Basic IT:Be Your Own Tech Support

Presenter:RyanKroh,ITManagerNorthDakotaStateLibrary

Thisappliestoalmostallelectronics,computers,mobiledevices,printers,routers…etc.

Reboot or power off/on

Check Cables and Connections

Checkcables– Iftheyareloose,bent,andbroken. Internalconnections– Cablesandconnectorscanbejarredlooseorbecomedislodged,especiallyafteramove.

Cleanconnections– Connectionscanhavedirt,debris,and/orcorrosion.

Search the Internet for a Solution

AskGoogle– KnowhowtoaskGoogle.Bedetailed,includeerrorcodes,softwareversions,OSversions.

Gotomanufacturer’swebsite– Mostmanufacturersofhardwareandsoftwarehaveasupportsectionontheirwebsitethatusuallyhasaknowledgebase,downloads,updatesandaforum.

Whendidtheissuestarthappening?

Thinkaboutanyhardwarethatyouaddedsincehavingtheissue.

Checksoftwareorupdatesthatyouinstalled.Sometimessoftwareisnotinstalledcorrectly,theinstallationiscorrupted,ortheremightbecompatibilityproblemswithotherhardwareorsoftwarethatisalreadyinstalled.

Retrace your steps

Preventative Maintenance

Runanti‐virusandanti‐spywaresoftware

Keepsoftware,browsers,add‐ons,andOSuptodate

Cleantempdata

Physicallycleanthecomputer

Diagnosticscans

Preventative Maintenance

Preventative Maintenance

Uninstallredundantandunnecessarysoftware.

Resetbrowserandinstallonlytoolbars,plug‐insandadd‐onsyouuse.

Payattentionwheninstallingsoftware.Watchoutforbloatware.Sometimessoftwareinstallerswillinstallotherunwantedsoftwareinasneakywayandtheyalsochangeothersettingsonyourcomputersuchasyourhomepage.

Bloatware/Crapware

Bloatware/Crapware

Bloatware/Crapware

Bloatware/Crapware

Bloatware/Crapware

Bloatware/Crapware

Bloatware/Crapware

Bloatware/Crapware

Bloatware/Crapware

Cyber Security

Cyber Security

Sensitivebrowsing– Banking,shopping,oranythingthatrequiresyoutoentersensitivedatashouldbedoneondevicesthatbelongtoyouandshouldalsobedoneonanetworkyoutrust.Publicnetworksandfreewifishouldnotbeusedbecauseyourdatacouldbestolen.

Becautiousonwhatdevicesyouplugintoyourmachine.Malicioussoftwarecanexecutefromflashdrivesandotherexternaldrives.

SocialNetworking– Becarefulonwhatyoupost.Criminalscangetalotofinformationaboutyouviasocialnetworking.

Cyber Security

Backupyourdatafrequently– Backingupyourdataisagoodideaallthetimebecauseofhardwarefailureorcomputerscrashing.Also,itisgoodtobackyourdatabecausesomemalicioussoftwareouttherecanencryptyourdataandholdithostage.

StrongPasswords– Don’tusewordsthatareincommondatabases,likethedictionary.Useagoodmixofcharacters,letters,numbers,andsymbols.Don’trecyclepasswords.Peoplereusepasswordsonmultiplesites,somesitesaresecurelyencryptedandsomearenot.

Cyber Security Attachmentsandhyperlinks– Scrutinizeallattachmentsandhyperlinks.Evenifyougetemailsfrompeopleyouknow,becarefulbecauseitmightnotbethem.Makesureanattachmenthasafileextensionthatyourecognize,don’topenthefollowingfileextensions:bat,cmd,com,exe,hta,pif,scr,vba,vbs.

Makesurehyperlinksgowheretheysay– mostemailsoftwareallowsyoutohoveroverahyperlinkwithoutgoingtoitandwilldisplaythelocationofthehyperlink.

Iftheemailisfromacompanythatyoudobusinesswith,makesurethattheareaddressingyoupersonally,notwithagenericgreetinglike;User,Customer,Client,Sir/Madam,AccountOwner,etc.

Cyber Security

Cyber Security

Cyber Security

Cyber Security

PhonesScams‐ scamartistsarenowstartingtousethephonetotrytobreakintoyourcomputer.Theyusuallycall,claimingtobecomputersupportassociatedwithcompanieslikeMicrosoft.Theysaythatthey’vedetectedviruses,malwareorsomeotherthingonyourcomputertofoolyouintogivingthemaccesstoyourcomputerremotelyandtheywilltrytosellyourepairserviceorsoftwarethatyoudon’tneed.Sometimestheywilllockyououtofyourcomputerandmakeyoupaytogetbackin.

