Some more info from Gizmo support Nov
Turn Your Web Browser into Your Desktop
How to recover lost windows passwords
Downloadable boot disks
If you want the ultimate online office, with all your programs and data available from anywhere, you need a Web-based operating system and desktop environment. And eyeOS is just such a product. Install it on your web server, and everything can be accessed with nothing more than a standard Web browser. Best of all, it's open source.
I checked this out and its pretty cool its just one of the many operating systems that up and coming
http://www.eyeos.com
How to Recover Lost Windows Passwords
Trying to fix someone's Windows PC but he or she has forgotten the administrator password? Ophcrack is a bootable CD containing a pre-installed Linux OS plus password recovery tool. An essential addition to every IT support technician's toolkit, and it's free too.
Some peeps have asked me about this so here you go.
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
Downloadable Boot Disks
If your Windows installation is corrupted and the PC won't start up properly, a bootable CD or floppy disk will allow you to start trying to find out why. If you don't have any boot disks handy, bootdisk.com has dozens, going right back to DOS 3.3 and Windows 95.
This cool to have as a ref
http://www.bootdisk.com
Free Tool for Managing Shared Computers
Looking after a shared computer, in either a domestic or business environment, is never easy. Every time others use the machine, they create lots more temporary files, cached internet pages, registry entries, and possibly introduce spyware or adware or viruses which can affect subsequent users. If you've ever used a PC in an internet café and have been jealous of the way that those machines manage to reset everything after each user has accessed the machine, you need SteadyState. It's a free add-on for Windows XP, from Microsoft, which locks down the machine so that all changes made by a user are deleted when they log off. Freeware, Windows XP, 3.9MB. excellent utility.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx
Windows Home Server
Microsoft is finally shipping Windows Home Server, the latest addition to the Windows family. However, it's an OEM-only product, which means that you can't easily go out and buy a copy to install on an old PC that you happen to have lying about. You can, though, buy it pre-installed as part of a dedicated WHS box, which various companies such as HP are now shipping.
Windows Home Server is a superb idea, aimed at the growing number of households that have more than one PC. It's a cut-down version of Windows Server 2003 (no sign of Vista here, thankfully), that helps to ensure that your digital household runs smoothly and efficiently. It'll stream your collection of music and video files to other PCs, for example, as well as to devices such as your Xbox 360. It can even act as a Web server, allowing you and others to browse your pictures and other files via the internet from anywhere in the world, which is just wonderful if you want an easy way to keep in touch with relatives around the world.
In fact, all aspects of Home Server are accessed via a web browser so there's no need to have a monitor or keyboard connected to the machine itself. Just hide it in a cupboard somewhere, plug it into your network, and access it from wherever you wish.
Perhaps the best feature of Windows Home Server is that it provides an easy way to ensure that all household PCs are backed up. Install the client software on all your machines, and they get backed up to your Home Server every night. If anyone loses a file, or even an entire PC, it can be recovered from the Home Server. So is this the backup solution we've all been waiting for? Not entirely.
If you're going to go to the trouble of backing up every machine in your household, you need to be confident that you can recover data after just about every conceivable problem that might occur. Windows Home Server doesn't fully deliver, in my opinion, because there is no off-site backup. So a disaster at your house, like a flood or a fire or a robbery, could mean that you lose all your precious data files and all your backups too.
This is becoming more popular i expect more Questions tips and trix
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx
Style Sheets Explained
CSS Zen Garden [1] is the ultimate example of just how much you can accomplish through clever use of HTML style sheets. Click through the various available styles and note how the layout of the page changes drastically. The authors of the site have even produced a book about CSS, which is an excellent read.
We all will know this soon. our kids do...
[1] http://www.csszengarden.com
Part 2
Over the next few issues I'll be showing you how you can use drive imaging to make backup copies of your Windows operating system. Once you've set this up, you'll never have to re-install Windows again.
To effectively use drive imaging you will need to partition or divide your hard drive into two separate areas: one containing Windows, the other containing your personal data.
This is a very simple partitioning scheme. A lot of advanced users divide their hard drive into many areas, not just two. Indeed, I have four on most of my PCs. The ideal number of separate partitions is, in fact, a very controversial issue.
