Copying over files to a new computer is pretty easy with an external hard drive as the medium; however, copying over Outlook e-mail takes a few more steps.  Outlook contains a database file called .pst which includes your e-mails, contacts, and calendar.  By bringing over your main .pst files and secondary .pst’s (i.e. archives), you’ll be bringing over all of your e-mails, folders and subfolders.

Here’s how to perform the Outlook transfer:

1. Search for any Outlook folders by going to Start->Search and type: *.pst
2. Then, copy all .pst folders to an external hard drive, thumb drive, DVD, network drive, or other medium.
3. Connect your external drive or other medium to your new computer.
4. Copy and paste your .pst folders to your Documents (or My Documents for Windows XP) folder.
5. Open up Outlook and click: File->Import and Export>Import from another program or file->Personal Folder File (.pst). 
6. Browse to your your copied over .pst in your Documents folder (or My Documents for Windows XP) and select it. 
7. Finally, keep selecting the defaults until completed.

This process will import your existing .pst from your computer onto your new computer.  The best part about the import process is that if any corruptions existed in your previous Outlook folders or subfolders, they are usually resolved by taking on the fresh Outlook folder.

We often talk about securing your computer from viruses, spyware, or hackers.  But, we less think about someone physically getting to your computer to access your personal information.  So, it is smart to learn how to physically secure your office so that your computers are safe from potential robbers or in-person hackers.

Here are the steps to take to secure your computers inside your office:

1. Set up a video surveillance system that records your office entrance and office activity itself for easy playback.
2. Make sure your building is set up for a buzz-in entry or that there is a doorman or stop form of security.
3. Set up an intercom system so you can see those who enter your building and/or office.
4. Lastly, and most importantly, set up a “hold-up” button so you can press this button to alert the police if being held-up.

We have called up ADT Security to take care of security for our offices and we feel very secure.  This is a small price to pay for not only your computer contents, but also your personal safety.

Getting hacked is not fun.  Everything needs to be redone and reset.  Talk about a re-do!  You have to get new credit cards, new usernames and passwords, and tune-up your computer to ensure the hacker is out of your life.

Now, you can find out if you’re hack prone.  Take the hacker test to check your security level.   This will let you know how secure your computer is.  The cool factor here is FBI-level folks will actually cross-reference your name with any hackers they know who might have your personal info.  Have you ever watched Dateline or 20/20 where the security experts track hackers, in turn, locating all of the swiped credit card they stole?  Well, this is the same thing, but this is a free security check that can prevent potential fraud with your accounts.

Take the test.  It could save your hours of hack anguish and tech support.

Computer maintenance is a great way to take care of your computer.  It allows an expert computer technician to run certain tests, checks, and optimization techniques, ensuring your computer is protected against viruses, spyware, pop-ups, and crashes. 

There is a myth that computer maintenance has to be weekly.  However, periodic tech maintenance can be as frequent as you’d like.  For example, for a home computer or small computer setup, it is wise to have computer maintenance either quarterly or twice a year.  This will allow testing for malicious items as well as failing hard drives, RAM, Internet speed status, dust build-up, network/printer/equipment issues.

We have found that preventative maintenance can save tons of money in the long-term, as well as extend the life of your mac or PC. 

Here’s a good periodic maintenance schedule based on the number of computers your company or small office has:

• 1 - 5 computers - bi-annual maintenance
• 6 - 10 computers - quarterly maintenance
• 11 - 15 - monthly maintenance
• 16 - 20 - bi-weekly maintenance
• 21+ computers - weekly maintenance 

Having the proper periodic plan for your business can save time and money, in turn, increasing overall production.  Please feel free to contact a local service provider for your computer maintenance options. 

If you’re one of those crazy cats with multiple personalities who needs several Gmail accounts, this blog is for you!  The new Internet Explorer 8, albeit still a work under construction, offers a cool little feature for Gmail.

Typically, you cannot open more than one gmail email account at once.  Internet Explorer or Firefox will force you to log out of your first email account to access the second one.  Now, Internet Explorer allows you to access multiple Gmail account by the following way:

1. Open up Internet Explorer 8 and Gmail.  Uncheck Remember Me when signing in.
2. Hit Alt-F, I and then press enter.  This will open a new window.
3. Open Gmail and sign into your second account, again unchecking Remember Me

That’s it.  You can repeat steps 2 and 3 for all of the additional Gmail accounts you might have.  Yes, it won’t remember your username and password, but this will act as a neat little work-around for keeping tracking of your e-mails.  A nice little tech tip if we do say so ourselves.

