Windows
Enhance your business with outsourced IT support
08/20/18
IT support has changed. Break-fix solutions no longer apply. As your IT environment grows and becomes more complex, the concept of depending on IT support only when needed is no longer sufficient. Instead, as your business reliance on IT expands, a managed service approach monitored by a team of IT professionals can discover and solve problems before your productivity is compromised.
Read More...Watch Out for Phishing Attacks Hidden in Your Email
12/18/17
Online criminals know we are all busy, and that we often aren’t focused on what we are opening, reading and where we are clicking. They take advantage of that inattention by forging email messages to look like they've come from Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, along with well-known banks, payment services, retailers, and even government agencies such as the IRS and the Social Security Administration. Even more dangerous are messages that appear to come from a trusted individual and include personal details—often targeted at executives and company managers.
Generally speaking, these attacks are called phishing. And they cost businesses hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
The goal, of course, is to prompt you to click a link in the message and visit a malicious website. That site usually continues to masquerade as being run by a company or organization you trust. Its aim is to sucker you into revealing confidential information by asking you to log in, pay for a product or service, or fill out a survey. The site — or an attachment in the email message — might also try to install malware. Although macOS is quite secure, it can still be affected if you approve certain security prompts.
Here’s how you can help identify potential phishing attacks. Read More...
A backup triple play that ensures data safety.
08/23/17
Hope is not a strategy when it comes to protecting your valuable data. If you hope your data never becomes wiped, lost, hacked or manipulated, you’re already in trouble.
It is not optional to back up your Mac®. Backing up your computer on a regular basis protects your professional and personal data against loss, theft, damage or corruption. Backups offer the iron-clad insurance you need for fast recovery at work and at home.
But don’t assume that a single backup to an external hard drive or even a drive on your desk is good enough. It’s not. Because a fire or flood at your office or home may not be selective as to the damage it causes. Plus, if you rely on your Mac to get your work done, you may not want to wait as long as it will take to restore from certain types of backup devices.
Here is a triple-play backup strategy will help you avoid virtually all of these problems.
Backup #1: Time Machine
Apple® has been making backups easier since 2007 by providing Time Machine® software with the Mac. Set it up with an external drive and it will cheerfully create versioned backups that contain multiple copies of each file as it changes over time. With versioned backups, you can restore a lost or damaged file to its most recent state, or to any previous state. That’s essential if corruption crept in unnoticed and you’ve been backing up a corrupt file for some time. Time Machine also enables you to restore an entire drive as of the latest backup, which you might do if you have to reformat or replace your drive.
Keeping up? Create custom apps to automate tedious business processes
06/21/17
1Password Is the Solution for Password Protection
12/15/16
Every. Single. Site.
You’re doing that, right?
Most of us use our pet’s name with a birthdate stuck on the end or something similar. And we use the same password for multiple sites because 1) it’s too difficult to remember a different password for every site, 2) we don’t keep a record of every password we create, and 3) we’re just plain old lazy. Read More...
Make CrashPlan Your Backup Plan
07/18/16
You don’t have to be caught unaware if your computer crashes. Read More...
Endpoint Protector 4 Protects Your Company’s Greatest Assets
06/15/16
Endpoint Protector 4, a full Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Mobile Device Management (MDM) product available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, and Android mobile devices, can help eliminate the risk by protecting your network and sensitive data from these types of threats. It will also help your company maintain compliance with HIPAA and other privacy regulations. The product provides protection in several different ways depending on the system or device. Read More...
Kerio Connect - Business Class Email
05/16/16
Kerio Connect Offers Features, Function and Reliability in an Affordable Mail Server
The days before email became essential to doing business seem like a theme for a documentary on the History Channel. Gone are the days when businesses relied solely on snail mail and phone calls to communicate. Email is a critical component to business success and the ability for your mail server to multitask is just as important. Ask yourself a few questions to determine if your email server is adequately meeting your current needs.
- Can you synchronize email messages between your phone and computer?
- Is the endless barrage of spam making it hard to find the real messages sent to you?
- Can you see and update the same list of contacts on your phone and your computer?
