Your Computer Friends wins Angie’s List Super Service Award 2011!

Wilmington Business Earns National Recognition For Excellence In Customer Service

Your Computer Friends receives the prestigious 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award

Wilmington NC, February 14, 2012.   Wilmington-based Your Computer Friends,

a computer repair service, has earned the coveted 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award.  Only 5% of all companies rated on the popular consumer review site meet the eligibility requirements necessary to be considered for the award, and even fewer actually receive it.

 

“It is really gratifying to have our service model validated.” said Your Computer Friends owner Susan Kadar.  “Our primary objective from the beginning has been take the best technical talent and marry that with the best customer service.  We took a look at the key issues facing most companies regarding computer use, maintenance and repair, and developed some very effective, process-oriented solutions.  Knowing you have a secure backup, a competent technical staff, and friendly customer support when you are ‘on the ledge’ are just some of the reasons our customers keep coming back year after year.  We answer our phones with dedicated staff, and are therefore available when our customers need us most.  And we have an internal testing process for technicians that guarantees the best, fastest service on-site or in the shop.”

Angie’s List Super Service Award winners have met strict eligibility requirements including earning a minimum number of reports, an exemplary rating from their customers and abiding by Angie’s List operational guidelines.

“We absolutely know that the technical quality of our work must meet our customer standards from our seniors to our HIPPA compliant practices.  I am proud to report that we have not once lost customer data since we opened our doors in April of 2006.  We have however, recovered quite a bit of data that our customers didn’t expect us to be able to, saving them thousands of dollars in rework time, and peace of mind in a theft case,” said Kadar. “We have operational policies and capabilities in place that our long-term customers appreciate, offering everything from basic computer training to encrypted cloud storage, Google Apps business email, web design and more.

If we don’t have what you need, we know who does.”

 

Your Computer Friends extends their philosophy of doing good work by consistently giving back to the community.  They hold computer recycling events 3 times a year, in January, April and September, and have recycled

over 8 tons of equipment over the past 6 years.   Your computer friends also repurposes computers for non-profits, and have donated equipment to Communities In Schools, More at Four, the Senior Center of Brunswick County, and the Cape Fear Literacy Council, on whose board of directors Kadar serves.

Your Computer Friends was founded by Susan Kadar after a career in high-level operations and project management positions with Fortune 50

communication companies, including AT & T and Verizon.   For more information on Your Computer Friends, please visit yourcomputerfriends.com.

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Filed under: All About Us, News, Small Business News, Best Buy, computer repair, mac repair, pc repair, screen repair, virus removal, Your Computer Friends

December 2010 Newsletter

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/-Holiday-issue—cool-websites-included-.html?soid=1101553934448&aid=feB6QQzJnn8.

Filed under: News

AOL and Yahoo to merge?

Your computer friends thought you might be interested in this article.

In the entertainment press they love to speculate over whether Brad and Angelina will finally get hitched. In the tech world, it’s the decidedly unsexier AOL and Yahoo.

There’s been a long parade of rumors suggesting that AOL may be looking to either ditch its not-dead-yet dial-up access business or merge with fellow attempting-a-turnaround tech conglomerate Yahoo; now, a report from Reuters on Monday suggests it’s attempting to do both. According to Reuters, AOL is exploring “a complicated series of transactions” in which it would sell off its access business to a prospective buyer and then merge its advertising and content arms with Yahoo.

The rumor is already being discounted by some in the tech press; AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher tweeted that the Reuters report was “a figment of bankers’ imagination.” Indeed, both a breakup and a Yahoo merger have been speculated for so long that the likelihood of both happening seems particularly out in left field.

Over two years ago, a report surfaced that EarthLink was interested in purchasing AOL’s access business as part of an aggregation of formerly powerful dial-up providers. Access still is a big revenue generator for AOL, but it continues to wane, and CEO Tim Armstrong has touted AOL’s future as a media company rather than an ISP since assuming the office in early 2009. Less than a year into Armstrong’s tenure, AOL was spun off from parent company Time Warner, marking a final death to the disastrous merger of the two in 2001.

