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In this Premium Edition issue:0. EDITORIAL: Windows Security Plague 0.0 EDITORIALI'm hopping mad. Angry to the point that my face is red with rage. The cause of this wrath? A statement I've just read from Microsoft. In the last month I've spent over 100 hours testing computer security products. It's part of a massive evaluation I'm undertaking into the adequacy of modern security software. I've got a lot more research to do but even now I can tell you the news is not good. It's really tough to protect your computer against the latest malware threats. The reason it's tough is, from a security point of view, the basic design of Windows is fundamentally flawed. The operating system just doesn't provide enough protection for key system processes. Not only is the design flawed, so is the implementation. Windows is full of defects. I know them well because I've been seeing a lot of them in the last month while visiting hostile sites that exploit them. The number of hostile sites that use Windows flaws to infect unsuspecting visitors with drive-by downloads is increasing. A couple of years ago I had to search really hard to find one. Today I can locate several in minutes. The reason for the increase is there is money to be made from infecting PCs. Money from serving you ads you don't want to see, money from installing programs you don't want to have and lots of money from stealing your financial passwords or even your identity. Most of these sites work by exploiting Windows flaws that have been patched. The notorious IFRAME exploit is popular as is the WMF vulnerability. However, some sites exploit unpatched flaws, so-called zero-day vulnerabilities. A few weeks ago a really serious flaw was discovered in fully patched versions of MS Word 2002/2003. Within days, the flaw was being exploited by hostile web sites to infect tens of thousands of machines. Microsoft has now released a patch as part of their scheduled June patch release. That's great, I applaud its unusually speedy response but this is small comfort for all those who became infected. And it's even less comfort to those tens of millions of poor innocent folks who don't know about the Windows Update service. You can't write off users who don't use the Windows Update service as "ignorant." They are not ignorant at all - naïve perhaps. Naïve that is, for believing that the Microsoft ads that Windows XP was safe. These folks are no different, in fact, to purchasers of automobiles with safety defects. We don't call these people ignorant, we call them victims. And make no mistake: Windows XP is as clearly defective as any early model Corvette or Ford Pinto. In this context what has got me really hopping mad is a statement I just read from Microsoft. How's this for arrogance? Microsoft has announced they have no intention of fixing in Windows 98 the critical flaw covered in MS06-015 bulletin. This flaw exposes all Windows 98 users to having their computer compromised simply by visiting a hostile site. The flaw has been fixed for other more recent versions of Windows. Windows 98 users have however been left in the lurch; fixing it "is not practicable," Microsoft says. Will this flaw be exploited? You bet. It could become the most popular exploit for hostile sites ever. There's other bad security news for Windows 98 users. As of July 12, all Microsoft public and technical support for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE and Windows ME comes to an end. No more security patches for you. Goodbye and good luck. While I regret Microsoft pulling the plug, I accept that all products have a use-by date. However what gets me angry though is Microsoft pulling support for fixes before the product expiry date. Pragmatic perhaps, but also arrogant and dismissive of its customers. Cynics could properly observe that all the security concerns over current and older versions of Windows can only encourage users to buy Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest "safe" version of Windows, when it is released in early 2007. If so, I guess Microsoft is hoping that its users will have forgotten that this is exactly the same advertising line used to promote Windows XP when it was launched. Now for something a little more positive. Next month, unless I burn out from overwork, I'll have the first results of my security survey. By the time the survey is finished I hope to be able to give you some solid advice on how to best protect your PC against Windows deficiencies. And, unlike Microsoft, I won't leave Windows 98 users in the lurch. The sad thing is this advice will only be listened to by the relatively tech-savvy audience that reads this newsletter and similar publications. The average Windows user, I'm afraid, will be increasingly predated on by the malware scoundrels. Like lambs to slaughter... However, let's not forget, dear reader, just where the responsibility for this terrible mess lies. See you next month. Gizmo 1.0 TOP TECH SITES AND RESOURCES
1.1 Google Adds Spreadsheets to Online Office ArsenalIn
March Google acquired Writely, the zippy Ajax-based online
word processor. Now they have just released a test version of
Google Spreadsheet, a free online program that allows you
create, store and share spreadsheets on the web. It's a limited
trial so you need to register to use it. I did and, while it's
no Excel, I saw enough to convince me that I should sell my
Microsoft shares before it's too late. But wait a minute; I sold them last year. ;>)
1.2 How to Secure an XP PCUsing
good security software is important but so is good PC
administration. This site features an excellent checklist of
ways to tighten your security using Windows XP settings.
