Be your own data recovery specialist!

"Error: Boot sector not found." Nooooo! Your hard drive wont boot and there is so much data on there you need! (Shame on you for not backing up, but thats another post ;) Before you throw that tower out of the window, take a look at a great piece of software. Its called PC Inspector. So how does it work? Well after you purchase a new hard drive and installed everything on it, you can attach your crashed hard drive to the ribbon cable as a slave drive. Your BIOS must recognize it as a hard drive, but Windows doesn't have to. When you run PC Inspector it sees that crashed hard drive even if it wont boot! This way you can look at the files on the crashed hard drive and actually save them to the good hard drive. This program will also recover deleted data and even data from the drive after its been formatted! This is a German shareware program that is proven itself extremely useful on many occasions and is quite easy to use. 

Link: PC Inspector

An OS that runs in your browser...

EyeOS is a interesting new concept of providing a user with a remote desktop experiance and allowing them to use that desktop anywhere there is a browser. With EyeOS we can upload and download files to the online OS. This offers a handy way place documents and files online for retrieval elsewhere at a later date. The "OS" is free after a quick registration and you can log on using almost any browser. It has a look and feel that is familiar to Windows so you should be too lost. There are many apps that come "pre-installed", but you can upload code to tweak and add more functionality. Look for later posts by me on this.  EyeOS is Open Source, so anyone can customize it! As active server pages and online applications become ever more popular, EyeOS is leading the front in using the web to centralize access to our data and make it easier to get things done anywhere. Being that this is a OS that can run in a browser, you smartphone users can access you EyeOS through your phones browser! This doesnt require a download to run. So give it a shot: http://eyeos.org/en/

Puppy Linux

When you hear the word "puppy" you think of small and cute. Well that basically describes a Linux distro that is less then 100 megs. Ok,  maybe its not cute, but its small and that is what makes it so useful. This little OS can fit on a flash drive and is bootable from a flash drive or CD. The small OS can either be installed on the hard drive or it can run right from the flash drive. The graphics mode can be set to run on basic, so it can run on older computers. This is a good OS to put on a kid's computer that might be older and having problems running later versions of Windows. 

Give it a try:http://www.puppylinux.com/ 

Browsing the browsers....

Internet Explorer 5, 6, 7, and now a rumored 8. Safari, Firefox, Opera and Avant.. So many choices, but which one will work the best for you? Internet Explorer 7 has a lot of great features that Opera, Firefox and Opera already had like the multiple tabbed sites in one window. The layout, once you get used to it makes more sense and lets you enjoy more on the screen by eliminating large toolbars. As a standard, IE7 works well for most everyone, but is it the best? Firefox comes in second in features and customization. Firefox allows you to easily add in plug ins and extensions that makes your net experience that much better. Firefox even allows you to customize the look and feel with theme add-ons. This browser has faster load times for sites and better download management then IE7. Safari is now available for Windows users. Once only available on the Mac systems, Safari brings to the table even faster page loads and its simple and dependable interface gets users where they want to go fast and with not a lot of frills. So what about Avant and Opera? These are always great alternatives to Firefox and Safari. Page loads and the interface of these two browsers seem to leave something to be desired, but it is all a matter of taste and preference. If you haven't already, try another browser out besides IE, you might be pleasantly surprised. As for IE, he's not going anywhere anytime soon....

Office Live

Its time to check out another neat piece of software brought to you by our friends Redmond. Microsoft has released Office Live. This is a service to allow you to create a web site and design it yourself with minimal HTML code or site design knowledge. Microsoft makes it easy to have a great looking, well presented professional site. When you create a account you name your domain. That takes about 24 hours to be accepted by ICANN. After that you can have your email address with the same domain name...ie. jondoe@computertown.com. This is all free. In designing the site you can upload images, HTML code and much more with the touch of a button. If you want to market your site you can purchase advertising and more for a small fee. Try it out: http://officelive.com/.

