Role of Tech Support Specialists

The role of computer tech support specialists are on the rise with the increasing demand on computers to enable all kinds of businesses in this time and age. Every business activity is inept without the help of computers and since computers are also vulnerable to technical glitches, there is the need of well-qualified and efficient computer tech support specialists everywhere. All  established business is always on the look-out to employ tech support analysts at some point or the other.

To qualify as a specialist, a degree in the respected field is sufficient. For some companies, computer proficiency and skills with experience in the related field certified by companies makes the grade. Excellent verbal and writing skills is a huge advantage to go further up the ladder. The support specialists are usually stationed at Helpdesks and Service desks providing technical support through telephonic calls and responding to emails related on technical support. The clientele can range from inviduals to big blue chip companies.

The tech support specialist cater to the needs of the users to resolve any problem which they can handle and send the call or mail across to a relevant technical team for further assistance. The clients should always be informed of what is happening and should be updated on any issue pertaining to them. Their role is to provide support to a company’s web based products and services. But the work of tech support specialists is not getting down straight to technical or network support roles. Since these issues are related to the IT industry, it is as added bonus to be proficient with IT services.  Normally the tech support specialists are trained to provide technical support to the company’s products. As mentioned earlier, it is quite important to have a college degree to be suitable to qualify as a tech support specialist but then relevant experience in the field or good verbal and communicating skills is also sufficient.

Features in Kaspersky Anti- Virus support

A lot of features have been incorporated in the antivirus support software rolled out by Kaspersky. One of them is the Startup Scan. It comes along with an updateable database.It allows instant automatic updates. This is enabled through the Kaspersky Security Network. There is further reduction of the Anti-Virus support database update size available in the Differential update which comes along with the package. Another feature in the antivirus support is the Script-Checker with Internet Explorer GUI plug-in. There is a way to identify and clean-up Critical areas which is made available to the user through the Scan Critical Areas Task. It falls under the category of a “New Scan Hope”. It also has the Scan Starup Objects. And as the name suggests, the user can have a full control of the task execution. Another important feature is the Ban-list of blocked computers by IDS subsystem. It comes with the un-block feature. The features of Kaspersky Anti-Virus support is to basically help in facilitating identification of security breaches and also to keep a check on time reduction when it comes to protecting the computer from new security risks. It is a good anti-virus support pack and can also shield itself from malware,which has the ability to disable it, when a user information is not available and Kaspersky utilizes the lab to promote and further its security products. This keeps a check on the computer from corrupt and malicious threats.

Microsoft Office 2010 | PowerPoint 2010

The word on the release of Microsoft’s new suite of application programs Microsoft Office 2010 is doing the rounds these days. This release was formally announced at the Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans. The developers even created a movie on its release. It can be observed that for long, Microsoft has been trying to come up with a three screens strategy for products to build a connection between the browser, phone and desktop. To start off with Microsoft gave a fitting response to Google Apps products and its new browser Google Chrome. It is coming up with Web Browser versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote in Microsoft Office 2010. They have all been equipped with more sophisticated software with basic tools to edit and manage documents.

The PowerPoint 2010 in Microsoft Office 2010 is a strking feature. It not only has a new browser version but a lot of other accessories has been added to the desktop version. Editing video and images in PowerPoint has ben made easy for users with the help of a basic video editing tool and an image editing tool. It is like a basic, simple version of Adobe Photoshop. The PowerPoint in Microsoft Office 2010 can also allow users to launch a WebEx-like live sharing feature. A slideshow created in PowerPoint can be shared  with other people in real-time now.

Operating system | PC Tips

It is surely a lot cheaper to make an operating system upgrade instead of buying a new one altogether. But there are a few things to keep in mind before the upgrade exercise is carried out. It is important to check and find out if the hardware one has on his computer is compatible with the new operating system and see if it meets all the requirements to support the new OS that is yet to be installed. This is so, because the new operating systems come with higher processing power than the older ones and these ones need more space and efficiency to support the new software that is getting ready to be installed. The older hardware devices usually do not function in the new OS. This is also true for applications.

So one should make a list of all the hardware that has been connected to a computer and enlist all of them to compare it with the requirements that is demanded for the new OS. This list should include the CPU speed, RAM size, Hard Disk free space etc. They are among the prominent ones and a user should not leave any stone unturned to endure an exercise to go through their details and check up on them. They should meet all the requirements for the newer operating system. These details, if not available, with the user then can be accessed from the vendor’s website. It will have all the minimum hardware requirements for the new operating system. Usually this should ensure the upgrade but it is always better to back-up all data and copy it into a CD before the upgrade is made.

Install Windows Live Essentials on Windows 7

Gartner Group analysts are telling business users that they should look at Windows 7 as an all but Absolutely essential Windows release.Because typically more than half of an companies applications still require Windows and replacing Windows is not a short-term option.Gartner analysts Michael Silver and Stephen Kleynhans said that these opinions and more during an hour focused on giving business users with guidance about Windows 7 features, licensing and deployment.

