In News: iYogi Re-Defines Technical Support – BizTech2.com

Remote managed services are gaining a lot of attraction these days. Companies are looking to outsource the maintenance and monitoring of their IT infrastructure to a third party to improve efficiency and save costs. BizTech2.com caught up with Uday Challu, founding partner and CEO, iYogi, to see what the company has to offer in this space.

As far as Enterprise and SME customers are concerned, which verticals are you focusing on?

Our focus will mostly be on small companies with around five to 100 users and also firms that have multiple small branch offices like travel agencies, retail stores etc.

What kind of support services do you provide to your customers? What is the Green PC service?

iYogi provides the next generation of remote computer support services for consumers and businesses. For consumers, our live 24/7 support extends to technologies we use everyday, including hardware, software applications, devices, peripherals and networking equipment. iYogi also offers a full range of business IT solutions including managed monitoring, managed services, set-up and installation services, and incident-based services.

Green PC Service

With the current state of the global climate and increasing dependency on the computer, iYogi helps PC users reduce their carbon footprint and save money at the same time. iYogi’s Green PC service is the first in the independent computer support industry to offer customers a way to save money, conserve energy and protect the environment by optimising their PC’s efficiency. Consumers and businesses can save up to $200 per year, per desktop, in energy costs with iYogi’s Green PC application. This green application makes the computer environmentally friendly by reducing power consumption by almost 50 percent.

Our Green PC dashboard helps customise power settings and calculate power savings in kWh (kilowatt hour). The Green PC dashboard also gives a status on the reduction of CO2 and how responsible usage will benefit the environment by saving trees. A customised service that increases the energy efficiency of computers, undertakes the below-mentioned three primary initiatives:

- Computer assessment, analysing settings and PC energy use
- Customised efficiency planning geared specifically to the individual’s usage patterns
- Implementing setting changes to maximise the computer’s energy use

What are the technologies that allow you to offer 24/7 support and ensure there is no downtime at the client site?

We have invested significantly in developing a comprehensive monitoring and management tools stack. This enables us to manage and monitor all devices in the office network as well as for branch offices and mobile users. Our tools continuously monitor the customer’s network and notify our NOC (Network Operations Centre) in case of problems. Based on the set of events, tickets are automatically generated and escalated to corresponding teams. Over and above our proactive approach, the customer always has an option to call our 24X7 support line for issues that are not identified via the monitoring tools.

Please throw some light on your proprietary iMantra technology.

iMantra is a CRM system, which is tailor-made to suit the emerging business needs at iYogi. It allows for the formation of individualised customer relationships with the aim of providing personalised services to each subscriber. This tool is built on the latest java technology with a layered architecture that makes it scalable and secure. This architecture provides a seamless workflow and independent channels for various business needs: sales, support, quality and customer service. The entire system can be exposed in the form of secure APIs and Web services, which makes it a re-usable entity.

Your business model is similar to BPOs in India providing technical support to offshore customers. What unique values do you bring to this ecosystem that would help a potential client choose you over a competitor?

iYogi’s business model is different from traditional BPOs. Some key factors that differentiate iYogi include:

- Direct-to-consumer and -small business: iYogi delivers technical support services directly to consumers and small businesses and is a global technical support brand based out of India. Unlike traditional BPOs in India, iYogi does not provide any private label support and/ or work on behalf of large OEMs or software publishers.

- Optimised Processes: iYogi has developed proprietary processes for consistently delivering on a resolution rate of 87 percent, which is among the highest published benchmarks in the support industry, where averages hover in the range of 50 percent.

- Comprehensive technology platform: iYogi’s global delivery platform, iMantra, gets smarter with every customer interaction. It documents every problem, the solution and relevant hardware and software aspects, while capturing each customer’s demographic information and creating a behavioural profile. All of this information is at the fingertips of iYogi’s Global Tech Experts. This set-up combines a knowledge base with a comprehensive set of tools and technology expertise. iYogi offers a range of tools that complement its remote support services for helping customers maintain technology at peak performance levels. iYogi’s products include iYogi Smart PC Scan, iYogi Support Dock, iYogi Green PC and iYogi PC Optimisation.

How do you plan to move up the value chain in the times to come?

The growing use and penetration of the Internet and new Web-based applications has consequently opened the door to threats and vulnerabilities, which affect the system performance and ultimately lead to degrading performance. If the threats are diagnosed early on, the impact on efficiency can be minimised considerably. Currently, a user only realizes that he needs technical support once the damage has occurred and reactive methods of support are used to recover from the loss.

At iYogi, we are developing our capabilities to not only provide support when demanded, but to also monitor, pre-empt and fix threats before they can cause any damage to the computer. This will be possible only by combining technology with processes that are capable of re-defining the way technical support is delivered today.

What is your India strategy?

Technically, we are capable of servicing any geography including India. At this stage, we are looking for the right kind of partners to find access to potential customers and provide them a consolidated, 360-degree solution and services for issues relating to hardware, software, network etc. We aim to launch our India services in the coming six to eight months. Our services will offer clients a one-stop solution for all their business needs.

Error message when you start Windows Vista: "The Windows Boot Configuration Data file is missing required information"

When you start Windows Vista, you receive the following error message:

File: \Boot\BCD
Status: 0xc0000034

Info: The Windows Boot Configuration Data file is missing required information

This error occurs when either of the following conditions is true:The Windows Bo...
This error occurs when either of the following conditions is true:

- The Windows Boot Manager (Bootmgr) entry is not present in the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store.
- The Boot\BCD file on the active partition is damaged or missing.

To resolve this problem, use the following methods in the order in which they ar...
To resolve this problem, use the following methods in the order in which they are presented.

Method 1: Repair the BCD store by using the Startup Repair option
You can use the Startup Repair option in the Windows Recovery Environment to repair the BCD store. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when you are prompted.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Startup Repair.
7. Restart the computer.


Method 2: Rebuild the BCD store by using the Bootrec.exe tool
If the previous method does not resolve the problem, you can rebuild the BCD store by using the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when you are prompted.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type Bootrec /RebuildBcd, and then press ENTER.
- If the Bootrec.exe tool runs successfully, it presents you with an installation path of a Windows directory. To add the entry to the BCD store, type Yes. A confirmation
message appears that indicates the entry was added successfully.
- If the Bootrec.exe tool cannot locate any missing Windows installations, you must remove the BCD store, and then you must re-create it. To do this, type the following
commands in the order in which they are presented. Press ENTER after each command.

Bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
Bootrec /rebuildbcd

8. Restart the computer.

Patch Tuesday heads-up: Critical Windows, IE fixes coming

Microsoft plans to ship 10 security bulletins next Tuesday (June 9, 2009) with fixes for a wide range of code execution vulnerabilities affecting Windows, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. Six of the ten bulletins will be rated “critical,” Microsoft’s highest severity rating.

This month’s batch of patches will not include a fix for the DirectShow vulnerability that’s currently being used in drive-by download attacks against Windows Media Player.

You may have noticed that we are not announcing an update for the DirectShow vulnerability addressed in Security Advisory 971778. Our security teams are working hard on a security update that addresses this issue to protect customers, but we do not yet have an update that has reached the appropriate level of quality for broad distribution. We continue to monitor the situation closely and suggest customers follow the guidance provided in the advisory.

In the absence of that fix, Windows users should immediately consider disabling QuickTime parsing to thwart the ongoing attacks. This KB article provides fix-it button that automatically enables the workaround.

Microsoft also announced that an Office for Mac fix will be coming this month to address vulnerabilities already fixed in May’s MS09-017. Microsoft originally shipped fixes for Windows users but the Mac patches were not ready in time.

The image above captures the essence of this month’s fixes. Windows users should treat the IE and critical Windows patches with the utmost priorities. Businesses considered at high-risk of targeted attacks should immediately test and deploy the Microsoft Office patches.

The Windows patches will be available all versions of the operating system — Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

Microsoft fixes Bing bug

Microsoft today said it had fixed a bug in Bing that had infuriated Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) users when they discovered that the company's new search engine had hijacked their browsers.

"Last night, we corrected the issue with Bing on machines running IE6," a Microsoft spokeswoman said Wednesday in an brief e-mailed reply to questions.

Starting Monday, when Microsoft took Bing live, IE6 users began complaining that although they had previously set other search engines as the default, searches typed into the browser were instead directed to Bing.

"Woke up this morning to discover that Bing had hijacked [my IE6 address bar search]," said a user identified as "clmerc" on a Google help message forum. [I] can't change it via search/customize on the IE tool bar."

"Bing seems to have hijacked many user-programmed search preferences away from Google," echoed "Jimpobg" on another help thread. "Since I didn't know what Bing was, I really thought my computer was infected with malicious software. Well, actually....it WAS. Sounds like classic Microsoft behavior."

Microsoft's spokeswoman ignored Computerworld's questions about the root cause of the problem, but one user on the Google forum explained that IE6 uses a Windows registry key to parse unknown text, such as a search phrase, that's typed into the address bar. "The problem is, Microsoft developed their URL SearchHook to do one thing: Take the unknown text from the address bar and add it to the URL http://auto.search.msn.com/response.asp?MT=text+from+addressbar&srch=4&prov=gogl&utf8," said "Kilyo" on the same thread as clmerc. "But Bing stopped acknowledging [search] provider requests."

Some users were clearly unsympathetic, and blasted the complainers for running an ancient browser. "If you use IE6, you deserve as much pain and suffering as humanly possible," said someone labeled "positrongoo."

IE6 debuted in August 2001, about two months before Microsoft launched Windows XP. According to U.S-based metrics vendor Net Applications, IE6 accounted for 16.9% of all browsers used last month. Rival StatCounter, however, pegged IE6's share over the last 30 days at a slightly-higher 21.6%.

Microsoft may have agreed with positrongoo. Yesterday, when it first acknowledged that Bing had hijacked the search preferences of IE6, it urged users to ditch the old browser. "We apologize for any inconvenience [this] has caused," Microsoft said in a statement Tuesday. "In the meantime, we encourage customers to upgrade to IE8."

Today, Microsoft again implicitly pushed people to upgrade. "This issue did not impact IE7 and IE8 users," the company spokeswoman said.

A Google employee confirmed that Microsoft had, in fact, fixed the Bing bug. "We've been monitoring [this] very closely and are pleased that Microsoft is now reporting that the problem should be fixed," said "Jaime" early Wednesday on the two Google help forums. "If anyone is still having this problem, I'd very much appreciate your posting here to let me know."

As of late Wednesday, no one had stepped forward on the threads to report they were still seeing Bing rather than their preferred provider.

Net Applications noted that Bing surged to a 6% share of the search market within hours of going live, but said most of its traffic came at the expense of Microsoft's legacy search engines, MSN's search and Windows Live Search. Both of those services now automatically process search requests using Bing.

Vista Wireless Connection Is Periodically Lost

When you try to use a wireless network adapter to connect to a Microsoft MN-500 or MN-700 Wireless Base Station, you may notice that the wireless connection drops periodically. This issue may occur at seemingly random intervals, from several minutes to an hour or more.

This issue may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true:

- There is a problem with the firmware for your base station.
- IEEE 802.1X authentication is enabled.
- Your universal serial bus (USB) wireless adapter is experiencing problems that are related to the USB bus.
- Your Internet is a DSL connection that uses Point to Point over Ethernet (PPPoE) authentication.

To determine and resolve this issue, use the following procedures in the order they are presented. After you complete each procedure, test to see whether the problem is resolved. Continue to the next procedure if it is not.

Part 1: Disable IEEE 802.1X Authentication

Examine each computer that is experiencing the symptoms described in this article, and disable IEEE 802.1X authentication. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Network and Internet, click Network and Sharing Center, and then click Manage network connections.
3. Right-click the network that you want to disable 802.1X authentication for, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Security tab, and then, in the Security Type list, click No authentication (Open).


Part 2: Update Firmware
To update the base station firmware, follow these steps.

Connect to your base station and to the Internet to follow these steps, if the following conditions are true:

- If you lose your connection only after a long time, follow these steps while your connection is working.
- Use a network cable to connect to your base station.

1. In the Broadband Network Utility (BNU), on the Tools menu, click Base Station Management Tool.
2. Type your user name and password to log on to the Base Station Management tool.
3. In the menu pane, point to Management, and then click Upgrade Firmware.
4. Under Current Base Station Firmware Version, note the version and date listed.
5. Follow the steps that are listed under To upgrade the base station firmware.


