San Diego CIO - Business Edition

I got ripped off by Syed Farhan Raza

2012-01-11T10:27:00.001-08:00

I got ripped off by Syed Farhan Raza / SFO / syedfarhanraza@gmail.com. for $140.

He has the following web sites:

http://www.farhanraza.info/

http://www.coroflot.com/sfraza

I did a very complex PHP form for a fixed price for him, AND installed an SSL Certificate on his clients server.

He paid me ½ upfront for the form and still owes me $75 since 8/23/11.

I gave him a fixed price for the work. I underestimated the number of hours it would take. He offered me more money for the form BUT I KEPT MY word and did the job for the original price. The business has received many orders from the form.

In addition he owes me $65 for the installation of an SSL cert on his client’s server.

********************************

See the following exchange:

syedfarhanraza@gmail.com ✆ syedfarhanraza@gmail.com
8/23/11

to Stuart
I will send you the payment by Friday through paypal :-)

Farhan Raza
415.756.8275

Sent from HTC Evo.
Let's be as green as we need to be.

----- Reply message -----
From: "Stuart" <stuart@911computer-rescue.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 23, 2011 12:13 pm
Subject: Chez - wow!
To: "Syed Farhan Raza" <syedfarhanraza@gmail.com>

Syed,

This "form" aka "****" has been a "Difficult Journey" for both of us.
"Mea Culpa" (my bad) - This form was much more complex than I originally understood and the web site is difficult to work within.

I will fix errors as they are identified by your client in the form for the next 30 days.

I did the SSL = cert - BUT The client has not completed the required paperwork for the higher level ssl certificate. If they do so in the next 30 days I will insert the new cert in the form - no problem.

As some compensation for the length of time it took to complete the form, and as we talked I added Google Analytics so site traffic can be tracked. I have added your Gmail account to googe analytics view the data as desired. You will get a weekly report of visitors via email. (this is a $75 - $100 value)

At this time I would like to invoice you for the remaining $75 for the form. And for 1 hour on the ssl certificate @ $65.

Total $75 + $65 = $140

Is this OK with you?

Stu

*********************************************

syedfarhanraza@gmail.com ✆ syedfarhanraza@gmail.com

8/23/11

to Stuart

I will send you the payment by Friday through paypal :-)

Farhan Raza

415.756.8275

Scam: Beware Shopping Cart Owners!

2010-06-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

One of my Favorite ZenCart clients got a large order via e-mail. Unfortunately it was a scam!

Here was the original email (client info has been deleted):

-------Original Message-------

From: Alan Hunter

Date: 6/7/2010 10:21:21 AM

To: xxx@xxxxxx.com

Subject: Quote request

Hello

Below is a list of my order:

((Several part numbers and quantities))

Please come back to me with the estimated total cost of this so I can make my payment via my credit card, so do worry about the shipment to Thailand, I will have the shipment Arrangement for removing these items from your place through my shipping agent.

IF YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW THE GRAND TOTAL FOR MY ORDER AND ALSO OF ESTIMATED WEIGHT OF THESE ITEMS FOR SHIPPING AND WHY PICK ARRANGEMENTS.

Custer Trading Company Batty
12/15 Convent Road, Silom,
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Thailand
Tel: +66 (0) 2 332 8360-3
Fax: +66 (0) 2 331 6268

-------------------------------------------------------------

My ZenCart client told the scammer to use the shopping cart as all info he needed was there. The next email from the scammer had the hook:

-------Original Message-------

From: Alan Hunter

Date: 6/7/2010 8:39:13 PM

To: xxx@xxxxxx.com

Subject: Shipping Schedule/Pick up

Hello,

Thanks for getting back to me on time.

I will have the order picked up from your facility's.

I have made an arrangement for the pick up of this order right from your location through my shipping agent in order to avoid the shipping responsibilities because presently i already have some large merchandise with them which they will be handling the shipping together with the order from your store,so be informed that the shipping agent will be responsible for all the documents and permits required for the exportation of my order they will handle all the tax & custom duties including insurance as well because all will be dully paid for by me .

