Little Dog Tech Logo
CALL US
515-422-1995
5946 Ashworth Rd.
West Des Moines, IA 50266
  • Home
  • Remote Support
  • Services
    • Residential Services
    • Business Services
  • Pricing
  • About
  • Reviews
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
  • Partners

Setup for the Holidays

February 12, 2020 by Paul Schwegler

The holiday season is here again. TV advertisers have released their festive jingles and stores have dusted off their Christmas displays. Most importantly, shopping centers have moved their latest and greatest devices to the front of the store. It’s almost time to eat warming treats in front of a roaring fire.

There may still be work to do, however, before we can invite round family to unbox their latest gadgets and watch the year’s Christmas movie. A little maintenance, updates, and set-up goes a long way to ensure the holiday season goes without a hitch.

Sadly, not every device is ready to run straight out the box. Not every device even comes ready to interact with others when it’s first opened. Each new gadget comes with its own setup and new things to learn.

Often today, devices, toys and computers require extensive updates before they are ready to function. This commonly means large downloads and lengthy installation periods.

In previous years devices have been purchased for Christmas, only to be rendered useless waiting for updates while large numbers of requests crash the company servers. This can be highly frustrating and put a real dampener on the holiday spirit.

Here is how we can help this season:

Setup New Devices

In the modern day simply purchasing a gadget doesn’t make it ready to use. Often they still need setup, updates, and extra steps to make it safe to access the internet too.

Bring your device to us and we can have it safe and ready to use the second you unbox it. We’ll perform initial setup, get it ready for the network, and install mandatory updates. By the time we’re done, your device will be the first one ready to use. For relevant devices, we can install additional features too. Parental protection, antivirus and security features ready to defend your machine against the latest threats.

Whatever the device we can configure it to the way you want to use it.

Transfer Data and Retire Old Devices

Getting a brand new device can be fun and exciting. Before getting carried away with the latest tech, we must consider what happens to our old data too. Depending on the device there are any number of dangers and pitfalls to think about.

Replacing an ageing laptop or desktop computer with a brand new model, for example, has inherent danger in data storage. These computers typically use hard drive disks to store all their data.

When disposed of improperly, hard drives are vulnerable to being removed and taken. These can often be read and copied by thieves looking to steal your data. Old devices containing data need just as much care and attention as new ones fresh out the box.

There are many cases where individuals have had important records stolen this way. In some cases the information has been used to access accounts, and in others, for blackmail.

Mobile devices typically have some form of data storage too. This may store applications or media that has been bought and paid for; but also data such as records and photographs that hold a great deal of value.

We can help transfer old files and data to your new device and safely dispose of your old one too.

We can ensure that every photograph, video, and bit of data is recovered from your mobile device or laptop so that you never lose a single file. We can securely wipe and even physically destroy old hard drives at your request. We strive to ensure you keep every bit of your old data and not a single byte falls into the wrong hands.

Troubleshooting

It sometimes happens that new technology has moved so fast and changed so much that it doesn’t play well with older devices already installed on your network. Sometimes it seems impossible to even connect certain devices at all.

Often simple configuration changes are all that’s required to introduce two pieces of technology successfully. With the right set of eyes and in knowledgeable hands the most complex of jobs can be turned into a quick fix.

If your goal is for a smooth, fun and relaxing holiday season, give us a call at (515)422-1995 and we’ll get you up and running in time.

Filed Under: Residential, Tips Tagged With: Holidays, installation, setup, troubleshooting

Share:

Got a New Device? Here’s the Essential Tech Prep You Can’t Afford to Skip

October 2, 2017 by Paul Schwegler

It’s tons of fun getting a new device. Whether it’s a new desktop, laptop or phone: the thrill of getting it home and opening the box is great. We know, we love tech too. It even has its own version of new car smell! Once you get it home though, there are a number of things that need to be done before it’s really usable – beyond snazzing it up with a new case or mousepad.

The sellers like to say it’s ready to use straight from the box – and it is at a base level – maybe not quite the way you need it to work. They’ll all turn on, look for wifi, and sure, you can type…but rather like when you buy a new fridge, simply turning it on isn’t enough – it’s still empty and you’re still hungry. A few minutes now to prep your new device will save you time, stress, and quite possibly money.

This is a long and detailed list, so keep it for future reference or forward it to your friends that may be in the market for a new machine!

Install all Security Updates and Fixes

From the factory to your hands, that device has been in the box for at least a month. In the world of security, that’s an eternity. During that time on the shelf, new viruses have come out and new software weaknesses have been discovered. Fortunately, new updates to combat these problems were also created, they just haven’t been downloaded to your device yet. The first thing you should do after turning the new device on is to use its update feature to get all updates installed. That way, you know your device is safe to go online.

