A couple of software reco’s
It’s kind of odd.. but since I went into semi-Retirement, I’ve been busier than ever.
I have been reminded recently that a couple of free software utilities I use, well, I cannot recall if I’ve ever mentioned them to you guys… as they are rather Geeky (aka not “for everyone”).
* First up is a file copy/transfer utility. TeraCopy isn’t anything fancy, it just makes Windows work like it should, when working with big copy/transfer jobs. It’s free for personal use.
“One of the most common complaints about newer versions of Windows is the slow copying speed, especially when transferring lots of files over the network. If you want to speed up your copying or if you regularly transfer large amounts of data and have to stop the process to perform some other disk-intensive task, this program may be just what you need.” Check it out here.
* Next up is a “boot disc”. Now, most of you will not ever have call for a boot disc, or need to know how to use one, but if you know what they are, and don’t know about UBCD4Win, well I suggest you take a look.
“UBCD4Win is a bootable recovery CD that contains software used for repairing, restoring, or diagnosing almost any computer problem. Our goal is to be the most complete and easy to use free computer diagnostic tool.” Check it out here.
One of the things I use the UBCD4Win most often is to make “images” (backups/”clones”) of a hard drive using DriveImageXML, but you do not need to use a boot disc to take advantage of this free disk imaging/archiving tool. (It is a ‘standalone’ app that’s been bundled onto UBCD.)
“DriveImage XML is an easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives. Image creation uses Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Services (VSS), allowing you to create safe “hot images” even from drives currently in use. Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools. Never again be stuck with a useless backup! Restore images to drives without having to reboot. DriveImage XML is now faster than ever, offering two different compression levels. ” Check it out here.
Today’s quote: “Everybody ought to do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.” ~ William James
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• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
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UBCD4Win seems to have stopped development/update since it’s last version dated 21 April 2009.
There is another “Ultimate Boot CD” found at http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/. This seems to be still regularly updated by its author, the last version being dated 29 May 2013.
I have no idea which is better as I haven’t actually had occasion to use either. Maybe you can test out the two and see which one comes out ahead.
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jbe,
I don’t think “better” comes into play here. I keep both a UBCD and a UBCD4Win disc in my “toolbox”. They are “specialty tools” and used infrequently. The UBCD I’ve used far far less, as I am not Uber Geek enough to be a *nix command line wizard, comfortable with Linux utilities. And truth is, I use Windows discs far more frequently than either of those two combined.
I sort of regret even mentioning it, as most people, in most cases, most often, are much better served taking their machine to a pro than fiddling with D-I-Y repairs.
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