Messages

126

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Partition Manager 2005 or Easeus Partition Manager for Windows XP Pro

« on: July 23, 2008, 12:03 AM »

Thanks Carol, Lutz_ and 4wd for your responses.

Just to share the results of my little bit of experimentation.

I had just cloned a harddisk with Acronis True Image 7 (Free copy that was given away sometime ago although I read somewhere from Gizmos newsletter that Acronis True Image 8 was being given away earlier this year - probably to his paid subscribers).

As the cloned harddisk was working fine, I thought I could play around with Easeus Partition Manager for Windows 1.64 (Freeware home edition) and Paragon Partition Manager 2005.

I started with Easeus Partition Manager (no registration required but it did try to access the internet which you can disallow - no problem, just a 10 sec wait to start) and found that it worked nicely and allowed me to resize the two partitions in my harddisk quite nicely without any problems and was quite fast. I allowed me to resize by dragging the mouse cursor on the pictorial representation of the two partitions.

I didn't get around to creating or deleting a partition. But would certainly post back here on it should I get around to doing it.

I next installed Paragon Partition Manager 2005 (also a freeware) and put in the name and registration given to me.
Unfortunately, I had some trouble trying to resize my Active partition to make it bigger although I could like in Easeus Partition Manager, I could use the mouse cursor to "drag" the boundaries of my Data partition to make the Data Partition smaller.

Unfortunately, unlike in Easeus, I could not drag the boundary of my Active Partition to extend it into the "Free" unallocated space.

So for something so routine as resizing my Active Partition to make it bigger, Paragon Partition Manager 2005 was a disappointment.

Maybe, if I looked a bit deeper in the UI in Paragon, I may find that I can actually get it done.

So Thumbs up for Easeus Partition Manager for Windows 1.64 at least for me

On a slightly related subject on Acronis True Image 7.

I had actually Created an image of Drive C on a 160gb disk with two partitions with Acronis True Image 7

When I restored this Acronis Image to a 250gb, I could not get it to boot. I tried things like Fdisk /MBR as I thought perhaps the boot sector may be at a slightly different location for a 250gb but to no avail.

So I did the next most logical thing was to use the Acronis True Image 7 Clone disk command to clone my 160gb to a 250gb and this time the cloning worked flawlessly.

It is on this 250gb that I had been experimenting with Easeus Partition Manager for Windows 1.64 and Paragon Partition Manager 2005.

(Do take note that previously when I created an Acronis (v7) image of a 20gb partition (in an older laptop)  and restored it to the same partition to solve a hanging problem, the image restored properly and I could boot the laptop without any problems.)

So my conclusion is that Acronis True Images is useful only to restore to a harddisk of the same size. If it differs in size, the use the clone command.

Any differing Acronis experience any one ?

127

General Software Discussion / Paragon Partition Manager 2005 or Easeus Partition Manager for Windows XP Pro

« on: July 21, 2008, 11:26 AM »

I was looking through the various threads on what is a good Partition Management tool for Windows XP Pro and found that I could not get clear answer from the various threads on whether Paragon Partition Manager 2005 is a reliable tool.

Does anyone have experience with it ?

Or alternatively what about FREE EASEUS Partition Manager for Windows PC and Servers to Resize, Move, Create, Delete and Format partitions, etc.
"FREE EASEUS Partition Manager Home Edition V1.6.4"
http://www.partition-tool.com/

In fact Easeus calls itself a Partition Magic Alternative and says it's free.

128

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 3 Released

« on: July 04, 2008, 09:57 PM »

still havnt installed this

Anyone know ...
I'm wondering if I have versions 2 & 3 installed separately could one run both simultaneously ?
I suspect not, normally FF only allows one instance (unfortunately)

-tomos (July 04, 2008, 05:04 PM)

You could run both simultaneously:
You of course need to install FF3 to another directory and also create a separate profile.

I recommend that keep FF2 as your default as otherwise, when another programs calls for a browser, FF3 would load instead and check for compatability of add-ons  that you have been using for FF2 which can be a pain in the neck.
http://blog.codefron...ng-at-the-same-time/

And of course backup your default profiles etc before you begin.

If you are still not sure, better use one of the tools like Sandbox instead.

