Recent Posts

576

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there any way to abort a reboot?

« Last post by cthorpe on February 02, 2007, 06:46 PM »

alright, so I didn't test it before I posted it 

577

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there any way to abort a reboot?

« Last post by cthorpe on February 02, 2007, 05:36 PM »

Windows XP has a command shutdown.exe that looks like it would work:

Usage: shutdown.exe [-i | -l | -s | -r | -a] [-f] [-m \\computername] [-t xx] [-
c "comment"] [-d up:xx:yy]

        No args                 Display this message (same as -?)
        -i                      Display GUI interface, must be the first option
        -l                      Log off (cannot be used with -m option)
        -s                      Shutdown the computer
        -r                      Shutdown and restart the computer
        -a                      Abort a system shutdown
        -m \\computername       Remote computer to shutdown/restart/abort
        -t xx                   Set timeout for shutdown to xx seconds
        -c "comment"            Shutdown comment (maximum of 127 characters)
        -f                      Forces running applications to close without warning
        -d [ u][p]:xx:yy         The reason code for the shutdown
                                u is the user code
                                p is a planned shutdown code
                                xx is the major reason code (positive integer less than 256)
                                yy is the minor reason code (positive integer less than 65536)

578

Living Room / Re: Make Google Go Crazy,neet little javascript trick

« Last post by cthorpe on February 02, 2007, 11:03 AM »

Make this line a link in your toolbar.

javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI=document.getElementsByTagName("img"); DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i-DIL; i++){DIS=DI[ i ].style; DIS.position='absolute'; DIS.left=(Math.sin(R*x1+i*x2+x3)*x4+x5)+"px"; DIS.top=(Math.cos(R*y1+i*y2+y3)*y4+y5)+"px"}R++}setInterval('A()',50); void(0);

Click it multiple times to change speed.

579

General Software Discussion / Re: MOVAVI,avoid this company like the plague

« Last post by cthorpe on February 02, 2007, 09:04 AM »

Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more common for vendors to not provide free major updates.  Before making any purchase, I recommend that you look for information on the site or contact the vendor regarding their upgrade policy.  Even some of the most highly recommended products on DC do not offer free major updates.

Carl

580

General Software Discussion / Re: Your experiences with disc catalogers and most wanted/used features

« Last post by cthorpe on January 31, 2007, 02:15 PM »

Keep watching for a "Shootout" type review for this type of software.  I hope to have at least a preliminary version by Monday.

581

Find And Run Robot / Re: Humanized Enzo

« Last post by cthorpe on January 31, 2007, 12:43 PM »

Don't think that is for me.  I'm just imagining trying to type with CapsLock held down, and I don't think I would be very efficient.

582

Living Room / Re: This is how you disable those Snap previews you see on alot of blogs nowadays.

« Last post by cthorpe on January 31, 2007, 11:56 AM »

Also, I frequently use the mouse to help me read (by selecting the text i already read) and this would interfeer too much with that type of reading.

-jgpaiva (January 31, 2007, 11:51 AM)

That's the first thing I thought of when I saw it.  Some of the kids in my classes use the mouse pointer when reading just like kids use their finger when reading a book.

583

Living Room / Re: This is how you disable those Snap previews you see on alot of blogs nowadays.

« Last post by cthorpe on January 31, 2007, 10:41 AM »

I'm not sure, though, as i can't test it. When i move the mouse to the inside of that square, the freakin thing goes away. It's most anoying. (running opera here, which probably has some influence)

-jgpaiva (January 31, 2007, 09:25 AM)

I was able to disable it in Opera by clicking on "Options," holding down the left mouse button, moving it over the main part of the bubble, then releasing the mouse button.  Then I could disable for ALL sites, and it worked.

Try this instead: Click on Options with the left mouse button.  Hold down the right mouse button, and move the mouse over the main part of the bubble, then release the right mouse button, and click on the disable button.

Carl

584

Official Announcements / Re: Anyone feel like doing some semi-regular original blogging at donationcoder?

« Last post by cthorpe on January 31, 2007, 08:50 AM »

Are you still looking for bloggers?

585

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Mini-Review: Altiris SVS

« Last post by cthorpe on January 31, 2007, 08:34 AM »

I will still continue to use SVS as I have in the past.  Even with the Symantec purchase, which isn't actually occuring until 2nd quarter, it is still a viable program at this time.  Eventually it will become obsolete or so bloated that it is unusable, but for now it still works the same as it did a week ago before the Symantec annoucement.

Carl

586

Living Room / Service claims to offer free international calls. What's the catch?

« Last post by cthorpe on January 30, 2007, 10:39 AM »

I don't know anyone overseas to try this out, but this site says that they will give you free calls from the US to
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil (Rio De Janerio), Canada, China, Christmas & Coco’s Island, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland (Warsaw), Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UK and USA.

To use it, you call 712-858-8094, then dial the number you want to call.

