In the UK, making online backups is a fully automated process that is secure, simple and affordable. This enables a person to focus on the work. Data backup online benefits from de...]]>

UK Data Backup Online
By Kent Pinkerton

In the UK, making online backups is a fully automated process that is secure, simple and affordable. This enables a person to focus on the work. Data backup online benefits from dependable established software in use, protecting over two million computers world wide. Online backup is cheaper, faster and better than traditional alternatives.

In the UK, online backup solutions include daily backups for workstations and laptops as well as comprehensive protection for business servers and applications. The pricing of the UK online data backup is simple. There are no setup fees, long term contracts or software fees. Instead there are free upgrades and fixed monthly pricing. Fixed pricing plans, with no upfront capital for hardware or software training, are the norm.

UK online data backup is hassle free, automatic and transparent. Multiple file versions are stored, allowing earlier work to be recovered. Only changes are sent, resulting in efficient backups. Online data backup protects PCs, laptops, network data and systems files with one solution. In the UK, online backup provides off-site storage and data encryption for the security of important business data. It guarantees data recovery when needed, backed by a service level agreement. UK online backup is in compliance with the Data Protection Act, 1998.

UK data online backup protects data automatically and inexpensively. If a data loss occurs, you can restore it with a few clicks of the mouse. Daily your data will be stored safely in a secure offsite data center, from where you can access it throughout the day.

Online backup has many practical advantages compared to more conventional backup methods such as CD, DVD, Zip drive, tape unit or external hard disk. Backups are fully automated on a daily basis. This means that you do not have to take backups home or switch tapes. You will receive a daily e-mail with a report that tells you whether the backup has been successful or not. The entire backups are encrypted and can only be read with your individual password. While restoring files, one can choose from many different versions. These older versions can be restored to any location on the hard disk or network.

Data Backup provides detailed information on Data Backup, Online Data Backup, Data Backup Services, Data Backup Storage and more. Data Backup is affiliated with Computer Data Storage.

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What if you lost physical access to your office? Could you be back in business at another location within a couple of da...]]>

Is Your Organization at Risk Without a Sufficient Backup and Recovery System?
By Terri Roeslmeier

What if you lost physical access to your office? Could you be back in business at another location within a couple of days? If not, you should explore cost-effective, reliable backup choices.

No one ever thinks it could happen to them. Yet, we have all seen and possibly experienced the devastation that can be caused from natural disasters, accidental file destruction or even terrorist attacks. Everyone needs to think about what would happen if all business operations suddenly came to a halt. Could your business recover if you lost all of your data?

Data backups is a subject so overdone that it has become “incidental”. Today, everyone knows that they need to be taking backups of their system data and the big issue today is that everyone “assumes” that this is being done at their companies. Network people are hired to install the network and “everybody” naturally assumes that this was part of the set-up and that somehow this is magically being taken care of. This is a big mistake.

All companies, large and small, need to have a secure backup and recovery plan in place. The key word here is perhaps “recovery”. Having been in the software business for over 20 years, I am no longer amazed when companies routinely perform backups and yet never test them to see if they are actually working. When it comes time to restore, it’s an unpleasant surprise to find out that the backup wasn’t really backing anything up or it was not backing up the correct files.

Having a sound plan in place extends farther than simply running a tape every night (which by the way is mandatory step one in the process). In addition, tapes need to be rotated each night so that the same tape is not being used over and over again. One never knows when one may need to recover data from a couple of days ago because the current data is not good. A tape should exist for each day of the week that the system gets backed up (minimum 5 days). Besides the rotation, copies should be kept off site, preferably in a safety deposit box and/or another secure location that is not in the immediate area of the office. It should be a site that can be accessed quickly if data needs to be retrieved. Ideally, the off-site copy should be refreshed at least once a month.

Besides the daily backup tapes, backups should be taken at the end of the month, quarter and year. These backups should never be used again and should be clearly labeled in the event that you need to access the data. If you are doing payroll, the government can call at anytime, even in several years. You want to be prepared. Not being able to produce the data can mean penalties, legal and accounting fees.

Running a backup tape and keeping it off site is just the beginning of the process. Backups need to be periodically tested to ensure that data is being copied. A knowledgeable, technical person should be in charge of this task. The line, “you can never have enough backups” is very true. However, testing that the backup you are taking is “good” is equally important.

Having a good routine for taking, testing and storing backups is critical. If your data is protected, even if you do not have access to your office and even if your server is destroyed, you can always restore on another system at another site. We had customers that had offices near ground zero and were unable to return to their buildings for quite some time. In a couple of days, with good backup tapes, they were able to restore to new hardware at another location and were back in business within a couple of days. Being prepared is the difference between business recovery and business failure.

