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

Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Reader Question (and More)

Well, for the first time in a while, there was a new one on me..

A reader wrote in..
Q: “My archived bank statements download as .daa files.  What’s that and how do I open?  Do I need to convert them to something else to be sure to be able to view them in the future?

Thanks,
D”

A: I have never met a .daa file, nor heard of it (I confess) and had to look it up (I understand it is common in the world of Torrents, which I do not do).

“Direct Access Archive, or DAA, is a proprietary file format developed by PowerISO Computing for disk image files. The format supports features such as compression, password protection, and splitting to multiple volumes. Popular disk image mounting programs such as Alcohol 120% and Daemon Tools currently do not support the mounting of DAA images.

Currently there is no published information about the format. Among mainstream applications, it can be opened or converted with PowerISO, MagicISO, AnyToISO and UltraISO. Various free open source packages are also available to convert DAA to ISO images.”

I believe the programs mentioned retail for $30, so I would be inclined to research that last sentence were I required to deal with .daa’s (you might try daa2iso, but I cannot vouch for that). But more likely, I would be having a word with my bank, and looking on their website for another format to download (such as PDF). It is my humble opinion that your bank is doing you no favors by choosing to use this format.

*     *     *

Some reading 4 u:

• Feds Want To Take Your Phone Out of Your Car

“The National Transportation Board doesn’t want you calling or texting behind the wheel and has called on states to ban the use of cellphones and other gadgets while driving.” Read more..

• SMS Fraud Is Not Unique to Android

“Google is yanking a number of apps from the Android Market after discovering that they are fraudulent. Although such apps are more likely to be found with Android than on rival platforms, the concept of fraud is an equal …” Read more..

• Liberate Your Flash Drive with LiberKey

“Managing apps on a flash drive can be a real challenge even for the polished IT professional. Flash Drives have given us the liberty to transport files from PC to PC and the ability to run apps (software applications) directly from these little buggers. .” Read more..

*     *     *

Today’s quote: “Make it a practice to judge persons and things in the most favorable light at all times and under all circumstances.” ~ Saint Vincent de Paul

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Better Than Dropbox and RapidShare (?)

Winners Announced And Some Friday Fun

Free Online File Storage/Sync/Share Sites You May Not Know About

Almost everyone, it seems, has heard of (and may already be using) Dropbox. And probably/maybe, at some point you have downloaded someone’s file from RapidShare.

Online file “sync”-ing services let you “upload” (to “the cloud”) files you select – such as MP3 songs, for example -where they are available to you (or, anyone you give access) from any Internet-connected device. This often is a better way to share than trying to send things by email – certainly is for large files.
People also use such services for keeping files “synced” between their work and home computers.
(BTW, I am told that no one uses email anymore..)

Intrepid Tech – for Everyone undercover operatives (you know who you are) have recently made me aware of two services I think you’ll want to know about. (I have not yet had time to personally test them out…)

• (WWW.CX.COM) Relaunched Cloud Storage App Still Offering 10 GB of Free Space

“Back in September I told you about www.cx.com, a Dropbox-like startup that was offering 10 GB of free storage space for new accounts, rather than the 2 GB offered by Dropbox. 

CX has recently undergone a major revamp.” Read more..

• Fyels Upload and share unlimited files up to 11GB each, for FREE

This (second) one does not even require you join, or give an email.. and there are no ads.. amazing.

Giveaway Winners Announced

The folks at Novosoft have generously donated 3 licenses for Office Backup 4.0 to me, to award to my readers. I sincerely thank thank them for that.

“Office Backup is an easy-to-use backup software designed to perform automated backup of your computer. If you are looking for a simple yet powerful backup utility, you have just found it – Novosoft Office Backup.“

Without further ado, the lucky winners are

Congratulations! My thanks to all who participated. (Winners, check your Inbox [and maybe your Junk folder] for the Subject Office Backup Winner)

Just plain fun:

Today’s quotable quote: “I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.” ~ Winston Churchill

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Working With Text From Web Sites*

(And Some Giveaways)

Today’s quick tip was inspired by a reader question. The gentleman used to use an old technique to “print” webpages to text files so that he could edit and incorporate the text into his documents, and he wanted to know if he could still do this, but in a more modern way.
(I would like to take a moment here to remind my readers that I do answer questions sent to me; and also that if I believe the question-and-answer will benefit “everyone”, you could very well see it posted here.)

