Messages

876

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: MiniReview of Linkman URL Organizer and Search Tool

« on: April 20, 2009, 11:48 AM »

Hi Folks,

 Here is another current false positive by A-squared (Emsi) looking at Linkman, with the heuristic component on.

[2388] C:\Program Files\Linkman\Linkman.exe    detected: Heuristic.Dialer.RAS!A2

 I mention it here because it can be very frustrating trying to get even the simplest false positive corrected through the anti-virus bureaucracies -- as I learned through a difficult Emsi experience which flagged a task manager on another system.

   Emsi also tends to put VNC programs as medium risk, also sometimes Network or FTP references, however those are mostly not files but registry entries, so far less of a concern.  And gave popups on a UBCD4 iso until I restricted the scan (note,  I did not find an "exclude folder" method which would have made it easier, only include).  And Emsi put three VNC files into quarantine without asking -- although it was easy to put them back.

  There was one other file reference, other than the Linkman false positive, that I am researching.  However most of the side stuff I can put on another thread, if of interest.  Here I just want to mention the Linkman false positive.

  Later I hope to get back to the features and all the ins and outs of using Linkman, including some questions and issues about the merging of files and the ins and outs, pluses and minuses, of the Dropbox connection.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

877

General Software Discussion / Re: Uninstaller Roundup - Revo - Total - ZSoft & the less magnificent seven

« on: April 20, 2009, 10:17 AM »

Hi Folks,

I'm not sure I share you same concern with the snapshot method. If you didn't have java or .net before the install then the snapshot uninstaller would simply take you back to where you were before the install; no java or .net.  Why would you want to keep the secondary support software if you didn't need or want it before you installed the program you are uninstalling?

-edbro

Edbro .. what you say is likely true if you go to the earlier snapshot very quickly.  Probably ... the snapshot will work, although these types of softwares can be so "all over the map" I would be a bit queasy to be the test case.  And the problem involves not just having or not having .NET or Visual C++ 2005 or 2008 but having the right and consistent and full version or versions that your programs are calling.

Then the bigger problem is when there is a time gap, and you have all sorts of new software installs using .Net or Visual C++ libraries with multiple dependencies.  Then you un-snapshot -- sounds to me like an oops waiting to happen.  Personally, I want any backwards modifications to those to be an official and/or dedicated uninstaller or an image reinstall, not a side-snapshot.

If you look at the thread on Giveaway, it seems one techie had run into this problem a couple of times, which is why I brought it up here.  However, I dunno if it comes up on the forums of Total Commander or ZSoft.

=====

In general .. this is one reason why I wonder which of the software uninstallers watch the creation dates of files and use that as a help (e.g. being slow to uninstall files with a different creation date) .. the problem with an external multiple-use software library or system like .NET or Java or C++ is that in those cases the multiple dependencies are the norm, not an exception.  Thus uninstalling (actually deleting) what may be a partial component is a recipe for difficulties. Granted, in many cases, even if difficulties arise, you may be able to reinstall the whole unit from scratch, over itself, or do a full uninstall followed by an install .. but again .. I really don't want to be the test case.  I would prefer to have a slightly less complete uninstall (e.g. the Revo-method) than open up even a smallish possibility of this can of worms.  For others, the mileage may vary.

Darwin, thanks.  Here I really am not considering here how the better of the commercial products (there probably are 5-10 good products to consider) compares to Revo, since I am emphasizing that in this category the freeware programs are very good .. not necessarily the very absolute best..  So if you do a compare with Your Installer .. share away how it goes !

Shalom,
Steven

878

General Software Discussion / Re: Uninstaller Roundup - Revo - Total - ZSoft & the less magnificent seven

« on: April 20, 2009, 06:35 AM »

Hi Folks,

  Thanks, glad the thread has been of help.

  A couple of points came out in a GiveawayoftheDay thread that was about another software Cleanse Uninstaller. (Itself dubious since it is normally commercial and it is reported to change the file dates unnecessarily.  And appears to be similar to Revo, yet inferior.  Also, less importantly, it was said to put a registry entries with each program).

1) One caution on the snapshot method.  Installs sometimes go ahead and install .Net components or Visual Basic or Visual C++ or maybe other semi-system components, perhaps Java as well.  A snapshot method would by default go back and try to undo those parts of the install, which can cause problems. 

My take -- note carefully during the install whether anything like this occurs and if so -- note this carefully where you won't forget (perhaps a dummy folder name) -- the simplest is uninstall in the more generic Revo-style way, rather than the snapshot way. Or if you do the snapshot method anyway, come up with your plan on how to handle this.  (e.g. Java is less of a problem because you could use JavaRa and then reinstall).  However I think you would normally simply not use the snapshot method if such external components are installed. Some of our accomplished Total Commander users might share with us their experiences on this aspect.

2) Remember that certain programs have their own special uninstall utilities that may be better than an uninstall program.  JavaRa for old Java installs.  The various anti-virus removers that Norton and McAfee and maybe some others were forced to come up with immediately come to mind.  Check if they are for use instead of an uninstaller or after an uninstaller and use accordingly.

3) Forced uninstalls, where there are no add/remove entry, is a separate area of discussion.  Which programs handle this, and which handle this best, would be a subject of a little analysis in a comparative review.  Since I have not done any of those, I can simply point out that it is a feature for consideration and comparison.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

879

Living Room / sleeping Rip Van Winkle anti-virus execs wake up !

« on: April 18, 2009, 05:34 PM »

Hi Folks,

Newsflash ! 
- Anti-virus company executives notice the real world !

http://www.scmagazin...ches/article/130846/
Rogue product ads on F-Secure, McAfee, Trend Micro searches -
Angela Moscaritolo - April 17, 2009

The magazine for "Security Professionals" placed this article right above a large google scamware ad for Shield Deluxe !  No, they did not put through my post (at least not yet) pointing this out .. however now the ad I see is Trend Micro.  Update: now I see the bogus "Top Ten Anti-Virus Software Read Reviews..." ad, so the change was from Google, not a block.  You can read about this particular scamware on Wilders, Web of Trust and even the comments on SiteAdvisor.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

880

Living Room / Re: XP-iso for reinstall after crash ? Dell Precision 380

« on: April 15, 2009, 12:13 PM »

Hi Folks,

  Excellent idea, steeladept.  A local fella just the other day had just made the suggestion of VirtualBox -- or a similar -- instead of dual boot.  I countered with ... well virtual is never quite the same as real, driver squawks as you mention, or emulation response-time hits or possible this and that. 

