NetWorthy Systems Blog

NetWorthy Systems has been serving the Beaumont area since 2004, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

T-Mobile to Sidekick Users: Microsoft Lost Your Data!

If you use T-Mobile and a SideKick for your mobile access, this announcement comes as no surprise to you. If you don't, then read on.

Apparently, all of the data for Sidekick users is stored "in the cloud" and not locally on the phone. What this means is that your data resides on a server somewhere in cyberspace. If the server crashes, your mobile data (contacts, emails, etc.) is gone.

Which is exactly what happened to T-Mobile Sidekick users last week. The kicker is that T-mobile is blaming Microsoft (in a subtle way) for the data loss. Apparently, T-mobile's data cloud is managed by Danger, a company purchased by Microsoft last year. The company was performing update maintenance to the systems, which caused a crash. And guess what? No usable backup! The information is gone forever. T-Mobile initially issued an initial message of hope Saturday, but then changed their mind and let its customers know their information is gone forever. They are offering a free months data service to affected customers, but that seems like too little, too late in my opinion.

How can this happen to a huge company you ask? Simple. We see it every day at Networthy Systems with small and large companies. A backup program is turned on, and everybody assumes it is working properly. Backups are not managed, or monitored. Test restores are never performed to make sure that backup you have is actually usable.

If you run a small business, or even a large business, you need a third party to monitor your networks for various issues, including this one. Most businesses never recover from catastrophic data loss, and end up going out of business. If the person/group responsible for your IT needs is not regularly monitoring and TESTING your backups routinely, you are a ticking timebomb.

To Your Success,

Tim

Tags:
Continue reading

MS Office 2010 Free Version

Sometime in 2010 Microsoft is scheduled to release Office 2010 Starter Edition. This will be a free version that only includes Word and Excel. In exchange for receiving and using this edition of Office for free, you will have to put up with ads. Here is the quote from Microsoft:

Tags:
Continue reading

Microsoft Releases Final Version of Free Antivirus Suite

Microsoft's Security Essentials has left beta status and is now available as a "real" product.  I haven't personally tried this product yet, but hey, at least the price is right. Keep in mind there are other free antivirus products out there like AVG, but typically they are only free for non-commercial use. Apparently, Microsoft is not making a distinction in how or where you use their product. If you want to give it a spin, the link is here.

To Your Success,
Tim

Continue reading

Windows 7 Pricing Confirmed

If you want to upgrade your family computers to Windows 7, it's not going to cost you an arm and a leg. Windows has released the Family Pack pricing. Officially priced at $149, it's actually a pretty good deal, compared to previous Microsoft upgrade pricing. If you are wondering whether you should upgrade or not, I recommend you do. Windows 7 is a good operating system, as evidenced by our experiences of running the Release Candidate of the software.

The Family Pack will let you install 3 copies of Windows 7 Home Premium. There is additional pricing released for individual computer upgrades as well. If you want the details, you can find it here.

To Your Success,

Tim

Continue reading

Free WiFi at the Bookstore

According to MacWorld, Barnes & Noble bookstores along with AT&T have decided to make their WiFi access free to anyone in their bookstores nationwide. Previously, WiFi access at the bookstores was only available as a pay for service through At&T.

Why are these two companies being so generous? Well, probably not because they are trying to be nice. Barnes & Noble has launched an e-book service similar to the Amazon Kindle offering, and is ramping up to compete against the behemoth book seller. And how could they get you to buy an e-book from them if you have to pay to get WiFi in the first place?

And you thought they were just trying to help you out during a poor economy? C'mon folks. Let's get real!

At any rate, it's a win for any business person needing to get online while traveling. Just hop into your nearest Barnes & Noble and score some free WiFi access! Nobody said you had to buy an e-book from them!

To Your Success,

Tim

Continue reading

Mobile? Grab this Article!

QR-Code dieser Seite

Blog Archive