Amber Computer
Solutions
Setup
Need help setting up new computers and transferring data from old computers? We can setup your new computer for ease of use and the most appropriate security and backup solution. Or do you need help setting up Desktop computers, Laptop computers, tablets, phones, printers, broadband routers, wifi, or network equipment? We can help you do that and explain what you need to be aware of, and how it all works together, and also any training you may need to get you started with this new kit.
Protection
We can suggest and install Anti Virus, Firewall and Backup solutions that will keep you and your data protected. We can provide computer health checks, including hard drive and security checkups. We can give help and advice on subjects from passwords to how to protect against ransomware viruses.
Repairs
Below are just a few of the repair services we provide, if your particular problem is not listed simply contact us and explain and we are confident we can help you • Laptop repair • Desktop repair • Virus removal • Malware removal • Adware removal • Slow Laptop or Desktop • Browser problems • WiFi problems • Broadband problems • Router or Hub problems • Printer problems • Email Problems • Data recovery • Areas covered include but not limited to Inverness, Nairn, Black Isle, Elgin, Forres, Dingwall, Beauly, Grantown, Invergordon, Aviemore, Cromarty, TainHOME USERS
Checkout our website, or catch us on our Facebook page.
Whatever your problem we will be able to help you.
Welcome to our website and thank you for your visit.
At Amber Computer Solutions we provide
a friendly professional computer support service
to Home and Small Business Users in
Inverness and the surrounding Highland area.
Our experience of over 25 years in the computer industry,
more than 10 of the last years in Inverness
has given us a broad knowledge of many technologies.
We are Microsoft Certified for your peace of mind.
Contact us today for Pc repairs, Laptop repairs,
Pc help with email, internet or broadband problems,
virus removal or security health checks
are just a few of the services we provide.
We provide home users a very flexible computer support solution. We can visit your home at a time to suit you or you can drop the computer off at our premises.
Upgrades
Need a RAM upgrade to make your laptop or desktop run faster? Want to replace your hard drive because its wearing out and slowing down your laptop? Would you like the latest operating system? Or maybe replace your hard drive with the latest Solid State Drive (SSD) to make your laptop run super fast?
Setup
Do you need help setting up and integrating new equipment into your existing system? Or transferring data from old equipment to new equipment? We can help you setup your new equipment so that its ready to go straight away without you having to waste time setting it up. We can also help harden your new equipment so they are less likely to be attacked by malware and viruses, also provide a backup solution that will protect your data. Do you need help setting up routers, servers, NAS, printers, scanners, tablets or any computer or network related equipment?
Protection
We can suggest and install Anti Virus, Firewall and Backup solutions that will keep you and your data protected. We can provide computer health checks, including hard drive and security checkups. We can give help and advice on subjects from very strong passwords to how to protect against ransomware viruses.
Repairs
Below are just a few of the repair services we provide, if your particular problem is not listed simply contact us and explain and we are confident we can help you • Laptop repair • Desktop repair • Virus removal • Malware removal • Adware removal • Slow Laptop or Desktop • Browser problems • WiFi problems • Broadband problems • Network problems • Printer problems • Email Problems • Data recovery • Areas covered include but not limited to Inverness, Nairn, Black Isle, Elgin, Forres, Dingwall, Beauly, Grantown, Invergordon, Aviemore, Cromarty, TainSMALL BUSINESS USERS
We provide Small Business users with a very flexible computer support solution. We can visit your premises at a time to suit you or you can drop the computer off
at our premises.
Upgrades
We can provide various upgrades, from RAM upgrades to Solid State Drive (SSD) Hard drive upgrades to your Desktop or Laptop computers to improve their speed and your productivity
ABOUT US
“Hello my name is Ian Gillespie and I am the owner here at
Amber Computer Solutions. I moved to Inverness in 2004
and started Amber Computer Solutions the same year. I
came to Inverness because this is where all my family lives.
Starting my own business had been a long time ambition, I
felt that I could provide a service tailored to my customers
with exactly what they needed, a straight forward,
understandable, working solution to their computer
problems. We have many satisfied customers and hope that
you will become one soon. “
Thanks for checking out our website.
Ian
CONTACT US
REVIEWS
BLOG
Below is a little blog I will be updating from time to time on subjects that I feel will be of use to all my customers
Upgrading to Windows 10:
It's time to talk about upgrading to Windows 10. It will be available for download from the 29th of July. It will be a free upgrade available to anyone with Windows 7, 8, or 8.1
on their machine.
Is it worth upgrading? In a word Yes. There are many reasons why its worth upgrading.
Microsoft have said the upgrade is free for one year and Windows 10 will remain free for the life of your machine.
The User Interface is much better than that of Windows 8 or 8.1
Windows 8.1 will be the last version of Windows with a built in lifespan, Microsoft have always released a new version of Windows every 3 years or so making the previous
versions obsolete. Windows 10 wont be like this, they will continue to improve it for many, many years. So if you upgrade to Windows 10 your version of Windows will
effectively never be obsolete.
There are some precautions everyone should take before upgrading to Windows 10. These precautions are not really to do with Windows 10 specifically they are more like
precautions everyone should take before upgrading any software.
Make sure you will not exceed your broadband data quota, the download of Windows 10 is somewhere in the region of 4GB, if you are unsure check with your broadband
provider to find out if you have a quota and what the limit is.
Make sure you have enough free space on your machine before installing Windows 10.
Backup your data before you install Windows10. Just in case.
The installation could take a few hours to complete, if you have a laptop make sure it is plugged into the mains. Make sure the power settings of your machine are set to
stop it going to sleep while unattended (otherwise the installation may stop while you are away from the machine and take much longer to complete)
If you have any questions or problems installing Windows 10 then please give me a call.
Cold Calls from Fake Techs:
It seems there are some unsavoury types targeting inverness, cold calling and pretending to either be from Microsoft or TalkTalk.
They basically are very convincing to the uninitiated and want access to your pc, once given access to your pc by asking you to go to a website and clicking on a link. They
then proceed to password protect your pc so you cannot gain access to it again unless you pay them money.
I have successfully removed these passwords for some of my new customers but the best defence is to not allow these unsavoury types access to your pc in the first place.
No matter who rings you and asks you to type things on your pc, do not do it. Microsoft wont do this, neither will TalkTalk, no reputable company will ask you to do this
unless of course you have first contacted them for help.
Merry Christmas 2015:
I would like to wish all my past and future customers a Very Happy Christmas and I hope we can all have a profitable and healthy 2016. Cheers
Windows 10 surprise installs:
Well it seems that Windows 10 is now being forced on to us. In the last week i have had many customers report that Windows 10 has started installing on to their computers
without their consent. I have customers who do not want or require Windows 10, this is because they have software that will not work in Windows 10. If you are like them
and you neither want nor need Windows 10 and would like to stay on Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 then let me know I have a fix which can stop Windows 10 from installing and also
remove the downloaded files associated with Windows 10.