Part 3: USB Wireless Network Adapters

If you have a USB wireless network adapter, you may experience problems that are related to the limitations of USB. If you have multiple USB devices, the USB network adapter may share data bandwidth, power, or both to a degree that it causes you to experience the symptoms that are described in this article.

To resolve this issue, try the following suggestions:

- If your computer has more than one USB bus (two USB ports typically share one USB bus), connect the wireless network adapter to its own USB bus. Connect your other USB devices to a different USB bus.
- Disconnect any unused or unnecessary USB devices.
- Use a powered USB hub to connect the network adapter to the computer.

Disadvantages/ Drawbacks of Windows Vista

Since windows vista is released in the market for home and business world , windows vista was not able to capture the market due to some of the some of the Disadvantages/ Drawbacks associated with this .

1. Requirements high,
Windows vista consumes a lot more resources than its predecessor windows XP. For vista Aero to work, you need to invest something more than what you would have expected to invest before. The graphics card requirement is quite high. The graphics card must be of DirectX 10 supported. The required minimum graphics memory on the graphics card is 128 MB. For better performance, graphics memory must be of 256 MB. The minimum hard disk space required is 20 GB for installation of Windows Vista. Processor speed is also expected to be high for Aero to work smoothly without causing any hiccups. The memory requirement for Windows Vista system is high. The system will work smoothly when one has got RAM of about 2 GB installed. Totally, I would like to say that, Windows vista eats up lot of resources, than its predecessor, the Windows XP.

2. Issue with the Drivers compatibility :
One of the common issue with the windows vista is that the ,device drivers compatible for windows vista are not released by all the manufactures of the hardwares ,so many of the device such as graphics card and webcam had compatilbility issue with the windows , before purchasing any new device we need to check out for Vista compatible or Vista ready logo, which is put up on the device.

3. Regarding price :
The price for Windows Vista editions are also high. Ordinary users cannot thus, have a look into all the features of Vista, which is only available in the Ultimate Edition. Microsoft seems to be not so interested in country wise markets. The prices are set according to the US market. However these prices are on higher side for developing asian countries. Microsoft should set the price of Vista as per the market.

Some of the key features of the windows vista are .

1 Windows Search 4.0 for faster and improved relevancy in searches
2 Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack supporting the most recent specification for Bluetooth Technology
3 Ability to record data on to Blu-Ray media natively in Windows Vista
4 Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi Configuration
5 Windows Vista SP2 enables the exFAT file system to support UTC timestamps, which allows correct file synchronization across time zones.


But its a big question mark on use of windows vista , after the release of windows 7 having some of the enhanced features .

iYogi Acquires Clean Machine Inc.

Larry Gordon, Founder of Clean Machine appointed as President Global Channel Sales at iYogi

New York, NY, May 11th, 2009 : iYogi, a global direct to consumer and small business remote technical support provider, today announced it’s acquisition of Clean Machine Inc, a provider of remotely administered PC security and performance management services. Clean Machine will operate as a separate brand under the iYogi services umbrella along with the recently lunched Support Dock (www.supportdock.com) and its comprehensive range of 24/7 technical support services for computers, printers, MP3 players, digital camera, routers, servers and more than 100 software applications. Larry Gordon, Founder of Clean Machine is appointed as the President of Global Channel Sales for iYogi.

iYogi will integrate technology and innovation that Clean Machine Inc. has developed for delivering an enhanced service experience by proactively managing the health and security for PC's and Apple Computers. This acquisition also broadens iYogi's access to key markets through Clean Machine's existing partnerships. Larry Gordon's past experience and successful track record will accelerate iYogi's expansion through his focus on global alliances.
Commenting on the acquisition of Clean Machine Inc., Uday Challu, CEO & Co-founder of iYogi, said,

"This acquisition will help iYogi to enhance our customer experience and extend our market reach to the millions of consumers that are challenged by the increasingly complex technology environment. Clean Machine's proactive maintenance and management of PCs in home and small business environment will be our launch platform for building the next generation of managed services for consumers."

"We are delighted to have Larry spearheading partnerships and global alliances for iYogi. His incredible experience in marketing, sales and building global alliances will help forge partnerships with retailers, multiple service operators, software publishers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and other such companies that are at the frontlines for managing tech support issues for consumers and small businesses",

added Challu.

With more than 20 years of experience, Larry Gordon has played a variety of strategic roles in marketing, sales and building alliances. Larry was the Executive Vice President at Capgemini and Kanbay. He was also VP of Global Marketing for Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH), a leader in global IT services and Director of Marketing for New York based Information Builders.

"I am excited to join a company that shares a common mission to Clean Machine in creating a global brand for delivering the best technical support to consumers and small businesses. We also share a common approach of utilizing highly skilled talent with leading edge tools, thereby delivering services at incredible price-points, with high margins for our partners",

said Larry Gordon, the newly appointed President of Global Channel Sales at iYogi.

ABOUT IYOGI

Headquartered in Gurgaon, India with offices in New York, USA, iYogi provides personalized computer support for consumers and small businesses in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. IYogi's 24/7 phone and remote technical assistance, spans across a comprehensive range of technologies we use every day from a wide range of vendors. Utilizing its proprietary technology iMantra , and highly qualified technicians, iYogi delivers amongst the highest benchmarks for resolution and customer satisfaction. iYogi is privately held and funded by SAP Ventures, Canaan Partners, and SVB India Capital Partners. iYogi was recently awarded the Red Herring Global 100 Award, recognizing it as one of the 100 most innovative private companies driving the future of technology. For more information on iYogi and a detailed list of technologies supported, visit: www.iyogi.net.

