Steps

Make sure that your desired drive is selected [C: being the default drive], and click on the Defragment button.

When you buy computer software or a peripheral such as a printer or scanner, you’re sure to find the product’s minimum requirements listed somewhere on the packaging. Minimum requirements give the lowest specification of each component of your computer – memory, processor or graphics card, say – that’s needed in order for the program or peripheral to run properly.

If you’re unsure how much memory your computer has, how powerful the processor is or which operating system you’re running, here’s how to find out. We’ve included instructions for Windows Vista, Windows XP and Mac OS X.

Check specs in Windows Vista

If your computer is running Windows Vista, you can find out details about its system using the following steps:

Select Start > Control Panel > System. 

This brings up a box showing basic information about your computer such as the type of processor and the amount of memory installed.

You can get further information about your graphics card, sound card and attached peripherals, too:

Clicking on Device Manager from the left-hand Tasks menu will show you more information about the hardware you have installed. 

(See the instructions for using Windows XP, below, to find out more about Device Manager).

Check specs in Windows XP

If your computer is running Windows XP, you can find out details about its system using the following steps:

Select Start > Control Panel > System. This launches the System Properties dialog box.

Alternatively, right-click the My Computer icon (usually on your desktop or accessible from the Start bar) and select Properties.

The General tab on the System Properties window displays those all important Ram and processor details and which version of Windows you’re using (including the Service Pack).

Device Manager

You’ll notice that there are other tabs running along the top of the System Properties box. Clicking on one of these tabs brings up further options within the box. For example, to see what printer, scanner or graphics card is installed on your computer, click the Hardware tab, then Device Manager. 

You’ll see a list of different types of hardware. To bring up further information about a piece of hardware, right-click on the hardware in the list, then select Properties to see more details.

Check specs in Mac OS X

If your computer is running Mac OS X, you can find out details about its system using the following steps:

Click the Apple icon at the top left of your screen, and select About this Mac (you’ll see About this computer instead on older Macs).

A box will appear on the screen containing information on what operating system you’re running, how much Ram memory your Mac has and details about your processor. 

The latest versions of Mac OS X have a ‘More info…’ button you can click for in-depth hardware and software specifications.

Some 62 per cent of the mums said that  choosing the hours they work was the main reason they wanted to start-up in business, while 50 per cent wanted a better work/life balance and 38 per cent said they liked the idea of being their own boss.

Lynn Hogg proprietor of on-line discount maternity store www.more4mums.co.uk/ and mother of 2, said that “it’s hard to get a work/life balance with looking after 2 small children, but I feel that being my own boss is the best option”.

The government is only too keen to help mums start a business, they have recently unveiled a new strategy, aimed at doubling the number of female entrepreneurs.  This strategy offers advice on pitching for bank loans and preparing business plans.  This strategy together with a recent upsurge of mums starting and running business has lead to a new term being used that of “the “mumpreneur”.

In the UK, more than a third of female entrepreneurs are aged 30 or under, and 74% of women who started a business did so before their child was two.

It’s not just down to a desire for flexibility, it’s also the result of good ideas. Many of these mumpreneur businesses are based on children and their needs: there is nothing that shows up a gap in the market quicker than hunting in vain for something for your baby.  The White Company’s Christian Rucker started The Little White Company because she couldn’t find baby bedding or pyjamas that she liked.

Lynn of more4mums, said she wouldn’t have it any other way. “It is good to be flexible in the hours I work with my business, the business gives me a challenge  and I get to spend time with our 2 children, when it suits me…the flexibility is the key driver”.

It certainly looks like the mumpreneur is a fast growing segment of the business world in the UK.

Some four-fifths (79 per cent) of retailers claim they couldn’t have kept their high street presence alive without being online at the same time, according to a survey from eBay.

Shaun Redhead, manager of Intersales Music, says his income has doubled since he began selling online two years ago. ‘As a result, we’ve been able to invest more into our business and grow at a rapid pace. Most importantly, it has allowed us to expand our bricks and mortar shop; in fact we have now bought the store next door and doubled the shop in size,’ he says.

While British shoppers currently spend £1 in every £13 online, eBay sees this rising to £1 in £5 over the next decade, with online sales in categories such as electricals and books exceeding those offline.

Mark Lewis, managing director for eBay in the UK, says retailers can’t afford to ignore e-commerce. ‘To ensure businesses continue to thrive on the high street, they must raise their game and exploit new sales channels. The internet can provide a lifeline to all businesses, connecting them to customers across the globe.’

According to online sales body IMRG, e-commerce was up by 11 per cent in November compared to last year, with shoppers spending £5.3 billion online last month.

British small-to-medium enterprises are increasingly turning to ecommerce as a means of improving their retail operations, according to new research.

