Hullup

A Swiss Army Knife for PC First Aid

2012-01-17T17:59:00.001+01:00

I recently ran into trouble that prevented my PC from booting. Long story short: I heard about ‘Live CDs’ with Windows or Linux operating systems, that would allow a PC to boot from a CD straight into a live, working operating system, without having to install it. Hints are welcome!

Here goes - it gets even better than that. YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer), which you can download from http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/, is a multiboot installer for flash drives.

It is of course free, and works great, provided that your PC (like most modern ones) can boot from a flash drive (USB stick or memory cards like SD cards), and that you have allowed this option in your BIOS settings. I’m not going into details here because this solution is an approach that is not for the faint-hearted, with which I mean that it’s probably not suitable for just everybody. Then again, if you want to go down this road, you’re probably not a starter.

YUMI enables you to install one or more operating systems’ ‘live’ images (images that don’t require installing but can be booted into and that are operational right away) on a flash device, and it makes that flash device bootable and installs its own menu on it.

In other words, if you would use YUMI to make a bootable SD card with Ubuntu 11.10 and one of the Puppy Linux distributions, as well as a BartPE live Windows XP environment and the Acronis Rescue CD for scanning for malware, it works like a breeze. There are literally dozens of other images you can install with YUMI, and your practical limitation will be the size of your flash device.

All you need to do is select the drive on which you want to install the goodies, and either point the program to the image you already downloaded, or ask it to first do that for you (YUMI ‘knows’ about a plethora of images and their download locations), and repeat this until you’re satisfied that the flash drive contains all the images you want or will ever need. And if later on your inspiration would desire an additional one, you can add an image to an existing flash drive.

When needed, you can then boot your PC from that flash drive, which will show YUMI’s menu, from where you can choose the actual operating system to boot, and that’s it.

Sweet? You betchas.

Startup Strangers

2011-12-16T18:16:00.000+01:00

When Windows 7 starts after logging on, I’m getting an error message from a program called ‘facemoods’ which I didn’t even know I had. I’ve been looking around, but can’t find the thing and while it doesn’t seem to be causing any trouble, I’d like to get that error message removed. Any ideas?

Yes! This is a leftover, possibly from a toolbar or other software you installed and then uninstalled, and that didn’t clean all its components completely.

Click the start button (the orb in the lower left hand corner), and type ‘msconfig’ in the ‘Search programs and files’ box at the bottom of the Start Menu. A window pops up, titled ‘System Configuration’; click its ‘Startup’ tab.

Search the list for the offending program (in your case ‘facemoods’), uncheck the checkbox in front of it, and click the OK button.

Be careful: unchecking a vital component might damage your Windows installation, so make sure you don’t pick the wrong one.

A Bargain – Or Was It?

2011-09-26T17:13:00.000+02:00

Not a question and answer this time, but an experience and warning.

I was recently shopping for a high capacity micro SD card
(but the same warning applies to all so-called ‘flash memory’ like other types of SD cards and USB sticks) and thought I found one with a decent price: not too low to be good, not too high to be a complete rip-off.

Well, it turned out to be a rip-off nonetheless.

There seems to be a widespread 'industry' that sells flash drives with 1 Gb capacity (or not even that) as high capacity ones. You only notice that when you use the media and start to get all kinds of bizarre error messages and apparent corruptions.

What it boils down to, is that the drive apparently has a certain capacity, but that’s only what it reports to the operating system: in reality, it has much less storage on board.

After quite a bit of research and testing to make sure that my software or hardware wasn’t failing, I stumbled upon SOS Fake Flash who have made it their mission to combat these scams, and have been doing so for several years. I wish I had discovered their site sooner...

Have a look, it’s majorly enlightening. You’ll also find information there on how to detect if indeed you have a bogus card, as well as hints on how to get your money back – or at least giving it your best shot, or to feel better by exposing the rogue sellers.

Caveat shopper; forewarned is forearmed!

A Windows WiFi Winner

2011-08-14T15:27:00.000+02:00

I’m frequently at a location where a few hotspots or Access Points are available and I don’t know beforehand which one will be available when. I use both Vista and Windows 7; is there a way to make either of these connect automatically to whichever unsecured connection it finds?

Not as far as I know (disclaimer: I don't know everything :). After some research, it seemed to me that there are some commercial solutions out there.

As you may know, I'm a proponent and avid user of freeware. You just can't beat it when something works and doesn't cost a thing, right?

So I wrote Skippy, which you can download by clicking here. Price: zilch. And it works :)

Save the zip file to your disk, create a new folder, and extract the files to that folder; installation won't be necessary. Check out the help text for information, and get connected!

Windows Live Mail Movements

2011-07-01T18:09:00.001+02:00

I have a couple of questions about Windows Live Mail (WLM):

Where do I find the message store where all messages are err stored?
Can I make a backup of the message store?
Can I move it inside a folder I'm already backing up?
Can I move messages back to Hotmail so that I can read them with the web browser on any PC in the world?

Not asking a lot, are we ? :)

First things first: where is the message store? In WLM, click the leftmost menu button (the unlabelled one), then 'Options', then 'Mail'. In the window that pops up, click the 'Advanced' tab, and then the 'Maintenance' button. In the window that pops up then, click the 'Store Folder' button and you'll see where WLM keeps your information. You can also change the location there, and move the store to the folder you mentioned. Either that, or you can just backup the Store Folder itself - that's up to you, either will do.

If you want to move messages from your message store back to Hotmail (or, more precisely, from your PC's disc to the Hotmail servers, wherever they are), just drag them from your Storage folders to the Hotmail account's Inbox in WLM. After sending & receiving, they will have been copied to the Hotmail servers and you'll be read them from anywhere on the planet (or beyond, if they have a connection there :).

No Milk Today

2011-05-14T09:12:00.000+02:00

Because I forgot to order it. Not really: I didn’t, because I use Microsoft Outlook (with an Exchange server behind it) at the office to manage both my professional and private tasks and calendar. A friend was looking for similar functionality without having the luxury of an Exchange server: a task list that could be accessed from any PC, and that would even work offline and synchronise with the server when a connection is available, as she carries a laptop around but isn’t always online. I was hoping Windows Live Mail, having a calendar, would provide a task list as well, but alas. Do you know of an alternative?

As the bride said to the groom: I do. And I’ll add: ‘for free’ :) I looked around and found some nice alternatives, most of which came with a price tag. And then I stumbled upon Remember The Milk.

