Recent Posts

10901

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Free copy of Returnil Premium Edition available for limited time

« Last post by 40hz on December 26, 2008, 06:43 AM »

Worked like a charm for me too.

10902

Found Deals and Discounts / Free copy of Returnil Premium Edition available for limited time

« Last post by 40hz on December 25, 2008, 10:40 PM »

Found this over at techsupportalert.com

Link: http://www.techsuppo...free-until-jan-2.htm

Returnil is offering the Premium $24.95 version of their virtualization package for free until January 2, 2009.
...

How to Get Returnil Pro

Go to this page and follow the instructions: http://www.ghacks.ne...veaway-returnil-prem...

This page says the offer expires on the 24th of December 2008 but the Returnil page says it is good unil Jan 2, 2009.

Note that you won't get your license key emailed to you until the new year.

Thanks to regular contributor Rick Farrow for letting me know about this offer.

Gizmo

I just submitted my request on 25-Dec at 11:37pm EST and got a confirmation!

Returnil is a great app. Grab yourself a copy while you can.

10903

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by 40hz on December 25, 2008, 09:44 PM »

we kind of have forgotten about this thread, it seems. A pity, I think. What do you say?  

---

Dormouse hit #400  
 (see attachment in previous post)
https://www.donation....msg143648#msg143648

-Curt (December 23, 2008, 03:42 PM)

I'd say he'd better watch his back when #400 finally regains consciousness.

10904

Living Room / Re: Please help me build my new computer, DC!

« Last post by 40hz on December 25, 2008, 09:30 PM »

Of course, I will only consider laser printers.  I hate inkjets with a passion.

-superboyac (December 24, 2008, 03:53 PM)

At last! Somebody else feels like I do about inkjets. And all this time I thought I was so alone!

Just a thought*: check for LOCAL availability of supplies before you settle on a specific printer. Nothing is worse than running out of toner and not being able to score a replacement cartridge at your local discount office supply store. Second worse thing is ghosting your front window all morning waiting for the Fedex guy to show up with one.

Of course, if you're not as slipshod as I am about paying attention to low-toner alerts, then this probably won't be an issue for you.

----------
* Actually, that's not true. I didn't just casually think of that. I've said the same thing  in other DC forum posts. But it's still advice worth  repeating - so there!

10905

Living Room / Re: Merry Xmas

« Last post by 40hz on December 25, 2008, 06:44 PM »

Happy Hogswatch DoCo!

Always nice to spend a little time here with the family!

10906

Living Room / Re: Article: Open source thrives in downturn

« Last post by 40hz on December 25, 2008, 06:17 PM »

PS.
No, I'm not working for Microsoft.

-wasker (December 25, 2008, 02:36 PM)

Bummer! The only reason I asked is because a lot of what you are saying (along with the overall tone) strongly resembles things I see on the Microsoft Partner website and in TechNet white papers.

It's hard to find Microsoft employees that are willing to get into an open forum discussion. (I suspect they have a corporate policy about them not doing that.) Still, I was hoping you were with Microsoft since it would be refreshing to get into a conversation with someone who's with The Mothership.

Hope you weren't offended by my asking.

Finally you got it!

-wasker (December 25, 2008, 02:36 PM)

Yup. And I disagree.

(Actually, I "got it" quite a while back. Trust me, I'm nowhere near as dumb as I look. )

Now you have a number (85%) and NO additional information and you're so happy to read about 85% completely neglecting the fact that you don't know a thing about what this number consists of.

-wasker (December 25, 2008, 02:36 PM)

Hmm...I didn't realize I was "so happy" to read about anything. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. And all this time I just thought I was sharing my thoughts and opinions on the topic.

And I do know something about that 85% that seems to bothering you. I know that Gartner:

   a) knows what constitutes open source software

   b) surveyed 274 companies

   c) found that 233 of those 274 companies (i.e. 85%) were using open source software

   d) were told by the remaining 41 companies that they planned to use open source products in the upcoming year

and

   e0 (as was mentioned earlier), that their report also included the following:

The three principle reasons for open source that Gartner found are lower software costs, lower development costs and easier start-up of new IT projects. Other reasons frequently mentioned are independence from a single software manufacturer and faster development processes. Customer service applications are the leading non-infrastructure workload for which open source software is used, followed by enterprise integration, finance and administration, and business analytics applications. The biggest problem with open source, according to Gartner, is the fact that nearly 70 percent of those surveyed have no explicit guidelines for the deployment of open source.