- Are you able to send and receive meeting invites that sync with your calendar?
- Can you easily set an out-of-office message and schedule it to turn on and off by itself?
Maximize Teamwork and Efficiency with Soonr
04/13/16
It’s not news that teamwork is essential to business success. You’re only as strong as your weakest link and all that jazz. To keep your team functioning at highest capacity, they need to be able to collaborate efficiently; however, workplace collaboration can be a real challenge for businesses with employees who work remotely or from different office locations. Even if all your staff works in the same building and on the same floor of that building, ensuring that each person is working with the most current version of any particular file or project can seem like a juggling act with updates flying fast and furious, usually via email . The result is multiple versions of the same project in various stages of update -- in other words, a big mess. This is where a file management and document sharing tool like Soonr can help.
Read More...Xero Accounting Software - Quickbooks Alternative
12/15/15
Inevitably, this conversation leads to them asking about what we use in our offices, because if it works for us, then surely it will work for them. While we can’t guarantee that perfect match 100% of the time, quite often it is true.
We think this applies to Xero accounting software. It’s what we use at CranstonIT and we have an expert available to set it up for you and train you how to use it.
Read More...
Pulling the Curtains on Your Electronic Window
11/13/15
Everyone wants to be liked. We want others to appreciate who we are, what we do, and what we’ve accomplished. We want them to want to get to know us and to learn what makes us tick. It’s basic human nature.
Today is your lucky day! There are more people than you can possibly imagine who want to know everything about you and are willing to pay for this information. They’re just not willing to pay you. And you’ll never actually meet them, either.
Have you ever noticed that immediately after shopping online for area rugs, you start to see rug ads in the margins of the web pages you visit or in the ads that appear in your Facebook timeline? Spyware and trackers are used by many companies as a marketing tool. It’s a form of adware that tracks your internet browsing habits and uses this data to deliver in-page ads targeted specifically to you. Read More...
Today is your lucky day! There are more people than you can possibly imagine who want to know everything about you and are willing to pay for this information. They’re just not willing to pay you. And you’ll never actually meet them, either.
Have you ever noticed that immediately after shopping online for area rugs, you start to see rug ads in the margins of the web pages you visit or in the ads that appear in your Facebook timeline? Spyware and trackers are used by many companies as a marketing tool. It’s a form of adware that tracks your internet browsing habits and uses this data to deliver in-page ads targeted specifically to you. Read More...
Be Ware of Ominous Pop Up Warnings in Your Browser
11/13/15
Scammers are a clever bunch. They capitalize on fear and lack of knowledge. Unfortunately, when it comes to understanding the complicated inner workings of computers and software, many of us have those traits in spades. It’s not that we’re ignorant, but technology is constantly changing. Unless you’re actively studying or working in the field of computer technology, it’s just plain hard to keep up with these changes. The scammers, however, seem to have no problems with this.
One popular way these internet scumbags attempt to lure us into their evil web is to plant an ominous warning that pops up on our monitor foretelling of grave danger ahead if we don’t act fast.
“Warning!” it says. “Your computer has a malicious virus.”
The message is almost always accompanied by a tech support phone number. Call this number and they are only too happy to bill your credit card a hefty sum. Read More...
One popular way these internet scumbags attempt to lure us into their evil web is to plant an ominous warning that pops up on our monitor foretelling of grave danger ahead if we don’t act fast.
“Warning!” it says. “Your computer has a malicious virus.”
The message is almost always accompanied by a tech support phone number. Call this number and they are only too happy to bill your credit card a hefty sum. Read More...
Collaborate Like a Pro and Save Money
08/13/15
Promotion extended till September 30th, 2015
If you’ve been struggling to find a simple way for your staff, consultants, clients, vendors, and anyone else who makes up your team to collaborate on projects and easily communicate status updates, assignments, changes and revisions, Samepage is the way to go. This multi-use tool puts all of your project’s components in one place, lets you assign tasks, and makes it easy for your team’s players to communicate without the need for multiple file sharing, messaging, and project management programs.
Read More...
