Blog | Brandstar UK Limited

Brandstar Recommends – LogMeIn

August 28, 2010 – 9:00 am

At Brandstar we are massive fans of LogMeIn software. Here’s why:

How much experience do we have?

We have only been using the LogMeIn software for a year at the time of writing but have a significant number of clients with the LogMeIn agent installed on their machines so we can offer remote support, we have a few clients using the Hamachi networking VPN tools and a growing number of users taking advantage of the LogMeIn backup software.

What makes them stand out from competitors?

We find their products easy to use, well priced and innovative. They’re constantly being developed and improved but still kept simple. We like that!

They’re obviously not perfect

We have had a few niggles with the software, not sure if it’s them or us, but issues are mostly resolved when there is an update or if we just try again, nothing major and certainly nothing to make us consider not using LogMeIn tools.

Our preferred remote access tool without a doubt!

Please Note – Whilst we make recommendations based on our experiences with various companies we cannot be held responsible should you run into any problems with the supplier or the products they provide. We encourage readers to leave helpful feedback on our recommendations but will not tolerate abuse.

Tags: Backup, central, developed, easy to use, free, hamachi, ignition, improved, in, innovative, issues, IT reach, log, logmein, me, Price, pro, Recommend, Remote Support, rescue, Update

Posted in General, Recommended, Software | No Comments »

Spideroak

August 24, 2010 – 9:00 am

We’ve recently spent some time investigating & testing the possible online backup options and came across a brilliant back-up software called Spideroak. We’re so impressed with the product that we are recommending Spideroak to any of our clients wanting an online backup service.

If you sign up with Spideroak today you can receive 2GB of free online backup space for as long as you use the software. You can then purchase additional 100GB packages at with $10 per month (£6.64 per month at time of writing) or $100 per year (£66.41 per year at time of writing).

Spideroak is very user friendly. Simply sign-up, select what you wish to be backed up (e.g. photos, documents, music), and then let the backup commence. The program also gives you plenty of control over the scheduling of your backing-up and synchronizing. You can select either select your desired day(s) and/or time, or select automatic so everything will back-up without you having to worry about it!

Spideroak can not only satisfy the needs of home users but we’re sure that the requirements of a typical small-business user would also be fulfilled by the software. The service is easy to use and can effortlessly be adapted to suit the the user.

So to conclude, we’re extremely impressed with Spideroak and are religiously recommending it to clients. Click on the square banner towards the top of this post to sign-up for your free 2GB today!

Tags: Back, back up, Backup, free, online back-up, Price, recommended, Software, spideroak, synchronizing, Up

Posted in General, Recommended, Software | No Comments »

Brandstar Recommends – Dell

August 21, 2010 – 9:00 am

At Brandstar we are big fans of Dell computers. Here’s why…

How much experience have we had with Dell?

We have ordered hundreds of computers from Dell and despite looking at other big name brands we have always come back to to Dell!

What makes them stand out from competitors?

Value for money – as with most things you get what you pay for, the more you spend the better the build but for a small amount of money (relatively speaking) you can get a good spec machine.
Technical support – Ok, it generally isn’t based in the UK, however once you have got past that accent problem they are very good, for many machines they offer chat support which is better and if you have a warranty they fix it really quickly, on site warranty is the best as they usually send someone out next day. Out of all the manufacturer support teams we’ve had to work with over the years Dell comes out on top, they just get it sorted which is what we all want!
A wide range of products, you can customise the machine before you order it which we love, it means clients get the machines they need, rather than what is on the shelf.

They’re obviously not perfect

Support is based outside the UK and therefore talking to them can be difficult if they have a strong accent, that said the vast majority of tech support is abroad these days.

Please Note – Whilst we make recommendations based on our experiences with various companies we cannot be held responsible should you run into any problems with the supplier or the products they provide. We encourage readers to leave helpful feedback on our recommendations but will not tolerate abuse.

Tags: Brandstar, Chat, Dell, dell chat support, Desktop, good spec, great products, india, Laptop, on site, recommend dell, recommends, Review, Support, support team, technical support, Value for Money, Why

Posted in Hardware, Recommended, Suppliers | No Comments »

Is your software up to date?

August 14, 2010 – 9:00 am

Over the past few weeks we’ve been running both Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) and FileHippo. Both pieces of software are designed to scan your PC to identify whether an programs are out of date, thus providing you with increased security. As we’ve been using the programs for a while now we thought it would be a good idea to compare them both!

Week 1

On week one our results varied greatly. FileHippo was not only much quicker but also provided a better set of results for both machines. A feature we immediately like is the fact that File Hippo also provide Beta Updates for those who wish to use Beta versions.