Anti‐Virus and Anti‐Malware

MicrosoftSecurityEssentials Avast!FreeAntivirus PandaCloudAntivirus AviraFreeAntivirus WindowsMaliciousSoftwareRemovalTool SUPERAntiSpyware Malwarebytes'Anti‐Malware SpybotSearch&Destroy

(http://library.nd.gov/flickertale/2013january.pdf,page13)

Free Office Alternatives ApacheOpenOffice– FormerlyknownasOpenOffice.org,thissuiteisprobablythemostwell‐

knownopensourceofficesuite.ApacheOpenOfficeofferssixsubprogramsverysimilartoMicrosoft’ssuite.Visitwww.openoffice.orgforadditionalinformation.

LibreOffice– ThisofficesuiteisaderivativeofOpenOffice,whichmeanstheunderlyingcodeisthesame.LibreOfficewascreatedbyagroupofOpenOfficedevelopersthatwereworriedaboutOracle’splanswiththesourcecode.LibreOfficeoffersthesamesixapplications,butusesaslightlydifferentgraphicaluserinterfaceaswellasafewdifferentfeatures.ManyusersfavorLibreOffice,becauseLibreOfficecontinuesnewdevelopment,whereasOpenOfficedevelopmentseemstobestagnant.Visitwww.libreoffice.org foradditionalinformation.

NeoOffice– ThissuiteisanotherderivativeofOpenOffice,createdfortheMacoperatingsystem.NeoOfficewascreatedbeforeOpenOfficeandLibreOfficehadMacsupport.NeoOfficehasbasicallyallofthefunctionalityofOpenOffice,butistunedfortheMacuserbysupportingtheuniquefeaturesoftheMacoperatingsystem.Visitwww.neooffice.org foradditionalinformation.

KingsoftOffice– Thisprogramisverymuchlikeaknock‐off,stripped‐downversionofMicrosoftOffice.Kingsoftoffersthethreebasics‐ awordprocessor,aspreadsheetapplication,andapresentationapplication.ThedownsidetoKingsoftOffice,otherthanitslimitedapplications,isthatitonlysupportsWindowsandafewothermobiledevices.Visitwww.kingsoftstore.com foradditionalinformation.

GoogleDocs– Thisweb‐basedsuiteisbecomingpopularamongGoogleusers,becauseofitsonlinearchitecturewhichallowsyoutosyncitwithanumberofinternetconnecteddevicesandotherGoogleservices.GoogleDocsmakesiteasytosharedocumentsandcollaboratewithotherGoogleusersusingthecloudenvironment.GoogleDocsoffersthebasicofficesuiteincludingawordprocessor,aspreadsheetapplication,apresentationapplication,andanimageeditor.

XP is DEAD!!

Microsoft Support Lifecycle

Mainstreamsupport—Microsoftwilloffermainstreamsupportforaminimumof5yearsfromthedateofaproduct'sgeneralavailability.Forexample,ifyoubuyanewversionofWindowsandfiveyearslateranotherversionisreleased,youwillstillhavetwoyearsofsupportleftforthepreviousversion.

Extendedsupport—Microsoftwillofferextendedsupportforaminimumof5yearsfromthedateofaproduct'sgeneralavailability.

Windows 10Thingstoknow: Windows10originallyclaimedthatitwillbe“thelastversionofWindows”.

TheStartmenuisback.

Windows10willbeginautomaticallyinstallingonyouroldmachine.Microsoftisbecomingveryaggressiveaboutgettingitonyourmachine.

ThefreeupgradeofferwillexpireonJuly29,2016,afterthatyouwillhavetopurchaseWindows10.

Ifyoudoinstallthefreeupgradeanddon’tlikeit,youhave31daystouninstallit,afterthatyouarestuckwithit(sorta).

InternetExplorerisreplacedbyMicrosoftEdge.

Microsoftisloggingandstoringalotofinformation“UsageData”.

Updatesaregoingtostartbeingmandatory.

LINUX

WhatisLinux‐ anopen‐sourceoperatingsystemmodeledonUNIX.

Itisanopen‐sourcedoperationsystemsosoftwareforitismostlyfree.

Linuxhasaverylowsusceptibilitytovirusandmalwareattacks.

Requiresalittlegumption.

Incrediblyversatileandcustomizable.

Thousandsofdifferentdistributions(Distros).

CommonDistros: LinuxMint Debian Ubuntu openSUSE Fedora

WRAPPING IT UP