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The server where I placed my Web sites crashed early on May 22. It took over 24 hours to recover the server. That was only the start of my problems. Not only was all my data lost, but all my profile and options were also lost. To top it all, I couldn’t connect back to the server. After a few exchanges with the support team, I was able to reconfigure a FTP account and transfer my Web site back to the server. And then the sites went back down for a few more hours.

They were not proactive by informing me that their server was down. I had to inform them of the problem! Their backup procedure couldn’t transfer a backup to another available server or recover my profile. I lost another day trying to understand why I couldn’t reconnect thru FTP to retransfer my files. And the FTP connection was cut several times. But I have a couple of big Web sites with lots of files.

Then the sites came back but were not available everywhere. I worked fine in Europe but I couldn’t access the sites in America. I suspect that the problem was much larger than what I was told. Additional password security was added right after the server breakdown. Also, I noticed that some other Web sites added a “capcha” (a second password hidden in a picture) right after. Was there a major attack on the Web that went unnoticed? Do you have any more info on this?

Is after the second partial “blackout” that I decided to change to another Web host provider that turned out to be 1and1.com . The configuration is very different from what I was used to. It seems simpler to use and the technical support was great. The Web statistics don’t seem to be as complete as my previous host provider. It’s a good thing that I also use two other Web analysis site including Google Analytics.

Please contact me if you have any comments about 1and1.com: the good, the bad and the ugly.

April 6, 2008: A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away …

Oops! Sorry, wrong story. What I meant to say is that I changed the menu and put the topics on top of the menu. It's easier for people to see what's available on the site. But while doing so, I copied and pasted some code that erased the links to the next page. So I just wanted to tell you that the links were corrected and point to the right (or is that next) page.

Sorry about that.

February 22, 2008: Transfer of YouLearnExcel.com and "The free computer tutorial" users to this site.

Users of YouLearnExcel.com site and of "The free computer tutorial" Web sites may be surprised to be moved to this site. The "move" was coming for some time now. Actually, it's better here ! I'll be adding more options that I couldn't before.

I've used a "redirect 301" command to transfert everyone that wanted to see the old addresses toward this site. It's here that you'll see the improuvements from now on. Please change any links that you had before toward this site.

Thank you for understanding and keep coming back!

Febuary 9, 2008: Welcome to the site

This site is finaly open. I've worked long hours to get this site to where it's today. But I know it's only a start. Each section and each page needs to be improved. Not to mention that I need to work on the documentation for Office 2007. That will come later. Keep coming back to see the improvements since your last visit.

Yours truly

Patrice Roy