Author: Data Recovery
Windows partition files recovery tools supports recovery of storage media damaged due to virus infection, Power failure, file overwritten, crashed and hardware-software malfunction. Vista file recovery software restore accidentally deleted files like PDF, TXT, HTML, MS Office excel, word, access, power point, outlook PST, outlook express MBX and DBX. Windows partition files recovery software is an effective data restoration solution that rescue accidentally erased digital pictures file formats like JPG, JPEG, GIF, RIFF, TIFF, AVI, TIF, PNG, BMP, 3gp, MPEG etc and xls, ppt, doc, html, txt and text based files. Windows partition backup program retrieve undetected root directory and damaged storage media including IDE ATA PATA SATA SCSI ISCSI and EIDE. Windows vista files repair software restores partition data if you deleted a file or your boot record, master boot record or partitions are damaged. Partition backup software provides best data recovery of deleted files and folders even after recycle bin have been emptied or erased using Shift + Del key. Laptop partition file rescue specialist restores crashed backup files like compressed files, zip files and other files from your lost or damaged hard drive. Mini hard drive partition recovery application safely retrieves accidentally erased directories and sub-directories on your Desktop and Laptop PCs. Tool support all windows based operating system like windows 98, 2000, ME, NT, 2003 server, XP, Vista starter, vista home basic, vista home premium, vista business. Features:
• Tool support recovery from master boot records, master file table, partition table and root directories.
• Support recovery even when the data is no longer accessible due to formatting, lost, virus attack, and power or system failure.
• Recovers data from all type of storage devices such as IDE, EIDE, SCSI and SATA etc.
• Recovers deleted files and folders even after use of (Shift+Del) key and emptied recycle bin.
Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_592143_45.html
Monday 29 December 2008
Monday 27 October 2008
Backup Software Features Vary
Author: Joseph Simcic
Author Resource: Don't become a statistic. Never lose your data again. Discover how to perform desktop restores, system restores, and learn how to backup your computer. Joseph Simcic has created this easy to read eBook which has everything you need in one spot. Download it now.
Article From On Topic Articles
Are you a home user or small business looking for a backup solution? Do you carry a laptop with you everywhere you go? Is the data that you carry important to you? You should consider a backup solution that fits your needs. I want to take you through a short list of items that you might want to look for in a backup solution. Your needs may vary and I just want to inform you of what features are out there.
Some of the common criteria that people look for may sound obvious. Does the software perform all types of backups? Can it protect single files at a time even if they are in use at the moment? These are some of the normal features you can get with backup software. Do you need a "one-click" hard drive backup solution? Do you know what a "one-click" backup is? All of these features depend on your needs. It is just like a new car. Do you need the car to get from point A to point B or do you want to cruise in style? Let's cover a few features.
Backup scheduling is a necessity in my opinion. Any piece of software that you are going to use to backup your system regularly should come with the ability to schedule. Scheduling will allow you to set it and forget it, increase your productivity, and allow you to have piece of mind knowing that your data is being protected. It saves you the time of manually scheduling a backup every night or every week. Who knows, you could forget if you didn't have that functionality.
Backup to removable media is another option that I think is important if you will be purchasing a software solution. You may want to have the ability to back up static data for long term storage to CD, DVD, or Zip Drive. I know there are tons of pictures I have that I probably won't do anything with until I want to view them in five years. A DVD backup would make that easy.
Do you require data compression? Is it necessary for your backup software to compress the data so that you can store more information on the media? This might come in handy if you are limited on space and still want to backup your data regularly. It may not be a requirement for you but could be something you look for later.
Do you want to filter the files that you are backing up? Let's say you have a small business and you want to backup all of your important data and not include mp3's. You can make a rule that allows you to perform that task. This is perfect for those special cases when you need a little bit more control over what you are backing up.
Are you a process oriented person and want to know that the information you have backed up has been verified? This function performs a type of error checking. It makes sure that you have retrieved the data that you said you wanted. The draw back is that it takes more time to complete.
Do you want to use old CD/DVD rewritable disks? Well, some backup software comes with the functionality to erase the media before it ever starts to backup your data. This would be nice if you don't have a bunch of data and want to recycle some of those rewritable disks that you no longer have a use for.
Another great function is creating image backups that are bootable. How nice would it be for you to restore to a pristine state with a bootable disk and not have to worry about installing the original operating system first? This is nice, keep in mind that you have to have the storage space to keep that entire image. They can get pretty hefty if you aren't careful.
I hate to talk about system restores or desktop restores but there comes a time when you might need to do them. Would you like the ability to restore specific data to a separate hard drive so that you can hand pick the files you want replaced. It may not be something you identify now, but it might be a nice to have later on.
This is just a preliminary list of things you may look for in your backup solution. Keep in mind that when you are looking for backup strategies, backup solutions, or the ability to restore systems your mileage may vary. A home user may have different criteria than a small or medium size business. The amount of data may differ from person to person. You should evaluate what pieces and parts you need before you decide to go out and purchase a solution. The point is take this information and plan appropriately all strategies are different. Just take action. The strategy won't be any good if you don't backup your data.
Author Resource: Don't become a statistic. Never lose your data again. Discover how to perform desktop restores, system restores, and learn how to backup your computer. Joseph Simcic has created this easy to read eBook which has everything you need in one spot. Download it now.
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Wednesday 15 October 2008
The Benefits Of CRM Software
Author: Dave Roth
CRM software, often called customer relationship management software, is becoming much more popular today than it was in years past. One reason for this is that more people understand what the software is and are deciding to use it. Another reason is that the software is getting better and easier to use. It has more features and benefits than it did in the past, and it is also becoming more user-friendly, which is very important. More people today are using the Internet for their businesses. As this trend continues to grow, there will be a larger need for CRM software, but only if it is found to be useful and compatible with the needs that a business owner or manager has.
There are a lot of benefits to CRM software, as well. Managers can use this software to keep track of their customers and vendors and organize them in many different ways. It is unfortunate that so many people only think of CRM software as being a datebook or contact-recording type of software. It does handle these functions, but it does a great deal more than that, which is something that many business people fail to realize today when they are presented with CRM software. This CRM software can be used to record names and dates. However, it also keeps track of sales, returns, important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. In addition, it can help to remind salespeople of their prior commitments. This keeps them from missing deadlines, meetings, the returning of phone calls, or anything else that will affect the perception of them that their clients have.
Naturally, not missing deadlines is vital to a good business relationship. In addition, the CRM software can help a client feel as though he or she matters to a business. When a client feels important and valued, repeat business is much more likely than it would otherwise be. This is great for the business, but it is also good for the clients, because everyone in the relationship benefits from the efficiency that CRM software helps to create. Without CRM software, there is a good chance that there will be more problems in the interactions that are needed between clients and businesspeople. This is not to say that CRM software eliminates all chance of problems, but it does reduce them.
Those who use CRM software can also be more organized, because it is easier for them to find what they need when it comes to their customers, their vendors, and anything else that they need to keep close track of. It allows them to return calls more promptly, send out birthday cards, and keep customer information stored in a database where it can easily be retrieved by anyone who has authorized access to it. The main benefit to customers is that almost anyone in the company can help them, at least to some degree, because they can get to their information. This benefit of CRM software is the most important one because of the ability to let customers know that they are important to the company.
About the Author:
Dave Roth runs a site that reviews popular CRM software. The site provides reviews on everything from open source crm to various web based CRM solutions. Check out his site at http://www.elitecrmsoftware.com.
CRM software, often called customer relationship management software, is becoming much more popular today than it was in years past. One reason for this is that more people understand what the software is and are deciding to use it. Another reason is that the software is getting better and easier to use. It has more features and benefits than it did in the past, and it is also becoming more user-friendly, which is very important. More people today are using the Internet for their businesses. As this trend continues to grow, there will be a larger need for CRM software, but only if it is found to be useful and compatible with the needs that a business owner or manager has.
There are a lot of benefits to CRM software, as well. Managers can use this software to keep track of their customers and vendors and organize them in many different ways. It is unfortunate that so many people only think of CRM software as being a datebook or contact-recording type of software. It does handle these functions, but it does a great deal more than that, which is something that many business people fail to realize today when they are presented with CRM software. This CRM software can be used to record names and dates. However, it also keeps track of sales, returns, important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. In addition, it can help to remind salespeople of their prior commitments. This keeps them from missing deadlines, meetings, the returning of phone calls, or anything else that will affect the perception of them that their clients have.
Naturally, not missing deadlines is vital to a good business relationship. In addition, the CRM software can help a client feel as though he or she matters to a business. When a client feels important and valued, repeat business is much more likely than it would otherwise be. This is great for the business, but it is also good for the clients, because everyone in the relationship benefits from the efficiency that CRM software helps to create. Without CRM software, there is a good chance that there will be more problems in the interactions that are needed between clients and businesspeople. This is not to say that CRM software eliminates all chance of problems, but it does reduce them.
Those who use CRM software can also be more organized, because it is easier for them to find what they need when it comes to their customers, their vendors, and anything else that they need to keep close track of. It allows them to return calls more promptly, send out birthday cards, and keep customer information stored in a database where it can easily be retrieved by anyone who has authorized access to it. The main benefit to customers is that almost anyone in the company can help them, at least to some degree, because they can get to their information. This benefit of CRM software is the most important one because of the ability to let customers know that they are important to the company.
About the Author:
Dave Roth runs a site that reviews popular CRM software. The site provides reviews on everything from open source crm to various web based CRM solutions. Check out his site at http://www.elitecrmsoftware.com.
Tuesday 30 September 2008
7 Business Advantages Of Offering Data Security
1. Protection of Valuable Information
Valuable information must be protected. Information is one of the most valuable assets of any enterprise, no matter what kind of product you are developing to handle it: a custom software or in-house automation solution. Its protection is a vital part of IT infrastructure. Make your life easier by integrating security into the solution.
2. Keeping Ahead of Competitors
Stay ahead of competition. Be in the first row of software manufacturers, who build their applications with security in mind. Any software is more welcome, when it fits into existing business processes. Adding another level of data protection is always viewed as a benefit, while its lack is a serious disadvantage.
3. Expanding Into New Markets
Adding security to typical applications is a way to expand the business into new markets. For example, adding a security to you LAN communication application may give you an access to government or military market.
4. Caring About Clients
Offering security drives sales. When you offer security in your software as a bonus, your clients will feel that you really care about their well-being.
5. Reduced Costs of Development
Plugging security into your application beforehand reduces development and support time. Sooner or later you will face the necessity to add security features to your solution. The later you do this, the more code you will have to modify. Inadvertent data loss caused by insecure software may cost you significant money and time lost in courts. This will make you think about adding security anyway.
6. Software Interoperability
By adding security you will improve different software systems interoperability. Some developers choose custom data storage and exchange formats, thinking that they are faster to implement. Later it turns into additional expenses, when proper communication with other applications becomes a must. A lot of resources will be spent on changing formats or creation of data converters. Use of standard security enabled data storage formats and data exchange protocols ensures widest possible interoperability.
7. Meeting Current Standards
In order to be reliable and up-to-date, a software needs to follow current standards. One of the widespread and important standard is requirement of software security. In the majority of industries data protection is a must, and your software should follow these standards to be adequate to current demands.
About the Author
Eugene Mayevski takes a post of Chief Technical Officer in EldoS Corporation (www.eldos.com), the company that specializes in development of security and low-level system components for software developers.SecureBlackbox (www.SecureBlackbox.com) is the product of EldoS Corporation that provides security and cryptography framework for application development.
Valuable information must be protected. Information is one of the most valuable assets of any enterprise, no matter what kind of product you are developing to handle it: a custom software or in-house automation solution. Its protection is a vital part of IT infrastructure. Make your life easier by integrating security into the solution.
2. Keeping Ahead of Competitors
Stay ahead of competition. Be in the first row of software manufacturers, who build their applications with security in mind. Any software is more welcome, when it fits into existing business processes. Adding another level of data protection is always viewed as a benefit, while its lack is a serious disadvantage.
3. Expanding Into New Markets
Adding security to typical applications is a way to expand the business into new markets. For example, adding a security to you LAN communication application may give you an access to government or military market.
4. Caring About Clients
Offering security drives sales. When you offer security in your software as a bonus, your clients will feel that you really care about their well-being.
5. Reduced Costs of Development
Plugging security into your application beforehand reduces development and support time. Sooner or later you will face the necessity to add security features to your solution. The later you do this, the more code you will have to modify. Inadvertent data loss caused by insecure software may cost you significant money and time lost in courts. This will make you think about adding security anyway.
6. Software Interoperability
By adding security you will improve different software systems interoperability. Some developers choose custom data storage and exchange formats, thinking that they are faster to implement. Later it turns into additional expenses, when proper communication with other applications becomes a must. A lot of resources will be spent on changing formats or creation of data converters. Use of standard security enabled data storage formats and data exchange protocols ensures widest possible interoperability.
7. Meeting Current Standards
In order to be reliable and up-to-date, a software needs to follow current standards. One of the widespread and important standard is requirement of software security. In the majority of industries data protection is a must, and your software should follow these standards to be adequate to current demands.
About the Author
Eugene Mayevski takes a post of Chief Technical Officer in EldoS Corporation (www.eldos.com), the company that specializes in development of security and low-level system components for software developers.SecureBlackbox (www.SecureBlackbox.com) is the product of EldoS Corporation that provides security and cryptography framework for application development.
Monday 1 September 2008
Windows XP Cleaner Software
Author: Soli Katir
Use one multi-purpose cleaner for windows, mirrors and furniture to enable you to clean many rooms without needing to switch cleaners. There are many registry cleaners such as the PC Mantra’s registry cleaner, the PC registry cleaner and the Windows XP registry cleaner that can spruce up your system and make it much more enjoyable to use. But there is no way to rid the registry of this data except with the help of a windows registry cleaner.
Registry cleaner software not only scans and fixes Windows Registry, but also provides advanced diagnostics tools for locating serious computer problems before they happen. This information is recorded in the registry and needs to be cleaned with a windows registry cleaner regularly. Registry Cleaners Are a Must Have Many registry cleaner software such as windows XP registry cleaner, windows free registry cleaner, PC registry cleaner and the like Scan the system registry and locate the obsolete information that is clogging and slowing down the system.
Besides finding incorrect or obsolete information in the registry, most registry cleaner utilities provide backup or restore function, allowing users to backup the whole Windows Registry so that they can use the backup to restore the registry to the current status in case they encounter serious system failure. To repair the Windows registry errors all you need is an effective registry cleaner. The list of such programs builds up over time and we need a windows registry cleaner to clean the registry of these redundant files and programs.
The investment in a good registry cleaner can do the most good for your computer, as it will allow you to concentrate on actually using your PC instead of spending time reinstalling windows in an attempt to eliminate errors and make your computer faster. The Law of Obligation also presents itself in the following situations: Taking a potential client out to dinner or to play golf, Offering free tire rotation or fluid fill-up between services, Someone washing your car windows at a stoplight whether you want them to or not, Generating money at "free" car washes by asking for a donation after the service is rendered, A carpet cleaner offering to clean your couch for free. How can you apply the Law of Obligation to your industry?
About The Author
Soli Katir http://www.solikatir.com/XP-Repair-Try-It-Absolutely-Free.html These websites will introduce you on how you can repair your XP, absolutely free!
