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Theme Manager
Control the OVER ALL look of your Windows computer with Theme Manager. Manage all your skins, themes, wallpapers, icons, etc. from a single interface. You can even mix and match them together to create full blown suites!
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Walter Stevens is a contributor at Free-backup.info -- the home of the popular tool for windows online backup -- Back2zip. This article can be found at http://free-backup.info/undelete-and-data-recovery.html What is Undelete? Undelete is the most basic form of data recovery. It is exactly what its name implies: the restoring or undeleting of files that you have previously deleted. One of the most basic undelete programs is recycle bin, which is included with Windows operating systems. Normally when you delete a file, it is not actually removed immediately from your computer, but is placed into the recycle bin. You can then delete the files from there so that they will be removed from your computer, or the program will automatically empty itself at certain intervals. This allows you a chance to restore files that you might realize that you actually need or deleted accidentally. What is Data Recovery? Undelete is a part of data recovery. Data recovery is the process wherein you recover data that is seemingly lost from your computer. This can be caused by a variety of different catalysts: system crash, physical damage to the disk, computer viruses, etc. Undelete is a basic form of data recovery, but there are far more advanced methods for recovering lost data. What Programs Are Available for Undelete Data Recovery? There are many different undelete programs out there, beyond the recycle bin. They come in two fundamental kinds: some, like the recycle bin, must be installed prior to the deletion of a file, and will allow you to recover deleted files from the program. Executive Software makes a very powerful undelete utility that works along these lines, and replaces your recycle bin with a recovery bin. Unlike recycle bin, which only accepts some files that you delete, the recovery bin will hold every file which you delete from your computer, allowing you to undelete them easily and quickly. It also has a secure delete function which will allow you to delete a file and know that it is no longer on your computer. Other undelete programs may be utilized after data has already been deleted. Oftentimes when we delete files, these files are still in existence somewhere on our computer, we are just not able to access them. More advanced undelete programs will allow you to search your computer and find these files to restore them on your computer, if they are still there and accessible. How do I Find an Undelete Program For my Personal Data Recovery? As mentioned before, there are many different undelete programs out there. One of the best ways to find undelete programs for your personal use is through www.download.com. Many undelete programs are actually freeware utilities, which cost you nothing to use. You will be able to find these on www.download.com. They will have reviews on different programs, and you will be able to determine which you think is the best for you. If you would like to work with a more advanced, non freeware program, you can also find trial and shareware versions of many programs on download.com. This will allow you to try a program prior to making the monetary investment to purchase one for yourself. This is an excellent way to make sure that you buy the best program for your undelete needs.
Walter Stevens is a contributor at Free-backup.info -- the home of the best online backup tool -- Back2zip. This article can be found at http://free-backup.info/undelete-your-files-now.html What is Undelete? Undelete is any data recovery program which will allow you to restore files onto your computer that have been deleted in any way, shape or form. If you are a Windows user you already have a minor undelete program on your computer: the Recycle Bin. This program allows you to restore files that are in your recycle bin before they are permanently erased from your computer. However, recycle bin has its limitations, and cannot restore files that you have deleted from the recycle bin. Types of Undelete Undelete is a general term, and there are many different forms of undelete programs that you can use on your computer. Executive Software has an undelete program which replaces the recycle bin on your computer. This recovery bin is far more powerful than the normal recycle bin which comes on your computer. It will hold all files that are deleted from your computer, even ones that the recycle bin would not normally get such as large files to big for the recycle bin to handle. You can then undelete any file that you wish from the recovery bin. This software also has features to allow you to recover files that have been previously deleted from your computer. This is a very powerful tool that can allow you to regain files that you thought you had lost forever. As an added bonus, if there are sensitive files that you want removed from your computer forever, there is a secure delete function which will allow you to permanently remove any file that you wish. Most undelete software will either perform a function similar to that of the recovery bin of Executive Software's undelete software, or they will allow you to search through your computer in an attempt to recover or undelete files that have been previously deleted from your computer. How do I Get Undelete Programs for my Computer? There are many different undelete programs on the market, and even many freeware programs which are available to you to use for free. One excellent source for undelete programs as well as a variety of other utilities is www.download.com. You can search through their database for undelete programs, and see what they have to offer. They will offer reviews, information about using the programs as well as a download of the program right on their site. It is important to remember that while all of their downloads are free, not all of the programs will be freeware to you. Some are time trial versions, others are simply demos which have only a few features included, some are shareware. However, even if you do not find a freeware utility that you believe will solve your data recovery needs, you can still find free downloads of programs that will allow you to try them before you buy them. Undelete programs are expensive utilities, generally costing 100 dollars or more, and you will want to make sure that you are getting a quality program before you spend this sort of money on undelete software. It will also allow you to download your software immediately and start undeleting your files today.
