In Detail: the TOP 10 recorded issues this year.

Well, here at Gold IT we’ve seen most things at least once.We keep a log of all ‘incedents’ for mainly
historical purposes although it does have some statistical value. So, here are this years top 10 faults and issues is detail.

1) Router (wireless) setup.

Well, as expected, more and more people are getting connected without wires so by averages you’d expect to see plenty of issues. Strangely, now wireless technology has been on high-street shelves for a good five years it still seems to be as difficult to configure as it was back then. I’ve had my own issues with Oranges Livebox’s and DECT interference also still seems to affect hardware.

When it comes to recommending kit, the old adage of stick with what you know definitely holds true. I’ve totally fallen out with Linksys and do not buy OR recommend their hardware. My personal favourite manufacturer is D-Link which I use whenever and wherever possible. As it happens I’ve not set up a ‘N’ yet but all the ‘G’s’ are robust in operation and easy to configure.

Sadly, ‘G’s’ are steadily moving off the shelves being replaced by Belkins’, Netgears’, Zyxels’ and the like. Not that there’s anything wrong with these, It’s just; as an all rounder the D604/624’s were hard to beat. If you’re looking for a cheap reliable wireless router TP-Link do one (certainly in ADSL) which is staggeringly cheap (from DCS in Doncaster), have a reasonable range and, touch the old nut, reliable.

Back onto the subject of why we have so many calls to set up wireless hardware; well I guess people
fire the stuff up, take one look at the interface and think ‘sod it, it’d be quicker and less annoying just to get someone in to set it up’.

Ah, the wonders of (well established) modern technology. To be continued….

2) Virus & Spyware removal

The old favourite.  Unsurprisingly, this is still a common issue but it is nowhere as common as it was.  This suggests that people are becoming much more aware of the dangers from maliciaous attacks and are doing something about it.

There are a number of scenario’s that we’ve been called out to resolve:  Infections as a result of no security software in place, infections as a result of persistent activity likely to get you into trouble and infections as a result of just being unlucky, i.e, having the tools in place but having a persistent little blighter that refuses to go by the application of conventional methods.

Ignorance is bliss until a virus walks off with all your bank account numbers or wedding photo’s.

Those people who are genuinely ignorant tend to be the most attentive when you explain why security software is important.  They also do their updates and scans.

The worst lot are the lazy bastards and the people who don’t have the time or inclination to understand what they need to know.  And this is the majority.  Parents, to a certain extent you can understand.  They’re home after work and don’t see the computer as an importance aspect of their lives.  Their offspring however, see quite the opposite.  Teenagers, particularly, seem incapable of functioning as human beings if they are deprived of MSN Messenger, Facebook or Limewire.  So when the computer does go down, usually as a consequence of their own activity they are the first to complain to those who pay for things.

These are the hardest people to communicate with.  They are also the ones who most benefit from spending another fify quid on proprietary security software.  When you add that to your delousing bill you can understand why the long faces.  To explain other routes to the same end are usually futile.

The unluckiest bunch are those who do their scans, understand why they are doing it and try to keep their head down.  So it’s all the more galling when they get something, particularly when they have already spent money on security software.  I always tell these customers “never assume just because you’ve paid for the software that it’ll actually work“.  Look at Norton Internet Security.  It was and to some extent still is the biggest waste of fifty quid.  Controversial?  We’ve got the records that show NIS is the No.1 most problematic piece of software, period (well if you don’t count the operating system).

So, moving on; still a very popular issue although things are getting better.  We’ll see how the figures stack for next year.

3) Bug fixes

4) Hardware failures

5) General config issues

6) Security software installations

7) Web design issues

O/S crashes/etc

9) Hardware installations

10) Data recoveries

As the header says. Even Geeks are human.

No one likes to be proved wrong, look an ass or made to apologise. In this game when you’re sat in front of an errant piece of kit the last thing you want is any of the above. Especially when customers are behind you, looking over your shoulder.

In any line of work even the seasoned veteran can get it wrong. Fortunately for me, it seldom happens and I have no problem in admitting fallability; You can get out of the shit more easily when you admit to screwing up than you can by digging yourself deaper in.

So, just like a doctor, when you turn up to examine the patient you are expected to effect a recovery, not wheel the stiff out in a body bag. And the bad memories always stick out.

I’ve got one or two that I’ll relate, as and when. The customers among you; have no fear, I have never left a situation in a worse state that when I arrived in (oh, with the exception of one job which I will tell you about) and usually the repair/resolution to the said issue goes far beyond what would usually be necessary to put things right.

When you are in business for yourself, not only are you expected to bend over backwards, you are expected to bend over forwards, as well.

So, keep coming back and have a quiet chuckle.  Remember, when you feel at your lowest ebb, there’s always someone else worse off than you are.  At least some of those are happy enough to write about it.

Hello world!

Ha, well that’s as much as Word Press knows. “Wellcome, is your first blog”.

Well, it’s not. HA! It’s not even my second. However, at this juncture in time I’ve no idea if it’s going to outlive either of the other two.

This, ‘un’s a bit different, though. The other two? Well one was an experiment in ebay to expand my user profile with the intention of enabling bidders to gain more trust from me as a seller, and the other I set up while I was fiddling around with mIcrosofts additional online services (or was it Googles’?). Which ever it was, it did’nt get beyond the first entry.

But this one is a bit more important. For a living, I sit in front of badly behaved computer equipment and try to make it more sociable. My website: www.gold-it.co.uk falls into the ‘cobblers kids have no shoe’s’ category and gets badly neglected. It’s astonishing therefore that it attracts any traffic at all.

So, in an effort to keep it current I intend to integrate the blog into the site somehow. I’d like to think that it may actually help ranking in some way (and before you say ‘well, what about the usual SEO‘) but if it only serves to focus my mind on keeping it current (read: visible) then I’ll be happy.

It’s not that I need A LOT more visibility. I’m not blowing me own, as it were, but the business is doing quite nicely as it is. What’s more important are the effects those changes have (by way of trial and error) on ranking so I can integrate the good changes into customers websites. I’m no expert and as a mechanical engineer by profession, empirical data is always highly desirable.

I have other sites that are significantly more optimised than my own and doing very well. But you don’t stand still do you?

Anyway, gonna put this one up and see how it looks. Will have a play with styles and Stuff Positioning and