ComTech: IT Support Scotland

Mobile working – urban myth or reality?

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Chris

Anyone who follows my postings on either Twitter or LinkedIN will know I have been racking up the miles lately travelling all over Scotland for work. One of the benefits of working like this is that I am still able to support my clients remotely due to the way I have set up the business. My business can effectively be managed from either a tablet or smartphone when I am out and about so long as I have access to the internet.

Last week I had a roadtrip down to the lovely Dumfries and Galloway area to install some Cisco routers in Annan, Castle Douglas and Stranraer. I was down in this area back in May for my holiday and remembered that the mobile signal between Castle Douglas and Stranraer is shocking and 3G is a myth in this area rather than the norm. I was hoping that since May things might have improved a bit. Not a chance!!

The satnav on my phone went awol at one point due to the fact that the mobile signal strength was awful. This is not very helpful when you have no idea where the client is. I had 4 clients ring in that day with issues and I couldn’t remote in to any of their systems due to the fact that both my myfi (T-Mobile) and my phone (O2) had 2G at best. With no Starbucks, MacDonalds and the like in this area it was very hard to find free wifi. Thanks to Stuart Mains from Stirling IT for bailing me out and covering my remote works which in turn kept my clients happy.

The point is though we now have all these fancy devices that allow us to work “on the go” but they are effectively useless if you need internet to work and you can’t access it. This isn’t a problem in the big cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow where mobile signal strength is excellent (for the most part) but in places like the Highlands where it is sketchy at best this is a big problem. Unless 4G addresses this problem when it is eventually rolled out across the whole of the UK then mobile working for some people will stay as an urban myth rather than an everyday occurrence.

Do you work while “on the go” or are you stuck in the office? Let me know!!

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

What is the point of doing backups if nobody checks they actually work?

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Chris

Backups are great. They can literally save your business if you have some form of hardware failure but more importantly they give you piece of mind knowing your files are safe. Just one thing though when did you last check that the backup you have actually works?

I came across this exact scenario about a month ago. I received a call from a new client who sounded very stressed on the phone. He ran a small home office business with one PC which he backed up to a NAS box running RAID 1. His PC had suffered a hard drive failure so he was looking for someone to come out and install a new hard drive ASAP and retrieve his files from the NAS box. As it was a quiet day I jumped in the car and went along to take a look.

On arriving on site I did some quick checks and yes his hard drive was completely dead (apparently it had been doing the “click of death” for some time but the client had just ignored it). Next thing to check was the state of the backups on the NAS so I connected up my laptop and took a look. This is where the issues started.

The were indeed files on the NAS box but there was nothing there from the last six months. It turns out that the NAS had been installed about 12 months ago and the backups were scheduled on a daily basis. Something had stopped the backup software running correctly six months ago and since the client hadn’t ever checked his backups he hadn’t noticed. The result – all files (invoices, documents, quotes etc) for the last six months had been lost.

I did explain to the client that there might be a slight chance of recovering files from his dead hard drive if he sent it off to a lab but I thought he was going to pass out when he saw the price (they aren’t cheap).

Moral of the story – doing backups is great practice but MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THAT THEY ACTUALLY WORK!!

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

PC or Post PC? I don’t really think it matters

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Chris

PC’s, tablets, smartphones and laptops all have one thing in common and that is the ability to get things done. This could be surfing the internet, printing a document, editing a spreadsheet or even checking Facebook. So with this in mind does it actually matter which device you use?

PC sales are on the slide and have been for quite a while and until recently tablet sales have been rocketing (only recently has there been any indication of a slowdown). This in turn has led many people to think that PC’s have become the technical equivalent of the dinosaur and tablets are “the way forward”. For many people this may indeed be the case but for a large percentage of users (both home and business) PC’s and laptops make more sense due to the large screens and the ability to be able to use the mouse.

