Category: Uncategorized

Categories
Uncategorized

Article: Recovering files by reinstalling Windows, Mac virus protection

Thsi week in Patrick Marshall’s Q&A column on technology, there are two items that struck home for me:


Reinstalling Windows to recover lost files: The first was Mr. Marchall’s advice on “reinstalling Windows may help retrieve photos.” A reader asked what they should do when their “daughter’s computer wouldn’t boot and displayed a message stating that Windows System 32 was missing. All I wanted was to get her pictures off her hard drive.”


Mr. Marshall suggests reinstalling Windows. The error message you’re getting implies that important system files have been corrupted, whether by a problem with the drive or by a virus. That being the case, you’ll need to boot from your Windows disk and reinstall Windows. Assuming you’re able to reinstall, choose to install over the current version. Above all, do not choose the option to reformat the drive prior to installing.


More info on how to do this is detailed on Nick Peers’ good tutorial on reinstalling Windows, and mentioned in this PC World article.


I also agree with Marshall’s suggestion to use a reputable hard-drive data-retrieval service if the drive is damaged and you’re not able to reinstall Windows.


One more thing: back up your files regularly. If you don’t have a writable CD or DVD drive (or even if you do) a handy and ever more affordable way to back up your files is to a USB 2.0 Flash Drive. I found several brands of flash drives (which I refer to as memory fobs, sometimes getting a blank stare at the office) for less than $20 for 1 GB. I use these at home for archiving our photos and important documents, and keep a small spare flash drive in our emergency kit with copies of important family documents and information.


Note on Mac OS X anti-virus: Also of interest in this week’s column was this on Mac AV:



“I wrote that even users of Apple computers should employ anti-virus software, explaining that while there are fewer viruses reported for Apple computers, especially for those using the newest Mac OS X operating system, there are still viruses.


“I was inundated with responses from Mac users, many of whom claimed there are no viruses that target the Mac OS X. While it is interesting to find that so many users feel so passionately about their choice of operating system, it is dangerous to operate under the assumption that your computer does not need anti-virus software.


“Indeed, there is no operating system in the world that is not vulnerable to viruses.


“There were, in fact, so many e-mails that I cannot respond to them individually. Accordingly, I want to again urge readers with more questions to visit the Web site I mentioned in the article: www.securemac.com. You will find extensive coverage there of existing vulnerabilities and viruses affecting Mac OS X and other Apple operating systems.”


I have a Mac at home (actually, more than one… it’s a long story.) and I wouldn’t think to have them on the Internet or our network without AV. I received a number of mails from Mac users to my blog post on “Mac or PC Security, it doesn’t matter: be prepared” and why I noted that being prepared in this example costs me nothing. I have a choice to purchase additional security if I choose. And that’s what I have done for both my Macs (with Norton AV, but I am considering switching to Intego) and my PCs (OneCare with Etrust).


Tags: , , , .

Categories
Uncategorized

Google’s Schmidt: “casual” sharing and use of Office files. Huh?

There’s an interesting but brief interview in PC Magazine with Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO. John Batelle interviewed Schmidt, and asked him among other things about Google’s “office suite” which includes Google Docs and Spreadsheets.



“Schmidt took issue with the “office suite” moniker: “The argument goes like this: For many people, it would be just as easy to have the computer in the cloud store the information that you use everyday. Furthermore, if you have that model, it should enable very rapid sharing so we embarked on a strategy more than a year ago to build applications that are focused on sharing and collaboration,” he said. “The sum of that is a different way of managing information and we don’t position it as an office suite. We position it as something you’d use everyday in everyday life.”



“Yes, but it is still a replacement for Office,” countered Batelle.


“We don’t see it as a replacement of Office. The focus we have is not the focus they have,” Schmidt said, referring to Microsoft. “Our focus is on casual sharing and casual collaboration.”


But Batelle was not having it. “But the benefit is that its free.”


“Well you could pay people to use your product,” said Schmidt. And that was the end of that.


When was the last timeyou casually shared a spreadsheet? I’m not talking about using Microsoft Excel to create the batting line up for your five-year-old’s T-Ball team. Personally, I couldn’t remember an instance where I used Excel “casually.” As for Microsoft Word, I had to struggle to recall a time when I sent .doc files to someone in “casual” collaboration: 2004, for a neighbourhood block party invitation. And even then, I think I relied more on Outlook email than Word.


Now OneNote, sure. 😉 

Categories
Uncategorized

Of interest: Jack Palance and the “one thing”

Jack Palance passed away, and that is a real passing on many levels.


Briefly, I’ll mention one anedote that I recall more often to people, one item that I think mention most often.


Yes, it’s the “one thing” from City Slickers. OK, sounds trivial, but stick with me for a second. In the movie, Mr. Palance’s character mentions that there is “One Thing” that really matters in life. It starts with Palance asking Billy Crystal, “Do you know what the secret to life is?”



“No, what?”


Palance answers: “One thing, just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean sh*#.”


