• Warn you when the Database size reaches a preset limit

• Configure the preset time of day this Database size check occurs

All of the Registry Changes are made in the following location:-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\<SERVER NAME>\Private-013e2e46-2cd7-4a8e-bfec-0e4652b94b00

For More Information, Visit Microsoft Technet at:-

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998066(EXCHG.65).aspx

Century IT Services - Getting IT Right
Providing Computer Support & Network Support to businesses in Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Wiltshire, Sussex & Berkshire

In this article we will have a look at Microsoft’s newest Operating System and what the differences are than previous Versions, its availability, and what it can do for you.

But first a few words about Windows Vista, well after the success of Windows XP it was always going to be a hard act to follow, and unfortunately for Microsoft Windows Vista did not follow it very well. Microsoft conceded and continued to supply Windows XP to the PC Manufacturers due to high demand for it.

Enter Windows 7, and a very public announcement it was too, with Microsoft freely distributing a late Beta Version, and after that a Release Candidate. This was a marketing plan and a good way of getting Windows 7 to as many people as it could before the launch date, so that the code could be tested, corrected and revised as much as possible before launch. Another criticism of Windows Vista was that it lacked drivers for much of the hardware that users already had purchased, that means that printers, scanners, video cards and the like would not work with Vista out of the box. Microsoft has addressed this problem by providing as many drivers as possible built into Windows 7, in fact more and more have been added from even the ones included in the beta and release candidate versions. The fact that the drivers that were produced by hardware manufacturers for Windows Vista will also work with Windows 7 makes the problem of limited drives a lot less of a problem. Delivering the drivers to the pc has also been enhanced, now Windows Updates provides these drivers in the same way that critical updates and service packs are delivered. The new features are a big step forward a dynamic task bar, windows manipulation, better driver support, Windows XP mode for Business and Ultimate versions. However one of the biggest steps forward is the start up and shutdown times, anyone who has waited for Vista to shutdown will be please to hear this!

If you are intending to install Windows 7 on a laptop the initial indications are that the power saving is more efficient, which means that battery life should be longer. Other features for mobile users include a Location-Aware printing, which makes printing documents far easier if you are moving from office to office. Another technology that is maturing with Windows 7 is the support for 64bit computers. Using a 64 bit Operating system with the appropriate hardware means that Windows can use gigabytes of memory, the limit of the traditional 32bit Windows is 3 - 4 Gb. This means that with 64 bit computing many more programs can be running at the same time than before, and swapping between them will become easier.

Improved User Interface

Microsoft has made a considerable number of enhancements to the User Interface from Windows Vista. This addressed a few problems regarding windows management; some of the changes are of a more entertaining nature.

Aero Shake
Hold down a window by its top border (or any other part) and shake your mouse to minimize all other windows. Alternative Shortcut: Win + Home.

Aero Peek
Hold your mouse icon over a program icon in the TaskBar to get a preview of the program (if it’s running), then move your mouse and hold it over this icon to bring up the actual window itself. Click to bring this window up permanently or just move the mouse away.

Action Center
This feature is an extension of the old security centre that first appeared in Windows XP in Service Pack 1. It basically informs you of any potential security problems, and system updates that are required. Most of the time it will sit quietly monitoring, but when things need attention it will start alerting.

ISO Burner
As software distribution is now mostly electronic, this has created a need for a in built Windows utility that will create a CD or DVD from an ISO image. Well the ISO burner in Windows 7 is just that very useful when you need it.

Biometric Device Management
Windows 7 provides a basic framework for biometric devices, enabling manufacturers of these devices like fingerprint readers to use this framework to develop their programs. This unified support will mean that these types of devices should be similar in operation.

Credential Manager
This is a useful addition to the Windows 7 Utility Set, it allows you to store all your usernames and passwords in one place, and when you go to use a website or network share the credential manager can login for you. Another useful feature is that your password vault can be backed up and restored should you ever have a problem

Display projection Windows Mobility Centre
If you give lots of presentations, you’ll welcome a new tool in Windows 7 that makes it easy for you to display your Windows 7 portable computer’s desktop on a projector. Just press the Windows logo key + P and you’ll see the pop-up box this will take you through a wizard to get you connected.

