5 Ways To Clone Copy Your Hard Drive

One of the most annoying things about owning a computer is the maintenance. It’s easily neglected. After all you don’t really notice the slow decline of your system’s performance, do you?

But then again it’s a delight to work on a freshly installed machine, where everything is smooth and responds quickly. But customization is tedious. And when your hard drive decides to break spontaneously, time is something you won’t have for sure.

For emergencies it’s better you have a data and a system backup available. Here are the 5 best tools to clone or copy your hard drive in no particular order.

Paragon’s Drive Backup Express (Windows)

This software is the easy solution. It’s comfortable to use with a sleek interface that guides you through the whole process of backing up and restoring step by step. And while a backup is running in the background you can even proceed using your system.

Both Drive Backup Express and DriveImage XML (described below) require a bootable CD, which the user has to create independently.

I have previously written about Drive Backup Express and thoroughly explained how it works here.

DriveImage XML (Windows)

In contrast to Drive Backup Express, DriveImage XML is a visually very basic tool. However, it reliably creates images of logical drives and partitions and restores these to either the originating or a different hard disk.

Like Drive Backup Express, DriveImage XML applies a cloning technique that allows parallel use of the system while the backup is running. It can also do incremental backups, supplementing existing backups with what was changed in the meantime. Additionally, images can be restored without having to reboot.

CloneZilla (cross platform)

CloneZilla is an open source and cross platform tool to clone and restore hard drives.

It’s a tough tool for non nerds as it requires some background knowledge. First of all it’s not a software you install on your computer. You download CloneZilla in form of an ISO image or ZIP file and burn the image to a CD or load the files onto a USB flash drive or hard drive.

The next step is to reboot the computer from that medium you created, which may require going into the BIOS and allow booting from a CD or USB device.

Once the tool is running, it’s easy to use the simple interface to initiate or restore a backup. There also is sort of a screenshot walkthrough on the CloneZilla homepage, where you can view some of the options before running the tool.

XXCLONE (Windows)

XXCLONE is Windows software. The tool can create a self-bootable clone of a Windows drive as well as full backups of non-system volumes.

The interface is basic and clear. When started, the tool scans for available volumes and you can then choose a source and target volume from these. A direct link to the Windows Disk Management is provided through the “diskmgmt” button. Under the “Tool Cools” tab you can make use of options such as making the target volume self-bootable, manage restore points or create a batch file to save your current settings for future re-use.

The download section of the website provides a thorough help file that contains screenshots and descriptions of all features.

EASEUS Disk Copy (cross platform)

EASEUS Disk Copy creates sector by sector clones of partitions or hard disks, independent of operating system, file systems or partition scheme. It’s a versatile tool for both the novice and experienced user.

Just like CoolZilla, it’s not installed locally, rather the ISO image is burned to a bootable CD or DVD.

The website is probably the best of all tools described here. The information is thorough and very clear, including a very detailed help section that will walk you through every aspect of the program.

Do you clone and copy your hard drive?   If so, which program do you use?   Can you recommend any particular program to us?   Let us know in the comments.

Picture credits: CraigPJ

source from : http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-to-clone-and-copy-your-hard-drive/

 

How to find the IP address of the sender in email – Gmail, Yahoo mail or Hotmail

When you receive an email, you receive more than just the message. The email comes with headers that carry important information that can tell where the email was sent from and possibly who sent it. For that, you would need to find the IP address of the sender. The tutorial below can help you find the IP address of the sender. Note that this will not work if the sender uses anonymous proxy servers.

First of all, the IP address is generally found in the headers enclosed beween square brackets, for instance, [129.130.1.1]

Finding IP address in Gmail

1. Log into your Gmail account with your username and password.
2. Open the mail.
3. To display the email headers,
   • Click on the inverted triangle beside Reply. Select Show Orginal.
4. You may copy the headers and use my IP address detection script to ease the process. Or if you want to manually find the IP address, proceed to 5.
5. Look for Received: from followed by the IP address between square brackets [ ].

   Received: from [69.138.30.1] by web31804.mail.mud.yahoo.com

6. If you find more than one Received: from patterns, select the last one.
7. Track the IP address of the sender

Finding IP address in Yahoo! Mail

1. Log into your Yahoo! mail with your username and password.
2. Click on Inbox or whichever folder you have stored your mail.
3. Open the mail.
4. If you do not see the headers above the mail message, your headers are not displayed. To display the headers,
   • Click on Options on the top-right corner
   • In the Mail Options page, click on General Preferences
   • Scroll down to Messages where you have the Headers option
   • Make sure that Show all headers on incoming messages is selected
   • Click on the Save button
   • Go back to the mails and open that mail
5. You should see similar headers like this:
   
