Axialis IconWorkshop 6.51 En-Fr-De
My Clippings September 22nd, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Create, Edit, Convert, Windows XP, Vista and Macintosh Icons without installation.
Download Portable IconWorkshop on RapidShare (5.2 MB)
(md5: 74012f33b271b87809ff5ec0a8347336)
Extract and run IconWorkshopPortable.
Settings of installed IconWorkshop should be preserved.
Use Dropbox for More Than Just File Syncing [Dropbox]
My Clippings September 14th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Ever since Lifehacker turned me on to Dropbox, it’s become one of the most essential pieces in my daily workflow. Sure it syncs files extremely well, but Dropbox is an excellent tool for so much more.
Dropbox, at its core, is a simple file synchronization utility that stores your data in the cloud and makes it accessible across Windows, Mac, and Linux machines—or via the web interface from any browser. What sets Dropbox apart from other file syncing tools is that changes are nearly instantaneous, uploads are blazing fast, and it just works.
Dropbox doesn’t have to be limited to simply syncing your documents, photos, and music, however—with the proper setup you can completely synchronize your digital life across any PC.
Sync Your Passwords Across PCs
If you’re really serious about security, you’ve already learned how to choose secure and memorable passwords and probably started securely tracking your passwords with a password manager like KeePass–an ideal candidate for using Dropbox as the ultimate password syncer. Since both Dropbox and KeePass are cross-platform applications, you can access your passwords from Mac, Linux, or Windows. (Though if you’re on a Mac, Dropbox is also great at syncing with password management tool 1Password.) You can also synchronize your web passwords with Dropbox and Roboform, and since the Dropbox web interface is available from any computer, you can even store the portable version of KeePass there and just download the files onto any computer to access your passwords.
Sync Your Pidgin Profile
The Pidgin multi-protocol IM client not only works on both Windows and Linux, but the profile directory can be synchronized across both operating systems with Dropbox and a little symlink trickery. The basic idea is that we’ll move the profile folder into our Dropbox folder, and then create a symlink from where the original used to be so Pidgin won’t even know you moved it.
To accomplish this, you’ll want to exit out of Pidgin, move the Pidgin profile folder from your %appdata% folder (hit Win+R, then paste %appdata% and hit Enter) into your Dropbox folder, open up a command prompt (in administrator mode for Vista/Win7), and then use the mklink command to create a symbolic link between the folder in Dropbox and your AppData folder like so: mklink /D %appdata%\.purple C:\Path\To\Dropbox\PidginProfile. This will make Pidgin see the folder in the same location as it’s always been, even though the files actually reside in your synced Dropbox folder. For more detailed information and doing this on XP, check out our guide to syncing files and folders outside your Dropbox folder. Linux users can use the ln command to accomplish the same thing.
Tags: Information, IO, Linux, Mac, Microsoft, Photo, php, script, security, video, Vista, way, wind, XP
How To: Back Up All Your Stuff, For Free [How To]
My Clippings September 12th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
People don’t neglect backing up their computers because it’s hard—it isn’t, at all. No, people file into the inevitable death march of data loss for one reason: Backing up usually costs money. But it doesn’t have to.
When your concerned friends and family insist that you have to back your data up (as anyone who’s seen my atrociously beaten-down laptop in the last few months has done to me) they’re effectively telling you two things: That backing up your data will save you a massive headache in the future, because more likely the not, your hard drive will fail; and, less bluntly, that you need to buy a hard drive. And who wants to do that? It’s hard to lay out the cash for a backup hard drive, since the payoff is uncertain, and (hopefully) far away. It’s a good investment—not an easy one.
The good news is, most of us cheapskates can still keep our most important files safe without spending a dime, or wasting more than a few minutes. Here how:
Note: These methods don’t give you traditional, full backups—they are ways to keep copies of the files that matter most to you, like your documents, photos, music and videos.
Share
Do you live with someone else? Do you share a network with someone else? Then hey, you’ve got an ready-built backup system right there! There are a few ways to deal with this setup, from stupid-simple to moderately complex.
First, you need permission. Whoever your networked buddy is, sit them down and have a talk. Give them a glass of milk, and explain to them how important data backup is. Persuade them. Coax them. Scare them. Offer to store their backups in exchange for them storing yours. Great! Now you have a partner in data safety. Congratulations.
The easiest, most direct and least intimidating way to get free backups is to set up simple file sharing on your PC or Mac. On the PC, it’s just a matter of ticking a few boxes and setting a few parameters (Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7) and on Mac, it’s not much harder (To another Mac, to a PC, courtesy of Lifehacker).