They have got similar items shipped to me here successfully,having discussed with the Shipping Agent , the nature and size of the quantity of these items i was charged $965 for the shipping cost,i will need you to do me a favor as explained below :

This shipping agency is presently set up to receive payment via credit card as they are upgrading their credit card facilities,so what am asking from you is to charge my credit card to the grand total cost of the order including the shipping cost,and as soon as the funds is being deposited to your account,you can then send the shipping part of the whole payment to the shipping agency's office via Western Union Money Transfer and their representative in USA will come
for the pick up.

Here is the breakdown of the total amount of money you are expected to charge from my credit card:

TOTAL COST FOR THE ITEMS : $1050.00
SHIPPING FEE : $965
CREDIT CARD SURCHARGING FEE : $100
WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER FEE: $50
THE GRAND TOTAL COST : $2,165

I will send you my credit card number for you to be able to get this full payment charged instantly as well as the shipping fees,the payment would be for both the items and the shipping cost.

As soon as I have the receiver information for the shipping fee from the shipping agency,i will forward it to you as soon as the shipping agent receive the shipping fee,they will schedule the time for the pick up once the order is being paid for and ready for collection.

PLEASE CONFIRM SO PAYMENT CAN BE MADE TODAY AT YOUR CONVENIENCE.

I am waiting to hear back from you ASAP.
Thanks for your co-operation.

Regards
Alan.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The text in red is the scam.... You charge the "customers" credit card for about 2 times the order. Then you pay for shipping to an "agent" of the buyer via "Western Union Money Transfer".

What happens next your credit card payment will get frozen (if initially accepted) but money you send via western union is GONE! (and you can't get it back)...

So beware of new good customers just popping out from nowhere based overseas. The ratio of cost of your goods to the buyers shipping is NEVER 100% (unless you are shipping to the Moon!). Finally, never send any money via Western Union to cover buyer fees!

Use a bank wire transfer to receive payment for overseas orders.

Use Google to verify overseas addresses, phone numbers, and business names.

None of these Googled well:

Custer Trading Company Batty
12/15 Convent Road, Silom,
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Thailand
Tel: +66 (0) 2 332 8360-3
Fax: +66 (0) 2 331 6268

The name Alan Hunter had many Google listings from Thailand so it was impossible use the name to get any useful information...

****************

Seller beware!

Zen Cart, GoDaddy, IPN or "ISSUE WITH GODADDY HOSTING CUSTOMERS VS PAYPAL"

2008-10-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

I just did a Zen Cart for a very talented clothing designer Janese Maricelli.

Links: Web Site / Shopping Cart.

The project was going well until I installed the PayPal payment module and tested the payment process. The payment would clear through PayPal but the return token would not get back to the cart!

The error was, "-- IPN FATAL ERROR :: Could not establish fsockopen.
Host Details = http://proxy.shr.secureserver.net:80 (0) Success”

Both the GoDaddy and PayPal "(no) help" line did not help!

Well after 6 hours I found the fix on the Zen Cart forum! Link The Post is titled, "ISSUE WITH GODADDY HOSTING CUSTOMERS VS PAYPAL" The fix was easy and required changing 2 lines of code.

Much thanks to "DrByte" who posted the fix.

SHAME! on PayPal and GoDaddy for not having this information! (as well as all of the bad info they both gave me!).

I have posted and directed you to all of the info you need to fix this problem! But, if you still need help installing the patch, I would be happy to assist you with this issue and install the patch on your Zen Cart (billable via Paypal - LOL) I can do this for you regardless of your location!). Contact Me!

Google Adds "click-to-buy" Links for Sound Tracks of YouTube Partner Videos

2008-10-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog: I clicked to buy and I liked it

Google adds "click-to-buy" links for sound tracks of YouTube partner videos.

What this means is that for any YouTube content item, published by a YouTube partner, Google can add a link so if you wanted to buy the sound track or wanted to know "when the advertised game was being released" you could easily find out.

Another piece of advertising real estate has been created!

I am based in San Diego and I bet San Diego business owners are not the only ones overlooking potential advertising real estate.

