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Reminders
A couple of reminders from previous articles:
- We can still build computers and laptops with Windows XP
- Be sure to use adware and spyware protection such as AdAware and Spybot
- Make sure your computer is set up for Daylight Saving Time changes
- A 17" standard LCD monitor screen is taller than a 19" widescreen LCD!
- Fax us your business telephone bill to see if we can save you money. We usually can!
Click for previous Newsletters |
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Products and Services Referenced in this Month's Articles
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Here are links for some products and services we have found very useful. Feel free to click on any that interest you to find out more information. No obligation, of course.
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Call us at 410-922-2962
Fax us at 410-609-4677 |
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Dear
Reader,
 June is here! 'Tis the month for weddings, proms, graduations (my daughter just got her Master's degree in Psychology - Yeah Sara!), the pools are open, and last but not least, Father's Day is on the horizon. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, barbecues are smoking, and grass and pollen counts are rising.
With so many themes to choose from this month, I've decided that our theme will be ... none of the above. Instead, we have a feature article this time on an important topic: backing up your precious computer data. Plus,we have some good information that I have received from other newsletters and from the Baltimore Sun. In most cases I have links to the full articles or related websites so you can get all the information you want.
So, celebrate June and read on. Hope you find it interesting. |
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It's 11 O'clock. Do You Know Where Your Data Is?
 When your hard drive fails, what becomes of your data? Your financial information, reports, documents, tax information, music, family and vacation pictures, video of Aunt Martha falling into the punch bowl, saved email, address book, scanned images and documents, and more, are all stored on your hard drive. Depending on how the drive fails, these files may be easily recoverable, may be recoverable only with a very expensive service like On-Track, or may not be recoverable at all.
The solution is to maintain a backup of all of your files. The easiest way is to periodically (daily, weekly, or when new important data is added) copy your data files to a CD, DVD, or external hard drive. We all intend to back up our data, but few of us actually do it on a regular basis. And to be really safe we should store our backups offsite (take backups of the home computer to the office and bring the office backups home) in case of theft or disaster.
If you have multiple computers in a networked arrangement, it is a good idea to have all files stored/saved on a single PC and accessed through the network. This way, that one computer holding all of the data might be the only one that needs to be backed up regularly.
There are a few ways to automate the backup process so that it gets done on a regular basis. The classic method is to install a tape backup unit (TBU) on your computer. The advantages are that backups can be scheduled on a regular (daily or weekly) basis and the tapes can easily be taken offsite in your pocket or purse. TBUs can be purchased in sizes that will handle your entire hard drive.
However, tape drives large enough to handle all of your data on one tape can get very expensive, and if the backup requires more than one tape you will be less likely to back up on a regular basis, if at all. TBUs, however, are the recommended backup solution for businesses, and Master Software can help you find the right backup solution for your business.
Backups can also be made to CDs or DVDs if you have a burner, but with the size of today's hard drives, it will take many CDs or DVDs to back up your entire PC.
The next best solution might be one of the external USB hard drives that are readily available at computer and office supply stores (and from Master Software). Finding a drive that is larger than your hard drive should be easy, and setting it up is usually a snap. Staples (click for free shipping on orders of $50 and higher) has a selection of Maxtor One Touch III USB and Western Digital MyBook Premium Edition external hard drives. These drives come complete with backup software that is simple to set up and as easy to use as pressing a button.
Be sure to get a drive that includes backup software that can be set to backup your files on a regular basis, such as daily. You won't be able to get your data offsite easily (except perhaps buying a 2nd identical unit and swapping them), but backups should be painless and your data will be available in a hard drive emergency.
A third solution is to have your data backed up remotely, over the internet, to an offsite service which offers online storage of your data for a fee. One such service is Mozy, which offers up to 2 GB of secure online storage for free, and unlimited storage for $4.95 per month (save with 1- or 2-year plans).
Mozy lets you schedule backups and select what file types or folders to back up. Try it free at www.mozy.com, and if the free 2 GB is not enough for you, consider the paid version. Note that you must have a broadband internet connection (like Comcast or Verizon DSL) in order to use Mozy or any other internet backup service. A link to Mozy is in the left hand column for your convenience.
No matter which backup method you choose, make sure you can restore the data to your hard drive. We hope you will never need to use your backups, but it's better to be safe than sorry. |
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Don't Waste Your Money!
