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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2003-04-21

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!

1) Fred's Picks: 10 Great Free Tools For Windows

I was recently performing an annual Spring Cleaning ritual on my PC, archiving useful but infrequently-accessed data and software--- and wiping out some of the stuff that I once thought was going to be useful or important, but that proved otherwise!

As I stepped through my list of programs, I'd ask "Stay, or go?" and decide whether that particular tool or application was worth keeping. Many didn't make the cut, but I was surprised at how many of the "keepers" were freeware offerings.

Some people hear "freeware" and think of the stuff that's half-baked; quirky at its best, and dangerous at its worst. That's not--- emphatically not--- what I'm referring to here. Rather, the freeware tools I'm talking about are all commercial-quality software. None is time-limited (where you must upgrade after several weeks, or lose use of the product). And all are good enough to have found a permanent home on my hard drive.

I selected ten of my favorites and wrote 'em up, with links for easy downloading. The whole thing is about 2000 words long--- too much for this newsletter--- so I posted it as an InformationWeek column over at http://www.informationweek.com/936/langa.htm .

Note that this is not intended to be a "top ten" or "ten best" list, but rather just a list of some freeware tools and applications that reflect my own particular needs and interests. I'll explain why I like these particular programs, but I realize my preferences may or may not mesh with yours. That's where you come in:

After reading my list, please join the discussion associated with the column, and tell us what *your* favorite free tools are. With our pooled knowledge, we should soon have an awesome list of great, proven, known-good freeware tools--- and we'll all probably learn of great new software we otherwise wouldn't have known about.

I'll go first. Please click over to http://www.informationweek.com/936/langa.htm and check out my list of ten great freeware tools. See you there!

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--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) ---

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TWO jams with my customers' computers, in just the first day. You should be
selling this as Lockergnome sells all his tips and yours are supremo & FOR
FREE....wow! Thanx ever so much, John Bump (Maine)"

Glad you found it useful, John. The Plus! Archives (see Item #11 in this issue!)
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 of every LangaList ever published--- Standard and Plus! editions---
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2) More on Knoppix...

Our discussion of "Linux-Inside-Windows Options" (items 1 and 2 in http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-04-14.htm ) , and especially Knoppix ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-04-14.htm#2 ) brought a flood of email. For example:

Fred, I myself am a Knoppix user, after it was handed to me at a LAN party. I was amazed at the ability of this little CD. I soon realized that I was able to get into any machine, quickly, easily. The security measures of NTFS and Windows were no match for Knoppix. Even setting passwords for single files, I was able to print those "secure" files in minutes. I was able to make many changes to the system, with no passwords or any type of authentication. Very nice. Best of all, when I'm done with the PC, I just shut down the pc and its normal user never knew I was there, unless I want them to know. This can be a great tool for IT people who need this type of resource. Its also VERY dangerous in the wrong hands.  So far, everyone I have showed this OS to has been impressed. I am starting to see it on eBay, and it has been able to setup each pc I have put it on. It does not seem to like new Radeon cards, and large LCD's, but I seriously doubt that will pose a threat in the future. Thanks to all the good people that helped with Knoppix. What a great OS, and very fast, considering that it runs from CD and has to decompress the applications it uses. I understand that a simple swap partition will help as well, my tip for other soon-to-be Knoppix users.... Thanks for the newsletter, much appreciated.---Troy

I agree, Troy, and also was intrigued by its potential not only as a painless and safe way to try Linux without diddling with your existing setup, but also as either an emergency recovery disk, or as a total system "lifeboat."

You see, Knoppix isn't just Linux-on-a-boot-CD. It uses data compression to put not only a complete, working version of Linux on your CD, but also some 900 (!) additional tools including Open Office (a complete office suite, analogous to Microsoft Office), two browsers (Mozilla and Konqueror), a virtual desktop manager, CD burner software, partition managers, the "Evolution" email tool (similar to Outlook), and lots more--- even the same module that Lindows has, that allows Linux to run some unmodified Windows software! In all, the single Knoppix CD holds about 1.7GB of software. The full list of what's included is here http://download.linuxtag.org/knoppix/packages.txt  Take a look--- it's incredible!

Because Knoppix comes as a fully self-contained and preconfigured setup--- apps and all---  and because it automatically recognizes and supports many types of graphic cards, sound cards, SCSI devices and other peripheral devices, I thought it might be great as that "lifeboat" I mentioned: If your normal setup won't boot, you could boot from the Knoppix CD and instantly have access to your hardware, to the internet, to email, and more.  As long as your hardware itself is working OK, Knoppix probably will run just fine.

While this could be handy in any office or home, I thought it could be absolutely great for laptop users: If you were on a trip and the worst happened--- say your hard drive got totally scrambled--- you could use the Knoppix CD to get back online in just a minute or two and stay productive until you had time to perform more complete repairs.

