**Fraud Alert** E-Z Pass Phishing Scam

This message has been circulating through email.  It is a message saying you have to pay an invoice for inadvertently driving on a toll road and attached is an "invoice."  People who click on the emails run the risk of downloading malware that could infect their computers and potentially steal personal information. Those who respond with the requested credit card or bank account information are setting themselves up for identity theft.  Below is a screen shot of what the email looks like:

Computer Special for the Holidays!

www.lkncomputerpro.com | 704)765-1546 |info@lkncomputerpro.com

Are you prepared for the next storm? Is your Data Secure?

Are your systems backed up and do you have a Disaster Recovery Plan in place in the event of damage to your systems?  Can you afford down-time or loss of critical data?  At LKN Computer Pro, We've got you Covered.  

We can back up your data so it is secure in the event of a catastrophe.  This is the best and most cost effective way to ensure your data is safe and secure.

In the event a calamity occurs and you have not yet secured your data, don't panic.  Our Disaster Recovery team will be on the case. Regardless of geography or the extent of the damage, we will give you the peace of mind to rest easy knowing you will get back up and running quickly and assuredly.  Contact us for more information!

LKN Computer Pro

(704)765-1546

info@lkncomputerpro.com

www.lkncomputerpro.com

Lake Norman Chamber's Coffee Connections - Business Before Hours

Business BeforeHoursChris Muskert CEO Presents

LKN Computer Pro19507 West Catawba Avenue, Suite J (the far right end)C o r n e l i u s, NC 28031

Wednesday, September 16, 8:00 to 9:00 am

Come meet the whole commercial developmentThis will be a grand morning for allWe'll do a Ribbon Cutting at 8:30 +/-

For more information or to register go to the following link:

https://www.lakenormanchamber.org/coffee-connections-business-beforehours/networking-events/coffee-connections-business-beforehours/business-beforehours,-lkn-computer-pros.html

Windows 10 upgrades and updates causing issues already...Get Trained and Upgraded in the same day without the worries and hassles of upgrading yourself!

Maybe you are one of those adventurous souls who decided to take the plunge into windows 10 and now you have a computer who's screen has gone dark after loading windows or is caught in a constant loop as well as other issues?

Windows 10 is Microsofts latest attempt to fix a disgruntled and unsatisfied windows 8 and 8.1 community.  Windows 8 and 8.1 were the answer to an all-in-one operating system for users phones, tablets, laptops and pc's.  Unfortunately this did not sit well with the people who are familiar with the start button (which was incorporated again with the release of 8.1).

Windows 10 now includes the all too familiar start button and and other features that make it a must see operating system from a laptop and desktop perspective as well as adding Cortana to the user experience (think Siri from a pc perspective).

Though windows 10 is a great operating system we have noticed a lot of issues when users have upgraded (black screens or computer constantly looping after updates or wireless network issues).  

LKN Computer Pro, Inc recognizes these issues and have been fixing them since the release of the new operating system.  Due to these issues we have decided to do an all in one Training and Upgrade in the same day.  The training will cover the new features of Windows 10 while our tech's work on the upgrades.  When the training is over (barring no issues) the customer can pick up their computer and take it home with a new knowledge level to take full advantage of all windows 10 has to offer without the hassle of running into problems upgrading the systems themselves.  

Get Upgraded and Trained on Windows 10 Over Lunch!

LKN Computer Pro will be doing Windows 10 upgrades coupled with training on Saturdays from 10AM-Noon.  Lunch will be provided afterward.  Get your computer running like new in just a couple hours!  Inquire at info@lkncomputerpro.com or give us a call at (704)765-1546.

A little bit about our CEO / Owner of LKN Computer Pro

Forbes.com Top 10 Benefits of Social Media Marketing

Forbes.com Top 10 Benefits of Social Media Marketing

LKN Computer Pro

Have you been burned before by technicians claiming $25 computer repairs, or worse, overcharging for repairs? Here is how to weed these people out.

As with everything in life, you get what you pay for.  We at LKN Computer Pro, often times, see these computers come through our door where a customer has taken their computer to someone’s house or met them in a parking lot to drop their computer off, only to have that computer come back with the same issues or in even worse condition.  More times than not, you are not paying $25 dollars.  You are paying for the $25 dollar repair and then you have to take it to a reputable shop where you are now paying for us to fix the issues caused by the last repair man.

How do you weed these people out and what do you look for in a reputable company?  I have made a list of what separates a real computer company from the scam and rip-off artists:

1. Certifications and accreditations – Look for companies that have technicians who have gone to school for computer repairs or computer science.  Simply ask the technician what certifications they hold.
2. Physical Location – Does this person own a company with a physical location or are they taking your computer to a garage where all of your personal information and computer are just sitting around?  Are they asking to meet in a parking lot?  If the answer to these is yes then I would steer clear.   
3. Franchise – Are they a franchise?  It is easy to stamp a franchise name on the side of a Volkswagen Beetle and drive around town, but most franchises only require these people to pay a franchise fee and they are off and running.  They do not vet technical knowledge of the people buying into this franchise.
4. Beware Volkswagen’s that look like cop cars! – By far, our biggest complaint is the overcharging from the big box stores who send their “Agents” onsite, or worse, bring it into their office where astronomical fee’s are charged for their BASIC services.
5. Cousin Vinny – Everyone has one and this is a hit or miss.  The cousin or nephew who can repair your computer for free or for a fraction of the cost of a reputable store, only to find out that by the time the cousin or nephew is done working on your computer it is worse than it was before you gave it to him.  It may even come back in parts that he could not reassemble.

