Tip: View DVD ISOs in VLC

How many acronyms can I put in one title? :)

If you archive any of your DVDs into ISO images (think of it like a ZIP file of a movie disc), you can access them directly, without extracting them first, as DVD movies by using VLC!

This article, via Hackszine shows us how we can do it:

Steve Anderson wrote in about an underused feature of our favorite open source video player, VLC.

I discovered yesterday that the wonderful VLC media player has the ability not only to mount a DVD directory that's been ripped to the hard drive, but also to play a .iso image of a DVD. Seeing as I've been using it for ages without knowing this was possible, I figured a lot of other people would be ignorant to this feature!

Maybe you want to test an ISO that you've created before burning it to a disk. Perhaps you'd like to store your DVDs to your harddisk without transcoding them, retaining all the menus and special features. Using VLC, you should be able to do either by entering a "dvd:" url in the Open dialog box.

Example URLs to Open and play a DVD ISO:

Windows - dvd://c:/somedirectory/dvdimage.iso

Linux - dvd:///home/username/dvdimages/dvdimage.iso

Example URLs to Open and play a ripped DVD folder:

Windows - dvd://c:/somedirectory/DVDFOLDER

Linux - dvd:///home/username/dvdcopies/DVDFOLDER

Resources:

VLC DVD Trick - Link
Get VLC - Link

via [Hackzine]

Where did all my disk space go?: TreeSize Free 2.1

TreeSize Free 2.1
http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml#treesize
Updated 7/26/07

Many times, I get calls from frantic folks who are almost out of hard disk space on their system, and don't know what to clean up, or where all their space has gone.

Keep your drive tidy

The Windows XP clean-up wizard is a nice start by clearing out temp files, cache, recycle bin, etc. - but it's not really telling you anything with regards to where your large folders/files are located.

This is where TreeSize Free comes in. Little brother to Jam Software's TreeSize Professional/Personal, TreeSize Free can give you a quick overview of what folders and files are consuming the largest percentage of your drive space in a nice graphical treeview format.

Find all MP3 files? Sure thing.

This is a no-frills program, so not many options are available. However, with that being said, there's not really much more needed for the casual user. I especially liked the ability to filter for particular file types (if you want to see how much space overall your mp3 files are taking up, for example).

Below image shows filtering for *.mp3 files only.

Another nice but seemingly trivial addition is the ability to right-click your folders and explore them from a new explorer window spawned from the TreeSize interface. The program really is so easy to use, adding more features to it for some people might be overkill.

Limitations

You can only scan locally attached drives, which shouldn't be a major issue with most home users.

If you are a network administrator and need export capabilities, charts, and overall statistics about what is on that share or hard drive, then I would recommend the pro version (also VERY nice). However, if you are a person who supports home users or other folks that are concerned only with their local hard disk space, then this is the program for you...

Alternates:

• WinDirStat (added 10/25/07)
  
• Disktective
• SoftCentral DiskInfo
• Xinorbis (added 12/31/07)

Tip: Change your Windows XP key

Change Windows XP Product Key
Updated 07/26/07


There have been a few times when I run across a computer that has an illegal version of Windows installed, and I tell the owner that they need to purchase a license to make their installation all good...then what?

In the old days, a user who ran into this problem might keep their installation of Windows with the invalid key, but would buy a copy of Windows and posses a certificate of authenticity to prove that they had a legal copy.

However, now with the Windows Genuine Advantage (and the awesome validation tool - sense my sarcasm?), doing this will only cause you suffering as you won't be able to access Windows Updates, genuine Microsoft downloads, and other MS "niceties".

So, now, your "built-in" options are:

• Reinstall Windows
• Run Sysprep mini-setup wizard
  

That's pretty much it. Otherwise, you will be without critical updates at the very least, which can cause your computer to become vulnerable to attack.

Obviously, re-installing Windows is something that a lot of people would not want to do, as most installations have been tweaked to user spec over months and months (years?), and re-creating this will most likely be a painful and frustrating affair.

Another way would be to download and run Microsoft Sysprep, which ironically, requires you to validate your copy of Windows before you can download it. Sysprep is, like the name infers, a system preparation tool. OEM manufacturers and corporate IT folks have been using it for years after the computer has been cloned (or after RIS), allowing specific customizations in an automated fashion (and 'resealing' the installation, so it can detect new hardware).

As a side note, Sysprep helps keep your network free from duplicate SIDs, resulting in wonky WSUS client behavior.

There are alternative utilities (thank you to Carputers and Erik) which are listed at the end of the article.

The alternative?

Change your product key. While this method is not supported by Microsoft, it does work, and can save you from having to touch every computer that may need its key changed.

http://tinyurl.com/yrccbb

Download the linked script, name it something like 'productkey.vbs' for example, then run the following command:

x:\pathtoyourfile\productkey.vbs xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx (of course, using your valid & legal product key here!)

You should get a message telling you if you were successful or not. Reboot your computer - you should now be able to access Geniune Microsoft downloads, Windows Updates, and more!

Remember, if you have a copy of XP Home, you need to use an XP Home product key, likewise for Pro or Windows 2003. I do not know if this script would work with Vista...I would think it would not.

The benefit of using VBScript

You can totally automate this process without any prompting on the user's part, which makes it a valuable add for any IT administrator. There are other tools available, but there is a bit of user interaction required...they are good for the single PCs here or there.