Everyone has different computing requirements and what works for one person won’t neccesarily work for the next. Take me as an example. Two weeks ago I bought a 10 inch android tablet (which I am currently using to write this) with the intention of using it for work. I will be using it for approx 95% of my daily work tasks and for the rest of the time I will change back to my MacBook. The reason for this change is the mobility the tablet gives me when out and about. Yes I could lug the MacBook around but the tablet is lighter and the battery lasts longer. Is this the correct way for me to work? Maybe Would this approach work for you? Possibly but it would depend on what software you use and your desire to work on a smaller screen.

To be honest I don’t really think it matters what device you use so long as you are productive and the work gets done. You will always get people on both sides of the fence who say their device is better because of blah, blah, blah but really who cares?

Get the device, or devices, which work for you and don’t listen to anyone else.

Now go and get some work done!!

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

Android fragmentation is alive and kicking

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Chris

I decided last week to finally purchase an android 10 inch tablet for work. I use android extensively so I thought why not use it on a bigger screen. After looking through Amazon (for way too long) I finally decided on the Fusion 5 10 inch tablet running KitKat 4.4 which duely came the following day.

After initial misgivings (thought the screen was terrible but turned out to be the scren protector instead) I started to load my apps. I currently have a HTC Desire 500 and a generic 7 inch tablet both running Jelly Bean and have never had any problems running any apps, and for this reason I didnt think for a second this time would be any different. How wrong I was.

Two of my most important apps refuse to run on my new tablet because “your device is not compatible with this version” errors. These are business critical apps for me (invoicing and monitoring client systems) so I contacted support for one of them and asked what the problem was. Was it KitKat or some other issue I could sort? The reply – “your device is not allowing certain permissions to run our app” and they offered no advice on how to fix it. Basically sorry you are stuffed!!

So I turned to the internet instead and this is where I got a shock. I already knew about Android fragmentation but I always thought that it was to due with which version of Android you are running. What I learned was that not all apps will run on all devices. For example you can already have a tablet or smartphone running KitKat 4.4 and then purchase another make of tablet running the same software but there is no guarantees that your apps will run!! This is bloody stupid.

Imagaine buying a Windows laptop from Dell and another from Samsung running Windows 7 only to find the piece of software your business relies on will only work on one of them. Microsoft would get absolutely hammered and rightly so but in the Android world this is tolerated. I now understand why so many people choose iOS for business because guess what, you buy a tablet or phone and your apps will just work.

Google needs to get a tighter grip on Android if it wants to compete in the business space with Apple.

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

Is there still a market for 7 inch tablets?

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Chris

Tablets are great. You can consume content on them or do (light) work and the battery lasts most of the day but according to the latest figures the tablet market has slowly started to shrink for the first time and most of this is down to smartphones with big screens encroaching on 7 inch tablets. That’s right smartphones are getting bigger.

Ever since smartphones first came out there has been a race to make them smaller. In recent years however that trend has started to fade with the introduction of the phablet. The best known of these is the Samsung Galaxy Note which has a 5.3 inch screen. People are beginning to want a single device that does everything for them (make calls, internet, work etc) and the phablet seems to fit the bill for a lot of people. But what about the 7 inch tablet? Does it still have a market?

Yes it does and I shall explain why.

1. Children love 7 inch tablets. They are the right size to be held in one hand and still be able to use the other hand to operate it. They are also inexpensive (for the most part) so if one gets damaged it doesn’t cost the earth to replace it.

2. Adults love them too. Thats right adults sitting down on the sofa love to browse the internet using a 7 inch tablet. They have a bigger screen than a phablet and are easier to hold than a 10 inch tablet. Both the phablet and 10 inch tablet would get used more during the day when “out and about” however.

3. They are great for light work. I use mine for everything from invoicing to remote desktop and yes it would be easier to use a 10 inch tablet but a 7 inch is the perfect size for going out and about (for me anyhow).

