Preparing To Update Counterpoint

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Preparing To Update Counterpoint

Depending on your current version of NCR Counterpoint, updating to the latest version may require updating the history tables as part of the update. Depending on how much history you have kept over the years, this process can take a while to complete. It also starts from the oldest and works its way to the newest so some history may not be there as a result until the process finishes. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few days or even weeks.

To prepare for this, it is recommended to purge your ticket history to only keep 3 years or so on file. I would recommend talking to your accountant as to how much they recommended you keep.

For example, I recently updated a customer with about 10 years of history. It took approximately 3 days for all the history to be updated. The time it takes also depends on other factors like Internet bandwidth, speed of the servers, as well as how “clean” the data is.

If you are planning to update your software soon, please look into purging your ticket history to help the process run a little quicker.

-Bryan

NCR Counterpoint Email Functions

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NCR Counterpoint Email Functions

Email CCS Sales.

Did you know you could email receipts directly from Point of Sale? What about emailing PO’s to vendors? NCR Counterpoint can be set up to allow you to email reports as well.

Emailing does require a little setup and configuration and works with most email hosts. It is secure and seamless.

If you are interested in testing or setting up this functionality, Contact the CCS Retail Systems Support Department for a review of your system.

-Bryan

Purging History to Update Faster

Posted on by ccsretail

 

Preparing To Update From CPSQL 8.5.3 and lower.

If you are planning to update your NCR Counterpoint System and are running version 8.5.3 or lower and have a lot of sales history, purging some of that history will make the update take less time.

I get asked quite a bit on how long an update will take. For most systems that keep up to date, it can be anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. But, if you have skipped a couple of updates, this can turn into 3 to 4 hours to complete to the whole process.

The reason for this is that during the upgrade, your history files go through a conversion process to add/remove changed fields. Although the main system itself will be useable after the initial update, the history will not be there right away.

Depending on how much history you keep on file will determine how long the rest of the update will take. If you rely on sales history to do validated returns, or to help make decisions about purchasing or running reports, this will unavailable until the conversion process is complete.

So, when you decide to upgrade your system, take a look at how much sales history you have on file and purge (there are utilities that make this easy) whatever is not necessary. As a reference, most companies keep about 3 years’ worth of history, but you should check with your accounting team for how much may be required.

-Bryan

Summer Time Cleanup

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Summer Time Cleanup

As we are approaching the end of summer, now is a good time to clean out your computer case of dust bunnies and dirt. When the dust and dirt start to build up inside your computer case, strange things can start to happen. The most common thing I see is random BSOD (Windows infamous Blue Screen Of Death). The messages associated with these can be very misleading, for example, I recently fielded a call from a customer that their terminal had a BSOD and it referenced memory issues. The customers IT department ran multiple memory test scans that showed there was nothing wrong. When they finally called CCS, I had them make sure the terminal was clean on the inside. I advised they pick up some canned air and blow out all the fans, heatsinks, and vents. After this was complete, no more BSOD’s.

Heat is one of the worst things when it comes to computers and can cause malfunctions that will have you chasing your tail. By simply being a little proactive, the frustration will be eliminated.

If you need help with cleaning up your PC tower or terminal, call the CCS Support Department and schedule a time that would work for you.

-Bryan

Having a good backup saved me and could save you too!

Posted on by ccsretail

I know I have blogged about this before, but I have to again as having a good backup saved me and could save you too

So, the other day I noticed that I needed to update Windows on my work PC. So as usual, I installed them and waited to reboot as I had some projects going on. Once my projects were complete, I rebooted. That’s where the trouble begins. No matter what I did, I could not boot back into Windows, I tried everything I could, looked online for things I may not have tried, made changes to this, to that, run commands in a recovery mode, nothing would work. So as a last resort, I used my last backup from the day before, to restore my system from bare metal.

I am using a Cloud/local backup product from Solarwinds. It is kind of a “set it and forget it” program, although there is not much to do once it is setup, it is still a good idea to check on the status of your backup. Knowing I had a good backup, I started the restore utility and started downloading my backup from the previous day. It did take some time being it was downloading some 400GB+ of data (If I was using an external drive it would have been faster), but when I came into the office Monday morning, the restore operation was complete. I removed the recovery disk and rebooted. Next thing I know, my PC is backup and running. It was very easy, everything worked as before and with the exception of a couple of emails, all my data was there too.

The nice thing about Solarwinds backup is that it can be both local and cloud-based at the same time. As mentioned before, If I had a local external hard drive, the amount of time it would have taken would probably be a third of what it did take, but with the ease of the whole process, I cannot complain. Besides doing a full restore as I did, there is also an option for just restoring 1 file or a whole folder if necessary. The backup can even backup SQL databases (perfect for CPSQL customers).

So, if you are not currently backing up your system to the cloud or otherwise, please look into getting this setup. CCS can get you setup, have a status email sent you daily and help you any way we can.

-Bryan

Are Credit Card Signatures still Required?

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Are Credit Card Signatures still Required?

Excerpted from money.cnn.com

As of April 2018, signatures are no longer required by major credit card companies. As Matt Schulz from Credit Cards.com explains “Signatures are no longer considered to be any real deterrent to fraud”, “Most people don’t sign their name in full or take it all that seriously”

The signature requirement has already been going to the wayside, especially for smaller purchases. For example, American Express has not required a signature for transactions under $50 in the US since 2012. More than 80% of Mastercard in-store transactions already did not require a signature Mastercard said in 2017, but many businesses, mostly restaurants, and rental car companies still do.