Alas, as Troy states, Knoppix and LCDs don't always get along. When I tried booting my IBM ThinkPad (a fairly recent model) on Knoppix, the screen ended up in reversed colors and odd contrast ratios--- a psychedelic and unreadable mess. I couldn't even read the menus to try to adjust the screen. So: Scratch that idea. (Yes, there are ways to boot to a normal Linux command line in Knoppix and change various settings manually, but this is quite different from the boot-from-CD simplicity that is Knoppix's best feature.)

But on a normal PC with a normal screen, Knoppix is great either as a testing tool or as an emergency lifeboat. In fact, as a test, I wrote this newsletter item in Knoppix: I booted from the Knoppix CD, ran Open Office, fired up the word processor, and wrote these words.

I've added a Knoppix CD to my office  toolkit for use in emergencies. But for more all-in-one distributions, small- or zero-footprint Linux versions, and options for "lifeboat" applications,  see the next item:

3) Wow! Tons And Tons Of Free Small/No-Footprint Linux CDs!

Many other readers also are interested in zero-footprint or small-footprint Linux distributions. For example:

Hi Fred, about CD-Bootable Linux--- you may be interested to check this  http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Linux/Distributions/Live_CD/ (or http://tinyurl.com/9qyr )  See, DMOZ / Google directory has a whole section about CD-Bootable Linux Distros ! Cheers, MLL

Anybody mention U/WIN? http://www.research.att.com/sw/tools/uwin/  I use it daily under Win2KPro and have found it to be stable and relatively complete, I've had one shell window open continuously for nearly 2 months, running a Perl server monitor script with NO problems. Oh - Not running ANY "Winders" apps - just the U/WIN shell and Perl script. Bill Powell

Fred, In the item "A Way To Install Linux Inside Windows" in your latest Langalist, you stated that PhatLinux might be the easiest way to try Linux without partitioning, etc. I have used an easier solution on and off for years. "Linux4Win," a feature of Mandrake Linux ( http://www.mandrakelinux.com ), allows a user to run Linux on their Windows system without creating any sort of partition at all. In fact, when installed, there is a "Run Linux4Win" icon on the user's desktop that allows them to "boot" into Linux straight from their Windows environment. Thought you might be interested! More info available online (i.e. Google).--- John Anderson

To add to your latest article on Linux Distro's... Suse'  ( http://www.suse.com/ ) also has "Run from CD" Versions of it's latest versions of linux available from their web site... Ran Flawless on an older AMD 300Mhz Aptiva with 256MB memory, and a ThinkPad A20 Cel 600... Thanks and enjoy, Eric

For those readers who are curious and would like to give Linux a try, but are maybe hesitant or just don't quite yet want to worry about partitioning yet, they can try Peanut Linux. It installs as a 'directory' in a windows OS, and all one has to do, is boot their system like normal, and then just click on it in the menu to run it. No partitioning is involved at all, the download is about 340MB IIRR (which might take a while with dial-up, but it's worth it IMHO. Or if they have a friend with Cable or DSL, it can be burned onto a CD), and when installed uses less than 1GB (800MB is more correct, but you'll want to think about any apps or games or what-have-you as  later downloads to try, etc). It's actually what I did about 4 years ago, because I was 'curious' and was looking for an alternative to Windows because I was tiring of the 'troubles' Windows was always giving (and other reasons), and it was what made me switch over completely to Linux. Anyway, all the info about it and the download can be found here http://www.ibiblio.org/peanut/ , just navigate to the 'how-to' section for instructions on installation.--- John Berger

Hi fred, 2 things I wanted to let you know... 1) Read your piece about knoppix. Yep, knoppix is great stuff. But there is another (not so known) distro alot like it and it is also great. HPA's SuperRescue 2.1.x: http://www.kernel.org/pub/dist/superrescue/v2/  Created by H. Peter Anvin, you know, the same guy that created the great syslinux and isolinux bootstrap loaders. It is based on redhad 7.x (initrd based on RedHat 6.x). Looks a lot like knoppix. The main difference is that it does not use bios "floppy emulation" so the kernel size is not limited to the maximum emulated floppy size (2.88mb). This is what makes isolinux great Check the readme file for more information. http://www.kernel.org/pub/dist/superrescue/v2/README  --Bart Lagerweij

Thanks to all who wrote in! It's going to be fun to try these out!

BTW, the "SuperRescue" disk that Bart mentions shows a nice sense of geeky humor. The author calls his creation, "The most overfeatured rescue disk ever created--- Bloatware at its finest!" <g>

4) Er, "Boot" Disks?

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5) XP, 2K, NT Security Problem

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6) PR Budget Still $0.00  <g>

Long-time readers know this newsletter is a one-person private project of mine: It's not part of some publishing empire's stable of publications. There's no budget, staff or facility to handle outreach and promotions. The newsletter depends on word of mouth to grow.

Each issue, I try to offer you useful, interesting and amusing factoids to help you with your hardware, software, and time online. Can you take just a minute to help me out in return?

