Never Give Control of Your Domain Name to Anyone Outside Your Company

Protect Your Domain Name

Never give control of your domain name (like www.awpcomputers.co.uk) to anyone outside your company.   It’s one of the most crucial elements of your business’s on-line identity, and central to your brand.

Your IT supplier should have access to your website and email to resolve any problems, but make sure your domain name is owned and controlled by your company, and not by your IT supplier.

It may seem strange than an IT Support Provider (IT supplier) is penning an article on the subject of never giving control of your domain name to anyone outside your company.  However, I've seen two examples in the last week where companies we've been work with have had issues stemming from their domain ownership.

Domain Names: World Wide Web

Your IT supplier should be working with you to help your business

Based on recent evidence, a number of IT service providers seem to almost hold their customers to ransom with 'God like' control over systems and access to them.  This is not the way!  The relationship between you and you IT company should be mutually beneficial, and you should ultimately be seeing a return on your investment, based on efficiencies the arrangement can bring.  Above all else an IT support provider should be transparent, and always involve in what they doing, even if you don't want to know the minute details of how it all works.

Domain Names

A domain name is an important factor to consider when setting up and running your business in a digital age.  It helps your customers identify your brand on-line and ties together your sales, marketing and communication actives through your website and email.

A domain name is broken down into individual components, such as top-level domains, second-level and lower level domains.  It ultimately provides a human friendly address, which is easier to remember than a set of numbers, to a resource on the Internet.  The easiest way to think of domain names, is that they are almost like a virtual phone directory, providing a look-up between the numbers the computers use (called IP addresses) and the more memorable words humans prefer.

Whilst this article talks about 'ownership' of domain names, in reality, your company is effectively renting a domain name for a specific duration, which can typically be anything from one to ten years.  You do this by a process of registering a domain.  You normally make a choice of the top-level domain(s) you want to use, such as .com, .uk & .co.uk and then, provided it is available, make a choice on the second-level domain you would like to use for your website and email.  For example, the awpcomputers part of awpcomputers.co.uk

Registering a Domain Name

The process of registering a Domain Name can be daunting for the uninitiated, and this is were it's likely many people will turn to an 'IT expert' to help them out.  By all means, enlist somebody to 'help' you with the process, but always ensure that any registrations are made in your company's name, with your company's address and at most the IT person (or their company) is registered as the 'technical' contact.  If you don't make sure your domain name belongs to your organisation, it can lead to disputes and problems in the future.

There are many companies available to register your domain name with.  These are know as Registrars, and include agents such as 1 and 1, Easily or 1-2-3 Reg.  A official will have something called an IPS Tag (...not ISP, that's something different).   For example, Easily's looks like this:

     Easily Limited t/a easily.co.uk [Tag = WEBCONSULTANCY]
     URL: http://www.easily.co.uk    

An IPS TAG is a way of Nominet (the not for profit company who governs the .uk domain names) giving control of a domain name to a specific company.  For example the domain name www.awpcomputers.co.uk currently has the IPS TAG, as per the above example, of WEBCONSULTANCY.  It is possible to move your domain to a different registrar, after you have registered it, if you chose to.  However, there will likely be a fee.

Do I have a Problem with My Domain Name?

Hopefully, you're reading this article prior to registering your domain name and taking heed of the advice about making the registration in your business' name.  If you're not, and you already have a Domain Name you're concerned about, don't worry there are steps you can take to reclaim rightful ownership if you have a problem.

To find out about your domain name, if you don't already know the details of the registration, you can use a process called WHOIS to determine who the IPS Tag holder (the Registrar) is, who the domain name is registered to and for how long.  Many of the Registrars provide a facility to do this free of charge on their websites.  There is also a facility to do this on the Nominet website.  This is known as the WHOIS Tool and can be access (currently) from the following page:

• Nominet WHOIS Tool - http://www.nominet.org.uk/uk-domain-names/about-domain-names/domain-lookup-whois/whois-tool

As mentioned previously, Nominet UK is a non-profit company and is in control of the .uk domain name registry.  In this capacity, they are able to help with domain name problems or disputes.  Even if you do not register your company's Domain Name, and have don't have access to the account with the Registrar, if you have been using the Domain Name for your business' on-line activities, and it is obviously linked to brand or companies name Nominet can help you get your domain name back.

