What if you found that your computer is out of date? You probably want to upgrade your computer since you have no choice to do so. Your works depend on your hardware computer upgrade. That’s how you going to have a good result.
But before you make any further step, try to learn about your computer. Search all options and ask for advice. Only after this you can go and buy a new component. It’s also useful to check if you really need an upgrade.
Sure, it’s not funny if you keep your old computer but you still loose data when you do your works. Its just a matter of time before you experience a hard drive problem when you still using your old computer. You dont want to loose your data, right? Of course most people only think of backing up their data after they experience a problem. Don't set yourself up for a data loss disaster. Check what hardware you need for your computer.
If you have problem with your hard disk, such as crash when you do your work, better you have it renewed. Most people upgrade their hard disk to increase the size so that they can use it for games, movies and playing a lot of music. A 20 GB hard drive is sufficient to keep new office and internet applications, and all your files and data. A medium sized hard drive would be around 40 GB and the maximum would be around 60 – 80 GB.
You can choose which perfect for your work. Of course the price is also depending on the capacity of your hard disk. If you are a gamer, you may want to have high capacity hard disk such as that 60-80 GB. But if you just used it for your writing, a 20 GB is more than enough.
Another hardware you may need to upgrade is the RAM or Random Access Memory. This memory keeps data that is being worked on now and may or may not be transferred to the hard drive that represents the long-term memory of the computer. Current processors can perform an enormous number of operations per second. Almost all computer have 64 MB RAM and often 128 MB. If you want to run newer applications on your PC then you must upgrade to 128/256 MB RAM. A lot of people who upgrade from 98 to Win 2000 discover that their computers lock up very often. This is because they don't have enough RAM.
So, those are only some part of hardware you might want to upgrade. There are others such as motherboard, CPU or port which you can upgrade. Your action depend on your need.
by Tony C. Gevano.
from: www.cleanarticles.com
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Battle of the Browsers - The History and the Future of Internet Browsers
With Internet Explorer 8 now available, can Microsoft hope to retain market dominance over fierce open source rivals such as Mozilla's Firefox or the feature packed Opera web browser. Can history give us a clue to what the future of web browsers/browsing might hold? How did Netscape Navigator go from having a dominant 89.36% market share of all web browsers in 1996 and yet only 3.76% by mid 1999?
Let us take a journey that will begin long before even the intellectual conception of Internet Explorer, that will glance at its long defeated rivals, examine the current browsers available and will end with a prediction of what the future of browsing will offer us – and which browser(s) will still be around to offer it.
People often think that Internet Explorer has been the dominant web browser since the golden age of the internet began. Well for a very long time now it has indeed been the most popular browser and at times been almost totally unrivalled. This was mainly a result of it being packaged free with Microsoft Windows, in what some would later call a brutal monopolisation attempt by Microsoft. The last few years however have heralded the arrival of new, possibly superior browsers. Mozilla's Firefox has been particularly successful at chipping away at Explorers market dominance. So where did it all begin, and why were Microsoft ever allowed to have a hundred percent market dominance?
Origins
The truth is they never did have total dominance, but at times they have come very close. Microsoft actually entered the Browser Battle quite late on. Infact a man named Neil Larson is credited to be one of the originators of internet browsers, when in 1977 he created a program – The TRS-80 - that allowed browsing between “sites” via hypertext jumps. This was a DOS program and the basis of much to come. Slowly other browsers powered by DOS and inspired by the TRS 80 were developed. Unfortunately they were often constricted by the limitations of the still fairly young internet itself.
In 1988, Peter Scott and Earle Fogel created a simple, fast browser called Hytelnet, which by 1990 offered users instant logon and access to the online catalogues of over five thousand libraries around the world – an exhilarating taste of what the internet, and web browsers, would soon be able to offer.
In 1989 the original World Wide Web was born. Using a NeXTcube computer, Tim Berners-Lee created a web browser that would change how people used the internet forever. He called his browser the WorldWideWeb(http://www., which is still likely to sound familiar to internet users today. It was a windowed browser capable of displaying simple style sheet, capable of editing sites and able to download and open any file type supported by the NeXTcube.
In 1993 the first popular graphical browser was released. Its name was Mosaic and it was created by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina. Mosaic could be run on both Unix, and very importantly, on the highly popular Microsoft Windows operating system (incidentally it could also be used on Amiga and Apple computers). It was the first browser on Windows that could display graphics/pictures on a page where there was also textual content. It is often cited as being responsible for triggering the internet boom due to it making the internet bearable for the masses. (It should be noted that the web browser Cello was the first browser to be used on Windows – but it was non graphical and made very little impact compared to Mosaic).
The Browser Wars - Netscape Navigator versus Internet Explorer
Mosaic's decline began almost as soon as Netscape Navigator was released (1994). Netscape Navigator was a browser created by Marc Andreessen, one of the men behind Mosaic and co-founder of Netscape Communications Corporation. Netscape was unrivalled in terms of features and usability at the time. For example, one major change from previous browsers was that it allowed surfers to see parts of a website before the whole site was downloaded. This meant that people did not have to wait for minutes simply to see if the site they were loading was the actual one the were after, whilst also allowing them to read information on the site as the rest of it downloaded. By 1996 Netscape had almost 90% market dominance, as shown below.
Market Share Comparisons of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer from 1996 to 1998
....................Netscape.......IE
October 1998..........64%.........32.2%
April 1998............70%.........22.7%
October 1997..........59.67%......15.13%
April 1997............81.13%......12.13%
October 1996..........80.45%......12.18%
April 1996............89.36%.......3.76%
In these two years Netscape clearly dominated the internet browser market, but a new browser named Internet Explorer was quickly gaining ground on it.
Microsoft released their own browser (ironically based on the earlier Mosaic browser which was created by one of the men now running Netscape), clearly worried about Netscape's dominance. It was not so much the worry that it would have a 100% market share of internet browsers on their Windows operating system, but more the worry that browsers would soon be capable of running all types programs on them. That would mean foregoing the need for an actual operating system, or at the most only a very basic one would be needed. This in turn would mean Netscape would soon be able to dictate terms to Microsoft, and Microsoft were not going to let that happen easily. Thus in August 1995, Internet Explorer was released.
By 1999 Internet explorer had captured an 89.03% market share, whilst Netscape was down to 10.47%. How could Internet Explorer make this much ground in just two years? Well this was down to two things really. The first, and by far the most important was that Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer in with every new copy of Windows, and as Windows was used by about 90% of the computer using population it clearly gave them a huge advantage. Internet Explorer had one other ace it held over Netscape – it was much better. Netscape Navigator was stagnant and had been for some time. The only new features it ever seemed to introduce were often perceived by the public as beneficial for Netscape's parent company rather than Netscape's user base. (i.e., features that would help it monopolise the market). Explorer, on the other hand, was given much attention by Microsoft. Regular updates and excellent usability plus a hundred million dollar investment would prove too much for Netscape Explorer.
2000 – 2005
These years were fairly quiet in the Battle of the Browsers. It seemed as if Internet Explorer had won the war and that nobody could even hope to compete with it. In 2002/2003 it had attained about 95% of the market share – about the time of IE 5/6. With over 1000 people working on it and millions of dollars being poured in, few people had the resources to compete. Then again, who wanted to compete? It was clearly a volatile market, and besides that everybody was content with Internet Explorer. Or were they? Some people saw faults with IE – security issues, incompatibility issues or simply bad programming. Not only that, it was being shoved down peoples throats. There was almost no competition to keep it in line or to turn to as an alternative. Something had to change. The only people with the ability and the power to compete with Microsoft took matters into their own hands.