  The only time I ever saw an OS actually take 100% in a mode on another puter was when the full (or almost full) object code was essentially ported without emulation, and to a faster box.  The IBM System 36 SSP mini on the OS/400.  Once emulation and the host OS is involved, there are always nuances and differences and concerns. 

  However your idea of using the virtual at least to test the image .. very excellent !  I could even try the various free image softwares one after another .. four of them at this point, DriveImageXML, Macrium, Paragon and Easeus, all were rather pleasant interfaces.  Will they allow reinstalls to a virtual box ?  Should be an interesting test, without the troubles of risking my actual OS partition.  Now if a couple of them take in the virtual, and I have two totally up-to-date real backups, I might follow the virtual up with a c:\ test.  (It is funny reading the web, how most of the  image softwares have some folks saying -- fantastic, works perfectly !  And for them it likely has.  And then a couple of others bemoaning how the restore did not take .. or their hardware is forced to be different and it is close to useless.  Or they had to fall back on file-by-file attempts, if available.)

  After the virtual test .. then take it from there, you get two tests in one .. the image restore and the virtual environment.

  Carol, yes, I think it may simply be a USB 1.0 box.  I thought it would be 2.0 because Precision 380s I noticed checking the web were advertised with 2.0 .. but the changeover may have just been taking effect in the model line. I looked at a couple of Belarcs and Auslogics System Information, and e.g. for my external disk Auslogics says it is USB 2.0 .. yet since none of the actual ports say 2.0. So very possibly not.  So it really is not molasses-slow, more like acacia honey.

  And that is my strongest box at home.  Maybe time for an upgrade and make that #2.  Although with the clean install and the full memory it runs nicely.   (With help from Process Tamer and arguably CleanMem .)

Shalom,
Steven Avery

881

Living Room / Re: XP-iso for reinstall after crash ? Dell Precision 380

« on: April 14, 2009, 10:36 AM »

Hi Folks,

   For the USB .. the throughput is pretty good, maybe 5 gigs in 5 or ten minutes, so I guess that is not 1.0, which is supposed to be molasses slow.  I put the 2.0 USB sticks in and got no squawking from Windows .. however I am not 100% sure that Windows would squawk based on earlier drivers rather than an earlier physical port. The driver mfgrs do not seem to go out of their way to indicate that a driver is 2.0.

  My main XP Op-Sys backup is using DriveImage XML and Macrium Reflect Free, saving an image to a removable FAT32 disk.  Both programs were fine to use from Windows, hopefully the restores would work, always the issue with images.  One reason to have redundancy, more than one program. If each one has a 75% chance of working the two together would increase that to over 90% ... good enough for me for a home Op-Sys, rather than critical data.

  Macrium did show me very nicely that the small FAT32 partition was "Dell Utilities" .. using up a primary partition but definitely something that I will save !

 Incidentally I decided to simply do the "working image" rather than the super-pure image.  Partly because I was downloading an XP program anyway to do the image and by the time I had the XP program downloaded I had done some more stuff.  In a pinch (selling the puter to someone who wants a cleaner install) I could see that the earlier image would be nice -- however it would take only a few minutes to use Revo to get very close to a clean XP. For my own use a working image with light program installs is fine.

Shalom,
Steven   

882

Living Room / Re: XP-iso for reinstall after crash ? Dell Precision 380

« on: April 14, 2009, 03:01 AM »

Hi Folks,

  Oops, I accidentally modified my previous post, rather than add a new one.  Occupational hazard.  I'll try to dup the main part in the next post.

=======

   Now I am looking at the articles about using programs like Partition Image (PI) or Clonezilla (CZ) to do a low-level XP save.  Note: This is meant as a learning experience as much as a practical need. Practically speaking, my external disk holding the DriveImage XML and Macrium images really should be sufficient.  So I do not want to get bogged down too much, I think DI-XML and Macrium are designed to work quite nicely by having you boot below Windows with e.g. Bart-PE.  In a sense this may be the best of all worlds (if it works) allowing for Windows XP for doing the backup, and fairly easy-use low-level stuff for restore.  So I am beginning to doubt that the full low-level method (PI-CZ) is worth the effort in a home-light-use environment (thinking out loud here).

  First, a well-done Lifehacker article worth reading, at about my level, with excellent comments from readers.

http://lifehacker.co...the-system-rescue-cd
Partition and Image Your Hard Drive with the System Rescue CD  - By Gina Trapani

  Notice that there are lots of discussions about the various places to put the new partition backup. These can be another partition on the same disk (easy to get trashed in a disk crash or corruption, so should only be auxiliary), a partition on another disk in the system (more safe, but still internal and insecure, also you need a 2-disk system), a network drive (fancy-shmancy for now) of various sorts, a USB bootable (would use up a USB stick which you may well lose under the rubble, but is interesting), a burned-and-bootable DVD (quite elegant but more laborious requiring good DVD burning) and what I think is the easiest of all -- simply a regular FAT32 backup USB-connected external disk This has a nice advantage that one backup disk could hold images from various programs and states and still only use up a small portion of the disk space.  You simply are sure to name the folders very clearly ("Macrium Clean XP Install Dell Precision 04-14-2009". ) Unlikely to be lost.  If you want redundancy, you simply have two such $75 removables floating around.  Make sense ?  After you do that, you try the DVD method .

========================

  So far the only major downsides of simply backing up to non-bootable removable disk (well at least with DI-XML or Macrium Free) are : 

  You do not have a bootable restore, you have to go into a specially made Bart-PE style program, however all the programs seem to give good instructions for this.  In fact, this would be very similar whether you did a Macrium, DriveImage XML or a Linux-style Partition Image/Clonezilla type of backup.  Right ?

   You do not have the niceties of incremental backups and of file-by-file restore with viewing individual files in this type of image. However that is not the purpose here, we are simply trying to have a XP plus a smidgen type of restore ready (smidgen = full drivers, some basic XP utility programs, anti-virus and firewall, browsers updated, etc.)

