Spring 2009

Spring is finally here. The days are getting longer. For those of us who live and work a few degrees closer to the True North, we can feel the sun rays are getting warmer and more direct. Spring brings with it hope and rejuvenation in the air. It's time to get out, clear winter debris, and plant new seeds.

In the software and IT domain there is also a "Spring time" cycle. This is a time to think about clearing out old files to free up more disk space and to archive old data to help speed up our daily tasks.

There are several steps you should take at least once a year (more often if time permits) to keep your system running at an optimal level:

Many of these recommendations are well known and they are worth repeating and reminding often.

• Run disk clean up on each workstation to remove temporary files to free up more disk space.

• Perform Disk Defrag to organize fragmented files on your hard drive thus reducing the time it takes to access and process files.

• Perform compact on all Email folders, if this option is available, to reduce search time and free up disk space.

• Apply the latest Windows updates to ensure all fixes have been properly installed.

• Make sure all Anti-Virus and other security software licenses are renewed and up-to-date.

• Remove temporary files generated by our application. This KB article shows you which files to delete.

Since our Integrated Business Management System ( METFIN / METFAB / IPOS ) is very efficient in handling data records, system re-indexing and packing is not needed on a regular basis. However, if you have many years of accumulated transactions ( more than 5 years ), you do have the option to take old records off line. By removing old records from active lists, it reduces the volume of data the system has to track and process. Although, many existing reports and processes in our system have already been optimized to take this into consideration so the improvement in some areas will not be very dramatic.

Before archiving or performing any system clean up and hard disk defragmentation, we highly recommend that you have an updated and verified good set of backup. Backing up should be done at the very least on a daily basis regardless of circumstances.

If these tedious tasks are too much for you to get done in a timely manner - don't worry we are here to help. We'll be releasing a new product to assist with many repetitive tasks in the coming weeks to free up more of your time. Stay tuned.

Until next time.

Be well.

Tuan


Tips of the month:
How to archive data.
System Slowness Troubleshooting steps.

P.S.

Please feel free to share these tips and articles with your colleagues if you find them useful.

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