Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on April 15, 2008 by CyberNet.

Time Saving Tuesday

A few weeks ago we demonstrated an extremely simple backup solution called IdleBackup. It was nothing too fancy, and this time around we wanted to go to the other extreme with a freeware Windows backup application that will really knock your socks off. The program is called Cobian Backup, and I wouldn’t have found it without Leland’s help.

Cobian Backup is one of the most full-featured backup utilities that I’ve seen, and the best thing about it is that it’s completely free. I’ve been a proud owner of SyncBackSE for quite some time now, but Cobian Backup includes almost all of the same features in it’s latest version 9 Beta release. The interface is well designed, creating and scheduling backups is simple, and it is busting at the seams with customization!

(Click to Enlarge)

–Features–

Now I could have just listed off the features that the developer had put together, but I actually think the developer is rather modest of what the program is truly capable of. So I put together my own set of features highlighting all of the things that I find to be the most useful in Cobian:

• Can be installed as a service, which means it is able to run even when a user isn’t logged into the computer
• 3 different types of backups are available:
• Full backups: Every single file in the source will be copied or compressed. If you are overwriting, every file will be replaced. If Overwrite is unchecked, you will have several copies of the same source.
• Incremental:  The program will check if the source has been changed from the last backup. If there is no need to copy the file, it will be skipped, saving backup time. The incremental procedure checks the Archive bit attribute of the file. You may want to manually reset the attribute to force a full backup: use the “Set the archive attributes” on the Task menu.
• Differential: The program will check if the source has been changed from the last FULL backup. If there is no need to copy the file, it will be skipped, saving backup time. The differential procedure checks the Archive bit attribute of the file. You may want to manually reset the attribute to force a full backup: use the “Set the archive attributes” on the Task menu.
• Dummy task: This backup doesn’t need a source or a destination. It is useful to use the task just as an scheduler to execute applications, close services, reboot the computer, etc.
• Remotely connect to and manage your backups (Cobian will need to be installed on both the host and client machine to do this). Go to Tools -> Remote Client in Cobian to access this feature.
• Backup to or from a network or FTP location
• Compress your backups using 7-Zip or regular ZIP
• Split the compressed files up into multiple files according to a maximum size that you specify
• You can have multiple source and/or destinations
• You can have a timestamp added to backup filenames so that existing backups are not overwritten
• Perform a variety of actions before and/or after a backup starts:
• Pause for a specified duration
• Start or close a program
• Start or stop a service
• Restart or shutdown the computer
• If you choose to perform an incremental or differential backup you can set Cobian to automatically do a full backup every X backups, where “X” is any number you want.
• It will retrieve files from the Volume Shadow Copy (on XP and Vista) if a file is locked by another application
• You can provide a list of files and/or folders to exclude
• UNICODE support

–Creating a Backup–

When making a decision on which backup application to use it is pretty critical to see first-hand whether it is going to do what you want it to. And that’s what this screenshot gallery is for!

In Cobian there are seven different areas that you can configure for each backup task that you create. Below you’ll find a screenshot of each different area so that you can appropriately decide whether Cobian will be able to perform the backups in the way that you want it to.

(Click to Enlarge)

–Overview–

Cobian Backup is a tremendous application that will likely have much, if not all of what you’re looking for. It might take some time to get the backups setup just the way you want, but once you’re done the end result could save you days of frustration. Believe me, in the last two years I’ve had two different hard drives fail on me. If it wasn’t for the regular backups that I performed there could have been a lot of unrecoverable settings, pictures, and documents. Software like Cobian Backup can really come through in a pinch!

Cobian Backup Homepage
Note: In this review I was using Cobian Backup 9 Beta.

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on April 10, 2008 by CyberNet.

Tutorial Thursday

Grouping similar Taskbar buttons in Windows is either a feature you love or hate. It’s nice because when your Taskbar starts to get full it will start grouping applications together to conserve space. For example, if you have 10 Firefox windows open at a time they will only show up as a single button on the Taskbar if you have grouping enabled.

This may not only help reduce clutter in your Taskbar, but for some people it could help maintain their sanity. The only thing is that the grouping of similar buttons will only occur once crowding sets in on the Taskbar. Don’t worry, it’s actually possible to let the feature kick in regardless of how full your Taskbar is. Just look at this screenshot I took after applying the tweak I’m about to show you:

It grouped the two Windows Explorer windows into a single button despite there being nothing else on the Taskbar. Feel free to proceed if you’re running Windows XP or Vista…

–Customizing Taskbar Grouping–

1. To simplify the process we’ve created this registry file that you can download (advanced users can find the registry information toward the end of the article). After you download that go ahead and extract the file. If you double-click on it right away it will set the Taskbar to start grouping when two or more of the same applications are open.

