set-up.

No scan lines
Look closely at your traditional CRT television and you can see thin lines. LCD and plasma TVs do not have these.

The differences between LCD and plasma TVs
Although both offer similar advantages over traditional TVs, there are some key differences between LCD and plasma screens:

How does an LCD TV work?
LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. A network of hundreds of thousands of tiny LCD pixels sits behind the TV screen. Behind these pixels is a fluorescent white backlight. When the light hits the pixels, an electric current determines what colour appears on the screen, and the millions of tiny light variations make up the image that you see on your TV.

How does a plasma TV work?
Plasma screens are made of two sheets of glass, between which plasma (xenon and neon gas) fills thousands of tiny chambers. Behind each chamber are a series of red, blue and green phosphors. When electricity hits the plasma chambers, they emit invisible UV light, which then hits one of the coloured phosphors. This creates a visible image on the screen.

LCD vs. Plasma: which TV is right for you?
Take a look at our table to find out how plasma and LCD TVs compare when measured up against each other in different categories. Remember - technology changes all the time, with both plasma and LCD TVs improving in quality

Plasma vs. LCD...
Now that you have read about the main differences between plasma and LCD TVs you may have decided which one is right for you. They both have stunning, clear pictures and most models offer amazing widescreen viewing - so you can't go far wrong with either! However, it's worth considering where you are going to watch your TV and for what main purpose you will use it. If you are looking for a smaller screen to put in a TV, bedroom or small living room - LCD is probably your best bet. If you're looking for a home cinema screen, then a larger plasma model may be the one for you.

read some more: http://www.projectorpeople.com/resources/lcd-plasma-projector.asp
http://www.1staudiovisual.co.uk/catalog/lcd-vs-plasma-a-32.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_display
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_crystal_display_television

now why not install a projector and get yourself a very big screen at half the price.. :-)

A2Z Computing Video

2008-12-01T23:40:00.000Z

Video of A2Z Computing Ltd

Video of A2Z Computing Ltd

Microsoft OneCare to be killed off.

2008-11-23T22:21:00.000Z

Ah - something to recommend to all A2Z Customers from next year..

"OneCare subscribers currently enjoy the benefits of always-on virus, spyware and malware protection, centralized backup to keep personal information safe, and management features to keep PC’s optimized and running smoothly. But a majority of consumers around the world do not have up-to-date antivirus, antispyware and antimalware protection.

In hopes of getting more consumers protected, this week, Microsoft announced that it will offer a new security solution to consumers at no cost beginning in the second half of calendar year 2009. This new offering will focus on getting the majority of consumers the essential protection they need by providing comprehensive, real-time anti-malware protection, covering such threats as viruses, spyware, rootkits, trojans, and other emerging threats, in a single, focused solution.

In order for us to focus on delivering this new security solution to millions of customers around the world, we have decided to phase out Windows Live OneCare and will discontinue retail sales of Windows Live OneCare subscription service beginning June 30, 2009. "

Straight from MS. http://windowsonecare.spaces.live.com/

get it from: http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-gb/default.htm?mkt=en-gb&s_cid=WL2Hdr
(you currently pay for it, so wait..) Use the Safety scanner http://onecare.live.com/site/en-gb/default.htm

Vista / Windows 7

2008-11-23T21:33:00.000Z

Oh here is something interesting..

from The Register
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/14/intel_microsoft_vista_capable/

High-ranking Microsoft and Intel executives were involved in a plan to re-write the Windows Vista Capable program to save both companies - and OEMs - millions of dollars, according to unsealed court documents.
Microsoft removed a key requirement from the Vista Capable program so PCs running old Intel chips suited to Windows XP but unable to run the Windows Vista Aero interface could still qualify as Visa-Capable machines, according to the documents here (warning: PDF).

..... Rest of the news is at the Register link..

If the Link or PDF disappears, I've also taken a copy in case the get removed.. :-)

JUST to add more interesting facts :

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/20/windows_vista_overtime/

basically : VISTA is slow booting up and slow closing down, so this the company has taken MS to court to get overtime paid for their staff.. its estimated it going to Millions..

The Best news is this bunk os is being replaced we should see it Christmas 2009
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/10/28/windows_seven_review/

Beta are out See my news on 11th November 2008

Nice Cheap Media PC

2008-11-20T05:42:00.000Z

Specification

Processor: Intel Atom N270 at 1.6GHz
Ram: 1GB DDR2 memory
Hard disk: 80GB or 160GB 2.5″ SATA, at 5400rpm
Connectivity: Ethernet, Wifi 802.11n, Bluetooth
Graphic chipset: Intel GMA 950 DVI connector, to transfer signal to an LCD or plasma TV
An MS/MS pro/MMC/SD/SDHC memory card reader
Two USB ports at the front and two at the back
External Wifi antenna connector
A Line connector (S/PDIF)
Dimensions: 8.5″x1″x7″
Price tag: From £199.

The eeebox will be a great affordable device you can connect to your LCD television via DVI and reproduce multimedia material, record your favourite TV shows.

The Intel Atom processor, and the hardware backing it, is powerful enough to reproduce HD-Ready movies at 720p, but full HD requires more strength. That said, Asus has more powerful and more expensive similar devices in its portfolio, such as the EEE Station (blog coming soon).
With the wifi connectivity, you can use the vast capacity of the hard disk as a network drive, accessing your files with your eee pc, or over the internet.

