Computer Network Support

Bowes IT Solutions provides computer network support for the Niagara Region of southern Ontario. The communities we support include Welland, Pelham, Fonthill, Thorold, Niagara Falls, St Catharines, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, Grimsby, and surrounding areas.

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Columns

In Tough Times

It’s been a few weeks since one of my columns has run and there is a lot to talk about. There have been some critical Windows updates and Microsoft appears to be saying “uncle” on the Windows Vista question given the buzz that’s being generated around the up and coming Windows 7.

Does anyone remember Windows Millennium? Much like Vista, it wasn’t very well received and Microsoft soon replaced it with Windows XP – arguably the best desktop operating system Microsoft has ever released. It’s very enticing to speculate on the success or failure of the upcoming Windows 7 as it’s being hyped up even at this early beta testing stage.

Enticing as it is however, with an economy on shaky grounds at best, and last month’s dismal figure of 129,000 lost jobs, it would make sense that we’re about to see a explosion of small business start-ups. All businesses today are tied at the hip to computers and there is hardly an area of business that computing don’t touch. For a new small business owner, the plethora of options can be staggering. For instance, some of the questions a new business owner will be faced with are:

  • What kind of computer(s) to get in the first place?
  • Should I go PC, Mac, Linux, something else?
  • What kind of printers to use?
  • Should I have a network?
  • Should the network be wired, wireless, or both?
  • What accounting software to use?
  • What specialty software will I need?
  • Will I need an Office suite? Which one?
  • Will I need remote access to my computer(s)?
  • What about a server?
  • How will all of this tie into my marketing efforts?
  • What do I need to know about having a web site?
  • Should I have email @myserviceprovider.com or @mybusinessname.com?
  • What should I do about backups? How about antivirus and antispyware?
  • And the list literally goes on and on and on.
As a small business owner myself, I understand the challenges and rewards a small business can bring. I remember someone saying early in my business life “being in business has its highs and its lows -- big highs and big lows”.  I didn’t realize at the time how true that statement was and how it would resonate with me even more than five years later.

Like all small business owners, I was driven to start my business by passion. I’ve always had an interest in computers and how they fit into business simply fascinates me. I took every course I could, wrote every industry exam that fit with my mission, worked for a few other companies that provided IT services, and eventually started my own business with the goal of helping small and medium sized businesses make the best of their computing resources.

In a downturned economy with the prospect of many new businesses starting, I see this period as an opportunity to share some knowledge and possibly do my small part to make a bit of a difference as far as the economy is concerned. It’s no secret that smaller businesses drive the economy and there seems to be little interest in bailout packages for little guys – but then don’t get me started on that <grin>.

So, for the next little while I’d like to talk about small business computing. There will be things like Windows 7 come up and they deserve some attention too and where it’s warranted, maybe we’ll interrupt this process and have a look at them. For the most part though, I’d invite anyone interested to sign up for my free newsletters at www.bowesit.com as I’ll certainly talk a bit about important developments in the industry there.

Finally, I’ve registered the domain name (you’ll learn about this stuff) smallbizcomputing.net where collectively we can toss ideas around about small business computing. The site should launch in the next couple of weeks.

I’d invite my friends and competitors to join me in this effort as well. As Dolores Fabiano of the Welland Pelham Chamber of Commerce so poignantly said to me when we met some weeks ago “we all need to pull together now”. Dolores is – as always – dead on.

Out With the Old

So, Christmas is over and you have a plethora of new electronic equipment to learn to use and just as much old equipment that it has replaced. Learning to use the new stuff is the fun part – providing you’re a bit on the geek-ish side – but getting rid of the old stuff can be a real pain.

The trouble with electronic equipment is that the components are often made with toxic chemicals, carcinogens, and heavy metals that wreak havoc on our landfill sites. Computer monitors in particular are full of toxic goop but all computer components contain unsavoury material. And then of course, there’s your old data to worry about.

