Our local test server is a Windows XP machine running Apache, MySQL & PHP. Absolutely no problems installing Joomla! or any of the extensions and components (more about those later).

The live server is a Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP system. After uploading the Joomla! installation files using FileZilla and running the install I needed to install the extensions. Could I get it to work? Could I heck!

Using the “Upload Package File” option from the Extension Manager: Install screen I kept getting “Warning! Failed to move file” error messages.

Using the “Install from Directory” option I was getting various “can’t create file/directory” error messages.

It seems (through searching the net) that these are common problems. The first thing to do it to enable FTP file system layer during install. I couldn’t find how to do this once the install was done, so delete all the files, re-upload and start again. (Later – found how to enable FTP – look in “Administration/Server”).

The next thing was to write enable some files & directories – I’ll summarise these at the end.

This sort of helped – things got further before failing. Eventually by trawling through numerous solutions – most of which would leave the site unsecure or couldn’t be implemented on our server – I came across this page in the Joomla forum which listed the FTP settings in configuration.php.

I found that the $ftp_root value hadn’t been set. Now I don’t know whether I did something wrong in the setup or whether Joomla! failed to set it, but by setting it, extension installation using “Upload package file” now works (Later after yet another install I found that Joomla! hadn’t written the right info to configuration.php).

Next problem

While trying to install CiviCRM, I kept getting unable to create directory error messages. CiviCRM need PHP safe_mode turned off, most web servers have it turned on. Eventually I found a switch hidden away in the Plesk control panel that allowed me to turn off safe mode just for this domain (nothing in the help file, had to get one of my tech support team to work over the weekend). Once that was changed – bingo – all fine.

One other tip

When you install Joomla it creates a configuration.php file in the top level directory. I found that it got created with a strange ownership which wouldn’t let anything write to the file or change the file protection. I got round this by downloading it onto my local PC, deleting it off the server and re-uploading it. What I suggest is that, after uploading the Joomla! installation and before running the installation, you create an empty configuration.php file.

Settings summary

Make the following directories writeable by CHMODding them to 777

• /administrator/cache
• /cache
• /logs
• /tmp

configuration.php may also need to be made writeable (CHMOD 666. When you’ve finished set it back to 644) – in some cases it can be updated by supplying the ftp name & password when asked

In configuration.php make sure the following are set

• public $ftp_host = ’127.0.0.1′;
• public $ftp_port = ’21′;
• public $ftp_user = ”;
• public $ftp_pass = ”;
• public $ftp_root = ‘joomla directory‘; (probably something like httpdocs, unless you’re installing in a subdomain)

Several of the articles said to set PHP safe_mode off – in fact when you install Joomla! you get a warning if safe_mode is on. The general consensus is this isn’t a good thing, although if the site is the only one on the server it’s acceptable. It is also possible to turn it off for the site, but other settings have to be enabled on the server to do this, which aren’t on ours.

The extensions

Akeeba backup – must have. Manual & automatic backups for Joomla! Also has the facility to completely rebuild the website from scratch. All you have to do is upload the backup file and Kickstart files and create the database. I also needed their eXtract wizard software to unpack the backup before uploading (possibly not needed now that the file upload problems appear to be fixed)

Akeeba admin tools – another must have. A set of tools for administering your site, including the most helpful “fix permissions” and “clear temp directory”

CiviCRM – CRM package specifically designed for not-for-profit and membership organisations. It includes modules for case management, fundraising & donations, and (what I was particularly after) event management, membership management and email & newsletter management.

• Use good data. Only rent or buy email addresses that have a verifiable opt-in status. Response rates are generally 10 times greater using good opt-in data.
• Keep the message simple. Email should be seen as a means to an end – the end being a contact with your prospect or a visit to your website.
• Keep the message short. Long messages are often only partially read or not read at all.
• Keep the creative simple. It’s best if the whole message (including the call to action) can be seen on one screen. Don’t use lots of different font sizes and typefaces – it confuses and detracts from the message. Make sure that graphics are hosted so that the file size is kept to a minimum.
• Create a good subject line. Give the recipient a reason to open your message. Have a look at this page from MailChimp for examples of good and bad headlines (you’ll have to scroll down about half way) or search Google for “best email marketing subject lines“)
• Make it easy to respond. Always have a clear, concise call to action. Allow immediate access to your website and contact by email. Give a phone number or address for offline contact.
• Be prepared to broadcast on multiple occasions. It takes on average, 7 touches before a prospect buys.
• Make use of HTML. Whilst keeping the message simple, use html to create the message – it looks far better on screen, and allows links to be attached to images or text. Although very few people use text only email clients, make sure there is a text version, either sent with the email or online that they can click to.
• Track everything. Opens (single and multiple), forwards, click through, unsubscribes, bounces and emails, telephone calls and faxes received in response.
• Get the timing right. Tuesdays through Thursdays have proved to be the most responsive for B2B. B2C seems to be most successful on Friday afternoon.

