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101

General Software Discussion / Re: Picasa to be 'phased out'

« Last post by dr_andus on May 07, 2016, 11:35 AM »

And in my opinion, it's pretty cool that everything Picasa does is non-destructive, since it makes a backup of the originals. But if that's something you weren't aware of, it can definitely be alarming to discover GB of photos you didn't know existed.

-Deozaan (May 07, 2016, 10:49 AM)

Yes, I'm glad that I found all these family photos that I didn't know existed, and that I have access to the originals of modified photos.

But Picasa putting these in hidden folders is a double-edged sword. The folders I'm working on come from a family member's computer which I no longer have access to, and neither do I have Picasa installed on my computer. So I could have easily missed these.

I would have preferred if these originals were in a visible folder, so I know what I'm dealing with...

102

General Software Discussion / Re: Picasa to be 'phased out'

« Last post by dr_andus on May 07, 2016, 07:50 AM »

P.S. Having turned on "Show invisible files" in my file manager, now I'm discovering several hidden Picasa folders that are resulting in backups of photos that were hidden to me. These folders are in a directory that looks like

My Pictures\2011-05-22\.picasaoriginals

It looks like .picasaoriginals are hidden folders for the originals of photos that were modified (e.g. cropped) by the user.

103

General Software Discussion / Re: Picasa to be 'phased out'

« Last post by dr_andus on May 07, 2016, 05:47 AM »

In my experience Picasa only stores another copy of a photo if you tell it to.

-JavaJones (March 18, 2016, 02:03 AM)

I'm in the middle of backing up my photos online from an external drive using IDrive and somehow the data appeared to be vastly more than what I could see in the drive. Upon closer look, once I checked the paths of individual files in IDrive, it turned out Picasa had several hidden folders in there with huge amount of data. The path looked like this

My Pictures\.Picasa3Temp [empty]
My Pictures\.Picasa3Temp_1 [6GB]
My Pictures\.Picasa3Temp_2 [7GB]
My Pictures\.Picasa3Temp_3 [470kb]
My Pictures\.Picasa3Temp_4 [empty]

So thanks to Picasa I was backing up 13GB of photos I didn't even know existed! And Temp_1 and Temp_2 are 90% identical, so Picasa definitely produces duplicates the user knows nothing about.

On the positive side, these are photos I didn't have copies of elsewhere (came from a family member's backed-up drive). But still, I would have preferred if these weren't sitting in a hidden folder in the first place. And I don't want to be paying for online storage of duplicates and triplicates that I don't know are even there...

104

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

« Last post by dr_andus on May 04, 2016, 05:16 AM »

I see... So what are the use cases for System vs. Disk backup? Wouldn't I be always better off doing a complete Disk backup then, to make sure I don't ever lose anything?

105

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

« Last post by dr_andus on May 04, 2016, 04:49 AM »

I'm still a bit confused -- you say C drive has 189GB, but you also mention 250GB.
Even if you backed up the whole drive, I dont see why you should get an image of over 400GB - unless I missed something big, things aren't adding up there.

-tomos (May 04, 2016, 03:57 AM)

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. The 250GB was my estimate, before I was able to look (as backup was in progress). When I add up the Windows (C:), System, HP_Recovery (D:) and HP_Tools (E:) partitions (which all reside on a 931.51GB sized disk), all used space comes to 208.16GB. Windows (C:) on its own is 189GB.

I guess I'm not entirely clear what gets backed up when I choose the System Backup option. Does it make an image of the entire disk (with all the above partitions), or only of the Windows (C:) partition?

I'll check your other suggestions a bit later, as my machine is busy with other things just now. Thanks.

106

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

« Last post by dr_andus on May 03, 2016, 06:09 PM »

Thanks for the heads-up. 

AOMEI Pro Backupper ... free for 8 more hours from "now" at http://sharewareonsa...per-pro-freebie-sale
Main pro advantage seems to be clone image ability

-tsaint (May 03, 2016, 05:07 PM)

Well, I note that one of the Pro features is

Faster Speed for Backup & Restore

Could this be one of the reasons why my backup was so slow with the Free version?

107

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

« Last post by dr_andus on May 03, 2016, 06:03 PM »

can you check the C drive and see how full it is (not just data)?

-tomos (May 03, 2016, 01:23 PM)

The C drive size is 913GB, currently used 189GB. There are also a few partitions:  1GB system, also an HP Recovery drive (D drive), size 15.3GB, used 13.6GB. And there is HP Tools (E drive), size 1.99GB, used 55.6MB.

The size of the disk is 931.51GB.

I've used aomei successfully a couple of times now for restoring images.
I always do a new image, always the system backup option as it will catch any mini boot partitions as well.
I never do incremental, just delete older images (I usually try an keep at least two).