Windows Mobility Centre
This is a blend of the Windows Sync Centre and Power settings, giving information on screen brightness, battery capacity, secondary monitors, wireless networking etc. Some of the sections can be adjusted to save power or adjust wireless networks that are connected.

System Repair Disc
The Vista Service Pack 1 betas included a new feature that let you easily create a system repair disc with a friendly graphical interface, but it was removed in the final release of SP1. Windows 7 restores this functionality, and enables a full image backup of the computer. This means that you can have a set of restore DVD’s to return your computer to a previous state.

Better backup utility
Of course, previous versions of Windows included a backup utility, but this tool has been significantly improved in Windows 7. Vista’s backup program was user friendly but not very flexible. Windows 7 gives you more granular control over what you want to back up.
You can invoke the “Backup and Restore” applet from Control Panel or by typing Backup in the Search box on the Start menu. You can back up your files to a local hard disk, a removable disk, a DVD, or another computer on the network. (You may need to provide credentials to access a network location.) Then, you can choose to back up libraries or individual folders.

Task bar / Jump lists
The Jump List feature is designed to provide you with quick access to the documents and tasks associated with applications. You can think of Jump Lists like little application-specific Start menus. Jump Lists can be found on the application icons that appear on the Taskbar when an application is running or on the Start menu in the recently opened programs section. Jump Lists can also be found on the icons of applications that have been specifically pinned to the Taskbar or the Start menu. The task bar has had some changes to it and in many ways is looks like the Apple Mac Dock, but does include some further enhancements. They include larger icons to allow the new features to be seen clearly. One of the new features is the inclusion of a progress bar built in to the programs running on the task bar. So if you are downloading a file in Internet Explorer then the icon will show the progress. Shortcuts can also be “pinned” to the taskbar allowing quick and easy access to them.

Windows 7, like previous versions of Windows Operating Systems come in different versions, for the home, business and extreme users, below is the details of the features that come with each of these versions.

Windows 7 versions

There are 3 main versions that will be offered by Microsoft from launch day the 22nd October 2009 they are Business, Home Premium and Ultimate below is a summary of the components of each of these versions.

Windows 7 - Home Premium

• Available worldwide, to OEMs and in retail
• Includes Aero UI tweaks
• Features multi-touch capabilities – on Touch screens
  Adds “premium” games
• Adds media capabilities (Media Center, DVD playback, DVD creation, etc.)
• Can create home network groups

Windows 7 - Professional

Available worldwide, to OEMs and in retail

• Includes all features of Premium
• Adds enhanced networking capabilities (Remote Desktop host, domain support, offline folders, etc.)
• Adds Mobility Center
• Adds Presentation Mode - Profile configuration

Windows 7 - Ultimate

Limited OEM and retail availability

• Includes all features of Professional
• Adds Branch Cache - Branch Office file store
• Adds Direct Access - Transparent tunnelling to Head Office
• Adds BitLocker - Drive Encryption

Windows 7 updates

If you wish to purchase an upgrade version of Windows 7 for your Vista Operating system and you live in the Euro Zone, you are out of luck. Due to legal wrangling with the EU Commission, Microsoft will not offer any upgrade pricing or product. Also they are not shipping Internet Explorer with Windows 7 within the Euro Zone for the same reason. This will affect over half a billion people. This means that people who want to install Windows 7 on an existing system will have to backup their user data and do a clean install, and then restore your data.
Compatibility issues - Microsoft have thought of the users who still have programs that don’t work well with Windows 7. XP Mode is essentially a Windows XP PC inside Windows 7. So when you want to run those old programs you can use this XP machine to do this quickly and easily.
So we originally asked is Windows 7 ready for you? Well the answer is probably yes, in fact when you buy your next new pc or laptop it will be pre-installed on it. However those of you who want Windows 7 on an existing pc may be in for a painful installation. There is no upgrade path you can go down in the UK as mentioned above, so the only way to get Windows 7 on an existing PC is to buy the full version then wipe and install.

