iTOK Blog

Welcome to National Cyber Security Awareness Week for 2013! As part of this week of awareness, we wanted to do a little research into what Cyber Crime costs all of us and how cyber criminals are targeting their victims. To that end, we’ve compiled an infographic with all sorts of fun stats, interesting items and more to peruse. Feel free to share this around and leave your comments below on what stat was most surprising to you.

Welcome to Lesson #5 of the iTOK Member Onboarding Program. We’re excited that you’ve joined us and look forward to helping you keep your computer in tip-top shape.

For our final lesson, we’d like to introduce you to all the ways you can stay connected with iTOK and stay up-to-date on your technology. Our goal is to make sure that you get the most out of your technology. To that end, we’ve set up several ways for you to get the latest from our technology experts—wherever you are.

Here are the top 4 ways you can learn the best tips and tricks for your computer

1. Facebook or Twitter – While you’re browsing Facebook looking and pictures of friends, kids or grandkids, why not learn a little bit on how to better use your computer. Every day, we’re posting tips, tricks, and other little tidbits to help you get the most out of your technology. Be sure to like us today!
2. The iTOK Blog – With several articles posted weekly, the iTOK blog is a treasure trove of knowledge, value and all sorts of insights into how you can best use your technology. Heck, you’re reading the blog right now! Be sure to subscribe in the upper right hand corner of this page or follow us on Facebook or Twitter to get the latest updates to the blog.
3. The iTOK Tech Newsletter – As a subscriber, each month, you’ll get an email from us filled with the latest and greatest ways to utilize your computer. From reviews of the latest gadgets to profiles of our fantastic techs, you’ll be kept up-to-date on the best way to get the most from your technology.
4. Tech Tuesday – Every Tuesday here at iTOK, we hold a tech party with our customers! From the latest tips to the coolest stuff we’ve found recently, Tuesdays are our days to let our hair down and just talk about how we can improve lives through technology. When it’s all said and done, we share the party with our customers and encourage them to get in on the conversation. It’s a blast!

Well, that’ll do it for your five initial lessons on how to work with iTOK. If you missed any of the previous four lessons you can find them here, here, here and here. And, as always, if you have a problem, question, tip or anything else you’d like us to talk about, don’t hesitate to drop us a line or give us a call.

We’re excited to have you on board and can’t wait to make sure your technology is the best it can possibly be!

Welcome to Lesson #4 of the iTOK Member Onboarding Program. We’re excited that you’ve joined us and look forward to helping you keep your computer in tip-top shape.

For today’s lesson, we’d like to talk to you about the iTOK Help Desk. Think of it like your personal technology concierge—whenever you have a question, need a tip or are unsure of what’s going on with your computer (and, let’s face it, that happens to all of us more than we’d like to admit) we’re here to help.

So, to get you off on the right foot, we thought we’d share three ways you can make the best possible use of the iTOK Help Desk.

1. To Download or Not to Download – Often, while we’re browsing the internet, we get requests to download this program or that program. Sometimes it’s difficult to know if it’s worth downloading or if it’s malware/spyware/virus in disguise. If you don’t know, pull up the iTOK Help Desk by clicking the iTOK logo in the bottom right hand corner of your screen and a friendly tech will be more than happy to look into the issue for you.
2. Can’t Connect to Email – Even if you can’t connect to email, fear not. The iTOK Help Desk is always on. Just click the iTOK logo in the bottom right hand corner and a tech will sit with you until you’re able to get access to your email again.
3. No Internet – Even if you have no internet, no worries. You can call the iTOK Help Desk by dialing 1-866-515-4865 and we can see what the problem is with your computer. No matter the issue, we can have you back online and browsing in no time.

That’s it for lesson #4! We hope you’ve been enjoying these lessons, but just in case you haven’t been able to access the lessons before, you can view the additional lessons here: lesson #1, lesson #2, lesson #3. Our next lesson is our final one, which will focus on how to get the most out of your technology experience. Be sure to keep an eye out for that post. In the meantime, drop us a line or give us a call and we’re happy to help with any problem you may have.

Welcome to Lesson #3 of the iTOK Member Onboarding Program. We’re excited that you’ve joined us and look forward to helping you keep your computer in tip-top shape.

For today’s lesson, we want to talk about tune-ups. We like to think of this as getting an oil change for your computer. Just like you bring in your car every three months to the shop for some quick preventative maintenance, iTOK provides a quarterly tune-up of your computer as part of your monthly subscription. And, just like regular oil changes help your car last longer, tune-ups do the same for your computer.

But, we wanted to let you know what it is that we do when we’re tuning up your computer, so here are the top 4 things we do during every computer tune-up.

