333 Computer Services, LLC

Literally save THOUSANDS on your business computer needs! Cost of hiring a full-time certified IT technician to look after your small business computer needs 40 hours a week: around $40,000.00 per year. Cost of hiring us to remotely monitor, manage, and remediate your small business computer needs 24/7: starts at $2400.00 per year. Potential savings for a business with 10 computers and/or peripherals: $37,600.00 per year. Yes, really - you can save $37,600.00 per year anywhere on Earth where you can get high-speed internet. You should be on the phone right now! (573) 270-7903!

In addition to providing expert computer repair and money-saving managed services for small and medium businesses, we also offer custom electronic privacy services to meet just about any need. Call for details!

Congratulations to Boris V. Nedesky, winner of our drawing for a half-price service call! He correctly decoded the binary background of our website (www.page333.net). The correct answer was, of course, "333."

Cost of hiring a full-time certified IT technician to look after your small business IT needs 40 hours a week: average of $40,000.00 per year. Cost of hiring us to remotely monitor, manage, and remediate your small business IT needs 24/7: starts at $2400.00 per year. Potential savings for a business with 10 computers and/or peripherals: $37,600.00 per year. Yes, really. $$37,600.00 per year! You should be on the phone right now!

Hire us so your house can look "lived-in" again!

More services: In addition to money-saving Managed Services packages and expert computer repair, we also offer other non-standard services. For example, we can help with privacy issues related to your computers and cell phones. Give us a jingle!

Happy New Year! Today's computer topic: DEFRAG! Periodic disk defragmentation is important to keep your computer running smoothly and quickly. The New Year is a good time to get into some intermediate and advanced topics. Some will address keeping your computer running and some will address fixing specific common problems. I figure many are still recovering from the holidays and aren't in the mood for any extra thinking. So today's tip is basic in nature and easy to execute.... If you're running Vista or Windows 7, disk defragmentation should already be enabled as a weekly task. I have run across some Vista machines in which it was not. It's easy enough to check though: go to Start Menu > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter and see if it's enabled. If not, message me and I'll tell you how to do it. Otherwise, run it manually on a weekly basis. It's possible to set up defrag in Windows XP as a Scheduled Task. If you want to do that, message me. Otherwise, follow the menu sequence above to run defrag manually. Many geeks recommend running defrag once a week and no less often than once a month. I agree. Make defrag a part of your routine computer maintenance!

As promised, today's lesson deals with being REALLY angry with one's computer. If that's where you are, here's the solution (much more satisfying than simply chucking it in the dumpster). If not, tomorrow's lesson dares to delve into the advanced stage!

Today's lesson: If All Else Fails! Welcome! If what you've done so far hasn't worked and you are ready to chuck that demon computer, now's the time. If you want to buy a new one, wait to chuck it till you've moved all your pictures, documents, etc to the new one. If you're not quite ready to buy a new one, message me - maybe I can still help you without you having to spend money. If you're just ready to give in and have computer dude fix it, scrape up $99 and get that computer to me for fixin'! Tomorrow's lesson: what you can do if you're REALLY mad at your computer!