In addition to the physical backup plan, every company should have a plan in writing that outlines the steps that the company will take to recover and resume work at locations other than the office. The plan should encompass not only the steps that will be taken to restore the data, but how and where the employees will access the data. If remote access is possible how would that option work? Would multiple offices be blended into one temporary central location? Several possibilities and solutions should be available so that most situations can be addressed without a last minute appeal for a solution.

A disaster represents many challenges, most of which cannot be prepared for. Restoration of data and resumption of use of the data is one thing that can be arranged. Unfortunately, this type of plan is traditionally not a top priority and considered secondary to the core business operations. The primary point to keep in mind, however, is that it is essential to securing and preserving core business operations. The smart business choice is a solid backup and recovery plan.

Terri Roeslmeier is president of Automated Business Designs, Inc., software developer of Ultra-Staff, a full-featured staffing software solution with components for front office, back office and the web. http://www.abd.net

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You may ask, isn t tape an anachronism in the age of optical disks, removable hard drives and a plethora of whiz-bang, random-access storage media? In many ways it is, but because ...]]>

Alternatives to Tape Backup
By Linus Chang

You may ask, isn t tape an anachronism in the age of optical disks, removable hard drives and a plethora of whiz-bang, random-access storage media? In many ways it is, but because of the nature of backup it doesn t really matter that tape is slow and sequential-access. Remember, tape is cheap. Businesses use tape because they find it to be a cost-effective backup solution.

However, if you have any problems with tape backup, you ll probably be interested to know that there are several alternatives to tape.

Backup to NAS devices

NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices are attached directly to your network and can act as a backup store. Obviously, it s very convenient to backup files to NAS, as there are no disks or tapes to insert and remove. There are many NAS devices specially designed for small businesses. NAS is an excellent choice for network backup.

Backup to REV drive

In April 2004, Iomega released the REV drive — a new storage device that has greater capacity than tape and is 5 to 8 times faster. Key features are:

* Backup to REV drive is much faster than tape backup.
* REV drive units are more durable than tape.
* While tape requires regular cleaning, no cleaning is required for REV drive units.
* Backup to REV drive may in fact prove more cost-effective for your business than tape, depending on your backup scheme and other factors.

Otherwise, REV backup is very similar to tape backup in principle.

Final notes

Several reliable backup software solutions exist. Choosing one is simply a case of deciding which is most suitable for your business. As always, invest in quality backup software. Rather than purchasing specialist REV backup software and NAS backup software, your choice in software should allow backup to numerous devices. You will then be able to change your backup hardware in the future without buying new software.

Linus Chang is a backup expert and the lead developer of BackupAssist — backup software that is simple and affordable, and perfect for small and medium businesses. Protect your Windows servers, including SQL Server and Exchange Server, to tape, REV drive, hard drive, NAS and more, at a fraction of the cost of other backup programs. It transforms NTBackup into a script-free and simple-to-use tool.

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IT help desk software can be a valuable resource for technicians to manage and resolve troubleshooting tickets. Most companies realize the benefits of purchasing help des...]]>

A Look at IT Help Desk Software
By Kent Pinkerton

IT help desk software can be a valuable resource for technicians to manage and resolve troubleshooting tickets. Most companies realize the benefits of purchasing help desk software since it is a reliable way to manage customer inquiries and complaints. IT help desk software is preferred by both companies and clients over a traditional call center.

In traditional call centers, customers often complain of long hold times and unreturned voicemails. Other times, the less-than-technically-savvy customer may become frustrated in his or her attempt to explain the problem. Help desk software allows an IT department to effectively manage and direct certain issues to the appropriate personnel.

Many IT help desk software programs offer the convenience of a user-friendly menu and easy-to-manage files. Customers can choose from a variety of help topics and even copy and paste error messages to send to IT. For those customers who are not technically advanced, menus can be set up to offer a variety of common questions.

HelpDesks.com is an excellent resource for extensive IT help desk software reviews and information. This site allows you to compare the leading providers of the products to find the right program for your needs. Convenient charts allow you to see various amenities offered such as whether or not the program is web-based, costs associated with purchase and upgrades and the number of users allowed for each program.

One of the most popular IT help desk software programs, according to consumer reviews, is FootPrints. On a scale of one to ten, it has a rating of 9.2 and has multiple consumer reviews. This is a web-based program, and the initial cost is around $6,000. FootPrints offers unlimited user capabilities and free upgrades with their annual maintenance contract. This program is compatible with Linux, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Unix operating systems. It also offers searchable databases, assignment of reference numbers, F.A.Q databases, billing databases and much, much more.

