CS&T Inc.

CS&T Blog

1/3/2024
New Facebook Page Setup

We have setup a new Facebook Page to facilitate Customer Contact following our page being unpublished and deleted for unknown reason. https://www.facebook.com/cst.inc.wyo

7/16/2023
Mail Server Security Upgrade

E-Mail Server Security will upgrade to TLS 1.2 on August 3, 2023 and require the following changes. Please make these changes or contact us to help with them before 8/3/2023.

Incoming Mail Server

IMAP: netsol-imap-oxcs.hostingplatform.com
Port: 993

Outgoing Mail Server

SMTP: netsol-smtp-oxcs.hostingplatform.com
Port: 587

Username - Your full email address, for instance, kevink@hamsfork.net

Password - The password you set for your mailbox

      The following Mail Clients will need to be replaced with a more modern client
         Outlook 2007
         Outlook 2010
         MacMail on MacOS 10.8 or older
        Windows 7

6/21/2023
DNS Security Fix

Completed a fix to DNS which was causing occasional mail errors. New Mail Servers added to our SPF records.

6/1/2023
Facebook Page Unpublished
Our Facebook page was recently unpublished without warning, reason or recourse. Attempts to remedy this have been ignored and we will keep trying.

2/22/2020
Service Upgrades Complete

We've completed the upgrades and migration of the Mail and Web services. It will require a few days for these changes to propagate over the Internet. Clients should be able to configure Mail Clients starting 2/24 but if you call this weekend we will be here to complete that with you.

02/21/2020
Mail Service Interruption

We have sent out a Notice to all clients that we will be transferring to a new Mail Server and mail service will go down during this transfer. The transfer is scheduled for Saturday 2/22/2020. This transfer includes an MX change so will take a day or two to fully restore. All clients will be required to change their password as we will implement a stronger password requirement.

02/19/2020
Mail Server Down

We lost the mail server again last night, seems like we may have a bad ethernet port and are troubleshooting today.

02/07/2020
Winter Storm Discount

Today most roads are closed due to a Winter Storm blowing though. While many Brick and Mortar Business' have closed for safety reasons, we are offering a 10% DISCOUNT on Routine Maintenance which we do REMOTELY. Stay home, sit by the fire, have a Hot Toddy, and let us take care of that Computer with our Annual Maintenance Program for $44

02/05/2020
Mail Server Down

The Hamsfork.net IMAP Server was down for about 12 hours. It shutdown around 4AM for reasons unknown and our new COLO Host (GTT) took over 9 hours to figure out where the system was and make a call to get it rebooted. Fortunately when I talked to the NOC Tech over at Mammoth Networks she was happy to provide a private number for us to use in the future.

01/07/2020
Windos 7 End Of Life

Win 7 is over 10 years old now, it will reach EOL on Jan. 14, 2020. What this means is that Microsoft will quit updating it and discontinue support for problems and issues. It will continue to work just fine.

Win 7 will continue to operate normally though the longer it goes the less secure it will become, much like all previous Windows versions. We recommend you do your software updates as always and keep your system backed up.

As technology moves ahead, Windows 7 will be left behind and will stop running on new platforms. New software and applications will soon fail to run on 7. This is already happening, we have been fixing these issues for some time now. Some of the common add-ons such as Flash Player, Java and Adobe Reader are being migrated into Windows 10 and it's just a matter of time before they are no longer available for 7, for now most add-ons are still good. Internet Explorer is also beginning to show it's age with HTML errors becoming more common.

Your good old system will continue to run with your good old software and peripherals and we will continue to assist with Win 7 just as we do with any other computer regardless of platform or version. Don't freak out expecting your system to quit working. If it works for you, run it till it dies and replace it like you normally would.

01/06/2020
Weather Station Upgrade

Upgraded our Weather Station Computer to a refurb. with Windows 10 to preclude any issues when Windows 7 goes End of Life on Jan. 14. No downtime.

