Archive for December, 2008

How to install and Register AVG Anti Virus and AVG Internet Security

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

avgThe aim of this post is to address the most common issues when installing and registering AVG security products.

To begin, simply insert the CD and follow the on screen instructions.  The same software can also be downloaded and installed from the AVG website.  Once installed, you will find that you have a fully working version of the software with a 30 day trial period.

Now you need to license the product.  When you purchased the product you will have been issued with an AVG SALES NUMBER.  What you need to do is to convert this sales number into a LICENSE CODE.

You should visit the AVG website at avg.co.uk  Near the bottom of the page you should click on the link that says Register AVG.  You should now register the product by entering your AVG SALES NUMBER and your personal details.  Once done you will be issued with your LICENSE NUMBER.  This will be displayed on screen and sent to you by email.

If you get a message telling you that your Sales Number is invalid then you need to make sure that you have typed it correctly.  The most common mistake is with the Internet Security product.  You should note that the code begins 80I (that’s capital I for India).  It is often mistaken for a number 1 (one) or lower case L.  It is an I and it stands for Internet Security!

If you experience any further issues then please post your experiences here and I will make sure that readers are updated.

To purchase AVG products at discount prices click here.

Lincoln’s Captivating Nativity Journey

Friday, December 26th, 2008

The other night we visited Lincoln Castle to take part in the annually performed Christmas story “The Journey”.  Presented by local actors, The Journey is a promenade performance set in the enchantingly under-lit grounds of the Castle.  It was led and narrated by Jason Hippisley in the role of Jesus as he looks back on his beginnings.

Our children are of course getting quite familiar with the story of the baby Jesus.  They all take part in the primary school nativity playing roles such as kings, angels or shepherds.  Our pre-school three year old was able to watch his older brothers and sister perform.  When asked where the baby Jesus was born he confidently, if somewhat patronisingly, exclaimed “On the stage in front of the donkey. Derrr.”

Having experienced all of this at school it was a real thrill for them to visit the Castle and follow the journey of Mary, Joseph and the donkey.  We could see the shepherds minding the sheep in the neighbouring fields.  We spotted the three Wise Men in the distance as they made their way around the perimeter wall of the Castle.  We witnessed several inn keepers miming the frustrating news that they were fully booked.

Eventually Mary and Joseph parked their donkey and settled in the Castle’s bath house making a wonderfully intimate stable.  From the distance we could hear the cries of a new born baby and we could see a hive of activity as various visitors assembled.

Jesus then led the following crowd up the hill and we were all invited in turn to enter the stable and take a closer look at the shepherds, the three wise men and of course, at the centre of the scene, the baby Jesus in his mother’s arms with Joseph looking proudly on.  A radiant angel hovered above to over see the tale as it had been foretold.

USB to Ethernet Print Server that works for the PC and the MAC

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

It is surely not much to ask.  I have an old USB HP Deskjet printer.  I want to be able to print to it accross the network from a Vista PC and a MAC running OSX.

That’s all.

Is there a print server that will do it?  I can’t find one.  In the past I have tried various Netgear offerings and something from Belkin as well as something from Linksys.  For nearly two years now I have used a laptop running Windows XP as the print server.  Its a rather untidy piece of over-kill just to run a printer.

Please leave a comment here if you have a solution.  I’ll update you if I find out anything worth while.

Improve your broadband speeds

Friday, December 5th, 2008

bt-faceplateWhenever you report a broadband fault to the Indian customer support team at your ISP you are always told to unplug all your internal wiring and connect your modem to the master socket.  I had heard that you can improve your service a little by connecting to the master socket but I never really thought it could make a huge difference.

Today I know different!  This week I have rewired our house of all its telephone cabling.  We are 4 or 5 miles from the exchange.  Our connection speed was struggling to reach 1MB/s.  The modem is now locked in at a solid 2592KB/s and the online speed checker reports a consistent 2ishMB/s. 

There were a couple of daisy-chained extentions and an external bell.  Its just occured to me that with the old wiring system, the bell wasn’t even broadband-filtered.  Most of the wiring seemed in pretty good condition.

The new BT master socket has a ‘filtered front’ on it.  The Netgear modem sits right next to the socket on a very short length of cable.  The two extension sockets and the external bell all connect to the master socket with top quality cable.  The PCs in the house are supplied with Ethernet CAT5e cable from the Netgear modem/router.

So there we have it.  It really is worth checking your home cabling and seeing what obstacles your broadband signal encounters.  I know several of my clients who have very dodgy wiring under doorways, for example.  You could improve your connection speed no end.

If you are in the Lincoln area and you’d like me to take a look at your installation, get in touch – wwwPatrickMarkham.com