1. Defrag the Hard Drive – Now, you may be asking what is “defrag” and what does it even mean? Well, think of it this way. Just like on a car, a transmission can get worn down by shifting gears on a daily basis. When you save a document (or change it’s location) you’re essentially causing the transmission to shift on your computer. And, when you make a lot of changes, the hard drive in your computer can develop errors and problems that make it difficult to use. When we defrag a hard drive, we’re essentially realigning the gears, giving them a good scrub and polish and filling in any holes. In this way, your computer remains speedy, secure and reliable.
2. Critical Operating System Updates – Every operating system, whether it’s windows or mac, usually goes through a series of updates every so often. Some are critical and others are less so. During the tune-up, we ensure that you’re up-to-date with the latest security fixes as well as performance enhancements so that you can take advantage of all the latest technology without worrying if your computer can handle it.
3. Check for Viruses and Malware – The anti-virus software handles this, but we want to be sure that it’s working properly. And, on the off chance that something did slip through, we want to catch it and get it off your computer before it can do any damage.
4. Remove Junkware – “Junkware” is the term given to software that installs itself on your computer for no other reason that to annoy you and slow down your performance. Things like browser toolbars, adware (which delivers unwanted advertisements) and other intrusive software that does nothing but hinder your computer’s performance. After all, the more programs that run, the slower your computer is.

That’s it for lesson #3. We hope you’re enjoying these lessons and if you’ve missed any, feel free to go back and see lesson #1 and lesson #2. Our next lesson will focus on the iTOK help desk, but in the meantime, if you have questions, or just want to get your next tune-up scheduled, give us a call or drop us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Welcome to Lesson #2 of the iTOK Member Onboarding Program. We’re excited that you’ve joined us and look forward to helping you keep your computer in tip-top shape.

For today’s lesson, the focus turns to online backup. If you’ve ever worked in technology, you probably know that most companies do a nightly back-up that archives everything that went on that day. From emails sent to new technologies built, everything gets backed up? Why? Well, for most companies, it’s the law. But in addition to that, it really goes back to the “measure twice, cut once” principle. In case something breaks or gets lost, online back up means you’ll never have to worry about losing anything digitally again.

With that in mind, here are three things that iTOK online backup does for you on a daily basis.

1. Save Those Pictures! – For most folks, this is a primary reason to have a computer—to store all those digital photos and be able to do a virtual walk down memory lane. But, how many times has your computer frozen and the first thing you think is, “I hope I don’t lose my pictures!” It’s certainly happened to us here at iTOK and we want you to be able to avoid that terrible feeling.
2. Never lose a document again – Have you ever been working on your computer and had it freeze or crash? With online backup, your computer is constantly (and we do mean constantly) backing up every document, file, folder and keystroke. Why? So that when your computer does crash, you can reboot and pick up right where you left off.
3. It’s Automatic – Online backup is truly one of those things that you can turn on once and never have to worry about again. And, if you do have to end up restoring your files, the process is so simple, all it takes is a couple of clicks and everything you’ve done will be restored automatically.

That’s it for this lesson! If you missed lesson #1 on anti-virus software, you can view it here. This is lesson #2 in our five part series on what your iTOK subscription does for you. Be sure to watch your email for lesson #3 on computer tune-ups. Until then, be sure to back up your files and if you need help, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Welcome to Lesson #1 of the iTOK Member Onboarding Program. We’re excited that you’ve joined us and look forward to helping you keep your computer in tip-top shape.

For your first lesson, we thought we’d start out with Anti-Virus. Did you know that nearly 70,000 new viruses are created each day? 70,000. Now, before you say, well, that’s not possible, consider this. The US Government employs roughly 3,000 full-time employees whose sole job is to know and beat online viruses. Hopefully, that communicates the magnitude of the threat and why constant, updated protection is not just a good thing—it’s completely necessary.

And, now that you’re protected, you won’t have to worry! Here are the top 4 things that the iTOK Anti-Virus software does for you on a daily basis:

1. Protection – Did we mention that there are 70,000 viruses that are created daily? Good virus protection isn’t just a good idea—these days it’s mandatory. With iTOK, not only is your computer protected, but you’ll never have to worry about another virus issue ever again.
2. Malware – Most folks don’t know that in addition to viruses, there is something out there that’s just as insidious—malware. These are small programs that are surreptitiously installed on your computer with one purpose—damage or destroy your computer. Antivirus software not only keeps out the bugs, it keeps out these little destroyers too.
3. Speed – The number one thing that slows down a computer is not the amount of programs you have open (although that does contribute), it’s the number of programs that run in the background. The more viruses and malware you have on your computer, the slower it will run.  With virus protection in place, your computer won’t be bogged down with unwanted programs or issues.
4. Privacy – For most viruses or malware, the goal is to get at your sensitive information. With antivirus protection, no matter where you go on the internet, your information is secure and protected. And with that peace-of-mind, you can enjoy everything good that technology has to offer while we keep out the bad.

That will do it for today’s lesson. Don’t forget, in a couple of days, you’ll get lesson #2 where we’ll talk about online backup. In the meantime, enjoy your computer and if an issue arises, give us a call!