Category: Technology

A List of My Software

May 13, 2011 / / 0 Comments

A List of My Software

I was thinking it might be helpful for you to see a list of all of the software I use and the what and why of it. So here goes:

  1. 7-Zip 9.20 (x64 edition) – the most efficient compression software there is.
  2. Acronis Plus Pack for Acronis True Image Home 2011 – the Plus Pack allows me to restore an Acronis image to different hardware. Very cool. I can image my machine and then restore it to a VM and have everything work.
  3. Acronis True Image Home 2011 – I use this to make disk image backups so I can restore my boot disk when it fails.
  4. Adobe Acrobat X Pro – This is part of Adobe Master Collection CS5.5 – I use it all the time.
  5. Adobe PDF iFilter 9 for 64-bit platforms – Important to install this if you want Windows to be able to index PDF files.
  6. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.4 64-bit – I use this to manage thousands of images.
  7. Adobe Premiere Elements 9 – I use this to do simple video editing.
  8. Adobe Reader X (10.0.1)
  9. Airfoil – This allows me to use my Apple AirPort Express from any application, not just iTunes.
  10. BackupOutlook – This is the way to completely backup you Outlook mail and settings.
  11. Bonjour – A necessary evil when working in an Apple or iTunes world.
  12. Carbonite – My choice for online backup. It works and works well.
  13. CCleaner – I use this to clean up my system.
  14. CDBurnerXP – I use this for almost all my disc burning needs. In fact when I setup a computer for a friend I remove whatever it comes with and install CDBurnerXP.
  15. CodeWallet Pro 2006 Desktop Companion – This is an old program but I use it to store all of my product serial numbers and other important data tidbits. I need to migrate all this data to RoboForm (see below)
  16. CutePDF Writer – Although I have the full Adobe suite I sometime find it helpful to have this installed. This allows you to print documents to a PDF file.
  17. Directory Report – Have you ever wanted to have a document listing what is on disk? This tool solves that problem. Most of the time running DIR /B list.txt from the command prompt is sufficient, but when it is not I use Directory Report.
  18. Diskeeper 2011 – I have been using this lately to make sure my disk don’t get fragmented. I still need to get a clearer understanding of how it is helping me.
  19. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 – Voice control and dictation, I really want to use this but still have not gotten it woven into my daily work.
  20. Dropbox – I use this to share files with certain users. It has issues but it easy for normal (non-techie) people to use.
  21. DxO Optics Pro 6 – I use this to work with photos and remove all optical distortions, it is an amazing program.
  22. Everything – Windows tries to do a good job at indexing but sometimes does too much. Everything indexes just the file names and is super-fast.
  23. EXIFutils for Windows – This is a set of command line utilities for modifying EXIF data in image files.
  24. FastPictureViewer Codec Pack 3.0 – I finally found this about a year ago, now I can view thumbnails for all the image files I happen to come across.
  25. Fences Pro – This is something Windows should have built in. It allows you to create fences to your desktop and then you can put icons in the fence. You can then hide or move the fence. It is nice as I like things organized. There is a free version so give it try to help tidy up your desktop.
  26. FileHippo Update Checker – This helps me keep my applications up to date.
  27. FileZilla Client – This is my preferred FTP client.
  28. FlipShare – This is installed by the Flip video camera and allows you to download and share Flip video.
  29. FontExpert 2010 – I use this to manage my fonts as well as browse them and install them. It helps if you have a lot of fonts.
  30. Gemminco FolderInfo – I use this find out what is taking up all the space on my disk. This allows you scan a disk or folder and gives you its size in a nice navigable report.
  31. Google Chrome – Another browser
  32. IrfanView – One day I got tired of Windows taking too long to preview an image so I installed IrfanView and have never looked back. Super-fast!
  33. iTunes – I really only use this to backup my iPhone and iPad. I really don’t like it.
  34. K-Lite Codec Pack 7.0.0 (Full) – There are so many codec out there and so many downloads that claim to be the right one to download. Don’t do it! I finally spent the time and K-Lite is the one to download.
  35. Logos Bible Software 4 – I use this to access bible study and other theological books. Especially useful because it allows you to cut and paste sections from the books you own so you can use them.
  36. MagicDisc
  37. MagicISO Maker
  38. MalwareBytes Anti-Malware
  39. MediaMonkey – I use this to manage all my music. This is the best music manager and player there is. It has the most amazing organization and renaming features – Absolutely awesome.
  40. Microsoft Expression Web 4 – I use this and Dreamweaver for HTML editing. It works very well.
  41. Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 – Word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and database programs.
  42. Microsoft Office Visio 2010 – I use this to do technical diagrams, an awesome program.
  43. Microsoft Security Essentials – This is all the virus protection I need – no need to use anything else.
  44. Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional – Microsoft’s development platform.
  45. Notepad++ – A good fast programmers and general editor.
  46. Nuance OmniPage 17 – I use this when the OCR built into Acrobat is not enough for the task.
