Rid your computer of the Conficker virus

Rid your computer of the Conficker virus: "If you're struggling to beat back the Conflicker virus, this guide will help you cleanse your system and inoculate your computer against other Conflicker variants."

(Via Clippings.)

10 free security tools that actually work

10 free security tools that actually work: "

Plenty of solid products are available to help you protect your system — and some of them don’t cost a dime. Here’s a list of some of the most popular and effective free tools for defending yourself against a variety of threats.

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PC security is a hot industry, thanks to forces from the Dark Side. Your system, more than finances, will determine the tools you use to protect it. However, for the casual home or business computer, a number of free security products work well. Almost all of these products offer a paid version with more features, and many users eventually upgrade — which is why these companies can afford to offer free products.

Before you spend your hard-earned money on expensive security products, check out the following free tools.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: AVG Anti-virus Free Edition

Without doubt, AVG is probably the most popular, free, antivirus software. It protects your system against both viruses and spyware. Initially, the free version of AVG was stable and effective. As the Dark Side advances, AVG has fallen behind a bit, but, it is still a good product if you combine it with other products (specifically, #2 and #3). Don’t depend solely on AVG.

2: Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes fights malware — programs designed with malicious intent. Unfortunately, there’s no way to uninstall malware once it’s installed, because it doesn’t show up in the Control Panel. In addition, these files usually install helper programs that re-download then reinstall the malware if you delete it. Malware includes viruses, worms, rootkits, spyware, and trojans. As these products evolve, they are harder to detect and remove. Malwarebytes is one of the best programs, free or not, for detecting and removing malware.

3: Spybot - Search & Destroy

Spyware tracks your Internet usage to create a marketing profile that is then sold, without your knowledge, to advertising companies. If you notice a new toolbar in your browser, most likely you’re being tracked by spyware. Sometimes, these programs hijack your browser homepage, forcing you to browse the Internet through their system. Although spyware isn’t inherently destructive, it usually affects performance. If your system suddenly slows down, chances are you’ve been infected. Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, which isn’t covered by many other anti-malware applications.

Note: A combination of #1, #2, and #3 provides adequate protection for most single-user systems. They’re easy to use and don’t require special technical knowledge.

4: WOT

Within the context of the market, WOT is a fairly new offering that adds security, via an add-in, for your browser. It will keep your system safe from online scams, identity, theft, spyware, spam, viruses, and suspect commerce sites. As WOT encounters suspect sites, it alerts you. Of course, you decide whether to continue or not, but at least you go into the transaction forewarned.

5: WinPatrol

WinPatrol is a robust security monitor that alerts you to hijackings, malware attacks, and changes made to your system without your permission. Traditional security programs scan your hard drive, searching for specific threats. WinPatrol uses a heuristic (discovery) behavior to detect attacks and violations by taking snapshots of critical resources and alerting you to changes.

6: Secunia Personal Software Inspector

Most of us have at least one insecure program installed, which puts our systems at risk. Secunia Personal Software Inspector (SPI) scans your PC for insecure programs. It also keeps you informed of updates and patches for your installed programs.

7: Sysinternals Security Utilities

This free utility from Microsoft performs a number of important security functions:

• Lets you know who has access to files, Registry keys, and other Windows services.


• Finds programs configured to run on startup.


• Uses command-line utilities to list processes running on local or remote systems.


• Scans system for rootkits.


• Offers a Department of Defense-compliant secure delete program.

8: Wireshark

System administrators will appreciate Wireshark, a network protocol analyzer. Security features include, among other things:

• Live capture and offline analysis.


• Display filters.


• Rich VoIP analysis.


• Decryption support for many protocols.

9: Nmap

Nmap is a network-mapping utility for network exploration and security auditing. Uses for Nmap include:

• Determining what hosts are available.


• Determining what services hosts are offering.


• Determining what operating systems are running.


• Determining the type of packet filters and firewalls in use.

10: Online scans

If you suspect your system has been infected and your current tools aren’t able to deal with it, try one of the following free online scan services:

• Ewido Online Scanner


• X-Block Free Scanner


• Trend Micro Online Scanner


• F-Secure Online Scanner

In addition, you can test your firewall at ShieldsUP.

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Finally: 10 Things… the newsletter!

Get the key facts on a wide range of technologies, techniques, strategies, and skills with the help of the concise need-to-know lists featured in TechRepublic’s 10 Things newsletter, delivered every Friday. Automatically sign up today.

"

(Via Clippings.)

Taming an Airport Express WDS Network

Taming an Airport Express WDS Network: "Apple earns enough goodwill with its usually beautiful design and usability that every now and then it gets away with murder. Case in point: the Airport Express. I recognize that many people are happy with their AE's. I've found that...
"

(Via OReilleyMac.)

You Are Not Worthy of This Car

Little heavy on the tuck and roll on the interior and I still prefer my gauges in front of the steering wheel but I wouldn't kick it out of my garage ;-).

You Are Not Worthy of This Car: "Feast your eyes on the Vulca S. Feast them really hard, because you're unlikely to see it again. At least not in this lifetime, and on your budget.

"

(Via Clippings.)

Spanning Displays with Terminal Services

One client uses dual monitors on most of their desktops and is moving toward more use of Microsoft's Terminal Services. The latest remote desktop client, 6.1, supports spanning monitors. There's a great blog posting the instructions here:

http://jasonmiller.ca/archive/2007/03/03/dual-monitor-support-in-remote-desktop-connections-client-v6.aspx

SplitView has some nice detail on configuring a stored configuration as well.

Is Reznor a digital-music visionary? Ask Lars Ulrich

Is Reznor a digital-music visionary? Ask Lars Ulrich: "Metallica's drummer and onetime Napster basher says he wants to pick Reznor's brain about the band maybe leaving its music label. Wait, doesn't he hate tech?"

(Via Clippings.)

The top 10 peeves of a support tech

The top 10 peeves of a support tech: "

IT pro Becky Roberts discovered that in the support field, certain workplace aggravations seem to persist regardless of the industry or environment. See if your biggest annoyances match hers.

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We all work in different environments, in different industries, with different departmental structures, different installed bases, and different users. But as support techs, we share the common goal of helping people and computers live in harmony. Over the years, I’ve worked in a variety of industries, from commercial aircraft manufacturing to management consulting, from a chemical plant to a ceramics factory. And although the hardware, software, and people have changed, the irritants have had an alarming tendency to remain the same. So here, in no particular order, are my top 10 persistent peeves.

Note: This article originally published in 2005. It’s also available as a PDF download.

1: Users who insist on giving you their diagnosis of a problem rather than a neutral description of the symptoms

A classic example of this is the VP who constantly tells me that the T1 is down whenever he can’t browse the Web or log into SAP. Instead of describing the symptoms, the VP tells me, ‘The T1 is down; fix it.’ This type of behavior is doubly annoying. Not only does it complicate the troubleshooting process, but it is also often difficult to disabuse the user of his misconception, leaving him, in this instance, with a false impression of an unreliable T1.

2: Users who hover around asking questions while you’re troubleshooting — and worse, making suggestions

As much as I like to share my knowledge and educate users, I don’t want to do so while I’m struggling to figure out exactly why Ethel can’t print. This is particularly irritating when dealing with an apparently insoluble problem, as the user’s probing questions, which I can’t answer, are a reminder of my incompetence.

3: Users who deny having done anything that may have caused the problem

This is the ‘What? World of Warcraft is installed on my computer? I have absolutely no idea how that could’ve happened’ phenomenon. In one instance, a summer intern from the local university MBA program called the help desk to complain that he couldn’t access the network. A quick survey of his computer revealed that it no longer contained any files beginning with the letter n. The intern vehemently denied having deleted any files whatsoever but eventually confessed that he didn’t have anything to do so he thought he’d delete all the files he didn’t recognize. Why he started with the letter n remains a mystery.

4: Being treated like a user by tech support from another company

I dread problems that result in a call to the manufacturer’s tech support department. I will experiment, read manuals, Google the error message, and sacrifice chickens on the keyboard before I will call a tech support number for a problem I can’t resolve. My pride simply can’t handle answering the most basic questions: Have you checked that the printer is in fact plugged in and turned on? ARRRGGGH. Get me out of here. Please, please, please, put me straight through to your highest support level because I can guarantee that I have tried everything you are going to suggest at least three times. Oh wait, never mind, the power strip was turned off….

5: Purchasing departments that change purchase requests

I understand and appreciate that part of the role of the purchasing department is to find the best possible price, but I do not appreciate it when they substitute what they consider to be an equivalent item because it is cheaper. One particularly irritating instance of this was an order I submitted for Kingston RAM for a Lexmark printer. When the RAM arrived, I failed to notice that it was Golden RAM instead of Kingston. It simply didn’t work. A quick check of the Lexmark documentation confirmed that Golden RAM was not acceptable, but as the RAM was now ‘used’ it could not be returned. The purchasing clerk had made the substitution on the advice of our VAR, as there was a special on the Golden RAM that made it a third of the cost of the Kingston RAM. This proved to be a very expensive attempt at cost savings.