Don't just think if you put your logo on "everything" you will increase sales! Today's customers are more sophisticated that! What Google is doing is creating a non intrusive way to offer a buying opportunity to a consumer.

Uncover the opportunities! If you have a web site you probably would benefit from my web site SEO Analysis (sm) service. I create a written actionable report about your site. The analysis will detail specific potential improvements to your site for SEO optimization. I use industry standard, proven, and accepted tools for the process. I use "best of breed' selection of tools that I feel will give a good insight to what is needed.

I take an 80/20 view toward SEO i.e. 20% of the investment will give 80% of the returns. No false promises regarding web ranking! I promise my recommendations are my best efforts to make concrete recommendations to increase the number of visitors and sales conversions to your site. I will install software to create a traffic baseline so we can measure improvements as they are made. The report will have several concrete and specific changes to be made. Usually several are easy and low cost items that you can do immediately.
Your SEO Analysis (sm) for a 1-10 page site (with a shopping cart) is as low as $250! Remember the "80-20" law when faced with SEO proposals of $1000-$3000 to start and as much as $500 per month "maintenance" for a medium size business. You will get 80% of the benefits with 20% of the expense by obtaining my SEO Analysis.

Considering how much time, money, and effort you have invested in your web efforts my SEO Analysis (sm) is a prudent investment. e-mail me at Stuart@911computer-rescue.com for more information.

This Post in a word cloud:

Official Google Blog: Ten years and counting

2008-09-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog: Ten years and counting

Happy Birthday Google!

Microsoft enabled the Desktop.
Google enabled the WORLD!

Lost or Stolen Laptop - San Diego Laptop Owners be Prepared!

2008-09-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

If you are concerned about the possibility of your laptop being lost or stolen laptop - here is the software for you!

Adeona is a software package that will allow you to locate your laptop if lost or stolen!

It will report on the IP address the the laptop accessed the Internet. You then give this IP number to the police and they will be able to get the account information for the IP address. If you are fortunate you have a good chance to recover the laptop.

I loaded the software on my XP machine. It works as described by the developers. I was able to retrieve the last several IP address that my XP machine was used to access the Internet.

The software is "Open Source" (free) and should be on every machine you own.

If you need help to install this software, please go to my home page: Computer Repair and contact me.

You should also review how you are backing up you computers: Backup?

Google Chrome - New Browser!

2008-09-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

From the Google Blog, (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html)

"A fresh take on the browser
9/01/2008 02:10:00 PM At Google, we have a saying: “launch early and iterate.” While this approach is usually limited to our engineers, it apparently applies to our mailroom as well! As you may have read in the blogosphere, we hit "send" a bit early on a comic book introducing our new open source browser, Google Chrome. As we believe in access to information for everyone, we've now made the comic publicly available -- you can find it here. We will be launching the beta version of Google Chrome tomorrow in more than 100 countries..."

For all of you that for one reason or another don't like Internet Explorer (IE6, 7 or 8) this is the browser to watch and download.

This software is a result of the "war" between the old server/PC Centric Microsoft and the Internet focused Google. No entity has created a browser with as much technical resources invested, software and human interface design skills and Internet understanding than Google.

Remember:

Microsoft Excel is to Lotus 123

Google Chrome is to Microsoft Explorer

This is a strategic move by Google that was not made lightly!

Chrome will be available 9/2 - link.

#30#

Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser

2008-09-02T02:21:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser

Link for download (when available)

XP anti-virus 2008 IS THE VIRUS!

2008-08-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

In a copyrighted article contained in "The register" there is a
detailed and accurate of a current virus / malware scam called "XP
anti-virus 2008". I have removed this three times from businesses and home offices in San Diego with-in the last month!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/22/anatomy_of_a_hack/

This malware infection makes you PC useless as a result of the many pop ups and "warnings:" that it generates. Each malware / virus infection that of this type that I have seen has been slightly different that the article described. (Probably due to "improvements" by the authors / LOL.)

One client paid the "ransom" with his charge card to find that it did not stop the malware! The credit card charge was made to his account by a Russian company in Rubles (even the hackers don't take US dollars any more!).