1.3 How Malicious Programs Attack Your PC"How
many ways do I hate thee?" They are all listed here:
1.4 Run Windows Programs on a Linux Thin Client2X
is an interesting corporate product that could solve a lot of
user workstation management problems. Users run a Linux thin
client with Windows programs on their desktop; applications are
tunneled to users' desktops via an application server. I haven't
tried it but if it delivers it could be a neat solution.
1.5 Virus Threats ExplainedWant
to know the difference between a polymorphic and
metamorphic virus? What's a zoo virus and why should you be
worried about such things? You'll find the answer to these
questions here in clear, plain-English. 1.6 Get Back Lost XP PasswordsMost
techies know the trick of using a Windows 2000 installation
CD to get access to a password locked XP PC [1] but here's a way
of doing it using an XP installation CD [2]. What's more, you
can even change the password! On the same page you'll also find
instructions how to make a password reset disk that allows you
to easily recover your XP password should you forget it.
** Additional Items in this Premium SE Edition ** 1.7 Free Programs GaloreA
comprehensive listing of free Open Source programs by category.
1.8 Good Tips for Securing Your Web SiteSecurity
firm Acunetix is offering an informative guide to
securing web sites. Naturally they recommend their services but,
that aside, the information is first class. 1.9 Free Computer BooksOne
of the best collections of free computer books I've seen. It
includes free tutorials and lecture notes as well and, unlike
other free computer book collections, it includes quite a lot of
recent material including Ajax.
2.0 TOP FREEWARE AND SHAREWARE UTILITIES
2.1 Free Utility for Project Task List ManagementHere's
a program geared towards folks who work on multiple
projects at one time where each project has multiple sub-tasks
requiring completion in a particular sequence. Its name,
"ToDoList," may be plain vanilla but the program sure isn't; it
can do pretty well anything with task lists you could want.
Sure, there are no fancy calendar displays or Gantt charts but
this is a task list manager not a project manager. While it may
not have the features of a project management utility, it is,
however, much more than a to-do list program; it's so capable it
could be used to help manage quite large projects. I recommend
everyone involved in project work to check out "ToDoList." It
could be just what you are looking for. Thanks to subscriber
Robin Brandt for letting me know about this utility. Note:
registration is required to download the program. Freeware,
330KB. 2.2 Lots of Free Media UtilitiesSubscriber Luke Stanford recently sent me a massive list of mostly free audio and video tools. I checked out a couple (DVD Decrypter and dvd43) and they appeared to be excellent choices. I didn't have time to check them all out so here's Luke's full list for you to use as you see fit: *
Best free MP3 codec *
Best free lossless audio codecs: *
Best free audio file normalizers *
Best UDF/ISO file creator *
Best free lossless video codecs *
Best DVD Copy protection remover *
Best free DVD Ripper *
Best Free video file conversion *
Best desktop video capture *
Best free IFO/VOB editors *
Best free disc quality check utilities *
Best free media file information utility 2.3 The Best Homebrew (Beer Recipe) SoftwareOne of the key aspects of homebrew is recipe formulation and management. Creating a tasty brew that meets the characteristics of its target style is no easy task since it involves many calculations and variables (color, bitterness, specific gravity, etc.). Not surprisingly, there are several homebrew software programs available to assist with these crucial tasks, including: BeerSmith, CyberBrau, DrewBrew, ProMash, QBrew, Strangebrew, and SUDS. After reviewing all of these programs, three are recommended. Probably the most feature rich homebrew program available is BeerSmith [1]. It has an integrated recipe database for formulating and tracking recipes. It also has a user friendly interface, an integrated ingredient management system and shopping list, and many other tools including: water profiles, mash profiles, hop bitterness and aging calculator, hydrometer correction, various