  You do not learn all the super-techie stuff.

=====================
 
   There is a question though on trying to do this with a PI/CZ type backup.  I think you have to designate a Linux-style path on the hard drive  which in my Partition Image starts as "SBD1". It is unclear whether this is doable on the fly in any of the programs or not.  While Gina at Lifehacker gives some instructions for doing this with the SystemRescueCD, I wonder whether this is doable on the fly in Partition Image, Clonezilla -- or another program -- or first using another tool in the Parted Magic toolkit.  If anybody here follows me on this and can give the simplest method.. please share away.   I think what I am asking may be very simple, but since this is a first time, I want to err on the side of caution, to be sure not to mess up the removable in any way.

  Thanks. 

Shalom,
Steven Avery

883

Living Room / Re: XP-iso for reinstall after crash ? Dell Precision 380

« on: April 13, 2009, 12:09 PM »

Hi Folks,

 Yes, I will be careful with the FAT32.  Dell surprised me with some special diagnostics when I booted with UBCD4, so the partition may be related to that.  Good thought.

  All pretty fine, doing some post-driver (no question marks now or exclamation points in Device Manager) , post-setup, post-basic-software imaging at the moment.  It seems testing images can be a bit squirrelly, trying to test without risking your system. Maybe a restore to another partition which likely won't boot but will allow a full restore might be a good test.  I'd rather test some images now when I have 3 Gigabytes (plus 2 if I keep the pagefile) than later when there is more complex stuff. My plan is to have two or three totally different software images (from different apps).  DriveImage XML is in process now, the no-brainer freeware however not the most robust and flexible.   After a couple of imaging softwares comes the partitioning with PartedMagic.  Everything in decency and order.

  The drivers took some checking and hunting, the Intel site for their chip-set driver, three other driver sets from the Dell CD or Dell site. I do like Double Driver for saving for future use, the program is very well-designed for simplicity, giving clear options (Microsoft or non-MS drivers, safe to folders or to an .exe .. save a list .. kewl stuff). 

    Now I do wonder how to determine for sure that my drivers are USB 2.0, although they came with the system and the Precision 380 is supposed to be 2.0.  I have some special pages to read on that .. apparently in that area the vendors are a little slack in giving clear info.
 
   Thanks for the help, guys.  My system is much crisper now.  I might put in a list of my pre-image software additions.  (Basically top freeware that it is not version-volatile and a couple of browsers and this and that.)  Settled on Online Armor and Avira for now on the security, turned off System Restore (which might confuse an image, I gather) and the Windows Firewall, kept the pagefile for now (the Big PageFile Debate !!)

  Oh, I still have the email project to do, restoring the data, probably to a separate partition, and setting up Eudora, checking settings and download.  So far I really haven't found any compelling reasons to change from Eudora and the filters are rather extensive. I plan a second-stage c:\ image after some more stuff like that.

  One strange thing for later.  DiskTune, the defragmenter, triggers the Dell Resource CD prompt.  Something a little strange there, the triggering of the Dell Resource CD was a situation I had before and I was trying to track the source.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

884

Living Room / Re: XP-iso for reinstall after crash ? Dell Precision 380

« on: April 13, 2009, 03:37 AM »

Hi Folks,

  Right, I am basically following 40hz suggestions, since I have the Dell CD -- use it. It knows my puter, then add any more necessary drivers and SP3.  Especially since I did it once before and only had to find a better video driver and a bit more. 

  I noticed there was a small FAT32 partition as well.  Probably left over from the original puter.  And the big partition -- that I deleted and restored XP.  At the moment I left the small FAT32 alone, although probably it could have been deleted, or maybe still can be after the install ?  I'll look with PartedMagic later. 

   Lots of sites have good info. This site has nice pictures of the install questions.

http://www.wallpaper...indows-xp-t6255.html
Windows XP Installation

   They had to use a special utility to take pictures .  Maybe something on PartedMagic or UBCD4 .. interesting.

   For free anti-virus I usually use Avira, although on occasion I have used the other similars,  Avast or AVG.  So that is simple, although there are many other good alternatives too.  I generally use Online Armor Free now for firewall with mild HIPS, in the past Kerio-Sunbelt -- would not mind trying Comodo as a new try to compare. And good ol ZoneAlarm, always a good program, they lost me once for future use by leaving some stuff in the registry on an uninstall that was a big problem, although those were the days before Revo Uninstaller and they probably cleaned up their act. Although Online Armor's free is not real robust, most of what it doesn't have I handle outside of firewall programs anyway, and I like its style of notification, so it probably gets the nod.

  If Threatfire plays nice, I understand it is strong HIPS, Wilder's folks like it too, sort of, I did not realize it had a strong-function free as it shows here.

http://www.threatfire.com/download/
Threatfire

  So I will plan on starting with some combination that includes Threatfire, to widen the defense arsenal a smdgen.  Hmmm... it is PC Tools now.  Thinking.

  And I also will do some of the image stuff, after the base install stuff is done, probably including the anti-virus types of installs. I could see if it is a Maxtor or Seagate drive and use their Acronis equivalent. I may actually make a couple of images in that early state, including from DriveImage XML. Early state images are kewl and should be relatively small, uncomplex and less likely to failure. I realize image software is a huge complex discussion -- one point to note is that in this case it would only have saved me a smidgen of time, as the partition delete and/or format was necessary in any case. Right now it is finalizing the installation.

  After the anti-virus installs I plan to add a partition for data (optionally another partition for apps but I am skeptical that this is worthwhile since so many programs pour their .dlls and other stuff in the Op-Sys folders -- so at the moment I am leaning against it) and from that point on try to have data (and antivirus logs) on the new D:. 

   All this is behind a light older Belkin router, btw, reducing the immediate vulnerability in that interim period. 

   Right now XP is up installing a printer driver, so that all worked quite quickly from when I posted before, about 15 minutes of actual puter time. Ok, much more with all the settings and updates and SP3 and such, so I will get that all tweaked now, including some basic freewares that can be part of the image.  (Hmmm.. afaik there is no freeware image program that is to an extent hardware independent, that is usually  more advanced programs, like a special Acronis edition, you can see how that could be a nice program.) 

  And I installed the Ethernet driver from the Resource CD, so it up on the Internet.  Moving along !