Claims from the presentation:

• Windows 7 is a polishing of Windows Vista and not a major architectural release. Still, for businesses purpose, there are some better things to be had in Windows 7, including AppLocker, BitLocker to Go, BrancheCache, better User Account Control settings, an updated user interface and support for HomeGroups.

• Business users should be familiar of the downgrade or upgrade gotchas that are surrounding  Windows 7. Microsoft’s limits on downgrades to XP for those users who don’t have SA i.e Software Assurance contracts. This limit is 18 months from Windows 7’s release or until the time Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is launched and this could be problematic. If you don’t have SA i.e Software Assurance and don’t purchase new PCs with a Windows 7 license within this window, you could end up paying $120 to $200 per PC for an upgrade license if you aren’t ready to install Windows 7 right off the bat.

• While Windows XP’s extended support phase doesn’t end until 2014, third-party program support for a new operating system typically begins to downgrade two years after the end of mainstream support. This means that the XP danger zone is 2013 and beyond.

• You need not to wait for Windows 7 SP1 before starting to plan and test Windows 7 because Microsoft releases most fixes and updates regularly over Windows Update/Automatic Update which is basically a rollup of all these fixes. Microsoft officials are not saying when they are planning to release SP1 for Windows 7, but according to their charts, it will be some time in mid-2010.

• Organizations should budget 12 to 18 months to test and prepare for a new operating system release. Because Windows 7 had a good beta that period may be a little bit shorter. But you can expect a 12-month window between Windows 7’s release to manufacturing and maturity. In this case, maturity means that full ISV support; the availability of significant training resources and a sufficient amount of expertise to be built up in the market.

Another poll, which asked when Webcast participants planned to install Windows 7, found that 21 percent are planning to install in the first half of calendar 2010; 30 percent in the second half of 2010; 23 percent in the first half of 2011 and 20 percent some time after that.

Unlike customers, businesses have not been early adopters of 64-bit Windows 7 releases. Gartner’s online poll concerning business plans for 64-bit versions of Windows 7 found 34 percent still planning to stay with 32-bit Windows 7 and 25 percent are still undecided. Another 28 percent of those polled said they don’t know, but leaning toward a 64-bit Windows 7 variant and 13 percent saying they planning to go mainly 64-bit.

Troubleshoot iTunes for Windows 7

This article discuss video playback performance issues in Windows 7.

Check out these things to troubleshoot if, when watching a clip in iTunes for Windows 7, you notice that a video appears distorted, intermittently pauses, or has audio that is out of sync with the image on-screen.

Resolution

Check your system requirements

Make sure that your system meets the requirements to properly playback video in iTunes. These requirements are detailed on the iTunes download page Update your software.

 

Need to confirm if you have the latest video driver updates for your PC and any installed components. Let’s suppose, video driver software updates often offer enhanced graphics performance for your system.

Increase Display Color Quality

 

On the Start menu, click Control Panel.

Click Hardware and Sound in Control Panel. Then, click  Appearance and Personalization. select View by Category if you do not see the option for “Hardware and Sound” in Control Panel.

Or, in the Classic View of Control Panel, click Personalization.

Click Display and then Screen Resolution for Windows 7.

Choose the highest resolution setting.

Click OK.

Your screen may flash briefly and you will see a message asking you to confirm the settings. Click Yes if the image on screen visible.

Note: If the screen looks dark or distorted , wait 15 seconds for the screen to revert to it’s previous state.

Disable Direct3D video acceleration in QuickTime.

On the Start menu, click Control Panel.

Click Additional Options and select View by Large or Small icons if you do not see the QuickTime icon in Control Panel.

Click the Advanced tab.

Uncheck Enable Direct3D video acceleration in the Video section.

Disable DirectX in QuickTime.

On the Start menu, click Control Panel.

Start QuickTime from control panel or select View by Large or Small icons if you do not see the QuickTime icon in Control Panel.

Click the Advanced tab.

Select Safe mode (GDI only) in the Video section.

Modify your System Drive Configuration

The data communication method for your computer’s optical drives and hard drives may not be configured for optimal performance. If your system’s drives are capable of Direct Memory Access (DMA), ensure this feature is enabled. The steps given below to enable this feature.

 

Right-click on Computer in the Start menu and click Manage.

If Windows needs your permission to continue, click Continue.

Select Device Manager.

Click the plus sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.

Right-click on the IDE bus that contains your hard drive, and in the shortcut menu, click Properties. Click the Advanced Settings tab.

Make sure the Transfer Mode for the devices on the bus is set to DMA if available, not PIO Only.

Repeat steps 4-5 for the of the IDE Channel devices listed under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.

Reboot your computer and play a movie in iTunes again. If you made any changes to the transfer mode for any IDE channel devices, you should notice improved playback performance.