Off course, all your favourite internet applications for browsing or email purpose will be available. Other interesting uses can be mentioned, like webradio, p2p tv, browsing video streaming websites such as Youtube…

You can even use the eeebox as a security surveillance device, recording pictures and video feeds from wireless cameras, and sharing them over the internet.

The eeebox is available in Linux and windows xp versions. (No Vista, No XP Pro)

If bought from anywhere else you could get a virus, here at A2Z Computing Ltd we will check the OS and remove any virus that has been shipped and supply you a free Anti-Virus.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/10/14/asus-eee-box-virus-triggers

This is not only in Japan, I have had news its in europe and also random machines in the UK.

Microsoft (some hidden, hard to find) System tools

2008-11-19T22:58:00.000Z

1468 - System Tools

Download tools, utilities, updates, and more to help you manage your IT systems :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Browse.aspx?displaylang=en&categoryid=12

Access to All Microsofts Downloads:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/bb403698.aspx

IP Camera Recording software - FREE

2008-11-19T22:19:00.000Z

Before getting the software you need to check the capabilities and limitations of IP camera recording software, it will beneficial first to discuss what IP camera technology is and why it is now replacing traditional close circuit TV (CCTV) systems world wide. In fact it is believed that by 2012, most surveillance cameras will be of the IP type.

The term IP simply stands for internet protocol, indicating that the signals are sent over the internet using the internet protocol packetized system, whereby the signal is broken into small digital packets for transmission and reconstituted to the streaming signal by the receiver. In this way a signal can be viewed in real time at a remote location without the need for the connecting cables of closed circuit systems.

The obvious benefit is that the signal from the IP camera can be viewed anywhere in the world, and so large corporations could have a centralized security unit viewing the camera signals from every camera in the worldwide network. All that is needed is an internet connection at the transmitting and receiving ends, and even a wireless signal can be used. This has potential benefits , not only for corporations with a multitude of offices and sites such as oilfields, but also for the armed forces and national security. Wi-fi IP surveillance has great potential.

There are many other benefits, including cash benefits, in using IP surveillance systems, and a battery camera using wireless technology can save completely on cabling costs, and also be sited in remote locations. There are also no cables that can be cut! This again offers massive potential for security forces such as the police and the army. Airport security surveillance could also be centralized with significant cost savings.

So far so good, but the benefits over CCTV are still not sufficient to warrant the phase shift towards IP camera surveillance systems. The main benefits come from the software that provides a wide range of possibilities to the user. The older closed circuit system basically had no software, and was simply a system that could be viewed live, or recorded. However, everything had to be recorded because there was no event selection, and there was an awful lot to look through when nothing was happening.

Modern IP camera recording software can be used to activate the camera on certain events, such as when movement is detected. This saves a lot of recording space. It can also be programmed to activate illumination or send an alarm. The alarm can be sounded in the area of surveillance, or only to security services so that any intruder can be apprehended without being warned.

It can also control camera movement, such as tilt and pan, and also the zoom level. IP software analytics have been and still are being developed to allow more sophisticated use of IP camera systems, and while it cannot yet pick out a terrorist’s face in a crowd, it can detect unattended baggage in airports, and illegally parked cars. It is useful in perimeter surveillance where it will detect vehicles or people when they should not be there.

Simple motion detection has been evolved to congestion detection, and the software can trigger an event when the volume of traffic reaches a specified density. The software can be programmed to recognize counter flow, when an object is moving against the general traffic, or in a direction counter to what is permitted, and can also trigger an alarm when an object moves across a virtual tripwire: basically a line than can be drawn across the screen.

At least one supplier has added VoIP capability to their IP camera software so that networked cameras can issue an alarm by means of a VoIP call to predetermined telephone numbers. The IP camera software will continue to send the VoIP call until it is answered by means of a PIN number. DTMF tones can be used to trigger events in security devices connected to the software.

The software can also be used to manage the actual recording of live feeds from the IP camera network, since not all feeds might have to be recorded. Feeds can be recorded to network video recorders and specific feeds can be taken from the software if required as evidence.
The beauty of IP systems is that they operate to standardized systems. Unlike stand-alone CCTV systems whereby once you had your system you were forced to purchase spares and accessories from the original vendor, with IP camera systems you can source the individual components from any manufacturer or vendor. Thus you can purchase the video camera software that best meets your needs, and in fact buy any of your individual components from the least expensive source.

IP camera recording software is developing at a great rate, and while license plate detection is a classic example of how software can be used to detect predefined input, it should not be too long before facial recognition can be introduced. In the meantime, IP camera surveillance will continue to grow at the current very high rate.

Milestone XProtect One-Camera License :
http://www.milestonesys.com/Downloads/Free_XProtect_License/Free_License_Form

Axis Camera Station One Licence :
http://www.axis.com/products/cam_station_software/one.htm

Windows 7 (Blackcomb and Vienna)

2008-11-11T06:22:00.000Z

Microsoft has released an early preview copy of its new operating system, Windows 7.
The release follows in the wake of Vista, which has been subject to fierce criticism from a number of users.

When Vista launched in January 2007, many complained that it ran slowly and failed to work at all with some programs and devices.

Corporate customers have been slow to switch from Windows XP to Vista, although Microsoft said that the operating system had an unfair press, and that it enjoyed record sales.
Despite this Microsoft has extended the life of Windows XP so PC makers can continue selling it to those that do not want to upgrade.