unit converters, and much more! BeerSmith will create a detailed brewing instruction sheet based on the recipe, equipment profile, mash profile, efficiency rating, and other options selected. To top it all off, it is one of only two homebrew recipe programs that support the BeerXML [*] standard that allows users to easily share recipes and associated information. For an excellent freeware homebrew recipe program, QBrew [2] is the only, but very deserving, choice. It has an intuitive and simple interface and is excellent for formulating recipes quickly (about half the time as BeerSmith). Recipe entry and ingredient database management is extremely simple in QBrew. Each recipe is stored in a separate file and can be exported in BeerXML [*] format for sharing and/or importing into other BeerXML enabled applications such as BeerSmith. QBrew's recipe calculations seem to be more accurate than BeerSmith's, but don't accept that as a guarantee! After all, home brewing systems vary in efficiencies and the calculation results are meant to serve as guidelines. Both BeerSmith and QBrew can be extracted from the installation archive and run from a USB flash drive. However, for web-savvy users that are interested in a
web-based beer recipe application that can be setup on a
personal web site and then accessed from anywhere, CyberBrau [3]
is a very capable option. It features recipe formulation and
management, batch tracking, a reviewing system, and other useful
utilities. It also supports multiple users and is great for
sharing recipes, tracking batches through the entire process,
and sharing comments on recipes. Note from Gizmo: Many thanks to
Craig Vollmar for submitting this review. 2.4 How to Keep Connected to the InternetSubscriber
Chris Mar writes "Gizmo, I'm among a huge number of
disappointed Internet users who keep losing internet
connectivity. It seems that this may be a function of the ISP as
well as other unnecessarily complex or redundant security
measures in the Administrative Services. Normally to resolve
this I have to use the Network Connection Repair tool to re-
establish the seemingly broken link but recently I ran across an
excellent app called Connection Keeper by Greg Wittmeyer, CEO of
Gammadyne Corporation [1]. It is a free download and has solved
my connection problems. What a joy; no more endless cycles with
the Repair tool or getting stuck after I get up to stretch my
legs to come back to find the little Network Connection icons
lifelessly staring into blank space." Thanks for that, Chris.
You are quite right; internet disconnection problems are very
common. However the causes are many and range from simple ISP
based inactivity timeouts and line noise problems right through
to complex TCP stack issues. Using Connection Keeper is an
excellent first line of attack. It keeps connections alive by
regularly communicating with your ISP even during periods of
sustained inactivity. It won't solve all disconnection problems
but many users will find it provides a simple free solution.
Freeware, all Windows versions, 2.56MB. 2.5 Why You Should Abandon Email FilingSubscriber
Mark Rosenberger recently emailed me about a free
tutorial he has written [1] that outlines an alternative to
using email folders for filing. It's well worth reading and fits
in nicely with my own experience. I now regard filing email as
an anachronism, a make-work activity that has no relevance to
the current computer era where email search using a desktop
search engine provides better access to your email than any
classification system using folders. All my email is held is
either in my Inbox, my Deleted items or Sent. What's more I can
find anything in seconds using X1 search. I suggest you read
Mark's tutorial and give some serious thought to simplifying
your email filing. If you do, you'll not only save time but find
your email messages faster than ever. If you don't already have
a mail search program I suggest you download Yahoo's free
desktop search [2]. It uses the excellent X1 search engine (the
free version of the commercial product I use) and can index
email from most email clients. It requires Windows 2000 or later
but users of earlier Windows versions can use the free Copernic
Desktop Search Program [3], another top class indexer.