It claims:
No Sign-ups
Privacy Guaranteed
Unlimited Calls
No Limit On Call Length
Call from Anywhere, Anytime

http://www.allfreecalls.net/

Here is the blog associated with the site: http://blog.roam4free.ie

587

Mobysaurus / Mobysaurus on Free Download A Day

« Last post by cthorpe on January 30, 2007, 09:36 AM »

Don't know how much traffic the site gets, but I know I check it occasionally.

http://www.freedownloadaday.com/

588

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Mini-Review: Poisson Rouge (Red Fish) {kids and adults}

« Last post by cthorpe on January 29, 2007, 10:54 AM »

The site appears to be down at the moment

It's back up 

589

Mini-Reviews by Members / Mini-Review: Rasterbator

« Last post by cthorpe on January 28, 2007, 09:24 PM »

Rasterbator

Basic Info

App Name	Rasterbator Standalone
App URL	http://arje.net/rasterbator
App Version Reviewed	Standalone 1.21
Test System Specs	Pentium III 866mhz, 512mb Ram, Windows XPSP2
Supported OSes	Officially requires .Net 1.1 Unofficially, .Net 1.0 and Mono http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page might work.  Mono allows Mac and Linux to use .Net programs.
Support Methods	Some basic troubleshooting here http://arje.net/help_on_rasterbator
Upgrade Policy	NA
Trial Version Available?	NA (GPL)
Pricing Scheme	Free and Open Source
Author Donation Link	??
Relationship btwn. Reviewer and Product	I am not associated with the author or the product in any way.

Intro:

Print huge posters of your digital images.  Rasterbator converts your images into tiny little dots, and then creates a multi-page pdf that you can print, assemble, and hang on your wall.  When you are close to the poster, you will see the little dots, but at a distance, they will blend together, and you will see the image in all its glory.

Rasterbator starts with a language selection screen:


Next you choose your image file:


The program allows you to set your paper size (A4, A3, US Letter, US Legal, or custom size):


Next you select how many pages wide or high you want your resulting poster.  The program shows you your image, and how it will be disected.  It also shows you how big your poster will be in meters and how many pages it will take.  Check out the image on the right below for some mind boggling numbers:


On the next screen, you will decide if you want a faint border around each page, which would make it easy to line up a paper cutter.  You will also decide on the size of the dots.  The program defaults to 10mm, and suggests that you stay between 5 and 25mm.  Reducing the dot size will make your image more detailed, and allow you to view it properly while closer to the image.  Big dots are better for a very wide/tall poster that you will view from farther away.  Keep in mind that smaller dots use more ink, and also increase processing time.  On this screen you will also set your color options.  You can choose black and white monochrome, another color and white monochrome (this uses the standard Windows color selection box), or full color.


Finally, you will choose a filename for the resulting pdf.


The program will start processing your image, and will show you a percentage bar with estimated time remaining and a check box at the bottom that you can click to put the program into low priority mode if you so desire.  Creating a 5x4 sheet image with 3mm dots in all black took about 2 minutes on my PC.  The resulting pdf for my poster was 16.2 mb.


Once the process is complete, the program will give you some tips for printing, ask that you upload pictures of any cool posters you make, and offer to open the pdf file for you when you exit the program.


Once the pdf is finished, you send it to your printer and wait.  It took my HP 1320 Laser Printer about 7 minutes to process and print the pdf using a wireless connection to the Ubuntu print server that it is connected to.  When it is done, you have a stack of pages that don't really look like much.  Start putting them on the wall, or taping them together.  If your printer outputs pages in first to last order, you will find that the first page is the top left of the image, the next page goes directly to the right of that page, and so on across until you are wide enough.  Then you go back below the first image and do the next row.  Eventually, you will have your poster.

In practice, it was actually pretty easy to get the pages lined up.  I actually pinned them in place with clear push-pins at each corner.  It took about 15 minutes to get it up on the wall.  If you look very close, you can see some places where it's not lined up, but if you are that close you see all the dots anyway.  With a paper cutter, you could get rid of the white lines that are visable where the pages overlap.

The image I chose for my poster was a wedding picture.  The original was 1143x1168 in 24bit color.  This picture was taken from approximately 10 feet away from the poster.




Who is this app designed for:

Anyone who wants to print posters of their digital prints and doesn't mind the time it takes to piece the poster together.

The Good
Does what it says it does.
Resulting poster looks really good, even in black and white.

The needs improvement section
Program does not remember any of your settings.
Program doesn't allow for batch processing.


How does it compare to similar apps

Program is a standalone version of a web application that does the same thing.  Web application is found at http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/.  The online version has size and resolution limits imposed, whereas the offline version does not have any realistic limits (see the thumbnail above with the insanely high numbers)

Many printer drivers and other programs such as Poster Printer http://posterprinter.sourceforge.net/ allow you to print an image to multiple pages, but they do not rasterize the image like this program does.  Therefore, the resulting poster will probably not look very good if you make it much bigger than the original.


Conclusions

Rasterbator is a fun application that does what it says it does.  I am looking forward to decorating my office with these posters.  I wish the program would allow you to modify the default settings so that I wouldn't have to select the language, paper size, etc every time; but it is very quick to make the changes as it is.  I'll give it a 4.5 because of the lack of retainable settings.


Other reviewe
http://freewaregeniu.../01/the-rasterbator/

Links relating to the program

Biggest known Rasterbation http://doomtech.net/...hp/Rasterbation_TG06
Online gallery http://homokaasu.org...terbator/gallery.gas

590

Mini-Reviews by Members / Mini-Review: Poisson Rouge (Red Fish) {kids and adults}

« Last post by cthorpe on January 28, 2007, 03:55 PM »

Looks like the site is down right now. 
It's back up.