So controversial that since I mentioned last month that I was going to talk about partitioning I've had over 80 subscribers write in offering their opinion on the best way to partition hard drives. These suggestions ranged from those who thought a single partition was ideal to those who proposed creating more than a dozen partitions - a veritable alphabetic soup of logical disk drives.
However, I'm not interested here in the "best" way to partition a hard drive, that's a topic for another time. Rather, my focus is on creating a simple setup so that users can easily backup Windows using freely available drive imaging software. That's why I'm proposing that you create only two partitions: one for Windows, and the other for your data.
But before we do anything there's a critical first step that needs to be taken: you need to identify and backup your personal data.
So what's hard about that? Just backup the "My Documents" folder to CD or an external drive, right?
Alas, it's not so simple.
One of the worst design failures in Windows is that it doesn't provide clear separation of user data from the operating system itself. Yes, the "My Documents" folder is designed for the user's data personal data but, unfortunately, user data is also scattered throughout Windows, and often in obscure locations that are totally unfamiliar to users.
Take, for example, your "Favorites" folder. It's definitely user data but it's not located in "My Documents"; it's usually located in the user profile at something like "C:\Documents and Settings\User\Favorites"
And what about your email files? Again, this is user data, but where is this data stored? The answer depends on the email client you use. For example, Outlook Express usually stores email files at "C:\Windows\Profiles\User\Application data\Microsoft\Outlook express\Mail", while Outlook stores its .PST file at several different locations, depending on version. For example, with Office XP it's "C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook"
Turn Your Web Browser into Your Desktop
How to recover lost windows passwords
Downloadable boot disks
If you want the ultimate online office, with all your programs and data available from anywhere, you need a Web-based operating system and desktop environment. And eyeOS is just such a product. Install it on your web server, and everything can be accessed with nothing more than a standard Web browser. Best of all, it's open source.
I checked this out and its pretty cool its just one of the many operating systems that up and coming
http://www.eyeos.com
How to Recover Lost Windows Passwords
Trying to fix someone's Windows PC but he or she has forgotten the administrator password? Ophcrack is a bootable CD containing a pre-installed Linux OS plus password recovery tool. An essential addition to every IT support technician's toolkit, and it's free too.
Some peeps have asked me about this so here you go.
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
Downloadable Boot Disks
If your Windows installation is corrupted and the PC won't start up properly, a bootable CD or floppy disk will allow you to start trying to find out why. If you don't have any boot disks handy, bootdisk.com has dozens, going right back to DOS 3.3 and Windows 95.
This cool to have as a ref
http://www.bootdisk.com
Free Tool for Managing Shared Computers
Looking after a shared computer, in either a domestic or business environment, is never easy. Every time others use the machine, they create lots more temporary files, cached internet pages, registry entries, and possibly introduce spyware or adware or viruses which can affect subsequent users. If you've ever used a PC in an internet café and have been jealous of the way that those machines manage to reset everything after each user has accessed the machine, you need SteadyState. It's a free add-on for Windows XP, from Microsoft, which locks down the machine so that all changes made by a user are deleted when they log off. Freeware, Windows XP, 3.9MB. excellent utility.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx
Windows Home Server
Microsoft is finally shipping Windows Home Server, the latest addition to the Windows family. However, it's an OEM-only product, which means that you can't easily go out and buy a copy to install on an old PC that you happen to have lying about. You can, though, buy it pre-installed as part of a dedicated WHS box, which various companies such as HP are now shipping.
Windows Home Server is a superb idea, aimed at the growing number of households that have more than one PC. It's a cut-down version of Windows Server 2003 (no sign of Vista here, thankfully), that helps to ensure that your digital household runs smoothly and efficiently. It'll stream your collection of music and video files to other PCs, for example, as well as to devices such as your Xbox 360. It can even act as a Web server, allowing you and others to browse your pictures and other files via the internet from anywhere in the world, which is just wonderful if you want an easy way to keep in touch with relatives around the world.
In fact, all aspects of Home Server are accessed via a web browser so there's no need to have a monitor or keyboard connected to the machine itself. Just hide it in a cupboard somewhere, plug it into your network, and access it from wherever you wish.