-tomos (May 03, 2016, 01:23 PM)

Thanks for sharing that.

Could you figure out how long the backup should take -- using Shade's estimate of 20MB/s ?
Ten hours sounds like an awful long time (sounds far too long to me but I'm not going to do the maths now).

-tomos (May 03, 2016, 01:23 PM)

Yeah, I have backed it up once before, just when I bought it and my other data wasn't on it, using a newer external hard drive with USB 3.0, and I don't remember having any trouble with that. It's just that I wanted to make use of this old 1TB drive that was sitting idle. But maybe I should just get a brand new USB 3.0 drive for this purpose, if it makes such a big difference. 10 hrs is just a pain.

108

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

« Last post by dr_andus on May 03, 2016, 08:37 AM »

Shades - thanks very much for the detailed answers! 

If the device is from 2009, chances are that your USB hard disk is of the USB 2.0 kind. Although theoretical speeds of USB 2.0 are higher, in practice you are happy if such a device can sustain a read/write throughput of 20MByte/sec. If the rest of your computer is from around the same period, chances are that your internal hard disk(s) is/are connected to SATA 2 port(s). 4 to 5 years ago the successor of SATA2 came out, which doubled the speed of SATA2. Around that same time USB 3.0 also came out.

A SATA3 internal hard disk in combination with an USB 3.0 device connected on a USB 3.0 port will cut the time it takes to create your backup significantly.

-Shades (May 03, 2016, 07:35 AM)

OK, maybe it's time to get me a new USB 3.0 external hard drive then. It's a relatively new laptop (says "SCSI Disk Device), it does come with a USB 3.0 outlet as well.

For the bulky size of the full backup: Does it contain Windows restore points? Windows has a knack of not adding certain parts of its bulk, to keep the total byte count a lot lower than the actual amount of bytes stored on the hard disk (for example: the folder 'System Volume Information' on each and every partition of your hard disk collects a lot of 'cruft' over time). A tool such AOMEI doing a full backup won't skip such folders.

-Shades (May 03, 2016, 07:35 AM)

I see. For some reason Windows Restore thing was off (I can't remember why I turned it off, maybe someone recommended me to do that), and I was reminded by HP Support Assistant just a few days ago to turn it back on, which I did.

Incremental backups have the big advantage of being small almost all the time. And as a result, those won't take up much of your time. The disadvantage is that restoring data from such backups can take a long time...and if you have used unreliable media somewhere in the 'chain' of backups, restoring data can become a major headache very quickly.

-Shades (May 03, 2016, 07:35 AM)

I see. So maybe I'm better off getting a new USB 3.0 external hard drive with larger capacity (2 or 3TB?), and then have some full backups occasionally as well.

While the option 'verify' makes you think that your data is backed up safely, if you don't actually test your backups (both incremental and full) the only thing you did was losing time by writing a pile of verified useless garbage. Don't find out you are (royally) screwed the moment a failure occurred and you need to restore your backup. Test your backups when your computer is in working condition first, because you can easily create a new backup if the previous one fails to restore.

-Shades (May 03, 2016, 07:35 AM)

Sorry, what do you mean by "actually testing"? How do do that without messing up the existing installation?

109

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Not-so-mini review of CrashPlan backup software

« Last post by dr_andus on May 03, 2016, 06:15 AM »

However, under item 7 of their current Hard Drive Shipment Agreement, (available on the iDrive Express order page in your account), you can ask for reimbursement:

-4wd (May 02, 2016, 09:28 PM)

Thanks, I did.  Unfortunately, they no longer do that for international customers. But for some reason they haven't updated the Agreement. Either an oversight, or they're managing it on a case-by-case basis (i.e. they might refund it to Canadians who are nearby, but not to others farther afield).

110

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

« Last post by dr_andus on May 03, 2016, 03:58 AM »

Maybe I should have also mentioned that the external USB 2.0 Toshiba hard drive I'm using I bought in July 2009, so it's not exactly the latest tech (and for most of its life it sat on a shelf, unplugged)... It might account for some of the slowness.

111

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

« Last post by dr_andus on May 03, 2016, 03:25 AM »

Thanks for your suggestions, IainB.

In the end it took a lot more, something like 10 hours to create a system image, as the verification afterwards took as long as the creation of the image.

I have a 1TB drive, but with everything together I only have around 250GB data on it to back up (including systems files). This is why I was surprised that it took so long to create it. And while AOMEI was doing it, it was saying it was going through to whole of 913GB, which is the size of the entire C:\ drive.

The resulting image file was 427GB. Again, if all my data is c. 250GB, what's the extra stuff?

As for whether AOMEI can do incremental backup of the system, I have now checked (now that the process has finished) and the answer seems to be yes:



I still wonder though if system incremental backup is safe or good practice.