Poisson Rouge - Red Fish

Basic Info

App Name	Poisson Rouge - Red Fish
Technology	Flash Website
Language	Primarily English.  There is one section about the French alphabet
App URL	http://www.poissonrouge.com/
Test System Specs	Pentium III 866mhz, 512mb Ram, Windows XPSP2 and Pentium 4 2.99ghz with 512mb Ram, Windows XP
Supported OSes	Any that support flash enabled broswers
Support Methods	Email address listed on site
Upgrade Policy	NA
Trial Version Available?	NA
Pricing Scheme	Free
Donation Link	http://www.poissonro...downloads/index.html
Screencast Video URL	NA
Disclaimer	I am not affiliated with the site or its authors.

Screenshot of main interface:


Intro:
Poisson Rouge (French for Red Fish) is a beautifully done Flash website that is primarily directed at children, though everyone can enjoy it.  I have used this website with literally hundreds of children and every single one of them has enjoyed it.  This is a wonderful example of what can be done with the Flash medium.

When you first get to the website, it will look like a bedroom with some toys on a shelf, a few items on the floor, a cradle, and a leaf shaped window.  To explore the site, you simply click on the different parts of the screen.  An easy way to get kids started is to tell them that the mouse pointer will change to a hand with its index finger extended when they are pointing at something that they can click on.

Clicking on any of the areas on the main interface will bring you to a new part of the website.


This is where the fun begins.  On the new page that you have arrived at, there will be numerous additional things that you can click on to play little mini-games.  Each mini-game is beautifully illustrated and has outstanding sound.  To get back to the main screen, you click on the Red Fish in the corner of the screen.  To return from a mini-game to that area, look for an icon in the corner or bottom of the screen.  Below I have included some screenshots of various mini-games, as well as brief comments about them:

Painting

The painting area allows you to splatter paint on the walls as well as paint a few objects.  When painting the objects, the paintbrush acts like a fill bucket in standard paint programs.  The best part about this section of the site is that you can mix the colors by dipping your brush in more than one paint bucket.  There is a glass of water to clean your brush off.

Musical Bees

This mini-game plays a great jazzy tune.  You can control which instruments are playing by clicking on the various petals of the flower.  As the music plays, the bees dance around the flower.

Bug Paths

Here you direct the bugs to their flower by moving the mouse over them along the path.  This is great for teaching mouse coordination.  Again, we have great music.  I especially like the music for the 4th bug.

Puzzles

Put the puzzles together.  Some of the puzzles teach spelling like this one, and some are just pictures.

Picture Parts

This is another puzzle type mini-game.  You try to find where to place the picture pieces so that they match the background image exactly.  As you place all the pieces, more appear that are harder to place.  There are various backgrounds and piece shapes to choose from.

Fishing

The younger kids love this one.  All you do is click the reel on the fishing pole to lower the magnet into the water.  Then you click it again to reel it back in.  There are some silly things to catch.

Matching

Match the pieces to the identical picture.  Each picture is only slightly different than the others or is in a different orientation.

Submarine

Click and drag the submarine to explore the ocean depths.  Click on ocean creatures to see them up close or play a mini-game.

There are a few areas that could be improved, though they are very minor.  First of all, the redfish image on the baby cradle in the main interface appears to be an active link (mouse cursor changes when on it), but it doesn't do anything.  Next, on some screens an envelope appears next to the main navigation icons.  That envelope is to send email to the authors.  Unfortunately, it is too easily clicked by youngsters, and it even animates with a little clown which entices children to click on it.  When it is clicked, the default email program will pop up and confuse the child.  Finally, a couple of the toys have little devil characters that occasionally pop up, which could possibly offend some users.

Finally, some mini-games are noticeably slow on my PIII that I have at home.  There are no slowdowns whatsoever on the fast school machines.  Also, I would assume that a dialup connection would see long delays between mini-games, but I don't have a way to test that.

Who is this app designed for:

Obviously the primary audience for this website is young children.  I have seen children as young as 4 years old enjoy the website.  Kids in the 5-7 age range tend to love the site and never get tired with it.  I have also had kids as old as 9 years old explore the site and have a lot of fun with it, though the excitement doesn't last near as long with them.  I will admit to spending quite a bit of time exploring the site as well.

The Good
Beautiful graphics, sound, and music
Teaches mouse skills, pattern matching, alphabet skills, numbers, even some basic french words are offered
Non-violent
New features being added over time.  The submarine game mentioned above was just added about a week ago.

The needs improvement section
Make the Red Fish on the baby cradle on the initial screen do something when clicked on
Don't make the email links so attractive
Devil image may offend some users
Some mini-games run slowly on my PIII 866mhz machine
Likely to see long load times if on dialup

Conclusions
I am really impressed with this website.  My students have a lot of fun, and they are learning as they use it.  In an age where even Kindergarten aged children are playing video games on consoles at home, it is exciting to find a wholesome interactive experience that can keep them engaged.  I give this site a 5 out of 5.

