Messages

1576

General Software Discussion / Re: Data recovery software suggestions?

« on: September 20, 2006, 12:34 AM »

http://www.r-studio.com/

-mukestar (September 14, 2006, 10:28 AM)

You know, R-Studio and Restorer 2000 looked very similar to me back when I did my dying drive recovery (I came across R-Studio shortly after I recovered the data). 

The two companies are just blocks away from each other on the same street in Ontario Canada.  I wonder if there's a connection?

1577

General Software Discussion / Re: Help! How can I grab embedded streaming videos?

« on: September 18, 2006, 02:12 PM »

WebStream recorder Pro is supposed to handle this kind of thing (http://www.sytexis.com/index.php?page=wsrecorderpro).

Try it - if it works and you want to register it, there'a DC members discount (40% off) that might still be in effect.

1578

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: XYplorer File Manager

« on: September 13, 2006, 06:07 PM »

DonL - I say steal away! Dopus has the same feature (breadcrumbs) so it's not unique to xplorer2 (I have no idea who originated it; very likely it was neither app...).

-Darwin (September 13, 2006, 05:48 PM)

Not to mention that it's being incorporated into Vista's Explorer UI.  I first heard of the 'breadcrumb' control in reference to web site navigation, but that doesn't mean that's where it started.

1579

General Software Discussion / Re: ACDSee 9.0 available

« on: September 13, 2006, 04:15 PM »

Anyone else feel ACDSystems are taking the michael ?

-Carol Haynes (September 13, 2006, 02:57 PM)

I'll have to ask what you mean by "taking the michael" - I looked it up in Google, but the best I could find said it meant "To make fun, tease, satirize".    So, what's it really mean?

1580

What's the Best? / Re: Anti-Virus Package

« on: September 13, 2006, 11:29 AM »

I notice AOL Active Virus Shield is no. 2 on that list
Anyone know is there a catch to that being free ?? (well, AOL ...)

-tomos (September 13, 2006, 11:12 AM)

Apparently AOL Active Virus Shield is an OEM version of Kaspersky - the catch I've heard about is that there is some controversy over the license  - that it may leave open the possibliliy of adware/spyware.  Also, the toolbar is apparently based on something that used to be spyware.  However, as far as I know there is no spyware currently in the product, but some people have complained that the license has loopholes:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=printArticleBasic&articleId=9002564

1581

General Software Discussion / Re: Data recovery software suggestions?

« on: September 12, 2006, 07:13 PM »

I used Restorer 2000 to recover files from a failing drive that Windows would no longer deal with. 

It's the old story of inadequate backups and an important school project due soon - suddenly Windows won't boot and even after attaching the drive to a working computer, Windows would not read any files off of it.  I was looking into paying *big* bucks (I mean like "sell the car to get the money" bucks) to a data recovery outfit when I decided to try the Restorer 2000 software, whose website had a decidedly 'snake-oil' feel to it, so my expectations were pretty low.  But they had a trial version that would make an image of the failing drive which would let you explore the directory tree that it could recover and actually recover small files.

The trial worked well enough that I paid the $80 bucks (or thereabout), and sure enough I was able to recover all the important files I needed - this was easily the best $80 I've ever spent on software.  Oh, and I have a couple of backup schemes in place now...

Now, my situation was not recovering deleted files or unformatting a drive which may well have very different requirements, but I am more than impressed with how it handled getting files off the failing drive.

http://www.restorer2000.com/   

1582

Living Room / Re: mail2web: any comments?

« on: September 11, 2006, 10:27 AM »

I haven't used it recently, but I did use it quite a bit several years ago.  My one concern was always the fact that giving my login information to someone else -- a general paranoia.  They've been around for a long time, though -- so it's not some fly-by-night password grabber.

-allen (September 11, 2006, 05:23 AM)

This is exactly my situation, too.

But as far as the login info goes, remember that if you're using straight up POP3 (and I think most people who are not strictly webmail-based are), your credentials are going out on the net in plain text anyway.

1583

General Software Discussion / Re: ZIP 2 Secure EXE - Freeware

« on: September 01, 2006, 03:32 PM »

AxCrypt is open source software that can create self-decrypting files. 

It doesn't know anything about handling .zip files, but having a Zip utility is pretty much universal.

However, I can see that if you're sending the files to very non-computer savvy prople (like everyone in my family), the Chilkat tool would be nice.  I just get a good feeling from having the source to AxCrypt available (even though I've never actually done anything with it).

1584

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Bryce 5 Free Till Sept. 6th

« on: August 30, 2006, 10:11 PM »

I've got the "free" version, but can't seem to find the non-download.com version...