“Taking a backup of all your important data first of course.”

If you are still unsure what Windows 7 has to offer or if it is the right time for you, then please give us a call today on 02380 070 101 for a full, confidential and without-obligation discussion of your needs.

This Article is only the opinion of Century IT Services LLP. All features mentioned were correct at time of writing we take no responsibility for issues arising through incorrect planning, installation or incompatibility with other applications.

Many businesses know that without the ‘Company Data’ there is no business, but many still take the risk and don’t check their backups daily or perform any test data restores.

Businesses that experience data loss soon find themselves with an interruption to their business whilst data recovery methods are explored. The risk is never worth the cost, lost ‘company data’ simply can’t be replaced

What can be done?

• Ensure your computer network is Proactively Monitored
• Get your I.T Support Company to test your backups regulary
• Take a secondary backup using an Online Data Vault

Proactive monitoring can help prevent interruption to business by identifying problems before they affect your business, for example flagging alerts for failed backups.

Testing backups on a regular basis can help ensure that data can indeed by restored from supposedly good backups.

Taking secondary backups helps reduce the risk of data loss should a failure occur, there is an old adage that you can’t have too many backups!

Making backups to an Online Data Vault using a fully encrypted Internet connection to a secure location has many advantages :-

20,000 Laptops are lost or stolen every year

• Your data is guaranteed safe and secure

• It’s quick and easy to set up
• It’s affordable and reduces costs
 
• Being fully automated it eliminates human error
   
• Restoring data is quick and easy
• Scalable solutions for all sizes of business

Having a secondary system of backups to restore from in the event of a disaster situation gives business owners peace of mind that their business critical data is always safe and available.

How Does Online Data Backup Work?

1) Any online data backup solution assumes you have an internet connection and that you have at least ADSL, DSL or Cable.

2) You normally install some specialist backup software on the machine that hold the data you want to backup

3) You choose what types of data you can backup

4) You schedule the Online Data Backup software to backup at a time which is convienient to you

5) A backup of your selected data is made to the Online Data Backup Provider

What Should I Look for When Choosing an Online Backup Solution?

 1) Transferring your data across the Internet is normally not secure, you need to make sure that the Online Data Backup Provider uses secure encryption technologies to secure you data as it travels over the internet to stop unauthorised interception.

2) An important consideration is also where will your data be stored, Online Data Backup providers would normally hold your data in a data centre, it would be in your best interest to find out if your data is being held within a U.K data centre or one in another country.

3) Find out if your data is stored at the data centre in an encrypted format and who else has access to your data.

4) What about in the event of a complete restore being needed? Downloading everything via your Internet connection will be compartively much slower than by your local tape backup. Does your Online Data Backup provider offer a Disaster Recovery Option? Can they deliver your data to you for restore, quickly?

5) Besides being able to back your files and folders, does your Online Data Backup provider provide the software to backup your Exchange email or SQL databases?

Summary

In summary, additional to the local data backups you would normally make as part of your I.T maintenance procedures, having a secondary backup of business critical data using an Online Data Backup provider is a sound choice.

Using an Online Backup Data Vault will help reduce the risk of data loss, it can be especially beneficial in any business continuity plan.

Dont Risk IT 

Talk to us to find out how you can ensure your business critical data is also backed up to an Online Data Vault and we will offer you a Free 30 Day Trial.  (Contact Us)

Remember 90% of businesses that found themselves without data for 10 days or more filed for bankruptcy inside 2 years!

