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Our Policy Towards Password Resets and Password Recovery

January 17, 2017 by doctordave

One popular question we get at DoctorDave Computer Repair in Lawrence and Kansas City is “Can you recover my password?” Many times it’s an innocent problem, but we always play it safe.

Keys on Keyboard

Photo by IntelFreePress – http://flic.kr/p/dxdmTX

Why Do You Get Locked Out of Your Computer?

The most common reason is plain forgetfulness. You haven’t used it in a few months and you just forgot the password.  Sometimes it’s a glitch in the computer. Maybe your keyboard isn’t working or Windows has a virus. We even see when you change your password on your iPhone; it changes your Mac’s password.

What If You Need Access, But Don’t Have the Password

Just because you own the computer, doesn’t mean you’re the main user. You could have given the computer to the kids or your employees. If you need something on the computer, those people might not give you the password. Ouch! Unfortunately, we’ll often have to deal with the computer of a person who passed away. Our client needs access to close out the owner’s affairs.

What We Need For Password Resets

We treat all clients equally. No matter how trustworthy you seem, we need your name to match the username on the computer. If they’re the same, we’ll use the methods we have to remove the password. If the names don’t match, then we’ll need a few more things:

1.)        A receipt for the computer that matches your name. If it’s obvious you own the computer we can stop asking other questions.For example, if you bought it for your child, and we’re resetting that child’s account. If it is a business computer, then we need an email from the company that you’re authorized to reset the password.

2.)        If the computer owner passed away, we need a document that lists you as the executor of the estate.

3.)         If it’s for someone of diminished mental capacity (an elderly parent for example), then we need Power of Attorney.

Why Are We So Difficult?

We’re ethically hacking into a computer, so we have to be careful. The obvious reason we hesitate is we don’t want to help a thief. It’s not always that. A spouse wants us to see what the husband or wife is doing on the computer. An employee might want to see what is on the boss’s computer. We’ve encountered both those situations in the past.

Most people who are asking us to reset a password for legal reasons are happy to meet our guidelines. Some clients thank us for asking this information. After all, they want to make sure their stuff is secure.  

When a client gives us grief or is offensive on the phone, we call the police.  If “something doesn’t seem right,” we call the police. Most of the time the concern is a false alarm. The laptop isn’t reported as stolen, so we proceed based on our guidelines. One time we called and in fact, the computer was stolen, and we gave the contact info to the police. Due to privacy, they couldn’t tell us the details, beyond that the computer made it back to the rightful owner.

That one incident made it worth the hurdles we give everyone for a password reset.

Filed Under: Business, Services Tagged With: business, computer repair, customer service, privacy, security

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What to Do When Your ISP has an Outage

January 10, 2017 by doctordave

WOW aka Knology or Wow and soon to be MIDCO had a major outage recently.  Outages are disappointing, but can be expected.  Nothing works right all the time.

Is it You or Them? The Power Cycle Dance

Photo by Sean MacEntee – http://flic.kr/p/fQoVsh

When you can’t get online, you’ll always want to do a few standard things in this order:

  1. Shutdown your computer. Not just put it to sleep, but pick the Shutdown command on your operating system.
  2. If you have a router, unplug the power to the router.
  3. Unplug the power to your cable modem.

Wait about a minute and reverse the process:

  1. Plug in the power to the cable modem.
  2. After about a minute, plug back in the power to the router, if you have one.
  3. After about a minute, turn on the computer.

If you still can’t get online, now’s the time to see if there is an outage.

How to See if Your ISP is the Problem

Wireless Networks routers setup and repair 1

If you have a smartphone, the best way is social media.  See if other people are reporting a problem on Facebook or Twitter.  To use your phone or tablet, you might have to turn off wi-fi.  Another great spot to check is the website DownDetector.  Downdetector has an iPhone app too.  They aggregate reports of other people complaining about outages.

Ultimately, you’ll probably need to call your ISP if you’re still early in the outage.  It could be just in your neighborhood.  The longer the hold times, the more likely it isn’t your computer.  I’d wait at least half an hour before calling your ISP.  Try the power cycle dance (above) one more time.  If it doesn’t work, then call them.

It’s Them:  Now What?

Mooch off the Neighbors?

Can I borrow a cup of wi-fi?  If you can see your neighbor’s router, you might ask to use it for a little while.  Ask them for the password, but don’t be shocked if they don’t give it to you.  While I like my neighbors, I don’t want them on my network.  They could see some personal and private stuff.  Anyone who has a key to my house though would be welcome to use my wi-fi. None of my neighbors have a key.