Email marketing checklist

Before you send out a marketing email, ensure that:

• Spelling and grammar is correct
• You have a catchy subject line
• You have a relevant name in the from box so recipients know it’s from you (do not use a generic term such as “contact” or “info”)
• The email is correctly personalised
• There is a call to action – recipients know what to do next
• You provide a means of contacting you
• Readers have the opportunity to opt out of your list
• All images and links work
• Your company name and registration number (if applicable) are present
• The content adds value and is concise and focused on the readers’ needs

Do’s and Don’ts

Do:

• Explain to your list why they got the mail. Tell the recipient why they are receiving this email.
• Provide an unsubscribe link. This could just be a “reply with unsubscribe in the title” but this’ll keep you very busy. Best is an automated system. Make it very clear how they can unsubscribe.
• Email regularly, especially if you are marketing rather than sending out an informational news letter.You must have enough contact for them to remember your valuable content from your last mail. At the same time you must avoid mailing so often that you overload people.
• Stick to your topic. Cover one topic only in a marketing email. If it’s a newsletter, it’s OK to cover several topics, but keep the email short. Perhaps just an introduction to each article with a link through to the full article on your website/blog.
• Keep your message short and to the point. People skim read whole pages, yet will feel that they have read all the content. Avoid long sentences. Keep paragraphs short. Make your point and move on.
• Look interesting and professional. Create a professional looking template for your emails. Simple is good but it must look appealing.
• Be clear about your purpose and stick to it. Is your mail to inform, or to sell, or to capture leads, or to build your brand. When you know what you want make sure your mail delivers it. Avoid the temptation to do too many things at the same time.
• Stick to the rules. Obey the law at all times.
  • General information on The Data Protection Act
  • Short guidance on the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regs
  • Specific information on email communications

Don’t:

• Send irrelevant messages. Be clear in your opt-ins about what you will send and stick to those topics.
• Over communicate. This could be too many messages, or ones that are too long.
• Use poor grammar or sloppy phrasing. If this is not your strength, use someone else to do it for you, to at least proof-read your work.
• Send broken links or missing images. Always test your mailing before sending.

Button Studio: First big fail – wouldn’t install. A quick search of the internet shows that this hasn’t been updated since 1999. Pity, this produced some nice quick and dirty roll over button images. Never mind, there’s similar but more sophisticated facilities in Photoshop.

FileZilla: FTP file transfer software with a sort of Windows explorer look and feel. If you’re doing any sort of web work some form of FTP software is essential. Most website development software (e.g. Dreamweaver) comes with an FTP client built in, but there are times when you just want to get in there and work with files at a basic level. We use FileZilla for three reasons – it’s easy, it’s got a huge support base and it’s free! There’s only a 32 bit version for windows. The main problem here is getting all the settings from the original program into the new one as I really didn’t want to have to type in all the website URLs, usernames and passwords again. Fortunately I could copy over the XML files from “Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\FileZilla” (Windows XP) to “Users\username\AppData\Roaming\FileZilla” (Windows 7 – I swear I can’t figure out why Microsoft renamed the directories and how their new renaming structure actually works). Anyway, one the files were moved all I had to do was update the source directories of the files.

FontViewer: According to the “About” option on the menu, it came from a 1998 copy of PC Magazine It’s so old, it doesn’t even have an installer – you just copy it into a directory and create some short cuts. It’s one of those programs that you never need until you have it and then wonder how you ever survived without. It allows you to view all the fonts on your system with whatever text you want to input. You can restrict it to different classes of font (serif, san-serif, etc.). Yes Word does this if you select a font, but you can’t compare multiple fonts. It doesn’t appear to be available any more, but there are loads of other font viewers on the Internet – just Google them.

Quickbooks 2008: Installation went fine. The only 2 problems came when transferring the company files from the XP system. 1 Where is the Library folder? With XP shared files are kept in a folder called shared files. Microsoft – for no other reason than to confuse us – have moved the shared documents folder, renamed it to Library and hidden it away. 2. Usual problem with Quickbooks. Even though automatic updates are switched on, it doesn’t do an automatic update, I had to run it manually before I could open the company file

Canon camera software: Utilities for controlling a Canon EOS camera, editing photos and stitching them together. All installed fine along with the downloadable updates.