** Additional Items in this Premium SE Edition ** 2.6 Free Online Alternative to Microsoft OfficeThinkFree
Office Online [1] offers a suite of applications,
Write, Calc and Show, each with a marked similarity to their
Microsoft Office cousins, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Not only
do they look similar, they work similarly and can read and write
documents in Office compatible formats. ThinkFree Office Online
also allows you create, edit and store documents online as well
as upload and download. It allows collaborative sharing and
editing of online documents as well as a degree of integration
with Blog services. To use the service you must first register
(it's free) and then download Java applications to your own PC
that enable you to interface with the online applications via
your browser. Using a broadband connection and a fast modern PC
I found the service to work remarkably well, much better than I
had expected. No, the Java based Write program couldn't compare
in speed to Google's Ajax-based Writely but it was still totally
usable. Similarly, updating documents took significantly longer
than it would if you were using applications installed on your
own PC but not so long as to be impracticable. I tested document
compatibility with Word and Excel and found it to be excellent
for simple documents but files containing macros and fanciful
formatting proved to be a challenge. Overall though, an
impressive free service that offers an online alternative to MS
Office. Well worth trying. 2.7 The Best Free Wi-Fi Network Finder UtilityOne
of my many deficiencies is that I often fail to mention
utilities that are so widely used by techies that I assume
everyone knows about them. I was reminded of this yet again when
subscriber "Gadget12" recently wrote in to tell me about
NetStumbler. NetStumbler is a free packet sniffer utility used
to locate Wi-Fi networks. It's one of the first tools of its
kind and arguably still the best. So much so that it is the
standard product used by war-drivers in their perpetual search
for free bandwidth via unsecured Wi-Fi networks as well as road-
warriors looking to connect their laptops back to the office.
Basically it's a wireless packet sniffer that lists all networks
available at a given geographical location. For each network it
displays over 20 different parameters including the signal
strength, noise level, encryption method used, GPS coordinates
and more. It's a great product with a couple of caveats: first,
it only works with specific wireless card chipsets and if yours
is not one these then you are out of luck. However, most
Centrino-based laptops work fine including many Dells and IBMs.
Second, the program won't connect you to a network; you have to
do that by other means. That said, NetStumbler is a valuable
product for any laptop user who accesses Wi-Fi systems while on
the road. It's also a standard tool in trade for IT security
workers who need to audit Wi-Fi security. Freeware, all Windows
versions, 1.3MB 2.8 Windows Manager Goes to Top of ClassActual
Window Minimizer from ActualTools allows minimizing any
window to the task tray notification area or to the edge of the
screen. This all sounds a bit ho-hum but after downloading and
installing it, I was pleasantly surprised at just how much more
flexibility and power the software offers over other, similar
utilities. For example, it can auto-minimize after specific time
of inactivity, which is a surprisingly useful feature. It also
allows you to control the behavior of individual windows rather
than have the same settings for all. It can also add a "minimize
to tray" button to any application Title Bar. Finally, much of
the functionality is available through your mouse right-click
context menu. The best news is that all functions worked without
a single glitch; pretty rare IMHO. After using Actual Window
Minimizer for a while I've decided to make it a permanent
addition to my software tool kit. It's available on a 60-day
free trial so give it a spin on your PC. Shareware, $19.95, all
Windows versions, 2.5MB. Many thanks to subscriber Charles G.
(AKA "The Zjooj") for reviewing this product for me.
Got
some favorite utilities to suggest? Send them to
supporters@techsupportalert.com 3.0 SECURITY PATCHES, SERVICE RELEASES AND UPDATES
3.1 Microsoft Security NewsOn
June 13 (Patch Tuesday) Microsoft released a dozen security
patches [1] for its products, one of the largest batches for
some time. Included were fixes for eight flaws rated "critical"
by Microsoft. Prominent among these was a fix for a very
serious zero-day flaw in Microsoft Word [2] discovered a few
weeks earlier that was already being widely exploited by hostile
web sites to compromise the PCs of site visitors. Several of the
other critical rated fixes relate to serious problems in
Internet Explorer. All Windows updates are distributed
automatically by Microsoft Update Service. It is extremely
important that users who do not have automatic updates enabled
visit the Update Service [3] now. 3.2 New Version of IceSword ReleasedIn
the hands of an experienced user, IceSword is one of the most
powerful tools available for detecting rootkits. A new version,
1.18 has just been released with some enhanced detection
features designed to detect the latest generation of rootkits.
