What’s This All About?

CatGrab is a handy program to download your photos and videos from a USB connected camera or from a Flashcard reader. CatGrab automatically renames your files and places them in separate folders for photos and videos on your desktop. This review is for the “small” or Freeware edition which has restricted options and a “nag” screen, however for a simple and quick method of downloading it is quite acceptable. Personally I use Picasa which is also free and provides more options.

Why Would You Want It?

Most cameras come with some proprietary software which will do the job of getting photos/videos from the camera to your PC. If you have more than 1 camera you may need to load more than one program and there may also be conflicts. CatGrab provides a simple and quick solution to this. It also separates photos from videos and provides renaming based on the date the photos were taken. Also it will not download duplicates.

(Note - Static addresses can be assigned if required. This is relatively easy for LAN addresses but will probably involve additional costs with an ISP for your WAN)

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Downloads photos and videos to a PC/Laptop
• Renames files based on original date and time
• Separates Photos from Videos

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware (small version)

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or Several Good Reasons for Using Portable Firefox

What is This all About?

Making it easy to use Firefox with different settings for different users and/or different purposes as well as being able to quickly and easily create Firefox backups.

A standard installation of Firefox keeps the programs and data (your profile with all the settings, cookies, cache, etc) in separate areas of your hard drive. Normally (unless you have specified a different location at installation or in your OS Setup) Firefox programs will be installed under C:/Program Files/Mozilla Firefox/ and the data will be stored under your Microsoft “Documents and Settings” area with a path like - C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\.

With a Firefox Portable installation you can have all your Firefox programs and data under a set of folders such as:

• C:\Firefox_Main
• C:\Firefox_Small
• C:\Firefox_Blogging

Or you could have:

• C:\FirefoxPortable\

containing

• • Firefox_Main
  • Firefox_Small
  • Firefox_Blogging

and C; can be substituted for any other drive including memory sticks/flash drive and network drives.

Not only is this easy to quickly backup everything using standard backup software or by simply copying the folder structure using standard copy and paste, but it is completely portable using a portable hard drive or USB flash memory.

This is how have Firefox set up on my main PC and I transfer this complete or in part to other PC’s at home and work on a removable hard drive or flash memory.

(Click on Screenshots to enlarge where necessary)

You could even run Firefox over an Internet connection using remote connection software like Logmein or even Windows Home Server, although unless you have a fast broadband connection this could be very slow and you would be better pulling (downloading) the installation to the local machine.

What Do I Do?

Well, I have already said some of the things that can be done based on what I am already doing. The next screenshot shows the files and folders under my Firefox Portable folder:

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What Is It?

Duplicate Cleaner is a nice utility to manage duplicate files on your PC or laptop and across your network. There are plenty of similar utilities of varying complexity, Duplicate Cleaner works relatively quickly and efficiently and the ability to work across the network is very welcome.

Why Would You Want It?

Over time it is likely that many files can be duplicated in various places, particularly when creating backup sets for security reasons. There is a balance between keeping your data safe which means there may be several backups in different locations taken at different times, the time available to manage the data files you need to keep and the available storage you have. A way of managing or at least locating the duplicate files is an essential utility in the data management process.

Warning - You should take great care when deleting files flagged as duplicates as they may be essential to the running of your system. At the very least backup the files before you start and if you are doing anything with files in system folders it would be a good idea to clone the partition. Duplicate Cleaner provides options to Move files to a different folder or deleting them to the recycle bin. It may be best to use one of these options and then delete the files permanently at a later date. Using a folder name like “Duplicate Files To Delete after 2008-09-01” may be helpful.

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Finds Duplicate Files
• Selection of drives and folders across a network and PC
• Provides alternative methods to select duplicates to be managed

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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So What is This About?

I have been running Windows Home Server for about 9 months. I always intended to write some posts about my experience but hadn’t got around to it yet. Anyway, I woke up a couple of mornings ago and switched on the PC in my bedroom (while lying in bed - yes how sad is that!!) to be greeted by the Red WHS (Windows Home Server) system tray icon warning me of a “Network health is critical” Problem.