Remember The Milk has a paid ‘Pro’ version, and a free version. Depending on your friend’s needs, the free version might be sufficient, at least to start with; an upgrade is possible later on. The site has a lot to offer:

Recurring tasks (e.g. ‘Every Friday at 3 PM’)
Due dates
Notes (elaborate text, unlike the brief one-liner one puts in the task’s name)
Priorities
Categories
And a lot more – have a look

On top of that, you can set it up to receive notifications via e-mail and other platforms when tasks are due, and you can even send a mail to your Remember The Milk account to automatically have a task generated from that mail. Cool, isn’t it? And again, there’s more; have a look!

I know I didn’t touch upon the offline/synchronisation bit yet, so here goes. Remember The Milk is integrated with Google Gears. That means that if Google Chrome is your web browser, you already have Gears; some other browsers are supported as well (the Remember The Milk FAQ describes which ones; at the time of writing this post, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari are supported).

As Gears didn’t support Internet Explorer 8 or 9 yet, I went for the Google Chrome option. Notice that you can (but don’t have to) install Chrome for the current user only, in which case it won’t show in other users’ program lists. To get Chrome, surf to Google and you’ll find a button in the top right corner that enables you to install it. Even if, for whatever reason, you don’t like Chrome, I still suggest to use it for Remember The Milk as it comes with Gears included, and it’s small. If you don’t like it, use another supported browser and get Gears.

Get a free (or Pro, of course :) Remember The Milk account by signing up on the site. After signing up, sign in, and the local version will automatically be installed by Gears – if you confirm that it is ok to do so.

What’s next? Nothing, really. You’re all set now. You can take your PC offline and continue to use Remember The Milk: just surf to it in Chrome (or the browser you chose and for which you installed Gears) and things will look like you’re online – except, you’re not. Next time you do this when connected, Gears and Remember The Milk will synchronise the data and the information on the Remember The Milk servers will be identical to your local copy.

Who said life couldn’t be easy...

A Data Vault

2011-04-03T15:06:00.004+02:00

I want to make backups of my office files by copying them to my home PC, and as they may contain company confidential information, I don’t want others, not even family members, to be able to access them, and my home PC has only one user account. Do you have a solution?

Guess what: I do :)

If you’ve read other posts here, you'll know that I'm a fan of open-source software, and especially the professional kind that comes from SourceForge.

TrueCrypt is such a program, and it does exactly what you need.

I’ll show you how to create an ‘encrypted volume’ in a file container, and I’ll even tell you what that means:

An encrypted volume is a volume, like a disc drive (and that’s how you will be able to access it once it has been established) that is encrypted. In other words, its contents cannnot be revealed unless one knows the password to access it.
The ‘file container’ bit means that we will create this volume in a file. TrueCrypt can also encrypt entire discs or partitions, but if you don’t strictly need that, a file container can be more flexible an option as you can move it around, for instance. The file container will appear in Windows Explorer as one file which, after opening it with TrueCrypt, will then also appear as a disc (the encrypted volume) in the ‘Computer’ window of Windows Explorer, and which can then be used like any other disc by dragging or pasting or saving files onto it.

The easiest way to reach your goal (TrueCrypt can do much more, check the site out if you want to know what) goes like this:

Get an idea of how much space you need; add spare capacity that you foresee you will require in the future.
Download and install TrueCrypt, and run it.
From the ‘Volumes’ menu, click ‘Create New Volume’, which opens the TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard, where you do this:

Select ‘Create an encrypted file container’, then click ‘Next’.
Select ‘Standard TrueCrypt volume’, then click ‘Next’.
Click ‘Select File’, navigate to the folder where you want the file container to sit, give it a name, and click ‘OK’ (below, I’ll assume you used C:\Users\myuser\Documents\MyTcVolume). Then, click 'Next'.
On the ‘Encryption Options’ Window, click ‘Next’ again.
Now choose the size you want your encrypted volume to have, and click ‘Next’.
Type the password with which you want to protect your information, and type it again, then click ‘Next’.
Choose the filesystem to be used for your new volume; if you don’t know what that is, I suggest to select ‘NTFS’. Then, as stated on the window, move your mouse pointer around in the window for a while. The longer and the more randomly you do this, the stronger the encryption will be. Click ‘Format’ when you’re ready.
The file container is now being formatted. The bigger the size you picked, the longer this will take. A window will pop up to let you know when the formatting has completed and the volume has been created; click ‘OK’.
Click ‘OK’.
You’re back at the beginning of the wizard now; click ‘Next’ if you want to create another encrypted volume, or ‘Exit’ if you’re done.

You have now created a volume and you’ll want to use it. In the Truecrypt window, click ‘Select File’ and navigate to the file container you just created (e.g., C:\Users\myuser\Documents\MyTcVolume). Click its name, and click ‘Open’.
Now double-click one of the available drive letters you see in the TrueCrypt window – e.g. ‘Y:’. You are then prompted for a password, which is the password you specified when you created the volume. Enter it, and click ‘Ok’. Upon successfully opening the encrypted volume, you will now see ‘Y: C:\Users\myuser\Documents\MyTcVolume’. Double-click that line to open a Windows Explorer window for drive Y:, which is your encrypted volume. You will also see it in the ‘Computer’ window. Now you are able to use this like you would use any other disc.
When you’re done using your encrypted volume, click it once in the TrueCrypt window (e.g., the row with ‘Y: C:\Users\myuser\Documents\MyTcVolume’) and then click ‘Dismount’. Drive Y: will then no longer be accessible, until you re-open it with TrueCrypt. Notice that you can select any available drive letter you like; it doesn’t always have to be the same one.
If you want to carry your information with you, you can now copy file ‘C:\Users\myuser\Documents\MyTcVolume’ to a USB stick, without having to worry that anybody will be able to read the contents, should they be able to lay hands on the stick – unless they know the password. To use the contents, select and open the file with TrueCrypt and Bob’s your uncle.
Last but not least, have a look at ‘Preferences’ in TrueCrypt's ‘Settings’ menu, and change them if you like.

This seems to be a lot of text (and work) to cover your needs, but it’s not as bad as it looks:

Create a volume
Open it with TrueCrypt
Use it like any other disc
Dismount it when you’re done

It Was On The Cards

2011-04-02T20:54:00.010+02:00

My desktop PC has a builtin card reader for SD cards and the likes. After using Vista's 'Safely Remove Hardware' functionality, I don't see the card reader anymore in 'Computer'. How can I get it back? I guess I did something wrong but when I use this for USB sticks, everything works fine?

Indeed, you did something wrong: sticks and cards aren't handled the same way by Vista, and unfortunately it doesn't really tell you about it.

You got what you asked for: the hardware was actually removed. When using this for a USB stick, the stick will be recognised the next time you insert it, but not so for flash memory cards. By the way, you should indeed use it for USB sticks, or you might suffer data loss if Windows hasn't completed all write operations to the stick when you take it out.

Now you might think 'hey but Windows has this plug & play thing that lets it see new hardware when it's connected or when the PC boots, so why doesn't that work for me?'.