Ransomware and how to minimise your risk:
Ransomware - These very nasty viruses are becoming much more common on the internet so I thought I would explain what these viruses are for those who have not come
across them and also explain how to avoid them.
Ransomware is the latest in a long line of viruses; basically what it does is search your computer for your files and encrypts them with very strong encryption, effectively
making your files unreadable. The files are encrypted with a special key known only to the person who created the virus. The files can only be decrypted and returned to
normal with this key. The virus then places instructions in with your encrypted files on how you can decrypt your files, returning them to normal.
These instructions usually require you to access a website and pay a fee in bitcoins to be able to get the decryption key. Now, this is all done anonymously so you have no
idea who you are dealing with and of course there is no guarantee that they will give you the decryption key.
My advice is do not pay these people, the only reason they do this is to make money and if people do not pay them, then hopefully there will be no incentive for these
people to create these viruses.
Most Ransomware viruses are spread via email, once the virus infects a computer it then sets about encrypting all the documents, pictures, videos and music files it can find
(they also encrypt other files as well but these are the typical ones).
The virus looks at all the drives it can see on the computer, so C: drive obviously but also any external drives that you may have plugged in at the time of the infection, so if
you leave an external usb hard drive plugged in or a usb stick to do backups automatically, then these files are at risk from the virus.
It also looks at any network drives that are accessible from the computer, so if you have a Network Attached Storage device (NAS) then any drives that you have
automatically attached to your computer are also at risk from the virus.
The virus can act very quickly, it is possible for the virus to encrypt 1500 files in 3 minutes, but on a faster computer this could be much faster.
To avoid this type of virus requires a few levels of protection. As I said most of these viruses arrive by email attachment, so the first level of protection is you, always treat
attachments with caution. If you don’t trust an email delete it.
The next level of protection is a good anti virus, if your first level of protection does not stop the virus then hopefully the anti virus will.
The final level of protection is your backup, you will need an external drive that you will connect to the computer to do the backup and then disconnect from the computer
when the backup is finished. This external drive can be a usb stick or a usb hard drive.
I would recommend backing up at least once a week or more often if your data changes often and is very precious.
With these three levels of protection in place, the worst case scenario would be that you accidentally open an attachment that had a virus and your anti virus did not stop it
but you could restore your files from your backup.
If your computer has been infected with a virus and you need help with the virus removal or need help setting up a backup procedure to protect you from this or any other
types of catastrophe then get in touch and I can help.
Computer Scams a customers cautionary tale:
Pc Scams - I think we all know there are always people out there on the internet trying to scam us but one of my customers experienced a scam recently and I thought I
would bring it to your attention.
He was doing a search on the web and a screen popped up explaining that British Telecom had detected suspicious activity on his IP address, it also stated that some spy-
ware may have breached his network and he should call a free phone number to resolve the problem.
They stated that 60% of services on the pc were turned off, well that’s quite normal, many services on windows PC's are not required to be on all the time and in fact many
should not be on all the time.
They stated that his security system was turned off, this was a lie as it was on.
They stated that his data was corrupt, another lie, it wasn't.
They stated he had no anti virus, another lie, he did have anti virus and it was active.
They stated his browser was corrupt, another lie, the only thing wrong with his browser (he was using chrome) was that they had somehow locked it so he could not close
it or open another website. If he had used another browser he would have found that they still worked, in fact in one of their messages they actually asked him to open
internet explorer to check that their company was legit.
Now the only reason my customer engaged with these scammers is that the screen look legit (he is a BT customer) and he could not close the browser and the messages
panicked him.
I would advise anyone who gets any messages on screen while surfing the web to treat them with caution, obviously if your anti virus is telling you that you have a
problem then you should pay attention. But otherwise you should try to close the browser, if that fails try to shut-down the pc, if that fails then call me.
But the bottom line is don’t call the numbers on screen and don’t engage with these people.
“We can’t recommend Ian highly enough,
He is eternally patient and no matter how big or small the problem is,
you know if you call he will go out of his way to help.
Over 15 years we have worked with Ian we have recommended him to several of our clients who also run small
businesses and they have been similarly delighted with the service received.”
Mobile Book-keeping Solutions - Inverness
Merry Christmas 2016:
Thank you to all of my customers who have used my services this year I'm very grateful, without you there would be no Amber Computer Solutions.
I would like to wish all of my past, present and future customers a Very Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous 2017!
Fake Tech Support Calls:
Over the last 3 weeks I've had a few customers who have had phone calls from people pretending to be from either BT or Talktalk. Now I have posted on this subject before
but i thought i would revisit the subject as there seems to be a rise in these situations again.
Basically the call takes this basic course, they ring up and say they are from these companies and tell you that there is something seriously wrong with your computer or
broadband and they need to have remote control of your pc, once given remote control they proceed to install bogus software pro-porting to fix the problem, you are told
to leave the pc on and the phone off the hook for hours.
Sometimes they say that they need to issue you with a refund to compensate you for the inconvenience and want you to login to your bank to issue the refund.
Sometimes they call back and ask for hundreds of pounds in payment for fixing these imaginary faults.
The bottom line here is neither of these companies will ring you to fix your problems, unless you have rung them first about a problem. But lets be honest here, we've all
dealt with big companies before and even when we have rung them up about a problem that needs fixing and they said they would ring back, when has that ever
happened?
DO NOT GIVE ANYONE YOU DON'T KNOW REMOTE ACCESS TO YOUR PC EVER!!!!
If you're a customer of mine simply tell them thank you for notifying me of this problem i will contact my IT professional and get the problem resolved, hang up the phone
and call me and i will tell you its a con, or if you're not my customer yet then simply tell them the same and ring me and I'll tell you its a con.
These people are professional crooks and they run this operation like a business, they are not chancers just ringing up out of the blue, they have enough personal
information on you to sound very convincing, often they know you are a customer of BT or Talktalk, know your address, phone number and name at the very least.
The information they have on you may have come from one of the many security breaches these companies have experienced over they years.
I'll say it again for emphasis
DO NOT GIVE ANYONE YOU DON'T KNOW REMOTE ACCESS TO YOUR PC EVER!!!!
Telephone Scammers:
Scams, Phone or Pc - I thought I would post about this today as it is a constant problem and we all need to be forever vigilant.
Hopefully this information will allow you to check if the phone number that called is a fake or not.
I had a call from this number 01618503593 today.
It was an automated call instructing me that it was from the HMRC and that they had been trying to contact me for some time.
