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How to Encrypt your iOS or Android Device

September 8, 2021 by Miles Silk Jr

Just a quick post about how to encrypt your device.

How to encrypt your iPhone or iPad

  1. Go to Settings >Face ID & Passcode(Formally Touch ID & Passcode).
  2. Press “Turn Passcode On” if not enabled already.
  3. Press “Passcode options” to choose a custom numeric or alphanumeric code (recommended).
  4. Confirm your device is encrypted by scrolling to the bottom of the Settings > Face ID & Passcode screen. You should see the “Data protection is enabled” message.

**Optional: We recommend that you also turn on “ Erase Data” located at the bottom of the Face ID & Passcode screen. This will Erase all the data on the devise after 10 failed passcode attempts.

How to encrypt your Android device

  1. Plug in the device to charge the battery (required).
  2. Make sure a password or PIN is set in Security > Screen lock.
  3. Go to Settings > “Security” or “Security & location”.
  4. Select “encryption & credentials” and/or “encrypt phone”
  5. Read the notice and press “Encrypt phone” to start the encryption process.
  6. Remember to keep the phone plugged in until complete.

 

Filed Under: Self Help

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Have you backed up your important data?

August 31, 2020 by Miles Silk Jr

Have you backed up your important data?

Documents, pictures, music, and videos are important to us all. There are many ways to back up this data that take very little effort on your part. Windows 10 offers a basic method to do this, this method is a good starting point if you currently do not have any backup plan. The built-in function is called file history and it has a wizard that is very easy to use!

What do I need?

All you need is an external hard drive or a USB Flash drive, sometimes called a thumb drive that plugs in via USB and has enough room to hold all of your basic data, and about 15 minutes!

 

Step one:

First, you will need to plug in your USB device to any available port on the side of your laptop or if you have a desktop, they will be either on the front or the back of your tower.

Step two:

Open system settings and select Update & Security. 

Step Three:

Once in settings on the left-hand side choose Backup.

Step Four:

Click the + Add a drive and select your external device from the drop-down menu

Step Five:

You can then choose “More options” in the center of the page to add or remove folders from your backup.

Step Six:

Choose how often you want to back up these files and how long you want to keep them.

Step Seven:

Simply click Backup now and you’re done. All your personal files will then be saved to your external device. Once the backup completes remove the external device and place it is a safe place until you need to use it again.

Final Thoughts

Important data should really be backed up once a week, more often if you save a lot of data regularly. Whether you are a business or residential customer, other more Comprehensive and intensive backup solutions are available. Please visit our services section at the following link, https://computerbarnltd.com/services/helpful-tech-services/ for more information on packages that can help keep you and your data secure.

Filed Under: Self Help Tagged With: Backup, file history, Windows 10

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Work from home apps

June 2, 2020 by Miles Silk Jr

Working from home, what a change right? Well, we thought we would make a little list of some must-haves for this new normal.
Communicate with others, track time, share files, protect your device. These are all questions we have been asked. Here are some tools that we find useful.

Video Conferencing

We all have to communicate and there are so many choices Skype, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, Apple Facetime, Whatsapp, and the list goes on So what should you use.

Zoom.us
We would say this is currently the most widely used App/service, its easy to use and pretty straight forward and has some cool features.

Pros:

  • Works on all major platforms Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
  • Offers Free level of Service
  • Works well for groups

Cons:

  • 40-minute time limit on free account
  • Has been hacked recently, privacy concerns
  • Must pay for all features

Jitsi Meet
Here’s a great open-source option, it has a great set of features and is completely free

Pros:

  • Secure, Fully Featured
  • works on all major platforms Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
  • Opensource, no account needed
  • FREE!!!!

Cons:

  • not as many cool features as zoom, like replace your background

Timer Trackers

We have all been there, the day is gone and what did we do? Well, its been proven tracking time is the key.

TomatoTimer

Weird name right? TomatoTimer is a flexible and easy to use online Pomodoro Technique Timer.
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks.

clockify.me

Clockify is a free time tracking software. It lets you and your team track time so you can later see where the time goes and improve productivity.” It is a completely free time tracking tool for agencies and freelancers.


An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

As storms roll through A UPS can be a lifesaver it provides backup power for a limited time in case your electricity goes out. It can give you some useful buffer time to save your work and safely shut down your equipment.


A Condenser Microphone

Nothing mucks up a Zoom meeting, Skype calls, or videoconference quicker than poor audio quality. Whether it’s excessive background noise, incessant echo, or just the old bad-sounding laptop microphone, poor sound quality hinders communication and productivity. In some cases, it can even make you sound unprofessional.


Backup Routine

You’ll need a plan for backing up and protecting your data once your home office is up and running. You can use cloud-based backup services to copy your files automatically, but it’s also a good idea to have an in-house backup in place. We offer both cloud-based and local Backups solutions, let us help you with your backup needs. We configure, backup, verify, and test the backup system to ensure your data is enacted and safe.

Filed Under: Self Help

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Should I use CCleaner

May 19, 2020 by Miles Silk Jr

no_CCShould I use CCleaner??

Well, we would recommend you don’t, Why you might ask? We will try to explain.

See CCleaner was once a favorite Windows maintenance utility, however, in the last few years it’s picked up some shady behavior!  This is why you should now no longer leave the beloved tool on your machine.

CCleaner was hacked!

Avast purchased CCleaner Mid 2017 and at the end of 2017 CCleaner was hacked to contain malware and infected 2.27 million machines. Then again in the fall of 2019 Avast released that they found evidence of another breach between spring and fall of 2019.

CCleaner is monitoring you

Data collection options have been enabled by default, the feature called Active Monitoring, collects anonymized information about your system, this is common practice. Even more worrisome is that the software automatically re-enables it after you rebooted or reopened CCleaner. Now that’s extremely suspicious behavior.

Buy Me, Buy Me, Buy my other stuff!!

Yes, you guessed it CCleaner now shows lots of popup ads. Since being purchased by Avast, CCleaner shows pop-up ads harassing you to upgrade to the paid version. Installing CCleaner frequently shows an offer to install Avast, which you must uncheck to avoid.

Conclusioncontact_us

In our opinion, its time to put CCleaner out to pasture. It causes more issues then it solves at this point. Not sure what to use now? Need help with your computer? Reach out to us, we’re here to help!

 

Filed Under: Self Help Tagged With: CCleaner, hacked

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