Modern PCs always get power, unless you pull the plug or cut the power from the wall socket to which it is connected. Modern PCs also have a power switch at the back to cut their juice off.

If you flick that switch to 'off' and then flick it back to 'on', or unplug the power cord and then reconnect it, Windows will see the card reader the next time you boot the PC, because when the power was gone, so was Windows' recollection of the card reader.

Sing Along With The Lyrics - Me Ears Are Alight?

2011-02-11T21:09:00.001+01:00

I noticed that when right-clicking a track in iTunes and clicking 'Get Info', there is a 'Lyrics' option but it doesn't show any lyrics?

It doesn't - unless you entered them, which I presume you don't want to do for your zillions of tracks. Dare I say you would like to automatically import lyrics into iTunes and take it from there? I dare.

Give LyricsFetcher a shot, you won't regret it. Opensource software, as free as it gets, from SourceForge, LyricsFetcher ummm fetches lyrics.

Download, install, run. The program will - if you tell it to - fetch the lyrics for all mp3 files that don't have any embedded yet.

'Embedded' is important here. If you would use programs like Audacity or others to tamper with your mp3 files (to cut bits off the beginning or the end, for instance), it may or will kill your lyrics. The lyrics are stored inside the file, and may (or will) get messed up then.

Therefore, recommended steps when adding a new mp3 file to your collection are:

Get the mp3
Edit it if you like
Add it to your iTunes library
Fetch the lyrics with LyricsFetcher

While you get ready, I'm getting my earplugs. Have fun!

I Spy With My Little Eye... Spyware !

2011-02-11T19:18:00.001+01:00

I installed the tools you mentioned in
this post, but still seem to have been attacked by spyware. Que pasa? Aren't these tools as waterproof as you said?

Disclaimer: no tool is waterproof - or evil-proof if you prefer. Malware is written and set loose on the web before the anti-malware providers can create remedies. It's like a new mutation of viruses that cause the flu and colds: you can't really get a 100% sure thing inoculation for them.

But in your case, the root cause is different. As I asked you: how did you find out you actually had malware on your PC? The answer was: it was behaving erratically and, after spending a lot of time googling and installing and running another anti-malware software, it turned out your PC had been infected.

Mind you, I'm not saying the alternative software was worse or better than the ones I suggested.

I am, however, saying that it's important to get regular updates for your software. I don't mean the program, but the malware signatures that the program uses to detect culprits.

Some programs (like Avast!) automatically update their signatures. Others (like SpywareBlaster) do that if you obtain the paying version. For others (like Spybot Search&Destroy), you need to trigger that manually.

If you use Spybot Search&Destroy and/or the freeware version of SpywareBlaster, I recommend at least a weekly update. Why? Because I've never had a virus- or other malware infection and I religiously get my updates every week :)

Here's why your PC could get infected if you don't do regular updates:

Week 1: you install the anti-malware programs
Week 2: Doctor Evil releases a new virus/spyware/... onto the web
Week 3 part 1: you happen across an infected site (yes, just visiting a website can get you into trouble) or download and install infected software
Week 3 part 2: you're screwed and it's your own fault

Why is that your own fault? Because as it happens, shortly after Doctor Evil sent his new baby out, the good people who spend their time writing anti-malware programs, had caught that baby and had incorporated a remedy in their software. But you didn't download the updates, so your version of the program and/or its signatures database didn't know about the new offspring.

The cure: get your weekly updates in.

You might argue: what if I already fetched my updates but the new malware was propagated in between two update sessions? Good point. You can't spend all your time doing updates. You might get caught indeed in between two updates if bad luck strikes - it happens (but, so far, not to me :).

Also, these programs 'catch up'. If you'd have malware on your PC without knowing it, the next time (after an update was installed that sniffs it) you try to access it, it will get caught and won't be able to infect your PC.

Bottom line: install the programs, do the updates every week, and you're safe (or as safe as it gets out there).

I Broke A DVD :( I Need A Backup !

2010-12-22T18:47:00.000+01:00

Actually, someone else broke it for me, not that I asked for it. I wanted to avoid that this would happen to a few collector's items I have, but Nero tells me it can't do the job because of copy protection. Is there any other way to backup a DVD?

There certainly is, since you have the originals; copyright laws prohibit doing this with media for which you don't have those.

'DVD Shrink' is the tool (and yes, of course, it's freeware :) that does the job - provided you're in a country where it is legal to use it. You can find it here on Softpedia.

Extract the installer from the zip file, and then run it. After installation, you're ready to go. Here's how:

Insert the DVD (that's pretty obvious methinks :)
Click 'Open Disc'; the disc will now be analysed
If on the left you see that the total required space exceeds the size of the writable DVDs you have, uncheck some options on the right (e.g. languages you don't want, extras you don't need), which will reduce the space requirements
Click 'Backup'
Select your backup target: burn the DVD with Nero (if you have Nero), save it as a hard disk folder, or write an ISO Image file to your hard disc (in which case you need to specify the filename as well;
look here for some hints on what you can do with an ISO file)
Click 'OK' and sit back until the operation has completed

If you decided to write an ISO file, you can now burn that to a writable DVD with whatever burning software you like.

Backup completed.

How Do I Use My Bluetooth Headset With My PC?

2010-12-05T15:12:00.000+01:00

I bought this nifty headset for my mobile phone and would now like to use it with my PC as well (Windows Vista), but am having trouble sorting out the Bluetooth stuff. Help!

First of all, make sure your PC actually comes with Bluetooth. Some manufacturers provide a single manual for models with and without Bluetooth, so you may want to check. If there isn't Bluetooth on your PC and you'd like to have it anyway, you could get a Bluetooth USB dongle from Amazon - they're dirt cheap these days.

Next, install the Bluetooth drivers for your PC, if you didn't do that already. Look for them on your PC's manufacturer's website; you can usually find them in a 'support' section, under 'downloads' or so.

Now enable Bluetooth, as it may be switched off. This is frequently the case on laptops to spare the battery. Depending on the make and model, you may need to do this via a hardware switch or in software - check your PC's manual.

Just for the sake of completeness (as you already handled this bit with your phone :), you'll need to know how to make your headset 'pair' with another device. You can find that in the instructions that came with the headset.

Click the Start button and then Control Panel / Hardware and Sound / Bluetooth Devices / 'Bluetooth Settings' (at the top). A window pops up; check these boxes in the 'Options' tab:

Allow Bluetooth devices to find this computer
Allow Bluetooth devices to connect to this computer
(optional) Alert me when a new Bluetooth device wants to connect
(optional) Show the Bluetooth icon in the notification area

Then click OK to close that window, and put the headset in 'pairing mode'.

