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1) Digging Into Disk ManagementWow, still getting *great* response to the
article on Windows' free Disk Management Tool ( As people are digging into the tool, they're asking a new round of questions, like these:
Good question, Glenn. The better commercial tools let you work nondestructively on live partitions, changing them "on the fly" without having to pull all the data off first. (But *all* the tools still rightly recommend that you still make a full backup first.) For example, after you backed up the contents of a partition, tools like Bootit or PartitionMagic would let you shrink an oversized existing partition, turning its excess space into unused/unallocated free space on the drive. You then can convert that free space into a new, empty partition; and you could then use that new partition for any purpose, including as a dedicated space for a swapfile. Although Windows' free Disk Management tool "lets you do most of the basic tasks that many people buy third-party tools for...." that kind of interactive resize-on-the-fly is a bit beyond the basics. Still, the Windows Disk Management can do the same thing--- it just takes some extra steps: You'd back up the oversized partition, then delete it completely. You'd then create two new smaller partitions where the one oversized partition used to be. You'd restore your backed-up files to one of the new partitions, and then use the other as a dedicated space for a swapfile, or whatever. So, the free tool still can get you there, but not as conveniently as the commercial counterparts. Again, it's a more basic tool. But then again, it's free! <g>
It's a similar answer here, Linda. Yes, from inside XP,
the
free Disk Management tool can only format large, >32GB partitions and drives as
NTFS. If you want different formats, then you have to use something else. For
example, once you create the partitions, you can format them as FAT32 using
(say) a Win9x DOS disk; or as Ext or ReiserFS using a free Linux Live CD; and so
on.
Yes, it's the same tool, and you can indeed get there via "My Computer" Properties. You also can get there in one step by entering "diskmgmt.msc" in the Run line of the Start menu. But "My Computer" isn't always visible; and using the Run shortcut only exposes you to one aspect of the Management Console. I was trying to give a general approach that should work in most cases, and that also will expose people to the full Management Console. But by all means, use whichever way works best for you! No matter how you get to it, almost everyone can use a handy, free tool to help format or delete partitions or drives; change drive letter assignments and paths; set up disk mirroring and RAID; and so on--- so if you haven't yet checked out the article on the Disk Management tool, please click on over now!http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=180207718 Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- "Your Plus! newsletter
is still the best value on the net! --------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 2) Disk Tools In Conflict?This question stands alone, but also relates to item #1 (above) and to our previous discussions on dual booting, multibooting, and disk imaging!
Generally, boot managers tend to favor themselves. <g> When any such tool runs, it usually will preferentially set itself up in its preferred way. So, yes, using one tool to repair a Master Boot Record that's been altered by another tool will usually deactivate the second tool and set up the first as controlling the boot process. Example: If you use XP's FIXMBR on a system that was set up to boot with Bootit, Bootit will be deactivated, and the system will most likely then boot straight to XP. But in this case, the Bootit files are still there: If you run Bootit from its floppy or CD, it will automatically detect what happened, and offer to reactivate itself, which takes about literally 2 seconds. When you reboot then, Bootit comes up and can hand off normally to XP or whatever other OSes you're running. So, yes, running something like "FIXMBR" may cause some side effects, but they're usually minor. Still, and in general, once I start using a particular tool on a PC, I try to stay with that tool. If I organize and partition a drive with Bootit, for example, I'll try to use Bootit for all future partition maintenance work, if that's possible. Likewise, if I use Windows Disk Manager to set up a particular system,. I'll try to stick with that. It's OK to mix tools if you must, but you can sometimes sidestep the Law Of Unintended Consequences by sticking with one tool, when you can. <g> Click to email this item to a
friend 3) ISO IssuesIn this context, "ISO" is shorthand for the International Standards Organization (or, in its language-neutral format, the International Organization for Standardization). Among other things, the ISO defined a standard CD format (called "ISO 9660"). Any CD burned in standard ISO 9660 format can be read by any OS that understands the ISO 9660 format. For example, you can burn an ISO 9660 data CD on a Windows PC, and the CD will be readable on Macs, Linux boxes, etc; and vice versa. An ISO *file* is a kind of disk image of an ISO-standard CD. It contains not only the data that's on the CD, but also information about how the CD is formatted. You can't just copy an ISO file to a blank CD; instead, the ISO file has to be processed by special software to separate the stored data from the formatting information. The software then uses the formatting data in the ISO file to burn an exact duplicate of the original CD's contents. When the ISO disc creation is done, instead of having a simple copy of the ISO file as a whole, the CD will be populated with the normal, separate folders and files that were on the original CD from which the ISO file was made. Most normal CD-burning tools have a built-in way to do this. In Roxio's "Creator Classic," for example, it's under the "Record Disc From Image" option on the File menu. But some CD burner software can't handle ISO files. Or, you may only want one or two files from an ISO file collection, and don't want to be bothered burning a whole CD just to get at them. That's what tools like WinISO are for: plucking a file or files from a CD without having to burn the whole thing. Note that some software has dependencies that preclude it from working if you lift it out of an ISO image: It may need other files on the CD. For example, in all-in-one OS-on-a-CD ISO file, such as many downloadable Linux distributions or the BartPE ISO, you're supposed to burn the whole thing to a blank CD, via an ISO-reading tool (like Roxio's "Record Disc From Image" option). They're not intended to be picked apart and used piecemeal. There are many tools--- free and otherwise--- to let you
burn a CD from an ISO file; or alternatively, to lift just selected files from
an ISO image. See: Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 4) More Print Queue TricksSome readers had additional suggestions to add to our previous discussion of "Print Queue Won't Quit" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-02-13.htm#5 ). A sampling:
