CTOKOS Blog

Microsoft “Project Green” phase one is reflected in Microsoft Great Plains/Dynamics GP 9.0 realization. It is exposed to .Net developer currently through eConnect and as time goes - more and more eConnect object will have XML web service interfaces. In this small article we will be touching the set of object, deployed in eCommerce application, using Microsoft Dynamics GP as a backend.

• Sales Order Processing (SOP). In the light eCommerce case - you push data into SOP10100 - SOP Header table and SOP10200 - SOP Line table. If you do create Sales Orders Only, do not accept deposits against sales order - then you do not care about SOP Distribution table: SOP10102. All these tasks could be realized through eConnect.

• Inventory Tables. If you sell from your inventory (not just services), then you use Inventory module tables: IV00101 - Item master, IV00102 - Item QTY master, the last one shows you quantity at the specific location and in general

• Receivable Management Tables. RM00101 - Customer master - in case if you create and register new customer or update existing customer info in Great Plains.

• eConnect extensions. Obviously eConnect will be repeating the logic of former Great Plains Dexterity objects. In Great Plains you typically create work documents: Quotes, Orders, Invoices and then you post them individually or in the batch - posting process is functionally assigned to the operator, this is why you will have hard time to program it via eConnect (which allows you to create work documents). You will need eConnect extensions or simply stored procedures, which post work records in Sales Order Processing and potentially Receivable Management modules - it is not recommended to create ones from scratch - posting and order transferring logic is very complicated.

• Stored Procedures approach. We see more and more cases when eCommerce is built around Microsoft Small Business Financials, former Microsoft Small Business Manager - in such a situation eConnect might be too expensive and too complex - you may need just several SOP oriented stored procedures to create SOP orders and invoices at the back end in SOP SQL tables. The advice to the developer in the case of Small Business Financials - ask SBF user to create sample transaction - Sales Order and watch how did it distribute across SOP tables - you will get the idea and replication pattern for your SQL coding

• Development Tools. Microsoft Visual Studio.Net is becoming the tool of choice (over now legacy Microsoft Dexterity or Great Plains Software Dexterity). However if you are eCommerce developer - you will have to use SQL scripting. Usually the first question is - where do I get Great Plains table structure description: Tools->Resource Description->Tables. Sometimes developers ask about Great Plains Integration Manager. This tool is in process of being rewritten with eConnect panidea. Integration Manager up to version 8.0 was relatively slow in its technical ability to integrate bulk number of records - it used legacy OLE Server technology - Great Plains was OLE Server and IM used GP screens to validate integration records. New integration manager should be more powerful and it is in the process of the creation as we write these lines.

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM web front. In some cases we see this scenario. Microsoft Great Plains - MS CRM integration is in process of being rewritten on eConnect - currently it uses BizTalk server (and does a nice job, however sometimes you have to programmatically tune the BizTalk integration). In CRM you can create Account or Contact that will be integrated to Great Plains Customer, then Order when submitted can be integrated to Great Plains if needed. Sometimes developers complain, that they have to force credit limit for the CRM Account to be non-zero - in order for the invoice to come through

Please do not hesitate to call or email us: USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.greatplains.com.mx http://www.enterlogix.com.br ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally.
We are serving USA Nationwide: CA, IL, NY, FL, AZ, CO, TX, WI, WA, MI, MA, MO, LA, NM, MN, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Washington, Baltimore, New Orleans, Austin, Kansas City.

At some point during the course of your computer’s use, you will find yourself in the unenviable position of having to reinstall Windows. There are many reasons for this. Perhaps important system files got corrupted or disk errors or viruses caused your system to become unstable.

This is all a result of wear and tear on your PC. When that time comes, you will have to not only know how to reinstall windows, but how to reinstall windows without losing data. Here we refer to a fresh install of Windows and not simply an attempt to repair a few files.

1. Your Vendor’s Restore CD

The first step in knowing how to reinstall windows is to locate your vendor’s restore CDotherwise known appropriately enough as a rescue or boot disk. Windows comes with its own rescue CD as well. If that’s the only one you have at your disposal then locate your operating system’s instructions below.