Using Nominet's Services

In recent weeks we worked with a company that had allowed an unscrupulous IT support provider to register their domain name on their behalf.  The IT company had registered the Domain Name using their email address & password.  They had kept ownership of the Registrar account, domain control panel and were not allowing the company, which we are now working with, to log-on and make changes.  Fortunately, in this specific case, the domain had be registered in the proper company name and address.  We were able to help our new client in their discussions with Nominet, and with Nominet's guidance were were able have a direct dialogue with the Registrar.  We were able to send proof of one of the Director's identities, specify a new email address to use for control panel access and in turn the Registrar sent them a new access password.

In this case the whole process took less then a day, and Nominet advised us that, if the Registrar did not comply, they would be able to assist us.  There would have been a small admin fee for them help us with the process.

If you are in a worse position than this, and your IT company has totally ownership of your domain, there are still things you can do, but the process will take longer and ultimately resolving the dispute could be much more costly.  For more information please have a look at the Nominet web site.  Potentially you could use Nominet's Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) to help resolve .uk domain name disputes.  This can be found on the following page:

• Nominet DRS - http://www.nominet.org.uk/disputes/when-use-drs

If you would like some FREE help and advice with any aspect of registering a Domain Name or enlisting the help of Nominet, please don't hesitate to give AWP Computer Services a call, on 01772 698078, or contact us through our website.

3 Simple Steps to Backup Your Data

Three Easy Ways to Back-up Your Business Data 

As an IT consultant, who is very passionate about helping small businesses become more efficient through their technology, I’m always emphasising the importance of data.  The simple fact is that without your data, or your customer data, you have no business.  Although vital to the running of your business, the subject of data is both boring and complicated.

In reality, it doesn’t have to be complicated at all, although I doubt anybody can make it any more exciting!

Many business owners are confident that as long as their computers are working properly, then their data is safe.  It will always be there, waiting to be accessed and used.

The problem is that while using your computers your files are constantly being opened, written and re-written to and then closed.

All of this often causes files to corrupt, not to mention the accidental deletions or amendments that are a constant hazard.  More importantly the storage media that they are written too in not reliable in the long-term.  For example hard drive develop disk errors, and will ultimately fail.

With all of this in mind, here are three simple suggestions that will help you ensure your precious data is backed up, while keeping the processes required to do this as simple as possible.

1 – USB Memory Stick (flash drive)

This is by far the simplest and most basic method of backing up data.  USB memory sticks are available from many outlets, including supermarkets, and can be purchased for less than £15 for 32Gb of storage space.

In operation, all you need to do is plug the memory stick into a USB port on your computer, open your file browser (such as Windows Explorer) navigate to your working folders (like 'My Documents' or your 'Desktop') and copy the most important data onto the stick.  The memory stick will display as a new drive letter on your computer, probably the letter E or onwards e.g. (E:).

Top tip: Ebuyer is a good place to look for USB Flash Drives online.

• www.ebuyer.com/store/Storage/cat/USB-Flash-Drives

32Gb USB Flash Drive

2 – An External Hard Drive (HDD - Hard Disk Drive)

Using this method (an external hard disk) is almost as simple, but slightly more expensive.  Also often connected by cable into the USB port, but the disk size ranges from 50Gb up to 3Tb.  The pricing is usually from about £40 to over £200 respectively.

In operation you would use it in the same way as the USB stick, or use the software that often comes bundled with the external HDD when you buy it.  However, the software is often complicated and usually unnecessary.  If you know where your files are on your computer, and where you want to put them on the external storage drive, then 'drag and drop' (...or 'copy and paste') are often as complicated as it need to get.

