Tag: computer repair minneapolis
The Weekly Report
Weird week at Call That Girl. Things are happening and shaking around so fast it’s hard to keep up. First off, we are in the process of working on two large contracts that are close to being “Won”. Funny how slow things can be in the business world. I am very used to fast, now FIX IT NOW! But to get a deal done and closed….months and months. Meetings after meetings. I guess if I’m going to be the game, I have to know the rules huh? Seems I am new to this part of the business world, but it’s a world I am very excited to be in. This is what I always wanted and it’s finally coming to me.
Updates:
Winona Store Opening: We are in the final steps of renovating a storefront in Winona, MN. Right now the walls are getting primed and the floors should be laid next week. Next comes the decorating and putting the store together. Our little store is right smack dab in the middle of downtown and it’s on the 2 busiest corners of Main and 3rd Street. We are very excited to get this store open and start servicing the computers in Bluff Country! We plan on opening July 1, 2011 and will have a grand opening party sometime after that.
New Ventures: As much as love working for our residential clients, Call That Girl is now expanding our business services division. We have enough staff to manage the day to day calls and a team to support light server work (break/fix). Just to let everyone know this, loud and clear…we will never be a managed IT company. But what can I say when a client has a minor issue with a server and is not in a contract with another company? Of course we can help! Call That Girl loves helping if we can. And we can *usually*.
Comedy Night Out: Had a fun adventure out last week at the Joke Joint (http://www.jokejointcomedyclub.com). LinkedMinnesota hosted an event there and everyone received a free ticket to the show. If you have not been to a comedy act lately, I recommend it. I had a great time and now of course, I am watching a lot more Comedy Central. It’s been a nice relief of my day to day to laugh. I also have it on my plate to go to more live shows, I really did have a lot of fun!
First Mac Virus Removed at Call That Girl
Definition of “virus” an unauthorized program that inserts itself into a computer system and then propagates itself to other computers via networks or disks; when activated it interferes with the operation of the computer.
Call That Girl had a milestone day last Saturday morning; we removed our first infected Mac computer. It’s not really historic, but it kind of is. We just don’t see viruses/malware/scareware get through on Macintosh computers. But it’s happening and here is what happened.
Client receieved an email from a friend that an attachment. She opened it thinking that she would be safe because it was from a friend and she’s on a Mac. Why not open it? It turns out that the attachment installed a small virus in her computer that caused constant pop ups telling the client to purchase extra antivirus software and redirected her internet sites to porn sites (since it didn’t destroy software in the computer, it may be defined as “scareware”). As long as something is intruding on your computer and causing your computer to not function correctly, it is definately an infection if anything.
Luckily this removal and a double spot check with one of our Mac cleaning programs took about a half hour. Will this be the case moving ahead? Will Mac viruses get worse? Probably. It is in my opinion something to watch for sure and track the trends.
What can you do? Most AV products have Mac versions available, but if they are anything like the pc version, they might not work very well. We simply do too many virus removals a week to know they don’t work. But outside of purchased protection, I think it’s important to learn added safety precautions. But just like we see on the pc side of infections, sometimes you are doing nothing intentional and you get infected.
- Watch your computer use better
- Be careful with opening attachments
- Be sure it was an intended attachment
- Look for suspicious names in the attachment
- If you see something popping up while you are surfing the web asking for your username and password, be sure you are intentionally installing a product or application.
- If you do get a pop up, never give your password, never give out your credit card number
- Never purchase products to remove the infection, these are always fake
- If you do click on something and you see a “status bar” moving very fast across your screen, you have already been infected. I recommend shutting down your computer and calling a professional, or call us to assist.
612-865-4475
Internet Explorer 9 (IE 9.0) Problems and Issues
Welcome to the wonderful world of Internet Explorer 9 or the not so wonderful world of Internet Explorer 9. I downloaded it a few months ago and did not have great success with it, so I uninstalled it and went back to IE 8.0. My main reason for uninstalling was that the tools I needed for work (LogMeInRescue) did not work on IE 9.0. It’s not the fault of IE 9.0, it’s that my product wasn’t built for it. But that will happen with many programs you all use. You may be on Facebook and now a game will not work, because it’s not ready for IE 9.0 yet. Or you will be on a website that used to work (it was maybe an interactive website) and now does not work for you.
Many of you are on Windows 7 and are automatically getting the download for IE 9.0. Some of you are getting it automatically and have no choice. Some of you have your updates set to notify you, and then you can have a choice to download and install it or not.
What if you are an XP user? You cannot download IE 9.0. You are only going to be able to install IE 8.0
Call That Girl’s tech team is not installing it for clients. We just do not feel that all the main programs people use online is ready for IE 9.0
Here is a link provided by Microsoft for more information on downloading or uninstalling IE 9.0
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/how-do-i-install-or-uninstall-internet-explorer-9
Final thoughts, if you want to try it, it’s not bad. I am not too happy with the look and feel of it and will probably stay on IE 8.0 until I have to upgrade. If you need help with this issue, feel free to book an appt with us on the form below.
Mac OS X Gets Its Very Own Fake, Malicious Antivirus Program
Re-blogged from http://www.geekosystem.com/mac-defender-fake
Need proof that Mac is catching up to Windows in a big way? Security firm Intego reports that it has recently observed in the wild a malicious, fake ‘antivirus’ app appearing on computers running Apple’s Mac OS X operating system. Windows, of course, has been host to such programs for about as long as the Internet has existed. Apple’s fake, malicious antivirus program has a much slicker interface, though.
Called “MAC Defender,” the app functions similarly to comparable PC scam programs: It claims that the user’s computer has been infected with viruses and asks the user to pay for the program via credit card. Protip: Don’t provide your credit card number to MAC Defender.
For full story: http://www.geekosystem.com/mac-defender-fake/
Daily Deals Gone Wild
I have noticed a complete internet craze lately that is driving me crazy. These daily deal companies are coming out faster than the deals! I think in the past week, I have received 20 emails about a daily deal of sorts. My BANK even started sending one out every day. I signed up of course to get in on it, but they haven’t returned my email. Apparently, computer repair is not a HOT item for daily deals. Here’s a daily deal for you, 2 for 1 computer cleaning! Ok, if you are reading this and are serious, I will accomodate that request!
What I find funny with these deals, is that Groupon has turned me down, Star Tribune has turned me down and those that have allowed me to do a daily deal, none have sold. I try too to give out a good deal, but computer repair doesn’t really work well in the hot sales market. Now when people get a virus, they are more than willing to pay for it when it happens, but not for a general cleaning and virus spot check, or to maybe prevent a virus. I think people like to work off panic and shock and buy now, buy now! It’s a shocking deal, so buy it up!
I wonder if this will keep growing or get old and get over with by the end of the year. Phase or phrase?
“Remember Groupon” ?
“Groupon reinspired the internet”
That’s all I have today folks, sorry my blogs have been so bad lately or non-existant. Busy gal here, and I have committed to coming back.
Have a great weekend!