 Some interesting articles have appeared recently in some of the newsletters I read. Here is some money-saving advice I found that I thought might interest you:
Beware of AntiVirus Auto-Renewals
Brian Livingston's Windows Secrets Newsletter of 5/17/07 reported that when you renew your antivirus program's subscription, you may be signing up for annual renewals to be charged to your credit card every year. And canceling that automatic charging/renewal may be difficult or next to impossible.
The article describes one person's travails with trying to get out of automatic subscription renewals for Symantec AntiVirus. The author also purchased antivirus products from Microsoft, McAfee, Symantec, and ZoneAlarm. He found that Microsoft's arrangement was the hardest to get out of, with McAfee's being the next hardest, followed by Symantec. ZoneAlarm's was the easiest of the four to deal with.
Another option that was not mentioned in the article is to use one-time-use credit card numbers. AT&T Universal Card, offers "Virtual Account Numbers" which can be used at one merchant and expire at the end of the following month, so that when auto-renewal comes around next year the number will no longer be valid. Discover has Secure Account Numbers, and you can call them to cancel after completing your purchase without affecting your regular Discover Card account. MBNA has a similar service called "ShopSafe", and Citibank reportedly has its own version of one-time-use credit card numbers. Check with your credit card provider to see if they offer this service.
Incidentally, Brian's twice-monthly Windows Secrets Newsletter has two versions, a free version, and a longer paid version. The article referenced above is from the free version. There is no set fee for the paid version, just send what you think it is worth. Click here to subscribe to the Windows Secrets Newsletter. You may find some useful information.
Save your Verizon Paid Receipts
Speaking of newsletters, Ed Foster's GripeLog of May 7 discussed several cases where Verizon seemed to be overbilling. In one case, a reader found on a recent bill a previous balance charge that turned out to be from a bill he paid in 2004, but Verizon was just now marking it unpaid and past due, 3 years later!
Another customer reported that a payment made at a Kiosk was deducted from her account instead of added in as a payment, and that without a receipt Verizon would not credit the account.
There were also some reports of situations where people had all their Verizon services billed on a single bill, and the payment was not split properly between the voice, wireless, and internet departments.
Ed Foster's GripeLog is always a good place to find out about computer related issues that people are complaining about. Occasionally, there are solutions or companies reform to avoid more bad publicity. Sign up for his free newsletter in the box partway down on the left side of the page linked above (NOT the sign-up box at the top of the page).
Some Banks Charge for Download to Quicken or Microsoft Money
An article in the Baltimore Sun on May 10, 2007, (page 1D) indicated that some banks are charging customers who want to download their financial information to Quicken or Microsoft Money.
The article mentions that Wachovia, SunTrust, and Bank of America are charging customers a monthly fee to directly download their banking data into their personal finance software. Many other banks and brokerages do not charge such a fee.
Bottom line: if you want to download your financial data directly into Quicken or Money, check with your financial institution to see if they charge a fee so you can make an informed decision. |
Are You an Omnivore or a Lackluster Veteran?
A what??!!?? Or a what??!!??
Some of you may have seen Mike Himowitz's column in the Baltimore Sun on May 10, 2007 (page 1D). Mike is the Sun's tech columnist and his column appears every Thursday. He is also an avid reader of this newsletter (well, at least he's on the mailing list)!
Mike's May 10 column discusses the Pew Internet and American Life Project report on how we view our technological world and it's wired and wireless devices. The column is interesting reading, and provides a link to the Pew report website where you can read the details. The site also provides a 10-question quiz that you can take to see where you fit into the technological spectrum.
In his column, Mike reports that he took the quiz and scored as an Omnivore ("true believers, gadget freaks . . ."). When I took the quiz last week, I scored as a Lackluster Veteran , a bit surprising since I spend so much time working with and on computers and have a cell phone account with 1000 minutes.
You can read Mike's full column by clicking here. The Pew report page is here. And click here to take the quiz. Let me know how you score, and if enough readers respond, I will publish the results (no names, of course) next month.
Read Mike's technology column every Thursday in the Business section of the Baltimore Sun. |
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If you have any suggestions for future articles, or any comments, please feel free to share them with us. Thanks for taking the time to read our newsletter. And use the "Forward to a Friend link below to forward this email to someone else you think might be interested.
And now . . . I need to go to a wedding or graduation or jump in the pool (I can't remember which!). |
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Steve Leven
Master Software | |
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