Tags: Apple, backup, gmail, Google, IO, Mac, Microsoft, Photo, recovery, video, Vista, way, wind, XP
Windows 7 upgrade could take 20+ hours (reasons to do a clean install)
My Clippings September 12th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Filed under: OS Updates, Windows
There are generally two ways to upgrade a computer from one Windows operating system to a newer version. You can either backup all of your data, do a clean install, and then reinstall all of your programs and copy all of your data back to the hard drive, or you can do an “upgrade” which should keep your files, settings, and all compatible programs intact.
Now, reading those two descriptions, you would think that the latter would be faster and easier. And indeed, for many users, it is easier. But it’s rarely faster.
In fact, in recent tests, it turned out that it could take more than 20 hours to upgrade a system from Windows Vista SP1 to Windows 7. To be fair, it could also take as little as 27 minutes. But if you’ve got a ton of data and applications loaded on your computer, you might be better off backing up your data and/or partitioning your hard drive and doing a clean install.
The test systems that had the fastest upgrade times had 20 applications installed and about 70GB of data stored on the hard drive. On these systems, it doesn’t take much longer to upgrade from Windows Vista than it does to do a clean install, even on a relatively slow computer.
But if you want to check the test results and see if you can spend 20 hours upgrading your system all you’ll need is a computer with 650Gb of data, 40 applications installed, a 2.6GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual core 5200+ CPU, 2Gb of RAM, a 7200RPM hard drive, and the 32-bit version of Windows Vista SP1.
[via Engadget]
Windows 7 upgrade could take 20+ hours (reasons to do a clean install) originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: backup, email, Google, Inc., IO, Microsoft, php, script, Vista, way, wind, XP
Repair Damaged Drives With Linux
My Clippings September 4th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
When you’re used to the world of Windows or OS X, Linux can seem a little unforgiving. Not only does command-line access hand over the complete keys to the manor to any unwitting user with access to the administrator’s account, there’s rarely a safety net should things go wrong. Despite advances in most Linux desktops (where the ubiquitous Trashcan safely buffers deleted files), you get no such protection from most system-specific configuration, installation and maintenance tools. And while it’s rare for anything to go wrong without your direct input, some accidents do happen, especially if you enjoy tinkering with the latest distro release each month. But this being Linux, there’s plenty you can do to dig yourself out of a hole, which is why it’s always a good idea to have a repair-worthy distribution close to hand when performing configuration and installation tasks.
One of the best developments in recent years has been the Live CD. These offer a fully functional Linux installation that runs from an optical drive. If you’ve got enough memory, you can even install new packages to the RAM disk just as you would when completing a standard installation. This makes a recent release of a Live CD-based installer like Ubuntu Jaunty the perfect system recovery tool. Not only does it include every package you might require, but because it runs from the optical drive rather than the hard drive, your data isn’t touched and there’s no chance files will be overwritten without direct input. It’s the obvious place to start when you get stuck.
Booting Linux
Probably the most common problem is when the Linux boot menu disappears or gets corrupted. The most likely reason for this is that a shared Windows installation has re-stamped its authority over your disk’s master boot record, overwriting the Grub boot loader with its own system-launching code. In these cases, you need to boot into a different Linux environment, either off a Live CD or from any other Linux booting media you can get hold of. The distribution you choose will also need to have Grub installed.
Tags: backup, blockquote, Build, flash, Information, IO, Linux, Microsoft, recovery, Sudo, Trash, Ubuntu, Vista, way, wind
Make a bootable USB installer for Windows XP, Vista, 7 with WinToFlash
My Clippings August 28th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Filed under: Utilities, Windows
Making a bootable USB flash drive for Windows Vista and Windows 7 isn’t all that tricky, but it’s always nice to find an app that simplifies things. Not only does WinToFlash make the process about as easy as it can get, but it can also create Windows XP, Server 2003, and Server 2008 installers.
The default options make it easy to roll a silent Windows install, or you can flip the custom switch and specify the exact setup parameters you want to use.
The handy app also has one more trick up its sleeve: moving Windows Preinstall environments. PE discs can be extremely handy for troubleshooting and repairs, and being able to painlessly zap them over to a USB flash drive means not having to burn a new copy every time someone’s haggard old optical drive decides to chew up your CD.
WinToFlash is a free download and is totally portable. It’s an excellent tool to add to your USB-related utilities.
Make a bootable USB installer for Windows XP, Vista, 7 with WinToFlash originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: email, flash, Google, Inc., IO, Microsoft, php, ssl, Vista, way, wind, XP
Immunet releases free cloud-powered antivirus for Windows
My Clippings August 19th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Filed under: Security, News, Windows, Freeware, Beta
They’re not the first company to push out a cloud-based Windows antivirus product, but Immunet is hoping to make a splash with their newly-released beta of Immunet Protect.