Check out Office Live Workspace. Its beta right now and you can only sign up for a alert when its ready to be released. This is alot like Google Docs on steroids. Online collaboration and file sharing becomes even more popular and easier to use with Workspace being able to integrate Hotmail.

Ubuntu 7.10 gets Gutsy!

Well its official. The latest Ubuntu distro, 7.10, is now out and ready to download. As a user of the last 3 distros, I would have to say this is the best ever. There are a few things that really stand out for me in this latest version. There is much better wireless support with this distro, including all you Dell Broadcom users. Yea! The drivers for graphics cards are much more intellegent then the previous version, most cards are detected upon download and are usable right away. Ever heard of Beryl Emerald or Compiz? If you have you know how many hours of coding it can take to get that eye candy working right. Not anymore. Ubuntu 7.10 comes with Compiz Fusion, much easier to use and infact, more robust. I barley had to code anything to get it to work. The only thing I recommend is that you have XGL graphics enabled and running. Compiz will not work if you do not.

Whats the buzz about with Compiz? Check out the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvnQE1EAEZY
This version overall is going to give Vista a run for its money. Visually it kicks Vista's ass and its much more user friendly upon install and use. If you were thinking about trying Linux before but where intimated or nervous, give Ubunutu 7.10 Gusty Gibbon a try. I think youll be pleasantly surprised.

Wanna try it out? Order the Free CD or Download it here:
http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.10/

Visual Basic 2008 Beta!

Get your code on because Visual Studio Beta 2008 is now available. This is a new and improved version over the previous Visual Basic 2005. Download your copy VB 2008 Pro Beta here:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/default.aspx

Warning! This is a very large download at 3.2 gigs. If your curious as to the new features and want to see the program in action on a smaller scale, try the Express Edition below:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/future/bb421473.aspx

Enjoy!

(Will be posting more info as time goes on)

Log Me In!!!

We have heard of them all...GoToMeeting.com, Remote Desktop Assistance, NetMeeting and more. These programs allow us to remotely access another persons computer for what ever reason, primarily for a troubleshooting issue. I like that ability, but I just wish there was something out there that let me access my laptops and PC's without having to VPN or go through some expensive Citrix server service. WAIT! There is!! Its called Log Me In and it does just that. You can install a small program on your PC after you create a free account and then you add the computer you wish to access remotely and your good to go. Its very easy, secure and best of all, free! Now here comes the best part. Log Me In even allows you to grab info off the remote computer and transfer it to the one your using! There are many more options and they are all included when you sign up. This is a very handy tool to have in the belt and they have done a wonderful job of making it easy to access and use your computers remotely.
Give it a try. Click here: https://secure.logmein.com/home.asp?lang=en

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Tip #5 Customized Homepages

I have been searching forever for a homepage worthy enough to be my first sight upon going online. My efforts had proven fruitless as I tried so many options. First, I thought I'd try the generic Yahoo and MSN type home pages and set them as my own. The customizing options were limited, but the advertisements on the pages seemed limitless. So after looking around I stumbled on the iGoogle homepage. Well, those of us who use gmail and Google search engines might love this, except me of course. It still wasn't as customizable as I wanted and they required I sign into my gmail account to use it. Well thats not cool because the more you surf the net signed into your gmail account the greater chance you have of spam from site tracking (the price of "free" email). So recently I found a bunch of great fully customizable home pages, add free and many options. My recommended one is Netvibes. This is a great custom homepage with tons of feed, widgets and content options and the most flexible ability to fully customize the look of the site just with drag-and-drop . You can easily import your email account to get real time updates to new mail and many other useful feeds. Netvibes was created in France and you might need to change it to English upon set up, but other then that, kudos to a great homepage to the fellows across the pond.