4/25/19
FREE CBD Sample Packs

We have been waiting for about 6 weeks for our Law Enforcement Folks to give us an answer to our questions about HB-0171, they remain silent. We have decided to go ahead with some limited CBD stock and have a limited number of FREE Sample Packs. If you are curious about all the chatter about CBD stop in and grab a FREE Sample. You can jump over to Our Affiliate Site and have a look at the Hempworx Product, documentation, testing and purity certificates and even order online to have it shipped directly to you.

4/3/19
CBD Sales Update

We ran into a small issue with our CBD Sales, Wyoming law still says it's illegal. Yup, Wyo Law says "Any THC" is illegal, HB-0171 legalizes THC content less than 0.3%. As soon as we started advertising the Sheriffs Dept. contacted us to point this out, naturally we shut down the advertising and sent back our stock to err on the safe side. We contacted our Representative, Senator, Sheriffs Rep. and County Attorney to get this figured out, each of them have different views on this, some say illegal, some say legal, some had no idea HB-0171 had even passed, but none would say this in writing to protect our business. It seems that the State AG has left it up to local prosecutors and Law Enforcement, over in Cheyenne and Casper stores are opening up, here not so much. So we wait, The County Attorney Office was supposed to contact us yesterday, they didn't, so we called today and were told "later this week", so we wait.

3/13/19
CBD Sales Legal in WY

On 3/6/19 The Wyoming Legislature passed HB-0171 allowing the sale and use of CBD. This is Great news for those of us with the normal aches and pains of life. If you haven't tried CBD, You Should. We have placed an order for in-store stock as well as setting up an affiliate account over at HempWorx where you can research and have it shipped directly to you. Our stock should be here on 3/19/19.

9/15/18
Tip Of The Day HowTos

Started our Tip Of The Day posts over on Facebook on 8/15, and added them as an archive here with a link to TOTD. We provide common sense tips and advice relevant to that days activities we see in the shop and on social media.

8/5/18
The Google Fiasco
With the recent actions of Google in the news people are asking if there is anything they can do to avoid Google. Yes there is:

1. Switch your default search engine to Bing or Yahoo or whatever you like. This is a simple Browser setting.
2. Change your primary DNS server to 1.1.1.1 This is a recent addition to the Domain Name System, Cloudfront deletes DNS inquiries every 24 hours and doesn't keep logs of your activity. Configure this setting in your router and your whole home/business is protected. This is a simple setting in your network configuration.
Get more info at the Cloudflare DNS Primer.

Your Privacy CAN be Protected.
You CAN Get There From Here.

7/13/18
New Maintenance Programs
Secure your very own IT Support Expert with new CS&T Maintenance Programs. From $5 a month get immediate help and our Routine System Maintenance at a price you can afford for the peace of mind you deserve.

4/20/2018
CS&T is a Malwarebytes Partner
We have completed our Malwarebytes Partner Setup and can now offer Malwarebytes Premium at a substantial discount to our Clients. Additional discounts offered in conjunction with Routine Maintenance.

4/10/2018
The Facebook Fiasco
With all the noise being generated about Facebook and Personal Information these days (most of it being wrong) there are a few things you need to consider when using Facebook.

1. Your personal data is Yours, you decide who can see that data.
2. Facebook does not sell your data.
3. Senators have no idea how The Internet works.

It works like this:

Fred logs into his Facebook account from work.
Using common Internet tools, a "lookup", and Facebook knows you are wasting your employer's time.
Those same tools are used by Fred's employer and tomorrow he will be fired.
Fred then looks at an ad for power tools.
Cookies are placed on Fred's computer announcing this.
Other companies (say Amazon, or Google or MSN) can read these cookies when you visit their site and start delivering ads based on them so Fred sees power tool ads 2 days later when he's shopping for a new job.
Fred starts scrolling his news feed and "Likes" a meme about cats.
Facebook now knows Fred likes cats.
Some cat food company pays Facebook to run their ad and "target" cat lovers so Fred starts seeing ads from the cat food company.
Fred likes a post that his girlfriend shared asking "Post the last photo of your cat" so he posts a pic of his cat.
Now the original poster (owner of the pic) knows Fred has a cat, can you say "cat click-bait"?
Fred sees a post "comment your moms middle name" and he does it.
As before, the original poster now knows Fred's mom's middle name which is commonly used as the security answer on millions of websites, can you say "hacked Facebook account"?.
Fred "Hates" every Republican meme he sees and "Loves" the NRA memes.
You guessed it, Facebook knows Fred is a Democrat and gun owner
Fred is excited about a valuable coin he just got and posts a picture of it.
Some troll notices it, calls his troll buddy in Fred's town who looks at Fred's profile, sees he works nights and picks the best time to break into Fred's house and steal the coin.