Windows Vista took more than five years to develop but Windows 7 is likely to arrive within a couple of years.
Microsoft's VP, Steven Sinofsky, described Windows 7 as an "exciting new version" and claimed it would deliver a more personalised experience.
With Windows 7, Microsoft has added a range of new functions including:

A new taskbar to give more rapid access to files and programs.

A feature called HomeGroup, allowing users easy sharing of data across PCs and other devices in the home.

Support for devices such as cameras, printers, and mobile phones with a product called Device Stage offering a single window to manage tasks for each device.

Windows Touch - software for touch screen devices that enables users to use different gestures to perform tasks.

Improvements to some applications, such as MS Paint, and Calculator.

(from Register and BBC, MS)
http://connect.microsoft.com/

Well it did not take long, We will still sell you Windows VISTA ( or have linux ), So why not just purchase an os with Software Assurance (windows 7 will be free then)

Head TrackIR Pro 4

2008-11-06T06:22:00.000Z

The TrackIR device, and the head-tracking concept, aren’t new to the gaming community – but many don’t see it’s potential for use in flight or combat simulations. As I haven’t tested a TrackIR product before, we had a customer who was willing to purchase it with their flight sim, the best this was we were also able to build a decent computer for him.

It was not easy to get used to it, I assume I should have done more training, but hangon, add a 50" 3d Glasses and wow.. now your talking..

The TrackIR package contains a small, wide-angle, infra-red camera (45º) and a reflector clip (to clip onto the brim of a cap) – the camera detects light reflected from the clip and tracks the movement of the reflections in order to provide input to programs that support axis-based controls. In short: TrackIR turns your head movements into in-game movements.The TrackIR 4 provides 6DOF (Degrees-of-Freedom), which allows for yaw, pitch, roll movements, as well as movement along the X, Y and Z axes. Not all games/sims support 6DOF, but most support at least two (which are required for simple free-look movements).

For a full list of supported simulations (and the DOF they support), see the TrackIR website.The device itself is tiny, measuring only a few centimetres in all directions – and with it’s flexible feet, is easily mountable on the top of a CRT or TFT screen and is connected via USB 2.0. Installing the software is a breeze and you’ll be up and running in no time at all. To install the TrackClip, you simply plug the TrackIR into the TrackClip’s cable and plug that into your PC. The TrackClip ‘add-on device’ provides IR lights instead of reflectors and can be clipped onto a headset instead of a hat.

The TrackIR was designed to meet the need for a smooth, simple free-look function – one that didn’t constrain it’s user to looking only in prescribed directions. Prior to a few hours ago, when the TrackIR 4 arrived on my desk, I had always thought that the idea of head-tracking was a bit pointless – I was perfectly happy with the ‘look left’, ‘look right’ buttons on my wheel. However, 1 day on. The TrackIR camera has a 45-degree field of view, which allows for a diverse range of head movements, with only the most extreme of movements going out of range, causing some strange movement glitches. Re-centring the TrackIR’s ‘virtual head’ is a simple matter of hitting a user-defined keyboard bind, which allows for the quick fixing of most head movement glitches that are inherent with the limitations of the software and hardware. The software for the device is easy to configure and use. It also allows for various settings (such as magnification of movement) that will enable the user to adjust how real head movements translate to in-game movements. The profiling settings allow for different setups to be stored for various types of game – you can decide how many DOF to enable for each profile, the sensitivity of your movements, sensitivity curves, deadzones and a bunch of other useful features. As far as in-game use goes.

As long as a game supports binding ‘free look’ to an axis, TrackIR will work – even if the product doesn’t explicitly support the device.

The mapping between the real-world and the TrackIR world isn't entirely exact, however, and there are certain movements and behaviours you will have to adapt to in order to fully gain the benefit of TrackIR. When flying, it can be hard to gauge the severity of correction required if you turn your head too far into the slide - but this is one of those minor problems that is overcome with time. As a whole, TrackIR will have a negative impact on your flight to begin with (as with all new hardware experiences, from a new yokie peddel) - but you'll soon regain your 'feel', the fight will return to normal, but you'll find yourself immersed in a new experience, where looking around by moving your head is normal. I would make a comparison with a multi-screen setup, but they're really entirely different monsters. I find that multi-monitor setups help significantly with peripheral vision, but have limited use for providing a smooth 'look-around' experience, especially if the monitor frames can be clearly seen. Maybe the best set-up is a frame-less multi-screen setup with TrackIR? Fancy one? We build it you buy it..

TrackIR 4 Pro+ TrackClip + Flight Simulator X and flight Simulator Accelerator we supply for £160 +vat.

Watch the video how it works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AO0F5sLdVM

TrackIR Dogflight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PGJVvUqnpc

Halo (The Film) 2009

2008-10-11T15:22:00.000+01:00

Well yes played the game, lots of times, Halo 1 and Halo 2 (even Halo 1.5 PC version)

all I can say is OMG.. Halo 3 was only available on Xbox 360. Me not having a 360, still did not stop me spending several hours a week at my brothers hogging is 360, once completed - now just boring..

I hear that there will be a Halo 3: Recon, is some sort of expention pack for the Halo 3

so what is Halo:

Halo is a science fiction video game franchise, created by Bungie and owned and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The main trilogy of games center on the experiences of Master Chief, a cybernetically-enhanced human super-soldier, and his artificial intelligence (AI) companion, Cortana. Master Chief aids future humanity in battling the Covenant, a theocratic alliance of alien races. In this science fiction setting, the term "Halo" refers to Halo megastructures: large, habitable ringed structures, similar to Larry Niven's ringworlds.

