Recent Posts

376

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Free Glary Utilities Pro!

« Last post by sajman99 on April 10, 2010, 04:49 PM »

Nothing can beat TuneUp Utilities.

-BCHOWDHURY (April 02, 2010, 09:53 AM)

No argument here. I also prefer TuneUp over Glary Utilities.

Another nice util package is Ace Utilities. I've never read anything negative about Ace Utilities, but (as noted by Steven Avery) all registry cleaners are dangerous if not used very carefully.

btw thanks Ashraf for taking the time to tell us about these offers. I know you stay very busy over at dotTech.org.

377

Found Deals and Discounts / Bulk Image Downloader 33% off until April 30

« Last post by sajman99 on April 10, 2010, 02:26 PM »

Antibody Software's Bulk Image Downloader (BID) is normally priced at USD $29.95. Currently it's offered for USD $19.95--a savings of 33%.

http://antibody-soft...re.com/web/index.php

If I weren't already a satisfied customer, I would definitely jump at this opportunity because BID is one of my most frequently used programs.

If anybody is curious about BID customer support, I can tell you it's excellent. I have emailed the author on numerous occasions to ask questions and/or make requests, and he has never failed to respond in a professional manner.

378

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by sajman99 on April 10, 2010, 01:42 PM »

Here's WinX DVD author for free again.
Looks simple enough, it may work.

Downloaded and installed, haven't tried it yet.

http://dottech.org/freebies/15596

-cmpm (April 10, 2010, 05:45 AM)

Looks interesting. Please let us know your opinion if you check it out.

Ashraf noted eariler versions were somewhat buggy in a review from last year. Hopefully that's no longer the case.

Also, if it's still true you cannot create an ISO but must burn to disk, then that limitation strikes me as very significant. I mean, even with 'drag and drop' DVD Flick, you have the option to create an ISO.

379

General Software Discussion / Re: HCenc beta

« Last post by sajman99 on April 09, 2010, 01:04 PM »

Ah, another release.

Hard to believe this MPEG2 encoder is free. Man, I'm glad I found this gem.

Hmm..I haven't yet tried the new optimized version of the encoder. Anybody check it out?

380

General Software Discussion / Re: A new approach to reduce NTFS fragmentation

« Last post by sajman99 on March 29, 2010, 06:14 PM »

Have you guys used MyDefrag (formerly JKDefrag) ? I've used PuranDefrag but it took forever and my PC is pretty fast 

-bleh75 (March 29, 2010, 03:33 PM)

Both MyDefrag and Puran Defrag are very good defraggers--hard to go wrong with either one. 

I just switched to the free version of Puran after using JkDefrag and then MyDefrag. Puran's boot time defrag, optimizing methods, and multitude of scheduling options are really impressive.

I would encourage you to stick with Puran to see if subsequent defrags take as long as earlier runs.

381

General Software Discussion / Re: A new approach to reduce NTFS fragmentation

« Last post by sajman99 on March 28, 2010, 02:02 PM »

http://disklace.file...ACE%20Whitepaper.pdf

I found this WP well hidden somewhere on their website.  But is doesn't really helps I think.

-MerleOne (March 28, 2010, 03:51 AM)

So the "inflection point" determines the "point of no return". OK, now I think I've got it. Uh...not so much.

I have to agree with 40hz. This is interesting and all, but I think we really need a paper/review/article from somebody other than Disklace Software to give this some legitimacy.

382

Best Firewall / Re: How Does Your Firewall Rate? - Outpost, Comodo, Jetico, ...

« Last post by sajman99 on March 28, 2010, 01:49 PM »

I've been using Online Armor for a while now and love it -- fairly light, not buggy, no internet connection slowdowns...

-Armando (March 07, 2008, 01:31 AM)

+1 for Online Armor. It provides very effective protection without excessive nagging.

383

General Software Discussion / Re: How long is 'temporary'?

« Last post by sajman99 on March 28, 2010, 01:20 PM »

Also, you might want to take a look at Nirsoft's tiny and effective tool CleanAfterMe.

It doesn't cover as much as CCleaner, but for basic windows cleaning, it's hard to beat IMO.

btw in some cases "temporary" can mean forever.

384

General Software Discussion / Re: A new approach to reduce NTFS fragmentation

« Last post by sajman99 on March 26, 2010, 12:50 PM »

MerleOne, what size disk are you running LaceWatcher on?

This proof of concept stuff has me really confused.

385

General Software Discussion / Re: A new approach to reduce NTFS fragmentation

« Last post by sajman99 on March 25, 2010, 01:53 PM »

Well stated. I concur in the verbosity.

386

General Software Discussion / Re: AVStoDVD 2.3.0 Alpha

« Last post by sajman99 on March 24, 2010, 07:14 PM »

Glad to see you mention AVStoDVD from time to time, MilesAhead.

This is a very nice conversion package--well recommended. 

The developer seems committed to improving AVStoDVD, and the software just keeps getting better with each release.

387

General Software Discussion / Re: Agent Ransack 2010 freeware lightweight - Desktop Search

« Last post by sajman99 on March 24, 2010, 07:03 PM »

Wow, an update to Agent Ransack! This is indeed a rare event.

Thanks for telling, dantheman.