If you are in SanDiego County, and are googling this post, and have his infection contact me for removal! (stuart@911computer-rescue.com, or click on the toll free "call me!" box on my home age 911computer-rescue.com.

Considering VOIP For Your Home, Home Office, or Business needs?

2008-08-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

IF you are considering VOIP for voice I found an interesting tool to test your DSL or cable line. It is offered by VoIP Review. Link to the tool is: http://www.voipreview.org/voipspeedtester.aspx

This tool will test your DSL or cable line for speed, “Jitter”, and “packet loss”. Speed will indicate how many VoIP lines your current connection will support. Jitter is a measure if the steadiness of the line transmissions. Packet loss is the accuracy of the data transmissions. Below are the results from my home office:
The upload speed is 285 kbs which is within the spec for a VoIP line. Jitteriness and packet loss are not issues for my line. This result is no surprise as I enjoy; a DSL line that rarely is “down” and good voice quality using Vonage.

I doubt that I could support 4 VoIP lines effectively with a 285kbs download speed as indicated in the above "advanced results" (I have 1 Vonage and 1 analog in the office).
“DSL reports” http://www.dslreports.com/ is the gold standard for broadband Internet connectivity information. Among many information assets they have a comprehensive set of tools to test your Internet connection. They also have very good info on broadband line providers.

VoIP is a real effective and cost saving choice provided you find the right vendor that meets your expectations and specific line conditions. I use Vonage and was lucky that I have had only a few minor glitches in the last 4 years. The set-up for my office network is:
Note: I don’t use the routers capability to prioritize voice traffic over data traffic. To use this feature I would have to connect the Linksys router to the DSL modem, let the Linksys manage the PPOE authentication, and connect the Microsoft router to allow for wireless connectivity. When I got the Vonage service I already had the MN-700 hooked up and it was working well. I did not have the confidence that the Linksys would be trouble free providing the PPOE logons. If I am on a Vonage call, doing some sort of download, and get some voice distortion I just pause the network traffic this solves the issue. This is not a perfect solution, just a practical one! If I have more frequent voice quality issues I would bit the bullet and make the Linksys work as the gateway router.

So if you want to save some money, take advantage of VoIP features (many more than an analog phone line), don't want to install a PBX, and most of this post was "techno babble" contact me (stuart@911computer-rescue.com, or click on the toll free "call me!" box on my home page 911computer-rescue.com.

e-mail attachments in outlook cannot be opened

2008-05-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

My client e-mailed me that the fix described in the last post fixed the problem!

Yea!

What is your list of the top computer irritants? “Forwarded email as attachment will not open”

2008-04-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

When we use our computers it seems that we are often abused by bad computer behavior that is frustrating, reduces productivity, and or eliminates fun!

Often when on house or business calls for 911computer-rescue.com, I am presented with the original problem that caused the call to 911computer-rescue.com and then several other additional items that fit the description of computer irritants.

Just recently I was called to a business that needed file sharing activated between a Vista machine and a Windows XP laptop. While making the changes to the Vista machine and the XP laptop for the file sharing, I was presented with the business owner’s computer irritant, “e-mail attachments in outlook that cannot be opened”.

All of the attachments which could not be opened, have a yellow envelope as a icon, but will not open on click or “save as” in a readable manner.

First step was to determine if there was “content in the attachment”. I saved the attachment to a folder but it would not open in a readable manner. (Yup, you can use your Hex editor but the content is still unreadable! (LOL).

Then I forwarded the email to my Google account, and much to my pleasure the attachment was readable in Google as a txt file and clearly was a forwarded e-mail message with important information for my client. I now realize that ALL of the attachments were forwarded e-mails!

I was pleased that I had created a “work around” but it was not a real solution!

It is now early Saturday morning (O’Dawn O’clock) Instead of sleeping I am doing what any true Geek would do, Googling for the solution. The best search seems to be, “Forwarded email as attachment will not open”

My best guess is the following described in this Link, according to the Green Magician:

“Try the following and let me know if it worked:

Tools -> Options -> Other -> Advanced
Remove Google Toolbar Tick in Both Ad-In Manager and Com Ad-Ins. Once you are done, all should work fine again. “

My next step is to call the client (one of my favorite folks and see if this is the cause. If not back to more research for the cure! (I will update this post with the results!)

