Cynthia is having a productivity issue with her business machine and asks the following question:  “I would like to have a second computer for personal use and emergency business use.  Is there an easy way to synchronize the two?”  Your question is a common one and the issue is also one which I point out to customers all the time.  Having a second computer for non-business use makes the business-only computer less susceptible to viruses and failures; which allows your business to run smoother.

For those who use computers for work and pleasure, I suggest a desktop and laptop used in conjunction.  Because I have multiple offices, and because of the nature of my business, I make full use of laptops and desktops.  I have dedicated one machine solely to my accounting and business functions.  A second – ‘personal’ – machine is setup with my business software; however, the data is not necessarily up-to-date.

I have found the best solution for me and other customers is to duplicate the software utilities from one machine to another and make periodic updates of the data.  In other words, I have installed QuickBooks, ACT!, and Office on two machines.  My ‘business’ laptop contains all of my current accounting, database and Office documents.  At least once a week I make a backup of all my data onto a thumb drive as a just-in-case step.

If, in the event of catastrophic failure, I can be up and running within minutes using my ‘personal’ machine.  Though this computer may have viruses or minor issues (I shouldn’t admit that), at least I have access to all my data in a usable form.  My bottom line (and what I instruct others) is that I am still able to conduct business with limited downtime.  Let’s face it, the goal of a business is to make money and as the very overused adage states:  “Time is money.”

My way is certainly not the best for everyone; however, based on your question, I suggest my method because it works for me.  Having a second machine as a backup is not  a bad idea for any small business provided you can afford both the monetary outlay and the added time to perform the backups and extra work.  By taking the added load of personal use from your business machine you will find it to last longer with little downtime due to normal wear and tear.

Nathan would like a simple solution to his never ending issues with duplicate data on his computer.  He asks:  “Do you know of any utilities which can simplify the task of manually finding duplicate data and deleting it?”    Nathan, I feel your agony.  Duplicate pictures, Office documents, and music can take up a ton of space on your hard drive.  I have a few utilities which can save you a ton of time.

CloneSpy only sounds malicious.  In reality, it’s a pretty powerful program which scans files by size, date, CRC value (like a digital finger print) and file name.  I recommend it first because it is extremely safe and requires user data prior to deleting any files.  Although the program takes longer than any other I’ve used, I believe it to be the best.  You can download it free from www.clonespy.com.

Another product, Duplicate Cleaner, is also free and caters mostly to collectors of MP3 music.  I have personally used it once and had very good results.  My MP3 collection had many duplicates and it would have taken me hours to sort through all the music.  Duplicate Cleaner sorted through the files and deleted all the duplicates within 20 minutes.  You can download this title from   http://www.digitalvolcano.co.uk/dupe.html.  This is also a free title.

No matter your choice, I suggest double checking the files prior to deleting anything.  My suggestion is to always err on the safe side.  If you have any question that the file is not truly a duplicate then I would simply remove it from the list and save it.  After all, you’re better safe than sorry.

Tip of the week:  Record your laptop’s serial number and store it in a safe spot in case it is stolen.

(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner.  You can e-mail him at Jeromy@LocalComputerWiz.com or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)