They then proceeded to tell me that because they had been unable to contact me HMRC were going to sue me and to press 1 to speak to a representative.
Now I've seen enough of these types for scams to know it was exactly that. The important thing to remember is that HMRC would not contact you this way, it would be via a
written letter and it would not be a single letter at that,
But what you may not know is that there is a very easy way to check if the number calling you is a fake and that is to simply type the number into google.
If you do this then usually the top website is who-called.co.uk and clicking on that website will take you to a page where people who have been contacted by that number
are discussing the call.
This can usually instantly put your mind at rest and confirm that it is a fake call.
I hope this information has been helpful and remember never let anyone you do not trust have access to your computer.
Windows 10 slow updates:
Hello Everyone, Windows 10 bi-annual update 1803 is now installing on most windows machines. And it's causing a few problems. I have seen at least 7 pc's in the last few
weeks all with different problems related to this most recent update.
For those of you who do not know, Windows 10 has two major updates a year. One in March and one in September. This along with the year is how we know which version
of windows 10 we are using.
So for instance the current Windows 10 version is 1803, year 2018, month march 03.
Some of you may have 1709 or 1703.
These bi-annual updates are huge, sometimes up to 4GB in size. This can cause problems if you don't have enough space. It uses a lot of internet bandwidth and takes a
long time to download.
My advice is if you see your machine doing any updates is to leave it to do the updates and not put it to sleep or shut it down.
These updates also can take a long time to install, again my advice is to just leave the machine on and let it finish.
Even if you think its stuck and not doing anything, be patient and leave it as long as you possibly can.
Some customers have thought that the machine was stuck doing the update and turned it off during the update, this unfortunately caused further problems because the
machine was in the middle of the update and when turned back on could not complete or rollback the update, causing windows to be unusable.
These problems were corrected but if you leave the machine to finish its updates corrective action may not be necessary.
If you have any questions or problems then please get in touch.
Ian
Windows 10 keyboard problems:
Hello Everyone,
Windows 10 strikes again!
The latest Windows 10 update 1803 is causing users some more problems.
I've seen a few customers over the last two weeks with a new problem.
It's the @ symbol, you will probably only notice this if you type an email address, but what is happening is the @ and the " symbols are swapping places, so when you type
an email address like sales"ambercomputersolutons.co.uk you get the quotes symbol " instead of the @ at symbol.
So what is causing this? keyboard language.
The latest update to windows 10 is replacing the English UK keyboard with the English US keyboard.
Yes I know, how helpful is that?
If you are suffering from this issue or any other computer issue then please get in touch and I can help you put this right.
I wonder what fun will be in the next update to windows 10.
Network Wiring Installations:
This week I helped a local business, with moving into their new offices, by wiring their new gigabit Ethernet network,
this included wiring wall sockets, patch panels, comms cabinet and switch.
I was able to exponentially improve the speed of their network and get all their employees working faster together.
If you are a small local business, you know of a small business that could benefit from help with their computers or a home user then please feel free to get in touch.
Windows 10 Updates:
Hello Everyone, I thought I would talk about Windows 10 and some tips on what to do if you run into a problem.
OK, so in case you were unaware Windows 10 has two major updates per year. These two big updates take place in March and September.
These updates are very large and basically change a great deal of Windows 10.
You may remember from previous versions of Windows that updates were applied when you shutdown windows or restarted windows.
And Windows would prompt you not to turn off as it applied the updates.
Well things have changed in Windows 10 compared to earlier versions of Windows. Now Windows 10 applies updates when Windows 10 restarts and not when Windows 10
shuts down.
This is great if you want to shutdown Windows 10 and get on with your life, but can lead to problems where updates are not installed properly.
Most of us use a computer where by we switch it on and use it and when we are done we switch it off again. Well Microsoft don't think we use computers that way.
Microsoft's philosophy on computer use is based around the fact that they think we leave our computers on and in sleep mode when we are not using them.
If a Windows 10 computer is left in sleep mode then at about 3am the computer will wake up and install the updates necessary and restart itself, then go back to sleep
again.
Which is great but as I'm sure you are aware even when a computer is asleep it still uses some electricity, and if you have a laptop and it is running on battery then it would
drain the battery as it sleeps. Which isn't as efficient as turning off the computer when you are finished with it.
So what can happen is that because the computer is switched off and not restarted then some of these updates do not get installed.
My advice to deal with any issues you may have with Windows 10 is very simple.
If you have an issue, no matter what, try shutting down the computer as you normally would BUT instead of clicking on shutdown, choose restart instead.
You may also notice that the usual options have changed from restart or shutdown to update and restart or update and shutdown.
You'll be surprised the amount of things a simple restart will cure.
Hope this helps but don't forget any questions then get in touch.
Thanks Ian
Anti Virus Rip offs:
Hello Everyone,
I hope you are all well and keeping safe from covid.
Today I thought I would tell you how I helped a customer save at least £75 on his Norton deluxe anti virus renewal.
He was running windows 10 and Norton Anti Virus.
But on closer inspection he was still paying Norton for a previous 360 subscription, so he was in fact paying for two Norton subscriptions, the total cost was close to £170.
What was worse, he had both of these on auto renewal which means Norton takes the money every year one month before the renewal date even if you no longer use the
software.
Norton is not unique, all the major Anti Virus companies use the same auto renewal payment model.
Letting Norton auto renew is the most expensive way to buy their software. I showed my customer that you can buy the same software from amazon for £16.
So it is cheaper to not use the auto renewal every year (which is on by default) and to buy the software from amazon and install it.
But I saved him even more money in the future because I explained that Windows 10 already has its own built in anti virus software called Windows Defender.
He like many people did not know about Windows Defender, He had been using windows for many years and thought that like all previous versions of windows, that you
had to have anti virus software to protect your PC.
I believe that Windows Defender is a very good anti virus, I have run tests on it and other Anti Virus like Norton, McAfee, Avast, AVG, etc. and found that it protects the PC
just as well as the paid for anti virus.
It is built in to windows 10, it updates with the windows updates so it is always up to date and it never runs out, so you are always protected.
If you already have anti virus on your windows 10 PC then windows defender lays dormant because the other anti virus is working.
If you want to use windows defender then all you have to do is uninstall your current anti virus and windows defender will activate and take over the anti virus role.
If you would like to talk about your anti virus or anything else computer related then please get in touch.
Ian
Windows 11 is Coming!
Hello Everyone,
I hope you are all well.
Windows 11 is coming as a free upgrade from Windows 10 and should start rolling out on the 5th of October.
Windows 11 is the new Operating System that will replace Windows 10.
I know, we all thought Windows 10 was going to be the very last version of Windows and that Microsoft would just simply keep upgrading and improving Windows 10. And
we all thought that because Microsoft had been saying that ever since Windows 10 came out.