6: Internal junk mail

We go to great lengths to minimize the junk mail being sent into the organization, but there seems to be little we can do to eliminate the jokes, photos, and movies being shared internally. Policies preventing or in some way restricting personal mail are of limited use unless mail is manually screened or spot checks are made. Merely using the corporate e-mail system for sending the occasional personal message is not a big deal, but when people start liberally using ‘Everyone’ or create folders for ‘Recipes,’ ‘Baseball,’ and ‘Boy Scouts,’ I tend to get a little annoyed.

7: Users who think part of my job is to spend my lunch break telling them how to fix their home computers

During one particular job interview, my prospective new boss announced that he would hire only people who ‘eat, breath, sleep, and think computers 24/7.’ I stood up, shook his hand, and told him I was wasting his time and wished him luck. Not that there’s anything wrong with being computer-obsessed; it just so happens that I’m not. If I were, I would probably welcome having my peanut butter sandwich interrupted by, ‘Uh, every time I try to access the Internet, this message pops up and then the mouse freezes. What’s the deal?’ I’m more than happy to help people out. I just resent being asked at work where I’m a captive audience.

8: Users who complain about not being able to use a new application, when they ‘didn’t have time’ to attend training or read the documentation you painstakingly prepared

I find this situation especially irritating because in most cases, the user really didn’t have time to attend training or read the documentation — so it wouldn’t be fair of me to vent my frustration on the user. This is a symptom of the far bigger problem of expecting too much of too few employees. Instead of being irritated at these people, I find that they have my deepest sympathy, as they are usually the most overworked and pressured people in the organization.

9: Being summoned to a user’s office to resolve an urgent computer problem, only to be kept waiting

This is extra annoying when the person in question is on a personal phone call with her husband to discuss plans for the weekend. I never know how long to wait. Leaving instantly would seem churlish, but once I have waited beyond a certain length of time, leaving and having to return a few minutes later simply increases the total time wasted. Fortunately, in all but the most intractable cases, treating the user as a used car salesperson by starting to walk away usually elicits a cooperative response.

10: The positioning of the IT department in the organization

During the course of my career, I have reported to an office manager who reported to a regional office VP; to an IT manager who reported to the CFO; to an IT manager who reported to another IT manager who reported to the CFO; to an IT manager who reported to a committee; and to a department head who wasn’t sure who he reported to. Whereas most departments know where they are positioned within a company, no one seems to quite know what to do with IT. All too often, the IT department is made into a subdivision of some other department, which then has unfair control over the IT resources. In other instances, each department or division has its own IT function, which may or may not have a well-defined relationship with corporate IT.

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Peeve-a-thon!

Okay, you know what bugs Becky — now it’s your turn. Do you face similar aggravations — or are you plagued by other issues? Feel free to jump in with your opinions and your own pet peeves.

"

(Via Clippings.)

Review: 3 disk-cleaning apps declutter your PC's hard drive

Review: 3 disk-cleaning apps declutter your PC's hard drive: "After months and years, old file fragments and registry detritus can slow down your Windows PC. We tested three well-known disk cleaners against a well-used PC to see if they could help.









"

(Via Clippings.)

How to manage Macs: An expert guide for IT

How to manage Macs: An expert guide for IT: "

Macs as desktops and servers are increasing their penetration in business, even in enterprises. Power users like Mac OS X's interface, bundled apps, and desktop and notebook hardware build quality. Application developers, marketers, and engineers appreciate the tool sets. Datacenter managers approve of Apple's Xserve reliability and versatility as a virtualization platform. But it's not all roses. IT managers, who ultimately must serve these communities' legitimate needs, are faced with some Mac-specific challenges.

The key to successful Mac management in the enterprise is recognition of its unique capabilities and knowing when not to treat it as just another Windows box.

[ Learn what's driving Macs into businesses. | Find out how to make Macs work as part of your business's IT infrastructure. ]

Fortunately, as the Mac has doubled its enterprise presence over the last two years, it's added new management options as well. Much of that growth occurred with Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard OS, but a good deal of the credit goes to third-party tool vendors.

Your management perspective informs your Mac management strategy

Your best bet for handling Macs depends on your enterprise management perspective. Most organizations fall into one of three: strictly controlling, flexible based on user capability, and application-centric rather than platform-centric. There's a Mac management strategy for each option.

A Windows-centric management philosophy often aims to control every desktop and server at a very fine-grained level, using Windows Group Policy Objects and unified management console. The Mac can play in this arena, but only with third-party tools.

Windows' strict management posture comes from the need to tightly enforce patch management and security policies to prevent virus and other intrusions, for which Windows has a famously large attack surface. The scope of vulnerability for Macs is demonstrably much smaller, and thus Macs don't necessarily require the same detailed control. (However, the Mac does have its own security issues that you should understand.) Many organizations can take a looser approach to management for their Macs.

Case in point: An information technologist at a major Southern California municipality notes, 'A small percentage of our users have Macs, but they're power users, in the sense that they're constantly reconfiguring their desktop environments. They authenticate to our network via Active Directory just like Windows users and access the Internet via the same Windows ISA server firewall, but we have less need to control their specific applications compared to Windows users.' It's not a perfect world, but a workable one.

The technologist continues, 'We bought anti-virus for Macs, but haven't had to deploy it because Macs aren't that vulnerable if configured correctly. We don't manage patches either, because users can self-manage and patches are less important to Macs from a security standpoint. We do have one issue with Mac FTP, which isn't compatible with our Windows ISA proxy; we have to route that traffic through a separate firewall.'

Another tactic is to become OS-agnostic and manage applications rather than platforms. Occam Networks, a manufacturer of fiber-to-the-home infrastructure components, sees this path ultimately rendering desktop parochialism moot. Ted Smith, the company's information systems architect, describes Occam's application management approach: 'We offer users their choice of desktop -- Mac, Unix, or Windows -- and let them customize it the way they see fit. We employ platform-agnostic application delivery using Citrix and Windows Terminal Services, in which applications reside in our datacenter, not on the desktop.

'Apps like finance, ERP, CRM, and sales run remotely, totally transparently to desktop users. There are fewer security issues because you're transporting all sensitive data over an encrypted tunnel. Who cares if a desktop blows up? Just give them a new one and they're back working where they left off,' says Smith.

There are management tool sets for each of these three management perspectives. But all require that you exert some effort to understand the Mac's unique capabilities to avoid managing them out of existence.

Windows-centric managers have rich tool sets from which to choose

The past two years have seen dramatic improvements to Mac OS X's Windows management interoperability. First, Mac OS X Leopard makes the Mac a player in the Windows Active Directory authentication scheme, via a plug-in that joins Macs to an ActiveDirectory domain using Windows-hosted credentials. Macs participate in standard SMB file sharing via built-in Mac OS X connectors, and Leopard's cross-platform Directory Utility lets Macs cache credentials the same way Windows clients do and participate in resilient multiple-domain controller ActiveDirectory forests.

Both Leopard and its predecessor Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger support Apple's MP (Managed Preferences) architecture, which is akin to Windows GPO (Group Policy Object) scheme. Both MP and GPO let you centrally control what printers, file shares, and other resources users can access, as well as enforce common security policies such as automatic logout, password-protected screen savers, removable media restrictions, network and proxy configuration, application protection, software updates, and preference locking. Out of the box, however, MP and GPO don't communicate. And Mac OS X lacks support for one critical Microsoft information interface: the Windows DFS (Distributed File System).

That's where third-party tools come in. Two packages provide mapping services from GPO to MP: Thursby's ADmitMac and Centrify's DirectControl. Both have client-side components that replace Apple's Active Directory plug-in, and both supplant Apple's SMB file sharing with their own enhanced equivalents. DirectControl has a more straightforward mapping of GPO to MP, and it stores that mapping within AD itself, while ADmitMac keeps mappings in a non-ActiveDirectory file server. However, only ADmitMac's file sharing includes full support for Windows DFS, which is a key requirement in many enterprise environments. Thursby also offers DFS support in its lightweight Dave file-sharing utility.

GPO propagation is just one aspect of Windows-centric administration. Others include asset tracking, patch management, and OS image generation and deployment. Neither ADmitMac nor DirectControl address these, but other third-party products do. JAMF offers two client management suites: Casper and Recon. Casper performs hardware and software enumeration and tracking -- including software license and data encryption management -- as well as staged imaging and secure remote control. It sports a customer service portal for user self-administration, in addition to a centralized admin console with an iPhone interface. Recon is a stripped-down version of Casper, with just the asset tracking, centralized console, and iPhone components.

Avocent's LANDesk is another Windows-oriented management tool with Mac capabilities, focusing on asset tracking and OS deployment. LANDesk uses Mac OS X Server to spin out OS deployment images via Netboot or HTTP, and it can even deploy Windows OS images to Mac-hosted virtual machines. This capability is central to any platform-agnostic desktop strategy where application, rather than device, management is the goal. LANDesk lets you distribute standardized OS images pre-configured for centrally hosted applications, ? la Citrix.