Shalom,
Steven

885

Living Room / XP-iso for reinstall after crash ? Dell Precision 380

« on: April 12, 2009, 07:07 PM »

Hi Folks,

  Bear with me through a wordy one.  Or move on .

  My main system crashed with a lsass.exe message, something like "end of format is invalid".  This is a real tacky crash -- technically it is a reboot cycle in the early stages of booting XP. (I have some some conjectures about possible culprits, later I will try to look at my MJ Registry Watch and event viewer logs.) On the net this problem is pretty frequent .. sometimes folks attach that message to a user account mashup corruption, other times pagefile-related confusions, other times this and that, lsass.exe is fundamental and resists, for some reason, simple replacement .. from what I could tell.  This also resists sfc /scannow and registry fixes and deleting the page file and lots of other tries.  And often effects safe mode, so that it has a reboot-cycle just like regular mode, you never make it to safe mode, and you can't get to where you could try the "last successful boot" (or whatever that wording is).  Even when folks on the Net get this semi-resolved, it seems like it is often a temporary fix and the problem recurs. 

  Thus .. it is format and reinstall XP time.  I like to do that occasionally anyway on a busy system -- well when needed. Granted .. if I had a recent image I could try format and image reinstall, in the future I plan to design my systems for dual restore.  This is a Dell system, Precision 380 --  I was able to get into some special tool-testing section that Dell has .. went through their whole "OS not booting" test phase without a difficulty . And I was able to boot with UBCD4Windows (and Parted Magic if I want) for lots of tools.

   And, using the Dell CDs, which I have, I am able to get into "Windows XP Professional Setup" which allows a deletion of a partition followed by an XP restore (all solidly registered with Dell and MS).  Even when the support time is officially over Dell is pretty good on answering things like -- what should I do ? -- do you have a CD ? etc).

   For backing up the most recent data I simply did an essentially full file-by-file Free Commander (!) backup from UBCD to a removable drive connected by USB that is one of those 150 Gigabyte or more thingies.   I got a chuckle seeing that with the dozens of tools that they have there on UBCD, the one that I trusted for simple file backup was copy files in Free Commander !  (Perhaps the DriveImageXML has that as a sub-feature, however it gave me no confidence .. I would use that for images, which you do not create on crippled machines and expect much.)

 I also used Double Driver, nicely in UBCD, to be sure the drivers were backed up nicely, although I likely had some backup on the disk already.

 Now Dell does not give you an XP CD, they give you a "reinstallation" CD with the service pack, also separate CDs for drivers and an application CD are with this.  And the reinstallation CD pretty clearly is not a fresh install .. I'm pretty sure of that. 

  Important change-note.  I may well have been wrong on that.  The wording on the CD was unclear, it may well be a fresh install, so that would make the rest of the following moot for my XP.  In fact I think I did use it that way once before a year or more ago ! After a Vundo infection and some other difficulties if I remember. Although even if so the questions below may still remain for future reference on other systems.

  So I wonder .. should I look for a generic XP-iso on the net to burn (on another puter) ?  Should I see what Dell has officially that I may have to purchase ?  Or should I try to create a special CD on another puter using some of those strange build-your-XP utilities .. however those I think they want the same hardware.   Or maybe at work where they have a dozen Dell XPs there is actually a full XP OS and if so I should get that in the AM and use it ? Or should I bring it over to the techie guy (who just sold me another decent Lenovo XP system for $100) who installs XP in his sleep in 15 minutes and then types it from the numbers of the box-side.  He is busy tomorrow -- he picks up the one generation old machines from Port Authority by the dozens which is why I was able to get a decent system cheap and, with patience, watch XP in the making .. watching XP is a bit like sauerkraut or frankfurters or whatever has that adage .. oh yeah .. sausage .. hmmm.. Hebrew National may be better.  Well I had to find the Ethernet driver and he ended up giving me two XP-OS in one partition - Windows and Windows.0 -- yet one was trivial to delete, surprisingly. Anyway, he can't help till Tuesday so should I try one of the other methods ? Does an XP-iso work ?  Is it doable without going to crackerjacker sites ? 

  Any thought on the variety pack of choices appreciated.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

PS.
This system downloads my email, so if it is down for more than a day or two some stuff starts bouncing, or I have to download unto another system, which is awkward with my Eudora filters. Thus I like to get it up fairly quickly even if I have another puter doing all my essential stuff.  The system, although a couple of years old, is still very nice, especially after I upgraded the memory.  (Oh, yeah, taking out some memory sticks was another try that I found unappetizing.)

886

General Software Discussion / Re: Sysinternals PageDefrag: Good, Bad?

« on: April 11, 2009, 09:00 PM »

Hi Folks,

, I never saw any noticeable benefit from defraging, either using Windows' own or paging files PageDefrag or a few years back on my old machine when I owned a legal copy of Diskeeper

-rgdot

 I do know that systems can fairly easily get to 25K or 50K of fragments.  (Yesterday I defragged a system with over 50K at work, and it is from a fairly lightly-used system of one of the managers, simply never had been defragged.)  Clearly that that causes a lot of extra disk access and also could complicate recovery procedures and possibly lead to data loss at times.  Thus even if  you don't get involved with any high-tech defrag, I think at the very least an occasional defrag lite (Auslogics, Defraggler from Piriform) in the background has to be a good idea. 

Shalom,
Steven

887

Living Room / Re: adding memory to my Dell Precision 380

« on: April 10, 2009, 11:34 PM »

Hi Folks,

 My install of the 4 Gb went fine.  Dell had the best price and with it being their puter they were quite helpful with a little tech support (after a minor bouncing around their phone-land).  Getting the side open was a breeze, no screws.  The memory was a little awkward to get at .. but hey, its the inside of a computer, what do you expect. I had to move out the 512Mg from the #1 and #2 slots (white in Dell) .. information that was not clearly given on many sites or in their directions although I remember seeing it in one place as a basic idea .. and put the 2 Gg memory sticks in those spots and the 512Mg went to #3 and #4 (black on Dell).  Even if the 2 512 Mg don't really do anything right now, they are just as well in the puter as loose.

  Dell did a good job on price and on support and ease of opening the puter case. And the puter runs much better.