4. Fashion conscious people wouldn’t be seen dead with a phablet. As a client recently put it “I will keep both my iphone and my ipad mini because if I got a phablet people would start to think I had a brick on the side of my head!!”

So what do you think is there still a place for the 7 inch tablet?

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

Please don’t take my phone off me!!!

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Chris

I had a weird experience yesterday while at a job in Irvine which was most unexpected. On arrival to site I got asked to leave my phone at the reception due to the fire risk (anything with a battery except a laptop had to be left at reception). I actually felt naked without it and it was this feeling that surprised me.

I had lost the ability to check my emails, actually ring people (I am awful at remembering numbers) and even monitor my client systems. I have become so used to “being connected” that losing that ability (even for a short time) was a bit unnerving.

You see I have actually reached the point where I can run most aspects of my business from my phone (I don’t always choose to but I can). Remotely accessing clients desktops, invoices, emails, monitoring client systems and a host of other activities can be accomplished on the move with no extra kit required. Not being able to use my phone felt like I could no longer effectively run my business.

Smartphones have reached a point where they are now as much as a necessity to some people as clothes. You wouldn’t go out without your clothes on (or maybe you would?) and a lot of people wouldn’t even dream of leaving the house without their phones. They are used for everything from taking pictures to social media and even …………… making calls!!

The screens are also getting bigger which is starting to have an impact on the sales of 7″ tablets as a lot of people would rather use their phones than purchase a tablet which is only slightly bigger. I personally can’t see them replacing the likes of a laptop for mobile working but they are definitely getting closer.

So be honest what is your relationship like with your phone?

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

Backups, backups and more backups!!

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Chris

Backups – the dirty word of IT. Everyone knows that you should have some but a lot of the time they don’t get taken as “stuff gets in the way”. But take a moment to think what would happen if you actually lost all your data.

I got called out to a client last week who runs a shop in Stirling. They have an EPOS system (Electronic Point of Sales) system which runs their tills. It turns out that their main system had suffered a hard drive failure and everything on the hard drive was now gone. Luckily the staff take backups of all the data on a daily basis and I take a separate backup off site once a week. After a couple of hours the system got rebuilt and they could continue to operate as normal. If the backups were not taken the shop would probably have gone out of business overnight as all their data from the last 10 years would have been lost.

Scary hey? So what is the best way to backup your data? There is no easy way to answer this as everyone and every company is different. One thing I can say with certainty though is that however you take backups you need to keep a copy offsite. The reason I say this is in the event that anything happens to your premises (think office fire for example) and your backups are destroyed you can still recover your files from the spare backups.

For this reason I use Dropbox. Some people would rather use Box, OneDrive or Google Drive (even OneDrive for Business) but for me Dropbox has been around the longest and is well established plus it “just works”. I like knowing that all my files are backed up automatically and that I can gain access to them from anywhere.

For people who don’t like the idea of storing their files online you can always backup to an onsite server, use NAS boxes (don’t buy cheap ones!!) or even use external hard drives.

The choice is yours but whatever you decide remember to keep your backups safe because chances are at some point you will need them!!

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

Are older people getting left behind by technology?

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Chris

I was called out to a client on monday (on my holidays too!!) to sort out an EPOS (Electronic Point of Sales) system which had just crashed. While trying to get the system back up to a working state I got talking to an older gentleman who came into the shop to pay his papers. The conversation went like this:

“Problems son?” “I am trying to get the tills back working again” “Ah I know the feeling. Everytime something goes wrong with my laptop I don’t have a clue. The older generation like myself are getting left behind with all this technology”

I can see his point. Every time a new technology comes out and I think my clients are going to start adopting it I learn it (Office 365 is a good example). I accept this as IT is my business and I need to stay on top of it. What happens though if you are a regular user?

Kids are fantastic at picking up new technology as they are constantly learning new stuff on a daily basis (3 year old and a tablet anyone?) but the older generation can be a bit slower. I would like to point out that I also know quite a few “older” people who love learning new technology but on the whole as we get older we become more set in our ways and therefore more reluctant to learn new stuff.