Also, some companies don't like using third-party tools that are not a part of the operating system, so this may be the ONLY feasible solution for them.

Ok already, on with the code!

Here's the actual VBScript code if the download link above does not work:

' This script changes the product key
' on the computer (XP SP1 SP2 2003)
' (watch for word-wrap)
' Made by zyling.

ON ERROR RESUME NEXT

Dim VOL_PROD_KEY
If Wscript.arguments.count < 1 then
VOL_PROD_KEY=InputBox("Operation instructions " _
& "(OEM KEYS not supported):" & vbCr & vbCr _
& "This script will revise the current product key " _
& "of Windows. Please input the correct cd-key " _
& "in the field below." & vbCrlf & vbCrlf _
& "Input CD-KEY(Default XP VLK):","Windows " _
& "XP/2003 sequence number changes tools ","(Insert " _
& "key here)")

If VOL_PROD_KEY="" then
Wscript.quit
End If
Else
VOL_PROD_KEY = Wscript.arguments.Item(0)
End If

'remove hyphens if any were entered...
VOL_PROD_KEY = Replace(VOL_PROD_KEY,"-","")

For each Obj in _
GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}"_
).InstancesOf _
("win32_WindowsProductActivation")

Result = Obj.SetProductKey(VOL_PROD_KEY)

If Err = 0 Then
Wscript.echo "Your Windows Product Key was changed " _
& "successfuly. Check your system properties."
End If

If Err <> 0 Then
Wscript.echo "Error entering new product key ['" _
& VOL_PROD_KEY & "]! Please verify that this " _
& "Product Key was entered correctly or is a valid key."
Err.Clear
End If

Next

Alternates (special thanks to my readers who submitted comments!):

• Windows Product Key Update Tool
• Rock XP
  

Firefox Extension - immersive photo viewing: PicLens 1.5 beta

PicLense Extension for Firefox 1.5 beta
http://www.piclens.com/firefox/

Viewing pictures on the various web-album sites can be a somewhat daunting task for those of us that aren't so tech-savvy (think of those that hop on the Internet just to download their grandkids' pictures, etc.) - so when something comes out that makes this task a bit easier, I have to check it out.

Here is a great Firefox extension that takes the major photo-album sites like Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, etc. and turns it into a smooth looking slide-show interface.

From the website:

Enjoy these features in the free PicLens plugin

• View photos in full screen with a single click
• Play a slideshow of image search results and photo albums
• Multi-page search on Google Images and Yahoo Images
• Jump from PicLens to the corresponding Web page

Currently Supported Sites

• Flickr
• Facebook
• Google Images
• Yahoo Images
• Friendster
• Picasa Web Albums
• Media RSS (example, quickstart guide)

Likes:

• Smooth 'Zen-like' interface, easy to understand
• non-intrusive ghost watermark (indicator for piclens overlay on picture)
  

Dislikes:

• No easy way to download pictures through the interface
• Needs a download progress indicator - computer just sits there, but I can't tell how long it will take for larger images to download
• If you have particularly small images on Flickr, et. al., and you don't want to view it through PicLens, it may be difficult to click on (without clicking the PicLens overlay) - should have an option here to adjust PicLens overlay timeout.
  

Other:
I know this is beta, so I will put this under 'Other' - I noticed that the first picture doesn't seem to appear (white screen), but the rest seem to work/view just fine.

Tip: Instead of dialing 411, dial 1-800-Goog-411

Goog-411 (this one is a service, not software)
http://labs.google.com/goog411/

Google is experimenting with a new service that coincides with their local directory databases...Goog411, a free phone directory service which looks like it may have a lot of potential.

From the website:

Welcome to Google Voice Local Search

Google Voice Local Search is Google’s experimental service to make local-business search accessible over the phone.

Using this service, you can:

* search for a local business by name or category.
You can say "Giovanni's Pizzeria" or just "pizza".

* get connected to the business, free of charge.

* get the details by SMS if you’re using a mobile phone.
Just say "text message".

Dial from any phone
1-800-GOOG-411
(1-800-466-4411)

And it's free. Google doesn’t charge you a thing for the call or for connecting you to the business. Regular phone charges may apply, based on your telephone service provider.

Note: Google Voice Local Search is still in its experimental stage. It may not be available at all times and may not work for all users. We’re fine-tuning the service to get better at recognizing your requests. It’s currently only available in English, in the US, for US business listings.

To find out more about getting GOOG-411 and other Google products on your mobile device, visit Google Mobile web site.

For more information, go to the website: http://labs.google.com/goog411/

Mini review: Archos 404 Media Player

Ok, here is my first gadget-related review here on CFJ, so I apologize in advance if you were expecting more software today!

You may have read in my previous posts that I had a Microsoft Zune as my MP3 player of choice. Well, for my wife's birthday last month, I bought her an Archos 604 media player to watch downloaded movies and play music.

As soon as she opened the box, I was immediately jealous. Besides the device's massive screen, I liked the ability to connect the unit to a PC as a normal removable drive, and the ease of which we could move media to the device, not depending on any software for synchronization (although we are using Windows Media Player for the device sync.).

Zune...you were a good friend, but I bid ye farewell...
So, with a somewhat heavy heart, I sold my Zune and all accessories on eBay, and ordered an Archos 404 (same specs as the 604, only with a 4" screen). I got one for a paltry $140 - they are priced at well over $200 retail.

