What is a guest account? It?s actually set up differently than a regular account, allowing the guest user to access the computer?s core functions, without being able to see your personal files or mess with your settings. Here are four distinctions of a guest account. Guest accounts allow others to use your PC while preventing them from browsing password-protected files, like those stored on your own personal user account. Using guest accounts, users won?t accidentally stumble upon your logged-in accounts and email, which could give even those with the best intentions the urge to take a peek. Keep in mind that any browsing history or logged-in websites will be available to future guests, as well, so be sure to tell your guests to log out of their accounts before logging off. Guest accounts don?t have access to the administrator privileges that you would as the owner of the PC. Guest users can?t install software, configure hardware devices, or change settings. They can still use the Internet and other applications that are already installed, giving them the best experience possible without risking any breach of privacy. Before we walk you through the steps on how to do this, be warned; setting up guest accounts on office workstations is generally frowned upon. We advise you to first check with your company?s IT administrator if you?re going to do this at work. Making new guest accounts to access a network might complicate security if the account is unaccounted for. How to Create a Guest Account for Windows 7Go to Control Panel > User Accounts > Add or remove user accounts. You?ll next be prompted to alter an existing account. If the Guest account isn?t already turned on, it will appear in your available accounts. Click it, and select Turn On. With the guest account turned on, you and anyone else can now access it from your PC?s login screen. How to Create a Guest Account for Windows 8/8.1You can access the guest account feature in the same way as you did with Windows 7 (via the Control Panel), or you can type ?guest account? into the search bar. Make sure you?re only searching Settings. You?ll see an option titled Turn guest account on or off in the results. Click on the Guest account, and select b. How to Create a Guest Account for Windows 10For Windows 10, it?s actually a bit more complicated. Rather than accessing your guest user options through the Control Panel, you can go through the Windows Command Prompt. Type CMD in the search bar to find the Command Prompt, and then right-click it and select Run as administrator. You?ll then see the command prompt open on your screen. Type the command net user guest /active: yes, and finish by hitting Enter. After that, a message will display saying that ?The command completed successfully.? By having a guest account available for new users, you?ll be ready to let anyone borrow your computer, without having to worry about them discovering your secrets. For more useful tech tips, be sure to check back next week, and subscribe to White Mountain IT Services?s blog.

According to a study from Intel, there are over a billion PCs in the world that are three years old or older, with around half of those being up to four or five years old. This immediately sounds like a big issue. That?s over a billion PCs that could very well be using technology that will be obsolete in a year or two. Or, it could not; therein lies the current issue with the PC industry. Technology continues to move forward with increased reliability, which means that people are less likely to buy new hardware when their current machines work perfectly fine. In today?s modern technology environment, the problem that many PC manufacturers face is the fact that technological growth, though still far surpassing that of the past, has slowed down, and PCs from three years ago are still capable of being used with today?s software. More importantly, though, is that hardware is growing more reliable, meaning that there?s less of a chance that you?ll encounter troubles before your technology?s time is up. As reported by ZDNet: Sure, on paper it’s going to be advertised as being faster, and benchmark tests will support this, but in the real world – assuming that the old one isn’t all kludged up and ailing – you’re just not going to see much difference. Sure, there might be a slightly faster boot up time, or it might be a little snappier, but most of the gains that new PC owners see are nothing more than confirmation bias. Sure, if you go to the performance end of the scale then things are different, but your average home or office PC spends most of its time running a web browser or a word processor application. A three-year-old PC can do that without breaking a sweat. In other words, what winds up happening is the replacement of one PC with a machine that can largely perform the exact same function. When this happens, people find that it?s often not worth the extra investment to upgrade to more recent technology, considering their old tech works just as well and doesn?t have a hefty price tag on it. There is some logic to this statement. You don?t want to spend money on new solutions haphazardly; it could break your business?s budget, and more importantly if you still take advantage of certain legacy applications, your organization could hit a brick wall when upgrading to more recent operating systems or hardware. One more thing to think about: if you are experiencing slow computer issues or sluggish performance, it might just be a single component of your workstation that needs to be addressed. Certain hardware components, like hard drives and RAM, attribute the most to how well a PC performs, and these upgrades are much easier on the budget than replacing the entire workstation. Beyond hardware, it?s also possible the slowness can be caused by a software issue, or simply a need for routine maintenance. Before shelling out for any expensive hardware or software solutions, be sure to consult a trusted technician. This isn?t to say that the latest and greatest technology doesn?t have its uses. In terms of business strategy, it?s a best practice to be working with only the best technology solutions. If your office?s technology is top of the line, […]