591

Mini-Reviews by Members / Mini-Review: Altiris SVS

« Last post by cthorpe on January 26, 2007, 07:51 PM »

Altiris Software Virtualization Solution (SVS)

Symantec to aquire Altiris in second quarter 2007 http://www.symantec....jsp?prid=20070129_02   

Basic Info

App Name	Altiris Software Virtualization Solution
App URL	http://www.altiris.c...izationSolution.aspx             User community at http://juice.altiris.com/svs             Downloads here http://juice.altiris.com/node/86
App Version Reviewed	2.1.2027
Test System Specs	Pentium III 866mhz, 512mb Ram, Windows XPSP2
Supported OSes	Windows 2000, 2003, XP (Pro and Home)
Support Methods	User forums at http://forums.altiri...id=28&entercat=y
Trial Version Available?	Free for personal use.  120 day evaluation otherwise.
Pricing Scheme	Free for personal use.  Other use starts at "$29 per node"
Screencast Video URL	15:00 demonstration by one of the software engineers: http://juice.altiris.com/node/470 3:00 demo by me: http://carlthorpe.co...altiris/altiris.html
Disclaimer	I am NOT affiliated with Altiris or any of its parent companies or subsidiaries.  I am a user and have received no benefits, monetary or otherwise, for this review.

Screenshot of main interface:


Intro:

Altiris SVS has to be one of the coolest software concepts since FirstDefense-ISR .  It is an application virtualization system.  Think of it like VM Ware or Parallels, but on an application by application basis.  Want to install Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Office 2000 at the same time?  No problem.  Just install each one it its own "layer" and activate the one you want to use at any given time.  Want to install a program for very occasional use but not have it hanging around, messing with your other programs, slowing down bootup and shutdown, eating all your food, and leaving the toilet seat up?  Just put it in a layer, activate it every once in awhile as needed, and then deactivate it until the next time.  Sounds great, doesn't it?  Well, it almost is.

The long screencast above will show you everything you can do with the application, while mine will only show you the most basic usage.  I'd recommend viewing at least my video before continuing with this review.  Go ahead, I'll wait...



Putting software on a layer is just a matter of telling SVS that you want to install it to a new layer.  You just browse to the installation file, and SVS starts recording.  The installation will appear just as it would otherwise, as it is not aware that it is being captured.  Your only indication that something is going on will be a small animated lightening icon in your system tray. 



Once the software is completely installed, and any processes that it starts after the install (such as starting itself like winamp did in my video) are closed, SVS will stop capturing.  Now the software is installed and can be used like you normally would.  Whenever you want to deactivate the software, you just go to the console, and deactivate it.  The program and all its system changes will disappear without a trace.  Registry changes will be reversed, ini files will cease to exist, dlls will revert to previous versions, files that were deleted will live again, etc.  Even created files and the like will disappear (though you can configure it to leave them behind if you want) Later, when you reactivate the layer, all those changes will be restored and the application will work again.  Those documents that disappeared when deactivating?  Those will reappear as well.

You can have as many layers as you want, and can activate and deactivate any combination of them.  While you may encounter conflicts with application layers that are simultaneously activated, you shouldn't see any problems if you deactivate one of the guilty parties.  You can also do other types of captures, such as a global capture that can grab multiple programs.

If that was all this software could do, it would be very useful.  But what makes it even better is that the layers are portable.  That means that I could create a layer of an application on my machine, export it to a self contained file, send it to you, and you could import it activate it and use it just as if you had installed it on your computer.  This is great for testing an application on multiple systems, trying to troubleshoot application conflicts, etc.  I install software that I want layered inside a virtual machine, then export it to my real computer and import it for use there, and it works great.

Also, the program provides a roll-back type functionality.  You can reset a layer to its original captured state at any time.  In addition, you can update that restore state at a future time if you want.  Finally, you can setup layers to start automatically with Windows if you want.

So I've been telling you all these great features, but I know some of you are remembering that I said SVS is "almost" great.  There are some problems, and these problems are enough to make me hesitate in recommending this software to everyone.  First of all, there is a very steep learning curve.  All that great functionality means that the software is complicated to use, and there aren't any wizards to hold you hand through most of it.  It's not something that you will install and instantly be a power user with.  I've been using it for months and still find myself wondering how to do certain procedures.  There are some functions that I haven't even tried because I just don't know what they accomplish.  Some tasks, which should be easy, take too many steps.  For example, to be able to save a document with a layered Microsoft Word that is retained after the layer is deactivated, you have to manually configure the layer.

Here are the steps to do this:

[Select]

1 Install the program into a layer
2 Deactivate the layer
3 Double click on the deactivated layer to open the Layer Properties dialog
4 Select the "Exclude Entries" tab (Yes, Exclude.  As in exclude from performing the usual cleanup tasks on these files)
5 Double click in the empty box under "Type" and "Value."
6 Add an exclusion (either a filetype or a particular directory + subdirectories)
7 Activate the layer and use it to create the file
8 Save files with the excluded extension anywhere on your HD, or save any filename to the excluded directories

See?  Confusing.  And don't get me started on the other tabs of that layer properties dialog.  I think you can export parts of the layer out to the base file system, and can make the layer delete other things.  Maybe even have it remember your anniversary or something.

