Keyboard Shortcuts That Will Make You More Productive

Ctrl + Tab = Switches between the Start screen and the Apps view. With some web browsers the same shortcut can switch between tabs (e.g. Firefox) or for creating new tabs (e.g. IE).

Win Key + type app name = When using it on the Desktop, you get the Start-screen and can search for installed apps using the name you typed in.

Escape – When using it on the Start screen, the key closes the Start-screen and switches to Desktop.

Win Key + E = Launches File Explorer.

Win Key + R = Launches the Run dialog that can run programs or commands.

Win Key + X = Launches a hidden menu with many useful shortcuts. This menu is also named the WinX or the power user’s Start Menu.

Win Key + L = Locks your Win 8.1 PC or device and takes you to the Lock screen.

Win Key + P = Opens the Project sidebar for extending your image to a second screen. If you have more screens or if  using a projector, this sidebar allows you to choose how the image can be displayed. You can keep the image on a single screen, duplicate it and extend it to another screen or only display on an additional screen.

Win Key + C =Displays the Charms bar. Navigate through the charms with the arrow keys.

Win Key + Q = Launches the General Search. Use this to search for files and settings on your PC, the Web, and One Drive, as well as through installed apps and the Win Store.

Win Key + F = Launches the Files Search. Use this to search for files on your PC and One Drive.

Win Key + W = Launches the Win Settings Search. Use this to search for specific operating system settings by typing in certain keywords.

Win Key + I = Displays the Settings charm.

Win Key + H = Launches the Share charm.

Win Key + K = Displays the Devices charm.

Alt + Tab = Repeatedly pressing the Tab key while holding Alt pressed cycles through open Win and apps. Release tab key on the window or app that you want to open.

Ctrl + Alt + Tab = This combination of keys displays the list of open Win and apps and keeps the list on screen even after the keys are released. You can then navigate through open Win and apps using the arrow keys.

The purpose of this article is to help business owners verify that their 

servers are maintained properly by their IT support technician. It is our experience that many (non-BCT) IT support technicians skip basic server checks and regular monitoring; as a direct result of their negligence the business suffers from a server failure.  

Scary Disclaimer: Even though most of these steps may be easy, anyone following them should use caution and acknowledge that you are doing this at your own risk. If at any point you are unsure of what to do or how to do it, then DON’T DO IT and ask an IT support professional for help. We are not responsible for any server, hardware or data failures.

CHECK 1: (Visually verify that the server hard drives have not failed)

On most servers it is easy to do a quick visual check of the hard drives to see if any drives have gone bad. To do this go into the server room and look at the front plate of your server. On some servers you may have to remove the front bezel. You should be seeing a set of hard drives stacked horizontally or vertically. See example below…

NOTE: If you do not find a blinking set of hard drives then do not proceed any further as you may have a generic brand server that does not give visual alerts

When looking at the blinking set of drives try to identify a drive bay with solid red or amber lights. This drive bay should distinguish itself from the other drive bays.

This indicator usually means that one of your hard drives has died and that your server is in jeopardy of failing. To completely verify the drive failure we recommend that you call the customer service of your server manufacturer (Dell, HP, ABMX, Intel, etc…) and ask them if they concur with your visual findings. Once you verified a hard drive has failed, it is important to get it replaced ASAP by a reliable IT company (like us).

CHECK 2: (Verify Physical Maintenance of the Server) Look at the front and back of the server. If your see large amounts of dust on the fan holes, this means that the server has not been maintained for a long time and is likely overheating inside. An overheating server will cause hard drives to fail and hardware to break down. See examples below…

CONTINUE TO THE SECOND PART OF THIS ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE: /critical-server-checks-it-often-neglects-part-2/

(PART 2 of 2)

Scary Disclaimer: Even though most of these steps may be easy, anyone following them should use caution and acknowledge that you are doing this at your own risk. If at any point you are unsure of what to do or how to do it, then DON’T DO IT and ask an IT support professional for help. We are not responsible for any server, hardware or data failures.

*The following Checks will require you to login to the server with admin access.

CHECK 3: (Run the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer) First download the “Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer” from your workstation (not the server). You can Google the name or click the download link here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7558

If your server is 64 bit then click the “MBSASetup-x64-EN.msi” download.

If your server is 32 bit then click the “MBSASetup-x86-EN.msi” download.

(If you don’t know your server version, you can download both but only one will run on the server, the other one will just refuse to run. Typically the newer servers are 64bit)

Next save the file(s) to a USB drive, insert the drive to one of the USB ports on the server and login to the server. Copy the file(s) to the desktop and run the program. Use the default settings and scan the computer. The result will be a report on the status of the server and any issues that may exist.  For further help in understanding this report, contact BCT.

