If there any topics you would like to see discussed in the future or if you have any comments, please contact me at JoeT@HighCaliber.com
Bullet Points
Protecting Your Data
I can't tell you how many times Manny calls me to tell me
someone's backup hasn't been working for months -- and
that the client wasn't even aware of it!! Most of us are
involved in service-oriented businesses. As such, our
most valuable asset is not some machine or structure --
it is our data. Try to imagine what would happen
if you suddenly lost all of your Word documents, email or
databases. How would it affect your business? I know,
it scares the hell out of me too.
Protecting your data requires a comprehensive, ongoing
strategy. It starts with a strategy and a realistic plan to
implement that strategy. Next, you need hardware, software
and oversight to make sure the backup strategy is working
at all times. Who will change tapes? Are you rotating tapes?
How are you handling off-site backups? Are you backing up
your workstations? Do you need to? Do you have adequate
firewall and virus protection against outside attacks? How
about internal attacks from disgruntled employees, intruders?
These are just some of the things that you must plan for in
devising an effective backup strategy.
If you would like us to review your backup procedures or
devise a data protection strategy for your business, feel
free to give us a call.
Checking Yahoo! Mail with Outlook Express
Many people were left out in the cold when Yahoo decided to charge for
its POP3 mail service. POP3 mail allows you to use programs like Outlook
and Outlook Express to download mail to your computer. If you want
free Yahoo mail now, you have to use their Web service and read your
mail online using your browser. But there's a solution. Check out YahooPOPs!
if you want to download mail from Yahoo mail without paying the fee.
Controlling disk space usage can be a problem especially when people
are sharing a computer. (Think huge downloads like MP3's, MPEG's, etc.)
XP Professional's Disk Quotas can be used to control inappropriate disk
space ussage.
If you're the computer administrator, you can limit how much disk space
other people can use on each partition:
Click Start
Click My Computer
Right click on any drive (drives have to formatted NTFS)
Click on Properties
Click on the Quota tab in the Properties dialog box
Put a checkmark in the Enable Quota Management checkbox.
Put a checkmark in the Deny disk space to users exceeding quota limit checkbox.
Put checkmarks in both the logging checkboxes.
Click the Quota Entries button
In the Quota Entries dialog box, click the Quota menu
Click New Quota Entry
In the Select Users dialog box, enter the name of the user or group that you want to restrict.
Click OK
In the Add New Quota Entry dialog box, select the Limit disk space to option
Enter the number of megabytes to give the user.
Click the down arrow to select MB (megabytes).
Set the warning level to how many MB's you want the person or group to use before they're warned.
Click OK
Now your space hogs will be limited to the amount of space you set for
them here. Make sure everyone but you is a limited user, or they'll be
able to reset the Quota and undo what you did. Remember that you have to
repeat the procedure for each partition you want to set a quota on.
Windows Explorer vs. Internet Explorer
I don't know about you, but I find that people often get confused
between the Windows "Explorer" and "Internet Explorer" programs.
This is understandable, as Microsoft has blurred the line between
its folder/file viewer and its web browser:
The Windows folder/file viewer (what used to be called "File Manager"
in the good old days) is called "Explorer" or "Windows Explorer;"
the web browser is called "Internet Explorer."
The naming is confusing enough, but it gets even worse because they
share some features and functions. For example, Explorer normally
views local files and folders, but also can access and display pages
on the web. Conversely, Internet Explorer is mainly intended to view
web pages, but also can and will display local folder and files on
your system, if you ask it to.
Despite these overlapping functions and features, the tool whose
primary job is to display files and folders is normally called
"Explorer," and the tool whose primary job is to view web
pages is called "Internet Explorer." I hope this helps to clear
up some of the confustion.
By the way, a quick way to run "Explorer" is to right click on
the Start button and select Explore from the pop up menu.
Minimizing All Windows in XP
Press the Windows key and, at the same time, the D key.
That will minimize all windows. Do it again to restore your windows.
Printing A List of File Names
Here is another way to print out the names, sizes, etc. of the
files stored in a folder using good old DOS commands:
Click Start
Click Run
Enter: COMMAND and press Enter
At the Command prompt, type: dir c:\MyFolderName > LPT1 (That's LPT and the number one)
Note that enter the appropriate drive letter and folder name in place of "c:\MyFolderName".