Shalom,
Steven

888

General Software Discussion / Re: Sysinternals PageDefrag: Good, Bad?

« on: April 10, 2009, 07:32 AM »

Hi Folks,

in Vista by default page file is deleted when Windows is shutdown or restarted which can lead to a lot of fragmentation

-Carol Haynes

Wouldn't this reduce fragmentation ?  Surely when the new page file is built it is built in one contiguous piece, hopefully, thus it would be a defacto defrag (definitely a defiant defacto defrag .. say that five times fast).

On XP, has anybody used PageDefrag and seen a lot of fragmentation ? As in the picture on their web site. 

Also is there a utility to delete the page file in XP as in Vista ?  (e.g. on closing).  Since that is my only fragmented system file, I could do that rather than a defrag.

One utility would be to go to no page file, and then back to having one, would that take two reboots ?  I don't know if XP could do that without reboots.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

889

General Software Discussion / Re: What's the Most Accurate Burner?

« on: April 09, 2009, 03:55 PM »

Hi Folks,

Yep, CDBurnerXP was the other freeware I marked with excellent in my notes.  My next tier included BurnAware Free, DeepBurner Free, Starburn Free (Pro=$10), ISOBurn, ISO Recorder, ImgBurn, Ashampoo Burning Studio 6 (thread on DonationCoder), BurnCDCC (iso burning only, simplest), JetBee Freeware (Complex Evolution folks who also have a Total Commander plugin.).  That is the list I have of freewares that can burn .iso.  A little head-spinning as there are a lot of features and these are generally pretty heavy-duty.

CDBurnerXP or InfraRecorder should be close to perfect for the light-to-moderate .iso need, if they work properly on Vista (haven't checked, what's 'Vista'). ImgBurn was also looked at very highly here.   Suggestion start with those three, but some of the others above look like doozies too.

Here are three of the threads.
    
Re: Your fav' audio CD burner?
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=13263.0
(With the links to most of the above.)

Which free burning software can you recommend? 03-2009
https://www.donation...opic=14126.msg156718

Re: Recommend Vista CD Burner
https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=8826.0    

Shalom,
Steven

890

General Software Discussion / Re: Sysinternals PageDefrag: Good, Bad?

« on: April 09, 2009, 02:25 PM »

Hi Folks,

  Everybody says PageDefrag is excellent.  I loaded it and used the analysis and it said there was hardly any fragmentation anyway.

  In this pic:

http://technet.micro...ernals/bb897426.aspx
PageDefrag v2.32

  They show a lot of fragmentation.  However on my system everything is 1 fragment, except the page file which has been 2 or 3.  So any gain would be minimal. I doubt that cluster size changes much, if I am wrong then someone could indicate.

  Reports of difficulties are either zero or minimal (I think the rare difficulty I saw was in NTREGOPT, in both cases you can run ERUNT first).  The NTREGOPT author claimed that there would be refragmentation of something on the next boot anyway, this was interesting but sounded like an overstatement to me.  NTREGOPT does the internal compacting of the registry, a different function, so it wasn't just a competitive dismissal comment, I just think he did not think it through fully.

  As for Mark Russinovich, I have to consider that one of the better Evil Empire acquisitions. They took his expertise because .. he knew XP much better than they do ! .. (as shown in the famous Sony Rootkit disaster).  Sysinternals has taken the digestion by Microsoft without indigestion, the Sysinterals tools are readily available, the web-area remains fun to navigate and I have run into quite edgy stuff in the forums and Mark Russinovich maintains a rather amazing blog.   

http://blogs.technet...inovich/default.aspx
Mark Russinovich's technical blog covering topics such as Windows troubleshooting, technologies and security.

Was other impending creativeness from Sysinternals squashed ?  I can't say so.  The Microsoft acquisition was in a sense an acknowledgement that their view of the internals of Windows had gotten fuzzy, and they needed the best help.  Possibly their best acquisition.

(I am concerned though if they did in fact also partner or acquire with one of the Russian rootkit products .. one of those companies that can walk both sides of the street.  I was thinking of asking about that on the Sysinternals forums.)

  While Microsoft has botched dozens of acquisitions (how are the Foxpro programmer's doing btw ?)  Sysinternals may well have been their absolute best, and seems to have been handled extremely well.  To give credit where its due.

Shalom,
Steven

891

ProcessTamer / Re: taming ink-jet printing and email download

« on: April 09, 2009, 12:04 PM »

Hi,

Just a note that the key issue in the printer backlog is memory.  After I went to max XP memory the ink-jet printer can run separate from my normal stuff quite well, without holding me back. 

I haven't been able to tell about the email download, but the fact that I haven't been able to tell is an indication that the problem is also largely resolved by the memory.  Perhaps not as fully, I think there may be a CPU component there as well, but enough to make XP-life much easier and end any major concern.

I had gone up from 1 Gig to 5 Gigs, with XP using what it can (3.5 or 4).  Putting it in was a little squirrelly, but not too bad.  (The key thing was changing the seats so that the 2-gig sticks are in the primary #1 and #2 position, the white tags on the Dell, where the 512s were b4, and then putting the 512s -- largely superfluous but better in the puter than out -- in what were originally the empty slots.  Ok, a bit off-topic.    Kudos to Dell for making the side-panel absurdly easy to take off (no screws at all).  And giving help on the expired machine and having the memory at the best price.

Shalom,
Steven

892

General Software Discussion / Re: What's the Most Accurate Burner?

« on: April 09, 2009, 04:16 AM »

Hi Folks,

InfraRecorder
http://infrarecorder.org/

has a nice interface is an open source product, supported with a forum, that has made some ISO stuff for me with no muss or fuss.  (e.g. PartedMagic, Bart-PE types of stuff).  Sounds similar to what you are doing.

It probably misses advanced features, however if it is sufficient for what you need -- it was the best I found when looking at the freeware group (which probably has 5-10 worthy softwares). So I give it an A+ recommendation.  With burning stuff interface is important, it is easy to get confused by the lingo.  Too much complexity can get in the way.

And I also used MagicDisk, a freeware thing from Magic ISO "creating and managing virtual CD drives and CD/DVD discs".  Oh, kewl.  That explains why I have a "Client Access" E:\ in Total Commander.  (I wondered how I got that there :-) )  However that is a specialty thing, it may help if that is a need .. hosting your CD-ISO as a drive on your main disk.