Top Tip: Ebuyer is a good place to look for External Hard Drives online.

• www.ebuyer.com/store/Storage/cat/Hard-Drive---External

3Tb High performance USB 3.0 storage solution

3 – The 'Cloud' - Dropbox/Google Drive/MS OneDrive/etc.

The simplest way to take advantage of cloud storage is to use your online quota to backup your data.  Usually, when signing up for one of the more popular cloud storage providers (such as Dropbox, Google Drive or MS OneDrive) you’ll have free storage space already allocated to you.  This may be ample for your needs.  However, for a monthly fee you can have upwards of 15Gb, per person, available to use.  The main thing about back-up, if it's not to complicated for you, is to focus on the critical files (documents) and make sure you are backing up those.  They may well come within your free quota.

These 'Cloud' services will have locally installed app that synchronises your important files up to the cloud.  In operation, you will just open the locally installed app and drag the data you want to backup into the app location.

Dropbox/Google Drive/MS OneDrive

IMPORTANT NOTE

Perhaps I should have opened with this comment?
Whichever method you choose, do not be misguided in thinking that transferring your data onto the new storage solution is the answer to protecting your precious data.  It's important that any back-ups you make are a copy of your data, and the back-up means it is stored in a least 2 places.  I have seen far too many people use a pen drive as their only storage medium, only to be 'heartbroken' or worse when they discover all their data has been lost!  Don't learn this lesson the hard way!

SUMMARY

I hope that this short article has opened your eyes to how simple the first steps to keeping your precious data safe can be.

Although the suggested methods are both simple and cheap, in the long-term, they are only really suitable for consumer use.

If you take your business, your customers and the data seriously, then it really pays to have a more robust, professional data backup solution, which is provided by a professional technology provider.  With this you will get guarantees about your data's security and Service Level Agreements protecting you against data loss.

If you’d like to talk further about your data storage and security, or any other ways your technology could help your business become more efficient, please get in touch with AWP Computer Services to discuss your options.

CALL AWP Computer Services on 01772 698078

Google Apps Website Visitor Contact Form to Email

Use a Google Apps Form to capture and email website visitor contact information

Following on from our previous article, which explained how to set up a Google Apps Form to capture the details of a visitor to your website that wants to get in touch with you, we outline how the from can be added to your website.  This Blog post also explains how and where the data is captured, and how the enquiries can be emailed directly to you Gmail Inbox.

The first article was titled "Google Apps Form for Website Visitor Contact" and can be read at the following web address:

• http://blog.awpcomputers.co.uk/2014/09/google-apps-form-for-website-visitor.html

Adding a Google Apps Form to your web page

Google Apps Form for Website Visitor Contact

Use a Google Apps Form to capture website visitor contact information

Google Apps for Business, which incidentally has recently become known as Google Apps for Work, is a collection of Cloud based Apps that allow you to carry out many office admin tasks in one place, using your own domain name (like mybusiness.co.uk) and linked to your branded business email (Gmail).

In this article we look at how you can use a Google Apps Form to capture the details of a visitor to your website that wants to get in touch with you.  To be able to use this method, you will need to have access to the HTML (code that makes your web pages work) of the page where you would like the form to be placed.  Beyond that, it’s a relatively straightforward process.  There are a few steps, but it isn’t hugely complicated and shouldn’t take too long to get up and running.

So why use a Google Apps Form in the first place?

Well there are a good number of options out there, but the real advantage of the Google Apps approach is that the set-up and recorded information all end up being in one place, within your Google Drive.  This means that you don’t have to log-on to another system.  All the end user input is placed in a spreadsheet within your Google Drive and enquiries from customers can also be emailed directly to your Gmail Inbox.

There are now a good number of costs effective, easy to use, online website builders, such as Wix and Weebly.  However, one area you may struggle is if you need to capture more information than the basic website contact form allows.

You may consider getting a (web) developer to make you a data capture from to put in you website, but you may need to go back to them if you want to change the questions and the type of information you record.  With the Google Apps Form the questions are very easy to modify, both adding, removing and changing the order of them.