Andrew Whitehead is a contributor at Free-backup.info -- the home of the popular tool for windows online backup -- Back2zip. This article can be found at http://free-backup.info/the-principles-of-file-recovery.html Why File Recovery is Possible File recovery is nearly always possible, if you spot the mistake and do something about it fast enough. Luckily, if you do mistakenly delete a file, the file has not been physically removed, the operating system just doesn't know where it is anymore. This is easier to understand once you realize that there is more to storing a file on your hard drive than just finding space for the information and writing it there. The operating system must also keep track of where it put the file, without this it would be unable to find it again. When a file gets deleted, this record is altered and the disk area containing the information is marked as free space. The information itself remains intact until some other information is written over it. The effect is similar to rubbing out the name of a video tape - you know you can use that tape now, but the original film is still on there until you do it, and should you change your mind you can do your own 'file recovery' by writing the name on the box again. Commercial file recovery programs do exactly the same trick with computer files. File Recovery Programs There is no shortage of file recovery software to help you out if you delete the wrong file. There are numerous commercial file recovery programs, DOS has its own 'Undelete' command, and Windows has the familiar Recycle Bin. Except for Recycle Bin, they all work on the same principle of searching the hard drive for files that have recently been marked for overwriting. More advanced ones will also tell you how much of the file is recoverable by checking how much has been written over. The seemingly simple Recycle Bin has one advantage over any third party file recovery program: it doesn't allow any overwriting of deleted files stored in there. This means that files from here are recovered in their entirety, and will function exactly as before once they are restored. Obstacles to File Recovery The biggest obstacle by far is time. The longer you wait, the higher the chance of a deleted file being written over, unless it is safely in the Recycle Bin. Once this has happened file recovery is still possible but it will take a lot more than a bit of commercial software to do it. Operating systems are continuously creating files, every web page you visit does the same, and so does every application you open. With this in mind, the time to start your file recovery process is the instant that you realize you needed that file. If you are extremely security conscious enough to be running encryption software this will also reduce your chances of file recovery, as the majority of file recovery programs need to read the file to know it is there. If the encryption utility doesn't offer its own built-in undelete function then file recovery is going to be very difficult and very expensive.