The only tricky part I have not figured out yet is when I'm ready dump FF2, how do I do it properly- possibly reinstall FF3 again, but this time with the default settings.

A word of caution when using tools like Nightly Tester to force compatibility for add-ons.
I had an instance when an incompatible add-on caused instability for FF3.

Also, go easy when walking the table spread of Add-ons - like doing it progressively, one at a time, use it for a while and see if everything is fine before you add the next one.

It's so tempting as you go through the gigantic list of those available and add 5 or 6 at one go.

My FF3 had a case of indigestion and another round of instability even for those which are already compatible and it becomes hard to identify which one is the culprit when you add more than one at once.

So I have learnt my lesson - slow and steady.

129

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 3 Released - anyone got Powermarks to work with it ?

« on: June 18, 2008, 10:00 PM »

Downloaded it yesterday and modified the Powermarks.xpi (so that the maxversion is 3.0) so that the Powermarks icons will show up in Firefox 3.

However, on clicking the icon, Powermarks does not run.

Does anyone have a workaround ?

Powermarks is a very competent Bookmarks manager and has been mentioned several times in this forum such as

Multi-browser Bookmark Synchronization Tool and Other Multi-Browser Ideas? - DonationCoder.com
"Powermarks is the best! (http://www.kaylon.com/power.html) it not only synchronises your bookmarks, crossbrowser, also lets you instant searches them, extract tags from them so they're grouped, backup/store them online so you can use them between multiple pcs."
https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=7926.0

130

General Software Discussion / AVG False positive on MouseActivate ?

« on: June 08, 2008, 03:46 AM »

Has anyone encountered this AVG Threat Detected ! warning for MouseActivate

It says Virus identified Worm/Autoit.BKL

I assume it is a false warning as this program comes from none other than www.Donationcoder.com

Never had this warning before until today.

Anyway, I clicked the AVG's healed command and it says successfully healed.

131

General Software Discussion / Re: Dilemma - Free AVG8 - Buggy; Updates for Free AVG 7.5 ending May 08

« on: May 17, 2008, 11:38 AM »

Just a possible "solution"

Use Antivir mentioned below and combine this with the use of Gmail which has built in antivirus - that should take care of the lack of limited active email protection.


Support Alert Newsletter Issue 157, Free Edition
"Based on the evidence available as of today, I think the best route for free software users who want maximum protection is to switch to the free Avira AV [3] scanner and optionally, bolster this with the free Spyware Terminator program [4] or, less desirably, Windows Defender [5].

I say this because the free Avira product includes rootkit protection, while the free AVG does not. It is also more stable. Furthermore, Avira has better overall protection than AVG. Check out the AV Comparatives results [6] and you will see what I mean.

On the downside, Avira has limited active email protection, will nag you more than AVG free and the interface is somewhat more crude. But the overall level of protection is excellent."
http://techsupportal...rent.htm#Section_3.3

132

General Software Discussion / Dilemma - Free AVG8 - Buggy; Updates for Free AVG 7.5 ending May 08

« on: May 16, 2008, 04:45 AM »

Support Alert Newsletter Issue 157, Free Edition
"On April 24 the free version of AVG V8 was released, and was promptly met with howls of derision. The free version excluded the rootkit scanner, active protection against hostile websites and a number of the other goodies added to the commercial V8 product. It also was proving to be very buggy.

Worse still, AVG announced that they would discontinue (at the end of May) the virus updates for the current V7.5 free version as well as their free anti-spyware and rootkit detection products.

I can fully understand user's disappointment with these announcements, but this is a perfectly normal commercial decision. AVG is, after all, a commercial organization, not a charity.

Their move does, however, present users of AVG's free software with a problem. Before the release of the V8, many AVG users employed an excellent security setup that combined the free version of AVG AV 7.5 with AVG's free anti-spyware scanner. With both these products being phased out, users are faced with a dilemma."
http://techsupportal...rent.htm#Section_3.3

I have used Freeware AVG 7.5 for sometime now. But looks like this happy relationship is gonna end soon !!

Any thoughts and ideas besides what Gizmo suggest.