ABOUT CLEAN MACHINE

Clean Machine Inc. is a NJ-based and incorporated company that helps consumers and small business owners easily manage and protect their computing environments safely and cost effectively. The company is has a unique, powerful and inexpensive PC concierge service. Specifically, each customer is assigned a highly-trained tech concierge who remotely examines their computer system on a scheduled and very secure basis. The PC concierge will immediately fix software-based problems and prevent new threats to the customer's computing environment including offensive pop-ups, browser redirects and slow performance, and then provides a detailed report. Clean Machine's proprietary Radar(TM) technology (Remote Access Detection Audit and Repair) allows its expert technicians to remotely resolve any problems, eliminating the need for customers to go through the frustrating process of speaking with a tech support expert, and still having to do the work themselves. In other words, the Clean Machine PC concierges do it all. For more information on Clean Machine please visit www.pccleanmachine.com.

iYogi Awarded Red Herring Top 100 Global Company

Recognizing the first, global, direct to consumers and small business technical support service from India

New York, January 21st, 2009 - iYogi (www.iyogi.net), today announced that it has been awarded as one of the Red Herring Top 100 Companies. Red Herring Top 100 Global Companies are chosen from winners and finalists of the previous Red Herring Top 100 Companies from North America, Europe and Asia Red Herring Top 100 Companies. Winning and finalist companies from the previous three years are were eligible for this outstanding award. Out of 1,800 successful and highly eligible companies, the Red Herring editorial team deployed a detailed process to drill-down the best companies first to 200 finalists, then to the top 100 winners of this global award. Evaluations were made on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, innovation, management, global strategy, and ecosystem integration. The announcement of the winners was made at the Red Herring 100 Global, which took place in San Diego from January 14-16, 2009. Present among the finalists were elite executives and venture capital leaders from around the world.

"We were so pleased to announce iYogi as a Red Herring Top 100 Global Company," commented Red Herring publisher Alex Vieux."

"iYogi has proven to be a company excelling in their industry and its ripples have turned into waves. It was difficult for us to narrow down, but we are pleased to have included iYogi in our list of promising companies. We look forward to the changes it makes to its industry in the future".

"iYogi set out to introduce a new kind of service that would change the way technical support is delivered to consumers and small businesses. We are proud to be recognized by Red Herring's editorial team for our innovation and dedication to solve everyday problems faced by millions of consumers who are challenged by the increasingly complex computing environment," commented Uday Challu, CEO, iyogi.

iYogi delivers technical support services directly to consumers and small businesses and is the first, global, technical support brand based out of India. The company offers its customers an unlimited, annual service subscription for $139.99 per desktop that includes support for a wide range of technologies, including PC hardware Microsoft Windows Operating System, software applications, peripherals and multifunctional devices. iYogi recently launched Support Dock, a comprehensive desktop application suite with PC recovery, data back-up, anti-virus and spyware removal , PC optimization, and home networking tools. Small businesses are serviced by iYogi's dedicated services group offering managed IT services enabling owners to increase productivity and maximize their return on investment.

About Red Herring

Red Herring is a global media company, which unites the world's best high technology innovators, venture investors and business decision makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine, an online daily technology news service, technology newsletters and major events for technology leaders around the globe. Red Herring provides an insider's access to the global innovation economy, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy. More information about Red Herring is available on the Internet at www.redherring.com.

About iYogi

iYogi delivers live, comprehensive, 24/7 computer repair services directly to consumers and small businesses and is the first, global, technical support brand based out of India. Providing an annual unlimited subscription to technical support, iYogi now boasts of more than 50,000 customers. The company employs 600 professionals servicing customers in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and fast expanding to 12 new geographies across the globe. iYogi's resolution rate of 86 percent and customer satisfaction rate of 95 percent are amongst the highest published benchmarks in the industry. For further information, please visit - www.iyogi.net.

iYogi Contact:

Vishal Dhar
iYogi, Inc.
Phone: 212-229-0901
Email: vishal@iyogi.net

Red Herring Contact:

Anam Alpenia
Red Herring, Inc.
Phone: 650-428-2900
Email: aalpenia@redherring.com Yvonne Caprini
Logistics Manager
Red Herring, Inc.
Phone: 1 650 428 2900 x 410
Email: ycaprini@redherring.com

Tuning System Performance in Vista

If you are facing slow performance by Vista then there are many tasks you can perform on it. These include:

o Quickly remove programs you never use
o Should be in limit how many programs load at startup.
o At same time Running fewer programs
o Turning off visual effects
o Restarting regularly
o Regularly checking for viruses and spyware
o Checking your computer’s speed
o Disable all that services you don’t need

To know about more this please read that article: " http://www.ehow.com/how_4716654_clean-up-disk-errors-xp.html"

An Encounter with Windows 7

Last night finally i get along with my windows 7 experience, but don’t know why was it only me who has got discouraged or there are some of more there in my followers list, surely there would be..

On a first impression it only seems as if windows 7 is just a vista make over nothing more than that and has just grown somewhat more complex then vista rather then summing up.

Once again Microsoft has moved stuff around in the User Interface. After baffling its loyal users by completely changing the XP User Interface, So it started moving stuff, with the Control Panel taking the brunt of the abuse. Need to add a printer? Welcome to the new “Devices and Printers” applet! Looking for the “System and Maintenance” subgroup? It now has a new name: “System and Security.” And can you guess where the Security subgroup went? No? Then it’s time for some retraining! and ask for some Windows problems

System performance: With the same hardware requirements as vista it seemed as if Microsoft may have something to be patted for as with each of their releases a common history is the hardware requirement needs rises the bar of hardware cost. But sorry to comment something as 7 us as slow as vista, In fact, Windows 7’s performance is virtually identical to that of Vista SP1 on the same hardware. If you were unhappy with Vista’s CPU-hogging, memory-sucking ways, Windows 7 will provide little relief.

So, overall it was not happening but let keep our figures crossed as the shit is just in its Beta.

RED HERRING AWARDS IYOGI FOR THE 2008 RED HERRING ASIA AMERICA 100

Award Recognizes the 100 “Most Promising” Asian Companies Driving the Future of Technology

Silicon Valley, CA, Dec 9th, 2008— Red Herring today announced that iYogi is a winner of the Red Herring 100 Award, a selection of the 100 most innovative private technology companies based in Asia.

iYogi delivers technical support services directly to consumers and small businesses and is the first, global, technical support brand based out of India with more than 50,000 customers. The company offers consumers an unlimited, annual subscription service for $119.99 per desktop that includes support for a wide range of technologies, including PC hardware, Microsoft Products Support, Windows Operating systems,Computer Support ,Software applications, MP3 players, Networking devices, Digital camera, Printers and scanners etc.

The Red Herring editorial board diligently surveyed the entrepreneurial scene throughout Asia and identified the top 100 out of more than 1,000 closely evaluated companies that are leading the next wave of innovation.