The trilogy of video games have been praised as being among the best first-person shooters on a video game console, and are considered the Microsoft Xbox's "killer app". This has led to the term "Halo killer" being used to describe console games that aspire, or are considered, to be better than Halo. Fuelled by the success of Halo: Combat Evolved, and immense marketing campaigns from publisher Microsoft, both sequels went on to break various sales records. Halo 3 sold more than US $170 million worth of copies in the first 24 hours of release, breaking the record set by Halo 2's 3 years prior. The trilogy of games have sold over 20 million copies worldwide.

more info : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_series

Halo 3 Recon : http://www.bungie.net/Projects/whvidldshbyjsdo/default.aspx

Well the film looks like second fall of 2009 :

HALO MOVIE: FIRST 8 MINUTES (opening credits/all arms race)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=d6g1yyWEfks

HALO THE MOVIE - FIRST REAL TRAILER!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=i7FrNxVaxn8

SBS 2008 (Small Business Server 2008)

2008-10-06T07:42:00.000+01:00

Well SBS 2008 is here.. Lots of changes:

http://www.microsoft.com/sbs/en/us/default.aspx

Why I started this topic- Well been working on push email, and now all working (wait for the next posting).

Been working out whether we upgrade servers and migrate or move to a new install.

here what to do:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=52b7ea63-78af-4a96-811e-284f5c1de13b&displaylang=en

Before you start – what you need to remember

SBS 2008 is a 64-bit solution requiring x64 capable hardware
There is NO 32-bit to 64-bit “in-place” upgrade solution
SBS 2008 Standard is a single server solution, while SBS 2008 Premium includes the license and software for a 2nd Windows Server system (as part of the domain)
SBS 2008 Premium edition does NOT have ISA as part of the solution.
SBS 2003 Premium customers with Software Assurance will be able to “make good” their ISA licenses for a limited amount of time after SBS 2008 is released.
SBS 2008 Premium edition has the option to use SQL 2008 Standard edition on either server.
SQL 2008 can be downgraded

System Centre Essentials is gone...

The information before today's release indicated that Microsoft would include System Centre Essentials (SCE) in the SBS Cougar product, but that's now not the case. Here's a quote from an internal Microsoft team member as to why it's not included...

ISA is gone...
Also missing is ISA from the SBS 2008 Premium product.

Two Network Card scenarios are gone...
The common two network card scenario that we've used for many years now is also history.

Tape Backup is gone...
Windows Server 2008 does not nativley support tape backup. It supports backup to removable hard drive media only. They have done a lot in this area to improve things from a disaster recovery mechanism, but tapes are dead oh F^%&.

Ok - so start planning now that you know these 4 changes.

so now we have to invest in a "Hardware firewall" something that can do the logging and email recording.

all i can say there is going to be more expense; Now were do I find a reliable removable Hardisk.. or is remote backup good enough?

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2008/jul08/07-07QAvanroekel.mspx

Nov. 12, 2008, is the official launch date for Windows Small Business Server 2008

PST Crash

2008-09-24T07:06:00.000+01:00

We were called out today by a client who has 2 machines where no emails were working..#

you might think - "what's the point!".

We all know there is a 2GB limit in outlook for PST datebase.

We use Exchange where no PST is stored but a Mailbox is used my mailbox is 5gb and stretches for 8 years. (yes I have records of all my mail).

anyway back to the 2GB problem:

Machine 1 had outlook working in safe mode and nothing happening, so we stopped outlook and I tried to check the machine, no errors, Luckily when you install office a tool called scanpst.exe and scanost.exe

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497

both these help repair the relevant database and recover emails.

after 2 hours of scanpst running 71 bad messages were fix and about 200 lost messages recovered. - the store was only at 1GB, so no need to trim the database.

after a reboot, success it works.

machine 2:

this was a challenge !! ran the scanpst tool, and and repaired - nearly took 3 hours, the database turned out to be 1.98GB, I got a tool called pst2gb.exe

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=296088

by running this tool, it allows you to choose how much to cut off, here I chose 250Mb (it only cuts of the oldest mail)

Once this was done i had to run the ScanPST.exe tool again, this took about 3 hours again, outlook started to work.

SUCCESS..

DID you know Outlook 2003/2007 have different PST file sizes.. (not announced publicly by MS)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830336

OMG.. and look

here is how to get up to 20GB per PST..

For Outlook 2003 add this regkey

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\PST

The user preference location for the registry entries is located in the following path in Registry Editor:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\PST

change these keys:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In the left pane, expand My Computer, and then expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
4. Expand Software, and then expand Policies.
5. Expand Microsoft, and then expand Office.
6. Expand 11.0 for Outlook 2003 and 12.0 for Outlook 2007, and then expand Outlook.
7. Click PST, and then right-click MaxFileSize in the right pane.
8. Click Modify, and then type the value in the Value data box.
9. Click OK.
10. Right-click WarnFileSize, and repeat steps 8 through 9.
11. Right-click MaxLargeFileSize, and repeat steps 8 through 9.
12. Right-click WarnLargeFileSize, and repeat steps 8 through 9.

Add the values you need to 7,10,11 and 12.

if these keys don't exist then make them using the Reg_Dword

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832925/

Hope that helps.