Thanks to all who wrote in! Click to email this item to a
friend 5) Winfixer's Ba-a-a-a-a-a-a-ckHi Fred, Long time reader and fan. I am having a whale of a time getting rid of the "Winfixer" popup. I am using ad-aware, spybot and MS anti-spyware to no avail. I undestand it may be associated with the vundo trojan? My Norton anti-virus recently found that trojan and I have used the Symantec tool twice to remove it. I use a firewall and everything is current. "Winfixer" is the most annoying thing I've come across in a long time. How do they figure they can strong arm a product? Any ideas? Sincerely, Paul F. Wells These things seem to come in waves; Winfixer was a widespread problem about 18 months ago, too. We covered it then, and included a number of tricks that should specifically help with Winfixer, but from which you also can generalize to counter similar, but different, problems. See: http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-09-01.htm#2 Click to email this item to a
friend 6) New Month, New ChancesIt's a new month, and right now your chances are the best
they'll ever be! Click to email this item to a
friend 7) S.M.A.R.T, Backup Verification, And More
SMART, which stands for "Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology," is pretty innocuous: It's list a series of datapoints that the drive collects about its own health and operational parameters (number of starts/stops; max temps reached; error rates, etc.). The data can be read, displayed and acted upon by any number of software tools. I don't know why you'd be told to disable it, unless it was to avoid conflicts, such as by having two tools monitoring the same data at the same time. On my systems, I use MotherBoard Monitor to track the drive's temperature in real time (along with the CPU and general case temps), but I only check the SMART statistics from time to time, just to make sure everything's OK (so far, it always has been). But if you wanted to monitor SMART status in real time, I don't see why there'd be a problem. Lots more info: http://tinyurl.com/f79d4 and http://langa.com/u/1d.htm Your selective backups sound like what's often called "incremental" backups: You do a full initial backup, and that sets a little software marker or flag (the "archive bit") on each file to show that it's been backed up. Later, when any file is created or altered, the archive bit is set the other way to show that that file is no longer the same as what's in the original backup. Then, when you run an incremental backup, it looks only for files with the archive bits on, and backs up only those; and then turns off their archive bit. This way, each incremental backup only grabs the files that have changed or been added since the previous backup. Because you normally only create or modify a tiny fraction of a drive's total files each day, incremental backups can go pretty fast--- there's usually not all that much to process. There's nothing really wrong with this process--- it's a tried and true, classic form of backup. But if you have to restore from your backups, you may have to access many consecutive backup files to bring the restored drive up to date: First you'd restore the original master backup; then you'd restore the first incremental backup; then the second incremental; etc. That could take a while. Putting all the backups in one file, as you're doing, can speed the process somewhat, but it also increases your risks because anything that happens to even part of that all-in-one file may cause you to lose access to *all* the data inside. The only good backup is one you'll use, so if doing an all-in-one-file incremental backup is what works for you, go for it. If you make *any* regular backup, you're already ahead of the vast majority of PC users. But I still like my way better. <g> http://langa.com/backups/backups.htm As for verification, see "How To Verify If Backups Are OK" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-10-14.htm#2 ) and http://tinyurl.com/qng2d Finally, yes, many of the partitioning/disk management tools we discussed earlier in this issue can help in creating a FAT32 partition; either in-situ (you'll need a commercial tool for this) or in a multistep (backup ntfs partition, delete part or all of ntfs partition, create new fat32 partition from freed-up space.... See item #1 in this issue for more detail.). 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 "Best of the Web" "Random Academic Thoughts" Glenn B. Grevengoed, P.A., Vero Beach Mens Shed (AU) baby website United Charters (LA) Maine vacation rentals Health Pricer Barb Motto Swapshop Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 9) Google Earth... bound
The beta versions of Google Earth were rather buggy; and also could draw out bugs in other software: I had one PC here whose video system would regularly crash running Google Earth, despite having the latest drivers. Millions of people are running Google Earth; if it were *forcing* people to upgrade to a paid version, or if the bugs were insurmountable, we'd be hearing a lot more about the problems, I think. (I looked for bug reports via non-Google search engines, just in case Google was filtering negative comments about its products; but found nothing unusual.) I could be wrong, but I think you have a localized problem rather than an issue with the way the software's built. The Mac version is still in beta, but the PC version is now in full release. You've re-downloaded before, but perhaps you were getting the same beta copy over and over. I suggest you uninstall any older version, run a Registry cleaner to make sure all the traces are gone; and then reinstall a freshly-downloaded non-beta copy from http://earth.google.com/ . Click to email this item to a
friend 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) Plus! Edition Only:Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains about 40% more content including:
For around just $1 per month---- pennies per issue--- you get access to over 100,000 additional words in special features, extra content and private links, all on a private web site-- - plus 40% more content in every issue! And there's a MONEY- BACK GUARANTEE from Fred. How can you go wrong? Plus! Edition info: http://langa.com/plus.htm Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 15) Just For GrinsPaul Turcksin sends in this definitely weird "Cook an egg with two cell phones" item: http://www.wymsey.co.uk/wymchron/cooking.htm I suspect that if this works at all, it requires older analog cell phones; digital cell phones radiate much less power. It'd probably work better if you're some distance away from the cell tower, too, so the phones would be working as hard as possible. And it probably also would work better with a room-temperature egg. But nope, I'm not even gonna try it. You're on your own with this one, gang. <g> Click to email this item to a
friend (Give a gift subscription to the
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