The developer's site is in China but the link below is to the
RapidShare download service. This version has an English help
file. Note: some folks have reported stability problems with the
latest version so backup before installing. 3.3 Firefox V1.5.04 ReleasedAnother
month, another Firefox security update. As with previous
patches this is a proactive update to prevent bugs from being
exploited rather than a retrospective update to fix currently
circulating exploits. It's a big patch, too, covering 12
separate problems so make sure you get it. Users of Firefox 1.5
and later will have the update automatically delivered, others
will need to update manually from the Firefox site.
3.4 Microsoft OneCare Security Product Goes LiveMicrosoft's
managed "Windows Live OneCare" security service has
just been launched. For $49.95 per year home users can protect
up to three PCs with Microsoft's anti-virus, anti-spyware and
firewall products. It all looks a bit minimal but I'll hold my
opinion until next month by which time I hope to have tested the
product more fully. 4.0 OTHER USEFUL STUFF
4.1 A Really Good Reason to Change Your Router PasswordI
hate to think how many routers in home systems use the default
user ID and passwords set at the factory. My guess would be more
than 90%. Using the defaults makes you highly vulnerable to
attack so please change them using the instructions provided
with your router. If you can't find them, go the vendor's web
site. To underline the risks you face by using default values,
here's a public list of default passwords and user IDs for
thousands of router and switches. 4.2 Help for Carpal Tunnel SufferersLast
month I featured an article about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
and got dozens of informative emails from sufferers. Thanks to
all who wrote. This email from subscriber Gary Richter offers
some excellent advice: "Hi Gizmo, I recently began suffering
from Carpal Tunnel and have looked for non-surgical ways to
reduce the pain. Workrave [1] is a program that assists in the
recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). The
program frequently alerts you to take micro-pauses, rest breaks
and restricts you to your daily limit. It's free and a much
better designed than 'Break time' and 'VDU tachograph'. The
Evoluent VerticalMouse [2] supports your hand in a relaxed
handshake position and eliminates arm twisting. Not free but
worth considering. A website by Paul Marxhausen [3] provides a
brief introduction to RSI for the benefit of those who may not
be aware of the potential for a life-altering injury. It
includes book references and links to Internet resources that
may be helpful in educating readers." 4.3 Share Your Computer Software BluesFed
up with the poor quality of computer software? Then visit
this site and take some solace. 4.4 How to Make a Scratched CD PlayableThe
technique in this article works fine but so do the
alternatives suggested in the reader comments. 4.5 Can You Reliably Pick Out a Phishing Letter?Well,
I can't; that's why I treat any email requesting that I
login to a financial site as phishy and verify the content by
phone. Test out your Phishing detection abilities at this site.
Be prepared for the possibility of a little ego deflation.
4.6 Useless Waste of Time DepartmentAt
this site [1] you'll find everything you didn't know about
your birthday. At the second site [2] you can find out even
more, provided, that is, you are younger than 50. ;>) Many
thanks to subscriber Michael Colynuck. ** Additional Items in this Premium SE Edition ** 4.7 Free PhotoShop GoodiesFree
Brushes, shapes, gradients, styles, plugins, textures,
displacement maps, frames, patterns and more. 4.8 How to Take Good Lecture NotesNothing
radical here just good common sense. There are a few
other guides on this site worth checking, too. I liked the one
on remembering lists. 4.9 Great Optical IllusionAnd
I thought I'd "seen" them all! 4.10 How to Make the Best Quality MP3sThanks
to subscriber Jonathon Reich for letting me know about
this site. 5.0 TIP OF THE MONTH
5.1 How to Reduce SpamAs spam recipients go, I'm a class act. I get over 1,000 every day and on some days, more than 2,000. Yet in my mail box I hardly see any. Here's how I do it. First, a little history. I used to use a Bayesian spam filter running on my PC. The product I used was an Outlook add-in called JunkOut. Like most Bayesian filters it took a while to train but once trained it worked just fine. The spam detection rate was around 98% and the number of false positives (good mail wrongly classified as spam) was vanishingly small. But there was a problem. As my spam mail volume grew, the time taken by the spam filter to process my mail was growing to the point of being unacceptable. Some days it was taking 10 minutes or more to process my mail. I needed a different solution. I tried rule-based spam filters that used less processing than Bayesian filters. I tried setting