Tom’s Tech Tip: Even Certified Legal Nurse Consultants Need Back-UPS
If you’re a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant who is a laptop computer user, you probably don’t have to read this Tech Tip, although I would recommend you do anyway. If you’re a CLNC® consultant who uses only a desktop computer – read on!
It’s hard to believe, but even in the year of 2015, in the Great State of Texas, we suffer from intermittent electrical power issues. Luckily, Vickie and I are both laptop users so when the power fails, just like that Energizer® Bunny, our computers keep running so none of our work is lost. Our peripherals, like our dual monitors and even our Internet service quit working when the power drops off – but at least our data is safe. We can then pop our laptops out of our docking stations, crank up our hot-spot and continue working until our batteries die or the power returns – whichever happens first.
But if Vickie and I were on desktop systems, a power blink would cause a crash, a loss of whatever we were working on at the time and we’d be out of work for the duration of the power outage. Luckily, there is a remedy that Vickie and I employ at home and in the Institute’s office. That remedy is placing a Back-UPS from APC at every computer station.
The Back-UPS not only protects from power blinks and surges, but more importantly, guarantees that when the power in the office fails, our computers and monitors do not. The run time depends on how many devices you have plugged into the Back-UPS, but for desktop users it will certainly give you enough time to safely save your work and take appropriate steps to safely shut down your computer. If it’s simply a power blip or surge, you’ll never know it, as the Back-UPS will just carry you straight through it. I’ve even added one to our Internet Gateway, WAP, phone base unit and switch so that we’ll never (almost) go down.
Keep on Techin’ (while the power’s gone)!
Tom
P.S.Comment and share what power back-up solution you use and/or the worst computer-related power failure catastrophe you’ve ever suffered.
2 thoughts on “Tom’s Tech Tip: Even Certified Legal Nurse Consultants Need Back-UPS”
Power outages are definitely a problem for your files, but I’d like to alert everyone to another risk out there. I was recently snagged by “ransomware” after going into LinkedIn and clicking on a banner on their site. I immediately got a “virus alert warning” and backed out and my computer ran fine all day, but the next morning when I logged in I received a notice saying that all my files had been encrypted and I would need to pay $950 in “ransom money” to get them back. My computer guy was not able to break it and said it was the most malicious ransomware that he had encountered, as well as damaging my computer. I had been listing “back-up” on my To-do list for months so it hit me hard. Luckily, many of my documents also lived in Dropbox or in hard copy in my files so I chose not to pay the ransom and $1200 later I have a new computer with an automatic back-up system in place. I have had to reconstruct many things though and that has consumed time better spent in other areas of my business. Just want to alert other CLNC® consultants to this problem.
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*The opinions and statements made by Vickie Milazzo, the founder of Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. are based on her experiences and expertise, should not be applied beyond the specific context provided, and do not guaranty or project actual results. Vickie Milazzo is no longer involved in the operations or management of the business, but is involved as an independent education consultant.
Keep on Techin’ (while the power’s gone)!
Power outages are definitely a problem for your files, but I’d like to alert everyone to another risk out there. I was recently snagged by “ransomware” after going into LinkedIn and clicking on a banner on their site. I immediately got a “virus alert warning” and backed out and my computer ran fine all day, but the next morning when I logged in I received a notice saying that all my files had been encrypted and I would need to pay $950 in “ransom money” to get them back. My computer guy was not able to break it and said it was the most malicious ransomware that he had encountered, as well as damaging my computer. I had been listing “back-up” on my To-do list for months so it hit me hard. Luckily, many of my documents also lived in Dropbox or in hard copy in my files so I chose not to pay the ransom and $1200 later I have a new computer with an automatic back-up system in place. I have had to reconstruct many things though and that has consumed time better spent in other areas of my business. Just want to alert other CLNC® consultants to this problem.
Michelle,
Sorry to hear about this. Ransomware is a very real threat on the Internet. Here’s an article about it http://www.pcworld.com/article/2084002/how-to-rescue-your-pc-from-ransomware.html
It’s not just limited to computers though and smart phones are also at risk – here’s an article about how to protect your phone: https://www.legalnurse.com/legal-nurse-consulting-blog/2014/06/toms-tech-tip-prevent-your-iphone-or-worse-from-getting-hacked
I’m glad you were able to recover from and hope you enjoy your new computer.
Tom