“Our winners and Finalists demonstrate that Asia is increasingly becoming a leader in innovation, contrary to common stereotypes", said Joel Dreyfuss, editor-in-chief of Red Herring. " It was tough to choose just the top 100 finalists from such a large list of excellent contenders, and we are very happy with the quality of the companies we selected as finalists."

“We believe consumers and small business owners should have low-cost access to the highest quality support available on the planet", said Uday Challu, CEO of iYogi. “We are thrilled that our innovative approach to solving everyday technology problems for consumers and our managed services for small businesses has been recognized by Red Herring’s keen-eyed leadership. We are continuously innovating in adding new services that includes PC recovery, anti-virus, anti-spyware, data back-up and PC optimization in providing the best tech support experience for our customers”, adds Uday.

The 100 winning companies have been announced at the Red Herring Asia event in Hong Kong. The CEOs of the winning start ups presented their innovative ideas and technologies to an audience of leading entrepreneurs, financiers, and corporate strategists at the event at the Hong Kong, JW Marriott Hotel earlier this week.

About iYogi

iYogi is the first direct-to-consumer and small business technical support service from India. Providing an annual unlimited subscription to technical support, iYogi now boasts of more than 50,000 customers. The company employs 600 professionals servicing customers in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and fast expanding to 12 new geographies across the globe. iYogi’s resolution rate of 87 percent and customer satisfaction rate of 93 percent are amongst the highest published benchmarks in the industry. For further information, please visit www.iyogi.net.

iYogi Contact

Vishal Dhar
President Marketing, iYogi Inc.
Phone: 212 229 0901
Email: vishal@iyogi.net

Bolster Small Business Services by Delivering Server Support

NEW YORK, Sept 17, 2008 -- iYogi, a next generation remote technical support company, announced today the expansion of their small business services to include support for Microsoft Windows 2003 Server, enabling business owners to efficiently maintain their network without maintaining an IT department.

With more than 50,000 customers worldwide, iYogi offers support for more than 72 software applications and peripheral devices and offers specific service packages uniquely geared for small businesses, starting at $119.99 per computer/per year.

"There are currently 2.4 million small businesses in the United States that have server-based LANs," said Merle Sandler, research manager in the SMB program at IDC. "Solving networking -- related problems can be an area of concern for small businesses, which often lack adequate IT resources."

Windows Server 2003 is a multipurpose operating system capable of handling a diverse set of server roles. iYogi provides the following features and support options:

• Active Directory


• Group Policies


• Rights Management


• Network set-up


• File and print server


• Internet based services


• Virtual Private Network


• Rights Management Services


• Terminal server


• Remote Access Services

Customers can select from the following pricing plans, paying a flat rate per incident or purchasing an annual subscription.

Single Incident $ 180
One Year, Unlimited Access To Technical Support $ 1999.99

"iYogi leverages India's 20 years of experience in providing excellent technical support to customers across the globe," said President of iYogi, Vishal Dhar.

"We have expanded our personal off shoring model to deliver an incredible experience at a revolutionary price. Our support services for Microsoft Windows 2003 Server are provided by Microsoft Certified professionals with years of experience supporting Microsoft's products. They have a passion for helping small business and enterprise customers develop the potential of their technology investments."

iYogi's Remote Service for Windows 2003 Server along with all of iYogi's services is available to customers in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. With a resolution rate of 86% and customer satisfaction rating of 93%, iYogi provides customers with an inexpensive and consistent option for their technical support needs.

ABOUT iYOGI

Headquartered in Gurgaon, India with offices in New York, NY, iYogi provides personalized computer support for small business and home office users. iYogi offers 24/7 phone and online assistance for technologies we use every day and supports products from a wide range of vendors. Utilizing proprietary technology, iMantra, and a superior Microsoft certified team, iYogi delivers higher resolution benchmarks and service levels than competing services. For more information and a detailed list of supported technologies.
Visit us at : www.iyogibusiness.com


Contact Details:
Company Name : iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd
Address : iYogi Inc.
12, Desbrosses Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013
Toll Free No. : 1-800-237-3901
Work Number : 1-212-229-0901
Fax Number : 1-888-867-2715
E-Mail : awadhesh.singh@iyogi.net

iYogi Announces Launch of Monitoring and Performance Tool For SMBs.

iYogi – a leading provider of technical support services with horizons in the US, UK, Canada and Australia – today announced the launch of its exclusive server monitoring tools for small businesses. The new product offers integrated technology solutions to surmount the users’ unique IT support requirements thereby enabling them to derive and share information, data, enable network performance analysis, and security trends critical to plan and mana ge their set of servers – 24x7.

Uday Challu, iYogi’s CEO commented, “Holding a significant niche for itself in the computer support industry, iYogi has always known to be on the forefront of adapting breakthrough technology to exceed customer service expectations. This time we have developed a tool offering value-add functionality which will help small business customers maximize the business outcomes of IT.”

iYogi’s monitoring tool provides real time observation and monitoring solutions to ensure more robust and reliable IT support and infrastructure for small buinesses. Small Business owners also get a comprehensive assesment of their IT environment to meet technology needs with the scalability for future growth and create preventative measures based on quick analysis of network device alerts, pre-failure indicators, performance benchmark and security issues.

The new Monitoring and performance tool will provide small business with the opportunity to test all technical and non-technical aspects of their servers and help them to strengthen overall IT infrastructure. The array of services will include: Patch Management, Security Auditing, Site Inventory, Real Time Alerting Script Based Management, and Rights Management Services for all critical server issues.

“Irrespective of the business being small or large, when the consumer chooses iYogi, he leverages the potential of an elite taskforce of Microsoft Certified System Engineers and Cisco Certified Network Associates, ready to service their critical assets, using the most advanced network asset tracking and Performance monitoring”, adds Challu.

Another factor where the Company aims to distinguish itself from its competitors is product pricing. Embracing the concept of service quality, iYogi offers competitively priced technical support services at no-haggle, low prices.

As for its small business support, the Company has integrated its exclusive Monitoring and Alerting Services under one price umbrella of just $480 annually. per server i.e. $49.99 per month. The price is certainly hard to find anywhere else.