Well nothing startling about that as WHS seems to find I have a disk problem fairly regularly despite the fact that the system is less than a year old and built from good quality components including the disk drives. In fact the health warning relating to disk drives has been going on since the first couple of weeks so I treat it as just another “MS annoyance”. I just take the appropriate remedial action and it goes away (but now I am wondering if it is an indicator of some deeper problems with WHS like the well known data corruption bug!).

So I opened up the WHS Console to find the following:

(Click on screenshots to enlarge if necessary)

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What Are They?

The Freecom ToughDrive 2.5″ is a mobile 2.5″ hard drive from Freecom with Anti-Shock mechanism contained in a durable, soft silicon cover. It has an integral USB 2.0 cable and plug and is USB 2.0, buspowered so you don’t need an additional power supply. It works with Win & Mac as well as other digital products with a suitable USB interface.

Why Would You Want One?

I could have written something here but the Freecom site has some text that I think covers what I would say anyway:

The toughest drive there is!
In today’s world mobility has become a key factor. People who are on the road carry their whole office with them. Notebook, mobile phone, PDA, external hard drive… Imagine what can happen when you’re late for a flight, running to the gate, and your external hard drive accidentally falls from your notebook case or out of your jacket pocket onto the floor… it breaks. Hundreds of hours of work, gigabytes of spreadsheets, documents, photo’s… all gone. Not anymore! Freecom introduces the ToughDrive. The ideal external storage solution for people on the move. Fitted with an internal anti-shock frame and a unique soft silicon cover, it can withstand bumps and drops so your drive is still fully functional after it has dropped. The ToughDrive ensures you can still access your valuable files.

What Are The Essentials?

Specification:

Product Short Spec - 250GB:
Compatibility: PC, Mac
Hard drive size: 250 GB
Interface type: Hi-Speed USB
Form factor: 2.5″
Buffer size: 8 MB
Average seek time: 12 ms
Spindle speed: 5400 rpm

View datasheet (PDF)

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Durable, soft silicon cover
• Internal anti-shock mechanism - Withstand falling from 2 meters
• Integrated USB 2.0 cable
• Buspowered
• High quality, slimline design
• Fanless design thus no noise
• Including award-winning NTI Shadow backup software for PC and Mac,automatically & continuously protects your photo, music, video and other data files
• 2 years warranty

Cons:What’s Not So Good?

• Short integrated USB cable

(An extension is provided but it is one more thing to have to carry around)

Why Do I Use Them and

What is the ProReviewer Experience?

I have used 3 different Toughdrives over the past 2 years. an 80GB, a 160GB and my most recent purchase a 250GB. I bought the first one because I needed some lightweight portable storage as my Laptop only had a 30GB internal drive. I wanted something I could take on overseas trips and holidays with confidence that it was unlikely to fail due to being bumped about in the laptop bag or rucksack. The later purchases were to be able to carry more data and take some multimedia files for entertainment on my travels. The first drives also came with Acronis Backup software which is excellent. The latest drives come with NTI Shadow backup software which I haven’t tried.

The first two drives (80GB & 160GB) were called ToughDrive Pro but Freecom have now used this for a newer model which has both USB and FireWire connections. However you will see that both reviews in the “Useful Links” section below refer to the original model and describe them as the ToughDrive Pro so watch out for this inconsistency if you intend to purchase and don’t need the extra FireWire connection.

I have not been disappointed. Not a single problem with any of them which is more than I can say for 2 other drives I have used from other manufacturers. Acknowledging just 3 drives is a small sample to comment on overall reliability I have been very pleased with them and would recommend them to anyone. While a little more expensive the extra security and confidence you can get to your data when you need it is well worth it. The soft cases have not scuffed or marked with use despite being regularly carried in the front pocket of a rucksack with several items. Needless to say I keep a full copy of all my portable applications on all of them

Useful Links

Freecom

250 GB Drive - More info

View datasheet

PC Pro Review - Freecom ToughDrive Pro

Amazon.com - Freecom ToughDrive Pro - Hard drive - 250 GB

ZDNet Freecom ToughDrive Pro hard drive - 250 GB - Hi-Speed USB … (see Spec Tab)

What Other Posts are Relevant?