At the top of the Control Panel window, click 'Add Wireless Device'. A window will pop up, showing the Bluetooth devices that can be found. Right-click the appropriate one and complete the pairing.

Your headset and PC are now connected, but you'll still need to do a couple of things before you hear your music on the headset or your voice makes it from the microphone to whoever wants to listen to it.

Go to the 'Hardware and Sounds' section of the Control Panel and click 'Sound', or, if a speaker icon is showing in the System Tray (in the lower right hand corner of the desktop), you can right-click that one and then click 'Playback Devices'.

In the 'Playback Devices' tab, click on the headset and then on the 'Set Default' button. Right-click the headset and then click 'Test' to test it. In the 'Recording' tab of that window, handle the microphone similarly. Finally, click OK to close that window.

All set, you can now listen to your music, use Skype, or voice chat using your new toy!

What The Beep Is A '.rar' File?

2010-11-17T17:59:00.000+01:00

I downloaded this software or at least thought I would get an application file, but it seems to be something with type '.rar'. What's that?

You probably heard of 'zip' files. These are containers into which other files have been compressed to reduce their size and, these days, to make it easier to distribute them as it is more convenient to download just one 'zip' file than many others that are contained in it. Such containers are also called 'archives'.

When you right-click a file or folder (or several of those) in Windows Explorer and then click 'Send To' followed by 'Compressed (zipped) Folder', you're producing a 'zip' file. The same is of course true if you would use tools like Winzip.

Well, 'rar' files are similar. The easiest way to handle them, is by installing a - you guessed it - freeware tool called '7zip'. It doesn't only handle 'rar' files, but many other archive types as well. You'll find 7zip on the unparallelled SourceForge, on the 7zip page.

Desktop Security 2010

2010-10-26T18:22:00.000+02:00

I'm getting pop-ups from this software, encouraging me to run and buy it, as it has detected malware on my PC. Should I?

There sure is malware on your PC, and it's called 'Desktop Security 2010'. You probably picked it up by surfing unprotected to a dodgy site, maybe even thinking it was an innocent one.

I've been able to help a friend getting rid of it by

installing Avast and Spybot Search & Destroy - check out this post
letting Avast perform a full system scan
and finally letting Spybot Search & Destroy perform a full system scan

Good luck, and next time you hook up a PC to the Internet - or insert a CD or DVD or USB stick or SD card or anything else - first make sure you have these tools installed :)

Shooting The Screen

2010-10-26T16:51:00.001+02:00

Is there some interesting freeware around for making screenshots in Vista?

Quite likely, but you don't need it because Vista itself contains a program to make screenshots.

Click the Start button and then navigate via All Programs to Accessories, and you'll find 'Snipping Tool' there. Click the program, and choose what you want to snip by clicking the arrow next to the 'New' button:

Free-form
Rectangular (any area of your desktop)
Window (one particular window)
Full-screen (the entire desktop)

Once you snipped something, you can copy the snip to the clipboard, save it as a jpg file (or in several other formats), or send it via mail.

Snappy.

My Avast! Warns Me About Imminent Expiration

2010-08-04T19:09:00.004+02:00

Help! I'm an avid Avast! user but now it tells me it's about to expire. I thought it was free?

It was, and is, for personal use, and the program isn't expiring: the virus signatures database updates are about to expire.

The virus signatures database contains information that enables Avast! to detect viruses. Since new viruses are spread more often than anyone would like, this signature database needs to be updated with the new umm signatures. You may have noticed that every now and again Avast! tells you it has updated its database.

The authors provide this excellent software for free, and I guess they do wish to be aware of the number of computers on which their product is running. That's why you need to renew your registration every year - it's free.

Renewing your registration can be done in two ways, depending on the version of the software you're using:

If you see a little orange ball in the system tray (in the lower right corner of your desktop), you're using the most recent version and renewing your registration is a piece of cake. Just click the balloon that contains the warning, and you'll be taken to a window where you can enter the necessary.
If the Avast! icon is a little blue ball, you're using an older version. Why not upgrade to the most recent one, which really is the best option? The registration process for the older version is a bit more difficult so why bother if with the same effort you can get the latest and greatest! (As you could have guessed: it's still free :)

What Shall We Do With An ISO File?

2010-08-03T18:57:00.001+02:00

A friend of mine copied a file with extension '.ISO' to my hard disc, and said it is a 'CD image'. What do I do with such a file?

The term 'image' refers to the fact that this is, as it were, a snapshot of the disc. But rather than seeing folders and files, you only see one file that contains them all: the ISO file.

Well, you have 3 options, regardless of the image being a CD image or a DVD image:

Treat it as a file, and manipulate it like you would manipulate other files. That means, you can move it, copy it, delete or rename it, but you won't be able to see what's inside it.
Burn the CD (or DVD). Your burning software (Nero, Roxio, whatever) will have an option to burn an image to disc. After using that option, you'll have the CD (or DVD) from which the image was generated.
Mount the image.

Huh? Mount the image?

That doesn't mean 'saddle it up and ride into the sunset', cowboy. Instead, it means 'make that ISO file behave as if it were a disc, with its own drive letter' (speaking in Windows terms, that is).

I'm sure there's brilliant commercial software out there that doesn't cost a fortune and lets you mount images but hey ho, if you've read other posts here, you'll know I'm a freeware freak.

Check out SlySoft's Virtual CloneDrive. It even supports formats other than ISO, like BIN and CCD. You can mount up to eight images simultaneously; after installing the program, just double-click any image file and it will show up in your Windows Explorer as a new disc drive that you can use like any other.

Actually, it will even behave as if you inserted a CD (yes, or DVD) in the drive: if an Autorun program is present, you'll be asked whether you want to start it or prefer to explore the disc.

Sweet.

Less Is More: My Internet Explorer Font Is Way Too Big

2010-07-06T18:16:00.000+02:00

I must accidentally have done something wrong because my Internet Explorer font is enormous. What did I do, and can I undo it?

Your font could have been tiny as well, if you would have gone the other way :)

If you used a mouse, you probably pressed the 'Control' (or 'Ctl' or 'Ctrl' or similar) key on your keyboard while simultaneously using the scroll wheel on the mouse.

If you worked with the touchpad on a laptop, you did the same but instead of using the scroll wheel, you touched the scroll area on the touchpad.

Whichever it was: do it again. But do it in the other direction:

'Control' + scroll-up = zoom in, make larger
'Control' + scroll-down = zoom out, make smaller
'Control' + zero (don't use the zero on the numeric keypad of a keyboard as this may/will not work) = reset zoom to the default value

What you've stumbled into, is the Windows zoom function. It doesn't only work in Internet Explorer, but in many other applications/windows as well; not in all of them, though. For instance, in a Windows Explorer window, the zoom function changes the view (large icons, small icons, list, details, etc).