Yup, Fred is foolish but he's not alone, when I wrote this I scrolled on my news feed and saw every one of those posts in about 30 seconds.

Protect your data, look at the Facebook profile settings.
Don't click on nonsense memes. (click bait)
Don't post or comment what you don't want people to see.
Concerned? You should be, my best advice is BE SMART! Rule of thumb, "When a meme asks you to share or comment it's likely a SCAM".
Really concerned? Anonymize your browsing with "In Private" Browsing.
Really Really concerned? Anonymize your browsing with a VPN.
Really Really Really Concerned? Delete your account.

Facebook isn't bad, it's the users that are bad.

3/9/2018
Week of Fake Tech Support Scams

This has been a week of repairing and securing systems after folks allow Fake Tech Support scammers to remote into their systems, we recovered several systems without data loss, so it was a good week. Having us recover from this scam is cheaper than paying off the "Ransom" that the scammers impose but it takes time to recover and secure your system and takes a toll on your sanity while you wait to see what private information, if any, has been lost or stolen.

There is only 1 way to prevent this, Never allow anyone to access your system remotely. Your system will never call for help, Microsoft will never call you, this is Always a Scam.   We do however enjoy torturing the scammers when they call so please do have fun with them, when they call you it's just a "robo call" or auto dialer randomly calling numbers so no security issue there, have fun. We figure if you keep the scammer tied up on the phone you've kept him from injuring someone else.

2/26/2018
Anti Virus Software Replacements

A large number of folks have opted to Uninstall Symantec, maker of Norton Antivirus, as their preferred Antivirus (AV)/ Anti Malware (AM) protection software due to Symantecs' recent decision to support gun control rather than Americans Constitutional Rights. I'll avoid the political argument and offer a technical assist to help prevent problems with uninstalling your Antivirus software.

1. Windows 10 has it's own built in AV called "Defender", remove any other installed AV software and Defender will take over.
    Recommendations: Defender, Kaspersky, Bitdefender, Sophos, Eset.
2. Windows 7 will need to have an AV reinstalled.
    Recommendations: Microsoft Security Essentials, Kaspersky, Bitdefender, Sophos, Eset.
3. We will be testing out the new Malwarebytes soon but do feel this will be a great AV/AM as well.
4. Do AV and AM Scans prior to uninstalling your AV.
5. Do AV and AM Scans after reinstalling your AV.

Always check to make sure your Antivirus is working correctly after any tinkering!

1/12/18
Meltdown and Spectre Information (see updates below)

The Latest "big news" virus' Meltdown and Spectre are causing a lot of uproar by the media (as usual). Claims that "every computer will need to be replaced" or that "Intel will be recalling CPU's" is all bogus and ridiculous.   Here's the real deal.

The original Hardware bug was reported by Google Project Zero on 1/3/18. Spectre patches are being developed but I haven't heard if they are delivering yet. Meltdown Mitigation Patches have been being delivered since about 1/4/18 through normal Windows Update, Apple Update, Android updates, Malware and Virus protection definitions. Servers, routers and IOT devices have proprietary Manufacturer fixes which your IT people should be looking into and have likely already been notified. These software patches have been found to slow some systems but most folks will not notice any slowdown. If your system is all crapped up you already see slowdowns and as usual that will get worse.