You may consider using another online form builder, but as pointed out above that’s another place to access to make changes and potentially retrieve the data captured.

How do I create a Google Apps Form and use it on my Website?

OK, that’s enough with the introduction.  How does it work and more importantly how to get a Google Apps data capture form up and running on my own web site?  Now, everything does rely on you having a Google Apps for Work account attached to your domain name (web site address, minus the www), but assuming this is already the case, most of the set-up is done in your Google Drive.

In this example we’re going to use a website form already that was already created by AWP Computer Services for one of our clients, Alpha Dog Services, which is used on their Dog Almighty! website.

http://www.dog-almighty.co.uk/contact.htm

 Dog Almighty - Contact Form: http://www.dog-almighty.co.uk/contact.htm

Accessing Google Drive

From your Google (Apps for Work) account, once you’re logged in, you’ll be able to access your Google Drive.

Google Drive - Google Apps for Work

Your Google Drive is the place that all your files that are stored in the Cloud (well on your account Google servers at least) can be accessed, this includes the files created using the various Google Docs Apps (including Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides & Sites) as well as other documents and files you may have uploaded.

Google Drive page

Whilst Alpha Dog Services have been using their GMail account to its full potential, and their Drive quite often, they set up a separate user (on their domain) for us and we created the necessary form here.  Even though there aren't any other document shared with us here at the moment, we thought it made sense to create a new folder (called 'Website') to ensure that the form for the website wasn't confused with other things in the future.

Google Drive - Website folder

Within this ‘Website’ folder we created a new form, for the data capture needed by the website’s ‘Contact Us’ page.  This can be seen as “Dog Almighty - Contact Form”.

Google Drive showing link to the Dog Almighty - Contact Form

However, if the necessary form hadn't been created, it would be a case of starting a new form by using the "Create" button at the top of the menu on the left hand side of the page.

Google Drive - Create Form

As mentioned, our form is already in place, so in the style of ‘Blue Peter’ - here’s one we made earlier!  Clicking on the link for the 'Dog Almighty - Contact Form' will open a Form designer page within a new tab in our web browser.

Rename your Google Form

Create question - Data Validation

Advanced settings - Validation: Must be an email address

Completing your form and putting in your web site

Once you are happy that you have included all the questions you required for you contact page form you are ready to take the necessary steps to allow the form to be used on your website.  The first step is to set up the rules for the 'Confirmation Page'.  Here you can create a personalised message that the end user will see after they have completed and submitted the form.  You can also decide whether you want to provide a link with your 'Thank you' message that will let users navigate back to a blank form and submit another answer.

Unofficial Windows XP Service Pack

Are you still on Windows XP?
There's now an unofficial service pack

Microsoft ceased their support for Windows XP back in April 2014, but it seems some fans are still not quite ready to let go of the aged Operating System.

For these - reluctant to change - users, a developer known only as "Harkaz" has been quietly working away, creating an "Unofficial Service Pack 4".  Harkaz has been working on this project since September 2013, in readiness for Microsoft's withdrawal of their support, and now it's finally available to download.

Unofficial SP4 (Service Pack Four) rolls together all updates since 2002's SP1 (Service Pack One) for Windows XP, including two fixes issued after the official end of support.

Windows XP

Everything you need to know about the end of Windows XP support

Harkaz said they had decided to create Unofficial SP4 for the "many users - including me - who won't be able to upgrade their old machines to a newer OS (and) would like to easily install all Windows updates in one convenient package," following the end of XP support.

Windows XP Updates (Windows Update)

Is SP4 a sensible option?

While there's no reason to believe Harkaz is acting maliciously - indeed, Softpedia describes them as someone with "a good background on large packs of fixes for Windows" - it must be remembered that this is not an official update from Microsoft and is, at best, delaying the inevitable.

