Uncategorized Archives - Page 6 of 7

Common Keyboard Shortcuts to Increase your Productivity

General, Office IT, Uncategorizedproductivity, shortcuts, WindowsOphtek, LLC

Nov 2014

Keyboard shortcuts are an overlooked feature of the modern OS. Here are 28 shortcuts to keep your hands on the keyboard and to keep your productivity high.

Most of these actions can be easily done with keyboard shortcuts. The shortcuts have you press a combination of two keys at the same time to perform the action. Investing some time into learning these shortcuts and getting used to using them on a daily basis will significantly increase your work efficiency no matter what field you are in. Once you learn this way of navigating the UI there will be no going back! The following shortcuts are for computers running a Windows OS.

Action controller

CTRL+Y, Redo the last section
CTRL+Z, Undo the last action

For creating, opening, saving, and printing

CTRL+N, Creates new file or web browser window
CTRL+O, Open a file or document
CTRL+S, Saves a file or webpage
CTRL+P, Print all the selected areas

Format shortcuts

CTRL+B, Bold
CTRL+I, Italic
CTRL+U, Underline

Browsers

CTRL+T, Open a new tab in opened browser
CTRL+Shift+T, Reopen previously closed tabs
CTRL+H, Open browser history
CTRL+W, Close window
CTRL+F, Word search page

Screen Capture

ALT+Print Screen, Capture screenshot of currently open window
CTRL+Print screen, Capture the entire screen

Function keys

F1: Open the Help Page
F2: Rename file
F3: Find or Search
F4: Shows the address bar in browser
F5: Refreshes the current browser page

Windows Shortcuts

CTRL+Alt+Delete,Open the Windows Task Manager
Alt+Tab, to move to the last working window
WIN+D, Show desktop
WIN+L, Lock desktop

CTRL+Shift+N, Create new folder
Shift+Delete, Permanently Delete file
Alt+Enter or Alt+Double click, Go to properties screen for file or folder

For more ways to increase your office productivity, contact your local IT professionals.

HIPAA Technical Requirements for Medical Offices

Uncategorizedhipaa, securityOphtek, LLC

Nov 2014

Is your medical office HIPAA compliant? Here are 8 HIPAA technical requirements you should address to avoid fines that could cost tens of thousands.

In recent years, there’s been cases of data leaks either through innocent cases losing a notebook or information to leak in the office. Tighter IT security measures and policies can help prevent unauthorized access to medical data. We’ve compiled a list in-line with the HIPAA and Omnibus technical requirements and regulations.

Review for HIPAA Compliance

Assigning unique usernames– This helps to identify and track different users in Medical Office software containing patient health information.
Contingency procedures for accessing medical data in an emergency– A well-documented procedure that can appropriately guide any authorized staff to access protected medical information.
Logging off idle sessions– This is a good way to protect and minimize any unnecessary user load on the system, as well as preventing any potential unauthorized access to unattended endpoints.
Encryption and decryption of data– Put into place an encryption and decryption process when accessing or externally sending out any sensitive medical information.
Auditing systems– It’s strongly advised to run periodic audit controls on systems, including software, hardware, and not excluding, procedures, that use and hold confidential and sensitive medical information.
EPHI Integrity– Prevent any alteration of destruction of protected medical information by implementing effective procedures and clear procedures.
Authentication procedures– Authenticate authorized staff that are verified to be who they say they are and which are granted access to specific medical information.
Securing external transmissions of data– Implement technical and updated security processes to protect data from unauthorized access, especially when transmitted via any type of electronic communications network.

Next Steps

Now that you have a better idea hipaa technical requirements within the IT portion of the HIPPA regulations. The next step is to take action and formulate your own policies and procedures.

Most changes in procedures can be delivered as onsite training for staff, which in our experience is very effective. You may have the best tools in the industry to protect data, however it is also what staff do within these procedures that matters. For example, staff may occasionally share usernames and passwords, or even write them down on a Post-It note and leave these on their desks, all of which are prone to social engineering types of compromises. Not only is this a risk, but it also makes it difficult to audit and trace any work or process carried out on endpoints.

