Three technology providers are set to empower the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. According to them, this empowerment would help in leveraging technology to drive business growth.
This much was made known at ‘Accelerate Your Business’ event organized by Microsoft, in partnership with Intel and HP. On the rationale for the empowerment, SMB Customer Marketing Manager, Microsoft Nigeria, Adeniyi Adebote said the contribution of Small and Medium Enterprises to Nigeria’s GDP currently stands at one per cent, their potentials to contribute more and become the bedrock of the country’s economy cannot be over-emphasized, and this necessitated Microsoft’s partnership with Intel and HP to organize an SME-focused event aimed at educating them on ways to better adopt technologies to scale their businesses.
“Accelerate your business is an opportunity for Microsoft and its partners to collaborate with Small and Medium Businesses to see how they can leverage technology devices from HP utilizing Intel Processor and Microsoft Windows 10 operating system including its Office 365 Productivity Suites, as well as cloud solutions to achieve growth and greater efficiency.”
On his part, the Regional Marketing Manager Personal Systems North East and West Africa at HP, Tolu Lawani advised SMEs to adopt right tools and technology to remain competitive in the current economic situation.
According to him, business landscape in Nigeria is very dynamic. As such, SMEs need support from relevant private and public sectors to find their feet in the economy. He charged SMEs to register with SME Business Club, an initiative of HP, Microsoft and Intel to host Small and Medium Businesses and provide them with needed supports and exclusive product offers.
Signs of hard drive failure
By Ajibola Olaniyan
A hard drive or hard disk is a mechanical device, much like your car. Most computer components are purely electronic and can only be damaged by electronic means (such as power surge). However, hard disks are subject to both electronic and mechanical ‘attack’, which can cause hard disk problems.
Here’s a guide to both protecting against hard disk failure, and emergency recovery if hard disk problems have caught you off guard. Types of hard drive failures Considering the technological complexities concerning hard drive design and operation, it is no surprise that failures do occur.
Hard drive failures can present themselves in any number of ways, determined by the cause of the failure. Physical These are often due to a failure of the electric motor or the drive itself – the moving parts.
They can also happen because of a major head crash (caused by your computer being dropped or jostled while it’s running). Head crash This occurs when the read/write head assembly makes contact with the disk platter/s. This can be caused by a failure of the internal components or by a physical force, such as the hard drive being dropped. Contamination within the hard drive enclosure (dust or any other particles) is also a cause for a head crash.
Weak heads and bad media If the read/write heads become weak they are unable to read data from the drive. This can also occur if the magnetic surface media deteriorates. These circumstances will result in certain sectors on the HDD being unable to be read.
All computers have problems, but you don’t need to panic about hard disk failure unless one or more of the following things are happening:
1. Clicking or grinding noises while running.
2. Files mysteriously disappear. Usually more than once.
3. Locking up during the boot process – hard disk problems are indicated if this happens frequently.
4. The computer often freezes, and when it does, you are left without mouse or keyboard input and have to do a hard reset.
5. Standard file processes like saving and opening slow down interminably, even for small files.
6. Increase in the number of bad sectors noted when running chkdsk.
7. You can’t speed up computer performance even by applying optimization tricks.
8. You notice that your computer is unusually hot. Using S.M.A.R.T , alternate solution If your hard disk is equipped with S.M.A.R.T. technology (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology), there will be log files that can be checked to predict the probability of failure in the near future. S.M.A.R.T. technology monitors a wide range of hard disk symptoms and logs the condition of the disk. It aims to provide a predictable failure date for the disk.