Comparison of both devices:

Features	Zune	Archos 404
Capacity	30Gb	30Gb
Battery	14hrs music	12hrs music
Screen	3" diag. 320x240	3.5" diag 320x240
FM Tuner	yes	no
Recording	no	yes (internal mic)
Line in	no	optional
Navigation	D-pad + 2 option buttons	Vertical arrangement of buttons (slightly clumsy)
Play music while browsing device	yes	yes (updated 08/10/07) - see commentary at end of the post
Management software	Zune proprietary	Non-proprietary (can appear as attached drive for manual drag & drop)
Video	Windows Media Video (.wmv): Main Profile, CBR or VBR, up to 1.5 Mbps peak video bitrate, 320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames per sec., with Windows Media Audio up to 192 Kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo audio; Simple Profile, CBR, up to 736 Kbps video bitrate, 320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames per sec.	MPEG-42 (ASP@L5 AVI, up to DVD resolution) WMV (MP@ML, up to DVD resolution) With optional software plug-ins: - H.264 up to DVD resolution and AAC sound. - MPEG-2 MP@ML up to 10 Mbps (up to DVD resolution) and AC3 stereo sound.
Pictures	JPEG (.jpg): All resolutions (desktop software will automatically convert to 640x480 at sync time)	JPEG, BMP, PNG
Internal speaker	no	yes
Other nifty features	Zune sharing via WiFi (I never used this) Add songs to quicklist (playlist) on the fly.	Can read PDF Files, optional DVR accessory allows you to record TV on the device. Browse device folder structure directly from UI, manipulate files. Audio/video bookmarks.
Weight	5.6oz	6.7oz

Dislikes:

• Proprietary USB cable, although this seems to be par for the course with the big players in the digital media device market. (medium)
  
• No video playlists (Zune didn't support this either). (minor)
  
• No removable battery. (medium)
  
• Display is a bit hard to see in bright sunlight, but this is the case with many LCD screens. (medium).
• No 'kickstand'. (minor)
  
• Does not support playing music with the slideshow. (minor) - well, kinda - see my commentary at the end of this post. You still CANNOT assign a song to a slideshow - starting at the beginning of the slides, and ending at pre-determined point.
  

Likes:

• Sharp, vivid display in normal indoor ambient lighting. (major)
  
• DVD quality video. (major)
  
• Connect as a Windows Media device or standard removable hard drive. (major)
  
• Set bookmarks for audio and video (major)
  
• There are no software 'gotchas' that lock the device to a particular computer (like iTunes and Zune software), you can connect it to any computer and drag & drop media to the device without fear of some software deleting everything. (major)
  
• Ability to record audio (with internal mic - line in is available as an aftermarket option). (medium)
  
• Ability to record TV with optional DVR station. (medium)
  
• Picture thumbnail browsing. (medium)
• Folder/filesystem browsing via GUI, ability to delete files/folders. (medium)
  
• Internal clock - what about an alarm clock or sleep mode? (minor)
  
• PDF file support. This seems like a novelty, but remember, you can print any document to PDF format, so you might find an additional need for this. (minor)
• Capture snapshot of playing video (minor)
  

Playlist workaround
One problem I had to work around was the fact that the device uses .pla playlists. Windows Media Player supports .wpl and .m3u formats as a default, and both don't translate to the device (the .wpl files plain don't work, and the .m3u's come over, but no songs are contained in the playlist). I had to use WinAmp to create my playlists...this worked very well. Otherwise, WMP was able to handle everything else that I wanted to synchronize.

Comparison to the 604
Regarding my wife's 604 (the start of this whole obsession): The size difference between the 404 and 604 is substantial, but I've grown very accustomed to the 3.5" diagonal display. It easily fits in my pocket (but is a little wide), and I can take it anywhere. The screen on the 404 has a matte finish, whereas the 604 is a little glossier, but otherwise, both have a very comparable display quality.

Of course, the 604 is heavier, but both use the exact same DVR station (they both come with plastic bezels that you can use to keep them snug on the DVR dock) and USB cables.

* some enlightened anonymous commentator who started out his comment with "stupid moron!" said I could click the menu button during a song and browse the device, but neglected to say that you have to then click the 'home' option, and ONLY when you are in the song info screen, not when you are in song browser mode. In any case, shame on me for not seeing this. Note you will not see this comment below.

I will not hesitate to delete comments that are insulting to myself or other readers. This is a forum for intelligent and 'grown-up' commentary, not for immature name-calling. Don't like it? You can go somewhere else, we don't need any more negativity in this world, whether it is online or in real life.

Article: What to do if you have a pesky virus or malware?

Uh oh - I've got malware on my system that my Antivirus program won't kill! What now?

According to Wikipedia, the term 'Malware' is defined as:

Malware is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. It is a portmanteau of the words "malicious" and "software". The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

...

Software is considered malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. It includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, dishonest adware, and other malicious and unwanted software. In law, malware is sometimes known as a computer contaminant, for instance in the legal codes of California, West Virginia, and several other U.S. states.

Malware should not be confused with defective software, that is, software which has a legitimate purpose but contains harmful bugs.

THE most annoying thing about getting this stuff is how hard it is to remove. I have been very successful in cleaning systems of malware, so I figured it was time to share. :)

Here is a list useful tips I've used/compiled/discovered over the years that I go by when trying to clean my system. Some are snippets of info I gleaned from Mark Russinovich's presentation (linked at the end of the post):

Disclaimer: I do not take responsibility for the results of your actions on your PC. Always have a backup of your system before trying any of these steps. If you don't know or are unsure of what you are doing, contact a professional to assist you!