Drowning in spam? Here’s how to send those spammers running.
06/30/15
Spam, or unsolicited emails sent to a large number of recipients, is an unfortunate byproduct of our online activity. Anytime you share your email address, you increase your chances of receiving spam. This includes posts made to online forums or web sites, online order forms that require an email address, web site registrations, job inquiries, blog subscriptions, and even emails sent to friends. Some companies share your information with partner vendors, while others sell it to the highest bidder. Even if you only share your address with a select few, if your friend’s account is hacked, the spammers gain access to their address book.
It’s easy enough to stop legitimate spam received from companies you know. Simply click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email to be removed from the mailing list. This will either unsubscribe you immediately or take you to a preferences page where you can unsubscribe altogether or limit the number and frequency of emails you receive. Marking this type of message as “Junk” often doesn't work well because businesses try very hard to craft messages that ensure their emails do not end up in a Junk folder. Read More...
Protect Your Computer and Save Money with this Special Sale on a UPS
05/13/15
Spring is here and in Pittsburgh that means thunderstorms and lightning strikes. Storms always bring an increased chance of power outages and power surges. Both of these cause problems with your computers and network hardware. Whether it’s the inconvenience of losing unsaved work, having your internet go out when you are under deadline or having the hard drive fail on your computer, power issues are bad news for computers.
Fortunately, there is an easy way to protect yourself against these types of issues. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) are a surge protector and battery backup in one. When storms rage around you, you can keep working since your computer system is safe. At CranstonIT, we believe that UPS systems are an important part your computer network both at the office and home. A UPS system is a relatively simple piece of hardware and having the “newest” version really isn’t any different than having an “old” version except that you get to pay more. The important part of a UPS is its battery. You need a good quality battery that is less then three years old.
Read More...
Fortunately, there is an easy way to protect yourself against these types of issues. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) are a surge protector and battery backup in one. When storms rage around you, you can keep working since your computer system is safe. At CranstonIT, we believe that UPS systems are an important part your computer network both at the office and home. A UPS system is a relatively simple piece of hardware and having the “newest” version really isn’t any different than having an “old” version except that you get to pay more. The important part of a UPS is its battery. You need a good quality battery that is less then three years old.
Read More...Slack: Redefining Business Team Communication
02/24/15
Team based communication in business is an often overlooked function in today’s business environment. Obviously, there are lots of ways to communicate: email, instant messages, phone, VOIP, online forums, but all them lack key features that make team based communication effective. Slack is a new cloud based communication service that allows teams to communicate easily and efficiently all in one place. While barely a year old with already 500,000 daily users, Slack has single handily revolutionized the way businesses are communicating. So what is Slack’s magic and how can it transform your team’s communication? Read More...
LibreOffice: A Free Alternative to Microsoft Office
01/15/15
For decades, Microsoft Office has been the king of software productivity suites. The issue is that Microsoft Office is expensive and, even worse, on Mac it often doesn’t run well. Apple offers it own version of Office (Pages, Numbers & Keynote). These are great Apps, but they use their own proprietary file format so sharing files with non Mac users can be a pain. Apple’s newest versions of these apps also use a file format that is actually a folder of items masquerading as a file. If you try to sync these files with online file sharing services like DropBox or Soonr, you quickly discover it can’t be easily done.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a software solution, that ran great on Mac, could open, edit and create files that were seamlessly compatible with Microsoft Office and didn’t cost a small fortune? LibreOffice is a solution to the office suite dilemma that not only provides all these features, but it’s also free. You can create “Word” documents, “Excel” spreadsheets, “PowerPoint” presentations and more all without paying a dime! Read More...
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a software solution, that ran great on Mac, could open, edit and create files that were seamlessly compatible with Microsoft Office and didn’t cost a small fortune? LibreOffice is a solution to the office suite dilemma that not only provides all these features, but it’s also free. You can create “Word” documents, “Excel” spreadsheets, “PowerPoint” presentations and more all without paying a dime! Read More...
