This is a little rant I'm afraid. I know it's basically my fault BUT!!!!!

Sometimes when at clients premises, I have to use a series of rescue/installation discs to resolve an issue.

Sometimes, it can take quite a few hours to sort out the multiple problems people allow to accumulate on their computer before seeking professional help. A lot of which is helped along by the 'bar room fixers' who know absolutely sod all in real terms about much at all.

They don't know what the real problem is because they've not seen it and clients rarely know how to describe the problem fully anyway - not that there's anything wrong with that, I don't expect it.

The client then goes and mis-follows the wrong advice they've been given and make an even bigger dogs breakfast of the whole thing and after they've totally screwed their computer, they call me.

Now to the point of my rant.

After I've spent hours sorting out the cock-up, I put my things back in my bag (or so I think) and head off home. Some days, or even weeks, later I open my bag looking for the discs to find that I've accidentally left at my clients.

The annoying thing is the client, who now has a full set of service and recovery discs that I've paid for, and doesn't have a clue in hell how to use them, hasn't had the decency to ring me and let me know I've left them. This has happened every time I've done it.

I now have to go through the time and expense of getting a new set of dics together.

ONE THING YOU GET FROM ME IS HONESTY, IF YOU CAN'T RETURN THE FAVOUR THEN YOU DON'T DESERVE THE SERVICES I OFFER.

​I will work out where I left them and that person will have a heavy bill next time they call me!

It just goes to show, there's a lot of really dishonest immigrants out there.

This latest scare affects all versions if Internet Explorer (IE) from version 6 - 11, that includes the version you're using. Are we surprised, not really!

I've never had much faith in IE once I realised Microsoft leave the settings wide open so it's easy for people to steal your information by default. Unless you know what you're doing, you will always be at risk using IE. I've also known my Internet settings change following Microsoft updates.

These are reasons I will not use IE. These are also the reasons why you shouldn't be using IE. Add to this a report I read a couple of years ago where the guy behind IE openly admitted it was rubbish. He cited Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox as being far superior to it.

I would agree on both counts there although I wouldn't recommend Firefox just now because I find it crashes too regularly. Even on PCs that I'm asked to maintain remotely, I can see that Firefox crashes a lot. The only plus side is, it's a lot more secure than IE.

I can't get on with Google Chrome some of you will shout. How do I get Google Chrome some others will shout. What are you talking about some will say.

Some will even say, I use Google all the time then open IE because they don't know what we're talking about. That's perfectly fine because if everybody knew what it's all about, I would be out of a job.

I always use Google Chrome because it's faster.

Anybody wanting to try Google Chrome, please download it from www.ninite.com. Once the download process starts, it will download and install in one go without you having to do anything else.

Yes, it is different, that's because it isn't IE. No, it doesn't have all the cumbersome toolbars that get added to IE, because toolbars break things - keep away from them. Most of you don't know how to use them but insist on keeping them - WHY?. No, don't sign in to google unless you already have a gmail account, click the skip now link.

Most people won't use it because they think it's black magic or, because we always use IE, or in reality, they don't want to learn something new because they're scared of change.

A lot of people will simply accept that Windows has IE built in so that must be what you have to use. I only use Windows because I have to, so I can keep up to speed with how bad it is.

I'd much rather be using Linux Ubuntu. None of my clients that have tried Ubuntu has ever needed to come back with problems. I do, however, have to still visit these people to sort out their Windows machines. Says it all really.

Registered brands and trade marks acknowledged.

Just when we thought Tooway satellite internet was going well, they throw away their feather ...... and replace it with an even bigger one to go with their bigger hat.

What the heck am I talking about?????

OK, just when we thought Tooway had some good deals out there, what do they do, throw them away and bring us some even better deals.         Yahayyyyyy

Get a load of this - 26M internet (20M down, 6M up) for ONLY .............. €29.90 a month including taxes!!!!!!!!   AND, there's no 2 year contract to contend with.

If that wasn't enough, you can even disconnect at ANY time you want then reconnect it later making this the ideal system for people with holiday homes or the globetrotters out there who have two or more homes*.

This is pay as you go satellite internet for just €29.90 a month. How good is that!?!?!  I don't know anyone else who can give you an offer that comes close.