Use one multi-purpose cleaner for windows, mirrors and furniture to enable you to clean many rooms without needing to switch cleaners. There are many registry cleaners such as the PC Mantra’s registry cleaner, the PC registry cleaner and the Windows XP registry cleaner that can spruce up your system and make it much more enjoyable to use. But there is no way to rid the registry of this data except with the help of a windows registry cleaner.
Registry cleaner software not only scans and fixes Windows Registry, but also provides advanced diagnostics tools for locating serious computer problems before they happen. This information is recorded in the registry and needs to be cleaned with a windows registry cleaner regularly. Registry Cleaners Are a Must Have Many registry cleaner software such as windows XP registry cleaner, windows free registry cleaner, PC registry cleaner and the like Scan the system registry and locate the obsolete information that is clogging and slowing down the system.
Besides finding incorrect or obsolete information in the registry, most registry cleaner utilities provide backup or restore function, allowing users to backup the whole Windows Registry so that they can use the backup to restore the registry to the current status in case they encounter serious system failure. To repair the Windows registry errors all you need is an effective registry cleaner. The list of such programs builds up over time and we need a windows registry cleaner to clean the registry of these redundant files and programs.
The investment in a good registry cleaner can do the most good for your computer, as it will allow you to concentrate on actually using your PC instead of spending time reinstalling windows in an attempt to eliminate errors and make your computer faster. The Law of Obligation also presents itself in the following situations: Taking a potential client out to dinner or to play golf, Offering free tire rotation or fluid fill-up between services, Someone washing your car windows at a stoplight whether you want them to or not, Generating money at "free" car washes by asking for a donation after the service is rendered, A carpet cleaner offering to clean your couch for free. How can you apply the Law of Obligation to your industry?
About The Author
Soli Katir http://www.solikatir.com/XP-Repair-Try-It-Absolutely-Free.html These websites will introduce you on how you can repair your XP, absolutely free!
Monday 11 August 2008
Is Registry Clean Software My Only Alternative?
Author: Mat Hultquist
As a person who regularly uses his or her computer you likely find yourself adding and removing software applications with some degree of regularity. If that is the case and if you do have a Windows operating system, you also have a registry associated with your computers operating system that is in need of a good clean up. Therefore, you may be wondering what options are available to you. In this regard, you may be wondering whether registry clean software is your only available alternative.
The reality is that in addition to registry clean software you actually can clean up your registry manually. However, you absolutely need to understand that if you elect to go the manual route, as opposed to using registry clean software, you need to plan to spend a great deal of time on the process. Additionally, electing to go the manual route as opposed to using registry clean software requires that you have experience in this area. This really is not a task that a novice should undertake.
Having noted that there is at least one course of action that is available when it comes to cleaning a registry â€" in addition to registry clean software â€" your best course of action nonetheless is utilizing registry clean software. The fact is that if you obtain an appropriate and trustworthy registry clean software application you will be able to get your operating system registry in order in a matter of minutes.
Finally, you do need to understand that the newer Windows operating systems are coming with a registry clean software tool in the basic software package that comes with the system. However, in the absence of such a tool, your best bet is a well designed and effective registry clean software application.
About the Author: Want to know why we chose the best registry clean software on the market today? Visit www.repairmyregistrynow.com to find out and enjoy your error-free and faster computer in a matter of minutes.
As a person who regularly uses his or her computer you likely find yourself adding and removing software applications with some degree of regularity. If that is the case and if you do have a Windows operating system, you also have a registry associated with your computers operating system that is in need of a good clean up. Therefore, you may be wondering what options are available to you. In this regard, you may be wondering whether registry clean software is your only available alternative.
The reality is that in addition to registry clean software you actually can clean up your registry manually. However, you absolutely need to understand that if you elect to go the manual route, as opposed to using registry clean software, you need to plan to spend a great deal of time on the process. Additionally, electing to go the manual route as opposed to using registry clean software requires that you have experience in this area. This really is not a task that a novice should undertake.
Having noted that there is at least one course of action that is available when it comes to cleaning a registry â€" in addition to registry clean software â€" your best course of action nonetheless is utilizing registry clean software. The fact is that if you obtain an appropriate and trustworthy registry clean software application you will be able to get your operating system registry in order in a matter of minutes.
Finally, you do need to understand that the newer Windows operating systems are coming with a registry clean software tool in the basic software package that comes with the system. However, in the absence of such a tool, your best bet is a well designed and effective registry clean software application.
About the Author: Want to know why we chose the best registry clean software on the market today? Visit www.repairmyregistrynow.com to find out and enjoy your error-free and faster computer in a matter of minutes.
Tuesday 5 August 2008
A Guide to Software Selection
Author: Pankaj Taneja
Introduction
What to Buy – That is the Question
Buying decisions are the essence of life in the commerce-driven 21st century. From everyday decisions like selecting lunch from a restaurant menu, to getting a new car, to major company acquisitions, much of our time is spent “buying”. And these choices are anything but simple. Each marketer professes to be the sole champion of our consumer rights and pummels us with enticing advertising messages, about how their wares are “the best”. Seductive as these messages are, no product or service is quite the same. The difference may be glaring – that of “better vs. worse”, or a subtle tradeoff between price, quality, feature set, customer service, or durability. It is therefore important to keep our wits about & develop a systematic approach to the buying decision. Our view should be broad & farsighted, rather than buying based only on what immediately meets the eye. Hasty decisions leave us with flashy features never used, or hefty repair bills of products that came cheap. A good example of a systematic approach is when you buy a car. A myriad of factors are considered & weighed, which impact the owner for the next decade. This includes brand, performance vs. style, price, safety, terms of finance, mileage, maintenance, resale value & so many other factors.
Selecting Software
In our new “wired” modern reality, software is no less important than products & services in our everyday lives. Whether it’s a personal email program, chat software for instant connection, collaboration software to organize scattered employees, or an ERP implementation to manage company processes – there’s no surviving without them! But we’re somewhat more used to buying products & services than software, which is a relatively recent phenomenon. In many ways, selecting software is no different from selecting a product or service. Although intangible, software, also address a very real need, on which personal & professional success often depends. Naturally, some of the same purchase factors apply – brand, service, & maintenance costs. In spite of the patronizing obviousness of the above, software selection is a grey zone; an underdeveloped arena. This accounts for the high incidence of “shelfware” – software that are bought with grand intentions, but end up on dusty shelves. This is because unlike products & services, it is not so intuitively evident that software have “life cycles” & need to be “maintained”, “updated”, & “repaired”. Therefore, purchases are made based on what immediately meets the eye – technical features. This mistake is understandable, because technical features are well documented & advertised, & easy for the buyer to use as decision criteria. But with this approach, factors that are just as pertinent, but not so immediately obvious, get left out. Some research & serious thinking is needed to gauge these “hidden” factors.
Key Factors for Buying Software
1) Company History & Experience
The vendor needs to be sized up before we even go on to consider the software itself. Company background is essential because, unlike traditional companies, software companies are often small, & often beyond national boundaries. Since these companies would likely be handling our sensitive data, we need to do a background check. Some related questions are: How Long Have They Been Around? As in most cases, we can reasonably assume that past record is a good indicator of future performance. Important questions are - How long have they been around? How long have they been in the field? If they’re offering online collaboration software, have they been in this industry long enough? Even if the software is new, do they have experience developing related software? What is Their Niche? Does the company know your niche well enough to know your needs? If you are a small/mid sized business, a company mainly serving the Fortune 500 is not for you. If you work from home, it is unlikely a solution serving large offices will meet your needs. The Ultimate Testament – The Customer The ultimate judge of software is its users. To get a true picture, it is important to look at how customers are using the software & what their comments are. Does their site include a client’s list or page? Check out what customers say under testimonials, or you could even get in touch with the customers yourself for comments. Dangers There are certain things about the software industry that a buyer should be wary of. Software startups have shorter life spans than traditional companies & ride high on a success wave, but go “pop” when the industry bubble bursts. This was exemplified by the “dot com burst” of 2000. Whether the current spate of “Web 2.0” companies constitutes another expanding bubble which will inevitably burst is debatable, but it makes sense to be wary & bet your money on dependable companies with proven track records.
2) Cost
There’s no denying the importance of cost effectiveness in buying decisions across the board. Yet costs should be seen in a broad perspective, because low entry costs may well result in higher total costs along the product’s life. Features vs. Price A cost-benefit analysis makes sense, & costs need to be compared with the software’s range of features & functionalities. A document management system may not be the cheapest, but it may allow you to also set up a virtual office. Going for loads of features also constitutes a trap, because users never get around to using half of them. Needs vs. Price Another question is whether there is an overlap between features & needs at all. Many features may not relate to needs sought to be addressed. You should clearly define your needs, & classify features as “needed features” & “features not needed”. Another possible scheme of classifying features could be “must have”, “nice to have”, & “future requirements”.
3) Ease of Use/Adoption
An adoption & learning curve is involved with every new software purchase. It needs to be integrated with current systems & software, & the end users have to be brought up to speed using it. If the software is chunky & too complex, adoption resistance can occur. Ease of Use The software should have an intuitive interface, & use of features should be pretty much self evident. The shorter the learning curve training a new user, the better. The software should also have the ability to easily fit into the existing systems with which it will have to communicate. For example, a collaboration software might allow you to use some features from your Outlook itself or even share Outlook data. Adoption To get a measure of “shelfware”, i.e., software that is purchased but never used, some studies peg the number of shelved content management solutions at 20-25%. At a million dollars per implementation, that’s pretty expensive shelfware! According to another study in the US, 22% of purchased enterprise portal (ERP) licenses are never used. No doubt, “Shelfware” is a result of ill thought out purchase decisions. These studies clearly underline the importance of making an educated purchase. One possible way to protect against shelfware is the new concept of “software as a service” (SAAS) hosted software. The software is hosted by its developer, & buyers have to pay a monthly subscription, which they can opt out of anytime.Support No matter how good a software is, there are bound to be times when one can’t find out how to work a particular feature or a glitch crops up. Some software solutions may require you to hire dedicated support staff of your own, while others may be easy to use, and no specialized staff may be needed, and still others may offer free support. The cost of hiring support staff needs to be factored into the buying decision. Provider support may be in the form of live human support, or automated help engines. In case of human help, the quality of solutions, availability & conduct of support executives matter. Support can also be in the form of an extensively documented help engine, or extensive help information on the company site. This form of support is often more prompt & efficient than human help. Training Training is another form of support which deserves special mention. Free training seminars or their new avatar - webinars (online seminars) - greatly help in getting up to speed with the software at no extra cost. In some cases the company might offer paid training, which may be essential, & hence this cost needs to be factored into the purchase decision. Maintenance Maintenance costs & efforts have a major impact on the performance & adoptability of software, & hence form important criteria of the buying decision. In case the software is hosted at the company’s end, it is of utmost importance that the software be available online at all times, or the “uptime”. Uptimes are covered under the “service level agreement” & range from 98% to 99.99%. A minimum uptime of 99% is what one must look for. The company’s upkeep is also important. Efforts to constantly improve upon the software underline a commitment to providing quality service. Are bugs fixed promptly & on an ongoing basis? Are they just releasing software & not updating it? One should develop a habit of keeping up with the company newsletter, release notes or the “what’s new” section on their site. Periodic newsletters & a “what’s new” section are indicative of a dynamic company.
4) Familiarity
The “feel” of the software is another important criterion. The software should keep with the basic layout & navigation schemes we are used to. This makes for quicker transition. One good way is to compare with the OS in which we would use the software. Does it have the same basic schema as the OS environment? A software with Mac schema on Windows wouldn’t sit that well. Or we could compare it with other software which we are used to. If you are switching to a low priced solution from an expensive one, choosing software with a similar “feel” would make sense. Does it retain most of the main features you are used to?
5) Security
Security is a top consideration because he software company will likely be handling information critical to us – business, financial or personal. We need to be well assured of our data's security & there are no risks of it being compromised. This needs research, & the extensiveness of which depends on the sensitivity of our data. What safety features does the provider have?
Encryption, or coding of information, is used by most companies to protect the integrity of their clients’ information. There are different types of encryption, each of which is associated with a different level of security. DAS is one, once popular but now known to have loopholes. SSL 128-bit encryption is associated with top notch security. Password protection is another important facet. Is the software equipped to withstand manual & automated attempts to hack your password? The ability of the system to detect a hacking attempt & lock up in time is important. Data Backup In extreme cases of system breakdown caused by a facility fire, natural disaster or technical glitch etc, it is important that your data is frequently & adequately backed up. Data backup should be frequent & adequate. Certain factors are to be considered in backup practices. The first is the frequency of backups. If there is a long gap, there is a possibility of data being lost in intermittent periods. Secondly, what are the security arrangements at the facilities where your data resides? Is it manned & guarded by security personnel? What other safeguards are in place? Is there a good firewall? What is the protection against virus attacks? What procedures are in place for disaster management? Track Record As with company background, a little research on the security track record makes sense. Has the company ever been vulnerable to attacks before? What were the losses? How did the company react? How many years has the company had a good record? New companies will have a clean record, but that isn’t necessarily indicative of good security. The Server System The server system where the sensitive data actually lies is very important. Is it state-of-the-art? The server infrastructure could be owned by the software provider themselves or outsourced to a dedicated company providing hosting solutions. Outsourced hosting is a good thing because hosting companies have extensive expertise & infrastructure for security, & this frees up the software provider to concentrate on the software itself. The company might not have an elaborate setup at all, running the software & processing data through computers set up in the garage somewhere acting as servers. This should get your alarm bells ringing!
Conclusion - A Systematic Selection Approach
Now that we have discussed all the relevant factors in detail & have a better perspective of the subject, it is important to develop a systematic approach to analyzing these factors. What factors are important to me? Although all of the above factors are relevant, their relative importance may differ from customer to customer. For a company with deep pockets, price comes lower in the list. For a company using collaboration software to process business information, security is high priority. Again if a solution forms an important part of a company’s business, it is important that it integrates well with existing systems. For dynamic industries like real estate, short training times are important. Know Thy Software By this step you would have selected software. But that is still not the end. For all our theorizing & researching, the software still has to pass its toughest test. Most software allows you a free trial period. It would be a good idea to seriously use this period to analyze the software. It is important to stay focused during this testing period because the impact is going to be long lasting. Follow systematic planning. Identify objectives & needs, develop a testing plan, lay out the timelines and designate people from different departments to try out different features. Set responsibilities & goals so that testers take their job seriously.
THE DECISION!
Don’t hesitate to put the burden onto the company to prove itself. Let the company prove to you the features that seem important to you. For example, if security is of prime importance, ask the company to display how their solution scores high on security. Don’t hesitate to call them if you have questions. Test their service levels to see if it lives up to their promises. If you submit a ticket, is it promptly responded to? Is a good solution provided? If the problem requires live help, do you get it fast enough? When you call in with a problem, is it a live person or an automated message you converse with? This is as extensively as you can analyze software. You’re educated enough to make a choice which will most likely not fail you. You shall surely not be disappointed in your decision.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/a-guide-to-software-selection-387580.html
About the Author:
The author has 5 years experience working with web based technologies. His expertise lies especially in collaboration applications for the SMB segment.