If you are tired of your “computer irritants” and want to remove them send e an e-mail Stuart@911computer-Rescue.com ! (I provide computer services for home, home office, or businesses.)

Blog Vacation!

2008-04-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

I regret that I have not posted recently.

I really got pressed for time (several large projects for 911computer-rescue.com) and did not want to dilute the quality of the writing or the focus of the Blog.

I am back!

My last post was about the San Diego Chargers. Since then the Padres have taken over causing San Diego sports fans much unneeded aggravation.

“Trevor we love you, but - is it time for Trevor?”

More technology related posts in the works.

Maybe Next Year!

2008-01-21T00:07:00.000-08:00

Go Chargers!

2008-01-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

In preparation for watching the game you may want to visit one of many football oriented Web sites. My favorite is NFL.com . This Link will take you to the highlights of our victory over the Colts. For a very comprehensive listing of football related links is the Football Links directory Blog. No work all play on Sunday!

Microsoft VISTA For San Diego Businesses

2008-01-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

One of the most import things for a business is its' information, customer, product, financial, etc... Vista (Ultimate and Business Edition) has the feature to create and save a complete disk image so you can use in case of a disk of other major failure.

It is an easy to use feature! The only hardware requirement is another hard disk (in your PC, external drive are OK but LESS reliable, or a networked drive is best) or enough DVD's to complete the backup.

The DVD alternative is not practicable! Do the math, if you have 100 gigabytes of data and each DVD holds 4.3 gig, it would take approximately 24 DVD's to do a backup. With the hard disk alternative it is fast and easy (a rarity in today's world!)

I just installed a RAID card in my prime PC. It is an I/O FLEX PSA150 (Dual channel SATA). (I will blog my opionion on the product in 2-4 weeks as it is a lower cost product versus other brands).

I have a Western Digital drive (My boot drive) that was reporting “drive errors” and I needed to make sure that I could keep this PC functioning with little hassle. I had already received an RMA from WDC for the failing drive and was awaiting the replacement. Much to my surprised a Vista window popped up saying that a disk drive failure was imminent and asked if I wanted to start a backup! You BET! I did the backup, and removed the failing drive from the mirrored set.
I felt that I was well prepared and had avoided a major hassle because I had the raid drives installed and a current backup.

If you would like a review of your backup procedures please contact me for a no obligation consultation (San Diego County businesses only).

A computer without your data is worthless!

Business Owners Start the New Year Right!

2007-12-27T00:17:00.000-08:00

Wow 5 days to New Years!

San Diego Small Business Owners Rate your business practices:

1. I have good book keeping software and use it
2. I back up MY complete computer regularly
2. I have good records about my customers
4. My Web site, and Shopping Cart and are up to date and look good
5. My customers can contact me easily
6. I have cleaned up existing warranty, quality, and other product issues.
7. I have a plan on how to reduce my shipping costs
8. I have maximised my selling channels
9. I am ready for tax fillings
10. My computers are running well
11. My Business Plan is current

Perhaps, for you, some of the above are New Years resolution material.

Start the year with a clean slate. Contact me for a free 1/2 hour consultation via phone.

“Break the Trance” Says Dave Brown!

2007-12-26T08:29:00.000-08:00

Webster's Dictionary defines trance as a stupor, or a daze.

Sometimes we are in a trance in the way we conduct ourselves in our business or personal lives.

There is a new Blog by Dave Brown: Please Pass the PASTA.

Dave's first post is, “Ten Ways to identify, “Break the Trance” and learn how to dance with your Trance”. The first step, Dave writes is to, "Recognize the signs of your trance. Write down five to ten concrete and specific behavioral, emotional andintellectual patterns that indicate that you are in your trance."

Just as your business will benefit from a “Computer Coach” you will also benefit from a professional life coach! Dave is an accomplished Executive Coach - Mentor - Personal Advisor and Business Coach. He is based in Del Mar, California. You will benefit from what he has to say! (and the way he says it!). His web site is, Dave Brown Coaching.