But no, Microsoft changed their mind and here comes Windows 11.
Will my computer run Windows 11?
Windows 10 is less fussy about the hardware of your computer than Windows 11. If your computer currently runs Windows 10 then there is a good chance it will run
Windows 11 except for one major hardware sticking point. And that is the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, version 2.0.
Windows 11 requires this Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, and it must be version 2.0.
If your computer was manufactured after 2015 then it has a TPM chip which is version 2.0.
The TPM chip handles all things to do with encryption, so it’s a good thing that Windows 11 requires it to work; it’s a move by Microsoft to make all our computers more
secure. But it does mean that if your computer was manufactured before 2015 then you won’t be able to upgrade your Windows 10 to Windows 11.
Do you want Windows 11?
Most of Windows 11’s improvements are cosmetic, changes to the start menu, taskbar and desktop.
There are some improvements in app speed and resource usage, which could translate into better battery life and faster wake times from sleep mode.
One thing to bear in mind is that whenever a new operating system is released there are always teething problems, incompatibilities and things that just weren’t tested
before release.
All Microsoft products have suffered with this, Windows 10 had many problems when it was first released. And Windows 11 will no doubt have similar issues.
So it may be better to wait and see. Let other people try and use Windows 11, let them fix all the faults, you can then upgrade in a year or more, when the problems have all
been ironed out.
Windows 10 security patch updates end in 2025, so we have plenty of time for other people to fix any problems and for Windows 11 to become a much better product.
If you have any questions or want to talk about upgrading then please get in touch.
Phishing Scams:
Happy New Year Everyone!
I had a phishing email in today so I thought I would share this with you.
So what is phishing?
Phishing is a type of social engineering attack in which cyber criminals trick victims into handing over sensitive information or installing malware.
More often than not they do this via malicious emails that appear to be from trusted senders
So this email is not a very good phishing email, it has some features that are just plain suspicious.
1. It arrived to an email address that I have never given to the NHS.
2. The email address does not match who it should be from, the email is supposed to be from the NHS. So you would expect the email address to end in @nhs.scot (if
you're in Scotland)
3. They used an email address instead of my name in the body of the email.
4. The link they want me to click on is also not connected with the NHS. It starts with NHS but the important bit is just before the 3rd / in the link, it says mond.jp and jp is
the internet location for Japan.
5. They are telling me that I have 12 hours to click the link. The NHS wouldn't give such a short time limit. Scammers like to give you short deadlines so you are more
inclined to click on the links.
So to sum up
1. Always check who sent the email by looking at the senders address.
2. Always check where a link will take you before clicking on it.
3. If you think an email maybe a scam, simply delete it before clicking on any links. If it is a legitimate email, the sender if desperate will either phone you or write to you by
letter.
I hope you found this info helpful. If you do get an email and you are unsure you can always contact me and I will help you decide if it is legitimate or not.
Take care.
Ian
Backups
We all know backups are important, boring, inconvenient, but essential in saving our bacon when things go catastrophically wrong.
So why do so few of us do them on a regular basis?
Well I think its because computers and computing in general has become so reliable, we simply think they will never go wrong.
But they do, I see it on a regular basis.
The reason I’m writing this is because I think backups are more important now than they have ever been. And strangely this is in part due to the new and much more
reliable Solid State Drives, which are in almost all laptops and computers sold today.
Until recently hard drives were mechanical, a spinning disk with heads not too dissimilar to a record player, flying over the surface of the metallic magnetic disks or platters.
These mechanical drives have not change massively since the beginnings of computers. But in the last few years they have been replaced by SSD or Solid State Drives.
Solid State Drives are not mechanical; they are purely electronic devices, filled with memory chips called NAND and are capable of storing data when the power is remove
from the computer unlike your RAM chips.
SSD are much like USB memory sticks but with vastly more capacity and speed. And because they have no moving parts, it makes them much faster, more reliable and more
energy efficient than older mechanical hard drives.
But if SSD are faster and more reliable, why should I need to backup my data?
Well older mechanical drives were slower and less reliable, but they had one saving grace. They gave you warnings that they were about to fail. So you often had plenty of
time to backup your data before disaster would strike.
Old mechanical drives would warn you that they were failing by making noises and slowing down and you could use software to monitor their state.
New SSD make no noise at all, and work very reliably until they don’t.
So how can you protect yourself against hard drive failure, accidental deletion, ramsonware attacks, etc?
Backups! A backup is only a backup when the data being backed up exists in at least two different locations.
There are many ways to backup your data, Automatically, Manually, Online or Offline.
Manual backups are fine, when you copy your data yourself, to a usb stick or hard drive, if you remember to do it, but usually disaster strikes when you are between
backups.
A continuous automatic backup is the best, as it is almost a fire and forget style of backup.
Online backups are ok, but they are primarily offered to you with one thing in mind, as a continuous money making stream for the company offering you the service. Often
the online backup is offered with a very small initial free amount of backup space designed to hook you into using the service and then when your backup grows (as it
always will) beyond the initial free size, then you have to pay for more space, and there will be more quota sizes as your backup grows and you will have to upgrade your
backup plan.
The alternative is a continuous offline backup to a usb stick or usb hard drive. For laptop users that move around a lot there are usb sticks that a not much bigger than your
finger tip and can be left plugged into the side of the laptop and do not get in the way of normal every day travel. For everyone else using usb hard drives is probably the
best choice.
Now to achieve the continuous backup you will need software. Luckily Windows 10 and 11 have built in software that can help you with this. The software is called File
History, and is very easy to use. All you have to do is plug in a usb hard drive or stick and turn on file history and windows will automatically backup your desktop,
documents, pictures, music, and video folders. Windows also has other software that can backup the entire machine not just those folders, its called backup and restore
and it found in the control panel of windows.
If you have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription, then you will have access to the 1TB one drive storage online backup. With this all you need to do is move your data to the
one drive folder on your computer and the data is automatically backed up to the internet.
If you want to use commercial backup software solutions there are many to choose from, but my favourite is Macrium Reflect. I like it because it is easy to use and comes
with ransomware protection which can protect your backups from a ransomware virus even if your computer gets infected.
If you are interested in starting or upgrading your backup solution and you would like help setting it up or checking that your current backup solution is working correctly
then as a computer service in Inverness I can help you with this or anything else computer related.
Thank you for your time.
Ian.
Setup
Need help setting up new computers and transferring data from old computers? We can setup your new computer for ease of use and the most appropriate security and backup solution. Or do you need help setting up Desktop computers, Laptop computers, tablets, phones, printers, broadband routers, wifi, or network equipment? We can help you do that and explain what you need to be aware of, and how it all works together, and also any training you may need to get you started with this new kit.
