Brought to you each week by the PC Gurus, a loose collection of volunteers from around the Kentuckiana region.
You can interact with the team via chat room or BBS at www.thepcgurus.com. There are usually members present in the chat room after 8:00 PM every evening and you can post computer questions, comments, rants etc. on the bulletin board 24/7.
If you’re new to the Newsletter you can read back issues at Team member JP Durbin’s website at http://www.jpdurbin.net. There are links to all the old 84 Online issues as well as the new GuruNews missives.
The WHAS Crusade for Children provides year round support for needy children throughout the Kentuckiana region. Visit http://www.whascrusade.org to make donations online.
12-9-04
Digital camera technology makes it easy to transfer and erase photos whenever you need from the removable media – SmartMedia, Compact Flash cards or memory stick. Recently while transferring digital images from a Compact Flash card to the hard drive in my computer, we experienced a power blink – not uncommon where we live. Somehow, because of the brief power outage, I lost several of the pictures in the process. The computer is on a good UPS but the power supply to the USB 2.0 hub was not. Needless to say that has since been corrected.
After moving 9,000 + images in the past year taken with the Canon Digital Rebel and D10, I had become too cavalier in the image transfer process from compact flash card to the computer. When we first got the Canon Digital Rebel last fall I made it a practice to copy the images first, verify the transfer, and then delete from the card. As time passed, I “simplified” the process and used the “move” command instead because it saved a step.
But not to worry, I said to myself, I’ll check the Recycle Bin. Nothing there! A sense of panic set in after a complete search of all the hard drives on the computer came up empty. The images were gone! Talking with a few of my coworkers the next day, I found that several had similar tales of woe. I started a search for recovery software that would provide a backup when transferring images from the compact flash cards to the computer. I found several and ended up doing a few trials of various freeware products and one purchased product for recovery of images from removable media.
I started the search with an enlightening discussion with a very helpful tech support person at Lexar, a manufacturer of removable media. Lexar sells a software product called Image Rescue which costs $30 + shipping from Lexar. The tech explained that Windows treats removable media differently from fixed media. It does not cache or retain deleted files in the Recycle Bin (I’m simplifying things a bit here) from removable media the way it does with fixed media, such as your computer’s hard drive. However, Lexar’s Image Rescue software must be installed on your computer before you try to recover an image that you have lost. Image Rescue essentially acts like a recycle bin for removable media. While Lexar does not guarantee recovery, they do claim that Image Rescue will work on any vendor’s media and will recover a variety of images – jpeg, RAW, tiff etc.
There were several freeware products that I located, some of which claimed to be able to recover images even after a card is formatted! Smart Recovery 4.5 and Digital Photo Recovery 2.0.3 were two products advertised as freeware and appeared to offer the most features and flexibility.
I was disappointed in Digital Photo Recovery right at the start. What was advertised as freeware turned out to be a cut down, VERY limited demo. Scratch that puppy for false credentials (although technically it WAS freeware). After downloading Smart Recovery and scanning it for viruses, I installed the software.
According to the website Smart Recovery
supports the following picture formats: .jpg, .tiff, .bmp, .gif, Canon .crw,
Fuji .raf, Olympus .orf (E-XX), Olympus .orf (C5050), Kodak .dcr, Minolta .mrw,
Nikon .nef (D1H/D1X), Nikon .nef (E5000/E5700) and Sigma - Foveon .x3f. Plus
video files in .avi, QuickTime .mov format and audio files in .wav or .dss
formats. For the simple tests I would conduct, I would use a Sandisk Ultra II
512 MB compact flash card and a Lexar 512 MB 4X speed compact flash
card.
For the first test I used our Canon D10 to shoot four images in Canon RAW format, or CRW as it is referred to, using a 512 MB Sandisk Ultra II CF card. I removed the card from the camera and inserted it in the reader. I deleted the four images (a total of 8 files because each image in RAW format uses two files for the image).
Starting Smart Recovery, I selected the device, the format type (Canon CRW), selected the destination folder and then clicked start. After 15 minutes, with the entire 512 MB CF card scanned, the message appeared “No files could be found on the media. Smart Recovery will change to the extensive mode and rescan your media”. And so the process started all over again.
This time, the scan took approximately 20 minutes, with the same result - no files found. Removing the card from reader, I put the card back in the camera, reformatted the card, and took 7 pictures, only this time storing the images in jpeg format.
Placing the card with the 7 images in the card reader, and confirming they were on the card, I deleted them.
I started Smart Recovery’s scan, with jpeg selected as the format type. Smart Recovery was completely successful! All 7 images were recovered and written to the folder I had specified to place the images in. Removing the card from the reader, I reformatted the card in the camera, and repeated the process to see what would happen. I was very surprised to find that even after reformatting the card in the camera all 7 of the jpeg images were recovered from the freshly formatted card!