-Hirudin (August 30, 2006, 06:00 PM)

Go to the "My Account" link at the top of the page and log on using the email address you used to activate the download.com version.

Then you'll have a set of links to the downloads and key(s) you have in your account.

Note that the downloads are only active for 5 or 6 days, so if it's been longer than that you'll probably have to register another instance of the download.com version, maybe using a different email address.

If you're reading this after Sept 6, then I suppose you're out of luck...  Not that it matters (unless they stop allowing activations and you want to re-install on a different machine).

1585

General Software Discussion / Re: Software Frustrations

« on: August 29, 2006, 01:48 AM »

I blame my dad. I grew up helping him fix the car and every time he'd slip and smash his hand, which was often — he'd bellow out long strings of curses that were musical. Let's say he had good diction to say the least!

-zridling (August 28, 2006, 06:05 PM)

Just the opposite for me - my Dad's deaf, so I rarely got 'corrected' when I spewed #$%@ curse words.

1586

General Software Discussion / Re: ReactOS 0.3.0 released

« on: August 29, 2006, 01:44 AM »

The ReactOS people have thought about these issues, and seem to have a pretty good handle on it:

http://www.reactos.org/xhtml/en/dev_legalreview.html

Clearly, there is enough amibiguity that if MS decided to challenge the project, it would almost certainly fold under the weight (both time and money) of fighting the challeges.

My guess is that MS is not concerned, since Windows has a head start of many years, and the project poses little real commercial threat.  Going after the project would just waste MS resources and cause bad publicity with no real upside.

However, I'm sure that would quickly change if  MS found evidence that Windows source was misappropriated...

1587

General Software Discussion / Re: Software Frustrations

« on: August 28, 2006, 05:42 PM »

why do i have a feeling zaine will soon be a mod on your forum 

-mouser (August 28, 2006, 04:56 PM)

To add ever more colorful language?

1588

Backup Guide / Re: Don't forget Syncback !!!!

« on: August 28, 2006, 12:50 PM »

I think there might be some confusion with terminology.  I think urlwolf is talking about versioned backups, where more than one version of a file is kept in the backup store (correct me if I'm wrong, urlwolf).

Syncback does support 'incremental' backups, such that only the files modified since the last backup are copied to the backup location.  However,  SyncBack does not really support versioned backups - they can be simulated using variables similar to environment variables to change the backup destination based on the date of the backup.

SyncBack's restore functionality does not know anything about the multiple possible backup destinations, so it does not automatically get the latest version of a file from the entire set of possible backup locations.  If you're doing a full restore, to get the latest files you have to restore from the oldest backup destination, the the next newest, etc. until you get to the newest backup destination.  To restore a single file, you have to look in the various backup locations to find the newest one.

True versioning support is a frequently requested feature on SyncBack's forum; I believe that 2BrightSparks have indicated it will be in the future release of 'SyncBack Pro', but there is no estimated date for that release.

1589

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Bryce 5 Free Till Sept. 6th

« on: August 24, 2006, 03:37 PM »

Also, after you register you are given access to be able to download a non-C/NET, non-downloads.com version of Bryce 5.

The advantage of this is that it doesn't need the machine ID-based activation.  I believe this is probably a wise thing to do in case you want to install it on a replacement machine in the future, and the activation website is no longer supported.

To install the non-C/NET version you still need a serial number which is the portion of the activation code you're given on the web before the first ':' (colon character).  It is *not* the whole activation code you use for the Downloads.com version.  That may not make much sense right now, but it probably will once you see the activation code you get from the web.

It's a pretty big download - I don't know if it includes any of the content Deozaan mentioned or not.

1590

Backup Guide / Re: Acronis now does backup of individual files/folders

« on: August 21, 2006, 06:02 PM »

I have also just got a new Seagate external USB drive (the the one press backup button).

-Carol Haynes (August 21, 2006, 03:06 PM)

I've been curious about something with these one button backup drives - can you configure what get's run when the button is pressed, or is it hard-wired to run the bundled backup program?

1591

Living Room / Re: Necrofile or other... ?

« on: August 16, 2006, 03:49 PM »

Also sdelete from Sysinternals (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/SDelete.html) will wipe drive freespace. 

Nothing fancy - just a simple command line util; the source code is also available, in case that's of interest.

1592

Living Room / Re: New WEP attack found - cracks in seconds

« on: August 11, 2006, 09:08 AM »

about the only real secure way to run wireless is using a Radius server or a 3rd party encryption scheme.