I think if you use PST, create a reg fragment with the keys and deploy it by double clicking it, so its the same on all the machines.

Which Browser

2008-09-19T05:13:00.000+01:00

Before anyone give me any rubbish about which is better, well don't as they all do similar things diff rent ones have different features. - deal with it!

IE7

Tabbed browsing
Quick Tabs
Tab Groups
Streamlined interface
Advanced printing
Instant Search box
Favorites Center
RSS feeds
Page zoom

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/features.mspx

IE8

New to Beta 2! InPrivate
New to Beta 2! Delete Browsing History Search
New to Beta 2! Search Suggestions
New to Beta 2! User Preference Protection
New to Beta 2! Caret BrowsingAccelerators (previously known as Activities)
New to Beta 2! Suggested SitesFavorites Bar
New to Beta 2! Tab GroupingAutomatic Crash Recovery
SmartScreen Filter (previously known as the Phishing Filter)
Web Slices

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/welcome/tour.html

Firefox3

One Click Bookmarking
Instant Website ID
Full Zoom
Password Manager
Smart Location Bar
Platform-Native look and feel

http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/features/

Google Chrome

New Tab page
Application shortcuts
Dynamic tabs
Crash control
Incognito modeSafe browsing
Instant bookmarks
Importing settings
Simpler downloads

http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en-GB/features.html?hl=en-GB

Slow PC and just poor

2008-09-18T15:49:00.000+01:00

Well this could be several reasons:

Check you don't have more then ONE Virus scanner, (more then one they will fight each other for files)
Check for Viruses, sometime we get machines in and Norton/McAfee or AVG is on them and they still have viruses, We use Sophos for Business and for Home use I use AVG.
Your hard disk could be fragmented. Try and de-fragment the hard disk
Do you have enough RAM or Hard disk Space - people buy machines install software more and more then it get slower and slower.
Some updates might not have installed correctly! make sure your up to date.
Is the computer slow at certain times? (When you turn it on, slow for 2 hours then, OK?) This could be some software scanning your machine - just change the time for it to scan.

The best tool to tidy up a PC is !cleanup (written by Steven Gould) its free and WILL remove lots of rubbish and all temp files. One one customer we used it and cleared 15Gb.

The other tool I would recommend is Spybot-Search and Destroy (again its free from safer-networking) see my spyware.

My RAM Recommendations are:

1GB Ram XP
2GB Ram Vista

your Hard disk depends on how much your going to store on it, I would start now with 160GB minimum, I Know we used to supply 80GB (but not for the last 9 months).

Both Tools run fine one Home machines, and work machines, (XP no problem) Vista run as Admin.

That that for now.

Slow Logon/Logoff

2008-09-09T22:53:00.000+01:00

This can be a Pain in the XXX... anyway,

you spend hours cleaning up the desktop, programs and cache, and still slow.

Here is a tool which cleans the machine for you " Its all down to the hive"

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=1B286E6D-8912-4E18-B570-42470E2F3582&displaylang=en

The Program is a service that cleans the user hive every time someone logs off.. - That's it

to find out more read this: http://blogs.technet.com/uphclean/

Well at least I don't have to backup the user and recreate it

Quickbooks 2008 Premier

2008-08-28T21:30:00.000+01:00

DON'T UPGRADE.. Its a WASTE OF TIME..

WHY ??

Well Intuit who write quickbooks have screwed up big time, there are lots of missing features (yes they have improved the way the database works) but a major step backwards. We have been using quickbooks for over 15 years, and this year it looks like we might jump, if they can't fix the problems.

I have attached scans of the document that states whats missing, which Intuit / Quickbooks clearly state there is no problem. We know of 100's of QB members who have been annoyed with the missing features.

http://community.quickbooks.co.uk/discussion/index.php?showtopic=26266

Just to also point out QB expect you to upgrade to QB 2006, which works fine, then pay again for QB2008. if you can't read these scans, please let me know, i'll have them typed out ..

Quickbooks on TS (Terminal Services)

2008-08-18T13:11:00.000+01:00

I experimented with a 98 version of QuickBooks and have since graduated to 2004 Premier, using the same setup as shown below.

Users in the terminal services newsgroups have reported that you can make QuickBooks available in a TS environment (and without making all users Administrators!), if you adjust some specific permissions. Here are the steps:

perform a normal installation of QuickBooks (in install mode!)
reboot
enter install mode again (change user /install), start QuickBooks and activate it by entering the registration code (this is a crucial step, and must be performed immediately following the reboot)
go back to execute mode (change user /execute)
copy the %systemroot%\Intuit folder into each users %userprofile%\Windows folder
create a Quickbooks Users group
add your users to this group
give the group Full Control to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Intuit\QuickBooksRegistration
give the group Full Control to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.QPG
give the group Full Control to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\obja.obja
give the group Full Control to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Quickbooks.application
give the group Full Control to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Quickbooks.CoLocator - QB 2006 only?
give the group Full Control to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Quickbooks.CoLocator.1 - QB 2006 only?
give the group Full Control to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E53C85D6-E6D9-4BCF-A623-72062A99AA7F} - QB 2006 only?
give the group Modify rights to the %Program Files%\Intuit folder
give the group Modify rights to the %Program Files%\Common Files\Intuit folder

QuickBooks 200x on a Windows 2003 Terminal ServerAfter installation of QuickBooks 200x on a Windows 2003 Terminal Server, follow these steps:

Right-click on the QBES shortcut
Choose properties
Go to the Compatibility tab
Put a checkmark in the box labled "Allow Non-Administrators to Run This Program"
Apply and save

More help from : http://www.cpa911.com/qbtips.asp

Printing issues:

Make sure that clients use short names for their local printers if they need to print to a redirected local printer. Quickbooks cannot handle long printer names.It's also important WHEN the driver was installed. Apparently QuickBooks only sees so many drivers in the registry, so if you installed 16 printer drivers and the 17th was the one you need auto-created, QuickBooks won't see it.

