Note. Before undertaking any of the actions below, please ensure you have a full backup of all of the data on your system. If you do not feel fully confident with any of the work below please contact us to arrange for one of our specialists to visit your office.

When ever you use your computer, regardless of what applications you use, it creates a cache of files. This cache is used to help speed up applications and improve their overall performance, which all sounds great but it’s not always the case. For example, if an application crashes then it is likely going to leave behind a lot of temporary files which it created but was not able to clean up on account of it crashing. This means that those files will never be removed until some sort of clean up tool is run, enter Windows ‘Disk Cleanup’.  This application has shipped with every version of Windows since Windows XP and is designed to clean up all of these temporary files for the drive and help keep it running well. Follow the steps below to run the clean up tool.

1. First and foremost ensure that you have an up to date backup of your computer, do not begin this process without having a full, verified backup.
2. To run this on Windows Vista or Windows 7 simply click  on the Windows logo in the bottom of the screen and type ‘Disk Cleanup’ in the search box. The click on the entry which says ‘Disk Cleanup’ under the ‘Programs’ heading. If you are running Windows XP, then click on ‘Start’, ‘All programs’, ‘Accessories’ and ‘System Tools’ and it is located in there.
   
3. If you have more that one drive partition on your computer, i.e. C and a D drive, then you will see the following screen. Simply click on ‘OK’ to continue.
   
4. The application will then start to look at what files it can perform a clean up of.
   
5. Once it has completed the process of looking at what files can be cleaned up then it will present you with a list of those categories. While it will offer the option to compress old files, we would recommend against it as any access to these files in the future would slow the computer down as it would need to uncompress the files before use.
   

This simple check should be run once a month to ensure that your computer stays running in tip top condition. In the next blog post we will be exploring other ways to keep your computers running well.

Note. Before undertaking any of the actions below, please ensure you have a full backup of all of the data on your system. Should a large amount of errors be found on your computer then the resulting check may cause your computer to be unusable. If you do not feel fully confident with any of the work below please contact us to arrange for one of our specialists to visit your office.

One thing that can happen over time is that corruption can occur on the hard disk of your computer or laptop. This can occur for a number of reasons such as hardware problems, malware or virus infection, power fluctuations or other such items. Many of these corruptions will not interfere with your normal day to day running but you may notice that your computer runs slower however it is very simple to resolve, just follow the steps below:

1. First and foremost ensure that you have an up to date backup of your computer, do not begin this process without having a full, verified backup.
2. The next step is to enter a command prompt. To do this in Windows XP click on ‘Start’ and select ‘Run’, then type in ‘cmd’ and click on ‘OK’. In Windows Vista or Windows 7 you will need to run the command prompt as Administrator, to do this click on the Windows logo in the bottom left corner and type ‘cmd’ into the search box. From the list of results above right click on the entry ‘cmd’ and then click on ‘Run as Administrator’ from the context menu.
   
3. Once at the command prompt you should type in ‘chkdsk c:’, this will run the chkdsk utility in read only mode. This will check to see if there are any corrupts on the disk and report back as below.
   
4. You should repeat this for each of the drive letters that you have on your computer, i.e. if you have a ‘D’ drive then you will need to run ‘chkdsk d:’
5. Should any errors be found on any of the drives then you will need to re-run the command as follows: ‘chkdsk c: /f’. What the ‘/f’ switch does is tells to the computer that you want it to fix the problems that it has found. As the ‘C’ drive is always in use you will be asked if you wish to schedule this the next time the computer starts, simply press ‘Y’ and press ‘Enter’. Once you restart the computer chkdsk will once again run and clean up any errors on the hard disk. You should repeat this process for any subsequent drives on your computer.

This simple check should be run once a month to ensure that your computer stays running in tip top condition. In the next blog post we will be exploring how to improve your computers performance by keeping things neat and tidy until then happy computing.

there is another way

This has all changed now. Most people have heard someone talking about ‘the cloud’, so what is it?

In a nutshell it is the Internet which as we know is a network of computers connected up via communications lines so that they can talk together and make information available to it’s users. By definition ‘cloud computing’ is the act of placing certain computing functions on to the Internet for use by subscribers. One great example of this is ebay, this is an entirely cloud based business that has become a great success both in term of a business but also for it’s users.

so what

One of the more recent additions to ‘cloud services’ is the introduction of business services like Microsoft Exchange. There are a number of providers who are able to supply you with Microsoft Exchange in a hosted environment, these vary in terms of what you will typically get for your money. Some providers will supply a mailbox along with a copy of Microsoft Outlook which is good for users who do not have Microsoft Outlook and they will typically be able to supply them on a single mailbox basis. By contrast Microsoft Online Services can supply with a Microsoft Exchange Online Mailbox for the lowest cost I have seen but you must purchase a minimum of 5 mailboxes for 1 year.

what does it all mean

Well, this means that now micro business can have all of the features that you can get by having a server without the high investment cost or running cost. It also means that they can have features such as calendar sharing and, for some, synchronisation of email and calendar with their iPhone or other mobile device. All of these help those micro businesses become more efficient and streamline at what they do.

