An ounce of prevention is better than the cure. Every business at some point will suffer a disaster but what differentiates one from another is how they plan to deal with it.
There is a great deal of talk about business continuity whether it be from the insurers of the business or from other members of the business community. The ethos behind business continuity is about working out how to stay in business in the event of a disaster. Incidents such as building fires, flooding, equipment failure etc all of these events should be planned for and the risks mitigated by putting in place documentation and processes which will ensure that such events do not permanently damage the business. Many small businesses owners do not look at business continuity as it appears to be the reserve of much larger companies and does not apply to them, wrong. The fact is that for your business was to suffer a complete disaster then how would you recover from this and indeed could you currently recover from this situation? Chances are the answer is no. Is this something that you can afford? Yes
The fact is that you cannot afford not to put this in plan. So what does the plan consist of; well it should contain the contact names and numbers of all individuals involved in the recovery
process (i.e. Telephone company, IT vendor, software suppliers etc). It also needs to contain all relevant passwords relating to your computer systems, details relating to the setup of the network and software. It should detail the recovery process for data relating to the network this should include how the backups are performed and what software is required to perform the recovery. The plan needs to contain absolutely everything that is required to run the business and with the recent floods and other adverse weather conditions it has never been more important to plan for the worst. So take some time and think about how your business will be affected should the worst happen and start and plan how you will recover from such and event before it happens.
Having problems opening workbooks in Excel 2007? Then read on, we may have the answer…
We recently came across a problem which we thought we would share with all of you. We recently commissioned a new workstation for a client running Windows XP Pro and Office 2007 Basic. However, after a little time we were contacted by the client to say that it was very slow opening workbooks in Excel. They were able demonstrate the problem, if you open a workbook from a folder without Excel 2007 being open already it would take anywhere upto 2 minutes before the workbook would be displayed. However, if Excel 2007 was open already they would open fine. After doing some tests on it we were able to locate the issue which was due the way in which Windows explorer was configured to open “XLS” files. A simple change resolved the issue and here is what you do to resolve the issue:
- First open “My Computer”
- The select the “Tools” menu and select “Options”
- Now go to the “File Types” tab
- Go down the list and select “XLS (Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Worksheet)” and then click on “Advanced”. Now select “Open” from the list and click on “Edit”. Now in the box titled “Application used to perform action:” add a “%1″ at the end of the line. Also take the tick out of the box titled “Use DDE”.
- Now click on “OK” and select “OK” on all of the subsequent windows and thats it! Excel 2007 will now open Excel 2003 workbooks without any problems.
Microsoft have now announced the offical lauch date for the latest 2008 product set, Small Business Server 2008 and the all new Essential Business Server. These are scheduled for official release on November 12 2008 however it will make it’s way into the channel soon before that so server manufactures can begin to bring it [...]
Microsoft have now announced the offical lauch date for the latest 2008 product set, Small Business Server 2008 and the all new Essential Business Server. These are scheduled for official release on November 12 2008 however it will make it’s way into the channel soon before that so server manufactures can begin to bring it into their product set.
The diagram above shows the fundamental differences between Small Business Server 2008 Standard and Premium editions. One important changes that they have made is that Client Access Licenses (CALS) can now be purchases as single licenses as well as the previous 5 packs. The premium edition also adds an additional Windows Server 2008 license. Another change is the system requirements which are in-line with Windows Server 2008 which means in summary:
Processor: 2Ghz (x64 Processor)
Memory: 4GB Minimum
Disk Space: 60GB Minimum
Essential Business Server (EBS) is one of the new product offerings from Microsoft. Small Business Server 2008 still maintains the license limit from previous versions of 75 users however EBS allows up to 300 licenses which will help bridge the gap for those businesses that are slightly too big for SBS but not really big enough to afford the full license model. As you can see from the diagram above it also includes Windows Server 2008 licenses for 3 servers with the standard version and 4 servers in premium edition.
More information to follow as it becomes available.
Recent public data loss could have been so easy to prevent, read on to see how this can be done.
