For us mere mortals a virus is one of the most frustrating and debilitating things that can happen to our computers, while for most IT professionals they're nothing more than just a minor annoyance.  In the past few weeks however a new threat has come to light that has even the most seasoned of IT pro's quaking in their boots and in this weeks ITech Insights we're going to tell you all about it, some steps you can take to avoid getting it, and most importantly some ways to protect all that stuff in your digital life that you'd be lost without.   Show Notes: Related Articles about Cryptolocker --  http://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA13-309A http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptoLocker http://blog.malwarebytes.org/intelligence/2013/10/cryptolocker-ransomware-what-you-need-to-know/ Home Back-Up Solutions: Microsoft Shadow Copy - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/backup-and-restore Shadow Protect - www.StorageCraft.com Carbonite - www.carbonite.com Mozy - www.Mozy.com

ITech Insights

Cryptolocker! What is it, and How to protect against it...

Multi-Tasking is something we're all doing more and more and having the right tool to do this affectively is more important than ever.  In this weeks ITech Insights we're sharing one of our favorite ways to get more done, more efficiently.

ITech Insights - Window Tabs

Lately in the news we have heard a lot about Eyewitnesses and how  often they are  inaccurate.  Eyewitness misidentification plays a role in nearly 75% of the convictions overturned through DNA testing.  In supporting our clients we often find that our "eyewitnesses" can sometimes get it wrong too. In this weeks ITech Insights we are going to look at a little known tool that was introduced in windows 7 called the "Problem Steps Recorder" or PSR

ITech Insights - Problem Steps Recorder PSR.EXE

From the time that we were kids it was drilled into us "if you don't know what a button does, don't push it".  The standard computer keyboard has 104 buttons, several of which we never touch because...  well.. we don't know what they do.  In this weeks ITech Insights I'm telling you about one of these rarely used buttons and letting you in on just what you're missing by not giving it a tap. For Full list of Windows Button shortcuts checkout: http://pics.com/p/kq64fg

Whats With That Windows Button?

With it's amazing versatility Microsoft excel often ends up being the goto program for running reports and managing data.   In this our third and final part in our three part series on excel tips and tricks we're helping to quell the problem where sometimes our spreadsheets grow so large that finding exactly what we want, when we want it can be a bit of a chore.   One of excel's biggest strengths is in helping you to quickly organize and filter out even tremendously large amounts of data and in this ITech Insight We'll show you how to do it. Show Notes: www.pics-itech.com www.pics-itech.com/insights

Excel Tips & Tricks Pt3

Microsoft Excel is one of those applications which gets used for so many various tasks that it's hard to overstate just how important learning some of it's little tricks can be for improving your efficiency of this amazing application.   In this our second part of a 3 part series on Microsoft excel we are sharing a little known secret for dealing with one of the most common frustrations that this application can present.

ITech Insights - Excel Tips & Tricks Pt2

n the Microsoft Office suite of applications Excel is by far one of the most versatile of the bunch. Aside from just handling our day to day number crunching it is one of those programs we often jump in and out of for creating and viewing reports, calculating figures, and sometimes even just managing that office phone list. In this weeks ITech Insights we’re starting the first of a 3 part series of tips and tricks that can help improve your efficiency in this amazing program.  www.pics-itech.com/insights

Excel Tips & Tricks Part 1

One of the most used applications in any business is Microsoft Outlook.  It is often the first application we start up in the morning, and the last one we close out at the end of our day. In this weeks ITech Insights we're sharing a few tips and tricks to outlook that, just maybe, you don't know about, that can really help you use this core application more efficiently.

Outlook Tips and Tricks

With as many different websites, web services, and online accounts that we use on a day to day basis, it's no wonder that one of the most common calls we get in the IT field is... ummm I've forgotten my password. In this weeks ITech Insights I am sharing two great tools for helping you manage all of those pesky passwords and making lost passwords a thing of the past. Show Notes:www.PICS-ITech/Insightswww.lastpass.comwww.roboform.com 

Managing Those Pesky Passwords

Whether you like it or not we are living in a paperless world.  With all of the advantages that being paperless brings there are some disadvantages.  Being paperless means more documents, more spreadsheets, more information in general that we need to organize in some way or another.  In this weeks ITech Insight, I'm sharing a way to help you organize this information in a way that you can quickly and easily find what you want, when you want it with just a few clicks of the mouse. Show Notes: www.Pics-Itech.com/Insights

Decluttering Your Docs

Microsoft word, excel, and powerpoint have all become a regular part of our day to day lives.  But there is one more program in Microsofts suite of office applications that is often ignored and is by far one of the easiest to use and most useful of the bunch and in this weeks ITech Insights I’ll tell you all about it.   Show Notes: www.microsoft.com/office/onenote www.pics-itech.com/insights

The Wonders of Onenote

More and more people are now telecommuting from home, in fact entire companies are now built around the concept of a virtual workforce.   Even if your company isn't leaning in the direction of stay at home employees, the chances are that you still face some of the interesting challenges that a mobile workforce creates.   In this week's ITech Insights, We're sharing a few services which will help you to take advantage of this new way of doing business and the new tools that are a part of it. Show Notes: www.gotomeeting.comwww.webex.com www.dropbox.comwww.sugarsync.comwww.box.netwww.gotomypc.comwww.logmein.comwww.pics-itech/insights 

Integrating the Mobile Workforce

If you've recently made the move to Windows 7, or have been using windows 7 for a while, it has no doubt been apparent just how beautiful and well thought out this latest version of windows is. But there are some great little hidden features which you may not be aware of, that can really make a difference in your day to day usage. In this weeks Itech Insights I'm sharing one our my favorites.Show Notes:http://www.pics-itech/insights

Windows 7 - Getting to Know the Snipping Tool

More and more we are putting our personal information into our computers, smartphones, and onto the web. Because of this fact we all know that it's important to have a good solid password but the problem is just how do you come up with one that is both secure and easy to remember? In this weeks ITech Insights I'm sharing an easy way to come-up with a password that YOU can easily remember but will also be almost impossible for hackers to guess.Show Notes: http://www.pics-itech.com/insightshttp://www.pics.com/passwordmeter

Creating a Secure P@$$w0rd

Most of us live and die by our email, calendars and address book or in other words what's stored in our outlook. Over time your Microsoft Outlook mailbox grows as items are created in the same way that papers pile up on your desk. In the paper-based world, you can occasionally shuffle through your documents and store those that are important but that are rarely used. You can discard documents that are less important, such as newspapers and magazines, based on their age. Luckily you can do the same thing with outlook automatically through the process of Auto-Archiving. While most things in office 2010 are easier to use (once you've found them) some features can be a little tough to find and may now disabled by default. Auto Archiving is one of them. In this weeks ITech Insights I'll tell you how to turn it back on and just why it's so important. Show Notes: www.pics-itech.com/insights

Understanding and Using Auto Archiving in Outlook 2010

ITech Insights is a bi-weekly video series focused on helping the business professional use their existing technology better. In these 3-5 minute videos we use plain English to show you ways to be more efficient, more secure and get the most out of your technology investments.