Symantec is a less-known player in the Mac desktop asset tracking/deployment niche with its Altiris Client Management Suite, which hasn't seen significant Mac enhancement since 2007. The Altiris Inventory Solution for Mac performs hardware and software discovery and asset tracking, while its Deployment Solution performs OS imaging via Mac OS X Server in the same way LANDesk does. Its Management Agent for Mac provides remote script scheduling, software update management, and limited policy enforcement.

Managing Macs using native tools may be a better approach

For enterprises that don't feel the need for Windows-based management, Apple's native Mac OS X management tools offer nearly an equivalent level of control that can still integrate with Windows Active Directory authentication infrastructure. In this management model, you use Mac OS X's built in Active Directory plug-in for domain authentication and SMB support for file and printer sharing, but depend on Mac OS X's Open Directory and Managed Preferences (MP) architectures for policy enforcement. You run one or more instances of Mac OS X Server, which provides MP controls in its Workgroup Manager interface. You must manually synchronize user groups between ActiveDirectory and Open Directory, but then ActiveDirectory user accounts automatically populate their corresponding Open Directory groups.

Alternatively you can configure the Open Directory server as an ActiveDirectory 'stub,' which eliminates the group synchronization chore but limits your MP choices to those that have a corresponding ActiveDirectory policy.

Apple's Screen Sharing service provides a convenient remote control interface for Mac OS X support. Screen Sharing is essentially VNC under the covers, so you can readily share screens from a Windows box via free VNC clients such as TightVNC, although you lose some of Screen Sharing's fancier features like scaling and autoscrolling.

Similarly, Apple's Time Capsule provides a sophisticated centralized backup system, with users able to retrieve files at will through Mac OS X's powerful Time Machine graphical browser. Alternatively, traditional backup products support Macs as well: Symantec Backup Exec, which backs up xServe storage that in turn contains desktop backups, and EMC Retrospect, an end-to-end desktop backup product. The future, however, may belong to cloud backup tools like Jungle Disk, which saves to Amazon's Simple Storage Service.

The future of management may not revolve around the desktop

If Occam's Ted Smith is on the right track, desktop-oriented administration may be nearing the end of its life as a management strategy. Occam's application virtualization approach reduces desktop management chores to basic security and patch control, with application security and configuration residing in the datacenter. Desktops are little more than disposable terminals to those applications, with users free to tailor their individual workstation with personal productivity tools. Another possible future is full desktop virtualization, in which the user's access device is a mere thin client with the desktop stored and executed on a datacenter-resident virtual machine.

That future is still a few years distant, though, and Mac proliferation is not waiting for it. To service user demand for Macs in the near term, avoid treating the Mac as just another Windows box. By recognizing the Mac's unique advantages -- which is what draws users to it in the first place -- you'll be better positioned to select from the rich and growing palette of Mac management tools.

"

(Via InfoWorld RSS Feed.)

Hyper-V Licensing Considerations

Hyper-V Licensing Considerations: "

It never ceases to amaze me just how quickly server virtualization went from being a novelty to being a technology that almost everybody uses. For decades a server could be defined as a physical computer that was running a server operating system, and possibly a set of applications. This rather simplistic definition meant that licensing for a server was also usually pretty simple. There were exceptions to every rule, but generally speaking, you needed a license for the server’s operating system, and for any applications that were running on the server. Sometimes you might also require client access licenses, but even that wasn’t all that difficult to figure out.

Licensing gets a little bit trickier when you throw server virtualization into the mix, because suddenly there are multiple operating systems to consider. Unfortunately, there is no one single standard licensing model for virtualized environments. Every virtualization software vendor has their own licensing model. Even so, I wanted to try to shed some light on some of the issues that you will encounter when licensing virtualized servers by talking about Microsoft’s licensing policies.

Windows Server 2008 for Free?

Believe it or not, there are some licensing provisions which actually allow you to run Windows Server 2008 for free! Well, not completely free. You still need a license. In many organizations though, the costs of the Client Access Licenses (CALs) far outweigh the cost of the server license, and there are situations in which Microsoft does not require you to purchase CALs for Windows Server 2008.

The general of thumb on Windows Server 2008 CALs is that if the server is only acting as a Hyper-V host machine, then you don’t have to purchase CALs for it. You are allowed to run support services on the server, such as failover clustering, but you can’t run any applications that aren’t specifically related to virtualization, or a CAL will be required. Furthermore, the virtual servers that are being hosted on the server must be running an operating system other than Windows Server 2008. If any of the virtual servers are running Windows Server 2008, then a CAL is required.

Free Server Licenses?

We’ve all been to the grocery store and seen those buy one get one free deals. In a way, Microsoft gives you a similar deal on server operating system licenses when you use virtualization. One of the main reasons for using virtual servers is to decrease costs. However, the costs could actually end up increasing if you had to pay for a server license for the host operating system and for each guest operating system. To help make virtualization affordable, Microsoft gives you the Windows Server 2008 Enterprise guest operating system for free when you purchase the server license for the host operating system (assuming that the host is running Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Hyper-V).

Actually the deal is a little bit better than that. When you purchase a Windows Server 2008 Enterprise license, you are actually entitled to use that license for the host operating system, and for up to four virtual servers that are running on the host. That’s five licenses for the price of one!

Keep in mind, you still have to purchase CALs. Remember though that Microsoft’s licensing model allows you to purchase CALs on a per user basis. That means that as long as your user count remains steady, you don’t have to purchase any additional CALs just because you have added another Windows 2008 server (or virtual server) to the network.

The terms of the server license is even better if you are running Windows Server 2008 Datacenter edition. When you purchase a Datacenter Edition license, you are entitled to run an unlimited number of virtual server operating systems on the host server.

Other Server Products

Microsoft has actually adapted the licensing requirements of many of their server products to virtualized environments. They have created a special web page at that provides you with all of the details. As you can see in Figure A, the page gives you a very quick, simple explanation of the licensing requirements for each product, but provides you with a link to more detailed information.

Figure A



Microsoft has adapted their licensing policies for many of their server products.

Conclusion

As you can see, determining your licensing obligations becomes a little bit trickier in a virtualized environment. Even so, you usually end up coming out ahead on the licensing costs if you do end up virtualizing.

"

(Via Petri IT Knowledgebase.)

Obama Sides With RIAA, Supports $150,000 Fine per Music Track

Not that I am a big fan of freely distributed copyrighted material but the fines here seem perhaps a little excessive. Clearly most of the suits will be settled for far less but I did find this highly interesting.

Obama Sides With RIAA, Supports $150,000 Fine per Music Track: "The administration supports fines up to $150,000 per purloined music track. Weighing in for the first time in a Recording Industry Association of America file-sharing case, Obama takes the same position as his predecessor.

"

(Via Clippings.)

12 tips and free downloads for your laptop

12 tips and free downloads for your laptop: "

Our colleagues over at What Laptop are in the middle of posting useful tips and Q&As for solving all sorts of common notebook and netbook problems, for beginner to more experienced users, so we've collated 12 of the best for your reading pleasure.

1. Clean and speed up your laptop OS

It's all too easy to fill your laptop's hard drive with files and applications, and the more software you add the slower it's likely to run. Traces of programs are even left behind after you've uninstalled them, potentially slowing your laptop further. Thankfully, it's easy to spruce things up using an application called CCleaner.

Read on to discover how to download and use it.

2. Protect your laptop's data

Due to the portable nature of laptops and netbooks, the data it holds is unfortunately always at risk of both theft and loss. While it's impossible to keep your laptop 100% safe at all times, you can ensure that your data is kept safe, even if your laptop is stolen or lost, by encrypting it. One particularly easy free solution you can use is TrueCrypt.

Read on to discover how to download and use it.

3. Help your laptop run cooler

While the fantastic mobility of laptops makes them great for working on the sofa or on in bed, it's always important to make sure your laptop has adequate ventilation, to avoid overheating.

Read on to find out how to keep ventilation clear.

4. Help your battery live longer

When running a laptop at home from mains power, many users leave the battery plugged in at all times, so that it's always fully-charged for when they want to hit the road.

Find out why this is a bad idea and what you should do instead.

5. Change your netbook screen font size

While the compact size of netbooks makes them ideal for regular travel use, their tiny screens can often be awkward to use, when reading multiple pages of text or browsing the internet.

Find out how to change default font sizes.

6. Speed your laptop up

Most laptops that are brand new come with loads of software pre-installed – a lot of it trial-only, and many applications that you may not even use. The more software you install, the longer it'll take your laptop to start up, but with Autoruns, a free third-party app, it's a simple process to speed things up.

Read on to discover how to download and use it.

7. Clean a dirty laptop

The first thing you need to do is shut it down and unplug the power lead. It may be wise to remove the battery as well. To clean the chassis, a damp, but not wet cloth should be enough to remove most dirt and grime.

Read on for how to clean the keyboard and screen.

8. Clone your laptop's drive

'I have a laptop that's three years old and the hard drive is rapidly filling up. I would like to fit a higher capacity drive and I've looked at various online retailers and know the type of drive I need to buy. However, as there is a lot of data on it, is there any way to transfer the contents of my new hard drive directly onto the new one, without reinstalling Windows?'