Clunk Click backup software: This is an online backup software solution that we use on all our critical machines. Install went absolutely smoothly (which is more than I can say for a Vista installation I’m still trying to sort out). Backup and restore are perfect

Reptile: This is a piece of software from sausage software which creates tiled images for backgrounds. I don’t remember why I got it in the first place but I use it once in a while for presentations & websites. The version I have says it is incompatible with the version of windows that I have. There’s a new (and now free) version at the website, but when I tried to download it, I was asked for a username & password for the FTP site. The website is also seriously flawed as several of the links go to pages that don’t exist. Big fail

Xenu Link Sleuth: A free bit of software for checking internal & external links on a website. I came across this years ago when I was working on a contract where we had to check the links on many sites. It was all being done by hand and this saved us huge amounts of time. Installed and worked perfectly.

XnView: An image editing bit of software. I don’t use it much, but it has some nice features to edit images quicker than using Photoshop – for example red-eye removal. It can also access the Photoshop plugins just by pointing at them.

Photofiltre: Another freeware bit of image editing software. Again I don’t use it much but it, again, it does have some nice filters and transformations once the plugins have been installed

Puran Defrag: I said earlier that I hadn’t found anything that would replace Pagedefrag which doesn’t work on Windows 7. Now I have. Puran Defrag will defragment a disk normally (although it’s a lot slower than Defraggler or Auslogics Disk Defrag) and it has a boot time defrag option so that files locked by the operating system can be defragmented and the files on the disk optimised. Nice.

Audacity: This is possibly the most commonly used software for editing audio files. Installed & ran fine. However, I had a slight problem installing the Lame codecs (for creating MP3 files). I had to run my unzipper software (7 Zip) as administrator even though I have administrator privileges – why have Microsoft done this? It’s a complete PITA

CDex: A simple piece of software for converting CDs into MP3 or wav format. Worked fine, even knew to use the new location for My Music

Picasa: Google’s image viewing and cataloguing software – will be very surprised if this doesn’t work. And no surprises. The only annoying thing here is that while it’s scanning in the background a little window pops up showing how far it’s got. I don’t want to know and it’s in the way. There must be a way of turning it off.

PuTTY: A little program to give me a console connection to my web server. So basic, there’s no installer, just copy the executable somewhere and run it – no problems at all

RAD tools: A little program (called, for some strange reason, Blink and Smacker) for converting video file formats. I came across this when I needed to convert a MOV video into something I could put into PowerPoint. No problems, all works fine.

SyncBack: Software to backup or synchronise two directories. I use this to copy files to a backup area on a network drive and to backup some websites automatically. Once a profile has been created it can be run manually or scheduled to run at a specific time and frequency.

YouTube downloader: Although you can download videos from YouTube (and other sites) using RealPlayer, it saves them as Flash files. YouTube downloader does the same but saves them as mp4 videos – this is where Blink and Smacker come in if you need the file as something else (e.g. wmv)

Finally, for those of you who know me well, you’ll know I’m big into social media – especially Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. So two last applications – Adobe AIR installer and Tweetdeck. The AIR installer is needed because Tweetdeck is written as an AIR app. AIR installer went on fine. Tweetdeck goes straight to asking you for a Twitter account to access rather than allowing you to log in to your Tweetdeck account. Oh well, add my twitter account @trevorwood and then log on to my TweetDeck account – surprise, it only has my groups & searches, it doesn’t know what accounts I’ve got or how I’ve got my TweetDeck screen set up. Oh well, do it all longhand, add my LinkedIn account and Facebook page

So that’s it – I’m ready to upgrade to Windows 7. All I need to do now is find a few days to do it

People are being called by someone claiming to be from Microsoft support. The say that your computer has reported errors and they they are here to help. HANG UP IMMEDIATELY! If you continue the call and follow their instructions, you will be asked to check various log files and then install some software which will allow them to gain access to your computer. There are a number of stories around about this including this one from the Guardian back in July.

For more information Google fake Microsoft calls

If you are concerned about this or any other security issues, please get in contact with Redline Digital Services by email or phone 01455 553593

Google “inadvertently” collected private data (including passwords) from unsecured WiFi connections. At least you know they’ve done it and are going to ditch the data they collected, your every day hacker or scammer isn’t going to own up to what they’ve done or get rid of the data safely.

You may think it’s Google’s fault that they collected your data – but this time it’s not – it is yours, if you haven’t secured your WiFi network. It’s the simplest thing in the world to do, even a complete computer novice can do it! Simply put, it means logging on to your WiFi router (the instruction book tells you how to do that) and setting an encryption level and password (the manual tells you how to do that too). Now the next time you connect to the network, your PC or laptop will ask for the password – simples!

