Been super busy lately helping out clients with computer issues and all that. While that’s been happening I have also been working on another project. I have started up another business called Island Vibe Photography. I’ll be doing surf photography, event photos (festivals, sports, etc…) and selling prints online. I have some photos up on the site now for sale. Check em’ out!

http://www.islandvibephotography.com

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Surf Link has gotten off to a great start in 2009! We have been truly blessed to be able to help out so many small businesses in the month of January. Through working with these businesses I have noticed 1 major issue that is being overlooked by so many. Data Backups. Backups are kind of a funny thing, in that, you never really think about them until it’s too late. At that point, it’s not so funny. Many businesses may have a backup of their server or one main PC on the network where most of their data is stored, though they have no backups of their email, favorites, my documents, contacts, etc… These are all stored on each PC.  

Recovering data from crashed hard drives is a pure nightmare. Not only is it incredibly expensive, think of the downtime it will cause waiting a couple of days or  even weeks to get your data back. Expect to pay close to a grand for data recovery from just 1 desktop hard drive. When that data is server based or burned all to heck, expect to pay a lot more. Not cool.

Surf Link can set up a redundant backup system for your business to backup each PC’s data (email, favorites, my documents, contacts, etc…) as well as all of your server data. The backup system will allow for data to be stored offsite as well as onsite. So if anything does happen to your business (fire, flood, hurricane, etc…) your data will be available for recovery at any point in time. Please call or send us an email at jbell@surflinksolutions.com for more information.

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As Surf Link Computer Solutions has grown over 2008, I am very thankful for being able to meet so many incredible people. It was an excellent year for me and the business as a whole. As the business has grown, I have noticed that the price list that I had wasn’t really matching up well with the work that I was actually doing. I have revamped the price list to make it a little more manageable and readable. I have changed some hourly rates as well as the standard business hours. Thank you for all of your support and for letting Surf Link continue to help small businesses grow by offering great rates and excellent service! I hope you all have a healthy and prosperous 2009!

Click here for our new price list.

Click here for the Surf Link Computer Solutions website.

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Had some free time so I worked on a new logo for Surf Link the other day. Click here or on the thumbnail below for a full size image.

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Playa Graphics is a full service photography and graphics shop located in Emerald Isle, NC. Brad does excellent work. I just had some shirts printed up for Surf Link and they turned out great! Brad also printed and installed my logos on my car! Check out Playa Graphics at http://www.playagraphics.com/pg/. Also check out the Brad Styron Photography main website at http://www.bradstyron.com

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A Frame Creations is your one-stop shop for all of your professional videography needs. Located right here in Cedar Point, NC. Check out the website at www.aframecreations.com to see some of their really incredible work promoting local businesses and advertising in general.

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If any of you have bought new PCs lately you have probably noticed that the text seems to be smaller than ever. You have this big shiny new flat screen monitor, but are still having to sit about 5 inches away from the screen to read your emails! This is caused by higher resolution video card and monitor outputs. Great for having more stuff on screen at once, but whats the point if you can’t see it? Here’s a tip for making reading text on your screen a little more manageable.

If you have Windows Vista, do the following:

1. Right-click on the desktop

2. Click Personalize

3. In the new window, click on Adjust Font Size (on the left)

4. Check the circle that says “Larger Scale (120 DPI)”

5. Click OK

If you have Windows XP, do the following:

1. Right-click on the desktop

2. Click on Properties

3. Click the Appearance tab

4. Click on the Font Size box (bottom)

5. Choose Large

6. Click Apply

7. Click the Settings tab

8. Click Advanced

9. Click the DPI setting box

10. Choose Large Size (120 DPI)

11. Click Apply (You may need to reboot if it asks for it.)

That’s it! Now you should notice that things such as email and websites will be quite a bit easier to read!

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If you are looking to remove your current Norton Anti-Virus software for any reason you must use the Norton Removal Tool to uninstall the software. Using the Add/Remove Programs built into the the Windows Control Panel will almost always fail to uninstall Norton.

The Norton Removal Tool can be found here. Just choose your version of Norton Anti-Virus, download the Removal Tool, and run it.

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I recently had a user that wanted to recover AutoComplete email addresses (where a list of email addresses show up as you type in the first letter of the address…) from an old hard drive.

To do this follow these steps:

Gain access to the old hard drive either through an external HD enclosure or by having the drive set up as a secondary drive on the PC:

These steps are done by using the external HD enclosure method:

Open My Computer => External Drive Name: => Documents and Settings => User Name=> Application Data => Microsoft => Outlook => Right click and copy the Outlook.NK2 file.

Copy file onto a USB drive. (if you are doing this using a different PC)

Paste file into same location on new PC.

That’s it! Now when the user starts typing in an email address in the “To” box, all of their addresses will show up.

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This is an issue that has come up for me more than a few times while either doing PC repairs or doing upgrades. The Windows Updates will fail automatically when trying to install. Talk about annoying! Here are some steps to follow to resolve this issue and get those machines updated!

1. Check for Spyware/Adware/Viruses on your PC. Having a good Anti-Virus program on your PC is critical. A program called BitDefender is great for protecting your PC without slowing it down. AVG may also be a good choice if just want a quick (and free!) virus scanner. Once you’re clean, test out the Windows Updates. If they are still failing, move to step 2.

2. There is a file called Wups2.dll that needs to be registered. To do this follow these steps. This information was gathered from Microsoft’s Help and Support site. The specific KB article is 943144.

Register the Wups2.dll file in Windows

To register the Wups2.dll file in Windows, follow these steps:

After you have completed this, you should be able to install your Windows Updates. If you are still having problems, send me over an email or give me a call and I will be more than glad to help you out.

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