If you would like to know more about cloud services and see whether they are right for your business then give us a call on 0844 310 0040 or via out contact page.

fully managed approach

The same principles can be applied to your IT infrastructure. One method is to have a fully managed IT service which essentially means that you enlist the services of an IT service provider to manage your systems for you. It is then their responsibility to put a management system in place which is able to watch key performance indicators on all of your critical devices on your network. When any of these alerts are triggered then they will look in to the issue and then act accordingly. For example, if their system identified that the server’s hard disk is running low on space then they will look to see if any space can be made available otherwise they will notify you that you need to upgrade the storage.

the regular check

The fully managed IT Service may not be right for everyone as cost could be an issue. Another method would be to have a regular Server Health check. This would ideally be done once every 3 months to ensure that any developing issues are identifed and can be resolved quickly before that become a big issue. We recently developed a Server Health Check service which enables clients to have the peace of mind that their server is running correctly without having a fully managed IT Service  in place. While this does not provide the full coverage that a fully managed IT Service would provide by dealing with issues as soon as they arrive, it does allow the business owner to have a regular review of their server which in turn should help to prevent some of those issues before they become real problems.

Our Server Health Check service can also be used to provide support for internal IT teams to help them to verify that everything is working as it should be and assist them in planning their IT Strategy for the business.

Whatever you choose to do ensure that you protect your investment in IT, many business find that their IT is the heart that beats in their business. If you would like to know more then contact us on 0844 310 0040 or complete the form here

a better way

It is said that the biggest weakness in any security system is the human factor. Many people today have to remember a number of password for things such as Internet Banking, ebay, Facebook etc. The inherent problem with this is that most people will either use the same password for everything or they will write them down, not so good. The is ever more important when it relates to your business data which, in the wrong hands, could be valuable. So what can be done?

encryption will set you free

The single best thing that you can do is to adopt encryption throughout your business. This means that if you were to loose a laptop, USB stick, CD Rom that had company data on it then the information would not be legible without knowing the password to decrypt it. Even if the hard disk was removed from a laptop and put into a new computer is still would not be readable.

so what’s my options

Now we have established why you need to encrypt your data we really should look at what you can do to encrypt it. If you are already using Windows 7 Ultimate or Enterprise you may have seen Bitlocker which is Microsoft’s drive encryption technology which allows you to perform whole of drive encryption. This in essence means that you encrypt the whole drive giving you maximum protection. If you don’t have this then you may have heard of Truecrypt which is an Open Source encryption solution and is capable of creating secure volumes as well as whole of drive encryption. In the commercial space there is Secuware which is able to perform whole of drive encryption along with Pre Boot Authentication (PBA). It is also able to perform file and folder encryption both stand-alone as well as network managed. All of which go towards making a fully managed solution.

All three of these are great products in their own market spaces and, depending on your requirements, will serve you well but more importantly will protect your data from prying eyes. If you would like to know more about encryption solutions then call us on 0844 310 0040 or complete the call back form below.

So what’s the difference? The core difference between the two products is that Microsoft Forefront Security is a centrally managed product which had updates and definitions distributed from a central source which is traditionally the office server. In contrast Microsoft Security Essentials is ideally suited to Small businesses that may not have a server in place, for example when they are using cloud services, or that do not require central management. Either way it is a compelling and interesting move by Microsoft in to a market space which they currently do not have a significant market share in.

Either way this is great news for Small Businesses everywhere!

She told them again she had not got time now so the person reluctantly left their name, Steve Williams from Win PC Technologies, along with a phone number of 0141 4163986.

As soon as she asked me about it a quick google search on the phone number revealed a number of people who had received similar calls from this ‘company’, many of whom had been charged a great deal of money to sort out so called ‘problems’. One person on there claimed to have worked for this company and they had the following to say about them:

THEY ARE A TOTAL FRAUD SHOWING MALWARES AND VIRUSES THAT NEVER HAVE EXIXTED IN UR PC

So please be warned that if someone calls from this company claiming you have corruptions on your computer, there is no way that they can know this without having looked at your computer first. You should also never let anyone take control of your computer unless you absolutely know who they are first.

You should always check the credentials of any IT supplier and look for one that is affiliated with an industry body such as CompTIA or TCA. No matter how pushy they are, do not be taken in.

As a result of this we decided that a product was needed to help ensure that should the worst happen and your laptop is started back up then your data is deleted from the drive and, where possible, the location is traced so the police can recover it. We decided on Laptop Cop which met all of the criteria that we set out plus much more. For those of you out there who love the “cool” stuff then you will love some of the features that Laptop Cop has. For example once your laptop is stolen or lost then you log on to a web portal and put the unit in “Stolen” mode. In this state you will be asked what you want to do about your data, either recover then delete or delete only. At all times, even when not in stolen mode, the Laptop is on and connected to the Internet the location is being broadcast back to the portal so that you know where it is. What also happens when in stolen mode is the tables are turned on the thief and everything that they do is recorded, all keystrokes are recorded and if there is a webcam built in to the laptop then this is used to capture evidence about the thief.

