Avantgate Team Blog

Firewalls

2009-01-20T19:33:22Z

In my previous post I expressed the importance of having good anti-virus software, good spy ware software and keeping your windows updates current. However I don't think I did justice to the importance of having a good firewall.

A firewall is an integrated collection of security measures designed to prevent unauthorized electronic access to a networked computer system. (Quoted from previous post).

There is plenty of great firewall software available. After searching through some IT Tech forums, a few recommended ones are:- Comodo (Free, although apparently has an annoying amount of pop-ups), Bitdefender Total Security ($23.95 USD), Bullguard ($89.95 NZD), and Kaspersky Internet security ($96.86 NZD). Windows Live One Care is also a great Anti-virus / Firewall / back-up software which can be downloaded from the Microsoft website ($49.95 USD).

If a trojan horse or virus slips past your anti-virus software, your firewall can protect you from them accessing the internet to recruit more viruses and cause further damage to your PC. One more thing, you should NEVER disable your firewall as it will leave you unprotected and very vulnerable.

I hope this helps, any questions or if you would like any help just leave a comment or send us through an email to info@avantgate.com and we will be happy to help. Have a great week.

Seagate Hard Drive

2009-01-19T19:07:17Z

If you or someone you know is on the hunt for a new hard drive for your computer, then it may be best to stay away from the Seagate 1TB drives at the moment as they seem to be falling over. See the links below:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/374/1050374/seagate-barracudas-7200-11-failing
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/seagate-7200-11-failing,6844.html

This is just a quick post to help protect you and your computer data. We hope it helps!

Start the new year fresh and clean and protected

2009-01-15T19:36:53Z

In a couple of posts late last year we talked about how to keep your PC clean in regards to dust & also keeping it clean of unnecessary temp files etc. So to add to these posts it's only appropriate to discuss the importance of having good anti-virus and spyware software.

So to kick things off I'll give a few definitions of some commonly used phrases (definitions from Wikipedia.com).

Virus:
A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without the permission or sometimes knowledge of the user.

Malware:
Malware, a portmanteau from the words malicious and software, is designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system with the owner's informed consent, The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

Adware:
Adware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used.

Spyware:
Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer without the owners consent.

Tojan Horse:
Trojan horse payloads are almost always designed to cause harm, but can also be harmless. They are classified based on how they breach and damage systems.
Some examples of the affects are:

Erasing or overwriting data on a computer
Upload and download of files
Phishing for bank or other account details, which can be used for criminal activities
Deactivating or interfering with anti-virus and firewall programs

Computer Worm:
Worms use a network to send copies of itself to other nodes (computers on the network) and it may do so without any user intervention. Unlike a virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Worms almost always cause harm to the network, if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted computer.

There are many more types of "virus" and other nasty things out there. But basically as long as you understand that you need to make sure you're protected from them as best you can - you'll be okay.

I've searched around the internet to see what most people are using or what is classified as "the best" out there. There is plenty of great software available out there to use, however a few that we recommend are - Windows Live OneCare, NOD32, AVG.

I've checked out a few IT forum pages to see what they recommend as far as virus and spyware software, and they say that you should have at least one antivirus product and two spyware products. A couple of spyware products recommended are - Spyware Blaster, Spybot Search & Destroy, Spyware Guard (works in real time), and Adaware.

Also, if you don't already have a firewall to protect your PC, it is recommended that you download one. A recommended and popular firewall is ZoneAlarm.

Fire wall definition :
A firewall is an integrated collection of security measures designed to prevent unauthorized electronic access to a networked computer system.

I know this has been quite a long post already but with all the trash that is on the internet these days, you need to be as protected as you can. There are hundreds of new viruses being created everyday and your virus software should automatically update at least once a week to keep up with the new virus definitions being released.

Finally to top off the list, you should make sure your windows updates are kept up to date. This option is generally selected as automatic so shouldn't be a problem. To check if it is, click on start < control panel < automatic updates and then select the automatically option and a time that suits you.

I hope this helps to keep you and your computer safe this year. If you would like any further help with this or things related to this then either post a comment or send an email through to us (info@avantgate.com) and we'll be happy to help. To access any of the above mentioned software simply Google it. Some of them are free and others cost a small fee, however it is a worth while investment.

Have a prosperous year!

Bring on 2009!

2009-01-13T19:42:28Z

Well 2009 is well underway. The team at Avantgate hope you all had a great holiday season and got some well earned rest.

