Recent Posts

4801

General Software Discussion / Re: How to encrypt a USB drive without admin rights?

« Last post by 4wd on February 19, 2010, 07:02 PM »

Thanks for the suggestions.  I should have thought out what I wanted a bit better, though your posts are helping me do that.  I occasionally use the USB key at college and the public library.  I'm not really expecting industrial-strength security.  I want to (1) prevent average users accessing payware programs on my USB key, (2) prevent same accessing certain files, and (3) should I lose the key, or forget and leave it behind, plugged into a machine (mine are all on cables, so they're more obvious than usual), then no-one, not even a sysadmin (who hadn't already sniffed the password) could access any secure area.  That seems to mean I'd be better off with a TrueCrypt-type secure container to stop (1) and (3) while still making the programs accessible to me.

-rjbull (February 19, 2010, 03:11 PM)

For (1) and (2), isn't the problem with using a encrypted container that once you have entered the passphrase everything in it will be decrypted and accessible?

If you wander away from the computer, (eg. to look at a reference book), then anyone will be able to access what's on it until you return, (or nick it).

I think the main problem is (3) for which there is a simple solution: go to a hardware shop, buy one of those retractable key chains, attach it to your belt/pants and the flash drive.  Job Done! 

Other than that, if you want true container-like encryption without Admin Rights then, I believe, you're restricted to using a flash drive with always-on hardware encryption.

4802

General Software Discussion / Re: How to encrypt a USB drive without admin rights?

« Last post by 4wd on February 18, 2010, 06:49 PM »

If you mean for Flash Drives, some manufacturers offer a utility that will allow you to partition the drive into secure/unsecured areas.  Then when you run the program and enter the password the unsecured area gets demounted and the secured unlocked and mounted.  eg. Imation Flash Drives, Astone' FlashUtility.

These might not require Admin Rights, (at least ImationLOCK didn't cause UAC to pop up on W7), but they aren't exactly encryption either.

Have you checked the manufacturers site?

Otherwise, see f0dder' answer.

4803

General Software Discussion / Re: Media Center Software

« Last post by 4wd on February 16, 2010, 10:22 PM »

What about Media Portal?

Pretty much a full media center, browse shares for access to media on other computers/devices, watch/capture TV/radio, edit your video captures, etc, etc.

Win7 x86/x64 is supported.

4804

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Virtualization Manager 2010

« Last post by 4wd on February 13, 2010, 06:28 PM »

i've seen the 2009 version and i couldn't see any v2p in it.

-nudone (February 13, 2010, 06:09 PM)

You're right, been a while since I used it.

4805

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Virtualization Manager 2010

« Last post by 4wd on February 13, 2010, 06:07 PM »

I'm not sure if v2009 handles W7 but it can't hurt to try.

-4wd (February 13, 2010, 05:18 PM)

And just as important: does it handle v2p? I'd say there's a bigger chance of 2009 supporting (if not officially) Win7 but failing at v2p, since it's apparently a feature that's hard to do right...

-f0dder (February 13, 2010, 05:32 PM)

hmm, it supports W7 x86/x64 but I'm not sure it does V2P - here's the original GAOTD page.

I think the Virtualization Manager is a slightly tweaked repackaged version of Paragon's Adaptive Restore feature.

Still, at a cost of only a few bits and bytes, what have you got to lose

4806

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Virtualization Manager 2010

« Last post by 4wd on February 13, 2010, 05:18 PM »

Any chance of other people getting a discount like that? I've been wanting to get Win7 on my laptop the coming week, and I'd definitely like to do the initial setup in VM, it's so much more enjoyable not having to reboot all the time (especially since I want a vLited install... which is even more risky than it was with Vista :/ ).

-f0dder (February 13, 2010, 11:55 AM)

I'll probably end up with an email soon then.

GAOTD had Paragon Virtualization Manager 2009 Personal available a while back, (October), the registration page is still up.

You could try registering and using the links provided in post #3 here download the msi packages.

I'm not sure if v2009 handles W7 but it can't hurt to try.

4807

Living Room / Re: Networks and external drives

« Last post by 4wd on February 11, 2010, 01:39 AM »

Do you think, since the data has (almost) never been actively used while being suddenly disconnected, that it will be OK?

-SKesselman (February 10, 2010, 11:08 AM)

As they say, "It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the end." 