TIP - Format a USB Flash Drive for Speed or File Size - What’s Best and How to Overcome Some Problems

Data Rescue Tip - Use MS Utilities to Repair Outlook Files

Backup - Identify Where the Data Is - Find the Location of Your Information on a Windows Based PC?

Why You Want to Use Portable Freeware Applications

Why I decided to Write This Blog

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Or

A Cautionary Tale With a Happy Ending when You Don’t Backup Regularly

The real point of this post is that to not backup your essential and important personal data is often likely to end in disappointment and loss of perhaps your most precious memories in the form of photos and documents. This is one instance where the bullet was dodged.

So What Happened?

I spent this UK bank holiday weekend with my daughter, granddaughter and new grandson. As usual I was asked to do a few DIY jobs and to sort out a couple of things on her computer:)

It all started with trying to fix a simple wireless networking connection issue. The main problem she was having with her PC was connecting the wireless router and had resorted to trailing wires across the living room to connect the router by the network cable. At least this gave the necessary access to the router and to the Internet if needed. Sorting out the router was basically down to setting the router name and password using the web based settings utility rather than the provide GUI based utility on the broadband providers setup CD. Not that the CD utility didn’t work but it was just more difficult than using the web based setup screens. A triumph of creating complication when trying to simplify things for a less knowledgeable user. Reference was made to the web based utility at the end of the instruction book “For Mac Users” so the average windows user would never realise it was there.

So setting up the user access to the router and connecting to the PC all went relatively easily. We had been out earlier that day and my daughter decided to transfer the pictures she had taken to her PC. Apparently at some point this froze and she turned the PC off with the power button. If only she had said something to me first! We could have at least looked at the options of invoking the task manager with Ctl-Alt-Del before going for the doomsday solution. As to whether anything done in setting up the wireless router caused the crash I don’t know, my personal feeling is that so many things get changed by installation of programs, windows updates, etc. that any OS is often only one or two changes away from “meltdown”

Disaster

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Applications in Windows have a nasty habit of stealing focus from the program you are currently using. Generally this is because the default registry settings have been overwritten by a program installation. It is quite easy to change the settings back to the default either by editing the registry or by using a “Tweak” program such as Microsoft’s TweakUI. This problem has recently been driving me mad, I am not a touch typist so tend to spend a lot of time looking at the keyboard while typing. So, every time a program steals focus I loose the work I am typing and sometimes make changes to the program that stole the focus.

UPDATE - Also see this post DeskPins - Help to Stop Other Windows Stealing Focus

To change settings install TweakUI from here:

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Identify Where the Data Is

This is part of the series :

10 Ways to Save & Protect Your Data - Even files You Just Saved or Text You Just Typed

The aim of which is to present good ways for backing up data in various different time frames, depending on the importance of the data and the need to restore it quickly or not.

Disclaimer

By necessity the information given is a simplified version of the situation you will normally encounter for a Windows OS and is based around XP. The infinite number of ways in which installations of a Windows OS can be varied followed by all the different ways in which programs can be stored or the places in which personal files can be written makes it impossible to be totally precise or to cover all eventualities.

What’s the Problem?

In order to develop a backup plan you first need to know what you should be backing up and where it is located. Unfortunately Microsoft and program developers for Windows based systems have found numerous different places to store program and personal data. Many of the ways are inconsistent and are often not intuitive, meaning that just because one program stores its data in a subfolder of a particular directory doesn’t mean that program X will do the same. In fact there are numerous different locations where program data may be stored and the same program may store different types of information in different locations. Confused? You will be .

Ultimately if you want to have a full recovery backup for a PC hard drive failure of other catastrophic data loss you will be interested in all the information necessary to restore your PC. However, for this type of backup you probably don’t need to know to much about where the data is stored except for which drives and partitions it is on. For backups targeted at particular personal files or programs you have loaded you need a lot more information.

What are the Different Types of Data & Where are They Kept?

For the purposes of this series of articles I am going to simplify the process and define the different types of data into four different groups:

1. Operating System
2. Applications/Programs
3. Applications/Programs Settings
4. Personal Files

In reality there will be a certain amount of overlap between groups and some data that may arguably fit into another area altogether.