up my own mail server on a dedicated PC. I tried various commercial spam filtering services and other options as well. None of these gave me what I was looking for. But then I tried Google's GMail and bingo! I found what I had been looking for. Unlike some other webmail services, Gmail provides spam filtering for free. That's no big deal; Yahoo!, Hotmail and others do that as well. What's different about Gmail is that it also provides free POP3 mail access. Most of my spam mail is sent to the address editor@techsupportalert.com. That's no surprise; that address appears in every issue of this newsletter and on my website as well. What I do is to forward all mail from that address to my Gmail account where it is spam filtered automatically. The GMail spam filter detection rate is good, around 95%, so around 950 of the 1000 spam messages I receive daily never get to my Google Inbox. I then use POP3 access to download the contents of my Google Inbox to Outlook. The incoming mail is then filtered using the excellent network-based Cloudmark spam filter that is installed on my PC. Cloudmark's detection rate is around 92%. So of the 50 or so spam emails in my Google Inbox each day, fewer than five make it through to my Outlook Inbox. Now here's the crunch. Both the Google GMail spam filter and the Cloudmark spam filter have the same characteristic; they virtually never classify my real mail as spam. That means I don't need to regularly check my spam folders to see if they contain genuine correspondence. That's a real plus with large spam folders. The spam detection rates for GMail and Cloudmark are good, though a long way from the best in their class. But that doesn't matter. By chaining the two systems together I increase my aggregate spam detection rate to 99% plus and that rate IS right up there with the best. So the end result is that of 1,000 spam emails per day I see fewer than five. At the same time my real mail is virtually never sent to a spam folder. Problem solved. Forwarding my editor@techsupportalert.com to GMail is easy for me as I control the email to my website. Other users, however, may not have the facility to redirect mail from their normal mail account to a GMail account. Some mail services provide this feature, others don't; you'll have to check your service to find out. Even if your account doesn't allow mail forwarding you can do it yourself using a free utility called ERC. This runs on your PC and can be scheduled to automatically log into your mail account and forward the mail to another account. In fact, it can forward mail from up to three different accounts. A better solution in the long run, though, may be to shift your permanent email address to Gmail. I use Cloudmark for my secondary spam filter but a good Bayesian filter would perform well in the role provided you have the patience to train it. SpamBayes and K9 are good examples and both are free. The Thunderbird mail client of course has its own built in Bayesian spam filter so there is no need for another. Whatever product you chose, I do suggest you try this combination of remote and local spam filtering. It could be just what you have been looking for. JunkOut: http://www.theofficemaven.com/junkout/download.html 6.0 FREEBIE OF THE MONTH
6.1 Best Free Boilerplate Text ManagerBoilerplate managers are utilities that allow you to store and insert commonly used phrases into your email, documents and other programs. For example rather than type "We have received your order," you can select the phrase from a list and then it will be automatically inserted without you typing a thing. These things are immensely useful. I save about 30 minutes a day by using one. I use a commercial product called PS Tray Factory which is excellent but I've just discovered a free utility called PhraseExpress that's just as good. PhraseExpress's feature list is impressive: it has no limit to the number of insertion items, it allows multi-line inserts, it can handle nesting of inserts within inserts, it allows the insertion of names, dates and other variables within inserts, it allows abbreviations to be automatically expanded, and more. It also allows you launch a program or go to a web page instead of inserting text and that's really handy. Also handy is the built-in auto-correct feature similar to the one in Microsoft Office. It automatically fixes common typing errors like "adn" instead of "and". Unlike the Microsoft version it works in any program not just Office. Usage is simple. To create an item just highlight and copy the text, click the PhraseExpress tray icon and select "Create phrase from clipboard." To insert text you simply click the tray icon and select the phrase from the list shown. It will then be automatically inserted. Phrases can also be inserted by assignable hotkey or by automatic expansion, i.e. abbreviations you type like "BTW" can be automatically expanded to "by the way." So what's wrong with it? Nothing actually, apart from the fact that it can't handle formatted text or image inserts. Apparently that will be remedied in the next version. Free