Netscape was now supported by AOL. A few years prior, just after they had lost the Browser Wars to Microsoft, they had released the coding for Netscape into the public domain. This meant anybody could develop their own browser using the Netscape skeleton. And people did. Epiphany, Galeon and Camino, amongst others, were born out of Netscape's ashes. However the two most popular newcomers were called Mozilla and Firefox.
Mozilla was originally an open sourced project aimed to improve the Netscape browser. Eventually it was released as Netscape Navigator 7 and then 8. Later it was released as Mozilla 1.0.
Mozilla was almost an early version on another open source browser, Firefox. With it being an open source the public were able to contribute to it - adding in what features it needed, the programming it required and the support it deserved. The problems people saw in Internet Explorer were being fixed by members of the open sourced browser community via Firefox. For instance, the many security issues IE 6 had were almost entirely fixed in the very first release of Firefox. Microsoft had another fight on their hands.
2005 – Present
Firefox was the browser that grew and grew in these years. Every year capturing an even larger market share percentage than before. More user friendly than most of its rivals along with high security levels and arguably more intelligent programming helped its popularity. With such a large programming community behind it, updates have always been regular and add on programs/features are often released. It prides itself on being the peoples browser. It currently has a 28.38% market share.
Apple computers have had their own browser since the mid 1990's – Safari - complete with its own problems, such as (until recently) the inability to run Java scripts. However most Apple users seemed happy with it and a version capable of running on Windows has been released. It has had no major competitor on Apple Macs, and as such has largely been out of the Browser Wars. It currently holds a 2.54% market share and is slowly increasing.
Internet Explorer's market share has dropped from over 90% to around 75%, and is falling. It will be interesting to see what Microsoft will attempt to regain such a high market share.
Opera currently holds 1.07%.
Mozilla itself only has a 0.6% market share these days.
The Future of Web Browsing
Web browsers come and go. It is the nature of technology (if such a term can be used), to supplant inferior software in very short periods of time. It is almost impossible for a single company to stay ahead of the competition for long. Microsoft have the advantage of being able to release IE with any Windows using PC. That covers over 90% of the market. They also have the advantage of unprecedented resources. They can compete how they wish for as long as they wish. So there is no counting IE out of the future of web browsing.
Safari is in a similar position, being easily the most popular Mac web browser. Its long term survival is dependant upon Apple and the sale of their computers.
These are the only two browsers that are almost guaranteed another five years of life, at least. Firefox may seem like another candidate, but the public is fickle, and one bad release, or if it seriously lags behind the new Internet Explorer 8 for long, could easily see its popularity quickly descend into virtual oblivion.
However, it seems likely community driven browsers, such as Mozilla and Firefox, will be the only types of browser capable of competing with the wealthy internet arm of Microsoft in the near future.
As for web browsing itself, will it change any time soon? Well it already has for some online communities. For example, if you want to buy clothes you could try entering an online 'world' creating an online virtual You to go from 'shop to shop' with, looking at products and trying/buying what you see. Some 'worlds' allow you to recreate yourself accurately including weight and height and then try on things apparel such as jeans to give you an idea of how you would look in that particular item.
Will 'worlds' like this destroy normal web browsers such as IE ? - It seems unlikely. Traditional web browsers provide such freedom and ease of access that it is hard to see any other alternative taking over. However they are part of the new, 'thinking out of the box' wave of alternatives that some people will find attractive, and really who knows what the future will bring.
About The Author
Nicholas C Smith is the project manager at Breakfrom Limited, who specialise in affordable ecommerce solutions and general web design knowledge and advice.
For more information and advice visit http://www.breakfrom.com
By Nicholas C Smith.
Let us take a journey that will begin long before even the intellectual conception of Internet Explorer, that will glance at its long defeated rivals, examine the current browsers available and will end with a prediction of what the future of browsing will offer us – and which browser(s) will still be around to offer it.
People often think that Internet Explorer has been the dominant web browser since the golden age of the internet began. Well for a very long time now it has indeed been the most popular browser and at times been almost totally unrivalled. This was mainly a result of it being packaged free with Microsoft Windows, in what some would later call a brutal monopolisation attempt by Microsoft. The last few years however have heralded the arrival of new, possibly superior browsers. Mozilla's Firefox has been particularly successful at chipping away at Explorers market dominance. So where did it all begin, and why were Microsoft ever allowed to have a hundred percent market dominance?
Origins
The truth is they never did have total dominance, but at times they have come very close. Microsoft actually entered the Browser Battle quite late on. Infact a man named Neil Larson is credited to be one of the originators of internet browsers, when in 1977 he created a program – The TRS-80 - that allowed browsing between “sites” via hypertext jumps. This was a DOS program and the basis of much to come. Slowly other browsers powered by DOS and inspired by the TRS 80 were developed. Unfortunately they were often constricted by the limitations of the still fairly young internet itself.
In 1988, Peter Scott and Earle Fogel created a simple, fast browser called Hytelnet, which by 1990 offered users instant logon and access to the online catalogues of over five thousand libraries around the world – an exhilarating taste of what the internet, and web browsers, would soon be able to offer.
In 1989 the original World Wide Web was born. Using a NeXTcube computer, Tim Berners-Lee created a web browser that would change how people used the internet forever. He called his browser the WorldWideWeb(http://www., which is still likely to sound familiar to internet users today. It was a windowed browser capable of displaying simple style sheet, capable of editing sites and able to download and open any file type supported by the NeXTcube.
In 1993 the first popular graphical browser was released. Its name was Mosaic and it was created by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina. Mosaic could be run on both Unix, and very importantly, on the highly popular Microsoft Windows operating system (incidentally it could also be used on Amiga and Apple computers). It was the first browser on Windows that could display graphics/pictures on a page where there was also textual content. It is often cited as being responsible for triggering the internet boom due to it making the internet bearable for the masses. (It should be noted that the web browser Cello was the first browser to be used on Windows – but it was non graphical and made very little impact compared to Mosaic).
The Browser Wars - Netscape Navigator versus Internet Explorer
Mosaic's decline began almost as soon as Netscape Navigator was released (1994). Netscape Navigator was a browser created by Marc Andreessen, one of the men behind Mosaic and co-founder of Netscape Communications Corporation. Netscape was unrivalled in terms of features and usability at the time. For example, one major change from previous browsers was that it allowed surfers to see parts of a website before the whole site was downloaded. This meant that people did not have to wait for minutes simply to see if the site they were loading was the actual one the were after, whilst also allowing them to read information on the site as the rest of it downloaded. By 1996 Netscape had almost 90% market dominance, as shown below.
Market Share Comparisons of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer from 1996 to 1998
....................Netscape.......IE
October 1998..........64%.........32.2%
April 1998............70%.........22.7%
October 1997..........59.67%......15.13%
April 1997............81.13%......12.13%
October 1996..........80.45%......12.18%
April 1996............89.36%.......3.76%
In these two years Netscape clearly dominated the internet browser market, but a new browser named Internet Explorer was quickly gaining ground on it.
Microsoft released their own browser (ironically based on the earlier Mosaic browser which was created by one of the men now running Netscape), clearly worried about Netscape's dominance. It was not so much the worry that it would have a 100% market share of internet browsers on their Windows operating system, but more the worry that browsers would soon be capable of running all types programs on them. That would mean foregoing the need for an actual operating system, or at the most only a very basic one would be needed. This in turn would mean Netscape would soon be able to dictate terms to Microsoft, and Microsoft were not going to let that happen easily. Thus in August 1995, Internet Explorer was released.