Scanning In Vista: Do I Need Additional Software?

2010-07-04T19:12:00.001+02:00

I haven't used my scanner so far and now I'd like to scan a document. I don't see any 'Scan' option anywhere in the Start menu - do I need to install additional software?

Not at all. Under 'All programs' in the Start menu, you should see an option called 'Windows Photo Gallery'.

Click that one, and then click the 'File' button at the top of the window. In that menu, click 'Import from camera or scanner', choose the correct device, and Bob's your uncle!

If, for some reason, you wouldn't see 'Windows Photo Gallery' in the Start menu, you can open a Windows Explorer window and, assuming that your Windows was installed on disc drive C: (which is the default location), navigate to 'C:\Program Files\Windows Photo Gallery\WindowsPhotoGallery.exe'.

Right-click that file and send a shortcut to your desktop or choose 'Copy' and then right-click and 'Paste shortcut' in another Windows Explorer window that's pointing to the folder where you would like to have that shortcut.

Game Over: My Game Won't Play On Vista

2010-07-04T18:46:00.000+02:00

My old PC was still running Windows XP but finally it gave up - the PC that is. The new one came with Vista but now the games I used to play won't work anymore. Should I go back to Windows XP?

If you absolutely want to be able to play that game, you may indeed need to go back to a Windows XP setup. That is, if the following doesn't do the job :)

Right-click the program's shortcut, and choose 'Properties' from the Context Menu that opens. In the window that pops up, click the 'Compatibility' tab.

Check the box labelled 'Run this program in compatibility mode for:' and choose 'Windows XP (Service Pack 2)' from the dropdownlist and click the 'Apply' button. Try again: does the game work now?

If not, you may also need to check the box labelled 'Run this program as an administrator' (you find it at the bottom of the window), click the 'Apply' button, and then try again.

If the game still doesn't want to play, experiment with other compatibility mode choices and with the various checkboxes you find on the window. You can also have a look at the manufacturer's site to see if perhaps they have an update available that can be downloaded to make the software work on Vista.

Good luck!

Shop Till You Drop (or not)

2010-06-16T17:49:00.005+02:00

Hi-de-Hi Campers, long time no hear! That's not because I got fed up or ran out of questions, but I was mucking about with a program that already saved me - and several others - some cash and time (which is money) in the past.

I first created this program, WindowShopper, a few years back because I was fed up launching web searches and having to sift through loads of irrelevant results when looking to spend some money on a gadget, game, movie, or whatever.

The idea was simple: there's a number of e-shops out there that I trust and where I usually look first when I'm after something. That's because they don't rip you off and/or have a decent customer service.

Rather than surfing to a number of shops' sites, starting a search, going through the results, and comparing descriptions and prices, I wanted all that done for me and handed over on a silver platter - you may have noticed at the top of the screen that I confessed being lazy and I wasn't kidding ;)

The last couple of months I've been spending - or rather investing - quite a bit of time improving WindowShopper. At least that was the goal; you decide. By the way, it's a Windows program in case you didn't guess :)

Click the screenshots below to get the gist of what the program looks like:

If you're interested, download WindowShopper here - it's free, of course.

Save the zip file to your disk, create a new folder, and extract the files to that folder. Installation won't be necessary, but you may need to tell your firewall to allow the program to connect to the Internet (it would be difficult to search online shops without connecting...). This may also be required when you install a new version of WindowShopper; it will tell you if a new version is available and if so, will ask you whether or not you want to install it.

Like it? Hate it? Would like it if some functionality or shops would be added? Use the contact form and let me know!

Real Men Don't Take Backups

2010-04-20T20:06:00.002+02:00

I once heard someone say 'real men don't take backups' but I don't believe them - anyway, it was a joke. Unfortunately backing up my PC takes far too much time and space. Any hints would be greatly appreciated!

Perhaps real men don't take backups, but watch them weep (or curse, or both) when they suffer data loss - they're real toddlers then.

Think about it. When you make a copy of the contents of your PC's hard discs, you're copying far more than your precious data: there's Windows (I guess you noticed), and all the programs you installed.

If your PC would crash and the motherboard would require replacing, you might need to reinstall the entire PC unless these days you're lucky and Windows Repair can do the job. Even in that extreme case, I prefer a clean reinstall, which gives you a clean environment and probably a faster one, too.

On that subject, it pays to keep a so-called 'change log', which doesn't have to be much more than a text document in which you maintain a list of all changes you applied to your PC. Changes include installing or upgrading programs, modifying programs' settings or Windows settings, etc. If (or better, when) you need to reinstall your PC or setup a new one the way you want it, a change log will help you do that in no time as you won't have to ponder what exactly you had installed on its predecessor. Doing so can turn a reinstall into a walk in the park, done and dusted within a day, instead of having to endure a setup that won't be perfect for weeks to come.

That was a little bit off-topic, but still - stop me if you can.

Back to the backups. I recommend to first of all make it easy on yourself by not spreading your data all over the place. You could have some folder (for example, 'My Documents') in which you have only a few others, say 'Documents', 'Music', and 'Video'. These folders in turn contain... well yeah, the obvious. This isn't strictly necessary, but it will make your life easier and hey ho that's what we're here for! (I mean: just do it ;)

Having looked into a number of options, I've been using Dimio's DSynchronize. Like other freeware I prefer, it's small, simple, safe, and self-containing with which I mean it doesn't write things to the Windows Registry.

Quick start guide:

Download the program
Unzip the contents of the zip file to a new folder
Run the program; I use these settings:

Copy only newer files
Create folder if not exists
Save on exit
Play sound when done

In the 'Sources' pane, create one entry for each of the folders you want to synchronise, by

Right-clicking in it
Choosing 'Add New...'
And typing the name, or right-clicking again and using the 'Browse...' option

Do the same in the 'Destinations' pane to pair each source location with a destination, after having read what follows below!

You want to (really, trust me on this, you do) backup your files to a disc other than the one on which they currently reside. That doesn't necessarily just mean 'another disc drive letter' because one physical disc could be 'partitioned' into several logical drives, each of which has its own letter. An external disc would of course be just fine, beit a USB one or one that uses the faster eSATA or 'external Serial ATA' - which is another connection method that's usually available on contemporary PCs.

And why do you want to do that? Because if your disc (the one that contains your stuff) fails, your data's gone - and that's what we're trying to avoid here.

On the destination disc drive, create the folders to which you want to backup (or synchronise) the aforementioned source folders, and use these destination folders' names in the 'Destination' pane.

Get, set, go, click the 'Synchronize' button. Make sure you're not using any of the files that need backing up - at least not for writing, because DSynchronize won't be able to copy them then.