Protection
We can suggest and install Anti Virus, Firewall and Backup solutions that will keep you and your data protected. We can provide computer health checks, including hard drive and security checkups. We can give help and advice on subjects from passwords to how to protect against ransomware viruses.
HOME USERS
Amber Computer
Solutions
Welcome to our website and thank you for your visit.
Our experience of over 25 years in the computer industry,
more than 10 of the last years in Inverness
has given us a broad knowledge of many technologies.
Upgrades
Need a RAM upgrade to make your laptop or desktop run faster? Want to replace your hard drive because its wearing out and slowing down your laptop? Would you like the latest operating system? Or maybe replace your hard drive with the latest Solid State Drive (SSD) to make your laptop run super fast?Repairs
Below are just a few of the repair services we provide, if your particular problem is not listed simply contact us and explain and we are confident we can help you • Laptop repair • Desktop repair • Virus removal • Malware removal • Adware removal • Slow Laptop or Desktop • Browser problems • WiFi problems • Broadband problems • Router or Hub problems • Printer problems • Email Problems • Data recovery • Areas covered include but not limited to Inverness, Nairn, Black Isle, Elgin, Forres, Dingwall, Beauly, Grantown, Invergordon, Aviemore, Cromarty, Tain
At Amber Computer Solutions we provide
a friendly professional computer support service
to Home and Small Business Users in
Inverness and the surrounding Highland area.
Contact us today for Pc repairs, Laptop repairs,
Pc help with email, internet or broadband problems,
virus removal or security health checks
are just a few of the services we provide.
Checkout our website, or catch us on our Facebook page.
Whatever your problem we will be able to help you.
We are Microsoft Certified for your peace of mind.
SMALL
BUSINESS
USERS
Setup
Do you need help setting up and integrating new equipment into your existing system? Or transferring data from old equipment to new equipment? We can help you setup your new equipment so that its ready to go straight away without you having to waste time setting it up. We can also help harden your new equipment so they are less likely to be attacked by malware and viruses, also provide a backup solution that will protect your data. Do you need help setting up routers, servers, NAS, printers, scanners, tablets or any computer or network related equipment?
Protection
We can suggest and install Anti Virus, Firewall and Backup solutions that will keep you and your data protected. We can provide computer health checks, including hard drive and security checkups. We can give help and advice on subjects from very strong passwords to how to protect against ransomware viruses.
Repairs
Below are just a few of the repair services we provide, if your particular problem is not listed simply contact us and explain and we are confident we can help you • Laptop repair • Desktop repair • Virus removal • Malware removal • Adware removal • Slow Laptop or Desktop • Browser problems • WiFi problems • Broadband problems • Network problems • Printer problems • Email Problems • Data recovery • Areas covered include but not limited to Inverness, Nairn, Black Isle, Elgin, Forres, Dingwall, Beauly, Grantown, Invergordon, Aviemore, Cromarty, Tain
Upgrades
Need a RAM upgrade to make your laptop or desktop run faster? Want to replace your hard drive because its wearing out and slowing down your laptop? Would you like the latest operating system? Or maybe replace your hard drive with the latest Solid State Drive (SSD) to make your laptop run super fast?ABOUT US
“Amber Computer Solutions is me, Ian Gillespie.
I moved to Inverness in 2004 and started my
computer business the same year.
I came to Inverness because this is where
all my family lives. Starting my own business
had been a long time ambition,
I felt that I could provide a service tailored
to providing my customers with exactly
what they needed, a straight forward,
understandable, working solution to their
computer problems. I have many satisfied
customers and hope that you will
become one soon. “
Thanks for checking out our website.
Ian
REVIEWS
CONTACT US
BLOG
Below is a little blog I will be updating from time to time
on subjects that I feel will be of use to all my customers
“We can’t recommend Ian highly enough,
He is eternally patient and no matter how
big or small the problem is, you know
if you call he will go out of his way to help.
Over 15 years we have worked with Ian,
we have recommended him to several
of our clients who also run
small businesses and they have been
similarly delighted with the service received.”
Mobile Book-keeping Solutions - Inverness
Fake Tech Support Calls:
Over the last 3 weeks I've had a few customers
who have had phone calls from people
pretending to be from either BT or Talktalk. Now
I have posted on this subject before but i
thought i would revisit the subject as there
seems to be a rise in these situations again.
Basically the call takes this basic course, they
ring up and say they are from these companies
and tell you that there is something seriously
wrong with your computer or broadband and
they need to have remote control of your pc,
once given remote control they proceed to install
bogus software pro-porting to fix the problem,
you are told to leave the pc on and the phone off
the hook for hours.
Sometimes they say that they need to issue you
with a refund to compensate you for the
inconvenience and want you to login to your
bank to issue the refund.
Sometimes they call back and ask for hundreds
of pounds in payment for fixing these imaginary
faults.
The bottom line here is neither of these
companies will ring you to fix your problems,
unless you have rung them first about a
problem. But lets be honest here, we've all dealt
with big companies before and even when we
have rung them up about a problem that needs
fixing and they said they would ring back, when
has that ever happened?
DO NOT GIVE ANYONE YOU DON'T KNOW
REMOTE ACCESS TO YOUR PC EVER!!!!
If you're a customer of mine simply tell them
thank you for notifying me of this problem i will
contact my IT professional and get the problem
resolved, hang up the phone and call me and i
will tell you its a con, or if you're not my
customer yet then simply tell them the same and
ring me and I'll tell you its a con.
These people are professional crooks and they
run this operation like a business, they are not
chancers just ringing up out of the blue, they
have enough personal information on you to
sound very convincing, often they know you are
a customer of BT or Talktalk, know your address,
phone number and name at the very least.
The information they have on you may have
come from one of the many security breaches
these companies have experienced over they
years.
I'll say it again for emphasis
DO NOT GIVE ANYONE YOU DON'T KNOW
REMOTE ACCESS TO YOUR PC EVER!!!!
Upgrading to Windows 10:
It's time to talk about upgrading to Windows 10.
It will be available for download from the 29th of
July. It will be a free upgrade available to anyone
with Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 on their machine.
Is it worth upgrading? In a word Yes. There are
many reasons why its worth upgrading.
Microsoft have said the upgrade is free for one
year and Windows 10 will remain free for the life
of your machine.
The User Interface is much better than that of
Windows 8 or 8.1
Windows 8.1 will be the last version of Windows
with a built in lifespan, Microsoft have always
released a new version of Windows every 3 years
or so making the previous versions obsolete.
Windows 10 wont be like this, they will continue
to improve it for many, many years. So if you
upgrade to Windows 10 your version of Windows
will effectively never be obsolete.
