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LangaList 2004-10-04 Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!
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1) Update: GPSTwo of the most-popular--- if slightly offbeat--- articles I've written for InformationWeek were "Error Free Business Travel" http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020425S0004 and "A Real-Life GPS Road Test" http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020801S0010 . The former discussed how, "with today's affordable GPS units... you'll never again miss a turn--or a meeting." The latter showed you "how you can use this emerging technology for your next road trip." For that article, I was the guinea pig, striking out on a two-week driving tour on unfamiliar roads through Europe, using only a GPS for guidance; no traditional maps at all. Some of you may remember the photos and sample GPS maps I posted from that trip: The online photos were selected from the almost full gigabyte of hi-res digital photos I took during the two week trip through the Alps, with fabulous views at every turn: (Want to see the photos? Plus! Edition Subscribers can click here to access medium- and high-resolution photos and files from the private download area: http://langalist.com/Plus/euro/eurotrip.asp Standard Edition Subscribers can click here for the standard resolution photos from the public download area. http://www.freetune.com/euro/eurotrip.htm ) Then, a little over a year ago, we revisited the subject when we named
GPS as one of "Three Technologies Worth Watching"
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=14100041
.
I recently bought a
new GPS unit, and have been trying the new software that's available. For an
up-to-the-minute update on
Hand-Held Units,
Permanent-Mount GPSes,
GPS-Enabled PDAs And Laptops,
Hybrid Units,
Low-End Units, and more, please click to Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- "Mr. Langa, your 'Plus' edition
is the ONLY newsletter --------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 2) That Huge Hibersys File...
The Hibernation File, usually called something like "hibersys.fil" can be pretty porcine: Equal in size to the amount of RAM you have, plus a bit more. The simplest way to recover that space is just to disable Hibernation: the OS will then delete the hibersys file, simple as that. If or when you re-enable hibernation, a new file will be created. This actually can be easier than trying to move or manage the file; just whack it! <g> The exact means of enabling/disabling hibernation can vary from system to system, but the place to start looking is in the Power Management tool. For example, in XP, click Control Panel/Performance and Maintenance/Power Options. In Win98, it's Control Panel/Power Management; etc. See also: http://langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-08-01.htm#7 and http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020927S0028 . Click to email this item to a
friend 3) Custom XP Installer
Thanks, Shawn! nLite is currently in late beta, so some extra care is advised. It also requires the hefty ".Net Framework" to run. A similar tool--- it's been around for a long time, and is well-proven--- is http://www.litepc.com/xplite.html . Both are worth a look is you want to pare down a Windows installation. Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 4) Moving Disk Images From PC to PC
There are several issues at play here. First, most of the better imaging tools offer a floppy-based "emergency" disk or some such that will let you access the software's main functions without having to start your main OS. Because a floppy-based imaging/restoration tool can and will operate independently of whatever OS is installed on the hard drive, the main OS will be inactive when you make your image and thus can't get in the way of the backup/imaging process: That's good because *everything* on the hard drive can get copied, including files that are normally locked , protected, or in use by the main OS when it's running. But when you image a hard drive, your images do include the original OS itself. If you restore that image from one PC--- let's call it the "old" PC--- to another PC--- the "new" PC--- it will work, but when you start the new system, it's the old OS that will then wake up and try to boot. I've actually done this as a way of testing old images, and it's amazing to watch the OS come to life, realize it's on new hardware, and busily adjust itself to the new environment. (Windows is actually better at this than any other OS I know of.) You usually end up with a workable, albeit very untuned, setup: OK for grabbing old files or the like, but not good as a stable platform for long-term use. It's not an ideal way to move files to a new PC. Fortunately, most imaging tools have some ability to look inside and work on stored images from within Windows. For example, BootItNG (my favorite imaging/partition/boot tool) offers a free "TBIView" download here: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html . This facility/feature/add-on lets you start your new PC, and with the new OS running, extract only those files you want from a stored image from the old PC. For example, you can lift a stored "My Documents" from an image and drop it into a new setup. Other imaging tools have similar features. The above is great for restoring data files, but does not move your installed software from one PC to another. XP has a "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard" that can help. Microsoft says:
The problem with this is that the old settings may not be ideal for the new PC; and it only works for some software (see a list here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q304903). I've personally never found the above Wizard to be all that wonderful, but it may work for you: Use XP's Start/Help function and search for "transfer wizard" (without the quotes) or click here: http://langa.com/u/6b.htm . If I don't use the Wizard, what do I use when I'm setting up a new PC? See next item. Click to email this item to a
friend 5) Setting Up A New PC(continued from above) My preferred method for setting up a new PC is fully explained in three articles:
Once the new system is set up and running just the way it should, I then simply copy my data files (e.g. the contents of "My Documents," etc.) via network, transfer cable, CD, DVD, or from secondary drive to primary drive--- whatever's convenient. That way, my data migrates, but my old tuning, tweaks, and setups that were ideal for the old system stay there; leaving the new setup pristine and ideal in its own, separate way. I freely admit that my way takes longer, at first. But I've had something like 50 PCs over the years, and have found (by painful trial and error) that taking a little more time on the front end when you first get a new PC usually saves a ton of time--- and hassle--- in the long run. But your mileage may vary. All the above methods work. Some save time, at the cost of a maybe less-than-ideal setup; my way gives you a perfect setup, but takes more time. It's a trade-off either way, and the shot is yours to call. 8-) Click to email this item to a
friend 6) It's A New Month......and right now your chances are the best they'll ever be! To have a shot at winning one of three FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to the
LangaList Plus! edition I give away each month, just use the following link to
recommend the LangaList. (If your name is drawn and you're already a Plus!
subscriber, your current subscription will be Click to email this item to a
friend 7) Scrambled Files With Card Readers?
Using camera or mp3 player memory cards and sticks can be a great way to share/move almost *any* kind of file, Bill: To an operating system, it's all just ones and zeros, so the file type really doesn't matter much. <g> But removable storage devices do carry some special risks. For example, there's a purely mechanical risk in "hot plugging" any device with multiple electrical contacts. If you don't insert or remove the device squarely, there's at least the possibility that you can cause the wrong contacts to connect or brush past each other. This doesn't happen often (never, if you're careful), but it probably won't be good for the hardware if it does happen! More common are OS-related problems. By default, many OSes will use a limited form of caching when writing to a storage device so the OS doesn't have to stop and wait for the device to finish accepting data before it lets you continue working. Trouble is, if you yank the storage device out before the cached data is fully written, you can end up with scrambled files of an unreadable data card. Haste is the enemy here: Make sure the activity light on your usb stick or card reader is quiet before you disconnect anything; or, if there's no light, just take your time and allow a few seconds to pass after the OS says it's done moving the data before you pull the plug. In the removable devices I've used, XP has been pretty good: It recognizes them as removable, and automatically turns off this caching, so the OS won't report it's done moving data until the data is well and truly moved. This effectively eliminates the problem at the source. But, in any version of Windows that places an icon for your removable storage device on the "tray" area down by the clock, you also can go a step further: Click or right click on that icon and select "disconnect" or "stop." (The wording may vary.) This tells the OS to ensure that all pending operations are finished, and to fully release the storage device. When the OS then says it's OK to remove the device, you can be sure it's safe to do so. As for formatting, that's really device-dependent. For example, cameras often use a simple FAT-based file system; sticking an NTFS-formatted data card into a camera probably won't work. There can be other problems, too, but the simple way to avoid them all is simply to let the camera reformat a card before you try to re-use it. Click to email this item to a
friend 8) More Reader Sites!Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please
click over to
http://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://langa.com/link.txt ) Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At LeetGeekz Being a Man in a Woman's World The Mobile PC Doctor Welcome Home Roger Dodger Dog Firefox information Ionic And Personal Air Purifiers Dingo Blue Burrows Home Tampa Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 9) Reader's Real-Life Spyware Test
I've found similar things, Don: No one tool does it all, all the time. And although this was not what you found, I've heard more complaints about false positives with Spy Sweeper than with the other tools. Erring on the side of caution is fine, but Spy Sweeper seems like it may be the software equivalent of Chicken Little or "the boy who cried 'wolf'." <g> In any case, regular use of several reputable tools will help you find and eliminate virtually all the malware that may find its way onto your system. Click to email this item to a
friend 10) Just For Grins
Thanks, Mary. And, outside of a Simpson's episode, your note may be the first instance of "bacon" and "dessert" appearing in the same content. 8-) Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 11) Plus! Edition Highlights:
DID YOU KNOW--- that Plus! subscribers have
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