The Dark Orbit

2008-08-11T19:42:00.000+01:00

Hay you fancy £5K - well have a go

Dark Orbit is no ordinary space browser game!

DarkOrbit is a fast paced, real-time multi player shooter game! Your journey into the third millennium will be a real space adventure. Choose your spaceship from ten unique battle cruisers and equip it with the latest weapons available in 3D look. Join your company's space fleet and fight alone or in a strategic alliance. Work your way up the ladder in your company and conquer new sectors in foreign galaxies! In DarkOrbit you will experience loads of action, spellbinding game play against real opponents and even have the chance to win £5,000!

http://www.darkorbit.com/

There is an A2Zship currently docked in the Mars hanger waiting for orders from high command
I have to raise 300,000 credits to start a clan, so give me a few weeks/humm??? just let me get started.

They have several other games @ http://www.sevengames.com/

AntiVirus XP 2008 or 2009

2008-08-08T08:22:00.000+01:00

Antivirus XP 2008 is a widespread bogus antivirus application for Windows that was promoted and downloaded automatically by redirecting users internet browser to its predefined website.

Miscellaneous threats include applications that do not fit into other categories or that fall into multiple categories. Miscellaneous threats typically include some form of potentially objectionable functionality that may pose privacy or security risks to users and their PCs.

It a Rogue Security Program is software that purports to scan and detect malware or other problems on the computer, but which attempts to dupe or badger users into purchasing the program by presenting the user with intrusive, deceptive warnings and/or false, misleading scan results. Rogue Security Programs typically use aggressive, deceptive advertising and may be installed without adequate notice and consent.

what are the issues:

It is typically installed without adequate notice and consent, and may make unwanted changes to your system, such as reconfiguring your browser's homepage and search settings. These risks may install advertising-related add-ons, including toolbars and search bars, or insert advertising-related components into the Winsock Layered Service Provider chain. These new add-ons and components may block or redirect your preferred network connections, and can negatively impact your computer's performance and stability. Elevated risks may also collect, transmit, and share potentially sensitive data without adequate notice and consent.

To remove it: - not easy as its changing its name, moves around. - there is a Antivirus XP Removal Tool (DO NOT USE, its by the same people and infects your machine more)

Delete these File Traces :

%LOCAL_SETTINGS%\ temp\ .tt10.tmp.exe
%PROGRAM_FILES%\ rhc75vj0ead3\ rhc75vj0ead3.exe
%PROGRAM_FILES%\ rhca3rj0er43\ rhca3rj0er43.exe
%SYSTEM%\ blphcancj0e915.scr
%SYSTEM%\ lphc35vj0ead3.exe
%SYSTEM%\ lphccm2j0endc.exe
%SYSTEM%\ lphce3rj0er43.exe
%SYSTEM%\ lphcp02j0er35.exe
%system%\ lphctq7j0etdc.exe
%SYSTEM%\ lphcvksj0ev6j.exe
%SYSTEM%\ pphc35vj0ead3.exe
%SYSTEM%\ pphce3rj0er43.exe
%SYSTEM%\ pphcp02j0er35\ pphcp02j0er35.exe
.tt4.tmp.exe
1.exe
antivirscanner.exe
antivirusxp.exe
antivirusxp2008_scan.exe
AntivirusXP2008Installer.exe
autorun.exe
av.exe
AV2008install.exe
av2009install_880147.exe
b62ac658-164f-4e2d-a34b-c437a9e8b34b.exe
bill.exe
bwpkjqjk.exe
C:\ Program Files\ rhclmpj0e9cn\ rhclmpj0e9cn.exe
darkmind.exe
e-card.exe
efa1ec37-375b-45ce-94b5-9f2c6247eed6.exe
freescan.exe
gtinqpuh.exe
IE-7.0.exe
index.exe
inst2_294.exe
install.exe
install_4849.exe
limbage12.exe
lphc5tej0e1c9.exe
lphc7ujj0et79(2).exe
lphc7ujj0et79.exe
lphcancj0e915.exe
lphcedoj0el5c.exe
lphcp0qj0e10j.exe
madonna.avi.exe
name.avi.exe
pphcancj0e915.exe
rarara.exe
rhc3ujj0et79.exe
rhcencj0e915.exe
rhcencj0e915Skin.dll
scan(2)_1.exe
scan.exe
scann.exe
setup.exe
setup_110084_3_.exe
sunfor54.exe
suny790.exe
system32\ lphc35vj0ead3.exe
video-nude-anjelina.avi.exe
video-paris-hilton.avi.exe
video.avi.exe
videoxxx.avi.exe
virusremover.dll
XPantivirus2008_v880021.exe

Please not this list will just grow and grow, as it changes its name by itself..

