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Classic IT Support's technician is available at most times for any emergency support requests.
In the past few weeks, numerous people have reported web hijacks, where they lose control over their computer, hear an automated voice, and see a phone number displayed urging them to call. This is a SCAM, a fake alert designed to trick you into thinking something is wrong with your computer. Do not call that number! Call us instead. Or, use Task Manager to kill any open web browsers. We'll quickly get your computer working again.
2 August 2024 The risks of basing our entire working ecosystem "on the cloud" has inherent dangers which are widely known throughout the public domain. Of course, the sheer convenience of having all one's documents, photos, emails, metadata, passwords and authenticator codes backed up to a "safe" online storage place sounds idyllic - but is it? Every week we hear of data leaks, hacker exploits and the litigation that often follows. Last week millions of private, personal medical records were being offered online. Who takes responsibility for this kind of malevolent subversion?
The question is: how safe is your online data? We've seen the best of online security compromised at times, either by human error, back door entries, international hacker activity and novel software exploits.
Another consideration is what happens when there's a power outage, or an undersea cable cut? You may have a solar battery backup to keep operating, but what about your data? In times of war and espionage, the first casualty is essential infrastructure. Globalisation hasn't helped. Undersea cables cut by ship anchors or underwater subversive activity is now the norm.
With online services offering generous free cloud storage, such as One-Drive, Drop-Box and Google-Drive, it's easy to absolve any personal responsibility for the safety and accessibility of your data; many don't regularly backup to an external hard disk drive or local NAS (Network Attached Storage). Thus, an online solution seems ideal, with your PC or phone simply existing as a thin client.
Our recommendation, whether you work partially or entirely online, or totally locally, is to backup locally daily. This is easy to automate with regularly synchronising with a local NAS or networked PC. A spare external backup hard disk drive can be regularly swapped out and kept safe in an alternate location, keeping safe a recent Windows System Image or Macrium IMG backup. So, should you be hit with ransomware or experience some other unforeseen anomaly, you have a complete backup redundancy, and are not reliant on the "cloud." Local ecosystems with little reliance on cloud storage means that you have full control and access to your data.
Need further advice or help? Please don't hesitate to contact us. At the very least, backup every day.
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21 June 2024 You don't necessarily have to purchase a new computer. We can upgrade your slow older computer with a solid state drive, replacing your current hard disk drive. A SSD is about 20 times faster than your current HDD! Your computer will be faster than when you first bought it! Talk to us today.
November 5, 2023 It's not very often when IT infrastructure collapses as it recently did for our in-house server room. Thankfully, there was no damage to our server; however, there's a cleanup awaiting us, as well as the cost of a new ceiling. See video below:
July 26, 2023 Did you know that the internet can be a very dangerous place? 25% of all internet traffic is porn. Criminals are having a hey-day defrauding users from their funds by fraudulently posing as helpful support technicians. Beware of soliciting phone calls, offering to help with internet, viruses and banking issues. Delete any suspicious email. In the past few months, we have dozens of mostly senior citizens who have had thousands of dollars stolen from their bank accounts.
If unsure, simply hang up the phone. Call us and explain what you're experiencing. We can help you instantly. Today we stopped a browser hijack with a robotic voice on one of our client's home computers, scaring them about viruses and IP address exposure. If they had called the number on the screen, "all hell would have broken loose" - when criminals gain complete control over your computer.
Example of fake tech support web page, often with a robotic voice.
Do not call the number displayed.
Sept 7, 2022 Advances in HTML technology are continually developing, and we certainly must attend to some of these innovations as they appear to be quite good. A new feature we're beta testing is localised search - without any exterior calls or privacy invasion. This search is completely generated by the web page itself.
Let us know if you'd like your web presence developed with custom graphics, advanced bootstrap and css coding, embedded video, forms as well as backend MySQL databases.
June 22, 2022 The front image on our Classic IT Support website may be disturbing to some, as it raises the spectre of transhumanism - the notion that Artificial General Intelligence might just be possible. Melded or appended onto a human, it’s envisaged that we will become more like part-human and part-robot. It should be a terrifying notion, and one that concerns us all. It also raises the question of what it is to be “human”. Are we just a higher evolved species, randomly here because of chaotic ascendant assembly – with no attribution to any higher intelligence? Or do we owe our reality and consciousness to a “Higher Being” – with an intelligence far beyond our comprehension?
