Intermittant but far too frequent STOP blue screen messages seen on Windows XP with AVG 8.0 Internet Security (the one with the firewall component).� Strange thing is, the blue screen often mentions things like IRQL errors, so it may lead you down a faulty hardware path.
Turns out the AVG 8.0 firewall can be the culprit.� An easy way to determine this (apart from disabling the software) is to remove the network connection.� No network=no firewall activity=no blue screen.
Well, the whole office moved really, this weekend.� And in a rare moment of quite, surrounded by not quite as many boxes, I thought it was about time I added a new blog post.� Can you tell things around here have been a little busy?
So, a couple of tips for moving your technology (which I really should write up as a free report, but with content slightly better than just off the top of my head):
Today�s MYOB/Vista trick � logged onto my lapatop with a new user account that is NOT a domain administrator (trying to be all security conscious and the like).� Then MYOB v17 refused�to see my custom forms (incidentally, the business fie is on a shared�drive).
Log on as the old, domain admin user � no problem.
Turned out to�be file security (surprise).� By default, the local Users group (which contains the Domain Users group) does not give full control or modify access to the Forms directory and files.� Change this to allow full control to the forms, and hey presto, my non-domain admin user is now accessing branded invoices in MYOB once again!
I�ve always been very vigilant about watching the transactions that appear on my credit card, which is even easier to do when you can view them online via internet banking before they disappear off to your paper statement copy.� Fortunately the fraud department at my business bank is just as vigilant, stopping a transaction from Cebu Air and notifying me about it.� We played safe and cancelled the card, which saw me issued with a new number.� And wouldn�t you know it, a week later the second card (different number, same linked account) of my husband�s also was subjected to a declined Cebu Air transaction.� Yup � cancelled and reordered his too.
If you�ve ever heard the term �CRM� thrown around, be warned ��Customer Relationship Management�is about a whole lot more than just installing some software.
On a small business scale where you are both �cook and bottle washer�, or you may have one staff member who is focussed on sales, Microsoft�s Business Contact Manager may be an easy way to get started.
Integrated into Outlook, it let�s you load contacts and opportunities, assign which stage of the sales process they are at, and link any email communication to their BCM record.� Then you can see some nice little graphs re how many opportunites (and what dollar value) you�have in your sales funnel at each stage.
In talking to customers about managed services, we�re finding they are sometimes procrastinating in making a decision � we�re not getting a no but we�re not getting a yes yet either.� Proactive support and maintenance doesn�t seem to have enough urgency on it for people to make a decision quickly.� So, we thought we�d put our thinking caps on to see what kind of incentives we could offer for people to sign up, as a promotion we could then market.
Another tale from the trenches .. that being my own personal experience on my PC!� Windows Live Messenger refusing to sign in, giving an 8100030d error.� Most suggestions include regsrv32 commands to reregister dll files, resetting modems etc, nothing which worked on Vista for me.� Until I remembered that Tony had recently upgraded my software to AVG Anti-Malware SBS Edition version 8.0.87.� So, diabled the Resident Shield � no go.� Went into the Web Shield and unticked the Instant Messaging, MSN Protection � still no go.� Disabled the Web Shield entirely and what do you know �. hello, messenger, you have returned!� Yuck � I�m now off to report this to AVG.
I�ve picked up a great book called �Stop bitching, start pitching� by Marty Kellard & Ian Elliot.� It�s forced me to really stop and think about how we pitch our managed service product, B.E.S.T.� They claim it�s not enough to have the best solution and the best sales message for it.� Instead you really have to do your homework and analyse the wants & needs (written and unwritten) of your customer and the key decision makers and influencers, then ensure that you are addressing those.� Especially for new business, a customer needs to be able to picture you working with them to solve their business problems, and taking it much further than just replacing the current IT guy that they are unhappy with.
Day 2 of the New Zealand Computer Troubleshooters conference was full of very talented kiwis highlighting open source, retail shops/service centres, and job management systems.� James Caldwell didn�t have to try very hard to�remind us�why we love AVG (especially when they sponsored the Friday night mini-golf/spit roast dinner/drinks/prizes & more drinks).
But the topic that�really made me think was Storage Management, presented by Jeff Maslen.� With credentials including HP, IBM and Ingram Micro, it�s great to see someone of that calibre at our conference.� He was such an engaging speaker, that a lot of people walked out of the room saying �I don�t know what he was talking about, but I want one�.� With Jeff warning that the days of direct attached storage (e.g. hard disks inside servers) are numbered, he advised us to get onboard with technologies such as iSCSI SANs etc, even in the SMB market.� Now, I�ve always understood the reasons for SANS, Blade servers etc in the corporate world (where data volumes are huge and floor/rack/data centre space is limited AND expensive � but for SMBs?� And when we talk SMB, we talk less than 30 PCs � more likely less than 10 PCs.� Jeff�has enough experience�and knowledge for me not to dismiss his ideas completely, but instead make me interested enough to find out more and see just how�SMB owners can be sold on the value of $10,000+ storage solutions.� Not to mention the fact that I know his name from somewhere�and it�s driving me crazy trying to figure out from where!