Q: How do I copy the text on a webpage to my document?
A: There actually are a couple of different ways to do this, including the old “print-to-file” method that DOS users remember. The trick is to get just the text and information you want, and not all the advertising and hyperlinks and graphics/logos that most webpages incorporate.

Method 1: If all you need is a small portion of text from a webpage, the easiest way to get it from your browser to your word processor is to use your mouse to ‘highlight’ the sentence (or paragraph) on the webpage, press Ctrl+C to Copy, click on the place in your document that you’d like to insert the text and press Ctrl+V to Paste the selection into your document (you may have to change the font and text size to match the rest of your document’s format).

Sometimes, it can be a little tricky — working in the browser — getting your cursor to change from an arrow (navigation) to the vertical bar and selecting the page’s text. But rest assured that you can ‘select’ the text on a webpage. Usually you have to get the point of the arrow very close the edge of the first letter, and make small, gentle mouse movements until the cursor changes. You could also try clicking in an easier part of the text, and use your arrow keys to move the cursor to where you want it.
(As a writer, I simply must express my hope that you will pay some mind to the concept of Copyrights, and original work, and properly attribute your “borrowed” material.)

Method 2: But if you want all the information on the webpage, and you want it to be available as a file you can reference at your leisure, the Copy>Paste method is not the best and another technique will serve you better.
Some people prefer to download the webpages in a method called “Offline webpages”, which is a whole ‘nother topic. Offline gives you the whole webpage — logos/graphics, links, ads — as if you were connected to the Internet, and this is more info than we need for today’s topic… we just want the text.

In Firefox and Internet Explorer, you can click on the “File” menu on your browser’s toolbar. IE users (who haven’t re-enabled the old Menu bar) should click on the “Page” button. Whichever manner you used, now click on “Save As”.

Now the Save As window will open, and here is where we will make our important decisions.

As usual, you will be presented with the ability to select the “where” the file will be Saved, and give it a name. But the primary thing is to select the “Save as type”, so that we will have a file we can use as we want to– in this case, a text file (.txt).
Once the webpage is Saved as a text file, you will be able to Open it with any word processor. And you will be able to edit it to your heart’s content.. and it will be available whenever you need it.

*If you decide to Save the webpage as one of the other options in the “file type” (or, made a mistake here) selection, and Save the page as an *.htm,*html file or even a “archive”, you will still be able to Open it with a word processor [by default, it will open with your browser] and edit it… it will just contain a whole bunch of junk-looking code, as well as the text you want.

Today’s free download: I am not a real big fan of free all-in-one “optimization” programs, but I do have one that I like, use (occasionally), and can recommend. Advanced WindowsCare Personal From publisher: “is a comprehensive PC care utility that takes an one-click approach to help protect, repair and optimize your computer. It provides an all-in-one and super convenient solution for PC maintenance and protection.”

* Orig post: 11/30/07

Today’s reading reco: How the iPhone crippled T-Mobile

“Even if the feds prevent AT&T’s takeover, T-Mobile is still dying — and the iPhone is a big reason why” Read more..

Today’s quotable quote: “A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” ~ Herm Albright

Bonus For Reading All The Way Down To Here

• For a limited time, Digiarty Software, Inc is giving away free copies of WinX Blu-ray Decrypter ($50 retail.)

“WinX Blu-ray Decrypter is able to decrypt any Blu-ray video disc, even encrypted with recent AACS MKB v25, BD+ and BD-Live, etc., and transform 3D Blu-ray to 2D video. It comes with 2 copy methods – Full Disc Backup and Main Title copy modes. You can get decrypted Blu-ray folder or HD M2TS videos on the hard drive.” Read more.. (get your copy)

• For a limited time, BDlot is giving away, free, All-in-one BDlot Video Media Suite Giveaway

Competently make all your SD/HD videos playable everywhere

Make your DIY movie/music from YouTube with one-click

Create DVDs from Camcorder, Portable Gadgets or any video clips

(You need to scroll down a bit.) Read more.. (get your copy)

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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How To Restore The Menu Bar In Vista And Windows 7

In older versions of Windows, the menu bar was always visible in Explorer. In Vista and Windows 7 the menu bar is now hidden by default, and you must press the ALT key to see it. These simple steps will cause it to always be visible.
(The “menu bar” gives you the familiar File | Edit | View |Tools | Help ‘drop down’ menus)

1) Launch Explorer by opening Computer (or Documents, or Pictures..), then press ALT to access the menu bar.