There certainly is. Read on for how.

9. How to upgrade your notebook's memory

Your laptop manual will normally tell you how much memory you can fit, and what type and speed you need to use. However, if you don't have that to hand, a very useful tool is Crucial's memory advisor, at www.crucial.com/uk.

Find out more about memory upgrading.

10. How to get spare laptop parts

'The DVD drive on my Asus laptop has stopped working and it no longer shows up in My Computer. It's been troublesome for a while and I think it's finally given up the ghost. Is there anyway to replace the drive, or do I need to get one from Asus?'

Read What Laptop's advice on where to get replacement drives

11. Recover files from a damaged hard drive

Hard drives can fail without warning, although you'll normally receive some advanced notice, usually in the form or strange noises, or problems when reading or writing files. You can try downloading a program from www.ontrackdatarecovery.co.uk, called Verifile, which will tell you if any of your files are actually recoverable.

Read on for the full advice.

12. Use RAID drives in your laptop

'I have bought a new Acer Laptop, which has two 320GB hard drives. When I enter the BIOS and create a RAID set and set it to striping I see the two drives as 320GB each. However, when I then install Windows Vista, it shows only one drive with a capacity of about 700GB. Why don't I see two drives, and can I use a partitioning program to split this large drive into two?'

Read on for What Laptop's solution.

Thanks to What Laptop - head over to whatlaptop.co.uk for daily laptop previews and info.

Related Stories

• Dell's superslim Adamo officially announced
• How to: Speed your laptop up
• How to keep your laptop locked down
• Asus Eee PC 1008 netbook details and pricing revealed
• In Depth: 4 fully-featured laptops for under £299

"

(Via Clippings.)

New wonder pants burn body fat by magic

New wonder pants burn body fat by magic: "

We've seen many novel uses of cutting-edge technology, from bicycles powered by fuel cells to tiny wind turbines for personal use, but surely none as odd as the latest underwear that helps its wearer lose weight.

The magical garments are the product of research at Japanese materials firm Teijin and are built on the company's expertise in nanotechnology.

Industrial material

Teijin's Nanofront fibre is made of strands that are just 700 nanometres thick – that's 7,500 times thinner than a human hair. Ordinarily, it's used in precision polishing cloths for industrial mirrors and the like.

Aside from making the underwear miraculously soft, the Nanofront also rubs the skin in such a way that it creates imperceptible friction that actually burns subcutaneous fat.

2010 launch

Teijin says tests have shown that wearing garments made of the fibre for 40 consecutive days cuts overall body fat and can reduce waist size by 'several centimetres'. There's no word on whether or not that's the same pair for 40 days in a row.

If all goes well, the new wonder pants could be on sale by next summer.

Related Stories

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"

(Via Clippings.)

Mums know best

Mums know best: "Why women are increasingly turning on to tech"

(Via Clippings.)

How Some Companies are Managing the Downturn

Just read a neat article in BusinessWeek about how some companies are handling their downturns in the recession. As opposed to cutting hours, furloughs, or layoffs, some companies are renting out their staff to companies who need short-term personnel. Read about it on the BW story.

The beginner's guide to coding

The beginner's guide to coding: "

You don't learn to ride a bike by reading books. No one can become a pilot by listening to someone else talk about plane journeys they've been on. Instead, we learn by doing, by trying, by failing and - most importantly - by succeeding. Because when you feel like you're winning, you get confidence in your skills and know that you can do anything.

Programming your computer is no different: it might seem hard, confusing or perhaps even boring, but it isn't. In fact, programming is hugely rewarding, because you exercise complete control over your computer. You can make it do things the way you want them to happen. And, if you're good, it can also lead to a whole new career.

This tutorial will teach you programming by making you program. Along the way you'll learn some theory, you'll learn some jargon, but most importantly you'll write your own program. More specifically, you'll write your own game. Even more specifically, you'll write your own super-cool game for Linux. Excited yet? You should be. Let's not hang around any more - it's time to get started...

Full article

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"

(Via Clippings.)

Know your neighborhood: Thirteen sites

Know your neighborhood: Thirteen sites: "If you're looking for a restaurant to try out tonight or you just want to find some local events, these sites are perfect for finding offerings in your area."

(Via Clippings.)

Take it back: GMail gets 'Undo Send' Labs feature

Take it back: GMail gets 'Undo Send' Labs feature: "Google launches the Omega 13 for e-mail: a way to recall messages within five seconds after pressing 'send.'"

(Via Clippings.)

Local news is dying. This is why you should care

Local news is dying. This is why you should care: "

We used to get a whole bunch of local newspapers: two freesheets and a slightly more serious paper that cost about 50p. Now, though, the freesheets don't pop through the letterbox any more and the paid-for paper is about as good as you'd expect from a tiny team who don't have the resources or the time they need to do their jobs. The property ads that used to pay the bills have moved online.

People selling sofas are sticking them on eBay. Car ads? eBay or Autotrader.co.uk. In the short term that's good news for us, because we can look for a house, a second-hand sofa or an old banger in seconds, and we can compare different items or go shopping at three in the morning. But in the long term it's terrible, terrible news.

Charles Arthur blogs about a typically daft example of local planning, where a town centre makeover is killing local businesses. In the old days, the local newspaper would have raised the alarm, co-ordinated a campaign and made the powers that be see sense. Now, the daft plan just goes ahead - largely because our attention is elsewhere.

As Arthur writes, quoting a commenter on another blog: 'You know about the iPhone getting cut and paste, and you've got an opinion about the new Facebook UI. Now tell us how much you know what's being done with your money a mile down the road.' We can tell you the names of key staff from any tech firm you can imagine. Our local MP? Er… Euro MP? Um… councillors? Ahh…

You can only care about what you know

It's not an either/or thing: knowing about the latest tech from across the pond doesn't mean you don't care about what's happening in your town. But you can only care about things you know about. We could fill an entire website listing the dumb decisions our local worthies have made over the last few years, and in each case we only found out about them after they'd already been carved in stone.

As the rush to go online leaves local newspapers understaffed or simply puts them under, who's going to tell you what's going on? Who's investigating the dodgy deals, conflicts of interest, corruption and flat-out insanity that so often occurs in local government? They've got our money.

Who's ensuring they spend it wisely? Who's watching racist, corrupt or plain stupid officials to ensure that they aren't using anti-terror powers against ordinary residents, or fiddling with figures to hide incompetence, or investing the Council Tax in bad banks?

Blogs? Not in our neck of the woods. They're not sitting in meetings, wading through minutes or filing Freedom of Information requests; their readers are scattered far and wide, so they may not have any local visitors at all; and what they do is often good, but it's reactive, not proactive.

They're responding to stories others have found and more often than not, they're going after national, not local, issues. Facebook groups, petitions and the various other ways people campaign about things online? Typically single-issue and completely ineffective.

What's worrying is that as we lose local newspapers - and we are losing them - we're losing something important: the ability to make local officials accountable for their actions. That used to be local newspapers' job. Now they're dying, who's going to take their place?

Because while iPhones and UIs are interesting, the things that will really change your life are being decided in a building an awful lot closer to home.

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

You might also like Windows 7: designed for a world in the cloud

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"

(Via TechRadar: All latest feeds.)

QuickBooks Pro 2008 on Terminal Server 2008

Microsoft's Terminal Server 2008 (on Server 2008) has come a long way from its previous iteration (Server 2003). One of the many attractive features is application virtualization deployed through Terminal Services.

One group has about a half dozen remote and local users of Terminal Services who need to access QuickBooks. Now Intuit does offer their 'Enterprise' version of QB which is supported under Terminal Services but the catch is the cost (about triple of Pro for the same number of users) and the fact that it creates new data files that are not backwards compatible.

The QB installation goes fairly smoothly of putting QB Pro 2008 on the server but there are a couple of items that caused huge problems in reconciliation, printing to PDF, and e-mail reports; all of which make a call to the bundled Amyuni Document Converter that is built-in to the QB installation.

This client's environment is Server 2008 Enterprise 64 bit Terminal Server and there are several blogs and community posts about working with Vista 64 bit and having to change out the print driver to the new one, as well as deleting and re-installing the PDF Converter and often times Intuit's suggestion to fix many things is to uninstall and reinstall the program.

The best general solutions site that I found was at CCRSoftware. I followed the instructions to a tee but things hung up when trying to create a new printer port. What I found that worked was to login as the local admin on the terminal server (NOT as a domain admin, interestingly enough) and then I could create the port. Prior to that I wasn't able to create the port (invalid name was my error message from Windows).

After creating the port and installing the latest Amyuni driver (the link to download is also on the same document), the local administrator could generate PDFs. The catch was that the default Windows printer had to be one configured as a local printer in the Terminal Server. I then added the most popular local printers for the remote users, disabled the GPO and RDP client properties to set the local default printer to the TS default printer. This way the user can set one of the other printers as the default and it won't switch back.

I then logged into the TS as a normal user from AD, set the default printer to be one of the TS's local printers, and voila, I could reconcile, send reports in e-mail as PDFs, and save as PDFs!