But clearly, I would prefer to go with an incremental backup next time, as my external hard drive is 1TB, so another full backup might not even fit. And even on a 2TB not all that many full backups would fit.

As for my strategy? It is to do a system backup, as I'm about to install some new drivers on my laptop, and I want to be able to roll back if anything goes wrong.

Maybe what I could have done differently is to keep my application data on a separate physical drive within the laptop or on a partition, so that the C:\ drive only contains the Windows 7 Pro installation.

I think the reason I haven't done that is that in the past I came across some of my older software that was awkward to use when the files it worked with were on another drive. But maybe I'll have to reconsider that.

112

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

« Last post by dr_andus on May 02, 2016, 05:47 PM »

P.S. I just noticed on the Help page they do say

Note: Also you can create a full backup of disks or system partitions by selecting "Disk/System Backup" here.

so maybe that means the answer is 'yes'?

Has anyone tried this, by any chance? I don't have much experience with this class of software, so I just want to make sure I'm not messing anything up.

It took over 7 hrs today to back up my system and then verify the backup, so I'd rather not do a full system backup every time if I don't have to.

113

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

« Last post by dr_andus on May 02, 2016, 05:41 PM »

@dr_andus: Not sure I understand the Q or what you are requiring to do. For example, what's the difference between your definitions of the System backup and the Disk backup?

-IainB (May 02, 2016, 05:23 PM)

I was referring two the two backup options in the AOMEI interface, as they call them:

http://www.backup-ut...up/system-backup.gif

If the system files are on the same disk as all your data, then presumably they can be backed up incrementally, if you specify that for the relevant system folders when running backups. Not sure what the value would be in that though

-IainB (May 02, 2016, 05:23 PM)

I was reading up on it in their help file,

Free Incremental Backup and Differential Backup Software

and apparently with the Incremental Backup you can save time and disk space, as it builds upon the previous backup.

What wasn't clear to me whether this only refers to the Disk Backup feature or also to the System Backup feature.

114

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

« Last post by dr_andus on May 02, 2016, 01:44 PM »

Would any of you know whether the incremental backup in AOMEI works with the System Backup or only with Disk Backup?

115

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Not-so-mini review of CrashPlan backup software

« Last post by dr_andus on May 02, 2016, 05:33 AM »

I'm glad to hear the discount link is still working. Let us know what you think of iDrive once you have it up and running!

-JavaJones (February 29, 2016, 01:26 AM)

Hi Oshyan and all,

Having used it for a couple of months now, IDrive is proving to be perfect for my needs and wins hands-down over my previous service, Mozy Home, both on price and convenience.

My needs are fairly modest (backing up around 300GB once a day), and I don't restructure my folder hierarchy often, so repeated backups of my moved files is not a problem.

It takes about an hour for IDrive to scan through my internal and external hard drive (when it's plugged in), and it's gentle with the resources and the bandwidth, so I don't even notice when it's backing up stuff.

I like it that you don't have to have your external drive plugged in every time, IDrive just backs it up the next time it finds it. Mozy Home just used to delete the external drive backup when it couldn't find it!

Non-US first-time users of IDrive Express may want to keep in mind that there is an extra shipping cost for receiving and returning the Express drive for seeding the account with your data, and there may also be an extra import duty or VAT on it, which is silly, as you're not buying the drive, just borrowing it and then returning it, but, oh, well... It was still a good deal compared to other options.

All in all I'm very happy with the experience.

116

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by dr_andus on April 28, 2016, 08:51 AM »

Even weather forecasts aren’t safe from Windows 10 upgrade prompts | The Verge

Upgrade to Windows 10. You will upgrade to Windows 10. Upgrade to Windows 10 now. Upgrade to Windows 10 during a live TV broadcast. Upgrade to Windows 10. Just upgrade. Now.

117

Screenshot Captor / Re: Capture PDFs

« Last post by dr_andus on April 20, 2016, 05:13 AM »

IIRC the free version of PDF XChange Editor does provide free OCR.

118

General Software Discussion / Re: Homeland Security warns Windows PC users to uninstall Quicktime

« Last post by dr_andus on April 19, 2016, 03:16 PM »

I have many other reasons to hate iTunes 

-Scott_Y (April 18, 2016, 07:07 PM)

Glad to hear I'm not the only one! That piece of software drives me mad every time I have to deal with it.

I just don't understand the logic by which its features and menus are organised or why it works the way it does...

But it might just be that I don't fit their user profile. Still, I'm curious what the logic behind it is, if there is one.

Or is it just features piled upon features over time, without much care for making it user-friendly?

119

General Software Discussion / Re: How to encrypt external hard drives using USB in Windows 7 Pro and Home?