For more information on iYogi Small Business Support, visit http://www.iyogibusiness.com/

Contact Details:
Company Name: iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd
Address: iYogi Inc.
12 Desbrosses Street
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013
Toll Free no:1-800-237-3901
Work Number: 1-212-229-0901
Fax Number: 1-888-867-2715

iYogi Secures $9.5M in Series B Funding Led by SAP Ventures, With Follow-on Investment from Canaan Partners and SVB India Capital Partners

iYogi Secures $9.5M in Series B Funding Led by SAP Ventures, With Follow-on Investment from Canaan Partners and SVB India Capital Partners
iYogi, a Direct-to-Consumer and Small Business Technical Support Provider, Paves the Way for Personal Offshoring to Become India’s Next Success Story

New York, 24 July, 2008: Personal Offshoring, which is driving the next wave of India’s outsourcing success story, got a huge boost today when iYogi - a remote technical support

provider from India - raised $ 9.5 million in Series B financing from SAP Ventures, a division of SAP AG, Canaan Partners and SVB India Capital Partners, a venture fund affiliate of Silicon Valley Bank.

iYogi (www.iyogi.net) delivers technical support services directly to consumers and small businesses and is the first, global, technical support brand based out of India. The company offers its customers an unlimited, annual service subscription for $119.99 per desktop that includes support for a wide range of technologies, including PC hardware Microsoft Windows operating system, software applications, peripherals and multifunctional devices.

“Personal Offshoring has created new investment opportunities in India with incredible growth potential,” said Doug Higgins, partner at SAP Ventures. “It is very exciting to see companies like iYogi challenging the traditional enterprise-focused offshore-service delivery model by creating a consumer-focused, direct-to-customer personal offshore model. iYogi is one of the fastest-growing companies in this market segment, and we look forward to working with them to create India’s next success story.”

“Our focus on the customer experience has helped us achieve a 93 percent satisfaction rate across more than 50,000 customers,” said Uday Challu, CEO of iYogi. “We are delighted to have the support of three terrific investors as we increase our market share and continue to provide the best technical support experience possible for our customers.”

iYogi will use the funds to fuel its expansion into 12 new regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, and to increase its delivery of new services including PC recovery, anti-virus/spyware, data back-up and PC optimization.

“As consumer technologies grow in sophistication, consumers will be seeking the kind of home IT support services – including remote services offered by companies such as iYogi – to help them solve their most complex problems,” said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst, Parks Associates. “In primary research, we found more than one-third of consumers are willing to pay for competent and professional remote support services, and 60% express a strong interest in software solutions – what we refer to as ‘PC Dashboards’ – that automate many basic PC performance enhancement and troubleshooting features, solving many PC-related problems before they even are noticed by end-users.”

iYogi had previously raised $3.1 million in Series A financing from Canaan Partners and SVB in April of last year. “iYogi is one of the most promising investments for Canaan Partners,” said Alok Mittal, managing director of India at Canaan Partners. “Third-party, vendor-independent technical support is an exciting new service category, witnessing explosive growth. Customers are looking beyond the traditional vendor-provided support to remote channels for better problem resolution, faster service, and greater overall satisfaction. iYogi has created an incredible value proposition and price offering for its customers that is hard to beat.”

”Several next generation outsourcing companies from India are delivering a range of personal offshoring services for individuals and small businesses in the U.S. including online tutoring, tax preparation, remote executive assistance and research services,” said Suresh Shanmugham, managing director of SVB India Capital Partners, a venture fund affiliate of Silicon Valley Bank. “iYogi has leveraged the technical skills available in India along with process expertise to scale as a global technical support provider for millions faced with increasingly complex technology”.

About SAP Ventures
SAP Ventures invests in innovative and disruptive software and services companies globally. We pursue opportunities across all stages for outstanding financial return. Our goal is to bring substantial benefit to all parties by facilitating interaction between portfolio companies and SAP and its ecosystem of customers and partners. SAP Ventures has a successful track record of building industry-leading companies by partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and top-tier venture capital firms since 1996. For more information, visit www.sapventures.com.

About Canaan Partners

Canaan Partners is a global venture capital firm specializing in early-stage information technology and life sciences companies. Founded in 1987, Canaan Partners has $2.4 billion capital under management and has invested in more than 240 companies, completed 63 mergers and acquisitions, and brought over 50 companies public. The firm catalyzes the development of innovative mobile, Internet, CleanTech, networking, semiconductor, enterprise software and services, biotechnology and medical technologies to build next-generation market leaders. Canaan was an early investor in Acme Packet (APKT), Aperto Networks, BharatMatrimony.com, Blurb, DoubleClick (DCLK), ID Analytics, Match.com and SuccessFactors, along with dozens of other market-leading companies. Canaan is headquartered in Menlo Park, California and also has offices in Connecticut, India and Israel. For more information visit: www.canaan.com.

SVB India Capital Partners Fund and Silicon Valley Bank

SVB India Capital Partners Fund is a $54 million equity fund that is focused on companies and co-invests across industries and stages with top-tier venture capital firms. Silicon Valley Bank is the premier commercial bank for emerging, growth and mature companies in the technology, life science, private equity and premium wine industries. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., the company serves clients around the world through 27 U.S. offices and five international operations. Silicon Valley Bank is a member of global financial services firm SVB Financial Group, with SVB Analytics, SVB Capital, SVB Global and SVB Private Client Services. More information on the company can be found at www.svb.com.

About iYogi

iYogi is the first direct-to-consumer and small business technical support service from India. Providing an annual unlimited subscription to technical support for $119.99 per year, iYogi now boasts more than 50,000 customers. The company employs 450 professionals servicing customers in the U.S., U.K., Canada fast expanding to 12 new geographies across the globe. iYogi’s resolution rate of 87 percent and customer satisfaction rate of 93 percent are amongst the highest published benchmarks in the industry. For further information, please visit www.iyogi.net.

SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. iYogi shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.




Contact:

Company Name:
iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd

Address:
iYogi Inc.
12 Desbrosses Street
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013
Toll Free no: 1-800-237-3901
Work Number: 1-212-229-0901
F ax Number: 1-888-867-2715

Why are consumer chossing vista despite of all that problems

Windows Vista didn't make a smooth market entrance; in fact, nearly every aspect of the operating system has been attacked since its release on January 30, 2007. Multiple SKUs allegedly confused customers, anti-DRM groups disliked Vista's Protected Video Path and its overall DRM friendliness, and Microsoft's definition of "Vista Capable" got the company sued. Toss in a plethora of bugs and the usual consumer backlash over GUI changes, and you'd think consumers would be avoiding Vista in droves. According to new information, however, they aren't—Vista's adoption rate over the past year actually exceeded XP's in 2001, and consumers apparently choose Vista over XP by a 7:1 margin.