There are some precautions everyone should
take before upgrading to Windows 10. These
precautions are not really to do with Windows 10
specifically they are more like precautions
everyone should take before upgrading any
software.
Make sure you will not exceed your broadband
data quota, the download of Windows 10 is
somewhere in the region of 4GB, if you are
unsure check with your broadband provider to
find out if you have a quota and what the limit is.
Make sure you have enough free space on your
machine before installing Windows 10.
Backup your data before you install Windows10.
Just in case.
The installation could take a few hours to
complete, if you have a laptop make sure it is
plugged into the mains. Make sure the power
settings of your machine are set to stop it going
to sleep while unattended (otherwise the
installation may stop while you are away from
the machine and take much longer to complete)
If you have any questions or problems installing
Windows 10 then please give me a call.
Cold Calls from Fake Techs:
It seems there are some unsavoury types
targeting inverness, cold calling and pretending
to either be from Microsoft or TalkTalk.
They basically are very convincing to the
uninitiated and want access to your pc, once
given access to your pc by asking you to go to a
website and clicking on a link. They then proceed
to password protect your pc so you cannot gain
access to it again unless you pay them money.
I have successfully removed these passwords for
some of my new customers but the best defence
is to not allow these unsavoury types access to
your pc in the first place.
No matter who rings you and asks you to type
things on your pc, do not do it. Microsoft wont
do this, neither will TalkTalk, no reputable
company will ask you to do this unless of course
you have first contacted them for help.
Merry Christmas 2015:
I would like to wish all my past and future
customers a Very Happy Christmas and I hope
we can all have a profitable and healthy 2016.
Cheers
Windows 10 surprise installs:
Well it seems that Windows 10 is now being
forced on to us. In the last week i have had many
customers report that Windows 10 has started
installing on to their computers without their
consent. I have customers who do not want or
require Windows 10, this is because they have
software that will not work in Windows 10. If you
are like them and you neither want nor need
Windows 10 and would like to stay on Windows
7, 8 or 8.1 then let me know I have a fix which
can stop Windows 10 from installing and also
remove the downloaded files associated with
Windows 10.
Computer Scams a customers cautionary
tale:
Pc Scams - I think we all know there are always
people out there on the internet trying to scam
us but one of my customers experienced a scam
recently and I thought I would bring it to your
attention.
He was doing a search on the web and a screen
popped up explaining that British Telecom had
detected suspicious activity on his IP address, it
also stated that some spy-ware may have
breached his network and he should call a free
phone number to resolve the problem.
They stated that 60% of services on the pc were
turned off, well that’s quite normal, many
services on windows PC's are not required to be
on all the time and in fact many should not be
on all the time.
They stated that his security system was turned
off, this was a lie as it was on.
They stated that his data was corrupt, another
lie, it wasn't.
They stated he had no anti virus, another lie, he
did have anti virus and it was active.
They stated his browser was corrupt, another lie,
the only thing wrong with his browser (he was
using chrome) was that they had somehow
locked it so he could not close it or open another
website. If he had used another browser he
would have found that they still worked, in fact
in one of their messages they actually asked him
to open internet explorer to check that their
company was legit.
Now the only reason my customer engaged with
these scammers is that the screen look legit (he
is a BT customer) and he could not close the
browser and the messages panicked him.
I would advise anyone who gets any messages
on screen while surfing the web to treat them
with caution, obviously if your anti virus is telling
you that you have a problem then you should
pay attention. But otherwise you should try to
close the browser, if that fails try to shut-down
the pc, if that fails then call me.
But the bottom line is don’t call the numbers on
screen and don’t engage with these people.
Ransomware and how to minimise your risk:
Ransomware - These very nasty viruses are
becoming much more common on the internet
so I thought I would explain what these viruses
are for those who have not come across them
and also explain how to avoid them.
Ransomware is the latest in a long line of viruses;
basically what it does is search your computer
for your files and encrypts them with very strong
encryption, effectively making your files
unreadable. The files are encrypted with a
special key known only to the person who
created the virus. The files can only be decrypted
and returned to normal with this key. The virus
then places instructions in with your encrypted
files on how you can decrypt your files, returning
them to normal.
These instructions usually require you to access
a website and pay a fee in bitcoins to be able to
get the decryption key. Now, this is all done
anonymously so you have no idea who you are
dealing with and of course there is no guarantee
that they will give you the decryption key.
My advice is do not pay these people, the only
reason they do this is to make money and if
people do not pay them, then hopefully there
will be no incentive for these people to create
these viruses.
Most Ransomware viruses are spread via email,
once the virus infects a computer it then sets
about encrypting all the documents, pictures,
videos and music files it can find (they also
encrypt other files as well but these are the
typical ones).
The virus looks at all the drives it can see on the
computer, so C: drive obviously but also any
external drives that you may have plugged in at
the time of the infection, so if you leave an
external usb hard drive plugged in or a usb stick
to do backups automatically, then these files are
at risk from the virus.
It also looks at any network drives that are
accessible from the computer, so if you have a
Network Attached Storage device (NAS) then any
drives that you have automatically attached to
your computer are also at risk from the virus.
The virus can act very quickly, it is possible for
the virus to encrypt 1500 files in 3 minutes, but
on a faster computer this could be much faster.
To avoid this type of virus requires a few levels of
protection. As I said most of these viruses arrive
by email attachment, so the first level of
protection is you, always treat attachments with
caution. If you don’t trust an email delete it.
The next level of protection is a good anti virus, if
your first level of protection does not stop the
virus then hopefully the anti virus will.
The final level of protection is your backup, you
will need an external drive that you will connect
to the computer to do the backup and then
disconnect from the computer when the backup
is finished. This external drive can be a usb stick
or a usb hard drive.
I would recommend backing up at least once a
week or more often if your data changes often
and is very precious.
With these three levels of protection in place, the
worst case scenario would be that you
accidentally open an attachment that had a virus
and your anti virus did not stop it but you could
restore your files from your backup.
If your computer has been infected with a virus
and you need help with the virus removal or
need help setting up a backup procedure to
protect you from this or any other types of
catastrophe then get in touch and I can help.
Telephone Scammers:
Scams, Phone or Pc - I thought I would post
about this today as it is a constant problem and
we all need to be forever vigilant.
Hopefully this information will allow you to check
if the phone number that called is a fake or not.
I had a call from this number 01618503593
today.
It was an automated call instructing me that it
was from the HMRC and that they had been
trying to contact me for some time.
They then proceeded to tell me that because
they had been unable to contact me HMRC were
going to sue me and to press 1 to speak to a
representative.
