Anyone with a Benq 5000 colour scanner who is having difficulty finding drivers that work with Windows Vista or Windows 7 you can download them off the Benq EU website. Get them here.
Note: The Vista driver work quite happily with Windows 7.
During the installation of AVG security application, such as AVG Antivirus or AVG Internet Security, the following error may occur:
Local machine: installation failed
Initialization:
Error: Connecting to item registry root HKCU (username) failed.
Error 0×80070005 or Access Denied
The solution is to run the installer from the command prompt with the following parameter tagged on the end of the command line:
/IGNORE_USER username
The AVG application will hopefully now install.
Technorati Tags: AVG, AVG Antivirus, AVG Internet Security, installation failed
Just in case you missed this, it is National Identity Fraud Prevention Week in the UK. The insipid increase of identity fraud makes it one of the fastest growing areas of crime.
Visit the website to learn more.
Feel free to contact us if you require assistance as a victim of identity fraud or would like to secure your computer to help in the detection and prevention of ID fraud. We provide computer support services in the east of Scotland, in particular Fife, Tayside and Edinburgh.
Technorati Tags: identity fraud, Edinburgh, Fife, National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, Tayside
Windows 7 has been officially released to manufacturing in preparation for the October 22nd general release.
The pre-orders for Windows 7 have been unprecedented and make it look like this will be the most successful version of Windows ever. Microsoft has spent considerable time, effort and resources ensuring the bad press and experience of the Windows Vista release won’t be repeated this time around.
We’ll be deploying Windows 7 to all our systems in late August, Microsoft Partners get access to Microsoft software before general release, and will be reporting back on our experiences. Keep an eye on this blog for more information.
Anyone purchasing a Windows Vista computer at the moment should ensure they are buying one that qualifies for the free copy of Windows 7 when it is released.
Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Windows, Windows 7, Windows Vista
Slightly off topic, but interesting enough for us to let you know that Bill Gates has bought the rights for a series of old black and white physics lectures. He now making them available free to the world via Microsoft Research.
Check them out here.
Technorati Tags: Bill Gates, Microsoft, Microsoft Research, physics, TUVA
Both Adobe and Microsoft released security updates for their products yesterday. Microsoft is already warning that 15 of the 31 security bugs may be actively exploited within 30 days.
Ensure you have installed these updates by using the “Check for Update” menu item in Adobe’s Acrobat Reader and either ran Windows Update or Microsoft Update to check and if necessary install the latest Microsoft updates.
See “Microsoft patches record number of security bugs” article from The Register for more details.
Technorati Tags: Acrobat Reader, Adobe, Microsoft, Microsoft Update, Patch Tuesday, Windows Update
The BBC has posted an interesting video showing why it is a bad thing to install software illegally downloaded off the Internet. This also extends to running a crack, hack or keygen to bypass any license protection or product activation.
They’ve managed to do the demonstration without breaking the law this time, unlike their botnet demonstration a few months ago!
Technorati Tags: BBC, botnet, crack, hack, keygen, pirate software
Microsoft Office 2000 is coming to the end of the extended support period very soon, 14th July 2009 to be precise. On this date Microsoft officially retire this version and no longer provide security updates to keep users safe from the threats exploiting security vulnerabilities in Office 2000.
To quote Microsoft from their Office Lifecycle webpage:
Office 2000 – Microsoft will continue to offer mainstream support for Office 2000 through June 30, 2004. The Office 2000 extended support period will last from July 1, 2004 through July 14, 2009. The latest Office 2000 service pack is required for hotfix support.
What does this mean for user of this version of Office? Well you need to plan to upgrade to a more recent version of Office or uninstall it by or on the 14th July 2009. More recent versions of Office include Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2007.
Alternatively, uninstall Office 2000 and try Open Office, which is free to use both for commercial and non-commercial use. It is pretty good for people with simple needs, but there are still compatibility issues with swapping the files with users of Office!
Continuing to use Office 2000 after the end of life date will see your computer becoming more and more insecure to the bad guys as time passes! Doing nothing isn’t an option unless you are happy for your system to be compromised.
Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Office, Open Office
Heise Security has made available a simple webpage Conficker test that gives an indication if you may be infected by Conficker or similar malware.
Check it out if you suspect you may be infected!
Technorati Tags: Conficker, Heise Security, security
The media has caused alarm about Conficker, a computer worm that was first discovered last year, which is reported as having a trigger date for bad things to happen on the 1st April 2009. Here’s a little sample from CBS of the media hysteria with thanks to Alex at Sunbelt Blog for this video find.
No one really knows what is going to occur or even if something will be triggered on April Fool’s Day, but don’t wait to deal with Conficker if you suspect it is infecting your computers. Go to one of the reputable security vendors and download a removal tool, get your systems patched and check all USB memory devices for infection.
Graham Cluley of Sophos has done an excellent blog post and video about this threat. Well worth watching and acting upon the advice presented.
More information and advice from Microsoft about Conficker can be found here,
More from the news:
CNN: How will April Fool’s worm impact you?
The Guardian: Conficker virus could be deadly threat – or April Fool’s joke
The Times: Will PC worm turn nasty on April Fool’s Day?
Technorati Tags: April Fool’s Day, Conficker, Graham Cluley, Microsoft, Sophos
Java 6 Update 13 has just made available from the Java download website so it was time to download it here in Freuchie!
The near 16MB file came down at over 600KB/sec which is stunning performance from an ADSL Max connection three miles from the Falkland Exchange.
It will be interesting to see the speed on the Speedtest.net website.
A little on the low side compared with the real world file download speed test done above. However, it still shows a very fast connection for us in Freuchie, Fife.
As an aside, we also completed a remote install on a Tiscali connection at 7am that came down at 800KB/sec. But don’t try to get this kind of speed out of Tiscali later on in the day, especially between 4pm and 10pm.