If the drive happened to have been spun up at the time, all the more likely damage could have occurred.  If it was summarily disconnected without being properly "Safely Removed" from the OS then you run the risk of data corruption, less so with NTFS but the chance is still there.
If the laptop was powered down at the time then the only likely source of data corruption would be a mechanical fault, eg. the heads bouncing off of the platters due to being dropped, (if it was powered down then hopefully the heads were parked at the time).

While you say you weren't accessing the data on it at the time there's still the possibility the OS was doing a little background housekeeping.  So to be sure I'd be copying all the data off of it, (this will at least make sure it's all still readable), and do a full format to see if any bad blocks have appeared due to, possibly, head bounce.

Even then, I would still consider the drive suspect and not use it as my only backup source.

4808

Living Room / Re: Networks and external drives

« Last post by 4wd on February 10, 2010, 02:48 AM »

There's also cheaper alternatives available, (no BitTorrent client), from DX with free postage:

US$38.05 - UNITEK Network USB 2.0 Server for Sharing USB Printer/USB HDD/Web Camera/USB Speaker
US$38.05 - Network USB 2.0 Server with Hub Support for Printer/USB HDD/Web Camera/USB Speaker

As well as a 4 port version for a bit more:

US$59.80 - 4-Port Network USB 2.0 Server for Printers/USB Devices

NOTE: I don't work for DX nor am I in anyway associated with them..........other than seeming to spend quite a bit of money there

4809

Living Room / Re: Networks and external drives

« Last post by 4wd on February 09, 2010, 08:29 PM »

Depending on how much data you shift around and access from the external storage I would suggest that WiFi connection be your last choice for an alternative.

In my experience, WiFi is only useful for traffic that's sent in packets that is not time critical, eg. WWW, email, etc.  Any large transfers will take a long time at ~300kps which all I ever get on 802.11g at a distance of 700mm.

The most obvious alternative is to modify your behaviour, as a suggestion to help you:
1) Take a length of nylon string.
2) Tie one end to the PSU cable just behind the DC output plug.
3) Tie the other end to the external storage' USB cable just behind the plug for the PC USB port, leaving no more than 1-2cm of slack between the two, ie. just long enough to reach the USB ports closest to the power input on the laptop.

Now when you remove the power to move your laptop you should remember to remove the USB plug or at least wonder, "Who tied string to my power cord?"

Otherwise, if your WiFi router also has network ports then any of the devices I suggested here.

Oh yeah, if you really have been dropping your external storage you might want to consider backing it all up to another HDD.

4810

General Software Discussion / Re: Batch photo filter software?

« Last post by 4wd on February 09, 2010, 07:36 PM »

- so, what did you do, 4wd, to perform your task?  

-Curt (February 09, 2010, 09:58 AM)

I ended up just working through them using the stand-alone version of the Polaroid Dust & Scratch Removal filter.  It gave me more control over which areas to process and I could also choose to only process the images that needed it, ie. I didn't bother doing any where the dust marks appears in a forest of dead trees, gravel, etc - depends on the background texture.

It actually ends up not taking too much time, even though I haven't finished yet, since I only do 20-50 at a time whenever I'm not doing too much else; I'm about half way through.

http://www.giveawayo...oner-photo-studio12/

ZONER PHOTO STUDIO 12 IS AVAILABLE TODAY ONLY FOR FREE.  TRY THAT ONE!

-SchoolDaGeek (February 09, 2010, 02:05 PM)

I saw that but didn't think of using it for this because the version they're offering doesn't support 8bf filters.

Whenever I hear "batch" and "photo" (or "image") I think of Imagemagick. I have used it myself very often and generally was quite satisfied with the results.

-housetier (February 09, 2010, 08:52 AM)

I completely forgot about ImageMagick  

For improved user experience there is Phatch which provides a GUI. I have not used phatch yet though; however, it is intriguing.

Yes, that looks interesting; unfortunately it doesn't seem to support 8bf filters.

4811

Living Room / Re: Itching to put together your own pc from parts, but need help choosing parts?

« Last post by 4wd on February 03, 2010, 06:42 PM »

Given the relatively low cost of hardware combined with what you can scrounge, you should be able to put together a cheap PC for $100-120 - especially one suitable for older non-geek family members

eg.

New motherboard/CPU combo US$57.99

Pretty much everything else I could scrounge from parts around the garage/house, (eg. case, RAM, kb, mouse, PSU and monitor), add in an easy Linux based distro and it's job done.