2) Click on Tools and then on Folder options.

3) In the Folder Options window, click on the View tab, and click to place a check in Always show menus.

4) Click on Apply and then OK.

That’s it. You’re done. (Should you decide you prefer the “more screen real estate” no menu bar look, simply repeat the steps and un-check the box.)

Today’s quotable quote: “Action without study is fatal. Study without action is futile.” ~ Mary Beard

Today’s free download: (an “oldie but a goodie”) It has been a while since I have mentioned one of my fave little computer protection apps – WinPatrol.

Clean up your Taskbar, ActiveX, Brower and Startup programs. WinPatrol monitors and exposes adware, keyloggers, spyware, worms, cookies, and other malicious software. This program puts you back in control of your computer with no need for constant updates.
Download WinPatrol 20.5.2011 (Window XP, Vista, Windows 7 including x64 support)

Have a great weekend everybody!

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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How To Rip Your CD’s To MP3

MP3 is the “universal” digital music format. By using this format, your music collection will likely play on any music player device, for many years yet to come.

The newer versions of Windows Media Player (v’s 11 and 12) come with the ability to rip (copy from CD) music to mp3 files. Many music players, including Apple’s iPod, will not play the default .wma format,  but by switching to the mp3 format, you ensure that you can listen to your music on any music-playing device.

With these easy steps, you can set Windows Media Player to always “rip” your music CD’s to mp3 files.

1) Open the Windows Media Player (WMP): Click the Start button, then All programs, and scroll down the list (Or, type WMP in the Search pane).

2) Click the downward arrow under the Rip button

3) Select More options. (It should open to the Rip Music tab.)

4) In the Format section, use the drop-down arrow to select mp3.

4a) * Optional: you can also user the “slider” to set the music Audio quality “bit rate” from lower quality+smaller file size to highest quality+larger file size.
(I have chosen “Best Quality”, as I do not have an extensive music collection, and the size of my library is not an issue for me.)

5) Now click the Apply button, and then the OK button to close out the Settings window.

That’s it. You’re done. Until you go back in and undo your changes, Windows Media Player will always copy your music CD’s to the more portable, and universal, mp3 file type.

Today’s free download: If you are on an older Windows computer, and have not yet “upgraded” your version of WMP to Windows Media Player 12, you can download it here.

Today’s quotable quote: Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Reader Question Answered: Disposing of Floppies

Proper Way To Erase Floppies If You Don’t Have A Working Drive

Q: Paul I am hoping you can tell me what I should do. I have boxes of old floppy disks and I want to get rid of them. I want to delete the files on them, but I no longer have a computer that has a floppy drive. How can I erase these disks without a drive?

A: Dear Reader,
Let my start my reply by commending you for being aware that it is very important to remove (aka “erase”/”delete”/”shred”) the data from any “memory device” before you dispose of it.

The proper method for destroying files is to run a “shredding” program, (sometimes called “secure delete” — which repeatedly writes a random series of 1’s and 0’s onto the memory) as simply formatting, deleting (or Trash-ing) the files is not enough.
(See, What You Need To Know About “Delete”*.)

Since you do not have a working 3.5″ Floppy drive (the floppy having gone the way of the dodo) you will need to use an “alternative” method to destroy your files and/or the diskettes themselves — and there are many of these. Probably the simplest is to touch the floppy to a reasonably large magnet (such as you will find on the back of old stereo speakers).

A few other methods
Some of the more “heavy duty” document shredders have a slot for shredding CD’s, and some of those can shred floppies. Consult the booklet that came with the shredder.

One fella I know clamps several into a vice, and then drills several good-sized holes; while another cuts them in half with a chop saw (please be careful.. and wear eye protection..).

You can bend them until they snap open, remove the soft brown disk, and cut it in half with scissors.

You can take them to a trusty tech, or Data Destruction service, and pay a modest fee. This last is my reco for most folks.

Today’s free download: Many “utility suites” (and also many “security suites”) have a “secure delete” function, so you may already have a file shredder. But if you don’t, and are planning on disposing of/donating old tech gear, you can download File Shredder

“If you’re looking for a reliable utility for utterly erasing files from your hard drive, you’ll be pleased with File Shredder’s performance. This free tool’s attractive interface is designed for ease of use, and even novices will comprehend its functions right off the bat.”

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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