We're so excited for this year and all it entails. We have a few new additions to the Avantgate tool belt that will be unleashed for you to take advantage of soon so watch this space as we know you will benefit from all it offers.

We're looking to structure our blogs around currant/relevant topics as well as have a flow between each blog so each one intertwines with the last one, so if there is anything that you would like to know or you think is relevant then just send us an email (info@avantgate.com) and we'll see what we can do.

The team at Avantgate hope that you are excited about this year as well, and look forward to working with you on a project soon. Until we communicate again, we hope you have a fantastic year full of sales.

December Newsletter - Christmas Greetings from Avantgate

2008-12-08T02:01:54Z

Hi Everyone,
The team at Avantgate hope you've had a great year. We've certainly had an exciting year and 2009 is looking equally promising. If you need anything over the Christmas break feel free to give us a call. Christmas and Boxing day are the only days we won't be answering phones. Keep reading for useful information about our services. If you think this newsletter will be helpful to anyone you know please pass it along.

Don't forget to check-out our company blog on www.avantgate.com for useful articles. If you would like us to write about something specific feel free to email info@avantgate.com and make a suggestion.

Choose Avantgate for end-to-end business, IT, and online solutions.

NEW way to pay
We're always looking for ways to make things easier, so now you can pay your Avantgate invoice online using your credit card. Just go to http://avantgate.com/account-pay.php and put your invoice number and dollar amount in. You will then be taken to a secure payment gateway, run by the highly reputable DPS - a NZ payment solutions company.

If you would like to setup your own shopping cart, payment gateway, or both we can manage the whole process for you. There are no hassles - we simply deliver a working solution at the other end.

Refresh your website
Websites are a bit like interior decoration... no matter how much you future-proof them they tend to get 'old'. Sometimes they only need a few hours work to look great again, but a complete redesign is needed in some cases. Why should you consider this? Customers and potential customers look for change, as do search engines like Google. This is also a good chance to get an edge on the competition. Many potential customers form their opinion of your company online before making contact with you, or they may go to your website and decide they won't contact you at all! It is becoming increasingly important to present the right image online - this applies to nearly all organisations. Call us on 0800 144 824 to book a free consultation about your website.

Managing online content
Avantgate are passionate about making things easier for our clients. That's why we know a lot about managing content online. When you need to be able to edit or produce online content 'in-house' (like the news page on your website) we can provide several different solutions depending on your situation and preferences. We specialise in the following content management packages: Adobe Contribute, Movable Type, and Microsoft SharePoint. We also have experience using open source solutions like Mambo CMS. Email info@avantgate.com for more information on content management.

Improving your business with our help
Avantgate have proven that when you want innovative business and IT solutions you can come to us. One of our recent customers said this about my work with them:

"Matthew has an exceptional ability to quickly learn how an organisation ticks, and move swiftly into "value add" mode. He is experienced in working with both public and private sector organisations, and he understands the nuances of working within each of these. Matthew listens to his clients attentively, and this helps him develop articulate and relevant business enhancements. Added to this are his exceptional IT skills meaning that Matthew has a unique ability to take ideas from concept level and drive them through to implementation, developing great ICT tools along the way."
Esther Calley, Group Manager - Service Centre, Tertiary Education Commission
November 2, 2008

We can help your business become more efficient, customer friendly and profitable. By reviewing your business we can identify 'sticking points', recommend and design business and IT solutions, and implement those solutions. Getting outside help like ours can prove very cost-effective. Hiring staff with the required specialist expertise is often prohibitive or impossible, and for many organisations does not make good business sense. Even the biggest companies hire in temporary help to achieve special objectives and improve their business processes. This can be a great way to get ahead of how your competitors do business. Call us on 0800 144 824 to discuss how we can help.

Website and email hosting simplicity
Our new hosting approach has been going very well. Uptime has been superb, and as expected we haven't had a single customer report a problem. If your website or email is not super reliable then make the change to Avantgate hosting. The base package is only $36 + GST per month and includes everything - even all your email. Extra bandwidth is the only extra most customers will ever need - and many don't even need that. Website and email hosting is ultra simple and feature rich with Avantgate.

Do graphic design right
When you produce graphics for print or digital media it reflects your company whether you like it or not. If you want professional graphic design then Avantgate cover the full spectrum - from logos to complex illustrations. We'll work with you to make sure our designs are a good fit for your business.

