Ads by BlockandSurf are typically a sign of severe trouble with your computer. Past releases of this malware could be removed easily by uninstalling the software and sometimes removing some registry settings. However the lastest infection we found on a Windows 8 system was unresolved except by reinstalling the system to the factory default installation.

Signs of Infection

The Ads by BlockandSurf appear as popup ads in the lower left of the browser, on the left as sidebar ads, and in some cases will appear as a floating web dialog box over the main web page. In all cases there is some indication that the popup is being presented by "Ads by BlockandSurf". One of the signs that this is not the easy to remove version of this infection is that clicking on a link on what appears to be a clean web page results in the destination page appearing with the ads and one or more addition tabs or browser windows that appear attempting to display web sites that have malicious content that attempts to install on your computer.

A very frustrating situation for our business clients is when they send an e-mail message to a client that has hyperlinks embedded in the message and the link doesn't open in the client's web browser. The issue is typically caused when Google Chrome or another web browser is installed and then later removed. But malware applications will also cause this issue too.

To fix the web links in your Microsoft Outlook application so that they will open, follow these steps.

You may be wondering why your cursor keys along with  your Home and End keys are not working properly. When you attempt to move your cursor from one cell to another using the cursor keys, the entire spreadsheet moves in that direction. Also the Home and End keys only take you to the far left or right of that row that is currently visible instead of taking you to the beginning or end of that row.

The simple solution might be that you accidently turned on your Scroll Lock. This is a special key that is seldom used today and exists near that upper right of the keyboard between two other keys rarely used, Print Screen/ System Request key and the Pause / Break key. Check your keyboard and see if the light for the Scroll Lock is on, if so that is likely the cause of your issue. Simply press the Scroll Lock key once to turn it off; you should notice the indicator light goes off as well.

I am often asked about recommending computers to our clients. The issue I find with this is that there are two types of computer buyers: those who ignore it and those that take the advice. Everyone has an opinion but after working with computers for about 30 years I would like to believe that I know something about computers.

Many years ago some of the best computers were assembled from some of the best parts money could buy. There were some great products in the 80's into late 90's but building a computer was one way to get the best of the best and the satisfaction that you did it yourself.

When attempting to connect a vCenter server to Active Directory I got an error that I had to enter a fully qualified domain name in the Domain field, which I had done. So why the error. I started checking the following areas.

Domain Resolution - does the domain resolve back to one of the domain controllers. In my case I could ping and perform an nslookup on the domain and it resolved fine.

While working with a client system we found that the Internet Explorer or any other browser application kept having issues with accessing the Internet. Reseting the browser settings would temporarily resolve the problem but it would quickly return the moment we would leave the client.

It turns out the client was using Juno as their e-mail application. As the user would review their mail they would occasionally get a message that had a hyperlink in the message to a web site. When clicking the link Juno would automatically open by change the proxy settings to force the browsing through their system.  

After a recent update on a WatchGuard XTM 5 series we were unable to login using Internet Explorer 10 and the WatchGuard Web UI. The only way to connect to the WatchGuard XTM firewall was to use the WatchGuard System Manager. For us this a bit of a handicap in several ways and we refuse to use Chrome or Firefox since they tend to be less secure.

We finally were able to fix it with a suggestion from WatchGuard support.

One of the most common questions we get regarding mobile devices is how to setup an Apple iPhone with access to a corporate Microsoft Exchange mail system. This doesn't have to be a local system, it could be a hosted cloud Exchange server as well. Many people often will use a POP connection but this really doesn't allow the mobile device to exploit the full capabilities of the Microsoft Exchange services such as synchronizing contacts and calendars. So, get the full benefit of Microsoft Exchange by using the Exchange mail connector on the mobile device.

There are a couple of pre-configuration steps that you may want to take, especially if you have moved your Exchange service to a different hosting provider.

We seem to have a great need for training our clients on removing garbageware or other unwanted applications. So in order to provide that training and have it as a future reference for when they forget how they performed the task at a previous time, we are making this How To training public for reference.

This process, although written with Windows 7 in mind, will basically work as well with the other versions of Windows with some minor changes.

Each time Fedora would release a new version I would install a fresh install of the latest version. The difficulty was always trying to remember how I setup the previous system so that everything would work. In this case the primary function of the Fedor server was for web site hosting. These are the typical steps I used to create my Linux server based on research from others that have posted their process as well as my own experience in the process.

