Volume III, Issue 5 - May 2010
Lynnwood, WA

MEMORIAL DAY FACTS

Memorial Day was initially referred to as Decoration Day. It commemorates the US servicemen and women who gave their lives for their country.

This holiday was proclaimed on May 5th, 1868 by General John Logan and was originally observed on May 30th, 1868. At the end of the Civil War the people set aside this day to honor the soldiers who died in battle.

Interesting Facts on the Civil War

• Memorial Day was declared a federal holiday in 1971.

• More than three-million servicemen were trained and recruited during the Civil War and more than 620,000 were slaughtered.

• Over 50,000 soldiers returned home as amputees.

• Private John J. Williams was the last man killed in the Civil War on May 13, 1865.

• President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863

• Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Win A Great Prize!

We’re holding a Testimonial Contest and we want YOU to be the Winner!

So, take off that gag, untie those ropes and let us know what you really think about us. (If you have a problem with us, we want to know that, too—and you’ll still be put in the drawing!)

Send us your testimonials including your name and company and let us know how we’ve made a difference in your business.

Have we helped you out of a jam, been there when you were tearing your hair out, showed up BEFORE you knew you had a problem or your server was going to crash? Remotely resolved a system problem instantly getting you back to being productive?

We’ll enter every testimonial into a drawing and announce the winner in the next month’s newsletter. So enter your feedback online at integrit-network.com/testimonial
or send it to us via email to info@integrit-network.com and Good Luck!

Grand prize winner will be drawn on June 15, so don't delay, submit your feedback today!

FREE REPORT!

In today's business world, the vast majority of businesses are utterly dependent on their IT systems. When their networks aren't working properly, their operations are either slowed to a crawl or dead in the water.

You depend on the efficiency that these systems deliver.

When Downtime Just Isn't An Option

FREE Insider's Guide to Choosing an Honest, Reliable, and Competent Computer Repair Technician

Read this guide and you’ll discover:

• Computer scams and rip-offs that you MUST be aware of.

• 5 Costly misconceptions about computer maintenance and repair.

• Viruses, worms, spyware, and hackers: what you need to know to protect yourself.

• 7 Questions you need to ask before buying any computer equipment.

• 5 Critical characteristics you should demand from your computer repair technician.

• Why you need to avoid “cheap” or “bargain” computer repair shops.

• The one surefire sign that you should run – not walk – out of a computer repair shop.

To request your FREE guide, click HERE or  send an email to:
info@integrit-network.com 

"Who Wants To Win A Starbucks Gift Card?"

The Grand Prize Winner of March's Quiz is... drum roll please: Ginger Campbell of Orb Architects Inc was the first person to correctly answer my quiz...

How Many Grooves Are There On The Edge Of A Quarter?

a. 119

b. 97

c. 238

d. 162

e. 441

The answer is “a” – 119.

Now…let’s move to this month's question for a $10 Starbucks Card!

Which song on the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album runs over seven minutes long?

a. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”

b. “Something”

c. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”

d. “Come Together”

Contact us right now with your answer!

Send us an email now or
call us at (866) 578-6220

Got support tickets?

Remember to send those to

support@integrit-network.com

By using this address to submit your requests, our system will automatically create a service order from the email request submitted, generate a tracking number, create workflow and alerts for our team, and send you a confirmation that your request has been received and is being taken care of. You will also receive status updates.

This process provides us with additional checkpoints, follow-up and confirmations - allowing us to greatly improve upon the exceptional service you’ve come to expect from IntegrIT Network Solutions.

Would You Like To Submit An Article, Story, or Tip for Bits-N-Bytes?

Do you have a funny story or a resource you want to share with other subscribers?

Send it to us! We are always looking for new and useful content to add to Bits-N-Bytes, including partners who want to submit articles!

Send you feedback, comments, or suggestions for topics to us now to info@integrit-network.com

Get More Free Tips, Tools,
and Services at our Web Page:
www.Integrit-Network.com

Insider Tips To Make Your Business Run Faster, Easier, And More Profitably

Welcome to the IntegrIT Network Solutions "Bits-N-Bytes" newsletter with tips to help you keep your computers and network running. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, manage and opt-out links are provided at the bottom of the newsletter. This will not impact your email alerts. 