Check 4: (Verify Backups) The best way to verify your backups is to login to the server and place a document file on the server. Give the file a catchy name and then on the second day delete the file from the server and the recycle bin. On the third day call your IT Company or person, give them the name of the file, and ask them to recover it for you. If your server has daily backups, they should not have any problem recovering the file for you. From our experience, we learned that an actual restore is a much more reliable way of testing your backups vs. just getting a report. This is why with our backup agreement we require our techs to manually restore a random file from the server on a regular basis.

Check 5: (Server Restart) This last step could be risky and should be done during non-business hours. It may also cause services to fail after the server comes back online so do this at your own risk. We also recommend to have an IT person on standby should something go wrong and to verify your server backups first.  During power outages and hardware failures your server will restart. It is important to understand what happens when it does, what fails during restart and to have a controlled test. In most cases, a server should restart completely within 30 minutes and should not need an IT person to bring the server services back online. If a server that does not restart on its own, its usually because the server is unmaintained or has a lot of serious errors.

To restart the server, login to the server and then select restart from the bottom left windows menu. Do NOTrestart the server by pulling the power cord from the back, powering off the UPS/surge protectors, or by holding down the power button. 

By following the steps above you will have a better picture of the status of your company servers. In the chance that you discover that your IT is not doing a good job, we ask that you call us and allow us to earn your business.

As a business, you either host your email on your local server or use an email hosting provider such as Google, GoDaddy, NetFirms, etc… Both of these options have their advantages and disadvantages which will differ depending on many factors.

In-House Email Server

If you host your emails on a local server using products such as MS Exchange or Zimbra you may encounter problems such as:

  • Server being flooded with spam, viruses and malware leading to infected machines
  • Server may get blacklisted and causing clients to reject your emails
  • Internet connection goes down halting all internal and external emails.
  • Continuous maintenance and backups of the server are required.
  • Lost emails when your server is down from any of the above

So why do some businesses often opt for a local server despite these headaches?

Because emails that are stored locally can be accessed quicker than emails stored online.  Businesses like having complete control of the entire email system, including response time to incidents.  Another benefit is the option to  monitor who has physical and remote access to the server at any given time.  Plus many of the in-house email server products have wonderful tools for collaboration of emails, calendars, notes and contacts throughout the office.

Cloud Email Service

If you host your business emails “in the cloud”  some common problems you may encounter are:

  • Collaboration difficulties with  emails, calendars and contacts across same domain accounts
  • Web email access has limited email manipulation and creation features.
  • The remote server can go down and you may not be able to retrieve your emails
  • Users must stay online to read and write more than one email.
  • Limited storage space set on email host

So what are some reasons that businesses often opt for use of online email provider despite these issues?

One reason is that most of the cloud email hosting providers have a robust SPAM and virus solution.  It means not having to pay monthly subscription fees or having to download updates. The two big issues that can crash and cause emails to stop coming in altogether. Using an online email providor also means that there is no additional software required to install and maintain. This often makes most email hosting services a cheaper option when compared to the cost of a local server.

Both In-House and Cloud

With BCT a business can get the benefits of both email solutions while removing a majority of the disadvantages. For our clients we can creatively setup their email server to work WITH the cloud hosted service.  This setup is not for everyone and requires both the local email server and an email hosting account in the cloud. However, most our clients find that the PROS outweigh the CONS.

The PROS of having BOTH an in-house server and storing email in the cloud:

  • Saves your business reoccurring costs on SPAM and AntiVirus subscriptions
  • Since the cloud email provider is responsible for sending and receiving emails, your emails  and server cannot get black listed
  • Should your cloud hosted email server fail you can still view, send, and receive emails via the in-house server
  • Should the in-house server  fail you can still view, send, and receive emails via the cloud hosted email server
  • Reduce the amount of time needed for server maintenance due to email SPAM, viruses and phishing attacks

The CONS of having BOTH an in-house server and storing email in the cloud:

  • You must have both, email server and an email hosting account in the cloud
  • Solution does not work for clients which are cannot store email data outside of their office

Disk Cleanup utility is part of every windows operating system to help the system run faster, free hard drive space and clean the computer from unnecessary clutter. It can be accessed by opening My Computer in Windows XP or the computer icon Computer in Windows 7 (Keyboard Shortcut “Windows logo + E”) and by right clicking the properties of the local hard disk. “Disk Cleanup” will be on the lower right side disk properties screen. It will run a scan of the drive and a window will come up with the selection of which categories to clean. After the categories are chosen, clicking the “OK” button will start the Disk Cleanup Utility.

How does disk cleanup work? The utility first searches and analyzes the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use, and then removes the unnecessary files after the user confirms. There are a number of different file categories that Disk Cleanup targets when performing the initial disk analysis. These are the most common;
 

  • Compression of old files – Files which are compressed and they have not been opened for a while
  • Temporary Internet files – Internet browsing history
  • Temporary Windows file – Windows browsing history
  • Recycle Bin – Recycle Bin files if it’s not empty
  • Setup Log files – Logs of any software that has been installed on the local computer