Also, the software can't virtualize everything.  System level drivers cause problems, and occasionally a program that deeply embeds itself in the OS is problematic.  Some examples of software that doesn't play nice are VMWare and other full scale virtual machine programs, .Net, anti-virus programs, and firewalls.  There is a wiki here that has a pretty extensive list of programs that can and cannot be installed: http://wiki.altiris....ation_Best_Practices.  And don't even think about virtualizing OS updates, service packs, etc.  Unfortunately, if you try to install something that won't work, you won't know it until you deactivate and reactivate the layer.  Usually you'll get a lot of errors and it just won't work.  Occasionally, the layer will be so corrupted that the application will crash.  I've even had a BSOD due to an app that didn't work in a layer.

Another sticking point is that the program cannot capture to a new layer without deactivating all of your current layers first.  This prevents installing a program that depends on software that is in another layer.  This was a big disappointment.

Finally, this software carries the same warning as other virtualization programs:  It's not waterproof, just water resistant.  If you really try to defeat it (or if malware really tries to defeat it), you'll find a way.  As the vendor states, this isn't a security application and isn't intended to protect you if you don't use common sense.


Who is this app designed for:

Originally designed for enterprise use, it is now offered free for personal use.  It's definitely not for the faint of heart.  The learning curve indicates that only experienced users should look into it.

The Good
No noticeable impact on system performance while installing to a layer or using layered applications.
When it works, it works very well.
Great community and a boatload of user created tools to help you get the most out of it at http://juice.altiris.com.
It is originally an enterprise application, and the personal use version appears to be identical to the commercial offering.  We even got a near simultaneous release of a personal use beta when the enterprise beta was released.
Portable layers.  To see what this can accomplish, check out the list of layers that you can download and import on this webpage: http://www.svsdownloads.com/

The needs improvement section
Some applications just can't be virtualized at this time, though Altiris promises to rectify this soon.
Program doesn't seem aware of what it can and can't virtualize.  It would be great if it would notice that an application is setting up system drivers that SVS won't be able to handle.
Very steep learning curve.
Not foolproof

How does it compare to similar apps

The only similar apps I know of are Thinstall http://www.thinstall.com and MojoPac http://www.mojopac.com

Thinstall is very expensive (Pricing starts at $4,995 for the Thinstall Virtualization Suite and $39 per user.  Note the "and" there.  You have to buy the suite, and then pay per user as well).

MojoPac takes a slightly different approach to virtualization, being more like a portable virtual PC.  I haven't really looked at it too much, though I have seen comparisons.  It is payware, and runs off a USB drive which leads me to think there might be performance issues.

Conclusions
Altiris SVS is an awesome idea.  In practice, it's not there yet.  I use it quite a bit, but I have learned some of its limitations.  I also have the benefit of immediate recovery using FirstDefense-ISR if necessary.  I think it has the potential to be something really great, and for those programs that work in the layers it is outstanding.  The learning curve, though a deterrent to new users, really does exist because of the power and functionality of the program.  I have more successes with it than failures, however, so I would give it a 3.5 out of 5.

As I said at the very beginning.  It's a great concept.  A great concept isn't enough, however.

Other Reviews

http://www.pcmag.com...,1895,1941830,00.asp
http://www.infoworld...2_10TCaltiris_1.html
http://www.eweek.com...,1895,1944040,00.asp

592

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Mini-Review of FirstDefense-ISR (Raxco Software)

« Last post by cthorpe on January 26, 2007, 12:35 PM »

Let me know if you run into any problems or have any questions.

593

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Mini-Review of FirstDefense-ISR (Raxco Software)

« Last post by cthorpe on January 26, 2007, 12:26 PM »

does the swapping between snap shots take only the same length of time it would to boot (reboot) the machine as normal? i'm assuming the it wouldn't take any longer but i'm interested to know for sure. thanks.

-nudone (January 26, 2007, 12:05 PM)

If there is any slowdown, it isn't noticable.  There is a delay if you are using the Freeze feature as it reverts the snapshot back to the frozen state.  But for normal swapping, it's just a normal reboot.

594

General Software Discussion / Re: My favorite software! What's yours?

« Last post by cthorpe on January 26, 2007, 11:37 AM »

it'd be nice to see a screenshot if you could?

-tomos (January 26, 2007, 05:29 AM)

Of course.

Here is what my screen looks like:


The first two Quick Launch icons actually pop up menus when I click on them:



The weather plugin in the top left corner shows current conditions when you hover your mouse over it and forcast when you click on it:



The Window List plugin shows you a list of open windows and lets you switch to them just like clicking on them in the task bar.  This lets me access running programs without having to move the mouse down to the bottom of the screen.



The foobar2000 plugin only shows the foobar icon if the program is not running.  When you start the player by clicking the icon or some other method, player controls automatically appear in the toobar:



The foobar controls are actually part of the media player plugin.  That plugin can control various players:



The command line plugin lets you type commands just like you could with the Run command on the start menu, and even has autocompletion:



There are a lot more plugins available:




Carl

595

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Mini-Review of FirstDefense-ISR (Raxco Software)

« Last post by cthorpe on January 26, 2007, 08:25 AM »

It only works on your primary partition, and stores on that partition.  That means that it will work perfectly on a machine with only one drive or only one partition.  The only time it is even aware of other drives or partitions is if you store an archive of a snapshot on another partition or drive.