As for the Yahoo rumors, Reuters suggested Monday that Yahoo “could support AOL’s display ad business, giving AOL the confidence to shed the dial up division.” Yahoo itself has been struggling to regain lost ground, and talk of an AOL merger has been going on for nearly three years now–dating back to talk of an AOL deal as an alternative to the ultimately failed acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft–with nothing more concrete.
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20024678-36.html 

Filed under: News, aol, aol and yahoo, yahoo

New Technology – Tablets

This holiday season, there’s a plethora of exciting tech gifts.  One of the most popular is the Tablet Computer, similar to a laptop except that it utilizes a touch screen display rather than the standard monitor and keyboard. Thus, a Tablet is much smaller and lighter in weight than the traditional laptop. 

            As with most computer purchases, there are two main categories: Mac and PC/Windows. The choices include the Apple Ipad on the one hand, and several PC/Windows models and brands on the other, with the Samsung Galaxy being described here.

            There are several factors to consider when deciding which Tablet to buy, including personal preference, size, weight, Internet carrier, cameras, keyboards, and battery life.

            A primary consideration is which category, Mac or PC, you are more comfortable using.  Many people are still comfortable operating a PC, but some have already made the switch to Macs. Macs are different from PC’s, but they are very user-friendly, so we suggest you “test-drive” each before deciding.

            As for size and weight:  the Ipad is bigger (9.56” X 7.47”) and heavier (about one and a half pounds), but it has a larger screen. The Galaxy is smaller (7.48” X 4.74”) and lighter (just under 1 lb.), which makes it a little easier to carry around.

            Tablets are able to surf the Internet on any available Wi-Fi network or on the 3G/4G network of your phone company. Check with your cell phone provider for any specials offered with the purchase of a Tablet, but remember you will be locked into a multi-year contract. If you just want to use the Tablet at home, though, your cell phone is not involved as long as you have wireless Internet.

            If you want a camera on your Tablet, then the Ipad is not an option because it does not come with one. Galaxy actually has two cameras, one on the backside and one on the front, which could be used for video conferencing.

            Since the keyboard is digital, located on the touch screen, it would be best to try several Tablets to determine which has the feel and response you prefer. Galaxy offers the new Swype keyboard which the user just slides finger across and which has actually had great reviews. The Ipad offers a standard digital keyboard, with the advantage of familiarity to most people.

            Yet another consideration is battery life. The Ipad boasts an impressive 10 hours, while the Galaxy offers seven hours of heavy use.

            Each Tablet on the market today has its benefits and drawbacks. The best way to decide is to go and try several prior to purchasing.  If you have any further questions, feel free to call a Computer Friend at 799-8585.  Happy Holidays!!

 By Justin of Your Computer Friends

Filed under: Computer Hardware, DIY - Do It Yourself, News, ipad, tablets, Your Computer Friends

McAfee update causes XP Problems!

Oops, they did it again.

At 6AM yesterday, McAfee released an update to its antivirus definitions for corporate customers that had a slight problem. And by “slight problem,” I mean the kind that renders a PC useless until tech support shows up to repair the damage manually.

McAfee’s “DAT” file version 5958 is causing widespread problems with Windows XP SP3. The affected systems will enter a reboot loop and [lose] all network access. We have individual reports of other versions of Windows being affected as well. However, only particular configurations of these versions appear affected. The bad DAT file may infect individual workstations as well as workstations connected to a domain. The use of “ePolicyOrchestrator”, which is used to update virus definitions across a network, appears to have [led] to a faster spread of the bad DAT file. The ePolicyOrchestrator is used to update “DAT” files throughout enterprises. It can not be used to undo this bad signature because affected system will lose network connectivity.

The problem is a false positive which identifies a regular Windows binary, “svchost.exe”, as “W32/Wecorl.a”, a virus.

Engadget’s Nilay Patel quotes a statement from McAfee downplaying the impact on consumers:

The faulty update has been removed from McAfee download servers for corporate users, preventing any further impact on those customers. We are not aware of significant impact on consumer customers and believe we have effectively limited such occurrence.

That’s bad news for McAfee. Corporate customers are likely to tally up the one-day cost of fixing this damage (or multiple days, if Engadget’s report of tens of thousands of affected PCs within single companies is accurate), and they’re likely conclude that it’s time to find a new supplier of security software. At the very least, McAfee is going to have a lot of explaining to do at contract renewal time.