Technorati Tags: ADSL Max, broadband, Falkland, Falkland Exchange, Fife, Freuchie, Microsoft, speed test, SpeedTest.net, Tiscali
Just to prove the Falkland Exchange isn’t congested we repeat our earlier tests at 8:50pm – results below.
A little down on the earlier Speedtest.net test, but this could easily be attributed to busy Speedtest.net servers. Regardless, the speed is still about 4.5Mbps.
Oh dear, our earlier download from the Microsoft website is really slow at the moment. In fact, dial-up speed slow!
This is a problem with the Microsoft download servers at peak times. Who’d have thought they wouldn’t be able to keep their servers ticking over at decent speeds?
We can confirm this by downloading a file from FileHippo:
… and a few minutes into the download it had settled down to:
There we go, proof positive that one website can be having problems, even one as big as Microsoft, and others will give you full speed out of a decent ISPs ADSL Max broadband connection.
Try these same types of test for yourself and let us know how you get on.
Same tests at 10pm:
Even better than earlier just as the kids of Fife are sent to bed!
Technorati Tags: ADSL Max, broadband, Falkland, Falkland Exchange, Fife, Freuchie, Microsoft, speed test, SpeedTest.net
In a follow-up to our earlier post on the perceived problems with broadband in Freuchie, let’s look again at using Speedtest.net to see how the broadband in Freuchie is performing today.
Doesn’t look too sluggish does it? But then again, ISPs can manipulate results from speed test websites to make them look better than the true speed when used for real world purposes. Let’s check that by downloading a file from the Microsoft website at approximately 1pm.
… and a few minutes and 88MB of file download later…
Starts off really fast then drops off slightly, but these speeds are still incredibly quick for an ADSL Max broadband connection 3 miles away from the exchange.
Let’s hear some of your results from similar tests on the Falkland Exchange using some of the big boy providers.
Technorati Tags: ADSL Max, broadband, Falkland, Falkland Exchange, Freuchie, Microsoft, speed test, SpeedTest.net
Throughout the years many customers and other residents in Freuchie, and the surrounding areas of Fife, have complained about the poor performance and speed of the broadband supplied through the Falkland exchange. Very few users actually understand how their broadband connection is provisioned – a simple guide to ADSL is available from thinkbroadband.com.
They usually indicate sub 1Mbps performance at best during peak hours! Some broadband users would be better on dial-up on some occasions! What is going on?
Let’s first look at the technology available in the Falkland exchange:
That’s it! No SDSL, 21CN capability or Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) but then again it is a fairly small rural exchange!.
Still, residents of Freuchie should be getting somewhere around about 3.5 – 5.5 Mbps if they are on ADSL Max connection. Shown below is some proof from our own connection that demonstrates fast download speeds for a broadband connection about 3 miles away from the exchange.
Most of the people who complain don’t get anywhere near the performance out of their broadband connection that the exchange is capable of supporting! Go check your own speed by downloading from a fast download website or check it at Speedtest.net and see if you should also be complaining!
Our test above shows speeds approach 5Mbps performance on this test.
Let’s now discuss some of the reasons for the poor speeds and general performance issues!
The choice of ISP is usually the most significant factor in performance. Big boy providers who offer cheap deals usually have congested networks during peak hours.
FIX: Change to a decent ISP
Your ISP is using Traffic Shaping technologies in an attempt to balance their congested network..
FIX: Change to a decent ISP
You are in breach of your ISP’s fair usage policy and they have slowed down your connection.
FIX: Check the contract T&Cs regarding fair usage and contact your ISP to clarify anything that isn’t clear .. or change to a decent ISP
The broadband connection is plugged into the first generation ADSL equipment at the exchange thereby limiting the maximum down speed to be 2Mbps.
FIX: Ask to be upgraded or change to a decent ISP
The general configuration of user’s computer.
FIX: Get an IT professional to look at your computer.
Hardware or software problems on the computer.
FIX: Get an IT professional to look at it.
Viruses and other malware installed on the user’s computers.
FIX: Get an IT professional to look at it.
Cheap routers or modems (usually supplied free by ISPs) that aren’t up to the job and have been badly configured/set-up.
FIX: Purchase a decent quality router and have an IT Professional set it up.
Telephones being plugged into extension outlets without going through an ADSL filter.
FIX: Fit additional ADSL filters as needed.
There are many other things, but the ones above are the biggies, with the choice of ISP being the most significant factor. You can check and also rate your ISPs on the independent website thinkbroadband.com. Try their Compare Tool to check out your ISPs performance against others.
Time after time we are called out to IT support calls due to broadband problems. The improvement in broadband speed is usually very noticeable after we have moved people over to Zen Internet, installed AVG Antivirus or AVG Internet Security, performed some housekeeping and reconfigured the computers and router.
Contact us if you are interested in us visiting you to get the best performance out of your broadband experience or wish to move to Zen Internet or purchase one of the AVG security products.
A closing thought…there’s no such thing as unlimited full line speed broadband!
Technorati Tags: 21CN, ADSL, ADSL Max, antivirus, AVG, broadband, Falkland, Freuchie, Fife, IT Professional, IT Support, LLU, SDSL, ThinkBroadband, Zen Internet
Over the last few days, a few customers have reported the following error with AVG Antivirus and Internet Security products:
Update failed – the connection with update server has failed
In cases where you start to receive this error message and your internet connection is working properly, please perform the following steps:
Hope that helps those people receiving this problem.
Unfortunately we’ve not seen the problem ourselves so are unable to investigate the problem further. We have provided feedback to AVG of this issue, who should hopefully fix it pretty promptly.
Technorati Tags: antivirus, AVG, Internet Security
