Gulfcoast Networking, Inc. Consumer Services

We Fix Sick Computers

727-847-2424

February 2018 Newsletter

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Welcome to our February Newsletter

NEWS FROM THE SHOP

The big tech news this past month was the announcement that most of the processors produced by Intel and others over the course of nearly 20 years have a fatal flaw that could be exploited by hackers.  I read earlier this week that Intel’s first BIOS patch for the problem created other issues, up to and including potential data loss.  We will keep you up to date as this story plays out.  In the interim, DO NOT flash your BIOS in an attempt to fix the problem.

SPECIAL ORDERS WELCOME

While we don’t maintain a large inventory, we are more than happy to special order new computers, monitors, etc. for you.  Give us a shout and let us know what you are looking for.

AROUND TOWN

There are lots of things happening around town this month.  A family movie in the park on Saturday the 3rd, the Blue Notes in concert in the park on February 10th, and tours of the Hacienda on Sunday, February 18th.  We hope to see you around town.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards,

Rob Marlowe
Gulfcoast Networking, Inc.
6335 Grand Blvd
New Port Richey, FL 34652

727-847-2424

(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)

©2018 Gulfcoast Networking, Inc

January 2018 Newsletter

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Best wishes for a safe and Happy New Year.

We’ve been a bit quiet the last month, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy.  We’ve been preparing for the new year.  There are some interesting new computer products out and technology continues to race forward.

NEWS FROM THE SHOP

We’ve been checking out some cool new hardware.  We recently got our hands on one of Intel’s new Compute Sticks.  This thing is a bit larger than a pack of gum, but is actually a computer, complete with Windows 10 Home.  It uses an HDMI port to plug into a monitor or TV and has bluetooth connectivity for a keyboard & mouse.  It appears to be perfect for a home entertainment system if your TV needs something that can stream content to it.  Our business clients may find it of interest as a “thin client” that will let them connect remotely to their business network.  With prices starting around $200, the Compute Stick is an interesting device.

In our November newsletter, we introduced the new preconfigured Intel NUC system.  We’ve now started delivering them to clients and the response has been very positive.  It is amazing how much power can be packed into a computer that you can hold in your hand.

American Express ran a campaign a few years back with the tag line:  “Membership Has Its Privileges”.  That is quite true.  Gulfcoast Networking provides support packages for both individuals and businesses.

For individuals, our Safe Computing Packages are a great bargain.  Instead of waiting for something to break, sign up today and quit worrying about your computer.  Just one phone call from “Microsoft Support” claiming that your computer is infected will cost you more than our most expensive Safe Computing Package.  Our Safe Computing clients know that they can just pick up the phone and let us worry about making sure that their computer is okay.

Many of our business clients sign up for a managed IT contract that covers our support of their computers and their network.  Telephone and remote support is completely covered.  We also monitor the network and individual computers on a real-time basis.  Where necessary, we also manually check up on critical systems.  Allow me to explain how this works:

Before writing this newsletter on a brisk Saturday morning, I logged into one client’s server and performed a system reboot to clear a backup issue we’ve been troubleshooting.  After the server came back up, I then stopped and restarted various services in a specific order to work around a known Quickbooks bug.  Once finished, I retested the backup routine.  All of this scheduled weekend maintenance, along with the service calls I’ve made to the client in the past month, have been completely covered under a single fixed price contract.

The alternative is to pay for service as it is needed.  Some months are inexpensive, but others can be very expensive.  Smart computer owners appreciate being able to predict what their monthly cost is going to be, without any unpleasant surprises.

Be a smart computer owner and sign up for one of our individual or business support plans.

Happy New Year.

Rob Marlowe, Senior Geek

 

November 2017 Newsletter

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Welcome to our November Newsletter

NEWS FROM THE SHOP

Tim and I sat through a full day of Intel continuing education courses on October 31st.  The pace of technology continues to pick up.  One of the more interesting developments is that Intel is now offering preconfigured NUC’s (Next Unit of Computing) with Optane memory, a large hard drive, and Windows 10 Home.  All of this, along with a full three year warranty and hundreds of dollars in “bonus” software.  If you’ve dreamed of having a home computer that is barely 4×4 inches in size, here is your opportunity.  The i3 version, with a 1tb hard drive, is just $599.95 plus tax. 

These devices will easily handle two monitors.  We learned about add-ons that will let you plug-in three or even four monitors.  Here is a cool video that showcases the latest generation of NUC.

i5 and i7 versions are also available.  Please note that these systems come preconfigured with Windows 10 Home only.  For our corporate clients, we can custom build a similar system or one with a large SSD, along with Windows 10 Pro.  Call us for details.

These computers are highly reliable.  One of the few of these that we’ve seen fail came into our office for service on a Thursday.  We determined that it had failed and had a warranty replacement the next day!  We maintain our Intel Gold partner level for exactly this reason.  We get Advance Warranty Replacement (AWR) if something goes bad.