The two virus' utilize a vulnerability found in the hard code controlling "secured" memory, basically it's a hardware bug. For Meltdown, an actual malicious process needs to be running, Spectre can be launched from a browser script. These can and are killed by current browser tech and anti-virus, anti-malware software. Bottom line here is "keep your system and anti-virus/malware up to date".

Update 1/12/18:
Intel released Firmware updates to patch Spectre and are now investigating a higher number of system reboots and BSOD's.
AMD is scheduling to release updates sometime this week.

Update 1/18/18
After many issues with the Jan 3, 2018 rollout of patches, Microsoft paused the rollout, fixed some issues and resumed rollout of 5 updates, continuing the pause of 4 other updates.

The paused rollouts are:
January 3, 2018—KB4056888 (OS Build 10586.1356) (Windows 10 Version 1511)
January 3, 2018—KB4056891 (OS Build 15063.850) (Windows 10 Version 1703)
January 3, 2018—KB4056890 (OS Build 14393.2007) (Windows 10 Version 1607, Windows Server 2016, Windows 10 Mobile, released in August 2016)
January 3, 2018—KB4056893 (OS Build 10240.17735) (Windows 10 Enterprise released in July 2015)

12/16/17
Rolling Back The "Net Neutrality" Bill
It sounded good when it was first signed into law but time has proven this to be simply another piece of government lip service. The premise was to treat every bit of data the same and not allow companies to control speed. Basically they thought an ISP would slow the data rate of things that cost money and speed up things that made money. But they sold it with the "lip service" of not allowing censorship. Neither of these things came to pass, companies still "throttle" bandwidth and no one censors anything despite the "Net Neutrality" law. However it does open the door for the government to wade into Internet Control and I am definitely against this. So my stand is this: Wait it out, give it a chance and lets see what happens most likely nothing will change, no one will notice and another silly money wasting regulation will end.

09/15/17
The EQUIFAX Breach
It sounds bad, 143 million Americans' Personal Information plundered by hackers who breached EQUIFAX. People are mad and we understand that, but the reality is Your Personal Data has never been very secure. The BIGGEST PROBLEM will result from SCAMMERS POSING AS EQUIFAX, we need to watch for this. Just consider for a minute how many people have seen or have access to your SSN, are you sure they are secure? It is your responsibility to secure your accounts as best you can with strong passwords, two-step verification if you can and watch out for malicious web sites and applications. Scan your Computers, keep your anti-virus and anti-malware up to date and operating. Get your computers to a professional for a checkup every 6 months or so just like you do your car and dental visits. And don't forget Your Phone is a Computer too!

06/29/2017
petya/notpetya virus
Here's another virus recently released in eastern Europe/Russia. It attacks your hard disk Master File Table (MFT) which would completely cripple your system. Once infected it is not recoverable. Of note, this is and actual virus with a worm component so once in a system it will actively seek other systems on the local network and attack those. As usual if you have good Anti Virus, E-Mail Scanner and keep your system updated you should be fine. If you wish you can vaccinate your system with a simple program available from Malwarebytes or Bleepingcomputer. We have taken the proactive measure of vaccinating our contract clients.

05/20/2017
Windows 10 Creators Update (build 10.0.15063.413)
Another routine update to Windows 10, called Creators Update (or 1703) was released 4/11 though we haven't seen the wave hit anyone yet (Microsoft releases these big updates over time, in waves). We grabbed that, have been testing it out and slapped it on a Flash Drive so we can install it quickly (avoid the download). It has a few new User changes and most importantly Security changes. It's a big download and install so if you want to avoid the hassle bring your system in and we can clean it up and install that for you. You can check to see which build you have by going to Start and typing "About" then select "About your PC".

Here's a link to the Microsoft Creators Update info

05/17/2017
Malware and Ransomware repairs
The WannaCry Ransomware bug making a big splash in the media this week. As hyped as it was by the media this is nothing new, keep your Anti Virus and Anti Malware software up to date, don't fall for Social Engineering scams and you'll be fine.

Repaired another system with PC Matic installed. Nonsense popups, PC Matic warnings, and attempts to get the user to purchase more crap dominated the screen and loaded the Internet connection to the point of network failure. Don't be fooled by this Social Engineering crap either, PC Matic has been malware for many years now, they have made enough money at it that they can advertise their garbage on TV.