By 1999 Internet explorer had captured an 89.03% market share, whilst Netscape was down to 10.47%. How could Internet Explorer make this much ground in just two years? Well this was down to two things really. The first, and by far the most important was that Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer in with every new copy of Windows, and as Windows was used by about 90% of the computer using population it clearly gave them a huge advantage. Internet Explorer had one other ace it held over Netscape – it was much better. Netscape Navigator was stagnant and had been for some time. The only new features it ever seemed to introduce were often perceived by the public as beneficial for Netscape's parent company rather than Netscape's user base. (i.e., features that would help it monopolise the market). Explorer, on the other hand, was given much attention by Microsoft. Regular updates and excellent usability plus a hundred million dollar investment would prove too much for Netscape Explorer.
2000 – 2005
These years were fairly quiet in the Battle of the Browsers. It seemed as if Internet Explorer had won the war and that nobody could even hope to compete with it. In 2002/2003 it had attained about 95% of the market share – about the time of IE 5/6. With over 1000 people working on it and millions of dollars being poured in, few people had the resources to compete. Then again, who wanted to compete? It was clearly a volatile market, and besides that everybody was content with Internet Explorer. Or were they? Some people saw faults with IE – security issues, incompatibility issues or simply bad programming. Not only that, it was being shoved down peoples throats. There was almost no competition to keep it in line or to turn to as an alternative. Something had to change. The only people with the ability and the power to compete with Microsoft took matters into their own hands.
Netscape was now supported by AOL. A few years prior, just after they had lost the Browser Wars to Microsoft, they had released the coding for Netscape into the public domain. This meant anybody could develop their own browser using the Netscape skeleton. And people did. Epiphany, Galeon and Camino, amongst others, were born out of Netscape's ashes. However the two most popular newcomers were called Mozilla and Firefox.
Mozilla was originally an open sourced project aimed to improve the Netscape browser. Eventually it was released as Netscape Navigator 7 and then 8. Later it was released as Mozilla 1.0.
Mozilla was almost an early version on another open source browser, Firefox. With it being an open source the public were able to contribute to it - adding in what features it needed, the programming it required and the support it deserved. The problems people saw in Internet Explorer were being fixed by members of the open sourced browser community via Firefox. For instance, the many security issues IE 6 had were almost entirely fixed in the very first release of Firefox. Microsoft had another fight on their hands.
2005 – Present
Firefox was the browser that grew and grew in these years. Every year capturing an even larger market share percentage than before. More user friendly than most of its rivals along with high security levels and arguably more intelligent programming helped its popularity. With such a large programming community behind it, updates have always been regular and add on programs/features are often released. It prides itself on being the peoples browser. It currently has a 28.38% market share.
Apple computers have had their own browser since the mid 1990's – Safari - complete with its own problems, such as (until recently) the inability to run Java scripts. However most Apple users seemed happy with it and a version capable of running on Windows has been released. It has had no major competitor on Apple Macs, and as such has largely been out of the Browser Wars. It currently holds a 2.54% market share and is slowly increasing.
Internet Explorer's market share has dropped from over 90% to around 75%, and is falling. It will be interesting to see what Microsoft will attempt to regain such a high market share.
Opera currently holds 1.07%.
Mozilla itself only has a 0.6% market share these days.
The Future of Web Browsing
Web browsers come and go. It is the nature of technology (if such a term can be used), to supplant inferior software in very short periods of time. It is almost impossible for a single company to stay ahead of the competition for long. Microsoft have the advantage of being able to release IE with any Windows using PC. That covers over 90% of the market. They also have the advantage of unprecedented resources. They can compete how they wish for as long as they wish. So there is no counting IE out of the future of web browsing.
Safari is in a similar position, being easily the most popular Mac web browser. Its long term survival is dependant upon Apple and the sale of their computers.
These are the only two browsers that are almost guaranteed another five years of life, at least. Firefox may seem like another candidate, but the public is fickle, and one bad release, or if it seriously lags behind the new Internet Explorer 8 for long, could easily see its popularity quickly descend into virtual oblivion.
However, it seems likely community driven browsers, such as Mozilla and Firefox, will be the only types of browser capable of competing with the wealthy internet arm of Microsoft in the near future.
As for web browsing itself, will it change any time soon? Well it already has for some online communities. For example, if you want to buy clothes you could try entering an online 'world' creating an online virtual You to go from 'shop to shop' with, looking at products and trying/buying what you see. Some 'worlds' allow you to recreate yourself accurately including weight and height and then try on things apparel such as jeans to give you an idea of how you would look in that particular item.
Will 'worlds' like this destroy normal web browsers such as IE ? - It seems unlikely. Traditional web browsers provide such freedom and ease of access that it is hard to see any other alternative taking over. However they are part of the new, 'thinking out of the box' wave of alternatives that some people will find attractive, and really who knows what the future will bring.
About The Author
Nicholas C Smith is the project manager at Breakfrom Limited, who specialise in affordable ecommerce solutions and general web design knowledge and advice.
For more information and advice visit http://www.breakfrom.com
By Nicholas C Smith.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
COMPUTER DATA BACKUP - DATA BACKUP SOLUTION WILL GIVE YOU A PEACE OF MIND.
Imagine that you have been working on a file for the entire day and there was a power surge that caused your computer to 'black out'. It would have been a frustrating experience for us as we had put in a lot of time and effort into it. I am sure that many of us would have experienced data loss in some form or another and have learnt to be wiser to backup our data to avoid any form of data loss.
Have you ever thought of a worst case scenario where a fire broke up and destroy your computer or where your laptop got stolen? Should that happen, the first thing that comes into your mind is the thousands of dollars that you spend on your computer or laptop and you would feel very upset about it. However, when you thought for a second moment, you started to realize that what is really valuable are the amount of data that you have built up over the years in it. Though hardware can always be replaced, even at no cost to you if you have insurance, but lost data is gone forever.
Lost data such as the thousands of mp3 and movies that you have downloaded from the Internet, thousands of digital photographs that are impossible to replace are lost in an instant. This form of data loss hits home especially hard when the laptop holds the lifeblood to your business. Imagine all your business contacts documents and contracts that you have painfully built up over the years would be vanished just like that. Your business would be wipe out overnight.
Do not wait for the worst to happen before you start to consider about data backup solution. Having a data backup solution will give you a peace of mind as you know that your data is in safe hand.
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
by Justin Koh.
Have you ever thought of a worst case scenario where a fire broke up and destroy your computer or where your laptop got stolen? Should that happen, the first thing that comes into your mind is the thousands of dollars that you spend on your computer or laptop and you would feel very upset about it. However, when you thought for a second moment, you started to realize that what is really valuable are the amount of data that you have built up over the years in it. Though hardware can always be replaced, even at no cost to you if you have insurance, but lost data is gone forever.
Lost data such as the thousands of mp3 and movies that you have downloaded from the Internet, thousands of digital photographs that are impossible to replace are lost in an instant. This form of data loss hits home especially hard when the laptop holds the lifeblood to your business. Imagine all your business contacts documents and contracts that you have painfully built up over the years would be vanished just like that. Your business would be wipe out overnight.
Do not wait for the worst to happen before you start to consider about data backup solution. Having a data backup solution will give you a peace of mind as you know that your data is in safe hand.