If you find a suspicious file, always research it first before deleting!

• Disconnect from the network. This will prevent the malware/virus from downloading more malicious code from a website or other location.

• Safe Mode is your friend. When cleaning up malware or viruses, this is probably the best place to start. Boot up your computer in Safe Mode and try some of the other steps listed below.

• Delete your temp files ('Start'> 'Run'> "%temp%"), do the same for your Internet Temp Files. Empty the recycle bin. Disable System Restore, viruses love to hang out here - and darn it, System Restore really isn't that handy.
  

• Use tools like Avast!, Panda Antirootkit and Spyware Terminator to assist you with system cleanup. If your AV allows it, configure it to run a complete AV scan at boot, and also during idle time (i.e. your screensaver - Avast! does allow this).
  

• Typically, malware exe's like to reside in the following locations (physically), because no special paths need to be set up to run them:
• Windows folder
  
• Windows\System32 folder
• Temporary folder (Get to it by typing %temp% at your run prompt)
• Temporary Internet Files folder
  
• Default user profile folder (i.e. the 'Startup' folder)
• System Volume Information folder
• Common files folder (program files\common files)
  

• If you think you have some hidden processes running (i.e. rootkit), try connecting to the computer's c$ share and deleting it from a secured workstation - of course, using an isolated hub/networked connection. Also, try using Rootkit detection programs to discover and remove these if you don't have any other workstations...the previously mentioned Panda Anti-Rootkit works wonderfully.
  

• Use a bootable CD solution like BartPE to boot from a non-writable volume. Clean up files on the hard disk using the included utilities (Use the included A43 File Management tool, for example).

• In Windows, run sigcheck -e -u -s c:\ to check for files without signatures.
  

• This one requires some knowledge of how the Windows system32 folder is constructed (and what files look legit or not). If you check this folder and set your Explorer view to 'Details', you'll notice that most of your files are dated at least a year old (typically older, since this is when many of the Windows files were compiled originally). However, if you are indeed infected and you sort the files by date, showing newest files first, suspicious entries will start to show themselves (since they usually are copied to your system32 folder most recently). This can be of great help when you want to track down that tricky malware.

• When browsing your folders for malicious files, set your Explorer view to 'Details', and enable the 'Company' column. Typically, suspicious files have no company name associated with them. This can raise a red flag (.dll, .ocx, .exe files only). Again, research the file before you delete/rename!
  

• If a nasty file keeps coming back after reboot, even after you delete it, try deleting the file again, but before you reboot, create a new text file and name it the same as the targeted exe or dll (or whatever file type it is). Try to set read-only permissions on the file. That way, you'll have a dummy file that is totally harmless if it is called again at startup (verify that you are showing all file extensions first!).

• If you are unsure of a filename, search for it via Google, using the exact filename, including the extension. You can gather a LOT of information from other folks who have gone through a similar experience. See the previous tip regarding enabling the showing of all file extensions. A word of warning, though - some malware processes are named randomly, so you may not have luck finding others that have run across it. However, randomly named processes should immediately raise your suspicions.
  

• Use a tool like Sysinternals AutoRuns or Hijack This! to list and delete any startup nasties...preferably, check items that are called at Logon and Browser Helper Objects for suspicious items (but don't limit your search to these two categories). My personal favorite is AutoRuns. These tools show the registry entries and physical startup locations in a nice GUI. A nice feature of Autoruns is the ability to hide signed Microsoft entries, making it easier to weed out the malware from the legit processes.

• Use another SysInternals tool called Process Explorer which can allow you to kill malicious processes on the fly...you may not have too much luck with this, however, as many malicious programs just restart themselves once you close it. But, it is still useful to determine what processes are spawning other processes (and, it shows you a path from where the process is running). Also, you can use it to suspend a process, which keeps the watchdog process from restarting a malicious executable, since technically it is still running.
  

• Use Unlocker or FileAssassin to get rid of an annoying malicious file if it is locked, keeping you from deleting it.

If I think of any more, I'll post them - if YOU have any, please comment!

See a great presentation about how to use Sysinternals tools to detect and remove malware, presented by Mark Russinovich, or download the presentation for offline viewing. It is a must-watch!

See another post about creating your own mini-toolset to combat malware: Build a malware fightin' USB drive.

Determine any color on your screen: Color Cop 5.4.3

Color Cop
http://www.colorcop.net

Some of us who spend our time on our color schemes and templates for our blog & other websites have to determine what colors are being used on the rest of the page. Or, perhaps, we need to match a particular color from another application, picture, or video for some reason.

Color Cop is a little application that allows you to sample any color on your screen, and get the exact hex value (or other standardized outputted value) for that color.

You simply run Color Cop (it stays on top of all other applications), drag the eye dropper to the color you want to sample, and the hex value will appear in Color Cop's window. Easy!

The main window will show you a magnified preview of the area you are sampling. In addition, there are a number of options available to you if you right click the interface. You can easily select the exact reverse (contrasting color) for the sampled color, choose a random color, find complementary colors, output to a variety of different color codes, and much more.

Other outputted color specifications are: Delphi hex, Powerbuilder, Visual Basic, Visual C++, RGB float, RGB int (not to mention HTML hex).

