The Real Lessons Learned

OK, last night I was really tired and really angry. Now that I have had 3 1/2 hours of sleep, I'm back in good form...
I found my QB Pos and QB Pro software at home after 2 hours of searching. I am currently working on reinstalling both to see if I can get this POS system up and running. If not, I will have to reinstall Windows, both QB softwares, anti-virus, printer software, MS Office, etc, etc....

Here is the helpful version of lessons learned if you own a small business:
1. When you buy software, make a copy of the CD's and use them whenever you need to reinstall the software. Keep these copies in your filing cabinet under something obvious, like "Critical software that I will get no sleep if I can't find it."
Keep the original software files, in their boxes, somewhere safe off site. Once again, put it somewhere obvious that you will remember in six months or a year.

2. Take all of your software key codes and put them in an email and email them to yourself. I set up a free hotmail account just for storing critical files and information like this.

3. If the software you own has a download version, download it and keep it on your hard drive. This makes for very easy installation if needed. Copy the website URL for the software download and email it to yourself.

4. Have a backup computer ready to go. Have Windows, MS Office, QB Pro, QB POS, Antivirus, Printer support, etc all installed. If your main POS computer goes down, you can install this one, do a restore from back up and you are in business.

Good luck.
JD