Figures from Actnic show that over 35 per cent of retailers quizzed now sell goods on the internet – jumping from the 11 per cent share recorded in 2006.

It was also found that over a quarter of companies questioned operate through several channels, with outlets welcoming customers on the high street also taking orders over the telephone and on the internet.

“Times are tough for retailers so I’m sure that the take up of ecommerce will be significant in 2009 as it is the only channel where profits and growth are still on the up,” was the assessment of Actnic chief executive, Chris Barling.

He added: “However, the use of integrated software applications across multiple channels is still limited to a minority of retailers, so there is a clear market here.”

Meanwhile, it was discovered that a sizable proportion of firms asked are making use of online marketplaces on the web.

Amazon and eBay were picked out as the most popular websites for the placement of goods in online auctions.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has confirmed that e-commerce is growing in popularity in the UK.

According to its latest figures, December saw £238 million spent on products online, totalling 3.5 per cent of all retail transactions.

This was up from a 2.8 per cent share recorded in June, although the ONS said in its report that the figures represented “an estimate of the specific contribution of internet sales to overall retail sales in Great Britain”.

The transactions recorded in the report also only refer to products, as opposed to services, and those bought by “consumers for personal and household use”.

While statistics from the ONS are typically classed as “official”, other reports have suggested that online retail was up considerably in December.

The Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) reported that 3.8 million people bought goods online on Christmas Day alone, spending more than £100 million in total.

While the IMRG said that 14 per cent fewer people used e-commerce sites on Christmas 2008 compared with 2007, the number of transactions was 26 per cent higher.

However, there were signs that the recession had hit consumer spending, with more goods being bought, but of a lower cost than the previous year.

Touch technology
The vision of Tom Cruise in Minority Report weaving data between his fingertips is close at hand. Robert Epstein, head of small business sales and marketing at Microsoft, believes that very soon businesses will be experiencing a more intuitive interaction with technology. ‘In the future, I think we will see more and more natural user experiences. For example, Windows 7 already has touch built into it. It will all become much more seamless for users.’

On another planet
Step into a world where there’s no recession. Second Life is a virtual landscape where you can invent your very own entrepreneur. It even has its own currency, the Linden dollar (the exchange rate being around L$250 to the US dollar). So if the everyday slog all gets too much, try the virtual equivalent.

Web 2.0 (or 3.0)
Hyped beyond belief they may be, but social networking sites are here to stay. For Wendy Shand, founder of child holiday accommodation advice site Tots to Travel, social networking provides a low-cost way to market her business. ‘Blogging, Twitter and Facebook are all very useful business tools, and a very immediate, vibrant way of marketing,’ she says. ‘They also allow us to easily keep up to date with what our competitors are doing.’

Intelligent software
‘In the past, all financial information tended to get locked away in a big database in the accounting department,’ says Microsoft’s Epstein. ‘So the person in sales wouldn’t have access to the analysis of his customers. Business intelligence software puts these tools into the hands of the people who can make the most use out of them. It connects the data together, and can easily be viewed through Excel, for example.’

We are the robots
Adam Collins at BT predicts that businesses will start taking advantage of developments happening in robotics: ‘It won’t be so much a case of the robot doing the photocopying, but of the robot being the photocopier and walking over to you.’ Peter Czapp, director of accountancy firm The Wow Company, agrees: ‘Further into the future, we’ll get a greater understanding of the way minds work. Emerging technology is already starting to take advantage of that. It’s quite possible we will be able to control robots through the power of our minds.’

Voice recognition
Software that can transcribe the spoken word into text is an area already being widely developed, says Rob Bamforth, analyst at technology consultancy Quocirca: ‘There is a whole spectrum of [voice recognition solutions], from fully manual to fully automated, and industry players are trying to move the bar closer towards automation.’ However, as the recent controversy around SpinVox suggests, there is some doubt as to whether people will ever be taken out of the equation entirely given the complexity of language and cognition. ‘You will always need some form of human oversight or quality control,’ says Bamforth.

Girl power
The future of entrepreneurship looks decidedly female, claims Shand: ‘We’re definitely going to see more women entrepreneurs with the rise in technology. It allows them to be successful and at the same time do the things that are important to them, like being free to pick up the children. It does empower women, and as a result we will see a greater gender balance of business owners.’

If you buy equipment for your business, you may be able to get tax relief in the form of capital allowances. These allowances are for equipment, which you buy to keep and use in your business, such as vehicles, tools, computers and business furniture. Capital allowances do not cover things bought and sold as part of your trade, but you can claim these as business expenses.

Update your employment status
 
You can register with HM Revenue & Customs online, and the website will walk you through the process. Make sure you do register as self-employed, because if you don’t you will face a fine.

Prepare your finances

Having the correct credit management systems and payment procedures in place is essential to ensure the smooth running of any new business. Efficient cash flow is vital as expenditure is high, especially in the first year, and systems need to be in place to ensure that money is coming into the business, as well as going out.

