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read formatted HTML version of this newsletter is available on line at The LangaList 2000-10-16 A Free Email
Newsletter from Fred
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Here's a real-life example from a
LangaList reader of why the topic is important: Thanks Fred for your great
tip, I downloaded Drive Image 4.0 last evening & installed & did an
Image backup of my System C:\ to my CDRW Drive. Would you believe that just
after doing so, I installed a new software program & got the Blue Screen Of
Death! After trying to get the system back up & running to no avail, I used
my Image back file & restored my system...this saved me many hrs. of hard
work. What luck!!!!!!!!!--- Hawk It's not luck, Hawk. You were
*smart.* <g> You see, it was inevitable: Eventually, if you use your PC
long enough, you *will* suffer a system failure or you *will* lose a file you
need. There's no "maybe" to this: It *will* happen; it's only a matter
of when, and the "when" is unpredictable. And that's why we've spent some time
discussing backups and drive imaging. For example, see http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/20.htm
and http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-10-02.htm
and http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-10-05.htm
and http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-10-09.htm
. Still, the whole backup/imaging
topic is complex, and some
readers had additional questions. For example, reader Karl Whisennand was one of
many who asked: Fred I have enjoyed your
recent articles on DOS and Hard Drive Security. I have one question about
security--what is the difference between using a program like Ghost or
DriveImage and just copying your entire disk files to CD-RW's through a simple
program like HP's "Simple Backup"? Also, I use a program developed by
Mike Lin called Rapid Backup to back up my data files automatically whenever any
file in my C\Data folder or its subfolders are changed. It is available at http://www.mlin.net
. Keep your articles coming. Backups are usually file-by-file
copies. That's fine for data files--- the word processing documents,
spreadsheets (etc) that you create on your system. With a backup of these files,
if the live copy on your hard drive gets lost or munged, you can replace it with
a good copy from your backup set. But standard backups aren't so good
for helping to restore system files. That's because a standard Windows-based
file-by-file backup can't access any files that are in use when the backup is
being made (and this usually includes Windows' system files). Because those
files can't be backed up, they can't be restored from the backup if such a file
becomes corrupted and causes instability and crashes. Your data is safe, but you
may still have to rebuild or reinstall the OS itself. Plus, a file-by-file
backup-and-restore arranges files in an arbitrary order: Using an ordinary
backup to restore files usually can *increase* the amount of fragmentation of
your hard drive contents. In contrast, drive imaging is a
low-level sector-by-sector copy of your hard drive--- all files, no exceptions.
Thus, a drive image is an excellent way to restore not only data files, but also
system files and all your system settings, tweaks, and tunings--- everything, no
exceptions. Drive imaging also copies the structure of the drive contents--- the
way the files are laid out. So, if you image your hard drive when it's fully
defragged, then when you restore that image, you'll get what you started with---
a fully-defragged drive. Any backup is better than no backup.
But drive imaging is a kind of "ultimate" backup that goes far beyond
what ordinary backups can do. In my opinion, imaging is about as good as it
gets. Click to
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In "BulletProof Your Windows
Setup" ( http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/20.htm
) I recommended using an inexpensive CD-R drive to copy your drive image files
to a blank CD: CD-Rs now cost under $100 in some cases, and blank CDs that hold
640MB or more can cost under $0.50 each. But some readers prefer using a
second hard drive for their backups and images: If the object is to be able
to be up and running immediately in the event of a mechanical or logical failure
of the primary drive, this seems to be the quickest and easiest way to do it. I
think it's cheaper to simply install 2 identical drives, and is faster than any
other alternative I know of.--- Bruce Karberg I partly agree, Bruce:
Drive-to-Drive copy/restore is faster than drive-to-CD or tape; and (because
hard drives are so cheap now) adding a second drive can cost less than CDR or
tape alternatives. But hard drives fail more often than
many people think. Some users are lulled unto a false sense of security when
they see that, say, their hard drive has a MTBF or "mean time between
failure" of something like 25,000 hours in normal service. Sounds
impressive, no? But 25,000 hours is only 2.8 years,
and "mean time" means that half the drives will fail *sooner* than
that. With just a little bad luck, you could be looking at a drive failure in
just a year or so. Plus, the CD option I recommend lets
you easily store your backups in the trunk of your car, in a safe or safety
deposit box, or in some other location away from your PC. That way, your backups
protect you against *any* loss--- system failure, theft, office fire, or
whatnot. A second drive will protect you against basic data loss or failure of
the primary drive, but will do nothing for you if you lose you whole system,
unless you use a removable hard drive and store it away from your PC. But consider how vulnerable a hard
drive is to static shock, moisture, and temperature extremes. In sharp contrast,
a CD shrugs off most environmental extremes. Drive-to-drive backups are
infinitely better than no backups at all. But I still believe that CD-based
backups are best-of-breed. Click to
email this item to a friend Sometimes, the gremlins take over.
