Messages

201

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone actually use windows system restore if so,does it work.

« on: August 11, 2007, 09:16 PM »

In XP I tried it a few times before buying a disk imaging tool. Didn't work as I expected (returning the whole system partition--or the boot partition as MS calls it--to the exact state when the Restore Point was set). It would leave some things unchanged. It's by design (according to Help) but I didn't like it.

In Vista the ability of System Restore has been expanded. By utilizing volume shadow copy it could now restore individual files to a previous version (see the Previous Versions tab in a file's properties). I thought it's great, so I turned on System Restore for my data partitions (I still use an imager for the system partition). Ended up turning it off again a few days ago, for I never could find a previous version of any file, even files I change daily (my system setup diary, e.g.). The System Restore setting dialog suggested it did take snapshots of the designated partitions, and I even took some manual snapshots, but still couldn't get it working. I gave up for I didn't have time to investigate it further.

202

General Software Discussion / Re: Top 3 programs you use

« on: August 11, 2007, 12:29 PM »

The browser and emailers that don't count: Firefox, Thunderbird, and Becky.

1. Powerpro - strange nobody mentioned it yet. It's a freeware swiss army knife sort of program, combining launchbar, clip tracking, note taking, window manipulation, scripting and many other things in one.

2. MS Word (now using ver. 2007). That's what I use to earn my bread.

3. Beyond Compare. Can't live without it. (Directory Opus -- my newest shareware acquisition -- might take over this spot in a few weeks.)

203

General Software Discussion / Re: What is a reliable Imaging software for Vista ?

« on: August 11, 2007, 01:28 AM »

Acronis TrueImage is what I use to create images for backup purposes.

-Wordzilla (August 10, 2007, 09:46 AM)

Acronis TrueImage Home 10 is also what I use. In fact, I purchased it for my new Vista system. I've since run into some issues, and I'm not alone. You may want to investigate a little before deciding whether it's good for your environment. See my post in the other thread for more information.

204

General Software Discussion / Re: What is a good partition manager for Windows Vista

« on: August 10, 2007, 10:49 PM »

There are some known issues with Paragon under Vista, but at least they're pretty forthright about it as far as I can tell (I don't use Paragon).

Acronis, on the other hand, may have issues that they don't tell. I don't use their partition manager, but I do use their disk imager (True Image Home 10). They claim it to be Vista compatible, while in fact there are lingering issues (see, e.g., here & here), including one that would require a system repair after restoring from backup images. It has to do with Vista's new partitioning scheme, so the same issue might also bug their partition manager.

While Acronis learned about these issues months ago, till now they haven't put any information online (in FAQ or anything) yet. You have to go to their official support forums to find out.

Just FYI.

205

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« on: August 09, 2007, 10:45 AM »

Hi,

My name is Ming-Li Wang and I'm new here. I came across the site while struggling to set up Vista 64 on my system a few weeks ago. I scoured the web for solutions, tips and tools--anything that might help me solve the various weird problems I encountered. Though I ended up giving up Vista 64 for now, I learned a lot in the meantime, for which I'm very grateful.

There were many tech forums I ran into during the time, some of them many times. One such forum left such impression on me that I thought to myself: I should come back. So here I am.

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly got me hooked. The software discounts was enticing: I remember lamenting for the savings I could have had should I learned of the site earlier. With a little hesitation I soon made my donation before buying Directory Opus 9. The little hesitation was because I knew by doing so I was going farer away from switching to Linux. But I told myself it's a site worth supporting, even if I decided to go Linux the next day, which was next to impossible anyway.

The collective knowledge in display was impressive. This was by no means unique. I had seen plenty, on some of which I was once active. There was more warmth in this space, however, with a touch of home-like coziness that couldn't be ignored even though I was mostly dashing in and out in no time.

What really earned my heart, nevertheless, was the simple and practical idea as laid out on the About page, and the genuine sincerity felt in many of the posts here. Oh, and the post by Mouser on "How to punish DonationCoder if you are angry at being nagged to donate" made me empty my Paypal account with a smile. 

I'm not an avid coder, writing mostly scripts (VBA and Powerpro mostly) that fill small holes left by real software. (I'm from a social science background, though I started my college in Engineering and have used computers for 25 years.) Due to a very busy day job and other community obligations, I'm afraid I won't be able to contribute as much as I like, but I'll try my best.

One more thing: I'm from Taiwan. Am I the first? Ming-Li is my first name, or you may spell it Mingli. Some friends online just call me Ming, which is fine, as long as there's no confusion.

cheers,
Ming-Li