Install a Security Suite

This may not be necessary for most mobile devices, but if you have a new Windows machine or even a Mac, we STRONGLY suggest investing in a high quality security package. Not all antivirus programs are created equal, and often times the one that may come ‘free’ on your machine is only there because it was cheap for the manufacturer or reseller to provide.        For consumer use, we recommend ESET Smart Security by NOD32 or Bitdefender. We even have a managed business grade antivirus based on Bitdefender that we can provide for a similar price than most residential grade products! Contact us if you are interested in being protected by the professionals at Little Dog Tech rather than a freebee.

Setting up Hardware

If your new device is a computer, you’ll need to hook it up to extra tech like a printer or webcam. These tasks that should be plug-and-play can sometimes send you loopy, especially when you’ve got a plug mismatch or incompatible drivers.  One hint is to not use the disks that came with the machine. Instead, go online to the manufacture’s website to download the newest version of drivers and software to ensure compatibility. Some common websites are:

https://support.hp.com/us-en

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/

https://www.brother-usa.com/support/

Be careful Googling a manufacturer’s support website, many scammers will put up ads and pretend to be support for a certain company but charge you astronomical amounts of money for something that may actually be free!

Setting up the Network

There are two types of networks in the residential world, wired and wireless. Wired connections are always best, so if your new computer is going to be located near your router or an active ethernet plug, use that. But, more and more people these days are using wireless connections. This is great, but it can be slower and less stable and the biggest problem we see is people don’t know what their wireless pass-key is! If you don’t have record of what your key was, you will either need to retrieve it from another connected machine, connect to the router with a wire to access it and extract the key, or reset your router to defaults and set it up again from scratch. These are more complicated tasks than what I can explain in a newsletter, so if you run into this issue we can help!

Backup, Backup, Backup

This is a great time to think about having a robust backup procedure in place. You would hate to get everything moved over to your new machine and find out that you have a dud and have lost everything! Or, why not set this all up now so when the device does inevitably fail, you know you can recover from that disaster. There are MANY different types of backups out there from online to local to a hybrid approach. Contact us to let us design the perfect backup plan for your devices.

Data Transfer From Old to New

Some people want to transfer everything from one device to another, others like to have a fresh start and keep the old device as a backup. You can either transfer your data in its entirety, or just copy the things you use. For mobile devices, the major manufacturers have built in tools for this, like iCloud backup on iPhones.

For computers, the process can be a little more manual. You can keep it simple by copying data to a flash drive on the old computer, then copying it to the new computer. Or, we can use some specialized software to move over files as well as some settings, configurations, and even your wallpaper! We can even turn your old hard drive into an external drive that you can plug into your new computer and grab files as required.

Setting up Email and Software

Email is one thing people commonly forget and then struggle with. If you use a web browser based e-mail solution like Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail, there may not be anything to set up. Just visit the website and sign in (I hope you remember your password!) to get your mail. But, if you use an e-mail client such as outlook, Windows mail, or Thunderbird, they will need special configuration to connect properly. Also, the databases from the old machine may need to be migrated so you still have your old mail. The details vary depending on the existing configuration and program, but it is something we are very familiar with.

Any programs you will need to have on the new computer will need to be reinstalled. It is not feasible to move an installed program from one computer to another. There are programs that claim to do this, but the results are not guaranteed and often buggy. BEFORE you purchase your new machine, you should inventory what software you will need, and spend some time digging up the install disks and licenses. Some programs like Corel, Adobe, and AutoCAD can often cost more than the machine, so it is worth it to keep track of these licenses!

Lockdown Privacy and Permissions

Most newer devices have the ability to create separate accounts for different users. Whether it be a computer or a mobile device, there may be an advantage to setting up a different account for each person who is planning on using the device. The individual users can keep their files, settings, and programs separate from other users to reduce clutter and the chance that other users can ‘mess things up’.

With Windows machines, there is a distinct advantage to setting up the normal day-to-day users as ‘standard’ users without installation rights, and then have one ‘administrative’ user that is carefully used only when higher level functions are needed. This can be VERY helpful with avoiding virus infections because ~95% of virus CANNOT install through a standard user account!

Whether you have children and are looking to provide a safe online experience, files you’d prefer to keep private, or simply want to set up ‘profiles’ for each user to have their own login, we can quickly get your new device configured to meet your needs.

Filed Under: Maintenance, Tips Tagged With: antivirus, data transfer, mail transfer, new computer, new phone, setup

Share:

Contact Form

Before submitting your question, you must review and agree to the Little Dog Tech Terms of Service.

Search for Something!

Click to see our BBB Report

FOLLOW US

VISIT US

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Little Dog Tech · 5946 Ashworth Rd. , West Des Moines, IA 50266