For more ways to secure your medical office technology to ensure HIPAA compliance, contact your local IT professionals.

How Reliable is your Hard Drive?

Uncategorizedbackup, hard drives, storageOphtek, LLC

Nov 2014

Your hard drive contains irreplaceable data, pictures and personal info. A new Backblaze study gives us insight on the most reliable hard drives out there.

We’ve compiled a summary based on Backblaze’s new findings on hard drive reliability, covering the brands that tend to fail the most and how often it has been reported.

Backblaze, a backup service provider, has data centers that hold more than 100 petabytes of data on over 34,000 drives, impressive right? They’ve done all the hard work in testing a wide range of hard drives, some of which have failed and others that have remained in full working order.

They began documenting their study in January 2014 and have since updated their observations.

Here is a summary of what you need to know:

The worst failing drives have been the 3 TB Western Digital and the 3 TB Seagate. This has been tested from 3,846 Seagate hard drives with an average age of 1.9 years and an initial 9% annual failure rate, which is now up to 15%. From the 776 Western Digital hard disks tested, the report shows that they have averaged 0.5 years in lifespan and had an annual failure rate of 4%, which has increased to 7%.
Interestingly, the HGST drives (previously branded as Hitachi) have been the most reliable brand with their annual failure rate averaging around 1% out of over 1600 tested hard drives in the datacenter.
Despite Seagate and Western Digital having a poor reliability record compared to the HGST drives, the reliability on these two problematic brands have continued to perform better with the Seagate 1.5TB and 4TB sized drives, along with the 1 TB Western Digital drives.
Western Digital and Seagate’s 3 TB drives continue to be the worst performers. One assumption could be that these drives may buckle easily under a datacenter environment. Another possibility could be due to a difference in how they run within a drive farming setup (using enterprise drives) as opposed to removing them from external USB hubs.
From their extensive testing, Backblaze noted that the standard external USB drives, such as Seagate’s 3TB (priced at around $100 for consumers), performed just slightly better than enterprise drives which are over double the price!
There’s also a big difference between different hard drive models and their failure rates. Seagate’s Barracuda range has two different 3 TB drives, with Barracuda XT performing nearly three times as well as the struggling Barracuda 7200.14 model, with a 15.7% annual fail rate.
The same goes for Seagate’s 1.5 TB drives, such as the Barracuda LP, performing significantly better as a hard drive with an annual failure rate of 9.6% compared to the Barracuda 7200.11, which has a 25% fail rate.

Overall conclusion

When it comes to looking for a reliable hard drive, especially those that are of 1.5 TB and 3 TB capacities, we have a clear winner and that is the HGST brand. One thing is clear; there’s no hard disk that is ever 100% fail proof, even the HGST drives have been noted to fail at times. The highest HGST annual fail rate of 1.4%, from over a thousand tested hard disks, is still a very impressive record.

Regardless of your hard drive brand, model and style, it is extremely important to replicate and backup your data on a regular basis, as you never know when a hard drive will fail.

We hope that Seagate and Western Digital improve their current 1.5 and 3 TB drives and pay attention to this continued study. Although most drives will come with a 3 year warranty, in the event of a hard disk failing, this shouldn’t be much of a financial setback to their customers.

For more information on storage for your office or home based business, contact your local IT professionals.

Best Windows 10 Features for Businesses and Professionals

Office IT, Software, UncategorizedWindows, windows 10Ophtek, LLC

Oct 2014

Microsoft has recently announced the preview version of Windows 10 for the general public. Here are our favorite Windows 10 features for businesses.

At a glance, it looks very much like a hybrid of Windows 7 and Windows 8, with some colorful Apple elements thrown in. We’ve decided to discuss here some of our favourite features of Windows 10 which may be of interest to businesses and professionals:

The return of the Start Menu

That’s right, the start menu, which was absent on Windows 8, has been reintroduced into the OS. It’s similar to the former start menu in Windows 7, yet it includes live titles like in Windows 8 and attractive “Apple-esque” looking tiles. You can also resize it!