03/29/2017
New Local Weather Page
We have updated our "Local Weather Station" page. Feel free to give us a call, message or text if there is something more you'd like to see there. The little, 10 yr old, re-purposed system we were using failed on 3/26 so after repairing that we decided to completely update the Weather Page it uploads. We hope you like it.

03/04/2017
CS&T E-Mail Filtering Changes
Today we cut over to a new (Wyoming Based Visionary Communications) Anti Malware E-Mail Filter. This may take a day or two to propagate over the Internet so incoming mail may be delayed though we have seen traffic coming in so most people shouldn't see any issues. The new Message Center is quite a bit more User Friendly and can be accessed from the same link here on our site. You can jump over there and have a look or simply not worry about it and just check it if you think something is missing. It has a whitelist and blacklist so you can quickly approve or disapprove (forever) any mail address.

02/27/2017
Preventing Malware and Ransomware
This last week we REPAIRED several FAKE TECH SUPPORT Ransomware hijackings here locally so here again are some basic reminders to prevent loosing your data to thieves.

DO NOT allow any stranger to access your computer remotely.
DO NOT click on anything from the Internet claiming to repair drivers or virus'.
DO NOT CALL any number popping up on your screen claiming you need drivers or have a virus.

Your computer never sends Microsoft or anyone messages telling them it has problems, think on that, it rarely tells YOU it has a problem, why would it tell some stranger? Microsoft will never call you about issues with your computer. Your AntiVirus and AntiMalware software will notify you of issues and you should be familiar with your software enough to see that it is notifying you of a real problem. If in doubt, SCAN MANUALLY.

There are of course legitimate technical services you can pay for, such as our Routine Maintenance Program, that will call, text or e-mail you but you will know these are legit because you paid for that service in advance, when in doubt force that company to prove who they are or just ignore it.

01/06/2017
Christmas Gadget setup time
Get all the cool gadgets for Christmas you wanted? Fighting with one or more of them? You won't be the first or the last. Remember us when those new gadgets, computers, printers, weather stations and gaming devices just aren't doing exactly what you want, we've been fixing Christmas Gadgets for a couple weeks and will of course keep on them. Between the usual computer maintenance we do we've mixed in a number of weather stations, new phones and fun gadgets helping you get back to the fun stuff.

11/18/2016
Christmas Computer/Phone/Gadget/Accessory Shopping
A few things to keep in mind when shopping for computer and computer gadgets/accessories.

In the computer arena it's all about cost, $ = power.
A computer does not cost $500, that would be a toy. If your budget dictates a $500 computer then a Smart Phone or Android Tablet may be what you want to look at. Putting a $500 computer on the internet is the technical equivalent of driving a bicycle on the interstate, it's doable but not very efficient or safe.
The average (technology) computer will run about $1200, this really hasn't changed in many years
A good High End (Gaming) computer will run about $1600 and beyond that are the extreme systems, on the bleeding edge of technology where cost isn't an issue.

Smart Phone?? Android Tablet?? These little computers run a simple Operating System called Android OS, Windows Phones and most Tablets run Windows 10 and iphones and ipads run the Apple OS. Smart Phones and Android Tablets can be found below $50 and make excellent gifts for youngsters. Simple explanation: a Tablet is a computer, a Smart Phone is an Tablet with a cell phone stuck in it.

Computer or Smart Phone?? Almost everyone really likes the Smart Phone ($50 - $800), it's portable instant communication with the world, internet (facebook, snapchat, whatsapp) texting (SMS (words) and MMS (pictures)), voice calling and games are literally at your fingertips. Using the internet on a Smart Phone is more expensive than home based DSL but you can't beat the mobility and many are willing to pay the extra. Once you get a bit older the text is hard to read, the buttons too close together, and changes in tech are the big complaints we hear so we see many going back to the flip phone style which are easy to read and use but don't have all the bells and whistles. The more expensive computer can do everything any Smart Phone can do, including making free phone calls (Skype) but has a lot more software (applications) so it can do sooo much more. Technology now allows us to even replace the old home desktop with a laptop or tablet but be prepared to pay for that, powerful laptops and tablets can easily run over $2000 but you can't beat the the mobility.