Like I mentioned, nearly all of the information that I had found previously had to do with making it work on Vista 64 bit, of which Server 2008's core is based upon so I knew I was close but QB uses the PDF converter to perform many functions so for those to work correctly, it has to be dialed in just right.

20 Facebook apps to try

For those of you who prefer to NOT look at the web interface to Facebook.... People kept asking me what I thought of the new interface and I had to respond that I honestly didn't know since I've been using the app for the iPhone for so long. For those who prefer their Facebook fat, there are several fat client options out there as well.

20 Facebook apps to try: "Are you tired of using Facebook online? Then turn to these desktop clients, which will give you most of the functionality of the site without forcing you to head to the Web."

(Via Clippings.)

In Depth: 10 essential tips for recovering lost files

In Depth: 10 essential tips for recovering lost files: "

Do you need us to tell you to back up your data? Hopefully not, but it doesn't matter how diligent you are, data loss can still occur if you're unlucky.

Perhaps a hard drive will have a problem, or a memory card will corrupt. Or maybe you've just deleted a file you simply didn't want to.

The key thing is to be prepared, so read on for our collection of essential tools and tips to give you a fighting chance of recovering lost, deleted and even corrupted data.

1. Build your recovery toolkit
The best time to install recovery tools on your PC is before you lose any data. Here is a choice of four free tools worth installing now which will be able to help you if something goes wrong: Recuva, PC Inspector File Recovery, SoftPerfect File Recovery and Undelete Plus.

2. Install to USB flash drive
Don't want programs cluttering up your hard drive, or already lost data on a drive? Fear not, Undelete Plus can be downloaded to and run directly from a flash drive; similarly, a portable version of Recuva can also be downloaded - extract the contents of the zip file directly to your flash drive.

3. File deletion
So long as the file hasn't been shredded with a secure data deletion tool, it may be recoverable. That's because the file itself isn't deleted even after emptying (or bypassing) the Recycle Bin; instead, the first few bytes are altered to tell Windows that the space used by the file is now available for writing to. The rest of the file is left intact until it's overwritten with fresh data.

4. Pick the right search
Most tools offer a variety of different searches depending on the nature of your data loss. Recuva uses a wizard that lets you look for specific file types - it's a quick search, so worth trying even if you suspect the lost data will prove hard to find.

5. Deep searches
File recovery tools offer more thorough (and much slower) search option that scans the drive cluster by cluster - this is useful for finding data from lost drives or partitions, but can also winkle out deleted files that don't show up under less intensive searches.

6. Data recovery outside Windows
Can't boot into Windows? You could recover your data simply by plugging the drive into another PC. Failing that, use a bootable rescue disc that gives you access to your files: try a Linux live CD or create your own BartPE disc here - you should be able to run data recovery tools from your flash drive in BartPE if necessary.

7. Recover data from CDs/DVDs
Data recovery from CD or DVD requires different tools, whether the problem is virtual or physical. Start with the free Unstoppable Copier, but if it doesn't work, try the free version of ISOBuster or check out CDRoller (US$29.50) instead.

8. Recover images from memory cards
You can even recover lost, deleted and corrupt photos from memory cards, so long as the card itself is visible in Windows. The trial version of Zero Assumption Recovery features fully functional image-recovery tools and enables you to preview your images before recovering them.

9. Recover corrupt files
You may recover the file, but find it's been damaged somehow. If this is the case, you may need to invest in third-party software such as PC Tools File Recovery (£29.95) or Recover My Files (£35). Both support a wide range of file formats, and the trial allows you to preview the results before you commit to a purchase.

10. Be prepared to pay
If your data is irretrievable, or your drive is physically damaged, ask yourself if it's worth the hundreds of pounds it'll cost to have the drive examined and any recoverable data retrieved by a data recovery specialist such as Ontrack.

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

You might also like 10 really useful free Windows system tools

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"

(Via TechRadar: All latest feeds.)

GrandCentral To (Finally) Launch As Google Voice. It's Very, Very Good. (Leena Rao/TechCrunch)

GrandCentral To (Finally) Launch As Google Voice. It's Very, Very Good. (Leena Rao/TechCrunch): "

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

GrandCentral To (Finally) Launch As Google Voice.' It's Very, Very Good.' —' GrandCentral, a phone management service that first launched in 2006 and was acquired by Google for $50+ million in 2007, hasn't been in the news much lately.' Other than a few good natured jabs at their marketing gimmicks and coverage of outages, that is.

"

(Via Clippings.)

5 Steps to A Big Picture Approach to Virtualization

5 Steps to A Big Picture Approach to Virtualization: "In the current economic climate, organizations are cutting IT projects that are unable to show a strong return on investment within twelve months. But buoyed by the prospect of increased efficiency, lower costs, quick return on investment, and a more flexible model to align with primary business functions, virtualization is one of the IT projects getting almost universal buy-in from CIOs.









"

(Via Clippings.)

10 ways techs can make extra cash

10 ways techs can make extra cash: "

If you’re searching for opportunities to supplement your income — or you’re in between jobs and need some work to tide you over — the tech field offers a number of possibilities. Erik Eckel runs down some of your options.

---

The economy’s tough. Many technology professionals are facing furloughs, or even worse, layoffs. Fortunately, several avenues are available to help generate cash. Here are 10 ways IT pros can earn extra dollars.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: Subcontracting

Hire yourself out on a project basis. While full-time jobs may not be plentiful, project work is common. Consulting groups frequently need technicians to deliver qualified service onsite at client locations.

Many small businesses are actually performing well. Headlines incessantly tout draconian layoffs at large enterprises employing tens of thousands of staff, numerous smaller businesses (from gyms to used car dealers to family-focused activity stores) continue marching along, with many experiencing sales increases.

These outlets continue to require computer, networking, and software support. Consulting groups frequently service these organizations’ needs, but smaller IT shops often find it difficult to locate qualified, professional contractors to fulfill those services.

Contact these local IT consultancies if you’re seeking extra income. Rare are the consultancies that don’t appreciate adding qualified names to their Rolodex, and these projects often turn into full-time gigs.

2: National account work

Many national companies serve as subcontractors for large hardware vendors. These companies accept work from the manufacturer and then pass a portion of the payment to the local contractor who actually completes the project.

Consider signing up as an authorized agent for these national providers. While few consultants make a living fulfilling such national account work, resulting projects can help fill scheduling gaps.

911mycomputer, Gurus2Go, and OnForce are three examples of national service providers that send IT consultants small jobs and other projects. All such organizations need techs in the field to complete these projects.

Just be sure you’re working with reputable vendors when you accept assignments. Most national service providers are solvent, but some have experienced trouble paying their subcontractors. Research national providers before signing a contract. If a Google search of a prospective organization reveals payment complaints, avoid establishing a relationship with that partner.

3: Database consulting

How often do you hear about businesses and nonprofits having to ‘do more with less’? A Google search of that string generates more than a million hits.

Organizations everywhere are trying to master client relationships and communications and squeeze every last bit of revenue from customer and contact lists. Databases, often customized to meet proprietary needs, frequently play a critical role in the process.

Yet many organizations don’t have the budget necessary for maintaining their own database creation and administration skills. The knowledge/needs gap presents opportunities for database programmers and engineers who want to moonlight or provide these services on the side.

4: Teaching

Layoffs across numerous industries are sending many back to school. As government agencies, nonprofits, and other organizations become increasingly dependent upon computers, networks, and systems, it’s a safe bet technical skills will remain in demand. In fact, the 2009 Robert Half International Salary Guide predicts IT will be among the top three fields to yield promising careers in the next year.

Consequently, students will seek the training required to enter the industry. Many schools, training centers, and colleges will need qualified candidates with proven experience to lead technical classes. Since many classes meet after regular business hours, interested IT pros may be able to supplement their day jobs with a teaching role.

5: Software training and instruction

As an independent technology consultant, I’ve been surprised at the number of clients requesting one-on-one software training. Demand exists, particularly among small businesses, for basic training covering such programs as Act, Access, Word, Excel, photo editing applications, and QuickBooks, not to mention Windows.

IT professionals need not be all-knowing gurus to lead training sessions covering these programs. They simply need to be able to review application fundamentals, provide walk-through demonstrations of an application’s features, and answer user questions.

6: The digital living space

Most technology professionals enjoy securing their own wireless networks, solving myriad Windows video codec issues, and memorizing the differences between HDMI, DVI, and VGA technologies. Most homeowners don’t.

So as discretionary income trends toward family-focused or ‘nesting’-related investments, the need for technology professionals to assist in such projects is increasing. Families spending two or three thousand dollars on a new television, streaming media devices, and/or media center PCs will think nothing of paying another few hundred dollars to a technology professional to ensure the devices are properly equipped, connected, and configured.

7: Telecommunications

I’m one of those ‘computer’ consultants who has resisted providing clients with ‘phone services.’ However, I’m rethinking that strategy.

Why? For one thing, clients are increasingly inquiring about telephone support. And as VoIP gains steam, telecommunications are increasingly crossing over into the network administration arena. Even Dell is now selling phone systems on its Web site.

