Messages

251

General Software Discussion / Re: Finally made it to Windows 7 -- looking for partitioning reccomendations

« on: October 20, 2011, 09:16 AM »

I did something like this once, but that I found one partition was getting full while others had loads of space. These days I just use one big partition per drive unless I need to split one for dual booting. It saves hassle in the long run if you don't guess the partition sizes appropriately at start.

-Eóin (October 20, 2011, 08:21 AM)

There is always (free) tools to resize partitions afterwards (Easeus, MT Solutions, etc.), this is what I do when needed, once every 2 years or so.

252

General Software Discussion / Re: Finally made it to Windows 7 -- looking for partitioning reccomendations

« on: October 20, 2011, 09:13 AM »

Dell, in it's great and inspired vision, allocated around 1900 GB to Disk 2, and less than 80 GB to Disk 1.  Now, OS is almost full and Disk 1 cannot be resized without wiping both Disk1 and 2.  Thanks a lot Dell !

-MerleOne (October 20, 2011, 08:07 AM)

Unless I'm missing something key here, you shouldn't need to wipe either of them, there should be quite a few other options. Win 7 out of the box has a utility that can shrink and grow volumes non-destructively.

-allen (October 20, 2011, 08:27 AM)

Volumes (C:,D:, ...) yes, Raid 0 disks no, AFAIK. 

253

General Software Discussion / Re: Finally made it to Windows 7 -- looking for partitioning reccomendations

« on: October 20, 2011, 08:07 AM »

I got a Win 7 Pc a few months ago already and here is how it was after unboxing it :
Disk 1 : 3 partitions
- Dell Utility
- Dell Recovery
- OS

Disk 2 : 1 partition
- Data

Disk 1 and 2 are actually 2 Raid 0 arrays (2 virtual drives spanned on 2 physical drives)

Dell, in it's great and inspired vision, allocated around 1900 GB to Disk 2, and less than 80 GB to Disk 1.  Now, OS is almost full and Disk 1 cannot be resized without wiping both Disk1 and 2.  Thanks a lot Dell !

But were is what is of possible interest to you.

I re-partitioned Disk 2 as follows :
- Data (~100 GB)
- Downloads (Mostly software installers) (1/3 of the rest)
- Video (1/3 of the rest)
- Backup (1/3 of the rest)

I use Downloads to store ... downloads mostly,
I use Video to store DVB-T recorded content and post-processed content using DVD mastering software,
I use Backup to image locally Disk 1 and also Data. I also backup to an external USB3 HDD, because if one of physical internal disks fails, I lose both Disk 1 and Disk 2.

Hope this helps.

254

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: boxed Defrag: $9.95

« on: October 20, 2011, 07:54 AM »

...
MerleOne, if you see this, could you elaborate on the "work worse" comment ?
(I dont see any download options on their site, you have to email them to get the trial, so getting an older version doesnt seem to be an (easy) option)

-tomos (October 20, 2011, 07:23 AM)

Download is done through the support pages. http://www.disktrix.com/ud_support.htm, direct link to "best" version is http://www.disktrix....eDefrag3Setup319.exe

I don't like build 39 because :
- most of the time, it ends the defrag of some partitions before completion with an error message somewhere in the window title bar, I have never seen such errors using build 19
- they changed the consolidate algorithm and now it moves more files than before for a similar result.  Since I use image backup, I prefer as little moves as possible.
- Boottime is supposed to be improved, but I rarely use it and build 19 works fine for me in that area.

255

Skrommel's Software / Re: Dim Everything Else - Program Idea

« on: October 19, 2011, 09:52 AM »

This already exists - but I can't remember the name ... 

-joiwind (October 19, 2011, 06:30 AM)

Zorro ?
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/zorro.html

256

Developer's Corner / Re: Dennis Ritchie dead

« on: October 17, 2011, 11:02 AM »

A nice tribute to Dennis Ritchie in a French magazine :

http://www.lepoint.f...-2011-1385493_47.php

It starts with "He was one of the greatest computer scientist of the planet, if not the greatest...."

257

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Pdf converter 88% OFF

« on: October 16, 2011, 04:07 AM »

Thanks for clarifying it.