Data recovery is a tenuous subject. If you don’t have a data backup and your hard drive fails physically, you are not in a good situation. You’ll need to perform data recovery which is replacing failed parts of the hard drive in order extract files. There are tedious stages of data recovery that need to occur in order to attempt file recovery. The best way to approach data recovery is to contact a data recovery specialist.

Here’s what not to do, otherwise known as the top 3 data recovery myths:

1. Throw your hard drive in the freezer.  This will cause your drive to fluctuate in temperature to the point where the drive will have a small probability of recovery.
2. Take the head of the drive and pop it into another hard drive.  It’s a good theory, but you’ll need to make sure the replacement hard drive is identical in specifications.  Plus, you’ll need a clean room that ensures a dust-free environment.
3. Bang it a few times to loosen up the bad sectors.  This will cause further damage. 

Cell phones can be tricky devices to figure out.  That is if you don’t know if your cell phone is set to bluetooth device, headset, or the standard phone-on-ear setup.  If you have a cell phone that you’ve paired up with your bluetooth car setup, this can work well.  However, sometimes cell phones forget how to work when they’re not in the car.  They might still be set to bluetooth or headset and you might not be able to make or receive calls.

Here are the steps to take to get your phone out of bluetooth pairing mode:

1. Go to your bluetooth option on your phone and remove your bluetooth pairing device and make sure your phone is not set to bluetooth.
2. Turn off and on your phone.
3. Turn off your phone and remove your battery.  Then, turn on your phone.
4. If steps 1 - 3 don’t work, stop in to your local phone provider’s store.  They might have to upgrade your cell phone software or reset the phone.

Bluetooth setups on phones in the car is a great convenience.  And well, it’s the law to be hands-free so this is a crucial necessity when using your cell phone in the car.  However, you might need to perform some tech support on your phone if your phone is not operational outside of your car.

When you’re done with your computer, or your computer is done with you, don’t throw it out with the normal trash.  It is important to recycle your laptops and desktops, or distribute them to someone else to re-use.  These machines have so many different types of electronics that are not safe for the environment when thrown out with the normal trash.  Plus, re-using these potentially hazardous materials is the best way for several reasons: less emissions, less production, and less land fills.

How do you go about recycling or re-using?

1. When you buy a new computer, ask your manufacturer, i.e. Dell, HP, Sony, if they’ll take back your old computer.  Many companies are doing this now to re-use your parts in a green fashion.
2. Bring your computer to a local recycling event.  Bryant Park and Bowling Green Parks are experienced venues for this activity in NYC
3. Go to Freecycle.org to pass along your equipment to another local person. 
4. Contact your tech support company for recycle pick-up options or ask them if they’ll take your recyclables.

We’re living in a greener environment so having environmental consciousness with our computers is also very important to this goal.

Viruses and spyware can be slithery little pests.  Not all typical anti-virus and anti-spyware software may remove them.  Nowadays, there are trojans, bug, rootkits, and other infections that may be considered both spyware and viruses.  So, with different variants of infections running into the gray area of what it actually is, the security software to remove them has been trickier.

We’ve seen as of late a new trojan that infects the Windows\System32 folder.  This trojan will cripple the Windows Installer so you cannot run some programs, such as itunes, as well as not being be able to run Windows updates.  Many programs will not remove this trojan, including: Norton Anti-virus, Malware bytes, Spybot Search and Destroy, Hijack This, and AVG Anti-virus. 

Combofix has been able to remove this tough-to-kill trojan.  Combofix is a DOS program that runs within Windows and removes infections that may be found in the Windows\System32 folder.  Combofix is effective since it will actually delete these infections that cannot be manually removed. 

New trojans cannot be removed manually as they are write-protected and are just too smart to be simply deleted.  So, Combofix has come as a savior for removing trojans.  You’ll need to make sure to disable all current anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewalls while you’re running it to prevent startup problems afterwards.

As Vista has settled in nicely, one may wonder: “Will my computer be ready for Windows 7, the next Windows version?”

If you just bought a new PC in the last year, chances are your computer will be ready for the new Windows 7 operating system.  But, you may confirm if your computer is really able to meet the Windows 7 requirements by running the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.  This advisor lets you know what specific uprades you’ll need to make in order to have your computer Windows 7-ready.

For instance, if your desktop or laptop is only at 256MB or RAM, the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor will recommend 1GB of RAM.  It will also let you know if you need to upgrade your driver software for your hardware devices.

This link is definitely a good tool to have in your tech support arsenal when looking to upgrade to Windows 7.