  47. NuSphere PhpED – A great PHP development environment with debugging!
  48. ObjectDock Plus – An application launch dock. I use this at the top of my center monitor (I use three monitors) and it gives me quick access to everything I use frequently. A must have in my opinion.
  49. Opera 11 – Another browser
  50. PNGGauntlet – This allows me to create the smallest PNG files possible. Very useful when you are trying to make the fastest web site possible.
  51. Proshow Producer – The best tool for professional slide shows. You can also check out its younger brother ProShow Plus.
  52. Reasonable NoClone 2011 Enterprise – A very good duplicate file finder. The enterprise version works on network drives as well. The UI could be better but it is good enough.
  53. Recuva – File recovery software that works very well.
  54. Registry Mechanic 10 – Registry maintenance and general system utility.
  55. Replay Converter 4 – Easily convert media files between formats.
  56. Replay Media Catcher 4 – When I need to capture video from a web site I use Replay Media Catcher.
  57. RoboForm – My choice for saving passwords and forms and credit cards and the like for use in the browser. I use the everywhere version which automatically syncs all of my computers, my laptop, my iPad and my iPhone. It has great encryption and is a must have!
  58. Safari – One of the many browsers I have installed to test with.
  59. Secuina PSI – Another must have! Secunia lets you know if any of your installed software has security issues and directs you to the update. Simply great, install it now and update your system!
  60. SimplyFile – This works with Microsoft Outlook and makes it easy to file messages. A single click puts the message in the correct folder. It learns as you decide how message should be filed.
  61. Skype 5.3 – Instant messaging and voice calls to other computers. I use this with Trillian.
  62. Snagit 10.0.1 – I use this for all my screen capture and annotations.
  63. Speccy – A nice simple system benchmarking software.
  64. TeamViewer 6 – I used this as a free user for a long time and finally decided to purchase. It is so nice having the ability to quickly connect to a remote users machine. It works with both Mac and PC too!
  65. TeraCopy Pro – This is an accelerated copy utility. I have it setup so I can use the Windows copy routine or optionally use TeraCopy. It works great and I use it quite a bit.
  66. Tiles – This utility adds a docked panel to side of the desktop that shows you thumbnails of each running application. I have not gotten used to using it yet but I think it will be helpful as I get used to it.
  67. TortoiseSVN 1.6.15.21042 (64 bit) – This is used for managing versions during development.
  68. Total Uninstall 5 – I use this to remove every last trace of an application. It is the best uninstaller out there.
  69. Trillian – My choice for instant messenger. Trillian supports all major IM services; I have it running multiple MSN, AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo and ICQ account. I also use it with Skype, Twitter and Facebook too. There is a great free version and a version for iPhone too.
  70. UltraCompare v8.10 – When I need to compare one file to another I use UltraCompare.
  71. UltraEdit – A fast editor that can edit large files.
  72. UltraMon – I have three monitors. UltraMon offers some nice enhancements to allow you to move apps between monitors. Right now, I actually have it turned off.
  73. VanDyke Software SecureCRT and SecureFX 6.6 – The best SSH client there is. I especially like it because it allows me to save my username and password!
  74. ViceVersa Pro 2.5 – An industrial strength batch copy program. You setup profiles of what to do, for example copy K:Video to M:Video and synchronize the directories. Extremely flexible and reliable.
  75. Virtual Account Numbers – This works with one of my credit cards to generate virtual credit card numbers on the fly for use for web purchases.
  76. VLC Media Player – This is the media player that plays everything, it is just that simple.
  77. VMware Workstation – I do quite a bit with virtual machines and VMware Workstation is my choice.
  78. VS.NETcodePrint 2010 – A nice utility to print .net source code.
  79. Windows Live Essentials – Don’t install this unless you really need it. Or at least selectively install only what you want or need. For example Windows Live Photo Gallery installs a Microsoft SQL server, which isn’t bad if you use the Photo Gallery. But some people just install stuff and never really use it. So if you have installed it and don’t use it, uninstall it. You will get some performance back.
  80. Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant – This is one part of Windows Live Essentials that I find really helpful. Over the years I have accumulated quite a few MSN and Live ID’s, this helps you out by making it easier to login to different services with different ID’s at the same time.
  81. Windows Live Mesh – This is another part of Windows Live Essentials that is helpful. It allows you to sync folders between machines, just like Dropbox, but it’s free and has no size limits. Plus you can also remotely control a machine you have Mesh installed on.
  82. Windows Live Movie Maker – Because I do lots of video work I have this on here so I can open these files.
  83. WinRAR – The longtime leader for file and folder compression.
  84. WinSCP – A nice SCP client and free too.
  85. Winsome File Renamer 7.1 – This is my primary tool for renaming bunches of files. It has a simple useful interface. Highly recommended.
  86. Xenu’s Link Sleuth – So you have a web site and need to know if you have any broken links, this is how you find out. Very nice.

