Help

This is what our customers are continually asking. More to follow soon. 

Connecting to a wireless network:

Without getting technical, simply point your wireless equipment (adapter) at the preferred wireless network and select it. Enter the security key for that particular network (often a password) and press 'connect'. If all goes well you are them connected to a local wireless system.

This is the normal process:
1. Right-click the network connection icon and click 'View Available Wireless Networks' See the system tray (very bottom right hand side of screen)
2. Under Available Networks in the 'connect to Wireless Network' window, select the desired wireless network
3.Enter the required security key for the network you wish to use. (This should have been provided by the person who set-up the wireless network)
4. Click the 'connect' button
5.To adjust settings or troubleshoot the connection, select 'advanced' and change the settings in the Wireless Network tab.

Once you are connected use the internet normally.

Troubleshooting
If you can't connect to the internet and your connection to the network is working there are a number of causes you should consider before blaming your wireless equipment.

The bulk of problems are resolved by restarting your router. Please do this before paying for any support services.

Note, most ISP's (Internet Service Providers) will always say there is no problem with your line. You will most likely need to be very specific and/or very forceful to get them to do anything useful.

If you have RESTARTED your router (switch off and then on) and still can't get an internet connection please work through the list of possible causes below:

1) The router is switched off or dead. Check its plugged in and the lights are on.
2) Someone may have disrupted your routers connection to the broadband service; check the cables attached to the router have not been moved/damaged (e.g. by builders, cleaners etc.)
Reconnect any loose cables and wait to see if that helps.

3) The broadband connection supplied by your ISP is not working; they may have a temporary problem. Call your ISP.

4) Your ISP may have closed/disabled your account. Have there been any issues recently with your account status? Call your ISP.

5) You may have changed/removed/added phone lines recently, and broadband is no longer on the same line. Please ensure your router is connected to the line with a live broadband connection.

6) The laptop you are using has a switch to turn on it's built-in wireless adapter, this is not switched on. Please ensure this is switched on. Note, on some laptops this needs to done manually every time the machine is turned on.

7) Your wireless adapter may have been physically damaged and will no longer work. Replace the adapter with a new one.

8) Viruses or spyware are disrupting your computer and preventing it from functioning normally , including maintaining the wireless connection. Ensure your protection is up-to-date and run a full scan on your computer.

9) You have inadvertently allowed your firewall to block your connection to the internet.  Switch your firewall off for a minute and check if your connection is ow working. Please then switch it back on.

Can't connect to the internet:

We get calls most days asking for help to resolve this problem and we are very aware how serious this is for most clients. Many of the issues are covered above in the wireless section but these can be summarised as follows:
Your router/modem is not installed correctly or has failed
Your cabling has been damaged/disconnected by builders/cleaners or someone else on your property
Your ISP/Network provider has a glitch or there is an issue with your account
There is a problem with your computer that is preventing the network connection from working properly.
You are having a bad day
So do check your router is switched on correctly and the cables are all connected properly and restart your router. If that does not help you could consider speaking to your ISP but be warned many of them are very difficult to deal with and will waste your time trying to prove the problem is on your computer. Be very firm and get them to check there are no issues with your account or the local network they connect through. If you still can't connect give us a call.

Backup your data:

Overview
Most businesses should back-up their work a least once a week (and possibly every day) to cover the possibility of failing hard drives or loss of computers. This saved data can also serve as a useful record, when you need to retrieve records at some point in the future.

You should be committed to making regular backups as it's much better (and cheaper) than trying recover data from failed computers.

What to backup?
You should consider carefully all the data you update on a regular basis e.g. documents, spreadsheets, accounts packages, email and any other business specific software/data you are using.

To get a better idea of the scope of your data, make a list of all the programs you use over a typical week and consider carefully where the data is held for each of these programs. This is the only way to ensure you manage to backup everything that is significant to your business.

Organising your data
If the organisation of your data is consistent then the whole backup process is much easier, e.g. If all your data is held in sub folders of 'My Documents' then saving the entire contents of 'My Documents' will provide a simple means of backing up. In practice, data tends to be held in various locations on your computer which will all need to be included when you create your backup procedures.  This may be a good time to review how and where your data is stored.

Where to backup to?
The current advice is to use two backup media in tandem to give a much better chance of recovery, should you have a major problem. This approach has proved effective and is much better than typical single backup systems.

You must save your data to a reliable media (this does not include your main hard drive). This includes external hard drives, spare internal hard drives and on-line systems. Pick any two media's, backup frequently and comprehensively.

Note: CD/DVD's and usb pens are ok for casual backups but in practice most users tend to do these infrequently making them unreliable.

The backup procedures
Creating a copy or backup of your data can be done manually or automated using a dedicated backup package. You may decide its easier to automate this process. Whichever method you prefer, always ensure your backup media is connected at the point your backups are being made.

Are your backups effective?
You should check the contents of your backups on a regular basis, to ensure they hold the data you are expecting. Compare the contents of the backups to the list you made earlier.

Common Printer Issues:

If your printer is not behaving here's the possible issues:
The printer is very old and may be dead (3years plus).
Paper is jammed in the rollers -open the printer and check all rollers and paper trays. Constant flashing lights may indicate a fault or simply you are low on ink.
Check the printer status and ensure it is ONLINE.
Switch the printer off fully and then restart it.
Check the printer is still listed in the available printers for your machine. If not it may need to be reinstalled .
Disconnect the USB cable and then reconnect (with the computer ON).
In summary the main issues are dead printers, printer offline or low ink.

Sound Problems:

Having no sound is quite common, annoying and fairly easy to fix.
The most common causes are :
Cables disconnected or in the wrong slot
Speakers turned off or not connected
Sound muted or turned down very low
Your sound system is not set-up correctly and needs to be reinstalled

This advice is not intended to be a diy guide, its purpose is to give customers an idea of potential problems and possible solutions.
Adeptex Technology is not repsonsible for any consequenses of the use of this information in any way