With the demise of Windows XP many old systems are getting replaced and of course they now come with a different operating system (whether Windows 7 or Windows 8) and I know a lot of older people who just can’t cope with the changes. They miss knowing how to operate the system and hate having to relearn everything.

I know we can’t slow down the pace of technology but are we leaving many older people behind?

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

What happens if Windows 9 is no good?

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Chris

I wrote an article last week asking if Windows 8 was in danger of becoming the next Vista?. One of the reasons I asked this question is that Microsoft has pulled forward its release schedule for Windows 9 to next year, possibly April. What happens though if Windows 9 isn’t well received by the public and business customers? Could Microsoft’s customers actually stomach another operating system that they see as no good?

As it stands businesses have pretty much completed their move to Windows 7 from Windows XP. If Windows 9 is released and isn’t liked by business they will pretty much stay with Windows 7 until end of support in 2020 (unless of course Microsoft extends this). If this did happen Microsoft would lose billions in licensing fees but more importantly businesses might start to lose confidence in Microsoft being able to produce quality products. This loss in confidence could make businesses start to look elsewhere for their software (Google Apps instead of Office 365?) and this could seriously hurt Microsoft.

In the home market PC sales are approaching rock bottom (they will level off at some point) primarily due to people using tablets and smartphones for their daily tasks instead of PC’s and laptops. If Windows 9 is perceived as just another Windows 8 (which a lot of home users hate) then people will have even less incentive to purchase new PC’s and laptops. The one shining light for Microsoft in this market is that if they can get Windows 9 to work well on a tablet (and be not to expensive) this could generate significant interest and possibly sales. In their defence Windows 8 and RT both work very well on a tablet.

Windows 9 could be a defining point for Microsoft. If it is them getting back on track or slowly sliding into obscurity remains to be seen.

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

Is Windows 8 in danger of becoming the next Vista?

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Chris

First off I personally think that Windows 8 is far superior to Windows Vista. It is more secure and much faster and on a touchscreen it is a pleasure to use. It seams though that quite a few people just do not like it as shown by the market share figures for June 2014. So what is the problem?

The main problem with Windows 8 is its split personality. It is designed for touchscreens but at its launch there weren’t many about and on a traditional laptop or PC it can be clunky. Then there is the Start screen (which I actually like) which a lot of users just hate and users having to retrain to actually use the new interface didn’t go down well either.

Put Windows 8 on a touchscreen tablet (where it really belongs) and it does start to make sense. I have a client with a Surface 2 (yes the Windows RT one) which is lovely to use. The swipe gestures and moving around the OS with your finger is a joy. Yes it does have its issues with lack of apps but that is another blog!!

Microsofts biggest problem is that business customers were never going to switch to Windows 8 in huge droves due to the retraining costs and have instead switched to the tried and tested Windows 7. This leaves the home market where tablets have overtaken laptops and PC’s thereby squeezing out Windows. Windows 8 should have been developed purely for PC’s and laptops (businesses would have preferred this and uptake would have been higher) and develop a separate OS for tablets (and do not call it Windows). Windows RT can (and possibly should) be used for this purpose but it would need a complete rebrand as people still expect to run Windows programs on it.

At this point people generally bring up the Surface line of hybrids stating that Microsoft got it right and Surface is the proof. The Surface Pro 3 is a cracking piece of kit and if I had the money I would seriously consider buying one but that is the problem – they cost too much. Pricing something in MacBook Air territory generally doesn’t work as Windows is seen as “for everyone” whilst Apple products are seen as “premium”. Maybe I will be proven wrong (it won’t be the first time) but somehow I doubt it.

Windows 9 is due to be released early next year and when it does I can honestly see Windows 8’s market share start to go the same way as Windows Vista, which would be a shame as it does have some good qualities but it just can’t make its mind up what it wants to be.

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

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