Contact us for end-to-end business, IT, and online solutions
If you have questions about how we can help you and your business just reply to this email or call 0800 144 824.

Have a great Christmas!
Matthew Evetts

Director, Avantgate Ltd
Phone: 0800 144 824
URL: www.avantgate.com

Finding your niche market

2008-11-26T19:27:17Z

When you think about finding your niche market, you probably sit there for a second perplexed and thinking everything has been done before. But hey, back 50 years ago people were probably saying the same thing. And you don't want to do anything in the current economic environment because we're in a recession so it's the worst time to be doing anything right now.

I disagree.

Why? Let me explain. So we're in a recession - about 50% - 60% of companies are pulling back the reigns saying hey lets hold onto what we have until the recession is over. So if they're sitting back and not wanting to invest in anything right now be it stocks, advertising & marketing, new ventures etc. Then wouldn't that present itself as the perfect opportunity to tap into that market you've been waiting for? As more people hold back from advertising and things to get their name out there - wouldn't you want to step out and make your presence known? Just because we're in a recession doesn't mean that if a pipe at home blocks that we won't need a plumber, or that people won't need life or income insurance - hello, people still can get sick or die during a recession so it's not that the need for your service disappears. It just means that the people that are looking for these services are going to be more picky about who they use and why they use them.

So - in summary, you know your market, the recession is your friend, now hit it while others are holding back.

Looking after your PC so your PC will look after you.

2008-11-24T20:24:58Z

So we're coming into summer now and we're all starting to think about holidays in the sun and making the most of whatever time we have off. The last thing you're probably thinking about is a bit of TLC for your computer during the warmer season.

You should take a look at your PC before we get too far into summer and think about giving your computer a good old blow out with some compressed air (buy it in a can). If your fans aren't spinning properly or if your cards and fans have a thermal layer of dust from the winter month then you should be looking to blow out your PC ASAP. If you don't your computer can heat up too much and eventually over heat - either blowing your power supply or even worse over heat and kill your CPU (central processing unit aka chip) or your motherboard - both can be fairly expensive ventures. Video cards are another common component to overheat. A can of air will cost you around $20 - $30 from Dick Smith or PB Tech (or any other electronics store). There are other places to get compressed air but they're probably the more common ones. You could also however, talk to a friend that has a air compressor and just use that to blow it out and use the $20 to buy some sun block and an ice cold drink for when you're relaxing under a tree at the beach. Be careful the compressor is not too powerful!

Doing this can also improve your computers performance as the cooler you can keep your CPU and the rest of the inside of your PC the faster it can perform without worrying about overheating.

We hope this helps someone out there. Let us know by commenting or sending us an email if there is something specific that you would like us to answer. Have a great week and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Saving your laptop battery

2008-11-19T18:51:39Z

Laptop batteries are ridiculously expensive and so any tips on how to save them should be shared.

Tips:
1. If you're not going to be using your laptop for a while. Take the battery off and put it in a bag and then put it into a freezer. This should help lower the risk of losing time on how long your battery charge lasts.

2. Don't leave your battery out in the sun or near anything that would expose the battery to high heat as the hotter the battery is, the quicker it will discharge.

3. Leaving the battery in the laptop while also having it plugged into the wall (an electrical outlet) will keep the battery in a constant state of charging which will decrease the life of your battery.

4. If you have a nickel metal hydride battery, then you should completely drain and recharge your battery once a month so that you maximize it's capacity to hold a charge.

If you have any questions for us here at Avantgate that you would like us to help you with - just fire through an email or leave a comment and we'll be more than happy to help. Have a great week.

Hard Drives - IDE or SATA? Can I run both?

2008-11-16T23:07:35Z

SATA drives are defiantly faster in terms of performance, so if your motherboard supports them then go SATA. Apart from performance, SATA drives are also cheaper than IDE drives as IDE is an old technology that is being phased out. So for less dollars you can get a higher performing and larger capacity drive.

Can you run both IDE & SATA hard drives? Sure, if your motherboard supports it then you can run both drive types.

If you have any technical questions you need help with - just send us through an email or post a comment and we'll be happy to help however we can.

HELP!!! My computer is going the speed of a turtle!

2008-11-12T20:52:28Z

Ok, nobody panic - things are going to be okay. I can see the computer technicians cash register going round in your eyes. But don't fret!

Before you decide to take it into the technician, first do some clearing out of your own computer because it could simply be that your computer is full of rubbish you don't actually need.