For those who are familiar with binary code, you may also recognise another far superior code. We first chanced upon it when examining DNA in the light of information storage and retrieval. I don’t believe we’ll achieve artificial general intelligence, where robots can be sentient as we are, because binary code simply won’t allow that superior level of proficiency. But, if we crack and master quad code, then God can help us in a world of numbers, control, tyranny, coercion and mindlessness.
June 15, 2022 There's nothing wrong with a repaired or refurbished computer. Why? Because they often come with new parts, such as inbuilt Wi-Fi, a new solid state drive, and a clean OEM installation. We recently upgraded a few pre-loved PCs and let them go to good homes. We also upgraded a few Apple Macs to Ubuntu Linux operating system.
So, if your computer appears slower than it used to, it doesn't necessarily mean having to purchase a new machine. Talk to our technician, and he'll quickly and expertly advise whether all you need is upgrade your PC with a solid state drive - and it will be some 20 times faster than when originally purchased!
May 19, 2022 Security is everything nowadays. This means that all apps and programs must be certificate signed - it's like an identifying registration plate on your car. Over the past 15 years, our apps have been signed using third-party certificates. Because of the rigorous pricing and approval process for these signing certificates, from now on we're self-signing all our apps, (which are written in the LUA coding language). This means that our apps will appear to be from an "unknown publisher". This isn't a problem. We can, however, assist you to import the certificate into a "trusted store" so Windows recognises that it is a genuine application. We are "small tech": personal, authentic, honest and philanthropic in ethos.
We've just redeveloped our Classic desktop clock app - the perfect time-piece for your Windows desktop computer.
If you would like to brand this clock with your logo or message and hyperlink it to your website, we can do that for you as well.
April 3, 2022 Many have expressed dismay and outrage at our current Western Australian border policy. Our IT technician is currently unable to return to Western Australia - he was stopped from entering the state at Border Village on the Eyre Highway. Without a COVID testing station at the border, travellers must assume that this border policy has little to do with health but more of an example of political coercion, control and exclusion. Thus, he has returned to Sydney, NSW, where even though COVID infections are high, mandates, masks and check-ins have been abolished.
Thanks to remote technology, we're able to service and repair most computers remotely via Teamviewer.
March 9, 2022 Internet security is paramount. Your online presence is vulnerable. In a moment of carelessness you can be scammed and swindled. Hackers are very good at getting you to feel "okay", with helpful assurances as they shift the funds from your bank account into theirs. The elderly man who lost $16,000. Another elderly man who was notified by his local bank that his entire life saving were being transferred into a Western Union account. Or the love romance that took months to effect in order to swindle $5000 from a widow.
Be careful about unsolicited emails and phone calls, no matter how convincing they sound. We will never send you a request to login, recover or authenticate an account. If you use webmail regularly, then multifactor authentication is essential. Our Classic IT Support webmail service has MFA available on demand. Please download an authenticator app from your phone's store (Google Authenticator is a good one) and call our office. Within a few minutes you'll need to scan a QR code, and that's it. Now you can more securely login to webmail, knowing that your username and password now have an added layer of security.
A QR code is a chequered barcode image that can be scanned in using most newer mobile cell phones. The QR code usually contains a URL (a website address), such as the one at the left which will take your web browser to our webmail service.
One note of caution: do not scan a QR code that you might see in a spurious location or an unknown source. There have been recent reports of hackers displaying QR codes that will direct your web browser to criminal sites. Be security aware at all times.
February 3, 2022 Aren't we glad for technology? Well, no, not really, not all the time. But we're also quick to meekly admit that we can't really do without it. Imagine not having a mobile phone, computer or the electronics in your car. I have travelled across the world and spent time in many countries as a part of ministry work, and my wife was able to track me in real time. It was a comforting thought.
I'm away for a few weeks from 20th February 2022, attending to work that calls me to Sydney. But, I'm no further away from support in the Avon Valley and Wheatbelt regions of WA because of Teamviewer remote support. Call us on 0417 177 683 and we'll attend to your computer-related issue as soon as possible.
August 10, 2021 This week we assisted with the upload of our 800th video clip. We started the technical work in media streaming some 24 years ago (long before YouTube). And over those years we've progressively improved delivery quality, as well as provided advice to other businesses and enterprises on multimedia content delivery. To see some of our recent work, please visit our streaming site at Messageweek Ministries. We are currently filming a series of workshops for Physio-Chi.
