Anyone who builds or fixes PCs knows what the laborious part of the job is....  the finishing off work, i.e. loading the software & utilities required to keep the PC protected and useable.  It takes hours, and is pretty monotonous.   However there is a really clever utility on NINITE.COM which lets you select the most popular software packages and downloads a script which will auto download and install for you.  Its really good, and lets you forget about the penultimate step.
And finally.... remember to test that it all works......  B-)

Linux Again !!

A busy summer has had me away from the blogosphere...... so today I'm exploring Linux again and looking at PINGUY distro, which seems pretty good for the non-technical user to play with.
L8R.......!!

The Most Difficult IT Task ?

so.... what's the most difficult IT task you may be charged to complete........ ?

Here's one...... creating labels. They are a pain in the butt to do 'cos its time consuming and fiddly and never come out right.

Save yourself the hassle - user Avery Wizard to create the labels in MS Office.

Simple to do, lots of label templates, and best of all it's free !

Heres the link:

http://www.avery.co.uk/avery/en_gb/Demos/Software-Demos/Avery-Wizard-Software-for-Microsoft-Office.htm

Disaster recovery Essential Tool #2

......so it wont boot, and there is NO BACKUP DATA and they need their pics, docs, vids, etc. Use PARTED MAGIC, it will boot up the PC, then scan it for viruses or malware, then copy the user folder to the spare partition (which you've just created) and format the boot partition and reload the factory default image or the o/s.

• Format internal and external hard drives.
• Move, copy, create, delete, expand & shrink hard drive partitions.
• Clone your hard drive, to create a full backup.
• Test hard drives for impending failure.
• Test memory for bad sectors.
• Benchmark your computer for a performace rating.
• Securely erase your entire hard drive, wiping it clean from all data.
• Gives access to non-booting systems allowing you to rescue important data.
• Runs from the CD, no install required.

Disaster Recovery Essential Tool

Often (very often) I'll get a PC in that will not boot. It has to be rebuilt, completely. Now that's a time consuming chore, and one which becomes boring after only a few repetitions.
So whats to do ? Ghost it ? Hmmm maybe not, had a few that just do not recover correctly, and time consuming too.....
So an alternative "ghosty" is required....... step in MACRIUM REFLECT. This FREE application makes a direct copy of the "build" onto a separate partition, which can be retrieved if neccessary i.e. if the build refuses to boot at a later stage. Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Whats more, the recovery CD which is used to retrieve the Macrium reflect image, is a Linux boot disk. So no problems there, just boot up and run the recovery process. Reliable and pretty fast as well. http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp

The Best Business Backup Solution

A business needs to back up its data - 90% of businesses fail within 6 months after losing their ICT infrastructure. The most common cause of failure is lack of investment / ongoing maintenance programme / users incompetence / employee theft / whatever...... Anyway, the data is gone / lost / wandering the planet but nowhere near where it needs to be.
So whats to do ? One approach I have tested and deployed is a NAS Server, Network Access Storage, which is like a big hard drive without the attached computer. Modern NAS devices have built in management software which allows the user to configure and setup scheduled backups to teh server.

One of the best IMHO is the SYNOLOGY DISKSTATION. These devices come in various sizes or can be user customized to the storage capacity of your choice. I have a 2Tb RAID configuration, which is 2 x 2Tb drives configured as 2Tb mirrored to the second drive. What's really good is the DSM software - Disk Station Manager 3.1. The Data Replicator software will set up an automatic synchronisation of the selected data to the Disk Station. Or, you can set up a scheduled backup to the Disk Station. Better still you can have many devices connected to the DS and auto-backup each machines data. A Gigabit switch with CAT5e or CAT6 cable is advisable to speed up the backups.

Best of all, the Synology Diskstation is affordable for a "serious" home user or a small business.
Check out the weblink (right side) or search You Tube for Synology Diskstation.

Back in the HIGH LIFE AGAIN !!

Well Hellooooo there..... it's been a long, long time..... about 3 years I think.

Why so long? I've had a couple of major life changes, been made redundant from the telecoms job and got a new ICT job immediately, which has been a saviour. The new job is busy, and thoroughly enjoyable for the "Prince of Geek".

Still working on the wee enterprise, still investing in kit, still investigating what I can do to help others with their techy problems.
Oh yeah.... still enjoying life and consider myself lucky to be able to do so !!