An AIO motherboard is perfect for this kind of job - hell, my wife's been happily using a Socket-A, Athlon 1600+, 512MB, 80GB, AIO based motherboard for the last 4-5 years.  She doesn't want me to upgrade it because it runs so well.........but I did manage to sneak a Sempron 2400+ into it and add another 512MB of RAM

4812

Living Room / Re: Optimus Maximus

« Last post by 4wd on January 28, 2010, 06:51 PM »

I still think you could turn it into the equivalent of one of those huge multi-monitor displays and watch pr0n while you're programming or possibly a game , eg. Whack a Mole!

4813

General Software Discussion / Re: Software support - am I losing my mind?

« Last post by 4wd on January 28, 2010, 06:46 PM »

Your last message should have been your first, (along with the added points that all your hardware is in verified working order and the OS version).

You gave them a far too complicated message in the beginning plus you could have just cut'n'paste your first message into all their subsequent responses

4814

Living Room / Re: External harddisk broken?

« Last post by 4wd on January 27, 2010, 11:46 PM »

I've had success with tapping the drive (gently but firmly) with the head of a screwdriver... this is a last resort, and if it works you should copy data off your drive ASAP and expect it to die during the process or shortly after.

-f0dder (January 27, 2010, 11:05 AM)

IMHO, it's also preferable to tap the ends of the HDD, (which is the aspect you usually have easy access to anyway), tapping the top or bottom is likely to have a head bounce off a platter.
And the ends rather than the sides because it should transmit more lateral movement to the heads to try and get them to move - but as f0dder said, a last resort.

4815

General Software Discussion / Re: Any Portable Tool to make a Portable Application.

« Last post by 4wd on January 26, 2010, 04:47 AM »

Use Thininstall. It's pricey but creates a single executable file.

-InstantFundas (January 25, 2010, 11:43 PM)

"Pricey" is not the word I'd use to describe it.  Extortion comes close.

At US$6050 for a single license it is priced solely towards corporate users and not the normal PC user who just wants to make a application portable.

4816

General Software Discussion / Re: Any Portable Tool to make a Portable Application.

« Last post by 4wd on January 25, 2010, 07:49 PM »

See the post here where I mentioned most of the available tools for creating portable versions of apps.

It may give you some ideas.

For PS-CS2, I'd probably give JauntePE, (follow the 12 step program), a go as it can monitor registry changes during program installation.

The last available build of JauntePE appears to be here: JauntePE

It appears to be a dead project which is a pity.

4817

General Software Discussion / Re: Win 7 XP Mode is Hardware-Dependent

« Last post by 4wd on January 24, 2010, 08:44 PM »

The alternative VMLite actually uses the licensed image from MS' XP Mode download, works without hardware virtualisation and doesn't particularly care what version of Windows XP or higher it's running on.  VMLite itself is just a modified VirtualBox implementation.

It's only the written wording of MS' XP Mode EULA that makes it illegal to use it on anything other than what was intended.  There's no inbuilt 'software based restriction' in the image, (unless they've done something within VMLite to explicitly bypass it - in which case I'm sure MS would be yelling DMCA Infringement rather loudly).

I've downloaded all the programs, XP Mode stuff, etc, but like most things around here I haven't got 'a round tuit' yet  

4818

Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 3-10

« Last post by 4wd on January 24, 2010, 03:45 PM »

@5: Damn!  And I thought it was me playing too much FPS!

Guess I'll have to start saying, "Sorry love, tonight's Team Deathmatch."

@8: UhOh!  Closed environment + too much pr0n = Deliverance!

 

4819

General Software Discussion / Re: Just discovered a HUGE annoyance in Windows 7

« Last post by 4wd on January 21, 2010, 05:35 PM »

Just turn off password protected sharing.

-Carol Haynes (January 21, 2010, 03:58 AM)

It was turned off on both Public and Home or Work, (and still is).  Maybe I'll have to do a Install in Place, (can you still do that with Win7), and start from near scratch.

On another note:

Win7's Power Options->Balanced settings, I've changed the Sleep time to 1 hour, (30 minutes is just too short), and it goes into Sleep after 60 minutes of me doing nothing on the mouse/keyboard......but the majority of the time it does it regardless of what the PC is doing.

ie. I'll start a number of video encodes to be done overnight, CPU load is always 50-90% doing these.  Next morning I'll boot up the PC from Sleep to find it start to continue doing the encodes.