BTW, I had the chance to try it on a scanned English text, I used first the OCR integrated within Office, and there was many ill-recognized words, bur with this Wondershare application, it was perfect (only the first page was ocr'd in the demo version). 

258

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Pdf converter 88% OFF

« on: October 15, 2011, 08:37 AM »

  Just saw today on Raymond.cc another link the same software, this time for $9.95 !!!
http://www.wondersha...o-win09/pdf_pro.html

Time for a class action ?  Just joking...

Edited : actually I think I am rather lost, the first link for the first message was already $9.95 !

259

General Software Discussion / Re: SoftMaker Office 2012 BETA testing

« on: October 14, 2011, 01:39 AM »

OK, thanks for trying it out.

260

General Software Discussion / Re: SoftMaker Office 2012 BETA testing

« on: October 13, 2011, 03:09 PM »

Hi, did you try to open a .pptx file ?  With 2010 version this usually doesn't work.  Thanks.

261

General Software Discussion / Re: Suggestions for maximum-lockdown XP system

« on: October 13, 2011, 09:00 AM »

I would recommend TodoBackup 3 *Workstation* Edition which has a snapshot feature and it is maintained so far. 

262

General Software Discussion / Re: SoftMaker Office 2012 BETA testing

« on: October 13, 2011, 07:39 AM »

Recently, the 2010 version was offered by Ashampoo (minus the macro language) for $4.99, so I'll wait until it reaches a reasonable price.

263

General Software Discussion / Re: Alternatives to syncback for folders synchronization

« on: October 06, 2011, 08:11 AM »

AJC Sync will be soon on BDJ, the nice thing about it is that it handles nicely revisions, when you are about to overwrite an older file with a newer one, it will (optionally) save the old one in a special archive.

264

General Software Discussion / Re: AJC Active Backup ---- at Bits du Jour

« on: September 28, 2011, 10:29 AM »

and again today:

In case anyone's interested, the offer is being repeated at Bits du Jour - AJC Software today, $17.40 instead of $29.

-rjbull (August 21, 2009, 07:56 AM)

[I changed the link there to todays offer]

the only thing I've heard about it lately is that, according to MerleOne here, it's backup format is actually zip (but they use a differnet extension)

-tomos (September 28, 2011, 02:54 AM)

Actually, it's zip when there is a single file in the .aja archive, but when it's a set of different versions of the same file, unzipping the .aja is useless.

Despite the proprietary nature of the archives, it's still for me one of the best tool I know.  Very flexible, efficient, light on resources, never crashes, I just once had an issue with the itunes database archive, quiclky solved by AJC developer.  I definitely recommend it.

265

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: boxed Defrag: $9.95

« on: September 11, 2011, 09:37 AM »

UD3 is highly configurable.  I still find it the best defrag tool so far, even if build 39 (the one "boxed") seems to work worse that build 19 which has been perfect on all my systems.  JEtDefrag is just a GUI over JkDefrag Dll AFAIK. I think it doesn't even handle exclusions -to check-, whereas with UD3 you can exclude file based on size, path or other criteria if I remember correctly.  I personally only use size (files over 256 MB are not defragged).

Maybe with the boxed version of UD3 you can get the previous builds ?  In that case I would also recommend this offer.

266

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Don't miss the excellent Metaproducts Inquiry today (Sept 1st) on GOTD

« on: September 05, 2011, 11:23 AM »

BTW, I tried to capture today this page
http://www.nokia.fr/...x7-00/specifications
with various tools, and it's the only one which was able to capture the page without the bold fonts to appear garbled.

267

Found Deals and Discounts / Don't miss the excellent Metaproducts Inquiry today (Sept 1st) on GOTD

« on: September 01, 2011, 02:55 AM »

I recommend it highly !

268

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Surfulater 50% Discount on 30 Aug 11

« on: August 26, 2011, 09:34 AM »

Maybe because chrome get

I must admit I haven't used Surfulater that much recently, mostly because the Chrome addon keeps mysteriously disappearing .

-Jibz (August 26, 2011, 09:11 AM)

Maybe because Chrome is updated in background quite often and the extension is removed then ?!

One more precision about trying to load LG.com pages in Surfulater : after being loaded, when I re-open them, it generates a lot of "Stack Overflow" in IE, I have to discard the error windows ten times or so, then only a few images are loaded.