Firstly check how much of your hard drive space you have left. To keep getting good performance from your hard drive you should always keep 20% free. If you have much less than that - then you should look to removing some unneeded or unused programs. If you still need to free up space then would be good to back up any media (ie, photo's / videos / music etc) or anything onto a removable drive or another hard drive. It is good practice to always have two copies of anything though!

Next, you can delete cookies and temp files from your computer to free up more space as these can fill up rather quickly. Cookies (cache) and/or temp files are created either by the internet or other programs. They're basically a snap shot of a website or project you're working on, so that the next time you access that information it doesn't take as much time to load, because it already has an idea of how it looked before. So you don't have to worry so much when you delete these as next time you go into a website or project your system will automatically create another "cookie" or "temp" file with a new image.
Details on how to do it (These are the instructions for Internet Explorer):
Deleting Cookies and Temp files:
The easiest way to delete these is to open your internet browser
Click on 'tools'
Then Select 'Internet options'
Then click delete browser history'
Then click the 'delete cookies button' and then the 'delete files button'.

This may take a little time (a minute or two) especially if you haven't done it for a long time or at all so just be patient.

To delete the temp files and cookies in Mozilla Firefox follow these instructions:-
Click on 'tools'
Then click 'options'
Then click on the 'privacy' tab
Then click 'show cookies'
Then click 'remove all cookies'

You can also select the option to have your private data deleted each time you close your browser. By clicking the box so that the tick appears when you're in the 'privacy' tab. If you're running Windows there is also a disk cleanup tool that will do the above and more. Go to:
Start // Programs // Accessories // System Tools // Disk Cleanup

After you delete a bit of stuff (especially if you delete programs or remove things from your drive) it'd be a good idea to do a disk defrag so your drive is re-organized and back in order. To do this in MS Windows go to:
Start // Programs // Accessories // System Tools // Disk Defragmenter
Then select the drive you want defragmented (if you have more than one) and then click defragment and it will defrag the drive.

I hope this helps - if you use a browser other than the two I've used as examples then fire through an email or leave a comment here and we'll do our best to get instructions on how to do this same procedure for your browser. Have a great week!

Ram issue - no I'm not talking about sheep

2008-10-17T01:26:23Z

We recently built a computer and it works great. We then decided about 20 hours later that it was time for a ram upgrade as the already 2GB just wasn't quite enough. So we purchased the ram and put it in. We turned on the computer expecting it to fly and that is 100% what it did not do....

So we opened up the case again thinking we'd just not put the ram in properly. We checked it all and it seemed to be in fine. So turned it on again, still nothing.... so out come two sticks of ram and we try turning it on again......still nothing. So by now in the back of our minds we're thinking have we been careless somewhere and fried something? It was one of those tense moments where everyone's thinking it but if you say it, you know you're going to get the smack down laid on you.

So finally we fold and take it to the local computer guy. He plugs it in and turns it on, still nothing. So he starts pulling out sticks of ram and each time, nothing. We got to the end and just pulled out all the ram and turned it on (knowing it wouldn't work), and then put it in stick by stick thinking that one might be faulty. So we put the first one in and it works, put the second and it works - we got all the sticks of ram in and it worked with all four. So we're both looking confused, yet happy that it's working.

We got it back to the office and then clicked... the computer hadn't actually been shut down properly before and had just gone into a standby mode. It had turned off all the lights and hard drives etc. and the ram had held the memory of the last state of the computer, so when we put in the ram and turned it on, it found this new stuff and freaked out because it didn't match the previous image. It didn't work again until we had taken all the ram out which acted as a "reset" to the computer and so when we put the ram back in, it worked fine because it got a fresh image of what was in there.

Moral of the story, make sure the computer is actually shut down before adding new stuff and not just in standby, I hope this helps someone!

Motivational moment - 5mins later....reality...

2008-09-25T04:27:18Z

It's funny you know. I've heard a lot of people going to motivational talks or reading things that are all based on being motivated.
And for that hour talk or that 30mins of reading time you seem to escape your current situation and enter this magical land where everything is perfect. The cat didn't drag that dead bird in from outside, the kids didn't spill cereal over themselves and that damn Porsche driver didn't barge his way in front of you on the way to work causing you to slam the brakes on and spill the half a cup of coffee in your travel mug which doesn't even fit in the stupid cup holder properly - I mean really who designs this crap?!?!.........*ahem*....I digress.....