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
by Justin Koh.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Computer Hardware Preventive Maintenance Software
Computers often break down at the worst of all times. These problems can be averted, or at least minimized with preventive maintenance. Several methods of keeping computer hardware in good working order deal with the external components of the computer, such as the keyboard and monitor. For example, it is important to keep the processor away from excess heat and moisture. There are also computer hardware preventive maintenance software programs that can help with the upkeep of other internal aspects of a computer.
While it is rare to find a CMMS that works on all of a computer’s hardware, many different programs can be utilized simultaneously. Some computers have periodic automatic updates available that can be downloaded and used to improve the computer’s performance. Other software programs, known as disk defragmenters, manage hard drive space so that software programs take less time to access. Programs known as hardware diagnostic utilities can check the computer’s hardware components and alert the user about any potential failures. Since some new hardware will not always work on all computers and could cause existing hardware to malfunction, it is important to have a CMMS program to ensure that the new hardware is compatible with existing hardware.
Antivirus programs are another important component of computer hardware preventive maintenance software. Computer viruses have become increasingly common in recent years and can render a good computer useless. While computer viruses mainly attack software programs, they can ruin hardware as well. Several manufacturers make reliable antivirus software. A couple of well-known companies are Norton and McAfee. As with much preventive maintenance software, these programs are usually available for a free trial period before the user must pay a subscription fee.
Computer hardware preventive maintenance software is necessary to keep computers in good working order. This software manages aspects of computer hardware that would be difficult and time-consuming for even the most computer savvy users.
Preventive Maintenance Software Info features detailed information on preventive maintenance software for health care and correctional institutions, computer hardware, and personal assets, as well as reviews of preventive maintenance software companies. Preventive Maintenance Software Info is the sister site of Fleet Maintenance Software Web.
By Jennifer Bailey
While it is rare to find a CMMS that works on all of a computer’s hardware, many different programs can be utilized simultaneously. Some computers have periodic automatic updates available that can be downloaded and used to improve the computer’s performance. Other software programs, known as disk defragmenters, manage hard drive space so that software programs take less time to access. Programs known as hardware diagnostic utilities can check the computer’s hardware components and alert the user about any potential failures. Since some new hardware will not always work on all computers and could cause existing hardware to malfunction, it is important to have a CMMS program to ensure that the new hardware is compatible with existing hardware.
Antivirus programs are another important component of computer hardware preventive maintenance software. Computer viruses have become increasingly common in recent years and can render a good computer useless. While computer viruses mainly attack software programs, they can ruin hardware as well. Several manufacturers make reliable antivirus software. A couple of well-known companies are Norton and McAfee. As with much preventive maintenance software, these programs are usually available for a free trial period before the user must pay a subscription fee.
Computer hardware preventive maintenance software is necessary to keep computers in good working order. This software manages aspects of computer hardware that would be difficult and time-consuming for even the most computer savvy users.
Preventive Maintenance Software Info features detailed information on preventive maintenance software for health care and correctional institutions, computer hardware, and personal assets, as well as reviews of preventive maintenance software companies. Preventive Maintenance Software Info is the sister site of Fleet Maintenance Software Web.
By Jennifer Bailey
Sunday, October 19, 2008
When disaster Strikes : How Long Would Your Business SurviveIf Files On Your Computer Disappeared ?
A Tornado? In Birmingham? In The United Kingdom? Unthinkable!
Yes, in July 2005 (while I was putting finishing touches to my cave-house in Spain) my house, along with many of my neighbours' houses was struck by a powerful tornado that literally tore up the streets. Leaving people homeless as their homes were bulldozered (with all their possessions inside).
Thankfully, my house was still, pretty much intact and won't be being demolished but I work from a home office. I have lots of critical data and information on my computer - marketing information, accounts information, key contacts, books in progress to name a few. If my house was bulldozered (and I didn't have an adequate off-site backup system) I would have lost the lot. As it was, I was still able to access my key files even from Spain.
But how would you fare? What if your computer went kaput this very minute? What if a freak accident, theft, or natural disaster literally destroyed your computer and you lost all your files? Would you be able to get back up and running with minimal fuss or would your business be crippled for a long time to come?
No one wants to think about it, but in light of recent world events it makes sense for every company to have in place a business continuity plan. This might include installing a backup generator for power, having a second office available for re-location, and ensuring your insurance policy is current, relevant and up to date.
Some of the above may be more applicable for larger companies, however one element that's 100% critical for ALL businesses regardless of size, is to keep an up to date copy of your computer files.
Files can be lost instantly by a power surge, fire, flood, theft, virus and of course the most common risk human error (i.e. accidental deletion)!
This information is the lifeblood of your business, and needs to be backed up regularly. Unlike your office or the computer itself, your computer files cannot be replaced, yet without them you have no business.
For most companies, files to be kept safe will include:
* Databases
* Client records
* Presentations
* Invoices
* Emails
* Historical work archives
* Research
* Digital photos
A simple risk assessment question to ask yourself:
"How long would my business survive if the files on my computer disappeared right now?"
Unless you have a current 'back-up' or copy of your information it is quite likely that your business will cease to operate for some time, if not indefinitely soon after. In our business our database (of people like you) is extremely important. It's taken years to build up and is irreplaceable. Which is why we have taken active steps to protect it.
There are a number of ways for you to make back up copies of your information, and these methods can be divided into 2 main categories.
1. Manual processes, which use recordable media such as tapes or disks.
2. Online backup services, which use your Internet connection to transfer data.
Manual processes rely on you carrying out the backup, rotating the media and then removing it off-site every day. Consequently they can be labour intensive, costly and in addition the media can be unreliable (i.e disks can be scratched). You don't need me to tell you that doing it this way is certainly not lean. It's a boring, time consuming, yet critical task, that's not automated (but should be) that simply gets in the way of you doing your real work while putting you at unnecessary risk. See the 'Pain or Gain' chart in your free Lean Marketing Detox eBook for a recap.
For this reason, many companies are now signing up to online solutions, which via a small piece of software backup your information securely and automatically each day for you.
Furthermore your information is stored safely off-site so if and when disaster strikes your files are completely safe and can be instantly restored to any machine.
It's human nature to think, "it’ll never happen to me", however it is more accurate to think, "when will this happen to me?"
Don't gamble with your business, back it up today and keep it safe.
For our online data backup we use and recommend www.DepositIt.com, why not check them out and make sure to set up a backup plan as soon as you can. You never know when disaster will strike!
'Dangerous' Debbie Jenkins
debs@debbiejenkins.com
(c) Copyright 2005 www.BookShaker.com
SUMMER CAN BE SLOW FOR BUSINESS
But don't let that get in the way of your success.
This is the ideal time to work on your business
rather than in it. Get 2 F'REE eBooks and prepare
for more success with less effort here...
http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk
I'm wondering if... You Know Other People who should be reading this too? So do us all a favour (they get 2 free books - we get a new subscriber - you get to look good) when you Pass On This link... http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk
By DEBBIE JENKINS.
www.cleanarticles.com
Yes, in July 2005 (while I was putting finishing touches to my cave-house in Spain) my house, along with many of my neighbours' houses was struck by a powerful tornado that literally tore up the streets. Leaving people homeless as their homes were bulldozered (with all their possessions inside).
Thankfully, my house was still, pretty much intact and won't be being demolished but I work from a home office. I have lots of critical data and information on my computer - marketing information, accounts information, key contacts, books in progress to name a few. If my house was bulldozered (and I didn't have an adequate off-site backup system) I would have lost the lot. As it was, I was still able to access my key files even from Spain.