Introduction
What to Buy – That is the Question
Buying decisions are the essence of life in the commerce-driven 21st century. From everyday decisions like selecting lunch from a restaurant menu, to getting a new car, to major company acquisitions, much of our time is spent “buying”. And these choices are anything but simple. Each marketer professes to be the sole champion of our consumer rights and pummels us with enticing advertising messages, about how their wares are “the best”. Seductive as these messages are, no product or service is quite the same. The difference may be glaring – that of “better vs. worse”, or a subtle tradeoff between price, quality, feature set, customer service, or durability. It is therefore important to keep our wits about & develop a systematic approach to the buying decision. Our view should be broad & farsighted, rather than buying based only on what immediately meets the eye. Hasty decisions leave us with flashy features never used, or hefty repair bills of products that came cheap. A good example of a systematic approach is when you buy a car. A myriad of factors are considered & weighed, which impact the owner for the next decade. This includes brand, performance vs. style, price, safety, terms of finance, mileage, maintenance, resale value & so many other factors.
Selecting Software
In our new “wired” modern reality, software is no less important than products & services in our everyday lives. Whether it’s a personal email program, chat software for instant connection, collaboration software to organize scattered employees, or an ERP implementation to manage company processes – there’s no surviving without them! But we’re somewhat more used to buying products & services than software, which is a relatively recent phenomenon. In many ways, selecting software is no different from selecting a product or service. Although intangible, software, also address a very real need, on which personal & professional success often depends. Naturally, some of the same purchase factors apply – brand, service, & maintenance costs. In spite of the patronizing obviousness of the above, software selection is a grey zone; an underdeveloped arena. This accounts for the high incidence of “shelfware” – software that are bought with grand intentions, but end up on dusty shelves. This is because unlike products & services, it is not so intuitively evident that software have “life cycles” & need to be “maintained”, “updated”, & “repaired”. Therefore, purchases are made based on what immediately meets the eye – technical features. This mistake is understandable, because technical features are well documented & advertised, & easy for the buyer to use as decision criteria. But with this approach, factors that are just as pertinent, but not so immediately obvious, get left out. Some research & serious thinking is needed to gauge these “hidden” factors.
Key Factors for Buying Software
1) Company History & Experience
The vendor needs to be sized up before we even go on to consider the software itself. Company background is essential because, unlike traditional companies, software companies are often small, & often beyond national boundaries. Since these companies would likely be handling our sensitive data, we need to do a background check. Some related questions are: How Long Have They Been Around? As in most cases, we can reasonably assume that past record is a good indicator of future performance. Important questions are - How long have they been around? How long have they been in the field? If they’re offering online collaboration software, have they been in this industry long enough? Even if the software is new, do they have experience developing related software? What is Their Niche? Does the company know your niche well enough to know your needs? If you are a small/mid sized business, a company mainly serving the Fortune 500 is not for you. If you work from home, it is unlikely a solution serving large offices will meet your needs. The Ultimate Testament – The Customer The ultimate judge of software is its users. To get a true picture, it is important to look at how customers are using the software & what their comments are. Does their site include a client’s list or page? Check out what customers say under testimonials, or you could even get in touch with the customers yourself for comments. Dangers There are certain things about the software industry that a buyer should be wary of. Software startups have shorter life spans than traditional companies & ride high on a success wave, but go “pop” when the industry bubble bursts. This was exemplified by the “dot com burst” of 2000. Whether the current spate of “Web 2.0” companies constitutes another expanding bubble which will inevitably burst is debatable, but it makes sense to be wary & bet your money on dependable companies with proven track records.
2) Cost
There’s no denying the importance of cost effectiveness in buying decisions across the board. Yet costs should be seen in a broad perspective, because low entry costs may well result in higher total costs along the product’s life. Features vs. Price A cost-benefit analysis makes sense, & costs need to be compared with the software’s range of features & functionalities. A document management system may not be the cheapest, but it may allow you to also set up a virtual office. Going for loads of features also constitutes a trap, because users never get around to using half of them. Needs vs. Price Another question is whether there is an overlap between features & needs at all. Many features may not relate to needs sought to be addressed. You should clearly define your needs, & classify features as “needed features” & “features not needed”. Another possible scheme of classifying features could be “must have”, “nice to have”, & “future requirements”.
3) Ease of Use/Adoption
An adoption & learning curve is involved with every new software purchase. It needs to be integrated with current systems & software, & the end users have to be brought up to speed using it. If the software is chunky & too complex, adoption resistance can occur. Ease of Use The software should have an intuitive interface, & use of features should be pretty much self evident. The shorter the learning curve training a new user, the better. The software should also have the ability to easily fit into the existing systems with which it will have to communicate. For example, a collaboration software might allow you to use some features from your Outlook itself or even share Outlook data. Adoption To get a measure of “shelfware”, i.e., software that is purchased but never used, some studies peg the number of shelved content management solutions at 20-25%. At a million dollars per implementation, that’s pretty expensive shelfware! According to another study in the US, 22% of purchased enterprise portal (ERP) licenses are never used. No doubt, “Shelfware” is a result of ill thought out purchase decisions. These studies clearly underline the importance of making an educated purchase. One possible way to protect against shelfware is the new concept of “software as a service” (SAAS) hosted software. The software is hosted by its developer, & buyers have to pay a monthly subscription, which they can opt out of anytime.Support No matter how good a software is, there are bound to be times when one can’t find out how to work a particular feature or a glitch crops up. Some software solutions may require you to hire dedicated support staff of your own, while others may be easy to use, and no specialized staff may be needed, and still others may offer free support. The cost of hiring support staff needs to be factored into the buying decision. Provider support may be in the form of live human support, or automated help engines. In case of human help, the quality of solutions, availability & conduct of support executives matter. Support can also be in the form of an extensively documented help engine, or extensive help information on the company site. This form of support is often more prompt & efficient than human help. Training Training is another form of support which deserves special mention. Free training seminars or their new avatar - webinars (online seminars) - greatly help in getting up to speed with the software at no extra cost. In some cases the company might offer paid training, which may be essential, & hence this cost needs to be factored into the purchase decision. Maintenance Maintenance costs & efforts have a major impact on the performance & adoptability of software, & hence form important criteria of the buying decision. In case the software is hosted at the company’s end, it is of utmost importance that the software be available online at all times, or the “uptime”. Uptimes are covered under the “service level agreement” & range from 98% to 99.99%. A minimum uptime of 99% is what one must look for. The company’s upkeep is also important. Efforts to constantly improve upon the software underline a commitment to providing quality service. Are bugs fixed promptly & on an ongoing basis? Are they just releasing software & not updating it? One should develop a habit of keeping up with the company newsletter, release notes or the “what’s new” section on their site. Periodic newsletters & a “what’s new” section are indicative of a dynamic company.
4) Familiarity
The “feel” of the software is another important criterion. The software should keep with the basic layout & navigation schemes we are used to. This makes for quicker transition. One good way is to compare with the OS in which we would use the software. Does it have the same basic schema as the OS environment? A software with Mac schema on Windows wouldn’t sit that well. Or we could compare it with other software which we are used to. If you are switching to a low priced solution from an expensive one, choosing software with a similar “feel” would make sense. Does it retain most of the main features you are used to?
5) Security
Security is a top consideration because he software company will likely be handling information critical to us – business, financial or personal. We need to be well assured of our data's security & there are no risks of it being compromised. This needs research, & the extensiveness of which depends on the sensitivity of our data. What safety features does the provider have?
Encryption, or coding of information, is used by most companies to protect the integrity of their clients’ information. There are different types of encryption, each of which is associated with a different level of security. DAS is one, once popular but now known to have loopholes. SSL 128-bit encryption is associated with top notch security. Password protection is another important facet. Is the software equipped to withstand manual & automated attempts to hack your password? The ability of the system to detect a hacking attempt & lock up in time is important. Data Backup In extreme cases of system breakdown caused by a facility fire, natural disaster or technical glitch etc, it is important that your data is frequently & adequately backed up. Data backup should be frequent & adequate. Certain factors are to be considered in backup practices. The first is the frequency of backups. If there is a long gap, there is a possibility of data being lost in intermittent periods. Secondly, what are the security arrangements at the facilities where your data resides? Is it manned & guarded by security personnel? What other safeguards are in place? Is there a good firewall? What is the protection against virus attacks? What procedures are in place for disaster management? Track Record As with company background, a little research on the security track record makes sense. Has the company ever been vulnerable to attacks before? What were the losses? How did the company react? How many years has the company had a good record? New companies will have a clean record, but that isn’t necessarily indicative of good security. The Server System The server system where the sensitive data actually lies is very important. Is it state-of-the-art? The server infrastructure could be owned by the software provider themselves or outsourced to a dedicated company providing hosting solutions. Outsourced hosting is a good thing because hosting companies have extensive expertise & infrastructure for security, & this frees up the software provider to concentrate on the software itself. The company might not have an elaborate setup at all, running the software & processing data through computers set up in the garage somewhere acting as servers. This should get your alarm bells ringing!
Conclusion - A Systematic Selection Approach
Now that we have discussed all the relevant factors in detail & have a better perspective of the subject, it is important to develop a systematic approach to analyzing these factors. What factors are important to me? Although all of the above factors are relevant, their relative importance may differ from customer to customer. For a company with deep pockets, price comes lower in the list. For a company using collaboration software to process business information, security is high priority. Again if a solution forms an important part of a company’s business, it is important that it integrates well with existing systems. For dynamic industries like real estate, short training times are important. Know Thy Software By this step you would have selected software. But that is still not the end. For all our theorizing & researching, the software still has to pass its toughest test. Most software allows you a free trial period. It would be a good idea to seriously use this period to analyze the software. It is important to stay focused during this testing period because the impact is going to be long lasting. Follow systematic planning. Identify objectives & needs, develop a testing plan, lay out the timelines and designate people from different departments to try out different features. Set responsibilities & goals so that testers take their job seriously.
THE DECISION!
Don’t hesitate to put the burden onto the company to prove itself. Let the company prove to you the features that seem important to you. For example, if security is of prime importance, ask the company to display how their solution scores high on security. Don’t hesitate to call them if you have questions. Test their service levels to see if it lives up to their promises. If you submit a ticket, is it promptly responded to? Is a good solution provided? If the problem requires live help, do you get it fast enough? When you call in with a problem, is it a live person or an automated message you converse with? This is as extensively as you can analyze software. You’re educated enough to make a choice which will most likely not fail you. You shall surely not be disappointed in your decision.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/a-guide-to-software-selection-387580.html
About the Author:
The author has 5 years experience working with web based technologies. His expertise lies especially in collaboration applications for the SMB segment.
Wednesday 23 July 2008
Choosing the Best Backup Software For Corporate and Business Backup
Author: Dan Miller
Security is one of the most important things when it comes to running a business. This includes data security. Any organization of a reasonable size should pay attention to how secure its information is, and will be in the near future. Neglecting your security could be a big mistake - without the right protections and backups, you could lose everything in one accident. Of course, manual backup and security measures can take a lot of time, and can be expensive if you hire someone to do it. That's why automation of remote data backups is a great idea.
Most people would love to find a solution to their data backup problems that's fully automated and doesn't require a lot of new training or resource expenditure. However, many are afraid that it's too difficult to implement this kind of solution, or that it'll be expensive. This doesn't have to be the case. There are a number of Internet based solutions out there, offering high quality without an exorbitant price. Others make promises that they can't deliver. How do you tell the difference?
Make sure that the backup software or service you use is actually as automated and easy to use as it claims to be. Look for programs that offer a free trial period, allowing you to test the possible options. That way, if you like what you see, you can easily purchase the service or program. Compared to old fashioned backup methods, using a good automated system for remote data backup could save you a lot of money. It'll even keep your data safer.
There are a few features to look for in an online backup solution. Focus on finding backup software that'll allow you to back up data from multiple machines at once, without the need for an administrator to supervise constantly. Automation will help you save time and money. Also, be sure that the administrator can assign a schedule for each machine or employee individually, while running distributed backup on multiple machines. Look for backup software that's flexible enough to let you create and adjust plans for every employee who needs to save data.
Of course, online backups shouldn't be so obvious as to distract employees from their work. Good remote data backup software should run in the background without using up too many resources or interfering with other processes that are happening on the same computer. Tasks should all be administered from a central locations. This makes it a lot easier to unify online backup tasks so that they'll fit in with an overall company backup policy.
If you would like to see just how powerful online backups are and just how easy it is to protect all your valuable information you can get a free trial at backupalldata.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Miller
Security is one of the most important things when it comes to running a business. This includes data security. Any organization of a reasonable size should pay attention to how secure its information is, and will be in the near future. Neglecting your security could be a big mistake - without the right protections and backups, you could lose everything in one accident. Of course, manual backup and security measures can take a lot of time, and can be expensive if you hire someone to do it. That's why automation of remote data backups is a great idea.
Most people would love to find a solution to their data backup problems that's fully automated and doesn't require a lot of new training or resource expenditure. However, many are afraid that it's too difficult to implement this kind of solution, or that it'll be expensive. This doesn't have to be the case. There are a number of Internet based solutions out there, offering high quality without an exorbitant price. Others make promises that they can't deliver. How do you tell the difference?
Make sure that the backup software or service you use is actually as automated and easy to use as it claims to be. Look for programs that offer a free trial period, allowing you to test the possible options. That way, if you like what you see, you can easily purchase the service or program. Compared to old fashioned backup methods, using a good automated system for remote data backup could save you a lot of money. It'll even keep your data safer.
There are a few features to look for in an online backup solution. Focus on finding backup software that'll allow you to back up data from multiple machines at once, without the need for an administrator to supervise constantly. Automation will help you save time and money. Also, be sure that the administrator can assign a schedule for each machine or employee individually, while running distributed backup on multiple machines. Look for backup software that's flexible enough to let you create and adjust plans for every employee who needs to save data.
Of course, online backups shouldn't be so obvious as to distract employees from their work. Good remote data backup software should run in the background without using up too many resources or interfering with other processes that are happening on the same computer. Tasks should all be administered from a central locations. This makes it a lot easier to unify online backup tasks so that they'll fit in with an overall company backup policy.
If you would like to see just how powerful online backups are and just how easy it is to protect all your valuable information you can get a free trial at backupalldata.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Miller
Sunday 13 July 2008
Choosing the Right Computer Backup Program For Your Data Center Disaster Recovery Plan
By Emily King
The data center is the hub of business operations. It houses all of the files, data, programs, and applications that a business cannot do without in today's fast-paced world of which information technology is an integral part. Any harm to these files could deal a severe, or even fatal, blow to any successful company. That is why it's absolutely critical to invest time and money in a reliable data center disaster recovery plan.
Many businesses do not recognize the importance of a data center disaster recovery plan. Even those who do understand the necessity are often confused about just what to look for in a data center disaster recovery plan.
This is a very important decision in any business, from the huge international corporation right down to the fledgling business just starting out. No matter what type or size of business, it is highly advisable to invest some time and effort into finding a superior computer backup system.
Computer backup systems are not the sole component of a data center disaster recovery plan, but they certainly are one of the most important. Think of computer backup systems as insurance for the important data that keeps a business running, protecting it and restoring it when problems occur. Several factors must be considered when choosing the computer backup system that suits our data center's disaster recovery plan.
There are several important factors to consider in choosing a computer backup system to suit your needs.
Security. Can it be configured so that only authorized users ca access it? Can it keep your files and data organized, without any risk of being misplaced or deleted? Determining what the program's security system can and cannot do is vital in making a selection. The computer backup system you choose must be able to address your security concerns.