When replacing a computer, there are three things you’ll likely want to consider, 1) how to get your data (financial data, documents, music, pictures, etc) from the old computer to the new one 2) how to make sure that your data is erased from the old computer so it won’t fall into the wrong hands and 3) how to dispose of the old computer in an environmentally friendly manner.

To transfer files from an old computer to a new computer, the obvious answer is to copy the files from the old computer to a removable drive, USB flash drive, or something similar, and then copy them to the new computer. While this method works fine, it has some limitations. It won’t for example copy email or email settings, desktop settings (wallpaper, layout, etc), or Internet Explorer favourites. These things can be copied manually but it’s a major pain in the neck.

A better method for transferring files to a new computer is built right into Windows XP and Windows Vista. In XP the program is called the “Files and Settings Transfer Wizard” and in Vista it’s called “Windows Easy Transfer”.  Both of these programs are reasonably easy to use and work as described.

I have used both of these programs with great success in the past in both business and residential environments and have only found one caveat; the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard in Windows XP Service Pack 3 is not compatible with earlier versions.  If your new computer has XP SP3 and your old computer runs an earlier version of XP, you’ll need to either upgrade the old computer to SP3 or copy the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard files from the new computer to the old one.

Once you’ve transferred your files and settings, you’ll want to decide what to do with the old computer. If you’re going to give it away or dispose of it, you should seriously consider wiping the hard drive clean so there’s no trace of your data left on it. It may be tempting to think that you have nothing confidential on your computer, but please give that some thought. Is there a credit card number or anything at all that might be of a personal nature anywhere on the hard drive? Personally, I subscribe to the better safe than sorry motto.

You’ll likely hear someone tell you that you can wipe your hard drive by formatting it and reinstalling Windows. That’s only partially true. Due to the way Windows marks files as deleted – even if the drive is formatted – data may still be recoverable and surprisingly easily.

A much better way to wipe a hard drive clean is to use a program that is written for that very purpose. There is an old adage in the industry that refers to Department of Defence security in data disposal and fortunately there’s an excellent (and free) program out there that lives up to that requirement, Darik’s Boot and Nuke – http://www.dban.org. I highly recommend DBAN for its effectiveness and ease of use.

And lastly, there’s the question of disposal. You may well be tempted to take your old computer to the local landfill but please reconsider that temptation. Some options for disposing of old computers are:

•    Donate them to charity
•    Check with the manufacturer to see if they have a recycling program
•    Call your local computer repair/sales shop. They may have some suggestions. My company, Bowes IT can help with this.
•    Call your local landfill sites. Some may have a technology disposal program.
•    If you have any young children in your family, consider handing it down to them.

All the very best in 2009!

Glen Bowes is the owner of Bowes IT Solutions, a computer service company focused on helping small and medium sized businesses with their computer challenges. Glen can be reached at (905) 378-1215, www.bowesit.com, or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ways to Save Money on Business Computers

There’s little doubt that we’re in tough economic times and that we can expect the same for at least the short term. If crunches like this have an ill affect on businesses the size of the American auto industry, it seems pretty fair to expect that many smaller businesses are in for a struggle as well.

As smaller businesses search for ways to become more efficient and cut costs, their computer budgets are a great place to find value. Computers certainly contribute to efficiency and with a bit of planning, costs can be saved at the same time. So, without further ado, here are some ways to find savings in your computer department.

Avoid the Bleeding Edge

A simple formula in the IT (Information Technology) world is that today’s fastest, most glamorous, hardware is going to cost you – big. The simple truth is that the most up to date equipment will be much less expensive in 6 months and for most applications, will work just as well if bought then. In fact, for business purposes, high end fresh off the press equipment is often only needed for high end graphics or server applications.

Some businesses are even buying and using off-lease (used) computers as commodity items. This can be an effective cost saving measure if the computers are used primarily for bookkeeping, word processing, etc.

Standardize

While this is often easier said than done, the benefits of staying with similar hardware across the business can’t be understated.
Consider the typical small business with let’s say 8 computers that were all bought ad hoc as they were needed and from different vendors. A year or 2 down the road, the computers need to be upgraded to support new software.