“People are still getting viruses at alarming rates and traditional Anti-Virus software catches less than 50% of todays new threats,” said Oliver Friedrichs (Immunet’s Founder and CEO) in a press release. While I’m not sure I’ve seen numbers that support that statement I’m still always on the lookout for better free antivirus protection for my customers.
The key advantages of Immunet? They’re pretty well the same as those touted by Panda: less bloat, no massive, frequent pattern updates to download, and an added splash of community collaboration to thwart malicious software. It’s also light on system resources, barely impacting CPU usage and sitting just under 32Mb of memory during a system scan.
It’s worth noting that only application installs are monitored in realtime by default. To activate application launch protection, open the program’s main window and head to the settings screen.
As is also the case with Panda Cloud AV, Immunet doesn’t want you to install it on Windows 7. It’s only XP and Vista compatible for now. It does, however, install and perform just fine on Windows 7 if you run the installer in compatibility mode for Vista. It won’t, however, be recognized by the Action Center’s security monitoring.
To test the software, head on over to the Immunet website and download the beta. Don’t mind the Facebook connect form – it’s not required to get the download.
We’ve also added Immunet to our popular list of free antivirus software for Windows.
[via VentureBeat]
Immunet releases free cloud-powered antivirus for Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics:
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Tags: email, Google, Inc., IO, Microsoft, php, security, Vista, way, wind, XP
iiView A2: A netbook in MacBook Air’s clothing
My Clippings August 2nd, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Singapore-based iiView has introduced a mini-laptop that bears a striking resemblance to the thin and light MacBook Air. But on the inside, this 12 inch laptop is pretty much your average everyday netbook, albeit one with a bit of extra RAM and hard drive space, thanks to the inclusion of Windows 7 RC1 or Windows Vista instead of Windows XP.
The iiView A2 has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and a 12.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display. It also packs a 6 cell battery, and oddly a mini-HDMI port, even though the netbook is saddled with Intel GMA950 graphics, not exactly known for handling HD video with ease.
Like the MacBook Air, the laptop even has flip-out USB ports to help keep the sides of the computer both slim and sleek looking, although if you ask me, this is one of the least useful design decisions that went into the Macbook Air.
The iiView A2 should retail for around $468.
Post from: Liliputing
Windows 7 activation already cracked with OEM volume license key
My Clippings July 29th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Commercial, Windows x64
Getting your hands on the WIndows 7 RTM build isn’t really that hard at this point. It’s all over torrent trackers and other file sharing networks (including the meatspace “can you burn me a copy” network).
That’s only step one, of course. Without a valid key to activate your copy, you’re dead in the water eventually.
However, just as it happened with Windows Vista, there’s already been a Windows 7 crack created utilizing a major OEM’s volume license pre-activation key. Instead of Dell, this time the key in question belongs to Lenovo. The key and OEM certificate were simply extracted from the Windows 7 Ultimate .wim files.
Reports from various other sites and forums indicate that the crack will only work for Windows 7 Ultimate, though both 32 and 64 bit versions can be cracked. What about Genuine Advantage? Passed with flying colors. That doesn’t mean Microsoft will never sort this out, but I have my doubts – it was never blocked with Vista.
We’re not linking to the actual crack or any of the proof-of-concept posts, of course, so don’t ask. If you’re already running the RTM, you’ll be able to figure things out for yourself anyway.
[via Softpedia]
Windows 7 activation already cracked with OEM volume license key originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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UIF in Linux
Uncategorized June 3rd, 2009 by Shai Perednik
Why do people decide to still use obscure cd image formats?
UIF, didn’t that die?
Well, thanks to this post at Life Rocks 2.0, I converted the UIF file to the standard ISO format!
UIF (Universal Image Format) is an image compression format developed by Magic ISO. Universal Image Format(UIF) is a powerful compression image file format for backing up CD/DVD. It is fast, reliable, and has rich set of features which include password-protected, data encryption, MD5 checksum support and much more. UIF format is available for Windows and if you are using Linux/Ubuntu, you need to convert UIF to ISO format.
How to Convert UIF to ISO Format
You can convert UIF files to ISO using the freeware application UIF2ISO by Luigi Auriemma’s for Linux. This is a command line convertor for changing file type UIF to ISO format.
1. First Step is to install install zlib and OpenSSL with apt-get.
sudo apt-get install zlib1g zlib1g-dev libssl-dev build-essential
2. Second step is to download the freeware from the authors site.
wget http://aluigi.altervista.org/mytoolz/uif2iso.zip
3. Once the file is downloaded we need to unzip it.
unzip uif2iso.zip
cd src
4. Create the executable by compiling the code.
make
sudo make install
5. To Convert the files from UIF to ISO format, use this command
uif2iso example.uif output.iso
Here example.uif is the file to be converted and output.iso is the output file.
