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The Importance of Documentation

admin — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:18:20 +0000

After needing much documentation on both installation instructions, I need to reiterate the importance of documentation for both yourself or future readers. I had a large project that I was completing with a colleague and after having to upgrade, reformat, and reconfigure many machines (around 20-30), I had many programs that had no documentation at all.

Reasons you may not realize why you should document:

-Just because you finally figure something out, does not mean that you will at a later time or that the next person will figure it out. If it’s not already written, write it down, even if it’s a temporary fix. It may turn into the only fix or help you find a permanent solution later with more information or further knowledge.
-Something that may seem simple to you at that time, may not be simple later or to the next person. So if it is not common sense, DOCUMENT!.

And documentation should extend to keep all licenses together and safe. It’s very hard to tell a customer that you cannot help them because they do not have their license with them. And for all types of documentation and licenses, do one thing and keep them protected. I would recommend buying something like a firesafe that they can keep those and extremely important records such as portable media backups of tax information, databases (if you do not have off site storage as well as on site for redundancy). While a fire may be devastating, it may be a breath of fresh air to know that you still have some things safe.

Updating Quickbooks, Experiencing Yardi

admin — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:18:58 +0000

Recently, I had to work on some Quickbooks for a client. One thing I noticed is that there are so many ways to botch a configuration or install if you are going off of someone else’s work. Regardless, if you are running a database server with Quickbooks, and are installing the Single-Host client on machines, make sure that you have added your folders to the first tab in the Database Manager for Quickbooks, and allowed it to scan. Once this is done, you should be good.

Another thing you may encounter is a program called Yardi. If you do, make sure that wherever your files are located (I was lucky enough to have two sets of data for different purposes), write down what users have what access to those files. In my case, the people trying to access both sets of data had to log into one, then open another database and change the location. It was not giving them a choice for the data, so you must log on with whatever user has access to the first one you setup and then switch to the second.

If anyone has problems with either application, comment on this article or contact me via the Contact Me form and I’ll see if I have any insights. Good luck, and make sure you always document.

Howto: Reformat a PC

admin — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:22:12 +0000

After having to reformat a friends machine, I figured there were people who need a little guide or a list of helpful hints to guide them on their way.

Some things to remember before you start:

Save anything you want or need on either:
- another partition (can be same drive, just as long as you don’t format it or delete the partition)
- an external hd or storage server
- portable media (CD, DVD, USB drive if everything will fit)
- anywhere really you can access it later!
Print out instructions before hand!
Find out what your network interface card’s (NIC) manufacturer and get the driver for it.
- Note: Any other drive will be sure to work with windows until you can update it. A NIC driver will be the only thing you need to have handy in order to get online and download the driver from the manufacturer’s website or from Windows Update. Make sure to download the driver and save it to a CD, Floppy, DVD, USB drive, or anything else that you can access.

Have your license key handy so you can continue with the installation quickly.

I had a document in which I went through every step and had screenshots of each step. I figured to save people time and paper, as well as saving myself from trying to find the 4-year old document and update anything, I decided to find a decent replacement. Listed below is a pretty good step-by-step instruction on how to reformat your PC with Windows XP, if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

Follow this link to get the instructions. Remember to backup your data, and if you are nervous or have questions about anything, give me a shout and I will answer them A.S.A.P. Enjoy your fresh install of Windows XP!