Here are some pictures of what this looks like

Media Centres

2008-07-27T22:44:00.000+01:00

Well in the next few days I'll be talking about Vista Media Centre, XP media Center, GBPVR, media Portal, Media MVP, yahoo's Media (meedos portal)

just wait..

Windows XP media centre :

GBPVR :

Media Portal

Media MVP:

Meedos Portal:

Google Docs/Apps

2008-07-25T13:07:00.000+01:00

I’ve recently been testing out Google Apps for some Primary Schools to see how well Gmail integrates with the network/ease of use. I like Gmail’s interface way better than all the seperate applications and worries about backup.

I came across this blog post about a cross-site scripting vulnerability in the way IE handles things when you’re using Google Docs. The developer that discovered it reported it and it was quickly patched, and there were no reports of the security hole being exploited.

My Colleague has said that using Google Docs or any other 3rd Party or online office suite isn’t a good idea because of possible security breaches and privacy concerns (I do tend to aggree with him) I say, provided you aren’t in medical systems, government business critical apps, or politics, the rest of you are probably OK to share your documents online within your organization - and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper (free, even) than other alternatives.

What do you think? Is Google trustworthy enough for your family finances, personal word processing documents, budgetary spreadsheets for your business, or your personal digital photos? Should small businesses trust their data on Google’s servers in exchange for convenience and cross-platform compatibility?

Let me know in the comments what you think.

New Type of Computer Virus

2008-07-23T23:11:00.000+01:00

Asprox computer virus infects key government and consumer websites

Well you thought you were safe if you did not visit smut sites.. Ah Ah.. now we are in trouble..

"Cyber-criminals have attacked key government and consumer websites, allowing them to steal the personal details of anyone browsing the sites, The Times has learnt.
Eastern European hackers are suspected of placing the Asprox virus on more than a thousand British websites, including those run by the NHS and a local council, in the past two weeks.
Experts described the Asprox virus as an alarming departure from commonplace viruses, which tend to be spread through rogue e-mails and unregulated websites.
Unlike other viruses, Asprox sits undetected on mainstream sites, with any visitor at risk of being infected. The virus automatically installs itself on a visitor's computer, allowing a hacker to access financial information. "

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article4381034.ece
http://www.finjan.com/Pressrelease.aspx?id=2003&PressLan=1819&lan=3

JUST MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOPHOS AND ITS UP TO DATE..

If you use SQL as your Database then you need to check all your systems, basically The Asprox botnet uses a SQL-injection attack tool to hack websites and add yet more hijacked PCs to its army.

remove it:

Asprox manual removal:

Kill processes:aspimgr.exe

Delete registry values: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\aspimgr
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\sft

Delete files:aspimgr.exe, _check32.bat, ws386.ini

Misc: Asprox uses TCP ports 80 and 82.

Exact file location:ws386.ini - C:\WINDOWS or C:\WINNTaspimgr.exe - C:\WINDOWS\System32 or C:\WINNT\System32_check32.bat - C:\Documents and Settings\[Current User]\Local Settings\Temp

How good is your Car

2008-07-23T22:41:00.000+01:00

Find out Safety and Security information about your vehicle. Enter your vehicle details and find out how well you are protected from whiplash in the event of a rear end collision, and on the security side your vehicle's Thatcham rating on 'theft of' and 'theft from'.

Get ready to be surprised, This data is used by your insurance company to calculate the risk rating.

http://www.thatcham.org/

10 Things you can DO - to be greener in work

2008-07-15T08:37:00.000+01:00

Turn off the lights. Remember to hit the switch on your way out for that well- deserved lunch break. The energy savings from 10 million employees turning off unneeded lights for 30 minutes a day is enough to illuminate 50 million square feet of office space.
Get off mailing lists. The last thing you need is another office supply catalog or credit card offer on your desk. Before tossing out junk mail, call the company's toll- free service number and ask that your name be removed from the mailing list. Have online retailers e-mail you instead. Almost half of all catalogs are never opened, yet nearly 62 million trees are destroyed and 28 billion gallons of water are used to produce them every year.
Put your monitor to sleep. Whether it shows off your vacation photos or a cool 3D animation, a computer screen saver is not at all designed for energy efficiency. It's intended to save your screen from "burn in," not to save energy. Because monitors are responsible for more than one-third of a computer's energy consumption -- even with screen savers -- the best way to conserve energy is to set the monitor to sleep or power off when you're away for an extended period. If you're gone for 5-10 minutes, enjoy one of CI's screen savers. Any longer than that, put the monitor to sleep.
Use the stairs. Your brain gets exercise all day, why not exercise your body? Get your heart pumping by taking the stairs instead of the elevator. It's good for your health, and it saves electricity.
Make your printer's toner last. Being cheap is a first date no-no, but it's okay to be frugal at the office. When printing rough drafts or documents for internal purposes, change the printer's settings to economy mode and avoid colour if possible. Econo-mode uses up to 50 percent less toner and prints twice as many pages as other higher quality settings. Duplex printing also uses half the amount of paper.
Provide incentives for commuters. Free food and a year-end bonus are nice perks, but to really make workers happy, help ease their daily commute. The government rewards businesses that encourage their staff to carpool, bicycle, or walk to work under the Commuter Choice Program. Telecommuting and flexible work hours can also save employers by reducing absences and job retention costs.
Recycle and reuse paper. Americans toss out about 35 million tons of paper each year. Buck the trend and start recycling -- not only standard white printer paper, but all of the magazines, manila folders, and colored post-it notes that decorate your space. If it tears, it can be recycled. Recycled paper manufacturing generates 74 percent less air pollution, and saves trees, water, and energy. To salvage papers that are printed on one side only, flip them over and use for incoming faxes.
Purchase 100 percent post-consumer waste, chlorine-free paper. Take note when buying paper -- the higher the percentage of post-consumer waste, the larger the amount of recycled material is contained in the paper stock. This means that 100 percent post-consumer waste paper is made entirely from recycled products. Also, chlorine used for bleaching is one of the biggest polluters in the paper-making process. Choose non-chlorinated paper, which has the same quality as the bleached variety.
Recycle and reuse office supplies. Do as Mom says and clean your plate, literally. Washing and reusing the plastic dishes and cutlery you get with take-away food is an easy way to cut down on waste at work. Better yet, pack your lunch in reusable containers and pocket your hard-earned dollars! Skip the paper (or worse, Styrofoam) cups and refill your travel mug at the nearby coffee shop instead. It may even get you a discount. Besides aluminum cans and glass bottles, there are many other supplies stashed in and around your desk that are recyclable, such as batteries, printer cartridges, DVDs, CDs, and more.
Curb phantom electricity. Many appliances still consume energy even when turned off. Items left plugged into the wall, such as a cell phone charger or laptop adapter, can leak more than 20 watts of power. In the United States alone, "phantom electricity" emits roughly 12 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Avoid this by plugging office equipment into a power strip and turning it off at night and on weekends.

