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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2004-10-18

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) Favorite Tools, Utilities and Add-Ons

I recently received this note from a reader; it got me thinking about a subject we haven't covered in quite a while:

Fred: Here's a question that I haven't seen answered . . . oh, I've seen parts of it answered here and there, because everyone touts his/her favorite utilities and "essential" apps. But it isn't addressed to my satisfaction (!).

Question: When, say, you're taking your system down to "bare metal" i.e. re-formatting and re-installing all your favorite apps (for whatever reason, whether you're having system troubles or you're just doing the ultimate clean-up) what utilities do you consider essential, that you would recommend to others?

Examples might be: software firewall, active virus-scanner, pop-up blocker, cookie handler.

Maybe I got the question wrong . . . maybe it should be, "What is the sequence of things that you do, that you feel are essential, when you are setting up any system from SCRATCH?" For example, that might be: installing XP, getting online to Windows Update and updating XP, installing your favorite anti-virus scanner, going over to www.grc.com and running Steve Gibson's great free utils, etc. etc.

Thanks! Mark Crawford

Good questions, Mark!

Your first question--- what are the most essential tools and utilities to add to a new Windows setup?---is where we'll spend most of our time. In looking back through past articles and newsletters, I see we haven't really touched on that subject since 2001--- an eternity in computing. It's definitely time for an update, so in a new (free) InformationWeek article, I've listed my favorite add-ons, utilities and tools--- the ones I install on my personal-use PCs. It's now posted at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=49901840.

The answer to your second question--- how best to set up a system from scratch--- is one we've covered in some detail, and which I address that in a series of links also posted as part of the above article--- "System Setup Secrets" and more for Win98, WinME, and XP. Those links are a great place to start whenever you're setting up a new PC, or doing a reinstall of the operating system on an in-use PC: That information will let you set up any system for long-lasting stability and ease of use, and provide a rock-solid foundation for just about any computing need.

You'll find my list of "must have" tools, the links to all the setup secrets, and a place to add your own favorite tools to the list at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=49901840 . See you there!

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2) Meta URL Info Tool

Hi again, Fred!

Acting on a tip from the August 24 edition of "SearchDay" newsletter, I learned about something called "Fagan Finder's URLinfo" which is located at:

http://www.faganfinder.com/urlinfo/

It is like a meta-search engine, but for URL information.  It references "Whois Source" [but] goes one better.  Another nice thing is that this site will allow you to create customized "bookmarklets" to facilitate access to the more popular tools on that site.

Perhaps some people would like to have that site as part of their Internet search toolbox.  Definitely worth a look! - Greg Rajewski

Thanks, Greg! It took me a few minutes of poking around the site to understand how it worked--- the interface is a little funky--- but it does place a ton of information right at your fingertips, letting you examine any page or site with any or all of 107 different site identification/analysis/translate/etc. tools, some of which I'd never even heard of. I agree it's worth a look, and a few minutes' of exploration to understand how it works.

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3) Real-Time Backups

Well-known computer columnist Wayne Rash recently wrote to me (we used to work together) about a problem he was having finding tools for continuous real-time backups of his desktop system. He originally wondered about a desktop RAID array. I explained that I'm not a fan of desktop RAID (see http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-09-16.htm for an explanation) so Wayne kept digging, and found this:

Fred, Just thought you'd like to know that I've found a solution, or actually a pair of solutions, to making sure that I don't lose everything when the hard disk goes. Since RAID didn't seem like a possibility, I'm using the extra hard disk [in a two-disk system] as a target for automated backups for Ghost. But of course, that doesn't protect you between backups. But what I've found is a product called AutoSave from Vcom ( http://www.v-com.com/product/AutoSave_Home.html ). This product does continuous real-time backups to a location you choose. In my case, a network drive that gets backed up regularly. What's nice is that AutoSave will include my ThinkPad in the process, so that if I have to write something over on that machine for whatever reason, it gets backed up as well. Of course if I'm gone it can't do it, but it will keep track and back up everything when I get back. Slick.

Thought you'd find this interesting. In some ways, it's better than disk mirroring. BTW, AutoSave does not seem to have any discernable impact on performance on this machine. ---WR

Thanks, Wayne. Personally, I haven't found need for backups between backups; and AutoSave isn't free (it's $50). But if your needs match Wayne's, you may wish to follow his lead.

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

 "Dear Fred, I want to thank you for your data base of all your past
issues. I finally decided to upgrade to Windows XP. Being completely
unfamiliar with XP, I downloaded your Archives, then going through each
issue (after searching for XP) and created my own separate file with all
of the tips and solutions that apply to XP. Great, substantially better
than many of the books I have looked over to find out about XP. I only
wish that more creators of data bases would set them up the way you did,
very easy to find whatever I may need and could be available somewhere
within your files." ---Charles, Italy

Glad you found it useful, Charles. The Plus! Archives are indeed offered
FREE to Plus! subscribers; the archives place the full content of every
LangaList ever published--- Standard and Plus! editions--- right on your
local hard drive. It gives nearly instant answers to any question we've
ever covered in the last five years!

Get all the details on The LangaList Plus! Edition
(and your own copy of the Archives!):

http://langa.com/plus.htm
(see also item #11, today!)