Small businesses definitely prefer Windows XP to Vista (70 percent to 30 percent), only 7 percent of consumers appear to be opting for Windows XP over Vista.

There's been a bit of a tussle over these numbers. PC World's Techlog recently published an article stating that by the end of its first year, Windows XP accounted for 36 percent of that site's users, while Vista accounts for only 14 percent today. Based on this evidence, the Techlog author concludes that Vista's adoption rate is much lower than XP's.

While Bott makes no statements regarding the current total number of XP users vs. the number of Vista users, he notes that while PC World's numbers are undoubtedly accurate, they reflect only the OS usage of people who visited PC World, not the entire consumer market. Regardless of what the current split is between XP and Vista, other evidence suggests that Vista is gaining market share over XP at an appreciable clip.

Battlestar Galactica's sexy Cylon Six summed up the current controversy when she said, "All this has happened before, and all this will happen again." Vista will inevitably supersede Windows XP as the dominant OS, and all the tongue-in-cheek "I upgraded to Windows XP" articles, criticism (valid or not), and frantic pleas from Linux users that this time they really are a mainstream alternative isn't going to change that. Consumers may or may not like Vista compared to XP, but they tend to buy whatever OS a system is shipped with and there's no evidence to suggest that large numbers of buyers are actually choosing to downgrade to Windows XP.

In time, Microsoft will release another OS (Windows 7), and the entire cycle will repeat. Vista will go from the heartily-disliked upstart to the "real" OS that end users vow to clutch unto death. It's a process that has repeated itself multiple times in the computer industry, and it speaks more to humanity's dislike of change than it does to the strength or weakness of any Microsoft product. Definitive information won't be available until Microsoft deigns to speak on the matter, but thus far Vista's launch and first year look quite a bit like XP's. Check back a year after Windows 7 is released, and see if you don't see a trend.

source: arstechnica.com

Windows Vista - How to Show Hidden Files in Explorer

Problem: You cannot view any sytem or hidden files in Vista's C:\drive. Moreover, when you launch Vista's Explorer you cannot find the Tools menu to change these file settings.

Solution A: Vista's new way is to begin by navigating to the Control Panel. Select the Appearance and Personalization section, from there, Folder Options --> Show hidden files and folders.

What you should now see is the familiar Windows menu called Folder Options. Click on the View tab and then scroll down to Hidden files and folders. Select the radio button next to Show hidden files and folders. While I am at these advanced settings, my preference is to remove the tick next to 'Hide protected operating system files'.

Above is a screen shot of the Vista Control Panel featuring the Hidden files and folders settings.

Solution B: Launch the Vista Explorer (Windows Explorer and not IE7). What I do is press the Windows key + e. Now press just the Alt key. Magically, the Alt key causes the old File Edit View Tools menu to appear, under the Tools menu you will find the Files and Folder settings with the View tab.

Above is a screen shot after pressing the Alt key in Vista's explorer.

Sign of Greater Security

While finding the Files and folder settings is a relatively trivial task, it gives a glimpse that increased security impacts every aspect of Vista. Another point that I would like to make is that the Control Panel has grown in importance and consequently has a modified layout compared with XP.

Where is Boot.ini

No matter what settings you try in Vista's folder options you won't find a boot.ini file with Windows Explorer. The reason is simple, boot.ini has been replaced by BCD Boot Configuration Data. You find the BCD file in the Boot folder, however, if you need to make any changes in the boot behaviour use the command line program bcdedit.

Comple to Login through Username and Password

In some situations we need to impose a login schema using user name and password. This short of user management can be carried out through the steps depicts :- Follow the steps to carry on the schema

1. Go to Start
2. In the Search box, type: local security policy
3. Double click the local security policy entry
4. Open "Local Policies"
5. Select "Security Options"
6. Double click the entry titled: "Interactive Login: Do not display last user name"
7. Place a checkmark in the "Enabled" checkbox
8. Click OK

Accessing Windows Vista backups with Virtual PC or Virtual Server

Unlike a lot of the other industry analysts, I personally like Windows Vista. One area of the OS where I think Microsoft really dropped the ball, however, is the Backup and Restore Center.

For those unfamiliar with this feature, Microsoft did away with the NTBACKUP program that it has included with every version of Windows for more than a decade and replaced it with this new backup program.

The reason why I'm not a fan of Vista's Backup and Restore Center is because I feel it's been dumbed down to fit the needs of the computer illiterate. Unfortunately, the interface does not offer any advanced options for computer support, meaning you don't even have the luxury of choosing which files you want to back up. Your only options are to either perform a full system backup or back up various types of files (documents, pictures, music, etc.).

The reason why I'm not a fan of Vista's Backup and Restore Center is because I feel it's been dumbed down to fit the needs of the computer illiterate.

With Vista, Microsoft has also changed the file format used to store data that has been backed up. NTBACKUP has traditionally saved backed up data in a .BKF file. The Backup and Restore Center stores data in a .VHD file instead.

At first, this changed file format seems inconsequential given the other more dramatic changes to the backup application. However, the new file format is really something of a double-edged sword. The downside is that it prevents you from restoring data that was backed up using a previous version of Windows. Fortunately, the folks in Redmond haven't left us without options. Microsoft has a free utility that allows you to restore NTBACKUP data files to Vista, called the Windows NT Backup-Restore Utility.

Mounting a backup file as a virtual hard drive

The upside of the changed file format is that .VHD is the same file format used by Virtual PC 2005. In Virtual PC 2005, a VHD file is a virtual hard drive. That means if you perform a full system backup, you can mount the backup file as a virtual hard drive within Virtual PC. And it's simple to do. When you open the Virtual PC console, click the New button. That will cause Virtual PC to launch the New Virtual Machine Wizard. Click Next to bypass the wizard's Welcome screen, and you will see a screen with several options for creating a virtual machine. Choose the Create A Virtual Machine option, and click Next.