Data Recovery

October 13, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Data Recovery

Oh my gosh, my files are gone! Have you ever had that sinking feeling? Are you having it right now? Stop, turn off your computer, wait, not until you read this, but then you can turn off your computer.

The secret: when you delete a file or a lot of files on your hard disk you are not actually deleting them, what? You only delete the index entry to that file. Think about it this way, you have a large group of post-office boxes each one storing a letter in each one. So the word apple, would have one letter in each box. There is a directory on the disk which points to which boxes hold the word apple. Now, being efficient (lazy) computer people, when we delete the word apple all your computer does is delete the directory entry. If we go look in the boxes we can still see a p p l e. So all this is to say is that when you delete data it really is not deleted. But the boxes they were stored in are marked available. So here is the rub, if you delete something and then save something new, there is a high chance that you might overwrite that old data with the new data. Now your data is gone! So turn off your computer, really.

If you know what you are doing you can buy any number of software packages that will help recover the data. The problem is that if you install it after you have deleted the files you run the risk of clobbering your old data. What I do, and can do for you, is remove the drive from the computer and make a full image of the drive, that is a bit by bit copy of both the used and unused areas of the drive for safety. I then run some of the best (and expensive) recovery software available to search your hard disk for deleted data, once I find it I recover it to a different disk. Walla. Your data is back. Whew.

Each data recovery job is unique and I will look at the situation as quickly as possible and get you an estimate, I only charge $25 for the estimate. Typical recovery ends up costing about $100 to $200. I also offer rush service.

A little more detail, hard disks store data as magnetic charges, positive and negative charges on a spinning disk, sort of like an old fashioned record album. This disk spins very fast, typically 7,200 rpm. So if you think about bumping an old record player would scratch your album and put a skip in it forever. The same can happen with hard disks but instead of a skip your data is destroyed. Now this presents a problem. You data, or part of your data is damaged. But most times we can recover the rest of the file.

So for example, we may not be able to get your whole dissertation back but we can get the most of it back. Also, from time to time, drives actually stop working, either they stop spinning or they start clicking, this is, honestly, bad. There are a few tricks I can try to get the drive to work just long enough to try to get the data back. When all this fails, I work with special labs which can actually take the disk apart and install the platters (the album) in a new chassis. This can end up being very expensive. So in the case of physical recovery, we offer a service which will give you a list of what we can get back, before you commit to paying for it.