To my way of looking at it, this is all rather clear: A product is either open source or it's not. Either 233 out of the 274 surveyed companies are using open source, or they're not. Gartner is either truthfully reporting their findings, or they're not. And the reasons Gartner has reported they were given by the companies surveyed are either true, or they're not.

I really don't see what is so mysterious or hard to comprehend. The definitions and numbers are very specific. Now, I know it has become fashionable, in some quarters, to automatically dispute any statistical claim. But considering when you look at the specifics, this is hardly a figure or report that lends itself to that sort of debate.

I think I have a considerably more to go on than you have with your assertion (which you continue to repeat without offering any specifics) that this 85% number is meaningless.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but 99% of Mom and Pop's businesses will either stay as Mom and Pop's businesses or go out of business altogether.

-wasker (December 25, 2008, 02:36 PM)

Interesting...I wasn't aware I even had "a parade" to rain on. But to your comment about small businesses: So what?

If they do go out of business, or stay small, I doubt (except in very special cases) that it would have much to do with what software they were running.

(Actually, I've heard different than 99% - but I suppose that too would depend on whose reported numbers you choose to believe and whose parade you wanted to rain on. )

-----------------------

OK. Seems to me like you and me are starting to go around in circles, so I'm going to bow out of the conversation and let somebody else take the floor.

Anybody else out there that "Gets it?"

10907

General Software Discussion / Re: posted at Elite Freeware

« Last post by 40hz on December 25, 2008, 05:27 PM »

i am not familiar with Doco. Is that abreviation of Donation coder?

-gexecuter (December 25, 2008, 03:00 PM)

Yup. That's the one.

10908

Living Room / Re: Article: Open source thrives in downturn

« Last post by 40hz on December 25, 2008, 02:21 PM »

Okay, let's say I'm a big corp who decided to deploy KeePass all over the place: is it a big win for OSS community

-wasker (December 25, 2008, 01:06 PM)

I think you're begging the question here by deliberately selecting a minor  app like Keypass as your example. We were talking about enterprise apps rather than desktop weren't we?

Why not say something Nagios? Or FreeBSD server? Or Squid?

I'm also not certain what you mean by a "big win" for the OSS community. They're not competing in the Microsoft sense of the word. They're just offering an alternative to the "received wisdom" that Microsoft is the only viable IT solution out there. FOSS believes there's room for alternative products in the marketplace. Microsoft does not.

considering that big corp is still using Exchange, Outlook, SharePoint and IIS for their day-to-day business

A "win" for Microsoft no doubt, but it doesn't automatically follow that Microsoft's win is also a win for Big Corp. Unless, of course, you work for Microsoft.

BTW: I'm curious, do you?

Or, my company went 100% FOSS: Linux desktop, whatever else FOSS software you can think of. Is it a huge gain for FOSS community, given that my company is a mom and pop's shop around the corner?

-wasker (December 25, 2008, 01:06 PM)

Yes, it is.

 Again, it's about awareness and alternatives, as much as it is about technology and numbers. FOSS believes there should always be alternatives. And that people should be aware that they have choice in the matter. Apparently FOSS doesn't share the same attitude towards "Mom & Pop" businesses that some do.

And it's also instructive to remember that many large and successful corporations (Microsoft included) started out as very small businesses.

They don't use it. I kid you not. When my company is in discussion of new project for a huge corp client, they explicitly say they don't want to use OSS, because they want to have someone behind the software.

Odd. My company may not be in the same league as yours, but here in southwestern CT and NYC, where we do work with some very major Fortune 100 corps, I'm hearing - and above all seeing just the opposite.

Guess it all depends on where you are.

And FWIW, there is somebody behind most of the enterprise FOSS apps. And that remains true despite the disinformation that gets constantly marketed to corporate IT departments. To a certain extent, FOSS even gives a company more control by making its source available. The company can even put its own IT behind it, if they so choose, and make the app completely their own.

Then there's one other dirty little truth to consider: Usually, when a corporate employee talks about having someone "behind" something, what they're usually looking for is "plausible deniability" coupled with a convenient "fall guy."

Consider: If your IIs server gets hosed, you can always blame $%#@@# Microsoft, since everybody knows all about their patches and problems. But if your corporate Apache-based server crashes...well, you should have known better than to have used a piece of "free software."

Much like back in the days of IBM's mainframe empire, nowadays "Nobody ever got fired for buying Microsoft." Once again, it's a case of old wine in new bottles.