Shalom,
Steven

893

General Software Discussion / Re: Anybody Know About DiskTune?

« on: April 08, 2009, 10:27 AM »

Hi Folks,

The company gives a good impression for hands-on data recovery and has a support forum.

And I like the fact that he is emphasizing in his blog (a good read) that defrag files helps the recovery operation, very sensible. "A simple to use run-on-demand disk defragger and optimizer" to me would be an excellent occasional complement to the Auslogics or Piriform or best defrag lite du jour.

And I like this from the blog.

http://www.diydatare...ournal.com/index.php
Thursday, March 5th 2009 3:18 PM
Announcement: First public release of DiskTune the Hard disk defragmenter and optimizer!

"Why freeware? Although I spent a lot of free time on this project, I was also allowed to spent DIY DataRecovery.nl time on it. The idea is this: Rather than spending hundreds of dollars on Google ads we choose to invest some time in this project that we see as advertising. MBRtool builds up on that same idea. It’s free and hundreds of thousands of users have now heard of DIY DataRecovery.nl in return. So, we want nothing back in return, we just hope that if the need for a data recovery program arises that you will think of us. So, we just hope you will enjoy DiskTune, and if you do, do not hesitate to share it with friends and family."

Note the comment on Hiren's Boot CD - which is sometimes recommended on generally solid sites. Supposedly they were getting their copyright/trademark/non-pirate house in order .. apparently not.

The MBRTool freeware is at
http://www.diydatare...overy.nl/mbrtool.htm

So I will be giving DiskTune a spin.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

894

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: DonationCoder.com Special Members-only Discounts

« on: April 07, 2009, 05:28 PM »

Hi Folks,

  Even though my Trialpay did come through (they responded to my request only a couple of days later than expected) and even though the Lite version is very strong for daily use, I took the 2-license Pro special (making three) at the final cost today of $23.40 ! Part of that was anticipation of an auxiliary USB license being used as well as my home and work puters.  One at home with Pro, one at work with Pro, the USB with Pro and auxiliaries with Lite.

   Most of the DonationCoder folks who use Linkman will probably find a good use for a license so remember that the biggest discount, 40% -- is today.  Although don't feel bad if you read this when the discount is still 20% or 30% .. we are talking inexpensive for a good tool.

  (I just downloaded Macro Express to give it an April trial, and that would be $30 for a Pro license .. if I like it a lot after use, with discount.)

  It is really kewl when the programmers give us good feedback here, making their software much more usable.  My thanks to Mouser and the DC crew for setting up a place where the developers have that type of comfort level.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

895

General Software Discussion / Anvir Startup Manager in all editions - NirSoft's WhatInStartup

« on: April 07, 2009, 06:55 AM »

Hi Folks,

  Excellent point, Trilinea.  Anvir has a free product with a nice-looking startup manager in their very competent free task manager, mentioned upthread, with a Startup Guard and Manager (they way they do their pages they can almost look like separate products, but they are in the free Task Manager).   So the Startup stuff is also in their more comprehensive products with additional features (the Pro used by Trilinea is $60, where DonationCoder discounts I think applies, very helpful). In the higher products the biggest emphasis is on additional security and HIPS aspects as well as more process management and a database of 70K items for the startup manager, a significant aspect.  So like with a lot of these products, the free is good, a paid is better. So whether to go to the free or the paid will depend a lot on whether they fit your security mix and the database aspect and if you like the integration of their process management.

On the security items, it would be interesting to see how they fare at Wilders.
Their four products comparison are at:

Anvir
http://www.anvir.com...-windows-startup.htm
Compare Editions >> Task Manager Programs, Windows Startup Manager

 Worthwhile, good company, product under development, some support, forum, freeware version that is very usable, start manager an integral part of the software.
  
  For now I am going to consider them as one addition that goes right with the three mentioned in the thread header. Here are what I see as the most important active startup softwares.

WinPatrol (free or Pro)
Chameleon Startup Manager (Free Standard-$25 Pro-$30) Trialpay ** UPDATED
Avira Task Manager (free or paid, 3 versions,)
Startup Manager - Metaproducts (paid)
StartEd - (free-Lite or Pro)
WhatInStartup (free)  - below, known tech-savvy
Startup Optimizer - in RegRun security suite from Greatis - starts at Std. $20 ** ADDED

   It would be a good project to first take these programs and see any differences in their analysis of a diverse system. As to exactly what is starting up and where (including specialties like the Windows Scheduler and windows.ini). Also describe how each one deals with the prompt-security situation, which most have as a feature in a variety of ways.  (Add a few programs in various areas and see how the program works in realtime. And similarly if the program is startuped up after being off awhile.)  And then move on a bit from those two features -- finding and displaying everything sensibly and warning and optional rollback of changes. (A program can still be excellent without a warning feature, but there should be at least one security program on your system that does that).

  The new Nirsoft, added to the list.

WhatInStartup
http://www.nirsoft.n..._run_in_startup.html

  This retires the 5-year old StartupRun, with similar or the same basic interface.

http://www.nirsoft.net/blog/
NirBlog
This utility replaces the old StartupRun utility, which haven't been updated for more than 4 years. .. 2 new important features ... work with external instance of Windows ... Permanent Disabling

 The permanent disabling is a monitoring re-boot-out routine, which would have to be tested against programs that have their own re-startup timer or try to immediately reboot -- if it is relied on as primary protection.  However it is a very nice feature.

Shalom,
Steven

896

General Software Discussion / Re: CCleaner 2.0 Beta Released - Clean the Crap off your Computer

« on: April 07, 2009, 01:02 AM »

Hi Folks,

Thanks Phil.  From the description I would be a bit uneasy about using it except when the Nets aren't functioning well, since it emphasizes the shared file problem.  Aaron Stebner recommends running the official uninstall first, hopefully that does not get into version clashes.

I see though that there are folders that seem to be version specific. 2.0 etc.  2.0 put one under the root C:\72ffefeea2bd5eb4d8cd95\ that I find a rather poor way of installing.   Anyway, a good tool to have handy, and maybe check into a bit more. 

Here are two more freeware cleaners.

