Messages

2626

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu Linux vs. Windows Vista

« on: May 05, 2007, 11:51 AM »

Here's news that the Linux encroachment (along with ODF) continues to gain momentum. Zimbra to offer Ubuntu Linux support:

Spurred by customer demand, Zimbra has completed a version of its open-source calendar and e-mail server software for Canonical's Ubuntu version of Linux.

Having good calendar software is a lure to quite a few folks, or conversely, not having it is a turnoff.

-zridling (May 05, 2007, 07:40 AM)

Very interresting indeed. The ability to "talk to outlook" and to understand "outlook talk" : priceless... Ok, maybe not priceless, but at least... luring.

2627

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu Linux vs. Windows Vista

« on: May 04, 2007, 04:43 PM »

[...] the consensus is that you can get AutoHotkey hotkeys to work, but not hotstrings. Here's what Chris Mallett shared with me on a AutoHotkey Linux port:

[Chris Mallett]: I've copied Jonny on this because he's expressed the most interest in porting to Linux.  In this case, "porting" may be a misnomer because most of the code probably cannot be ported. This is because it's too heavily dependent on the WinAPI. Instead, the concepts and design could be used to create a program with similar features in Linux. However, I have no experience with Linux shells (front ends), so it would be a huge endeavor for me. But it might happen someday, especially since like you, I don't see myself being a Windows user forever.
 

-zridling (May 03, 2007, 11:04 PM)

Thanks for sharing that, Zaine. 

2628

General Software Discussion / Re: Transfer OS and APPs. from one laptop to another

« on: May 03, 2007, 08:35 PM »

Thanks Carl. I appreciate your advices.
So... Download the drivers I will. And back to Dell my lapy will go. I'm still a bit... frightened undecided.
Hope everything goes well... 

2629

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu Linux vs. Windows Vista

« on: May 03, 2007, 03:44 PM »

I meant to add that although there are some hotkey apps for Linux, something like AutoHotkey for that platform would be a lure for Windows users. I wrote to Chris Mallett asking him to what it would take ($$$) to build a version for Linux that just included hotkeys and hotstrings (awaiting response). Since time is money, maybe if enough Linux users parted with a dollar or two, it might be worth his while. Otherwise, it's a Hall of Fame Windows app.

-zridling (May 03, 2007, 01:51 PM)

I know it's slightly off subject, and maybe you don't like the whole "Wine" idea, but.... have you tried Wine? AHT AHK [oups] seemed to work on Ubuntu Feisty Fawn with Wine-- haven't tried it fully though.

What I like about Wine is that, instead of porting an app., developers can just benefit from that "compatibility opportunity". I think that, in some cases, Wine should be the way to go.

2630

General Software Discussion / Re: Transfer OS and APPs. from one laptop to another

« on: May 03, 2007, 01:07 PM »

i have successfully made an image of my entire system (xp) on my desktop, and restored it onto the laptop, with great results.

so rather than "moving" apps and stuff, i suggest making a complete drive image of your laptop hard drive onto an external usb drive. and then you can restore it again if you need be.  A good app for drive imaging is Acronis True Image, but there are others (see https://www.donation...ckUpGuide/index.html).

by the way i think your instinct to back up your entire drive before sending it to be repaired is a very good one, definitely do it.

-mouser (May 03, 2007, 12:27 PM)

Thanks Mouser.
Backups are not a problem in my case. I have multiple backups of everything on my computer : https://www.donation...99.msg58886#msg58886. I'm a bit paranoid...

So I guess you just used True Image -- did you have to use the Universal Restore option ?

I just did this last week with True Image for the Windows/Programs partition and Ashampoo Burning Studio for the Documents partition (I was in a hurry and couldn't get Acronis to burn to DVD, initially). I've had to access both "images" to grab files for my wife and had no trouble. Given that I backed up to DVD, though, I may not be a happy camper when I get her notebook back as it has been noted by Carol that restoring from DVD's with TrueImage is molasses slow. Unfortunately, I wiped the harddrive before I sent it in and reset it to a virgin XP install (I'm paranoid) so it's inevitable that I'm going to have to face this!