For example, my normally-reliable list-hosting service has had a string of
problems of late, including major outages in the local phone telco's (Ameritech)
fiber optic connections to the Internet. The result has been delayed delivery of
a couple issues. This newsletter is published Mondays
and Thursdays. In an effort to ensure redundancy, I use different hosts for the
web site and the newsletter-mailing site: A problem with one should not affect
the other. Thus, in those thankfully-rare instances when a Monday or Thursday
goes by without delivery of a new email issue, you can find the web-version of
that issue posted at http://www.langa.com
, and vice versa. Last Thursday's issue, for example,
is now (and has been) available via the front page at Langa.Com; it's also in
the archives, and is available via direct link at http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-10-12.htm
. The contents of that issue: 1) Free
Security Test Update I apologize for the delivery
problems; they'll be resolved very soon! Click to
email this item to a friend Windows offers two types of basic
security--- the early-Windows "share level" security and the later,
NT/Win2K-style "user level" security. In the user-level security method,
access is allowed only to people who belong to a predefined group. If you're not
on the list, you don't get in, simple as that. The share-level method is simpler,
and relies on a password: Anyone who knows (or who can guess) the password can
access whatever's being protected. As it turns out, the share-level
security in Windows 95, 98, 98SE and Me's Print and File Sharing turns out to
have an additional weakness that "could allow a malicious user to
programmatically access a Windows 9x/ME file share without knowing the entire
password assigned to that share." Microsoft recommends that anyone
with File and Print sharing enabled and using share level access on a Windows 9x
or Windows Me system consider installing the patch--- and I recommend it, too. FAQ: Patches, we got patches: Win98/98SE: WinMe: Win95: Click to
email this item to a friend If you're on a LAN, using Windows
95, 98 or Me, and have the IPX/SPX protocol installed, then you may be
vulnerable to a hack-attack from someone else on the LAN. (Note that this
particular problem is not related to Internet connectivity, which uses the
TCP/IP protocol.) Basically, part of the IPX/SPX
protocol can be used to trigger a "packet storm" on a LAN that might
crash individual systems and choke the LAN with bogus traffic. More info: Patches: Win95: Win98/ 98SE: WinMe: Click to
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Neither do I. <g> But just in case there are some out
there who do, Microsoft has found and patched a bug in the WebTV software that
"could allow a malicious user to remotely crash systems running WebTV for
Windows.: There's a FAQ at and the patch is available
in two flavors: Windows 98 and 98SE: Windows Me: Click to
email this item to a friend We discussed several government and
business programs that can help protect you against fraudulent internet
merchants and scam artists. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-10-02.htm#3
) Reader Bill Richmond reminded me of
another: Hi Fred.... Another point
to remember in Internet Fraud is to be sure and contact your credit card company
if you paid for a service or product you never received. RhinoPoint was a site
offering to reimburse you for the cost of your ISP if you filled out a few
surveys each month for them. I knew better...but....yep, I took the bait.
Anyway, they soon folded after taking my $15.95. I thought I would try to warn
others so I contacted my credit card company (AT&T Universal Card)...well,
surprise, surprise! They told me they would credit my account for $15.95 and
have their people investigate the firm Just something to keep in mind if you are
ever scammed on the Web. Good advice, Bill; thanks! In fact, almost *all* credit card
issuers offer some level of fraud protection. Most of the major cards will
either forgive debts incurred due to theft, fraud or other misuse of your
account; or limit your liability to $50, even if the amount charged is much
more. What's more, many card issuers offer
consumer protection services with their cards, especially the premium (silver,
gold, platinum, latinum, kwatloos, or whatever) cards: The card issuer, for
example, may offer a separate warranty that either replaces or supplants the
manufacturer's warranty: Sometimes, the card issuer's warranty will even cover
items that are lost or stolen--- something that almost no manufacturer's
warranty will cover. And finally, a credit card issuer
can act as an intermediary to help resolve problems other than those caused by
theft or fraud. For example, you order an item and it arrives broken or is the
wrong merchandise, and the vendor is unresponsive to your complaints, the credit
card issuer can withhold payment (or even call back payment) from the merchant.