Gadgets?? Everyone likes gadgets and here at the store we carry many of the common ones, the Internet of course is an endless shopping mall of gadgets. Virtual Reality is getting big, the Samsung VR Gear is only $120 but needs a Samsung S6 (over $600) or higher phone to use it. Flash Drives ($5 and up) are always good cheap stocking stuffers, students always use these. Phone cases, car chargers, selfie sticks, bluetooth gear are all good inexpensive gifts. Bet you didn't know that a trackball is much easier on hands with arthritis or carpal tunel injury, yep, there are computer and phone gadgets for everyone, come have a look and ask.

10/18/2016
Windows 10 Anniversary Update
On August 2 Microsoft released Windows 10 Version 1607, calling it "the Anniversary Update". It's rolling out in waves like 10 did so you may or may not have it by now. running "winver.exe" will tell you what version you have, 1511 was the previous version. We've seen little trouble with this update other than user frustration at the time involved for it to download and install as this update can take anywhere from 45 minutes to several hours to complete depending on the computer. As always, malware infected systems are most often affected by updates and failure of Ver. 1607 is often caused by malware, another reason to keep your system clean. We keep the 1607 update on CD here at the office so I don't have to download it every time and will be happy to install it for you should you be experiencing download issues.

08/19/2016
Windows 10 One Year Anniversary
A year of Windows 10 and I still must say this is a winner. We saw a few issues on the roll-out with drivers but since then it's been pretty smooth. Most issues came from people trying to update to 10 without cleaning their system thoroughly which is always a problem, any updates installed on a crapped up system will cause trouble. Reading complaints on technet and help boards are almost always malware issues which people don't want to acknowledge, if you want your system to run smoothly, keep it clean, you wouldn't pour sand in your car's engine or paint it without washing it first, routine maintenance on your computer is the same, unfortunately it's all too often neglected. Routine maintenance over 4 years is cheaper than a new computer and a new computer should last 4-6 years (we warranty our systems for 3 years).

The Windows 10 "Anniversary Update" is out, many of you have seen it already. It's a big one so give it time to install, a standard system will need about 5 minutes to install it and I've seen low end systems take as long as an hour, another reason to buy a good computer. As always, don't be impatient, let your system do it's job, it may be slow but it usually gets there. Most systems do updates at night which is one reason I recommend you leave your computer running all the time. If your system is downloading a big update during the day it can slow your Internet to a crawl and cause all sorts of trouble when you get mad and force reboots, power cycle your router and anything else you may do to "fix" the problem. So look at the update options and set it to do those when you aren't working and make sure your machine is running when that needs to happen. If you just can't stand to leave it running at night, just do the updates manually, I do my updates manually anyway so I can see any trouble that may come up. With Windows 10, Windows Update is quite automatic and required, set it up to run when you want and let it do it's job. Many systems have an "update" feature from the manufacturer to keep their stuff updated, keep an eye on this as well. I usually uninstall the manufacturer bloatware but unless you know what the impact will be I advise against it.

08/04/2016
We continue to adjust our firewall and fix some issues which have cropped up due to our stricter access rules on the e-mail server. Again, please call if you see any problems.

08/02/2016
We had another client account compromised and are again experiencing a few blacklist bounces. We tightened down the server access to bare minimum and are in the process of testing this, you may experience a loss of mail throughput as we work to at least slow the hackers down some. Blacklists may take a few days to resolve, please call if you have ANY issues or see any rejected mail.

04/21/2016
We had our mailserver blacklisted due to a compromised client account and have started getting these blacklists lifted. If you see any mail returned due to reject, blacklist or any reason please call or forward the message over to us, clearing blacklists can sometimes take a day or two.

