Tax Season 9-1-1

There are other trinkets and ideas I keep in my personal 9-1-1 toolkit. I keep the URL for the manufacturer of my motherboard handy, and the one for Microsoft’s Knowledge Base. I use Secunia’s free online software inspector at Secunia.com to help watch for troublesome security vulnerabilities. And I use Belarc’s free online analyzer so that I can instantly know what versions of everything are installed on my computer.

I also keep a spare monitor tucked in a closet. It’s rare that a monitor will die without advance signs (screen size changes, colors get weird, etc.), and often the problem is the video card and not the monitor. On the other hand, you can pick up a cheap working monitor at Goodwill for less than $10, and it doesn’t take much space to have peace of mind.

And peace of mind is what it’s all about. So if you have your own favorite tool for an office IT 9-1-1 tip or tool, drop me a note.

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Mr. McClure is a consultant and widely published writer on technology issues. He can be contacted at davemcclure@cpata.com.