Can you see my point now?

-wasker (December 25, 2008, 01:06 PM)

Yes I do. I just don't think it's correct, nor do I agree with it.

10909

General Software Discussion / Re: posted at Elite Freeware

« Last post by 40hz on December 25, 2008, 01:11 PM »

Hey isn't that my blog? well it's comforting that at least someone finds useful what i post.

-gexecuter (December 25, 2008, 07:59 AM)

You do Elite Freeware? Wow! My hat is off to you. It's an excellent blog. You're one of the few feeds that I actively follow and recommend to other people. I've got you in the same folder as DoCo, gHacks, Download Squad, Linux.com, and DistroWatch. Not too shabby company you're keeping, hey?

Excellent work!

10910

Living Room / Re: Article: Open source thrives in downturn

« Last post by 40hz on December 25, 2008, 12:12 PM »

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a cheerleader for open source. FOSS will ultimately stand or sink on its technical and economic merits - not its philosophy or good intentions. But I hardly think it's unreasonable to believe that just about every company will be using some open source app in the near future. I can't think of a single company or client that I'm dealing with that hasn't deployed at least one piece of FOSS/OSS software in the last two years. I find that interesting, since four years ago, only one of them had.

-40hz (December 24, 2008, 11:33 PM)

Actually you do sound like a cheerleader. See, I'm not debating the fact that companies use (F)OSS, I'm debating the fact that 85% number doesn't make sense without any supplemental information that may make this number read a little bit different, that you might think.

-wasker (December 25, 2008, 12:21 AM)

Again, I'm not exactly sure about what you're getting at. Can you give me an example of how it might "read a little bit different, than you might think"?

I'm reading the headline as saying nothing more than this:

Based on a survey, 17 out of 20 companies that responded stated that they are currently using open source software; and furthermore, those respondents who aren't currently using open source software have stated that they are planning to do so in the upcoming year.

I don't see anything that begs for belief there. Nor do I see much reason to be overly skeptical of Gartner's survey. Although Gartner's trend predictions have sometimes proven wrong, they are not in the habit of making up numbers, or fudging survey results.

When companies are looking to cut costs, they explore alternatives. And when you have a good number of mature, field proven enterprise applications and infrastructure tools that are available without license fees or restrictions, you can bet that any senior IT manager who wants to keep his/her job is staying on top of what alternatives are available. Even if for no other reason than to develop a rationale for not using them.

And while FOSS apps may not be completely free (since support costs are unavoidable regardless of which software gets deployed) the lack of that upfront cost still makes them worth serious consideration. Especially when the code quality of major FOSS apps is as least as good as their commercial counterparts

Actually you do sound like a cheerleader.

Hmm...that comment sounds a bit little personal, but ok... 

Either way, I don't understand how citing my experience with my own clients should make me sound like a cheerleader. My point in sharing it was that I myself am seeing this very same trend in the companies I work with. And since my primary business is supporting Microsoft products, the fact that FOSS/OSS is making such inroads is actually "just one more thing" I have to deal with rather than a source of excitement.

Am I a cheerleader? Nope. Not at all. Just a realist attempting to deal with a changing business environment and evolving customer demands. But maybe that's just how it looks from where I sit.

So... what trends regarding open source are you seeing with your clients?

 

10911

Living Room / Re: Article: Open source thrives in downturn

« Last post by 40hz on December 24, 2008, 11:33 PM »

40hz, I'm talking about this particular survey which throws a number out of nowhere without any details and breakdowns.

-wasker (December 24, 2008, 06:18 PM)

The details are available. Unfortunately, the cited survey was conducted by Gartner Group, so it will cost you some serious money to read them.

Heise Online has a few more specifics about this survey. (my emphasis added)

Gartner: Open Source is pervasive

http://www.heise-onl...vasive--/news/111991

About 85 percent of all companies are already using open source; the other 15 percent will follow within the next twelve months. These are the findings of a survey carried out in early summer by market research firm Gartner, who polled 274 companies of various sizes from a variety of sectors in North America, Europe and the Pacific. The survey revealed that open source was particularly popular in the infrastructure sector, but that the number of free business-related applications was on the increase. On the whole, says Gartner, you are just as likely to find open source solutions in business-critical as in non-critical areas.

