One important note: this applies to google desktop gadgets (think vista sidebar) and yahoo widgets as well!

Of course, the most costly (upfront) method is to get a new less power consuming PC. Unfortunately, this may not recoup anything for the individual consumer - even if you run your PCs continuously (at $0.14/kWh, going from a computer that consumes 400W to one that consumes 320W would save only $70 a year).

The only real savings would be in removing a power hungry CRT monitor for a less power consuming flat screen monitor. However, realize that the big savings only start at 19″ or better monitors (again using the formula for a 17″ CRT monitor of 95 watts va a 17″ LCD using 30 watts equals a grand savings of about $20 a year).

So how can you really go PC Green?

For a business with, say, 12 PCs the idea of saving almost $100 a year per PC for upgrading is well worth the look.

Just as moving from individual printers to a more centralized model (the savings in ink, toner, etc. alone is worth the consideration).

One of the handiest ways to also cut down is to consolidate systems and servers. Recently we wrote an article about removing your server altogether which can create significant savings…especially if you can consolidate all the data to a NAS.

Consider turning off your PC (did he really say leave it oiff)! That’s correct….you heard it here: leave it off at night.  There is a great article at Coding Horror that speaks well to the savings of leaving PCs off.

Many people speak to components failing by turning on and off the PC, but remember that the only items with real “moving” parts are the hard drive(s), CDs and cooling fans (and hard drives are designed with them being powered on and off regularly) so you other components are relatively safe from being turned on and off.

This link at the U.S. Department of Energy provides some good tips to utilize the power management features within Windows 2000, XP and Vista.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When using remote services (RDP, GoToMyPC, LogMeIn, etc.) you should only use the monitor features as most remote programs will not “wake” remote hard drives powered down by power management.

Being PC Green will take effort for both the user and business and while it seems the business is the biggest benefactor, the individual should consider that the average “home” pc lasts 5-7 years versus the 3-5 year lifespan for a business PC. At just $90 a year (minimum savings) you’ll save $450.00 or more than half the price of a new PC.

For a business, saving over $1000.00 annually (also assuming 12 PCs with $90.00 minimum annual savings) could become a justification to a phased upgrade to more energy effiecient PCs.

The bottom line is that with increasing costs for energy the relative small savings of a more energy efficient PC become a more attactive option.

Well before you body slam your PC like a WWF wrestler, you may wat to utilize ComboFix, a handy little tool from our friends at bleepincomputer.com.

Their tool removes such die hards as: SurfSideKick, QooLogic, Look2Me or any combination of that group. It also does a nice job of removing those pesky Vundo infections.

One of its advanced capabilities is to identify and list recently created files which can give you clues to other infections. You can use it to unhook any dll in the system32 folder as well as delete up to 8 files using its command line functions.

Also it deletes a bunch of files related to the infections above automatically and stays updated fairly regularly (as a matter of fact, it even expires itself to ensure you have the latest version).

To use combofix, download the executable from bleepingcomputer.com to your system. There are detaled instruction located in the forums, but the simple way to run it is: to double click combofix.exe and follow the prompts.

When finished, it shall produce a log for you which you can review.

(Note: Do not mouseclick combofix’s window while its running as it can cause the tool to lock up.)

Lastly, this is a serious tool so if you do not have a serious need for a tool like this then DO NOT USE IT! Consider it a “last resort” tool in your arsenal, as it is not discriminatory in what it will remove.

Utilize your existing tools first as they are more “user friendly” and tend to fall on themore cautious side.

As the developer himself states - “It is best deployed by those who are trained in what its findings reveal and different computers will have different infections and require different ways to remove some infections.”

Who Am I?

So who the hell am I? Besides being your run of the mill excellence, sarcastically witty winning machine? I’m NAME WITHHELD, it’s nice to meet you intertrons, it has taken quite a bit of work to get to this stage being in Alaska and all. There are these road blocks put up by what I like to call, “The Darkside” and they don’t take kindly to just anybody stealing their intertrons.

