Copper Beech Technology Services provided services for our 100th customer.
"It took us 1.5 years to get to this milestone, but we hope to hit 200 much sooner as our customers provide us with more referrals. Most of our customers have come through referrals and it's nice to know that our they like our services so much that they will pass our name around." said Steve. In June 2004, Roger Ouellete of Methuen, MA was having some problems with his scanner and a few other things. CBTS founder Steve Cote was dispatched to assist and got Roger working in short order. Roger received a Gift Certificate to The Village Inn of Dracut and has a working PC too!

Spyware, what is Spyware!
Recently I wrote a brief column about computer viruses. While out on service calls this week I came across a customer that could no longer access the Internet. The family had a shared computer with broadband access to the Internet, but when they opened Internet Explorer nothing happened. Their kids were also disappointed because they could no longer Instant Message with their friends ...More>>

SMS celebrates new internet access in school
Methuen's St. Monica's School has been working over the past year to expand their use of technology. The biggest hurdle was they needed someone to help plan and direct the process. Now after almost a year and a large volunteer effort by several parents and local companies, the school is seeing the advantages that technology can bring to the classroom....More>>

Kids on the Internet, how do you protect them?
A few of years ago, I set up the computer used by my oldest son to have Internet access. I was concerned as to how to best protect him from inappropriate content and knew that I couldn’t be looking over his shoulder all the time. I settled on Norton Internet Security by Symantec and haven’t regretted it since. This package includes many functions, Personal Firewall, Antivirus, Intrusion Detection and Parental Controls. The install is fairly simple considering the included
content, with wizards to walk you through each step...More>>

What the heck is a Firewall?
A while ago I received an e-mail from a reader asking about Firewalls. At the time there were many things happening and I never got to respond. If you are looking to protect your computer from all the different types of attacks, I have suggested in the past that you take a 3-step approach...More>>

The Shock of it all
I recently had a service call where the person’s computer was not functioning at all. It turned out to be a pretty short call because as soon as we turned it on we could smell burning insulation.
There had been a thunderstorm and lightning had struck nearby and fried his computer. It was an older machine and I recommended that he replace the machine rather than try to repair iit...More>>

Protecting against computer viruses!
As more and more people get computers and hook into the Internet, there is an increased exposure to computer viruses. In 2003 alone there were thousands of new viruses that were created. The damage caused by these viruses adds up into the billions of dollars...More>>

Buying a new computer
I have been helping a lot of people with older computers that have had problems recently and have often recommended that they buy new computers. There are so many choices that I thought this would be a good time to talk about buyin g a new computer...More>>

What’s a Home Network good for?
A network is a group of computers that are interconnected. These computers can share resources between them such as printers and storage space. The biggest network is the
Internet itself, which is made up of interconnected computers around the world. Companies have realized the benefits of computer networks for years and the technology has become less expensive so now it can be done in the home for a very reasonable price...More>>

Is Bill Gates really giving away money??
People get them every day and wonder if it’s real. Since they don’t know what to do they send it on and hope that it’s true. What is it? E-Mail Hoaxes! P.T Barnum is known for saying there’s a sucker born every minute, and some of these messages are hoping to cash in on that theory...More>>

This Bagle might be toasting a PC near you?
The most recent variations of the Bagle worm family appear to be based on code similar to the Bagle.af variation. This family of viruses are mass-mailing worms that vary in length. It has its
own built -in email program so that it can spread mail to people in your address book and you would never know. They use various subject lines and attached files to spread via e-mail. They also attempt to spread via shared network files...More>>