When you combine this is our encryption & backup solutions you the perfect solutions to mobile computer security.  If you want to know more about our laptop security solutions or require a demonstration then contact our sales team for more information.

Fundamentally Windows 7 is built on the foundation that was used to build Windows Vista but with some significant improvements, the most obvious one is performance. The initial release of Windows Vista was, to say the least, unpopular. Much of this was down to poor performance and compatibility with many of the hardware devices that were in current circulation as well as new devices. As time went by support for the hardware improved as did performance with the release of Service pack 1 last year.  Windows 7 out of the box is a vast improvement on both hardware support as well as the overall performance. Microsoft are committed on making Windows 7 capable of running on as many of the netbooks that are currently on the market such as the Asus Eee PC 901 as well as many others. One of the main reasons for this I believe is due to the fact that the inability of many netbooks to run Windows Vista is still keeping the Windows XP market alive as this is that choice of manufacturers as it runs so quickly on their equipment.

Another significant change to Windows 7 is the introduction of the new taskbar.  The traditional taskbar which has now been with us since the introduction of Windows 95 has finally had and overhaul which at first seems to be hard to get used to it is in actual fact a great improvement. What Microsoft have done with the new taskbar is instead of minimizing your applications down to a bar they have minimized them down to icons on the taskbar which is a much needed improvement where desktop real estate is concerned. Another improvement on the taskbar is the “fly out’s” that happen when using the Aero interface.  In the image shown I have two tabs open within Internet Explorer both of which are minimized, however when I move the mouse over these I see the two tabs pop up and I can click on with one of them to restore them back to their original state.

There is also support for multi touch surfaces as touch computing has become an upcoming trend with the technology becoming more affordable. Multi-touch support effectively allows the user to touch multiple locations on the device, typically a tablet, and the system will recognise the contact and act accordingly.  An excellent example of this is both the Apple iTouch and Apple iPhone both of which have support for multi touch on the devices.

Another introduction for the latest Windows 7 Release Candidate was XP Mode. What this allows the user to do is virtualize applications on the desktop, eh? Let me explain. Essentially speaking virtualisation is where an operating system is run within another operating system in a fashion that is similar to running it as a normal application.  What it does however is appear as a real computer from a networking perspective as well as from the user perspective. In the same way your desktop needs to run Windows Updates, so does the virtual machine.  Now XP mode takes this to the next level through the support of hardware virtualisation what it allows you to do is to install an application on the Virtual PC, which may only work in Windows XP, and actually run it on your Windows 7 computer as if it were installed but it is in actual fact running on the Virtual PC in the background. This has great advantages for businesses that would like to upgrade to Windows 7 but are unable to due to legacy application support being poor or in some cases non-existent.

But don’t just take our word for it, the Windows 7 Release Candidate is open to anyone who wants to download and try it. The release candidate will work until 1st June 2010, and will shut down every 2 hours from 1st April 2010 so there is plenty of time to try it out and see if your software will work.  If you would like to discuss any aspect of Windows 7 then please free to contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss it further.

- Rob

One of our fellow BNI members has put together a 2 day Strategic Marketing Masterclass which is perfect for small businesses. The masterclass will cover a variety of topics such as tools and techniques for analysing their business environment, objective setting, evaluation of different marketing tools, implementation planning and measuring key performance indicators. The course is suitable for any team member that wants to have a structured approach to business growth or who may be relatively new to marketing. Upon completion of the course each learner will have an accurate and relevant marketing plan to implement within their business. The marketing plan will be an action plan to ensure their commercial objectives are met for 2009. By attending this course, businesses have a much more cost effective method of obtaining strategic focus than hiring in a 3rd party which can cost thousands of pounds in consultancy fees. There will be options for post-masterclass
support to ensure that the newly produced marketing plan is being implemented and remains relevant to their business. Masterclasses will be held across April, May and June 2009. The course will be delivered in a Nottingham training facility where refreshments and lunch will be served on both days. Specific details of location, times etc will be issued in the learner packs sent to you. All learning material will be provided. The course is priced at £650 per learner (excluding VAT) with the option of group discounts. If you have 2-249 employees and have not had previous Leaders First Training you might be eligible for Business Link support. If you are eligible for funding you will receive a £575 contribution towards the cost of the course. Kirsty will arrange for Business Link to call you and allocate the funding. If you are eligible for funding you will be reimbursed by Business Link for the amount that you are entitled to. You will be asked to pay the full amount up front then you will receive the £575 reimbursement from Business Link.

The means that if you are eligible the course will cost just £75 + VAT, if you would like to know more then please contact rob.franklin@jpt-solutions.co.uk.