6. You may copy the headers and use my IP address detection script to ease the process. Or if you want to manually find the IP address, proceed to 7.
7. Look for Received: from followed by the IP address between square brackets [ ]. Here, it is 202.65.138.109.
   That is be the IP address of the sender.
   If there are many instances of Received: from with the IP address, select the IP address in the last pattern. If there are no instances of Received: from with the IP address, select the first IP address in X-Originating-IP.
8. Track the IP address of the sender

Finding IP address in Hotmail

1. Log into your Hotmail account with your username and password.
2. Click on the Mail tab on the top.
3. Open the mail.
4. If you do not see the headers above the mail message, your headers are not displayed. To display the headers,
   • Click on Options on the top-right corner
   • In the Mail Options page, click on Mail Display Settings
   • In Message Headers, make sure Advanced option is checked
   • Click on Ok button
   • Go back to the mails and open that mail
5. You should see the email headers now.
6. You may copy the headers and use my IP address detection script to ease the process. Or if you want to manually find the IP address, proceed to 7.
7. If you find a header with X-Originating-IP: followed by an IP address, that is the sender’s IP address
   In this case the IP address of the sender is [68.34.60.59]. Jump to step 9.
8. If you find a header with Received: from followed by a Gmail proxy like this
   
   Look for Received: from followed by IP address within square brackets[].
   In this case, the IP address of the sender is [69.140.7.58]. Jump to step 9.
9. Or else if you have headers like this
   
   Look for Received: from followed by IP address within square brackets[].
   In this case, the IP address of the sender is [61.83.145.129] (Spam mail). Jump to step 9.
10. * If you have multiple Received: from headers, eliminate the ones that have proxy.anyknownserver.com.
11. Track the IP address of the sender

IP Address Detection Script

I wrote a Perl script to automate this task for you. All you have to do is select your email service and copy your email headers in the box below.

You may do one of the following:

• You can copy all the headers from your email and paste them here.
  In this case, the unnecessary headers (like Subject:) will be removed automatically.
• You can remove all headers except those beginning with
  • X-Originating-IP:
  • Received:

source from: http://aruljohn.com/info/howtofindipaddress/

 

How can I write (burn) ISO files to CD?

ISO files are actually images of complete CDs compiles as one whole image, just like Ghost does for hard disks and partitions. ISO images can be loaded into several different CD recording software packages to create CDs.

ISO Recorder Power Toy (Freeware)

ISO Recorder is a Windows XP freeware utility that uses native Windows XP functions to write images to a CD. You can download this utility from the author’s Web page. When the program is installed, it is automatically associated with the ISO file extension in Windows Explorer.

For more information about this utility, visit the author’s Web page at http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

Steps to create a CD if you have installed ISO Recorder Power Toy:

1. Download the ISO CD image to a folder on your computer.

2. Insert a blank CD in your CD-RW drive.

3. Start Windows Explorer.

4. Locate the ISO file, right-click the file name, and then click Copy image to CD to open the ISO Recorder Wizard.

5. Follow the steps in the wizard to write the image to the CD.

Another alternate method:

1. You can also right-click your CD-R drive and choose Copy Image to CD.

2. In the new window browse to the ISO file and click Next.

Reader comment: Reader Ori Artman adds his small useful tip:

“Small and maybe valuable tip for the ‘How can I write ISO files to CD?’ tip. This power tool works only on files with ISO extension. There’re some ISO files with IMG extension (notably MSDN’s distribution files). Change the extension to .ISO and this power tool will work as advertised.
There maybe other file formats that are ISO format and are called something else…”

Thanks!

Nero – Burning ROM (Ahead Software)

You can use Nero Burning ROM to record a CD from an ISO file. You must purchase this program from Ahead Software. For more information about this program, visit the Ahead Software Web site at: http://www.nero.com

Steps to create a CD if you have installed Nero – Burning ROM:

1. Download the ISO CD image to a folder on your computer.

2. Insert a blank CD in your CD-RW drive.

3. Start Nero Burning.

4. Follow the wizard steps to select Data CD creation.

5. When the wizard closes, click Burn Image on the File menu.

6. In the Open dialog box, select the ISO file, and then click Open.

7. In the wizard, click Burn to write the image to the CD.

EasyCD Creator (Roxio)

You can use EasyCD Creator to create a CD from an ISO file. You must purchase this program from Roxio. When the program is installed, it is automatically associated with the ISO file extension in Windows Explorer. For more information about this program, visit the Roxio Web site at: http://www.roxio.com

Steps to create a CD if you have installed EasyCD Creator:

1. Download the ISO CD image to a folder on your computer.

2. Insert a blank CD in your CD-RW drive.

3. Start Windows Explorer.

4. Locate the ISO file, right-click the file name, and then click Open to start EasyCD.

5. In the Write Method section of the CD Creation Setup dialog box, click Disk at Once for optimum recording performance.

