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Amber Computer Solutions

Name: Amber Computer Solutions
Address: 66 Cradlehall Park, Inverness, IV25DA, GB
Telephone: +441463794340
Price range: £

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Amber Computer Solutions

Amber Computer Solutions is a local business in Inverness Scotland. Offering computer support servic Phone: 01463 794340 - 07981 178177

Amber Computer Solutions was founded in 2004 as a local small business aimed at helping home users and small businesses in Inverness and the surrounding area. We provide services that include Laptop Repairs, Computer Laptop & Tablet Setup, Virus Removal, Malware Removal, Security Checkups, Data Transfer, Data Recovery, Internet, Email and Broadband Problem Solving, Networking and General Troubleshooting.

24/04/2023

Backups
We all know backups are important, boring, inconvenient, but essential in saving our bacon when things go catastrophically wrong.
So why do so few of us do them on a regular basis?

Read the rest of my article about Backups here on my website blog
https://www.ambercomputersolutions.co.uk/

20/01/2022

Happy New Year Everyone!

I had a phishing email in today so I thought I would share this with you.

So what is phishing?

Phishing is a type of social engineering attack in which cyber criminals trick victims into handing over sensitive information or installing malware.

More often than not they do this via malicious emails that appear to be from trusted senders

So this email is not a very good phishing email, it has some features that are just plain suspicious.

1. It arrived to an email address that I have never given to the NHS.
2. The email address does not match who it should be from, the email is supposed to be from the NHS. So you would expect the email address to end in .scot (if you're in Scotland)
3. They used an email address instead of my name in the body of the email.
4. The link they want me to click on is also not connected with the NHS. It starts with NHS but the important bit is just before the 3rd / in the link, it says mond.jp and jp is the internet location for Japan.
5. They are telling me that I have 12 hours to click the link. The NHS wouldn't give such a short time limit. Scammers like to give you short deadlines so you are more inclined to click on the links.

So to sum up

1. Always check who sent the email by looking at the senders address.
2. Always check where a link will take you before clicking on it.
3. If you think an email maybe a scam, simply delete it before clicking on any links. If it is a legitimate email, the sender if desperate will either phone you or write to you by letter.

I hope you found this info helpful. If you do get an email and you are unsure you can always contact me and I will help you decide if it is legitimate or not.

Take care.
Ian

21/12/2021

https://www.facebook.com/ambercomputersolutions/posts/313601014104246

03/10/2021

Windows 11 is coming

Hello Everyone, I hope you’re all well.

Windows 11 is coming as a free upgrade from Windows 10 and should start rolling out on the 5th of October.

Windows 11 is the new Operating System that will replace Windows 10.

I know, we all thought Windows 10 was going to be the very last version of Windows and that Microsoft would just simply keep upgrading and improving Windows 10. And we all thought that because Microsoft had been saying that ever since Windows 10 came out.

But no, Microsoft changed their mind and here comes Windows 11.

Will my computer run Windows 11?

Windows 10 is less fussy about the hardware of your computer than Windows 11. If your computer currently runs Windows 10 then there is a good chance it will run Windows 11 except for one major hardware sticking point. And that is the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, version 2.0.

Windows 11 requires this Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, and it must be version 2.0.
If your computer was manufactured after 2015 then it has a TPM chip which is version 2.0.

The TPM chip handles all things to do with encryption, so it’s a good thing that Windows 11 requires it to work; it’s a move by Microsoft to make all our computers more secure. But it does mean that if your computer was manufactured before 2015 then you won’t be able to upgrade your Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Do you want Windows 11?

Most of Windows 11’s improvements are cosmetic, changes to the start menu, taskbar and desktop.
There are some improvements in app speed and resource usage, which could translate into better battery life and faster wake times from sleep mode.

One thing to bear in mind is that whenever a new operating system is released there are always teething problems, incompatibilities and things that just weren’t tested before release.

All Microsoft products have suffered with this, Windows 10 had many problems when it was first released. And Windows 11 will no doubt have similar issues.

So it may be better to wait and see. Let other people try and use Windows 11, let them fix all the faults, you can then upgrade in a year or more, when the problems have all been ironed out.

Windows 10 security patch updates end in 2025, so we have plenty of time for other people to fix any problems and for Windows 11 to become a much better product.

If you have any questions or want to talk about upgrading then please get in touch.

11/11/2020

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well and keeping safe from covid.

Today I thought I would tell you how I helped a customer save at least £75 on his Norton deluxe anti virus renewal.

He was running windows 10 and Norton Anti Virus.

But on closer inspection he was still paying Norton for a previous 360 subscription, so he was in fact paying for two Norton subscriptions, the total cost was close to £170.

What was worse, he had both of these on auto renewal which means Norton takes the money every year one month before the renewal date even if you no longer use the software.

Norton is not unique, all the major Anti Virus companies use the same auto renewal payment model.

Letting Norton auto renew is the most expensive way to buy their software. I showed my customer that you can buy the same software from amazon for £16.

So it is cheaper to not use the auto renewal every year (which is on by default) and to buy the software from amazon and install it.

But I saved him even more money in the future because I explained that Windows 10 already has its own built in anti virus software called Windows Defender.