Accessibility. We know that your backup files need to be secure, but you must also be able to easily update and document your backup system. Superior accessibility boosts efficiency, allowing more time to work on other business endeavors and responsibilities.
Storage. Space will always be an issue in online computer backups, since even the smallest businesses can have a large library of files that need to be secured. You need to evaluate storage options and limitations of your online computer backups to determine if it can, in fact, handle all your precious data.
Ease of Use. A user-friendly program is good to have. A simple but effective program will be used, checked, updated, and tested more frequently than a cumbersome one, minimizing the risk of file recovery disaster and increasing the likelihood of full recovery from disaster.
Reliability. The computer backup system you choose must be able to store your data in an organized manner and restore it completely should the need arise, no matter what. That should be a given, right? Apparently not.
Too many businesses pay little attention to their data center disaster recovery plans (if they even have one), neglecting to test their computer backup system on a regular basis. It is a good idea to run a mock disaster exercise at least once or twice a year, and test to see that your computer backup system is up to the task of restoring whatever data is lost. Otherwise, you may later find out that there are severe complications in file restoration due to flaws in your backup program, setting the stage for a fatal file recovery disaster.
Your computer backup system can make or break your data center disaster recovery plan, which in turn could mean the difference between business success or failure. Take the time to learn, evaluate your options and choose wisely.
Emily King specializes in data center disaster recovery plans and computer backup systems. Click here for in-depth information, reviews and downloads
Go to http://youneeddatacenterdisasterrecoveryplan.blogspot.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emily_King
The data center is the hub of business operations. It houses all of the files, data, programs, and applications that a business cannot do without in today's fast-paced world of which information technology is an integral part. Any harm to these files could deal a severe, or even fatal, blow to any successful company. That is why it's absolutely critical to invest time and money in a reliable data center disaster recovery plan.
Many businesses do not recognize the importance of a data center disaster recovery plan. Even those who do understand the necessity are often confused about just what to look for in a data center disaster recovery plan.
This is a very important decision in any business, from the huge international corporation right down to the fledgling business just starting out. No matter what type or size of business, it is highly advisable to invest some time and effort into finding a superior computer backup system.
Computer backup systems are not the sole component of a data center disaster recovery plan, but they certainly are one of the most important. Think of computer backup systems as insurance for the important data that keeps a business running, protecting it and restoring it when problems occur. Several factors must be considered when choosing the computer backup system that suits our data center's disaster recovery plan.
There are several important factors to consider in choosing a computer backup system to suit your needs.
Security. Can it be configured so that only authorized users ca access it? Can it keep your files and data organized, without any risk of being misplaced or deleted? Determining what the program's security system can and cannot do is vital in making a selection. The computer backup system you choose must be able to address your security concerns.
Accessibility. We know that your backup files need to be secure, but you must also be able to easily update and document your backup system. Superior accessibility boosts efficiency, allowing more time to work on other business endeavors and responsibilities.
Storage. Space will always be an issue in online computer backups, since even the smallest businesses can have a large library of files that need to be secured. You need to evaluate storage options and limitations of your online computer backups to determine if it can, in fact, handle all your precious data.
Ease of Use. A user-friendly program is good to have. A simple but effective program will be used, checked, updated, and tested more frequently than a cumbersome one, minimizing the risk of file recovery disaster and increasing the likelihood of full recovery from disaster.
Reliability. The computer backup system you choose must be able to store your data in an organized manner and restore it completely should the need arise, no matter what. That should be a given, right? Apparently not.
Too many businesses pay little attention to their data center disaster recovery plans (if they even have one), neglecting to test their computer backup system on a regular basis. It is a good idea to run a mock disaster exercise at least once or twice a year, and test to see that your computer backup system is up to the task of restoring whatever data is lost. Otherwise, you may later find out that there are severe complications in file restoration due to flaws in your backup program, setting the stage for a fatal file recovery disaster.
Your computer backup system can make or break your data center disaster recovery plan, which in turn could mean the difference between business success or failure. Take the time to learn, evaluate your options and choose wisely.
Emily King specializes in data center disaster recovery plans and computer backup systems. Click here for in-depth information, reviews and downloads
Go to http://youneeddatacenterdisasterrecoveryplan.blogspot.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emily_King
Thursday 3 July 2008
Methods for Photo Backups
Author: Ziv Haparnas
So you have finally decided to backup those precious photos? There are a few ways to backup photos. In this article we will explain how you can backup your photos either yourself at home or by using an online backup service.
Backing up to a DVD/CD
Backing up to a DVD/CD is done by using a DVD/CD writer and software that can burn files on such media. Usually using such solutions requires more technical know-how. Backing up to a DVD/CD is a cheap solution. You can buy such writer drives and software for under a $100 and each DVD/CD media should cost much less than a dollar. One such software that is used by many is from the company Roxio.When backing up your photos to a DVD/CD please keep the DVD/CD in a safe place a good option would be somewhere out of your home maybe a family member's home, with a neighbor you can trust or with a friend. Another thing to remember with DVD/CD backups is that when you take new photos you should remember to refresh your backups. Usually unless your photo album is very big the easiest way to do that is just to burn again you complete collection.
Backing up to an online backup service
As many other services backup also found its way to the Internet. A number of sites provide backup services today for everything from digital photo albums to your word documents. Those services usually charge a monthly fee in the $10 to $20 but some provide a more limited service for free. The idea behind the service is simple: instead of backing up to a DVD/CD you upload your photos to a site and create copies there. The site stores the backups in a safe place far away from your computer. If a disaster happens and you need your files you can simply download them back from the site or have the site send you a DVD/CD with the files (not all provide the latter option). A broadband connection is needed in order to use this option.
There are many advantages to using an online backup service. First they are usually very easy to use. Some provide software that you download and install on your computer. You point to the folder where your photos reside and the software takes it from there. It will make sure new files are uploaded to the backup service and that the backup is always fresh.
Examples of sites that provide such service are: Streamload that starts with a basic FREE 10GB space (approx 10,000 photos at 2 megapixels) and Xdrive that starts from 5GB for $10 a month.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/digital-photography-articles/methods-for-photo-backups-48552.html
So you have finally decided to backup those precious photos? There are a few ways to backup photos. In this article we will explain how you can backup your photos either yourself at home or by using an online backup service.
Backing up to a DVD/CD
Backing up to a DVD/CD is done by using a DVD/CD writer and software that can burn files on such media. Usually using such solutions requires more technical know-how. Backing up to a DVD/CD is a cheap solution. You can buy such writer drives and software for under a $100 and each DVD/CD media should cost much less than a dollar. One such software that is used by many is from the company Roxio.When backing up your photos to a DVD/CD please keep the DVD/CD in a safe place a good option would be somewhere out of your home maybe a family member's home, with a neighbor you can trust or with a friend. Another thing to remember with DVD/CD backups is that when you take new photos you should remember to refresh your backups. Usually unless your photo album is very big the easiest way to do that is just to burn again you complete collection.
Backing up to an online backup service
As many other services backup also found its way to the Internet. A number of sites provide backup services today for everything from digital photo albums to your word documents. Those services usually charge a monthly fee in the $10 to $20 but some provide a more limited service for free. The idea behind the service is simple: instead of backing up to a DVD/CD you upload your photos to a site and create copies there. The site stores the backups in a safe place far away from your computer. If a disaster happens and you need your files you can simply download them back from the site or have the site send you a DVD/CD with the files (not all provide the latter option). A broadband connection is needed in order to use this option.
There are many advantages to using an online backup service. First they are usually very easy to use. Some provide software that you download and install on your computer. You point to the folder where your photos reside and the software takes it from there. It will make sure new files are uploaded to the backup service and that the backup is always fresh.
Examples of sites that provide such service are: Streamload that starts with a basic FREE 10GB space (approx 10,000 photos at 2 megapixels) and Xdrive that starts from 5GB for $10 a month.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/digital-photography-articles/methods-for-photo-backups-48552.html
Wednesday 25 June 2008
Are Remote Backup Services Cost-Effective?
Author: Nicholas Martens
It seems nowadays that Online Remote Backup services are rising in popularity with each passing year. An important reason for this is that remote backup and recovery plans can be very expensive to implement in-house. In addition to the cost of hardware, software and the cost of hiring trained employees to handle the process, there is the additional expense of maintaining an off-site location for your remote backups. This last step is essential for protecting your critical data from theft, sabotage and also natural disasters.
For a nominal monthly fee, businesses are now entrusting their remote backup services to other third-party companies which ensure that all their critical data are safely transferred and stored in off-site locations for easy recovery whenever they need it. The remote backup services are also much more cost effective and reliable than traditional backup methods using tape, zip, Jazz, CDRW, or DVD drives. Once the service has been set up, it typically requires no human intervention and requires no additional hardware. If a company ever suffers from a data loss, the ROI would be hundreds of times of what was originally paid for the remote backup service.
Most remote backup services transfer data over the web and store the files in an off-site data center. These data centers provide online access to your backed up data which allows you to restore files from anywhere in the world. If due to a natural disaster or some other calamity you are unable to commute, all your data is easily available to you easily with a few clicks of your mouse.
A remote backup is usually run automatically once a day at a preset time, transferring your new and changed files securely over the Internet, in an encrypted format so as to protect against hackers. This saves you time because you don't have to spend hours uploading files to a hard drive or downloading documents onto a CD. You don't even have to remember that a backup is scheduled with automated remote backups.
The remote backup services are an established solution for safe storage of important computer files. Many things can happen to a computer and the data stored within them which makes it necessary that businesses and private computer users rely on the protection provided by remote backup services. Remote backup can be implemented to keep all the important files protected and are found to be far more secure and reliable than the conventional tape backup storage solutions. Individuals, small businesses, corporations, and organizations can make use of this service to ensure that their files are protected and can be easily accessed anytime.
Nicholas Martens is an IT Consultant. He fully endorses the remote backup services provided by Remote Backups Avail yourself of their full-featured, FREE 30 Days Trial! No credit card required!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicholas_Martens
It seems nowadays that Online Remote Backup services are rising in popularity with each passing year. An important reason for this is that remote backup and recovery plans can be very expensive to implement in-house. In addition to the cost of hardware, software and the cost of hiring trained employees to handle the process, there is the additional expense of maintaining an off-site location for your remote backups. This last step is essential for protecting your critical data from theft, sabotage and also natural disasters.
For a nominal monthly fee, businesses are now entrusting their remote backup services to other third-party companies which ensure that all their critical data are safely transferred and stored in off-site locations for easy recovery whenever they need it. The remote backup services are also much more cost effective and reliable than traditional backup methods using tape, zip, Jazz, CDRW, or DVD drives. Once the service has been set up, it typically requires no human intervention and requires no additional hardware. If a company ever suffers from a data loss, the ROI would be hundreds of times of what was originally paid for the remote backup service.
Most remote backup services transfer data over the web and store the files in an off-site data center. These data centers provide online access to your backed up data which allows you to restore files from anywhere in the world. If due to a natural disaster or some other calamity you are unable to commute, all your data is easily available to you easily with a few clicks of your mouse.
A remote backup is usually run automatically once a day at a preset time, transferring your new and changed files securely over the Internet, in an encrypted format so as to protect against hackers. This saves you time because you don't have to spend hours uploading files to a hard drive or downloading documents onto a CD. You don't even have to remember that a backup is scheduled with automated remote backups.
The remote backup services are an established solution for safe storage of important computer files. Many things can happen to a computer and the data stored within them which makes it necessary that businesses and private computer users rely on the protection provided by remote backup services. Remote backup can be implemented to keep all the important files protected and are found to be far more secure and reliable than the conventional tape backup storage solutions. Individuals, small businesses, corporations, and organizations can make use of this service to ensure that their files are protected and can be easily accessed anytime.
Nicholas Martens is an IT Consultant. He fully endorses the remote backup services provided by Remote Backups Avail yourself of their full-featured, FREE 30 Days Trial! No credit card required!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicholas_Martens
Sunday 22 June 2008
Data Recovery Offline Solutions
Author: Ranjith Kumar
Losing your data is an unexpected time consuming problem that may stop you from working depending on why your system crashed to begin with; mechanical or physical. Either way you are stuck until you fix your system or purchase a new one. If you purchase a new one you still need to access your data from your damaged computer system in order to transfer files, documents and other important information that you need.
How do you do that when your system is down?
You can use an offline recovery solution to prevent data loss.
Offline recovery solutions allow you to pick up and recover data that has been lost somehow on your system. It takes minimal effort and you will be up and running in no time. What you need is a software program that you can use to recover your data. There are several different software programs to choose from depending on your needs and your computers capabilities. You may need to do a little research to find the program that is right for you. You may also choose to go with an online program that handles your data while you are offline.
You can also try to recover the data that is lost by what most computer companies call tricks. These tricks are not advisable and should be left to the professionals in order to retrieve your lost data and prevent further damage to your system. Offline data solutions are a great way to recover your lost data safely and effectively without costing you an unbelievable price. You can schedule your data to be saved on a regular program updated daily, weekly or monthly to save all data and prevent files from getting lost.
How You Can Lose Important Data
When you lose your data you may lose very important information; birthdays, appointments, contact addresses, homework assignments, work documents and other important information that you stored on your computer not realizing that you could lose it. Maybe it was a page you had pulled up and working on when someone came in to talk.
During the conversation a button may have been pushed and all of your hard work that day was deleted. Any other time you would worry but this problem can be fixed easily.
When you lose your data sometimes you can fully recover it simply by going into the recycle bin and restoring it while other times it may be deleted from the recycling bin as well. You need to restore the document soon in order to finish your work.
There are other ways that you can lose your data; Hardware problems, system problems, computer virus, disaster such as a fire or other act of nature that may cause damage to your computer.
With the technology that is available today you can sometimes recover data from your hard drive even after a fire, depending on the damage that was done. There is hardly anything that prevents recovery of data now.
Just because your data seems lost or deleted don't underestimate what data recovery sources can do to bring your data back and restore it to its original form. Using software or an online service can prevent loss of data at any time.
The Importance of Data Recovery
With technology today records and other important documents are now kept on computers instead of the traditional pen and paper style of bookkeeping. People put a lot of faith into computers and trust that they will always provide the documentation that they store forever. Most of the time people do not see the need for a back up system to recover any data that may get lost or they may think that it is important but they put off using the backup and eventually forget about it.
Today, social security information, military records, birth records, death records and prison sign in and discharge records can be viewed from the comfort of your home computer.
This information that we all have access to is priceless. It takes less time for someone to type out these documents than it does to mail in a request, have someone write it up make a copy and then send it by mail to the person that requested the information.
This is okay as long as there is a backup plan to saving or recovering data. If there was a fire in a courthouse or file room that housed all the important information then we would only have our computers to gather the information and would have to question the accuracy of that document.
Data recovery is very important and in some cases vital in order to maintain records that may otherwise get lost in the shuffle. Protecting our important documents is the number one goal to a great data recovery.
Data recovery is the process of saving the information that you can no longer get to by using the normal source. Without being able to reach your data you may lose important documents and information that you cannot find anywhere else.
Data recovery will help you to recover that information even if your system has crashed. There are several ways you can recover the information and you can do it yourself or you can hire someone to do it for you. Recovering data can sometimes be more complicated, depending on why you lost the data to begin with. You may have no other choice but to find someone who can recover the data for you.