And, yes, it is BTs fault their network fell over (in spite of who they try to blame), but it’s not their fault if you are left without any Internet connection at all. You should have some form of backup option – dial up (yes you can still get it) but only useful if it isn’t your whole phone line gone. Mobile broadband – get a PAYG mobile broadband stick, get it configured on your system before you need it – you’ll need broadband access to do it and if your signal is weak. There’s loads of packages out there from daily to monthly use. Make sure there’s no contract so that if you start using it you’re not paying for the next 6 months! Or even your smart phone – many of these will connect to your computer via Bluetooth.

But in all these cases, make sure they work BEFORE you need them

So, it may not be your fault that someone has collected your private data or left you without any Internet connection – but it IS your fault if you haven’t done anything to reduce the chances of these problems happening.

If you are concerned about these or any other security issues, please get in contact with Redline Digital Services by email or phone 01455 553593

I did say that I was going to look at the freeware & shareware that we use, but I went for the major applications first. Good choice as it turned out

Office 2007 with business contact manager: The install of Office 2007 went without a hitch. However, when installing the business contact manager, I got a “This program has known compatibility issues” while trying to install the SQL server 2005. The prompt says that SQL server service pack 3 needs to be installed before running SQL server. Not a problem as the first thing I do after installing Office is to check for any updates. After installing the updates, I rebooted the machine to find that Windows firewall has been switched back on – don’t like that as I use McAfee

Adobe CS4 – Web premium edition: No dramas here, just incredibly slow – it even installed both the 64 bit and 32 bit versions of Photoshop. Note that CS5 is now available.

Photoshop actions: Over the years I’ve collected a few action sets for Photoshop. These all installed with no problems. Installing them for the 32 bit version also installed them for the 64 bit version.

Photoshop plugins: I’ve also collected various useful plugins for Photoshop. Most are freeware. The commercial ones are PhotoGraphic Edges from Auto Fx and Corel’s Kai Power Tools. Unfortunately, they only work with the 32 bit version of Photoshop, which isn’t going to be a problem at the moment because Windows 7 will eventually go on to a 32 bit machine. Unfortunately, to get them to work on 64 bit machines they need to be recompiled specifically (see http://www.bigresource.com/Tracker/Track-photoshop-rqHSTDez/) so it looks like I’m going to have to go and hunt for upgrades or replacements – and probably pay for them . Some of the plugins wouldn’t even install as 32 bit – claiming there wasn’t enough disk space! After installing some of these plugins, the system became very unstable and kept crashing. It took a bit of time to track down, but it appears that one of the memory chips has gone duff – so relegated to using 2gb rather than 4gb L

Dreamweaver Extensions: I do wish that the Dreamweaver extension manager would allow multiple extensions to be installed in one go rather than adding each in turn. Some of the extensions wouldn’t install unless I ran the extension manager “as administrator”. After doing this, I couldn’t just click on an extension to get it to install. I had to close the extension manager and allow it to run as me.

Other web development tools.

HomeSite+: This used to be given away with Dreamweaver as an HTML editor. Most of the functionality has now been included in Dreamweaver but I find it easier to use than Dreamweaver’s code view. It also installs a stripped down version of TopStyle, a CSS editor. After entering the serial number and going through the initial configuration, I was presented with a “HomeSite has stopped working” dialog box. Selecting the option to check online for a solution gave “Error accessing the OLE registry”. Running is as Administrator fixed this, allowing the initial configuration to complete properly. Note: Adobe have stopped support & development for HomeSite and it doesn’t seem as though it is available anywhere to download

TopStyle: I liked the stripped down version of TopStyle so much I upgraded to a full version. It’s getting a bit long in the tooth now but to upgrade to the latest version costs $80 and until I need to do something that TopStyle won’t do, I think I’ll wait.

Reality Studio: Software for creating panoramas, rotating objects and 3d walk arounds from photographs. I use this to show interior views of places and rotating objects – for example this courtyard, a replica of Sir Frank Whittle’s Jet and a tachometer. At this point I realised that Java hadn’t been installed as it is needed to view the panoramas. Fortunately, this software works fine with Windows 7 as it was quite expensive and I wouldn’t want to have to chuck it out

Roxio Creator 2009: CD/DVD burning and creation software. Very comprehensive suite to do virtually anything you need to do with putting data onto CD & DVD. I’ve known past versions of this to be a bit clunky. Some people swear by it and others swear at it. On first run I got a message saying that “This program has known compatibility issues – Roxio Creator 2009 is incompatible with this version of Windows”. Following the “check for solutions online” first took me to a page saying “Contact Sonic Solutions for support” and a question “Was this information helpful?” – no, Microsoft, it wasn’t. Following the link to the Roxio site just took me to a page where they’re trying to sell me Creator 2011. Anyway, I have a patch still to apply (SP4). Later after a reboot – hooray! SP4 obviously contains a fix to run on Windows 7 – don’t have to shell out for a new version.