Help Desk Software Info provides detailed information on help desk software solutions, including IT help desk software, web-based help desk software, free help desk software, help desk tracking, help desk support software, and reviews of help desk software programs. Help Desk Software Info is the sister site of Recruiting Software Web.

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If I were to quote you the statistics about lost information as it pertains to laptops, you would be amazed. But stop and ask yourself, do you backup your laptop information? For man...]]>

Backup Your Laptop Data
By Bo Boshenove

If I were to quote you the statistics about lost information as it pertains to laptops, you would be amazed. But stop and ask yourself, do you backup your laptop information? For many of us, the answer is no.

What happens if the laptop is stolen, or the hard drive crashes? We are reduced to sniffling piles of incoherent suits and ties for a few hours. It’s only at this point, that many of us realize just how important our laptops are in our business life.

So, what about backup of laptop data? Do you suppose, as a business person, we should begin to look at another safety measure for protection of our data? I would think it’s about time, and the service is available, if we choose not to perform this task ourselves.

During 2003, over 500,000 laptops were stolen, of those stolen laptops, the vast majority was never recovered, and less than a thousand of those were backed up. Those are unbelievable numbers, yet they are the reality in the use of laptops. We just haven’t noticed how reliant we’re becoming on our laptops.

Today, backup of laptop data through online services, remote data backup, and offsite storage can provide us with the safety and assurance we need in determining that our data has been successfully backed up and is secure and
safe on a storage media.

The lag in taking care of backup of laptop data has often been due to the fact that laptops are designed for on the go use. The laptop is not often found with a typical data storage media close at hand, or even available.

That is about to change, thanks to the services of online data backup. Now, even the busiest business person, should be able to schedule a backup time, set the clock for an early wakeup, and be ready to roll, right along with his laptop!

Learn how to keep your important data from getting toasted at Data Backup.

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Video game backup software packages help you backup video games in CDs and DVDs. Video game backup software is mostly used in personal computers. These software packages require sma...]]>

Video Game Backup Software
By Eddie Tobey

Video game backup software packages help you backup video games in CDs and DVDs. Video game backup software is mostly used in personal computers. These software packages require small storage capacity as compared to others. Many video game backup programs provide such high-quality copies that you do not see any difference between an original and a copy.

Video game backup software enables you to copy a variety of video games such as Xbox, Playstation, PSP, PSX, PS2, and Dreamcast. The important thing about software that copies or backs up video games is their speed: some take hours to copy a DVD, but some others take less than forty-five minutes. Most video game backup software companies offer online services with good discounts on prices. Many video game backup software dealers provide free trails, which enable you to select the program that suits you best. Some versions allow you to copy one or two DVDs using their software before you buy them. Installing and working instructions are generally provided with the software.

It is normally impossible to produce a copy of your backup CD. This is because most video game backup programs contain an encryption that is that does not permit copying. When you copy the software, this part of the code is not copied.

When you run your backup video game, sometimes you have to modify your settings. Sometimes you will have to install a mod chip. Some video game backup software packages provide mod chips with their software and some others provide advanced software that does not necessitate the installation of any mod chip.

The most important advantage of video game backup software packages is that you don t have to pay hundreds of dollars in replacing lost or damaged game discs. When you use video game backup software, you should be aware of laws concerning pirated software. For a legal backup of a game disc, you have to own an original game CD, and the created backup must be for your private use only. Many game CDs are protected from copying.

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.

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Most computer users who have long been utilizing the Windows XP Home and Professional operating system suite versions ...]]>

Computer Help for Customizing the Start Button Text of the Windows XP Desktop
By Patrick A. Wilson

Most computer users who have long been utilizing the Windows XP Home and Professional operating system suite versions are so sick and tired of that green conventional button on the bottom left-most portion of their desktop. The perpetual “Start” has been on this button since time immemorial or since Microsoft released the first of the Windows operating system suite version.

This is why most intermediate to highly skilled Windows XP users are tweaking the system registry so as to fully customize the look and feel of the Windows XP desktop that they have on their computers. Some people turn to the familiar faces for computer help, while other people turn to experts and technical support professionals for their computer issues. Among the concerns, the deemed most troubling thing to do is to actually change the unblinking and equally unchanging “Start.”

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to impose a different kind of change in this area on your Windows desktop. But do take note of the fact that the computer help steps that follow below are applicable only to the Windows XP desktop, both Professional and Home versions, and not the prior and latest versions from the Windows Operating System suite.