« Last post by dr_andus on April 19, 2016, 02:58 AM »

Another option: Fort File Encryption: protect individual files - gHacks Tech News

120

General Software Discussion / Re: bookmark management tool

« Last post by dr_andus on April 12, 2016, 04:23 AM »

This might not tick everything on your list but would be a low-tech and fairly cross-platform solution:

• sign up for a WorkFlowy account (there is a free version)
• use Chrome as a default browser
• set WorkFlowy to be a tab that automatically opens upon launch
• create a parent bullet point for Bookmarks
• install Clip to WorkFlowy Chrome extension

When browsing, just hit Clip to WorkFlowy, and it copies the URL and the title of the web page. Then navigate to the WorkFlowy tab and paste it into your Bookmarks list.

The benefit of this system is that WorkFlowy is available on most platforms (either in the browser, or in a standalone Chrome app, or via iOS and Android apps), each item is date and time-stamped when you create them, and the list is easily exportable as plain or formatted text and as OPML. Finding duplicates is easy via simple search.

Limitations: There is no link checking or validation. The list needs to be organised manually (alphabetical or chronological sorting is not possible, unless you add the date manually, export the list to a Google Sheet or Excel, sort it there, and then paste it back into WorkFlowy--which is not all that hard to do).

I might actually start doing this myself, now that I think about it...

121

General Software Discussion / Re: How to encrypt external hard drives using USB in Windows 7 Pro and Home?

« Last post by dr_andus on April 06, 2016, 09:09 AM »

Thank you all, I'll investigate VeraCrypt then.

122

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by dr_andus on April 06, 2016, 09:08 AM »

@40hz

Thanks for the feedback on Moneydance, I'll give it a try. I didn't know about GnuCash. It looks very interesting, though a bit too sophisticated for my current purposes.

@IainB

Thanks for the tip, I didn't realise MS Money was still an option. Does it have any mobile apps, like YNAB or Moneydance, to keep the budget etc. updated on the go via Dropbox?

123

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by dr_andus on April 04, 2016, 10:58 AM »

I'm still dragging my feet on this one... As I'm not interested in a subscription-based model, I feel reluctant to invest time, money and effort into YNAB Classic at this point, considering that it's only supported until the end of 2016. I know it's likely to work for a while beyond that, but then if the iOS and Android apps would stop connecting one day, it would become frustrating.

So, I have started looking for alternatives. Has anyone here tried Moneydance? Is it a reasonable alternative to YNAB?

The other ones rated highly in the UK are AceMoney, BankTree, and Home Accountz.

P.S. Oh, I see Moneydance came up earlier in this thread. I guess I'll just have to go ahead and trial it. But any feedback on experience with Moneydance would be welcome.

124

General Software Discussion / Re: How to encrypt external hard drives using USB in Windows 7 Pro and Home?

« Last post by dr_andus on April 04, 2016, 05:38 AM »

I'd suggest multiple copies in multiple places. Including cloud.

-Dormouse (April 04, 2016, 02:47 AM)

Thanks, I already do that. But that doesn't solve the privacy protection problem, i.e. if someone breaks in and steals the drives, they will have access to the photos, videos, and audio records, which is what I'd want to prevent.

125

General Software Discussion / How to encrypt external hard drives using USB in Windows 7 Pro and Home?

« Last post by dr_andus on April 03, 2016, 03:58 PM »

I would like to encrypt a few of my external hard drives (from 400GB to 1TB) that I connect to my machines via USB. I have never done this before, so I'd like to ask for advice on how to go about this.

These hard drives have family photos on them (no state secrets or anything illegal), and my main motivation is to protect my privacy, should I ever be burgled. So the encryption doesn't necessarily have to be industrial strength, just something for reasonable personal security.

I have searched around to see what kind of free solutions are out there. My PCs are running Win7 (Home and Pro). The online advice I came across so far I found somewhat confusing. E.g. some people said to use BitLocker, but for some reason my Windows 7 installations don't have BitLocker. The only thing I can find in my Win 7 Pro machine is called "Encrypting File System (EFS)." But it looks like it doesn't work on Win7 Home, so it would be a hassle to try to use an encrypted drive on both Pro and Home.

Any suggestions for a relatively hassle-free encryption solution for external hard drives for personal use that would work with both Win7 Home and Pro? Or does it mean that an external hard drive would only work with the machine that encrypted it? Sorry, I'm really clueless about how this is supposed to work. Ideally I'd like to be able to use such an encrypted hard drive across several machines using Win7 Home and Pro.

P.S. I'm also a bit worried about encrypting my drives and then losing the encryption keys or messing things up some other ways. It would be just as much of a disaster if I permanently lost access to our family photos by making the drives inaccessible. So what I'm saying is I need an idiot-proof solution. 

P.P.S. It seems that since the Snowden revelations there are not many solutions out there that are generally trusted.