Windows ActiveSync: I use this to synchronise my XDA with Outlook. It doesn’t work on Windows 7 (or Vista). It took a bit of tracking down to find that I now need to use Windows Mobile Device Centre. After downloading the software I was told it didn’t work with this processor (an AMD). All I can find on the web are problems to do with WMDC so I think I’ll leave this and solve it if I need to later (I may have a new phone by then!)

Web server components

Windows comes with a web server now known as IIS, which is what we’ve used in the past. However, with our live web server running Linux and Apache, I’m taking this opportunity to install Apache on a Windows system

Apache: Install instructions can be found at http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/how-do-i/install-apache-windows-7.php. Dead easy – although there is only a 32 bit version of it. It’s also worth noting that, on Windows, MOD_REWRITE isn’t turned on by default (very useful for WordPress and Joomla). Instructions on how to turn it on can be found at http://www.astahost.com/info.php/Apache-Tutorial-Enable-Mod_rewrite-Windows_t11623.html

PHP: Instructions for downloading, installing and configuring PHP can be found at http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/how-do-i/install-PHP-windows-7.php. What this document doesn’t tell you is that after editing the Apache config file you have to restart Apache. It’s also worth checking out http://www.thesitewizard.com/php/install-php-5-apache-windows.shtml for some other configuration options. This doc tells you how to configure SMTP mail, which unfortunately won’t work if your ISP requires authentication or at least I can’t figure out how to get it to work). Personally I wouldn’t enable short tags or register globals. For a live system, don’t display errors either.

MySQL: Instructions for download, installation & configuration can be found at http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/how-do-i/install-mysql-windows-7.php. Make sure you download the correct version (32 bit or 64 bit)

Perl: Although I prefer to use PHP, I still support some websites that use Perl and once in a while a Perl script is useful. I use ActivePerl and the installation instructions can be found here http://docs.activestate.com/activeperl/5.12/install.html. Make sure you download the right version (32bit or 64 bit)

The interesting bit here for me is the many businesses that were unable to open for the day. It wasn’t their fault, but their business has suffered. For some, it will have cost a lot of money and may even have damaged their reputation.

Many businesses have a business continuity plan in place. They could survive the loss of their IT systems, their building or even some of their staff.

But what about a temporary closure? Your office is fine, your IT equipment is safe, your phones still work – but you can’t access any of them. What will you do? How much will it hurt your business?

Yes, it’s not your fault, but you still need to do something about it.

Why not contact us or call us now on 01455 553593 for a free business continuity plan review. After all, what have you got to lose? What could you gain?

Come and see us on stand KW31, say hello and enter our competition to win a 3gb desktop/laptop backup account for 1 year (competition rules)

Even if you don’t win, we’re offering anyone who leaves their business card with us at the Leicester Business Event and subsequently takes out a desktop/laptop backup or server backup account during October, November or December 2010 their first 3 months free (terms and conditions)

Entry to the Leicester Business Event is free to visitors, just register online to attend.

Competition rules

Prize consists of 1 desktop/laptop licence and 3gb of storage free for 1 year

Additional storage over 3gb will be charged at £9/gb/month

After one year the account will revert to paid account at prevailing rate (currently £5/month for licence and £9/gb/month for storage

Competition open to all residents of the UK except employees of Redline Digital Services Ltd and Risc Group IT Solutions Ltd

Only one entry per person allowed

The draw will be made from all business cards left at the Redline Digital Services stand at the Leicester Business Event on 30th September 2010

The winner will be notified by telephone and/or email after the event

All entrants agree to have their details added to the Redline Digital Services marketing database. Redline Digital Services is registered under the Data Protection Act. Redline Digital Services will never share, sell, or rent individual personal information with anyone without your advance permission or unless ordered by a court of law. Information submitted to us is available to employees managing this information for purposes of contacting you or sending you emails based on your request for information.

All prices quoted are ex VAT

Exhibition offers

Anyone who leaves their business card with us at the Leicester Business Event on 30th September 2010 and subsequently takes out a desktop/laptop backup or server backup account during October, November or December 2010 will receive the first 3 months free

Minimum account duration is 12 months. Full terms and conditions are available from Redline Digital Services and will be sent during the 10 day evaluation period

After 3 month the account will revert to paid account at prevailing rate (currently £5/month for licence and £9/gb/month for storage)