Rescue CDs are not all alike. Some give you rescue functions as well as important software drivers for your computer. Others are more basic, only allowing you the ability to reformat your hard drive. Don’t reformat your hard drive without backing up your personal files to another medium first! Your personal files are those located under ‘My Documents’ in Windows. The exact location of your personal files and folders varies from one operating system to another.

In Windows XP, for example, you will backup everything in C:Documents and Settings. In Windows 98 and ME, you will backup C:My Documents. More instructions follow below for your particular system. If you have any other folders where you’ve stored personal stuff back those up as well.

2. Windows 98 and ME CDs

With Windows 98 and ME you don’t want to just reinstall windows without backing up important system information. This information can be found in your Windows folders.

First create a new folder on your C: drive and name it oldWindows. Then use Windows explorer to navigate to your Windows folder. Once there, locate the following subfolders: All Users, Application Data, Desktop, Favorites, Local Settings, Profiles, SendTo, and Start Menu. Copy these folders to the oldWindows folder you created.

Now it’s time to reboot. Restart Windows with your boot disk Upon startup select Start computer with CD-ROM support. Drivers will begin loading so go ahead and insert your Windows CD-ROM.

To reinstall windows properly you will need to delete your directory tree so type c:windowscommanddeltree /y c:windows and press the Enter key. After that you need to invoke the Windows setup installation procedure located on your Windows CD. Type your CD drive letter and then type setup.

Next get into the DOS prompt from Windows and type

xcopy c:oldWindows*.* c:windows /s /h /r /c.

This will restore all important system information.

3. Windows 2000 and XP CDs

If you have Windows 2000 and XP you need to know how to reinstall windows properly as well. Insert your Windows CD and boot your computer. Upon startup you will see Press any key to boot from CD.

After clicking you will come to the welcome screen. Press Enter, then press Escape to start a restore. From the menu options select C as your current partition and then l to delete the Windows folder. Enter temp as your user name when prompted. Reboot and you will be logged in as temp.

Next you will restore your personal files. Windows 2000 users should login as temp, then Administrator and then back to temp again. Then navigate to C:Documents and Settings and you will see an Administrator folder and one with Administrator: computername.

From DOS type cd documents and settings and then press Enter. Type xcopy administrator*.* administrator.computername /s /h /r /c, substituting for computername your folder that was appended to Administrator earlier. Your personal files will be restored.

4. For Both Windows XP and 2000

Windows XP and 2000 users need one extra step to know how to reinstall windows correctly. Create a new folder on your C: drive and label it oldData. Then go to My Documents and Settings and copy all of the folders for each username to oldData.

In Control Panel go to User Accounts and create a new account for each of these usersuse their names as spelled out under their Documents and Settings folders. If you’re using XP ensure that at least one account has Administrator privileges.

For each user on your computer, log off and log in with that user’s name. Then login as Temp and drop down into the DOS command prompt interpreter. Now type

xcopy c:oldData*.* “c:documents and settings” /s /h /r /c

Then press Enter. Go ahead and confirm that you want to overwrite files. When you’re done, log off and then login as each user. Each user’s Documents and Settings should be restored.

5. Finishing Up

After you install windows you need to install other software too, like drivers and Windows Updates from Microsoft’s web site. Check for any graphics drivers that you may need to install from a vendor CD.

Look for all of your old personal files and make sure that they are all there. If not, check the C:oldData folder and move the files to the correct location. Once you are absolutely sure that you have everything you can delete both the oldData folder and the Administrator folder.

Conclusion

It may have come as a surprise to you to learn that you can reinstall windows without having to wipe out your hard drive. With a fresh install of Windows you can restore to your computer the speed and efficiency which it had when you first bought it.

A fresh install will do wonders for your computer’s performance and will be better for your system than a simple repair. In order to save your personal files you simply need to create temporary folders as we outlined in this article and restore them back into the new installation.

Gary Hendricks runs a hobby site on building computers. Visit his
website at http://www.build-your-own-computers.com for tips and
tricks on assembling a PC, as well as buying good computer components.

