It’s always a good idea to back up the information on your PC. If not, you run the risk of losing valuable information, whether it’s in the form of personal pictures or important work documents. Frequent backups can significantly reduce the stress of routine hard drive failure or a malware attack, but they’re often lengthy and a bit confusing. It can be a hassle to do it regularly even though it’s essential for so many reasons. Here are a few easy ways to back up your hard drive.
If you’ve failed to backup your machine, it is sometimes possible to restore it to an earlier condition. This can be done using the System Restore option in Windows. It’s not particularly reliable for restoring documents, though, just for massive system changes, so it is always a good idea to back up everything you think is important or might be important in the future.
Have you ever considered leaving the Microsoft-dominated sphere and going for something a little cheaper? If you have, it’s likely that Google Docs could be a reality for your business, especially for small businesses with fewer demands.
If you’re really trying to cut costs, it’s possible to get by using just Google’s free Apps suite. These require no hardware or software and can be accessed through any Google account. For increased support and storage capabilities, however, it’s best to sign up for Google’s own service which is available at a cost of £30 per person. Everything is then hosted on Google’s servers, so you won’t have to worry about downtime or maintenance – Google guarantees a 99.9% uptime.
Google’s docs offer quality functionality at a bargain price. They can’t do quite everything that Microsoft Office can, but you’ll find that many of your most used features are present. It all depends on the need of your individual business; most people are unable to do the most advanced aspects of Office programs anyway, and if you’re never going to need it, why waste the money on it?
Google Docs also have the potential to save you thousands of dollars. To begin with, you needn’t purchase or set up your own server. Everything is hosted on Google’s servers, so you don’t have to worry about losing your information due to any fault of your own, though you may choose to save a copy of important documents on your own PC. You also may find yourself without the need for an IT professional in house or even an external IT support company because Google will provide you with much of the support you need for their software. If your hardware breaks down, that’s another issue, and you may wish to contract with an external company for that purpose, but overall your maintenance costs are still lower.
When you choose to go with Google Apps, it’s important to remember that your documents will be in the cloud and potentially accessible by Google employees. This, however, is highly unlikely, and Google has invested in the top security firms and experts to ensure that hackers cannot access your information no matter how hard they try. The cloud also means that you and any relevant employees can access documents at the same time and edit them together in real time. This makes collaboration easier than ever, regardless of where you happen to be. You can work from home, from work, or on a trip somewhere as long as you have access to the internet.
Businesses also have access to more in depth tools than free users. In particular, they have more advanced custom spam email filtering tools, both inbound and outbound, information sharing rules to ensure that employees don’t release personal documents by accident, password guidance, SSL connections, and email archiving up to ten years. You can also connect Google Apps to your current domain and email address, so the transition is virtually seamless.
If you’re a computer novice, it can be difficult to train yourself or call upon your IT support to train you to use another program to edit and customise your images, and it’s very likely that you’ve wished for one place where you can prepare all aspects of a document, spreadsheet, or presentation. Microsoft Office has never really provided that functionality beyond the basics – and sometimes not even those. In Office 2010, however, Microsoft have changed their game and added in some image editing choices and effects to help users make professional and customised images without heading to another program first. This post will focus solely on the addition of effects to Office documents.
For minor tweaks, Office now offers the ability to sharpen or blur images. Their new layout is incredibly convenient if you’re pressed for time or not really that fussed with perfection. When you choose the option to edit your photo from the pop-up toolbar, only accessible once you’ve actually imported the image, you’re presented with a range of thumbnails with your image sharpened or blurred to varying degrees. You can preview these to find the right one or choose to go in a little bit deeper and adjust a variety of sliders yourself to achieve precisely the correct level of effect.
Office also newly includes a variety of artistic and picture effects. You can apply surprisingly good looking sketch effects to your photos, for example, with a simple click of the mouse. Again, Office will pop up a range of choices, allowing you to choose which thumbnail suits you best, or allows you to fine tune the details yourself either from the original picture or the slightly edited version. You can also look at all the effects at once, deciding at a glance which best fits your document.
You’re even able to correct picture colouring or just play with the saturation and tone. If you’ve taken a picture of a particular shade of flower, you can use the recolouring tool to change it to another one. You can then go even further by using the background removal tool to get rid of the now improperly coloured background and import your new image back onto your old one – changing the colour of the flowers without disturbing any grass or sky that might surround it.
Office’s new photo editing features clearly enhance their bid to get everyone using Office – and Office only. These in no way surpass the capabilities of Adobe’s Photoshop, which has a price tag to match what it can do, but if these abilities prove popular, Microsoft could easily drive out lower cost software with less functionality. After all, most people have Microsoft Office somewhere, whether it be at work or home or both, and these features make it much easier to perform tasks frequently done elsewhere in the past.
Have you used Office 2010’s photo editing features? What did you think? Let us know in the comments.
Choosing the hardware to either start or expand your business can be a challenge. You’ll need to do your research and ensure you’re getting the best quality of parts, services, and upgrades. Choosing the correct PC manufacturer and equipment can make your future both more secure and easier.
First of all, it’s best not to purchase the newest model of anything. While you don’t want to purchase outdated equipment, you’ll find that with new hardware, you’re often paying a premium for something which may not be much better than the last model. Moreover, you don’t need employees to have particularly powerful PCs. High end computers are often truly only necessary for gaming, which you certainly don’t want your employees to be doing. Most mid-range PCs can run the business software you’ll need quickly and easily, which is ideal. When you upgrade, keep this important caveat in mind and consider what you really need to purchase to keep productivity high and cut costs.
In order to figure out what type of PC you need, check the requirements on your software. Find the most demanding one and ensure the PCs you’re buying meet that standard. If you’re looking to save some money, there isn’t a need to go too much higher.
When buying software, it’s similarly best to wait until it’s been out for a few months, unless it’s absolutely essential for business operations. That’s because you’ll not only pay a premium for new software, but it might have bugs or missing functionality which will be resolved with patches in future. Rather than call your IT support, it’s best to wait until such problems have been ironed out before purchasing, and you might end up with some cash left over as well.
If, however, you have employees who truly need intensive software, you may need to reconsider what type of hardware they’ll need. If you have a team of graphic designers or programmers, their computers may well need a lot more resource-hogging software than a normal administrative worker. It’s all about judging what you need for which employee. Keep in mind that if you do have to purchase a large number of expensive PCs for your high-end employees, when the time comes for an upgrade in a few years they can be passed down in a few years to employees with fewer demands, essentially recycling hardware efficiently and cost-effectively.
Buying laptops is often an even more difficult decision. Consider carefully what your employees are going to need to do outside of the office – if they already have a desktop PC that they will continue to use, this consideration is even more important. If they largely just need to check their email or use a word processor, though, why not outfit them with a cost-effective netbook? They’ll have all the functionality they need at an incredibly low price, and you’ll even be able to make more employees feel important and valued by giving out a few more than you could have planned for with a high end laptop.
What are your company’s rules for purchasing new hardware?