All prices quoted are ex VAT

1. Install Windows 7 – this went nice and easily
2. Install all the Windows patches – Windows has moved where “Windows Update” is. No longer is it a short cut on the start menu called “Microsoft Update” but it’s moved to “All programs”/”Windows Update” (I believe this is the same as Vista, but given that Vista was such an abortion, I’ve never touched it – for this reason, all comparisons in this article are against XP).
3. Now found that there’s an equivalent to “Microsoft Update” to check Windows, Office and MSN, the new option is confusingly called “Windows Update”. There’s a whole load of optional updates for different languages – they can be hidden fortunately (but only one at a time – it would have been nice to be able to select them all and hide them in one go), so I don’t have to keep saying I don’t want them.During the update, the latest version if IE is installed, along with a bit of software called “Browser Choice”. On the next reboot, I was asked which browser I wanted to install as the default browser – went for Firefox (no surprise there) although later I’ll be installing Opera, Netscape, Safari & Chrome.
4. All the software I wanted to install is on a NAS (a hard drive attached to the network) – trying to map a network drive using the usual search facility failed. I had to manually type in its location. OK if you know the location, but otherwise a bit of a bummer. Doing a quick search on the Internet showed up that this is a common problem.
5. First thing we install on all computers at Redline Digital Services is anti-virus software. We’ve been using McAfee for over 10 years and have never had a virus infestation.1st (and as it turns out only) problem – Windows said that the version of  McAfee that we are currently running is incompatible with Windows 7. According to the McAfee site we need version 9.11, checking the installation on other computers we’re already at 9.15. Going back to the McAfee site and re-downloading the installer fixed this problem. I’m guessing that the installer we had was an older version and that McAfee had been updated during its regular update sequence.After McAfee was installed, it took Windows Action Centre a little while to discover that there was AV, Firewall & anti-spyware running and until it did, it kept nagging me to go and find some software online. My advice – be patient and go and make a cup of coffee.Before installing anything else I ran a full virus scan – just in case.
6. Our next bit of software is usually Winzip. Yes, Windows has had zip software for a while, but I’ve been using this since Windows 95 and I’m comfortable with it. However, it is shareware and on one of the upgrades a couple of years ago, they wanted a further payment so I’ve never progressed past version 9. I’m taking the opportunity to try out 7-Zip, a freeware compression utility that will compress in several formats and uncompress in even more (including RAR, which Winzip v9 doesn’t do). One thing to note – on installing the software it doesn’t automatically assign itself as the default to open zip files, I had to find a zip file, do “Open With”, select 7-zip and tell it to always open with this.The rest of the software is listed alphabetically, for no better reason than this is the order it is found on the NAS drive
7. Adobe Acrobat Reader. An essential for all computers and, as expected, absolutely no problems at all. Interestingly, Windows XP requires a reboot after the installation of Adobe Reader 9, Windows 7 doesn’t – that’s good.
8. Auslogics Disk Defragmenter. Freeware disk defragmentation software. Very fast and just as good (if not better) than Windows on defragmenting.
9. CCleaner. Freeware software that cleans up your system by deleting unwanted files and removing bad registry entries. There’s a few options during the install. I deselect “Add Desktop Shortcut”, “Add Run CCleaner option to Recycle Bin context menu”, “Add Open CCleaner option to Recycle Bin menu” and “Add CCleaner Yahoo” Toolbar”. I select “Add Start Menu Shortcuts” and “Automatically check for CCleaner updates”.What does CCleaner do? The first tab is “Cleaner” and this removes old temp and junk files. You have some control over what is removed, but be careful because once this deletes the files they are gone forever. The second tab is “Registry”. This scans the system registry for problems and attempts to fix them. Always accept the offer to back up the registry first – although it’s very rare I have had CCleaner delete something from the registry that was needed.