for personal use, all Windows versions, 1.3MB ** Bonus Freebie for Premium Edition subscribers ** 6.2 The Best Free Drive Imaging ProgramAcronis True Image may be the best drive imaging program on the market [1] but at $79 it's not within everyone's budget. In this review I looked at free alternatives. These included: Drive Image XML, g4u, HDClone Free Edition, SystemRescue CD, and the Ultimate Boot CD. Unfortunately, not one of the freeware drive imaging programs comes close to matching the extensive feature sets of True Image but there are several competent products to choose from. Many of the freeware drive imaging programs work by booting from a diskette or CD, loading a lightweight Linux environment, and then executing a command. This limits their use to offline imaging - only meaning that they cannot be used within Windows while it is running. However, these programs are small and fast and while they might not offer the entire suite of features that the commercial programs boast, they do perform the core drive imaging tasks quite well. If the only functionality that's needed is to clone one disk to another larger disk, then take a look at HDClone Free Edition [3]. It is a relatively small download, can be run from either a diskette or CD, and has a graphical user interface that makes it super easy to use. HDClone requires no command line interaction and is perfect for upgrading from one hard drive to another. However, the Free Edition of HDClone is not capable of cloning from a larger disk to a smaller disk, working with individual disk partitions, or creating or restoring image files (locally or otherwise). For a more comprehensive set of advanced features such as those mentioned above, g4u [4] is the freeware drive imaging program to use. g4u is an extremely small program that can be downloaded in either boot diskette or CD format and offers a lot of features. Not only can it clone disk to disk (any size) and copy disk partitions, it can also create and restore image files both locally and from a FTP site (if the workstation is connected to a wired network with a DCHP service). This feature is great for backing up a workstation directly to an image file stored on another computer for either safekeeping or for deployment to multiple workstations on the network. The various features of g4u are implemented by executing commands via the console, but a reference of the simple commands is displayed immediately after booting using the g4u boot media. Users
running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 needing an
online disk imaging solution are encouraged to try DriveImage
XML [5]. DriveImage XML utilizes the Volume Shadow Copy Service
to backup drive and partitions to image files or clone drive to
drive while Windows is running. Because of this, a Windows task
can also be created and scheduled to automatically create backup
images. While this program can perform the tasks it promises,
backups do take longer than using one of the offline programs
previously mentioned. However, it is the only program reviewed
that can create scheduled backup images while Windows is running
which is great for making "incremental" backup images between
full offline backups. With its attractive GUI interface, it will
be an easy first choice for many XP users. Note from Gizmo:
Many thanks to regular contributor Crag Vollmar for preparing
this excellent review. 7.0 MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONThe best way to manage your
Premium SE Edition subscription is from the Supporters' Area of the Support Alert website.
There you'll also find all individual back issues, a downloadable back issue archive,
an extensive FAQ plus a growing list of resources exclusively available to Supporters. The Supporters' Area is protected. To log-in, use the security information sent to you when you first subscribed or as notified subsequently. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, send me an email at supporters@techsupportalert.com. Remember to state the email address at which you are currently subscribed. Receiving duplicate issues? If you are receiving an unwanted copy of the free edition of this newsletter, you can cancel that subscription by going to one of following links: Plain Text:
http://www.webelists.com/cgi/lyris.pl?enter=support.alert Note that the free and paid editions are totally different publications so you can unsubscribe to the free edition without any chance of impacting your paid subscription. For lots more free IT newsletters see Thanks to subscriber A. Belile for proofreading this issue. You can contact this newsletter by snail mail at: Support Alert is a registered online serial publication ISSN 1448-7020. Content of this newsletter is (c) Copyright TechSupportAlert.com, 2006 See you next issue Gizmo |
