By Stu Judd w/Wayne Viener
When working at a tech firm, one receives loads of trade magazines, catalogs, and marketing emails touting the latest products and technologies from companies large and small designed. They claim to make our lives, as computers administrators better; as well as those of our customers. Most of our customers are the users of personal computers and other technologies in a business setting. So we are always on the lookout for products that help computers and companies run smoother and thus, better.
I recently came upon one such product from Microsoft called Steady State. This program is meant to keep your computer in an unbreakable mode. Hence the name, Steady State. Steady State is a free program. It will only load on pc’s whose Windows operating systems have been activated and registered with Microsoft.
You see, with Steady State installed, you may return the computer to its default Windows “state” when a user is done using it just by rebooting. Any changes to the system made by, or any viruses contracted by, the previous user are removed, so that the next user of the machine has a clean, fresh Windows session in which to work.
“Shared access” is a term used to refer to a scenario where you have a computer or computers that are accessed by more than one user either to run a specific program or programs, or perhaps just for internet access. If you have pc’s that are used in a “shared access” environment, Steady State may be of use to you.
If you have questions or comments for me, send them to Stu@vienerconsulting.com
For more information about Steady State, its features, and its restrictions, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/whatis/default.mspx
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