The tests using RAW and jpeg images were repeated using a Lexar 512 MB CF card with the same result as before – no RAW images could be found. The jpeg images were all recovered, even after reformatting the card.
To ensure the problem finding the RAW images was not an issue with the RAW image format generated by the D10, I repeated the series of tests with both the Sandisk Ultra card and the Lexar card in our Canon Digital Rebel 300 with no success. As before, the jpeg images were all recovered whether the images had been deleted or the card completely reformatted in the camera, but none of the RAW images could be recovered.
The copy of Lexar’s Image Rescue was received 6 days after ordering it over the telephone. After installing the program, I repeated the same series of tests I had performed to test Smart Recovery. The Lexar software does not claim to work if the CF card is reformatted. However, unlike Smart Recovery, I was able to successfully recover both RAW and jpeg images from both the Sandisk Ultra II and the Lexar cards.
So, if you are absolutely certain you are going to use the jpeg format for storing all your images in your digital camera, Smart Recovery might be all recovery utility that you need. However, if you are likely to chose the RAW image format to store your digital images, my recommendation would be to consider purchasing Image Rescue from Lexar. The precious, once in a lifetime birthday picture is worth it, believe me.
I will continue searching for other freeware programs as alternatives and report on the results in a few months. In the meantime, I have also modified my workflow when handling the digital images - back to a safer approach using copy, verify the images are transferred and then deleting them from the compact flash card.
You can find information about Lexar’s Image Rescue here:
http://www.lexar.com/software/image_rescue.html
PC-Inspector’s Smart Recovery can be found here:
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm
http://www.pcinspector.de/smart_media_recovery/uk/welcome.htm
Rich Heite
You may have
read this week that IBM is selling its PC business to a
Chinese
company. Michael Dell, the brain behind Dell Computer's
success, tells
us why he believes this is a bad move for both
companies:
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-5481714.html
Undoubtedly
feeling the pressure from AMD, Intel has announced that
they will bring
64-bit processors to the desktop in 2005:
http://news.com.com/Intel+to+put+64+bits+in+desktops+in+2005/2100-1006_3-5482345.html?tag=nefd.top
Mozilla,
the people who brought us the Firefox browser, has released
version 1.0 of
Thunderbird, their e-mail client software. If you're
using Outlook
Express and are looking for a more secure alternative,
this may be the
download for you (and it's free!):
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/
In
the midst of the reorganization of this nation's security agencies,
the
Cybersecurity Industry Alliance is urging the Bush Administration
to focus
more on internet security:
http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=135706&liArticleTypeID=1&liCategoryID=2&liChannelID=22&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1
Copy
us on the good stuff ;-)
Matthew Dattilo
thepcgurus@gmail.com
www.opaquelucidity.com
Growing
up with the Internet has certainly set my generation apart from others. The Internet, without a doubt, has left
its mark on human kind, and it is clear that the youth today and in the future
will live their lives surrounded by the Internet and the countless applications
that utilize it. The most popular of those applications, outside of file-sharing
programs, would have to be the Internet Browser. The modern gateway to the Internet,
bringing the world right to our computer screens. The past few years Internet Explorer
(IE) virtually dominated the Marketplace, but as the Internet begins to grow and
more households are coming on we are seeing more and more browsers begin to take
hold on the marketplace, one of the latest and more commonly know being
Mozilla’s Firefox. In my wanderings of cyberspace in search of a better browser,
one to bring an end to the seemingly non-stop flow of pop-ups, ads and the like,
I came across a little gem known as Avant Browser.
With a simple download you can escape from IE and bring yourself into a much cleaner, more organized, and all-in-all better experience on the web. Avant has many of the same features of Firefox. Tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, etc. but it takes things beyond just the basics.
Bringing the common look of IE, which is completely customizable by the user, it builds further and gives you anything you could want in a browser, just of few of those being:
Zoom text for easier reading, change text size, change your language, view at full screen, and not just at full screen but at FULL DESKTOP giving you the full screen view but still allowing access to the Taskbar, unlike IE where you must bring the browser out of Full Screen.
It utilizes your “Favorites” folder, so you don’t loose any of those precious bookmarks, and even carries over your IE settings for ease of transition, and the option to choose AVANT as your default browser is offered the first time you run it after install.
From this point out, AVANT brings us nothing but power tools. In one menu we have the options of:
Automatic translation of a page to 12+ possible languages by automatically routing you through Google’s translation services, the Outlook access that IE brings, a “Clear Records” menu which gives you instant access to clearing out many different types of records such as History, Typed Addresses and Temporary Internet Files. Avant also features different skins to bring a more festive look to things while you cruise your favorite sites.