These steps may not require professional computer help or technical support. The first thing you should undertake is to identify and determine a program, which could decompile and modify 32bit Windows EXE files. Such a program should also have the function to compile and save Windows executable files, which all have the .exe extension. This is because in order for you to change the information on the Windows XP Start button, you need to decompile and modify the explorer.exe file. It is in the C:Windows folder that the executable file is located. Use the program to enhance the Start button of your computer. This is achieved by compiling and saving the changed explorer.exe file.

You can do a search on Google or any search engine for such a program. But if ever you have difficulty searching, one recommendation is to utilize The Resource Hacker?. This is one tool that provides functions and features to decompile and modify 32bit Windows EXE files. This application can also compile and save the functionally modified Windows executable files. This program is freeware, which means that you could freely download and subsequently use it without costs.

When you have downloaded this application, there isn t a need to install it on your computer system since it is a 32bit Windows application. But before you modify the explorer.exe file found in the C:Windows folder, you should make a back-up and save the file in a different folder or disk partition.

Backing up the explorer.exe file can be done by copying and pasting the file on a different location. It can be pasted anywhere on your computer other than the C:Windows folder. You should consider pasting it on an entirely different location from the system partition of Windows XP. Doing so would provide you the flexibility of reversing your computer system to its original Explorer default settings, if ever you do something harmful to both the file and the system registry.

Using the Resource Hacker? s program, open the explorer.exe file located in the C:Windows folder. Pressing the Tab key on your keyboard would put you in the actual right pane window of the application. Navigate to the String Table option by using the arrow keys. After doing so, expand the selection by again pressing the Tab key. Highlight the option string 37 within the String Table option, and press the right key so as to expand it again. Navigate to the 1033 option or to the 38 option, in case you are actually using the functional Classic desktop layout instead of the Windows XP desktop layout.

After doing so, press the Tab key again this would take you to the right window pane of the program. This contains the scripts and codes of the String Table 1033 or 38 of the explorer.exe file. Item number 578 contains the quoted text Start, which is what you are looking for. Carefully leaving out the quotes, delete the boring word Start. Then, type in the word of your choice, but ensure that it is inside the quotes you have left out.

Now press the Tab key repeatedly until it takes you to the Compile Script button. Press the Enter key that you ll find in it. After you have compiled the functionally modified explorer.exe file, navigate to the File menu of the program and choose Save as option. Save it with another filename different from the explorer.exe, but use the .exe extension for the tweaked file. Save it in the C:Windows folder of your computer.

You should then modify the system registry of your Windows XP Operating System. Press the keystroke Windows key plus R, and type in “regedit” in the edit box supplied by the Run Command window. This would take you to a dialogue box with functions and features in editing the system registry.

Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon item, and carefully go through options one after the other. Navigate to the Shell option, and right click on it so as for a menu box to appear. Select the Edit String menu item on the dialogue box. This would take you to a new area in the window where the string values and other codes are to be found.

In the text field entitled “Value data:”, key in the filename of the functionally modified explorer.exe you have saved in the C:Windows folder. Press the Tab key repeatedly until it takes you to the OK button of the window. Press the Enter key on it.

You have now successfully modified the explorer.exe file, as well as the system registry of your Windows XP operating system. The latter computer help procedure is important since the operating system needs to keep track and adjust to the changes made to the registry. Afterwards, the desktop will now contain and display the new word you have keyed in on the modified explorer.exe file, but only after you have restarted your computer.

If you want more computer help and technical support resources such as this one, check out this informative website, http://www.pcnineoneone.com

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According to the US National Archives, "31% of PC users have lost all of their files to events beyond their control." Lo...]]>

Online Backup: Your Computer Is Being Held Hostage, How Much Ransom Will You Pay?
By Andrew Sperry

According to the US National Archives, “31% of PC users have lost all of their files to events beyond their control.” Look at the person on your left. Now look to the person on your right. If it’s not one of them - IT’S YOU. It hurt didn’t it!

And if its not you, you know a guy, right? While not all of us have lost an entire computer full of data we all play in a world where our data is increasingly valuable and increasingly vulnerable. Think of the value of your data - Word files, Excel spreadsheets, Quicken data, emails, contacts, appointments, accounting information, budgets, proposals, pictures, music, and on and on. If somebody held a gun to your computers figurative head what would you pay to not pull the trigger?