He like many people did not know about Windows Defender, He had been using windows for many years and thought that like all previous versions of windows, that you had to have anti virus software to protect your PC.

I believe that Windows Defender is a very good anti virus, I have run tests on it and other Anti Virus like Norton, McAfee, Avast, AVG, etc. and found that it protects the PC just as well as the paid for anti virus.

It is built in to windows 10, it updates with the windows updates so it is always up to date and it never runs out, so you are always protected.

If you already have anti virus on your windows 10 PC then windows defender lays dormant because the other anti virus is working.

If you want to use windows defender then all you have to do is uninstall your current anti virus and windows defender will activate and take over the anti virus role.

If you would like to talk about your anti virus or anything else computer related then please get in touch.
Ian

24/12/2019

It's that time of year again, doesn't time fly!

A Big Thank You to all my customers for your support in 2019.
Without you Amber Computer Solutions would not exist.

A wish for all current and future customers,
I hope you all have a peaceful and enjoyable festive season.
And that 2020 brings you all, Health and Happiness.
Hope to see you all in 2020!
Merry Christmas!

20/11/2019

The Phone Scammers are at it again!

Today I wanted to talk again about phone scammers.
This week I helped a customer who was scammed by a person on the phone pretending to be from Amazon.

They called the customer and said that she had been accidentally enrolled in the Amazon prime scheme and that she was due a refund for this.

The customer in question has had a particularly difficult time recently and on this day she was having a very stressful day. So her mind was not fully engaged on the phone call, she was persuaded by a very sophisticated attack and gave the phone caller access remotely to her PC.

As the call progressed she became more and more suspicious and eventually ended the call and closed down her PC. She contacted her bank and Amazon, and they were able to reassure her that no harm had been done.

She contacted me to check her PC, to make sure that the caller had not left anything on her PC that would allow them access in the future. After having looked at the PC I was able to determine that the caller had installed Teamviewer (a well known and trusted remote access software) and the Google chrome browser. I removed these pieces of software and scanned the PC for any hidden programs or viruses.

Normally this customer is very vigilant and is not taken in by these types of phone calls. But it just goes to show that at times we are all vulnerable, we all need to be on our guard at all times and that these scammers are always coming up with new and inventive ways to steal from us.

Only the other day I received an automated phone call telling me that I was due an Amazon refund and to press key 1 to speak to a representative.

If you are unaware Amazon does not need your consent or your bank details to issue you a refund, they can quite easily issue you with a refund on the card you use to purchase from them because they keep your card details.

So I hope you find this useful. If you have any questions or wish to talk about your computer security then please get in touch.

And finally, please remember only give remote access to your PC, if you know and trust that person.

09/09/2019

Hello Everyone, I thought I would talk about Windows 10 and some tips on what to do if you run into a problem.

OK, so in case you were unaware Windows 10 has two major updates per year.
These two big updates take place in March and September.
These updates are very large and basically change a great deal of Windows 10.

You may remember from previous versions of Windows that updates were applied when you shutdown windows or restarted windows. And Windows would prompt you not to turn off as it applied the updates.

Well things have changed in Windows 10 compared to earlier versions of Windows. Now Windows 10 applies updates when Windows 10 restarts and not when Windows 10 shuts down.

This is great if you want to shutdown Windows 10 and get on with your life, but can lead to problems where updates are not installed properly.

Most of us use a computer where by we switch it on and use it and when we are done we switch it off again. Well Microsoft don't think we use computers that way. Microsoft's philosophy on computer use is based around the fact that they think we leave our computers on and in sleep mode when we are not using them.

If a Windows 10 computer is left in sleep mode then at about 3am the computer will wake up and install the updates necessary and restart itself, then go back to sleep again.

Which is great but as I'm sure you are aware even when a computer is asleep it still uses some electricity, and if you have a laptop and it is running on battery then it would drain the battery as it sleeps. Which isn't as efficient as turning off the computer when you are finished with it.

So what can happen is that because the computer is switched off and not restarted then some of these updates do not get installed.

My advice to deal with any issues you may have with Windows 10 is very simple.

If you have an issue, no matter what try shutting down the computer as you normally would BUT instead of clicking on shutdown, choose restart instead.

You may also notice that the usual options have changed from restart or shutdown to update and restart or update and shutdown.

You'll be surprised the amount of things a simple restart will cure.

Hope this helps but don't forget any questions then get in touch.
Thanks Ian

27/04/2019

This week I helped a local business, with moving into their new offices, by wiring their new gigabit Ethernet network, this included wiring wall sockets, patch panels, comms cabinet and switch.
I was able to exponentially improve the speed of their network and get all their employees working faster together.
If you are a small local business, you know of a small business that could benefit from help with their computers or a home user then please feel free to get in touch. Thanks Ian

22/12/2018

Christmas is fast approaching and the New Year not far behind. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all my customers for their continued support, I never forget that without you there would be no Amber Computer Solutions. So I would like to wish you all A Very Happy Christmas and Healthy 2019. I would also like to extend this wish to all my future customers and hope that I can help you all in 2019.
Merry Christmas!

Address

66 Cradlehall Park
Inverness
IV25DA

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441463794340

Website

https://www.ambercomputersolutions.co.uk/

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