133

Found Deals and Discounts / Recentx at Giveawayoftheday

« on: May 06, 2008, 03:37 AM »

"Giveaway of the Day - RecentX

RecentX is a 1-click super-fast way of accessing your widespread documents, deep folders, cluttered programs & large Internet browsing history/bookmarks (favorites). RecentX saves enormous time, removes frustration and stress caused due to trivial & repeated computer activity for which we have not done anything yet."
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/

This program was on donationcoder's recent discount list.
Also discussed in this thread https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=9410.0

So what are you waiting for !

134

General Software Discussion / Re: Who used up the bandwidth/allocated traffic for the month ?

« on: April 24, 2008, 07:22 AM »

I use Netmeter and I love how it logs usage and estimates what your projected total for the month will be (based on how much you have used already and your current downloading speed) .

-app103 (April 17, 2008, 05:59 PM)

Thanks app103 for the info on Netmeter - it looks good.

I would suggest a 2 part solution:
2) Configure the router and set up a bandwidth limiting rule for each allotted IP address on the network. Make sure that the IP is assigned static per MAC address so that each machine's IP always stays constant. When a person reaches within 80% of their allowed limit, lower their speed so that they stay within the limit. PortForward has many guides on port forwarding and configuring several brands and models of routers..

-icekin (April 24, 2008, 05:48 AM)

Thanks icekin for Part 2 about configuring the router.
Would appreciate if you could just check the link for PortForward - I think there's something wrong with it.

135

Living Room / Re: Fujitsu Scansnap S300 - Looks Nice; Anyone Using One?

« on: April 21, 2008, 01:12 AM »

I have tried a Scansnap Color image fi-5110EOX.

Yes it is indeed fast and if you have a ton of loose-leaf double sided documents that you want to convert to PDFs, this is a wonderful device.

It is fast and quite trouble free although at times it would pull a couple of pages together in a single pass. And it scans both sides in a single pass.

It allows you to select compression vs quality.

But the trouble is how many (me included) have a ton of loose-leaf double documents that you want to convert to PDFs.

So that's the deal breaker for me.

It is also as you rightly pointed out - Non Twain compliant - which is another deal breaker.

And if you got a book from which you need to scan a few pages or many pages for that matter, would it tear your heart out if you had to tear the pages to scan the pages with Scansnap ?

I'll stick to a Canon Twain compliant LED flat bed scanner.

136

General Software Discussion / Who used up the bandwidth/allocated traffic for the month ?

« on: April 15, 2008, 11:58 AM »

I know someone who is one of four students living in a house.

They share a wireless network and based on the ISP plan they subscribed to, they have an allocated traffic of 50GB of high speed traffic per month and after that, the speed drops dramatically.

So each pays 25% of the cost.

What they have now is a situation of the 50gb being used up too quickly and everyone thinks it is someone else other than they themselves being responsible. Well obviously someone is visiting www.youtube.com etc too often.

Does anyone know of a freeware traffic monitoring tool that each can install on their computer that will track their respective usage so that there is a fair allocation between the various users that will lead to a peaceful co-existence. Preferably, there should be a traffic report that each can print out to support their case.

I recognize that such reports can of course be manipulated. But I will just assume that no one tries to beat the software. Just that all each one needs is a reliable "fuel" meter so that they know they are using up too much juice.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

137

General Software Discussion / Does anyone know if Vista can recognize a floppy disk drive

« on: March 25, 2008, 11:58 AM »

I'm just thinking a little ahead which is why I'm asking this question.

I hate to move over to Vista but :

1. The approaching death of Windows XP is kind of getting closer each day
2. My laptop could fail and when I replace it earlier than I have to, I may be forced onto Vista

I have a wonderful piece of software that I've been using for several years now. The only thing that gets me worried is that it required a key that is stored on a floppy. I have in fact upgraded to a new version which does not require a floppy, but the new "user interface is terrible compared to the older version". So I cannot solve my problem with a software upgrade.
 
I seem to get the impression that Windows Vista does not recognize either the floppy drive or a diskette formatted under Windows 98.