Schulz says that he expects many merchants to leave the signature requirement in place as “The requirement is built into the credit card terminal, they would need to take steps to eliminate it.”

Credit Card companies have been enhancing card security to help reduce fraud, as you know most card companies have been replacing expired cards or sending new cards that take advantage of the EMV chip capabilities, which is considered more secure than the traditional magnetic stripe.

Schulz expects PIN codes and biometrics to become more common but stresses that you should still do your best to protect your identity. He says “ You are your own best last line of defense on identity theft. It is important you take the time to check your online bank and credit card statements. People need to build regular identity theft checks into their financial routine.

-Bryan

Shimming to Clone the Mag Swipe Data that can be used to commit fraud

Posted on by ccsretail

Shimming

Everyone has heard of “skimming” when it comes to credit card fraud. But have you ever heard of “shimming”?

Shimming is the new “skimming” in the world of EMV chip cards. Shimming is done by inserting a paper thin card sized shim containing an embedded microchip and flash storage into the credit card slot where it intercepts data from the EMV chip of your credit or debit card. Although the data that is captured cannot be used to clone the chip itself, it can be used to clone the mag swipe data that can be used to commit fraud.

How can you protect yourself from this type of fraud? For starters, you can start using the “contactless” feature of the card if available (NCR Counterpoint 8.5.4.1+ supports this feature). Another way would be to use Apple Pay or Google Pay, or any of the smartphone-related payment apps if the retailer your shopping at supports these payment methods.

Another smart move, that you should already be doing, is checking your bank and credit card statements for any transactions not made by you and report any fraud immediately to your bank or card issuer. Most banks and credit card issuers already have apps that can be setup to alert you via text, email or both if any transaction over a certain dollar occurs.

For more information about the EMV capabilities of NCR Counterpoint or upgrading your system to be able to use EMV and contactless payments, contact the CCS Retail Systems Support Department at 800.672.4806 or email us.

-Bryan

No More Passwords?

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No More Passwords?

No one likes those clunky passwords we use at work, home, and online. And most of us tend to forget a lot of them, especially with auto-save features on so many platforms. But now there’s good news for forgetful web users with a new standard that could do away with your old passwords.

The World Wide Web Consortium is the organization that creates internet standards and arbitrates major disputes. They’ve approved a new protocol called “web authentication” which could soon replace traditional passwords online with things like USB keys, smart devices, or biometrics like face I.D. or fingerprints. The Consortium says passwords that are stolen, are too weak, or left as “default” are to blame for 81% of data breaches.

Now, if a site supports the new “web authentication”, you can get in using USB or biometric confirmation, with no need to type in a password, giving us a look at what a password-free world might look like.

Many big companies are already joining up to create new password-free authentication protocols led by Silicon Valley. Google has already replaced most of its password-driven security with a set of physical security keys to access computers, and it’s paying off big, eliminating breaches throughout the company. And experts say the technology has the potential to go even farther, with a set of standards possibly spurring innovation and lowering the cost of the devices to access sites without passwords. “Web authentication” is already enabled system-wide on Chrome OS and Windows 10, and on the most commonly-used web browsers, like FireFox, Chrome, and Safari. So if you’ve been wanting to ditch your passwords, we are almost there.

-Bryan

NCR Counterpoint Supports Windows 10

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NCR Counterpoint Supports Windows 10.

It is getting harder and harder to find and install the tried and true Windows 7 operating system. And like Windows XP before it, it will soon be obsolete and unsupported. In comes Windows 10, which I see as a kind of mash between the best of Windows 7 with a feel of Windows 8. NCR Counterpoint versions 8.5.2 and above are certified for use with Windows 10. As with all changes, there is a little learning curve to Windows 10, and like the previous version of the Windows OS, there’s usually more than one way to accomplish the same task. Windows 10 aims to be more user-friendly by giving the user more of an On/Off or Yes/No type options depending on where you are making changes. There is still the old Control Panel as before, but Windows 10 has added the “PC Settings” which gives you more of an explanation of what you are trying to change and an option to search for a specific setting unlike the regular control panel. There are many other helpful and useful features in Windows 10 which can be found on the Internet. Before upgrading or replacing any equipment to run Windows 10, be sure to check your other hardware (i.e. printers, network cards, devices) that they are compatible or that the manufacturer has updated drivers that will work.

As mentioned NCR Counterpoint is Windows 10 ready, and NCR is now offering both the XR7 and XR5 all in one terminal with Windows 10 preinstalled.

For any question about running Windows 10 in your NCR Counterpoint environment, please call the CCS Retail Systems Support Department at 800.672.4806 or email us.

-Bryan

PC Cleaners/Registry Cleaners

Posted on by ccsretail

PC Cleaners/Registry Cleaners

Although I do not advise using these software’s regularly, there are times when they are useful. Over the years I have found that these registry and PC cleaners sometimes cause more harm than good. For example, I have run into systems where these tools are run regularly and have problems installing or re-installing software, some of these programs even boast about cleaning or completely uninstalling software, only to find out it has left the main directory in place preventing the re-installation, or it has left the Windows service installed causing the same thing.

Depending on what you are trying to accomplish with these “cleaning” programs, I have never seen one speed up my PC. The times I do use these cleaning programs is usually after either an infection or failed hardware. But some manual cleaning is always required.

If your PC needs “cleaning” I would recommend using the built-in or downloadable tools from the programs manufacture to clean a program up. Most hard to uninstall software has a “clean up” tool available from the makers to make your uninstallation easier and actually clean your PC.

If you have any support questions or concerns, please contact the CCS Retail Systems support department @800.672.4806 or email us at support

-Bryan