Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: Business, IT Support, small business | No Comments »
Today is shaping up to be a good end to a good week, not great but then not bad
either. It has been a week of working with clients and working on my own business, which has been nice for a change. This afternoon find me setting up virtualization for a client, not just for the sake of it either. When I first started working with this client both of their servers were almost 5 years old, which as we all know starts to become 'shaky ground'. The first plan was to replace these and after almost a year we had the budget and both servers had new hardware ordered.
When they arrived the first to be commissioned was the file & print server as this was a straight forward migration to Windows 2008 from Windows 2003. This went fairly smooth, and apart from printers, it didn't really cause us any hassle. The other server run's the clients line of business (LOB) application which was not compatible with Windows 2008, but as the client planned to upgrade we went ahead and ordered the new server anyway. Various meetings took place with the LOB support company and the client did not progress this despite making it clear that we *really* needed to do this as by now the hardware it was on was almost 7 years old. Before we completed this the business was sold, and while our services have been retained, this LOB application is still on the old server.
Now it was time to push, so I explained that we had to move this project forward and given that the LOB upgrade was not on the short term plan the best route was to virtualize the current server onto the new one using Hyper-V so that it is then on new hardware.
So this is where I find myself now and we are moving along great. The whole process has been made simple with the use of Paragon Drive Backup Server Edition, which the client already had, as it has a P2V Copy tool. Without this it would not have been so straight forward. So I will continue to 'sup' tea and eat my biscuits while we continue.
- Rob
Posted: June 10th, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: IT Support | 1 Comment »
If you want to install Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Office 2007 on the same Windows 7 computer there are a couple of considerations that should be made. Firstly, each version of Office must be installed into separate directories. In my case I installed Office 2007 first in the standard directory. Then I installed Office 2003 into a different directory i.e. "c:\program files\microsoft office 2003". When installing Office 2003 I install everything except Outlook 2003 as there was no need to have 2 versions of Outlook installed and that was the most likely one to cause a conflict.
When it finished installing both versions ran correctly but Word 2003 kept presenting the user with the Microsoft EULA each time the application launched. While they kept agreeing it still asked again the next time it launched. The resolution is to right click and 'Run as administrator' on Word 2003 which then stops this from happening again.
Hope this helps others out there.
- Rob
Posted: May 16th, 2010 | Author: robfranklin | Filed under: Business, IT Support, small business | No Comments »
I consider myself to be very lucky as I love what I do. Sometimes it gets a little frustrating when everything happens at once and there is just not enough bodies to throw at the problems but on the whole I *really* love what I do and the people that I work with. What I don't love is when we fail to deliver and let someone down, this happened on Friday.
What happened is that on Friday a client called in to the office and logged a call just after 9.30am to say that their network was down and they needed a call back urgently. I was on holiday at the time but I did see the message come in. As there are systems in place to deal with these things I resisted the urge to jump on the problem and call the client. However I couldn't resist the urge to log on to the clients server and check things over, I did and all was well again. So I left it to the guys to deal with the 'personal' side of the support call.
Then just after 12 noon another message was passed through to say that the client had called in again and was extremely upset that, while the problem was resolved, he had not received a call back from anyone to assist with the issue and wanted to discuss the support service as soon as I was back in the office next week. This is the type of call that every service provider, IT or otherwise, dreads getting from any of their clients. After checking in to the issue we found that the call had gone into an 'unassigned queue' in the ticketing system and had just been missed. The system which I created had failed which resulted in this situation and the bottom line is..'We screwed up'.
Now, despite the fact that the client had asked for a call next week when I was back at the office I called him immediately. The first thing that he said was 'you're on holiday right?' to which I answered 'yes', he responded by saying 'well you shouldn't be talking to me if you're on holiday'. I went on to tell him that I should be talking to him as this situation is not only important to me but I take them very seriously. The first thing I did was apologise for letting him and his business down, we had not delivered when he needed us most. I went on to explain to the client what had happened which resulted in the lack of call back from our office. I then explained what had been put in place to prevent this from happening again. The call ended with the client while unhappy about the situation in the first place, he also appreciated the fact that I had admitted that we had made a mistake and that processes had been put in place to prevent this in future.