Perhaps the best feature of Windows Home Server is that it provides an easy way to ensure that all household PCs are backed up. Install the client software on all your machines, and they get backed up to your Home Server every night. If anyone loses a file, or even an entire PC, it can be recovered from the Home Server. So is this the backup solution we've all been waiting for? Not entirely.
If you're going to go to the trouble of backing up every machine in your household, you need to be confident that you can recover data after just about every conceivable problem that might occur. Windows Home Server doesn't fully deliver, in my opinion, because there is no off-site backup. So a disaster at your house, like a flood or a fire or a robbery, could mean that you lose all your precious data files and all your backups too.
This is becoming more popular i expect more Questions tips and trix
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx
Style Sheets Explained
CSS Zen Garden [1] is the ultimate example of just how much you can accomplish through clever use of HTML style sheets. Click through the various available styles and note how the layout of the page changes drastically. The authors of the site have even produced a book about CSS, which is an excellent read.
We all will know this soon. our kids do...
[1] http://www.csszengarden.com
Part 2
Over the next few issues I'll be showing you how you can use drive imaging to make backup copies of your Windows operating system. Once you've set this up, you'll never have to re-install Windows again.
To effectively use drive imaging you will need to partition or divide your hard drive into two separate areas: one containing Windows, the other containing your personal data.
This is a very simple partitioning scheme. A lot of advanced users divide their hard drive into many areas, not just two. Indeed, I have four on most of my PCs. The ideal number of separate partitions is, in fact, a very controversial issue.
So controversial that since I mentioned last month that I was going to talk about partitioning I've had over 80 subscribers write in offering their opinion on the best way to partition hard drives. These suggestions ranged from those who thought a single partition was ideal to those who proposed creating more than a dozen partitions - a veritable alphabetic soup of logical disk drives.
However, I'm not interested here in the "best" way to partition a hard drive, that's a topic for another time. Rather, my focus is on creating a simple setup so that users can easily backup Windows using freely available drive imaging software. That's why I'm proposing that you create only two partitions: one for Windows, and the other for your data.
But before we do anything there's a critical first step that needs to be taken: you need to identify and backup your personal data.
So what's hard about that? Just backup the "My Documents" folder to CD or an external drive, right?
Alas, it's not so simple.
One of the worst design failures in Windows is that it doesn't provide clear separation of user data from the operating system itself. Yes, the "My Documents" folder is designed for the user's data personal data but, unfortunately, user data is also scattered throughout Windows, and often in obscure locations that are totally unfamiliar to users.
Take, for example, your "Favorites" folder. It's definitely user data but it's not located in "My Documents"; it's usually located in the user profile at something like "C:\Documents and Settings\User\Favorites"
And what about your email files? Again, this is user data, but where is this data stored? The answer depends on the email client you use. For example, Outlook Express usually stores email files at "C:\Windows\Profiles\User\Application data\Microsoft\Outlook express\Mail", while Outlook stores its .PST file at several different locations, depending on version. For example, with Office XP it's "C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook"
Other email clients store their email files in other locations, some of which are even more obscure than Outlook.
You application programs are also culprits here. They can store your user data just about anywhere. Some embed it in user profiles, and others store it in the application's Program Files folder or anywhere else that took the programmer's fancy.
No folks, you cannot cleanly separate out your user data from Windows. It's a mess. Worse still is what happens if you try to move these islands of personal data from your Windows drive to another drive or partition.
Commonly it will cause Windows to crash, your applications to crash, or both. For example, if you move your Program Files to another drive, your system will end up as a non-functioning mess. The same thing would happen if you move your user profiles. (There are actually ways of doing this safely but that topic, like complex partitioning schemes, will have to wait for another day.)
At this stage you are probably thinking "This makes no sense Gizmo. First you said that I should partition my hard drive into two and move my data to the second partition. Now you are telling me that my data is all mixed up with Windows and I'll wreck my PC if I try to move it."
The answer to this conundrum is to limit your ambitions. It's true that you cannot completely separate out your data from Windows, but you can quite easily separate out your most important sets of data.
Furthermore, you can move these important items without creating problems for Windows or your programs.
So what data should you move and how should you move it? That, folks, will be the subject of the next part in this series.
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