The first time you do this, it can take a while, depending on how much data you're backing up. Subsequent runs will be faster, as only changed files will be synchronised.

If you intend to also backup files belonging to other users, you may want to have the program run with Administrator privilege, which you can do by right-clicking it and

choosing 'Run as Administrator' every time you need that
or choosing 'Properties', 'Compatibility', and checking the 'Run as Administrator' box which will make that mode permanent

Many more options are available, including running DSynchronize as a Service - have a look around if you're interested; at least your data are safe now.

Globalisation - My DVDs Bought In The US Won't Play

2010-04-04T20:08:00.001+02:00

Aaarrrgghhh I bought DVDs in the US but back in Europe noticed I can't play them, not even on my PC as the region code differs. Can I change the region code of the DVD drive on my PC?

The short answer is: yes. But don't do that unless you only need the PC to play DVDs coming from one specific region. You see, the number of times you can change a drive's region code is limited, usually to 3 to 5 times, and then it sticks, done, finito, you can't change it anymore.

If you look around on the web you might find firmware (the software that operates a piece of hardware, your DVD drive in this case) that has been altered to make the drive region-free. However, there is an associated risk: such firmware will not have been created by the drive's manufacturer and may lead to more severe problems, like killing your drive.

If you don't mind spending a buck - you already spent some on DVDs anyway - you might consider Slysoft's AnyDVD software. You can download a 21-day trial version from their site - check it out.

AnyDVD runs in the background and you don't even notice it unless you want to (and tell it so). It works like a charm and plays any kind of DVD (okay that was pretty obvious) you feed the PC - no need for hardware changes.

How Can I Make My New Site Show Up In Google?

2010-04-04T14:46:00.003+02:00

My new site's been up for a week but it doesn't seem to show up in Google when I search for it. Is there something I need to do?

There is indeed. Your site won't show up, because Google doesn't know yet that it exists. If the address shows up on other sites or forums, it might (or will) be picked up sooner or later, but if you want to lend fate a hand, go to http://www.google.com/addurl/ where you can submit your site to the planet's most popular search engine.

Be patient; it won't show up right away. As the Googlebot - that is Google's robot that crawls through all the sites it knows, and makes indexes much like those you find in books - has to work its way through billions of sites (ok there won't be just one Googlebot that's doing that, but still) it can take some days before your site shows up.

If say after a week it still doesn't show up, check if you have a 'robots.txt' file in the root directory (or 'folder') of your site. That file tells robots, at least the ones with a decent upbringing like Googlebot that respect the robots.txt file, which parts of your site they are allowed to access. Robots.txt can also contain a statement that says 'go away and don't index me at all' which could lead to your masterpiece remaining in the dark depths of anonimity instead of being the blessing for human kind that it is intended to be :)

Whodunit: Which Program Is Accessing The Disc?

2010-04-04T14:25:00.002+02:00

Sometimes my disc activity LED goes berserk while my programs aren't really doing anything. How can I find out which program is accessing the disc?

Perhaps you already had a look at the Processes tab in Windows Task Manager, which you can bring up by pressing the Control, Shift, and Esc keys simultaneously.

Perhaps you noticed that it shows you how much memory each process is using, and how much CPU power it is consuming, and that you can sort the data by any chosen column by clicking the column header.

Perhaps you also noticed that no disc information is to be seen there.

First, in case you didn't know: a process is the unique execution of a particular program at a particular time. If you start the Notepad program twice, one program has been launched but two distinct processes have been created.

Back to your question. Click the View menu, and then 'Select Columns...'. In the window that pops up, check the boxes for 'I/O Reads' and 'I/O Writes' and then click OK to close that window. 'I/O' means 'Input/Output', where Input is when you read from disc (in this case) and 'Output' is when you write to it.

You will now see two new columns in Windows Task Manager - you guessed it: 'I/O Reads' and 'I/O Writes'. Sort on either column by clicking the header, and you'll find out which process is harrassing your disc!

A Tale Of Two Computers, One Monitor, And One Wireless Desktop

2010-04-02T15:14:00.006+02:00

I have a tower PC and a laptop. Sometimes I use both at the same time, but it happens that I only use the laptop, and I'd like to have my monitor and wireless desktop work with that computer then. What I do not want, is to move the cables from the tower to the laptop and vice versa. Is there an elegant solution for this?

And then some. You want a KVM Switch. The 'KVM' stands for 'Keyboard, Video, Mouse' and these switches are designed exactly for that purpose. Many of them have ports for 2 PCs, and others have them for 4 PCs or perhaps even more.

Before you decide which one to buy, consider the locations of the PCs and the length of the cables you have - from monitor/mouse/keyboard to PC, and the cables that may come with the KVM Switch (some of them have the cables included or even integrated).

Also think about the connections you need: while today many monitors might still be using a VGA connector, perhaps you use DVI or HDMI. Also take into account that KVM Switches might come with a USB connection to get the mouse and keyboard talking to the PC, or with so-called PS2 plugs (the round ones with pins).

If you would happen to have a monitor connected via VGA and a USB wireless desktop (or even USB wired mouse and keyboard), I can recommend the Aten CS22U 2-Port USB Cable KVM Switch from Amazon that's yours for under 25 GBP. Cables are integrated so there is no need for additional shopping.

I just bought one, hooked it up, and taraaa it worked. The switch comes with a remote control, which actually is a button connected to it with a long thin cable. Press the button to switch the lot from one PC to the other and press it again to switch back. Easy.

One caveat: if the keyboard layout on your laptop differs from the one you'll be switching, configure the switchable keyboard on your laptop. In Windows Vista, you do this by

Clicking the Start button in the bottom left corner of your desktop
Control Panel
Clock, Language, and Region
Change keyboards or other input methods
Then click the 'Change keyboards...' button
Click the 'Add' button
Select the keyboard layout to add
Click the 'OK' button 3 times

Next to your System Tray (in the bottom right corner of your desktop) you will now see a two-letter indicator for the active keyboard, e.g. 'EN'. Click that indicator to choose another keyboard layout.

How Can I Convert WAV And Others To MP3?

2010-03-26T18:40:00.003+01:00

I ripped a lot of music from my CDs to have it on my mp3 player. Unfortunately I ripped them all in .wav format which seems to be taking a lot more space than mp3 files. Is there a way to convert them en masse?

As usual, there are many freeware tools that can do the job. I use Free Studio from DVDVideoSoft. That's actually a collection of tools to convert things (or formats) to other things (or formats), with one common front end - the Studio.

Free Studio contains audio and video conversion and editing software, DVD and CD burning and ripping tools, and YouTube-related software that (among others) enables you to rip the music from a YouTube video, which is excellent for the ancient ones among us (yeah that includes me) who still have some weird old extinct music on vinyl but have since long sold their turntables on eBay and can't 'rip' the vinyl anymore.