Donations are appreciated, as always - you can find the link on the menu tab at the top of the page.

Create ISO images quickly: LC ISO Creator

Lucersoft ISO Creator
http://www.lucersoft.com/freeware.php

What is an ISO image?
First off, for those that are unsure what an ISO file is, here is a Wikipedia entry that can help you out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_image

I tend to think of it like a ZIP file containing everything that you had on your CD, useful for backing up your CD/DVD media.

Using ISO
I like to archive discs to ISO often, and consolidate similar programs onto DVD (since many of my discs aren't filled to capacity). To do this, I've used CD Burner XP Pro quite often, which is an EXCELLENT program - read my review here.

However, sometimes I want to quickly create an ISO without having to wait for the program to load, dig through the menu options, and go through a bunch of steps to perform a singular task. I know, lazy, right? ;)

I know that there probably are a number of free ISO creation tools out there, but the one that I've been using lately is Lucersoft ISO creator.

This utility downloads as an exe, and no install is required. You simply run the file, and LCISOCreator will scan your system for optical media drives. Insert the disc you want to archive, select the appropriate drive, and select 'create iso'. You will be prompted to select an output file location to store the newly created ISO.


Easy as that. Give it a shot and tell me what you think (or if you have any great alternatives!).

How to access ISO files?
See this excellent article by Tim Fehlman over at Daily Cup of Tech.

Alternates:

• ISO Buster
• ISO Recorder
  

Blogger.com now can redirect RSS feeds to Feedburner

I just saw note of this on a couple other blogs yesterday, and even on the blogger.com home page:

"FeedBurner users - we just added a feature for you. Matt's post on the FeedBurner blog explains it more fully, but in short, you can now specify a URL to which Blogger will redirect your feed's traffic. This means you'll no longer have some subscribers getting your Blogger-hosted feed while others get your FeedBurner feed, and your subscriber count should (as a result) be more accurate.To enable this functionality, visit your blog's Settings Site Feed page, and enter your feed's address in the "Post Feed Redirect URL"
field."

So, basically, I had ~131 subscribers that were linked to my Atom RSS feed (the default blogger feed), and had around 76 that were using Feedburner. Once I updated my Blogger redirect to Feedburner yesterday and logged in today, CFJ jumped to 207 readers!

WOW - thanks everyone!

If any of you have a Blogger account, you should do the same right away...!

Also, on a side note, I just created a new header yesterday, tweaked the layout, and cleaned up the CSS (added a couple adsense blocks, diapers aren't cheap!) - I hope you enjoy the slightly modified look and feel.

Tip (Network Admin): Enable Volume Shadow Copy as another layer of backup protection

Restoring files for your users can be a real pain the butt, especially if you are using a tape solution only. Most smaller shops have difficulties with tape restores, as many times they are not labeled properly, or even worse, the restores are never tested, and the tapes go bad without the backup admin even knowing anything...

You know the people..."I just deleted my accounting spreadsheet and I need it back!"

The good news is that you can handle 90% of your day-to-day restore woes from a server share pretty easily without spending a dime (if you have Windows Server 2003).

Server 2003 has included Volume Shadow Services so you can create 'point-in-time' backups of your files. This is an often overlooked feature of Windows Server, so I thought I would post a quick article on it to remind the rest of you busy admins out there that there is help if you need it!

VSS saves delta changes for your shadowed files in the system volume information folder. This information is stored on the drive that is being shadowed (whether it is only a share on that drive or the entire drive), and this can grant you the ability to restore previous revisions of files easily. Depending on the drive space available, you can store many, many previous versions of your files this way.

The nice thing is that your users can take advantage of a VSS-enabled share, merely by right-clicking their home folder (for example), and click on the 'Previous versions' tab. They simply then would double-click the previous version date and copy their files/folders back to the proper location.

One note, however, they will need to uncheck the 'read-only' attribute on whatever they restored.

This can save any IT shop valuable time, as you won't have to juggle a bunch of tapes or wait for your tape library to catalog in order to find out if you have the correct tape or not!

Of course, this doesn't handle the local computer files, so bear that in mind (alluding to my fun cartoon that I found above).

Here is a good resource to review when setting up VSS on your servers: Working with the Windows Server 2003 Volume Shadow Copy Service

Create Flash/AVI tutorials: Camstudio 2.0

Camstudio 2.0
http://www.camstudio.org/
(updated 7/30/07)



Ever wished you could just record your actions on your computer and then make it a part of a tutorial CD or internal training resource for your 'not-too-savvy' users? Do you wish there was a way to replay your finest moments while hacking into a government server? Just kidding - if you are trying to do anything illegal, I'd expect you'd best not record yourself doing it... :)

In any case, I had a few instances at my old job where I needed to create some online tutorials - how to reset a password, how to configure the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software, etc. Sometimes, it is best to show someone rather than typing out very detailed instructions. Lets face it, if your users were anything like mine, then you needed to type out extremely detailed instructions for them...and sometimes, that wasn't enough. *sigh* - but that's not my problem now :)

The what:
Camstudio 2.0 (mind you, not 2.1!) is an excellent freebie program that allows you to record/capture your actions on the screen and export the result into an AVI or SWF (complete with an auto-generated HTML file with the SWF embedded) file, allowing you to post it to your website. The exported SWF is a very respectable compression ratio, and Camstudio allows you to tweak a good amount of parameters to hone your resulting export even more.