Andrew Whitehead is a contributor at Free-backup.info -- the home of the popular tool for online backup and recovery -- Back2zip. This article can be found at http://free-backup.info/top-ten-disaster-recovery-tips.html Disaster Recovery is 'make or Break' Research shows that most firms hit by a catastrophic event, without no disaster recovery plan, go out of business within two years. Even a basic disaster recovery plan will increase the chances of recovery. Disaster Recovery Tips 1. Store your system passwords in at least two separate secure locations. only one of which is in the same building as your IT equipment. At least two staff have should have access to them. 2. Document, document, document! Make sure that the whole recovery process to get you up and running again is documented, and includes the locations of system recovery and other critical discs. Make sure that key key staff are familiar with with these. 3. Establish an automated system to notify critical staff of disaster by text. These staff should be thoroughly trained so that they can perform basic disaster recovery/back-up tasks unsupervised. You may be able to do this through an arrangement with a third-party service provider. 4. Practice your disaster recovery plan on a quarterly basis or more. This not only hones your disaster recovery team's skills but it will also familiarize new staff with the procedure, and ensures that your disaster recovery strategy is kept up to date by revealing any issues with new equipment or software. 5. No matter how good your disaster recovery plan, it cannot recover data if you neglect to back it up. Make sure there is a routine for backing up data regularly, and ensure it is done. Using at least Raid Level 5 (Raid Level 10 if the budget allows) to ensure data duplication ensures fault tolerance. Build as much redundancy in your system as possible to remove any single points of failure. This includes a multi-path data route to the system, so that you can still access your data if one path fails. 6. Arrange to have spare hot hard disk drives already in the system, or at least physically available in the same room as your storage system. 7.A tape archive strategy is crucial. Tapes used on a daily basis should be replaced every six to nine months to avoid deterioration - backups are no use if they cannot be recovered. Other tapes should be replaced on a regular, less frequent, schedule based on the frequency of use. Being able to back up to a remote location is worth almost any price, a fireproof vault is not an alternative to an off-site location. 8. Get yourself the best, longest-life, most uninterruptible power supply you can. Then get an additional battery back-up for your cache to go with it. 9. Don't neglect to protect yourself from random theft, vandalism and employee malice, they can be just as disastrous as anything else. At the very least ensure that the door to your data/server room is locked, day and night. 10. An automatically closing fire door to the data/server room will keep fire and smoke out of the room for a surprisingly long time Common Faults in Disaster Recovery Plans Most disaster recovery plans that fail do so from lack of backups, lack of practice, or lack of documents. A basic but documented plan with recent backups and practiced staff will work better than a grandiose scheme let down on any of these points.
James Fohl is a contributor at Free-backup.info -- the home of the popular Amazon S3 based tool for online file backup -- Back2zip. This article can be found at http://free-backup.info/using-divx-technology-to-backup-your-dvds.html Using Divx Technology to Backup Your Dvds Most DVD players incorporate some kind of protection against playing backup copies of DVDs, as well as DVDs from other regions. However what are you supposed to do if you want to make backup copies of your movies, but you do not have a DVD burner on your computer? Users without a DVD burner on their computer system are still able to make backups of their movies. A lot of commercial DVD players will play Video CDs, and Super Video CDs which are just regular CDs encoded with video. While a lot of software exists on the internet that allows you to backup your DVDs to these formats, you sacrifice quality, and instead of just one disc the movie is split into several discs; a real hassle for most users. Divx technology allows users to make near DVD quality backups of their DVDs on normal CD-R discs. Luckily a technology known as Divx is starting to be incorporated into DVD players. Divx is a compression format for movie files that allows DVD quality movies to be stored on normal CD-R discs. Because of the hardware demands of Divx (to uncompress the video) most standard home DVD players are unable to play movies that are backups of this format. While the bargain priced DVD players ($30-$50 price segment) do not have the abilities to decode Divx movies, several players are now available at prices well under $100. With this being said, anyone who wishes not to deal with all of the backup hassles of DVDs can now easily utilize a Divx supported player and easily create backup copies of their favorite movies, as well as download Divx content off of the internet. While the number of Divx compatible players is still relatively small, an interested consumer can easily find a unit on the internet at a bargain price. The Denver DVD-438 is an excellent DVD player which allows the user to watch backup movies in the Divx format. One of the best deals around for a Divx compatible DVD player is the Denver DVD-438 from Denver Electronics. The DVD-438 is not only cheap in price, but also plays a wide variety of different formats as well as supports subtitles for Divx discs! The Denver corporation also supports the DVD system very well, as they have released several new versions of the firmware allowing users to have access to several new features with every release. While you may have a difficult time of locating this particular unit at an electronics store, you can easily find one by using your favorite search engine. So any computer user who does not have a DVD burner, or is uncomfortable with making backup DVDs, the option of Divx is an excellent choice. Even if you have a DVD burner, CD-Rs are a lot cheaper in price than DVD-Rs, and if you create a bad burned disc, it is always a lot better to throw away a few cents (for the CD-R disc) than a few dollars (for the DVD disc).
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