10. Defraggler. Another disk defragger. Much more thorough than the Auslogics one, and hence slower. It also has an option to defrag empty space, which tries to make all the empty space on a disk contiguous and a file defrag option, where it tries to defrag specific files. My normal procedure is to use the Auslogics defragger first, then run the free space defragger in Defraggler and finally the file defragger in Defraggler.
11. HijackThis. A piece of software that looks for Trojans and spyware, specifically where they have modified registry entries. This software was originally developed by a German called Mathias Mattner and is now supplied by Trend Micro. The scan report is almost incomprehensible, fortunately Mathias still maintains the logfile analysis site. One thing to note – to run this software properly you need to right click on it and select “Run as administrator” even if your account has administrator privileges – it seems as though there’s a “super administrator” account hidden away on Windows 7 – do a Google search for “Windows 7 super administrator” for more information.
12. IrfanView. Free image viewer with some editing capabilities. Most useful of these are the batch conversion options and the thumbnail viewer. Very simple to use and pretty quick too. Along with IrfanView is a bunch of plugins that do various extra things – see the website for what they do as it seems to change each version.
13. Malwarebytes. Another program for scanning your computer for malware – spyware & Trojans. I used to use Adaware, but I got fed up with it because it seemed to keep starting for no apparent reason and slowing down the computer.After installing, Malwarebytes goes off and gets the latest updates – let it do this, it doesn’t take long.
14. RealPlayer. A program to compliment Windows Media Player as it plays some formats that Media Player won’t or struggles with. The other nice thing about this is the ability to download video embedded in a web page.
15. SocketWatch. A freeware program with the ability to access other options if you pay for it. I don’t want the other options so… This software goes off and checks various Internet clocks to correct the time on your computer. Does it when you first log in and then regularly afterwards, depending on how often you tell it to do it. I set this for 10 hours.
16. Norton Partition Magic. This has been a useful, if rarely used bit of software, for me. However it was discontinued at v8 (which is what I have got) and it is incompatible with Windows 7 – oh well, will have to use the Linux GParted – this boots from CD so will always work, but is slower and more complicated
17. Finally, some little system tools.
    Unlocker. If you try to delete or rename a file and Windows says it can’t because something else has the file open, unlocker will free the file without you having to log off and back on again). A word of warning though – it asks to install a link to eBay – don’t! McAfee says it’s a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) and deletes it
    Startup Control Panel. This program lists everything that runs at system startup and allows you to delete them if you don’t want them starting. There’s a similar feature in CCleaner.
    Pagedefrag is a program that runs at boot time to defragment system files that are locked normally. However this isn’t compatible with windows 7 and I haven’t yet found anything free that’ll do the same job.
18. Now for the thing that is most likely to break – the network laser printer – an HP 2600n. I had fun getting this to work under XP because HP had cleverly hidden the drivers. A quick search on Google and several people have had problems with this printer, but HP have now issued the drivers and made them easy to find. I downloaded these and started the install – HP want the printer connected by a USB cable as there’s no network search facility (unlike the XP version of the software). A quick search of the Internet and yes, other people have found the same. The answer is to install it as a USB printer (to get the drivers in), then disconnect the USB cable, delete the printer and add a new printer. However, the installation wizard didn’t find the printer and I had to install it using it’s IP address, which is fine if the IP address is static (as it is), but if the IP address is dynamic I can see that Windows will lose it each time the IP address changes. Silly HP. Anyway, it works, which is all I’m bothered about