June 10, 2021 Our landline telephone has been down for some weeks. In fact, the old analogue system here in Spencers Brook has proven very unreliable over the years. We apologise to our customers when recently calling to have an "engaged tone". We've had an upstream provider fix this several times. We have now terminated this landline, and our contact mobile number is 0417 177 683
May 26, 2021 We all know those old dogs; folks who have been around the traps for a while, know a thing or two, have no agenda to push, and have hearts of gold. All of us hopefully will get there sooner or later. We've been fixing your computers and sorting IT problems out now for some 24 years, and lately we've been thinking of what retirement might look like. It first starts, I'm told, with the need for "nanna naps" - those precious twenty or so minutes each afternoon in slumber on the couch. And, as the days shorten, priorities are bound to change.
So, progressively over the next few years we'll be taking on a bit less work and a bit less worry. Same old friendly service, of course, but at a more sedentary pace. We'll see what it looks like after that. And, if we omit to send you an account, please drop an online donation our way. Every little morsel helps this old dog stay around a bit longer!
January 7, 2021 Need remote support with your Apple Mac? While our support work essentially caters for the Microsoft eco-system, we can also provide some basic support for Mac and Linux systems. If you have a Mac, and require support, then there is a Teamviewer security feature that you will need to change in order to allow our support technician to access your screen. This information can be found here.
December 29, 2020 A few years ago we developed a basic Windows StickyNote app. We also compared it to the Windows 10 in-built version. However, over time we noticed that the Microsoft Sticky Notes had a bug that, after some idle time, would prevent a user typing into it. Not wanting to frequently restart the app, it was time to resurrect and take our own StickyNote to the next level. And so, in the past few months, we've added many new features, and we feel reasonably confident that this simple but handy StickyNote will be a favourite.
There is no cost, and importantly no followup, no spyware, nagware, adware or malware. Just our free gift to you. Download and install Classic StickyNote now.
December 8, 2020 Another year of rapid technological progress has slipped by. While we were all distracted with the uncertainty of the coronavirus, IT roll-out and implementation still marched on. More 5G base stations. More surveillance cameras popping up here and there. NBN is already upgrading its infrastructure! More security updates. And, oh, the spectre of AI and facial recognition. And to make it all the more palatable, more legislation sliding through parliament designed to give the impression of some sensibility!
This has also been the year of video conferencing. Business people worked from home using web cams and remote access. Churches livestreamed their worship services. Medical centres hosted remote appointments. And as for online purchases, Australia Post have delivered more parcels from Amazon, Kogan and eBay than ever before in its history. Big communications corporations were unable to keep up with consumer/client demand for assistance. And "Zoom" has now almost become the "word of the year".
What will next year hold? More of the same? The one thing we remain committed to is personalised, friendly and knowledgeable A+ service and support. That's the one area of excellence that big business cannot emulate that small business does so well. A friendly hello from a real human, and then personalised follow-up service.
28 October 2020 Be aware of those soliciting phone calls or email requests. They most likely are criminals, hackers or extortionists. Almost every week we encounter another incident of a senior having been defrauded of their bank funds, or a "bad actor" posing as a Telstra technician, NBN Sales person or Microsoft response team.
Simply hang up on those phone calls. If you're unsure, please call us immediately and we'll be able to with certainty tell you whether they're genuine or not.
July 1, 2020 Old computer hardware has a known disposal problem. What do you do with old redundant computers, printers, monitors, phones and modems? You probably have a few of these items stored in your back room. Do you know what you'll do with them? Local councils and shires have e-waste facilities, and you'll alway see a menagerie of retired hardware sitting there. Of course, recycling plants extract the lead, gold, lithium and other precious metals.
We encourage responsible disposal of old hardware, and we can help with ensuring that your personal information is removed. We remove old hard disk drives from notebooks and computers, and physically crush the disk so no data is retrievable. Solid state drives and mobile phones are similarly crushed, before being taken to e-waste facilities. This ensures that no information is able to be extracted, even under the best of forensic technology.
On a personal note, with the escalating nature of information technology, and those of us who have been in the industry for the past 25 years are now beginning to think that perhaps we too are becoming redundant. The small town country IT technician may still be able to provide up-to-date advice on a limited scale, but for the current generation of older guys, we see our time as fast becoming redundant.
Good, old men never retire, but they do sadly become redundant. On this note we're carefully looking at where Classic IT Support currently is, and where we might be in five or ten years' time. Thus, we're gradually implementing a wind-down and suitable succession planning for the next phase. We'll keep you posted.
