| Welcome to the N-Tech Solutions Customer Newsletter for March 2009!
by Nathan Woodcock
As part of our commitment to providing an IT service that is professional, straight-talking and enjoyable we publish this newsletter every one or two months to keep in touch, have some fun and maybe even point out a few handy computer related things you didn't know. If you'd prefer not to receive this email simply click the unsubscribe link at the bottom on this newsletter. Want to Improve your Computer Skills?
by Nathan Woodcock
Would you, a friend or relative like to improve your computer skills, or even learn your way around one for the first time? Sue Langdon from Eumundi Photo Hut will be providing very inexpensive computer training classes at Eumundi State School, who have graciously offered the use of their 27 PC computer classroom. She hopes to commence classes in early April and to gauge interest and what people would like to learn there is a short questionnaire you can fill out. Basic PC use? MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint? Emailing? Download the questionnaire by clicking here, fill it in and return to Eumundi Photo Hut or the front counter of Eumundi State School by Wednesday 25th March (this Wednesday). If you can't get the form back in this timeframe just give Sue a ring at Eumundi Photo Hut on 54427710 or email to
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and she can take down your details. Projector For Hire and more on Photos
by Nathan Woodcock
Also provided by our friends at Eumundi Photo Hut is a Sony digital projector for hire. The projector connects to any PC or laptop and projects onto any flat surface, a plain wall is fine. While we're talking photos it's worth mentioning that using your home printer to print out your photos often isn't very cost effective at all. Despite photo printers being fairly inexpensive these days and the initial prints looking really good, what I've found, even with a more expensive photo printer and original manufacturer inks, is that the colours in the photo fade very quickly. I have printed photos that are washed out after just 6-12 months. Take into account the expense of all those colour cartridges and it just isn't worth it. So I've given up on photo printers and instead just take the photos I want prints of on a memory stick to a photo shop like Eumundi Photo Hut. The prints are very inexpensive and the inks and paper seem far better quality as I suffer much less colour fade over a much longer period. Have a chat to Sue or Ian at the Eumundi Photo Hut on 54427710 or drop by Monday to Saturday. It's more than a photo shop. Disabling Startup Items
by Nathan Woodcock
We've had a query from a reader about an issue with an item during PC shutdown, as follows:
“Hi Nathan...can you tell me what "WMS Idle" is and why it keeps appearing when I try to put my computer on standby or off? I’m running Windows XP and install all updates as they appear. I use AVG free.”
This problem is most commonly caused by Nero Scout, which is a desktop search application installed by the Nero suite of CD/DVD programs. Just disable Nero Scout and it will go away.
Many unnecessary programs get started up when you start your computer, and as time goes by you get more and more slowing your computer down further and further. One big offender are software autoupdaters for all those third party programs you have. You can check the list of starting programs a couple of ways, but you do need to be careful when disabling items in case you turn off something important accidently (like your anti-virus!). You can use “msconfig” (click Start, Run, then type msconfig and click ok) to view startup items, just click the Startup tab and you will see a list. Another tool you can use is Microsoft Autoruns (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx), which gives an even more comprehensive list of everything that starts up. This is more for the advanced user though. For both programs untick the box next to an item to disable it starting up. Space Saving, Cheap Good Quality Refurbished PCs
by Nathan Woodcock
Due to popular demand we have more of these excellent space saving refurbished PCs. These little beauties are Hewlett Packard DC7600 all-in-one systems. The PC itself is a low profile small case that sits directly behind the monitor on a stand. When you are sitting in front of the included 17" LCD screen you can't even see the PC behind it. Space saving, no cable mess, neat and tidy it's perfect for home, the office or the kids and the performance is great for all of the above. Priced at only $399 each.
Specs:
Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz CPU
1GB RAM
80GB Hard Drive
DVD/CDRW Combo Drive
8 USB ports
Windows XP Home
Keyboard, Mouse
HP L1706 17" LCD monitor
30 day warranty (all systems have had full diagnostics and stress testing run by N-Tech)
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| Contacting N-Tech Solutions
There are a few ways you can contact us, as follows. Office phone on 07 53093379, Nathan's mobile on 0422 247730 (phone or text, I'm often on jobs or with clients and can't directly answer your call), email to
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Leave a message if you don't get through to someone and we will call you back. This includes weekends - we'll call you back on Monday unless you say you need a weekend callout (weekend callouts are charged at emergency rates 1.5 - 2x normal rate).
Credit Card Payment Accepted: Did you know you can now pay us by credit card via Paypal? We accept Mastercard and VISA , although there is a 2.5% transaction fee attached to CC payments. If you wish to pay your bill via credit card let us know and we will email you a link that enables you to pay quickly and securely, without even signing up for a Paypal account. Samsung CLP-300N Colour Network Laser Printer $195:
A networked colour laser for under $200, and it’s a Samsung so it’s rugged and reliable. Up to 17PPM black and 5PPM colour. Perfect for the home office.
Office Toner supplies:
We provide a large range of new original manufacturer toner cartridges for many type of laser printers at very good prices. Drop us an email with your printer make and model or toner cartridge part number ad ask us for a quote. 30% Tax Bonus to June 30...
Don't forget you only have until June 30 to take advantage of the 30% tax break for purchases on business assets over $1000. You can claim 30% of the purchase as a deduction in this years tax return. Ask us about our deals on systems. Careful how you build your website...
We've spotted a few website designs around the place recently who have been caught out by using lazy or inexperienced web designers. Some sites have been using images from competitors sites but rather than copying the image and putting it on their own web hosting (which is still stealing), they just link to the image on the other persons site. In these cases the person whose image has been stolen has seen what is happening and has changed the image that the offender is linking to, so instead of a nice image of a Noosa view they get a shot of a sewerage plant. Some of these have been on the offenders websites for 12 months without them noticing. Nice. It pays to use professionals. |