In any customer service situation where they client has a genuine complaint that is quite obviously 'your' fault (you or your business) the single worst thing that you can do is to say that it is not your fault, 'pass the buck' or in some way not accept responsibility. In this situation I told the client that it was totally my fault and explained what had been done to prevent this in future. Now I was on holiday at the time so 'technically' it wasn't my fault but the fact is that when you are in a position of authority/responsibility you must accept responsibility for the actions of those that you entrust to undertake work for you or on you behalf, this may be a member of your team or a contractor; regardless they are still your responsibility. This simple act of acceptance of responsibility instantly creates 2 feelings within a person. The first is relief; the reason for this is whenever we complain we instantly get ready for a fight, no-one wants to have a fight but we get ready. The fact that he didn't have a fight on his hands was an immediate relief and took the 'wind out of his sails'. The second was that the partnership was right; this probably seems like an odd one but when you work with any service provider you want to feel its a partnership and feel comfortable that when you ask them to do something it will get done without badgering them. Likewise when they screw up and you are forced to complain then you also need to feel reassured that it will be dealt with efficiently and to your satisfaction saving you the frustration of keep having to shout. By dealing with this complaint in this way the whole situation what completely defused and we were able to discuss the problems rationally and allow the client to explain to me where we had let him down. That way I was able to make sure that we will deliver next time and more importantly make sure he is not put in that position again. A very good friend of mine once told me "You're only as good as your last job", never a truer word has been spoken.
This is something that I feel passionately about as on a personal level I have a lot of dealings with the NHS for our child and the people we deal with do not follow any of the standard guidelines above on dealing with complaints. This creates a great deal of frustrations when dealing with them so I would never want to put any one of my clients in this situation.
I understand that accepting complete responsibility in the first instance may not always be the right thing, if for example it may lead to legal proceedings. As a general rule I believe this is the right way to deal with clients as this is how I would like to be dealt with.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter and how you deal with failure. I do not believe that my way is right but I know what works well for me.
- Rob
Posted: March 22nd, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: IT Support, Security, malware, spyware | Tags: IT Support, malware, spyware, xp anti-malware | 1 Comment »
Since I have had to remove this from 2 computers today, which coincidently were both running AVG, I thought I would post up the way to remove it from an 'infected' computer.
NOTE: These instructions are intended as a guideline on how to remove this infection. If you are not sure how to do this then please make sure you consult a professional. All such information and related graphics are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind.
The first step is to repair the running of executable files (exe files):
Click on Start, Run and type 'notepad' then press enter. Now copy and paste the information below into Notepad.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\secfile]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secfile]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\shell\open\command]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@="exefile"
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"
Now save this file by clicking on File, Save As; select the file type and set it to "All Files" then enter 'fix.reg' into the file name box making sure you save the file to the Desktop and click OK.
Now double-click the 'fix.reg' file on the desktop and click Yes to confirm.
There is a second method which you may need to use to stop XP Anti-Malware from running, in both cases I have had use both methods so here is the second method.
Click on Start, Run and type 'Notepad' then press enter. Copy and paste all of the information below into Notepad.
[Version]
Signature="$Chicago$"
Provider=Myantispyware.com
[DefaultInstall]
DelReg=regsec
AddReg=regsec1
[regsec]
HKCU, Software\Classes\.exe
HKCU, Software\Classes\secfile
HKCR, secfile
HKCR, .exe\shell\open\command
[regsec1]
HKCR, exefile\shell\open\command,,,"""%1"" %*"
HKCR, .exe,,,"exefile"
HKCR, .exe,"Content Type",,"application/x-msdownload"
Now save this file by clicking on File, Save As; select the file type and set it to "All Files" then enter 'fix.inf' into the file name box making sure you save the file to the Desktop and click OK.
Now right-click on the "fix.inf" file on the Desktop and select Install. Now reboot the computer into 'Safe-mode with Network Support'.
Now download MalwareBytes Anti-malware, install and ensure that it fully updates before running. Now run a 'Quick Scan', once it has completed it will display the results. Now click on 'Remove Selected' and reboot the computer. Details about how to install and run MalwareBytes Anti-malware can be found on other sites but the important part is the Registry file and INF file above.
- Rob
Posted: March 10th, 2010 | Author: robfranklin | Filed under: IT Support, SBS, Security | Tags: anti-virus, support, trend, worry-free | 1 Comment »
We have started to roll out as number of Trend Worry-Free Business Security installations in the last week or so and have run in to the same problem each time. Each of the installations have been to Microsoft Small Business Server 2008 servers and what actually happens is that the WFBS management console installs onto Microsoft IIS by default, when you try to access the console you sometimes get a password prompt. After entering the password you are just left with a blank page, other times you don't get the password prompt at all. If you do get this then follow the steps below as this has fixed out problem each time:
- First open Internet Information Service Manager on the server and check that the website "OfficeScan" exists. Now close the Internet Information Service Manager.