Century IT Services - Getting IT Right

Providing Computer Support & Network Support to businesses in Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Wiltshire, Sussex & Berkshire

* Source - London Chamber of Trade & Commerce

  ]]> http://www.century-it.co.uk/itservices-itsupport-blog/index.php/2009/10/online-data-backup/feed/ http://www.century-it.co.uk/itservices-itsupport-blog/index.php/2009/10/firewall-service-stopped-because-an-application-filter-module-cwindowssystem32msvcrtdll-generated-an-exception-code/ http://www.century-it.co.uk/itservices-itsupport-blog/index.php/2009/10/firewall-service-stopped-because-an-application-filter-module-cwindowssystem32msvcrtdll-generated-an-exception-code/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:04:50 +0000 Darren http://www.century-it.co.uk/itservices-itsupport-blog/?p=719 You may find you have intermittent Microsoft ISA Firewall crashes on a Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition that has Symantec Endpoint Protection and Symantec Backup Exec Installed.

When Symantec Backup Exec is backing up, an event is is displayed in the Application Event Viewer (see below) and users lose connectivity to the SBS 2003 server:-  

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Microsoft Firewall
Event Category: None
Event ID: 14057
Date: 29/09/2009
Time: 08:32:08
User: N/A
Computer: Server-SBS
Description:
The Firewall service stopped because an application filter module C:\WINDOWS\system32\msvcrt.dll generated an exception code C0000005 in address 77BC6F76 when function CompleteAsyncConnect was called. To resolve this error, remove recently installed application filters and restart the service.For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

To resolve this problem you will need to add some exceptions to the Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager - Centralized  Exceptions Policies.

Add some exceptions to exclude Microsoft ISA Server data directories from being included in the Symantec Endpoint Realtime Scanning.

Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager Console

Symantec Endpoint Protection - Centralized Exceptions

Symantec Endpoint Protection - Exclude ISA Cache Folder

Symantec Endpoint Protection - Add Exception for ISA Log Folder

Century IT Services - Getting IT Right
Providing Computer Support & Network Support to businesses in Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Wiltshire, Sussex & Berkshire.

Modern computers and laptops usually come with USB 2.0 ports as standard, whilst older computers only have USB 1.0

As with all technology, advances have been made over the years to improve speed and performance. To maintain backward compatibility, newer types of USB ports come with the same type of connector as the older USB ports, so older USB devices can still connect and operate.

The main difference between USB 1.0 and USB 2.0 is the performance or throughput; the USB 2.0 ports are much faster than the earlier USB 1.0. USB 2.0 has an average throughput of around 480 mps (megabits per second) whilst USB 1.0 only has an average throughput of 12 mbps. That makes USB 2.0 as much as 40 times as quick as the older USB 1.0

This means that if it takes around 40 minutes to transfer some files to a USB 1.0 device, using USB 2.0 it could potentially take only 1 minute.

Century IT Services - Getting IT Right

Providing Computer Support & Network Support to businesses in Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Wiltshire, Sussex & Berkshire.

Proactive Monitoring is the modern way to manage a computer network

The traditional method of computer support or network support has always been Reactive, i.e. you notice a problem and then report it to your IT support company.

Proactive Computer Support is the modern way to manage your computer network. A properly monitored, proactive computer network service can help you cut costs by identifying problems or issues before they affect your business for example would you know if :-

• Backups are Failing

• Anti Virus software not updating on ALL computers

• Web site is not online or available

• Server running out of disk space

• Server Hard Disk failure

Wouldn’t you like to know if your computer network had problems before they affect your business?

Proactively Monitored Network checks 

• Backup Monitoring

• Server Disk Health

• Disk Space Monitoring

• Exchange Store Monitoring

• Anti Virus Checks

• Performance Monitoring

• Web Site Monitoring

• Hacker Checks  

Asset Tracking

Another benefit of Proactive Monitoring is the Asset Tracking which can provide you with a monthly list of all computers and servers on your network along with their hardware specifications and serial numbers? Such information can help you identify old or problem machines so you can plan at budget times for upgrades and replacements, after all no one like those unexpected expenses.

Network Security

Installing the monitoring software client is easy, safe and secure using the latest https encrypted technology to pass critical alerts back to our monitoring system, and you won’t need to degrade your existing firewall security by opening any additional ports or pin holes. 

