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Synopsis: Looking for a powerful, all-in-one utility to convert all your media files with a simple right-click of the mouse? Look no further! ContextConvert Pro is a convenient and highly configurable Windows application for converting nearly all ... conceivable multimedia formats. Tightly integrated with the Windows interface, ContextConvert Pro provides immediate conversion capability from any Windows context ("right-click") menu. Simply right-click on any audio, image, or video file, and you can immediately convert it to any other supported format. It's an audio converter (e.g. convert WMA to ... (view more)

Synopsis: Are you tired of using below standard, run-of-the-mill digital photo editing software that came free with your Digital Camera? Wish you could produce professional looking photos and share them with friends and family -- all with little ... time and effort? Then look no more! ColorCoded PhotoStudio is a full, feature-packed photo editor, slide-show viewer, organizer, web album maker, and the last photo solution you'll ever need for manipulating, organizing, and sharing your digital pictures. Now that's a mouthful! ColorCoded PhotoStudio Pro v4.1: Screenshots Click to view: Page 1 | Page ... (view more)

Continuing on with our in-depth discussions on backup solutions , this article will review Acronis True Image version 8.0. This will be the final article in our 7-part series, stretching back almost 1 month to date: Choosing a Backup Solution: An In ... Depth Look 6 Key Elements for any Backup Strategy Backup Made Easy: A Six Point Guide to Buying Backup Software Genie Backup Manager Review System Restore and similar Registry Reverting utilities -- pointless? The results are in: which Disk Imaging Backup software is best? Acronis True Image Review (version 8): In Depth RE: Disk Imaging software ... (view more)

Recall -- Following with our recent theme on " backup software ", I announced last week that I be compiling an in-depth review on a disk imaging software. In a subsequent newsletter, I asked Infopackets Readers to send me their opinions (good or ... bad) on their favorite imaging program. Responses have been strong, with about 60 opinions to date. Based on those opinions, the consensus is that Acronis True Image is ranked as the favorite recommendation, providing best overall feature set and the least amount of bugs and incompatibilities. One other strong point brought to my attention ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Skip 'BigFoot' writes: " Dear Dennis, I just finished reading your stellar review of Genie Backup , and was very interested in making it my primary backup solution. The problem is that many of the backup programs I've tried in the ... past have fell short of their promises, leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth (for lack of better words). Before I decide to purchase the Genie Backup program, I would like to obtain a trial version first to see if it will work with my system. Is this possible? " My response: As far as I understand, the Genie-Soft web site (home page ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Joe J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently received an email forwarded from a friend via a Yahoo email Group, which states that Yahoo is using 'web beacons' to track Yahoo Group members Internet activity. The email I received ... follows: ' For your information: Yahoo is now using something called 'Web Beacons' to track Yahoo Group users around the net to see where you visit and what you're doing -- similar to Internet cookie files. Take a look at their updated privacy statement . About half-way down the page, in the section on cookies, you will see a link that says web ... (view more)

Yesterday, I came across a very interesting article posted by p2pnet.net which details a recent exploit in MS Windows, called "jpeg of death.c v.05". In summary: on September 17th, 2004, a proof-of-concept exploit was discovered that could ... potentially execute malicious code on the victim's computer when viewing a JPG file image file using Internet Explorer; at the time, however, the exploit only crashed Internet Explorer. On September 24th, a new variant of the exploit appeared, responsible for running potentially malicious code if an infected .jpeg file was downloaded from the ... (view more)

What would you do if your hard drive crashed and the data it contained was not recoverable? Worse yet -- what would you do if the software you used to backup your drive refused to work unless you paid the company for another license? Yesterday, ... Pippie1969 sent me the following email: " ... [Continuing on with your discussion on PC Security ], I thought I would share with you the following story. A little while back, I purchased 2 identical 120 gigabyte Western Digital (WD) hard drives. In April, one of the drive's crashed (totally), and I was not able to recover *any* of the data on the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader John B. writes: " Dear Dennis, In Windows XP, right-clicking on a photograph used to give me the option to send the image via email, or allow me to retain its original size using an image resizer button. For some reason, this ... dialogue box no longer appears when I place my mouse over top of images. I have not downloaded any other photograph programs so it is a mystery why this function no longer works. I have searched for a solution on Google without success, and would be very grateful for your expert advice in resolving this issue. " My response: What you are ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Steve S. from Kentville, Nova Scotia writes: " Dear Dennis, Why is it desirable to backup windows driver files when I can use Windows System Restore to go back to a previous state of my computer's configuration in which everything ... was working fine? Is it because System Restore does not always restore all the necessary drivers? " My Response: As far as I understand, the Windows System Restore feature focuses primarily on restoring a working copy of the Windows Registry. As programs, operating system updates, and drivers are installed to a system, the Windows ... (view more)