Tip #4 So you want to try the penguin? Ubuntu

Ok, so you rebuild your own engine in your car, re-shingled the roof all by yourself and even at one point performed brain surgery. So now you want to step it up and try to install and use Linux. Well, Im obviously exaggerating a bit there, but most people see Linux as a challenge and reserved for only those of us that are the geeks of geeks. Thanks to the Ubuntu distribution of Linux we now can all enjoy Linux and not throw our laptops out the window in complete frustration. Ubuntu was released to be more user friendly then any previous Linux distributions before. Some of the most common distros at this time are 6.06 Dapper Drake, 6.10 Edgy Eft, and the new 7.10 Fiesty Fox.
I was skeptical when I first installed it and actually had to do it a few times before I got it right. Its best to read how to do it thoroughly first. The CD they give you is a live CD, so it runs the OS without actually being installed. I finally did do it awhile ago and even installed Beryl Emerald and I love it. I tried installing all 3 distributions mentioned above and have to most luck with the Edgy Eft version being compatible. Here is a video on the install http://www.metacafe.com/watch/334327/easy_linux_install_ubuntu_6_10/

The Ubuntu CD's are free and can be ordered from http://www.ubuntu.com/

Tip #3 Now you see it, now you dont. Wireless Internet

Many people ask me, "How can I better protect my home or small business network that is wireless." By default, most people take the correct actions to protect themselves...ok, well most. There is one thing though that many people over look and can greatly increase their wireless security. It the simple step of hiding your wireless ID signal. The term for this is making your router not broadcast the SSID signal. The SSID is the identifier in the wireless signal that tells a wireless device whether it is there or not. By turning that signal off your router continues to broadcast the wireless internet and network without the identifier. This is a option that can be changed in your router usually by typing 192.168.1.1 in your browser address bar, typing the "admin" password and then finding the setting, "Disable Broadcast SSID". See your manufacture site for exact instructions.

This wont make your network invulnerable by any means, but it is a important step many people over look when they set up their network.

Tip #2 Online Collaboration Software

So you have a group project and you want a place to meet digitally and see each others work or edit a document. Well there are 3 great places to look into for online meeting and project collaboration for work or school.

Google Docs has been around for a while is a quick and easy way for a group edit a document or compile a research paper or even just post notes and links. Google Docs does offer some basic text format tools in the workspace and the ability to place hyper links. The Docs is a very easy way to post and edit a group project and with a Gmail account, members can see if others are on and currently using the Google Docs. Google Docs does require a Gmail account.

Zoho.com has a wiki that is free online with a Zoho account. This allows the group to have a mini "webpage" that they can edit and post documents and collaborate on. Although it is not as easy as Google Docs to use (type and go factor), it does provide a very neat and clean alternative to the Docs that is makes a project workspace a little more organized.

Pbwiki.com is another wiki that is free and allows a group to put a "site" together and keep each other updated and post files and links to the site. There is a little more code involved in this one, but pbwiki.com is a great place to get a simple quick site up and going for your group to meet at and collaborate.

Tip #1 Free Open Source Office Applications

Its great that finally we are given the opportunity to be able to use free apps that give us many of the same features of Microsoft Office, but for free. In this post I will mentiontwo increasingly popular options for the user who wants a Office like app, but pay no money.

First up is my favorite ,Open Office.org.
http://download.openoffice.org/index.html

I was introduced to this a few years ago and find myself using it more then any other office suite. I suppose the first reason is that it is free. The download is about 100 megs and they do have updates and they are continually improving the app. Included in the Open Office Suite are many of the same programs you might find in a Microsoft Office suite. The interface is simple to get, no fancy bells and whistles, but all the important tools and options you need to create great documents, spreadsheets, presentations and even databases.

Next up is the online, Zoho site.
http://www.zoho.com/

This is a exciting pioneer in the world of online ASP's (active server pages) and allows you to be able to use a word program, spreadsheet program, presentation program and much more. They even offer a few more apps then Open Office including a note taker, project management. The only draw back is that the time it takes to open the different on line apps at Zoho can be a little lengthy sometimes. This is due to quite a large live editing program running solely on the net. Besides the little wait time, its well worth a look at.

Thanks for Visiting

Well be adding new content shortly!

Tim