THE GULFCOAST NETWORKING ADVANTAGE

Some of our customers, both individuals and businesses, have been with us since we opened in 2003.  There is a reason.  We stay up to date on the latest technology and Internet threats so you don’t have to.

For individuals, our Safe Computing Packages give you the peace of mind that comes with knowing that help is just a phone call away.  Many times we can solve issues with a remote support session.  If that isn’t practical, we have a fully equipped shop where we can work on your computer.  We also offer in-home service for things that just HAVE to be done on-site, such as connecting your computer to your wireless network and installing a new printer.

For businesses, we offer full network management.  For a fixed monthly fee, we will provide remote computer and network support, a backup solution, anti-malware protection, and more.  Call us for details.

There are lots of things to see and do in downtown New Port Richey over the course of the next two months.  Be sure to drop by and say hello when you are in the area.

We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It’s our way of keeping you posted on the happenings at our shop.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards,

Rob Marlowe
Gulfcoast Networking, Inc.
6335 Grand Blvd
New Port Richey, FL 34652

727-847-2424

(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)

©2017 Gulfcoast Networking, Inc

October 2017 Newsletter

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Welcome to our October Newsletter

There are plenty of things happening in our area, so take the opportunity to check them out.

NEWS FROM THE SHOP

If you are in the market for a new notebook, take a good look at the bottom of any unit you are considering.  Is there an access panel to let you get to the hard drive?   Can you easily remove the battery?  Both of these are questions you should ask.  Hard drives are the part of a notebook most likely to fail.  If you can’t get to the drive without tearing the machine apart, you should just consider it “disposable”.  Likewise, batteries are fairly inexpensive these days, but you need to be able to take the old one out before you can replace it.

We have a customer who came in with his Asus notebook.  He had opened it up to replace the battery, breaking one of the ribbon cable connectors in the process.  He trashed an otherwise nice notebook by breaking a 50 cent soldered on part.  Ask the sales person to see if you can easily replace things like batteries and drives without tearing the machine apart.

REMOTE SUPPORT

Our remote support portal has been upgraded to support Google Chrome.

FAST IS GOOD

One of our corporate clients was having issues with file transfers to and from one particular system.  Tim discovered that the system in question was connected to an old 10 meg hub (a hub shares bandwidth across all the ports, a switch does not, making a switch faster than a hub of the same speed.  He replaced the antique hub with a modern gigabit switch(1000 meg), increasing throughput by an order of 100.  Even old 10/100 switches have seen their day.  If you are using one of these on a network, give us a shout and we can upgrade your network to a modern gigabit based one.

Likewise, if you are still using an older computer, talk to us about how much better a new system will run.

We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It’s our way of keeping you posted on the happenings at our shop.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards,

Rob Marlowe
Gulfcoast Networking, Inc.
6335 Grand Blvd
New Port Richey, FL 34652

727-847-2424

(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)

©2017 Gulfcoast Networking, Inc

September 2017 Newsletter

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Welcome to our September Newsletter

We still have a few weeks before you will feel fall in the air, but we are getting there.  At least we are getting past the oppressive heat that comes every July and August.

NEWS FROM THE SHOP

BACKUPS:  Do you make copies of your pictures and other important files that are stored on your computer?  If not, you need to give it some thought.  If you are diligent about it, backing up your pictures and other stuff to CDs or DVDs works great.  The key is that you have to remember to do it.  For those of us who sometimes forget, it is better to pay for an online backup service that automatically saves all of your important stuff to the cloud.  Our favorite is Carbonite.  It is only $59.95 a year for a single home computer and it works quietly in the background.  They have other plans as well for people with more complicated needs.  We are a Carbonite dealer and we will be happy to help you protect your memories.

MICROSOFT SUPPORT CALLS:  PLEASE don’t get scammed.  Microsoft won’t call you.  Related and just as nasty are “drive by” popups that will attempt to panic you into calling someone who will be happy to fix your computer while charging you hundreds of dollars for the call.

We offer our “Safe Computing Plans” for people who would like somebody they can trust.  We can set things up so all you have to do is give us a call and we can pop onto your computer with our remote support system to look at anything that doesn’t look right.  Likewise, if you have our Safe Computing protection, you can tell the “Microsoft” callers that you already have tech support and then you can hang up on them.

HURRICANE IRMA

Please stay safe this coming weekend.  If you have any questions on how to take care of your computer during a storm, give us a call at 727-847-2424 or drop us an email.

We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It’s our way of keeping you posted on the happenings at our shop.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards,

Rob Marlowe
Gulfcoast Networking, Inc.
6335 Grand Blvd
New Port Richey, FL 34652

727-847-2424

(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)

©2017 Gulfcoast Networking, Inc

Contact Info:

Hours: M-F 9-5
Evenings and weekends by appointment
Phone: 727-847-2424

Physical Address:
6335 Grand Blvd
New Port Richey, FL 34652