Extended search functionality

Within the start menu, you will be able to search anything from your current PC or device, such as files or Apps, as well as any search results from the internet.

Windows 10 Universal Apps

Microsoft is following the Apple App Store trend by unveiling their own Windows Universal Apps, which we guess will be compatible across various devices, including phones. Older Windows Apps should still work on Windows 10.

New multiple Task View and Split Screen features

Microsoft have done away with Windows 8 Task switcher and have introduced a brand new Task View, which will allow users to switch between virtual desktops. This makes it a whole lot more user friendly and allows you, for instance, to separate your work desktop from your home desktop. It also splits the screen up into four quadrants to make it easier to segment your work.

Snap Assist feature

This is another new feature which allows you to arrange (“snap”) your Apps and windows into tiles or new screens.

Package Manager “OneGet”

Following in the footsteps of the very popular Linux based package managers, Windows 10 will allow you to install programs directly from the command line. It may not sound exciting but imagine avoiding the 10+ windows of Next-Next-Next to get common software up and running. Deploying programs on many systems also becomes much more manageable.

Business functionality features

On Window’s 10 Technical Preview for Enterprise, there is said to be features that are currently under development which have not all yet been included. Some features will include specific business functionalities such as DirectAccess, AppLocker, BranchCache and Windows To Go. We can only imagine that data security and asset management will be at the top of their list.

Final Thoughts…

Now you have a run-down on some of the popular features for the Windows 10 preview. It’s available for download, but be sure to do this on a test computer or VM.

Since the negative backlash on Windows 8, Microsoft is looking for feedback to improve on their new OS before selling it to the market. In our opinion, this is a great thing as they are listening more to the consumers’ needs and practical solutions. Since most businesses and professionals depend on some Windows operating system, this is an opportunity to provide constructive criticism for an improved OS to be born.

For more information about whether Windows 10 is right for your business or practice, contact your local IT professionals.

3 Reasons to Block Advertising on your PC

Internet, Office IT, Security, Uncategorizedadvertising, browsing, internet, securityOphtek, LLC

Jul 2014

Does advertising improve your web browsing experience or make it worse? Even legitimate advertising can cause major headaches to major infections.

Advertising can be a great source of revenue for websites that offer content and information for free. Major websites that you use everyday have taken this to an extreme by serving up video ads that talk to you and track your online behavior. However the more websites rely on advertising for their revenue the more willing they will let any run an ad on their networks. Here are three reasons why advertising has reached a point where it can be a threat to the average user browsing the internet.

1. Malware spreads through legitimate advertising

There have been many cases in the last few years where hackers and criminals have used legitimate advertising and banners in websites and in videos to spread their malware. One example is a bitcoin mining virus being spread through Yahoo advertising. Even Youtube fell victim to advertising serving up remote code execution. These major website quickly patched up the problem but it will take more than a break-fix approach to end this cat and mouse game.

2. Are you really getting what you click on?

Accidentally clicking on the wrong link when you want to download a song, file or program from the internet can open the flood gates of junk on your computer. The above image shows a legitimate download website. Can you guess which link is the correct link to download your program?

3. Popups, search engine hijackers and junk programs

Once junk programs from advertising get their foot in the door, it can be very difficult to detect or even remove the software. The above search engine may look like Google, but it is a knock off website meant to steer you to their partners websites.

For now until major websites have better safeguards in place to prevent malware, junk programs and sneaky advertising methods from their ad networks it’s better to steer clear from advertising all together. We recommend running Firefox or Chrome with ad block plugins installed.

For more tips on staying safe online at your home or office, contact your local IT professionals.

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Category Archives: Uncategorized

Review for HIPAA Compliance

Next Steps

Here is a summary of what you need to know:

Overall conclusion

The return of the Start Menu

Extended search functionality

Windows 10 Universal Apps

New multiple Task View and Split Screen features

Snap Assist feature

Package Manager “OneGet”

Business functionality features

Final Thoughts…

1. Malware spreads through legitimate advertising

2. Are you really getting what you click on?

3. Popups, search engine hijackers and junk programs