   If you want to change it to, for example, group only when there are three or more of the same applications open you’ll need to edit the file. To do this right-click on the TaskbarGroupSize.reg file you downloaded, and choose the Edit option. You would replace the “2″ with a “3″ in this case resulting in the line looking like this:

   "TaskbarGroupSize"=dword:00000003

   Similarly setting the value to “0″ will force the Taskbar grouping to return to the default method.

2. Now you need to enable the setting. If you feel like killing some time you could restart your computer or logoff, but it’s probably easier to just re-enable the option in the Taskbar properties. To do this right-click on the Taskbar and choose the Properties option. Uncheck the Group similar taskbar buttons option if it is already checked, and then click Apply. Now check the Group similar taskbar buttons box, and click OK:
   
3. The feature should now be enabled. If you didn’t modify the Registry setting in Step 1 you should see that any two similar windows will be grouped together regardless of how much space is being occupied in the Taskbar:
   
4. You can go back and modify the Registry setting in Step 1 at anytime. Running it again will merely overwrite the current value, and setting it to “0″ will return the grouping back the Windows default method.

–Advanced Users–

If you’re an advanced user and know your way around the Windows Registry you can create the necessary value yourself. You’ll need to navigate to this location:

HKEY_CURRRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced

Then you’ll need to create a new DWORD (32-bit) value called TaskbarGroupSize there. A value of “0″ will disable the feature, while a larger numerical setting (2 or higher) will initiate the grouping when that number of similar windows is open.

–Overview–

So now I’m curious… how many of you use Taskbar grouping in the first place? I generally don’t use it, but I know a lot of people who do. Drop us a comment below with your thoughts.

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on October 03, 2006 by CyberNet.

Time Saving Tuesday

The weather is never what you expect it to be which is why everyone relies on accurate forecasts. With so many options available for following your weather it can be tough to find the perfect one. Below I have listed several ways that will help you retrieve the weather using websites, free software, personal homepages, and feeds.

The list started being purely text-based but then I realized that it would be much easier to compare them if I took screenshots. So that is what I did:

–Websites–

• CNN (Homepage)
  
• Weather.com (Homepage)
  
• Weather Underground (Homepage)
  
• Yahoo (Homepage)
  

–Free Software–

• Google Desktop (Add to your desktop/sidebar)
  
• Forecastfox Firefox Extension (Original / Enhanced)
  Screenshot from Enhanced version:
  
• Weather Watcher (Download)
  
• Yahoo Widget Engine (Add Widget)
  

–Personal Homepages–

• Google Personalized Homepage (Add to your homepage)
  
• Netvibes (located in the “Add Content” Sidebar on the homepage)
  
• Weather.com (Signup)
  

–Feeds–

• Weather.com (Generate URL here)
  
• Weather Underground (Available on any weather page)
   
• Yahoo Weather (Instructions or on any weather page)
   

From the list above I primarily use Weather Watcher and the Yahoo Weather Feed. Those two give me enough weather coverage that I generally know what to expect when I walk out the door.

If you know of any other good weather sources please let me know and I might add them to the list. I tried to cover a wide range of alternatives but the weather forecasts are so important to people that there will always be hundreds thousands of alternatives available.

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on August 26, 2008 by CyberNet.

Time Saving Tuesday

One of the things that’s always nice to know is what you can remove from your hard drive to quickly regain hard drive space. Maybe there are some enormous games on your computer that you don’t play anymore, or files you’ve downloaded that have never gotten deleted? By using hard drive visualization tools you’ll be able to pinpoint exactly what is eating up your hard drive storage.

There are a lot of different programs that can be used for this purpose, and we thought it would be better to put together a more comprehensive list instead of just covering one or two of our favorites. We’ve broken them up according to operating system below, and for each one we provide a brief description accompanied by a screenshot. That way you’ll be able to figure out which free app is right for you.

Note: You can click on a screenshot for a full-size version.

–Windows Hard Drive Visualization–

• JDiskReport [Homepage]
  This is a Java-based tool that gives you a few different options for visualizing your hard drive. The screenshot below shows the typical pie graph, but you can also switch to a distribution graph. As you drill into folders it will update the graph accordingly.
  
• WinDirStat [Homepage] [Full Review]
  This free program is pretty cool because of how it breaks up your hard drive into chunks so that you can see at a glance where the large space-hogging chunks are. The various types of files are also color-coded for easy identification.
  