Now I've seen enough of these types for scams
to know it was exactly that. The important thing
to remember is that HMRC would not contact
you this way, it would be via a written letter and
it would not be a single letter at that,
But what you may not know is that there is a
very easy way to check if the number calling you
is a fake and that is to simply type the number
into google.
If you do this then usually the top website is
who-called.co.uk and clicking on that website will
take you to a page where people who have been
contacted by that number are discussing the call.
This can usually instantly put your mind at rest
and confirm that it is a fake call.
I hope this information has been helpful and
remember never let anyone you do not trust
have access to your computer.
Windows 10 slow updates:
Hello Everyone, Windows 10 bi-annual update
1803 is now installing on most windows
machines. And it's causing a few problems. I
have seen at least 7 pc's in the last few weeks all
with different problems related to this most
recent update.
For those of you who do not know, Windows 10
has two major updates a year. One in March and
one in September. This along with the year is
how we know which version of windows 10 we
are using.
So for instance the current Windows 10 version
is 1803, year 2018, month march 03.
Some of you may have 1709 or 1703.
These bi-annual updates are huge, sometimes
up to 4GB in size. This can cause problems if you
don't have enough space. It uses a lot of internet
bandwidth and takes a long time to download.
My advice is if you see your machine doing any
updates is to leave it to do the updates and not
put it to sleep or shut it down.
These updates also can take a long time to
install, again my advice is to just leave the
machine on and let it finish.
Even if you think its stuck and not doing
anything, be patient and leave it as long as you
possibly can.
Some customers have thought that the machine
was stuck doing the update and turned it off
during the update, this unfortunately caused
further problems because the machine was in
the middle of the update and when turned back
on could not complete or rollback the update,
causing windows to be unusable.
These problems were corrected but if you leave
the machine to finish its updates corrective
action may not be necessary.
If you have any questions or problems then
please get in touch.
Ian
Windows 10 keyboard problems:
Hello Everyone,
Windows 10 strikes again!
The latest Windows 10 update 1803 is causing
users some more problems.
I've seen a few customers over the last two
weeks with a new problem.
It's the @ symbol, you will probably only notice
this if you type an email address, but what is
happening is the @ and the " symbols are
swapping places, so when you type an email
address like sales”ambercomputersolutons.co.uk
you get the quotes symbol " instead of the @ at
symbol.
So what is causing this? keyboard language.
The latest update to windows 10 is replacing the
English UK keyboard with the English US
keyboard.
Yes I know, how helpful is that?
If you are suffering from this issue or any other
computer issue then please get in touch and I
can help you put this right.
I wonder what fun will be in the next update to
windows 10.
Windows 10 Updates:
Hello Everyone, I thought I would talk about
Windows 10 and some tips on what to do if you
run into a problem.
OK, so in case you were unaware Windows 10 has
two major updates per year. These two big
updates take place in March and September.
These updates are very large and basically
change a great deal of Windows 10.
You may remember from previous versions of
Windows that updates were applied when you
shutdown windows or restarted windows.
And Windows would prompt you not to turn off
as it applied the updates.
Well things have changed in Windows 10
compared to earlier versions of Windows. Now
Windows 10 applies updates when Windows 10
restarts and not when Windows 10 shuts down.
This is great if you want to shutdown Windows 10
and get on with your life, but can lead to
problems where updates are not installed
properly.
Most of us use a computer where by we switch it
on and use it and when we are done we switch it
off again. Well Microsoft don't think we use
computers that way. Microsoft's philosophy on
computer use is based around the fact that they
think we leave our computers on and in sleep
mode when we are not using them.
If a Windows 10 computer is left in sleep mode
then at about 3am the computer will wake up
and install the updates necessary and restart
itself, then go back to sleep again.
Which is great but as I'm sure you are aware even
when a computer is asleep it still uses some
electricity, and if you have a laptop and it is
running on battery then it would drain the
battery as it sleeps. Which isn't as efficient as
turning off the computer when you are finished
with it.
So what can happen is that because the
computer is switched off and not restarted then
some of these updates do not get installed.
My advice to deal with any issues you may have
with Windows 10 is very simple.
If you have an issue, no matter what, try shutting
down the computer as you normally would BUT
instead of clicking on shutdown, choose restart
instead.
You may also notice that the usual options have
changed from restart or shutdown to update and
restart or update and shutdown.
You'll be surprised the amount of things a simple
restart will cure.
Hope this helps but don't forget any questions
then get in touch.
Thanks Ian
Anti Virus Rip offs:
Hello everyone,
I hope you are all well and keeping safe from
covid.
Today I thought I would tell you how I helped a
customer save at least £75 on his Norton deluxe
anti virus renewal.
He was running windows 10 and Norton Anti
Virus.
But on closer inspection he was still paying
Norton for a previous 360 subscription, so he
was in fact paying for two Norton subscriptions,
the total cost was close to £170.
What was worse, he had both of these on auto
renewal which means Norton takes the money
every year one month before the renewal date
even if you no longer use the software.
Norton is not unique, all the major Anti Virus
companies use the same auto renewal payment
model.
Letting Norton auto renew is the most expensive
way to buy their software. I showed my
customer that you can buy the same software
from amazon for £16.
So it is cheaper to not use the auto renewal
every year (which is on by default) and to buy the
software from amazon and install it.
But I saved him even more money in the future
because I explained that Windows 10 already has
its own built in anti virus software called
Windows Defender.
He like many people did not know about
Windows Defender, He had been using windows
for many years and thought that like all previous
versions of windows, that you had to have anti
virus software to protect your PC.
I believe that Windows Defender is a very good
anti virus, I have run tests on it and other Anti
Virus like Norton, McAfee, Avast, AVG, etc. and
found that it protects the PC just as well as the
paid for anti virus.
It is built in to windows 10, it updates with the
windows updates so it is always up to date and it
never runs out, so you are always protected.
If you already have anti virus on your windows
10 PC then windows defender lays dormant
because the other anti virus is working.
If you want to use windows defender then all
you have to do is uninstall your current anti virus
and windows defender will activate and take
over the anti virus role.
If you would like to talk about your anti virus or
anything else computer related then please get
in touch.
Ian
We provide home users a very flexible
computer support solution. We can visit
your home at a time to suit you or you can
drop the computer off at our premises.
We provide Small Business users a very
flexible computer support solution. We can
visit your premises at a time to suit
you or you can drop the computer off at our
premises.
Windows 11 is Coming!
Hello everyone,
I hope you are all well.
Windows 11 is coming as a free upgrade from
Windows 10 and should start rolling out on the
5
th
of October.
Windows 11 is the new Operating System that
will replace Windows 10.
I know, we all thought Windows 10 was going to
be the very last version of Windows and that
Microsoft would just simply keep upgrading and
improving Windows 10. And we all thought that
because Microsoft had been saying that ever
since Windows 10 came out.