-Darwin (May 03, 2007, 12:42 PM)

I feel for you... i will definitely wipe my drive before sending it. "Sensitive" (not that much...) info will not fall into Dell hands 
Will you have to restore on a NEW computer, or just a repaired one ? In the  second case it should be pretty easy -- even if quite slow... but it depends : restoring from DVD is not that bad, I found. It's the first case that frightens me : restoring on a new computer with a different MoBo.

2631

General Software Discussion / Transfer OS and APPs. from one laptop to another

« on: May 03, 2007, 12:18 PM »

Hi everybody,

I think I'll have to send my laptop to Dell before my warranty is over (too many BSODs — memory parity errors).

However the idea of loosing more than a week of work, waiting for a replacement laptop and than reconfiguring everything makes me shiver… The reconfiguration part is actually the part I dread the most. So, here are my questions:

-In the eventuality Dell sends me a slightly different laptop (different Mother Board) are there any effective ways to transfer my actual system (win XP) or configuration (with apps, etc.) to the new one ?

I know a bit about solutions like PCmover, and Universal Restore by Acronis… But I wonder if they really work. Any experiences to share? I know ZRidling wrote about some…

Thanks a lot ! I'd really like some advices on this one... 

2632

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Quality Comparison: 8 x freeware PDF Readers / Viewers

« on: April 30, 2007, 10:53 PM »

I tried Foxit Reader, and with the "Display texts optimized for LCD screen" option, I find it Okay -- a bit lighter than the Adobe Reader, which could be annoying (actually, at 100% or 125%, on my laptop screen, I find Foxit easy enough on the eyes. But that's subjective, of course). Apart from that, it's faster, the scrolling is smooth, has more options (convenient annotation tools...), and takes almost 1/4 of the RAM Adobe Reader uses. I wonder if it's compatible with all the new gadgets though. Anyway : for my ebook reading usage, it's more than enough.

2633

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu Linux vs. Windows Vista

« on: April 29, 2007, 10:18 PM »

Welcome to the site DrJtoo!

That's quite an amazing story you've got there!
Sounds like the store you bought your Vista copy from is partially in fault by not being willing to reimburse you. But even if they would, it sounds like a horrible experience!

-Gothi[c] (April 29, 2007, 10:11 PM)

Indeed !

(And, yup : welcome, DrJtoo.)

2634

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu Linux vs. Windows Vista

« on: April 29, 2007, 07:20 PM »

I now run Ubuntu.

-DrJtoo (April 29, 2007, 07:15 PM)

How dare you ! your only two valid options should've been OSX and OSX.   

2635

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu Linux vs. Windows Vista

« on: April 29, 2007, 06:44 PM »

ubuntu has no commercial interests

[...]

prime time... mass market... geee, capitalism...

-gjehle (April 29, 2007, 02:36 AM)

 

the NT kernel is clearly superior to both BSD and Linux,
[...]
GPL is an atrocity
[...]
If people don't like linux getting compared to windows, perhaps people should try and stop selling linux as a viable alternative. It's not.

-f0dder (April 29, 2007, 03:20 AM)

 

How? Considering which parameters ?

References from real peer reviewed studies would help...
Or, at least, lets define the boundaries of the comparison or comments.

Aren't these debates a bit too... abstract, subjective and general ?

(Sincerely... Maybe I just don't get it)

2636

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.76 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - APRIL 9, 2007

« on: April 26, 2007, 03:23 PM »

its all in its FindAndRunRobot.ini file in the program directory..
maybe there's something i'm messing up, like not storing position if exited while minimized?

-mouser (April 26, 2007, 03:02 PM)

It seems to store the info, but erases (replaces) it as soon as it's restarted

For instance, these are the stored entries in the ini file after I've positioned FARR, and after it is "exited" WITHOUT RESTARTING :

MainLeft=428
MainTop=1
#(suppressed line)
#(suppressed line)
OptionsLeft=44
OptionsTop=44

AND this is what's written back AFTER FARR has been restarted :


MainLeft=132
MainTop=24
#(suppressed line)
#(suppressed line)
OptionsLeft=154
OptionsTop=154


(edit : clarified a bit my explanation...)

2637

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.76 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - APRIL 9, 2007

« on: April 26, 2007, 02:56 PM »

Could there be possibly an option to center FARR at the first start. Currently it is positioned anywhere on the screen, but there is no option to re-place it to ease handling.