Can anyone shed any light on whether Vista can recognize a USB floppy drive and a diskette

Thanks

138

Found Deals and Discounts / Evernote Beta & Evernote free at Giveawayoftheday today

« on: March 21, 2008, 03:13 AM »

"Evernote Beta"
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/

"In addition, Evernote is giving away a full version of Evernote 2.2 for Windows (Main Download / Mirror 1 - 56.1 MB), normally $49.95"
http://www.giveawayo...y.com/evernote-beta/

139

Found Deals and Discounts / 33% of all Phatware products (Windows Mobile) till 31 Mar 08

« on: March 18, 2008, 09:55 AM »

"10-year Anniversary Sale

In the wake of PhatWare’s 10-th anniversary, we are pleased to offer a 33% discount on all PhatWare software products (excluding upgrades and developer products) through March 31, 2008. Please follow the instructions below to take advantage of this limited time offer."
http://www.phatware....q=page/show/howtobuy

I can say that PhatWare has quite good programs like Calligrapher (Handwriting recognition), Phatnotes (What else - take notes - beats the programs that is native to Windows Mobile), Phatpad etc.

They are all quality software which I own and use.

140

Found Deals and Discounts / Helpsmith on Giveawayoftheday

« on: February 07, 2008, 02:47 AM »

On quite a few of the giveawayoftheday, I give it a miss, but today's offer may be worth mine and your trouble. Maybe it's because it's normally for sale at $199.

Giveaway of the Day - free licensed software daily. HelpSmith - The Help Authoring Tool.
"HelpSmith is an innovative help authoring tool allowing you to easily create CHM HTML Help files and Printed Manuals. The HelpSmith’s ultimate toolkit with its visual approach takes the process of writing technical documentation for your software to a new quality level."
http://www.giveawayo...heday.com/helpsmith/

141

Found Deals and Discounts / Titan Backup 2.0 Free for Registered users - applies to 1.2 free from Giveaway

« on: January 19, 2008, 11:12 AM »

If you got Titan Backup 1.2 Free from www.giveawayoftheday.com you can get free upgrade to Titan Backup 2.0 because of their Holiday Gift Promotion. Not sure how long this is for. So grab it while you can.

Holiday Gift
"Titan Backup 2.0 - Holiday Gift
Registered Users

Thank you for being a Titan Backup customer.

Because we think it is so important to protect your priceless files we've made it possible for you to get our new major upgrade Titan Backup 2.0 for FREE!

 "
http://www.titanback...up-holiday-gift.html


As an afterthought, has anyone used it and compared it to Genie Backup Manager Professional.

But you certainly cannot argue with Free !

142

Found Deals and Discounts / Pocket Informant FREE, Two Days Only

« on: January 04, 2008, 05:19 AM »

Pocket Informant FREE, Two Days Only

http://www.pocketpct...?action=expand,57846

The title says it all: visit our software store, use the coupon code PIFREE, and you'll get a free version of Pocket Informant.

Software store at
http://software.pock.../product.asp?id=1025

143

General Software Discussion / Clipboard Help+Spell gets mentioned in www.pcworld.com

« on: January 02, 2008, 05:57 AM »

PC World - Three Apps' New Approaches to Old Standbys
"Expand Clipboard's Memory

The Windows Clipboard is just a short-term holding tank; make your snips more hip with Clipboard Help+Spell. When running, this powerful freebie automatically stores all the text copied to your Clipboard, turning it into a huge searchable database.

Clipboard Help+Spell marks every entry with the date, and it lets you sort the entries into groups. The Quick Filter function searches for entries containing the words you specify.

Other functions make Clipboard Help+Spell even more useful. For example, you can type directly into Clipboard Help+Spell and then press a button to paste the text into the last open window of any program that accepts text. And as you might guess, it checks spelling.

Clipboard Help+Spell costs nothing to use, but the author--known as Mouser of DonationCoder.com--accepts donations for his work. Free/donationware."
http://www.pcworld.c...le.html?tk=nl_ptxcol

144

Found Deals and Discounts / Free App Friday @ Handango - Pocket Informant for $0 Today (Windows Mobile 6)

« on: December 14, 2007, 09:02 AM »

Handango Free App Friday - Fantastic deal today for one of the best Windows Mobile PIM  - Pocket Informant worth US$34.95

Drats - I had to pay for an upgrade just to get it a month ago !

You gotta be a little patient as the banner Ad in Handango cycle through a couple of Ads - Wait for the Free App Friday Banner to appear and then click it.

http://sdm3.rm04.net...k3NTgxOTIS1&mt=1

145

General Software Discussion / Re: Problem with Stumbleupon

« on: December 01, 2007, 07:40 AM »

This seems to be based on your IP, so reinstalling your OS wouldn't help, since your external IP would most likely remain the same..

