Computers are supposed to be quiet. If you hear tick tick tick… don’t turn your PC off!!! Grab floppies, flash drives, whatever you have, and back up your data BEFORE you do anything else. And don’t turn off your PC - it might not start back up again.

What you are hearing is the hard drive. Something has warped or become misaligned internally, and that sound is the rubbing or grinding as the drive spins. The more the drive is used, the more damage will be done.

Maybe you’ll want to wait a little bit before installing SP1. People are reporting problems, and serious ones. Some organizations are recommending holding off, as in this story by InformationWeek. Attempt the update if you are comfortable addressing the issues of reinstalling video drivers, etc. But if you are clueless about what a driver even is, it may be better to wait a little bit. If your PC blue screens, you may be without your PC for a few days until you can get help!

Microsoft has finally released Service Pack 1 for Vista, which fixes a lot of bugs and performance problems, and adds drivers to support more hardware devices. Windows Update will download and install SP1. If you have a problem with a device (e.g., your printer) after SP1 is installed, try uninstalling and reinstalling the device — there are some issues like this being reported. If you are worried, read more about what’s in SP1 before you install.

Did you know that Microsoft has all sorts of free training resources available to you on their web site? Check out their Office Training Home Page. For example, for those of you using Outlook 2003 without an Exchange Server to store your data, there is a course explaining where your saved messages live and how to move, copy and backup that data. For those of you at an office using Exchange with Outlook 2003, there is a course explaining how to set up a delegate who can send mail and schedule appointments on your behalf. These are just a few of the hundreds of mini how-to training sessions available. Some of them even have quick reference cards you can print. (Word of warning though - many have audio start immediately for the first part of the training, so turn down the volume if you don’t want to disturb others.) As we find more that relate to the questions we are most often asked, we’ll let you know.

This is the second year to “spring forward” with the new schedule. Did you apply Windows updates last year on your PC to get the fixes for the changed schedule? Did you restore your computer since then and now need to reapply these fixes? Call us if your clock or calendar appear to be off and you aren’t sure what to do!

Do you have backups? Have you ever tested them? What if your computer died right now? How much data would you lose? How much time and money would you lose? If you haven’t ever thought about any of this, you need to start now. Because hardware will fail. How well you react and recover from it is up to you.[Full Article...]

… assuming you even have one! If you are in a business setting or you have a laptop that ever leaves your house, you need a password. A strong password is one that is hard to crack, i.e., for someone to guess (whether manually or through password hacker programs). Microsoft has a great article discussing why you need strong passwords and ways to come up with them that are also easy to remember. They also have a password checker tool where you can type in your password and it will provide feedback as you type on how strong your password is. Give it a try!

Okay, it’s February, but it is never too late to commit to reviewing your current security and backup plans. We published this article in the Wood Dale Chamber of Commerce newsletter last January, but it still is and will always be relevant.[Full Article...]