Ok tacky punchline but in all seriousness we have had yet another massive data loss this time it concerns prison officers which have now been put at massive risk through this. What compounded the matter is that it would appear that this “lost data” took almost a year to discover. Now at best the persons whose information was on this disk can hope that someone simply found the data, wiped it and re-used the disk but at worst it has been used for other purposes.
Data security is something that should not be taken lightly in any business regardless of whether you have 1 PC or a 1,000. The information you hold has great value to someone whether that be your competitor or a crimal aspiring to identity fraud. It is your responsibility to keep this information safe and away from people who should not have access to it.
Most businesses that utilise a server will have individual logins for each user which will allow the business to limit that amount of information that the user has access to but this also provides accountability for which person(s) has accessed what data. However, this concept generally goes out of the window because of one of the following reasons:
- Password Sharing – the users allow one-another to have access their password
- Simple passwords – the users password is something simple like “password”, “letmein”, the dogs name, childs name etc
- Unattended workstations – the users walks away from their computer for lunch and leaves it “unlocked” allowing anyone access to information
All of these items make the best security practises fall flat on their face before you evan get started.
What can be done to fix this
Most of the above issues can be simply resolved by implementing a policy on the server which sets down a standard on all network computers which forces a password changed periodically; forces complex passwords and locks the computer after a period without use i.e. 5 minutes.
Other thoughts
The other issue which is becoming more prevalent these days is the Digital Nomad aka the notebook user. The Digital Nomad is a new breed of user who essentially speaking is able to work regardless of location. This work style is becoming more popular with the recent fuel increases however with this new style of mobile computing comes it’s own challenges. This type of worker will generally carry a quantity of data with them and this information is what they need to do their job. This can be something as simple as a drawing or can be an entire client database complete with business and personal details. If this notebook was to be lost/stolen etc then all of this information would be available to anyone who has the computer. The best resolution to this is to implement encryption software/hardware which can be installed to the notebook. There are many software solutions available which range from completely free to not so free. Most of these can provide either encrypted volumes (additional drives which only appear once a passphrase has been entered) or they are able to encrypt the entire drive so no one can use the computer without the passphrase. Both of these solutions have their own merits and the implementation will be a personnal choice however it should not be overlooked.
Any lost data can and will inevitably cost your business money and will tarnish your reputation. A recent data loss has resulted in a contract worth £1.5 million being lost, don’t let this be your business.
For more information on data security solutions then please contact us at sales@jpt-solutions.co.uk
How to remove the UPS Virus and XP Antivirus….
JPT Solutions can not be held responsible for any problems that may occur as result of using this information. If you have any doubts what so ever about performing this procedure then please consult our support team to arrange removal.
Firstly to be with you should ensure that you have these instructions written down as you will be require to restart your computer into safe mode at which time you will not have internet access from that computer to see these instructions.
Before we begin you will need to download “SDFix” from AndyManchesta.com. Once you have downloaded “SDFix.exe” then double click the application and in the destination folder leave as default then click on “Install”. When the files have uncompressed you will need to reboot the computer into “Safe Mode”, if your computer is a network computer then ensure the you know the local administrator password before attempting to boot into “Safe Mode”. In order to get into “Safe Mode” as the computer first begins to power on press the “F8″ key repeatedly until you get the following menu screen:
From this screen press the up arrow until you reach the “Safe mode” option and then press enter. Once you are in Windows XP then navigate to the folder “C:\SDFix” and run the file “RunThis.cmd” by double clicking it. You will then see a screen as below, press the Y key to continue.
Once you select “Y” you simply wait, this process may take up to 20 minutes so please be patient. Once it has completed then you will be asked to reboot. After the PC has rebooted the fix tool will run once again to ensure that all traces have been removed from the PC. Once completed a summary report will be displayed to show the outcome of the scan. At this point it would be advisable to ensure that you run a full virus scan using one of the online scanners as your installed anti-virus package could have been damaged. Click here for a list of available online scanners.
Alternatively if you do not feel comfortable with any of the steps outlined above then please contact our support desk.
Important alert regarding the UPS Email circulating.