June 24, 2020 We've been providing IT related services for some 23 years now. Our business model has been more philanthropic than income generating, and this has created a strong customer base and a sense of good-will throughout the Avon Valley and Wheatbelt regions. After all, IT is more about people that it is about the technology itself. If we can solve a technical problem, or at least make it easier to understand, then our job is done.
The challenge we face in the IT industry generally is the "risk factor". Cyber crime is prevalent and rising. Many an innocent customer has been defrauded by the fake technician telephone call asking for credit card details. You know the story - thousands of dollars siphoned from your bank account, or sickening feeling of having your computer compromised by backdoor tactics. The business customer wants full assurances that their systems are secure, and best practices are in place.
We plan to continue offering IT services under a philanthropic model. Hence, the recently added "Donate" button on our website. We also see the need to manage our services in a way that is profitable for both you the consumer as well as for us the supplier of services. We work to provide an hourly rate of billing that provides you with the best computer-related experience ever.
April 4, 2020 Being unable to travel to Perth on our weekly purchase trips, we are currently relying on courier services from our Perth based wholesalers to send us our weekly computer component orders. While our local couriers are doing an excellent job, our wholesalers in Perth are currently experiencing delays with shipments from interstate and overseas, an onflow caused by the coronavirus restrictions.
We will continue to update customers with the status of their orders, if and when we are able to obtain any updates. Thank you for your patience
April 8, 2020 We are currently appraising best work and safety practices regarding the current coronavirus restrictions and quarantine. This means that we are effectively restricted from entering your premises or handling your computer. Thus, we will take all due care to utilise our own keyboard and mice when attending work on your computer. (Did you know that keyboards and mice contain more bugs than anything else in your home or workplace?)
In most cases, we request that you bring your computer to our office where, with spacial distancing in place, we will receive your computer. We will then take all due care to manage your computer or notebook.
Of course, our first preference is to assist you and help manage your IT problem by utilising remote support via Teamviewer. This will eliminate any unneccessary service calls or "return to base" work.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you. We believe we have a collective responsibility to manage the unusual and uncertain circumstances we all share.
We also note the devastating effect these current restrictions are having on small businesses such as ours; the past few weeks have been the most difficult and challenging we have ever faced in the past 23 years of providing IT support services.
December 30, 2019 A week ago our primary domains server suffered catastrophic failure at the BIOS level. Investigations are continuing, trying to determine the extent of the damage and whether the failure was caused by hardware or hackers.
The result was that our domains and email server went offline, and it was several hours later before we could begin returning services back to normal on a redundant server. The recovery process is still continuing. The replacement Dell server's current value is at around $10,000. We have had to also purchase new licences, SSL certificates and replacement software at various levels. Our goal now is to raise sufficient funds to cover our current costs.
Would you like to assist us by making a donation? We have just re-implemented our "donate" feature with the secure PayPal portal. Your donation at this time is appreciated.
Your privacy in visiting our online services is important. Our websites are SSL encrypted, protecting all web visitors and all transactions. Furthermore, we do not collect, analyse, distribute, on-sell, manipulate, or share with third parties your personal information. Our private, self-hosted analytics is simply to monitor traffic in general in order to improve our services to you. Any online forms submitted are followed-up privately, securely and personally. We respect your privacy.
For many years we've had several hyphenated domains, such as classic-it.com.au and classic-it.net.
These domains have now expired in favour of our current domain classicit.net (without the hyphen).
For those who use our email services, your email password/login credentials remain unchanged. Please don't hesitate to call us should you have any questions or require additional information.
Do not accept phone calls allegedly from "Microsoft", "Telstra", or your local bank, unless you are absolutely certain they are legitimate and you can verify their identity. We've had several customers who have been defrauded, believing they were talking to a legitimate support person, for example, when infact, they were engaging criminals intent on stealing banking credentials and funds. These criminals are adept and skillful in convincing users that they represent your provider, when in fact, they are cyber criminals, often working from overseas locations.
Please call us if unsure.
Many of us now are connected to the newer and faster NBN network. Some users have reported setup and connectivity issues, while others have had a smooth transition. Many have recently commented just how much faster it is.
Please call us should you experience any issues, as we're often familiar with most upstream issues.
We urge you to take up the NBN rollout earlier than later, as the copper analogue network will ultimately be turned off, meaning that you will lose any existing services.