The three principle reasons for open source that Gartner found are lower software costs, lower development costs and easier start-up of new IT projects. Other reasons frequently mentioned are independence from a single software manufacturer and faster development processes. Customer service applications are the leading non-infrastructure workload for which open source software is used, followed by enterprise integration, finance and administration, and business analytics applications. The biggest problem with open source, according to Gartner, is the fact that nearly 70 percent of those surveyed have no explicit guidelines for the deployment of open source. The full Gartner report is available for $1295.

I must admit, every time I see the price tag on some of these reports I can't help but think I'm in the wrong business!

Thanks for Netcraft stats, but it has nothing to do with this survey.

-wasker (December 24, 2008, 06:18 PM)

Out of curiosity, how would you know, unless you have a spare $1295 lying around? (see above)

Still, I have to disagree. Web is at the heart of much of what is considered "enterprise." And Apache deployment is steadily growing.

But my primary intention in citing web server numbers was as an example of the current pervasiveness of open source. Web servers are one of the more reliable stats since the numbers can be easily checked. Most open source deployments are more difficult to verify since we can only go by the number of purchased support contracts which themselves only represent a fraction of the actual deployments.

Then there's that other problem that comes up. Not everybody who is using open source is an advocate for the cause. In fact, many companies who use FOSS applications oftentimes seem reluctant to admit they are doing so. Go figure.

(Actually, I could give several reasons why they don't, but that's a topic that deserves its own thread.)

(Although, it's funny that Microsoft's stacks is in comparable numbers with FOSS' -- check the numbers like 5 or 10 years ago).

-wasker (December 24, 2008, 06:18 PM)

I'm not sure what you're saying here...but OK.


Don't get me wrong. I'm not a cheerleader for open source. FOSS will ultimately stand or sink on its technical and economic merits - not its philosophy or good intentions. But I hardly think it's unreasonable to believe that just about every company will be using some open source app in the near future. I can't think of a single company or client that I'm dealing with that hasn't deployed at least one piece of FOSS/OSS software in the last two years. I find that interesting, since four years ago, only one of them had.

10912

Living Room / Re: Email etiquette How to Decline Fowards/Junk?

« Last post by 40hz on December 24, 2008, 05:44 PM »

My netiquette goes along with Delete button nicely.

-wasker (December 24, 2008, 03:43 PM)

wasker speaks the truth. 

I've long since given up trying to reform some people. I just add them to my kill file and let the robot handle the details. For everybody else, there's:

10913

Living Room / Re: Article: Open source thrives in downturn

« Last post by 40hz on December 24, 2008, 05:37 PM »

Sensationalism at its best.

-wasker (December 24, 2008, 03:41 PM)

Hardly.

All you need to do is look beyond the desktop. Open Source is more about enterprise applications than anything else.

Check the deployment statistics for Apache, MySQL, PHP, Python, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and RHEL servers, Wireshark, Nagios, Wordpress and most other blog engines, various CMS  and CRM apps, Squid, etc.

Example: As of Dec-08, Apache is currently by 96 million websites (51% of all registered websites). Compare that to Microsoft's 63 million (32%). Add in nginx and lightppd at 3 million each, and the open source server total stands at approximately 54% of all websites. Google accounts for the rest with its proprietary webstack which is not marketed.

Sensationalism at best? I'd be more inclined to just say "sensational."

10914

Living Room / Re: What does it mean when unplugging the computer makes it forget the bios date?

« Last post by 40hz on December 24, 2008, 03:54 PM »

I'm gonna say: A - Battery...
Final answer, Meredith!

10915

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Outpost 2009 – A lifetime license for 3 PCs for the price of a 1-year!

« Last post by 40hz on December 24, 2008, 11:30 AM »

Hurry up to purchase a lifetime license (including updates and support) of Outpost Firewall Pro 2009

-tn_dang (December 24, 2008, 08:13 AM)

How are they defining lifetime? Theirs? Ours? Whichever comes first? Until they come out with a newer version and call it something else or otherwise rebrand it.?

And will that same license apply to "Pro 2010 and Pro 2011 when/if they come out?

After what FruityLoops pulled on me and a lot of other users, I'm suspicious of "lifetime" anything. Especially for antivirus/malware, firewall, and other security products. Lifetime licenses are bad for businesses whose product is continually updated and relies on subscriptions to maintain a revenue stream.

This is not a knock on Outpost. It's a fine product. But I'd still like to see some of the fine print before I'd believe buying this license would be the last one I'd ever need to buy.

10916

General Software Discussion / Re: KMPlayer going commercial?