The interface:
Camstudio is very innocuous at first, but it is a veritable powerhouse of features. You can set up a region you wish to record in, allowing you to move icons or windows off/out of the recording area. You can also enable an auto-pan feature if you want to skimp on the size of your flash file, but need to get a little more content than what your tiny el-cheapo window can provide.

You can set your audio codec (yes, you can record your voice as well!) and framerate quality.


Hotkeys can be configured manually - they are pretty basic and easy to use.

You can set up screen annotations for those who don't listen too well (I have selective listening, or so I thought I heard). This includes shapes, gradients, and customizable text bubbles/boxes.

Camstudio actually records via a video compression algorithm of your choice and saves to an AVI format, which isn't exactly known for its frugality for disk space...however, this would be why you would want to save to an SWF format...a much much better way of compressing the video to stream to your audience. Your network administrator will thank you for it.

In the shadows...
The crowning achievement of Camstudio is not the recording interface itself, but the Camstudio Producer applet that comes with the installation file. This is the piece that does the work and converts the avi which is recorded to the SWF format (if you choose AVI to save to, the file will be saved after you finish your recording, making it immediately available to view through your media player of choice).

Have you accepted Camstudio as your personal recorder and savior?
Converting your AVI files to Flash couldn't be any easier. The actual conversion takes quite a bit of time, of course depending on a couple factors, obviously things like how long the recording is, your PC speed, memory, etc. will come into play. Other factors will be dependent upon the features you enable/disable in the 'Conversion to Flash' screen shown below.

After your conversion is complete, you will be able to open the newly created Flash file either in your web browser, or another Flash viewing application.

Note:
You could always use the SWF Producer to convert files other than what you've recording with Camstudio, but I've not tried it - - seems to be a cool way to convert some of your older AVIs over to a much more efficient media type.



There is some interesting goings-on with the Camstudio project on Sourceforge...version 2.0 is the actual Open Source version by Rendersoft, a now-defunct company which was purchased by RoboHelp, which was bought by Macromedia, which was...yadda yadda yadda. The original source code is out there, and 2.0 is the actual Open Source version...2.1 is floating around out there, but some features have been stripped out of it, so go for the 2.0, yo -

Read details on the Camstudio page for more info...

This is a most definite must-have for anyone who produces online documentation, or internal training notes...you just can't beat this simple free software. I'm looking forward to the new version by the project lead.

Of course, like most of the applications I review, there is a donate link to help make the project better, please take advantage of it, for the sake of awesome freebies!

Update:
Usually, I like to post to the main support forum for a program/email the author when I write about their software. I got a response from 'Nickethegeek' the project lead for Camstudio, regarding the upcoming 3.0 version last night (talk about a fast response!).

Here's his response:

"Hi Rob

Thanks for the great review ... I'm liking the black Vista theme ... nice!

Don't know if you've seen, but I've also setup a blog for CS here: http://www.camstudio.org/blog which provides a little more information ...

CamStudio V3 is almost done (aiming for a Jan 2007 release date) and yes, it'll still be free and open source with an option to purchase a priority support package to help fund development ...

Keep checking the blog for more info ...

Thanks again for the review

and I look forward to seeing what other goodies you review ...

Best Wishes
Nick :o)"

Thank you Nick! I love it when they write back :)

Alternate:

• Wink (updated 7/11/07)
• Jing (updated 7/30/07)
  

Find broken bookmarks & favorites: AM-Deadlink 3.1

AM Deadlink 3.1
http://www.aignes.com/deadlink.htm

I have a ton of bookmarks that I've collected over the years, and sometimes I just don't have get back around to checking a few of my earlier favorites...then, one day, "404'ed!" (imagine that in the voice of Strong Bad, and it is even funnier to think about). The link is broken, and I had no idea, until months later!

Now I have to go in and delete that link, no problem...but, what about the rest of them?

I found this nifty little tool that will help you identify and clear out invalid bookmarks/URLs from your Firefox or IE Favorites listing.

Likes:

• You can easily backup your IE/Firefox/Opera/Mozilla Bookmarks before you begin your housecleaning
• Interface is intuitive, allowing you to sort by various parameters, like error code, web address, URL, etc.
• You can even open a list of URLs from a TXT or CSV file
• Super low learning curve
  

Dislikes:
I can't honestly think of any dislikes...this is a quality piece of freeware! I guess if I had to pick something, it would be that the 'download favicons' didn't seem to work for me (only shows little apple icons instead of the correct favicons), but this is minor.

Free for commercial & non-commercial use. Check out the forums here.

Support tip: Convert Dell Service Tags to/from Express Service Codes

Here's a quick tip I ran across today...

I needed to convert a express service code to a service tag, and found this little utility:

http://www.creativyst.com/Doc/Articles/HT/Dell/DellPop.htm

Enter your service tag or express service code in the provided fields and press [enter].

Video editing: Windows Movie Maker 2.1

Windows Movie Maker http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx

Ok, now this is a very underrated piece of software...

What's this icon?
Like most of you, I've been using Windows XP since 2002, and have totally ignored the Windows Movie Maker software which came bundled with SP2, thinking that it was just another cheap media file utility that would copy your movies to a DVD or some such thing.

Well, I was wrong - :) I have this tendency to totally ignore stuff that I don't use every day...

Hmm...that's probably a subject for a different blog entirely.