Before answering, remember that you pay for insurance in most every area of you life. That insurance provides you the luxury of calling an agent behind a desk somewhere to make problems go away. Ahem, “Allstate, it’s me. I just drove my car into a lake and I need a new one.” Or, “Geico, can you get the little green fella’ on the line. My house just went up in flames and I’m thinkin’ remodel.” Pay your deductible and you’re back in business.

But what about your computer? You’re at Starbucks sitting down to enjoy your freshly brewed Caff? Mocha when you realize they didn’t give you one of those cardboard finger saver sleeve things. While you’re at the counter trying to get the attention of the guy in the apron your laptop walks out of the place under the arm of some highly caffeinated punk who just scored big. You know the feeling you get when you can’t find your wallet? Multiply by 10. Your ENTIRE LIFE was in that computer.

Go ahead call your friendly neighborhood State Farm agent. You’ll get your computer back. Pull some software CDs out of your desk. You’ll get your programs back. Now just reload the copies of all of your data (you know, the files you make with you computer hardware and software that is almost as unique to your life as your DNA).

Say what?

You don’t have copies?

Oh, I see. So let me get this straight. You know you should have made copies. You even know that you could have printed hard copies or backed them up on CD or to another form of “storage media” but you didn’t. And may I ask why not?

Hold on there let me write these excuses down as you make them up so I can pass them on to my other friends who drop the ball on this one:

? I don’t have time.

? I don’t know how.

? I kind of know how but I’m not really sure its working so what’s the point?

? Not only do I not have time, but my backups are out of date a few minutes after I make them anyway.

All legitimate excuses. None of them, however, are going to bail you out.

This just in there are now THREE things certain in life:

1. Death

2. Taxes

3. Data Loss

Maybe you’re not a coffee drinker, but your data is still susceptible to the four leading causes of data loss:

? Disaster - theft, fire, hurricane, earthquake, etc.

? Virus Attacks

? Computer Hardware Failure

? Human Error (oops!)

So how do you prevent data loss?

YOU DON’T. It’s going to happen. The real question isn’t, “How do I prevent it?” It’s, “When it happens, how do I get it back?” The answer is simple - THE INTERNET.

That’s assuming your have joined thousands and thousands of computer users who are subscribing to online data backup services. The concept is quite simple: load a small software utility onto your computer that constantly runs in the background and tell that utility where you keep your critical data files. From that point forward any time you create new files or make changes to existing files, the online backup utility sends copies of those critical files to its highly secure off-site data storage facility. WHEN you lose your data you simply retrieve your copies over the Internet.

Ta-da. Aren’t you smart?

With companies offering this service now for just a few dollars per month, this is indeed the cheapest insurance you can buy for any aspect of your life. So what do you say? The gun is at your computer’s head. The ransom is $3.00.

Your move.

About The Author: Andy Sperry is a freelance writer and CEO of online backup service provider The Backup Agent (http://www.thebackupagent.com).

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Data backup and backup storage is a problem faced by everyone using computers. Automatic data backup can be customized simply. With a few mouse clicks you can arrange a backup prof...]]>

Automatic Data Backup
By Kent Pinkerton

Data backup and backup storage is a problem faced by everyone using computers. Automatic data backup can be customized simply. With a few mouse clicks you can arrange a backup profile, for further usual use by the command-line backup utility. Forgetting to take backups of important data may lead to data loss. Only automatic backup processing can ensure regular data backup.

Backup software is available in various versions, offering flexible solutions. The scheduler in the software distribution kit allows setting up unattended execution backup jobs on both personal computers and server systems. There are three independent programs planned to automate backup process on any computer running. Backup manager is the main tool that allows you to create a custom backup profile for further automatic backup. Command-line backup utility is ideal for unattended backing up in a command-line mode. The main advantage of the program is that it backs data up automatically according to the backup profile, without any action on the part of the user. The backup scheduler was designed to automate executing backup jobs at the specified time. This is helpful to schedule backing up by the command-line backup utility or to automate execution of any command-line tasks. Therefore there are two steps to perform automatic backup. First it is necessary to create and test your backup profile with the backup manager program. Then a new job is created in the backup scheduler program and the startup of your profile specified by the command-line backup utility.

Online backup is an automatic process. Once online backup software is installed and backup sets are arranged, backups start automatically. Online backup is scalable and offsite. It allows you to easily retrieve data and save money.

Traditional manual backups are time consuming. Automatic data backup makes secure data storage easy. Automatic backups, by default, run every night after business hours, transferring only changes to files.

Data Backup provides detailed information on Data Backup, Online Data Backup, Data Backup Services, Data Backup Storage and more. Data Backup is affiliated with Computer Data Storage.

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