Disable ReadyBoost on Flash-Based Drives

Windows 7 has a feature called ReadyBoost that can be used with USB drives. If you are having video playback issues with iTunes in Windows 7, disconnecting ReadyBoost enabled flash drives may improve video playback performance.  Follow the given steps to disable ReadyBoost:

Click the Windows Start button and choose Computer.

Right Click the icon for any USB drives and choose Properties from the shortcut menu.

Select the ReadyBoost tab.

Select Do not use this device and click OK.

 

iTunes may unexpectedly ends or become unresponsive or the computer may unexpectedly restart or display a blue screen. Standard IDE hard disks are unaffected by this issue. If your computer has a standard IDE hard disk, you can copy your video files to that disk and play those copies of the files in iTunes or QuickTime Player.

Increase Performance of Windows Vista and Windows 7 Without Upgrading RAM

Yes, you can get more speed on Windows Vista and Windows 7 without upgrading random access memory (RAM). In Windows Vista and Windows 7 has been made possible with the help of the ReadyBoost feature. The ReadyBoost helps to use a pen drive or any other flash drive as cache in addition to the available RAM on your computer system. The ReadyBoost feature saves the cost of upgrading the RAM. Only used the available space on a flash drive to use that as the RAM, therefore it is not necessary to remove the content available on your flash drive. The ReadyBoost feature increases the speed of your computer using the available space on your flash drive. Let us now perform the following steps to enable the ReadyBoost feature:

1. Connect a flash drive into the USB port of your CPU.

2. Select Start -> Computer on the agenda of the Windows Start menu. Computer window appears.

3. Click the drive and select Properties. The Properties dialog box.

4. Now select the ReadyBoost tab. Shows the following two buttons:

• Do not use this device: This option button is selected by default. Enabling this radio button means that you can not use a drive to add additional memory in your computer.
• Use this device: This button lets you use a flash drive as additional memory.

5. Select the Use this device radio button. Now, you need to reserve disk space for use as cache. The space reserved for use as cache memory can not be used to store items in the unit connected.

6. Move the slider to the left or right to specify the disk space you want to reserve the cache.

7. Click the Apply button.

8. Click the OK button.

A ReadyBoost cache file is created in the pen drive using Windows Vista as additional cache memory. This file does not harm any other files on your computer. When you remove the pen drive of your computer and reconnect, Windows Vista automatically uses it as additional cache memory. If you do not want to use the flash drive as cache memory for more, that do not use this radio button of the device before removing the unit from the pen.

How to Increase Virtual Memory Usage

The virtual memory is a disk space reserved on a computer hard drive that may be used as the extension of the random access memory (RAM). Windows operating system utilizes the virtual memory storage if running applications exceed the physical size of RAM. The increase of the virtual memory usage is achieved by increasing the allowed size of the corresponding system file (“pagefile”). This post provide computer support tips to increase your virtual memory usage in windows operating system.

Steps to Increse Virtual Memory Usage

• Log in to an administrator account in Windows Vista and click “Start.”
• Click “Control Panel” and then choose “System and Maintenance.”
• Click “System” and select “Advanced system settings” on the left panel.
• Select the tab “Advanced” and click “Settings” in the field “Performance.”
• Select the tab “Advanced” again and read the current size of the virtual memory in the field “Virtual memory.” For example, “Total paging file size for all drives: 2096 Mb.”
• Click “Change” and uncheck the box “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.” Select the radiobutton “Custom size.”
• Type the desired virtually memory size (in Megabytes) in the fields “Initial size” and “Maximum size.” Enter the same amount of memory in both fields to increase the system performance.
• Click “OK.” When prompted click “Yes” to restart the computer.

Video won’t play on YouTube

This post describes how to troubleshoot issues relating to Youtube videos which wont play. Videos on YouTube are streamed through an Adobe Flash player. For the best viewing experience, we suggest to install the latest version of Adobe Flash after removing any old versions you’ve installed.

Warning: Uninstalling the software should be done on the descretion of the customer. Make sure to take permission from the customer before we continue further steps. Create system restore point to be on the safer side.

Uninstall Flash and follow Adobe’s instructions, listed here: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_14157
Once uninstallation is complete, reboot the computer.
Re-install Flash Player by clicking on the following link:

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

Try to view video again on www.youtube.com
If the above steps did not help, please follow the steps below:

Disable or uninstall any pop-up blocking softwares installed on the PC.
Allow youtube.com as trusted site in Firewall software installed on the PC.
Ensure applications like Quicktime, iTunes, Real Player or Windows Media Player etc. aren’t set as default streaming application.
Windows Vista users:

If the flash uninstall/re-install does not work, this may be due to a Microsoft Windows Vista permissions issue.

Please use the Windows button at the bottom left-hand corner, then the search function:
Go to: C:\Windows\System32\Macromedia\Flash\
Right-click the following file: FlashUtil9b.exe or FlashUtil9e.exe
Select ‘Run as Administrator’ and install the update.
Restart your computer

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