Wait, where was that icon?
Since the birth of our child Kathryn, we have been taking video clips of the various cutesy things that she does, which is just about everything - - - can you tell I am a new parent? In any case, my wife wanted to put some of these short videos on her blog, and I was tasked with finding a way of doing this that was easy enough for the non-geeks.

And so I said to myself, "wasn't there some sort of Microsoft tool that gets installed with Windows XP?"


Lo, there it was.

Yea, there was great rejoicing.


The Microsoft blurb:

Windows Movie Maker 2.1 makes home movies amazingly fun. With Movie Maker 2.1, you can create, edit, and share your home movies right on your computer. Build your movie with a few simple drag-and-drops. Delete bad shots and include only the best scenes. Then share your movie via the Web, e-mail, or CD. Using third-party software you can even take movies you've made and turn them into DVDs. You can also save your movie back to the video tape in your camera to play back on a TV or on the camera itself.

Well, I don't know how 'amazingly' fun it could possibly be, but my wife was having a ball using it...

Essentially, you can use Windows Movie Maker (WMM) to piece together (or split) captured or imported audio, pictures, and video. For instance, you can save videos from the Internet and splice them together to make your own "frankenvideo". Then, upload your creation to the 'Net to share with your friends and family.

You can also add transition effects, titles and captions, and audio tracks to your video project. It is actually quite easy, even for the uninitiated.

The real bonus is that you can select what type of video output you would like to save the file with, allowing you to make the most out of your viewers' bandwidth (or falling within a web hosting provider's limitations). For example, you can save a video suited for Pocket PC viewing, or for broadband...as you select different output formats, WMM will tell you about how big each video will be per minute. Handy.


Importing videos?
You can import a surprising (although incomplete) number of popular video formats. Of course, you could convert a non-supported video with another tool such as Super or Mediaconverter SA... Import formats supported are avi, mpg, m1v, mp2, mp2v, mpeg, mpe, mpv2, wm, wmv, and asf.

Capturing video (Digital Video Camera, web-camera, etc.)? If you are capturing video from a DV Camera, you will be brought to a window that will ask you what video source you want to use, and then to another screen that will ask you to record the video stream. This isn't unlike having a VCR set on 'Pause'+'Record' during re-runs of 'Manimal' and waiting for the commercial to be over before you hit pause again to resume recording...I can't believe I just busted out a 'Manimal' reference. Awesome.

Once you have selected or captured your video(s), you will be brought to a timeline window (a staple of video editing software), allowing you to arrange and split or trim your video/audio sources.


Subtitles!
WMM gives you the option of inserting captions and titles to your videos. You can select from a number of title/caption formats, so you aren't limited to just a string of text on the screen during the whole video. Transition effects apply here as well.

Likes:

• Easy to use
• Quick
• Many output video compression algorithms available
• Left pane features links to common tasks
  

Dislikes:

• No support for Quicktime .mov files
• No ability for add-on filters/transitions, etc.
  

Summary:
So, WMM is an excellent freebie for anyone who wants to put together quick videos for relatives, or perhaps underground journalists. You know, if you coupled this with something like CamStudio, you could have a killer tutorial/demo creation tool that would be great for educators.

See below for a sample video I shot at home - no, I know I won't win any Oscars, and I know it is dark, but it's an example, so don't make fun :). The music was done by me, however, so feel free to comment on that.

Also note that I'm using a draft feature of Blogger.com - if you want to upload videos into your Blogger.com account - goto http://draft.blogger.com and use the site as you normally would with blogger.com.

Alternates
Still looking...

Sell that old laptop: Install Linux!

Well, I have a few old laptops sitting around (sadly it seems that 1/3 are in working order!), and I have decided to try and sell them to make a little cash (for our 'buy on a whim' from Ebay stash).

2 are IBM Thinkpad 570's - 366Mhz (yikes!), one working just fine, the other has a big hole on the corner of the lower bezel where it must have taken a fall on someone's floor at one time.

The other is an IBM Thinkpad 390x, which also is a 366Mhz laptop, but it is a *rock* (not "solid as a rock", but "useful and as heavy as a rock"). Since it isn't booting up, I think I may just part out the display and trash the rest of it.

Now, for the working 570 laptop. I really don't want to sell a laptop with Windows 98 installed, which is what this unit originally came with, because...well, it is 2007. And running a 9 year old operating system probably won't get me a lot of views on the ol' auction site. I want to modernize this thing a little bit, making it appealing to a student.

So I've made the decision for Linux on this poor little laptop (but man it is SLIM, even by today's standards). Then comes the real decision:

What distribution should I use?
I installed Ubuntu 7.04, thinking that it would be adequate, but I'm discovering that it is a bit too much for a 366Mhz with 384Mb of RAM. Booting up took awhile (even after installing the OS from the Live CD to the drive), and it seems that OpenOffice really liked to crash when I started typing up a test document.

So, my requirements:

• It must be easy to use, I'm thinking of my potential buyers here - the more like Windows (I know), the better.
• Something that comes with an install of OpenOffice or the like.
  
• It must be able to easily pick up new drives & devices that are plugged into the laptop - something with the least amount of fiddling around with downloading packages if possible.
• The distribution must be relatively snappy on a 366Mhz unit for obvious reasons.
• The Window manager(? - sorry, I'm not totally sure if this is what I mean), must have a cool, but non-performance burdening feel.