- Now open a command prompt and change to the "Trend Micro\Security Server\PCCSRV" folder
- Now type "svrsvcsetup.exe -uninstall" and wait for this to complete, it could take a number of minutes.
- Now open Internet Information Service Manager on the server and check that the website "OfficeScan" no longer exists. Now close the Internet Information Service Manager.
- Now type the following commands pressing enter after each one:
- svrsvcsetup -install
- svrsvcsetup -setvirdir
- svrsvcsetup -setprivilege
- svrsvcsetup -enablessl
- Now restart the following services using the Services Applet:
- Trend Micro Security Server Master Service
- IIS Admin Service
- World Wide Web Publishing Service
Now if you try to access the console you should be able to log on to the console successfully.
This worked for us each time, so I hope it'll work for others too.
- Rob
Posted: November 7th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: IT Support | 1 Comment »
I ran into an issue on a new SBS2008 server at a clients office recently. Whenever I tried to launch Active Directory Users and Computers on the SBS2008 server it would come up with a Visual C++ Runtime error and the message read:
"The Application has requested the runtime to terminate it in a unusual way. Please contact the application's support team for more information"
The first job was to install all of the available updates which did not resolve the issue so a search of the usual online communities was in order and after a short search I came across someone with the same issue here.
The suggested resolution was to open Active Directory Sites and Services which in my case was not affected, then go to 'Tool' and on the 'Disk Cleanup' tab click on delete files. The issue seems to be caused by the installation of third party apps, however there is nothing unusual installed on this server but in this instance the AD tools were not happy. No the less simply following this method the issue was resolved and I hope this helps others.
- Rob
Posted: June 3rd, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: Business, IT Support, small business | 2 Comments »
I went out today to visit a client who was having problems with ESET Anti Virus. It transpired that despite paying for the software from their previous supplier and it being licensed until September 09 it was having a problem with the username & password for downloading updates. They did not have a copy of the username and password details nor were they able to contact their old IT supplier as they did not seem to be in contact any longer. The simplest way forward was to contact ESET directly to try to obtain the details. After a brief conversation with the main switchboard I was told that they would get someone to call us back from tech support as soon as they were available, yeah heard that before! However I was pleasantly surprised to receive a call back from their tech support team asking how they could help. I explained the situation and gave the username that we had from the software, I was asked to hold. The next thing person to come on the phone asked if I had a "query regarding why the account was suspended". I replied that I was just trying to find out what the password was as to was not downloading updates anymore. I was then told that the reason it had been suspended was because the previous IT supplier had not paid them for the software. I was asked if I was calling from the "end user" to which I replied "yes". Now at this point the client had paid the supplier for the software, however the supplier had not paid ESET so by rights the dispute was between client and supplier; ESET was under no obligation to correct this situation. What they actually did was nothing short of exceptional. The man on the phone said "ok, I will re-activate the license to the end of it's period in September. The only thing I ask is that when it is due you renew the product with us". This surpassed anything that I was expecting from this situation, the fact was as I said ESET did not have to put this right but the did.
At the end of this, for the cost of a license, they have a very satisfied client who will tell a good few people how well ESET looked after them. It was once said that sometimes you have to give something away free in order to get more business, this is a classic example of how to look after you client even if it may cost you a little; in the long run it will be worth.
Posted: May 13th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: Business, IT Support, life, small business | Tags: Business, IT Support, life | No Comments »
Over the years I have seen a great many IT engineers come and go, after all 16 years is a long time in the trade. During that time I have also taught a number of engineers the best ways to do the job, many of which had no formal qualifications such as MCP, MCSE etc. The first lesson that I have always made a point of teaching is to listen; listen to the client. Whenever you go out on a service call you will be given a description of the issue that you are there to resolve. In my opinion, the golden rule is to sit down with the client and ask them to explain the problem and listen. There are two reasons why I always do this; firstly the information that you have been given on your job sheet will be what the help desk interpreted from the client but may not be accurate so best to check. Secondly, you will allow the client to vent themselves to you and during the discussion you can usually connect with them on some level which will invariably given you a better insight to both the issue faced and the client personally. I have always felt that this was standard, common sense in all businesses. However, those of you that follow me on twitter (@robfranklin) will have seen the experience that I had with Dell's tech support on Friday which left me feeling somewhat frustrated. Here is how the conversation went:
Me: "Hi there, I have a problem with BackupExec for Small Business Server that was supplied with these new servers for my client".
Dell: "What is the problem?"