SSL Poodle Bug
11/22/14
One of the advantages to being an Apple user is the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you are protected against the viruses that plague many other machines. While Macs are far safer than most other computers, they are still susceptible to some problems. The SSL POODLE bug is a flaw in encryption software that can allow a hacker to monitor the encrypted information that is sent over a network between your browser and secure sites. This means that sensitive information such as account information that you send encrypted over the internet could be seen and gathered by others. While the SSL POODLE bug may seem scary, it really only poses a threat when using public wifi networks. Often hackers create fake public wifi networks at places like coffee shops or restaurants. When logged into these networks, hackers can gain access to the information sent via your browser. Read More...
Custom Business Solutions
10/25/14
As a small business ourselves, we at Cranston IT understand that there are lots of challenges that the modern small business face. You may need to be able to access your important data from different locations such as your office, warehouse, production floor or on the road. It is often critical that your information stays up to date or you may need to create a workflow process that employees can follow. Maybe you’re looking to make the transition from working on paper to electronically or perhaps you are trying to eliminate double entries of data. Whatever problem your business is looking to overcome, we at Cranston IT have a solution. Read More...
Samepage - Online Collaboration for your Business
06/17/14
In a electronic age where fast pace business environments have become the norm, using services such as file sharing, tasks lists, and instant messaging has taken over the way we collaborate. Often, we have different programs or services that is being used to fulfill these different needs which can lead to losing data, or at best managing many windows. Samepage.io is a unique website that allows you to collaborate in all the ways you did before, just in one convenient location. Read More...
DuckDuckGo Search Engine Review
03/28/14
We use google for everything. From finding restaurant reviews, to questions on current events, and settling arguments between friends, Google has become our lifeline. From time-to-time we all Google things we want to keep private, and clearing the search history removes all previous search results, right? Unfortunately, no. Your searched history is tracked and compiled into a profile that can be sold. Not only can unique information about you be bought, but Google also keeps track of all your search history, which can be legally requested. Is all of this data collections a little alarming? Don’t panic, use DuckDuckGo.com Read More...
Recover Your Lost Data w/ Gillware
02/17/14
It’s a mantra here at Cranston IT. Backup, backup, and then backup again. We know we sound like a broken record. Why do we advise this time and time again? Well, sadly, if you don’t back up then when that inevitable glitch, user error or hardware failure occurs you’re going to have a problem. Sometimes it’s going to be a major problem.
If that crash does occur and you realize you didn’t back up your data, then what? There are still recovery options available through professional data recovery services. These services can be expensive but if your critical data is on a failed drive, it can be well worth the price of recovery. Read More...
If that crash does occur and you realize you didn’t back up your data, then what? There are still recovery options available through professional data recovery services. These services can be expensive but if your critical data is on a failed drive, it can be well worth the price of recovery. Read More...
Expand your mind with iTunes U
02/17/14
Learning is a lifetime pursuit that doesn’t stop at the end of our college careers. However, with lives that are busy, finding the time to take a class or attend a seminar may seem impossible. Apple’s application, iTunes U, is a great tool that will help you expand your mind while making it easy, fun and free! Read More...
1Password - Effective Password Management
01/24/14
In a growing online world, passwords are required for everything. From email, to e-commerce sites, and online banking, we’re bogged down with tons of passwords to commit to memory. Unfortunately, this often leads to using the same password for multiple sites along with passwords that aren’t always as strong as they should be. There is a solution. 1Password is an application for your Mac, iPad, and iPhone, that not only remembers all of your passwords for you, but also generates secure ones that will help protect your accounts from getting hacked. Read More...
FileMaker 13 - A Step Forward in Business Management
12/17/13
Filemaker has been our go-to database solution for years. It’s great for custom building a business software solution for managing your business. If you need software to run your business but can’t find any pre-packaged software that suits your needs, a FileMaker database may be your solution. It’s cross platform and will work on Mac, PC and iOS.
FileMaker just released FileMaker 13. This new version introduces Web Direct. It’s now possible to get the full FileMaker experience through a web browser. That means that FileMaker can now be accessed directly from a web browser on your desktop or laptop. The FileMaker software no longer has to be installed on a computer. The connection is direct to the live database. Changes are immediately available just like you were working in the FileMaker Pro application. Read More...