I needed to start this topic with a huge, “WHY NOT? Outsourcing automotive services, I believe has become the most powerful tool made available to dealers. My name is Dr. Harold Elam Jr, and through dealer development and detailed research, I have concluded that the shift that is taking place in our industry is greater than the knowledge that most dealers possess, and our industry can’t handle the increase we are entering into.

Most Dealerships are still mom and pop companies, surviving off the relationships they have established over the years. Outsourcing being made available to dealers, is the best way for dealers to really connect with the area they service and stay connected through technology. I have found in my research, most Internet Departments in our industry, are automated and there really is no-response system put into place. Outsourcing allows our Dealers to have real response time, and build real relationship over the internet, just like other industries. American Express, outsources, not their call center, EarthLink outsources as well as many others.

I know what you are thinking, “This Guy Is Advertising” and your RIGHT!, but I also love this business, and for dealers to survive in this fast paced market THEY MUST KEEP UP WITH TECHNOLOGY!! Dealers can now out-source their Internet department, pay no employees, Outsource BDC, Real time follow-up, E-marketing instead of Direct mail!!! Spend LESS and get more. This is what out-sourcing does, and it allows Dealers to keep up with the pace, or like so many other Dealers, you will go out of business or get sold to the Auto Nations of the world, our industry has went corporate, no more personal touch, even though that is what the market place is calling for. Offer your guest convenience, simplicity, technology and GREAT customer service. I challenge Dealers, Vendors, Managers………………anyone related to the industry to learn more about what I call SCD (Systematic Concept Duplication) the science of Automotive Outsourcing.

We Are BDC
Dr Harold Elam Jr
President, Dealer Services
810 Summit Rd
Unit E
Goldsboro, NC 27534
919-778-1914

I don’t claim to be a “techie,” but I thought I would say a few words about upgrading software programs. If you use software, such as Microsoft Office, on a regular basis, how often should you upgrade to a newer version? That depends on several factors, such as support (is your current version still supported by the software company?), features, and compatibility with other software programs on your computer.

I recently upgraded my version of Office XP to Office 2003. However, it took me a long time to make the decision to upgrade. The XP version had all of the features I thought I needed. The programs - Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, all seemed to be working fine, and XP was still supported by Microsoft. Well, being a business person in an administrative profession, I need to constantly update my software skills, and that includes working with various office software applications. As I came across online training classes for Word, Excel, etc., I started to realize that classes in XP applications were no longer being offered. That is really what cinched it for me. Since upgrading, I’ve also come to like certain features in each of the programs. I’m also learning Publisher, which came with the upgraded version, and may help me with desktop publishing projects for my clients.

The bottom line is that as long as your current software programs offer you everything you need, there is no reason to upgrade to a newer version unless you simply want to. It’s really a subjective, individual preference. That is my take on upgrading software!

© 2006 Cynthia Morse, Virtually At Your Service. All rights reserved.
Cynthia Morse CAP is a Virtual Assistant, and the owner of Virtually At Your Service, www.virtuallyatyourservice.biz. She offers top-level administrative support to small business owners and other busy professionals from her home office, allowing them the time to focus on what they love and do best. Visit her blog, ‘Virtual Biz Connection’, virtuallyatyourservice.typepad.com/virtualbizconnection. It’s full of tips, helpful articles and resources for your small business!

Over the last few days I have been running basic and advanced Excel courses and one of the common questions that people are asking me is “What is a simple way to Disable a Short cut in Excel?” I have spent lots of time thinking about a non-programmatic way to do this and there is a very simply solution.

Write a macro …

Let us say for example you are writing a Microsoft Excel template that you need various users to enter data into, but you want to limit their ability to use the features of Cut, Copy and Paste. Okay, so let me start off by testing your memory… What is the shortcut keystrokes for Cut, Copy and Paste … I will put you out of your misery if you do not know, they are -

Cut - [Ctrl] + [X]
Copy - [Ctrl] + [C]
Paste - [Ctrl] + [V]

Now to override these basic shortcuts we simply use a macro to do so, keeping in mind that the macro will only disable the short cuts for that document, as long as you choose the right options. Let us go through the process to disable the short cut, Cut.