Why is it that people search for these motivational moments only to let their perception of their current reality dismiss the inspired feeling they had five minutes ago? But hey, ya know - it's all well and good because they (the motivational talkers) just don't understand. They had it easy, it's not like that in your office. I mean hey, all they had was a couple of seagull managers (you know, the ones that fly in, make a lot of noise - crap everywhere and then fly off). They don't have the IT department you have that will help you little more than the good morning when they see you. Nor do they have the toilet monitoring manager you have, that is more interested in the fact you took 2.7mins in the bathroom than to sit down with you and talk about how we can make things more efficient and productive.

I think the first step to take is to realize that once you leave the motivational talk or finish reading, that the things that got you so inspired must be converted from being a moment of escape to a goal. Now for those of us that have set goals in the past, we all know that when you set something as a goal - you generally don't expect to achieve it straight away. The same can be said for this: you can't expect a result straight away. If you want to change something, the best place to start is with you...YES YOU...not the mail boy asleep in the cubicle next to you, YOU.....
You can be the one to instigate the change needed to bring about part of that magical moment you experienced. Once change is in motion it generally gets easier, getting started is the hardest part. Whether the change is how you order things in your day, or maybe your attitude (Attitude is a whole separate blog for another week).
People notice change, something like smiling when you're given a task that 9.5/10 people hate. Maybe turning up earlier, or moving your in-trays to the other side of the desk and actually finding a clear space under that mountain of paper. There's heaps of things you can do. People will notice, and once you have peoples attention - you can get them on board and that will start the momentum needed to see the positive change in your environment.

Creativity - coming up with 'the next best thing'

2008-09-14T20:36:17Z

Creativity... It's great when you're in the flow. But what about those times when the bubbling brook seems to have blocked up? What do you do to get things flowing again... throw all your toys out of the cot and make a lot of noise?... maybe you sit in your chair pulling out your hair and chewing the skin off your fingers now that all your nails are gone...?

The pressure of coming up with 'the next best thing' in your industry can be a daunting task when all you have to inspire you is the four bland walls of your cubicle and the old staples from previous workers who bashed them in so hard that the jaws of life could not salvage whatever wall space is left. I think the best place to start is to stand up and look around your little cubicle farm, how are all the other cubicites? Now that you've seen a little further than your four walls how do you feel? Probably no better, all you've done is seen another 20 identical cubicles.

How do you get your ideas flowing? What is it that you most enjoy doing outside of work? Maybe you enjoy mountain biking, knitting, lawn bowls, skiing/snowboarding? What is it? Now my next question now that we've established that is, how often do you take the time to do it? One thing I've learnt is that, in order to give out of yourself, you must first have something inside of you.

I love snowboarding, I am by no means fantastic at it. But there is just something about being up the mountain looking out across a fog covered land with only the peaks of other mountain ranges in sight and the sun beaming down, it really inspires me. When I'm up there, my head is clear (it could be the elevation and i just get light-headed when I'm up there, who knows) and free of all the stresses of the day. I always find it easier to add to a brain storming meeting when I've taken some time before to invest into myself.

With this also, you can get thrown curve balls. Things come up that you didn't expect, whether in business or life. Sometimes a perfectly good creative flow can be interrupted by a curve ball. The best solution that I've found for this is to get up and get some fresh air and a glass of water. Take 5 minutes and just clear your head and come back to your brain storm - you'll be more productive if you do this than just sitting there staring at your screen blankly.

I hope that you will take a few moments to breathe and also take the time to invest in yourself, as we live in a world that requires us to give so much of ourselves. May the creativity flow and the ideas list never end!

An appealing alternative to CMS

2008-08-27T01:45:54Z

We've all seen the influx of CMS sites that have now plagued the internet, with that 'awesome' table styled design.

Adobe have a fantastic bit of software called 'Contribute' which will enable you to have your clients edit the site as they see fit, while still maintaining the integrity of the website. Now you're probably thinking, oh here we go now everyone is going to be learning coding so that the integrity is kept - but that's not the case. If you can use the basic functions of Microsoft word (save, insert, copy, paste etc) then you will be able to use this great product. There is no coding involved and updating is as simple as connecting to the site, clicking edit and then putting in the new information you want. Adobe Contribute will automatically input the code needed to display your new information. Not only do your clients get the ability to update their own website, but you can rest easy knowing that it's not going to cause you a headache later because the coding is all wrong.

For more information or help, contact us or look on the Adobe website.