You'd be surprised how many non-mainstream music videos you can find on YouTube and - provided you own a vinyl copy of course - whose music you can then store digitally on your PC. Free Studio is available in several languages - not sure if your native one is included, but it won't hurt to have a look.

By the by, I realise this blog is starting to look like a freeware review site, but reality is: many PC problems have a freeware solution. Laters!

Double Dutch

2010-03-17T17:43:00.002+01:00

Just a quick note to let you know the Dutch version has just been setup, in case your prefer our hurdy-gurdy native tongue. I'll first translate the English posts to Dutch, and will then continue writing new twin posts. Stay tuned!

Erase The Trace And Save Space

2010-03-15T17:26:00.002+01:00

Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, Browser History, Recently Typed URLs, Windows Log Files, Recent Documents lists - these are just examples of what Windows leaves behind when you're not watching - or even while you are, as you won't be able to see it. Not only do these objects take up disc space (though these days that's not so big a problem anymore), but they can also slow your computer down, or leave traces that could be used by others to potentially impersonate you if e.g. you told Internet Explorer to save user ids and passwords so you wouldn't need to type them each time you visit a web page (also see my blog about KeePass, which can help you in that area as well).

Piriform's CCleaner is what you need. It will clean up all the above, and much more. It's free, it's fast, and of course doesn't contain any Spyware or Adware. I run it once a week when updating my other security tools' databases, or whenever I find it necessary; CCleaner only takes seconds to complete.

My New PC Came With A Trial Antivirus

2010-03-15T17:11:00.003+01:00

My new PC came with a Antivirus trial copy and it's about to expire. Is there any good free Antivirus out there?

There is indeed. There are many free Antivirus packages. Some years back I researched them and came to the conclusion that avast! was the one I preferred, as it was able to catch over 90% (or even over 95%) of the test bank viruses that were being used to rate Antivirus software's effectiveness, which propelled it into the realm of the top commercial products.

Available in over 10 languages, avast! is free for personal use and can be downloaded from http://www.avast.com/. It automatically updates its virus definitions database (which is a must, as new viruses hit the world all the time), is integrated with Windows' Security Center, and secures e-mails and chats as well.

After installing, don't forget to register (it's free) at the 'avast! License Center' after which you'll receive an e-mail with the license key. You can then insert that license key by right-clicking the blue ball with the letter 'a' in it in the System Tray (at the bottom right corner of your desktop), choosing 'About avast!...' and clicking the 'License Key' button in the window that pops up. Just copy the key from the e-mail, paste it into that window, and click 'Ok' and you're set for a year, after which this process requires repeating. Failure to do so will only update the virus definitions database for 30 days or so, and new ones that come in after that will go undetected.

While you're at it: why not install some anti-malware programs too? These programs help protect your computer against threats other than viruses, such as malware (malicious software) that could be used to take remote control of your PC and use it for any purpose - usually illegal ones, and you'd never notice until the FBI drops by for a friendly chat. Did you know you could catch viruses or other malware by just visiting rogue web pages?

My two companions to avast! are Javacool Software's Spywareblaster and Spybot Search&Destroy. Both are free and as long as I've had the trio on board, I've never had problems - well, no malware problems that is :)

Both tools require manual updating to catch the latest and not-so-greatest malware, though if you purchase a Spywareblaster license you can enable automatic updates. Perform these updates at least once a week and you should be set. When installing Spybot Search&Destroy, make sure you select the 'TeaTimer' option which runs the program in the background all the time, catching malware when it arrives on your PC (or, for malware that was already there, when you'd inadvertently try to access it).

Enjoy your free PC insurance!

Wicked: Wikipedia Search From Internet Explorer With Qpedia

2010-03-12T21:21:00.003+01:00

Wouldn't it be convenient if you could just right-click a word or phrase on a web page in Internet Explorer and be taken to the corresponding Wikipedia page?

It would be and can be - and is. Just install QPedia. When you then highlight a word or phrase (by selecting it the way you select text in Windows) in a page that's showing on Internet Explorer, right-click it, and then click the 'Wikipedia' option from the context menu. A new window will open with the appropriate Wikipedia page.

Play It Again, Sam: Playing Videos On Vista

2010-03-12T21:04:00.001+01:00

Bummer. I recently upgraded to Vista and now Windows MediaPlayer objects when I try to play movies. What am I doing wrong?

I don't know you well enough to judge you so let's focus on MediaPlayer, shall we.

I use VLC Media Player - get it here. It plays just about anything you feed it, apart from (though I must admit I haven't tried it so can't really be certain - maybe it does) toast - which on the other hand might be a tad unhealthy for your DVD drive anyway (legal disclaimer etc).

Once upon a time some '.avi' (a video type) files of mine played upside down. For one reason or another, VLC Media Player played them correctly. On Windows Vista, MediaPlayer simply refuses to play DVDs or multimedia files. VLC Media Player does the trick.

Extensive and lengthy articles have been written about the ins and outs of why all this happens / does not happen. Don't ask me the science behind it, though I did research that years ago. Use VLC Media Player. Whether you're a Windows user or prefer other platforms - or both - VLC offers a multitude. MAC and Linux readers: no reason to shy away!

Sussed.

The Office: How To Open Microsoft Office 2007 Documents With Microsoft Office 2003

2010-03-12T20:38:00.003+01:00

We are not amused. I bought Microsoft Office 2003 and now people are sending me Microsoft Office 2007 documents, which the 2003 version doesn't seem to be able to handle. Do I have another option but to buy the newer version?

Sure you do. Have a backup and buy two of them. Just kidding!

You need the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack. Download, install, done. Your Office 2003 programs will now happily open Office 2007 files as well.

Start Menu Starts To Get On My Nerves

2010-03-12T20:08:00.000+01:00

After installing a new Vista version, my Start Menu doesn't 'explore' the Documents folder anymore but just lets me browse through it until I hit a file, instead of just opening my Documents folder in a Windows Explorer window. What's going on?

To be honest, I'm not sure what's going on. Perhaps your previous installation came from an image (not a picture, but a 'computer image' that holds a complete installation of a PC and is usually provided on hard disc or on a DVD) that had its options set differently from what you'd like.

As Lance Corporal Jack Jones used to say in 'Dad's Army': don't panic!

Right-click your 'Start' button (in the bottom left corner of the desktop), click 'Properties' from the Context Menu (that is the menu that pops up after right-clicking an object) and click the 'Customize' button. You will then be able to select how various parts of the Start Menu should be presented.