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4) Rescuing Data From An Unbootable Laptop

Fred, I just came across a tool that I thought your readers would find handy. It adapts a 2.5" laptop hard drive to a standard desktop 3.5" IDE cable. The manufacturer's name is from StarTech and it is listed on their website for $15.99. but I only paid $8.95 from a store on my University campus.

http://www.startech.com/ststore/itemdetail.cfm?ProductID=IDE4044

I am using it to transfer a couple of gigabytes of Word, Excel and Power Point and ArcView files from a professor's failing, non-bootable 2.5 " laptop hard drive, over to an external USB drive attached to my desktop PC. As soon as it is finished copying I'll take the USB drive over to his office and hook it up to a loaner PC which will allow him to work while I run the new Spinrite ( http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm ) at level 5 on the NTFS hard drive. Thank you Steve Gibson, excellent program.

And thank you Fred for putting together the best newsletter around. --Ken Rosen

Thanks, Ken. Just nine bucks for a cable that lets you rescue the data off a dying laptop drive? What a bargain! <g> Spinrite's pretty cool, too: If the drive can be resurrected through software, Spinrite will do it.

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5) Picasa

Google recently purchased Picasa and this digital image organizer edit program is now free and available from http://www.picasa.com/ .  It will not handle *.png pictures, but for what it does, it does well and is a nice complement to your previously mentioned Irfanview from http://www.irfanview.com/ and the more complex The GIMP from http://www.gimp.org/downloads/ .  All three handle a test *.tiff of 356,464,268 bytes on my 384 meg PC, although slowly of course, as the swap file gets some real use.  And thanks for keeping the Plus Edition worth many times its cost. ---Leo Feret

Thanks Leo. Picasa was popular with the Google blog community as a way for them to post and share photos; that's what led to Google acquiring the company.

Picasa lets you:

Auto-transfer photos from your digital camera.
Organize and find pictures in seconds.
Edit, print, and share photos with ease.
Create slideshows, order prints and more.

Worth a look, if you're a digital camera user.

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6) Don't Make Me Beg! :-)

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, maybe a friend would find it useful too! Just use the following link to recommend the LangaList---your friend may find a new source of useful information and you just may win one of three FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to the LangaList Plus! edition given each month. (If your name is drawn and you're already a Plus! subscriber, your current subscription will be extended by a full year.)

Check out the details at http://langa.com/recommend.htm . Thanks for recommending the LangaList--- and good luck!

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7) Hand-Picked Software

Hi Fred, I came across this site while looking for windows troubleshooting articles. It is run by Don Watkins who says: ("My handpicked selection of software. Most of it is stuff that I personally use. To the best of my ability I have ensured that it is free of spyware and it has been checked with a half dozen different virus checkers.")
 
You can view his site at:
 
http://www.pcnet-online.com/downloads/index.html
 
Enjoy, Madonna

Wow, there's enough stuff there to keep you busy for days! Thanks, Madonna.

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8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming...

Well over 3,000 of your fellow readers have "loaded the code." Have you? Check out http://langa.com/code.htm for the details.

Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

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

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

RealZoned - geek site: windows tweaks, etc.
http://www.shareflooring.com/realzoned/

all site cafe
http://www.allsitecafe.com/

free stuff (read the text)
http://www.freegratisproducts.com/

humor site
http://fp.funfiles.plus.com/whats_new/whats_new.htm

"effective business software" (au)
http://www.nqcomputersoftware.com/index.html

Gift Baskets, etc.
http://www.movingboxes.org/

Bill and June (Canada)
http://www.geocities.com/swagman7/

Aussie Sites
http://www.aussiesites.info/

BillMinder
http://www.billminder.biz/

Worcester (UK) Cathedral Chamber Choir
http://www.eyesonme.org.uk/

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9) Webhelper4u

In discussing the possible/probable(?) malware called "Spyware Stormer" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-09-16.htm#7 ) we mentioned a site called "Spywarewarrior" at http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm .

That, in turn, prompted this note:

Dear Fred:  Webhelper4u - All About The Adware, Spyware, And Coolweb Search http://www.webhelper4u.com/  ...along the lines of Spywarewarrior . Thanks....JJurasek

Thanks, JJ!
 

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10) Just For Grins

Fred: Here's something for you: You'll need to get the Noteworthy Player (free - no bugs - just works) at http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/player/
 
Then you can d/l any of the tunes on the pages below (largest is 3kb) or on http://www.sosyourmom.com/madrigals.html (largest is 5kb) for your listening pleasure.  Use your headphones. That's it. From a charter Plus! edition subscriber, Vince Brennan

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• LangaList Complete Archives Updated!
• How To Update Your Current Copy Of The Archives...
• Or Get A Full, Fresh Copy Of The Archives...
• Alternate Way To Get A Full Copy Of The Archives

All the LangaLists ever published (from 1997 through September 2004) 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!

Plus! Edition info: http://langa.com/plus.htm 

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(Give a gift subscription to the LangaList Plus edition!
Click <a href= " http://langa.com/plus_gift.htm ">here</a>)

See you next issue, 2004-10-21!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win a prize!)

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