Everyone has had at least one bad experience when dealing with their personal computers.  Unfortunately, the reputable places take it on the chin for the others who have scammed or completely ripped off clients.

At LKN Computer Pro we offer dynamic costs and not pre-canned costs for customers.  This gives us more flexibility in working with customers to save money while providing excellent service.  We have a physical location where are computers are diagnosed, troubleshot and repaired (no parking lot meetings here).  We quote our customers before doing the work and offer the diagnostic fees waived if you decide to have your computer serviced at our facility.

We at LKN Computer Pro believe that trust is not given blindly, but earned and we are earning that trust one customer at a time.  

Virtualizing your old Laptop to your new laptop - Run Two laptops in one!!

Did you recently purchase a new laptop, but still find yourself dependent on using your old laptop?  Is it frustrating going back and forth between your two machines to get your work done?  There is an answer!

If your laptops meet disk space requirements (99% do) we can take your old laptop system and integrate that very same system onto your new laptop.  Now you have both laptops running off of one system.  Get rid of the old laptop and the going back and forth between multiple systems to get your work done.

While running on both systems you can then slowly migrate off of your dependent applications and get rid of that old laptop once and for all!  

How do we do it?  At LKN Computer Pro we can make a virtual copy of your old machine.  Drop that machine on our network and then transfer that virtual machine to any machine of your choosing.  After some configuration on the new machine your old machine is ready to go.  Once our customer comes in to pick up the new laptop we go through a 30 minute training session (really all that is needed) and they are out the door with one less brick to carry around in their bag on business trips, but all of the DATA!!

Does this sound interesting to you?  Feel free to come by our facility to determine whether this solution is a good one for you and if your workstations or laptops meet the requirements.

The most common questions:

Q. Is this is really expensive solution??  

A. NO!  Absolutley not..the virtualization software is free and it just takes one of our experts to configure it.

Q. How long will the process take?  

A. Normally (depending on how much data) it will take approximately 8 hours from start to finish with most of that time being             transferring of the data.

Q. Will it affect the performance of my machine?  

A. The old machine running on your new machine will take up some resources, but most of the time this is not even noticeable.

What is the Cloud?

There are 3 types of clouds:

Private

Public

Hybrid

Let's cover the first one which is Public and where many large businesses are putting their data.  A public cloud is basically shared resources that are divided into slices for other businesses to use.  So say you have a single server with a lot of storage and memory.  You could slice that physical server into 12 virtual servers and charge for each server that the company is using.  Public clouds house everything from data to email to backups.  Think of office365 when thinking of a service that the public cloud uses.  The concept of the public cloud is great, but do you really want to have your data in the same location as other companies (it gets a little deeper than that)?  You are basically putting all of your information with one or two providers who host a slew of other companies.  If there is a data breach then everyone is affected.  Having all of your resources in the public cloud requires and immense amount of bandwidth as well as a high cost association and you never own this business model (think leasing a car or renting a house).

The next cloud type is the Private cloud.  Private clouds are becoming popular with smaller businesses these days, but the tech companies that support the smaller businesses do not have the technical knowledge to deploy these cost efficient options. The good news is LKN Computer Pro DOES have the expertise and knowledge!!  A private cloud takes virtualization software and run's it on a single host and then hosts all of the services on those hosts.  The good news is normally companies can run on the free version of this cloud based software.  So instead of deploying 3,4,5...servers you purchase one server and host other servers off of that physical machine.  The cost savings come in the form of less power for multiple servers and easier deploying and Disaster Recovery solutions.  Where it would take days or weeks to restore a physical server a new server could be deployed in less than 3-4 hours.  For this reason alone virtualization software or private clouds are well worth the investment. 

The last cloud type is what is referred to as a Hybrid cloud.  Hybrid clouds are a mix of public and private clouds.  A company may want to host all of their data (X-ray machines...etc...etc.) in their private cloud, but choose not to deal with the overhead of having to deal with email, so they use Gmail..Office365 or others who provide MaaS (mail as a service).  This option also works for small businesses who do not have the time nor capital to invest in full private cloud infrastructure and wish to go with a hybrid solution.  As the company grows those public cloud services can move to the private cloud and transition to a full private cloud infrastructure.

A lot of decisions are beyond the customers control as they are limited to capitals and budgets.  LKN Computer Pro can come up with a flexible cost effective plan to meet your dynamic needs without having to break the bank.  Feel free to call us to do a survey and cost analysis.