So without further ado, I’m an Apple loving fanboy who often get’s flack from the fellow co-workers and bossman about it as they moan away at their PC’s running to the sound levels of jet engines, or having to defrag their boxes while my machine works. It’s a love hate thing I say, moving on from being the Apple fanatic, I’m known to be somewhat of an avid hobbyist in terms of photography.

My job here is to make your TASK WITHHELD and let me tell you what, you’ll love the work we can deliver you. COMPANY WITHHELD is a soluton winning machine where we as a collective try to minimize any downtime with thorough testing and not getting overly gadget happy. I sit in my corner of the office, reading away realizing everyday that my talents are endless, and that everyday there is something new to learn and deliver for clients. For instance my latest project, which is under wraps however I can inform that lately I’ve been trying to play alot with TECHNIQUE WITHHELD. Originally, I used CREATOR AND TECHNIQUE WITHHELD, but then moved on to NAMES WITHHELD technique, which was a dream to work with. As stated on the site, it’s a stripped down technique and it saved me quite a bit of time and allowed me to build up the project very efficiently and hopefully the client thinks I am WIN and will decide to go live with it.

So there’s my introduction, I’m the work monkey, I’m funny, I’m the man (my name tag tells me so), I take pictures of cool stuff.

Has this happened to you?  A business card with an e-mail scratched out or a label stuck on it over the old e-mail/website?

As we tell our clients, your e-mail and domain shoud be as consistent as as your business.

As I was speaking to that nice couple I asked how much this was going to cost them. After they told me the price of new business cards I asked how much to change newspaper ads, yellow page ads as well as notify their existing customers & vendors that send them e-mail as well. Their eyes grew big as it became obvious that they did not consider the cost of these factors in changing ISPs.

I also reminded them that the reason I was there was to do a presentation on SPAM prevention and one of my points in my presentation/handouts was if the e-mail was different from the promoted website to consider the sender a possible spammer.

So I ask the question…how many of you have a website and use a hotmail, gmail, AOL, or yahoo e-mail on our business card? If it’s a matter of not wanting to change mail service (and frankly, thanks to today’s technology you should not have to), then how about setting up a forwarding e-mail account from your web domain?

A forwarding account is very simple to setup and is not a real e-mail account that you need to manage/check. It would be a special e-mail address that simply forwards to another e-mail account.

This would create a consistent e-mail address (you@yourbusinesswebsite.dom) that no matter what you change in regards to your services (mail, hosting, ISP, etc.) your customers/vendors could always gain access to you regardless of the change.

It would also save reprinting of business cards, updating your website, changing yellowpage (and other printed) ads, and validating online directories for inconsistent data.

Oh…did I mention that you’re probably going to be mislabeled on major search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and MSN for months afterward?

Lastly, why would you want a single “catchall” e-mail for personal and business mail? Do you have USPS mail from your business come to your home? Keeping track of what’s business vs. personal as well as managing spam would be a nightmare!

So here are some tips for e-mail consistency:

1. If you can keep the old e-mail address forwarding for at least a year. It will take about a year for people to remove old phone books alone, not to mention outdate vendors or customes you have infrequent dealings with.
2. Keep your old domain(s). Even if you change businesses keep you old domains if you have not sold them as they can be good leads for further and future business. Have them forward to your current/new website.
3. Have a consitent prefix (the part before the @) for e-mails. If you maintain the same prefix (jobob@) for every domain you have, then no matter where you end up e-mail wise…people shold still be able to reach you.
4. Keep your business and personal e-mail seperate. Most mail clients allow you to have mail from different accounts delivered to different mail storage points keeping the business mail records seperate.

A consitent e-mail address just makes sense. If you are moving across town you try to keep the same phone number so people can continue to reach you…why should e-mail be different?

Eliminate programs that run at start-up
Stopping programs from running at start-up is especially daunting because there is no single place you can go to halt them all. Some run because they’re in the Startup folder, others because they’re part of logon scripts, others because of Registry settings, and so on. But with a little bit of perseverance, you should be able to keep them from running.

