image

Fri
17
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

Use External hard drive to boot Windows incase C drive crashes?

Infopackets Reader Steve T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have recently added a 120GB external hard drive to my Dell Dimension computer (via the USB port). Problem: whenever I turn my computer on (to start Windows), the external hard drive always tries ... to boot first. Inevitably I get an error message that 'operating system is not found' and I have to shut off the external unit and then reboot the machine in order to start Windows properly. For this reason, I am curious if my Windows XP crashes, would it be able to boot from the external hard drive? If so, how would I go about doing this? ... (view more)

Wed
28
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

Top 10 Must-Have PC Maintenance Utilities

Die-hard Infopackets Reader Paul B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have been a faithful subscriber to your newsletter for a few years now. While I immensely enjoy reading your articles (especially the software reviews), I am constantly second-guessing ... myself as to which utilities *I* need to keep my system running smoothly. As a newbie, I would like to know how many of these 'fix all programs' are really necessary? For example, which utilities do I need for: speeding up, uninstalling, defragging, anti-Spyware, anti-spam, firewall, anti-virus, registry cleaning / fixing... etc. I mostly use my ... (view more)

Thu
01
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

'Drive Image Xml', and 'Comodo Personal Firewall'

Drive Image Xml Easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives. The program allows you to: Backup logical drives and partitions to image files, Browse these images, view and extract files, Restore these ... images to the same or a different drive, Copy directly from drive to drive. Image creation uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Services (VSS), allowing you to create safe "hot images" even from drives currently in use. Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools. Restore images to drives without having to reboot. ... (view more)

Thu
17
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

Backup Windows with External USB Hard Drive?

Infopackets Reader 'Holy Hal' writes: " Dear Dennis, I am at best an intermediate when it comes to computers -- and I certainly do appreciate all the effort you put into your newsletter! With that aside, my question for you today is in regard to ... backups. I have Windows 2000 Professional, and I would like to backup my entire Operating System (Windows). Would an external USB hard drive that has some backup software be appropriate for this type of application? Or would I still need to use a software program like Acronis True Image with my external unit? I feel that a software backup program ... (view more)

Tue
15
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

Disk Cloning

Disk Cloning or Disk Imaging is a category of software which copies the contents of one computer hard disk to another, or onto a secondary medium such as a DVD or CD Recordable. A disk cloning program is most commonly used by large companies to ... provision new computers to install the initial package of the operating system and applications for sale, or by home computer users who wish to backup their operating systems in a healthy state. An individual user may also use disk cloning to upgrade to a new hard disk or backup an existing operating system. To provision the hard disk of a computer ... (view more)

Tue
15
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

Acronis True Image 9 Free Trial Download

Infopackets Reader Jeff S. writes: " Dear Dennis, This is not so much a question, but a comment. Several weeks ago I picked up a 120GB Maxtor Hard Drive at Best Buy. I decided to use this drive for backing up my digital pics, MP3's, downloads, etc. ... I also wanted to use the new drive to backup my operating system, but totally sure which one was right for me. I borrowed a copy of Norton Ghost from a friend, installed it on my system, but wasn't too impressed with the interface (I found it difficult to understand); I also thought the price was a little too high (at $69.99 retail). It was at ... (view more)

Fri
11
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

Say cheese, and take a big byte!

Smile! Say Cheese! [ My Mug Shot ] The camera captures the moment, but if it is a digital image it can just as quickly be lost, deleted, compressed and corrupted. Many snap shooters are longing for a return to film, when you could see and touch a ... negative. My name is Jim Domke, and I've been taking photos for over 30 years. I have no longing to return to film and have discoverd that digital is a lot more fun! I started out shooting black and white for the school yearbook. It was fun, because I could be creative both in the taking and the printing. I've gone on to be a staff photographer at ... (view more)

Thu
10
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

Acronis Disk Director Suite 10 Review

I've just received wind that Acronis has released Disk Director Suite version 10 -- the perfect companion to the extremely popular Acronis True Image (disk imaging backup software)! Who is Acronis, you ask? Acronis is a leading software company that ... specializes in storage management solutions for mission-critical situations. Acronis provides technically advanced (but simple to use) applications for: disaster recovery, backup and restoration, hard drive partitioning, boot management, data migration and other storage management products. Acronis' line of disk management software has won many ... (view more)

Tue
27
Sep
Dennis Faas's picture

Screensaver

A screensaver is a computer program originally designed to conserve the image quality of computer displays by blanking the screen or filling them with moving images or patterns when the computers are not in use. Today, screensavers are primarily for ... entertainment or security purposes. Until recently, most computer screens depended on cathode ray tubes (CRTs). CRT images are generated using electron beams which are "launched" from the back of the monitor and "draw" images continuously on the screen. Most computer programs paint images in the screen. Some of these images (letters, pictures, ... (view more)

Thu
15
Sep
Dennis Faas's picture

Fax

Fax (short for facsimile - from Latin "fac simile", "make similar", i.e. "make a copy" - or telefacsimile) is a telecommunications technology used to transfer copies of documents, especially using affordable devices operating over the telephone ... network. The words telecopy and telefax are also used as synonyms. Fax: Overview A fax machine is essentially an image scanner, a modem, and a computer printer combined into a highly specialized package. The scanner converts the content of a physical document into a digital image, the modem sends the image data over a phone line, and the printer at the ... (view more)

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