But how would you fare? What if your computer went kaput this very minute? What if a freak accident, theft, or natural disaster literally destroyed your computer and you lost all your files? Would you be able to get back up and running with minimal fuss or would your business be crippled for a long time to come?
No one wants to think about it, but in light of recent world events it makes sense for every company to have in place a business continuity plan. This might include installing a backup generator for power, having a second office available for re-location, and ensuring your insurance policy is current, relevant and up to date.
Some of the above may be more applicable for larger companies, however one element that's 100% critical for ALL businesses regardless of size, is to keep an up to date copy of your computer files.
Files can be lost instantly by a power surge, fire, flood, theft, virus and of course the most common risk human error (i.e. accidental deletion)!
This information is the lifeblood of your business, and needs to be backed up regularly. Unlike your office or the computer itself, your computer files cannot be replaced, yet without them you have no business.
For most companies, files to be kept safe will include:
* Databases
* Client records
* Presentations
* Invoices
* Emails
* Historical work archives
* Research
* Digital photos
A simple risk assessment question to ask yourself:
"How long would my business survive if the files on my computer disappeared right now?"
Unless you have a current 'back-up' or copy of your information it is quite likely that your business will cease to operate for some time, if not indefinitely soon after. In our business our database (of people like you) is extremely important. It's taken years to build up and is irreplaceable. Which is why we have taken active steps to protect it.
There are a number of ways for you to make back up copies of your information, and these methods can be divided into 2 main categories.
1. Manual processes, which use recordable media such as tapes or disks.
2. Online backup services, which use your Internet connection to transfer data.
Manual processes rely on you carrying out the backup, rotating the media and then removing it off-site every day. Consequently they can be labour intensive, costly and in addition the media can be unreliable (i.e disks can be scratched). You don't need me to tell you that doing it this way is certainly not lean. It's a boring, time consuming, yet critical task, that's not automated (but should be) that simply gets in the way of you doing your real work while putting you at unnecessary risk. See the 'Pain or Gain' chart in your free Lean Marketing Detox eBook for a recap.
For this reason, many companies are now signing up to online solutions, which via a small piece of software backup your information securely and automatically each day for you.
Furthermore your information is stored safely off-site so if and when disaster strikes your files are completely safe and can be instantly restored to any machine.
It's human nature to think, "it’ll never happen to me", however it is more accurate to think, "when will this happen to me?"
Don't gamble with your business, back it up today and keep it safe.
For our online data backup we use and recommend www.DepositIt.com, why not check them out and make sure to set up a backup plan as soon as you can. You never know when disaster will strike!
'Dangerous' Debbie Jenkins
debs@debbiejenkins.com
(c) Copyright 2005 www.BookShaker.com
SUMMER CAN BE SLOW FOR BUSINESS
But don't let that get in the way of your success.
This is the ideal time to work on your business
rather than in it. Get 2 F'REE eBooks and prepare
for more success with less effort here...
http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk
I'm wondering if... You Know Other People who should be reading this too? So do us all a favour (they get 2 free books - we get a new subscriber - you get to look good) when you Pass On This link... http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk
By DEBBIE JENKINS.
www.cleanarticles.com
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Data Recovery: Beginners Tips
Right now you probably in a lot of mental pain, and all you’re concerned about is recovering your data as quickly as possible - so we’ll refrain from comments on the wisdom of regular back ups. The time for preventative measures has gone - the issue at hand is data recovery.
First - a simple tip could save you a lot of money. Take out your rolodex and get hold of your tech-savvy friends. If you’re in luck, they’ll offer to help, and if you’re really lucky, they might even have some disk recovery software.
If you’re out of luck, then get out your wallet or purse out now... because this is going to cost you. Also, be prepared for a lot of time being wasted - data recovery can take a long time.
The first thing to establish is what exactly is wrong with your hard disk:
Either your computer won’t boot up, or
Your computer boots up OK but you can’t see one of your other drives.
Let’s see if we can eliminate the worst scenario. Listen closely to your hard drive - is it making any sort of weird noise, such as scratching, scraping, ticking etc?
If so, then your drive is physically damaged and the only hope that you have is to take it to a data recovery service where experts might be able to get your data off for you. These services are expensive and time consuming - so you need to make a judgement call as to the value of data on the disk:
If it’s only your saved game data or downloaded music files you would like back, you’re probably better off kicking yourself for not backing up, and accepting the data loss.
If, on the other hand, it’s a book or other type of information product that you’ve been working on for years, then send it to a data recovery service for an evaluation and quote - it usually costs nothing.
If your hard disk sounds OK, then you stand a decent chance of recovering data yourself.
First you’ll need to download some software to help you out.
Unfortunately, the better software utilities are not free, but the good news is that many allow you to try them out to see they can access the data. There are some freeware versions available but generally speaking these are not easy to use - no user interface / little documentation, or they are not very effective.
There’s a list of recommended software on our site - http://www.recoverdatafiles.com - compare the different options then download a few of the trial versions.
Your next steps will be based on how your hard drive/s were setup:
If you only have a single hard drive that has not been partitioned or split into different “logical” drives, you’ll probably need to attach the hard drive to another computer that has enough space to store all your data. This can be quite technical so if you don’t have the skills please get a computer savvy friend to help out.
Another option is to purchase an external USB hard drive case. You can then simply slot the hard drive into the case and plug it into another PC using a USB port.
If you have a multiple drive setup and your computer boots up fine, then it will merely be a case of getting the downloaded software to read the files and then copy them to another drive - provided you have a drive with enough space on it. If not, you’ll need to attach the hard drive to another machine with enough spare capacity.
The scenario where you have a multiple drive setup, where the problem drive is the one that contains your operating system files is more tricky.
Look for a data recovery software package that has a boot disk option available. What this means is that when you start your computer with the boot disk in it, it will automatically run the data recovery program without trying to start windows. You should be able to see your files and then copy them across to another drive.
Hopefully these tips will enable you to get all your important files back.
Once you’ve had some time to recover, please take a look at the various articles on our website - our goal is to make it one of the best resources on data recovery.
For the past 20 years, Jeff Walters' interest has been in making the most effective use of a business's information assets. He has lead several data-to-information projects : ABC Costing, analytical CRM, datamart /data warehouse development, and Balanced Scorecard.
For help with data-related projects, contact Jeff Walters through either site: Data Recovery, or Customer Relationship Management
by jeff walters.
First - a simple tip could save you a lot of money. Take out your rolodex and get hold of your tech-savvy friends. If you’re in luck, they’ll offer to help, and if you’re really lucky, they might even have some disk recovery software.
If you’re out of luck, then get out your wallet or purse out now... because this is going to cost you. Also, be prepared for a lot of time being wasted - data recovery can take a long time.
The first thing to establish is what exactly is wrong with your hard disk:
Either your computer won’t boot up, or
Your computer boots up OK but you can’t see one of your other drives.
Let’s see if we can eliminate the worst scenario. Listen closely to your hard drive - is it making any sort of weird noise, such as scratching, scraping, ticking etc?
If so, then your drive is physically damaged and the only hope that you have is to take it to a data recovery service where experts might be able to get your data off for you. These services are expensive and time consuming - so you need to make a judgement call as to the value of data on the disk:
If it’s only your saved game data or downloaded music files you would like back, you’re probably better off kicking yourself for not backing up, and accepting the data loss.
If, on the other hand, it’s a book or other type of information product that you’ve been working on for years, then send it to a data recovery service for an evaluation and quote - it usually costs nothing.