The only Web Capture tool I know that store these pages correctly so far is Local Website Archive (Aignes.com).  It probably lacks all the nice metadata handling from Surfulater, but it does store pages correctly.

269

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Surfulater 50% Discount on 30 Aug 11

« on: August 26, 2011, 08:45 AM »

Thanks for the info.

A question about the software itself : when I try to add http://www.lg.com/fr...lephones-mobiles.jsp, (Add article + page by r-clicking on the corresponding IE page), the stored page is missing a lot of info.  I have chose a LG site because it's difficult for most software to capture it.

Is there a setting that would improve the capture ?

Thanks.

270

General Software Discussion / Dock on recent Sony Vaio

« on: August 15, 2011, 07:20 AM »

Hi,

I have seen recently a nice laptop Pc by Sony in a retail shop, the Vaio VPC CA1S1E.  This model, with all other Sony Vaio models displayed, had a very nice dock installed, a bit similar to Apple's, but shown on the top of the screen.

The icon of the app under the mouse pointer would get maximized to improve selection of the app to be launched.

Does anyone with a recent Vaio knows which dock software is being used ?

Thanks.

271

General Software Discussion / Re: Strange Tomtom.com issue on my netbook

« on: August 09, 2011, 08:31 AM »

Your avast! was probably the free or the "normal" pro version. Allow me to recommend that you test avast! Internet Security with "avast! SafeZone™". It is quite good.

http://www.avast.com/internet-security

avast! SafeZone™ opens a new (clean) desktop so that other programs don’t see what’s happening – and it leaves no history once it’s closed.

-Curt (August 09, 2011, 08:23 AM)

Thanks.  I already use sandboxie and I think it's basically the same feature.  And you're right, I do use the free version.

272

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: NTI Echo - 75% Discount

« on: August 05, 2011, 11:46 AM »

Not knowing who NTI is, I had a look on their Company Profile:

NTI released the world's first CD Copy software in December of 1995. NTI's full line of software products have been recognized by: PC Magazine, EMedia, Smart Computing, PC World, Five Star Review, and ZDNET.com. PC Magazine's famed columnist John C. Dvorak commented on NTI CD-Maker: "This software is close to perfection!"

So I guess they are okay.
Do 'you' know by experience?

-Curt (August 03, 2011, 04:20 PM)

I don't have a good experience with NTI tools, at least with some of their products a few years ago.  I had NTIBackup 3 or so, and their CD burner too.  They messed up almost each update, the new build installation usually failed or rendered the software non functionning.

NTI shadow was ok though.  So my advice would be to test before purchase.

273

General Software Discussion / Solved: Strange Tomtom.com issue on my netbook

« on: August 03, 2011, 02:58 PM »

After removing all network components of Avast 6 and optimized my IP connection with the free Ashampoo Optimizer3, it works now !

Since I did both fixes, I don't know which one worked, but anyway, it seems fixed now.

274

General Software Discussion / Re: Strange Tomtom.com issue on my netbook

« on: August 03, 2011, 02:01 PM »

Thanks to both of you.  I have already ruled out the DNS issue and proxy settings by trying the direct ip address (same result) and proxy settings are fine.  I see two directions I will investigate :
- trying to uninstall the web components of Avast 6
- Try to reset the IP settings that might have been altered by some utility.  Not much to loose trying that.

275

General Software Discussion / Strange Tomtom.com issue on my netbook

« on: August 03, 2011, 07:57 AM »

Hi all,

I have a very strange issue with my netbook. I currently use a free wifi hotspot to connect to the Internet, and it went well until I tried to connect to www.tomtom.com. The website won't open. When I use another PC connected to the same hotspot, it just opens fine and quickly. When I retry several times on the netbook, it sometimes load the home page after 30 trials or so.

I have tried every single browser on the netbook: Opera, Chrome, K-Meleon, IE, and they all refuse to load properly www.tomtom.com.

Chrome does specify some error message :
Error 324 (net::ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE): The server closed the connection without sending any data.

Any hint on where I should look to solve this ?

BTW, I have reinstalled Java & Flash, just in case... No effect.

Thanks for any help !