I ran across a few contenders:

• XUbuntu
• Puppy Linux
• Debian

But, what I don't know is if these fall into my requirements above. I don't have a very good understanding of Linux, so any help is appreciated here. What do you think?

Newsgroup Reader, RSS Aggregator, Annotator, Tagging (update): Omea Pro

This won't be a review, but more of a "psst, hey, check it out" kinda post...

A little while back, I reviewed Omea Reader, and I gave it rave reviews.

To summarize Omea's purpose, it allows you to gather various resources, such as RSS feeds, newsgroup posts, emails, documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, and other files into a centralized console. I find that it is an excellent tool especially for (but not limited to!) bloggers, researchers/students, or journalists.

Just yesterday, I headed out to JetBeans' website, and discovered that the Pro version has been free since December of '06!

Shame on me for my lack of observation skills.

So, for those of you who are using Omea Reader, go out and get the pro version! I promise you will not be disappointed (well, unless you were disappointed with the Omea Reader for some reason). You will need a license key, but after you download the software, you will be presented with an online form that will allow you to generate one - it couldn't be easier...no strings attached.

Omea pro includes integration into your mail client, in addition to automatic podcast enclosure downloads (audio/video files, for example). I'm now using this to download podcasts and audiobooks to my Zune.

A quick blurb from the website:

Bring all your information together That means your email, contacts, documents, files, blogs, transcripts, newsgroups, RSS feeds, pics, webpage bookmarks, tasks, and instant messages are all in the same place, so you don’t need to look through a slew of programs and applications anymore. Learn more »

Quickly find specific details, quotes, and facts with Desktop Search functionality.

See this page to compare features between Omea Reader and Pro versions.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use, community support is available via newsgroups.

Article: Free alternatives to un-licensed software in the corporate environment

Like the famous goateed Spock in Star Trek's negative-dimension universe, alternatives can be a good or bad thing... (I know that was a stretch, but I loved the idea of Spock with facial hair).

When companies get audited (for software, hardware, security, etc.), they typically will be asked to provide documentation for proper licensing for installed software. If they don't have it, said company will be 'dinged' by the auditors if they are lucky. If the company is especially unlucky, they could be sued for software piracy.

A few weeks back, I wrote a review of IZarc, an excellent freebie ZIP utility that is as good as WinZIP in many regards (in some cases, better!), and talked about using it as a replacement for WinZIP - - surprise, surprise...

On a related and timely note, I have been tasked with uninstalling un-licensed WinZIP from our corporate workstations and replacing it with IZArc.

Like my company, many organizations have installed WinZIP on their corporate images because up until version 10, WinZIP never stopped working after the initial 45-day trial period was up. Granted, an annoying nag-screen would appear, but otherwise, you could easily use WinZIP FAR beyond the eval period with full functionality, even though you were blatantly opposing the license agreement. Many still to this day are using it, believing it is freeware (it never was).

This got me wondering - what would be the proper thought process behind replacing a non-licensed application with a freeware alternative? Here are some points I pondered if you decide to utilize freeware or open-source applications in the corporate environment.

Please comment and let me know your thoughts, as I know this is a topic that many IT shops face.

Support and maintenance

If you have a problem with the new freebie, how will you resolve the issue? Say we have a mission-critical processes running that require the program to run 100% 24x7, then do you want to use a free application for this purpose? If something is free, then most likely the freeware software publisher doesn't have a budget for a technical support hotline.

How are you using the un-licensed software currently?

Do your users require certain features that go beyond the basic usage of the program?

Picking the candidate

Taking into account the aforementioned needed/currently used features, you will need to find an adequate replacement. If you do have a few users that absolutely need a certain feature, but you can't find a suitable replacement that fulfills those needs, you may fare better by purchasing a license (of the previously un-licensed package) for those exceptions and go freebie with the rest of the users. This of course, will generate slightly higher support costs due to two application installs, but lower cost in the front-end.

A good list of paid applications vs. their freeware counterparts is Open Source Alternatives.

License agreement

Reviewing the license agreement for the freeware application we will be replacing the non-compliant software with may seem like a boring task (and it is), but you need to make sure you can utilize the software for your organization's use (many software publishers make exceptions regarding non-profit/charitable/educational institutions) without any legal repercussions.

Training your users

You may/will want to write up appropriate documentation and learning materials that go over frequently used features of the old software, and then make a matrix comparing those features with the new software. Perhaps you could schedule some training or create online flash/PowerPoint presentations for user-initiated learning sessions.

Piloting the new software

You may want to install your new software to a few heavy users (and your "squeaky wheels") as a pilot to see how your users are handling the new application. Also, this serves to find any initial troubles you need to handle before going full-out to the rest of the network.

Application roll-out and removal of un-licensed software

You will want to research the non-licensed software and determine if there is a way to quickly & silently (preferably) automate the uninstallation process. Do the same research for the freebie replacement. As an example, IZArc does have a silent setup routine of 'izarcsetup.exe /sp /verysilent'.

There are a number of websites that can help you find scripts and compiled MSI resources to assist with this phase.

• AppDeploy.com
• Desktop Engineer
• MyITForum

If you are not a network tech or do not have access to your network servers to deploy the application, buy a pint for your local admin, because he will need to become your best friend!

Again, if you have any comments, please leave them - I hope to make this a quick resource for anyone who wishes to look for alternatives to non-licensed software.