If your hard disk sounds OK, then you stand a decent chance of recovering data yourself.
First you’ll need to download some software to help you out.
Unfortunately, the better software utilities are not free, but the good news is that many allow you to try them out to see they can access the data. There are some freeware versions available but generally speaking these are not easy to use - no user interface / little documentation, or they are not very effective.
There’s a list of recommended software on our site - http://www.recoverdatafiles.com - compare the different options then download a few of the trial versions.
Your next steps will be based on how your hard drive/s were setup:
If you only have a single hard drive that has not been partitioned or split into different “logical” drives, you’ll probably need to attach the hard drive to another computer that has enough space to store all your data. This can be quite technical so if you don’t have the skills please get a computer savvy friend to help out.
Another option is to purchase an external USB hard drive case. You can then simply slot the hard drive into the case and plug it into another PC using a USB port.
If you have a multiple drive setup and your computer boots up fine, then it will merely be a case of getting the downloaded software to read the files and then copy them to another drive - provided you have a drive with enough space on it. If not, you’ll need to attach the hard drive to another machine with enough spare capacity.
The scenario where you have a multiple drive setup, where the problem drive is the one that contains your operating system files is more tricky.
Look for a data recovery software package that has a boot disk option available. What this means is that when you start your computer with the boot disk in it, it will automatically run the data recovery program without trying to start windows. You should be able to see your files and then copy them across to another drive.
Hopefully these tips will enable you to get all your important files back.
Once you’ve had some time to recover, please take a look at the various articles on our website - our goal is to make it one of the best resources on data recovery.
For the past 20 years, Jeff Walters' interest has been in making the most effective use of a business's information assets. He has lead several data-to-information projects : ABC Costing, analytical CRM, datamart /data warehouse development, and Balanced Scorecard.
For help with data-related projects, contact Jeff Walters through either site: Data Recovery, or Customer Relationship Management
by jeff walters.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
BACKUP - BUT WHERE TO ?
We all know we have to backup regularly, but those backups files can get huge. Add that to your existing your files and your notebook computer hard drive seems to have shrunk overnight. No matter what size hard drive you have on your notebook computer, space is a premium. Besides, it's not exactly a good idea to store your backups on the same hard drive since you can't retrieve it -- rather defeats the purpose of backing up don't you think? So what do you do, what are your options?
Backup to an external hard drive. This is probably the quickest, most cost effective option. You can often get a removable drive on sale or with rebate for a low price too. You can get one with hundreds of Gigabytes of space too. They can be easy to hookup to your notebook computer. However, do remember that they are hard drives and hard drives can fail. You may find the external backup fails before your notebook computer does.
Online backup. This is actually a good idea because physical disasters can happen to your home. And when that happens, you will always have a copy in a place not affected by the disaster. This is why businesses usually have one backup in the premises and one (or more) off premises. The good thing about online backup is, it's accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. So if your notebook fails when you're away from home, you can still retrieve your data.
Many of these services are reasonably priced and they provide you with everything you need to get the backups safely transfered. But because your data will be on someone else's system, choose a reputable company, one who is not only established but takes customer data confidentiality very seriously.
Network attached storage. This would make more sense if you have several computers. They allow you to not only backup several computers' data into one location but also ability to share or retrieve files from that central area. You can also achieve a similar effect equipping an older computer with a large hard drive and use it just for storage or backup.
Backup to CD or DVD. This is considered the safest for long term data integrity. External drives and network storage can still crash and prone to virusses. CD's and DVD's are also inexpensive. But backing up to disks daily is chore as you'll find yourself having to manually pop in the disks. It becomes even more hard work when you have a lot of files and your backup spans several disks. The other problem with this method is, backup utilities that come with your operating system cannot backup to a CD or DVD drive. So you'll have to fork out extra cash to buy a third party backup software that will.
No backup solution is one hundred percent and what you choose of course will depend on how you work. If your data is really important to you, try not rely on one backup source. Create two separate sources if you can afford to, just in case
by: lynn chan.
Backup to an external hard drive. This is probably the quickest, most cost effective option. You can often get a removable drive on sale or with rebate for a low price too. You can get one with hundreds of Gigabytes of space too. They can be easy to hookup to your notebook computer. However, do remember that they are hard drives and hard drives can fail. You may find the external backup fails before your notebook computer does.
Online backup. This is actually a good idea because physical disasters can happen to your home. And when that happens, you will always have a copy in a place not affected by the disaster. This is why businesses usually have one backup in the premises and one (or more) off premises. The good thing about online backup is, it's accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. So if your notebook fails when you're away from home, you can still retrieve your data.
Many of these services are reasonably priced and they provide you with everything you need to get the backups safely transfered. But because your data will be on someone else's system, choose a reputable company, one who is not only established but takes customer data confidentiality very seriously.
Network attached storage. This would make more sense if you have several computers. They allow you to not only backup several computers' data into one location but also ability to share or retrieve files from that central area. You can also achieve a similar effect equipping an older computer with a large hard drive and use it just for storage or backup.
Backup to CD or DVD. This is considered the safest for long term data integrity. External drives and network storage can still crash and prone to virusses. CD's and DVD's are also inexpensive. But backing up to disks daily is chore as you'll find yourself having to manually pop in the disks. It becomes even more hard work when you have a lot of files and your backup spans several disks. The other problem with this method is, backup utilities that come with your operating system cannot backup to a CD or DVD drive. So you'll have to fork out extra cash to buy a third party backup software that will.
No backup solution is one hundred percent and what you choose of course will depend on how you work. If your data is really important to you, try not rely on one backup source. Create two separate sources if you can afford to, just in case
by: lynn chan.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Read This Now: It Is Not If You Will Lose Your Data; It's When Will You Lose Your Data?
With Adware, SpyWare, E-Mail Viruses, Java Script Viruses and Hardware failures It isn't a matter of If you will loose your Data it is a matter of When you will loose your Data! By spending a few extra minutes now using a Simple Back Up Strategy, you can save yourself big headaches later.
You Should Always have a Full Backup of your Online Business Directory and all it's subdirectories for the Last 4 Weeks as well daily incremental backups for a month or More. In Addition you should have Monthly off site Backups. I actually Backup my Entire My Documents Directory. My Tools are:
5 DVD-RWs
Sharpie Permanent Marker
A Calendar
A Stack of DVD-Rs
A Small 64 MB USB Hard Drive
Weekly Rotating Backups
Get a calendar Pick one day a Week (Tuesday). Number each Tuesday from 1-5 over and over
September 6.2005 would be 1
September 13.2005 would be 2
September 20.2005 would be 3
September 27.2005 would be 4
October 4.2005 would be 5
October 11.2005 would start over with Number 1
Now Using Your Sharpie Permanent Marker Label Each DVD-RW Disk1, Disk2 .... Thru Disk 5
Each Tuesday (or whatever day you like) look at the calendar and use the disk with the same number for the Backup. Burn Your Online Business Directory and all it's subdirectories to the DVD-RW for that week
September 6.2005 Use Disk 1
September 13.2005 Use Disk 2
September 20.2005 Use Disk 3
September 27.2005 Use Disk 4
October 4.2005 Use Disk 5
October 11.2005 would start over with Number 1
By Following the Above Weekly Rotating Backups Instructions you will always have 5 Weeks of backup.
Monthly Offsite Backups
On the Last Friday of the Month burn your Entire My Documents folder to a DVD-R and store it Offsite. Use your Sharpie Permanent Marker to wtite the Month and Year of the Backup.