In this case, you don't get a refund--- the credit card issuer simply holds the
funds in escrow while you and the merchant work to resolve your dispute. But
because the merchant no longer has your money, you may find him or her far more
eager to settle with you than otherwise. It's worthwhile to see exactly what
services your card issuer offers. And if they don't offer much, shop around:
There are plenty of card issuers out there eager for your business who *do*
offer good consumer protection assistance and services. Click to
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Thanks to thousands of you, the
LangaList is one of the ten most-recommended "Computing &
Internet" resources, according to the folks at Recommend-It! (See http://www.recommend-it.com/RecCenter/10.html
.) It's a great feeling to know that this newsletter (and Langa.Com) is useful
enough for many, many of you to have suggested it to friends and colleagues. And, as a way of saying
"Thanks!" there are two prizes you can win simply for making a
recommendation. For example, if you use the Recommend-It service, you can win
$10,000 (full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1 Or, win a copy of "Poor
Richard's E-Mail Publishing: Creating Newsletters, Bulletins, Discussion Groups
and Other Powerful Communications Tools." This book has been described as
"An excellent, straightforward manual on email publishing, banner ads,
driving traffic and especially ethics." (Full details also available via
this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2 Either way, thank you again, and
good luck! Click to
email this item to a friend Do you have a home page or website?
(It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm,
and maybe you can join the hundreds and hundreds of LangaList readers who have
"Loaded the Code!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and
are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please
see http://www.langa.com/link.txt
) Speaking of which: Here's another
eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal: Ronald
Lawson's Site Making Music Click to
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That headline--- "too
cool"--- has two meanings: The first refers to a very slick
site/service I recently discovered: the National Recreation Reservation Service,
at http://www.reserveusa.com/about/ It's a strange (but good) way of
enabling a very low-tech activity (camping) via high-tech means (the web). It's
basically an online reservation service for almost 50,000 campsites and cabins
managed by the USDA Forest Service and the US Army Corps of Engineers: The
campsites are usually in National Forests and similar locations, and often are
associated with the most unspoiled and scenic places in the United States. The web site lets you zoom in on a
national map, selecting the places you'd like to explore: You can zoom all the
way down to maps of *individual campsites* so you'll know exactly where the site
is, and how it's laid out with regard to its neighbors, to park facilities and
to the locale. Some sites have cabins; some are for single or multiple tents;
some are OK for trailers or RVs; some are handicap accessible; and it's all
visible with a few mouse clicks. Once you find a site you like, you
can see if it's available during whatever time-frame you're considering (up to a
year in advance), and if it is, you can reserve the site online via credit card. My wife and I used the service to
reserve a campsite in New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest during the
peak of fall foliage season, two weekends ago: We reserved the site about a
month in advance, and when we arrived, the site was clean and ready for us, with
our name posted on a "reserved for..." tag at the site entrance. It
couldn't have gone smoother. As the headline says: Too cool! And that brings me to the other,
literal meaning of "too cool" because the weather was unseasonable
that weekend, leading to a surprise. If you'd like to see some personal
snapshots from the trip--- and the surprise--- click over to (sorry-- no longer
available) Click to
email this item to a friend This issue's discussion of system-
and data-backups makes this offering from reader Michael Bray a perfect way to
close: SING... YESTERDAY Yesterday, All those
backups seemed a waste of pay. Suddenly, There's not half
the files there used to be, I pushed something wrong.
What it was, I could not say. Yesterday, The need for
back-ups seemed so far away. Click to
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See you next issue! Best, Please recommend
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the advertisers: Langa Consulting LLC will never knowingly accept
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(Please see full disclaimer here: http://www.langa.com/legal.htm.)
Abbreviated version: The tips and other information given in the newsletter are
researched and are believed to be accurate, but we cannot and do not guarantee
that all the information here will work on all systems, for all users, all the
time. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind.
Neither Langa Consulting LLC, nor its employees nor contributors are responsible for
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