Most companies spend time anticipating and planning for disasters. But in a global economy, where opportunity and risk go hand-in-hand, other events can be as devastating to the unprepared as any hurricane.

The corporate landscape is dotted with potential landmines that can take a toll on businesses:

• Skyrocketing energy costs and environmental mandates are forcing cuts in energy consumption.
• Security audits can distract IT staff if the organization is not sufficiently prepared.
• E-discovery requests can hijack resources and negatively impact productivity.
• Loss of key personnel can be a setback if a company doesn’t have a succession plan in place.
• Lost storage media, like a stolen laptop, can lead to tarnished reputations and lowered revenues if removable media isn't encrypted and digital keys well-managed.

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Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter connect millions of like-minded people every day through the Web. But did you know they also can help your small business connect with customers?

"Social networking can help promote a small business in two ways," says Susan Barnes, a professor and associate director at Rochester Institute of Technology's Lab for Social Computing. "Loyal customers can create small networks and provide testimonials for the business and employees can share information with each other through social networks."

More than half of all small-business owners believe social networking sites have a place in the business world, according to a 2008 survey by SurePayroll. And one in five companies has generated business from a social media site.

What's the appeal of social networking?

There's little doubt that the Internet has been a real benefit to organizations – providing instant communication capabilities and an almost bottomless source of valuable, up-to-date information on just about any topic.

However, many employees won't think twice about accessing the network for personal use, perhaps to download music or to shop online. Not only does this put a strain on the network by reducing the bandwidth available for legitimate use, but it also makes it easier for criminals to access sensitive company information and for viruses to enter the network.

From an IT standpoint, it's a hassle to deal with employees downloading unsafe material on the one hand, and complaints about how slow the network is on the other.

So what's the best way to effectively limit employees' network use and keep the network safe, without hampering productivity or creating distrust? Here's a list of do's and don'ts to help you put together a network usage policy.

It’s a common scenario. You’re working at your computer when all of a sudden, with no warning, the PC freezes. Nothing seems to be working. The screen goes dark. You may even be unlucky enough to see the dreaded blue screen informing you that a critical error has occurred and Windows® will be shut down.

You’ve just been the unfortunate victim of a system crash. If this happens to you, it’s likely that you’ve recently added a new program, device, driver or application that your machine doesn’t like, and this is its way of making its feelings known.

Sometimes, a simple reboot of the PC resolves the issue. But sometimes it doesn’t. You reboot, Windows loads and the computer crashes again, or continues to behave weirdly. What can be done to end the recurring nightmare and return your computer to a more stable state?