• Start by cleaning out your Startup folder. Find it in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup, where username is your Windows logon name. Delete the shortcuts of any programs you don’t want to run on start-up. As with any shortcuts, when you delete them, you’re deleting only the shortcut, not the program itself. (You can also clear out the start-up items by going to Start > Programs > Startup, then right-clicking items you want to remove.)
• Next, clean out your Scheduled Tasks folder. Go to C:\Windows\Tasks, and delete the shortcuts of any programs that you don’t want to run automatically on a schedule.

Note: You can bypass all the programs in your Startup folder on an as-needed basis. To stop XP from loading any programs in the Startup folder, hold down the Shift key during bootup. No programs in the Startup folder will run, but the items will still remain there so that they will start up as they would normally the next time you boot.

Using the system configuration utility
Taking the previous steps will stop the obvious programs from running at start-up, but it won’t kill them all. The best tool for disabling hidden programs that run on start-up is the System Configuration Utility. To run it, type msconfig at a command prompt, and press Enter (If that doesn’t work, first do a search for msconfig.exe; when you find the file, double-click it).

• To stop a program from running at start-up, go to the Startup tab in this utility, and uncheck the box next to the program. It can sometimes be difficult to understand what programs are listed on the Startup tab. Some, such as America Online, are clearly labeled. But often, you’ll see a phrase or collection of letters, such as fs20. That’s the name of the running file–such as fs20.exe, which is Free Surfer mk II, an excellent free pop-up killer.
• To get more information about a listing, expand the width of the Command column near the top of the Startup tab. Expand it enough and you’ll see the start-up command that the program issues, including its location, such as C:\Program Files\Free Surfer\fs20.exe. The directory location should be another hint to help you know the name of the program.
• When stopping programs from running at start-up, it’s best to stop them one at a time rather than in groups. You want to make sure that you’re not causing any system problems by stopping them. So stop one, then restart your PC. If it runs fine, then stop another and restart. Continue doing this until you’ve cleared all the programs you don’t want to run automatically.

Each time you uncheck a box and restart your PC, you’ll get a warning that you’ve used the System Configuration Utility to disable a program from starting automatically. If you don’t want to see that warning, disable it by checking the box in the dialog itself.

System Properties: Visual Effects
Windows XP contains a huge list of special effects and visual enhancements such as animated menus, fade effects, cursor shadows, menu shadows, … etc. Disabling some of these settings can make Windows XP running faster and use less system resources.

1. Open Control Panel from the Start menu and choose “System.”
2. Choose the “Advanced” tab.
3. Select the “Settings” button under the Performance section.
4. Check the “Adjust for best performance” box and click “Apply” to apply the settings.
5. Alternatively, you can choose the “Custom” open, you can then selectively enable or disable each specific effects.

The cursor shadowing effect can have a noticeable impact on performance.

System Properties: Remote Desktop
So you want to allow someone from another location to control your Windows? Disable it.

1. Choose the “Remote” tab.
2. Make sure both “Allow Remote Assistance …” and “Allow users to connect …” are not selected and click OK.

System Properties: Automatic Updates
Having Microsoft automatically screwing up your computer is not a good idea. There are a number of reasons not to let your Windows updates itself (I will add reasons if I have time to write those).

1. Choose the “Automatic Updates” tab.
2. Uncheck the “Keep my computer up to date…” box

OR

1. click the box that says “Turn off automatic updating…”
2. Display Properties

Well, it is sad to say goodbye to special effects, but we want to speed up the computer.

1. Open Control Panel from the Start menu and choose Display.
2. Choose the “Desktop tab and set the Background to “None.”
3. Select the “Appearance” tab.
4. Under “Windows and buttons,” choose “Windows Classic Style” from the drop-down menu.
5. Click the “Effects” button.
6. Unselect all options and click OK.
7. Click OK to close the Display Properties and apply the changes.

There’s more ways to speed up your XP:

• Start Menu and Folders
• Start Menu and Taskbar

Context click (usually known as Right click) on the Windows XP Start button and choose “Properties” from the contextual menu.

1. Choose “Classic Start Menu”
2. Click the “Customize” button
3. Select the “Show Small Icons in Start Menu” option
4. Unselect any other items that you don’t use often.