The first step is to open a new spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel, then go to the Tools menu and then choose Macro from the drop down menu, then select Record New Macro …

The Record Macro dialog box will be visible. In the Macro Name text box, type the text EliminateCut. Now not that I did not have a space between the word Eliminate and Cut. If you have a space, the Excel application will come up with an error because in Microsoft Excel you are NOT allowed to have spaces in macro names.

Second step click in the box that say shortcut key and type in the letter X. In the Store in Macro drop down box the option “This Workbook” should be selected. If it is not, make sure you select it from the drop down box or you will disable Cut for all future workbooks, which will not be a positive outcome. Finally press the OK button.

Word of warning … Do Not Click or do anything on the Worksheet. The Stop Recording toolbar should appear, simply click on the stop button which looks like a stop button on a CD Player and the macro recorder will stop.

Now if you put some text into a cell and deactivate the cell by pressing the [Enter] key, then go back and click on it once and try out your shortcut. What you will notice is that the cell is selected but if you click on another cell and try and paste the value by using [Ctrl] + [V] you will notice that the cell does not move and as such the short cut [Ctrl] + [X] is disabled.

I should note that there are some limitations to this technique. If you actually activate the cell and select the text in the cell itself and then try [Ctrl] + [X] you will find that the text will be cut, but if you use [Ctrl]+[X] on a normally selected cell you will notice [Ctrl] + [X] is disabled.

Chris Le Roy has available Microsoft Excel 2003 Basic Cheat Sheet to help you with Microsoft Excel. To learn more about Microsoft Excel simply check our Chris’s correspondence course where you can earn yourself Microsoft Excel Certificates issued by his company without even leaving home - Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Training . Tips on Microsoft Excel are also Available.

Malicious software, or malware, is likely the most widespread problem faced by computer users today. As a computer technician, I find that about three out of four jobs I do for home computer users are to remove malware in one form or another.

Malware programs come in several forms: Spyware and adware track your activities when surfing the Internet and bombard you with pop-up advertisements. Hijackers change browser start pages and redirect you to unwanted web sites. Viruses and trojans erase data and allow hackers to access your files. In many cases, the end result is that your computer becomes unusable and in need of repair.

Many computer users try to protect their computers by installing anti-virus and firewall programs. While these programs are of value, they alone are not sufficient to fix and prevent all types of attacks. Many computers with up-to-date anti-virus and firewall software arrive at my door infested with malware to the extent that they are unusable.

I have found user education to be the most effective deterrent to malware. Here is a list of things you can do to keep your computer healthy:

1. Be skeptical of free software

There are many free software programs available on the Internet. Unfortunately, many of these are bundled with malware designed to display pop-up ads or monitor your browsing activities. Some even go further by regularly downloading additional malware without notifying you.

Here are some common examples of free software that can contain malware:

Screen savers

AIM buddy icons
Desktop background pictures
Email “smileys”
Peer-to-Peer music-sharing services

Many troublesome adware programs are legal because they explain what they do in the license agreement, which the user typically must agree to before the program is installed. If you’re not sure about a program, it pays to glance over the license agreement. You may be surprised what you are giving permission for.

You should also be skeptical of spyware removal tools and pop-up blocker programs. Believe it or not, many of these tools actually contain adware and spyware themselves. If you’re not completely sure about a piece of software, ask a savvy computer user or technician before installing it.

There are some good freebies on the Internet, but there are many undesirable ones as well. To protect you computer, you must exercise discretion. Be very cautious about giving a web site permission to install software on your computer. A hacker with $20 and some spare time can construct a professional-looking web page that is designed to install malware on your computer. Some parents have found it necessary to forbid their children from downloading any software without permission.

2. Install critical Windows updates

Many malware programs have the ability to infect your computer only because of a mistake made by Microsoft during the development of Windows or Internet Explorer. When Microsoft learns of these mistakes, the company releases updates to fix them.

The well-known “Blaster” and “Sasser” worms infected millions of computers, all of which didn’t have the latest Windows updates installed. These and other viruses could infect out-of-date computers without any action on the part of the user other than connecting to the Internet.

