4 Do's & Don'ts Every Business Owner Should Know About Windows 7

Windows 7, Microsoft’s new operating system, just released in October, and with all the

advertising buzz that Microsoft has created, many business owners are looking to know

more about it. Here’s a list of Do’s and Don’ts for helping to determine whether or not a

Windows 7 upgrade makes sense for you.

DO – Find out if all your software programs will be compatible.

Anytime Microsoft creates a new operating system, software companies often scramble to

make their package work properly with it so there are no errors, glitches, or data corruption

(a.k.a “your information deleted”). Some software companies are faster and better at

this than others, so be sure to check with your software manufacturer to make sure you

won’t end up with more problems than when you started.

DON’T – Hold back from getting the new computers you need.

Maybe you want to wait until Windows 7 gets any bugs out. Or, maybe it’s because you’re

worried about buying a computer now that will be considered “old” when Windows 7 is

officially released. Good news is: you don’t have to wait. For a limited time, when you buy

from Microsoft-approved vendors, your new computer purchase will come with the ability

to upgrade to Windows 7 for free, giving you the flexibility to have the upgrade option now

and install it when you choose. Also, if you participate in Microsoft’s “Software Assurance”

program for your operating system, you’ll be entitled to the new version for free as well.

DO – Know how to “shake” it.

Have you ever had a bunch of windows open on your

computer and felt like it was out of control and you

couldn’t find anything? Then Windows 7 might be for you.

Because it is designed to really save time for people who work

on multiple documents, spreadsheets, and/or web pages at

once, it solves this problem by allow you to simply vigorously

shake your mouse and make all those open Windows drop

to the bottom of the screen and clear up your workspace. In

addition to the “shake” feature, Windows 7 also make it easier

to view and use two programs side-by-side with just one click.

DON’T – Expect miracles.

Windows 7 does indeed make using your computer faster, since

many of the features Microsoft has rolled out help business owners

and their teams work on multiple things at once easier

than ever before. Initial studies are showing that it might add

1-2 hours of productivity to your week over previous versions.

But if you expect Windows 7 to actually do the work for you, you may

be disappointed.

Need more answers? Feel free to give us a call at (916) 984-6243.

4 Cool Things That Windows 7 Does that Vista Does Not!

Windows 7 is getting rave reviews from our staff. I anticipate that Vista will go by the wayside very quickly. Vista was full of issues & no one (including our staff @ CMIT Solutions) ever wanted to install it if we could avoid it (and we generally always could)!

As a primer for getting you ready for Windows 7 & start to build the reasons why you should upgrade, you are 4 cool things that Windows 7 does that Vista (and XP) does not:

1. XP Mode

This time, you do not have to slap your head that same way when Vista would not run an XP application. For those XP applications that do not work under Windows 7, you can download XP Mode free from the Microsoft website and run XP applications in an emulated XP environment in Windows 7. Imagine Parallels on Mac OS X without the need to fish out money on an extra OS.

2. Problem Steps Recorder

The 'Problem Steps Recorder' lets you record a particular problem you are having with your PC so you can send it to someone who may be able to help. Click 'Record', and a screenshot is taken with every mouse click, allowing comments to be added in between if required. These screenshots (and comments, if any) are placed in a well-formatted HTML document that is placed inside a zipped folder on your desktop - ideal to be attached to an email.

3. Jumplists

Jumplists are a new feature that give you the option to view a list of recently accessed files by application, even when the application isn't open, by right-clicking on the application's icon in the taskbar. It also allows you to quickly access a favourite playlist without opening your media player. Jumplists can also be found integrated into the Start Menu.

4. A Step Forward in Previewing

In Vista, hovering over a minimised window on the taskbar would provide a preview of the window. In Windows 7, a similar preview pops up which also gives the option to close a window (within the preview), along with a full-size 'peek'. You can also press Win + T to scroll along previews in the taskbar.

While any of these on their own isn't a reason for upgrading to Windows 7 for your new PC, it's starting to (finally) look like it's going to be time to get off of XP pretty soon & move into something actually developed within the last 8 years! :-)

Are Your Filing Cabinets Dangerous?

The first time I read about the concept of the “paperless office” I thought it was a brilliant idea that would revolutionize the way we all do business. Yet despite the obvious logic of the idea, I don’t know of any office that is truly paperless; as a matter of fact, most are just the opposite, swimming in piles of paper documents.
Maybe it’s because most people haven’t figured out how to go truly paperless. Or maybe we simply have some deep-rooted human need to touch the documents we use.

Whatever the reason, these enormous piles of paper that never get filed, get lost or waste hours of our time moving, sifting, sorting and searching through them adds up to a BIG cost that can be hard to measure.

If you are suffering from ‘paper overload,’ maybe it’s time you considered moving some portion of your paper contracts and files to a paperless document imaging solution. The costs of installing such a system have dropped dramatically over time, and often the hard costs can be easily recouped in a few short months. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider going paperless:

• Reduce clutter & office space taken up by filing cabinets
Once you get the staff into the habit of scanning documents upon receiving them, you can avoid the endless piles of paper around the office and (eventually) get rid of big, bulky filing cabinets that take up space.

• Save time filing and searching for documents
An entire universe of documents can be searched in seconds using simple search criteria, such as a word or number in a document. This means less time wasted in searching through paper files, your office is far more efficient and organized, and you’ll be able to respond to customer requests, orders, or questions much faster.

• Reduce or eliminate missing documents
Scanning and filing of documents get them to the right place with few exceptions; that means critical contracts, order forms and files will have much less a chance of getting lost or misplaced.

• Faster, surefire recovery after physical disaster
Electronic documents backed up electronically can be reprinted and saved; documents lost to fire, water damage, coffee spills, tears or other physical damage can’t ever be recovered.

You can also streamline business processes by adding process flow tags to new, inbound documents. For instance, you could add a “Current Review Status” field, electronic routing list, or even a “Document Expiration Date” field to a document – items that are often managed with yellow sticky notes or small routing slips.

A document management solution is something that every business should at least look into, especially if you’re still receiving a lot of paper. Call Jeff at (916) 984-6243, x5 if you’d like to discuss how you could benefit from a Virtual Filing System and learn the various options available for your business.