iscsi Boot

2008-07-14T20:42:00.000+01:00

We have built a 12TB ISCSI Server, now I'm looking to figure out booting with iScsi. This will allow us to boot stations without hard drive without USB keys or any other media but directly via ethernet.

PXE

2008-07-14T20:05:00.000+01:00

humm.. An Engineer asked today to deploy Ghost using USB Keys, I pointed out the Disks and keys where old hat, why not use PXE.

So I'm looking into building a method of deploying the Images via PXE, but the PXE system needs protection so must put a password system in place.

Cars

2008-07-11T06:21:00.000+01:00

Well Cars are going up in price Tax, Fuel, what next!!

So I'm looking for a New Car! What! Give me some Ideas...

I currently drive an Audi A6 TDI, time to drop the performance to Water or Electric; What do you think?

Here are some links :

http://www.greencarsite.co.uk/GREENNEWS/FISKER-karma.htm
http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/geneva_motor_show/article3494301.ece
http://www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=230169&EL=3228554
http://carenthusiast.com/news.html?mode=article&id=2584
http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/hydrogen-powered-cars.htm

Wifi Skype

2008-07-08T23:02:00.000+01:00

A2Z will start testing and installing Wifi Skype at several sites and offer this as a packege to clients:

Will consist of :

WIFI mobile device - which can be taken from hotspots to Wifi Areas etc
Webcam to be based at office/home
Skype account

Mac Pro Super

2008-07-08T22:30:00.000+01:00

We have just designed a Mac Pro, its the latest development out from A2Z Computing.

The Mac came to: £5700 +vat

4Gb Ram,
Twin DVDRWs
4Tb Storage
Blackmagic DeckLink HD Extreme Graphics
Dual Quad core Xeon 3.0 CPUs
with 30" Cinematic display

Google Apps

2008-07-08T22:07:00.001+01:00

You don't need MS Office - use Google Apps, its free
Those who have unreliable Internet connection then get Openoffice

SmartBoard Kit

2008-07-07T23:31:00.000+01:00

More and more clients are asking for smart board installs , We have created a kit just for that solution:

Smartboard 64"
Smartboard wall mount
Smartboard Pens
Smartboard Software
Smartboard Data Cable
Projector
Projector software
Projector remote Control
Ceiling Mount
Ceiling Bracket
Ceiling Pole
10M Vga Cable
10M Phono Cable
Breakout box with USB, 3.5mm Socket, VGA connector, Phono Connector
Speaker kit
Installtion

all this for less then £1900 so why wait..

SmartBoard Speaker Kit

2008-07-07T23:23:00.000+01:00

A2Z have come up with a cheaper alternative to a sound system for smart board installation

We originally offered speakers and Amp + Cables for around £125

we can now offer Speakers with in-built amps wall mountable at £45 - now thats a price drop.

<<>>

A2Z Build a Embedded MS Storage Server 2003

2007-08-08T17:12:00.000+01:00

Problem :

Too many servers and no more storage in a large organisation? Time consuming to manage? Old hardware and slow?

Solution : offer this new type of technology, this allowed us to remove 9 servers and replace it with 5 new servers. Each new server only had 320GB of storage just used to boot the windows 2003 and allow AD to run. These servers were backed by a storage server of 12Tb this allows the client to size the data allocation on the fly in real time, and offers easier manageability, control, if a system drops this can be solved by offering a iscsi termination (software based) and quick recovery.

Spec:

8Gb Ram, 12Tb Storage, Dual Quad core 2.8 Cpus on ISCSI technology, Dual 1000BaseT cards 'Teamed' together for 4Gb Duplex connection.

OEM Embedded OS

2007-07-08T22:00:00.000+01:00

A2Z become an OEM Embedded Systems installer:

What does this mean:

We can now build XP and strip it down under licence and embed the runtime code into a device
ed. PDAs (these have a version of XP Embedded)

This allows A2Z to build and design Storage Units, Systems, Servers and Control System Boxes.