One of the greatest features of Avant Browser is it’s tabbed browsing and the ability to manipulate each window containing a COMPLETELY different site as you wish. You can tile two sites against each other, cascade all of your opened sites and close them all at once. I personally have had over 25 individual sites up, AT ONCE with one browser…and still there was only one Bar on my Taskbar, getting rid of the clutter multiple IE windows presents. And if I don’t want to leave Avant open, with the vast number of personal preferences available for your control, I can set it so the Browser will automatically minimize completely to the System tray. The ability to customize the browser to your individual preferences and needs is one of its strong points, as well as reducing the clutter on many an already cluttered desktop.
The other great thing about Avant is the range of options it gives you to keep your browser fast, and only viewing what you want to view. With the ability to block such things as pictures, videos, ActiveX components, sounds, Java applets, Flash animations…you have complete control over what is displayed and what is not. This goes hand-in-hand with the built in pop-up blocker, and my favorite, ad-blocker to keep those pesky ads that would sneak through the best of pop-up blockers.
The latest release of Avant Brows is 10.0 Build 035, which was released on 22 Nov 04. You can download this power-packed browser, as well as view more at their website http://www.avantbrowser.com.
No matter which browser you choose, ensure that you are happy with the control and ease of use you are given. Just as buying a car to drive on the road, treat your browser as your car on the Information Superhighway. Test drive a few and, in the end, choose the one that is best for you.
-LCpl Robert Kendall
Heite
United States Marine
Corps
Security
Alert of the Week
If you were expecting
another announcement of a new Windows vulnerability or a nasty virus spreading
through Outlook Express this week you might want to sit
down.
Apple has issued patches to
fix 16 security flaws in Mac OS X.
While it’s unusual to see “Apple” and “security flaws” in the same
sentence, these are critical problems and need to be patched as soon as
possible.
The vulnerabilities include
access to personal data, unauthorized root access, hijacking the system to
launch Denial of Service attacks and act as a Spam relay, logging of your
keystrokes etc.
You can read the entire list
and get the needed patches at http://secunia.com/advisories/13362.
On the Windows side this
week, reader Gary (also known as radionut) experimented with the new version of
AVG and found that it will run in Safe Mode. Older versions of the popular free virus
scanner wouldn’t do that, which I found puzzling, but AVG 7 seems to have joined
the rest of the AV world.
You can get the program from
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/. Thanks for the tip Gary!
Guru of
the Week
For the next several weeks
I’m going to skip the Web Page of the Week and feature the bio of one of our
members. I’ll include a link to
their personal websites, so you’ll still get a new place to visit, but I think
after these many years it’s time you meet the people who’ve been entertaining,
enraging and helping you.
First up is JP Durbin, who
is one of the veterans of the team.
JP has been around since shortly after the original 84 Online show
started and uses his site to archive back issues of the
newsletter.
From his bio at http://www.thepcgurus.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1#jp:
“JP is a graduate of the
University of Louisville completing an M.A. of Mathematics. He currently works
for the US Army Corps of Engineers and is a Ph.D. candidate in Mathematics at
the University of Louisville with a focus on Data Mining.
JP also attended the
University of Kentucky studying Computer Science and was a Sigma Pi there. He is
working on applying his Mathematical knowledge with his computer abilities to
grasp a better understanding of Mathematical Modeling and Data Analysis.
JP also does web design for
a few different organizations, including the Cain Center for the Disabled (http://www.caincenter.org/) and is working
on various research projects. His main computer focus is database
analysis/management, web interfacing, wireless networking, and
coding.”
JP’s personal website is www.jpdurbin.net.
Email
Question of the Week
Q: My mother was the keeper of Quicken in
their computer but she died
this past spring. Dad has been interested in
continuing to use Quicken
but cannot find the password. Consequently, his
data entry pile has
grown out of the box. I thought I read an article
relating to software
that can go through a computer and list all programs and
passwords
etc. to be used prior to blasting a hard drive and reformatting
the
OS. I found on Intuit's web site they can get around the password
for
a minimum $65 fee. Any help from you guys would be
appreciated
greatly. Thanks for putting out the newsletter it is very
interesting
and useful.
A: Unfortunately, this is one of those
things I've never personally tried.
I did, however, find some sites that
offer tools to break Quicken
passwords ... some on a trial basis and some for
less than the $65 fee
that Intuit wants. I can't personally vouch for
these applications, but
I figured it couldn't hurt to try at least the
trial-based versions.
Here are the URLs:
- Advanced Quicken
Password Recovery 1.0
http://www.soft32.com/download_8145.html
-
Quicken Key
http://www.lostpassword.com/quicken.htm
-
Advanced Intuit Password Recovery
http://www.crackpassword.com/products/prs/integpack/intuit/
Now,
someone else on the team might have a better suggestion than these
sites, so
you might want to wait for additional responses before making
a decision to
purchase anything.
Hope this helps!
Ed Engelking II
ed@thepcgurus.com
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