I always thought that Windows only went into Sleep mode when there was minimal CPU activity, (eg. 0-10%) ?

4820

General Software Discussion / Re: Help back the Registry of this particular GOTD.

« Last post by 4wd on January 21, 2010, 05:09 PM »

You didn't get this from me, but start up the installer on giveaway day [today]
After the key wrapper dissapears and the installation starts, run

-scancode (January 21, 2010, 11:02 AM)

Hah!  I usually just watch the %temp% and copy it out, now why didn't I think of making a DOpus button to do this  

I tried looking in the Regisrtry but could couldn't find a trace, checked it in the Windows/Currentversion/Uninstall :although here the Program seems to be Registered and using this doesn't seem to activate the Product.

-hulkbuster (January 21, 2010, 08:28 AM)

RegShot is your friend

It can also monitor for changed/new/deleted files on the system partition.

Addendum: Updated unicode version here.

4821

General Software Discussion / Re: Just discovered a HUGE annoyance in Windows 7

« Last post by 4wd on January 20, 2010, 07:00 PM »

Backup the settings and give that method a try and let us know if it makes any difference.

-Carol Haynes (January 20, 2010, 02:26 AM)

It's now down to around 15-25 seconds but added the need to enter a username/password to connect, (even for an Everyone share) - so it got removed, (the last thing I want on LAN night is to be bombarded with: "I can't access that directory!" or "What's the user/password?", when I'm busy trying to get that last enemy in OFDR or CoD-MW2.

It's also not just on initial share listing, if I go into a shared folder and then return to the parent, (\\computername), it'll take the same amount of time to list all the shares again - I thought it would have cached them?

EDIT: Just as a matter of interest, could someone using DOpus on Win7 tell me if the "Share with" context menu works?
Here it works under Explorer but not DOpus but as yet I haven't looked into possible causes.

4822

General Software Discussion / Re: Just discovered a HUGE annoyance in Windows 7

« Last post by 4wd on January 20, 2010, 01:31 AM »

That would only apply to Domains though, wouldn't it?

Not Workgroups which is how my network is set up.

Just as a matter of interest, for the IsDomainMaster regkey:
2 XP machines = FALSE
W7 machine = key not present

MaintainServerList = AUTO on all machines

4823

General Software Discussion / Re: Just discovered a HUGE annoyance in Windows 7

« Last post by 4wd on January 19, 2010, 05:24 PM »

Ditto for me, WRT folder sharing with XP. It was one checkbox but it only worked about 30% of the time, and this was when networking three XP machines. Drove me nuts. Haven't had a problem with 7 and Vista.

-Darwin (January 19, 2010, 09:09 AM)

Guess it's one of those YMMV things, I never had a problem with Simple File Sharing under XP either at home or on LAN night.

"Slow to access on non-Win7 machines" - in which way?

-f0dder (January 19, 2010, 08:50 AM)

The initial connection, here XP to W7 takes approx. 30-40 seconds to list available shares,  XP to XP takes around 5.

Connection from W7 to XP is fast, no problems there.

EDIT: I should add, logged in as same admin user on both machines.

4824

General Software Discussion / Re: Just discovered a HUGE annoyance in Windows 7

« Last post by 4wd on January 19, 2010, 08:29 AM »

eg. sharing folders for access by anyone is a lot easier under XP.

-4wd (January 18, 2010, 10:07 PM)

??? Really ??? Is it so hard to type Everyone and click three boxes ???

-Carol Haynes (January 19, 2010, 02:53 AM)

Compared to one checkbox and clicking OK, yes.  Plus it just worked all the time here and it's so bl**dy slow to access the shares under Win7 from other computers not running Win7, (obviously a subtle prod by MS to get you to upgrade all your computers).

If you have multiple computers with Windows 7 use Homegroup which makes it very easy.

And if you don't, it's a PITA.

4825

General Software Discussion / Re: Just discovered a HUGE annoyance in Windows 7

« Last post by 4wd on January 18, 2010, 10:07 PM »

... whereas cmpm and tranglos upgraded from XP, no?

-Darwin (January 18, 2010, 09:10 AM)

Moving from XP to Win7 is always a clean install, there is no upgrade, (what happens after that comes under YMMV as Lashiec said ).

I've done the same thing, XP Pro -> Win7HP, generally positive result but a few annoyances regarding things that were just so much easier to do under XP.

eg. sharing folders for access by anyone is a lot easier under XP.