Data can be lost by any physical damage done to the storage media or any mechanical failure that would cause the media to crash. For the most part with any physical damage you may be able to recover some but not all of the data lost. You may be able to recover data from a mechanical glitch as long as the media is not damaged in the process. You may use data recovery tools to help you recover your data that is lost. These tools are available in different kits depending on your need.
With today's technology data recovery online or offline is possible with tools and other solutions to help you save as much as possible. There are several data recovery agencies to help you online with your data recovery and offer a lot of information for those who wish to try recovery themselves.
Physical damage is not like picking up your computer and slamming it down on the floor or carrying it up a flight of stairs only to drop it at the top. Physical damage can occur in several ways. You use your computer's hard drive everyday not realizing that every time you use it you are putting your computer at risk of a malfunction that can lose your data and be hard to recover it all completely.
Physical damage done to a CD-ROM is usually visible by scratches or marks that can be seen. When you insert these scratched up or marked disks into the hard drive they can cause mechanical failure to your system. You may or may not be able to reverse the damage once it is done and your computer will never operate the same. Dust can become trapped in the hard disk drive causing problems in your computer that may be irreversible. This type of damage can be prevented if you take the time to clean the area frequently and protect it with protective covers.
In order to fix any of the problems done to your hard drive you may need to take it to a professional in order to get if fixed. Professionals discourage users from fixing their own hard drives when physical damage has been done. Complications may occur and may make the problem hard to fix with minimal expense. If you want to fix your own physical damage, consult a professional to make sure that you are using the right tools to keep damage and cost to a minimum.
Online Data Recovery Solutions
Losing your data usually occurs when you don't have the extra time to fix the problem. You may rely on your computer for work or you may use your home computer to keep track of important personal files.
Whatever your reason you are going to be lost without your data so you need to find a quick easy solution to restore your data quickly and easily so you don't have to go long without those important files and documents.
There are several online options to saving data to prevent data loss. These online solutions are available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
The first choice you may have is to hire an online company that can store your data incase of a system lock up, crash or failure. Using these types of services may be your answer, especially if you frequently depend on your computer to house vital information and records. You can also purchase an online backup and restore software which will allow you to recover lost data anytime you need to. These online solutions can recover data from a hard drive, laptop, desktop, server, RAID, OS, tape, email, file, digital photo, mobile device and more. These online companies make recovery simple and easy to use and can protect you from losing data permanently.
The main reason someone loses their data is due to a hardware or system problem but there are other reasons such as human error, disaster, virus, or software corruption. Either way you don't realize how nice an online data recover solution is until you need it.
About the Author: Ranjith is an Internet shopping expert, His Discount Clothing , online shopping, Discount Shoes website provides you with reliable but affordable price for your shopping and product.
Losing your data is an unexpected time consuming problem that may stop you from working depending on why your system crashed to begin with; mechanical or physical. Either way you are stuck until you fix your system or purchase a new one. If you purchase a new one you still need to access your data from your damaged computer system in order to transfer files, documents and other important information that you need.
How do you do that when your system is down?
You can use an offline recovery solution to prevent data loss.
Offline recovery solutions allow you to pick up and recover data that has been lost somehow on your system. It takes minimal effort and you will be up and running in no time. What you need is a software program that you can use to recover your data. There are several different software programs to choose from depending on your needs and your computers capabilities. You may need to do a little research to find the program that is right for you. You may also choose to go with an online program that handles your data while you are offline.
You can also try to recover the data that is lost by what most computer companies call tricks. These tricks are not advisable and should be left to the professionals in order to retrieve your lost data and prevent further damage to your system. Offline data solutions are a great way to recover your lost data safely and effectively without costing you an unbelievable price. You can schedule your data to be saved on a regular program updated daily, weekly or monthly to save all data and prevent files from getting lost.
How You Can Lose Important Data
When you lose your data you may lose very important information; birthdays, appointments, contact addresses, homework assignments, work documents and other important information that you stored on your computer not realizing that you could lose it. Maybe it was a page you had pulled up and working on when someone came in to talk.
During the conversation a button may have been pushed and all of your hard work that day was deleted. Any other time you would worry but this problem can be fixed easily.
When you lose your data sometimes you can fully recover it simply by going into the recycle bin and restoring it while other times it may be deleted from the recycling bin as well. You need to restore the document soon in order to finish your work.
There are other ways that you can lose your data; Hardware problems, system problems, computer virus, disaster such as a fire or other act of nature that may cause damage to your computer.
With the technology that is available today you can sometimes recover data from your hard drive even after a fire, depending on the damage that was done. There is hardly anything that prevents recovery of data now.
Just because your data seems lost or deleted don't underestimate what data recovery sources can do to bring your data back and restore it to its original form. Using software or an online service can prevent loss of data at any time.
The Importance of Data Recovery
With technology today records and other important documents are now kept on computers instead of the traditional pen and paper style of bookkeeping. People put a lot of faith into computers and trust that they will always provide the documentation that they store forever. Most of the time people do not see the need for a back up system to recover any data that may get lost or they may think that it is important but they put off using the backup and eventually forget about it.
Today, social security information, military records, birth records, death records and prison sign in and discharge records can be viewed from the comfort of your home computer.
This information that we all have access to is priceless. It takes less time for someone to type out these documents than it does to mail in a request, have someone write it up make a copy and then send it by mail to the person that requested the information.
This is okay as long as there is a backup plan to saving or recovering data. If there was a fire in a courthouse or file room that housed all the important information then we would only have our computers to gather the information and would have to question the accuracy of that document.
Data recovery is very important and in some cases vital in order to maintain records that may otherwise get lost in the shuffle. Protecting our important documents is the number one goal to a great data recovery.
Data recovery is the process of saving the information that you can no longer get to by using the normal source. Without being able to reach your data you may lose important documents and information that you cannot find anywhere else.
Data recovery will help you to recover that information even if your system has crashed. There are several ways you can recover the information and you can do it yourself or you can hire someone to do it for you. Recovering data can sometimes be more complicated, depending on why you lost the data to begin with. You may have no other choice but to find someone who can recover the data for you.
Data can be lost by any physical damage done to the storage media or any mechanical failure that would cause the media to crash. For the most part with any physical damage you may be able to recover some but not all of the data lost. You may be able to recover data from a mechanical glitch as long as the media is not damaged in the process. You may use data recovery tools to help you recover your data that is lost. These tools are available in different kits depending on your need.
With today's technology data recovery online or offline is possible with tools and other solutions to help you save as much as possible. There are several data recovery agencies to help you online with your data recovery and offer a lot of information for those who wish to try recovery themselves.
Physical damage is not like picking up your computer and slamming it down on the floor or carrying it up a flight of stairs only to drop it at the top. Physical damage can occur in several ways. You use your computer's hard drive everyday not realizing that every time you use it you are putting your computer at risk of a malfunction that can lose your data and be hard to recover it all completely.
Physical damage done to a CD-ROM is usually visible by scratches or marks that can be seen. When you insert these scratched up or marked disks into the hard drive they can cause mechanical failure to your system. You may or may not be able to reverse the damage once it is done and your computer will never operate the same. Dust can become trapped in the hard disk drive causing problems in your computer that may be irreversible. This type of damage can be prevented if you take the time to clean the area frequently and protect it with protective covers.
In order to fix any of the problems done to your hard drive you may need to take it to a professional in order to get if fixed. Professionals discourage users from fixing their own hard drives when physical damage has been done. Complications may occur and may make the problem hard to fix with minimal expense. If you want to fix your own physical damage, consult a professional to make sure that you are using the right tools to keep damage and cost to a minimum.
Online Data Recovery Solutions
Losing your data usually occurs when you don't have the extra time to fix the problem. You may rely on your computer for work or you may use your home computer to keep track of important personal files.
Whatever your reason you are going to be lost without your data so you need to find a quick easy solution to restore your data quickly and easily so you don't have to go long without those important files and documents.
There are several online options to saving data to prevent data loss. These online solutions are available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
The first choice you may have is to hire an online company that can store your data incase of a system lock up, crash or failure. Using these types of services may be your answer, especially if you frequently depend on your computer to house vital information and records. You can also purchase an online backup and restore software which will allow you to recover lost data anytime you need to. These online solutions can recover data from a hard drive, laptop, desktop, server, RAID, OS, tape, email, file, digital photo, mobile device and more. These online companies make recovery simple and easy to use and can protect you from losing data permanently.
The main reason someone loses their data is due to a hardware or system problem but there are other reasons such as human error, disaster, virus, or software corruption. Either way you don't realize how nice an online data recover solution is until you need it.
About the Author: Ranjith is an Internet shopping expert, His Discount Clothing , online shopping, Discount Shoes website provides you with reliable but affordable price for your shopping and product.
Wednesday 18 June 2008
A Professional Software Outsourcing Company in New Delhi, India: Olive E-business
Author: Ashish Goyal
Olive e-Business, New Delhi, India, a leading provider of end-to-end e-business solutions and custom software, specializes in innovative Web solutions and custom software development adhering to stringent quality norms. Olive e-Business, one of the top software outsourcing and development companies in New Delhi India, offers software outsourcing and software development services to enterprises worldwide enabling them to leverage the IT edge. Olive e-business is a highly talented team of dedicated professionals providing valued customers with bespoke solutions and great-value software development services. At Olive, you can benefit immensely from the successful software development and software outsourcing strategies. Olive e-Business, New Delhi, India, offers a wide range of services that includes customized software development, professional Website designing, Web promotion, SEO services, Internet marketing, Web marketing, Web application, database design, professional Web designer, experts software developers, offshore web designing, offshore outsourcing among others. Olive provides its clients with the exact tailor-made software development at will meet their precise business needs. Olive’s squad of experienced and highly-skilled software developers will integrate application development with your line of business. Olive e-Business in New Delhi India follows a consistent software development tactic which helps them provide lucrative and well-organized software development solutions to any industry, virtually. This software development methodology ensures you get a vigorous and error-free product to serve you better and offer you with the edge you deserve, above your competitors.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/a-professional-software-outsourcing-company-in-new-delhi-india-olive-ebusiness-422611.html
Olive e-Business, New Delhi, India, a leading provider of end-to-end e-business solutions and custom software, specializes in innovative Web solutions and custom software development adhering to stringent quality norms. Olive e-Business, one of the top software outsourcing and development companies in New Delhi India, offers software outsourcing and software development services to enterprises worldwide enabling them to leverage the IT edge. Olive e-business is a highly talented team of dedicated professionals providing valued customers with bespoke solutions and great-value software development services. At Olive, you can benefit immensely from the successful software development and software outsourcing strategies. Olive e-Business, New Delhi, India, offers a wide range of services that includes customized software development, professional Website designing, Web promotion, SEO services, Internet marketing, Web marketing, Web application, database design, professional Web designer, experts software developers, offshore web designing, offshore outsourcing among others. Olive provides its clients with the exact tailor-made software development at will meet their precise business needs. Olive’s squad of experienced and highly-skilled software developers will integrate application development with your line of business. Olive e-Business in New Delhi India follows a consistent software development tactic which helps them provide lucrative and well-organized software development solutions to any industry, virtually. This software development methodology ensures you get a vigorous and error-free product to serve you better and offer you with the edge you deserve, above your competitors.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/a-professional-software-outsourcing-company-in-new-delhi-india-olive-ebusiness-422611.html
Tuesday 17 June 2008
Using Offsite Data Backup Software
Author: Roland Jefferson
Today, the wonderful services long afforded big businesses are available to small businesses, home-based businesses and even ordinary home computers. By using offsite data backup software, any computer user can link to a remote data storage company and make automatic copies of selected files. This can be absolutely essential for rebuilding a hard drive in case of damage by virus invasions, accident or natural disaster. The offsite data backup software enables any computer to have its important files preserved by professional technicians in a safe server located far away from any flood, earthquake or tornado that could damage the original computer files.
Far and Away
For years, businesses dependant on large masses of sensitive data have relied on offsite data backup software to keep current data safe and ready in case files need to be rebuilt. The terror attacks on September 11, 2001 caused part of New York City to be shut down for a considerable time, creating a situation where many banks and stock exchange companies were unable to access their primary offices. The companies that were able to open secondary offices and download their business information quickly were able to continue their operations as usual. Businesses that hadn’t planned so well were less fortunate.
The costs that used to be associated with such storage made it an option only for the large financial corporations that depended on the accuracy of their files. Today, new technology has made it affordable for medium and small businesses to take advantage of data storage. Some companies even specialize in storage for home networks and individual computers.
The storage companies send offsite data backup software to the new customer to install. This enables the user to select the files to be stored and how often copies will be uploaded over a LAN or the Internet. The offsite data backup software is different for different companies. High-end offsite data backup software is able to backup open files without any add-ons, including the complex files for database programs. Some offsite data backup software comes ready for multi-site backup for small businesses with multiple office locations.
Very good offsite data backup software even offers online access to the user’s files. Most offsite data backup software is ready to backup a variety of platforms and set the online schedules for automatic copying. Once a user understands how much data storage he needs, he’s ready to select his storage company and its offsite data backup software.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/using-offsite-data-backup-software-193953.html
Today, the wonderful services long afforded big businesses are available to small businesses, home-based businesses and even ordinary home computers. By using offsite data backup software, any computer user can link to a remote data storage company and make automatic copies of selected files. This can be absolutely essential for rebuilding a hard drive in case of damage by virus invasions, accident or natural disaster. The offsite data backup software enables any computer to have its important files preserved by professional technicians in a safe server located far away from any flood, earthquake or tornado that could damage the original computer files.
Far and Away
For years, businesses dependant on large masses of sensitive data have relied on offsite data backup software to keep current data safe and ready in case files need to be rebuilt. The terror attacks on September 11, 2001 caused part of New York City to be shut down for a considerable time, creating a situation where many banks and stock exchange companies were unable to access their primary offices. The companies that were able to open secondary offices and download their business information quickly were able to continue their operations as usual. Businesses that hadn’t planned so well were less fortunate.
The costs that used to be associated with such storage made it an option only for the large financial corporations that depended on the accuracy of their files. Today, new technology has made it affordable for medium and small businesses to take advantage of data storage. Some companies even specialize in storage for home networks and individual computers.
The storage companies send offsite data backup software to the new customer to install. This enables the user to select the files to be stored and how often copies will be uploaded over a LAN or the Internet. The offsite data backup software is different for different companies. High-end offsite data backup software is able to backup open files without any add-ons, including the complex files for database programs. Some offsite data backup software comes ready for multi-site backup for small businesses with multiple office locations.
Very good offsite data backup software even offers online access to the user’s files. Most offsite data backup software is ready to backup a variety of platforms and set the online schedules for automatic copying. Once a user understands how much data storage he needs, he’s ready to select his storage company and its offsite data backup software.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/using-offsite-data-backup-software-193953.html
Monday 16 June 2008
Discover The Best Free Antivirus Software
Author: Paul Elms
If you are looking for the best free antivirus software then you will want to check out AVG antivirus. Here we will run through a review of the product and how it can help you protect your PC from viruses and other malware.
Background
AVG antivirus is marketed by a company called AVG Technologies (formerly known as Grisoft). This Czech company has been active in the computer security field for over 10 years and has good reputation among professional and home computer users. The name AVG comes from the product's original name, which was Anti Virus Guard. But it is now known simply as AVG.
License types
There is a free version and a 'pro' version that is paid for. AVG antivirus free edition is available for home users to install on individual computers. For commercial use, a Pro license is required.