388

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: usb drive backup program

« Last post by sajman99 on March 22, 2010, 02:40 PM »

btw techidave, you've probably already read Gizmo's recommendations of synch tools, but I just figured I would mention the resource.

Looks like PureSync is their top pick.  http://www.techsuppo...nization-utility.htm

389

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: usb drive backup program

« Last post by sajman99 on March 22, 2010, 02:22 PM »

If you no longer *must* have compression, then DSynchronize could be another option.

DSynch will allow you to configure assorted confirmations before any action is executed. Also, it has startup/timer options which make it more versatile than a basic synch tool.

390

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: usb drive backup program

« Last post by sajman99 on March 21, 2010, 12:51 PM »

techidave--not sure if the portable app Toucan would be sufficient for you, but it does sound promising...

Four synchronisation modes, copy, update, mirror and equalise.
Backup and restore in industry standard zip and 7-zip files, with support for complete backups, updating existing backups and differential backups, as well as restoring files from an archive.
AES-256 encryption using ccrypt
Command line support, allows you to create a batch file for repeated jobs
Variables, point to places on you USB drive no matter what its drive letter is

391

General Software Discussion / Re: Undelete utilities?

« Last post by sajman99 on March 18, 2010, 02:51 PM »

I installed Easeus Data Recovery Wizard on my C drive for that "just in case" scenario. I'm not worried about overwriting any data currently, but I do want to be ready if and when a problem occurs.

I interpreted the installation warning as a kind of awareness check. I recall years ago a friend of mine accidently deleted some important files, went into panic mode and actually started to download, install, and test recovery software. He's actually a bright guy, but in that particular situation he just freaked.

Anyway, hopefully I don't have to use the Easeus file recovery or partition recovery modules, but better safe than sorry.

392

General Software Discussion / Re: Macrium Image Virtualization Tool Beta

« Last post by sajman99 on March 18, 2010, 02:02 PM »

Looks very interesting, but I'm too chicken to mess around with the beta.

Think I'll relax and wait for the final release.

393

General Software Discussion / Re: photo duplicate scanner

« Last post by sajman99 on March 18, 2010, 01:51 PM »

...it is by far the slowest, yet.

-Curt (March 17, 2010, 12:46 PM)

Unfortunately I've experienced that far too often. I've lost count how many times I've tested a similar image finder only to discover it bogs down so much it becomes unuseable.

For example, I like the generically named Duplicate Picture Finder and would use it much more often if it didn't slow down significantly when processing more than a few hundred files.

The developer of Duplicate Picture Finder Dzomlija has posted here at DC indicating he's working on a new version. Definitely one to watch IMO.

394

General Software Discussion / Re: photo duplicate scanner

« Last post by sajman99 on March 13, 2010, 04:23 PM »

AntiDupl.NET has been updated to version 1.5.0.0.

Among the several improvements:
-The choice between vertical and horizontal orientation of results in the preview panel and the table was added.
-Now the check for new versions of the program is optional.
-The design and the content of the menu, the control panel, and the status bar were changed.

http://antidupl.naro...u/english/index.html

395

General Software Discussion / Re: photo duplicate scanner

« Last post by sajman99 on March 13, 2010, 04:14 PM »

The latest version of MindGems' Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder (VSDIF) is version 3.5.0.1.

FYI: Notably absent from that page is information regarding new restrictions on their "demo" version. Specifically, as of this version "only the first 10 duplicate groups will be shown after the scan" according to the installed help file.

396

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: [Freeware] BatchBlitz - batch process digital photos

« Last post by sajman99 on March 13, 2010, 01:40 PM »

sunlitgreen- these guys have me interested in your software, but I haven't checked it out yet.

I noticed you have a portable version of your Photo Editor but not the full BatchBlitz? Any plans for a portable BatchBlitz? Thanks.

397

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the Best Movie Collection Organizer Program

« Last post by sajman99 on March 13, 2010, 01:31 PM »

Thanks a lot J-Mac for all the DVD Profiler comments.

I value the feedback of actual users much more than any other considerations.

398

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Verbatim DVD+R 16x a quarter apiece

« Last post by sajman99 on March 13, 2010, 01:28 PM »

I'm not a big believer in firmware update when the thing isn't broken.  I've had bad code turn a perfectly good piece of equipment into a paperweight.  I don't want to repeat the experience.  16x is fast enough for me.

-MilesAhead (March 10, 2010, 09:28 PM)

Agreed. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" also works well for me. Some folks have been known to update and/or tweak themselves into inoperability. I have learned-- leave well enough alone.

399

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: PuranDefrag V7 now free for home use

« Last post by sajman99 on March 12, 2010, 01:46 PM »

OK- thanks for the info, MerleOne.

FWIW I tried out QuickSys Disk Defrag last night and it was (on my system anyway) incredibly SLOW. I suppose subsequent scans could be much faster after the first full optimization, but it was cranking away for 20 minutes and hadn't yet indicated 1% on the progress bar. Since it looked like it would literally take all night to complete, I had seen enough and cancelled.

400

General Software Discussion / Re: Undelete utilities?

« Last post by sajman99 on March 11, 2010, 05:16 PM »

Free and portable Recuva and DiskDigger are good enough for me.