Additionally, you can currently have your 26M satellite internet and VoIP phone service installed for a paltry €169.

Why are you still reading this, stop wasting time, click here, and get yourself connected to one of the best deals around.

* You don't have to have a holiday home for this, it's just an example - YOU can have it.

We know our VoIP service works with Tooway because 40% of our VoIP clients are using it but we cannot guarantee that other VoIP providers services will. We know Vonage refuse to sign you up if you have satellite internet so we can only assume their service doesn't work. How do we know, we've just signed up a client who was refused a Vonage account for this very reason.

All brand names and registered trade marks acknowledged.

Hello everybody.

Please be advised that we are starting to get booked up for April, so if you think your PC has a problem, or you're considering taking up one of our other services then please contact us now or we may not be able to get you sorted before we go.

You might even miss out on our FREE telephone install offer available for this month only if you don't get in now! Check our Special Offer page for more details.

Please don't leave it until the last minute and miss out.

Tooway internet keeps on getting better.

Not only has the speed barrier been broken, so has the price barrier! Tooway internet now runs at speeds of 20Meg download and 6Meg upload ANYWHERE with prices starting as low as €29.90 including taxes.

Not only that, when you get your Tooway 20M internet for just €29.90, you're not even tied in to a contract and giving you the freedom to turn it on or off at any time.

Thought Satellite internet was expensive, think again!

Click here for more information and price list.

You've just bought a wonderful brand new computer with the latest offering from Mr Bill Gates' company - Windows 8 - and found that you now wish you'd never seen it. You're not on your own so don't think it's just you. Many tech guys hate it just as much because it is so unproductive in a business environment (see previous Windows 8 entry).

How can you get rid of that awful Operating System the guy in the shop said was so wonderful (did you know he gets paid to tell you that). Well, it is possible but such a great pain in the proverbial so we're not going to bother in this article, maybe later. Apart from being a big pain, removing that awful mishmash of an OS will also invalidate your warranty, so what we're going to do is make this awful system a bit more manageable. It will still be Windows 8 with all the 'wonderful' gadgets it has but you will be able to actually use it on your Laptop and Desktop machine without all the cursing and swearing. That's nice then.

OK, how do we go about it then? Well, when we start our computer, or should that be wake it up (Windows 8 doesn't actually turn off the computer - that's why it starts so fast) the Modern UI (or Metro as it was) is wonderful for touch screen devices but useless if you're using a mouse and keyboard so we need to bypass that and go straight to the desktop that we're all familiar with. To do this, you can download a little free utility called WinAero that will do just that. There are probably other downloads that will do the same thing but this is the one that I used and so far, no complaints.

WinAero will take you straight to the classic desktop, bypassing the Modern UI allowing us to get on with being productive in a way that works - almost. There is something very important missing from the desktop - access to your program list - the Start button! With WinAero, you can disable the hotspot corners rather than just hiding them, including that silly little start screen.

But if I don't have a start button or start screen, how do I access my programs. Have you tried accessing you programs from the desktop in Windows 8 - you can't - so this needs a little fix as well.

To resolve the problem of accessing programs, I used a little utility called Classic Shell. Classic Shell gives us the the 'missing' start button back with a few general improvements into the bargain. It even allows us to choose what style of start menu to have from the classic style of Win98/2000/ME or WinXP or Win7 - witwoo.

There we have it. A way to 'tame' that Windows 8 machine of yours without breaking the bank, without losing your warranty and without losing your sanity. I would rate this task somewhere between easy and moderate. I know some people who will faint at the prospect of doing something for themselves and class this as hard but it isn't if you can follow instructions.

Both of these handy utilities are free at the time of writing and instructions on how to instal them is available on the respective owners/websites and elsewhere on the internet. I have no connection whatsoever with any of the programs mentioned in this article and can accept no responsibility if anything goes wrong if you try this yourself. I am simply providing a solution to a problem that was brought to me by one of my clients. You can try this yourself or call me and I'll do it for you at my normal rates.

All registered names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Just a quick post to let everyone know we will not be taking calls from 5th May 2013 until 21st May 2013 inclusive as we will be on holiday. We will be open for calls again on the 22nd May.

We are having a well earned break, not having done so for over 2 years. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

We will, of course, still be monitoring our telephone networks and will be in a position to remedy any problems should there be any.