But no, Microsoft changed their mind and here
comes Windows 11.
Will my computer run Windows 11?
Windows 10 is less fussy about the hardware of
your computer than Windows 11. If your
computer currently runs Windows 10 then there
is a good chance it will run Windows 11 except
for one major hardware sticking point. And that
is the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip,
version 2.0.
Windows 11 requires this Trusted Platform
Module (TPM) chip, and it must be version 2.0.
If your computer was manufactured after 2015
then it has a TPM chip which is version 2.0.
The TPM chip handles all things to do with
encryption, so it’s a good thing that Windows 11
requires it to work; it’s a move by Microsoft to
make all our computers more secure. But it does
mean that if your computer was manufactured
before 2015 then you won’t be able to upgrade
your Windows 10 to Windows 11.
Do you want Windows 11?
Most of Windows 11’s improvements are
cosmetic, changes to the start menu, taskbar
and desktop.
There are some improvements in app speed and
resource usage, which could translate into better
battery life and faster wake times from sleep
mode.
One thing to bear in mind is that whenever a
new operating system is released there are
always teething problems, incompatibilities and
things that just weren’t tested before release.
All Microsoft products have suffered with this,
Windows 10 had many problems when it was
first released. And Windows 11 will no doubt
have similar issues.
So it may be better to wait and see. Let other
people try and use Windows 11, let them fix all
the faults, you can then upgrade in a year or
more, when the problems have all been ironed
out.
Windows 10 security patch updates end in 2025,
so we have plenty of time for other people to fix
any problems and for Windows 11 to become a
much better product.
If you have any questions or want to talk about
upgrading then please get in touch.
Phishing Scams:
Happy New Year Everyone!
I had a phishing email in today so I thought I
would share this with you.
So what is phishing?
Phishing is a type of social engineering attack
in which cyber criminals trick victims into
handing over sensitive information or installing
malware.
More often than not they do this via malicious
emails that appear to be from trusted senders
So this email is not a very good phishing email,
it has some features that are just plain
suspicious.
1. It arrived to an email address that I have
never given to the NHS.
2. The email address does not match who it
should be from, the email is supposed to be
from the NHS. So you would expect the email
address to end in @nhs.scot (if you're in
Scotland)
3. They used an email address instead of my
name in the body of the email.
4. The link they want me to click on is also not
connected with the NHS. It starts with NHS but
the important bit is just before the 3rd / in the
link, it says mond.jp and jp is the internet
location for Japan.
5. They are telling me that I have 12 hours to
click the link. The NHS wouldn't give such a
short time limit. Scammers like to give you
short deadlines so you are more inclined to
click on the links.
So to sum up
1. Always check who sent the email by looking
at the senders address.
2. Always check where a link will take you
before clicking on it.
3. If you think an email maybe a scam, simply
delete it before clicking on any links. If it is a
legitimate email, the sender if desperate will
either phone you or write to you by letter.
I hope you found this info helpful. If you do get
an email and you are unsure you can always
contact me and I will help you decide if it is
legitimate or not.
Take care.
Ian
Backups
We all know backups are important, boring,
inconvenient, but essential in saving our bacon
when things go catastrophically wrong.
So why do so few of us do them on a regular
basis?
Well I think its because computers and
computing in general has become so reliable,
we simply think they will never go wrong.
But they do, I see it on a regular basis.
The reason I’m writing this is because I think
backups are more important now than they
have ever been. And strangely this is in part
due to the new and much more reliable Solid
State Drives, which are in almost all laptops
and computers sold today.
Until recently hard drives were mechanical, a
spinning disk with heads not too dissimilar to a
record player, flying over the surface of the
metallic magnetic disks or platters. These
mechanical drives have not change massively
since the beginnings of computers. But in the
last few years they have been replaced by SSD
or Solid State Drives.
Solid State Drives are not mechanical; they are
purely electronic devices, filled with memory
chips called NAND and are capable of storing
data when the power is remove from the
computer unlike your RAM chips.
SSD are much like USB memory sticks but with
vastly more capacity and speed. And because
they have no moving parts, it makes them
much faster, more reliable and more energy
efficient than older mechanical hard drives.
But if SSD are faster and more reliable, why
should I need to backup my data?
Well older mechanical drives were slower and
less reliable, but they had one saving grace.
They gave you warnings that they were about
to fail. So you often had plenty of time to
backup your data before disaster would strike.
Old mechanical drives would warn you that
they were failing by making noises and slowing
down and you could use software to monitor
their state.
New SSD make no noise at all, and work very
reliably until they don’t.
So how can you protect yourself against hard
drive failure, accidental deletion, ramsonware
attacks, etc?
Backups! A backup is only a backup when the
data being backed up exists in at least two
different locations.
There are many ways to backup your data,
Automatically, Manually, Online or Offline.
Manual backups are fine, when you copy your
data yourself, to a usb stick or hard drive, if you
remember to do it, but usually disaster strikes
when you are between backups.
A continuous automatic backup is the best, as
it is almost a fire and forget style of backup.
Online backups are ok, but they are primarily
offered to you with one thing in mind, as a
continuous money making stream for the
company offering you the service. Often the
online backup is offered with a very small initial
free amount of backup space designed to hook
you into using the service and then when your
backup grows (as it always will) beyond the
initial free size, then you have to pay for more
space, and there will be more quota sizes as
your backup grows and you will have to
upgrade your backup plan.
The alternative is a continuous offline backup
to a usb stick or usb hard drive. For laptop
users that move around a lot there are usb
sticks that a not much bigger than your finger
tip and can be left plugged into the side of the
laptop and do not get in the way of normal
every day travel. For everyone else using usb
hard drives is probably the best choice.
Now to achieve the continuous backup you will
need software. Luckily Windows 10 and 11
have built in software that can help you with
this. The software is called File History, and is
very easy to use. All you have to do is plug in a
usb hard drive or stick and turn on file history
and windows will automatically backup your
desktop, documents, pictures, music, and video
folders. Windows also has other software that
can backup the entire machine not just those
folders, its called backup and restore and it
found in the control panel of windows.
If you have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription,
then you will have access to the 1TB one drive
storage online backup. With this all you need to
do is move your data to the one drive folder on
your computer and the data is automatically
backed up to the internet.
If you want to use commercial backup software
solutions there are many to choose from, but
my favourite is Macrium Reflect. I like it
because it is easy to use and comes with
ransomware protection which can protect your
backups from a ransomware virus even if your
computer gets infected.
If you are interested in starting or upgrading
your backup solution and you would like help
setting it up or checking that your current
backup solution is working correctly then as a
computer service in Inverness I can help you
with this or anything else computer related.
Thank you for your time.
Ian.
