Customer Care

Welcome to BSC International Customer care.

Regular Maintenance

Just like cleaning out the garage or weatherproofing the porch, you need to remove unused programs and scan your Windows Registry only occasionally. But computing also has equivalents to washing the dishes and vacuuming the living room floor--jobs you have to do all the time.

Luckily, you can automate most of these tasks.

Back Up Every Day

Backing up your data is like brushing your teeth: You have to do it, and do it right. And you should do it every day. Given the choice between getting a filling and losing an important file, I'd take the drill.

You don't have to back up your entire hard drive, just your data files. If you're using Windows XP or 2000, they're all probably inside C:\Documents and Settings. But, if you are still old-school and using the Windows 98 or Me operating systems, you'll need to back up each of these folders:

c:\my documents
c:\windows\all users
c:\windows\application data
c:\windows\desktop
c:\windows\favorites
c:\windows\local settings
c:\windows\profiles
c:\windows\sendto
c:\windows\start menu

For a good, cheap backup program, I recommend Zip Backup to CD. It costs only $19, saves your backup in the standard. zip file format, and despite the name, can back up to other media as well.

And where should you copy those files to? CD-RWs and DVD-RWs work great, but a second hard drive is the best possible choice, especially if it's an external model that you can detach from the PC.

Weekly Scans and Updates

I'm not going to tell you to buy an antivirus program; I trust you already have one. But antivirus software is useless if you don't keep it up to date. It's likely that your antivirus software can update itself automatically whenever you're connected to the Internet. But if it doesn't, do it yourself once a week.

And while you're at it, scan your hard drive for new viruses once a week, too. Every antivirus program is different, but you should be able to find a control that lets you do a manual scan. Most programs will also let you schedule weekly scans so you don't have to remember to do them yourself.

Of course, not all online evildoers use viruses; some exploit security holes that Microsoft left in Windows. Like the proverbial Dutch boy, you need to keep plugging those holes. Luckily, Microsoft supplies the cement in the form of regular, downloadable patches. To see if there's one you need--and to download it if there is--just connect to the Internet and click the Windows Update icon that's near the top of the Start menu.

After you've fended off viruses and plugged holes in Windows, there's one more weekly job you should do: Scan your hard drive for errors. In Windows XP and 2000, open My Computer, right-click your hard drive, and select Properties. Click the Tools tab, then the Check Now button. In Windows 98 or Me, select Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scandisk.

The Monthly Defrag

I've got one more chore for you. About once a month, you should defragmenter your hard drive.

Over the course of regular PC use, your files get fragmented--spread out all over your hard drive. That photo you just loaded may appear to be all in My Photos, but physically, bits and pieces may be spread out and mixed up like carrot slices in a well-tossed salad.

When everything is working well, this fragmentation doesn't do any harm. There was a time when file fragmentation slowed down computers, but today's fast and intelligent drives overcome that issue. But should disaster befall your drive, your chances of recovering a fragmented file are a lot worse than your chances of recovering a contiguous one.

In Windows XP and 2000, open My Computer, right-click your hard drive, and select Properties. Click the Tools tab, then the Defragment Now button. In Windows 98 or Me, select Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.

Stopping Worms: Your Seven Step Program

You can prevent worm infestations with a few relatively simple measures. There are no absolutes, so you can never get 100% secure, but this will get you close. Here goes:

A) Train end-users. Many administrators have been unpleasantly surprised by users that know just enough to be dangerous. They open up attachments, download stuff from infected Web sites, or bring their infected laptops in and hook it up to your clean network.

B) Anti-virus software on EVERY machine, desktop and laptops.
C) Scan your networks on a very regular basis for vulnerabilities, with a really good database that gets updated by experts.

D) Do not hook up an un-patched system to the Internet.

E) Update and patch systems on a frequent basis. Make sure your VPN's are safe by protecting telecommuters.

F) A Firewall between your network and the Net is a must-have piece of your layered protection.

G) Formulate, Implement and Verify security policies. Enforce these rules for all end-users. Get management buy-in to make sure you get compliance.

Cable or DSL

I will assume you have a Cable Modem or DSL connection to your Small Office or Home Office (SOHO) and you have the following done in addition to the Cable/DSL modem supplied by your ISP;

1. Install additional Router/Firewall.

2. Activate the firewall and update patches by vendor

3. Firewall of choice has Application intelligence.

"This will in addition to access restrictions, will block spy ware, popup ads pest ware and more..

Virus Scanning;

Free scanners are available. Its always nice if you're not sure about your present Antivirus to get a second opinion from a different vendor. Just like a Doctors visit. You know or feel that something is wrong but not sure if your Doctor is on the same page with you.

Well try these links below.

1. Panda Antivirus

2. Norton Antivirus

3. MaCafee Antivirus

4. Trend Micro

5. RAV Antivirus

6. Computer Associates

Free Antivirus;

Yes Free and it works !!!

AVG. Anti Virus

Panda Antivirus for 1year

World Map of Virus Infections

Spam War

SPY-WARE Removal tool

Adaware; Lavasoftusa.com

Spybot. Very good !

Pest Patrol

New and improved combination annoyance.

Try a free online testing of your computer here

Keep your computer totally locked down from Prying eyes.

Network Intrusion and Security

First and foremost, try the links below and check your vulnerability.

Cut and paste the results to support@bscinternational.com. We can help you lock down your Network.

1. Gibson research

New threats;

To the corporate computing infrastructure can introduce additional problems into your network.

Peer-to-peer File Sharing
77% of companies have at least one peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application on their network.
Instant Messaging
1 in every 5 corporate users is using public instant messaging tools.
Streaming Media
44% of employees run streaming media applications during the workday.
Spyware
As many as 9 out of every 10 computers are infected with spyware.
Mobile Malicious Code
More than 2 million servers and PCs were affected worldwide by the Nimda virus.
Employee Hacking
In the last 12 months, 45% of businesses detected unauthorized access by insiders.
How can a network administrator quickly and effectively manage these new threats to security and bandwidth capacity? psssss Call BSC International right away

Microsoft Applications

Office Removal Tool

1. Please click this link to download a file which will remove office from your system. If you use a broadband connection, this should only take a few moments, and you should be able to hit "Open" instead of save.

2. Right click on the attached file, and press save to disk. Please save it on your desktop.

3. Click this link, and download the MDAC 2.8 components mentioned on the page it will take you to. Save them to your desktop.

4. Please close all open applications, including Outlook.

5. Go to your start menu, and find Programs. Run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility, which we installed on step one. DO NOT CHOOSE 'SELECT ALL'. Find only the application you wish to remove (Microsoft Office <version.), and hit "Remove".

6. Find the OFFCLN.zip file we saved to the desktop. Right click on it there, and Extract the files into a folder of the same name. Run the file called OFFCLN.exe, and choose the option on the second step to 'Completely remove all previous versions of Office applications'. Proceed with the removal. If it prompts you to restart at the end, DO NOT RESTART.

7. Double-click on the MDAC file that was saved to your desktop. Install the components. When the file is installed, it will prompt you to restart your computer. Please do so.

8. Try reinstalling Microsoft Office.


	Remote Desktop/Server support. Since we value our customers time and need to solve a very small but nagging problems; Our remote desktop/Server support will instantly take control of your computer while you watch us resolve your problem. The beauty of this also is that you don't have to buy additional software for this service. Its part of the Service Warranty service.


	Regular Tune up. Your computer needs regular tune up as often as needed based on how often you task your computer. Think of your car 3k oil change Remember now, your computer Hard Drive is an electromechanical device; Thus it needs to be tuned up periodically for optimal performance. .