Raymond.CC Blog

Category: Computer

  • Data Mirroring Software

    I must again state how important it is to always backup your data frequently.
    For example, I have three 250GB hard drives and everything is saved from the time I started to use the computer which was 10 years ago. If I loose the data which I found 10 years ago, I might not eve find it on the internet today.
    There are many ways to backup your data and today I’m going to talk about mirroring your data using data mirroring software.
    Data Mirroring means you have the exact same copy as the source on other location.
    Eg, C:\data.doc is the original file. You then have another copy of data.doc on other drives.

    It’s a pain to everyday backing up your data by copying to another location.
    To simplify this backup, you can use a third-party data mirroring software to help you mirror your data.


    MirrorFolder is a real-time mirroring and synchronization software to backup files on local/network/removable drive/disk from local hard disk. You can mirror your important folders, or even an entire drive, on another local/network/removable drive/disk either in real-time or in auto-synchronization mode. It works on Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP.
    Once a mirror is setup, mirroring is done silently in the background without requiring any further effort or attention from you. Options are available to exclude file types and subfolders from mirroring. You may also optionally archive mirror files inside a zip file periodically. This data mirroring software is fully integrated with Windows and requires very little system resources, e.g., memory, processor time, etc., for running itself.

    Some common uses of MirrorFolder are:

  • Mirroring on local hard disk – MirrorFolder is ideal for real-time mirroring on a separate local hard disk. In this mode, files in the mirror folder will remain identical with their source at any point of time. In case the source disk fails, you will have all of your files on the mirror folder/disk for immediate use. You may also use auto-synchronization mode of mirroring on local hard disk and choose to move older versions of files in the mirror folder to recycle bin during synchronization.
  • Backup on removable disk – MirrorFolder can be used for automatic backup of your working folders on removable drive/disk like CR-RW, ZIP disk, removable hard disk, etc., preferably in auto-synchronization mode as they are normally slower than local hard disk. You may also use real-time mirroring on removable disk in case it is fast and supports unlimited rewriting, e.g., removable hard disk. Removable disks are also ideal for storing zip archive files created by mirror folder.
  • Mirroring entire system drive – MirrorFolder can be used to mirror entire Windows drive on another local hard disk drive in real-time mode. In case the source drive fails, you can use mirror drive to boot the Windows without any lose of data/files (you need to make the mirror drive as “Active” in the Disk Manager / FDISK program when creating the mirror). Note that at present MirrorFolder does not support mirroring entire system drive on a remote network drive.
  • Synchronization between laptop and desktop computers – You can use MirrorFolder to synchronize files between a laptop and desktop computers using bi-directional auto-synchronization mode of mirroring.
  • Workstations to server mirroring – In a networked environment, MirrorFolder can be installed on each workstation computer to mirror important folders on them to one or more servers on the network. Once mirrors are created, MirrorFolder will keep mirrors on the server synchronized with the source folders on each computer on the network without requiring any further effort from individual users. That means, the server(s) will always contain an up-to-date copy of all relevant files of each workstation computer and individual users will no longer have to spend any time backing up his/her computer periodically.
  • Server to server mirroring – MirrorFolder can be used for mirroring of files/folders from server to server on local network. Since this data mirroring software runs under system account for both real-time and auto-synchronization mode of mirroring, it can mirror any files irrespective of its access right and who is currently interactively logged on the system. However, you must provide a user name and password to access the the remote server and mirror on.

    • MirrorFolder integrates itself with Windows on installation and you do not need to run a separate EXE file to use it. To create a mirror of a folder/drive, select it in Windows Explorer, then click the right mouse button to open the pop up menu and chose “Mirroring…” option from it. This will open the Mirroring tab on the property page of the selected folder as shown in the next screen shot (taken on Windows XP).
    Data Mirroring Software

    Now select Mirror To radio button on the property page and then Browse for folders to enter the full path name of the mirror folder in the edit box below. You may edit this mirror folder path name, if required, before pressing the Add button to add this path into the mirror list of this selected source folder.
    Data Mirroring Software
    Finally press Ok or Apply button to create the mirror of the selected folder/drive. MirrorFolder will initially copy files into the mirror folder in order to synchronize it with the source folder.

    Now select the added mirror folder path name in the list box and then press the Options button to open the mirroring property page of the selected mirror folder. Alternatively, you may select the just created mirror folder in the Explorer on the same computer, click right mouse button, and then chose “Mirroring…” option again from the pop up menu to open the Mirroring tab on the property page of the mirror folder as shown below.
    Data Mirroring Software

    The Mirroring tab on the property page of the mirror folder will look like the next screen shot.
    Data Mirroring Software

    Select the mirroring mode, e.g., Real-time or Auto-synchronization, for this mirror. To chose additional synchronization options, use Sync. Options button. You can also chose to backup the selected mirror folder in a ZIP file periodically under Archive option.
    Data Mirroring Software
    Finally press Ok or Apply button to make the changes effective for the selected mirror folder.