McAfee says it has already replaced the faulty virus definitions with an updated set, so if you update your definitions using the most recent set you will not encounter this issue. The company’s official recommendation for repairing the damage involves copying Svchost.exe from a working system and manually copying it to an affected system. The McAfee technical bulletin doesn’t include details about how to get to a command prompt on a system that’s been temporarily bricked. (Using an XP installation disk allows a tech support professional to boot to a recovery environment and copy the necessary files from a command prompt. The good folks at BleepingComputer.com have published a tutorial that explains the process. Third party recovery tools also provide access to the file system from command-line environments.) This sort of repair is not a job for end users, certainly, and generally requires a skilled support professional.

Now, it is hard to imagine picking a more crucial file to torpedo. Svchost.exe is one of the most crucial of all Windows system files. It hosts the services that make just about every OS function possible. As the symptoms described here suggest, Windows simply won’t start if Svchost.exe isn’t there.

The bigger question is how on earth an update like this ever made it out of the testing lab and onto a production server. This should have been caught at the very beginning of the testing process.

Unfortunately, though, this isn’t the first time McAfee has had a screw-up like this. Back in 2009, when the Conficker worm was making the rounds, I took a close look at how McAfee was handling its response to the new threat and was appalled at the sloppy, error-ridden documents they published for consumers and IT professionals

Source:  http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=2003&tag=nl.e019

Filed under: Computer Software, DIY - Do It Yourself, Small Business News, anti-virus problems, computer repair, mcafee, pc repair, virus removal, Your Computer Friends

N2Publishing’s First Annual Magnolia Greens Fall Festival – 2009

Parade Photo

A good time was had by most at the First Annual Magnoia Greens Fall Festival. 

Setup started at 7AM (after working until midnight)

DJ Professionals have everyone hopping

Raising the tents

The Magnolia Greens Social Committee blew up 150 Balloons!

Don Jewell, DJ Professionals & Video & Don of Set Up Committe

Cape Fear Insurance Association

Your Cleaning Girl – Horeshoe Toss

Brunswick Urgent Care – Duck Toss

New Carolina Chiropractic

Face Painting courtsey of Vida Salon and Spa

Face Painting – enjoyed at any age!

Snappy Tire – Rat Soup

Rosco – Mascott of Snappy Tire & Auto

Kids At Play – Having Fun at the Fall Festival !

Magnoloia Greens Fall Festival brought to you by ATMC Wireless & N2Publishing

Steve with N2Publishing cooks for 300 Members & Guests

ATMC Wireless – Brunswick County’s Wireless Provider

ATMC Girls hard at work

Adult Beverages provided by Front Street Brewery

The Halloween Parade arrives

Children of all Ages dressed up for the Parade

A great turnout despite the brief rain showers (& downpours)

You should have seen her dance!

Tooth Fairy & Jasmine

Parade Photo

Your Computer Friends – Wheel of Chance

Your Computer Friends had a popular booth!

Filed under: Neighborhood, News, magnolia greens, magnolia greens fall festival 2009, magnolia greens nc

BUY LOCAL!

Your Computer Friends attended the kick off meeting of the Buy Local campaign on Wednesday, October 28, 2009.   70 cents of every dollar spent at a local business stays locally, unlike money spent with National  Chain stores.  Since all that money stays local, it helps keep our local economy healthy and stable in these tough economic times.  For more about the Buy Local initiative see this article by Judy Royal of the Star News:

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20091028/ARTICLES/910289943/1004?Title=Business-owners-start-buy-local-initiative

www.buylocalilm.com

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Small Business News, buy local, buylocalilm.com

Changing the Tax Amount in QuickBooks

To change the tax amount in QuickBooks click list, then item list then double click sales tax line & change as needed.

Filed under: Computer Software, News, change tax in QuickBooks, change tax rate in quickbooks

Ribbon Cutting

May 5, 2009

Filed under: News, Best Buy, computer repair, Friendly Computers, laptop repair, wilmington chamber of commerce, Your Computer Friends

Yahoo Customers give us 5 Stars!

Yahoo Local Customers give Your Computer Friends 5 Stars!

Filed under: All About Us, News, best computer repair, computer repair, laptop repair, pc repair