We're here, ready to help you fully control and manage your IT systems so that you can focus on growing your business, increasing sales, and meeting your goals. It's easy to reach us!

1. Call us at (866) 578-6220

2. Send us an email

We will contact you within 24 hours. Happy Computing! 

IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc., Bringing Integrity and IT Together™

Spring Clean Your Computer for Maximum Performance

With Spring in the air, now is a good time to do an annual clean up of the computers, servers, and electronic equipment in your office, both inside and out.

Failure to thoroughly clean your computer at least once or twice a year will result in decreased performance and possibly even system failures. Here’s why:

• Dust clogs the computer’s cooling system causing it to heat up, damaging sensitive electronic equipment. Dust can also cause fan noise and (believe it or not) slow performance!

• Crumbs and dirt in your keyboard can cause keys to stick and crunchy sounds when typing. Plus, it’s just gross and unhealthy; do you know there are more germs on your computer keyboard than the average public toilet?

• Dust, fingerprints, and dirt build-up will make your computer monitor dim and fuzzy.

But the physical “dirt” is only the beginning...

• Delete temporary files and unused programs taking up space and slowing things down.

• Defrag your hard drive (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter).

• Get rid of clutter on your desktop by removing shortcuts and files you don’t need.

• Make sure you have the latest security patches and updates installed and configured properly.

• Check your backups and conduct an emergency “restore” of the data. Remember, the best time to check your backups is when you DON’T desperately need to recover your data!

Want IntegrIT Network Solutions To Spring Clean Your Computers??
Click HERE for More Details!!

If you are already an existing IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc. customer, you can be rest assured your computers are enjoying this service already as part of your managed service plan!

Happy Computing from IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc.!

Do You Back-up Your Data?

In today's world, technology is a key aspect to all parts of your business. From accounting and management to day-to-day communication, more and more parts of your business are performed solely on computers. Companies must take advantage of today's technology to stay competitive. Email is the preferred method of communication and computers are integral for executing transactions and storing valuable data. With the importance of computers and technology, it is critical that every organization has a complete solution to deal with the threat of data loss.

In the past, companies have backed up their data using magnetic tapes which were then typically stored off-site. While a usable method for incrementally backing up data off-site, this process is tedious and time-consuming. For small businesses without a dedicated IT staff, maintaining an up-to-date tape library can be easily overlooked and can result in permanent data loss.

Small to medium businesses can suffer severe repercussions if their critical data is not securely backed up at an off-site location. A fire, power surge, hardware failure, or even basic operator error can wipe out years of data. According to IDC (a leading market research firm), less than 40% of all small to medium size businesses properly and regularly back up their data. These businesses cannot afford to lose time attempting to rebuild their lost, vital information. In order to prevent such a situation from happening, it is imperative that an off-site storage system be used, providing secure copies of all data.

Off-site backup devices ensure that if physical disaster (fire, flood, theft, etc.) were to strike your data center and/or office, all lost information can be retrieved from the off-site location. Most off-site backup options use the Internet to transfer data back to the business location. It can take weeks, or even months, to download all of a company's data from the web. With IntegrIT Network Solutions backup solutions, a new device can be shipped overnight to your location with all of your otherwise-lost data. This allows businesses to recover multiple terabytes of information in 24 hours, which would be nearly impossible through Internet transfer.

To quickly recover from hardware failures, viruses, or accidental deletion, it is important to have an on-site backup in addition to the off-site copy. This backup allows businesses to quickly recover from data loss due to common causes. When creating a business continuity plan, it's important to take both on-site and off-site backup into consideration.

When it comes to keeping your information backed up, IntegrIT Network Solutions offers an affordable and easy total package. Our Rest Assured™ Service Plans provide a simple, secure, and automatic method for both on-site and off-site data storage.

At IntegrIT Network Solutions, we will define the processes you need to safeguard your data. Then by implementing backup and recovery mechanisms, any data lost during power outages, system crashes, or other disasters will be recovered. For maximum protection, this is an on-going process that evolves and changes as your organization grows.

Key benefits include

• Documentation of all processes

• Defines the critical data to be backed up

• Defines the back up process

• Schedules the cycles of backup: daily, weekly, monthly, and annually

• Determines which data to be stored on-site and off-site

• Testing recovery processes

IntegrIT Network Solutions backup solutions ensures your vital information is always safe and secure, making the once painful chore of on- and off-site data backup easy and reliable.