Windows XP - Automatic Updates

Chris Boyd, malware intelligence analyst at Malwarebytes, commented : "As always with this type of thing, unfortunately what starts out as a project with altruistic intentions, has the potential for hijacking by those with nefarious goals."
He continued, "Training PC owners to get comfortable with any OS updates using the word 'unofficial' in the name could backfire and open the door for malicious installs."

Boyd added that people who are stuck using XP because they're unable to upgrade from elderly hardware should seriously consider moving to "one of the small yet functional versions of Linux" that are available, as they are "probably more secure".

Download Windows XP SP4 Unofficial Beta 3

Windows XP SP4 Unofficial, a service pack for 32-bit editions of Windows XP, can be downloaded from the  Softpedia website.

Download Windows XP SP4 Unofficial Beta 3

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Signatures-Updates/Windows-XP-SP4-Unofficial.shtml

Windows XP SP4 Unofficial description

An unofficial service pack for 32-bit editions of Windows XP, allowing users to benefit from the latest available updates for their computer

Microsoft has ended the official support for Windows XP for a while now, which means that there are no more official security updates for users of the XP operating system and technical support is not provided anymore. Thus, computers that are still stuck with this late OS version can become vulnerable to malicious attacks.

Windows XP SP4 Unofficial comes to the rescue, providing XP users with the latest official XP updates alongside up-to-date components up to May 2014, also including POSReady updates.

The package is compatible with 32-bit versions of Windows XP, with SP1 installed and it can be deployed on an installation media. Please be advised that this package is not released by Microsoft, who does not recommend computer users to install it.

The Windows XP SP4 Unofficial installer is dedicated to Windows XP users who are not able, cannot afford or do not want to migrate to a newer Windows edition. It provides a convenient and quick way to update system components, so as to increase the PC's security and remove possible vulnerabilities, although it does not guarantee complete protection.

The package integrates .NET framework versions from 1.0 to 4.0 (including DirectX for Managed code in .NET 3.5), MSXML40 SP3, Adobe Flash Player (updated until May 2014), Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player 11, XPS Viewer EP, IMAPIv2, Remote Desktop Connection Client 7.0, Windows Search 4.0, Windows Rights Management Client, Windows Installer 4.5, the QFECheck tool (which you can use to verify that the hotfixes were correctly installed) and November 2013 Revoked roots and Root cerificates.

Furthermore, it encases the WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) technology to validate your OS license, Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0, as well as updates for exFat, DirectX 9.0c and WebDAV for Office 12 (Rosebud).

Please note that Windows XP SP4 Unofficial does not include Windows Powershell, which can be manually installed once .NET 3.5 is available on your system.

Five Ways to Improve Your Cyber Security

Five ways to improve your cyber security and keep ahead of hackers

You wouldn’t leave your company’s confidential information or a customer’s bank details lying around the office for an opportunist thief to pick up.  However, if you’re storing this type of data online and neglecting your cyber security, that could be just what happens.

Last year saw the cost of hacking to UK businesses increase by up to three times.  The government’s 2013 Information Security Breaches Survey found that 87% of small businesses, and 93% of large businesses, had reported at least one cyber breach.  These breaches resulted in costs of up to £65,000 for small businesses, and up to £850,000 for larger firms.

This could be due to hackers or in some cases human error, but whichever way it all resulted in leaving customer’s data vulnerable to theft or misuse.  The cost to the reputation of those companies is anybody’s guess.

Five Ways to Improve Your Cyber Security

Bearing this in mind, it is all the more surprising that a recent survey carried out by BT earlier this year (BT Cyber Security Research, Feb 2014) found just 17% of business leaders see cyber security as a major priority.  Despite most companies recognising that staff best practice is a major way to prevent IT security breaches, only 37% have trained managers in cyber safety.  When you take into account the Information Commissioner’s Office fine of up to £500,000 for compromising personal data, it definitely makes sense to get on top of your cyber safety.

Blissful ignorance, of the threat, is no defence in this area - cyber security (or the lack of it in some cases) is making the news headlines on a daily basis.  On a single day earlier this year Tesco lost 2,000 customer’s details to thieves trying to steal store vouchers and three South Korean credit card companies were fined for neglecting their legal duties of protecting customer information.