Back Ups – The Solution to Losing Your Data

I have a good friend who is a professional photographer and he attended a lecture I gave at a local camera club about data backup and safety.

For starters, remember that every hard disk will fail, it is just a matter of time. One of the things I mentioned is that you should consider having an external hard disk as a backup. So he heard that and eventually went out and bought an external drive, good. Once he got it home, he let it sit around for a couple weeks and then finally decided to connect it. Woohoo. So after he connected it he decided he would put all of his photographs on the new disk so he could have them all in one place. Maybe you can guess what he did wrong? He moved his files, notice I said moved, to the new disk, they were no longer on his computers hard disk. Now what did I say? I said use it as a backup or COPY. I can’t tell you the number of people who make this mistake. You need to have, at least, two copies of your files. So when one gets deleted or its drive dies you still have the other copy!

So what happened to my friend, well his brand new drive, only a couple of months old, stopped working, hmm, he brought it over and it was bad, really bad, it was not spinning, nothing at all. We had to send it to a lab that, after a lot of work, was able to get the data back. Well almost, the lab sent us a list of the files it could recover, a huge text file listing all of them and their sizes. He was so relieved; he reviewed the list and gave the go ahead for the recovery. Oh, no, we get the data back and he opens it up and there are only 6,000 files, wait a minute, what’s going on? He opened the list they had sent earlier and realizes that they got back everything they said they could. In his exuberance he did not look at the list enough to realize that there was not the 50,000 files he expected. He was sick, we talked to the lab and they said that truly that was all that was recoverable. He ended up sad that he lost 44,000 files but grateful that he got 6,000 of them back, and all for only $2,000. So the moral of the story here is just do backup right from the beginning and you will sleep better.

DNS mindshare

July 30, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I have been thinking about how much people are thinking about DNS and I came across the Google Zeitgeist project (http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist/index.html). Basically this is an interface to understand what people are using the Google search engine for. Specifically, I was poking around Insights for Search and queried a few terms related to DNS. The information is fascinating. The most interesting part I noticed is the number of searches and the countries they are coming from. Again, I find this stuff fascinating. We beat the drum each day for DNS and most people never give it a thought, much as it should be, but if you are reading this you probably have a bit more interest. DNS searches have actually decreased over the past few years. Maybe people are more educated? Less concerned? However, DNS attacks are on the rise that is certain.

In our last TechTalk event we had a great number of participants and fielded a lot of questions. There was some good discussion about DNSSEC implementation. Based on what we discussed – you should plan to have your DNSSEC implementations done by the end of 2011, at the latest. Also there were lots of questions about reverse DNS. Reverse DNS is just like DNS but specifically for the IP addresses, for example when you want to know what an IP address points to you would do a reverse DNS query.

The questions were focused on how admins setup a reverse DNS. Reverse DNS is typically maintained by the organization who “owns” the IP address(s) or block. In their DNS server they create records for each of their IP address that point to hostnames. Many times those host names will be generic, which is fine. For certain things, especially email, having the hostname come back as generic can create a problem. For example, when you email server attempts to send a message to another server (the receiving server), nine times out of ten, the receiving server will do a reverse DNS lookup on the IP address of the sending server, if the hostname returned is not related to your email zone or if there is no reverse DNS record the receiving server may reject the message. Some email servers can get particularly persnickety about this.

So make sure your reverse DNS ducks are in a row. One of the easiest ways to verify all of your DNS settings is to run a DNSreport at DNSstuff.com. You first need to get a free 21-day trial account to have access to all tools.

Secunia PSI 1.5 is out…

June 23, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Download it now: http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/ Secuina PSI is a great Windows application to give you visibility into what security threats are sitting on your computer. There are so many pieces and parts of software that can be easily compromised… how do you keep up with all the updates? Use Secuina PSI. It is free for personal use and I don’t compute without it. Not only does it show you what has an issue but gives direct links on how to fix it. Cool.

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