It really does make your system appear to be multi-boot among different versions of your operating system.  Another cool feature is that you can create an empty snapshot and install Windows into that snapshot so you have a clean installation while still being able to boot into another snapshot when needed.  I use that to do a reinstall of Windows while still having a working installation to do other tasks for work, etc.  It allows me to take my time rebuilding the clean installation without the problem of being without a computer.  (I'm going to add this into the review)

596

Mini-Reviews by Members / Mini-Review of FirstDefense-ISR UPDATED as of 4/10/09

« Last post by cthorpe on January 25, 2007, 11:45 PM »

UPDATE - 4/10/09

Horizon DataSys Inc. has licensed the ISR technology from the original developer and is now selling the program.  The review below refers only to the version I purchased from Raxco quite some time ago.  A couple of well respected DonationCoder.com members have expressed disappointment over the current Horizon Data version and the lack of support they have received (see here: https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=17848.0).  I have no experience dealing with support at Horizon Data, but please keep this in mind before purchasing this software.


FirstDefense-ISR, Raxco Software

Basic Info

App Name	FirstDefense-ISR, Raxco version
Technology	ISR designed by Leapfrog Software http://www.leapfrogs...re.com/product_info/ and licensed by multiple vendors for commercial offerings
App URL	http://raxco.com/products/fdisr/ - Now available from the new vendor at http://www.horizonda...sys.com/253715.ihtml See UPDATE section at top of post before purchasing.
App Version Reviewed	1.10 Build 173
Test System Specs	Pentium III 866mhz, 512mb Ram, Windows XPSP2
Supported OSes	Windows 2000, 2003, XP.  64-bit is not supported.  Windows must be English language version.
Support Methods	Excellent phone and email support from vendor.  Official forum for the ISR technology is on Wilderssecurity.com at http://wilderssecuri...orumdisplay.php?f=84
Upgrade Policy	"Upgrade protection" is an additional cost and provides a year of major version upgrades at 50% off.  Without "protection" there is a charge for major version upgrades after 60 days from purchase.  Minor updates (point releases) are free for all.
Trial Version Available?	Trial version is available.  It is fully functional for 30 days.
Pricing Scheme	Downloadable version is $69.95(USA) for "Workstation," and $475for "Server" version.  CD version can be purchased from authorized resellers for a substantial discount.  Resellers are listed on Raxco's website here: http://www.raxco.com...ners/us_com_list.cfm.  Raxco provided me with a discount code when I purchased that made their price far better than resellers.  Package deals with Raxco's Perfect Disk are also available There are substantial discounts for multiple licenses.
Screencast Video URL	Video demo provided by developer at http://www.digitalth...veryDemostration.wmv (13.42mb)
Disclaimer	I am NOT affiliated with Horizon DataSys, Raxco, Leapfrog Software, or any of their parent companies or subsidiaries.  I am a Raxco customer and have received no benefits, monetary or otherwise, for this review.

Screenshot of main interface:


Intro:
See UPDATE section at top of post before purchasing.
The ISR in FirstDefense-ISR stands for Instant System Recovery, and that is what this program promises.  Let me tell you, it delivers in an astounding way.  While at first glance, it may appear that this program is little more than a disk imaging program a la Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost, it is a completely different concept.  While the program does provide peace of mind that you can recover from an application gone bad, virus infection, or just plain user error, it does it so quickly that you may find yourself inviting disaster just for the chance to fix it as fast as it takes to punch the reset button on your PC (I am not, of course, suggesting that you infect yourself with a virus or abandon safe hex, but if that kind of thing is your idea of a good time, ISR can and will protect you from most mishaps.  Please see my "Needs Improvement" section below).

ISR works on the concept of Snapshots.  When you install the program, your current windows environment becomes your primary snapshot.  You use the program to create alternate snapshots, the first of which will be an exact copy of your primary snapshot.  You can have up to 10 different snapshots available in the program at any time.  In addition to the snapshots, you can make archived copies of the snapshots for safe keeping as they can be stored on other partitions or external media.  That screenshot above is my current set of snapshots and archives.

Now, the magic happens when you want to switch from one snapshot to another.  When you reboot your PC, you will see the ISR logo on the screen after the CMOS screen and before Windows starts loading:



By pressing the hotkey (which is customizable) during the time that the logo is displayed (also customizable), you get a menu of your snapshots:


Note that this menu does not reflect my real setup as I installed ISR in a virtual machine so I could take snapshots outside of Windows.  Rest assured that the actual menu has all my snapshots.  Also, you won't have anything marked as "Partial."  That is showing because I cancelled the creation of the snapshot in my VM.

Once at the menu, you select a snapshot with your arrow keys, and hit ENTER.  Windows then boots as normal, just as fast as it would without ISR, and you are in the selected snapshot.  Each snapshot can have completely different software, different service packs, even different versions of windows as long as they are one of the supported versions listed above.  You can think of your computer essentially being dual, triple, quadruple, quintuple, etc boot among your snapshotted versions of Windows.