If your neighbor has wi-fi without a password (or if it’s a business), you might use that in a pinch.  If you use unsecured wi-fi, other people on the network could see what you’re doing, so be careful.

Tether With Your Phone aka Hotspot Mode

Most Android and iOS devices let you share the cellular connection with computers. The exact instructions depend on the version of the phone you have.  Usually you just turn on the Personal Hotspot and create a network name and password.  Then connect your computer to that network.

That configuration could kill your data plan, so only use it for stuff you absolutely need. For example, you might need to email an important document from your desktop.

If you have a smartphone, most of the critical stuff can be done on that using your cellular connection. Avoid data intensive stuff like streaming music or videos.

Wait it Out

Photo by Lima Pix – http://flic.kr/p/oYfzwS

The human race survived for thousands of years without internet and we’ll survive this outage.  It sounds dismissive, but it’s important to put this into perspective.  If it’s an ISP outage, you aren’t alone.  Eventually,  they’ll solve it.  They want you to get back online as soon as possible.  Getting upset won’t resolve it.  Front line customer service reps can’t fix it and are probably having a terrible day.

Refunds?

Photo by katerha – http://flic.kr/p/sE2qVL

Unlikely.  At best, your ISP will give you a prorated refund.  If you contact them and wait on hold, they can give you a credit equal to the time you lost.  That calculates to 1/30th of your bill.  If you’re bill is $100, you can coax them into a refund of about $3.00 or maybe they’ll round up to $5.00.  That doesn’t translate into much return on investment for your time.

Special Consideration: Businesses

pointofsale 1

At DoctorDave Computer Repair we have lots of business clients that run credit cards.  You don’t want to tell your customers you can’t take credit cards.  Similarly, you don’t want to take the risk of keeping card numbers until you get online.  That will get you in trouble with your merchant processing and puts your customers at risk.

Most Point of Sale (POS) systems let you capture transactions offline.  That’s great for an outage of a few minutes.  The problem with offline transactions is you can’t verify if the funds are there to pay for the item.  If it’s an overdrawn debit card or a credit card over the limit (or stolen), you’re on the hook.

Tethering your smartphone to an entire point of sale system is tricky.  I recommend using Square in these instances.  We use Square for our credit card processing.  What’s nice about Square is there isn’t a monthly fee for the service, you pay only for what you use.  You’ll probably pay more for a transaction compared to your regular merchant services account, but at least you won’t be turning away customers or taking big risks.

Some of our clients have portable hotspots or a “mi-fi” to supplement their existing ISP.  If they’re having an outage at their POS, they can switch to this service. There’ a monthly fee for these devices, but that extra $15 or so a month might be worth it.

Should You Switch ISPs?

Photo by JeepersMedia – http://flic.kr/p/osAZTR

Probably not.  All ISPs have outages.  It does seem like Lawrence’s WOW service has more outages than others.  Here at DoctorDave Computer Repair, we get about the same number or reports of AT&T problems and WOW problems.

With AT&T, you usually have to get the equipment from them, so about 50% of the time it’s a failed modem.  With WOW, you can buy one locally and replace the cable modem.  With AT&T, you can’t always do that.

We love Wicked and have it at our office in Lawrence.  They’re focused on business service and aren’t expanding further into residential markets.

What about Google Fiber in Lawrence?

Photo by mjmonty – http://flic.kr/p/6wumx7

Unlikely.  I was invited by the city to discuss the quality of internet here in Lawrence and our options.  I also spoke at city commission meetings regarding the issues. I’m a computer repair person, not a politician.  However I understand the major stumbling block is how much the city will charge an ISP to use city equipment to run the lines. It’s too expensive for an ISP to tear up people’s yards (and who wants that?), so they want to use pipes the city has.

So What’s the Answer?

Photo by West Midlands Police – http://flic.kr/p/cGnABd

Again, I’m not a politician, but I think we need to get the government involved. I’d love the city to take on the role of an ISP or work on a public/private partnership.  ISPs don’t have a financial incentive to provide better service.  In cities with Google Fiber, the ISPs step up their game and provide faster service.

If our city doesn’t take on that role, then the FCC might have to set minimum quality standards. The FCC could set penalties for outages. Right now, the city has that power but has declined to exercise the franchise authority powers.

Filed Under: Opinion, Tips Tagged With: AT&T, Opinion, outage, WOW

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Should You Install Windows 10? No!

June 12, 2016 by doctordave

When Windows 10 came out, we advised clients to wait on the upgrade. The product was new and Windows 10 had lots of glitches. Microsoft fixed a bunch of these problems and Windows 10 is now reliable. That doesn’t mean you should upgrade your Windows 8 or Windows 7 computer to Windows 10.