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, just use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber; and you just may win $10,000 for your trouble (full details also available via this "Recommend It" link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1 The "Recommend-It" service is an ad-based site (you'll see banners and such). The advantages to you of using the Recommend-It service are that you can win $10,000 and that you can add a personal message to your LangaList recommendation.

But if you'd rather use the tried-and-true, ad-free recommendation form, you'll find it at: http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2  . That option gives you a shot at winning a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys, and more.

Either way, thank you for helping to spread the word about the LangaList!

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7) More On "Places" In Office XP

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8) They Loaded The Code

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:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://www.langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://www.langa.com/readersites.htm

SLEEPWEAR AND QUILTS-CANADA
http://www.sleepwearandquilts-canada.com/

TomCoyote Home Page
http://tomcoyote.org/

NetHosting
http://nethosting4you.com/

allstondave (Massachusetts)
http://members.tripod.com/~allstondave/index.html

SupportStation (Web design)
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/supportstation/

The Neubert Family
http://www.theneuberts.com/

Magic and Mirth
http://www.magicandmirth.com/pages/370691/index.htm

BOMARC SERVICES
http://w3.trib.com/~rollo/index.htm

Galahs Forum
http://www.galahscorner.net/home.htm

Crazy Ivan (Russian)
http://www.crazyivan.com/

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9) Free "Cool Tool"

Fred, I have enjoyed reading the Plus! Edition of your newsletter for a couple of years now. As an independent computer consultant, I am only as good as my resources and your newsletter has help to make me much more valuable to my clients. Since I have gained so much from you and your readers in recent years, I felt that it was time that I contributed to the newsletter.

Recently, I had a client of mine hire a new employee. He wanted to bring some of his contact information that he had in an Outlook PST file into his new computer's Outlook system. At first glance, this looked like a relatively simple process which could be completed in short order. Unfortunately, like all things computer, his was not the case. I ended up trying to convert what I thought was a previous version of Outlook PST file to Outlook XP. In my search, I discovered an amazing tool called Dawn ( http://www.joshie.com/projects/dawn/ ). Dawn allows you to convert one address book format to another. From their website:

"If you have ever wanted to switch E-Mail programs or even simply use that WordPerfect address book in Outlook Express you have no doubt been put off by being forced to retype every single address by hand. Well, retype no more. A complete conversion is just a few clicks away. Power users will like the ability to see edit and delete parts of the data before saving it as well as support for common file formats."

The programs that Dawn can work with include Becky!, Corel WordPerfect Address Book 8.x, Eudora, ExecMail / Simeon, Internet Explorer / Outlook Express / Windows Address Book (WAB) 4.0 - 6.0, Juno 2.0 - 5.0, Mozilla, Netscape 3.0 - 7.0, MS Outlook 98 / 2000 / 2002, Opera, Palm support through Palm Desktop (read only), Pegasus Mail, Pine (PC and UNIX), and other programs which can use/import/export LDAP/LDIF, vCard (VCF), Comma Separated Value (CSV), plain text, one per line or comma separated formats or store addresses in a text file suitable for extraction.

While it was not able to help me with my particular problem (there was an issue with the CD-ROM that the file was written to), it did allow me to make my other data conversion projects run more smoothly. I hope that your readers find this to also be a useful tool. ---Jason McFeetors

Thanks, Jason!

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10) Just For Grins

Ever wonder what it would have been like if Rube Goldberg had used a word processor instead of drawing tools?

Fred,  During some intensive research I came across this critical link which all IT people should be aware of, as this is a major one for our sanity :)

http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/rfc/rfc2325.html

This memo defines an extension to the Management Information Base (MIB) for use with network management protocols in the Internet community. In particular, it defines objects for the management of coffee-brewing and maintenance devices.

This was found on the Ohio State University Computer and Information Science web site.

As a journalist you would also be acutely aware of the above requirements.

Regards John Calluy, Australia

(It's a wonderful spoof of excessively technical writing in general, and "RFC"-type committee-generated documents in particular.)

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• LangaList Complete Archives Updated!

• Best Way To Obtain A Full, Fresh Copy Of The Archives

• How To Update Your Current Copy Of The LangaList Archives

• Alternate Way To Obtain Full Copy Of The Archives

All the LangaLists in all versions (Standard and Plus!) ever published (from 1997 through 2003-03-31) are now available for you right at your fingertips, packaged as a space-saving highly-compressed Windows Help File that can be self-searched using the Windows Help Engine's standard (and familiar) interface. No more going online for partial searches of the LangaList's past content: Instead, with the Archives right on your hard drive, it'll take only seconds to find whatever you're looking for, no matter how long ago it was published in any version of  the LangaList!

And again, unlike the online search tools at Langa.Com, the Helpfile Archives contains both the standard and Plus content--- everything--- all in one place!

These archives are available FREE to Plus! edition subscribers, and are updated every 90 days or so--- just one of the many benefits of subscribing.

It's not too late to get your own copy of the archives. And it costs only pennies per issue to join! Sign up today! http://www.langa.com/plus.htm

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See you next issue!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000!I)

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