Be organised

Keeping full and accurate records from the start will make it easier to work out what you owe in terms of tax and National Insurance. All records must be kept for six years – both business and private. Failure to keep records could lead to paying too much tax or a fine of up to £3,000.

Keep the taxman happy

As a self-employed individual you will also be responsible for making your own contributions, this includes remitting your contributions on a quarterly basis. It is important to take care of your National Insurance for two reasons: firstly, you may end up contributing too much, and secondly, you will lose out on state benefits that are related to the amount of National Insurance contributions you have made.

Being self-employed requires you to complete and submit your tax returns. If you want to speed things up then you can submit a full tax return online – not only does this save on process time, but it automatically calculates your tax when you file your return online.  Whether you submit your return online or offline, make sure you check your tax calculation once you have received it, as this will form the basis of your payment.

Don’t wing it

Experienced professional advice can bring essential financial management procedures to your business, allowing you to concentrate on getting the company to where you want it to be

The UK’s cheapest mobile broadband providers has just slashed its prices for existing customers, bringing its lowest-priced package to just £5 a month (06-05-08).

The promotion, which cuts mobile broadband line rental in half for life, is only available to current 3 (www.Three.co.uk) mobile phone customers.

And those signing up to one of its Lite, Plus or Max mobile broadband packages before 31 May for 18 or 24 months will also get a free USB dongle.

Broadband Lite, which comes with a 1GB usage allowance will cost existing customers just £5 a month from £10, Broadband Plus, with a 3GB usage allowance will cost £7.50 a month from £15 and Broadband Max, which has a usage allowance of 7GB a month will now cost existing 3 customers from £25 a month to just £12.50.

3 is currently upgrading its network to offer speeds of up to 7.2Mb but at present top speeds are up to 2.8Mb.

Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “If you’re an existing 3 customer this is a great opportunity to try cut-price mobile broadband that stays low for the life of your contract – and even a free dongle worth up to £99.99.

“However, you need to keep an eye on your downloads with 3 as it has a set usage limit and charges 10 per MB over your 1GB, 3GB or 7GB allowance. Install our free Broadband Download Monitor on your laptop to keep track of your downloads and set an alarm to ensure you never exceed your limit,” he advised

O2 Mobile Broadband  has dropped the connection fee from its free laptop mobile broadband packages.

Previously, customers signing up to some “free laptop” deals from O2 had to pay a connect ion fee to get their laptop or netbook. Now however, both the Asus 1005H and the Samsung R519 are free on either the 3GB mobile broadband plan or the 10GB option.The Asus 1005H is an ultra-portable netbook with a 10inch screen, 160GB hard drive and built-in webcam. It starts at £25 a month with a 3GB allowance or £35 a month on the 10GB tariff, both with a 500MB monthly wireless hotspot allowance.

The Samsung R519 is a full-sized model, which comes with a 15.6inch screen, 250GB hard drive, DVD drive and webcam. It costs £35 a month on the 3GB package or £45 a month on the 10GB option, both with unlimited wifi.

All of O2’s free laptop deals also come with a 30 day Happiness Guarantee in case you’re not completely satisfied, and a month’s free access to the O2 Techies service – perfect for helping you get set up.

It is widely acknowledged that free laptop packages with your 02 Mobile broadband are great for spreading the cost of a new computer, provide a great service and a fantastic value Mobile Broadband package.

Here are some good examples of the interesting articles we have pulled together on Broadband: How to choose a broadband provider….How to Switch Broadband Provider..What is mobile Broadband….Best Value Broadband Packages

BT said 4 million homes and businesses would be able to get it by 2011. BT Retail said the basic 40mbps service will be offered for £19.99 per month on an 18 month contract. It will also charge an installation fee of £50 for those on the lowest tariff.  The current highest speed service from BT available to homes is 20 Mbs, though not all homes can get this top speed service.

Only those who opt for BT’s most expensive tariff, £24.99 per month, will get the 10mbps upload speed. With the basic package upload speed is up to 2mbps.

As with lower speed services only those closest to BT’s exchanges are likely to get the full 40mbps.

The fibre service is being rolled out by BT’s Openreach arm and will be offered to other telecom operators to re-sell.

BT Retail said customers of the cheaper Infinity service would be limited to downloads of 20GB per month. Those paying more will get an unlimited service.

The faster broadband speeds that Infinity is based on, will be available to other telecom providers, so we can expect to see products from TalkTalk and Sky in due course, so the introduction of the faster speeds by BT will lead to a better broadband service for customers of a lot of telecom operators.

Here are some good examples of the interesting articles we have pulled together on Broadband: How to choose a broadband provider….How to Switch Broadband Provider..What is mobile Broadband….Best Value Broadband Packages