Trackball issues?

February 23rd, 2010

Lots of people are approaching us with problems with their Blackberry’s trackball –the handset’s main navigation system.

Of all the problems we are asked about here at ARC IT Solutions, this is probably one of the most common.

So what can you do if you’re having trackball issues?  It’s not good news I’m afraid – there’s not much you can do at all.

It’s probably terminal, so you’ll have to contact your airtime provider for assistance. You basically need a new unit, so you should be able to replace it under your insurance policy.

It may not be completely unsalvageable, and your provider may decide to send  it to a Blackberry repair specialist.

In any case, you should probably check that your insurance policy is current, because otherwise a trackball problem could become an expensive ordeal.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

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Are your laptops still running slow? –

February 19th, 2010

Call us today for a laptop service – half price @ £40 (AVG 9.0 included worth £39.99 on http://www.avg.com/gb-en/225810)

Do you find that you’re PC or laptop is becoming increasingly unresponsive or just not running as smoothly as it did when you first bought it? If this is the case you are not alone – 9 out of 10 computers that we attend to are not performing as they should. But this often annoying problem is quick and easy to fix. ARC IT can carry out a laptop or PC service that will speed up your machine and enable you to get a longer life out of it, not only giving you more time but also help you to reduce costs. Why spend money on a new laptop when you can get more out of your existing one?

Our laptop MOT will:

  • Check for Antispyware & Viruses that FREE antivirus programs cannot detect
  • Clean Up Fix & optimise windows registry
  • Check hard drive fragmentation – files will open quicker
  • Optimise your performance and free up memory
  • Remove temporary and corrupt files
  • Modify automatic start-up programs to maximise memory
  • Speed up your internet browser

If required we will remove all other security program and install AVG 9.0 internet security 1 year licence.

ARC iT return most laptops within 6 hours, depending on that amount of data on your hard drive and specification of your laptop.

Collect and return service available for £10

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More tips for freeing up Blackberry memory

February 16th, 2010

As our regular readers will know, we’ve been helping you out with your Blackberry headaches for the past few weeks.

So far, we’ve done:

  1. The Blackberry screen is frozen
  2. The Blackberry isn’t sending or receiving email messages
  3. The Blackberry can’t connect to Enterprise Server
  4. Blackberry memory leaks

And most recently we’ve covered a few ways to free up memory and get your handset working smoother and faster:

  1. Enable content compression
  2. Delete Help application
  3. Delete the sample video
  4. Delete any unused languages
  5. Delete any images

But there are still a few things you can do to free up memory, if none of the above work.

1. Reduce allocated media memory: start the ‘Media’ application, and then press the Menu key. Change your Device Memory Limit to 12mb.

2. Change save time for messages: click on the ‘Messages’ icon, and then press the Menu key again. Select Options, and then General Options. From there, go to the Keep Messages option and lower the value. This means your messages won’t be saved for as long on your handset.

3. Change call log options: click on the phone icon, and then choose Menu, and Options. From there, go to Call Logging, and change to ‘None’ or ‘Missed Calls’ if you prefer (it will either stop logging calls, or just log your missed calls).

4. Remove unused apps: we have mentioned this before, but you can also delete things like Tasks, Memo, Blackberry Messenger etc to free up space. All of these can be removed from the Application Loader in your Desktop Manager.

5. Deleting old messages: I tend to delete my old messages every morning, because getting rid of old emails & messages will save space and reduce lag.

So that’s our ten top tips for freeing up memory on your Blackberry.

Tune in next week and we’ll let you know what to do if you’re having trackball issues.

Of course, if your problem is more serious than the ones we’ve discussed here (or over the past few weeks), you can always give us a call at ARC IT Solutions.

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We need a new technician – can you help??

February 12th, 2010

Things are getting increasingly busy here at ARC IT Solutions.

So much so in fact we are taking on more staff. Can you help us?

We are looking for a new technician to deal with 1st and 2nd line support calls from our clients. Most of this is done remotely but they will also be required to deal with problems on-site.

You must have solid experience of IT support, particularly in Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, and server SBS 2003/2008.

Further information can be found here: http://www.arcitsolutions.co.uk/company/vacancies.php.

Local media coverage can only help with enquiries. We were covered by our local paper The Sentinel on Monday.

The story can also be found on the This is Business Staffordshire website: http://www.thisisbusiness-staffordshire.co.uk/news/Firms-offer-support/article-1812956-detail/article.html.

We’ll be back on Monday to help with more Blackberry headaches. Coming up: more tips on freeing up memory.

In the meantime, have a great weekend, and whatever you do, don’t forget Valentine’s Day. Believe me, your life won’t be worth living if you do!

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Simple ways to free up memory space on your Blackberry

February 4th, 2010

Last week we tackled one of the major issues with having too little memory space on your Blackberry – namely the memory leak.

Just to recap, to check how much memory you have left, go to the File Free section, by either:

  • going to Options, and then Status
  • holding ALT, SHIFT and H

Once you’ve done that, the display will tell you how much memory you’ve used, and how much you have left (File Free). Really you need to be aiming for between 12mb and 14mb of space, otherwise your handset won’t function as well.

The main way to free up memory space is to delete apps and files you don’t use. But there are a number of other ways, which are good if deleting apps & files isn’t an option, or deleting them hasn’t made much of a difference.