Once you are booted into a snapshot, you can use the program interface to copy snapshots back and forth to each other, updating them with the data from other snapshots.  Creating a new snapshot takes a little while, but once a snapshot exists, updating from other is pretty quick as it only adds, deletes, and modifies the files that are different between the source and target.  What this means, if you keep your snapshots updated (the program offers quite a few scheduling options to assist you here), is that if your working snapshot gets trashed you can boot into an alternate, and copy it over the trashed one to fix it.  You can only boot to "snapshots," not to archives.  Archives can be copied, however, over snapshots.  You can password protect snapshots if you desire, and you can disable the preboot menu so a user cannot access the snapshot menu while booting.

The program allows you to anchor data, so that it persists between snapshots.  You could anchor your "My Documents" folder, for example, so you can access your files from all of your snapshots.  It also offers a "Freeze" function.  This allows you to set up a snapshot that will revert to a certain state whenever it is rebooted.  This means that it will wipe out all installed programs, changed settings, etc.

See UPDATE section at top of post before purchasing.

Another cool feature is that you can create an empty snapshot and install Windows into that snapshot so you have a clean installation while still being able to boot into another snapshot when needed.  I use that to do a reinstall of Windows while still having a working installation to do other tasks for work, etc.  It allows me to take my time rebuilding the clean installation without the problem of being without a computer.  I don't know about you, but the downtime caused by a reinstall of Windows used to prevent me from undertaking it unless it was absolutely necessary.  With ISR, I essentially have zero downtime, as I only have to boot into the new installation snapshot when I have some time to install updates, configure programs, etc.  Then I can boot right back to a working snapshot to prepare presenations and documents for work.

There are some weaknesses to the program.  It can only protect your primary partition.  While this is great for most users, if you have a lot of programs stored on other partitions, it won't protect them.  Also, it doesn't provide protection for data files on other partitions or data that you have "anchored."  Furthermore, the snapshots are very large.  Until this current version when you created a snapshot it was the same size as the currently running snapshot minus any anchored data.  Meaning that if you had 3 gigs used on your primary partition when you installed ISR and made a secondary snapshot, the secondary snapshot would take up 3gigs on your disk.  The current version allows NTFS compression to be applied to the snapshots.  Also, since the snapshots are also stored on the primary partition, a hardware failure or malware that wipes out the disk will defeat it.  With archives, however, you could still get up and running quickly as you could install a base system, install ISR, and then copy archives on the system as snapshots, giving you the ability to boot back into a "current" system.

In addition to the outstanding performance of the software, Raxco has been a pleasure to do business with.  From presales calls to inquire about the software to support calls after, everything was handled in a professional and polite manner.  I never waited on hold longer than 5 minutes, and I could tell that the representative was interested in helping me.  Also, when I had decided to make a purchase, I called to inquire about buying it directly from Raxco or buying from a distributer.  The distributor price was about 35% lower than the direct price.  When I asked why I should buy direct rather than from a distributor, the representative provided me with a 40% off coupon code that was good for all Raxco products.  I was able to purchase two ISR/Perfect Disk packages for not much more than one ISR license would have been without the coupon.

I cannot personally comment on customer service with the new vendor, Horizon DataSys.  I can say that the individual who I worked with in getting the July discount was quick to respond to all emails I sent his way

Who is this app designed for:

See UPDATE section at top of post before purchasing.

This program is designed for anyone who uses the supported operating systems.  It is particularly suited for users who try out a lot of software, like to use alpha and beta software, and generally push their computer to the breaking point.


The Good

It just works, and works very well
Immediate recovery from mishaps
Allows testing of software without bogging your system down or encountering conflicts between versions, etc

The needs improvement section

See UPDATE section at top of post before purchasing.
The software only works with Windows 2000, 2003, and XP and only if you are using NTFS
The software only works with English language versions of Windows
The software only protects your primary partition
Snapshots are very large and must be stored on primary partition
Malware could theoretically breech the snapshots, as they are only protected by standard NTFS read-only, system, and hidden attributes.  It would seem that the malware would have to directly target ISR, however, and the low number of installs makes it unlikely that malware authors would go to the trouble to do that.  There are some filemanagers (notable XYplorer) that can browse into inactive snapshots, illustrating that a breech is possible.  I have not encountered any breeches, even with some malware infections.  This is why I still use AV, firewall, etc.
A system reformat will still wipe out your system, as the snapshots are stored on the computer.
ISR requires access to the MBR, meaning that dual boot into an unsupported OS such as Linux or old windows versions is not possible
Vista doesn't seem to be supported

How does it compare to similar apps

Before purchasing the program in July of 2006, I looked at its main competitor, Rollback RX.  Rollback RX had the advantage of unlimited snapshots and the snapshots taking very little space since they were only differential snaphosts.  The negatives of Rollback, however, were that it embedded itself so deeply that uninstallation of the program, for example, reportedly took hours.  Also, the company that sells Rollback was offering substantial discounts for reviews of the software on the web at the time.  That was an immediate red flag.  I have retracted this statement because I have recently learned that the developers of RollbackRX did not make any stipulations as to the content or scores of the reviews. They are a highly regarded company on sites such as http://www.wilderssecurity.com

ISR does not completely replace imaging programs, as it cannot recover from a hardware failure or a severe malware problem that destroys all data on primary partition.  It can be complemented very well by making an image of a basic Windows install with ISR installed and archives on a separate drive or external media.