FileMaker just released FileMaker 13. This new version introduces Web Direct. It’s now possible to get the full FileMaker experience through a web browser. That means that FileMaker can now be accessed directly from a web browser on your desktop or laptop. The FileMaker software no longer has to be installed on a computer. The connection is direct to the live database. Changes are immediately available just like you were working in the FileMaker Pro application. Read More...
Backup. Now. Before It's Too Late
10/21/13
Backing up your data is not an option. It’s a necessity. Computer crashes and server glitches are inevitable. They will happen, trust us on this. We know. What is not inevitable is data loss. Your data can be protected. It can also be restored quickly and efficiently.
Our professional data backup service safeguards your data up to the minute. It’s automatic and continuous, and we securely store your data on enterprise-grade servers at off-site data centers. Read More...
Our professional data backup service safeguards your data up to the minute. It’s automatic and continuous, and we securely store your data on enterprise-grade servers at off-site data centers. Read More...
FileMaker Databases for your Business
09/13/13
It’s a competitive world. That means businesses must be as efficient and productive as possible. This is especially true for small businesses. Often businesses cannot find a pre-made software program that works the way their business operates. That’s when a custom built database can help you take your business to the next level of automation and efficiency.
We recommend FileMaker Pro. This database software has been an industry leader for small and medium size businesses for over 20 years. It’s cross platform and data can be accessed from your Mac, Windows PC, web browser or iOS Device. Multiple users can access the database simultaneously from anywhere there is an internet connection. Read More...
We recommend FileMaker Pro. This database software has been an industry leader for small and medium size businesses for over 20 years. It’s cross platform and data can be accessed from your Mac, Windows PC, web browser or iOS Device. Multiple users can access the database simultaneously from anywhere there is an internet connection. Read More...
Integrate Google Maps into your FileMaker database
08/23/13
We have numerous clients using FileMaker Pro databases to manage their business. Sometimes these databases are used to schedule crews and salesmen. Being able to visualize where your crews or salesmen are going is a huge asset in a scheduler’s arsenal. We are able to integrate Google Maps directly into your FileMaker database to help you see where your employees are.
With the integration of ProMaps, the locations of your projects, contacts or any other needed address records are beautifully displayed so that you can keep track of all that is going on in your company’s business abroad. Mapping also allows scheduler’s to see exactly where crews and salesmen are at any given time, allowing them to easily add in additional appointments. Read More...
With the integration of ProMaps, the locations of your projects, contacts or any other needed address records are beautifully displayed so that you can keep track of all that is going on in your company’s business abroad. Mapping also allows scheduler’s to see exactly where crews and salesmen are at any given time, allowing them to easily add in additional appointments. Read More...
Kerio Connect: New Webmail & Tutorial Videos
05/23/13
As many of you already know, Kerio Connect is an ideal solution for businesses that need a reliable yet affordable alternative to Microsoft Exchange. This powerful mail server provides email, shared calendars and contact management to most email clients, web browsers and mobile devices. It also has integrated anti-virus, multiple layers of spam control, built-in archiving, automated backup and an easy Web Administration interface.
It is completely cross platform and works on Macs, PCs and mobile devices. This means everything is integrated even if Windows users are using Outlook and Mac users are using Apple Mail, Address Book or iCal. Kerio Connect can be run on your own internal server or hosted by CranstonIT in the cloud. Read More...
It is completely cross platform and works on Macs, PCs and mobile devices. This means everything is integrated even if Windows users are using Outlook and Mac users are using Apple Mail, Address Book or iCal. Kerio Connect can be run on your own internal server or hosted by CranstonIT in the cloud. Read More...
Creating a Shared Contact List in Kerio
08/13/09
With Kerio it's possible to create a directory of Contacts that can be shared throughout the organization. There are several different ways to share Contacts in Kerio, but this way works best for sharing between users accessing Kerio from different sources ( Webmail, AddressBook, Entourage, Outlook ). Read More...