If your computer is using Windows XP, you can configure it to receive updates automatically. To find the automatic update option, click Start, RIGHT-click My Computer, click Properties, and then click the Automatic Updates tab.

If you are using an older version of Windows, or if you’d like to install the updates manually, visit windowsupdate.microsoft.com or click on Start > Windows Update (if you’re using Windows XP, it will be found under Start > All Programs > Windows Update).

3. Don’t open suspicious email attachments

One of the most common ways for viruses to spread is through the use of email attachments. Under usual circumstances, it is OK to read the text of an email that contains a virus. Your computer will not be infected unless you make the mistake of attempting to open the attachment. Although some viruses can infect even without the use of an attachment, this is normally not a problem if you keep your software up-to-date as described earlier in the article.

Most people follow a simple rule that they assume will protect them: They do not open any attachment unless they recognize the sender. However, knowing the sender does not make an attachment safe. In fact, many viruses appear to be sent by somebody you know. Every day people are infected with viruses because they open an attachment on an email that appeared to come from a family member or close friend. Before you open a file attached to an email, make sure BOTH of these statements are true:

1.You know the person who is sending the email.
2.The email contains a personal message that describes the attachment and makes it clear the message was written by the person it appears to be from. A one line message like “open this, it’s cool!” is not enough because many viruses are designed to automatically generate such messages.

If the message is vague as to what the attachment is, email or call the sender to see if they intended to send it to you.

4. Consider using an alternative web browser

The computer program that you use to look at web pages on the Internet is called a web browser. Microsoft Internet Explorer is the web browser that comes packaged with Windows, and is therefore used by the vast majority of computer users. Contrary to many people’s assumptions, there are a handful of other free Internet browsers that meet or even exceed the ease of use and features of Internet Explorer.

Many viruses and other malicious software infect computers by taking advantage of security vulnerabilities or “holes” in Internet Explorer. While vulnerabilities exist in other browsers, Internet Explorer is the one that is targeted most frequently by virus and malware authors. While keeping Internet Explorer up-to-date as described earlier in the article provides some protection, some security experts are recommending that users abandon Internet Explorer altogether.

One of the most promising alternative browsers is called Mozilla Firefox, which can be downloaded free from www.mozilla.org. Firefox has been quickly gaining popularity in the recent months. Firefox also automatically blocks advertising pop-ups triggered by the websites you visit. You’ll want to keep whatever browser you use up-to-date, as security problems are discovered even in non-Microsoft browsers occasionally. Firefox automatically informs you of updates when they become available.

Eldon Martin owns a computer consulting firm in south central Pennsylvania. He also operates FultonPA.com - the unofficial guide to Fulton County, Pennsylvania.

IPMONTOR - NETWORK MONITORING SOLUTION

IPMonitor is a sophisticated network monitoring solution that allows network administrators, webmasters, and Internet service providers to monitor any networked device on the Internet, corporate intranet, or TCP/IP LAN and receive alerts immediately via audible alarm, message, e-mail, or third-party software when a connection fails. It is a powerful personal monitoring product delivering low cost, simplicity of operation, and round-the-clock coverage.

Main Features:

• System tray application - Runs as a system tray application automatically on startup.

• Comprehensive monitoring - Monitors up to 500 network devices or services simultaneously.

• Global settings - Allows quick network resource configuration.

• Independent parameters - Allows all parameters to be set independently for each network resource.

• Maintenance mode - Permits you to temporarily disable monitoring of certain resources.

• Robust alerting - Alerts you to failures using a variety of techniques ranging from audible alarms to third-party software.

• Alert schedule - Allows you “fine tune” the alerting functions to avoid unnecessary alerting during an extended failure.

• Failure and recovery alerts - Alerts can be enabled for any combination of failure and recovery notices.

• Custom alerts - Allows custom alerts to be created for each monitored resource.

• Test alert configuration - Each alert type can be tested in order to verify that the alert is configured correctly prior to going live.

• E-mail notification - Allows e-mail notification via SMTP with the server of your choice.

• Custom messages - Supports keyword values and customized message information.