    You may change the synchronization options in the following dialog box after completion initial synchronization.
    Data Mirroring Software

    ** I like this piece of data mirroring software because it integrates into Windows and it doesn’t takes up a lot of resources. This data mirroring software, however, is a shareware and you are free to use it for 30 days and after that you’d need to purchase it for US 39.00. I’d say it’s a worthily investment.
    Note: This data mirroring software is NOT yet supported on coming 64-bit versions of Windows XP/2003.

    [ MirrorFolder Website | Download MirrorFolder 3.00.117 (Trial) ]

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  • Sign up for Gmail using your mobile phone

    It seems that Google has extended their Gmail mobile phone invitation to a few extra asian countries.
    Below is the full list of countries supports signing up for Gmail using your mobile phone.
    • Australia
    • Indonesia
    • Malaysia
    • New Zealand
    • Phillipines
    • Singapore
    • Thailand
    • Turkey
    • United States


    Sign up for Gmail using your mobile phone

    If you’re staying in one of the countries listed above and have a mobile phone, you can invite yourself to sign up for Gmail at this link.

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  • MSN Messenger 7.5.0311

  • Automatic Hotmail and MSN Registration

    Some russians from ICQ World has came out with a small piece of software called HMReger that is able to register Hotmail and MSN e-mail without going to the website.
    All you need to do is to set up your desired Name, Password, secret Questions and Answer, alternate e-mail, gender, date of birth, country, province, timezone, and the username that you want to register together with your password.
    All settings can be saved and allows you to register again and again with the same info but different login name.
    This is how HMReger looks like.
    HMReger
    After you’ve set everything on the Settings button, enter the login name that you want to register and select either hotmail.com or msn.com and finally click Registration button.
    After a few seconds, you should see a 8 random generated characters.
    HMReger
    Type in exactly as what you see on the screen and click OK button.

    Voila! Now you have a new Hotmail.com or MSN.com email without wasting your time going to the website.
    Easy isn’t it?

    [ Download HMReger ]

  • Problems viewing downloaded movie

    Have you ever had problems viewing movies clips downloaded from the internet or forwarded by your friends through email?
    Can be very frustrating when your friend describes the attachment as “MUST WATCH” but you just couldn’t thinking there might be something wrong with your computer.


    Mostly it is caused by not having the correct codec to play the movie clips.
    Codec means Compressor-decompressor. Codecs are needed for encoding and decoding (playing) audio and video.
    Since there are so many types of codecs, you wouldn’t know which to install and maybe installing the too many and wrongly configuring it will make your system unstable.

    Introducing, K-Lite Codec Pack.
    K-Lite Codec Pack
    The K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs and related tools. The K-Lite Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files. With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play all the popular movie formats and even some rare formats.
    The K-Lite Codec Pack has a couple of major advantages compared to other codec packs:

  • It it always very up-to-date with the latest versions of the codecs
  • It is very user-friendly and the installation is fully customizable, meaning that you can install only those components that you really want
  • It’s easy to make an unattended installation.
  • It has been very well tested, so that the package doesn’t contain any conflicting codecs. It tries to avoid potential problems with existing codecs and even fixes some problems
  • It is a very complete package, containing everything you need to play your movies
  • There are different packages. From small to extra-large

    • There are three versions of the K-Lite Codec Pack: Basic, Standard and Full.
    Basic contains only the most essential things. It contains everything you need to be able to play the most popular and widespread formats. It is small enough to fit on a single floppy. Also great for including on your movie cds.
    Standard contains everything you need to play all the most commonly used formats. This package should be enough for the average user.
    Full contains even more codecs. It also has encoding support for various formats. This package is for power users and people who do their own encodings.
    There also is a Mega version. It includes everything that the Full version has, plus some extra things, like support for QuickTime and RealMedia files.

    Works on Windows 98/ME/2000/XP. Works on my computer as well and should work on yours 😉

    [ K-Lite Codec Website | Download K-Lite Codec ]

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  • Automated 1 Click Convert DVD to VCD

    3 days ago, I talked about how to backup your DVD by converting it to VCD/SVCD.
    It’s a long process and you need 4 softwares to do it. Worst part is, some of the software are trialware and you need to purchase them.
    Save your money and use the FREE….


    DVDx v2.3 !
    DVDx v2.3

    DVDx allows you to convert DVD to VCD2.0 or SCVD1.0 or DivX in one step (Including multiplexing, splitting). It produces good quality movies in MPEG1/2 format and you don’t need to have 5GB or more free on your hard disk. DVDx has been designed especialy for unexperimented users, it is a simple and intuitive program. You only need Nero to write your VCD/SVCD.

    There hasn’t been any updates since the last release of version 2.3 on 18/08/2004 but it still works great without problems.
    It even has optimized support to benefit from dual processors and Pentium4 Hyper-Threading computer.
    The official download from website is very slow, so I provided a link to download from SourceForge.