Me: "When I enter the license key it says that it is invalid. It accepts the "Premium" license key but it will not accept the SBS key"
Extended period of silence...now 15 minutes in to the call and not progressed
Dell: "What license number do you have?"
Me: "The license key is..."
Dell: "That's a serial number"
Me: "It says license key?"
Dell: "No that's the serial number"
Me: "But it says on the front cover that it is the "Software License Key" and inside, just above the key, it says "Software License Key". Surely it would say serial number if that is what it is?"
Dell: "No that's the serial number, you need to go to the Symantec licensing portal and register the serial number"
Me: "But I have done dozens of these and I have always just entered the key into the software"
Dell: "They have tightened up the licensing recently"
Me: "Hmm, ok where do I go to register the 'serial number'?"
So now we go to the Symantec licensing portal, I complete the registration in order to log on to the site. After entering the 'serial number' it says that the 'serial number' is invalid.
Me: "It says the number is invalid"
Dell: "Are you sure it is entered correctly?"
Me: "Yes I'm sure but it does not say it is a serial number it clearly says it's a license key"
Dell: "Ok I need to speak with Symantec, can you hold"?"
Me: "Err yeah ok"
So I was put on hold, 35 minutes in to the call and I had made no progress. Needless to say I did not stay on hold as by this point I was completely frustrated by the fact that the support technician was simply not listening. The conversation above it not verbatim but I must have explained to this guy about 10 times that it clearly states it is a License Key and not a Serial Number but he was not listening.
The most important skill that any person who is in a customer facing role can do is just listen. By not exercising this most fundamental skill during this call my whole experience with Dell's "Pro-support" was completely destroyed and had this been my first experience then I would be one very unhappy client and would think twice about buying Dell again. That said only a week before I had spoken to them and the support tech I spoke to I cannot say enough about. He listened and acted on what I was telling while verifying what I was saying was correct.
I can only assume that my bad experience was a one-off but none the less it was a bad experience. So if nothing else, don't talk just listen and everything else will take shape.
Posted: April 1st, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: IT Support, Light relief, insane stuff, small business | No Comments »
One of our clients called a couple of days ago to say there was a problem on on of the workstations. In summary the workstation kept crashing on the user and was generally unstable. After looking I found a number of errors on the workstation and the main one which caused me concern was the errors below:
When we look closer at one of the entries we see the following:
Quite clearly this is a problem. Now the "D" drive is actually a CD/DVD drive and after checking with the client the drive was empty. The errors were occurring throughout the day as well as overnight when clearly no-one was using it. So I recommended that he call Dell support as the unit was under warranty and it was most likely going to be a hardware fault probably a controller issue. I spoke with him again later to check how things went and he told me the guy on the phone, in a strong Indian accent, has got him to run the diagnostics and everything checked out fine. He was told that the error he was being shown was "normal" and was caused because there was not a CD in the drive!!! I really wish someone would have told me about this...all these years I was under the illusion that this symbol 
combined with the word "Error" was a problem. I'm so glad that a "quality" support service was able to clarify this clear mis-conception of mine, cheers Dell
- Rob
Posted: March 28th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: IT Support, small business | Tags: IT Support, small business, technical support | No Comments »
I was talking to a friend of mine recently and he was telling me about some problems he was having with a new client that his company was looking after. Now he's no stranger as he has been working with this ISP for more years than I care to remember and during this time he has been supporting end users and businesses with their Internet connections. This typically covered ADSL connections, hosting, email, ftp etc so he's no stranger to support but this type of support was a new thing as he was providing IT support. Anyone who provides IT support will know that it is a broad spectrum of support that is provided as we are expected to support servers, workstations, scanners, printers, routers, switches, photocopiers, smartphones and the list goes on.
One of the key characteristics of IT support technicians, in my opinion, is to listen to what the client wants or needs. Once you listen then you can deliver exactly what they are looking for from you but without the very first step you are headed nowhere fast. Now IT support on the "frontline" and Internet support have some very different characteristic but on key difference the scope of products and devices that need to be supported.
It turned out that the main issue with this particular client was that the person coordinating the IT internally did not really understand it which meant that they wanted to know every single last detail about everything on the system. The was not because of anything other than a fear of having to deal with and support (internally) something that they really didn't understand on anything other than a desktop use level. What we do is to help the client to understand what they need to know and explain why they don't need to know about the disk configuration on the server. This is the core of true IT support, it is the ability to not only support the technology but to also support the clients as an individual so that they can understand and more importantly how it relates to their business.
If your business is not getting good IT support from its supplier or you want to know how your system works for your business then contact us