-powerandy (April 11, 2007, 12:35 PM)

Could there be possibly an option to center FARR at the first start. Currently it is positioned anywhere on the screen, but there is no option to re-place it to ease handling.

-powerandy (April 11, 2007, 12:35 PM)

Ok... I have the same problem.
[...] even if I cleanly exit Farr, it will not remember it's position at first launch.
And, of course, after I position it, it will remember its spot for the subsequent triggering.... Until I need to exit and restart.

Small bug ? Never had that problem before v2.00.71 I  think.
[...]

-Armando (April 18, 2007, 03:15 PM)

Nobody has that problem ? v2.00.76 and v2.00.71  behave the same.

-Armando (April 20, 2007, 04:53 PM)

Interresting.

I uninstalled FARR completely, reinstalled the latest alpha, and now it remembers its position. Weird. It even seems a tad faster.

I'm crossing my fingers : maybe will my BSOD problems go away too...

Morale de l'histoire : afterall, installing over previous versions might not be such a great idea...

By the way, in complete despair, I tried Enso (Humanized) and Launchy. Hmmmm.... Came back to Farr in 15min. I am not saying the other don't have potential... They're just not there yet 

-Armando (April 22, 2007, 01:35 PM)

Checked, but not acknowledged! What a pity.....

- Powerandy -

-powerandy (April 24, 2007, 11:45 PM)

Ok... I have the same problem.
[...] even if I cleanly exit Farr, it will not remember it's position at first launch.
And, of course, after I position it, it will remember its spot for the subsequent triggering.... Until I need to exit and restart.

Small bug ? Never had that problem before v2.00.71 I  think.
[...]

-Armando (April 18, 2007, 03:15 PM)

Nobody has that problem ? v2.00.76 and v2.00.71  behave the same.

-Armando (April 20, 2007, 04:53 PM)

Strange. Farr remembered its position correctly a few times, and now, it doesn't anymore. Why does that happen ???

Mouser, I know you're very busy, but, when you have the time, could you tell me where does FARR store it's screen position infos ? Is it in the registry ?

2638

General Software Discussion / Re: How do you backup your files?

« on: April 25, 2007, 10:36 PM »

Over Easter the MoBo on my PC died on me - was I glad of those back ups as I had to do a clean install with the new MoBo.
So the question is this - is there an easy way to re-install all your programs onto the formatted C drive? I naivley thought it was done from the clone, but it wouldn't work so either I was just wrong in that assumption or I was right, but not doing the process correctly.

-Clive (April 25, 2007, 09:56 PM)

There might be options to achieve what you tried to do, but the only two I know are provided by Acronis True Image ("universal restore"), and Symantec  (I wonder if anybody had experiences regarding Acronis' Universal Restore).

Anyway, apart from these solutions, I think it would be fairly complicated to use your previous Windows Images with a new MoBo (problems with finding and installing the appropriate drivers, hard disk controllers, etc.). But I'm curious about what the experts here would say...

2639

General Software Discussion / Re: How do you backup your files?

« on: April 25, 2007, 09:36 PM »

What if... You house burns ? 

-Armando (April 25, 2007, 08:10 PM)

I'm using Backup4All to copy the really critical stuff (encrypted) via FTP to my account on Dreamhost, which runs my website. I wish I could back up more that way, but at 30 kb/s upload rate it's pretty slow going.

-tranglos (April 25, 2007, 09:25 PM)

To overcome the "burning" factor, I always have at least 1 HD somewhere else.

2640

Find And Run Robot / Re: FARR + Linux + Wine

« on: April 25, 2007, 08:13 PM »

crazy world we live in.

-mouser (April 25, 2007, 05:47 PM)

Don't like Beryl ?
Or nervous about the fact that millions of new users might one day discover the beauties of FARR ? 

2641

General Software Discussion / Re: How do you backup your files?

« on: April 25, 2007, 08:10 PM »

What if... You house burns ? 

2642

General Software Discussion / Re: How do you backup your files?

« on: April 25, 2007, 03:52 PM »

The mp3s, pix, etc are backed up once a day and most docs are backed up online in real time (besides being mirrored daily on a separate HDD).

-nosh (April 25, 2007, 03:00 PM)

Aaaaaahhhhh. 

2643

Find And Run Robot / Re: FARR + Linux + Wine

« on: April 25, 2007, 03:52 PM »

Couldn't resist....

