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Hilarious Video “Imbecilic iPhone Customer” is a post from: BestBusinessTips.biz

This law will be a nightmare for the small business owner.  If after reading this article from the May 27, 2010 issue of Business Week, you’d like to join in the fight to help repeal this new law “Section 9006″, go this website http://www.stop1099.org/stop1099/ and sign the petition.  There are also links here to help you contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives, the IRS and even President Obama to voice your disapproval of this law that will create an undue burden for every small businessman.  Send these links to every businessperson you know.

New 1099 Filing Requirements-Nightmare is a post from: BestBusinessTips.biz

Software To Save You Money is a post from: BestBusinessTips.biz

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_03/b4116036891021.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories.

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Dupont’s Swift Response to the Financial Crisis is a post from: BestBusinessTips.biz

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We’re Up and Running Again is a post from: BestBusinessTips.biz

My original plan was to install Win 7 on a separate partition of my hard drive and temporarily have a dual boot operating system; Windows XP and my new Windows 7.  My thinking was that over a period of a few weeks, I could leisurely install and tweak Windows 7 in the ways I wanted while still being able to be productive in my XP environment.

At first, my plan was coming together.  I installed Windows 7 on a new partition and whenever I had free time, I would boot out of Windows XP and reboot into Windows 7.

Over the weeks, I installed programs, tweaked the system and spent time familiarizing myself with the new operating system.  I was in the home stretch of making the move to Windows 7 full time.  Just as I was patting myself on the back for being so clever, problems erupted.

I started receiving disk errors and messages that Windows need to run chkdsk whenever I tried to boot into Windows 7.  Or, sometimes when I was in Win 7, I would try to delete a file and I’d get an error message stating the file system was corrupt.

After spending many hours running chkdsk and other utility programs trying to fix these problems and trying to “save” all the hours I spent setting it up, I decided to bite the bullet.   So, on a Friday evening a few weeks ago, I decided to devote the weekend installing Windows 7 from scratch without using a dual boot system.  I reformatted my hard drive which removed both operating systems and made my hard drive virgin again.

I then proceeded to install Windows 7.  This installation proceeded perfectly until it came time to reboot the computer when the install finished.  It would just “hang” and never complete the boot process.  I tried using the Windows 7 repair disk to no avail.  To make a long story short, I went through this scenario close to 10 times each time trying something a little different (unhooking all the USB devices, eSata hard drives, change bios settings, etc.) in an effort to find a solution to my problem.

I then decided I must have a bad hard drive.  I purchased a new one and tried installing Windows 7 again.  Same exact thing happened.  I tried this probably 3 more times.  After Googling my problems for hours, I discovered an article from someone who had similar problems.  They found success by just using the advanced installation option and accepting the defaults presented.

So, on the fourth try I used the advanced option and selected to have Windows reformat my hard drive (even though I just formatted it using Acronis Disk Director).

Well, SOB, this did it!  Evidently Windows 7 (at least the 64 bit version) is very particular about the formatting of the hard drive.  After spending about 40 hours from Friday to Sunday evening, I finally had Windows 7 installed.  I could have cut this down by about 90% if I knew then what I know now.  The following are a few things I learned and would like to pass on.

1. Don’t use dual boot systems.  I know many people are successful using them, but over the years, every time I’ve tried using dual operating systems, I’ve had some kind of file corruption.
2. When installing Windows 7, choose the advanced installation option button and have Windows format the hard drive.  I know this makes absolutely no sense, but trust me, it does.
3. After you get Windows running, the first software you should install is a good image backup software and then do a complete image backup of your new installation.
4. As you’re installing new programs and device drivers, etc. keep making IMAGE backups (I do one every 60 minutes) and save them with descriptive file names.   If a new software program screws something up or will not install correctly, you can restore your computer to a known good point in the past.
5. And finally, BEFORE you do any of the above, and you think you might want to use Windows 7 “XP Compatibility Mode” be sure your computer’s processor supports “virtualization”.  This is a “little” point Microsoft doesn’t point out when advertising this feature.

I’ve been a big user of Microsoft’s Virtual PC (now known as XP Compatibility Mode) in the past and never thought twice about it working in Windows 7.  Guess what!

Windows 7 has different requirements to run in virtualization mode and my processor no longer supports the flavor of virtualization used in Windows 7 even though my computer is not that old.