At the Command prompt, type EXIT to close the window.
On some printers, you may have to manually form feed the last page of your
directory listing by taking the printer off line and pressing the Form Feed button
on the printer.
Hardware Diagnostic Tool for Win 98
Windows98 users have a neat diagnostic tool at their fingertips without downloading anything:
Click on Start
Click Run
Enter: "hwinfo /ui" without the quotes
The information displayed is color-coded. Error messages are in red,
warnings are in blue. Green denotes registry entries,
Configuration Manager information is in brown and file attributes are
shown in magenta.
Here is information from the seers of our industry
that may help you plan for the future when it comes to
information technology:
IT Market In General
The general trends are going to stay much like 2002, with only some pockets (like
"Wireless-Fidelity" or Wi-Fi) improving. Microsoft will barrel along as usual. It
will continue to be difficult for them to grow further into the desktop
applications market since they already own 90% of it. They will have to move into
other markets where they are the underdog such as game consoles and phones.
Operating Systems
Linux will dominate the UNIX world but will not make any appreciable
dent in Microsoft's grip on the desktop.is going to eat Unix alive. If Linux
Recent IDC research shows that it costs roughly the same to support either Linux
or Windows for 100 users over 5 years. Linux will force MS to compete on quality.
MS will further eat into the Unix RISC-based server market. Sun is going to
have a rough year as people replace Sun with Linux-based Intel computers. India
and China will both use and push Linux hard. MS will release Windows
.Net Server this year, but the uptake will be slow. Migration will mainly be
forced by the fact tech support for NT and W2K are expiring.
Hardware
Servers based on Blades are going to take off this year. Tablet PCs
will move slowly but steadily into the notebook and laptop area.
Just a trickle in 2003, the tablet will become a hot item in 2004.
Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) will get stronger and stronger,
2002 was already doing pretty well. Voice over IP (VoIP) will get
more popular. Intel is going to invest heavily in Wi-Fi. Laptops
will be Wi-Fi enabled in 2003 or should be. Do not buy a laptop
without it. Flat Screens will hit their stride this year - expect
20-30% rise in sales for both TVs and Desktop Screens. Look for a
glut in memory chips and systems fully loaded with RAM.
Networking
Wi-Fi goes mainstream. End 2003, pretty much any
airport, coffee shop, bookstore, or hotel will provide wireless
Net connectivity using the "Wireless-Fidelity" 802.11b standard.
Security
The U.S. corporate networks will still be vulnerable
by the end of 2003. It is likely that a coordinated attack will
bring the Net to it's knees for a day or two. Implementation of
security policies, particularly in small- to medium-sized
businesses and organizations will increase. Of course a few
more worms will be released, perhaps one as a retaliation for
the invasion of Iraq. Keep your systems secure, and get your data
offsite real-time as part of a robust disaster recovery plan.
Remote user security and OS Patch management, separately and
together will be two very important issues this year.
Spam
Will rise to a maximum of about 25-35% of all email
traffic. The numbers vary wildly, but research shows it
costs companies between $8 and $26 per employee per month
in lost time dealing with unwanted email. In 2003, the
total number of emails sent will rise 30 percent to 40
billion a day.
Finance
By the end of 2003, the Five Tech Giants; Microsoft,
Cisco, Intel, Dell and Oracle will have ammassed well over a
$100 Billion in cash and liquid investments. They are at 87B
now, and this will only go up. They are not as 'sick' as the
press wants you to believe. Each of these giants is grabbing
market share helped by their very deep pockets. Dell will
become the 800 pound gorilla of the PC bizz, beating HP on
the PC front. But HP will start doing a better job at the high
end of playing IBM's service game and maintaining a commanding
lead in the printer business (with Dell snapping at its heels).
2003 Milestones
IDC expects a number of significant milestones
to be passed over the course of the next 12 months. By the end
of 2003, there will be more than 600 million PCs and 1.5 billion
portable phones worldwide. There will be more than 700 million
Internet users, 250 million mobile Internet users and over 80
million broadband households worldwide. And more than 1 billion
email boxes will have been created by the end of 2003.