Changing your IP might help though.

For most people with a dynamic IP, turning off your modem for about 5-10 minutes and turning it back on is all that is needed to cause an IP change.

-app103 (December 01, 2007, 06:39 AM)

Thanks app103,

Funny that you should be mentioning that turning off the modem and restarting it may solbe the problem.

It did not quite solve the problem. In fact you are right in that my ISP gives us a dynamic ip that changes from time to time. I think every few hours or some other time frame.

So it's kind of weird that Stumbleupon should have such a restriction because I assume that many ISPs may do the same.

In any case, I was fiddling around with another solution which is to hide my ip by redirecting my traffic through an anonymous server.

Guess what ? It works and that is weird because I think there may be others doing the same thing as I so this may just solve the problem temporarily until it detects too many people doing the same thing. Oh well.

I'll just live with it until they fix the problem.

146

General Software Discussion / Problem with Stumbleupon

« on: December 01, 2007, 05:59 AM »

"Too Many Accounts

There have been too many accounts created from your internet address. If you have never created a stumbleupon account before, you can request an account here. If you already have an account, you can recover your password here. .
If this still doesn't work for you, please Contact Us to let us know "

Lately, I have been getting the above message when I used the Stumbleupon button.

When I wrote to their support, I got the following rather unhelpful message which is contrary to what is happening since I use a security enabled network which I'm pretty sure no one else access. Besides me, I have 3 other family member who shares the network with their own computers but other than myself, no one uses Stumbleupon :

"I regret that this message indicates that someone
who is sharing your IP address (or Proxy) is using
our system in a manner that breaches our terms.
The system is geared up to detect such breaches
and imposes a limit on further activity.

Unfortunately, this also affects other members
using the same route of access.

The engineers are investigating other solutions,
but I regret that I can offer no immediate
solution.

Regards,

Barry Conway"

------------

Anyone else on this forum face this Stumbleupon problem too ?

Has anyone any suggestions to overcome it short of a re-install of my OS ?

Thanks

147

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Paypal Announces 20% Cash-Back Holiday Promo - Starts 11/26/07 through Dec 1

« on: November 26, 2007, 10:25 PM »

Hmm, thought maybe I should have just given credit to where I first saw this. My apologies.

Looks legitimate enough to me. But I guess it is always best to type in the actual site address instead of clicking a link when it comes to making payments etc.

Paypal Announces 20% Cash-Back Holiday Promo - Starts 11/26/07
Published by Wayne Schulz November 26th, 2007 in Wayne Schulz, Tips & Tricks and Diary Entries. Tags: Diary Entries, Tips & Tricks, Wayne Schulz.

Starting Today (November 26, 2007) through December 10, 2007 - if you use Paypal as your checkout method for select merchants you can get 20% cash back (Maximum of $ 50 per Paypal account) on your purchase
http://www.geardiary...ts-112607/#more-4831

148

Found Deals and Discounts / Paypal Announces 20% Cash-Back Holiday Promo - Starts 11/26/07 through Dec 10

« on: November 26, 2007, 11:50 AM »

Some of you may find this useful.

But it's limited to Maximum of $ 50 per Paypal account on your purchase

https://www.paypal-p...ay/slider/index.html

149

Found Deals and Discounts / Webis - Pocket Informant etc 45% off all products

« on: November 23, 2007, 03:36 AM »

Any Windows Mobile enthusiasts here - hmm ! I don't see much discussion on Windows Mobile devices software at Donationcoder.

Maybe this 45% off some really great products for the PocketPC or Window Mobile devices may draw some of these enthusiasts out of the donationcoders that hangout around here.


"WebIS Software: 45% off all WebIS software from the WebIS Store. Use the code, BFSALE2007, at the checkout."
http://www.pocketpct...?action=expand,57391

150

Found Deals and Discounts / The Land of the Free - 101 Best Web freebies : Businessweek

« on: November 22, 2007, 05:11 AM »

This kind of fits here I think since it's mostly free stuff including software etc.

Discovered some useful gems there. You might too.

"World Wide Web: Land of Free Stuff
You want it? It's yours. From a college education to your favorite shampoo, it's all happening gratis on the Internet"
http://www.businessw...inessweek+exclusives