Unless you have been on another planet for the last month you will be aware of an email that is currently circulating, it looks something like this:
Subject: UPS Tracking Number XXXXXXXX
Unfortunately we were not able to deliver postal package you sent on July the 1st in time because the recipient’s address is not correct.
Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our office
Your UPS
Attached to the email is a file such as “UPS_INVOICE_XXXXX.zip” and within this file is an executable application of the same name. Do not run that attachement as it contains a virus and it also install additional software called “XP AntiVirus 2008″ or “Vista AntiVirus 2008″. Needless to say that neither of these applications are actually virus applications. If you receive this email then please just delete this message as UPS would NEVER send an invoice in the form of an executable application.
If you have been unfortunate enough to have already run the application then please contact our support desk for information regarding how to remove this virus. We will post up instructions on removing this virus shortly.
We all know how to use word but do you know how to mail merge?
Most people that you meet today know how to use a computer, more over most kids are being taught far more that many adults are. I recently spoke to a friend of mine who told me that their son was choosing his subjects for school and among them was such things as DTP, website design etc. Now from a kids point of view it’s truly great as they are able to leave school with a wealth of knowledge that many of us had unavailable. The other thing that happens as a result is more and more people are having PC’s at home and often their kids are showing them how to use them. In business terms that is a great leap forward as more employee’s are able to us PC’s which means that businesses are having to spend less on training them.
The down side to all of this is that by not having been on courses there is a great deal of functionality that people are missing out on, a classic example is being able to do mail merges in Word or graphs in Excel; so whats the answer? I was speaking to one of our partners recently, Andy from F1rst I.T., about this and what they have created is surgeries. The idea behind this is that a business does not but a course per delegate but instead they buy a “drop in” workshop where their employee’s can go to the surgery with a specific question or problem and spend 20 minutes or so with a certified Microsoft Office Trainer who is able to provide specific training on their particular issue. Now this is a fantastic idea as this provides highly cost effective support (as little as £12.50 per person) but it is also specific training for a specific question. So if anyone is interested in learning more then please contact us or alternately contact Andy on 0115 926 2078 or email him at andyhardy@f1rstit.co.uk
If you have or use a notebook then how safe is the data that you carry with you….
There has been a great deal of press coverage recently regarding lost laptops and data CD’s most of which was unsecured data. While this has caused public outrage many business users do not secure the data that they carry with them each day in the same way that has caused so much outrage. Many users will carry data with them on their laptops so that they can either work on it at home, on the train or evan to show their client. However, while that data is in transit it is completely insecure and the question you need to ask yourself is “How important is that data?”. The importance of data varies between who is receiving it; for example how valuable would you staff wages be to your competition or to a headhunter? How important would the data you carry regarding your client to your clients competitors?
Typically the answer to both of these will be very important, we can help with this problem. We have a number of encryption packages that can be installed onto your system that can either create an encrypted storage container on your hard disk or on a USB memory stick. This container will only be un-encrypted while you are using it which typically will be while you are using your notebook, at all other times the container is locked using 256bit encryption. Which means you can safely carry the data knowing that should the worst happen and you loose your notebook the data will be inaccessible to anyone else.
If you would like to know more about this or other security solutions then please contact us for more info.
With the recent earthquake what would happen if your business got hit?
As you will all be aware in the early hours of the 27th Feb 2008 an earthquake struck the UK with the epicentre being located at Market Rasen measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale, much damage was done and business was affected as a result of this. So what would happen to your business if it was stuck at the centre of such an event? How prepared would you be to relocate the business and re-route services so that you can continue trading? The answer is probably that you are unsure, this is perfectly natural…..We can help.
We help businesses to create a Disaster Recover plan that will help create a safety net should the worst happen to the business. To find out more then please click here.
We are proud to announce the launch of our best ever IT support solution for businesses……
We are proud to announce the launch of our best ever IT support solution for businesses. Our Managed Services package allows us to provide the most comprehensive level of cover by using full desktop and server monitor system which gives us information on system key metrics. This allows us to undertake the role of your internal IT support team at a fraction of the cost. For more information please visit the Managed Service page.
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