Crystal looks puzzled and asks, “That’s great, but what’s the one thing?”


“That’s what you’ve got to figure out.”


That one thing for each of us is to find out is that thing that drives us, our passion. That singular focus is really important, and it’s something that I often see in so many people in our industry, people involved in work outside their office (with our family, kid’s school, charities and friends).


I saw it this week walking through building 26, as we closed on Vista RTM. I saw it in people in the buildings where much of the Office team works last week. I saw it in the Xbox and Zune teams this week as we near the holidays. It’s all over… in MSN/Live, MBS, SQL, Longhorn Server, MS hardware (ooh, I want one of those new mice), online services and devices (I love my jasjar and my wife should enjoy the new Dash). It’s everywhere. I saw it this week with a new bunch of employees going through orientation (our “MS101” program which is so well done), new employees that were excited to be at our company to make a difference.


People are truly passionate about their work and that in itself is exciting. They’re truly interested in getting our products into the hands of customers and partners, to get their feedback and work on improving the products. They’re focused on making sure that we have the most satisfied customers out there. Over the next year we’ll release an incredible number of products, and it is really an exciting time to be not only here at a company that is driving so many different products, but also being one of the consumers at home and at our office (as we eat our own dogfood) looking forward to the new innovations and releases. I know that it won’t be all smooth sailing – we anticipate that there will be both satisfied and… well.. less than satisfied customers. But from what I’ve seen and experienced so far, the products are solid and the new things slated in the months to come are really exciting.


For me, the “one thing” at work is to make sure our product teams have what they need in their effort and focus on improving the customer and partner experience across the board. I work hard on my “one thing” focus at home on my family and friends. Figure that out the “one thing” for yourself and do it.


Have a good weekend.

Categories
Uncategorized

Carr, McDowell, BusinessWeek on “How Important is IT?”

Yesterday I sat in part of Bob McDowell’s session at MS101, our internal orientation for new hires. (There’s also an MS101 now offered to our external partners.) Bob is arguably one of the most dynamic speakers at the company. MS101 attendees gave him a standing ovation after his 3-4 hour talk, during which he did not use a single slide. Bob is the author of “In Search of Business Value: Ensuring a Return on Your Technology Investment” (with review available here).


 


During his talk, Bob mentioned the 2003 article “IT Doesn’t Matter” by Nicholas Carr, available via HBR Online. The author has reference links to this article on his web site, and there’s a good summary of the original article available here.


 


If you find this of interest, see also Businessweek’s brief article “Just How Important Is IT Anyway?”  It’s a discussion with Mr. Carr and Bob McDowell, talking about “whether today’s IT can offer companies a competitive advantage.” Bob said in the article that “one of the difficulties with this discussion is you can’t define what IT means today insofar as it will be absolutely accurate 5 to 10 years down the road. Unlike electricity and the railroad, you’re going to see continued innovation.”


 


From the article:



Where do you see this debate going?



McDowell: I think Nick and others who’ve raised this issue are doing a service because it’s causing the industry to be a lot more serious in focusing on true business value. One of the risks, and I’ll admit it, of the ’90s, was a lot of us got involved to some extent in hype and promises that exceeded reality, and some mistakes were made.


There is a lot more businesslike focus in IT today. From an industry perspective, I think you can differentiate…one supplier from another on how well they make the business case, not on how much they focus on technology as an end in itself.


 


Carr: Focusing on the exceptions and what can we learn from them is a much more interesting discussion than the way it started out. We’ve moved beyond the era where IT vendors can get away with just saying every new product was “strategic” and “you’ve gotta have this.”


 


The industry has moved beyond that. We’re at the stage of the debate where it’s focused on more concrete things that can help the actual buyers and users of technology do a better job.

Categories
Uncategorized

Who’s running Vista? Trek Bikes

Want to know some of the companies moving to Vista? Here’s a look at one well-known company, Trek Bikes. There’s a new case study now available, just posted on the Microsoft Case Studies site.  If you don’t know Trek, they are a major manufacturer and marketer of bikes and accessories with 1,800 employees worldwide. The company ships around a million bicycles each year. (Disclaimer: my 8-yr-old son has a Trek, and so does my wife: she’s been a Trek fan all her adult life). And now they’re an early pilot adopter of Windows Vista in their shop:



Trek Bicycle Corporation“Known for its innovation, Trek Bicycle Corporation stays aware of new products that can further its ongoing business-improvement efforts. Trek recently upgraded to Windows Vista to help support its goal of bringing products to market more quickly and securely. After a smooth deployment, both technical and business users have streamlined their workflows for greater productivity and enhanced agility—all within a more protected environment.


“The Windows XP operating system was a solid performer for us, but Windows Vista will be a tremendous upgrade,” says Douglas Kotulski, Network Services and Support Manager for Trek. “It has multiple enhanced user and security features that work really well in our environment.”


I’ll be interested to hear more details as Trek moves to deploy Vista RTM broadly in their offices.