Some technology solutions, however, change the way people think about tasks they take for granted. Below are three pieces of upcoming technology that have been developed, manufactured, and are now close to being universally available. These innovations are just a few of the numerous new products that tech-savvy companies are releasing. Zcan Mouses Most people will remember the flatbed scanners that were once very popular, or the handheld scanners that took several tries to get the image scanned properly. The Zcan is a two-in-one scanner and mouse that features the typical mouse set-up with a one-button scan feature that allows users to capture pictures, documents, notes, and more to save or quickly share with others via social media. With the built-in Evernote integration, users can be more organized than ever. Zcan?s newest product (as seen in the video above) is a wireless version of their scanner mouse. This product allows users to bring their Zcan anywhere, making it a valuable tool for work, leisure, and everything in between. The Zcan is currently raising capital via Indiegogo. To learn more follow this link. Slide N?Joy When you?re on the go, and you?re working on your laptop, you often don?t have enough screen space to properly manage all the tasks you are trying to complete. The people behind the Slide N?Joy understand this and have created an expandable display. It isn?t the first time we?ve seen a company try this, but the Belgium-based Slide N?Joy has developed a product that will immediately give laptop users more real estate in which to get things done. The company is currently seeking financial contributions through Kickstarter to get their product funded. The display comes in the form of two magnetically-attached screens that connect to your laptop so that you then have a three-screen display. Each is connected with an aluminum hinge giving the user the ability to seamlessly share information with people by turning around the display as they continue to work at their computer. It is a great idea for any professional setting where briefings and meetings are conducted on the go; or, if a user simply has too much going on to properly multitask on one screen. Swiftpoint GTThe development of the mouse follows the development of the computer. Now that a majority of computing is being done on touchscreen devices, there needed to be a change in the way that people are able to interact with their computer. Using a touch screen is easier for many things, but doing work on a touchscreen device is extraordinarily difficult. This is where the Swiftpoint GT comes in. It is the first wireless mouse that mimics the controls of using a touchscreen device, making navigating around a tablet much easier. The way the Swiftpoint GT mouse works is by utilizing two separate modes. There is the traditional point and click mode that a typical mouse uses. The other mode allows you to use the built-in stylus to pan and flick to use today?s most dynamic mobile OS. It also integrates other touch features, like zooming and application switching. The mouse is connected through either Bluetooth or via a USB dongle that also is used to charge the mouse. Each 30 second charge is good for an hour of use. In a world dominated by touchscreens, Swiftpoint GT delivers […]

Even though virtualization offers a significant benefit, we realize that some businesses might not be completely aware of how virtualization works. As defined by Gartner, virtualization is: […] the abstraction of IT resources that masks the physical nature and boundaries of those resources from resource users. An IT resource can be a server, a client, storage, networks, applications or OSs. Essentially, any IT building block can potentially be abstracted from resource users. For example, a virtual network would be hosted in a data center environment and deployed via the cloud, making access easier without all of the complicated wiring. Adding users becomes much easier, as they don?t require specific cabling projects for adding new connections, making scalability an ideal feature. Virtualization services are so popular that, according to a report from Cisco, 77 percent of small and medium-sized businesses are using some kind of virtualization, be it for storage, server hosting, or desktop infrastructure. Introducing virtualization to your IT infrastructure has several benefits. The main one, which we previously mentioned, is that your infrastructure will be simplified, meaning that you won?t have to manage as much hardware. This means that you won?t be as susceptible to threats like hardware failure or natural disasters, provided your virtual infrastructure is hosted off-site. Another benefit is cost savings that stem from decreased operational costs. Naturally, if you?re running fewer workstations or servers, you?ll be consuming less electricity, and if you?re running a virtual desktop infrastructure, you can administer maintenance much more effectively. Of course, nothing is as simple as it seems. A virtualized network still needs to have measures put in place to halt the advance of threats of all types. Although virtualizing a network does go a significant distance in separating your system from some threats (primarily that of hardware failure), there?s always going to be a chance that threats slip past your defenses. This is why it?s important to always be using the latest security solutions, like powerful antivirus, firewall, spam blocking, and content filtering, to minimize the risk of your virtualized network. In conclusion, your organization?s entire virtual desktop infrastructure needs to be designed with security and uptime in mind, not just to minimize the amount of hardware your organization needs to stay productive. For more information about virtualization services and security, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800.

Dim Your ScreenGo to Settings > Display and toggle Adaptive brightness. If you had to pick just one of these adjustments to make, have it be the brightness of your screen. Even if your screen is just a little bit brighter than it needs to be, all that wasted juice will have you running to a wall charger much sooner than you?d like. In addition to adjusting your screen?s brightness, you can also adjust how long it stays powered on after it?s activated. For example, you don?t need your screen activated for a full minute after each and every notification. Turn Off Location Service (GPS)Go to Settings > General > Location. With your phone?s location service enabled, your device will consume a lot of energy trying to stay connected to GPS satellites. The thing about this feature is that you probably don?t actually need it activated unless you?re actually using an app that requires location information, like Google Maps. If you?re not using a GPS-dependant app like this, then it?s in your battery?s best interest to just turn location service off until you need it. Disable WiFi When Out and AboutGo to Settings > WiFi, Bluetooth, or Data Usage. You?ll want to keep your device?s WiFi on when you?re settled in at work or home, but when you?re on the go, turn off WiFi in order to save battery power. If you don?t, your phone is going to use significant juice to actively look for and try connecting to every new WiFi signal it comes across–which could be many if you?re traversing through a heavily populated area. Turn Vibration OffHit the Volume Down key until you feel the phone vibrate, then hit it once more to silence all notifications. Having your phone vibrate comes in handy when you?re in a social setting requiring you to keep noise to a minimum, but if you?re trying to conserve battery power, you might be able to do without it. It takes a significant amount of energy to get your phone to vibrate like that. Although, with your phone?s vibration turned off, you?re going to want to make sure to keep your device within view so you can see any incoming notification. Manually Update AppGo to Play Store > Settings > Auto-update apps, and turn auto-update off or set it to update over WiFi only. Since updating your apps automatically is the default setting, you may not think twice about having this auto update activated. However, if you want to conserve battery power, then you should. Otherwise, your device may start automatically updating its apps and pulling huge chunks of data from the Play Store at the worst possible time for your dying battery. Disable Background DataGo to Settings > Data Usage. You may think that you?ve closed your app, but that doesn?t mean it?s still not open in the background and doing battery-draining activities. Thinking back to our second example, some apps still tap into the GPS settings to track your activity, even though you?ve closed it out. Many apps utilize background activity like this which unnecessarily drains the battery. Therefore, when you?re in a pinch, disable background data. However, if you access an app and find it to be not working like it should, you may want to turn the background data […]