NETWORK WORLD STEVE ULFELDER'S SOHO LIFE 11/17/04 Today's focus: Three mistakes that drive support guys nuts
Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED], In this issue: * Deep Tech reports in on how small business owners are abusing ��their PCs * Links related to SOHO Life * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by Intel IT Productivity; Increasing ROI Learn how to effectively measure employee productivity, manage IT investments and reduce the Total Cost of Ownership in enterprise data management. Visit Intel's IT Productivity center. Click here to download white papers, books and IDC Research. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=88389 _______________________________________________________________ DOWNLOAD INDUSTRY WHITE PAPERS NOW NW Fusion's White Paper Library is your source for the latest industry white papers. Recent additions to the library include white papers on WLAN Security; IT Documentation; protecting the internal network from worms, Trojan horses, and other malware threats; measuring employee productivity and more. Click here to download: http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=88317 _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: Three mistakes that drive support guys nuts By Steve Ulfelder My e-mail to Deep Tech was straightforward: "You must see a lot of kludged-up PCs and networks. Do you have a personal Top 3 User Errors list?" Did he ever. Regular readers are familiar with Deep Tech. By day, he's an IT professional at a local business, where his support duties include many teleworkers. By night, he provides community tech support. The guy is worth his weight in gold: reasonable fees, fast response, encyclopedic knowledge. I'm not sure I would have gotten my wireless network running without him (see editorial link below). Here's his list of common oversights. One: Backups Most people simply don't do backups. Deep Tech asks about backups during each house call, and the response is almost always a sheepish, "What? Me, back up data?" That data puts a roof over your head and buys shoes for the kids, does it not? Back it up. With inexpensive Web-storage options available that let you automate backups, there's no excuse not to. Deep Tech also says, "SOHOs rarely test their backups, so when it hits the fan they are flying blind or are in serious trouble." Two: Spyware Spyware generally piggybacks its way onto your hard drive with free downloads or when you visit adult Web sites. Boy, does Deep Tech detest spyware. "Johnny's child has to go out, browse the Web and download games," he says. "Soon the computer is unusable - it's slow, or hundreds of pop-ups come up every hour." More than once, he's made an emergency visit to a small business person's home to find the PC rendered unusable by spyware the owner didn't know existed. Fortunately, there are several good software applications that detect and delete spyware. Deep Tech recommended Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition 1.05; I run it once a month and inevitably find a few dozen spyware programs on my own PC. Also consider this advice: "Someone asked me a few days ago about letting her son install some games on her new computer - the computer she just purchased for her business," Deep Tech says. "I asked, 'If you were a professional truck driver, would you let your son take the truck out for a drive?' " PCs and wireless networking gear are cheap; maybe the time is right to get a second computer for family use. Three: File-sharing If you don't already know that peer-to-peer file-sharing opens you up to all manner of problems, consider yourself warned. The one that really sticks in Deep Tech's craw is Kazaa. "The default setting is to use all (oh yes, I mean all) available bandwidth," he says. "It could suck the life out of a T-1 in 30 seconds. At his day job, he says, a single rogue Kazaa user once "caused 90% of my users to call the help desk and complain that the network was slow." When Deep Tech identified the culprit, he says, "I threatened physical harm." He's joking. I think. File sharing can damage more than just network performance. It can leave you open to viruses and other attacks, and if you're illegally swapping copyrighted materials, there's legal liability as well. Are you guilty of any mistakes on Deep Tech's list? Got any horror stories to share, or personal pet peeves to warn your fellow small-business owners of? Let me know. RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS Ulfelder unplugged, Part 1 Network World, 07/26/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/nlsoholife473 Free security downloads http://www.nwfusion.com/links/Downloads/Security/index.html New back-up options for hurricane season EVault and Phoenix Technologies target SMBs. http://www.nwfusion.com/nlsoholife838 Reclaim your computer Spam and popup blockers that make computing fun again . http://www.nwfusion.com/nlsoholife839 Mirra Personal Server shines Start-up offers unique way to back up, share and remotely access data. http://www.nwfusion.com/nlsoholife840 Year-end reflections Best product of 2003, my predictions for 2004 http://www.nwfusion.com/nlsoholife841 _______________________________________________________________ To contact: Steve Ulfelder A journalist since 1986, Ulfelder writes about technology, business and automobiles from his home office in Southborough, Mass. His work appears in Network World, Computerworld, CIO, The Boston Globe, Grassroots Motorsports and others. You can contact him at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by Intel IT Productivity; Increasing ROI Learn how to effectively measure employee productivity, manage IT investments and reduce the Total Cost of Ownership in enterprise data management. Visit Intel's IT Productivity center. Click here to download white papers, books and IDC Research. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=88388 _______________________________________________________________ ARCHIVE LINKS Archive of the SOHO Life newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/columnists/ Breaking telework and SMB news: http://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/ _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE NEW! Website dedicated to Networking for Small Business now available The editors of NW Fusion and PC World have combined all their expert advice, authority, and know-how into a powerful new tool for small businesses, the new Networking for Small Business website. Get news, how-to's, product reviews, and expert advice specifically tailored to your small business needs. Find help with Security, Broadband, Networking, Hardware, Software, and Wireless & Mobile technology at: <http://www.networkingsmallbusiness.com/> _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. 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