Daily Incremental BAckups
For Daily Incremental Backups use a Small 64Mb USB Hard drive (Lately it seems you can't buy anything smaller then 256MB I Have seen them on sale for about $15) . A CD-RW or DVD-RW will work just as well as a USB Hard Drive. It just seems easier and faster to copy to the USB hard Drive.
create 12 Directories on the USB Hard Drive one for each Month Jan, Feb., .... Dec..
Every Time you create a File in your Business Directory place a copy of it in the proper month on the USB Drive.
If you run Out of room on the USB drive simply Empty the Directory of the Oldest Month. ( So If you run out of room in September and you have Data in May, June July and August. Simply Delete all the Files in May. If you still need room delete all the Files in June then July. If You still need room buy another USB Hard Drive.
By following the above Backup system you will always be know I am fully protected when that dreaded Disk Crash, Virus, or even Gremlins cause some or all of your data to be lost. For Many people CDRs and CDRWs work just as well. If your Online Business Directory is Small enough you can simply burn a New CD every week. You can use a Similar system with Zip Drives or even Tape. The Key is to do some sort of back up of your critical business files on a regular basis.
About The Author:
Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Built an Organization of over 100,000 Members
Get Mike's Newsletter:
http://ewguru.com/newsletter
www.cleanarticles.com
You Should Always have a Full Backup of your Online Business Directory and all it's subdirectories for the Last 4 Weeks as well daily incremental backups for a month or More. In Addition you should have Monthly off site Backups. I actually Backup my Entire My Documents Directory. My Tools are:
5 DVD-RWs
Sharpie Permanent Marker
A Calendar
A Stack of DVD-Rs
A Small 64 MB USB Hard Drive
Weekly Rotating Backups
Get a calendar Pick one day a Week (Tuesday). Number each Tuesday from 1-5 over and over
September 6.2005 would be 1
September 13.2005 would be 2
September 20.2005 would be 3
September 27.2005 would be 4
October 4.2005 would be 5
October 11.2005 would start over with Number 1
Now Using Your Sharpie Permanent Marker Label Each DVD-RW Disk1, Disk2 .... Thru Disk 5
Each Tuesday (or whatever day you like) look at the calendar and use the disk with the same number for the Backup. Burn Your Online Business Directory and all it's subdirectories to the DVD-RW for that week
September 6.2005 Use Disk 1
September 13.2005 Use Disk 2
September 20.2005 Use Disk 3
September 27.2005 Use Disk 4
October 4.2005 Use Disk 5
October 11.2005 would start over with Number 1
By Following the Above Weekly Rotating Backups Instructions you will always have 5 Weeks of backup.
Monthly Offsite Backups
On the Last Friday of the Month burn your Entire My Documents folder to a DVD-R and store it Offsite. Use your Sharpie Permanent Marker to wtite the Month and Year of the Backup.
Daily Incremental BAckups
For Daily Incremental Backups use a Small 64Mb USB Hard drive (Lately it seems you can't buy anything smaller then 256MB I Have seen them on sale for about $15) . A CD-RW or DVD-RW will work just as well as a USB Hard Drive. It just seems easier and faster to copy to the USB hard Drive.
create 12 Directories on the USB Hard Drive one for each Month Jan, Feb., .... Dec..
Every Time you create a File in your Business Directory place a copy of it in the proper month on the USB Drive.
If you run Out of room on the USB drive simply Empty the Directory of the Oldest Month. ( So If you run out of room in September and you have Data in May, June July and August. Simply Delete all the Files in May. If you still need room delete all the Files in June then July. If You still need room buy another USB Hard Drive.
By following the above Backup system you will always be know I am fully protected when that dreaded Disk Crash, Virus, or even Gremlins cause some or all of your data to be lost. For Many people CDRs and CDRWs work just as well. If your Online Business Directory is Small enough you can simply burn a New CD every week. You can use a Similar system with Zip Drives or even Tape. The Key is to do some sort of back up of your critical business files on a regular basis.
About The Author:
Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Built an Organization of over 100,000 Members
Get Mike's Newsletter:
http://ewguru.com/newsletter
www.cleanarticles.com
Friday, October 3, 2008
How To Effectively Back Up Your Data
What to backup, and what to lose
The oldest “computer expression” is that there are two kinds of computer users, those that backup their data and those that will. Often, it takes a “data disaster” to compel otherwise responsible people to make a regular habit of backing up their data. Still, the majority of computer users do not back up their data.
According to Computer World, the annual cost to recover lost data per laptop is over $800.00 per year. This amounts to billions of dollars per year spent nationally to recover (or not recover) data that has been lost due to users not backing up their data. Critical data files are often stored on personal computers and laptops and often not subject to regular backup.
If backup is so important, then why don’t most people do it?
The truth is, backing up data from your computer to CDs, memory sticks, other computers, and network hard drives is inconvenient. It takes time out of a busy day. Most backup utilities require the users attention to start, monitor, and close the process. Backup takes time from the user that can be better spent doing something else. Backup is boring, since it may disable or tie up your computer while the backup is taking place.
So what data should I back up?
The simple answer is any file that you would miss if you did not have it. This includes documents, presentations, spreadsheets, accounting data, and other data files. Also include your Favorites folder, telephone directory, appointment calendar, and tasks. It may also include pictures, music, family video, and any other data that is significant, especially if lost.
Look at all of the programs that you use regularly. Find the data files that these programs and mark these for regular backup. Often these files are not behind your MY Documents folder.
For example, if you use Quicken or QuickBooks, the important data files are saved in a folder behind the Quicken or QuickBooks program. In Microsoft Windows XP, these files could be under Documents and Settings/user/Application Data. In addition, the Application Data file may also contain important information that aids in your ability to use many of your favorite programs. If you do not know how to get to these files, consult an expert to help you determine what files to choose for regular backup.
How often should I back up?
Think of this question another way – if my hard disk crashed, or I dropped my laptop, or it got stolen at the airport, how much time will it take me to re-create the active data that I just lost? What would it cost you to lose a day’s worth of data and to recreate it? How much time would it take to reconfigure your computer with the tools, configurations, short cuts, and links that you have spent years accumulating? Remember the Computer World data, the average cost per laptop for lost data is $800.00 per year. What is your billing rate? How much will it cost you to start over?
Some of us use our computers the entire day. That means that if we back up daily, then the most time that we would spend redoing the work would be less than a day’s worth of time. If you are an occasional user, then you may need to backup less frequently.
Once you have made your list, then you are ready to back up. Here is my partial list of backup files that would cause me great pain if they were not backed up:
Outlook.pst - Emails, Tasks, Contacts, and Calendar
My Documents - Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Quickbooks
Favorites (these are my Internet bookmarks that I have spent years building up)
Documents and Settings/user/application data (be selective here. You will most likely not need temporary files generated from web pages).
Goldmine data files and email attachments
What’s the Solution?
The solution is to find a backup solution that is invisible to the user and does not create a “backup event” that must be scheduled from a person’s busy day. So hold this thought for the moment.
Once you have determined which files to back up regularly, you must decide where to store this data. In the early days of computing, we used to back up to floppy disks. Now, our files are huge and often too large for floppy disks. CD ROMs are popular for backup and will now hold over 750 MB of data. DVDs can also be used for backup and how many times more data than CD ROMS.
At the beginning of this article, I said that backup is inconvenient and that is why most people don’t do it. Therefore lets find solutions that are convenient. Not just convenient, but invisible like an insurance policy that just works.