Features
The software comes complete with a database of virus definitions that is updated on a regular basis for free. This update occurs in the background automatically so that there is no chance of you forgetting to do this. There is also real-time protection thanks to the 'AVG Resident Shield'. This detects viruses as soon as they try to infect your machine.
The software will protect against viruses that are attached to emails (one of the most common routes of entry), as well as allowing you to scan all documents that are imported to your machine before you open them. For example if a colleague gives you a CD disk of data, you can run a virus check on it before opening it.
Upgrade
If you upgrade to the 'Pro' version you will get access to technical support. This maybe quite useful if you are a novice computer user. If you are experienced you will probably be happy with continuing to use the free version.
Verdict
This is a full-featured piece of software that has enjoyed many good reviews. It is worthy of being considered the best free antivirus software.
Find out how I choose the top antivirus software for my PC by visiting http://www.top-antivirus-software.com. You can also learn about computer virus definitions.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Elms
If you are looking for the best free antivirus software then you will want to check out AVG antivirus. Here we will run through a review of the product and how it can help you protect your PC from viruses and other malware.
Background
AVG antivirus is marketed by a company called AVG Technologies (formerly known as Grisoft). This Czech company has been active in the computer security field for over 10 years and has good reputation among professional and home computer users. The name AVG comes from the product's original name, which was Anti Virus Guard. But it is now known simply as AVG.
License types
There is a free version and a 'pro' version that is paid for. AVG antivirus free edition is available for home users to install on individual computers. For commercial use, a Pro license is required.
Features
The software comes complete with a database of virus definitions that is updated on a regular basis for free. This update occurs in the background automatically so that there is no chance of you forgetting to do this. There is also real-time protection thanks to the 'AVG Resident Shield'. This detects viruses as soon as they try to infect your machine.
The software will protect against viruses that are attached to emails (one of the most common routes of entry), as well as allowing you to scan all documents that are imported to your machine before you open them. For example if a colleague gives you a CD disk of data, you can run a virus check on it before opening it.
Upgrade
If you upgrade to the 'Pro' version you will get access to technical support. This maybe quite useful if you are a novice computer user. If you are experienced you will probably be happy with continuing to use the free version.
Verdict
This is a full-featured piece of software that has enjoyed many good reviews. It is worthy of being considered the best free antivirus software.
Find out how I choose the top antivirus software for my PC by visiting http://www.top-antivirus-software.com. You can also learn about computer virus definitions.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Elms
Thursday 12 June 2008
Business Accounting Software Solutions
Author: Gordon Petten
Business accounting software solutions can be designed specifically by a company to meet its own needs but is most often provided by an outside source. Most business accounting software solutions on the market today typically include the ability to handle AR, AP, general ledger functions, billing, purchase orders, sales orders, and inventory control. Higher-end software may also include the ability to track expenses and manage payroll, month end reporting, and labor tracking.
These business accounting software solutions often require a long period for implementation and training, sometimes several months or more. In many cases, these solutions include complete integration with existing systems and have to be configured and customized to meet the needs of the company.
Business accounting software solutions can be as simple as a CD-ROM you buy at your local business office supply store and install yourself to something complicated enough to require a consultant to design the software to function within your existing framework. There are business accounting software solutions on the market to meet virtually any individual's or company's needs and software ranging in price from a $40 home business program to a million-dollar program and support system capable of handling the needs of a major international corporation.
The advantage of choosing a high-end business accounting software solution is that these solutions are created to be both industry and company specific and can be modified to meet the precise needs of the business.
Specialty markets which may require high-end business accounting software solutions include banks and other financial companies, construction companies, hospitals and other medical companies, not for profit organizations, and retail operations.
Some business accounting software solutions are a mix of high-end and mid-range software packages. This not only lowers the overall price of the package but can be more suitable for companies early in their growth and for smaller companies. Solutions on this level can even include using database software that is specifically structured to be of use the company.
Because not everyone who relies on business accounting software solutions is an accountant, many smaller businesses have non-accountants in the role of managing the finances and creating the financial reports for the company. In this case, the software solution needs to be user-friendly for the non-accountant. If a company is seeking a business accounting software solution that can be used by non-accountants, it is wise for them to also consider some kind of oversight system in which regular audits are conducted to ensure the information is properly reported.
About the Author: Check out LocateAccountingSoftware.com for free advice on business accounting software solutions to meet your needs.
Business accounting software solutions can be designed specifically by a company to meet its own needs but is most often provided by an outside source. Most business accounting software solutions on the market today typically include the ability to handle AR, AP, general ledger functions, billing, purchase orders, sales orders, and inventory control. Higher-end software may also include the ability to track expenses and manage payroll, month end reporting, and labor tracking.
These business accounting software solutions often require a long period for implementation and training, sometimes several months or more. In many cases, these solutions include complete integration with existing systems and have to be configured and customized to meet the needs of the company.
Business accounting software solutions can be as simple as a CD-ROM you buy at your local business office supply store and install yourself to something complicated enough to require a consultant to design the software to function within your existing framework. There are business accounting software solutions on the market to meet virtually any individual's or company's needs and software ranging in price from a $40 home business program to a million-dollar program and support system capable of handling the needs of a major international corporation.
The advantage of choosing a high-end business accounting software solution is that these solutions are created to be both industry and company specific and can be modified to meet the precise needs of the business.
Specialty markets which may require high-end business accounting software solutions include banks and other financial companies, construction companies, hospitals and other medical companies, not for profit organizations, and retail operations.
Some business accounting software solutions are a mix of high-end and mid-range software packages. This not only lowers the overall price of the package but can be more suitable for companies early in their growth and for smaller companies. Solutions on this level can even include using database software that is specifically structured to be of use the company.
Because not everyone who relies on business accounting software solutions is an accountant, many smaller businesses have non-accountants in the role of managing the finances and creating the financial reports for the company. In this case, the software solution needs to be user-friendly for the non-accountant. If a company is seeking a business accounting software solution that can be used by non-accountants, it is wise for them to also consider some kind of oversight system in which regular audits are conducted to ensure the information is properly reported.
About the Author: Check out LocateAccountingSoftware.com for free advice on business accounting software solutions to meet your needs.
Wednesday 11 June 2008
Data Recovery Software- The Good And The Bad
Author: David Faulkner
If you are a regular computer user, and haven’t already done so, you know that you’ll eventually lose some of your data by mistakenly deleting it, having your operating system crash, or being the victim of a virus, worm, or Trojan. In spite of your best efforts at security, your own error or Mother Nature can step in to compromise your PC and it’s bye-bye files. Is there anyway you can rebound if the worst happens?
Yu have at least one readily available solution: data recovery software. Data recovery software is an ingenious tool which, like a beloved hunting dog, tracks down and retrieves data which has been lost in the vast wilderness of your hard drive. Data recovery software does not question why you lost your data; it only seeks to return it to you.
Data recovery software can make even novice PC users look like Microsoft geeks, and can save you from having to ship your hard drive over long distances for extended periods so that a data recovery service can examine it and decide whether or not your data is salvageable.
How Data Recovery Software Works
Data recovery software works because even though data may have been deleted or moved from one area of your computer’s hard drive, a copy of it remains on another area. The data recovery software will locate this copy, and once it does the data can be retrieved and used again. If, however, the data which is lost was data from a file on which you were working, but had not yet saved, when your data loss occurred, the data recovery software won’t be able to get it back. It will only be able to find the most recently saved version.
The Limits Of Data Recovery Software
Another little-known characteristic of data recovery software is that it is, very often, task-specific. In other words, not all data recovery software is equipped to deal with every type of data loss. Some software will retrieve lost email information and some will find lost passwords. But there is comprehensive data recovery software as well, so make sure you understand what you are buying.
Data recovery software should be your first choice for recovering your lost files; if you can succeed with it, make a habit in the future of backing up all your critical data. But if the data recovery software, in spite of your best efforts, is just not up to the job, you can decide if you want to take the next step and consult a data recovery specialist.
You can also find more info on External Hard Drive Data Recovery and Free Data Recovery Tools. Pcdatarecoveryhelp.com is a comprehensive resource to know about Data Recovery.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Faulkner
If you are a regular computer user, and haven’t already done so, you know that you’ll eventually lose some of your data by mistakenly deleting it, having your operating system crash, or being the victim of a virus, worm, or Trojan. In spite of your best efforts at security, your own error or Mother Nature can step in to compromise your PC and it’s bye-bye files. Is there anyway you can rebound if the worst happens?
Yu have at least one readily available solution: data recovery software. Data recovery software is an ingenious tool which, like a beloved hunting dog, tracks down and retrieves data which has been lost in the vast wilderness of your hard drive. Data recovery software does not question why you lost your data; it only seeks to return it to you.
Data recovery software can make even novice PC users look like Microsoft geeks, and can save you from having to ship your hard drive over long distances for extended periods so that a data recovery service can examine it and decide whether or not your data is salvageable.
How Data Recovery Software Works
Data recovery software works because even though data may have been deleted or moved from one area of your computer’s hard drive, a copy of it remains on another area. The data recovery software will locate this copy, and once it does the data can be retrieved and used again. If, however, the data which is lost was data from a file on which you were working, but had not yet saved, when your data loss occurred, the data recovery software won’t be able to get it back. It will only be able to find the most recently saved version.
The Limits Of Data Recovery Software
Another little-known characteristic of data recovery software is that it is, very often, task-specific. In other words, not all data recovery software is equipped to deal with every type of data loss. Some software will retrieve lost email information and some will find lost passwords. But there is comprehensive data recovery software as well, so make sure you understand what you are buying.
Data recovery software should be your first choice for recovering your lost files; if you can succeed with it, make a habit in the future of backing up all your critical data. But if the data recovery software, in spite of your best efforts, is just not up to the job, you can decide if you want to take the next step and consult a data recovery specialist.
You can also find more info on External Hard Drive Data Recovery and Free Data Recovery Tools. Pcdatarecoveryhelp.com is a comprehensive resource to know about Data Recovery.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Faulkner
Tuesday 10 June 2008
How to Prevent Data Loss Situations
Author: Neha Gupta
One fine morning when you open your computer system and try to open an important file and the message appears ‘the particular file cannot be opened’. Now do you have the idea why the file is no longer accessible, it could be a virus attack, media corruption, file deletion or anything of that sort.
Files and folders might get corrupt or damaged due to severe virus attacks, corruption of the storage media, unexpected system shutdown, bad sectors in the disk and display of error messages are the possible reasons which lead a file to get damaged or corrupt.
You can prevent such situations by taking simple and easy to follow measures:
Perform regular Backups: Backup your data on regular basis. These backups can be created with some backup software or on some external media like – CDRW, DVD, and Tape.
Placement of your computer system: Keep your computer system in safe, dry and dust free area to prevent physical damage to the computers.
Update Virus Definitions: Viruses can attack at any point of time, so regularly update your anti-virus software. Virus attacks can result into severe data loss.
Protect your system from Power Surges: Huge power surges can destroy your computer equipment but on the contrary low level of power release can erase data on the hard drives. Always ensure that your computer system receives uninterrupted power supply, so that data can be backed up at the time of outage.
Protection from Static Electricity: The computer system should be protected from the Static Electricity which erases data or damage the equipments. The available storage media’s are becoming more vulnerable to Extraneous Static Discharge (ESD)
Use of built-in features: Now days, many of the installation and diagnostic programs provide “Undo” disks that can restore the computer system to its original configurations in case if something goes wrong.
Simple mistakes can lead to severe data loss situations. After all being human-beings we have the right to commit mistakes but the ultimate solution to this problem is – Perform backups and save your business and data.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/data-recovery-articles/how-to-prevent-data-loss-situations-91768.html
One fine morning when you open your computer system and try to open an important file and the message appears ‘the particular file cannot be opened’. Now do you have the idea why the file is no longer accessible, it could be a virus attack, media corruption, file deletion or anything of that sort.
Files and folders might get corrupt or damaged due to severe virus attacks, corruption of the storage media, unexpected system shutdown, bad sectors in the disk and display of error messages are the possible reasons which lead a file to get damaged or corrupt.
You can prevent such situations by taking simple and easy to follow measures:
Perform regular Backups: Backup your data on regular basis. These backups can be created with some backup software or on some external media like – CDRW, DVD, and Tape.
Placement of your computer system: Keep your computer system in safe, dry and dust free area to prevent physical damage to the computers.
Update Virus Definitions: Viruses can attack at any point of time, so regularly update your anti-virus software. Virus attacks can result into severe data loss.
Protect your system from Power Surges: Huge power surges can destroy your computer equipment but on the contrary low level of power release can erase data on the hard drives. Always ensure that your computer system receives uninterrupted power supply, so that data can be backed up at the time of outage.
Protection from Static Electricity: The computer system should be protected from the Static Electricity which erases data or damage the equipments. The available storage media’s are becoming more vulnerable to Extraneous Static Discharge (ESD)
Use of built-in features: Now days, many of the installation and diagnostic programs provide “Undo” disks that can restore the computer system to its original configurations in case if something goes wrong.
Simple mistakes can lead to severe data loss situations. After all being human-beings we have the right to commit mistakes but the ultimate solution to this problem is – Perform backups and save your business and data.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/data-recovery-articles/how-to-prevent-data-loss-situations-91768.html
Monday 9 June 2008
Creating a Backup Strategy to avoid Disaster
Author: Sandra Prior
Organize your data so it is easy to back up.
You want all your data files (e.g. Word documents, Excel documents, email, etc.) to be in folders that are all inside a single folder on your hard disk. Windows provides you with a folder named "My Documents" designed for this purpose. In Windows 95/98/ME there is a single My Documents folder shared by all users while Windows NT/2000/XP creates a separate My Documents folder for each login account. Backing up the "WinNT\Profiles" folder in NT 4.0 or the "Documents and Settings" folder in Windows 2000/XP will back up the My Documents folders for all users if you are logged in as an administrator.
Many programs default to saving files in the My Documents folder and programs that can’t can usually be set to do so. You will probably want to create new folders under the My Documents folder to keep data from different applications or projects separate. You may need to read the documentation to learn how, but you should set each program to open documents from and save documents to the appropriate folders you have created under the My Documents folder. If you do this consistently you will know where all your data is on your hard disk and won't accidentally miss backing up important data.
Choose what device you will use to back up your data.
The most common devices to back up data have been tape drives, zip drives and flash drives. More recently, CDRW drives (CD read/write drives) are being used for backups. Your decision will be based on how much data you need to back up, what devices you already have that could be used for backups, and whether or not you can purchase a new backup device.
The least expensive devices are Iomega zip drives and disks. Zip disks come in 250MB and 100MB sizes. You must buy a zip drive designed for 250MB disks to use 250MB disks. All zip drives can work with 100MB zip disks. Zip drives come with software for backing up data to zip disks or you can copy the folder that all your data is under ("My Documents" or "Documents and Settings" to a zip disk if it will all fit.
Jaz drives come in 1GB and 2GB sizes and are similar to zip drives but are bigger and cost more. They use the same Iomega backup software as zip drives. You can also use DVD disks which are 4.7gig in size.