Each computer will need to be assessed to determine what can be upgraded and what parts will be needed when on a more standardized network, it would be much less time consuming (and expensive) to simply determine what needs to be upgraded and apply the same upgrade to all of the computers on the network.

Virtualize

You would probably be surprised to know that many server CPUs are heavily underutilized; their workload is so small that the CPU spends a great deal of time idle. Virtualization can solve that problem, make the server room greener, save money, and even make disaster recovery far easier than even before.

Virtualization is described by Tech Republic as “... a method of running multiple independent virtual operating systems on a single physical computer.” In other words, using virtualization, more than one server can run on a single computer. At the heart of it, any one of these servers is simply a bunch of files rather than physical computers and as such they can be restored to a previous state very easily.

Virtualization is one of the hot topics in the industry today and Microsoft recommends that even if you have a need for only one server, it should be virtualized. This technology will show up more and more in small and medium sized businesses in the coming years and will help simplify how we do business.

Monitor

There literally is nothing more expensive to a business from a computing perspective than downtime. The sad truth is that most situations that result in downtime are preventable and would be caught with a proper monitoring protocol in place. Monitoring keeps a finger on the pulse of the network so to speak and can prevent costly problems before they occur.

Consider Software Alternatives

Ah yes, possibly my favourite subject. There are literally thousands of free and open source software packages out there that do their jobs as well if not better than their commercial cousins.  Some of the world’s most powerful and important servers run on free software. Quite frankly, it’s a mistake to discount free software in your business.

Let me give you two very simple examples. Many people have spent money for programs that create zipped archive files. A free alternative is 7-Zip which has one of the best compression techniques available. On a similar note, CDBurnerXP is free CD/DVD burning software that rivals the best of breed commercial available out there.

Just as computers bring flexibility and efficiency to a business, they can also bring economy. The trick is knowing where to find it.

Glen Bowes is a Microsoft Small Business Specialist, MCSE, A+, and Network+ certified IT professional. Glen can be reached at (905) 378-1215, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or at www.bowesit.com

Internet Explorer Vulnerability

On December 11th an advisory was published that identified a problem in Internet Explorer that could allow someone to take control of a computer. It’s not at all unusual for this type of advisory to be released; modern software is highly complex and holes are not uncommon. Microsoft has released a patch for the issue and has rated it critical.

Technically, Microsoft describes the vulnerability as: “[it] could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.”

In plain English, the vulnerability is a problem with the design of Internet Explorer. IE is used to view web pages. In the early days of the web, a web page was nothing more than a bunch of text and images laid out in a specified way in a web browser. Web designers used code to tell the browser where to put the text and images and whether or not the text should be bold, italicized, big, small, whatever.

The code that described where to put things and whether they are big, bold, whatever was referred to as Hypertext Mark-up Language or HTML. When you visit a web site, your web browser (Internet Explorer in this case – there are others, Firefox being one of the big contenders) requests a web page from the server and the server replies with a web page encoded as HTML.

The web browser, understanding this HTML intimately, takes instructions from it and lays out the web page as the HTML instructs it to. HTML is still an integral part of the World Wide Web but it has been superseded greatly by other technologies that make the web much more interesting.

In essence the web has grown from a simple way to display information to an interactive medium that can act very much like any other program on a computer – like a word processor, spreadsheet, database, the sky’s the limit. Just consider web sites like facebook.com that elicit user interaction and deliver an experience rather than just information.

And facebook.com just touches the surface of what the web can do today, many businesses are moving toward having their software hosted somewhere on the Internet rather than being installed on their own computers, there are major benefits to this approach.

The web is moving that way so much in fact that Google recently released its own web browser “Chrome” that is built from the ground up to accommodate web applications.

This new generation of web browser isn’t meant so much for web browsing as it is for delivering programs. Google sees it evolving into its own operating system. In other words your computer wouldn’t load Windows with all of its built-in programs but would load Chrome and Chrome would connect to the Internet to deliver programs.