04/14/2016 Recent Union Wireless Social Engineering Attacks
On 4/12/16 we started receiving Social Engineering Attack phone calls claiming to be Union Wireless IT Department phishing for client data, as this was obviously bogus our employees did not release any information. The calls came in over our hard line and not via cellular phone. Due to conflicting reports of the severity of the attack we do not know if any clients are being targeted, just that we were called twice. As always the response to this type of Social Engineering Attack is to Never give account info, passwords or any personal information to unsolicited phone callers.
Update: The Social Engineering Attack was apparently directed at the Union Wireless Authorized Agents looking for client account information. Since these phone numbers are readily available it was a simple matter for the scammer to find our number and attempt the attack. Union Wireless is in the process of checking security as a precautionary measure.

03/26/2016 Mail Server maintenance
We shutdown mail service for about 30 minutes from 1230-1300 to alleviate a full disk condition and prevent this issue in the future. No loss of mail was incurred.

03/08/2016 Billing Program Upgrade
We completed an internal change here with our billing program, that went a few days longer than expected but March 1st billing went out today.

03/01/2016 DNS Changes
We completed the last step of the server upgrades which requires us to change DNS. This will cause a temporary disruption in mail and web services as it can take a few hours for DNS to migrate onto the net.

02/21/2016 E-Mail Server Upgrade
We have completed migration of E-Mail over to our new IMAP server and taken the old POP server offline. Follow the instructions on the E-Mail we sent out and you should have mail back online without any trouble. Of course you can always call and let us help you reconfigure. This concludes our server upgrades, further tweaks and adjustments will continue, as always it's a never ending story.

02/01/2016 Weather Station Raw Data
We've had a few good comments from folks about the local Weather Station here at the office, it's accurate and right here at home. So for those of you who wish you had the raw data for your various phone apps here it is: http://www.hamsfork.net/pws/clientraw.txt Just point your app such as WDLive to that URL and get live local weather.

01/21/2016 FakeBSOD Ransomware Scam
We see a lot of machines with scams and viruses every week and the most common cleanup we've seen recently is the "Fake BSOD" ransomware. This is a general classification of malware that pops up a frightening notice that your machine is infected and you should "call this phone number and we can fix it for you". The scam starts when you make the phone call so obviously don't call the number, the popup itself is obnoxious but harmless and can be removed without causing damage. IF you make that call and allow the scammer into your system he/she will immediately require payment to do the "cleanup" AND encrypt your personal files and such. Once they have your data locked up they demand another payment to give you the password to unlock it, hence "ransomware" Many malware scanners and anti-virus programs can kill the popup and of course we can kill it with a Quick Check. If you let the scammer into your system it becomes unlikely that we can repair the damage depending on the technical prowess of the scammer. If your data gets encrypted, it's lost.

01/18/2016 Union Wireless Authorized Agent
CS&T Inc. Is now the Diamondville/Kemmerer Area Union Wireless Authorized Agent. Watch facebook for upcoming News and Specials.

01/18/2016 Web Site Migrations Complete
We have completed migrating all web sites of to the new Web Server. If any Site owners notice any issues please feel free to call. Site Users may need to refresh their cache files (by clearing your Browser temporary files) and/or flush your DNS Cache (by running a console and running "ipconfig /dnsflush")

01/12/2016 Server Maintenance
We will be upgrading our servers and installing them at a higher bandwidth over the next few weeks. There may be some temporary interruptions as we move mail services and implement an IMAP server. We will notify everyone prior to any mail server transfers.

12/01/2015 Merry Christmas, Keep It Safe
With Christmas Season upon us many folks are calling in for our popuar Quick Check Maintenance, a Good Idea for a Small Cost. Shopping online has always been fraught with danger but is so easy we all love it. Keep your system Malware and Virus Free during this shopping season and you should get through it without incident.

11/30/2015 New Servers being installed
The new CS&T Web pages are up and you can see we've redirected www.hamsfork.net main page over here to www.hamsfork.net. We are migrating to new servers, first being the web server, the mail server will be migrated over soon with a number of new features. You can see the new mail Icon up there (top right) which will take you to the new server but no accounts have been migrated yet, If you haven't bookmarked webmail you can always get to that over at http://mail.hamsfork.net. Hope you like the new look.