Avoid costly network downtime by using IPMonitor as your first line of defense. IPMonitor continually probes and transacts with network resources on timed intervals, to test their availability and responsiveness. If a failure occurs, IPMonitor automatically notifies you. The result? You are back in business faster!

About Software Developer:

Incorporated in early 2003 and headquartered in Haifa, Israel, Tsarfin Computing is a privately held company specializing in network diagnostic and monitoring software for the Internet, corporate intranets, and TCP/IP local area networks. Today its products and custom solutions may be found in businesses all over the world, including a large number of Fortune 500 companies, as well as in thousands of smaller ventures.

The company’s product family includes NetInfo, one of the most widely used network toolkits and a pioneer in the grouped network tools arena, and IPMonitor, a sophisticated network monitoring solution.

Product Requirements:
• Windows 98/ME/NT/000/XP
• Internet Explorer 5.5+

The developer’s web site:
www.tsarfin.com

Experienced, versatile freelance writer.
Strong research skills, clear and concise writing, compassionate journalism.

Currently Microsoft Business Solutions is on the way of creating so-called suites: Microsoft Financials, Microsoft Distributions, Microsoft HR, Microsoft Manufacturing. It is very difficult to say which product will be the core of which suite, but the best guess is this: Microsoft Great Plains - Microsoft Financials and probably Distribution/Supply Chain Management and HR, Solomon - Microsoft Project or Professional Services, Navision - Microsoft Manufacturing. If you have Microsoft Business Solutions Navision and support it for your company then you need to know some technical details about Navision version upgrade and what is going on behind the scenes, which options do you have in case of C/SIDE customization or Jet Reports.

The challenge of Navision Upgrade This should be understood by both: software developer and company executive.

• One Dictionary - in contract to such product as Microsoft Great Plains, where customization goes into separate dictionary - Navision customization sits in the same dictionary. This means that when new version is out there - the customization should be re-analyzed and moved from the old dictionary to the new. If you remember the history - Navision actually merged several dictionaries couple of versions back - this was very tough time for customization upgrade
• SQL Server side - from this side upgrade is smooth, because Navision doesn’t use complex SQL functionality and SQL Server itself is rather data storage.

Do I need consultant? It is probably good idea to have consultant to do the upgrade. We strongly recommend you to use consultant in the following cases

• You have C/SIDE customization or any customization for your Navision
• You have a lot of custom Jet Reports
• Your Navision has more than 20 users and you have to have upgrade done over the weekend - if it fails - you have business problems
• You don’t have support - in this case you have to select your Microsoft Business Solutions Partner and pay for the annual support/enhancement plan - you will get new registration key and will be ready for the upgrade

Good luck in upgrading and if you have issues or concerns - we are here to help! If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com

John Kleb is Certified Navision Specialist in Alba Spectrum Technologies - USA nationwide Navision, Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, based in Chicago, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, Washington, Colorado, Canada, UK, Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally (www.albaspectrum.com).

You can contact John: andrewk@albaspectrum.com

What is RAID RECOVERY?

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. It is a method of combining several hard drives into one unit. This method offers fault tolerance (the ability of a system to continue to perform functions even when one or more hard disk drives have failed) and higher protection against data loss than a single hard drive.

Why do I need RAID RECOVERY?

RAID provides real-time data recovery when a hard drive fails, increasing system uptime and network availability while protecting against loss of data. Another advantage of the system is that multiple disks working together increase overall system performance. Any individual or company could benefit from having a RAID RECOVERY system in place.

Different Levels

There are several different levels of RAID available. Each level offers various advantages in terms of data availability, cost and performance. Your best bet is to assess your needs in order to determine which level works best for you. The most popular RAID systems are the following:

RAID 0 - Data striping (no data protection). The benefit of this system is that it offers the highest performance.

RAID 1- Disk Mirroring (provides data protection by duplicating all data from a primary drive on a secondary drive). The benefit of this system is it offers the highest data protection.

RAID 0/1- This combines both Raids 0 and 1. The benefit here is highest performance + highest data protection.

RAID 5 - Data striping with distributed parity (a form of data protection that recreates the data of failed drive in a disk array). This system offers the best cost performance for multidrive environments.