With a service like this, you get the latest patches and updates automatically, plus a knowledgeable IT staff to resolve anything the updates missed, particularly third-party applications whose updates are just as critical.

For more information on how to ensure your data is safe and recoverable in the event of a disaster, send an email to needhelpnow@integrit-network.com.

Client Spotlight: The Leren Company, Inc.

Meet our Featured Partner of the Month ~ StorageCraft Technology Corporation.

How to Avoid Losing Your Data

The truth is that hard drives fail. No one likes it, but technology is fragile -- more fragile than we'd like to admit. But there's an easy way to avoid the grief of a hard drive failure: back it up.

A recent article on Gizmodo.com (The Five Stages of Data Loss Grief) is pretty funny, taking you through the stages you go through, much the same way that therapy takes you through the stages of grieving the loss of a loved one. If you've ever had a hard drive crash, the steps may hit a little too close to home.

But this problem is entirely avoidable through a simple backup plan.

1. If you don't already have it, get back-up software installed (like ShadowProtect, of course) by your IT provider, who can automate this process for you.

2. Once installed, your IT provider will set up a schedule to backup your drive, based on your company's needs. Think about how often you make changes to your data. Most of us only need to backup a few times a day, especially if the backup is running in the background. For some, it's important to backup several times an hour.

3. Save your backups to a removable hard drive and then set it up to e-mail you in the event your backup fails. If you are working with an IT provider, they should already be taking care of this for you. But it's a good idea to confirm that with them.

4. Create a separate backup of your hard drive that you can save in a remote location; update your off-site backup periodically. Again, If you are working with an IT provider, they should already be doing this for you. However, it's a good idea to confirm that with them.

These steps may take a little time to plan and accomplish, but in the long run, you'll sleep better and be much happier when your drive fails. Think of all the time you'll save -- and all the grief you'll avoid.

Don't have the time to implement a backup plan on your own?  Contact IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc., a certified reseller of StorageCraft solutions, and be rest assured you will have a backup plan you can rely on that fits your IT budget. Give them a call today at (866) 578-6220 or send an email to info@integrit-network.com.

About StorageCraft Technology Corporation: StorageCraft Technology Corporation provides innovative disaster recovery, system migration, data protection and security solutions for servers, desktops and laptops. StorageCraft delivers software products that reduce downtime, improve security and stability for systems and data and lower the total cost of ownership for servers, desktops and laptops.

Computer Tip of the Month

6 THINGS YOU SHOULD DO BEFORE CALLING YOUR COMPUTER REPAIR COMPANY

1. Restart Your Computer -- Many times a problem can resolve itself by simply restarting the computer.

2. Make Sure Everything Is Connected And On -- Power cables, monitor mouse & keyboard, Internet cable. Check power savings to be sure computer is not in sleep mode.

3. If You Don't Have An Internet Connection -- Turn off your computer, disconnect the cable/DSL modem from the computer, unplug the modem from its power source, wait 10 seconds. Reconnect the modem to its power, reconnect the modem to the computer and then restart your computer.

4. Check The Manufacturer's Warranty -- Some repairs may be covered under warranty.

5. Backup Your Data Regularly! -- Your data is your responsibility and should be protected. Save your data onto external hard drives, or USB drives, or use an off-site back up services on a regular basis.

6. Organize Your Computer System Information -- Keep all your computer paperwork, warrantee information, system information, system restore disks, along with the operating system key code, drivers CD, and any software disks and registration product.

It's Here! The IntegrIT Network Solutions Customer Care Portal. We are proud to introduce the Online Customer Care Portal, yet another resource for customers, whose complete satisfaction with IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc. is of foremost interest to our organization.

The following services are available through the Customer Care Portal system: • Submit, edit, review, and re-assign service tickets • View a list of all service tickets for your company • Access to IntegrIT Network Solutions technical support knowledge base • A searchable Knowledge Base that allows users to search all service entries in the system • View a list of active agreements for your company. • View a list of all closed invoices for your company. • Run and view of all reports that can be run for company. In launching the new system, IntegrIT Network Solutions hopes this will deliver a more flexible and more responsive service to our existing customers.  Read the full press release on our Web site's News page.