9/30/2015 Weather Station Links
We have implemented our Local Weather Data Display for the weather nuts among us. Along with the WYDOT Road Advisory Page we've setup our local Weather Station to upload realtime data as well as the quick view from Weather Underground.

8/20/2015 Online Store / E-Commerce Solution
We have implemented our Online Store with links from both Facebook and here. This provides our Clients with full and immediate access to one of the largest distributors of microcomputer-related hardware and software products in the World. If you need it you can probably find it, get specs and order it from the comfort of your home, office, hotel room, or mobile device.

8/5/2015 Windows 10 Upgrade Progress from our point of view
Have upgraded a number of machines with only minor issues and one system brought in was a mess. Drivers seem to be the big issue (as always) but so far I've gotten them upgraded after the Win 10 upgrade with little trouble. The hardware I have dealt with has had new drivers over at the OEM web site and removal of old, reboot, install new has gotten us back up and running. Same with some software, remove old and install new, no problem. The one system that failed was brought in by a client, they did no prep or scans and I'm having to go through the services to find the trouble so I can try to scan for malware. A system restore may be the fast answer but I'd like to see what really happened so I'll dig through the rubble and see what I can find.
8/8/2015 update: Got that troublesome system back online but couldn't get windows update or Norton Internet Security to work correctly due to an issue with the Windows BITS Service. I was forced to revert the system back to Windows 8.1 and after reinstalling Norton the system was up and running, better than before i got it. The system was listed over at HP Support as "Not Ready for Windows 10", sad for a 2 year old system, but maybe they will get that fixed.

7/28/2015 Windows 10 News
Windows 10, due out on the 29th, is showing some driver version issues so the let the games begin. The first issue I've heard of is a version issue, where windows update version and OEM (Nvidia in this case) version conflict and rolling back just causes an endless loop of install, uninstall. This issue had an easy fix but shows, as expected, that no OS upgrade goes in without it's share of troubles. Since Windows 10 updates will be automatic and mandatory (according to Microsoft) your best bet is let windows 10 updates take precedence if there is a conflict.

5/11/2015 Quick Check Service Introduced.
Our simple checkup will clean and check for problems to help keep your system running fast and secure. We remotely access your system to clear up malware and perform basic checks. You stay home, we stay home, it's fast and cheap. It's not as comprehensive as our Routine Maintenance Program but for those who are comfortable doing their own maintenance this is a good way to have a tech do a quick look, maybe prevent a little problem from becoming a big expensive mess. Malware, Spyware, Identity Theft, Hard Disk Failure, Data Loss...do you know what to look for?

5/8/2015 Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Totally Cool

Highly advise the Microsoft Surface Pro 3. Replaced Lisa's desktop with it and a docking station...I never get to use it ;) ...totally great system. Stop by, have a look before buying.

5/1/2015 Ransomware Variants & Screenshots
This is a screenshot of the "ICE Ransomeware Variant", a particularly nasty malware variant that interferes with the boot sequence of your computer so you can't use your computer then holds it hostage until you send off $300 to some third world droid who doesn't ever respond or fix it. If you ever see this you're infected but all is not lost, we can recover from this one.

Here's another one, same idea but much nastier. It uses a system function know as SYSKEY which encrypts a portion of the registry (SAM HIVE) and is a built in function of Windows security. This is commonly installed when you allow one of those third world scammers into your system. This can be broken (in shop) or data can be recovered prior to reinstalling.

The cryptolocker variant is basically the same thing though usually delivered by e-mail. I have seen several different images associated with it but they typically look like this. This is a very bad boy, it encrypts your personal files (your profile) then asks for money to fix it. It doesn't pose as something it's not, it's an outright Ransom of your data and even has a timer which claims the ransom will increase after a few hours to entice you to pay. Like syskey this will require reinstall however in most cases data is lost.

For this type malware there is one piece of advice...BACKUP.