One additional aspect of this process was to support Joomla installations. You will note specific configuration settings that relate to the operation of Joomla in Linux at the end.

Frequently we are called to a new client because of network performance or stability issues. These cases manifest themselves over time by inexperienced data cabling installers, typically the business owner or one of the employees, who attempted to save some money by doing the work themselves.

The installation of data cabling, also referred to as structured cabling, is almost as much an art form as it is a time tested trade that can most effectively be perfected through the training by one with years of experience and formal training in the field.

Many of the new Dell professional displays don't have the audio feature but when connected to a computer using the HDMI cable the computer will attempt to default the audio playback through the HDMI connection anyway. This is why you may not have audio on your computer, even if you have built-in audio on your laptop or desktop computer.

To resolve this issue you will need to change your default audio device to one that does have audio functionality. Here are some steps that might help.

Microsoft Small Business Server 2011 is one of the nicer releases of small business server line of products that was released for a number of reasons. Most importantly it contains all of the important business server applications than any small business would need such as security, file sharing, web services, e-mail, and database services.

It is critical that when you perform any administration of an SBS 2011 server that you perform the task using the Small Business Server Console whenever possible. After installing Small Business Server 2011, this console will continue to open automatically on login to the server unless you disable it. This is where you check the status of the system, add and remove users, create shared resources, and ensure that your system is backed up as well a many other functions. The console will only open for one user at a time, so if you have more than one user logged into your small business server the console may not open if it is open in another session.

One of the first signs that you have malware on your computer is that Internet Explorer begins to have performance issues or stops working all together. We highly recommend to our clients to only use Internet Explorer, although the version may vary depending on how they are using it. For most, the latest version should be used as this will provide the best security.

If you suspect your computer is infected with malware, open your Control Panel and select the Uninstall a Program option. Review the applications that are installed and see if any of them are on our Garbageware list. This is the low hanging fruit of normal computer clean up that will help with your computer stability and performance.

We often have found with many of the new routers and Windows 7 and later will default to IPv6 for all their Internet lookups when browsing the web. The issue is that seen by many is that the resolution of names in the URL are delayed until an IPv4 is used to complete the lookup. This problem started after an update by Microsoft that caused IPv6 to be preferred over IPv4.

Microsoft released a Knowledge Base article on this issue, KB2533454 - Resolving Internet connectivity issues after World IPv6 Launch (June 6, 2012). This KB article contains a Microsoft FixIt tool to change the preferred IP version from IPv6 back to IPv4

The success of a deployment of new computers in a business environment has allot to do with the process and being consistent with that process. Getting the steps out of order may cause some issue that were not expected nor will you know why one computer works fine and another doesn't.

Below is a list of steps that we often follow for deploying new computers in a business environment that has a Windows domain controller.

Symantec has officially pulled the plug on their Backup Exec.cloud solution, and support will end in January 2015, leaving organizations in search of a solution to safeguard their data easily and affordably.   Firestone Technical Resources, Inc. has partnered with several industry leading backup providers giving our clients just the product and service they need. We’ve already put in service with clients these cloud backup options and know that they work. We hope this comprehensive replacement guide will help you determine the right product solution and value that fits your organization.

You probably also know that Symantec’s Backup Exec.Cloud was competitively priced, but was little more than a simple file backup solution. It lacked many business-grade features such as agentless environment backups, business continuity, and full servers, workstations,  Exchange, SharePoint, SQL, VMware, and Hyper V support.

The Kyocera KM-5035 and Copystar CS-5035 both have a separate scanner controller with its own network connection. Once this card has been connected to the network and configured with an IP address at the main control panel, you can then remotely access the configuration using your web browser.

You will also need the Kyocera File Utility application in order to complete the network scanning configuration. This utility provide a data transfer connect between the PC workstation and the scanner. Be sure to download and install this utility on any computer you wish to scan to.

In the business realm there is often a need to run applications from a remote system or through a terminal services connection on a remote server. This works great in most cases except when you are attempting to use a local USB device with that remote session. There are several products available that can be used to help make the use of remote devices that use the local USB port and one of them is from RDS Tools.

We have not tested this product but are currently posting this article for notification purposes in the event others may be looking for this type of product. At some point we will likely implement this with one or more of our clients and then write a review. If you are reading this post and have used the USB for RDP tool from RDS Tools, feel free to leave a comment on your experience.