Athol Cohen & Associates
Computer and Network Support for Small Businesses
in the Greater Toronto Area

Call Us : 416 729 1232

Send us an Email

Home > Computer Resources > Newsletter > Newsletter Archive > Newsletter 9 – November 2004

Newsletter 9 – November 2004

Summer’s come and gone…. wow… and the cold weather’s here! Hope you had a good summer.

I’ve just completed my second year in business and it’s all thanks to you for your support and referrals. The end of this year will have been two complete calendar years. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

If you’re using Windows XP you’ve heard talk about Service Pack 2. If you’re not using Windows XP, you might want to think about moving to it.

For more information on getting and downloading Service Pack 2 go to: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/winxpsp2.mspx

This is one update that you should seriously consider downloading and installing, in spite of the inevitable tiny vulnerabilities that are being identified and fixed by Microsoft. SP2 is, in my humble opinion, a “Must Have” update.

Grisoft AVG AntiVirus Software:
What about virus detection and removal? I have recommended Norton AntiVirus but of late, have changed my opinion and moved to Grisoft AVG (http://www.Grisoft.com). Why, you might well ask? Over the last 3 to 4 months, I have had to clean up and in some cases backup, reformat and reinstall the Operating System and Applications, then restore the data files from the backup…. where possible. Since installing and using AVG, I and my clients have had no virus related issues. The nice part of this program is that it’s much smaller and very much faster than NAV. Other advantages are that you can buy it over the web (if you do so using the link from my web site, http://www.ServiCircle.com, I do get a small commission), you can pay in Canadian Dollars AND the license is for 2 years compared with NAV’s 1 year license. You can also “test drive” the software for 30 days by downloading the Trial Version. What have you got to loose?

On-Line Backup:
In the past I’ve spoken about backup… you’re doing it…? I hope so. On-Line backup is available at around $15.00 per GigaByte of storage or around $100.00 for 10GB. This is an easy and very reliable way of ensuring that you’re backing up every business day, automatically and without the chance of “forgetting to change the tape”! Remember, an Off-Site backup is the only way of ensuring business continuity. Can you afford to be without a backup? Ask yourself this question.

Personalised Domains:
I’m always puzzled when I see folks using a business email address that looks something like “businessname@rogers.com” as an example. For a registration fee of around $35.00 for 2 years, and less than $60.00 per year for hosting, you can have your own domain and email address or addresses. Ask me how! By the way, this also makes you ISP independent, so, if you get fed up with the service you’re getting from your existing ISP, you can move without it impacting your email address!

Anti-Spam:
I sent out a “phishing” alert recently and hope you didn’t take the bait! You could minimize the risk and also get rid of most of your other Spam Email that comes in daily. Get Spam Inspector (http://www.SpamInspector.com) or go to my web site http://www.ServiCircle.com and click on the Software link and download and purchase. It certainly saves me tons of time everyday in not having to even see the junk mail that comes in.

New Computer Systems:
Looking to get a new system? In the past I have not been able to compete with the “Big Guys” and yet my clients continue to ask me for systems… I guess it’s because of my service and responsiveness! Here’s what I’ve decided to do. If you would like a system, I can get it priced for you and you pay me my invoiced cost. What’s in it for me? I charge you for 4 hours of my time and this includes the following…

  • The system is built by my distributor to your requirements. The system comes with a 2 year Depot warranty on everything except the hard disk drive, which carries the manufacture’s warranty (anything from 1 to 3 years depending on manufacturer and price).
  • The system will have the Operating System – Windows XP Home or Professional installed and ALL available updates will be downloaded and installed .
  • Any of your software that you have will be installed for you and available updates will also be downloaded and installed.
  • A 30 Day Trial version of Grisoft AVG will be installed with available updates.
  • Your email (if you have an account) will be setup in either Outlook Express or Outlook, if you have it installed.
  • The system will be delivered and connected to your network and tested to ensure that it has the required connectivity.
  • Any On-Site calls required in the first 30 days to attend to hardware issues will be at no charge.

 

I’d be interested in your comments on this strategy.

I look forward to continuing to grow our business relationship.