Folder Options

1. Open My Computer
2. Open the C: Drive or any other drive
3. Choose “Folder Options” from the Tools menu
4. Select “Use Windows classic folders”
5. Select the “View” tab.
6. Unselect the “Automatically search for network folders and printers” option.
7. Click “Apply”
8. Click the “Apply to All Folders” button
9. Click OK.

After you’ve used the system configuration utility to identify programs that run on start-up, you may want to try disabling them from with the programs themselves. So run each program that starts automatically, and see if you can find a setting that allows you to prevent it from running on start-up.

It’s not only start-up that you’d like to speed up; you can also make sure that your system shuts down faster. If shutting down XP takes what seems to be an inordinate amount of time, here are a couple of steps you can take to speed up the shutdown process:

Constantly running in the background of XP are services–processes that help the operating system run or that provide support to applications. Many of these services launch automatically at start-up. While you need many of them, some are not required, and they can slow down your system when they run in the background.

You can disable services at start-up by using the system configuration utility, similar to the way that you halt programs from running at start-up, except that you use the Services tab instead of the Startup tab. But the system configuration utility doesn’t necessarily list every service that launches on start-up. A bigger problem is that disabling services is more of shot in the dark than disabling programs. When you disable a program, you can get a sense of what the program does. But when you disable a service through the system configuration utility, there’s often no way to know what it does.

• A better way of disabling services at start-up is via the Services computer-management console. Run it by typing services.msc at the command prompt. The Services computer-management console includes a description of all services so that you can know ahead of time whether a particular service is one you want to turn off. It also lets you pause the service so that you can test your machine and see whether that service is needed.
• After you run the console, click the Extended tab. This view will show you a description of each service in the left pane when you highlight the service. The Startup Type column shows you which services launch on start-up–any with Automatic in that field. Click that column to sort together all the services that automatically launch on start-up. Then highlight each of those services and read the descriptions.
• When you find a service you want to disable, right-click it and choose Properties. In the Properties dialog box that appears, choose Manual from the Startup Type drop-down list. The service won’t start automatically from now on, but you can start it manually via the console. If you want the service disabled so that it can’t be run, choose Disabled. To test the results, turn off any services that you don’t want to run by clicking Stop The Service in the left pane, or by right-clicking the service and choosing Stop.

——————————————-

References:

• http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getstarted/speed.mspx?wt_svl=10073XPHa1&mg_id=10073XPHb1
• http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/northrup_restoreperf.mspx
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx
• http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10165_7-5554402-1.html

Don’t answer…it’s a rhetorical question.

There was a time when I was that way too…always needing more drives for storage of data. That was before I realized that I had never looked at my data for duplicates or outdated data I could archive to CD/DVD.

Archive to CD/DVD? Yes…archive to CD/DVD.

I have three PCs…a laptop and two desktops. The laptop is supposed to be for traveling, so when I am getting ready to travel I load the data I think I will need for the trip. One desktop, which sits in my dining room, is the”house PC” the one that anyone can use. The other is my my primary home PC in my bedroom.

So I took the data and from all three systems and placed it onto one external HD. I started with the laptop and by the time I was finished, I recovered 350GB of (cumulative from all three systems) space! The older files and files I did not need I archived to DVD and store it in a fireproof container.

If you were to do this, the major challenge would be what data is the correct data? The newest file? The largest file?

You will most likely find several versions of the same data…maybe even the same file name and size. How do you know it has the same data though?

The best way is to get a duplicate file manager tool like NoClone or DeDupe. These tools do more than check the filename and size, they also check things such as the CRC, MD5, and content to find matches. Doing the work for you you can easily recover lost storage space.

Using these tools, I am able to maintain a manageable level of storage and have not upgraded my drive capacity for the last two years. While this may not be a major cost savings for the home user, it can be considerable for the business (or SOHO) user.

Lastly, I now archive to DVD annually the data for all my systems and store the DVDs in a fireproof container. This allows me to delete unused files (ones I have not accessed for six months or longer) to save even more space.

With a well thought out archiving system, your data can be managed so that the existing storage capacity you have can last longer than you expect.