The first is to enable content compression:

  • go to Options
  • then Security
  • and finally Enabled Content Compression

Another way is to delete the Help application. Once you’ve got to grips with your Blackberry you don’t really need this anymore, so:

  • go to Options
  • then Applications
  • and then delete the Help one (by selecting the app, pressing Menu, and then Delete)

Thirdly you can delete the sample video:

  • go to Options
  • then Advanced Options
  • and finally Applications.
  • Highlight Blackberry Sample Video
  • Press Menu, then Delete

Next, you could try deleting the unused languages. You will have an option to remove them from the Application Loader screen.

And finally, you could delete pictures. Get rid of any unwanted images or move them to your memory card.

So that’s five handy hints to free up some space and get your Blackberry working faster and smoother. Drop by next week – there are another five tips which we’ll reveal in our next entry.

Until then, have fun!

Andy @ ARC IT Solutions.

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Healing more Blackberry headaches

January 29th, 2010

Hello once again, and hope you’ve had a productive week.

At ARC IT Solutions we’ve been very busy, working on a site survey for a client who is expanding and moving to new premises, creating a spec for an Aussie company which needs a new website, and building a new PC for another client who needs Windows 7 to function properly with their bespoke software packages.

We’ve also launched a new website – www.blackberrystuff.co.uk – for a client, selling all kinds of Blackberry phones and accessories.

But enough about us, you’re here because you’re having headaches with your Blackberry – ones we didn’t cover with our first entry last week. Hopefully we can help you out with them this time.

So having dealt with what to do when your Blackberry screen freezes, or when you can’t send or receive emails, it’s time to cover two more ‘popular’ problems.

A lot of people have been calling us lately because they can’t connect their Blackberry to an existing Enterprise Server account.

All you have to do is go through the following steps and your problem should disappear.

  • Firstly, go into Options, then Advanced Options, and then Enterprise Activation.
  • Type in the user’s email address, and then the activation password provided.
  • Once you’ve done this the Blackberry will activate, although it may take a few minutes.

This is all assuming you have set up the user on the Enterprise Server, so check that first before going through the three steps.

Secondly, Blackberry memory leaks are also proving to be an issue. The device begins to ‘eat’ call logs and messages, making them mysteriously disappear. Your handset is doing this because it is running out of memory, and is trying to free up some space.

If you’re having this problem, you need to check the File Free info on your device. You can do this in one of two ways, either by going into Options, followed by Status; or by holding ALT, SHIFT and H all at the same time.

That will take you to a help screen, which tells you all kinds of techie stuff like your signal strength, your battery level, and loads of other things you couldn’t possibly be interested in. However it does also tell you how much room you have in your memory.

Ideally, you should have between 12 and 14mb of space, and this is expressed as the full number – i.e. 12000000 bytes, not 12mb. If you have less space than that, it’s time to delete some files and/or applications.

It’s probably best to go for applications first, as they take up most room. To do this, you need to go to Options, then Advanced Options, and Applications.

Then you’ll need to highlight the application you want to get rid of, select menu, and then delete.

You’ll need to reboot as well to finish everything off.

That’s it for now. We’ll be back with more suggestions on freeing up memory next week.

Have a good one!

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Winning your Blackberry battles

January 20th, 2010

Hello and welcome to our new blog, where we will keep you posted on developments at ARC IT Solutions and also try and solve some of your computer-related headaches.

We are specialists at dealing with Blackberry problems – particularly anything to do with Blackberry Enterprise Server – and as such we handle lots of enquiries which are connected to installation and configuration.

Many of them are fairly straight-forward if you’ve been dealing with Blackberries for as long as we have (over six years now!), and we will aim to sort out as many as we can through this blog. That way you don’t have to make that support call and build a massive phone bill!

Of course we are still here to help if your issue is more advanced than the ones we cover here. Please feel free to give us a call on 0844 7452 123, or visit our website.

1. One of the most common problems we hear about is the Blackberry screen is frozen. So what do you do if your handset freezes and you can’t scroll up or down, or click on anything?

Well, you have two options.

Firstly, you could try a ’soft reset’. This is available on any handset, except the Pearl 81xx series. Hit your device’s ALT, right shift/CAP, and DEL keys simultaneously.

Your display will go black, and your LED indicator will turn red for a few seconds. Don’t be alarmed, this doesn’t mean impending doom! Your handset is just going through the reboot process, which can take a few minutes.

If that doesn’t work, try a ‘hard reset’.

This is merely removing your battery without first turning the unit off.

2. Another popular enquiry is connected to email – namely your Blackberry isn’t sending or receiving email messages. This can obviously be a big inconvenience, especially for business users.

The first thing to do is to look in the top left of your display. Can you see ‘GPRS’ in capital letters?

GPRS stands for General Packet Radio Service and is available on most second and third generation phones. It provides the user with ‘always-on’ internet access.

If that’s missing, it could be because you are not receiving a GPRS signal, and that’s probably what’s causing the issue. Try moving outside, or around the building, until the letters return to your display. It really can be that simple.

If you can see ‘GPRS’ on your display, but it’s in small letters rather than CAPS, you have no Blackberry data package and that means it’s time to call your airtime provider.

If neither of those work, you could also try a ‘hard reset’ which we described earlier.

Ok so that’s two of the biggest Blackberry battles fought and won. We’ll be back next week with more info on how to heal your Blackberry headaches.

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ARC iT Solutions

January 15th, 2010

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