    [ DVDx Website | Download DVDx ]

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  • MSN Messenger 7.5.0306 + Mess Patch 7.5.0306 – Generation3

    No doubt that MSN Messenger is growing popular than the ol’ ICQ.
    It seems that everyone is using MSN nowadays.

    I am going to introduce you a tool that is able to “Mess” with MSN Messenger.


    It’d be the best if you have MSN Messenger v7.5.0306 installed since the latest stable version always contains bug fixes and new features.
    You can check your version by going to Help -> About MSN Messenger. It should display something like this…
    MSN Messenger
    Version 7.5 (Build 7.5.0306)

    If you do not have the latest version, just head on to MSN Messenger website to download and install.
    Now, you’ll need Mess Patch 7.5.0306 – Generation3 to “Mess” with your MSN Messenger.
    Mess Patch 7.5.0306 - Generation3
    This tool contains 73 types of tweaks for your MSN Messenger.

    Allows you to patch MSN Messenger 7.5.0306 with the following options:
    enable polygamy
    install custom games
    disable nudges
    remove add contact label
    remove msn search bar
    remove banner ad
    remove msn today button
    fix nickname length
    remove white (text ad) space from conversation windows
    distinguish Idle from Away status (English version only)
    remove MSN logo (from main and conversation window)
    remove premium services (what’s hot)
    remove conversation window search button
    remove email button
    remove my space button
    remove all contact card buttons
    disable nudge protection
    remove user is writing message
    remove Winks/packs and/or nudges buttons and change handwriting tab images to text
    multi-language support (catalan, danish, dutch, english, french, portuguese, brazilian portuguese, spanish, swedish, korean and traditional chinese)
    enable/remove Winamp support in Personal Messages
    clicking your MSN Display Picture in the main window opens the display picture dialog (like it used to)
    boost Personal Messages to 500 characters
    remove blocked extensions in file transfers
    remove font button
    remove backgrounds button
    remove billing information menus
    disable MSN Spaces integration in contact cards
    enable multi-line nicknames
    sign-in status in system tray menu
    remove gleams
    disable MSN Music song links
    add always on top main/conversation window button
    remove user is typing message
    winamp support in Personal Messages with TheBlasphemer’s Winamp plugin
    swap now playing artist and song title when using iTunes
    Windows Media Player or Winamp
    add sign-out button to upper panel which displays the new Passport.net logo
    hide personal messages in contact list
    remove webcam icon from To: bar
    *HOT* ‘Switch Tabs To Right Side’ option
    Sign-in window DP removal option
    option to remove the bottom links in the sign-in window
    Fixed ‘Hide Personal Messages’ to work when viewing large DP thumbnails
    remove the ‘Messenger’ title/caption
    ‘Remove Yellow Infobar’ in contact list
    ‘Add A Contact’ button can now be moved to the dashboard/upper-panel
    ‘Remove Microsoft Passport Network’ branding in Sign-in window
    fixed ‘Remove Webcam Icon’ button
    8 new options for removing each button at the conversation window top bar
    ‘Remove My Dynamic Backgrounds Menus’
    ‘Remove Voice Clip’ option
    users can now select to remove Winamp support while restoring backups
    ‘Remove File Transfer Blocked Extensions’
    Remembers chosen options
    Position Add A Contact bar at the bottom of the contact list (again)
    Remove Yellow Infobar in Convos
    3 options to strip text from toolbar buttons and remove the get a webcam link.

    *Important* Selecting the ‘Remove Advertisement Banner’ will stop the javascript errors that users in certain areas are reporting (since ads are geo-targeted).

    NEW IN GENERATION3:
    options now in treeview listbox
    option descriptions
    patching profiles (patchou, rolando, timothy, theunknown, dwergs,…)
    restore previous settings
    CRC check
    optional backup
    enhanced GUI
    seperate avatar clippings
    transform round corners to perfect corners
    disable MSNIM protocol
    remove send button from typing tab
    add My Received Files button
    default DP hiding
    etc.

    Warning: Patching MSN or Windows Messenger infringes Microsoft’s Terms of Use. Downloading and installing the software is your own rational choice and Raymond.CC is not responsible in any way.

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  • Protect your E-mail

    Just thought I should share this with my readers (IF there’s any)
    Posting your email address on a website is a sure-fire way to get an Inbox full of unsolicited email advertisements.
    I currently know two methods on how to protect your by hiding them from email-harvesting robots.


    1. E-mail Icon (in image): Robots can’t read images! They only read texts. Perhaps if one day someone developed a robot that is able to do Optical Character Recognition (OCR), then this image method is quite useless.
    Example,
    FREE E-Mail Icon Generator for GMail, Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo!, AOL and many more!

    2. Encode/Encrypt: The FREE Enkoder Form below enables you to protects email addresses by converting them into encrypted JavaScript code, hiding them from email-harvesting robots while revealing them to real people.
    FREE Enkoder Form to encrypt your E-mail address

    No matter what, the only way to be completely safe is to not publish your address at all. Or use a contact form.

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