Monthly Reports

Customers on our Proactive Monitoring service (Century Plus) receive monthly reports which uses our unique traffic light system so you can quickly identify problems or issues that have occured. Monthly reports include:-

• Server Tape Backup history
• Anti Virus update history
• Disk Space & Historical usage
• SPAM detection statistics
• Server Physical Disk Health
• List of support calls logged in calendar month
• List of Hardware Assets including specification

Would you like to know about that network problem before it impacted your ability to do business?

Do you have that nagging worry that your backup probably hasn’t worked for some time?

Contact Us to find out how our Proactive Monitoring Service - Century Plus can help your business. (click here)

Century IT Services - Getting IT Right
Providing Computer Support & Network Support to businesses in Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Wiltshire, Sussex & Berkshire

You might find some of your network users cant access certain sites when behind a Microsoft ISA 2004 Server.

These sites could be online banking, ecommerce or other web site which doesnt like parts of its web site being accessed through a proxy server.

The trick is to modify your ISA 2004 configuration to add certain sites to a ‘Directly Access’ list.

You can find this setting in configuration, networks, internal network. If you double click on the ‘Internal Network’ and choose the ‘Web Browser’ tab, you can add your list of domains or internet addresses that you want to bypass the ISA 2004 Server Web Proxy.

Useful Links

Microsoft ISA Server

Century IT Services - Getting IT Right
Providing Computer Support & Network Support to businesses in Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Wiltshire, Sussex & Berkshire

For many, there can be a lot of confusion when comparing different types of server solutions especially when it comes down the type of hard drives that your server might come with.

A server with SATA hard drives can be considerably cheaper when compared to a server with SAS hard drives, especially if your server quote has multiple hard drives or has a RAID disk subsystem. But this seemingly interchangeable terminology can make all the difference to your IT investment.

SATA - Serial ATA

SAS - Serial Attached SCSI

Serial ATA was designed to replace the older IDE (EIDE) hard drives which were commonly found in most home computer and business workstations.

SAS has evolved separately from the SCSI standard, SCSI drives have traditionally been found in server solutions.

Many server manufacturers including HP and Dell offer entry level servers with SATA drives, with the mid-range and higher end servers coming with SAS hard drives.

 According to Seagate, SATA drives are designed to have the following features:-

•  Capacity intensive
•  Low availability
•  Sequential reads
•  Seek time 9.5ms
•  Designed to be on 8 Hours a day, 5 days a week

Seagate SAS drives are designed for:-

•  Performance Intensive
•  High Availability
•  Random Reads
•  Seek time of 3.5 ms (15k rpm), 3.9 ms (10k rpm)
•  Designed to be on 24 hours per day, 7 days per week

From a computer support or network support point of view, many SAS drive solutions also include ‘hot swap’ options which basically mean that for many RAID solutions, you can simply replace a failed drive for a replacement without rebooting or interrupting the server or users.

What does all this mean?

Basically if you want good server performance and you don’t want disk I/O bottlenecks and prefer longevity over small price difference, always choose SAS over SATA.

If your requirements are for a small server in a very small office and are not worried about server performance and the larger capacity, cheaper SATA drives appeals to you then choose SATA.

Did you want to discuss your server requirements? For an informed opinion on server specifications and many other IT support subjects ‘Contact Us’

Century IT Services are Expert, Responsive and Flexible

For more Information on SATA vs SAS see the following links

http://www.seagate.com/

Seagate SAS VS SATA

Century IT Services - Getting IT Right
Providing Computer Support & Network Support to businesses in Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Wiltshire, Sussex & Berkshire

Microsoft offer licence discounts for Desktop Operating Systems, Desktop Applications, Server Operating Systems and Server Applications to Schools, Registered Charities, Public Libraries, Public Museums and other Educational Institutions.

• Academic Select       

• Academic Open       

• School Agreement 3.5       

• Campus Agreement 3.5

Besides recieving a worthwhile discount on your Academic Licensing needs, licencing programmes can be used to support faculty and staff with access to products for their personal use (HUP) or work-related use (Work at Home).