CDRW drives can be used like a 650MB floppy disk when using CDRW disks and packet writing software that comes with the drive. The disks you create will be readable only on other CDRW drives or CDR/DVD drives that support the multi-thread standard. All drives capable of reading CDRW disks require software to be installed that supports reading CDRW disks. You should use software that supports the UDF standard (most current CDRW packet writing software does) when writing files on your CDRW drive and install UDF reader software on computers with multithread CD or DVD drives that you want to read CDRW disks. Drives with early implementations of multithread may not be able to read CDRW disks even with UDF reader software installed. Free UDF readers are available from Ahead Software and Roxio. CDRW drives may come with backup or disaster recovery software but you should look carefully at the software bundled with a CDRW drive before purchasing it.
Unlike the previous devices, tape drives are designed specifically for backing up data. They hold more data, 4GB to more than 40GB, and require running a backup program both to backup or restore files. A tape drive cannot be used like a large floppy disk. Windows 95/98/ME does not come with backup software so you must use the software, if any, that comes with the tape drive, or purchase backup software. Windows NT has a backup program that works with most SCSI tape drives. Windows 2000/XP has a backup program that works with any removable media that can be written to from within Windows (e.g. zip, jaz, CDRW) and most tape drives. Tape is the least expensive media for very large amounts of data.
Develop a backup strategy.
You can just copy the files you need backed up onto removable media. This cannot be done with tape, but works with zip, jaz, and CDWR disks. It only works well if all your data fits on a single disk. Using a backup program allows using tape and can span more than one disk or tape if necessary. Backup programs also allow special backup series starting with a complete backup followed by backing up only files that have changed. Initially, assume doing complete backups. Ideally, you should back up your data on a daily basis. This guarantees that you won't lose more than one day's work if your hard disk crashes. In the strategies below, it also means you aren't completely dependent on any one disk or tape for your backups. Removable disks and tapes also go bad.
Strategy One: Gives you one work week of daily backups.
Label five media (disks or tapes) Monday, Tuesday, ..., Friday. On a Monday, put Monday's media into its drive then copy/backup your "My Documents" folder or "Documents and Settings" folder to the media. Remove the media when all the files have been saved to it. Repeat step 2 daily using the appropriately labelled media for each day. Erase the data on the backup media from the previous week either manually or through the backup program you are using before performing a new backup to it. Strategy Two: This is an extension of Strategy One. It gives you one work week of daily backups plus one month of weekly backups.
Label four media Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Label five media 1st Monday, 2nd Monday, ..., 5th Monday. On the first Monday of the month, delete any data already on your 1st Monday media then backup your data to it. Backups on Tuesday through Friday will be the same as in Strategy One. On the second, third, fourth, and fifth (if there is one) Monday of the month you would delete previous data then perform a current back up to the media labelled for that Monday. Strategy Three: This is an extension of Strategy Two. It adds a year of monthly backups.
Replace the 1st Monday media in Strategy Two with 12 media labelled January, February, ..., December. On the first Monday of each month use the media labelled for that month erasing the data from the previous backup to that media. All other days of the month are as in Strategy Two. Strategy Four: This is the minimalist backup strategy and is a cut down version of Strategy One. Use two media rather than five and label them A and B. Back up your data files daily alternating between the two media. This protects you against hard disk failure but not against viruses. Destructive viruses often go undetected for relatively long periods of time and you may need a backup that goes back days or weeks to recover data damaged by a virus. You should never use only one disk or tape for backups. All media can fail so you should have at least two backups in addition to working copies of your data.
Strategy Five: This is the easiest strategy if it's available to you. If you are faculty or staff at a university and your computer is on a LAN (local area network), you may be able to keep your files on a LAN file server where files are backed up to tape every night. Check with your local computer support group to see if this is the case and what restrictions or costs might be in place.
Which strategy to use depends on how far back in time you want to be able to restore data from and how much effort you are willing to devote to backups. Strategy Three is no more work than Strategy One, but requires more media and slightly more organization. If you use backup software you may be able to use partial backups that are called incremental and differential backups. Both start by doing a full backup followed by:
Incremental backups: They copy only files that have changed since the last backup into a new backup set. This is the most space efficient backup type but is the most difficult to do restores from. You might be able to do a full backup plus four incremental backups on a single media. If so, you would only need one disk or tape per week but might need to look in five different backup sets to find the right one to restore a file from. A complete restore requires restoring all five backup sets. Using incremental backups this way would lose a week's worth of backups if the media goes bad.
Differential backups: They copy all files that have changed since the last full backup into a new backup set. This means you only need to look in the full backup set and the most recent differential backup set to find the most recent version of a file. You only need to restore the full backup set and the most recent differential backup set to know you have the most recent version of all your data. Like the incremental backups, you might be able to put a full week of backups onto a single disk or tape and risk losing a full week of backup files if the media goes bad. Complete backups on a daily basis are easiest to restore from. You use your most recent backup to recover the most recent version of a data file or go back to the previous backup that is appropriate if you want an earlier version of the file.
About the Author: Sandra Prior runs her own websites at http://usacomputers.rr.nu and http://sacomputers.rr.nu.
Organize your data so it is easy to back up.
You want all your data files (e.g. Word documents, Excel documents, email, etc.) to be in folders that are all inside a single folder on your hard disk. Windows provides you with a folder named "My Documents" designed for this purpose. In Windows 95/98/ME there is a single My Documents folder shared by all users while Windows NT/2000/XP creates a separate My Documents folder for each login account. Backing up the "WinNT\Profiles" folder in NT 4.0 or the "Documents and Settings" folder in Windows 2000/XP will back up the My Documents folders for all users if you are logged in as an administrator.
Many programs default to saving files in the My Documents folder and programs that can’t can usually be set to do so. You will probably want to create new folders under the My Documents folder to keep data from different applications or projects separate. You may need to read the documentation to learn how, but you should set each program to open documents from and save documents to the appropriate folders you have created under the My Documents folder. If you do this consistently you will know where all your data is on your hard disk and won't accidentally miss backing up important data.
Choose what device you will use to back up your data.
The most common devices to back up data have been tape drives, zip drives and flash drives. More recently, CDRW drives (CD read/write drives) are being used for backups. Your decision will be based on how much data you need to back up, what devices you already have that could be used for backups, and whether or not you can purchase a new backup device.
The least expensive devices are Iomega zip drives and disks. Zip disks come in 250MB and 100MB sizes. You must buy a zip drive designed for 250MB disks to use 250MB disks. All zip drives can work with 100MB zip disks. Zip drives come with software for backing up data to zip disks or you can copy the folder that all your data is under ("My Documents" or "Documents and Settings" to a zip disk if it will all fit.
Jaz drives come in 1GB and 2GB sizes and are similar to zip drives but are bigger and cost more. They use the same Iomega backup software as zip drives. You can also use DVD disks which are 4.7gig in size.
CDRW drives can be used like a 650MB floppy disk when using CDRW disks and packet writing software that comes with the drive. The disks you create will be readable only on other CDRW drives or CDR/DVD drives that support the multi-thread standard. All drives capable of reading CDRW disks require software to be installed that supports reading CDRW disks. You should use software that supports the UDF standard (most current CDRW packet writing software does) when writing files on your CDRW drive and install UDF reader software on computers with multithread CD or DVD drives that you want to read CDRW disks. Drives with early implementations of multithread may not be able to read CDRW disks even with UDF reader software installed. Free UDF readers are available from Ahead Software and Roxio. CDRW drives may come with backup or disaster recovery software but you should look carefully at the software bundled with a CDRW drive before purchasing it.
Unlike the previous devices, tape drives are designed specifically for backing up data. They hold more data, 4GB to more than 40GB, and require running a backup program both to backup or restore files. A tape drive cannot be used like a large floppy disk. Windows 95/98/ME does not come with backup software so you must use the software, if any, that comes with the tape drive, or purchase backup software. Windows NT has a backup program that works with most SCSI tape drives. Windows 2000/XP has a backup program that works with any removable media that can be written to from within Windows (e.g. zip, jaz, CDRW) and most tape drives. Tape is the least expensive media for very large amounts of data.
Develop a backup strategy.
You can just copy the files you need backed up onto removable media. This cannot be done with tape, but works with zip, jaz, and CDWR disks. It only works well if all your data fits on a single disk. Using a backup program allows using tape and can span more than one disk or tape if necessary. Backup programs also allow special backup series starting with a complete backup followed by backing up only files that have changed. Initially, assume doing complete backups. Ideally, you should back up your data on a daily basis. This guarantees that you won't lose more than one day's work if your hard disk crashes. In the strategies below, it also means you aren't completely dependent on any one disk or tape for your backups. Removable disks and tapes also go bad.
Strategy One: Gives you one work week of daily backups.
Label five media (disks or tapes) Monday, Tuesday, ..., Friday. On a Monday, put Monday's media into its drive then copy/backup your "My Documents" folder or "Documents and Settings" folder to the media. Remove the media when all the files have been saved to it. Repeat step 2 daily using the appropriately labelled media for each day. Erase the data on the backup media from the previous week either manually or through the backup program you are using before performing a new backup to it. Strategy Two: This is an extension of Strategy One. It gives you one work week of daily backups plus one month of weekly backups.
Label four media Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Label five media 1st Monday, 2nd Monday, ..., 5th Monday. On the first Monday of the month, delete any data already on your 1st Monday media then backup your data to it. Backups on Tuesday through Friday will be the same as in Strategy One. On the second, third, fourth, and fifth (if there is one) Monday of the month you would delete previous data then perform a current back up to the media labelled for that Monday. Strategy Three: This is an extension of Strategy Two. It adds a year of monthly backups.
Replace the 1st Monday media in Strategy Two with 12 media labelled January, February, ..., December. On the first Monday of each month use the media labelled for that month erasing the data from the previous backup to that media. All other days of the month are as in Strategy Two. Strategy Four: This is the minimalist backup strategy and is a cut down version of Strategy One. Use two media rather than five and label them A and B. Back up your data files daily alternating between the two media. This protects you against hard disk failure but not against viruses. Destructive viruses often go undetected for relatively long periods of time and you may need a backup that goes back days or weeks to recover data damaged by a virus. You should never use only one disk or tape for backups. All media can fail so you should have at least two backups in addition to working copies of your data.
Strategy Five: This is the easiest strategy if it's available to you. If you are faculty or staff at a university and your computer is on a LAN (local area network), you may be able to keep your files on a LAN file server where files are backed up to tape every night. Check with your local computer support group to see if this is the case and what restrictions or costs might be in place.
Which strategy to use depends on how far back in time you want to be able to restore data from and how much effort you are willing to devote to backups. Strategy Three is no more work than Strategy One, but requires more media and slightly more organization. If you use backup software you may be able to use partial backups that are called incremental and differential backups. Both start by doing a full backup followed by:
Incremental backups: They copy only files that have changed since the last backup into a new backup set. This is the most space efficient backup type but is the most difficult to do restores from. You might be able to do a full backup plus four incremental backups on a single media. If so, you would only need one disk or tape per week but might need to look in five different backup sets to find the right one to restore a file from. A complete restore requires restoring all five backup sets. Using incremental backups this way would lose a week's worth of backups if the media goes bad.
Differential backups: They copy all files that have changed since the last full backup into a new backup set. This means you only need to look in the full backup set and the most recent differential backup set to find the most recent version of a file. You only need to restore the full backup set and the most recent differential backup set to know you have the most recent version of all your data. Like the incremental backups, you might be able to put a full week of backups onto a single disk or tape and risk losing a full week of backup files if the media goes bad. Complete backups on a daily basis are easiest to restore from. You use your most recent backup to recover the most recent version of a data file or go back to the previous backup that is appropriate if you want an earlier version of the file.
About the Author: Sandra Prior runs her own websites at http://usacomputers.rr.nu and http://sacomputers.rr.nu.
Saturday 7 June 2008
Downloadable Backup Software
Author: By Eddie Tobey
Backup software ranges from simple programs that help you copy files to a floppy or CD to complex software packages that backup thousands of networked computers. There are backup software programs that can be downloaded directly from the Internet.
Downloadable backup programs enable you to store your data in a variety of storing devices such as tapes, CDs, DVDs, and hard drives. Downloadable backup software programs can be used in different types of computers such as personal computers, local network computers, and large professional computer networks.
Downloadable backup software may be freeware or payware programs. Freeware programs are usually suitable only for free software such as GNU and Linux. Before you download a backup software program, make sure that it is suitable for the operating system you use in your computer. Most downloadable backup software packages run in operating systems such as Windows 98/Me/NT4/2000/XP/2003. Downloadable backup software can be full backup software, differential backup software, or incremental backup software. Full backup software is used for the full restoring of a crashed hard drive. Differential backup software packages restore selected files. Incremental backup software helps you restore data present on specified date and time.
Most downloadable backup software companies provide online information on their products and prices. Some allow comparisons of their products and prices with others. Most downloadable backup software programs have shareware versions, which are free trail versions of the original software.
Downloadable backup software can be hard drive backup software, online backup software, or utility backup software. The downloading procedure is generally easy and can be done by following the instructions. You can keep a copy of the downloaded software program on a CD or DVD for future use.
Backup Software provides detailed information on Backup Software, CD ROM Backup Software, Free Backup Software, Computer Backup Software and more. Backup Software is affiliated with Network Status Monitoring Software.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eddie_Tobey
Backup software ranges from simple programs that help you copy files to a floppy or CD to complex software packages that backup thousands of networked computers. There are backup software programs that can be downloaded directly from the Internet.
Downloadable backup programs enable you to store your data in a variety of storing devices such as tapes, CDs, DVDs, and hard drives. Downloadable backup software programs can be used in different types of computers such as personal computers, local network computers, and large professional computer networks.
Downloadable backup software may be freeware or payware programs. Freeware programs are usually suitable only for free software such as GNU and Linux. Before you download a backup software program, make sure that it is suitable for the operating system you use in your computer. Most downloadable backup software packages run in operating systems such as Windows 98/Me/NT4/2000/XP/2003. Downloadable backup software can be full backup software, differential backup software, or incremental backup software. Full backup software is used for the full restoring of a crashed hard drive. Differential backup software packages restore selected files. Incremental backup software helps you restore data present on specified date and time.
Most downloadable backup software companies provide online information on their products and prices. Some allow comparisons of their products and prices with others. Most downloadable backup software programs have shareware versions, which are free trail versions of the original software.
Downloadable backup software can be hard drive backup software, online backup software, or utility backup software. The downloading procedure is generally easy and can be done by following the instructions. You can keep a copy of the downloaded software program on a CD or DVD for future use.
Backup Software provides detailed information on Backup Software, CD ROM Backup Software, Free Backup Software, Computer Backup Software and more. Backup Software is affiliated with Network Status Monitoring Software.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eddie_Tobey
Friday 6 June 2008
Free Online Antivirus
Author: Alexander Rodichev
Get rid of that nasty virus right now! No need to pay for an anti-virus. No need to install anything. Just visit http://www.smartpctools.com/free_online_antivirus/ to scan your system and kill the infection online!
Empower your blog or Web site with an online antivirus scanner. Offer your visitors free protection right from your Web site. Free Online Antivirus does not cost anything to you or your visitors; it is essentially free for all purposes.
If your computer got infected with a virus or Trojan, it may be too late to research your options for the best and ultimate anti-virus solution. Getting rid of infection as soon as possible is your ultimate goal. What can be faster than a free scanner that runs from a Web browser with no installation and no licensing delays? Free Online Antivirus by Smart PC Solutions does exactly what the name suggests. It provides a completely, absolutely free virus protection from a Web browser. Launching in Internet Explorer as an ActiveX component, Free Online Antivirus requires no installation, no configuration and no licensing fees. Simply point your Web browser to http://www.smartpctools.com/free_online_antivirus/ and start scanning your system to clean every known virus including the latest ones!