At this point, you must assign a name to the virtual machine you are creating. You can call it anything you want, but I recommend naming it something descriptive. After entering a name, click Next and you will be prompted to select the operating system used by the virtual machine. Choose Windows Vista from the list, and click Next.

You'll now see a screen asking you if you want to use the recommended amount of RAM or if you would like to adjust it. By default, Virtual PC allocates 512 MB to the operating system. This is barely enough to run Vista, so I would recommend increasing the memory allocation if you have the memory to spare.

After you finish adjusting the memory allocation, a screen appears asking if you want to use an existing virtual hard drive or create a new one. Choose the existing virtual hard drive option, and click Next. You will now be prompted to specify the virtual hard drive file that you want to use. Just pick your backup file, click Next, and you're good to go.

One caveat I should mention is that you can only mount a backup file as a virtual hard drive if the backup file contains a full system backup.

Why is this the way to go?

So the real question now is why you would want to do this. There are really two primary reasons. The first reason is that treating your backup file as a virtual hard drive is a great way of testing your backup. Server backups are tested all the time, but it's rare to test a workstation backup. This is partly because users often lack a spare machine to restore the backup to. You can't very well restore the backup to the machine that it was made on either because doing so would overwrite the system's current configuration. If something were to go wrong in the restore process, you would lose everything. Treating your backup file as a virtual hard drive gives you a risk-free way of testing your backup.

The other reason why it's nice to be able to treat your backup file as a virtual hard drive is that it gives you much more flexibility to restore data. As I mentioned earlier, Vista's Backup and Restore Center interface is extremely limited. If you have something specific that you want to restore, it is a lot easier to just mount the backup as a virtual hard drive and then copy the files you need to a network location or a removable disk then it is to fumble with the Backup and Restore Center interface.

How to Configure Group Policy Objects for Windows Vista

GPOs are created in a central manner and are stored on all domain controllers in a forest. GPOs can be accessed via Active Directory Users and Computers:

1. Click Start.
   
2. Click All Programs.
   
3. Select Administrative Tools.
   
4. Pick Active Directory Users and Computers.
   
5. Expand to an OU.
   
6. Right-click and choose Properties.
   
7. Select the Group Policy tab. If you have the GPMC loaded, it will prompt you to open it.

GPOs can also be accessed through the Group Policy Management console:

1. Click Start, Run, type gpmc.msc, and then press Enter. If Run is not available from the Start menu, it can be accessed by pressing the Windows and R keys at the same time.

The Group Policy Management Console is preinstalled on Vista.

Introducing the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC)

The release of the GPMC provided huge improvements in the creation and management of GPOs. Prior to the GPMC, an administrator had to open each GPO in the editor and examine all possible settings to determine which settings had been changed from the defaults. In the GPMC, you can view all the unique settings of a given GPO via the following steps:

1. Launch the GPMC (Start, Run, gpmc.msc).
   
2. Expand the Forest container.
   
3. Expand the Domains container.
   
4. Expand the Domain Object that holds the GPO you are interested in.
   
5. Expand Group Policy Objects.
   
6. Left-click the GPO in question.
   
7. Click the Settings tab in the right pane.

GPMC will show Generating Report and then the containers that are modified. Click Show All to see all settings contained in the GPO, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1

The GPMC is also useful for backing up and restoring GPOs. This should be used whenever a GPO is to be modified. This way, if the GPO causes unwanted issues, an administrator can restore the previous version of the GPO to return systems to their previous configuration. To back up a GPO with the GPMC, follow these steps:

1. Launch the GPMC (Start, Run, gpmc.msc).
   
2. Expand the Forest container.
   
3. Expand the Domains container.
   
4. Expand the Domain Object that holds the GPO you are interested in.
   
5. Expand Group Policy Objects.
   
6. Right-click the GPO in question and choose Backup.
   
7. Browse to the location where you want to store the backed up GPO and enter a description. Click Back Up.
   
8. When the backup is completed, click OK.

To restore a GPO with the GPMC, follow these steps:

1. Launch the GPMC (Start, Run, gpmc.msc).
   
2. Expand the Forest container.
   
3. Expand the Domains container.
   
4. Expand the Domain Object that holds the GPO you are interested in.
   
5. Expand Group Policy Objects.
   
6. Right-click the GPO in question and choose Restore from Backup.
   
7. When the wizard launches, click Next.
   
8. Browse to the location of the backup and click Next.
   
9. Choose the backup you want to restore (Note: this is where entering a description was helpful) and click Next.
   
10. Click Finish and the restore will begin.
    
11. When the restore has completed successfully, click OK.

Figure 2

Creating a New GPO in the GPMC

The GPMC is the logical place to create new GPOs. Generally speaking, the creation of a GPO should coincide with the desire to automate some specific configuration across multiple machines. This means that the person creating the GPO should already know what settings to assign to a given GPO.

To create a new GPO, follow these steps:

1. Launch the GPMC (Start, Run, gpmc.msc).
   
2. Expand the Forest container.
   
3. Expand the Domain container.
   
4. Expand the Domain Object that holds the GPO you are interested in.
   
5. Right-click Group Policy Objects and choose New.
   
6. Enter the name of the GPO you want to create (use a descriptive name) and click OK.

This will create a new, empty GPO in the management console. To modify settings within the GPO, you need to use the GPO Editor. Right-clicking the new GPO and choosing Edit will launch the GPO Editor.

Using the GPO Editor

The GPO Editor that is triggered via the GPMC is the same editor originally used since Windows 2000. Not much has changed. The editor expresses the GPO in two sections, Computer and User settings, as shown in Figure 3. Although an administrator can set both user and computer settings in the same GPO, it is considered a best practice to limit a given GPO to either User or Computer settings. This is related to the way GPOs are linked and is discussed in more detail later in this chapter.

Figure 3

The editor allows the administrator to browse through the available configuration settings in a graphic format for computer support. For example, you could expand User Configuration, Administrative Templates, System, and Windows HotStart to have the ability to turn off Windows HotStart. Because this is a new GPO setting, you might wonder what Windows HotStart is. By selecting Turn Off Windows HotStart, you will see that an explanation of the setting has appeared to the left of the setting. To save space in the window, you could click the Standard tab at the bottom of the screen