6. Click OK to write the image to the CD.

CDBurn.exe from the XP Support Tools

You can use CDBurn.exe that is included in the Windows Server 2003 Support Tools (read Download Windows 2003 Reskit Tools for more info).

ISO CD-ROM Burner Tool (CDBurn) is a command-line tool that allows the user to write (burn) data images from image files located on the hard drive to compact disc (CD) recordable (CD-R) and CD rewritable (CD-RW) media. The data image can be any kind of data, even raw data. This tool can also be used to erase CD-RW media.

Example: Burn a CD From an Image File When a Drive Letter is Assigned to the CD Burner. Type the following at the command line:

cdburn.exe d: c:\dotnet_usa_3678.IDS_x86fre_srv.iso

Press ENTER. Output similar to the following is displayed:

Number of blocks in ISO image is 3d1d6
| 25.6% done
/ 45.2% done
/ 55.3% done
- 68.9% done
\ 89.3% done
- 100.0% done
Finished Writing
Synchronizing Cache: burn successful!

Notes: The drive letter assigned to the burner in this example is D and the image file being written is located at c:\dotnet_usa_3678.IDS_x86fre_srv.iso

The default burn speed for this tool is 4x. The maximum burn speed is limited by the maximum speed of the burner. Use the speed parameter to set the burn speed. The max parameter sets the burn speed of the CD burner to maximum.

Summary

This article has discussed several methods for burning iso files to different media types, including free iso burners and some commercial iso writers.  The .iso burned copies are often used to duplicate entire CD/DVD’s in their original file structure without having to worry about individual files.

 

How do I connect to SQL Server using Visual Studio .NET?

Visual Studio .NET 2002 includes a built in database management tool (similar to Microsoft Enterprise Manager). The following functions are available with this tool. Retrieve and edit data Create tables, views, and stored procedures (Enterprise & Architect Version only) To connect to your Microsoft SQL Server database with Visual Studio .NET, follow the steps listed below. Open Server Explorer (View -> Server Explorer) The Server Explorer should show up on the left hand side of the IDE Right click on “Data Connections” and select “Add Connection”. Enter the Server Name in the first textbox (do not use the drop down box). MS SQL Server name can be found in the MS SQL server section of the control panel. Check “Use a specific user name and password:” Enter your SQL username & password Select your database from the dropdown list. Click “Ok” Once connected, you should see a new entry in the Data Connections Section.

 

A little alcohol ‘can be healthy’

Experts warned that over-indulgence could pose severe health risks

A little alcohol combined with a healthy active lifestyle may be the best recipe for a longer life. A European Heart Journal study suggests the combination can cut the risk of heart disease.

A Danish team found people who led an active lifestyle were less prone to heart disease – but the risk was cut still further if they drank moderately.

However, UK experts warned people should not be encouraged to drink, as too much alcohol can be very damaging.

Physical activity has shown greater benefits to heart health and overall health in previous research compared to drinking alcohol Ellen Mason British Heart Foundation

The researchers followed nearly 12,000 men and women for nearly 20 years, during which 1,242 died from ischaemic heart disease (IHD).

Overall, they found people who did not drink or take any exercise had the highest risk of heart disease – 49% higher than people who either drank, exercised or did both.

When comparing people who took similar levels of exercise, they found that those who drank moderately – one to 14 units of alcohol a week – were around 30% less likely to develop heart disease than non-drinkers.

This finding held good for people who were completely inactive, through to those who took vigorous regular exercise – with the overall risk declining as exercise levels increased.

Non-drinkers who were physically active had a 31%-33% reduced risk of IHD compared to physically inactive non-drinkers.

But their reduced risk was dwarfed by physically active people who drank at least one drink a week – their risk was up to 50% lower than that of physically inactive non-drinkers.

Biochemical effects

Past research has suggested that alcohol consumption may decrease the risk of heart disease by increasing the levels of “good” cholesterol and possibly thinning the blood.

It was a similar story when the researchers looked at deaths from all causes: physical activity appeared to reduce the risk, while moderate drinkers fared better than their abstemious peers across all physical activity levels.

Researcher Professor Morton Gronbaek, from Copenhagen’s National Institute of Public Health, said: “Our study shows that being both physically active and drinking a moderate amount of alcohol is important for lowering the risk of both fatal IHD and death from all causes.”

Ellen Mason, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “The combination of moderate drinking and physical activity appears to be a winning one in reducing the risk of fatal heart disease.

“However, drinking too much starts to outweigh the benefits of alcohol intake and can increase your blood pressure.