INTERMEDIATE: Okay, here we go with today's tutorial - how to (try to) clean up a virus- and spyware-infested computer. As we get into these more technical topics, we have to narrow our focus a bit. In other words, what we discuss today won't necessarily be a panacea for all computer problems. These things will work only for their specifically intended purposes. To further elaborate, your computer could be acting all stupid for reasons other than a virus/spyware infection. So... understand that it's possible to do all these things I outline here and get NO results. AT THE SAME TIME, it shouldn't hurt your computer to perform these procedures. Here we go: In order to successfully scan your computer and remove virii and spyware, you'll have to do some reading and learning. I'm going to tell you what you need to do, then you're going to have to go do it. I don't have enough space here to give you specific instructions on all these procedures. The good news is that information is freely available on the websites to which I'll be sending you. First, make sure you have a good antivirus program and ONLY ONE! If you don't have one, go to one of these websites and download/install a free antivirus program: www.avast.com, www.avira.com, or www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=5201. After installing and updating the program, run a FULL scan. If you have lots of stuff on your machine, it could take several hours to scan. If you already have antivirus software, make sure it's up to date, then run a full scan. After this, you'll need to install and run four more programs: Malwarebytes (www.malwarebytes.org), Spybot Search and Destroy (www.safer-networking.org), SuperAntiSpyware (www.superantispyware.com), and Spyware Blaster (www.javacoolsoftware.org). You'll need to read the usage instructions for all of these programs and follow them closely. These scans could take the better part of a day so make sure you have other things to do whilst these scans are running. If you don't have some of those really nasty, deeply-rooted bugs, this procedure should help a lot. Like I previously mentioned, there could be other things wrong with your machine that this procedure won't fix. If that's the case, you may need professional computer help. As a fan of this page, you can always write and ask for advice, but that may or may not help (depending on the circumstances). DISCLAIMER: 333 Computer Services, LLC specifically DISCLAIMS any responsibility for any problems that may arise from use of information provided here. If you're uncomfortable with any of the advice given, don't attempt fixing your computer yourself - have your computer serviced by a professional, such as... me! :)

BASIC/INTERMEDIATE: As promised, here is your first lesson on how to avoid the most common types of computer problems. Keep in mind, I presuppose that you are starting with a fully-functioning computer with no virus or spyware infections; in other words, a computer without problems to begin with :) If your computer is toast at this point, you may need to begin this whole process with a comprehensive service call from Yours Truly! Your computer will come back to you in great c...ondition, as well as software and instructions on how to keep it that way. Or you can take a stab at it yourself using info from tomorrow's lesson. Okay, here we go: - NEVER open an email attachment unless you're EXPECTING it. And then think twice about it. That's right - don't open an unexpected attachment even if it's from your closest friend! If you want the reasoning for this, Google it or send me a note. - Don't use Internet Explorer or other browser tool bars. Be careful when downloading and using freeware programs, such as Adobe Reader and Flash. Many of them opt you in for other programs, such as the aforementioned tool bars (as well as free security scanners), which can interfere with your antivirus scanner. Always uncheck the box that asks to include the extra program. Tool bars also can be gateways for spyware and can slow your system down. I've seen as many as SEVEN different tool bars on some computers! Crazy! - Make sure you have good antivirus software! The free programs are every bit as good as the ones that suck your wallet dry. Try Avast, Avira, or Microsoft's own scanner, Security Essentials. - Make sure you have ONLY ONE antivirus program installed! Having more than one can seriously jack up your computer! - Stay away from websites that you wouldn't feel comfortable revealing to your preacher and/or young son or daughter that you had visited! Websites featuring porn, illegal activities of any kind, etc. have angry, vicious, and terrible bad viruses and other nasties poised to pounce directly into your computer and ruin it (and possibly your identity, credit, reputation, etc.). Antivirus software will NOT protect you from all of this! Okay - tomorrow, we'll talk about steps you can take to clean up a computer that's already jacked up and perhaps save you some money. PS, 333 Computer Services, LLC specifically DISCLAIMS any responsibility for any problems that may arise from use of information provided here. If you're uncomfortable with any of the advice given, don't attempt fixing your computer yourself - have your computer serviced by a professional, such as... me! :)

Business owners: I would have a difficult time sleeping if I didn't do my duty to make sure you were aware of a FREE 30-DAY TRIAL that's available that could SAVE YOU POTENTIALLY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in your businesses. Go to this web page: www.page333.net/managed, take FIVE MINUTES to read the page and fill out/submit the free consultation request, then relax until after the holidays. The opportunity to sign up for the FREE TRIAL of our Managed Services Package expires on December 31st. But if you sign up before that, you'll still get the FREE 30-DAY TRIAL! Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this!