-Rover (August 11, 2006, 07:36 AM)

Or you run the AP open, but access the network beyond the AP using a VPN and allow only the VPN traffic to go anywhere beyond the AP.  This generally means you need another router between the wireless AP and the rest of your network.

1593

General Software Discussion / Re: WINRAR free this sunday 30th July 2006

« on: August 05, 2006, 01:54 PM »

There's another link to get a free WinRAR 3.51 license (non-upgradeable).  This site does not seem to be as bogged down as Sunday's:

http://nct.digitalriver.com/fulfill/0233.001

I have no idea how long it will stay valid.

1594

General Software Discussion / Re: WINRAR free this sunday 30th July 2006

« on: July 29, 2006, 06:17 PM »

The offer is for Sunday, Central European Time - so it's open now!

1595

Living Room / Re: filedestructor - a purposeful file corruption tool..

« on: July 29, 2006, 10:58 AM »

Reminds me of the Saturday Night Live' "Jiffy Express" parody commercial:

At Jiffy Express, we know how important it is to be on time. And we also know that sometimes you just can't make it. That's when you call Jiffy. We'll take the package - and the blame.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/92/92djiffy.phtml

1596

General Software Discussion / Re: WINRAR free this sunday 30th July 2006

« on: July 29, 2006, 10:41 AM »

Hoo boy, I bet that's gonna be a dificult link to actually get to...  it's not Sunday yet, and I'm getting:

Warning: mysql_pconnect() [function.mysql-pconnect]: #08004Too many connections in /opt/www/wwwroot/www.win-rar.com/html/t3lib/class.t3lib_db.php on line 813

1597

General Software Discussion / Re: Wow: Microsoft Acquires WinInternals/SysInternals!

« on: July 20, 2006, 09:03 AM »

Yea, that's what I said ;p. Or were you just agreeing and expanding?

-db90h (July 20, 2006, 02:58 AM)

Yup.

1598

General Software Discussion / Re: Wow: Microsoft Acquires WinInternals/SysInternals!

« on: July 19, 2006, 09:24 AM »

It's not like Sys/WinInternals is some outsider and Microsoft came and gobbled them up to squash competition. I'm sure SysInternal's will keep publishing free tools, the only difference is WinInternals commercial software will now be generating revenue for Microsoft.

-db90h (July 18, 2006, 09:53 PM)

I don't think this is any particular effort by MS to squash competition or eliminate a source of sensitive information.

Rather, I think that MS may want to distribute these tools in other ways, and more importantly, I think that MS may have other things they want Russinovich and Cogswell to work on than freebie utilitites (I think this is where the  loss to the community will be).

I certainly don't think ill of anyone involved in the deal, I just believe (from a selfish standpoint, granted) that there will be some useful software that will now never see the light of day - not because of a conspiracy or something, but simply because now they'll be doing something else.

1599

General Software Discussion / Re: Wow: Microsoft Acquires WinInternals/SysInternals!

« on: July 18, 2006, 04:12 PM »

I imagine this is very good for the SysInternals guys, I don't think that it will be good for anyone else (even Microsoft).  None of the things SysInternals (the free utility/info site) did was by any means outside of the scope of what could be done by Microsoft.  It's just that Microsoft didn't think of the usefulness of the utilities & information or did not want to expend resources on them.

I think that the stuff on Winternals (the non-free Admin Pak and Protection Manager) is technology and/or products that Microsoft is smart to acquire; I think that MS bought them mainly for their Protection Manager technology to deal with running applications in a secured (and ACL'ed) sandbox.  But for most people, the free stuff on SysInternals was what was valuable.

I'd guess that the existing set of functionality of the free SysInternal utilities will continue to be available in some form or another, but I expect that there will be nothing new coming, unless they let Russinovich & Cogswell have some significant independence.  Maybe there will be a short-lived period where there's some new utilities, but I think in the long run, not.

1600

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: MS Virtual PC is now free

« on: July 15, 2006, 09:41 PM »

Dammit, this looked awesome until I found out they have no version for x64 and no release date.

-broken85 (July 15, 2006, 12:34 PM)

I'm probably soundling like a broken record by now, but...

MS Virtual Server supports x64 (as a host - not guest VMs).  Functionally, it's pretty much the same as VPC (no soundcard support in the VMs), but it's not as user-friendly.  Even though support is advertised for Windows Server OS's , it'll run on WinXP Pro no problem.

Also, VMware has the free VMware Server which supports x64 (even in the guest VMs if you have the right CPU - not all x64 CPUs support this).