Free Online Antivirus does not require updates of its anti-virus database. Being an online-based product, it always has access to the latest virus definitions. By using Free Online Antivirus you are protected against all threats including those just recently discovered.
Running your own blog, forum or Web site? Help your visitors get the same level of virus protection as you have! Free Online Antivirus is freely redistributable. Simply download a small ActiveX component and link it onto a Web page as shown in the supplied sample, and your visitors will be able to run a free virus scan from your own Web site. Don't want to upload an ActiveX file to your Web server? Just hot-link to that ActiveX component located on Smart PC Solutions Web site to give your visitors the ultimate free protection.
Free Online Antivirus is quick to learn and simple to use. here are not many options and configuration settings available, but this free little program does wonders at work.
Free Online Antivirus is provided to you and your visitors at no cost by Smart PC Solutions. Visit http://www.smartpctools.com/free_online_antivirus/ to get protected without delay.
Summary: Free anti-virus protection to you and your visitors. Free Online Antivirus does not cost anything to you or your visitors; it is essentially free for all purposes.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/free-online-antivirus-414858.html
Get rid of that nasty virus right now! No need to pay for an anti-virus. No need to install anything. Just visit http://www.smartpctools.com/free_online_antivirus/ to scan your system and kill the infection online!
Empower your blog or Web site with an online antivirus scanner. Offer your visitors free protection right from your Web site. Free Online Antivirus does not cost anything to you or your visitors; it is essentially free for all purposes.
If your computer got infected with a virus or Trojan, it may be too late to research your options for the best and ultimate anti-virus solution. Getting rid of infection as soon as possible is your ultimate goal. What can be faster than a free scanner that runs from a Web browser with no installation and no licensing delays? Free Online Antivirus by Smart PC Solutions does exactly what the name suggests. It provides a completely, absolutely free virus protection from a Web browser. Launching in Internet Explorer as an ActiveX component, Free Online Antivirus requires no installation, no configuration and no licensing fees. Simply point your Web browser to http://www.smartpctools.com/free_online_antivirus/ and start scanning your system to clean every known virus including the latest ones!
Free Online Antivirus does not require updates of its anti-virus database. Being an online-based product, it always has access to the latest virus definitions. By using Free Online Antivirus you are protected against all threats including those just recently discovered.
Running your own blog, forum or Web site? Help your visitors get the same level of virus protection as you have! Free Online Antivirus is freely redistributable. Simply download a small ActiveX component and link it onto a Web page as shown in the supplied sample, and your visitors will be able to run a free virus scan from your own Web site. Don't want to upload an ActiveX file to your Web server? Just hot-link to that ActiveX component located on Smart PC Solutions Web site to give your visitors the ultimate free protection.
Free Online Antivirus is quick to learn and simple to use. here are not many options and configuration settings available, but this free little program does wonders at work.
Free Online Antivirus is provided to you and your visitors at no cost by Smart PC Solutions. Visit http://www.smartpctools.com/free_online_antivirus/ to get protected without delay.
Summary: Free anti-virus protection to you and your visitors. Free Online Antivirus does not cost anything to you or your visitors; it is essentially free for all purposes.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/free-online-antivirus-414858.html
Thursday 5 June 2008
Buy your Software over the Internet and Save some Cash
Author: Sandra Prior
Theoretically, software is the ideal item to buy over the Internet. Choose your program, hand over your credit card number and before you know it, your new software has been downloaded on to your computer and is ready to run. In practice though, things aren't quite that simple.
Many applications, especially games, are far too big to download over a modem and even if you could, you would miss out on all the documentation and that lovely big box you never know what to do with.
The bulk of paid-for software sales on the Net still go through outlets selling boxed programs, but the number of pay-to-download options is growing, especially with the increasing respectability of shareware. Many small utilities such as WinZip can be paid for online, enabling computer users to save their consciences by registering programs that they've used way beyond the specified trial period. In any case, the nag screen becomes terribly annoying, and you may as well pay the few bucks for it.
If you do buy some software - commercial or otherwise - by downloading it and paying with your credit card, make sure you keep a record of the transaction somewhere other than on your computer. Should the worst happen and your hard disk throws itself off a tall building, it'll take ages to pick up the pieces of your digital life and you'll need some proof of purchase to give to the retailer so it'll let you download the program again.
But for the time being, it's boxed software we're after - the cheapest place to buy McAfee, or MSOffice. An increasing number of software publishers are selling direct over the Net, but few games publishers do so because the high street retailers that are so important to a game's success would get miffed if they were undercut online.
If you're buying an application, it's worth paying a visit to the publisher's site first - because it's cut out the middle man, it might be offering a good deal. Shop around on the Net and it won't be long before you've found your program on sale for less than it costs in the high street and as cheap as any mail order outlet.
However, the vast majority of software shops on the Net are in a parlous state. Ugly design, unhelpful search engines and badly organized directories are just the start of your worries. Few of the sites attempt to highlight new or popular programs, with most just content to let you do all the work. Take a look at Kalahari.net and you won't even see a description of their products.
The most impressive software sites are situated in the US. Many of them have clear, detailed descriptions, with plenty of bargains and a money making affiliate program. Their sites are searchable by title or category, and boast a simple ordering procedure. You will also see how cheap hardware and software is in the US. Go green with envy and smash your monitor in frustration. Remember, that US DVDs and console games may not work on unmodified kits in your own country.
It all begs the question, 'Who is going to be the Amazon.com of the software market?' If the existing shops don't get their act together, it's more than likely that it's going to be Amazon.com.
About the Author: Sandra Prior runs her own websites at http://usacomputers.rr.nu and http://sacomputers.rr.nu.
Theoretically, software is the ideal item to buy over the Internet. Choose your program, hand over your credit card number and before you know it, your new software has been downloaded on to your computer and is ready to run. In practice though, things aren't quite that simple.
Many applications, especially games, are far too big to download over a modem and even if you could, you would miss out on all the documentation and that lovely big box you never know what to do with.
The bulk of paid-for software sales on the Net still go through outlets selling boxed programs, but the number of pay-to-download options is growing, especially with the increasing respectability of shareware. Many small utilities such as WinZip can be paid for online, enabling computer users to save their consciences by registering programs that they've used way beyond the specified trial period. In any case, the nag screen becomes terribly annoying, and you may as well pay the few bucks for it.
If you do buy some software - commercial or otherwise - by downloading it and paying with your credit card, make sure you keep a record of the transaction somewhere other than on your computer. Should the worst happen and your hard disk throws itself off a tall building, it'll take ages to pick up the pieces of your digital life and you'll need some proof of purchase to give to the retailer so it'll let you download the program again.
But for the time being, it's boxed software we're after - the cheapest place to buy McAfee, or MSOffice. An increasing number of software publishers are selling direct over the Net, but few games publishers do so because the high street retailers that are so important to a game's success would get miffed if they were undercut online.
If you're buying an application, it's worth paying a visit to the publisher's site first - because it's cut out the middle man, it might be offering a good deal. Shop around on the Net and it won't be long before you've found your program on sale for less than it costs in the high street and as cheap as any mail order outlet.
However, the vast majority of software shops on the Net are in a parlous state. Ugly design, unhelpful search engines and badly organized directories are just the start of your worries. Few of the sites attempt to highlight new or popular programs, with most just content to let you do all the work. Take a look at Kalahari.net and you won't even see a description of their products.
The most impressive software sites are situated in the US. Many of them have clear, detailed descriptions, with plenty of bargains and a money making affiliate program. Their sites are searchable by title or category, and boast a simple ordering procedure. You will also see how cheap hardware and software is in the US. Go green with envy and smash your monitor in frustration. Remember, that US DVDs and console games may not work on unmodified kits in your own country.
It all begs the question, 'Who is going to be the Amazon.com of the software market?' If the existing shops don't get their act together, it's more than likely that it's going to be Amazon.com.
About the Author: Sandra Prior runs her own websites at http://usacomputers.rr.nu and http://sacomputers.rr.nu.
Wednesday 4 June 2008
Does Satellite TV For PC Work? - Download Satellite TV For PC
By Ronald Gilbert
Are you interested to know whether satellite TV for PC really works, and how you can download this software online? Even though I had heard many good things about satellite television, I have also downloaded many poor quality software that did not deliver. Many of them are fake and do not work, and are selling based on the popularity of satellite television technology.
One of the software I downloaded is called the Satellite TV for PC Elite Edition. This article will discuss some of its key features and my experience with it, as well as tell you where to go to download your copy.
1. Is The Satellite TV for PC Software Worth Paying For?
Different software programs charge different prices based on the number of channels offered and the quality of pictures and sound. I chose the Elite edition not because it was the cheapest or that it had the most channels, but I chose it because I felt that it was the most value for money.
This software gives me access to over 3,000 channels in many different varieties including live sports, TV shows, movies, news and many more. To watch any channel, I simply click on its name and wait for about 1 minute while it loads up.
2. Always Make Sure that the Software You Download is Safe
Any time you install external programs on your PC, you should always make sure that they are free of spyware and viruses. If possible, always turn on your PC protection programs when you download new files from the internet.
3. Where Do You Download Satellite TV for PC Software?
Before you decide to purchase from any of the sites online, you should not buy based on the claims made on these websites alone. Always look for positive testimonials and read reviews making a decision. To find out where you can download the most popular and fully workable version of Satellite TV for PC software, visit the website link below to learn more.
Are you looking to download and use the Satellite TV For PC Software? Don't do it yet, not until you read the author's complete review of the Top 5 Satellite TV Software at http://www.review-best.com/satellite-tv-software.htm first!
The author is currently using a Satellite TV for PC software to watch over 3,000 channels on his computer for free. CLICK HERE to learn more about it!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ronald_Gilbert
Are you interested to know whether satellite TV for PC really works, and how you can download this software online? Even though I had heard many good things about satellite television, I have also downloaded many poor quality software that did not deliver. Many of them are fake and do not work, and are selling based on the popularity of satellite television technology.
One of the software I downloaded is called the Satellite TV for PC Elite Edition. This article will discuss some of its key features and my experience with it, as well as tell you where to go to download your copy.
1. Is The Satellite TV for PC Software Worth Paying For?
Different software programs charge different prices based on the number of channels offered and the quality of pictures and sound. I chose the Elite edition not because it was the cheapest or that it had the most channels, but I chose it because I felt that it was the most value for money.
This software gives me access to over 3,000 channels in many different varieties including live sports, TV shows, movies, news and many more. To watch any channel, I simply click on its name and wait for about 1 minute while it loads up.
2. Always Make Sure that the Software You Download is Safe
Any time you install external programs on your PC, you should always make sure that they are free of spyware and viruses. If possible, always turn on your PC protection programs when you download new files from the internet.
3. Where Do You Download Satellite TV for PC Software?
Before you decide to purchase from any of the sites online, you should not buy based on the claims made on these websites alone. Always look for positive testimonials and read reviews making a decision. To find out where you can download the most popular and fully workable version of Satellite TV for PC software, visit the website link below to learn more.
Are you looking to download and use the Satellite TV For PC Software? Don't do it yet, not until you read the author's complete review of the Top 5 Satellite TV Software at http://www.review-best.com/satellite-tv-software.htm first!
The author is currently using a Satellite TV for PC software to watch over 3,000 channels on his computer for free. CLICK HERE to learn more about it!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ronald_Gilbert
Monday 26 May 2008
Backup Software: Why it is Crucial for Safe Possession of Files
Author: David Hensley
Back up software, as the name indicates, is a software designed exclusively to back up the data to have a second copy of the original source. This is done to have a safe copy in the event of the original data source being damaged accidentally.
Back up is used basically for two reasons, the first is to restore the original data following a disaster and the second is to restore small numbers of files after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted.
Older back up procedures used to keep track of backed up files and it was a time- consuming task, which needed the help of a user until the process was over. Since the introduction of backup software, the task has become much easier. This software is highly customizable and is easily accessible for beginners and a powerful tool for professionals.
Back up software are designed with various features to make them more effective. The features that are mainly in vogue are:
Volumes: The back up data can be compressed and split into separate parts to store on smaller, removable media like CDs, which are easily transportable and inexpensive, as against hard drives or servers. This ability is known as voluming.
Data compression: By compressing the data and reducing the size, less drive space is utilized, thereby saving money, because hard drive space is expensive. This feature is known as Data compression.
Remote back up: This is an online system for backing up and storing computer files and managed back up providers provide this type of service. There are many reasons for remote backup gaining popularity. The rapid growth of data, which is vital for any business, the advent of Internet and the risks of hackers, hurricanes, viruses and failure of hardware are some of the reasons. This facility of automatically backing up data to remote centers through the Internet is utilized by many banks, stock exchanges and other large institutions and thus it ensures data integrity.
File locking: A plug- in for access to exclusive, in use, locked files is available with many backup solutions.
Incremental back up: This feature is provided along with full back up. The new or changed data alone is backed up, compared to the already backed up data. Due to this technology, the speed of the back up process is increased.
Encryption: Some back ups offer the encryption facility to protect the back up.
Even though the hard drives are so reliable, there are other risks such as virus attack, user errors and also theft that increase the chance of data loss. So, it is sane to have a back up of data, while having a hard drive because it would be better to ask "what if?" rather than "so what?” when it comes to the question of data loss.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/backup-software-why-it-is-crucial-for-safe-possession-of-files-432472.html
Back up software, as the name indicates, is a software designed exclusively to back up the data to have a second copy of the original source. This is done to have a safe copy in the event of the original data source being damaged accidentally.
Back up is used basically for two reasons, the first is to restore the original data following a disaster and the second is to restore small numbers of files after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted.
Older back up procedures used to keep track of backed up files and it was a time- consuming task, which needed the help of a user until the process was over. Since the introduction of backup software, the task has become much easier. This software is highly customizable and is easily accessible for beginners and a powerful tool for professionals.
Back up software are designed with various features to make them more effective. The features that are mainly in vogue are:
Volumes: The back up data can be compressed and split into separate parts to store on smaller, removable media like CDs, which are easily transportable and inexpensive, as against hard drives or servers. This ability is known as voluming.
Data compression: By compressing the data and reducing the size, less drive space is utilized, thereby saving money, because hard drive space is expensive. This feature is known as Data compression.
Remote back up: This is an online system for backing up and storing computer files and managed back up providers provide this type of service. There are many reasons for remote backup gaining popularity. The rapid growth of data, which is vital for any business, the advent of Internet and the risks of hackers, hurricanes, viruses and failure of hardware are some of the reasons. This facility of automatically backing up data to remote centers through the Internet is utilized by many banks, stock exchanges and other large institutions and thus it ensures data integrity.
File locking: A plug- in for access to exclusive, in use, locked files is available with many backup solutions.
Incremental back up: This feature is provided along with full back up. The new or changed data alone is backed up, compared to the already backed up data. Due to this technology, the speed of the back up process is increased.
Encryption: Some back ups offer the encryption facility to protect the back up.
Even though the hard drives are so reliable, there are other risks such as virus attack, user errors and also theft that increase the chance of data loss. So, it is sane to have a back up of data, while having a hard drive because it would be better to ask "what if?" rather than "so what?” when it comes to the question of data loss.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/backup-software-why-it-is-crucial-for-safe-possession-of-files-432472.html
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