This easter Protect Your Electronics From Dust Bunny Infestation!

Everyone was eagerly anticipating the upcoming Easter egg hunt which was tradition for the family. As the adults prepared lunch in the kitchen, the children scampered about in the yard. Sounds of glee filled the air as they innocently ran around, everyone happy as can be. All while unaware of the impending Attack of the Evil Easter Dust Bunnies!

Dust bunnies are small clumps of dust that form under furniture and in corners that are not cleaned regularly. They are made of hair, lint, dead skin, spider web, dust, and sometimes light rubbish and debris, and are held together by static electricity and felt-like entanglement.

This special report on the effect of dust on electronics reveals some startling facts. It discusses how dust can block vents or insulate components internally to cause overheating of some of the higher power PC components like the CPU which can go up nearly 30o F. It can also create problems with mechanical components, like fans and optical drives.Worst of all it can collect on hard drive connectors and components causing overheating and data loss!

Test show that the temperature increases due to a build-up of dust causing an increase in temperature can lead to complete and abrupt failure.

The keyboard and mouse are also affected by dust. Though these are easy to replace items, their
reliability can degrade rapidly when infused with dust. Stuck keys and “sticky” mouse operation are most frustrating to operators and can create both errors and productivity loss.


Slowing things down, reducing your computer lifespan and generally causing freezing, crashing and other annoying and unproductive technology problems. Damn those bunnies!

Dust can cause irreversible harm to computer electronics and its associated electromechanical components. Without protection from dust, serious computer errors, loss of information, or complete failure can result.

So this spring, as you're thinking of cleaning the garage, the attic or the office, think also of your technology and give us a call, we'd be happy to complete a on-site system tuneup at your office and ensure you're running in tip top shape!

Two Ways Old Technology Hurts Your Business. Get Rid Of It As Soon As You Can

I can appreciate that with all the challenges you face as a small business owner, the idea of holding on to what works, for as long as it keeps working, seems to be a good one. After all, why shouldn’t you keep that ten year old printer?

You can still get ink for it online at that specialty dealer in buffal, and it prints just fine. Or how about that 8 year old laptop, sure it’s not quite as fast as some of the newer models but it gets the job done right?

The powers that be in the tech world are ever pushing new advancements to drive sales and profits and you don’t want to contribute to this vicious cycle! I empathize with you. I too like to squeeze the last drop of productivity out of the things which I have invested. But lets consider some of the potential downside to holding on to technology too long.

Reliability: The cold hard truth is that things are designed to last for only a certain range of time. We have all come to know the term “built in obsolescence”. This is not to say that you can’t push these limits, but once you start down this road you are rolling the dice on uptime and overall performance. If any of these devices are involved with “mission critical” functions within your organization than you may be taking a risk without the appropriate level of reward in return. Most tech related devices have a lifespan of three to five years. If you take this into consideration ahead of time it is possible to budget for the necessary upgrades instead of having to face a crisis.

Productivity: This is a huge area of discussion because it is often difficult to measure. In the section above I mention “Mission Critical” functions. So, for example, we can look at a File or Email Server that is past its prime of 3 years. In the fourth year there are sporadic performance issues that ultimately lead to the need for replacement. If this results in a server down scenario then it is easy to count the number of hours that productivity has been halted. What is more difficult to measure is the loss of time and productivity during the periods when the server was not operating at peak efficiency. These losses could be the result of slower speeds, frequent need for techs to reboot server, email outages, etc.

When we look at productivity issues for “Non Mission Critical” machines we find similar problems. I am consistently amazed to discover the inventive and ingenious methods workers employ in an effort to overcome technical stumbling blocks to complete their job functions. I am oft reminded of the days when the youngest family member would have to stand in a specific position with “tin folied” antenna in hand to get the perfect television reception. While these “work-arounds” are commendable, they are also great productivity killers that can be largely avoided with the proper technology in place to get the job done.

So is your technology "getting the job done"? Is it as productive as it could or should be?

Give us a call at Outhouse IT we'd be happy to help you complete a small business technology assessment and see where you really stand.

Twilight Game Scam Spreading on Facebook [WARNING]

If you’ve been tagged in a Facebook friend’s photo album or seen a link promoting a Twilight: Breaking Dawn game, be careful. It is likely a scam designed to spread on Facebook and grab your personal data.

If you click on the link, you’ll be invited to start playing the game. If you’re using Facebook HTTPS, you will first be prompted to switch to a regular connection, which should alarm some users.

This particular scheme will make you “Like” the game without your permission, and it will show on your Wall, thus allowing it to spread further.


If you continue, you will be asked to give permission to a Facebook App, and finally you will be asked to fill out a questionnaire with some personal data.

As always, you should definitely avoid clicking on suspicious links such as these and verify each app before you give it additional permissions on Facebook.

If you’ve fallen prey to this scheme already, you should delete any spam posts you may have inadvertently sent. Then, go through your security settings and revoke any access for apps you don’t recall signing up for.

For more info on how to get rid of Facebook scams like this one, check out this guide.