« Last post by 40hz on December 24, 2008, 11:10 AM »

FWIW: I'd be willing to pay a reasonable amount for an ad-free unbranded version if it came to that. It's a great little app, and the developer deserves somthing for his/her efforts. But only if they don't junk it up with a lot of feature bloat.

If they go the "full featured" route then I'd hope they'll keep a basic version that "just plays everything" - and skip the album art, play lists, and all the other nonsense that has muddied up just about every media player out there. That's why I dumped Winamp, RealPlayer, Quicktime, MediaMonkey, Musicmatch Jukebox...the list goes on and on and on...

 

Not everybody wants to run their entire life out of their media player. The beauty of KMedia Player is that it's small, fast, and plays things without a hassle. I hope they don't lose sight of that.

10917

Living Room / Re: Ecofont - a free font that saves ink

« Last post by 40hz on December 24, 2008, 10:55 AM »

Wonder how well it applies to laser? Would it save more than the economode feature found on many laser printers?

Tried the font with an HP4050 under PCL6. It doesn't look at all bad.

10918

Living Room / Re: How will the Earth end?

« Last post by 40hz on December 24, 2008, 10:52 AM »

I wonder if the travel insurance covers the whole of Antartica spontaneously melting and the resultant tidal waves wiping out all mankind below an altitude of 6000 meters?

-4wd (December 24, 2008, 05:19 AM)

Hmmm...I guess that would depend on how they decide to classify global warming.

Is it:

a) an "act of god"
b) a case of human "negligence"
c) just the fallout from a criminal act

Coverage would vary based on the definitions in whatever virtual reality your assurance underwriter dwells in.

10919

Living Room / Re: Christmas Gift Ideas Under $25... Make a List!

« Last post by 40hz on December 23, 2008, 06:39 PM »

If you know somebody who likes fantasy and humor, I'd suggest starting them on Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Zany British humor combined with some rock-solid imaginary physics. The beauty of Discworld is that it works on so many levels.

The Discworld is a flat planet - like a geological pizza, but without the anchovies. It offers sights far more impressive than those found in universes built by Creators with less imagination but more mechanical aptitude. It exists right on the edge of Reality; the least little things can break through from the other side. It is allowed to exist either because of some impossible blip on the curve of probability, or because the gods enjoy a joke as much as anyone else. More than most people in fact.

Chaotic as it sometimes appears, the Discworld clearly runs on a special set of natural laws, or at least on guidelines. There is gravity. There is cause-and-effect. There is eventuality - things happen after other things. After that, it becomes a little more confusing. The following theory can be gingerly advanced:

The Discworld should not exist. Flat is not a natural state for a planet. Turtles should grow only so big. The fact that it does exist means that it occupies an area of space where reality is extremely thin, where 'should be' no longer has the veto it has in the rest of the universe. The Discworld creates an extremely deep well in Reality in much the same way as an incontinent Black Hole creates a huge gravity well in the notorious rubber sheet of the universe.

The resulting tension seems to have created a permanent flux which, for want of a better word, we can call magic. There are several secondary effects, because the pressure of reality is so weak. Things that might nearly exist in a 'real' world, have no difficulty at all in existing in quite a natural state in the Discworld universe; so here there will be dragons, unicorns, sea serpents and so on. The rules are relaxed.

Here's an excerpt from the Chapter 1 of The Colour of Magic:

http://www.harpercol...x?isbn=9780061020704

I picked up the first book (The Colour of Magic) in paperback on a whim.

I now own every title. In hardcover.

10920

Living Room / Re: Please help me build my new computer, DC!

« Last post by 40hz on December 23, 2008, 02:15 PM »

Anand Tech strikes again. Good year-end review and recommendations on GPU's

http://www.anandtech.../showdoc.aspx?i=3479

Holiday 2008 GPU Guide: Price Cuts Galore

 On each page we will make at least one recommendation based price, performance and features including rebates (both instant and mail-in). This is a little different from our usual recommendations we make based on the general positioning of a card. We normally do this because price fluctuations and overclocking make nailing down a definitive best option very difficult (if not impossible). Today, we are looking at ... well, today. While the general sentiments we discuss remain relevant, the actual recommendations are based on the absolute best price you can achieve today and we even give some leeway to overclocking in a couple cases.

Although we will recommend cards from all four of our selected retailers, we will highlight the one we think is the best deal among the four as well. As some people tend to have a preference for different retailers, we are still allowing for options, but our recommendations will be based on the best deal we can find period rather than something like an average between the retailers.

