GeekTek

GeekTek

West Hollywood

To Be or Not to USB?

Printers. Scanners. Thumbdrives. Even mice and keyboards use them to communicate and allow you to interface with your computer. I’m talking about one of the most universally used and recognized computer ports—USB. USB took us from pins to painless by offering a simple, reliable connector for all of our high speed peripheral needs.

USB brought us the world of Plug and Play simplicity and with the ability to effortlessly install devices, the peripherals market exploded. Now you can use anything from webcams to coffee warmers and even charge your phone via USB. But what happens when USB goes awry? What happens when your devices won’t install the way they should? Allow me to suggest a solution to a woe you may be experiencing.

Generic USB devices rely on basic drivers that Microsoft builds directly into Windows. This driver is referred to as USBStor, short for USB Storage. Need to use a mouse, keyboard, external hard drive or various other common USB devices? USBStor has you covered on the driver front.  Unfortunately, USBStor can get corrupted just like any other driver on your computer. Where is the disc to reinstall the driver when that happens, you might ask? That’s the beauty of USBStor, you don’t need one. Read on.

Here’s a common example of when USBStor is corrupted. You plug your device in and are immediately greeted with Windows asking for an administrator username and password to install the device. Every time you plug a device in, the same thing happens. You’re either in a position to continue entering the administrator password or you’re fed up and want to use your devices as effortlessly as they were intended. You can resolve this issue by re-creating the USBStor drivers on your computer. Here’s how! If you’re not big on step-by-step processes, I’ve created a script that will automate the whole process that can be downloaded at the end of the article for your convenience.

1. Open control panel –> Administrator Tools –> Services (shortcut: Windows+R, services.msc)

2. Right click Cryptographic Services and Stop it

3. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32 and delete the catroot2 folder

4. Go back to the Services window, right click Cryptographic Services and Start it

5. Plug in your USB device

 

Here’s the script to automate the process, as promised: *script link*

Before You Call – IT Checklist

From both the service provider and the client side of the equation, everyone wants to save time and money in their business. Self-reliance and a bit of common sense can go a long way in making for an efficient organization in all aspects including IT support services.  Here is a short guideline on what steps you can do before contacting your IT service provider:

Step 1 – Reboot

Rebooting your computer can solve a variety of problems including a frozen computer, unresponsive programs and wierd error messages. Rebooting can also free up resources on your computer to make it run faster. Even as IT Professionals, rebooting a computer is typically our first step for resolving most computer issues.

To reboot your computer, click the start button and choose Shut Down. After the display turns black, power the computer back on by pressing the Power button on the front of the computer tower.

If the start button is innaccessible due to a frozen computer or other issue, pressing and holding the Power button on the computer tower for 5-10 seconds can shut the computer down as well, although this method should only be used in cases where the first method is completely inaccessible.

Step 2 – Duplicate the Issue

After your computer has been rebooted, it’s time to see if the problem has been resolved. Please check the status of the issue by trying to duplicate exactly how you originally encountered the problem. If the issue cannot be duplicated, IT Support generally considers the issue resolved. Is the issue intermittant? Does it happen only once in a while? Please let us know and we’ll revisit the issue as it occurs. The key is to contact support as the issue happens.

Step 3 – Document the Procedure

Gathering information about the problem is best way to have your issue resolved quickly. The more information you gather, the faster your issue will get resolved. What task are you trying to accomplish? What application(s) are you using? What steps do you go through that yield a problem? What do the error messages say when the pop up? Having this information readily available allows us to cut directly the heart of the issue and immediately begin implementing solutions.

Step 4 – Determine the Urgency

Is this problem an annoyance, critical to the function of your job or somewhere in between? Please determine a timeframe for when this issue needs to be resolved. The level of urgency will let you know if a call to our support line is necessary or if a ticket can be submitted via email to our helpdesk system. Regardless of the urgency determined, please make it clear as you contact us so we can best manage our resources in assisting you.

Q & A – Dealing with a Difficult IT Service Provider

“How do you deal with your IT Department? We outsource our IT and curious what you do to reprimand, or keep your IT team in check? Any advice welcomed. Thinking about firing them, but they know so much about our network infrastructure already.” – Roy S. (via LinkedIN)

I would open a dialog with the owner of the IT services company. If the owner does not take your concerns seriously or the staff doesn’t step up their service after your conversation, then its time to begin your transition.

It sounds like there’s a trust issue, so quietly gather your documentation and ensure you have administrative access to all of your systems. If you don’t have a handle on what systems your company has, or how to access them, you might want to consider bringing in a professional to perform a network audit, develop a plan and execute a graceful migration. If you do bring someone in, make sure they understand the delicacy of the situation.

Regardless of if you transition to another provider, you should have full documentation of all of your systems. If your service provider is withholding information or does not share all of their client data with you, it’s time to have a frank conversation with them about transparency.

Hope this helps. We handle transitions all the time, just shoot me a message if you have any specific questions or concerns.

How to Check your Internet Connection

Follow these steps to check your internet connection:

  1. Start your browser and try to visit any website.
    • If you are unable to access the website, this means that the connection is not alive.
  2. Try restarting your cable modem or DSL modem.
  3. If you use a wireless connection, try to restart the wireless router.
  4. You can also contact Front Desk Los Angeles Tech Support to get the necessary help to fix the problem or contact your Internet service provider (ISP).

Advanced:

Make sure you have the correct IPS scheme for the particular network. This includes: IP address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, DNS servers. There are few ways to find out what IPS address was assigned.

  1. Windows 2000/Vista/Xp->Start ->Run->CMD. Run IPCONFIG/All
  2. On the screen the IP address would be displayed along with many other numbers.
  3. If you have a router, the common examples of IP address is like: 192.168.0.x, 192.168.1.x or 10.0.0.x
  4. If your computer is directly connected to the cable modem or DSL, the IP address will be there which will correspond to the information provided by ISP.
  5. Once, the IP address is found out, the next piece of information that is required is the Subnet Mask. The most common Subnet Mask is 255.255.255.0.
  6. Make sure to have the correct IP address for Default Gateway. If it is with router, then it might have the IP address of the router only.
  7. DNS servers can also be similar to the Gateway IP.

There can be few possible reasons for not getting the correct IP address like:

  1. One may have a defective cable, port or network card on the router. One needs to make sure that all the components are in working condition.
  2. The other possible reason might be that the router might not be configured to DHCP.

You can also double check if the router is properly connected to the internet. You can check the status of the router with the help of web browser. One can also turn off the power of the cable modem/DSL & the router for a minute and reconnect after a minute or so and then restart the computer.

In case you are not able to get the internet connection working, contact either your ISP or Front Desk Tech Support to help fix the problem.