Considering that organizations of all sizes are flocking to VoIP technologies to reduce costs, there’s ample opportunity for technology professionals to add telephone installation and support services to their skill set. Telecommunications services add an entire new niche to a technology professional’s arsenal that can generate significant new revenue streams.

8: Financial software consulting

The word is getting out. Intuit, which markets the popular QuickBooks line of financial software, is weathering the economic downturn rather well. Demand for its products, from its point-of-sale software to its enterprise financial management platform, is growing.

Again, business owners everywhere are seeking to do more with less. That means most companies are working to obtain the utmost productivity and efficiency from the programs in which they invest.

Intuit’s QuickBooks software provides many opportunities for business owners to do just that. And Intuit’s ProAdvisor certification program presents IT pros with a well-structured program to not only obtain instruction and training but to tap into Intuit’s considerable lead-generation capabilities.

9: Security/DVR integration

Just as telephones used to be differentiated from PCs, servers, and networks, so did security and alarm systems used to be viewed as wholly separate from IT. But that, too, is changing.

Many security systems consist of digital video recorders (DVR). Essentially, these devices are nothing more than Windows XP systems with a special video card installed. Cables run from cameras mounted in various locations to that video card, and the captured images or video is then stored on the system’s massive hard disks. Included software tools make it possible to even access the security footage using a Web interface.

As companies further seek to cut costs, reduce shrinkage, eliminate burglaries, and otherwise secure their operations, security system sales are likely to grow. Adding these services to one’s repertoire offers yet another potent opportunity for generating extra cash. Best of all, most of the technologies involved (desktop systems, Ethernet interfaces, and hard disk data storage) are right in line with the other skills technology professionals typically wield.

10: Online expert

IT consultants seeking additional clients can grow their reputations online. Fixya.com and CrossLoop.com are just two Web sites in a growing category that pay technology experts to either answer users’ questions or provide opportunities to answer user questions and receive advertising space in return. While these projects aren’t likely to generate significant income, combined with other initiatives, becoming an online expert can position a consultant as an expert and help drive new client calls.

---

Other options?

Are you on the lookout for opportunities to supplement your income? What types of work have you found to generate a little extra cash?

"

(Via Clippings.)

The Ultimate Guide to Hard Drive Partitioning

The Ultimate Guide to Hard Drive Partitioning: "

Disk partitioning is the action of dividing the data storage space of a hard disk into separate areas referred to as partitions. Partitions are usually created when the hard disk is first being prepared for usage. Once a disk is divided into partitions, directories and files may be stored on them. Because of later changes on the computer and operating system, often an administrator or power user will be faced with the need to resize partitions, create new partitions in the unallocated space, and sometimes even undelete partitions that were previously removed or deleted.

Hard disk partitioning tools will allow you to create additional partitions from existing ones by resizing the existing partitions and creating empty, un-used space on which you can create new partitions. The most important aspect of such tools is their ability to do this without losing your data that is currently on your existing partitions. Such tools allow you to create and format these new partitions.

Most tools will let you convert a partition from one file type to another, i.e. from NTFS to FAT/FAT32 or vice versa. Needless to say that in most cases, such a conversion, especially from NTFS to FAT/FAT32 will cause the files to lose their NTFS permissions (ACLs), and in some cases where EFS was used to encrypt the files, it will actually cause you to lose access to these files. So beware!

Some of these tools may be able to help you recover deleted partitions, and if data on that disk was un-damaged, actually help you gain access to that data. Some, but not all of the tools may have the ability to move existing partitions from one location on the disk to another location, again, without losing data.

Note: While the title of this article may claim this to be the ‘Ultimate Guide’, there are always changes in the software world that the author of the article is not aware of, and thus this article cannot be always kept up to date. We would gladly accept your feedback, comments and tool recommendations. We only ask that you keep in mind that we can only list freeware tools.

Disclaimer: The author of this article cannot be held responsible for any data loss or computer malfunction due to using any of the tools listed in this article. Please carefully read the software creators’ read-me files and manuals, and always test before using any tool on a computer or hard disk that holds critical information.

(David, I suggest you refine this disclaimer in a way that clears us from any responsibility of using these tools)

Ultimate list of free hard drive partitioning tools

(Listed in no particular order)

Ultimate Boot CD

Ultimate Boot CD is a bootable CD containing tools that allow you to:

• Run floppy-based diagnostic tools from CDROM drives. More and more PCs are shipped without floppy drives these days, and it is such a royal pain when you need to run diagnostic tools on them.


• Free yourself from the slow loading speed of the floppy drive. Even if you do have a floppy drive, it is still much much faster to run your diagnostic tools from the CDROM drive, rather than wait for the tool to load from the floppy drive.


• Consolidate as many diagnostic tools as possible into one bootable CD.


• Run Ultimate Boot CD from your USB memory stick. A script on the CD prepares your USB memory stick so that it can be used on newer machines that supports booting from USB devices. You can access the same tools as you would from the CD version.

When you boot up from the CD, a text-based menu will be displayed, and you will be able to select the tool you want to run. The selected tool actually boots off a virtual floppy disk created in memory.

UBCD contains a ton of tools including: CPU Tests, Memory Tests, Peripherals Tools, CPU Information, System Information, Benchmark Tools, BIOS Tools, Hard Disk Installation Tools, Hard Disk Diagnostic Tools, Hard Disk Device Management Tools, Hard Disk Wiping Tools, Hard Disk Cloning Tools, Hard Disk Low-Level Editing Tools, Partition Tools, Boot Managers, File Tools, NTFS Tools, Anti-Virus/Malware Tools, Network Tools, DOS Boot Disks and Linux Boot Disks.

Get your copy here:

http://ubcd.sourceforge.net

GParted Live

The purpose of GParted is to allow the individual to take a hard disk and change the partition organization therein, while preserving the partition contents. GParted is an industrial-strength package for creating, destroying, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the file systems on them. This is useful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganizing disk usage, copying data residing on hard disks and mirroring one partition with another (disk imaging). GParted Live is a small bootable GNU/Linux distribution for x86 machine. It enables you to use all the features of the latest versions of GParted. GParted Live can be installed on CD, USB, PXE server, and Hard Disk then run on an x86 machine.

Note: Take care when using GParted on Windows XP/Vista installations. Read here for more information:

Update to 'resize-windows.txt' - Draft to discuss (Page 1) - Documentation - GParted forum

http://gparted-forum.surf4.info/viewtopic.php?id=2892

Using GParted to Resize Your Windows Vista Partition :: the How-To Geek

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-gparted-to-resize-your-windows-vista-partition/

You can also get GParted on various distributions such as the SystemRescueCD, listed below.

Get your copy here:

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

SystemRescueCd

SystemRescueCd is a Linux system on a bootable CD-ROM for repairing your system and recovering your data after a crash. It aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the partitions of the hard disk. It contains a lot of system tools (parted, partimage, fstools, ...) and basic tools (editors, midnight commander, network tools). It is very easy to use: just boot the CDROM. The kernel supports most of the important file systems (ext2/ext3/ext4, reiserfs, reiser4, btrfs, xfs, jfs, vfat, ntfs, iso9660), as well as network filesystems (samba and nfs).

System tools included with SystemRescueCd

• GNU Parted creates, resizes, moves, copies partitions, and filesystems (and more).


• GParted GUI implementation using the GNU Parted library (see previous post).


• Partimage saves / restores partitions to an image file on another partition or to another system.


• FSArchiver flexible tool to save/restore a filesystem to a compressed archive.


• File systems tools (for Linux and Windows filesystems): format, resize, and debug an existing partition of a hard disk


• Ntfs3g: enables read/write access to MS Windows NTFS partitions.


• sfdisk saves / restores partition table (and more).


• Test-disk tool to check and undelete partition, supports reiserfs, ntfs, fat32, ext2/3 and many others


• Memtest+ to test the memory of your computer (first thing to test when you have a crash or unexpected problems)


• Network tools (Samba, NFS, ping, nslookup, ...) to backup your data across the network

Get your copy here:

http://www.sysresccd.org

TestDisk

TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery software! It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition Table). Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy. TestDisk has features for both novices and experts. For those who know little or nothing about data recovery techniques, TestDisk can be used to collect detailed information about a non-booting drive which can then be sent to a tech for further analysis. Those more familiar with such procedures should find TestDisk a handy tool in performing onsite recovery.

TestDisk can:

• Fix partition table, recover deleted partition


• Recover FAT32 boot sector from its backup


• Rebuild FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 boot sector


• Fix FAT tables


• Rebuild NTFS boot sector


• Recover NTFS boot sector from its backup


• Fix MFT using MFT mirror


• Locate ext2/ext3 Backup SuperBlock


• Undelete files from FAT, NTFS and ext2 filesystem


• Copy files from deleted FAT, NTFS and ext2/ext3 partitions.

Get your copy here:

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download

Ranish Partition Manager

Ranish Partition Manager is a powerful hard disk partitioning tool. It gives users high level of control for running multiple operating systems, such as Linux, Windows 98/XP, FreeDOS, and FreeBSD on a single disk. Partition Manager can create, copy, and resize primary and extended partitions. It includes command line interface and simulation mode that works with large files so you can safely experiment before working on the real hard drive partition tables.