Comodo System Cleaner
http://system-cleane...omodo.com/index.html

This next is a demo project, you can see some interesting discussion between coders.

A Cleanup API for Windows By Marcel Lambert - (Open Source)
http://www.codeproje...tem/Cleanup_API.aspx

The download link isn't working so take the one from this mirror-style page.

A Cleanup API for Windows - "Download demo project - 177 Kb"
http://www.cscoding.com/article/19009/

================

And Index.dat suite, which I added to the specialty section above.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

897

Living Room / Re: partitioning first time - checklist (cleaning, backup, tools, etc)

« on: April 06, 2009, 01:21 PM »

Hi Folks,

40hz, I was planning to try Parted Magic (two places above you call it "Partition Magic" .. another product)  as the super-GParted, so thanks for the thread reference, I am leaning in that direction rather than an XP-begun method.

MilesAhead, I agree, I do not have any plans to have more than one OS of Windows.  (One is enough.)  Talking dual-boot to me means mostly XP and Linux. Similarly a lot of your thrashing concerns deal with dual-disk placmement, most XP systems come with one big disk. I agree that separating apps from OS on one drive is too much finagling for a home system, the only thing I would put on an independent drive is raw data .. like 15 Gb of email and directories of .pdf and .jpg .. that has no relationship to program files (swap file being either here or there, a minor issue, especially in a large mem puter).

I do agree that two OS sharing a data partition is not something to do lightly. However as a test for some small SQL-database-type app it could be rather fascinating.

My idea is towards stability.  I have one partition now  I am thinking one for Windows and apps and miscellany, one for selected Windows 100% data files (this is optional), and one for Linux.  This is the purpose.  If the Linux works well, it will stay, and I will use other puters for major tinkerings, like comparing three Linux versions against BSD and the Kitchen Sink. 

Since it is a dedicated system, that is one reason why I decided to spell out a comprehensive step-by-step prep chef method above. 

Shalom,
Steven

898

General Software Discussion / More Freeware Cleaners - CleanAfterMe, ClearProg, Sweepi, Disk Cleaner,and more.

« on: April 06, 2009, 12:40 PM »

Hi Folks,

Since we are discussing clean-up in preparation for partition, this is a good time to add to this thread.
(Later perhaps the information can be condensed in one new "Freeware Cleaners Roundup".)

Surprisingly, the next group of added cleaners are actually quite interesting and strong. 

======

NEW CLEANUP ADDS

ClearProg (2004-2009, plugins began 2008) - Sven Hoffmann - Germany
http://www.clearprog...ndex_new.php?lang=en
Forum
http://www.clearprog...de/forum.php?lang=en

Disk Cleaner (2008) - open source
http://www.diskcleaner.nl/
Forums
http://www.diskclean...r.nl/forum/index.php

Sweepi  - Switzerland
http://www.yooapps.c...B66832787C57B5893A45

G-Lock Temp Cleaner (2003, forum active 2009)
http://www.glocksoft.com/temp_cleaner/
Forum
http://www.justlan.c...3985954fa9bd9adb9956

CleanCache 3.5 - (2006)
http://majorgeeks.com/download4122.html

=========================================

FIVE SPECIALTY CLEANUPS

PureRa -  Paul McLain & Fred de Vries (careful on desktop.ini - Wilders note 10/2008)
http://raproducts.org/purera.html

JavaRa -  Paul McLain & Fred de Vries
http://raproducts.org/javara.html

MRU Blaster - JavaCool
http://www.javacools....com/mrublaster.html

CleanAfterMe - Nirsoft
http://www.nirsoft.n.../clean_after_me.html
CleanAfterMe - a new Nirsoft tool
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=13448.0

Index.dat Suite -  Ur I.T. Mate Group   
http://support.it-ma...amp;p=index.datsuite

And I wonder if there will be a .NET cleanup someday like the Java cleanup.  It may have to give
you an option to keep multiple NETs, but it would be quite kewl.

========

Wilder's threads (directly and indirectly the source for most of the new info)

KCleaner : easy and automatic System Cleaner
http://www.wildersse...wthread.php?t=217284
Notice that KCleaner was considered a good product until the bundled spyware issue
was not addressed properly.
http://www.kcsoftwar...m/index.php?kcleaner
KCleaner

The Best Disk Cleaner (mostly Sweepi discussion)
http://www.wildersse...?t=195425&page=3

This is a difficult category -- if you looked for a "Top 5" (excluding the 3 specialties) you would have to include CCleaner and ATF-Cleaner  (even though there may be no releases for a couple of years on ATF).  Trying to get the next three .. hard to say, there are a lot of nuances.  I hope we can get some reports on ClearProg.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

899

Living Room / partitioning first time - checklist (cleaning, backup, tools, etc)

« on: April 06, 2009, 07:20 AM »

Hi Folks,

  Along with the OS thread, which got me thinking.

https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=17737.0
OS Re-install Tips?

  So what about someone partitioning for the first time ?.  And concerned not to be blindsided (hearing various stories of the occasional missing partition, trashed disk, MBR manipulations, and whatever).  Preparing for the 1% difficulty, also learning good practices at the same time.

  How is this for a checklist ?
  (Much of this can apply to any low-level activity, or a general cleanup and system review.)

DECISIONS
    * XP vs lower-level Partition tool
    * Which partition tools to use - install and play w/o update (& burn to CD or put on USB as appropriate)
    * Decide on number of partitions and sizes and their file types
    * Decide on boot manager, if multi-boot is planned
    * Settle on data backup (many good alternatives) and/or image (more sensitive) backup programs

OS RESTORE CDS AND UTILITIES
    * Look for mfgr XP CDs and keep phone #s and serial #s handy
    * NLite or other XP CD alternatives (Plan B to mfgr CD and good idea in general) 
    * Bart-PE type CD available and working
    * Consider USB alternatives to CD, test booting if used

XP REGISTRATION (if an issue)
    * Possible preemptive Microsoft contact to verify XP license
    * Use registration save help pages, if appropriate

SECURITY SCANS (optional good time for enhanced scan activity)
    * Your normal full scans
    * Malwarebytes, A2 & more tools (follow up but avoid getting bogged down in the false positives)

