Category: News

More often lately we see hackers and scammers targeting our clients themselves. Tools such as antivirus, firewalls, and ad blockers are very effective. Informing our clients so they are aware of scammers tactics, however, is the most effective tool to prevent security issue. Technical support often provides the opportunity to address gaps in knowledge of how these cyber attack and online scams work. Often we start with a computer repair only to find malware infection but we don’t stop at just fixing technical issues for Lubbock residents. We also inform and train our clients on how best to prevent problems going forward. Furthermore with our CPR Checkup subscription you can more easily avoid technical support or antivirus scams by knowing that your computer is covered and no such issues could exist or if so you know to call Computer Professional Repair. An example we see too often is when a email account is taken over the scammer will setup automatic forwarding, redirecting or even deleting of certain or all email. And of course the normal methods of changing your password or enabling two factor authentication will not remove these changes. So the problem will follow you to every computer and it may seem impossible to fix. Worse yet this enables limitless possible scams when a scammer has access to all the information flowing through your email account. Impersonation, fake invoices, phishing and trickery no one thought to defend against. We offer security awareness training to our business and consumer customers. Personalized and one on one in person or over the phone. We take you through enabling all the extra steps to stay secure online. Rather than just doing it for you we can show you what’s happening and how to stay protected going forward. And with CPR Checkup Premium taking care of the rest on a technical level then you can be confident that you are taking all the best steps to stay safe online.

Using the same password is very convenient but comes at a high cost in security. For most people, this was not an issue until our lives become much more dependant on technology and the services that use it. Primarily this comes down to email. Email rules most of our interaction with automated services in every sense. When using a messaging or social network app the way you are identified is by email. Therefore it is essential to keep your email access safe and secure. Two-step authentication helps a great deal but also introduces more complexity and less convenience. Although we highly recommend using two-step authentication, it is only necessary because of password re-use. So our advice is to take the opportunity to create more layers of security by addressing both. Use a hard copy or password manager to make the task easier and certainly use unique passwords from this moment forward. We offer security awareness courses and technical support to help you get it done and make it easy to use.

Screens break on laptops for many reasons but usually can be fixed. Depending on the laptop make and model the cost may be too high to be worth it. However most of the time we can find the internal screen panels and do the repair by replacing those parts for much less than purchasing a new computer. Touch screen laptop display replacements often cost more to repair due to the higher costs of the part. Drops or other impacts may break either to touch screen glass cover or the display panel underneath. However, both parts must be replaced if either is damaged. So all too often the cost to replace a touchscreen display is too high and worse more than the entire device is worth. Even though MacBooks do not has touchscreens the display technology is high quality and the replacement parts can be prohibitively expensive. Although the overall value of a MacBook is higher as well so the cost may be higher than a PC but much less than replacing the entire MacBook. There is no need to wait or delay by putting off a repair. As the device loses value the relative expense goes up. But we offer to buy laptops and particularly MacBooks in any condition. Then we offer migration services to move your stuff from a broken computer to a new or refurbished replacement. So call, email, or stop by and don’t spend another moment looking at a broken screen or worse be without a working computer.

Monthly updates are routine but very necessary. Also, they often if not always contain patches that close security holes. Therefore applying them quickly and effectively is required to stay safe online and protect your company’s servers, services, and private information. Keeping your personal devices up to date seems simple enough but sometimes things go wrong and you’re left with a computer that doesn’t work or worse you lose data because of hardware failure at the same time as the computer is making significant changes to the operating system. As for businesses, it is overwhelming to attempt to manage and maintain an office full of workstations that need constant monitoring and maintenance. Waiting until it’s too late means costly data recovery and technical support services. Preventative maintenance with our CPR Checkup or IT Healthcare subscription take the stress out of not knowing if your computer systems are vulnerable. Even more so a computer failure while getting work done means lost revenue or downtime. Technical support for problems when they occur is maybe enough for your personal non-critcal computers but when money is on the line it’s much better to prevent problems and keep IT well maintained to minimize the time our technology does not operate. Call or email us to learn more about keeping your business and personal computers up and operating as smoothly as possible with ongoing technical support plus our CPR Checkup app.

Using a computer sometimes if not often involves sensitive or private information. While not putting anything private online or in the cloud keeps it secure the physical device itself still contains the information. This is why we use logon passwords and in some cases full drive encryption. In fact, the law often requires such measures to meet requirements for regulation ie. HIPAA. The physical security of a computer often isn’t enough. Though inconvenient it’s important to use a login password. Even if no private information exists on the computer the access to cloud data including email is easily compromised without a password. Even then passwords are bypassable in most situations. Therefore the extra step of using full system encryption with a password is recommended. This was if a computer is lost or stolen then the information within it and the data it can access is secure. These days fingerprint readers and facial recognition make logging securely without a password possible but it’s true that these methods rely on the existence of a login password. If you need help securing your computers, private or sensitive information then contact us for technical support online, over the phone, and someday soon in person.