Get your copy here:

http://www.ranish.com/part

Partition Logic

Partition Logic is a free hard disk partitioning and data management tool.  It can create, delete, format, defragment, resize, and move partitions and modify their attributes.  One cool feature about it is that it can copy entire hard disks from one to another. Partition Logic is free software, based on the Visopsys operating system.  It boots from a CD or floppy disk and runs as a standalone system, independent of your regular operating system.  It is intended to become a free alternative to such commercial programs.

It’s worth noting that the current (as of March 2009) version of Partition logic has the following limitations:

• Does not work with some SATA hard disks, no hardware support for non-USB SCSI hard disks


• Supports only DOS/Windows-style MBR partition tables (used on nearly all IBM PC-compatibles)


• No support for Sun or BSD disk labels, or EFI/GPT tables used on Itanium and Intel Mac platforms


• Most important:  Cannot format partitions as NTFS (however, it can resize NTFS)


• Cannot resize FAT or EXT filesystems


• No hardware support for serial mice or for PCMCIA

Get your copy here:

http://partitionlogic.org.uk

SwissKnife

SwissKnife allows you to create, delete and format partitions on your hard disk drives in one smooth, simple process. While the product has been tested up to 400GB, it should support hard disks of up to 2048GB. SwissKnife allows creation of FAT32 & NTFS partitions. FAT16 option is provided for compatibility. Supports Internal interfaces such as IDE and SCSI and External interfaces such as Hi-Speed USB, Parallel port, PCMCIA, USB On-The-Go, Firewire, SATA interfaces etc. Creates Fixed and Removable Disk Format types. Latest version adds support for NTFS and features resizable windows. Upon completion, the drive icons will be dynamically updated on your computer.

Key Features:

• Formats faster than the OS (click on chart for details)


• Allows change of cluster size during Full format or Quick Format


• Divides a single hard drive into one or more partitions


• Supports Hi-Speed USB, PCMCIA, SATA, SCSI, USB 1.1, and FireWire® external drives


• Supports Fixed and Removable disk formats


• Supports FAT, FAT32 & NTFS systems


• Allows creation of a single partition of up to 2048GB of FAT32 or NTFS file systems.


• Full format or Quick Format of existing partitions


• Selective partitions can be modified for optimum flexibility

Get your copy here:

http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/swissknife.htm

Cute Partition Manager (CPM)

Cute Partition Manager is a free advanced hard disk partition management utility that allows you to easily add, edit, delete and manage the partitions in your computer.  Cute Partition Manager is very easy to use, and one of the best features about it is that It lets you preview the changes before you save them. It lets you edit the boot flag, partition type and other advanced parameters. It gives you total control of your system during the partition process. For example, it lets you edit all existing partitions. It even lets you install all the operating systems from scratch. It supports all versions of Windows (9x,ME,NT,2K,XP,Vista), DOS, Linux, etc.

Some features include:

• Lets you create more than 100 partitions per hard disk.


• Lets you preview changes before you can save them.


• Lets you edit advanced partition parameters such as boot flag, partition type, etc.


• Lets you remove every single partition in your system.


• Does not require an operating system to run (everything is built-in).


• Can be booted from CD, DVD, Blank Floppy, DOS Boot Floppy, etc.

Get your copy here:

http://www.cutepm.com

EaseUs Partition Manager

EaseUs Partition Master Home Edition is a FREE disk partitioning utility that offers a powerful range of functions such as resizing partitions, formatting partitions, copying partitions, creating new partitions, deleting partitions, hiding partitions, changing drive letters, setting active partitions, and a handful other functions. Some of the main characteristics of EaseUs Partition Manager are:

• Material support for RAID


• Re-size and move partitions without losing data


• Create and delete partitions with a simple stage


• Allocated in a partition to make easier recognition


• Format of partitions by simple click


• Partition of ownership of every partition


• Conceal and to show partitions - to protect important data


• Specify a boot partition


• Outline of the effects of partitioning of a hard disk before applying


• Works on hard disks of 20GB to 800GB

Note: EaseUs Partition Master Home Edition ONLY supports 32 bit Windows systems. If your computer is running 64 bit Windows systems, please check the Professional or Server editions which are not free.

Get your copy here:

http://www.partition-tool.com

eXtended FDisk

eXtended FDisk, or short XFDisk, is a free DOS FDISK replacement that offers more comfort and comes with a bootmanager that allows you to have more than one operating system installed on your hard disk. With XFDisk you can partition your hard disk or install and configure the bootmanager, which will be located in the first 17 sectors of your first hard disk. The bootmanager will not occupy an own partition, so you can fully use the four available primary partitions per hard disk. If you choose to have an extended partition with logical drives on your hard disk, XFDisk transparently manages the extended partition for you. So you don't need to worry about the size of the extended partition any more. Of course, XFDisk and the bootmanager support more than one hard disk and even booting from logical drives.

Get your copy here:

http://www.mecronome.de/xfdisk/index.php

Do you have other recommendations? Contact me and I’ll be happy to upload them to this page.

"

(Via Clippings.)

Introducing Macworld's new iPhone guidebook

Introducing Macworld's new iPhone guidebook: "Macworld has released a new 154-page guidebook for the iPhone and iPod touch.










"

(Via MacWorld News.)

Low Light Photography Tips

MacWorld has a nice article with some techniques for shooting in low light situations.

The 10 biggest mistakes IT managers make

The 10 biggest mistakes IT managers make: "

Certain common IT management mistakes can make you less effective, hamper your career advancement, and even jeopardize your job. Executive coach Joey Smith has spent years working with IT management and he put together this list of the mistakes he’s seen most often.

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Working with IT managers on a regular basis allows me to see some great management styles and some really poor ones. On the lower end of the scale, I see IT managers make 10 major mistakes fairly often. Some of these errors have even cost some managers their jobs.

Note: This list is based on the article The top ten IT management mistakes and how to avoid them. It’s also available as a PDF download.

1: Focusing on technology and not the business

The typical IT manager comes from a technical background in either infrastructure or development. Based on their technical roots, they tend to focus their efforts in their expertise when in fact they should be looking for ways to support, enable, and improve the business. To be successful, IT managers must become business leaders and turn their focus and expertise to business issues and problems first.

2: Thinking ‘out of sight is out of mind’

It’s important to remember that in IT, no news is not good news. IT managers tend to trudge along without ever looking at their progress. The most powerful task you could ever do is an assessment. There are several ways to do this. You can do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis or you can do a full-blown formal IT assessment. You might even use a scorecard system to track where you are as a department. You can download a free scorecard developed specifically for this purpose.

3: Thinking that your team has it covered

In the TV show The Apprentice, so many teams ended up in the boardroom because the leader delegated a job but didn’t follow up to make sure it was done right. Following up is not micromanagement. It’s your job as a leader to ensure that the task gets done correctly.

4: Not inspecting what you expect

This mistake has its roots in mistake number 3 but can be carried forward into other aspects of IT. For instance, you could possibly expect great performance out of your servers but may not have a system to make sure they’re running at peak capacity. This ultimately leads to poor planning, budgeting, staffing, etc. If you want to avoid this common pitfall, make a comprehensive list of expectations for your entire department. This could include critical projects, network and server performance, client satisfaction, etc. Double-check the list to make sure you are inspecting all expectations on a regular basis. Keep a checklist or develop a daily disciplines worksheet to follow everything that needs daily inspection.

5: Not creating a partnership with business management

I find a great deal of IT managers reporting to operations and finance personnel instead of presidents and CEOs. The only way IT can be an effective and strategic element to business is through partnership with business executives. You must lead and influence your reports, peers, and leaders to have a maximum impact on the organization. The quicker you can get on the leadership team, the quicker you will have the ability to execute on number 1.

6: Burning yourself out

I can’t tell you how many IT managers I coach who have not had vacations in a year or longer and routinely work more than 70 hours per week. This is not only a mistake, but it’s a formula for disaster. Sometimes the thinking is that your business can’t live without you. The truth is, your business cannot live with you burning yourself out. It only leads to lowered productivity and, eventually, your giving up or getting disgruntled. Do yourself, your business, your employees, and your family a favor and take some time off.

7: Not testing your backup solution

I always tell my new IT managers that one of the most important aspects of their jobs is ensuring a reliable backup. Breakdowns in technology hardware are inevitable. The next best thing is fault tolerance, but I have even seen that fail. Don’t think for a minute that if you have tapes and if everything looks okay in your system that everything is okay. Make sure you test backups regularly. Do test disasters and make sure you can recover.

8: Not asking for help

Too often, I’ve seen costly mistakes made by managers and technicians who try to solve an issue alone without informing anyone or even reading the manual. This is a costly mistake. If you get in over your head, do the right thing and seek help. The key to successful IT management is not knowing the right answers; it’s being able to find them and execute a solution as quickly and cost effectively as possible. Don’t hesitate to bring in the experts where necessary.