Graham’s Results (Click to enlarge)

Alex’s Results (Click to enlarge)

Week 2

In week 2 Graham’s results from FileHippo came up with no new updates (excluding Beta), where as Secunia had 1 update to do. Alex’s results showed that FileHippo needed 4 updates (excluding Beta) and Secunia needed 5.

Graham’s Results (Click to enlarge)

Alex’s Results (Click to enlarge)

Week 3

This week FileHippo had no updates for Graham, whereas Secunia had 1. As for Alex, FileHippo found 5 updates and Secunia found 7.

Graham’s Results (Click to enlarge)

Alex’s Results (Click to enlarge)

Summary

After our 3 weeks of using the two programs we’ve come to the conclusion that if you need a one-off quick software checker then go for FileHippo. If you’re looking for a long-term solution for regular use then go for Secunia PSI. Whilst FileHippo is considerably quicker (10 seconds ish compared to 15 minutes ish) Secunia seems to learn to understand your computer better each time you use it meaning better long-term results! We also think that the threat rating system is a great idea and gives you an idea of the urgency of updates.

Related Posts
Secunia – Online Software Inspector

Tags: checker, Comparison, file, filehippo, hippo, inspector, Keep your computer safe, keep your computer up to date, online, osi, personal, psi, recommendation, Review, secunia, security, Software, Update

Posted in General, Internet, Knowledge Base, Software, security | No Comments »

Hibernation Not An Option?

August 7, 2010 – 9:00 am

This problem occurs on Vista machines for one of the following reasons:

This Disk Cleanup Utility was used to delete the Hibernation File Cleaner
The computer does not support the hibernation feature
The hibernation feature is disabled
The Hybrid Sleep feature is enabled

Note – The Hybrid Sleep feature puts the computer to sleep and generates a hibernation file when the used selects the Sleep option in any of the power option menus. Therefore, Hibernate is not offered as a power option when Hybrid Sleep is enabled.

To resolve this issue, use the PowerCfg tool to enable the hibernation feature. To do this, follow these steps.

Note – If the computer does not support the hibernation feature, you cannot enable the feature. For information about how to use the PowerCfg tool to determine whether the computer supports the hibernation feature, see the ‘More Information‘ section.

Click Start , type command in the start search box, right-click Command Prompt in the Programs list and then click Run as administrator.
Note – If you’re prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click continue.
At the command prompt, type powercfg / hibernate on

Tags: find, help, hibernation, not there, use, vista, what is

Posted in FAQ's, General, Knowledge Base, Technical, Windows Vista | No Comments »

Brandstar Recommends

August 3, 2010 – 9:00 am

Here at Brandstar we’re often asked ‘who do you recommend’. Therefore we’ve put together a new category on our blog called ‘Recommended‘. From time to time we’ll write posts about various companies we recommend to our customers and why!

Coming soon….Dell, LogMeIn, PlusNet and many more!

Watch this space…

Please Note – Whilst we make recommendations based on our experiences with various companies we cannot be held responsible should you run into any problems with the supplier or the products they provide. We encourage readers to leave helpful feedback on our recommendations but will not tolerate abuse.

Tags: companies, dabs, Dell, iCatcher, logmein, misco, plusnet, Recommend, who

Posted in General, Recommended | No Comments »

Sites we’ve helped – The Purple Bus

July 31, 2010 – 9:00 am

The Purple Bus is a Rural Mobile Youth Club that wanted a simple website that they could mange themselves and share what has been happening on the bus! A great chance to interact with those visiting the bus as well as those supporting it!

WordPress was the obvious solution for this as it is free and just what they needed!

Paying too much for broadband? Move to PlusNet broadband and save £££s. Free setup now available - terms apply. PlusNet broadband.

Tags: bus, purple, rural mobile youth club, the purple bus, wordpress

Posted in Case Studies, General, Reviews | No Comments »

Sites we’ve helped – Redmak

July 24, 2010 – 9:00 am

Redmak is a architectural firm based in Nottingham. They came to Brandstar needing help with various aspects of their WordPress site which we were very happy to help with. Over the last few months we have upgraded their version of WordPress, installed a number of SEO related plugins and configured them accordingly, installed new themes for the client to choose from and modify the theme’s accordingly. More recently we have move their site to the servers of WildHosting which has led to the site loading much quicker and giving us more control over the site compared to their previous site. All in all another happy Brandstar customer!

Tags: architecture, design, farida makki, mike reade, nottingham, redmak, urban, wordpress

Posted in Case Studies, General | No Comments »

Sites we’ve helped – Ideality

July 17, 2010 – 9:00 am

Ideality have a host of domain names and website space. They came to us needing to tidy up what they had and reduce costs. Instantly we saved them money by moving domain names to 123-reg.co.uk and the hosting to wildhosting.co.uk. A very happy customer!