Only one problem left, I can’t see any other computers on the network. I’ve scoured the Internet and it appears to be a very common problem. Several solutions have been suggested, but I can’t get machine to see anything else on the network. Oh well, keep looking & I’ll post an update when I find an answer

Well, that’s it for this part of the upgrade. The next part will be freeware/shareware programs that are used specifically on my main PC. Finally there will be the “paid for” application programs that I use.

Over recent years we’ve heard of people (mostly government!) leaving laptops on trains, in taxis or in pubs. Laptops with important and sensitive information on them.

This morning I saw an article called “Microsoft Plotting Death Of Desktop With Windows 8“. It seems from this and other sources that Microsoft are expecting us to move more and more to the use of mobile computing and will be extending Windows to support iPad type devices.

So here are some thoughts on how to keep your data secure. These will work now on your laptop or office PC.

1. Windows password. PCs come pre-installed with Windows these days. There’s a simple setup that is run first time you use the PC. One of the things it does is to create a user account for you, but often it doesn’t create a password. When you boot the computer, it goes straight into the account. The risk – anyone who gets hold of your PC can access everything on the computer immediately. So create a password. This is easily done – Google “Create user password Windows” to find out how to do this for the various different flavours of Windows. Ideally, you should define a strong password – at least 12 characters and returning zero results when searched in Google. I have to admit to using less characters than that as I couldn’t remember them all!
2. Encrypt your files. This stops someone removing the disk from your computer, linking it into another one and just reading everything off it. Windows XP Pro, Vista Ultimate & Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate have built in file & disk encryption (BitLocker or EFS (Encrypting File System)) – Google “encrypt data Bitlocker” or “encrypt data EFS” to see how to use them. If you’re running any other version of windows get something like TrueCrypt. Note – I’ve looked at TrueCrypt but never used it in anger so check it out carefully on data you don’t mind losing.
3. Disable autorun. Removable media (CD, DVD, USB drives) can contain programs that automatically run when inserted – we’ve all seen it when installing software from CD. Great when setting up a system in the first place and installing loads of software, but later on if someone else puts a CD or whatever into your computer when you’re not looking, they could infect your computer with a Trojan that’ll read everything you’ve got and transmit it over the Internet, or log all your key presses and get your bank account passwords, etc. This Microsoft article shows how to do it, including fixing a bug or you can Google “disable autorun“
4. Enable Microsoft update to download and automatically install security patches – Microsoft article. In past times, people were rightly sceptical of allowing this action, but now it’s fine. Microsoft issue security updates monthly. Also, once in a while, do a manual check of Microsoft Update and check and haul down the optional updates – especially new drivers. To do this click on the “Start” button and select “Windows Update” or “Microsoft Update”
5. Get firewall and anti-virus software. Windows has built in firewall software  – personally I think it’s not that good but it’s better than nothing. There are a number of free firewall/AV packages around, but remember they may only be worth what you pay for them. I’d also recommend avoiding Norton/Symantec, I’ve met many IT support people who hate it. We’ve used McAfee for years and never been hacked or infected by viruses or trojans. Although their technical support isn’t fantastic and when new versions of the software come out, sometimes there’s problems, once these are sorted it runs flawlessly. Don’t just rely on your router firewall either – that’ll stop people trying to push a Trojan onto your computer, but won’t stop any that are attached to an email or come in from some other source. It also won’t check what’s programs on your computer are trying to connect to the Internet, whereas software firewalls can be configured to ask you whether to allow a program to access the Internet. McAfee will also check with you if a previously allowed program has changed – often this is OK because you’ve upgraded the program, but it may be that something has infected it or is masquerading as a known program.
6. Don’t use software from untrusted sources. Trusted sources include original CDs from software suppliers, their websites and recognised & trusted software repositories (e.g. download.com, tucows). Other software repositories and copied CDs should be considered unsafe.
7. Be the only user on your PC. You can create multiple accounts if you need. There are occasions where PCs need to be shared – e.g. laptops for presentations. In these cases, just don’t put anything you don’t want the whole world to know about on it.
8. Secure your computer when you leave it. You can configure a screen saver to require a password when it’s been activated, but that is a real pain in the neck. For it to be any use, the screen saver needs to kick in within 30 seconds of no activity. I’ve been trying out Predator, a free bit of software that works in conjunction of a USB memory stick. Remove the stick and the PC locks. Put the stick back in and it asks for a password. There’s a free version (we like free) and a paid version with some nifty features like email, sms & twitter alerts if someone tries to access the computer. It seems to work well, and has had good reviews. If I come across any problems, I’ll let you know.

If you’re really paranoid you can get into password managers, etc. where you carry all your passwords, encrypted, on a memory stick, or into biometric stuff, but that’s way beyond what most people need.

Ok, all this lot will help prevent other people accessing your data. But there are other things that can go wrong.

A couple of years ago Kroll Ontrack – one of the world’s largest data recovery companies – listed some of the more common & unusual ways people had lost data off their computers

The unusual included a man getting so fed up with his PC that he shot it with a shotgun, a laptop falling out of a fishing boat and a company accountant dropping his laptop into his bath. The more usual ones included spilling drinks on the laptop, driving off with one on the top of the car and laptop bursting in to flames.

I have a client who had their PC stolen and another who’s laptop wound up in Hong Kong when it was supposed to be in Singapore with him.

This brings me on to the subject of backups – yawn

There’s a number of ways of doing this, depending on the data you’re backing up.

1. Software distribution CDs & DVDs. You’ve probably invested a lot of money in buying software – whether that’s Office, accounts software, Adobe Creative Suite, CAD or other design software. Copy these to CD or DVD. Keep the copies in your office and get the originals off site – either to home or, if you work at home, round to a friend’s house.
2. Rarely changing data, or data where you are only adding file to – e.g. photos. Copy to DVD or external hard drive – twice. Keep one copy off site. Recopy it all when there are changes or every 3-6 months, whichever comes first.
3. Regularly changing data – e.g. accounts, Word docs, etc. Backup daily. Use a fully automated system so you don’t forget. Online backup is probably the best as it gets the data offsite immediately the backup is complete. Failing that use some backup software to back up to external or NAS drive. Then take it off site.
4. For very large amounts of data, tape is still being used. It’s falling out of favour because of reliability issues and someone has to remember to change the tapes and take them offsite. We’re still using it on one test machine where we’re regularly re-installing & re-configuring Windows – it’s marginally faster and required less intervention once started.

Once in a while – perhaps monthly or more frequently – make sure you can recover the data from your backup. I have one client who was backing everything on to CD once a week and on the 2 occasions that they needed to recover something, the data wasn’t there. They ditched that and moved to our online service, which backed up every day, freed up 4 hours of the office manager’s time and it worked for them.

Incidentally, there’s evidence to suggest that the lifetime for CDs and DVDs isn’t what it was expected to be. It would be worth re-duplicating all your CDs & DVDs at least once a year.

A while back I wrote a blog item called Backup Strategies which is still worth a read and more recently “Top Ten Reasons To Use Online Backup”