9: Not devoting time to personal development

There’s no excuse for this mistake. Personal development is not your company’s responsibility — it’s yours. I can always tell a person’s success potential by the last five books they’ve read and by the seminars they attend. Every IT manager should be devoting at least 30 minutes a day to personal development. The truly successful devote even more — in some cases, upwards of two hours or more per day. The most common excuse I hear is the lack of time or money. The answer lies in the successful management of money and time.

10: Not finding a mentor or coach

The quickest route to success is to find someone who has been there and then emulate that person. The quickest road to pain, hardship, and failure is to go the journey alone. Whether you’re in management or not, you should always have a mentor or coach and you should always be mentoring or coaching someone else. A coach will help you achieve more than you could by yourself by imparting wisdom, accountability, and crucial advice where necessary. By coaching or mentoring someone else, you’re doing the same, but you’re also solidifying your own concepts by teaching them to others.

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Sound familiar?

Have you found yourself falling into one or more of these traps? Are there any other mistakes you’ve made — or seen other IT managers make?

"

(Via Clippings.)

8 Sites to Help You Network

8 Sites to Help You Network: "Sure, facebook and myspace can be useful tools for networking with consumers and peers, but what about all the other social networks on the web with more specific purposes or narrower audiences? The list is endless and runs the gamut, but the eight below are some of our favorites.









"

(Via Clippings.)

Fine Tuning Office 2007 In Corporate Use

Here's a good blog entry about how to download, install, and manage the Group Policy Objects Administrative Templates for Office 2007.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/01/04/change-office-2007-default-file-save-formats-and-extensions-using-group-policy-gpo/

Server 2008 Directory Location

I don't know if this is useful to anyone else but I know I'll refer back to it....

With Server 2008 the c:\Documents and Settings\All Users file was replaced with c:\Users\Public and the all user start menu is now at C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu which is a hidden path.

Get a new PC ready for everyday use

Get a new PC ready for everyday use: "

Four hours. That's how long it took me to prepare my new notebook computer for the workaday world. And that includes restoring all my data files and e-mail. I've got the process down to 12 steps:

Step 1: Establish a network connection.

My computer is pretty useless without ...

"

(Via Clippings.)

Starter Web apps for small businesses

Starter Web apps for small businesses: "If you want to organize your business, look no further than these five online services. You won't be disappointed."

(Via Clippings.)

10 ways to gain and keep the loyalty of your staff

Another great post by Calvin Sun. Much of it is common sense but as a friend of mine once said, "...if it's common sense, why do so few people have it?"

10 ways to gain and keep the loyalty of your staff: "

You depend on your team to be productive and reliable so that the entire IT department can be successful. But to get everyone to do their best work, you need to build a relationship of trust and support. Here are some tips to help you build staff loyalty.

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If you’re a manager, you depend on your staff to do their work. Their success is critical to your own success. If you can develop loyalty among your staff, you build up a bank of ‘good will capital ‘you can spend, when necessary — such as when those impossible deadlines loom and you have to ask for extra effort. Here are a few pointers to help you build that loyalty.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: Be initially neutral regarding concerns about a subordinate

Don’t throw an employee under the bus when someone outside the department complains to you, agreeing with that person automatically. At the same time, don’t assume the person is totally wrong, rebuking him or her, and blindly defending your employee. Listen to the concern, thank the person for alerting you, and say you will check with the subordinate in question. Then do so. In this way, you get both sides of the story

2: Aim for collaboration

The more you can develop a collaborative relationship with your staff, the better that relationship will be. You and your staff do depend on each other, so try to impress that point on them. Remind them that each of you can (and should) help the other to be successful. Remember the saying ‘One hand washes the other.’

3: Listen to staff concerns

Your staff will have concerns about working conditions, working hours, deadlines, and other matters. You may not be able to resolve them all. However, listen to what they are telling you, because if you don’t, you will lower morale. If there’s little chance that you can resolve the concern, let them know immediately so that they have a proper expectation. Similarly, if you do succeed in resolving a concern, let them know about it. They may not thank you verbally, but chances are they still will appreciate you for what you did.

When listening to your staff, try to avoid interrupting them to explain or defend a position. Similarly, try to remain even-tempered and think before you speak. Your attitude sets the tone for the whole department. Remember the old saying, (which applies equally to both genders): ‘A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.’

4: Be committed to staff development

Your employees needs training to maintain their skills. That training includes hard skills, such as programming and network design. It also includes soft skills, such as how to deliver effective presentations and how to communicate effectively. In fact, those soft skills often are more important than hard skills in determining career success. Make sure your staff receives such training — and when they’re participating in a training session, respect that time. Don’t call and pull them out of class ‘just for a second,’ because they never will return, and you will have wasted money.

5: Fulfill commitments

If you make commitments to your staff, keep them. Otherwise, you lose credibility and will face lowered morale. When you keep your commitments to your staff, it increases the chances that they will reciprocate and keep their commitments to you regarding work delivery.

6: Exhort, don’t belittle

You always want your staff to do more, produce more, finish the project earlier — and for less cost. So there’s often a gap between where they are now and where you’d like them to be. It’s better, generally, to exhort them to reach that point. If you criticize them because they’re not where you want right now, you may create resentment. Of course, there might be one person who does get motivated by being belittled, someone who says, ‘I’ll show that X$X# manager’ and goes on to perform exceptionally well. The percentages are against you, however, because many others will simply ‘turn off.’ It’s far better to say, ‘Here’s where I’d like us to be, and I know you can do it’ rather than, ‘How come you’re not there right now, you slacker?’

7: When singling out staff in public, do so positively

I’m not saying that you always should praise people publicly. Some people become embarrassed or self-conscious when they’re the subject of public attention. But I am saying that if you do choose to single someone out in public, do so in a positive, rather than a negative way. The latter will embarrass everyone involved.

When you issue public praise, be brief and specific. Talk about what the person did and why it helped the department, organization, or company. Finally, thank the person. Ironically, the less you smile when praising, the more sincere it sounds. (Of course, you should be sincere to begin with, and you should smile just a little bit.)

8: When giving correction, do so privately

Conversely, if someone messes up, talk to them about it behind closed doors. When doing so, focus on the issue, not the person. Try to avoid words like ‘you’ and ‘yours.’ Instead of, ‘Your program caused the system to crash,’ consider, ‘Program xyz [which your subordinate developed and supposedly tested] caused the system to crash.’ Focus on the actions that caused the problem and help the subordinate learn from the situation so that the same issue doesn’t occur again.

9: Serve as a buffer for your staff

Unfortunately, you may run into upper-level managers who insist on micromanaging. They will visit your staff and issue directives that might clash with yours. As a result, your employees will find themselves in an awkward situation, unsure of how to react. When that happens, you must step in and make clear to upper management that the chain of command works in both directions. You wouldn’t want your staff going around you to complain to your bosses. Neither, therefore, should the opposite occur.

Yes, stepping up could be hazardous to your career, so be diplomatic and tactful when you talk to your bosses. Focus on the benefits to them on observing the chain of command, rather than criticizing them for disregarding it. After you’ve had the talk, make sure your staff knows about it. Even though the grapevine probably will have alerted people, it’s still good to remind your staff that you have their back.

10: Don’t micromanage

Just as your bosses shouldn’t be micromanaging, neither should you. If you’ve staffed your team with competent people (and if you’re a first-line technical manager, you have strong technical leads), you should be confident that they know what they’re doing. You don’t have time to do the job of each member of your team anyway.

At the same time, be alert to clues that you might have to step in. Are others talking to you about a co-worker’s performance? Are you getting evasive or unclear answers in meetings or conversations? Do you have an uncomfortable gut feeling about a project? In those cases, you might have to take a more active interest in your subordinates’ work. However, pick your battles carefully.

Both sides of the coin

It’s common to talk about the importance of being a good subordinate. But it’s equally important to be a good boss. If you follow these tips, you can build a loyal following, which only can help you in your own career.

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Bad boss?

Have you ever worked for a manager who didn’t inspire any level of trust or staff loyalty? What steps do you take yourself to build a strong base of support with your own team members?

"

(Via Clippings.)

Speed up iPhoto '09 by vacuuming its databases

Speed up iPhoto '09 by vacuuming its databases: "My iPhoto '08 used to start in seconds despite the 30,000+ photos I kept in it. But after I installed iLife '09 and upgraded my iPhoto library, iPhoto '09 would hang for several minutes with the dreaded beach ball on startup. Even worse, though was that opening any event would trigger another hang of a minute or more, as would viewing a photo full-screen. (Once these initial hangs were over and done with, the app would work normally.)



Inside the iPhoto Library Package, there are four SQLite databases (face_blob.db, face.db, iPhotoAux.db and iPhotoMain.db). I found that by vacuuming all four of these databases, I restored iPhoto '09's performance back to something on par with its predecessor.



Open Terminal and cd into your iPhoto Library (by default, cd '~/Pictures/iPhoto Library'). Once there, execute the following command:

for dbase in *.db; do sqlite3 $dbase 'vacuum;'; done


  
  
  
  
  


"


(Via Clippings.)