Warringah IT Blog

There are 2 types of printers

1 – Ink printers – these can print in colour and cost more to run

2 – Laser printers – these mainly are black and white printers and use toner like a photocopier

Ink printers can cost 10 x the amount of money to run than a Laser printer

We recommend having at least 1 ink printer and 1 laser printer

The ink printer can do print, copy, scan (and fax)

The laser traditionally does just black and white printing

This combination with give you the best value long term. Less expensive trips to buy ink.

For Ink printers the Canon MX350 is a good choice at $159

For Ink printers the Brother HL-2170W is a good choice at $269

Both these printers have network capabilities meaning you can put them anywhere in range of your wireless network.

Or can traditionally plug into the network via a network cable.

Warringah IT

Warringah IT is proud to announce that it is a 2011 sponsor of the Manly Sea Eagles

A web browser is an application that allows you to view web sites.

A website is not a web browser. The browser reads the web site. Just like a car drives on the road.

What web browsers can I use?

The three main web browsers are:

1) Internet Explorer created by Microsoft,

2) Google Chrome which is made by Google and

3) Firefox which is made by Mozilla

How do I install one of these web browsers?

Internet Explorer can be installed and updated via Windows Update – best to keep clear of the Beta versions though.

Mozilla Firefox can be download from http://getfirefox.com

Google chrome can be download from http://www.google.com/chrome

How do I set your preferred browser as the default?

How to make internet explorer your default internet browser

Step 1: Open Internet explorer

Step 2: Click on the “Tools” menu, if you cannot see the “tools” menu press the “alt” key on your keyboard

Step 3: Click on the “internet options” menu

Step 4: Click on the “programs” tab

Step 5: Click on the make default button

Step 6: Click “apply” then “ok”

How to make Mozilla firefox your default web browser

Step 1: Open Mozilla Firefox

Step 2: Click on the tools menu and select Options

Step 3: Select the Advanced panel, then click the General tab, and then click Check Now.

How to make Google Chrome your default web browser

Step 1: Open Google Chrome

Step 2: Click on the Chrome "wrench" icon, located in the upper right hand corner of your browser window. When the drop-down menu appears, select the choice labelled Options.

Step 3: At the bottom of the dialog is the Default browser section. In the example above, you can see by the red text that Chrome is not currently my default browser. To change that setting, click on the button labelled Make Google Chrome my default browser.

Which one should I use?

Web browsers first made an appearance in 1991. In 1994 Netscape was the web browser used by 90% of internet users.

Microsoft released their first browser in 1995 called Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer soon took over as the dominant browser as Microsoft included it with Windows 95.

In 1998 Netscape made a comeback in the form of Firefox and gained much ground on Internet Explorer.

10 years later Google released its Chrome browser which is growing market share very quickly.

Google Chrome is lean and clean and is our browser of choice.

We see the major brands come in for repair every day.

We are seeing repairs taking 6 weeks and longer, due to inefficiencies at the manufacturer, parts unavailable after 13 months (1 month out of warranty) and plain poor service.

We also “enjoy” talking to 20 different people at the same company and have to explain ourselves over and over on the customers behalf.

We supply computers to our customers as well. But we do things differently. We stock all items, particularly the motherboard, which is the main component of the computer. The motherboard must be identical to the original when it is replaced.

So when computers come back in for repair after 5 years (and out of warranty period) we can still repair them….

A much better result for our customers….

Playing with the new iPad
Excellent device to catch up on emails and news
Excellent battery life too

promote your business with Facebook & Twitter.

Create a fan site for your business on facebook and link it with Twitter.

Using a desktop application you can write to both services at the same time.

With internet speeds getting faster and internet service providers providing more data allowances (except Telstra) online backup is becoming more and more popular.

Fabrik by Hitachi is an online backup service that gives you the first 2GB of data for free.

There really is no excuse not to be backing up now!

Get in contact with us – www.warringahit.com.au/contact – and we will set you up

What is McAfee Total Protection?

McAfee Total Protection is anti-virus and anti-malware software solution.

What does McAfee Total Protection do?

It is designed to protect your computer from the internet and vulnerabilities.

Do I need it?

Yes, any internet connected computer needs protection, much like insurance on a car.

Do I need to update it?

McAfee Total Protection will auto update and actually notify McAfee if it has any problems doing so. It enables us to proactively maintain your computer security. You can also manually update the software by right clicking the icon in the system tray and choose "update now".

How long does the software last for?

McAfee Total Protection needs to be renewed every 2 years. It’s a "license" to use the software for that period.

What about the free alternatives?

There is an old saying, "you get what you pay for". Vendors who offer free products do so to actually get a sale, it’s simply a marketing technique to get you to buy their paid for version.

What does the license cost?

McAfee Total Protection costs $50 per year ex GST. The license is paid for in 2 year periods, meaning the cost to you is $110 for 2 years including GST.

How does the renewal process work?

We take care of the renewal process for you. It allows us to proactively maintain your computer security. We will email you an invoice for the renewal. All you have to do is pay the invoice from us.

How do I pay for it?

All payment options are on the invoice. You can also see them at www.warringahit.com.au/payment

Why does Warringah IT invoice me for McAfee Total Protection?

We have been around and connected to the internet before there were viruses. We have removed thousands of infections over the years. During this time we have seen and developed the best practises and techniques for protection. In order to provide the best service we align ourselves with the best vendor – McAfee. Like us they have been there since day dot.

What if I get a new computer to replace my old one? Do I have to buy a new license?

No! This is one of the best features of McAfee. It’s all managed for you. If you have 5 computers, you need 5 licenses. If you replace 1 computer we simply transfer the license over. No trying to sort it out with a software vendor. No trying to prove your purchase or your identity. No looking for passwords and credit card receipts.

What about all the other alternative products?

You probably have heard about Norton Anti-Virus? It’s the main competitor to McAfee. It has a bad reputation for bogging your computer down and intruding into everything you do. Norton use heavy marketing techniques to get the sale. AVG is the newcomer to the market. They offer a free version then hammer you will marketing to buy their paid for version. In our opinion McAfee is the best software and daylight is second.

What happens if I don’t pay for the renewal?

Once the license period is up your software may stop functioning. Once a certain period of time passes the software will deactivate and will require manual removal.

What don’t Apple Mac’s get viruses?

If your a virus writer, and you want to target as many people as possible, would you write a virus that only infects 5% of computers? The facts are Mac’s make up 5% of computer sales. So they are less prone due to their percentage of the market.