Windows 7 finally overtakes Windows XP’s desktops

According to the latest results of the desktop OS market share in the US for April 2011 collected by StatCounter, it looks like people are finally leaving Windows XP behind and getting an upgrade to Windows 7.

For the first time since it became the most popular operating system around, Windows XP’s market share has been trumped by Windows 7.

Windows 7 is now used on 31.71% of desktops in the US, while Windows XP has dropped to 31.56%.

Now the lead isn’t a lot but it does show that Windows XP has finally peaked and is on its way out now.

Windows Vista is at third place with 19.07%, Mac OS X at fourth with 14.87%, Linux is last with 0.70% and Other/miscellaneous operating systems make up 2.09% of the chart.

Importance of note is the increase in Mac OS which sat at less than 10% for many, many years, but now enjoys a much healthier percentage.

It's important to note that this chart does NOT non-Desktop/Laptops so don't be surprised that the iPhone OS (iOS), blackberry and even Android aren't listed.

Is your business still running windows XP applications? Does it need to be? Some applications previously only windows XP compatible are now fully functional in a windows 7 environment and with the added security and protection Win7 offers over XP it's worth a look.

While we've done our best in the past to help clients find windows XP computers from suppliers even up until the end of 2010, it's now almost impossible to find NEW copies of XP, sure you can go used, off lease or refurbished, but new, Windows XP is just not available in the marketplace for purchase anymore. Even our might netbooks are now windows 7 starter edition.

So, is your business getting everything it can and should be out of it's operating system? Give us a call at Outhouse IT, we're here to help.

Clean the C&@# out of your computer with CCleaner.

There are a lot of tools out there that handle a lot of tasks, from antivirus tools that also clean your drive of temporary files and make you coffee to tools that promise to “make your computer faster.”

But as far as I’m concerned, few tools can make as much of a difference as Ccleaner, at least on a machine that’s not infected by a virus or malware.

Ccleaner is easy to use and will keep your computer cleaner, more secure, and running faster. It achieves this by safely removing temporary Internet files (and other means of tracing Internet activity), cleaning up the Windows registry, and removing temporary files and recent file lists (MRUs) from various applications.

But even though Ccleaner is a simple tool to use, that doesn’t mean you should just jump in and start cleaning everything without a bit of thought. Here are some things all users should consider before and during the use of this powerful tool.

1: Analyze before running the Cleaner

I know a lot of admins who just fire up Ccleaner and hit the Run Cleaner button without doing an analysis first. Yes, this is a fast method of getting rid of temporary Internet files. But there’s no way of knowing what’s going to be deleted (until it’s deleted) and there’s no way of knowing how much free space the deletion is going to create. Make sure you hit the Analyze button first. Then, after you read the report, hit the Run Cleaner button. Using Ccleaner this way ensures that nothing is deleted that shouldn’t be deleted. Also, after you run the analyzer, you can look at detailed information (by application) and then add exceptions directly from the list.

2: Set up cookies you want to keep

When you run the Cleaner, cookies are deleted. By default, cookies are retained from Google and Yahoo, but other cookies might need to be retained. To manage this, click on the Options tab and then on the Cookies button. From that window, any cookie currently on the system can be selectively added to the exclusion list. By adding these exclusions, you don’t have to worry about important cookies disappearing after each run of Ccleaner.

3: Always back up the registry

No matter how reliable Ccleaner is and no matter how many successful registry cleanups it does, never do a cleanup without first backing up the registry. Ccleaner will go so far as to remind you to back up the registry every time you run a registry cleanup. If the registry is not backed up, one of those corrupt or missing registry keys that Ccleaner fixes might not really have needed fixing. If that key is then broken and was not backed up, the issue caused by Ccleaner could become catastrophic. Fortunately, Ccleaner makes backing up the registry as simple as a couple of clicks.

4: Use the tools to manage startup applications

Ccleaner comes with a bonus: It lets you enable, disable, or remove programs from startup. I have always found this method of managing startup applications far easier than using the standard Windows method. What I like most about this feature is that startup applications can be enabled and disabled without removing them completely. This means if you need to temporarily prevent an application from starting up, it’s easy to do by going into the Tools tab, clicking the Startup button, selecting the application to be enabled/disabled, and clicking the appropriate button. When the application needs to be re-enabled/disabled, reverse the process.

5: Use the uninstaller

One of the best aspects of Ccleaner is the ability to remove applications from within it. It typically just starts the uninstaller, but I have found that running the application uninstaller this way ends with fewer registry issues than when I uninstall from the Windows Add/Remove Programs tool. And if there are registry issues after the uninstall, registry cleanup is only a couple of clicks away.

Great tool, used wisely

Ccleaner is more than just a tool to clean the registry or empty a computer of temporary Internet files. It also makes it easy to remove applications from startup and remove applications from the machine. Just make sure you use this powerful tool intelligently to avoid rendering your machine unusable. While they try to make it difficult to make mistakes, it is possible to render your computer unuseable by running some of the tasks ccleaner offers, so if you're not sure, err on the side of caution. And if you want to make the most of your technology, give us a call at Outhouse IT, it's what we do.