But if even Tesco, with its huge security budget, is vulnerable - what chance does the small business have?  It doesn’t always have to be about a big budget, and there are many steps you can take to protect yourself.

AWP Computer Services' top five tips for ‘Cyber Security’

Here are our top five tips for ‘Cyber Security’.  It’s a surprisingly large number of businesses that aren’t taking these simple steps, yet they will give your business a solid foundation to build on:

1. Talk about security with staff and create a culture where everyone cares about it.
2. Always use good passwords and don’t reuse them in different places.
3. Make sure you have up-to-date anti-virus software, and don’t click on links or attachments in emails you weren’t expecting.
4. As well as taking care of PCs and laptop computers, remember to protect other staff devices (like smart-phones and tablets) too.
5. Prepare for a disaster and make a recovery plan, for your own peace of mind.

There is a culture of BYOD (bring your own device) developing in a lot of industries, and whilst it can have obvious cost saving benefits, the are real risks if the security on these devices isn’t taken seriously.

The massive expansion of employee-owned devices, cloud computing and extranets, have multiplied the risk of abuse and attack, leaving organisations exposed to a vast array of internal and external threats – malicious and accidental.  The stakes are too high for cyber security to be pushed to the bottom of the pile.

If you would like to get some unbiased independent advice and need help with any area of your IT security, please get in touch with AWP Computer Services to discuss your options.

 CALL AWP Computer Services on 01772 698078

Why use an IT Consultant?

Small Business Benefits of Employing an IT Consultant

If your company is in its infancy, you need to make sure that you have the IT systems in place to build your business.  A strong computer network forms the backbone of any growing business, providing you with the tools and security you need to provide a good service to your customers.  Accordingly, you might like to think about using the service of an IT Consultant.

Initially, it’s likely that your new business will be based around only one or two key people.  Whilst, it’s possible that IT is something that this team can deal with, for a number business people it can be a headache.  It’s likely that setting up systems and processes, to help you work more effectively with your customers, will be a deflection away from what your business needs to be doing on a day to day basis.  Conversely though, it very likely there will not be enough work in the early days to warrant having  somebody with the necessary know-how on hand all of the time.  This is were being able to call on an outsider, with the right skills, could really benefit your business.  An IT consultant will be able to provide the necessary knowledge and support as an when you need it and not be a constant drain on your companies finances.

Those working in IT consulting jobs need to be efficient and have strong people skills.  Project management is vital in this area where delivering on time and to budget can make all the difference. Many IT projects are costly, and a delay of several weeks can push the costs up to a point where the project becomes unaffordable for a small business.  Your IT consultant is trained to manage both the scope and the deadlines of the project to ensure that costs are controlled and the project is delivered as promised.

There are a number of ways working with an IT Consultant will be able to help your business:

Improve efficiency

Your IT consultant can advise you on the best way to use technology to improve automation and productivity in your company. They will assess your needs and recommend systems which speed up business processes, allow for greater accountability and free up man hours for other work. They can also help improve communication in your organisation and the sharing of information.

Help keep you at the cutting edge of technology

We work in a challenging marketplace and being at the cutting edge can give you the advantage over your competitors.  A good IT consultant will be fully up-to-date with developments in your field that could improve your bottom-line, or make your product more marketable.

Protect your data and stay legal

You need to know that your data, and that of your customers’, is protected.  You don’t want to be sued because a hacker has stolen credit card information from your IT systems.  Not only could this cost your company a lot of money, it could also result in loss of business as your reputation is dragged through the mud.

Ongoing support

If something goes wrong with your IT systems it can stop all work in your company.  An IT consultant offers ongoing support in case of an emergency, so you can reduce the risk to your data and get your network back up and running before your clients are affected.

Any business can benefit from the advice and services of an IT consultant.  Your company can learn to manage its information, communicate more efficiently with customers & suppliers and benefit from the cost efficiency the right technology can often bring.