• SpaceMonger [Homepage]
  This definitely isn’t the most glamorous application we’ve seen, but the way it breaks up the view of your hard drive is very intuitive. Just like with WinDirStat the boxes are proportionally sized to the percent of the hard drive they consume, but what’s nice about this is that some of the files and folders are clearly labeled on the diagram.
  
• TreeSize Free [Homepage]
  TreeSize is a more Windows Explorer-like interface for finding those large folders on your computer. As you can see in the screenshot below it puts the largest folders at the top of the list, and you can continue to expand them to see the largest files and folders inside each of those.
  
• OverDisk [Homepage]
  What really makes OverDisk unique is that it’s visualization method looks more like a pie chart that has exploded. You can use the navigator along the left side of the window to traverse through the directories on your PC, and the chart will adjust accordingly.
  

–Mac Hard Drive Visualization–

• Disk Inventory X [Homepage]
  Look at this the same way as the WinDirStat application for Windows above. It has the same visualization technique, and color-codes the files based upon their type.
  
• GrandPerspective [Homepage]
  Yet another block visualization tool. It’s very similar to Disk Inventory X, and both have nearly the same features and interface.
  
• JDiskReport [Homepage]
  That’s right, you saw this program in the Windows section above as well. Since it’s made using Java it’s available on multiple platforms which is a nice benefit. It uses standard pie graphs and distribution charts to plot the data on your hard drive.

–Linux Hard Drive Visualization–

• KDirStat [Homepage]
  This is the original application that used the block-like view many of the different programs mentioned above now incorporate. It also comes with some cleanup utilities to help reclaim the disk space.
  
• Baobab [Homepage]
  Baobab has a clean and intuitive interface for navigating through the folders on your computer. For each line it has a color-coded bar that indicates how much space it is taking up, or you can always switch over to one of the more graphical views. The best part is that this is already included with the GNOME desktop, and is referred to as the Disk Usage Analyzer.
  

–Overview–

So those are the best hard drive visualization tools that we’ve come across throughout the years. Let us know in the comments what you use to find the pesky files and folders taking up all of your precious hard drive space.

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on April 18, 2007 by CyberNet.

Web Browser Wednesday

Tabs are probably one of the things that have almost become a requirement for Web browsers. Without tabs I know for sure that my productivity would dramatically decrease because they help me multitask in a way that keeps all of my Web browsing separated from my other applications. Heck, I probably average around 20 tabs open at a given time, and I can’t imagine having a separate window for each one of those cluttering up my Taskbar.

Now that I’m am addicted to tabs I find myself looking for ways to keep them better organized and separated. Sometimes this consists of opening a few different windows and separating out the tabs between them, or there are even some Firefox extensions that can help you get a little more organized.

—Firefox Extensions—

Seeing that Firefox is one of the most customizable browsers available I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise to you that there are a few extensions that can help reduce your tab clutter. The first extension is called Faviconize and you can set it up to collapse a tab down to only its icon. If you keep a large number of tabs open at any given time then this will save you a lot of room:

Then there is the Tab Groups extension which is essentially folders for your tabs. This is useful for me because I always have articles that I want to read when I get more time later on. I know that if I bookmark them I’ll forget to go back and read them, but with this extension I can keep the tabs open without cluttering up my tab bar:

The Separe extension is a little like the Tab Groups extension in the sense that you group your tabs, but it doesn’t use a folder-like structure for them. Instead it basically creates a blank tab that is orange in color, and you can place it anywhere on the tab bar to serve as a divider. It also includes a group management window that allows you to move tabs from one side of a divider to another:

—Drag and Drop—

Being able to drag and drop tabs between browser windows is something that both Firefox and Opera support. The concept is simple: open up multiple windows for your browser and drag tabs between them.

Opera and Firefox each do drag and drop differently. Firefox actually makes a duplicate tab in the new window and doesn’t close the original, whereas Opera closes the original tab after it has been moved to the new window. I actually prefer the way Opera handles it because the reason I am moving a tab from one window to another is to reduce clutter, and by it automatically closing the tab in the original window it saves me an extra click.

—Overview—

I love seeing how tabs have evolved over the years and how they have become an important part of a user’s daily lives. I’m not sure what new additions will be added to tabbed interfaces, but if I had to guess I would would say being able to select multiple tabs simultaneously would be the next big thing (maybe hold down the Ctrl key and select multiple tabs?). You could then drag multiple tabs from one window to another, or close only the selected tabs. That may not seem like a ground-breaking feature, but it is something I have wanted for quite some time.

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com