The price for an “average” file & print server. Add in such things as exchange, SQL server, etc. and the price soars exponentially. What is the small or medium sized business to do?

Luckily, in the world of IT, most needed services (e-mail, web hosting, applications) for a business have an outsourcing component.

For example, if you need Microsoft Exchange for your business and don’t want to spend the high upfront costs, there are several services that can provide outsourced exchange services (Mail2Web - http://services.mail2web.com/Business/).

Also, thanks to today’s increasing technology your business can even work without the need for an actual file and print server!

For many small (less than ten systems) networks, we recommend a Network Attached Storage solution or NAS. In essence, a NAS is a device that houses a drive (or drives) with a ROM based operating system to manage the drive and access.

With a NAS you don’t need to worry about server maintenance (read our previous article: Are you keeping your server maintained?) or vulnerabilities. Most NAS systems allow you basic file sharing and print functions. The more advanced models allow for file & print, as well as external access and even basic web server functionality!

These “thin client” devices, will still need maintenance such as firmware updates, but less often - like a router.

NAS also tend to last longer (less power consumption, reduced moving parts/electronics) as their drives aren’t being bothered by having to work a full operating system and manage data…there is less disk access.
Many newer routers even have the ability to have attached storage (via USB) making them, in essence, a NAS.

We should point out that there are disadvantages…a NAS will only provide basic permission settings (typically only at the root folder level) and a NAS will not have Anti-Virus capability so you have to be sure that the systems that connect to it have good Anti-Virus programs already installed.

With the advent of emerging services and technologies, many small business can gain the IT capabilities of larger organizations for less $$$ and have the flexibility of expanding without lots of capital.

Keep Operating Systems Up To Date
While all operating systems are not created equal, they do have many similarities…one being patches and updates (especially if a vulnerability is discovered). Keeping up with the latest patches and updates is critical to the health of your PC. Most operating systems (even Linux) have automated updaters to check for and install needed updates.

Install Antivirus Software And Keep Definitions Up To Date
Install anti-virus software on all of your PCs, and ensure they are kept up to date. Because new viruses can spread extremely quickly, it is important to have an updating strategy in place which can update all the computers in your home seamlessly, frequently, and at short notice.

Periodically Check For Software Updates
Just as you should regularly check for updates to your operating systems, you should also perform checks to your various applications on your PC (Office, Browser, etc..) as flaws in the software are found. To ensure the most effective security for your PC it is a good idea to review and install these patches as they become available for any software installed on your PC. ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR DATA before any new software or updates are applied as it is possible the patches will not work with your combination of software and all its various releases.

Be very cautious with email attachments
While many anti-virus tools now have email security components to checks any email traffic passing to your PC, the best rules is: If you do not know the sender of an unsolicited email message, delete it. While most spam is usually just annoying text, a spam email message could actually contain a virus and/or other exploit that could damage the computers of all who open it. Lastly, avoid using the preview functionality of your email client software.

Enable A Personal Desktop Firewall
Basically, a firewall is a barrier to keep destructive forces away from your property. In fact, that’s why its called a firewall. If you have a fast Internet connection into your home, you will most likely have heard about having a firewall for your home network. The problem is most people forget the PC is still vulnerable as most inexpensive home based firewall products only protect you from outside attacks. The already infected PC typically has unrestricted access to the outside world allowing the malicious access to your data.

Secure PC User Accounts And Processes
One of the most common techniques for obtaining unauthorized access to desktop PC’s is through existing user accounts and unnecessary services configured with the default parameters. In just about every operating system, various accounts and services are created when the system is initially installed. The following article lists several good tips to securing accounts and suggests services which can be disabled in Windows: Windows XP: Your Definitive Lockdown Guide. While this site is written around Windows XP, these principles can be applied to any operating system.

Exercise Extreme Caution Using Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
Peer-to-Peer file sharing can open any desktop PC to numerous security vulnerabilities. Software such as KaZaA, eDonkey, and Bit Torrent normally install with file sharing activated. This means that other computers running the same software (whether locally or anywhere on the Internet) can download from the shared folder on your PC. As with any process, if it is not necessary, disable it. There are so many problems associated with peer-to-peer file sharing tools that it would be an article in itself.