As I said : not really functional, but...


(edit : Lanux128 : I've resized the screenshots  )

2644

General Software Discussion / Re: How do you backup your files?

« on: April 25, 2007, 03:46 PM »

DI lets me compress and lets me browse the images and restore individual files from them in Windows.

-nosh (April 25, 2007, 03:00 PM)

With Acronis you can do all that, and more.

I don't know about speed.  I used drive image, but didn't seem faster in any way.

2645

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.76 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - APRIL 9, 2007

« on: April 25, 2007, 01:39 PM »

@ all

Sorry, I modified my previous posting.

- Powerandy -

-powerandy (April 25, 2007, 09:16 AM)

Aaaaaaah... Thanks! No problem ! 

2646

Find And Run Robot / Re: FARR + Linux + Wine

« on: April 25, 2007, 01:37 PM »

I will. I promise. In a few days.
I just need to finish some work on the Windows part of the world...

2647

General Software Discussion / Re: How do you backup your files?

« on: April 25, 2007, 01:32 PM »

I tend to create images every month more or less and have at least 2 previous images on my HDD at all times.

-nosh (April 25, 2007, 07:06 AM)

just to think that I could loose more than a few days of work makes me shiver... I backup Windows once or twice a month with Acronis, but I Sync my docs and make incremental backups once or twice a day... Like f0dder  said, doing a full backup everyday if you have lots of data is not even possible. Unless you'd have several terabytes available somewhere.  Even then : it would take too long. Not convenient at all.

1. Are the 'Live Backups' the ones I create with my programs running and accessing the drives being backed up absolutely reliable?

-nosh (April 25, 2007, 07:06 AM)

They were completely reliable for me. I had to restore my system several times — and different Oss — and never had a problem.

2. Will I be able to restore from DOS without any special boot disks? With Drive Image I can boot using a Win98 boot disk and restore the drives (the images and Drive Image program files can be on removable media or a non-target partition on my HDD).

-nosh (April 25, 2007, 07:06 AM)

Restoring is very easy. Much easier than with other similar software. You might have to create a boot CD with True Image, though. Check it out.

Last question - how do True Image and Symantec Ghost (which is the descendant of Drive Image) compare? Reliability is obviously my first priority, followed by functionality.

-nosh (April 25, 2007, 07:06 AM)

There are many reviews. One is available here on DC. There's another good one by Gizmo. People usually agree to say that True image is top notch. Zaine Ridling disagrees though. He now uses one of Terabyte ( http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/ ) imaging software -- very reliable too.  But Acronis always worked perfectly well for me…

2648

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.76 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - APRIL 9, 2007

« on: April 25, 2007, 12:45 AM »

I vote for Anti-Capitalist Kananaskis. Sounds fun. 

2649

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.76 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - APRIL 9, 2007

« on: April 25, 2007, 12:19 AM »

Checked, but not ack! What a pity.....

-powerandy (April 24, 2007, 11:45 PM)

Maybe it's my bad english... What does that mean ? 

Ack... Guess you are refering to the "ack" searching tool ?

2650

General Software Discussion / Re: How do you backup your files?

« on: April 24, 2007, 07:40 PM »

So, what's a decent no-nonsense backup program that's solid? Acronis file backup mode isn't exactly robust when it comes to aborting incremental backups etc., and it tends to include way too much in the incremental backups.

-f0dder (April 24, 2007, 04:57 PM)

I find that the combination of 2 programs is essential.

Personally, I like my combination.  (See previous posts)

To loose everything, I'd have to lose 4 HDs at the same, 3 of which are usually in different locations (my laptop is in my bag, my 320gb HD is at home, one 80gb HD is at a trustable friend's place). To loose some of my documents, I'd have to loose, 3HDs at the same time : the 2 I've usually got with me and the one at home. Chances are slim.

I feel pretty secure, but, of course, it's still possible for something completely unpredictable to happen. Like when I got a BSOD the other day, and lost what was encrypted with AXCrypt. That's the worst that happened to me in two years I lost almost a day of work -- too much, I know... I found a solution and that won't happen again.

The trick, I guess, is to constantly adapt your backup solution to perceived threats...  For now, SyncBackSE allows me to do that.  It's not perfect, but it's very flexible.