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Is your service bench static safe?
Lax precautions against electrostatic discharge can reduce the effectiveness of your support team. Here's a checklist to help you set up an ESD-safe workshop.
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System Mechanic results mixed: Boosts Internet speed
We're always looking for ways to increase our computer's performance, and here's a look at one product that might help.
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Mastering the seven phases of a service call
Fixing the problem is only one part of the support visit. Jeff Dray outlines the seven phases of a service call. Following the same method for each ticket will help you tackle each task efficiently.
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What Windows 7 means for support professionals
Does Windows 7 totally flip support upside down? Not entirely, according to IT pro Rick Vanover, who presents these Windows 7 support decision points for organizations considering an upgrade.
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Road warriors need mobile backups
Frequent travel is no excuse for risking data loss. Here is how your users can keep their files safe when they are away from the office.
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Providing home user support
Although there are a lot of similarities, supporting those in an office environment is vastly different than supporting home users. Here are some things to consider when providing support for home use...
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Beware of carefully engineered, manipulative customer service surveys
Have you ever thought that you have been manipulated into answering survey questions to reflect a predetermined outcome? Be careful how your help desk surveys are worded.
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Microsoft's new antivirus is fair game for home businesses
Many free security utilities are restricted to personal or non-commercial use. Microsoft bucks that trend by giving license to home-based enterprises.
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Remote access sites: Blessing or curse? Take the poll
We all hear them advertized, and millions of people use them. Are remote access sites a blessing or a curse to user support professionals?
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How do you keep in touch with colleagues when you work from home?
Jeff Dray addresses the challenges of returning to work after a long absence. How do you get back in the swing of things?
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Be stingy with Administrator privileges in Windows 7
If you've been too liberal in giving admin rights to XP users, the improved User Access Controls in Windows 7 should help break the habit.
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The biggest challenge in a one-person IT shop
What do you consider the biggest challenge in a small - or even one-person - IT shop, and how do you handle it?
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Users in the wild: Some new species
Jeff Dray loves to dissect the quirks and foibles of the customers he runs into during his support rounds. Here are a few "types" to add to the mix.
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Items to address with a PC tune-up
How often do you perform periodic maintenance on the PCs you support? My guess is that most answers will fall between one year and never. Nonetheless, what maintenance steps do you perform? Here's my ...
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Will Linux ever be a popular desktop system? Take the poll
Linux versus Windows has been the subject of debate for quite some time, but will it ever achieve the status of a popular desktop product that we'll have to support? Share your opinion and take the po...
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Year-end walk around for a computer checkup
The last day of the year is a good one for me to walk around the office and check-up on everyone's computer. Here's a list of some of the things I check for.
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Accuracy is the key to call logging
Does your help desk write down notes on paper before logging them to the system or do they live log? Do your help desk tickets suffer from 'Chinese Whispers?' The answer is to set up your logging syst...
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Documentation: The scourge of my life!
Sometimes the last thing we think of when we learn a new routine is the documentation process, but we know it is a vital, if dull, part of life.
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Put a camera in your kit
Computer support is all about having the right tools. Any IT shop worth its salt is going to have a basic complement of equipment, but what else should be on your workbench? Here's why a digital camer...
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Clear usage policies protect everyone
Many organizations employ computer usage guidelines, but it is easy to develop a gap between policy and reality. Support pros are likely to discover user transgressions in the course of their work. Do...
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Maintaining an electronic library
With more and more reference material being provided in electronic form, instead of the bulky, bound User's Guides, maintaining an electronic library on a networked drive might be helpful to users. Ta...
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Seeing the help desk from the other side
Jeff Dray recently got an insight into the workings of an IT help desk from a completely different point of view. It was fascinating to hear users from other organizations discussing their support tea...
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Is there a future for locally owned PC retailers?
I made a welcome discovery while wandering a shopping center yesterday: I found an independent computer sales and repair business. Before the Internet and the big box stores, these establishments form...
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Which virus protection software do you use? Take the poll.
Providing users with the most reliable and updated virus protection is an on-going challenge. It's always a good time to explore the best options.
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Cornell University questions the safety of hotel networks
You do all you can to support your users and protect them when they are on the enterprise network. You have to send them out into the world sometime, though. Are your clients aware of the risks they f...
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Do you talk politics at the office? Take the poll.
Some people seem to revel in taking part in political discourse. Others, however, avoid it like the plague. Do you ever initiate political discussion at the office? Do you avoid it? Do you have an off...
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An IT life after fifty: Coping with the employment challenge
The aging worker is up against challenges that we don't consider. Not only are they competing in a market that they don't completely understand, they are often in a position that they never thought th...
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Boot a sick Mac into Target Disk Mode for troubleshooting
William Jones shows you how to use one Mac to access the internal drive of another -- no screwdriver required.
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What do you do with your downtime?
The computers are all humming along just fine, the printers are all printing, the e-mails are all getting through, all software and hardware is upgraded to the latest and greatest, and no one is repor...
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Can we protect everyone from the World Wide Web?
Despite two decades of evolution, we are still vulnerable to all kinds of malicious attacks by people who want to extort money from us or who have sheer malice as their motivation, but the news isn't ...