“Physical activity has shown greater benefits to heart health and overall health in previous research compared to drinking alcohol.

“Alcohol is a depressant whereas exercise releases mood-enhancing hormones which can benefit quality of life as well as reduce the risk of death.”

A unit of alcohol is defined as half a pint of normal strength beer, or a single shot of a spirit. A medium-sized glass of wine is two units.

 

Password Saver 4.1.1

Password Saver is a powerful, feature-rich solution for storing all your password information in a secure, centralized database on your hard drive. It uses industrial strength 256-bit AES/Rijndael encryption and all of the CryptoAPI algorithms included in Microsoft Windows to keep your passwords secure, while providing an easy-to-use interface for organizing, adding and editing your password records.

The software provides many pre-defined templates for commonly used records such as Web site and Email accounts, so you can get started adding data right away. You are not just limited to the pre-defined templates or even to just storing records with passwords – you can create your own custom templates to store virtually any kind of data! Password Saver’s advanced import/export features also let you share passwords with co-workers and partners easily and securely.

Download:

http://depositfiles.com/en/files/2952043

 

Admin Password Hack Bootable/Portable

Information :

This is a utility to (re)set the password of any user that has a valid (local) account on your NT system.
You do not need to know the old password to set a new one.
It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a floppydisk or CD. The bootdisk includes stuff to access NTFS and FAT/FAT32 partitions and scripts to glue the whole thing together.

Will detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts!
It is also an almost fully functional registry editor!

Windows Admin Hack allows you to reset the administrator password on
Windows 2000/XP.

The ISO must be burned to a CD or Flash drive.

When it is booted, a mini version of linux starts which allows the
administrator password to be reset. useful if you need to work on a
machine the password is unknown.

Code:

Download : http://rapidshare.com/files/74941803/Portable_Admin.rar Password : http://www.sswarez.com/vaispy.php

__________________

 

Bypass rapidshare using DLD

Ok,
So here’s a program to bypass rapidshare called DownloadDirect. I DO NOT prefer using this program but incase any1 has trouble with this, ill post the other way. All you have to do with this program is enter the download link for the rapidshare file and it automatically starts downloading. I downloaded 600mb of files to check and so far it works fine, so i hope there won’t be many problems. Anyways, this program also supports pause and resume, which makes it better than other methods. I uploaded it today and i don’t know how long it lasts on megaupload but heres the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=23YIDUMV

OR

http://www.mediafire.com/?8rismdndjgg – Mediafire link by Truth

NOTE: I have no idea if this works with rapidshare.de but so far i’m guessing this can work for almost any site as a download manager. And if this doesn’t work (I see no reason why it shouldn’t but still), pm me incase you want more ways that are a bit more complicated. I’ll make another thread for it

EDIT: reps plz? rofl

 

GOD, ARE YOU FOR REAL?

The man whispered, “God, speak to me.”
And a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.

So the man yelled, “God, speak to me.”
And the thunder rolled across the sky,
But the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, “God, let me see you.”
And a star shone brightly.
But the man did not notice.

And the man shouted, “God, show me a miracle.”
And a life was born.
But the man did not know.

So the man cried out in despair,
“Touch me God, and let me know You are here.

Whereupon God reached down and touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away…

…AND WALKED AWAY UNKNOWINGLY

 

Top 13 Worst Slogan Translations Ever

I wonder if these companies just Babelfished the slogans into another language. Never..trust…babelfish.

13) When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you.” The company thought that the word “embarazar” (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: “It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.”

12) Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: “Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux.”

11) Clairol introduced the “Mist Stick,” a curling iron, into Germany only to find out that “mist” is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the “Manure Stick.”

10) Coors put its slogan, “Turn It Loose,” into Spanish, where it was read as “Suffer From Diarrhea.”

9) Pepsi’s “Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation” translated into “Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave” in Chinese.

When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the labels of what’s inside, since many people can’t read.

7) Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine.

6) Frank Perdue’s chicken slogan, “It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken,” was translated into Spanish as “it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate.”

5) When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new leather first class seats in the Mexican market, it translated its “Fly In Leather” campaign literally, which meant “Fly Naked” (vuela en cuero) in Spanish.

4) An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope’s visit. Instead of “I saw the Pope” (el Papa), the shirts read “I Saw the Potato” (la papa).

3) The Dairy Association’s huge success with the campaign “Got Milk?” prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read “Are You Lactating?”

2) General Motors had a very famous fiasco in trying to market the Nova car in Central and South America. “No va” in Spanish means, “It Doesn’t Go”.

1) The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as “Kekoukela”, meaning “Bite the Wax Tadpole” or “Female Horse Stuffed with Wax”, depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent “kokoukole”, translating into “Happiness in the Mouth.”