Desktops & User Documents/Data

Monitor, Manage and Protect Company Desktops and Data

Cleaning = Cooling

Regularly dust off fuzz, lint, hair and other debris from computer vents. Computers create a lot of heat. When these vents become clogged or obstructed, they are less likely to "breathe" the cool room air they need. Some components inside the computer can become hot enough that you will get a 2nd-degree burn by touching them for too long.

Anti-virus (A/V)

A/V is not an option these days. It's a must. We have had Clients who clicked on the wrong thing and were shut down by ransomware, malware, or a "plain old" virus. While this might go without saying, it is important to say even if it feels redundant to some who read this. One malware, virus, or ransomware attack can take a production system (or a network of them) down. Window Book uses ESET. Other products are equally strong. The key is to use something, preferably one that updates itself regularly without manual effort.

Backup

Did we not we finish that subject? Not quite. There are generally 2 types of computers in our Clients' shop: desktops/workstations where someone works all day and servers. Desktop users may use applications (programs) on their computer that don't impact anyone else - like email or Excel. They may also use programs that share data with other users - and that data is typically stored on servers. DAT-MAIL is an example of an application/program that shares data among several users at different desks.

Earlier, we talked about "Company Data." Typically, that data is stored and managed on a server, so that is the type of backup and restore we referred to earlier. In this section on Company computers, we are talking about backups of individual desktops. There is data that likely exists nowhere else, such as word processing documents, spreadsheets, and so on. Your backups need to account for this data unless it is of no value or is easy to replicate after a hardware failure or physical disaster.

Typically, if you back up each user's documents folder and perhaps their downloads folder, you will have what they cannot replace. As with server backups, you will want the installers and registration keys/codes for each user's programs. Who inventories this? A shop with an IT staff may have a program that scans each computer and tracks this information. In a shop that does not have these tools (or an IT staff), you may have to keep track of it in a central location (like Google Docs), so you can retrieve it no matter what desktop fails. The details will probably vary from Company to Company, but they need to get someone's computer working again to get back to work is universal.

Unlike the data on servers, desktop data is ideal for online backup services such as Backblaze (et al.). We do not recommend that server data is backed up to these services because companies usually want their server running as quickly as possible. Servers typically have a higher volume of data. When you combine large amounts of data with quick restore requirements, online backup services do not make sense unless you have a high-speed connection to the internet. However, when restoring documents and downloads for an individual desktop, an online backup can service these needs capably.

Windows Update

On Windows 10, updates are pretty much automatic. However, if you are tired of having your machine decide to update and reboot at 10 am on a busy day, you can go into the Windows Update settings and tell it your "active hours." Then Windows Update knows not to update during this period (12 hours max). It will then update outside of your active hours so that it does not have to disturb your work.