Based in South Ribble, servicing Preston and Lancashire AWP Computer Services offer specialist IT Consultancy for small and start-up businesses throughout the county.  We have many years experience in delivering up-to-date advice to small and medium sized business on many aspects of their modern information technology needs.  This includes help with Information Technology set-up, unbiased guidance about current best practices, general IT advice and assistance with IT equipment purchasing.

For more information about IT Consultancy and the benefits of using an IT Consultant for your business CONTACT AWP COMPUTER SERVICES TODAY!

CALL 01772 698078

Windows XP End of Life. Don't let your PC go unprotected

Windows XP Support Ends on April 8th 2014
Don't let your PC go unprotected

This is a security alert for all Windows XP users!

Windows XP support has ended

This week (8th April 2014), Microsoft released the last ever batch of security updates for Windows XP and will no longer be releasing official service and support updates for this operating system in the future.

You can read more about this in the technology news section of the BBC web site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26884167

This means that in the future, users of XP could potentially be left without critical security updates, which may leave their computers more vulnerable to viruses and more susceptible to cyber-attack.

It could also mean that computer software and computer hardware manufacturers may begin to move away from supporting Windows XP which may lead to new programs and devices not being compatible with the ageing operating system.

Even though it was released back in 2001, Windows XP is still hugely popular, with some estimates suggesting that roughly one in five PCs across the globe still run XP.

If you still use Windows XP, then the ending of service packs and security updates doesn’t mean that your computer will stop working altogether.  It’ll still continue to look and act the same as usual.  However, it could become more vulnerable to cyber security risks and viruses, and over time the performance could also suffer.

Which OS (Operating System) is on your PC running?

If you’re unsure which version of the Windows operating system your computer is currently running you can visit the Microsoft web site, which will automatically tell you what your laptop computer or desktop PC is running.  If you find that your computer is running Windows XP then it might be time to act.

Click here to learn more about Windows XP end of support directly from Microsoft

Windows XP Desktop Example

If you would like some FREE advice, please contact AWP Computer Services and we can talk you through the options.

Thinking about upgrading your system?

To help keep yourself protected, Microsoft suggests that you check to see if your current PC can be upgraded to the latest software.  They offer a Windows Upgrade assistant on their web site that will scan your computer and tell you if your system is compatible with the new operating system.

Microsoft recommend that you download and run the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant to check whether your PC meets the system requirements for Windows 8. The Windows 8.1 system requirements are nearly the same as the Windows 8 system requirements, so if your PC can run Windows 8, in most cases, you can get the free update to Windows 8.1. Upgrade Assistant will also check program and device compatibility, and provide a free compatibility report.

Download the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant

What about transferring old files to a new PC?

If you’re not able to upgrade your computer to a more current operating system then it might be time to consider buying a new desktop PC or laptop computer.  If you were to buy a new PC, but want to transfer your files, photos and music over from your old Windows XP computer then Windows provide a free data transfer tool called Laplink PCmover Express. You can find out more about Laplink PCmover Express on the Microsoft web site.

How do I move all my Windows XP stuff to a new PC?

You can move your Windows XP stuff with Laplink, a free data migration solution that will walk you through all the steps to getting your files, settings, and user profiles from your Windows XP PC to your new Windows laptop, desktop, or tablet. (Note that you will need your Windows XP PC to migrate your data, and you can only migrate to a PC running Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1.)

Laplink PCmover Free 8

Click here to learn more about Laplink



Call AWP Computer Services for Assistance

If you are still unsure about your options, please feel free call AWP Computer Services for some FREE no obligation advice.  Whilst a direct transfer of your files to a nice new Windows 8 (8.1) laptop or desktop PC may be the preferred option, it's not the only option.  An upgrade to Windows Vista or Windows 7 (64 bit) in all their various flavours could be a cost effective way of extending the life of you existing computer system.

Visit the AWP Computer Services (PC Fix) web site for more information.