Vista – The Myth and the Reality for San Diego Business Owners

2007-12-22T03:26:00.000-08:00

In the last several weeks I have done 4 Vista installs and or upgrades. I have just converted the machine that I use the most to Vista Ultimate.

Vista has been out since January 2007. I usually wait a least 1 year before I install a new operating system but I needed to stay current with this new technology. So, I decided to use Vista every day.

First reaction - I think Vista Ultimate is the fist big step forward since Windows 3.1! Vista is GREAT!

The “MAC versus the PC” commercials are very entertaining but they don't reflect the experiences that I and probably millions of others have with Vista. I am not an unconditional Microsoft fan, however my expectations were substantially exceeded Vista.
No problems with install!

All my drivers were found (I used 1 XP driver for a RAID card that was ”not supported” by Vista)
Programs seemed to run faster
I have not had an application “hang” since I installed vista

My computer environment is a low end machine by vista standards:

ASUS mother board (P4P800-MX)
P4 4 Hz processor
3 gigs memory
1 60 gig mirrored disks
2 160 gigs

I installed an OEM version of Vista Ultimate on a clean disk. Over the next several posts I will review the features that I find most interesting for the home and the business user.

Customer Service and Your San Diego Business

2007-12-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

I think that there is still hope for he smaller regional retail and service businesses in San Diego given my experience with Macy's (The department store).

While in New York my “GF” shopped at the flagship Macy's store in Herald Square (34th Street). She purchased several items to be shipped to us in California.

A week later I tried to get a tacking number for the shipment. After an hour of calling the store I had no luck in reaching any one who could help me. However, I did reach several rude and or untrained employees.

Last Monday I decided to try again. After a half hour of making several calls I finally reached the administrative assistant to the store manager. After getting some information from the sales slip she got me the tracking number in 1 minute!

I decided to write the CEO of Macy's:

Terry J. Lundgren
Chairman, President &
Chief Executive Officer
Macy's, Inc.

about my poor customer service experience. I needed to confirm his mailing address. I got his administrative assistant on the first call in about a minute!

I will publish the letter to Terry (mailed today) and the response if any.

Lessons I learned:

No process for tracking in store shipments that is known to employees
When in New York don't shop at Macy's and ship it home
It is easier and faster to call the office of the CEO of Macy's and speak to a human (Margaret) than it is to get a response from the 34th Street store to a simple question regarding a purchase. (One minute versus 1 ½ hours.)

Lessons for business owners:

The basics of customer service is to help the customer
Employee training in customer service is KEY
Make employes aware that thy should always offer to take the customers contact information so the appropriate person in your business can resolve the issue.

MySpace and Web Site E-marketing One San Diego Example

2007-12-01T02:30:00.000-08:00

For businesses catering to the edgy, young, trendy, urbans, the importance of e-marketing to reach your demographics is KEY.

The first thing you need is a great product! No problem for Barrie the designer and self styled "cornfed fashionwhore". The clothes are HOT, EDGY, and priced affordable!. You can see her stuff 12/2 at "The Fashion Event" (THREAD San Diego - Sunday December 2, 2007 The Aerospace Museum, Balboa Park..)

An example of this relationship between a web site and a MySpace site is her sites: http://www.fablesbybarrie.com/ and her MySpace site Cornfed by Barrie.

Her MySpace site has more of the current events, personal feel, and edgy graphics, while the web site gives the clothes and how to buy center stage. Both work well together. If your market is 18-35's this is the kind of thinking that will help create the Buzz or "Urban Stampede" (as I call it) for your business.

See you at the Show!

Client Wondered Why - His Computer Ran Slow!

2007-11-30T11:32:00.000-08:00

I worked on a computer this week in a San Diego business that had 256 megs of memory! We took it up to 2 Gigs - problem solved. He was running AOL and Norton two programs that eat memory!

At approximately $50 per gig it is a good business decision to add the much needed memory. More latter on a future post about this machine as it has several other intresting issues...

RAID Me! (sm) - San Diego Business Should Say!

