SOHO Computer Support

• Monitor processes, services, startup programs; replace Task Manager


• Get rid of spyware and viruses that your antivirus missed


• Enhance and tune up XP or Vista


• Speed up your PC and Windows startup"

# posted by Les Bain @ 3:19 AM Wizard Creek Consulting
Copyright © 2003 - 2010 by Les Bain | All Rights Reserved
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1. Open up “My Computer”. Or open “Windows Explorer” and then expand Computer tree.
2. Right click on the hard drive to disable indexing (i.e (C:) drive letter).
3. Select Properties on the contextual menu.
4. Click on General tab if it’s not already selected.
5. Untick (unselect) the check box for Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching option.
6. Click OK, and wait for the index removal process to complete, which may take a few minutes.
7. Repeat the steps for other hard drives if applicable.

1. Open “Control Panel”, select “Administrator Tools”, and open Services applet. Alternatively, type services.msc in the Rn text box from Start menu, and then hit Enter.
2. Scroll down and locate Indexing Service service, and then double click on it.
3. Click on Stop button to immediately stop the indexing service if the service status shows “Running.
4. Under the “Startup Type”, select Disabled to permanently disable the indexing service so that it won’t run again.
5. Click OK.

# posted by Les Bain @ 1:46 PM Wizard Creek Consulting
Copyright © 2003 - 2010 by Les Bain | All Rights Reserved
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1. Boot with Windows XP CD
2. Hit f12 (your mileage may vary) to select where to boot from
3. Enter C to boot from CD-Rom ... hit anything to confirm
4. Let it run until it gets to a screen with various options .. enter R
5. At command prompt chkdsk /r ... it will run several minutes ... upon completion
6. Exit
   

# posted by Les Bain @ 11:26 PM Wizard Creek Consulting
Copyright © 2003 - 2010 by Les Bain | All Rights Reserved
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• Your web hosting company is hit by a hurricane. Or goes out of business.
• Your website is broken, and just will not run.
  
• Your website is allowing people to purchase for the wrong price.
  
• Your blog hosting company goes out of business. Or loses your blog.
• Your computer gets a virus.
  
• Your computer stops working.
  
• Your computer is stolen.
  
• Your printer stops working
• Your merchant account is frozen.

• Preventive measures that prevent adverse conditions - including
  
• firewalls,
  
• anti-virus software,
• anti-spyware programs
• keeping the coffee away from the keyboard
• doing testing and quality control before publishing a website
  
• Recovery measures that react to adverse conditions - including
  
• Backup in preparation for restore
  
• Preparing to format the hard drive and reload the operating system
• Preparing to use alternative web hosting vendors
  

• Implement the preventive measures
• Rehearse the recovery measures
  

# posted by Les Bain @ 3:25 PM Wizard Creek Consulting
Copyright © 2003 - 2010 by Les Bain | All Rights Reserved
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• TCO provides a way to compare products. For example, the cost of Linux vs. Windows is only valid when you compare the TCO of the products.
• TCO enables examination of alternatives to having PCs, including using thin clients or internet machines with Application Service Providers and other subscription services.
• TCO provides the SOHO with the true value of an asset. If that value is much higher than assumed, it might call for more protection.
  

# posted by Les Bain @ 10:17 AM Wizard Creek Consulting
Copyright © 2003 - 2010 by Les Bain | All Rights Reserved
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• Buying a computer and setting it up is a project.
• Preventing viruses, trojans, and spyware from infecting that computer is a process.

• Define those work activities that you do regularly as processes.
  
• Continuously improve each process.

• It assures that you do the process the best way you know how to each time.
  
• It provides the opportunity to continuously improve the process.
  

• Creating a Business Continuity process
• Developing a test environment to assure quality
• Creating computer systems in versions
• Managing the production environment
• Publishing guidelines
• Maintaining source code.

# posted by Les Bain @ 6:33 PM Wizard Creek Consulting
Copyright © 2003 - 2010 by Les Bain | All Rights Reserved
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What is the difference between the telephone and the computer? For the purposes of this discussion, let us consider the telephone as it was before the wireless revolution.

• The telephone is a utility that connects to an intelligent network. When phones were land lines, telephones were interchangeable.
  
• The computer has intelligence built in.
  

What is the major philosophical difference between the two richest Information Technology billionaires - Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Larry Ellison (Oracle)?

• Bill Gates supports computers that run software based on Windows.
• Larry Ellison wants the intelligence to be centralized onto the Internet which is accessed by Internet machines that are closer to telephones. "If the Internet turns out not to be the future of computing, we're toast. But if it is, we're golden"

What is the difference in shrink wrap vs. Application Service Providers (ASPs).

• Shrink wrap refers to software that you purchase wrapped in shrink wrap plastic. Shrink wrap requires someone to pull off the shrink wrap and load the software.
• ASPs are application service providers that reside on the Internet and can be accessed by computers, internet machines, and even PDAs and cell phones.
  

The PC creates challenges and problems because is has software and data that resides within it. It is a Data Center. It is the Bill Gates model.

If the SOHO is using a PC, then the SOHO has a data center and must support the computer.

# posted by Les Bain @ 6:21 PM Wizard Creek Consulting
Copyright © 2003 - 2010 by Les Bain | All Rights Reserved
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