The licences are flexible and you can be licenced to run any version including upgrades and downgrades including Office Enterprise, Windows Vista Enterprise upgrade, CoreCAL, FrontPage, Project, Encarta, Visio, Visual Studio, Publisher and CALs/SALs.

Are you a School, Registered Charity, Public Library, Public Museum or other Educational institution and would like to know if you can make a saving on your Microsoft licensing whilst maintaining a flexible licence agreement?

Click Here to Find Out More

Century IT Services - Getting IT Right
Providing Computer Support & Network Support to businesses in Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Wiltshire, Sussex & Berkshire

Smart Phone a Smart Move?

In this article we will discuss the details of the so called  Smart Phones available today, what they offer and how they offer it. There are a maze of different makes and models , various fruits and initialed manufactures all peddling their new phones as a smart phone.

Of course the first what is a Smart Phone? Well the answer to that is there is not a standard definition, and no standards have been agreed between phone manufacturers. It is generally accepted that a smart phone is a unit that has an built in Operating System that provides access to e-mail, scheduling, Internet and perhaps a e-reader facility, as well as make standard calls and send text of course. Many manufacturers include far more than these ’standard’ features, such as music and video play back, they can also support third party applications further extending the functionality. So a modern Smart phone is really a mini computer capable of much of the functionality of your laptop or PC.

We have mentioned the words modern, and latest but when did the smart phone revolution start? The answer, surprisingly is 1992 when IBM co-developed a product that had all the above basic features defining it as a Smart Pone, and it also included a touch screen which enabled the display to also be used to control the device and input text. This was the start of the Smart Phone’s development and they have  gone from strength to strength now with all the big manufacturers of mobile phones now offering them; Nokia, Blackberry, HTC, Apple. These companies are adding more and more features to lure customers into buying their products, but the basic features at define them as a Smart Phone thare still there.

Operating Systems or OS’s are the software brain of a Smart Phone, and just like Windows or Linux on office computers, the OS creates the user experience and enables the hardware to provide the features in the phone to the user. The main OS’s that run on the Smart Phones of today are; Symbian OS (47.1% of market share), RIM Blackberry (19.5%), Windows Mobile (12.4%), iPhone OS (10.4%), and Linux (8.4%).

These OS’s are a mixed bag to say the least some like RIM and iPhone OS are written by the hardware manufacturer, while others like Symbian, Windows Mobile and Linux are written by Operating System Vendors and licenced to the hardware manufacturers. These hardware manufactures also change core part of the OS to work well with their particular hardware, a mixed bag indeed.

Communications are king and today’s smart phones use a plethora of technologies to handle information; at last count the author’s Smart Phone supports and communicates using 19 different broadcast standards!

Selecting a Smart Phone that will work for you  - ah now we get on to a thorny subject, apart from the OS and Phone hardware to consider you have to be careful to select a phone with the correct tariff and the correct mobile network operator to ensure that the functions that the Smart Phone offers is backed up by the network operator. Things to look out for in the specifications are battery life, simple use and a keyboard that suits your needs. Some phones have a slide out keyboard, others have a full keyboard as well as the screen, and still others only have a touch screen keyboard. Also native compatibility with Microsoft Exchange is essential if you would like to use it in a Small Business Server environment. This means that the phone will work in a similar manner to Microsoft Outlook on your work computer. Some smart phones are easier to use than others.

Is a smart phone a smart move? - back to our original question then, we know that a smart phone can help you keep in touch with e-mail, dates, roaming Internet access as well a phone calls and texts. The beauty of the smart phone is that some of them can integrate into existing Small Business computer systems without too much effort. If a small business has Windows 2003 Small Business Server configured to send and receive email to users desk bound computers and has a permanent connection to the Internet then they have all the systems in place already to be able to use the functionality of a smart phone.

If you are interested in obtaining a Smart Phone to help you keep in constant communications with your office, then please feel free to contact Century IT Services HERE

Century IT Services - Getting IT Right
Providing Computer Support & Network Support to businesses in Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Wiltshire, Sussex & Berkshire