Click the 'Ok' button when you're umm... okay with your choices :)

Dude, Where's My Ink? - Printing To A PDF File

2010-03-12T19:41:00.003+01:00

Green green green is what makes the world go round today. So is money. They collide at the junction called 'printing' when you want to save trees and paper and ink (and boy do you save money by saving ink) by storing to disc whatever you'd otherwise send to your printer. Send it to a PDF (Portable Document Format) file instead, and if you need to see the information again, read it (by double-clicking the filename in Windows Explorer) with Adobe Reader which you probably already have on your PC.

How would you send this stuff to a PDF file instead of your trusted ink cartridge devouring printer? Use CutePDF Writer. It really really really doesn't get any simpler than this.

After downloading and installing the tool, you'll find a new printer (whenever you instruct an application to print a document and it shows a window with printer options) called 'CutePDF Writer'. Choose that printer, hit the 'Print' button, and you'll then be asked (via a new window that pops up) for the name of a file in which to store the 'printed' document.

Navigate to the folder where you want to save the file, enter the name, and click 'Ok'.

Done.

DriveGLEAM - or How To Keep Your Head Above The Desk At All Times

2010-03-12T18:52:00.001+01:00

Laptops usually (or always, these days) have this convenient LED that shows disc activity. While wondering whether your PC has finished starting up and you can finally get some work/fun done, it can be a nuisance not being able to see whether or not that LED is still flickering, especially when using well-hidden desktops or tower model PCs that tend to be concealed underneath desks or in fancy cabinets.

No need to keep banging your head against the desk and scaring your housemates with creative cursing!

DriveGLEAM, a freeware program written by Svein Engelsgjerd and (like zillions of other free tools, shareware, and demos/trials) available from Softpedia, shows you that disc drive activity in your System Tray (the collection of program icons in the bottom right corner of your desktop).

Download DriveGLEAM and install it. The easiest way to configure it - in my humble opinion - is to use the following settings:

Put a tick in the box for the disc drives whose activity you wish to monitor
Check the 'Show in tray' checkbox
Check the 'Start with os' checkbox
Click the 'Hide' button

That's all there's to it. For each of the disc drives you selected, you will now see an icon in your System Tray that contains the drive letter, coloured

blue: to indicate there is no activity on that disc drive
green: to show the PC is reading from that disc drive
red: to let you know the PC is writing to that disc drive

Nifty, isn't it?

Password Safes and Safe Passwords

2010-03-10T19:40:00.002+01:00

Passwords. Can't live with them, can't live without them. They seem to multiply like rabbits in spring (or whatever their favourite season might be - I'm not a rabbitologist) and we're only human so we need to manage and remember them one way or another.

There are of course many ways one could handle one's passwords:

Only use one, and use it everywhere (better not do that, because if someone finds one, all doors are open)
Write them down on a sticky note (better not do that because someone might find your sticky note)
Stick the sticky note underneath your desk (ditto)
Put them in a text file on your PC (better not do that because another user might be able to read that file - by the way, has your Windows user account been password-protected? Not that that would necessarily help...)
Remember them all (yeah right)

What you need is a password vault. Not a massive metal object that weighs tons, but a programme that will store your passwords on your PC in a safe way.

There are many such tools around, but I prefer KeePass and have been using it for years. KeePass is a free and open-source password manager that, like any password manager worth its salt, encrypts the information it stores. 'Encrypted' means that it is not human-readable and even pretty tough or impossible to crack with computers. You need... a password to protect your KeePass data - but you only need to remember one, which will then recall the dozens of others you have to pull up every so often.

The 'open-source' bit means that the authors of the programme have published its source code as well, and that this souce code can be read and downloaded and improved and what have you by anyone. Open-source software (from reliable sources like the incredible SourceForge) also demonstrates that there is no hidden malicious functionality in the programme - at least, it demonstrates this to programmers who can interpret the source code.

Guess what: KeePass, like most if not all open-source software, is free. It even exists for a wide range of platforms like handheld PCs, mobile phones, Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. Not all these versions are free, mind you, but the Windows one certainly is. Free older versions that run on multiple platforms are still around - Google it.

If you keep your password list on several computers, you can either just copy the file over, or (depending on the file format you choose), export the information from one PC to an encrypted file and import that file on the other computer(s).

Many options and settings are available, but at the very least (which is a good start), you can create a new password database, bundle passwords in groups (e.g. work, private, banks, ...) and burn your sticky notes.

Give it a shot, you'll see it's worth your while.

First Boot: Getting or Offering Remote Assistance with TeamViewer

2010-03-10T19:10:00.003+01:00

Whether you've been on the sending or receiving site of remote assistance or just wanted to show your desktop to someone else, you may have found yourself in a situation where selecting the software to use for connecting to the other party's PC wasn't a trivial task.

Some programmes out there might work fabulously within your network, but once you want to go out to the world via your router (or your firewalls actually, one of which might reside on the router), they don't seem to do the trick and appear to be locked inside your home.

Enter TeamViewer. It's snappy, it's fast, you don't need a PhD or spend hours finding out how to use it, and best of all: it works! Being free for personal use is of course another perk we shouldn't neglect... Last but not least for the fruit addicts out there, a Mac version is available as well.

Download the software from http://www.teamviewer.com/download/index.aspx and save it to your hard disc. Obviously, the person to whose computer you wish to connect, should do the same.

Start the program by double-clicking it from Windows Explorer. If - like me - you don't fancy installing software but would rather run it 'out of the box', select the 'Run' radiobutton. Click 'Next', put a tick in the 'I accept the terms in the License Agreement' box, and click 'Next' again.

The one who wants to share their desktop will need to let the other person know (via e-mail, IM, phone, mail pigeon, or shouting very loudly if there's a continent in between them) the 'ID' and 'password' numbers you see in the left pane.

In the right pane, the one on the receiving end enters the ID that the sender umm sent, chooses the appropriate radiobutton, and clicks 'Connect to partner', after which a window pops up where the password (received from the sender) is to be entered.

Next... hang on, there's no 'next'. That's it: the sender's desktop will now appear in a new window on the receiver's screen. If 'Remote support' was selected, the receiver has full control over the sender's PC and can provide the assistance that was desperately needed. (In other words, only share your PC with people you know and trust)

Welcome

2010-03-07T09:35:00.004+01:00

Over the next few days, I'll be adding Q&A's based on the questions I've been asked in the recent past. I won't be trying to boil the ocean, write entire books, and cover all possible aspects of a solution. My aim is to provide a simple answer - well, as simple as it gets ;) - to problems that acquaintances have with their PC, not to provide advanced deep-dive trainings for seasoned IT professionals.

If you'd already stumble upon this work-in-progress blog, please be patient. It's my first attempt at blogging (not at writing though) and I'm still experimenting with Blogger's settings so the layout might change a bit - don't get used to it :)

After finishing the initial English version, I'll create one in Dutch as well.

Watch this space!