Digital Data Solutions

19/07/2024

BBC News - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cnk4jdwp49et
Microsoft outage live updates: Crowdstrike cybersecurity firm says its software update triggered worldwide IT issues - BBC News

Planes are grounded, and shops and healthcare services affected as major issues hit networks.

19/07/2024

Wordlwide IT Systems Failure: You will likely have seen that currently millions of computers worldwide have been affected by an IT failure. Whilst it is yet to be officially confirmed by Microsoft, it seems that the issue is because of a glitch in an update in a Cyber Security product by a company called Crowdstrike which integrates with Windows Servers. Ironically, this product is to help prevent system failures but in this instance an update has caused those servers/computers to crash with a Blue Screen. This issue is not likely to cause any issues with your home/business computer but WILL affect many cloud services till a fix can be rolled out. Emails and web services may be affected as well as other cloud services including payment interfaces and banking, online booking and cloud managed services. From what I have seen, the fix is very simple, but because there are millions of computers affected and many are now no longer accessible, it will take some time to resolve fully.

07/07/2024

Tip of the Day: Don't put cheap non original ink in your printer and expect it to perform the same as with original ink.

Many printers detect non-original cartridges (some don't work with them) and the cheap ink clogs the nozzles up and looks dreadful compared to original branded cartridges. Nobody wants to pay top dollar for branded ink, but you pays yer money and takes yer pick!

30/03/2024

Recently, I joined a few groups which assist users with Windows technical problems. I was amazed how many people were still trying to and finding ways to hack/crack licensed software so they can use it for free.

Yes, genuine software might be expensive, but using cracked software opens you up to all sorts of security risks, and often cracked software stops working after a period of time because people like Microsoft and Adobe will realise what you have done.

18/07/2023

The Microsoft (Office) 365 suite of Office products continue to be class leading and they continue to introduce lots of nice time saving features...

One recent feature which seems to have snuck in quietly is that when you receive an email in Outlook which contains a web link, you find that clicking that link takes you to Edge, rather than your preferred Web Browser. That might suit some, but if you would rather use your own choice of web browser for email links, in Outlook, click File > Options > Advanced and then change the "Open Hyperlinks from Outlook" option to "Default Browser".

If you want to find out more about Microsoft 365, please remember to get in touch

11/07/2023

At a recent visit to a customer, I noticed the case was noticeably bulging on their MacBook Pro, so the customer asked me to replace the faulty batteries.

Apple really cram the components into their laptops and usually the batteries are held in with super-strength double-sided tape. As you can see in the 2 pictures, the expanded batteries were in a bad way and as I removed them they shorted out and started smoking... Thankfully, no harm was done and they spent the afternoon cooling down outside. Lithium batteries are light and very powerful, but if they are damaged or expand like this, you can have a big problem very quickly.

If your laptop seems to have put weight on recently, that is a sure sign that the battery needs replacing, don't leave it, when they go wrong, they go very wrong.

23/06/2023

I had a really helpful email from a complete stranger in Spain earlier, telling me my password was going to expire tomorrow. The entire message was a picture, so clicking anywhere on it would whisk you off to some dodgy website where somebody would attempt to harvest my email credentials. My password isn't set to expire, nice try - but fail.

I have 2 factor authentication on my email account, which helps to keep it secure, you should too! If you need help, ask me how! 01223 398999

23/02/2023

Tip of the day: ALWAYS ensure your domain name is registered to and owned by you. ALWAYS make sure you know when it will renew and always make sure that it has, even if you think it is set to automatically renew.

If you lose access to your domain because it is not registered properly or registered to somebody else you might not get it back.

03/11/2022

As an Authorised BT Reseller, I'm annoyed when told by customers that they [BT] are too expensive and their business doesn't want to pay top dollar for internet services...

I grant you it costs more compared to some, but Eclipse, Talk-Talk, Gamma and Vodfone are all cheaper but their recent outages have been crippling to their business customers left with no internet or phone service. Vodafone have an outage reported today and depending on who you speak to may be waiting up to 72 hours for it to be back to normal. A recent outage by Eclipse (managed by Talk-Talk) left customers with no internet for a week.

BTs Hybrid Broadband service can keep you connected via 4G if your line fails and prompt care repairs faults fast. BT have had outages in the past but their network resiliance minimises downtime to hours not weeks.

Our number? 01223 398999

13/05/2022

This afternoon, I have seen a large number of business and private customers lose their internet services nearby. If you have been affected, get in touch and ask how we can help your business stay connected when your broadband drops.

19/04/2022

Microsoft bring out updates to their products and "retire" older versions so that the current and two previous versions are actively supported. Accordingly, Office 2013 will no longer be supported and will not work with Microsoft Exchange/Online from April 2023. This means that business users in particular will need to ensure they are using at-least Office 2016 to continue to access their email accounts.

If you require any assistance, please get in touch and we will help you transition to a newer version before this date.

25/02/2022

I just had a lovely message from a customer who said I did "a really good job in the office" of re-installing and tidying all their computer and network cables after their office refit.

Its messages like that which make the effort worthwhile.