T.Dallas / Shutterstock.comT.Dallas / Shutterstock.com

T.Dallas / Shutterstock.com

Why Shouldn’t I?

We tend to hear mostly about the problems with Windows 10, so we’re basing our opinion on issues client tell us. We’re almost always able to resolve these problems, but that comes at a cost to the customer. That free upgrade turns out to cost money if you need us to fix your computer.

What Type of Problems Should I Expect?

The most common problems we see are related to email. Your sunflower.com email stops working. The Windows 10 setup needs a little tweaking. Microsoft might push its own email program or your old program forgets the password.

Photo by Aaron Escobar https://flic.kr/p/5Yg6ro

Photo by Aaron Escobar 

Microsoft also promotes the new Edge browser instead of Internet Explorer. Edge looks different and doesn’t work in all situations. Windows 10 might push you to Edge instead of Firefox or Chrome. We fix this all the time, but it’s annoying to a customer.

Older printers and scanners don’t always work in Windows 10. Sometimes it needs reconfiguration but other times it just won’t do it. We spend the most time with clients in this area. That free upgrade now requires a paid purchase of a new printer.

Finally, we have a catch-all category of incompatibility or glitches. Most of the time Windows 7 or 8 had an underlying problem that Windows 10 made worse.

What If I Upgraded to Windows 10 Already? Should I Go Back?

Microsoft gives you 30 days to try out Windows 10. If you don’t like it, you can go back to Windows 7 or 8. We advise against that. We see just as many glitches moving forward to Windows 10 as we do going back. If Windows 10 is working, leave it alone. There isn’t a need to go back. We can fix those Windows 10 problems for you. If we can’t, then that is the time to go back.

If you don’t like something in Windows 10, we can usually offer some suggestions of tweaks and optimizations.

Learning a New Operating System

logo3

Windows 10 is a big jump from Windows 7. Windows 8 is a minor jump from Windows 7. Clients tell us that it is frustrating trying to learn something new. Fortunately, our local library offers free online learning through Lynda.com and offers some great books on the subject. If you’ve moved to Windows 10, I recommend trying some of the free learning options.

I Have to Decide by July 29th, Right?

Yes, if you want to get it free, you’ll need to do this by July 29th. After that, you’ll have to pay for the upgrade. This should be your deciding factor.

If your computer is working, I suggest leaving it alone. If your computer didn’t come with Windows 10, it is probably at least a year old. Computers last on average 3-5 years. Once the hard drive goes out, clients decide it’s more cost-effective to replace a system rather than repair it. Your new computer is going to come with Windows 10, so Microsoft made that decision easier.

If you’re concerned Microsoft will discontinue support for Windows 7, you’re right, they will. Currently, they set the date to January 14, 2020. Your computer will probably fail before then.

What If I Want to Upgrade?

Go for it. You’ll eventually get a computer with Windows 10, so you might want to learn it now. You should be backing up your data anyway, but just in case, do a full backup beforehand. We can help with the backups.

Then run a quick malware scan to make sure nothing will get in the way of the upgrade, then upgrade away. I suggest doing this on a Sunday night. That way you won’t be distracted and you can always call support the next morning if you have problems. Assume you’ll have problems so don’t do this before a deadline, especially a deadline that needs something printed.

How Can You Help Me, Dave?

lawrence computer repair app

Our App in the app store

We can help you through every step of the process, usually for free. Use our free DoctorDave app to send us an email, or just do it the old-fashioned way by calling us. If it requires a service call, we can schedule it right then. We can fix your printer issues, your email issues, and move you back to an earlier version of Windows if need be.

Clients like Windows 10 once they get through the problems. I encourage you to get it on a new computer. It isn’t like Windows 8 that everyone hated, but it is different than Windows 7.

Filed Under: Business, Tips Tagged With: ipad, iphone, upgrade, windows 10

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It’s not just the NSA reading your email, it’s the IRS too

November 3, 2013 by doctordave

IRS Building

Although the NSA has given us quite the scare with PRISM and the controversy around it, a less known, but equally important violation of privacy is the fact that the IRS can and has been reading our digital communications as well. This is has nothing to do with terrorism or national security, but is all about collecting money on behalf of the government…and it’s been around for a while.

This isn’t some conspiracy theory and has been reported by multiple sources such as CNET and MSN. As a taxpayer, I appreciate the fact that other taxpayers should comply with the law but think that my digital communications shouldn’t be used against me because what I say to my friends online can easily be misinterpreted taken out of context.

I am curious what you all think. Would you be willing to accept less privacy online in exchange for a lower tax bill and fair punishment of tax cheats?

Filed Under: Opinion

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