If you are a lone computer user and are not on a network, the best solution is to get an external hard drive that plugs into your USB port. These data storage devices are relatively cheap for the benefit that they provide. Follow this link for examples of these products: http://www.google.com/froogle?q=USB+Hard+drive. If you are using Windows XP, then you can use the Windows Synchronize utility found in XP. To use, copy all of your data to the external drive. Then install the Windows Synchronize utility to automatically keep your files up to date when you plug the external drive into your computer. When you travel with your laptop computer, leave the USB hard drive at home. Never carry it in your computer bag. If you are backing up your desktop, take the USB hard drive with you – or at least store it at a location separate from your desktop in case of fire or other disaster.
If you are on a network, such as a home or business network, set aside some backup space on a hard drive on the network or on another computer. Hard drives are cheap. If you need more space than is available, buy another hard drive and install it on another computer. Use Windows Synchronize utility to keep the data synced.
If you use a laptop or work in different locations, a new product called BeInSync automatically makes the connection over the Internet between your laptop and a designated target computer for syncing files. BeInSync updates, automatically and invisibly any and all files designated for syncing. It even allows you to sync files with friends and business associates. Since it works in the background, it does not require a backup event and impose itself on the user’s busy day.
Follow this link to get more information on BeInSync: http://www.beinsync.com/?rfrid=BIS-P-1038. One important note about BeInSync is that it will sync everything in the My Document folder. Move My Music, My Videos, and other large folders out of the My Documents before enabling BeInSync.
What’s the bottom line on backup?
The bottom line on backup is that it is absolutely necessary for everyone that has something to lose if his or her computer was lost, stolen, or simply failed from regular use. There is a wide variety of solutions in the marketplace to keep your data backed up. Spend the time to explore and implement your back up solution. If you are not technical, hire an expert to create a solution that works for you. It will be some of the best money that you will spend.
Eric Guth and Joel Gering are owners of http://www.ProtectMyLaptop.com and SecureTrieve and are experts in the areas of computer troubleshooting and creating and maintaining networks for small businesses and homes. They have over 25 years of hands on experience in data management, data security, and remote data recovery.
by: joel gering.
www.cleanarticles.com
The oldest “computer expression” is that there are two kinds of computer users, those that backup their data and those that will. Often, it takes a “data disaster” to compel otherwise responsible people to make a regular habit of backing up their data. Still, the majority of computer users do not back up their data.
According to Computer World, the annual cost to recover lost data per laptop is over $800.00 per year. This amounts to billions of dollars per year spent nationally to recover (or not recover) data that has been lost due to users not backing up their data. Critical data files are often stored on personal computers and laptops and often not subject to regular backup.
If backup is so important, then why don’t most people do it?
The truth is, backing up data from your computer to CDs, memory sticks, other computers, and network hard drives is inconvenient. It takes time out of a busy day. Most backup utilities require the users attention to start, monitor, and close the process. Backup takes time from the user that can be better spent doing something else. Backup is boring, since it may disable or tie up your computer while the backup is taking place.
So what data should I back up?
The simple answer is any file that you would miss if you did not have it. This includes documents, presentations, spreadsheets, accounting data, and other data files. Also include your Favorites folder, telephone directory, appointment calendar, and tasks. It may also include pictures, music, family video, and any other data that is significant, especially if lost.
Look at all of the programs that you use regularly. Find the data files that these programs and mark these for regular backup. Often these files are not behind your MY Documents folder.
For example, if you use Quicken or QuickBooks, the important data files are saved in a folder behind the Quicken or QuickBooks program. In Microsoft Windows XP, these files could be under Documents and Settings/user/Application Data. In addition, the Application Data file may also contain important information that aids in your ability to use many of your favorite programs. If you do not know how to get to these files, consult an expert to help you determine what files to choose for regular backup.
How often should I back up?
Think of this question another way – if my hard disk crashed, or I dropped my laptop, or it got stolen at the airport, how much time will it take me to re-create the active data that I just lost? What would it cost you to lose a day’s worth of data and to recreate it? How much time would it take to reconfigure your computer with the tools, configurations, short cuts, and links that you have spent years accumulating? Remember the Computer World data, the average cost per laptop for lost data is $800.00 per year. What is your billing rate? How much will it cost you to start over?
Some of us use our computers the entire day. That means that if we back up daily, then the most time that we would spend redoing the work would be less than a day’s worth of time. If you are an occasional user, then you may need to backup less frequently.
Once you have made your list, then you are ready to back up. Here is my partial list of backup files that would cause me great pain if they were not backed up:
Outlook.pst - Emails, Tasks, Contacts, and Calendar
My Documents - Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Quickbooks
Favorites (these are my Internet bookmarks that I have spent years building up)
Documents and Settings/user/application data (be selective here. You will most likely not need temporary files generated from web pages).
Goldmine data files and email attachments
What’s the Solution?
The solution is to find a backup solution that is invisible to the user and does not create a “backup event” that must be scheduled from a person’s busy day. So hold this thought for the moment.
Once you have determined which files to back up regularly, you must decide where to store this data. In the early days of computing, we used to back up to floppy disks. Now, our files are huge and often too large for floppy disks. CD ROMs are popular for backup and will now hold over 750 MB of data. DVDs can also be used for backup and how many times more data than CD ROMS.
At the beginning of this article, I said that backup is inconvenient and that is why most people don’t do it. Therefore lets find solutions that are convenient. Not just convenient, but invisible like an insurance policy that just works.
If you are a lone computer user and are not on a network, the best solution is to get an external hard drive that plugs into your USB port. These data storage devices are relatively cheap for the benefit that they provide. Follow this link for examples of these products: http://www.google.com/froogle?q=USB+Hard+drive. If you are using Windows XP, then you can use the Windows Synchronize utility found in XP. To use, copy all of your data to the external drive. Then install the Windows Synchronize utility to automatically keep your files up to date when you plug the external drive into your computer. When you travel with your laptop computer, leave the USB hard drive at home. Never carry it in your computer bag. If you are backing up your desktop, take the USB hard drive with you – or at least store it at a location separate from your desktop in case of fire or other disaster.
If you are on a network, such as a home or business network, set aside some backup space on a hard drive on the network or on another computer. Hard drives are cheap. If you need more space than is available, buy another hard drive and install it on another computer. Use Windows Synchronize utility to keep the data synced.
If you use a laptop or work in different locations, a new product called BeInSync automatically makes the connection over the Internet between your laptop and a designated target computer for syncing files. BeInSync updates, automatically and invisibly any and all files designated for syncing. It even allows you to sync files with friends and business associates. Since it works in the background, it does not require a backup event and impose itself on the user’s busy day.
Follow this link to get more information on BeInSync: http://www.beinsync.com/?rfrid=BIS-P-1038. One important note about BeInSync is that it will sync everything in the My Document folder. Move My Music, My Videos, and other large folders out of the My Documents before enabling BeInSync.
What’s the bottom line on backup?
The bottom line on backup is that it is absolutely necessary for everyone that has something to lose if his or her computer was lost, stolen, or simply failed from regular use. There is a wide variety of solutions in the marketplace to keep your data backed up. Spend the time to explore and implement your back up solution. If you are not technical, hire an expert to create a solution that works for you. It will be some of the best money that you will spend.
Eric Guth and Joel Gering are owners of http://www.ProtectMyLaptop.com and SecureTrieve and are experts in the areas of computer troubleshooting and creating and maintaining networks for small businesses and homes. They have over 25 years of hands on experience in data management, data security, and remote data recovery.
by: joel gering.
www.cleanarticles.com
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