2007-11-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

Is your business earning $40,000 or more? Do you rely on your computer as as a key tool for your business? In the event of a disk drive failure following the methods I outline will reduce your recovery time to minutes!

If you don't want to backup your disk drive just view the video above...

A disk drive failure is a relatively a low probably event but will have a high negative impact on your business. You already have purchased insurance for "low probably events that have high negative impacts" such as home owners, (fire, flood, earthquake), personal liability, auto collision, health etc. I am advocating investing in insurance for your business data!

This post will discuss how to protect both your business data and the time it took you to set up your computer. Using my "Raid Me! (sm) method you can protect your investment by backing up your desk top computer or small office server with a high degree of safety and relatively low cost.

I will address your initial investment, how much data you should plan to backup, a recommended strategy, and costs.

After reading this article you will be aware of your costs of setting up your PC, the amount of data that you have, the choices that you have for backup, and my recommendation of the “best way” to safeguard your data. You can contact me (SanDiegoCIO@gmail.com) if you would like my for assistance in execution your back up strategy.

Your initial investment

You probably remember how much you paid for your computer, but do you remember how much time (and pain!) you spent initially setting up your PC? You probably invested at least 4 to 16 hours setting up your PC including: adding the computer to your network, loading Office, QuickBooks, printer and or scanner software, getting the colors, desktop icons, and other settings just the way you like them. Let's not forget adding the anti-virus software, Windows Defender, the latest patches for Windows and any other software you have. You also may have deleted the “crapware” that your PC manufacturer loaded on your PC to entice you to purchase a DSL service, antivirus software, AOL, Office or other software that clutters up your drive. What is this setup time in dollars or lost opportunity worth to you? Just backing up the “My Documents” folder will not protect this investment in time.

How much data do you have to backup?

The Windows operating system will take 3-4 gigabytes on your hard disk. Your programmes such as office and QuickBooks may take another 2-4 gigs. So we are looking at 5-8 gigs of information with none of your data. In addition, you may transfer your data (documents, bookmarks, pictures, etc.) from your old PC. As time goes on we load still more programs, save and create documents, add bookmarks, shortcuts, and desktop icons to our computer. It would be easy to have 20-30 gigabytes (7 DVD's) of data and programmes on a business computer. So I ask, “What is your backup plan?” Is it working?

Recommended Strategy

When you purchased your desktop the most lightly configuration is one hard disk connected into the disk controller on the mother board. Most newer desktops come equipped with disk drives of 160 gigabytes (or greater) and a DVD burner that can place 4.7 gigs of data on a DVD.

If you back up a 160 gig drive that is half full, using your DVD burner, it would take 18 DVD's, Yeah, right your are really going to do this weekly! Well some of you are thinking that I can just backup the “My Documents” folder. This is better than nothing but is a flawed strategy for several reasons:

1. No protection for your the investment you made in setting up your computer

2. Does not save bookmarks, links, document templates, desktop icons, shortcuts.

3. Not all of your data is in the “My Documents” folder (such as your QuickBooks data for example)!

Well your in luck! I have an easier method it requires 2 additional disk drives and something called a RAID Card.

Step 1: "Mirror your "boot drive". The diagram below shows 2 disk drives (green) that are “mirrored” i.e. The same data is on both disk drives. This "magic" is accomplished automatically by the RAID controller card. RAID protects against a hardware failure of a single disk drive.

Step 2: Make weekly disk image backup of the mirrored drives. Using the disk drive you originally got with your PC (yellow disk in diagram above) and software provide by the disk manufacturer we will we will make a (at least) weekly backup of your mirrored drives. This protects you against a disk controller error which might impact both mirrored drives as well as some other unplanned for catastrophic event. Most of the disk manufactures provide (or you can download) software that will preform this task easily with several clicks of the mouse. This backup will take about an hour depending on the size of your drives and the data they contain. This drive is a bootable drive! Should something happen to both mirrored disks you can be back running in minutes rather than days!

Ultimate protection

To protect against loss of data for the time in between your weekly back ups you can use the backup software included in your windows disk. Set up the program to back up any changed files (incremental) in your PC each day and write them to a CD or DVD. This will take only minutes as on a daily basis not many files will be changed.