1. Operating system data resides (principally) in it’s own drive and folder. This will normally be on the C drive in a folder called Windows but both the drive and the folder name can be defined differently when the operating system is installed. To check this you can start the System Information Utility (Start>Program Files>Accessories>System Tools>System Information - System Summary option - The Windows Directory and System Directory items show you where the data is kept. By the way this utility gives you a lot of details about the system) . This is where all the main programs/utilities/drivers and the system registry reside.

The Windows Registry, from my personal perspective, is a complete nightmare. Have you ever watched one of those crime programs where they spend days looking for body parts in a landfill site, well that’s my mental picture of the registry. Not only that if in your search for a something important and you move a half eaten can of bake beans a mile away then civilisation as we know it ends and cannot be recovered! OK that’s a bit of an exaggeration but years of experience have shown me that it takes about 40+ man hours to reinstall a Windows system plus all the programs and settings for one of my average setups (assuming I have reasonable backups of data files but not the system itself). Trying to sort out registry problems always takes longer and is never perfect.

2. Applications/Programs generally reside in a folder called “Program Files” on the C Drive which is normally the default location in a system that has been installed as standard. (Remember though that you can install a Windows system to almost any fixed drive and name the folder to anything you want) Occasionally some programs will install into the C Drive under a folder name associated with the program. Generally the program installer utility will ask you where you want to install the program so if you prefer to install all your programs on another drive or in another folder you can do this. BUT beware quite often the program will still install some “common” library functions or drivers elsewhere. For instance these may be under C:\Program Files\xxxxxx for the library files and in the Windows System folder for drivers. So already there is a problem in knowing where all the data resides for the programs you install.

3. Applications/Program Settings - Program settings can be stored in many places and frequently are. A single program will frequently put data in more than one place. At one time (long, long, ago before MS decided everything should be stored in the registry or user settings folders) programs stored information about themselves in terms of user configuration and last used settings in a file (*.ini) associated with the program or maybe some sort of data file (often a *.dat file) in the programs own folder or subfolder. This seems a pretty good idea to me in terms of backup, if I save the programs folder then I have essentially a complete backup of that program, if everything I need to run the program the way I want it is in there and nothing is in the registry that seems to be a great solution. If I am in a multi user environment then what’s the problem? Just name files or have pointers within files that deal with each user. Finally keep the files in a simple text format so that you can see what’s going on or (for the “power user” change anything that is obviously wrong) - why not?

So generally this type of data will be stored in:

1. The Windows Registry
2. User Settings folders (Generally C:\Documents and Settings/All Users or C:\Documents and Settings/”username” where username is your login name)
3. Files kept with the program installation folders or subfolders
4. Somewhere else (unusual but not unknown)

4. Personal Files - Personal files will generally be stored under the My Documents/My Pictures/My Music etc. folders and subfolders which are within the Documents and Settings folders for the user on a Windows system (C:\Documents and Settings/”username”). However, individual programs may choose to store files created elsewhere or the user may set folders in which to store particular files. Files may be stored in other folders in the Documents and Settings area that are designated by the program being used which may be under My Documents but also may be an independent folder. At other times they may (unusually) be stored in a folder on the main drive (generally C:\xxx) or in the Program Files subfolder for the program. Where you have control over the place files are written then some thought needs to be given on where you store these files and the reasons for this will be given in a future post in this series - Where to Store Your Original Data.

Portable Programs/Applications

Regular readers will know that I am a great advocate of portable applications. One of the best things about them, when they are properly set up and implemented is that all the essential data is located within a single set of folders and subfolders relating to the program. Where some data may need to be written elsewhere say to the registry or Startup folder then this is non critical and should preferably be included in an data file within the program folders so that it can be automatically replicated when the program is copied/ to another system and started for the first time.

Summary

1. Different data files for different purposes are stored in a variety of places and formats
2. Windows and program developers control where much of this data is stored
3. The storage of critical data files may be (is?) inconsistent in terms of where and how it is stored
4. Where the user has control over where data is stored this needs careful consideration in terms of accessibility and backup planning
5. Using Portable programs/applications generally gives better control over data location and backups

Other Relevant Posts:

10 Ways to Save & Protect Your Data - Even files You Just Saved or Text You Just Typed

Why You Want to Use Portable Freeware Applications

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