Home | Recommended Solutions | Technology Consulting | Websites | Favorites
The products featured here form a solid Technology Plan for any home or small business. I don't recommend anything that I don't use in my own business. I like simple stuff that just works.
Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 (3 User provides complete protection for up to three computers without impacting the performance of your computer that much. It protects against Viruses, Trojans, Worms, Spyware, Spam* and Adware. It also includes a Firewall, Parental Controls that actually work, free Technical Support, and more. I recommend the thirty day free trial**, and if you like it buy it from Amazon – who usually has the best prices***. KIS 2009 stays out of the way for the most part but expect a few security alerts here and there. If you don't like it don't worry, I've had no problems uninstalling it like McA* and friends.
* If you have Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express. Mozilla Thunderbird support isn't good.
** Uninstall your current Security Software/Antivirus before installing the trial
*** Purchase from Amazon at least a week before the trial ends
If you aren't doing backups or if your backup procedure is a pain in the butt check out CrashPlan. You can backup your files to your other computers on your network, to an external harddrive, or over the internet to CrashPlan's secure servers. It encrypts your backups so no one can get files from your backup without a password. CrashPlan also compresses your backups so they don't take too much space.
In testing, CrashPlan didn't noticeably slow my computer down. It's a very well behaved, svelte program that performs daily backups without pestering me. I sleep so much better at night knowing that if my laptop gets stolen or smashed my data can be safely restored from my other computers. I successfully restored 100GB of files in a real world client scenario. My client had a failing hard drive so we reinstalled Windows on a new hard drive, installed CrashPlan and a few other programs, then restored his backup from another computer.
Even if you don't decide to use CrashPlan please implement some sort of backup solution because disasters can and do happen. Be prepared for when disaster comes for you.
Financial software for you and me. The Simple Start version is available for free but the more expensive versions will provide your business with more advanced functions like payroll and emailing invoices as your company grows. Upgrading to a newer or different edition of QuickBooks is a very simple process. I like simple. It also has a solid backup utility and update process that make QuickBooks a low fuss software. It also ties into TurboTax easily (it's made by the same company Intuit). I can't say enough good things about Quickbooks. If you use any other financial software I won't work on your computers...maybe.