Costs

Hardware: $275 - 2 hard disks, 1 “2 channel” controller card (use a name brand controller card! -Hardware costs may vary) Installation: IF you don't want to install this yourself, I will install your hardware, create the mirrored drive, set up the back up drive, load and set up the back up software for a not to exceed cost of $ 175 ($65 / hour).

Your cost to RAID a 160 gig drive will be $275 hardware $175 (or less) labor = total of $450.
RAID Is A Cheap Investment!

Is your investment of $450 a good one?

The real cost of of a disk failure is the cost of disruption to your business for the length of time it takes to recover your computer and resume normal business activities plus out of pocket costs to recover your data.

The diagram above shows the savings of my RAID solution given several levels of earnings or income.

I have assumed the following:

240 working days in year
Out of pocket recovery cost to hire some one to reload your computer will average $700. (If you had no backup for important data and had to use a data recovery service to get data off of a crashed disk drive the usual cost is $1,200. )

If you earned $40,000 last year and lost 2 days of earnings installing my RAID solution will save you $583 if you have a disk drive failure. You earn more than $40,000? (of course!), then it is even more important to act now! If your business is earning you $80,000 per year and you have a disk drive failure recovery will cost you $1,367. The investment of $450 is a 2 to 1 return!

If you have a 160 gigabyte drive I will install this RAID solution for $450*! (* Pending confirmation of your PC configuration).

Contact me (SanDiegoCIO@gmail.com) to take advantage of this relatively cheap data insurance!

#1 in Google - How is it Done?

2007-11-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

Recently I was referenced as #1 in Goggle searching for “San Diego Computer Concierge”. That was a pleasant surprise and the “Holy Grail” for Search Engine (SEO) experts. Is there a trick, YES!

I can't promise you that you will have the same results! I will tell you that this technique will cost you nothing (other than my labor). It may not work for you. It depends on your business and key words needed.

Engage me for any Computer Concierge service (Minimum of 2 hours) and I will see if this technique will work for you (NO charge)! NO Guarantees - Except my best effort!

Windows Event 1517

2007-11-25T05:52:00.000-08:00

When you are ready to leave the office does your windows machine computer take a long tome to lo off? Below may be a answer to a real time waster.

If you have event number 1517 in your event viewer (application):

"Windows saved user ComputerName\UserName registry while an application or service was still using the registry during log off. The memory used by the user's registry has not been freed. The registry will be unloaded when it is no longer in use. This is caused by services running as a user account, try configuring the services to run in either the LocalService or NetworkService account. "

Although there may be many causes of long log off and shut down time if you get the 1517 error a good bet is to try is a fix offered by Microsoft http://support.microsoft.com/kb/837115
I have installed this on my XP machine. I have installed the suggested Microsoft solution. Only once have I received an Event 1517 warning since installation. In addition log off times have been reduced!

Computer Concierge Services for Business

2007-11-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

(This is the first (and old) "Post" to this blog! Click here for latest post or subcribe to this blog (Use on the top right box)

One of my clients needed a Blog. So I also created one for my self as well. Like any "computer project" the scope expanded and I decided that I needed to have 2 blogs this one focused on San Diego business owners and and another http://blobblogblogblogetc.blogspot.com/ for "home office" and personal use topics.

I am in the process of separating past posts into the two interest groups.

Yes, "Geek I am", San Diego CA.

I am San Diego based and provide technology services, home or business, including hardware repair, software selection and installation, technology planning for your business, e-commerce, and "e-based" marketing campaigns.The mission of the San Diego CIO blog is to connect technology with actionable ideas for the entrepreneur.

The scope ranges from PC tips to “Techo-Strategy” In addition "liberties" will be taken for topics of interest to me and I trust to you. For Computer Concierge Services for Home or Business e-mail me at SanDiegoCIO@gmail.com or use the "Vonage Me" link on the upper right of this page and you will be connected to me toll free.

Blog
Clicking keys
Posting prose
To & via the either

Under Construction!

2007-11-06T07:24:00.000-08:00

For some thoughts see http://blobblogblogblogetc.blogspot.com !