Utilize “Good” Passwords And Change Them Every 90 Days
Choose strong passwords! Just like at work: passwords should never be names, dates, or words from the dictionary, and they should always include upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and at least one special character–the ones on the keys in the number row work great. However, DO NOT STORE THE PASSWORD at the PC! If you must write it down (something we do not recommend), store it somewhere away from the PC.

Change your passwords regularly. After all, if a spyware tool captures your password…changing it regularly ensures that sensitive data is harder to steal.

Perform Regularly Scheduled Backups
You know the drill…backup regularly and often. Of course, we don’t all need to do daily backups. However, you definitely need to seriously consider the following: What would it be to lose a day’s worth of changes? How about a week? A month? Consider how serious it would be to lose a week’s worth of data. Are you losing the only copies of orders, invoices, and other important records? Or is it data that could be reconstructed with a day or so of retyping?

Performing a regular weekly backup is better than planning to do a daily backup and not doing it for a month.

Avoid Programs Containing Spyware/Malware
Many programs that seem to have legitimate uses or provide a useful service to the user also contain malicious software. This malicious software is often installed without the users’ knowledge when installing the host program. These malicious programs do things such as causing pop-up ads, hijacking your browser’s homepage, installing keyloggers, etc. A great resource for checking if a program is Spyware/Malware is: http://www.spywareguide.com/category_list_full.php.

We can’t expect everyone to know spyware/malware on site so here are a few rules:

1. DO NOT Click on popups (even on a legitimate site).
2. Don’t click on the ads (even on a legitimate site).
3. Don’t use file-sharing utilities.
4. Install a reputable Spyware scanner.
5. Don’t re-install offending programs.

The last one is important, do not reinstall a program if it has problems after a spyware scan. If you feel it is legitimate, go back to the vendor.

Lastly, run your spyware scanner on a regular basis.

Shutdown Your PC When Not In Use
This is simple. Conserve electricity and keep your PC protected. When the PC is powered down, electronic viuses & malware can not infect you! The average PC user does not need to have their PC on 24×7 (the rumors of hurting your PC by turning it on and off are GREATLY EXAGGERATED). Except for larger business and the government operations, most PCs can be powered down.

That is until it’s too late…..

Maintenance is a critical part of server management. By making sure that your server is up-to-date (operating system patches, and latest drivers) and free of security issues, you can prevent potential issues with your server.

So let’s list some “server maintenance basics” that everyone should be peforming to keep those server(s) in tip top shape:

Backups
It can’t be said enough how critical it is that all important data on your server be backed up in case the worst scenario should occur. You should always create a backup prior to any significant change within your operating system, drivers, or server applications. In addition, backups should be done on a regular schedule, depending upon how often your content changes. Of course, we recommend that you save your backups somewhere other than on the server itself.

Updates
Server updates and vulnerabilities can be found at any time, causing servers to become critically vulnerable. We recommend keeping all services and software up to date with the latest stable version available. Many server manufacturers have built in mechanisms to keep themselves updated. Review the documentation provided by your server vendor to ensure that all updates are compatible with your system.

Passwords
Good security includes use of very strong passwords; combinations of upper case and lower case letters along with numbers and special characters. Passwords should be at least 8 characters long and not spell a word found in the dictionary. Passwords should also be changed on a regular basis. Most security experts recommend changing your password every 60 – 90 days.

Anti-Virus
While servers that are not used for Web browsing or personal email use are less vulnerable to viruses, you should still protect your server from these threats. All content should be scanned as it enters the server with an Anti-Virus program.

Hardware
Most servers are a 24×7x365 operation. Because of this, the server hardware is more prone to failure over time due to dust, heat and other debris (we had one client that had a nest of beetles living in the server!). Servers need to have regular inspections, just like your automobile. Shutting down at least twice a year to perform a visual inspection and vacuuming out of “debris” (do not BLOW it out as that tends to push things into places you don’t want them to be), can many times be the difference between discovering a problem early and discovering a problem too late.

Following these simple maintenance steps will ensure that you spend more time being productive.