Toshiba Laptop Recovery Media?

Today I had a customer who wiped his laptops hard drives trying to re-install his copy of Windows after his PC was infected with the AntivirusXP 2011 "FAKE" virus. In case you have not had the pleasure of hearing about it before now, it's basically an infection that acts like a copy of antivirus software and attempts to convince you that your PC is just swarming with so many infections that all your data is going to be destroyed and the only way to save yourself or years of memories is to pay their $39.99 fee and they will clean it all up  Media"like new for you. This of course is not how it works, and instead, some Nigerian gets your credit card number and your PC is still a hot mess. Needless to say, ask a professional to help you get rid of such viruses.

Now, back to the moral of this story:
My customer, who was infected, decided to save some money and re-install his Windows OS by using his buddies copy of his new Dell's Windows 7 "Recovery Media. First, I know it's tempting to save money and use a friends version of their software, but if it was not made for your PC it is a definite no no, it's illegal as well but the thought of the anti-piracy police coming to snatch a single user out of their house for software piracy is almost laughable, and second, it could actually really mess things up as was the case in this tale.

His laptop actually had a "Recovery Partition" Setup on his primary hard drive that he could have made recovery DVDs and restored his system in under an hour, but instead, he didn't, he used his buddies dell cd and wiped away all evidence of his child's birth. For those of you who need recovery media, see your manufacturer's website for a possible solution, or take it to a trusted, professional, certified technician who won't mess it up worse than the virus did.

For more information on TOSHIBA's recovery media option in particular, please read this post: https://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/bulletinDetail.jsp?soid=2737864&pf=true

Windows Xp Vs. Windows 7

Today I had a customer question why I would have recomended Windows 7 as opposed to getting them Windows XP which is compatable with their 8 year old software package. The best answer I could come up with at the time was that when looking to invest in something, especially in something that your livelyhood depends on, that it would be a better decision to buy something that can expand into the future for the growing needs of your business and not something that is out of date, no longer produced, and no longer supported by it's manufacturer in it's mainstream support structure. To better help make this argument in as morre efficient way, Microsoft has published a URL for customers to get more information on why Windows 7 is not just the obvious choice, but the smarter choice for anyone looking for the BEST return on their investment.

To see this information, just follow this link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-xp/end-of-sale.aspx