They seem to come down heavily in favor of Radeon cards. FWIW, they recommended two of my favorites:

ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB (approx $200) and the amazingly cheap ATI Radeon HD 4550 (about $50-60).

These are probably less capable cards than you're looking for however.

All in Wonder cards were from ATI (Radeon range).

I wouldn't recommend them though - drivers are rubbish and the TV stuff doesn't work well (at least not in my experience - and I have had 2 of them). One of the reasons All in Wonder cards have become rarer.

If you want TV you are better off buying a dedicated TV card.

-Carol Haynes (December 23, 2008, 09:52 AM)

Ms. Haynes is spot-on, as usual.

The All-in-Wonder cards were a really great idea, done in by really lousy drivers and horrendous customer support. You can find them "brand new" at swap meets for around $20-$25. They're that cheap for a reason. 

I bought a couple and wound up throwing them away. I didn't dare give them to anybody for fear of the inevitable number of phone calls I'd be getting asking for "a little help" in getting them to work right.

10921

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for a bootable Linux drive imager...

« Last post by 40hz on December 22, 2008, 03:05 PM »

Very cool find.

Typical!  As soon as I find a suitable program, (which works rather well), someone comes out with a program for the Aspire One

-4wd (December 22, 2008, 12:53 AM)

Could be worse. Suppose you couldn't find a suitable program, and then nobody came out with Acer Aspire One Backup either? 

Glad it all worked out.

10922

Living Room / Re: If somebody offers you swapping your PC for a mac cold turkey: would you do it?

« Last post by 40hz on December 21, 2008, 04:30 PM »

Given the season, if somebody offered to swap my mac for a cold turkey I'd certainly consider that!

-cranioscopical (December 19, 2008, 08:26 PM)

OMG!

You outdid yourself with that one.

10923

Living Room / Re: What's the best way to sell old electronics?

« Last post by 40hz on December 21, 2008, 04:26 PM »

some local youth club may be able to use the stuff, or some other charity if you are prepared to give it away

-Grorgy (December 21, 2008, 12:10 AM)

Just don't be surprised if they're a little fussy about what they'll take, or simply not interested.

I used to repurpose old client PCs as web browsing and basic office productivity appliances for any charities and groups that wanted them, at no charge. I'd even drop them off and set them up for free.

But the times have changed...

I don't know how it is where you are, but the last few times I approached some of these groups, they declined the equipment -  and then asked if I would be interested in making a financial contribution for them to buy NEW equipment instead.

Apparently when these guys say they're "going green" they mean cash.

10924

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for a bootable Linux drive imager...

« Last post by 40hz on December 21, 2008, 04:06 PM »

In that case:

SelfImage: http://selfimage.excelcia.org/



Their website claims it can be used for NIX. Can't personally vouch for it with Linux partitions since I've only used it for Windows imaging.

SelfImage can even create images of partitions that Windows doesn't recognize (partitions that Windows doesn't have mounted on a drive letter).  This is perfect for the dual-boot system, you can create an image backup of a Linux partition directly from Windows.

Download link: http://www.excelcia...._op=getit&lid=66

-----------------------------

If you want to have SelfImage on a bootable CD, you'll have to do a little tinkering first.

Fortunately, SelfImage is one of the tools included on the most excellent Ultimate Boot CD for Windows - so it won't be too hard.

Information, build how-to's, and downloads for UBCD4Win are available from this link:

http://www.ubcd4win.com/ 

Let us know how you make out! 

10925

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for a bootable Linux drive imager...

« Last post by 40hz on December 21, 2008, 12:38 AM »

Try ClonezillaLive. It can be run from either a CD or flash drive.

Info and instructions:  http://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live/

About Clonezilla Live

    Clonezilla server edition is used to clone many computers simultaneously. It is an extremely useful tool, however, it does have several limitations. In order to use it, you must first prepare a DRBL server AND the machine to be cloned must boot from a network (e.g. PXE/Etherboot). To address these limitations, the Free Software Lab at the NCHC has combined Debian Live with Clonezilla to produce "Clonezilla Live," a new software that can be used to easily clone individual machines. The primary benefit of Clonezilla Live is that it eliminates the need to set up a DRBL server ahead of time and the need for the computer being cloned to boot from a network. Clonezilla Live can be used to clone individual computers using a CD/DVD or USB flash drive. Though the image size is limited by the boot media's storage capacity, this problem can be eliminated by using a network filesystem such as sshfs or samba.