Having a RAID system installed can provide peace of mind. With RAID installed you can rest assured that even in the event of a system failure your important data will be safe.

About The Author

Alexandria Haber writes both fiction and non-fiction for a variety of people and places. As a result, she has had the benefit of gaining a little bit of knowledge about a lot of different subjects she would otherwise remain totally ignorant of. While researching this article on RAID recovery she gained a new respect for computer technology. For more information on RAID RECOVERY you can visit: http://www.raidrecoveryguide.com.

info@raidrecoveryguide.com

Now that spyware is the single most dangerous threat to home computers connected to the internet today, getting your hands on some sort of spyware and adware protection is critical. Spyware has outpaced computer viruses in its prevalence, and in the kind of damage it can do to your system.

If you plan on using your home PC to do anything on the internet, even minor emailing or a little light surfing, this kind of protection is a must-have.

What is spyware? Spyware is basically any kind of software that gets installed on your machine without your knowing it, and tracks your actions on the internet for marketing purposes, or causes your computer to perform tasks that you didn’t request.

You can accidentally get this stuff installed on your computer, by downloading trials and demos of certain programs that have it “bundled”, like a lot of file sharing programs, (a lot, but not all of them) viewing email attachments, or even just visiting certain websites. Sometimes you get lucky and all it does is put a cookie or two on your machine and influence the types of banner ads you see (based on your web surfing habits) or give you a few pop-up ads.

Increasingly, though, companies are getting away with distributing spyware that hijacks your web browser home page, adds unsolicited desktop icons, and pollutes other parts of your web browser, like the screen you see when you hit “search”, and the page you get sent to if you misspell a web address. Instead, all you’ll see are pages of ads. There’s now a new breed of spyware that works like a Trojan Horse virus. Many log your keystrokes, passwords, logins, etc, typed in over a week or so and deliver them to the perpetrator. This is so serious that my antivirus program even catches this spyware. If you let this happen to you, you’re leaving yourself open to some serious, serious privacy violations, not to mention likely fraud or identity theft.

Probably the most serious kind of spyware of all, however, affects your email programs. Some will send out a solicitation email to every person in your address book and “sent” items folder. Some spyware just tacks an annoying advertisement onto every email you send out. And these aren’t the kinds of solicitations you would want any association with, either. This kind of stuff is the most serious of all, in my opinion. How would you like to have your boss get an email from you telling him to visit a distasteful porn site?

You can probably see by now that getting good spyware protection is more important than anything else. Viruses aren’t really a huge deal anymore, because most people have some kind of antivirus programs, and viruses just aren’t produced and distributed as much as they used to be. But the problem is, even the best antivirus software out there still doesn’t take care of spyware; it’s a different classification.

One of the main reasons spyware is so widespread is that it’s mainly all still legal. Viruses aren’t as much of a problem anymore because the people who start them almost always get tracked down, and sent to jail. But with spyware, most of what these components do isn’t really malicious. You’d have to prove some kind of harm. So you saw a few ads. The case could often be made that you initiated whatever process got it on your machine anyway.

Anyone who tries to commit fraud against you by using spyware also won’t really be doing it out in the open, so they probably won’t get caught. It makes more sense to just get some good spyware protection and keep this from happening in the first place.

Two of the better programs out there meant to deal with this are Adaware and Spysweeper. I use both, but from what I’ve seen, Spysweeper seems to detect more different pieces of spyware that get on my system.

Also, while they’re meant to complement one another, one feature Spysweeper has that Adaware doesn’t is that it watches specific components of Windows for you, like your “Startup” programs, web browser “favorites” and your browser homepage. All changes get reported to you. You decide right then and there if you want to let it happen.

Adaware has a similar system, but lets you set it to deal with, and prevent any such changes to your system, without even asking you. It’s like having your own digital bodyguard, watching your computer for you while you’re free to surf.

If you’re serious about your PC’s security and your privacy on the internet, spyware protection is not an option, it’s a must!

Phil Moyers, writer of Build Your Own Computer Plan shows computer novices how to save a ton of money by putting together fast, high performance PC’s of their own with handpicked, quality parts. Learn more about spyware protection