All this complexity leads to vulnerability however and the Internet is a much less forgiving place than it was in the days of plain Jane HTML. Those who profit from spam, adware, and other malware, have many more avenues to exploit in order to spread their malice.

In itself, the new vulnerability (Microsoft Security Advisory 961051) is not malicious but it does open a door for other malicious software. To date it has been estimated that 0.02% of PC’s have been infected by some form of nastiness that found its way in as a result of this flaw. That’s not a small number.

As always, the defence against this exploit is to be conscious of security and:

  • Keep a firewall between you and the Internet and keep it updated
  • Always run up to date antivirus and antispyware
  • Always install Windows updates
  • Don’t visit web sites that just don’t feel right  or you otherwise don’t trust

And the most important thing of course is to stay digitally safe and have the greatest of Holidays and the best in 2009.

The Case for Free Software

If you were to look at my past columns at http://www.bowesit.com/index.php/columns or my older columns at http://www.bowesit.com/blog, you’ll find a number of them deal with Open Source or otherwise free software. You’d probably quickly become convinced that I am either a) being paid to tout them or I am b) totally off my rocker. The truth is, no one pays me to tout free software and while some (alright, many) would argue the point, I am not completely insane.

I make a living helping small to medium sized businesses get the most bang from their computer systems’ buck. From my perspective, Information Technology can do as much for my smaller clients as it can for bigger businesses with much deeper pockets. The smaller guys just need some help making the right choices. The technology is there in many forms. The trick is to be able to reasonably decide whether the less expensive (or free) alternatives are appropriate for the given situation.

It’s probably fair to say that recession is either here or lurking just around the corner. With business closings and the spectre of an auto industry collapse adding to the already painful list of lost industry, there is bound to be a surge in business start-ups as once gainfully employed individuals try to carve out new lives.

The success of those businesses will very much depend on the decisions their owners make. And it’s not just them; we’re told time and time again that small business is driving our economy.

Now, just to clear the air, I am not a free software fanatic, far from it. What I am is someone who tries to look at all angles when it comes to computer systems and who sees himself as someone my clients trust to help them make reasoned decisions. If two products do similar things but one meets business goals better, I won’t hesitate to recommend paying for it even if the other is free. Ultimately all things have to be weighed, support, quality, features, etc, as well as price.

There are also places in small and medium sized business where Open Source and free software just doesn’t fit. Some will argue vehemently that I am completely wrong on this, but I don’t see a fit for Open Source as a primary server. Support isn’t always guaranteed and that can be absolutely vital for a critical system. It can work very well in larger business where support is right on staff but is a bit too dangerous for my liking in small business.

With that said, for less critical services like spam filters, secondary storage devices, web servers, even backup systems, and firewalls, Open Source can fit the bill completely. Products like the SpamAssassin spam filter, Apache web server, and Amanda backup server, are all Open Source and are considered best of the breed.

And then there are specialized products that businesses thrive on. Software such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Content Management Systems (CMS), and Business Intelligence (BI) is readily available and given the nature of Open Source software, can be customized for any situation. The axiom “why reinvent the wheel?” is perfect in these cases as much of the work is already done.

Likely where the picture can be painted most clearly is on the desktop computer. Consider products like Nero Burning Rom, Winzip, and even Microsoft Office. These products are all excellent pieces of software but depending on your needs, you may get just as much mileage from free alternatives like CDBurnerXP, 7-Zip, and OpenOffice.org. They too are excellent products and could save a bundle when we’re talking about installations on multiple computers.

As the economy becomes less and less certain, I am seeing more and more interest from business owners in alternatives to high cost software. I plan to look more deeply at some of the alternatives in coming columns so stay tuned.

Glen Bowes is a Microsoft Small Business Specialist, MCSE, A+, and Network+ Certified IT professional. Glen can be reached at (905) 378-1215, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or to learn more please visit www.bowesit.com.

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