Since this is a major requirement for me, I am now the proud owner of a new computer.  Thanks Microsoft for not mentioning this tidbit in your advertising or when I used your Windows 7 Upgrade advisor software on my computer prior to installing Windows 7.

I do have to admit, even though I spent 3 days of hell installing Windows 7, it’s about 10 times better than XP and I’m glad I did it.

If any of you have any thoughts on this please feel free to comment.

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Windows 7 Installation Nightmare is a post from: BestBusinessTips.biz

Some time later, the company received telegrams from both agents.

The first said, “No business here… natives don’t wear shoes.”

The second one said, “Great opportunity here… natives don’t wear shoes!”

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Perspective is a post from: BestBusinessTips.biz

Sun Tzu was one of the greatest army generals who ever lived. He wrote “The Art of War” in the fifth century BC and yet his words are still resoundingly relevant to our modern lives. His writings on aspects of warfare from the laying of plans to the tactics and psychology of maneuvering an army, to the proper use of spies, resonate for us in today’s world of cut-throat, ruthless business. With James Clavell’s insightful foreword and notes, this classic is widely seen as a necessity on the bookshelf of military leaders and boardroom executives alike.

There are many versions and translations of this book.  Be sure to get this version edited by James Clavell due to its clarity of reading and balance.

Click here for more information: The Art of War

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Windows Secrets as its name suggests is primarily devoted to providing useful and up to date advice for users of Windows and Windows applications.  I find I get at least one useful piece of advice in every publication.  Every once in a while I get a “major league” tip that really saves me time money or aggravation.

The newsletter is put together by a staff of Windows veterans who have devoted their working careers to Windows and computers.  Their combined knowledge is an encyclopedia of great computer information.

They keep you up to date with the newest software and technologies on the horizon, tips for the best software and its uses, how to get the most out of Windows and other software with a real focus on keeping your computer and your data safe.

It’s written in an easy to understand format and doesn’t assume that the reader is a computer science major.  While it is an easy read, the information it provides will prove useful whether you’re a novice or an advanced expert user which in itself is very unique.  It’s hard to write interesting computer and software articles that are not “geeky”.  Windows Secrets does not do this.

Many of the gems of computer and software knowledge I use to support my clients comes from tips I’ve picked up here.  I can’t say that I agree with them 100% of the time but I’m in agreement over 90%.

Another huge factor is that it appears that Secrets is not influenced at all by advertisers or connections to the industry.  If they find something they like they say it.  Conversely, if they don’t then they’ll state that too.  I’ve seen them “rip” Microsoft more than few times.  It really appears that they are not in bed with anyone and they keep their impartiality.

So, what does this terrific newsletter cost you?  Well, you can get a “lite” version of the newsletter at no charge or make a donation of any amount to receive the full version.  The lite version has much of the material of the full version, but some of the meatier articles are missing which is what you’d expect.

I believe that everyone should make a donation and receive the full paid version in order to help support the newsletter.  There is nothing even close to it that I’ve ever come across.

Another plus of the “paid” version is that it you’ll have access to free bonus downloads of book excerpts and other valuable printed information.

To give you an idea of the content here is a sampling from a recent newsletter.

INTRODUCTION
By Brian Livingston
All subscribers get a Windows 7 e-book, free

TOP STORY
By Woody Leonhard
Get help from the Windows Reliability Monitor
Using Reliability Monitor to solve real problems
Mining your system’s info with the Event Viewer

LOUNGE LIFE
By Tracey Capen
Windows 7 generates many and varied questions
The most-interesting questions raised this week

YOU GET ALL THIS IN OUR PAID CONTENT:
LANGALIST PLUS
By Fred Langa
More on where Windows 7 puts important files
Scattering temp files improves Win7 security
Problems installing Office 2007 on Win7 PCs
Working with FLAC audio is not that difficult
When to upgrade a BIOS, and why you’d do it

BEST SOFTWARE
By Ian “Gizmo” Richards
What — or who — is using your connection?
Monitoring tools for watching Internet traffic
Windows tools and firewalls meter traffic
Firewalls help, but still have security holes

INSIDER TRICKS
By Scott Dunn
Tailor Windows to work the way you do
Customizing Windows 7′s new Aero Peek control
Ease of Access Center turns off Aero Snap
Customize shut-down options in Vista and Win 7
Launch documents full-screen automatically

You should definitely become a subscriber to this fine publication.  Here is the link http://windowssecrets.com/#subscribe

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Windows Secrets Newsletter is a post from: BestBusinessTips.biz