Conclusions

This is truly a killer app in my mind.  I feel safe and secure knowing that recovery from a failure is less than 2 minutes away for software failure or at absolute most 15 minutes for a bare metal restore from an Acronis True Image image on DVD and copy over from an archive on the same DVD in the event of hardware failure.  Also, any application that has this much power that has no noticeable impact on performance on my "old" computer is great.  I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

See the comments at the top of the review.  While FDISR is a great program, the recent decision by Raxco to stop selling it is troubling.  At this point, I can't recommend purchasing the program even if you find it at a reseller. - See the update at the top of the review

Other Reviews
http://rcpmag.com/re...spx?editorialsid=502
http://www.computerp...40c05b.asp&guid=

More screenshots



See UPDATE section at top of post before purchasing.

597

General Software Discussion / Re: My favorite software! What's yours?

« Last post by cthorpe on January 25, 2007, 10:13 PM »

For starters, I am running Windows XP Professional SP2.  I am not affiliated with any of the software products listed below.  I've marked payware with a $$ after the link.  Everything else is freeware or donationware.

Opera (http://www.opera.com) -  I absolutely love this browser.  I think it is more polished than firefox, and more secure than IE.  I admit that I miss some of the extensions in firefox, but not enough to switch back.

FirstDefense-ISR (http://raxco.com/products/fdisr/) $$ - The ISR stands for Immediate System Recovery.  This program is amazing.  It allows you to have multiple snapshots of your operating system that you can switch to as quickly as you can reboot your computer.  It has saved me more than once in the 6 months that I have been using it.  As an example, I updated a security application recently and had to reboot to complete the update.  My machine proceeded to BSOD repeatedly when attempting to boot.  I simply hit the reset button, pressed F1 when the ISR logo appeared right after CMOS screen, selected an alternate snapshot and was up and running in less than a minute.  It also has a freeze function that reverts your computer to a preset state at each reboot.

NOD32 AV (http://eset.com) $$ , Jetico Firewall v1.0 (http://www.jetico.com/), and System Safety Monitor (http://www.syssafety.com/) $$ - Together, these three programs protect me from just about anything that is out there.  Along with the use of Opera for browsing and ISR waiting in the wings in case of a disaster, I feel invincible.  There was a brief problem with a new version of SSM not playing nice with Jetico, but a quick update by the authors fixed it.

Directory Opus (http://www.gpsoft.com) $$ - Amazing filemanager that does it all.  I tried quite a few, hoping to find something that was a lot cheaper than this one, but in the end I felt that it was worth every penny.  The best part about it is that you can customize it to do just about anything you could possibly want with your files.

FindAndRunRobot - Love it.  I am slowly getting used to being able to start programs by just hitting Break and typing.  I actually caught myself tryng it on a computer that didn't have it today.  That is a sure sign to me that the program is a hit.

Locate32 (http://locate32.webhop.org/) - Fast file search utility.  It creates a database of all your files.  I can search for a single filename on my computer (over 300gigs) and find it in seconds with this program.  I wish the documentation was better (or existed at all), but I loved it enough to donate to the author.

UltraVNC (http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/) - I use a ssh connection from work to my router (running dd--wrt http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/index.php) to tunnel into my home network and connect to my PC with this.

foobar2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org) - My mp3 player of choice.  I don't care for skins, visualizations, etc.  Foobar plays my music, and plays it well.

Process Explorer (http://www.microsoft...ProcessExplorer.mspx) - What task manager should have been.  This is one of the first programs I install when working with a PC, and I have it running all the time in my system tray.

ClipMate (http://www.thornsoft.com) $$ - I manipulate a lot of text for work, so this is invaluable.

TrueLaunchBar (http://truelaunchbar.com $$ - This just makes my computing life easier.  I actually run with my taskbar at the bottom (with a truelaunchbar enhanced quick launch) and a toolbar across the top of the screen with some truelaunch plugins and my clipmate toolbar.  I loose a tiny bit of screen real estate, but I work faster.

EditPad Lite (http://www.editpadpr...com/editpadlite.html) - Free and powerful text editor.  I used it to write this post .

VMServer (http://www.vmware.com/products/server/) - Even though my computer is barely able to handle it, I still get a smile on my face when I boot up Windows XP inside Windows XP.  I'm just starting to use this program and learning to love it.  I can't believe it is free.

And that's just software that I use on a daily basis.

I'll be happy to discuss how I use any of those in more detail if you're interested.

Carl

598

Living Room / Re: is it me or is it the machine (i'm sorry for even posting this).

« Last post by cthorpe on January 24, 2007, 01:32 PM »

Any recent windows updates that could be mucking things up?

599

Developer's Corner / Re: Best Programming Beer

« Last post by cthorpe on January 23, 2007, 01:06 PM »

Friends don't let friends code drunk.

But if I coded, I'd want a Newcastle while doing so.

600

Living Room / Re: password-protect external HD (USB)?

« Last post by cthorpe on January 22, 2007, 09:14 AM »

As for encrypting with NTFS,

Right click on a folder, then select Advanced, then check the encrypt box.