LOCAL AND REMOTE BACKUP AND CONTACT POINT
    * Net accounts used and comfy (e.g FileFactory, DriveHQ, Dropbox) to hold info, double-save some stuff
    * Local puter for net contact when down, and can hold info - (Plan B, friends, library)
    * Backup media - e.g. removable hard drive, USB

SAVE SYSTEM INFO
    * Basic info -- e.g. Belarc --with XP#s -- to print/net/usb/backup
    * Keep Serial #s of installed software is available at backup points, and list of installed software

SYSTEM INTEGRITY
    * CHKDSK (e.g. Gparted can choke if Windows has unfixed disk errors)
    * maximize PTF -- eg. SP3
   
CLEANUP
    * Early backup and/or image before cleaning (e.g. normal daily)
    * Clean disk (eg. CCleaner) temp files etc - using utilities and any additional hand work.
    * Good time for any special cleanup (see note below)
    * Special note - this is not a good time for "registry cleaning" (unless previously an established routine)
    * When done -- empty the recycle bin

SYS/REGISTRY DEFRAG
    * Defrag and compact registry, page and sys files (PageDefrag), (ERUNT before and after)
          (only what is your normal practice, can be skipped entirely)
 
DATA BACKUP
    * Setup special folder/sub to hold special backup prep areas, easy to see on backup disk
    * Backup Registry w/ERUNT
    * Backup current drivers (allowing one-by-one restore on an as-needed basis)
    * Special backups e.g Firefox extensions FEBE, Desktop Saves
    * Windows Scheduler - at least note of current status, pic of what is there (not sure of backup method)
    * Final report backup logs (e.g. Belarc, SiSandra, Installed Program Printer) placed in their save folders
    * Any special security and password info saved
    * Review that your backup program picks up all essential files from daily app usage.
    * Backup data files

IMAGE BACKUP
    * Turn off System Restore if on
    * Defrag (optional)
    * Backup Image (2 is better than 1 - verification difficult)
    * Turn on System Restore if you use it

PREPARE AND GO AND RUN
    * Defrag with file placement
    * Create Partitions
    * Verification and test of new setup, use multiple tools to check they see system
    * Install any new OS, move any data, create any recovery partitions, etc.

    * Begin daily use

=================================

Some notes.

==========================================

Cleanup:

Partition time -- a good time to read and do once-in-a-blue-moon cleanup. 

One example:. C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution (and the same name in the system 32 folder) is very deletable, likely by hand, perhaps turning off MS auto-update when on - or that caveat may be Vista-only.  On my system it is 100 MB.  Also a good time to use a good disk-tree software to see the things worth deleting and checking. Generally, I would delete l my downloaded files in temp folders for installs at this time, keeping the folder structure I set up.

Or you might have humongous log files of which  you are unawares.  Be sure that you see hidden files visible if you want to do a full analysis and study, and be careful.  An example of a helpful article. 

http://www.optimizin...ize/deletefiles.html
Disk Cleanup: deleting unnecessary files

Oh, if you are not sure of a delete, better rename the folder, make a note, you can delete later after reboots.

=========================================

Backup

    Decide between data and image per your practices, a data backup is always a helpful auxiliary, even if you image.  The simplest is, space available, a non-compressed data backup where the files are fully individually viewable and tested in restore.  No matter how superior imaging may be for a particular installation for speed and fullness of backup, it generally will not be as reliable and verifiable and flexible for small and specific needs as simply a straight file save and restore. (I am not sure if any image software has gotten to the point of similar flexibility when used for simple restore mode, eg. allowing a dual pane explorer mode of the files within the image.)

==========================================

Partition Choices

XP (Partition Master, Easeus etc)  and lower-level partition (GParted, Linux tools Grub, etc) is a fundamental decision, they can be combined yet have nuances. Discussions on the Linux forums especially can help in preparation, and they indicate that XP tools are limited in utility. Here is a sample discussion.

http://ubuntuforums....wthread.php?t=347275
Partitioning for XP/Ubuntu dual boot

==========================================

Tool Savvy for Linux Partition

Free tools mentioned as very savvy for Linux partition work  :

gparted cd
livecd (with ntfstools with ntfsresize )

 Apparently there are some limitations from some XP tools as to how well they will set up partitions for a Linux install.

 There are also questions about primary and logical partitions, extended partitions and such.  One idea that is especially interesting is a "FAT32 shared OS drive" that can hold data for multiple OS, within that partition you could set up a directory for XP-only data, a directory for Linux-only data, and a directory for shared data.

==========================================

DEFRAG DISK

And I am still researching which is the best defrag to use before partition.  How much difference it makes, what settings and such. And e.g. whether a simple defrag like Auslogics will be acceptable in clearing space if the disk is only 25%-35% full.

==========================================

SYSTEM RESTORE

My understanding is that System Restore points can be a bear for drive image software. 
Ergo, above -- turn off, image, turn on.

==========================================

OS HOLDS DATA EXAMPLE - HOSTS FILE
 
An example of changeable (user-defined) data kept in the operating system section. 
The hosts file.

==============================

Your thoughts ?   I'll modify the above as needed.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

900

General Software Discussion / Re: Should I get my new laptop with hard drive partitioned?

« on: April 05, 2009, 03:09 PM »

Hi Kartal,

  Understood.  However that is very different than partitions within XP.   To get a dual-boot or a tri-boot system is kewl.  However would you then take the XP partition and divide it up into 3, ending with 5 partitions? Likely not. 

  That is one of my concerns, it can easily be an either-or situation.  If I am gonna set up a Linux partition, perhaps I should simply deep-six the XP-divvy partitions.  Why set up too many levels of complication ?  (Thinking out loud.)

  Or (other than laptops) should I simply put Linux and any other OS on its own box, and put aside the dual-boot possibility.  This is what I am considering.  My workplace just gave me a decent 3 to 5 yr-old Windows box, find a spot for it and let it do Linux ?  Such hardware is $25-100 even if not free, however not as quick as my main sys.  Of course it is safer and easier, at least the first time, to put a new OS on a otherwise-not-used box.  From what I read in the grapevine, folks may cause themselves problems by chewing off too much.

  Your laptop situation of course is kewl and different.  You work with one laptop, so you want to have multi-boot on the system, your not gonna carry around 2 or 3 laptops .

Shalom,
Steven Avery