Get help, advice and information on all your Computers and Technology issues. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/files.htm Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:49:05 GMT en Backing up your computer can be a pain in the rear! Well you know what I mean. If you are like me, then you always mean to "get around to it", but "around" somehow never comes. That was until one weekend and my hard drive failed, taking a very important project with it. Since the project was due that Monday, I frantically searched for the last backup to recover it. Much to my dismay, the backup was over a week old and I had done at least 20 hours of work on it since then. I spent the next 24 hours typing and redoing all that work! Since then I have been very careful to make backups as often as possible. You should make a backup schedule and stick with it. What files should be backed up? Now I know after you heard my sob story, you want to back up every little thing on your hard drive. This makes sense right? Well, unless you work in some big gov't agency or big corporation, you will quickly find out that the cost of hardware and backup media becomes an issue. So you have put on your thinking cap. Which files are irreplaceable? Which files if lost could negatively affect my business or work? Which files if destroyed or lost could cost me money or my job? How often do I need to back up? Naturally daily backups are the best but backups done on a weekly or monthly basis (if you feel lucky) are also good is these files are not critical. For business purposes, backups done only once a week just aren't frequent enough. Think back over this last week and all the work you have done. Now just imagine trying to recreate all that by hand if you hard drive fails. For important business related things you may want to consider a rotation of "daily weekly monthly" backups. Which Program should I use? An excellent backup program is Acronis True Image, which can make an "image" of your entire hard drive. This allows you to be able to restore your operating system as well as your data to a new hard drive if you have to. Another program that I have used to good effect is SyncBackSE. SyncBackSE not only backs up your data but w http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/91125__Backing_Up_Your_Sensitive_Files.html Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:55:26 GMT Even if PDF files have become quite the popular file format these days, it would still help to have a tool that can convert PDF to word conveniently for you. PDF files, or Portable Document Format files, are popularly used when documents that are pretty large in size are being used for transmission and retrieval. These files are large in size for one main reason: the files are designed as a whole, not as a bunch of parts that can be edited individually. It is also because of this that you need to know how to convert PDF files to word files. Imagine you have a picture or a snapshot on your monitor right now. It would be impossible to cut out a portion of the picture and paste it onto another file. This is because you will have to take the snapshot as a whole, like it or not. The snapshot is not something that is made of individual parts that you can edit in any way that you want at all. The same thing goes with the PDF file. This is precisely why you need to be familiar with tools that can convert PDF files to word files. This makes the cutting, the pasting, and the editing aspects all the more easier for you. There are many applications known as converters that you can use for this purpose. The many brands and makes offer several different features. For the most part, these applications work by converting the PDF file into a text file that is recognized by MS Word processors or other brands of word processors. This process is not too difficult at all because the converters can do the job in just a matter of minutes. Of course, the duration w http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/84401_Why_You_Need_To_Convert_Pdf_To_Word_Files.html Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:09:41 GMT Because PDF files have certainly become very popular in use, there would definitely be so many PDF files stored in just about any personal computer. Whether you use this computer for business or personal use, there will definitely be many PDF files saved. And there will surely come a time when you would need to lift or use a particular PDF file from the many files that you have. But what if you do not remember the exact filename, or even bits and pieces of the filename, then you will surely have a hard time browsing through the many folders that contain PDF files. This is precisely why it is important for you to create index for your PDF files. There are so many applications all over the web and the computer industry that can help you create such a scenario for your PDF files. And if you have one of these applications, then you will definitely see just how convenient having this can be. One particular scenario that would make you feel so grateful to have the application handy is when you need a certain PDF file or a number of PDF files for a presentation or report that you are giving. Let us say that the meeting is starting in just a matter of minutes, and you still do not have the PDF files that you need. With the help of the application, and the creation of index for your PDF files, the search for these files can be made so much easier. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/83834_The_Easy_Way_To_Create_Index_For_Pdf_Files.html Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:56:44 GMT PDF files, or Portable Document Format files, are just about as close to Microsoft Word files when it comes to popularity. More and more people are using PDF files for their own purposes, particularly because of the convenience that the format brings. Even the typical presentation and the usual eBook are now being converted to PDF, since the format brings easy viewing. Aside from that, you wont have to worry about manipulating PDF files because this is very easy to do. Making the file either bigger or smaller for comfortable viewing can be done in a jiff. With so much convenience, you can expect any system to have a lot of PDF files stored. But what happens when you are in a hurry and you need to find a particular PDF file? Here lies the importance of indexing PDF files. Hypothetically, you are in a rush to give a presentation at work, and you need to find a particular PDF file for it. Unfortunately, it was your colleague who saved the PDF file onto your system, and he cannot remember the exact location where he saved it, nor can he remember the exact filename. You may think this is not possible, since he is the one who saved the file in the first place. But when you are at work and you deal with hundreds of PDF files each day, this is actually quite a common error. This is precisely why it would be wise to incorporate the indexing of PDF files. Remember how the typical index page at the back of a book works? The same underlying concept is incorporated here. The better thing, though, is when you index PDF files; you are actually given a little peek of the files contents. This way, its easier for you to determine if the file at hand is indeed the file you have been looking for. Whats more, if there are any changes made to the file, the stored information will also be up http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/83823_The_Key_To_Indexing_Pdf_Files.html Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:56:53 GMT Pngs are one of the most popular graphic files but unlike the gif and jpg formats its usage has not yet widely extended to the website design field. Before moving to the subject of the icons themselves, it is worth to mention that the new version of Internet Explorer 7 bundled with Windows Vista finally fully supports png as long as other well known web explorers, so the enhanced capabilities of this format can be exploited to the full extent. The Vista interface distinctively supports a huge size for icons, 256 x 256 pixels, which can be seen by choosing Extra Large Icons in the View submenu, right-clicking on any blank area of the explorer window or the desktop. In this mode view the icons can show an almost photographic amount of details.So, at the time of rendering an image file to be used as the 256 px icon, a number of effects can be applied in order to get an attractive icon. One is the shadow of the depicted object, which needs to follow the same perspective as the whole icon. But additiona lly the icons can also have glowing effects, for example for lightning parts of an object that will smoothly fade over the background (png can handle several levels of transparency) and also glass effects and areas showing translucency. Just like shadows, other semi transparent mediums like water, smoke or sparks must be prevented from being cropped outside the canvas of the image.A quality Vista icon can be nearly photographic, however it is recommended to follow certain rules so the icon will appear naturally inserted into the Vista graphic look. It is good to use less saturation than the standard used in Windows XP since this is one of the main characteristics of the Aero visual style. In the same way, the icon should communicate its message with even more accuracy than a real image of an object, so its representation will need a complete balance between the use of complex effects and a soft clean general look. Finally, semi transparent effects should not be used in the icon versions of 24 and 16 px http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/82240_Aking_Advantage_Of_Png_Files_In_Indows_Ista_Icons_And_Web_Design.html Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:39:08 GMT If you would take a look at the many files that you have stored in your computer, you surely would be amazed at the hundreds upon hundreds of files you have saved over time. And there just might come a time when you would not remember where you stored a certain file. There would be more difficulty if you do not remember the exact location of your file, and the file in question is a hidden one. Thus, you would surely want to find an efficient way to show hidden files. This is actually pretty simple, especially if your operating system is Windows. Just a few clicks of your mouse, and you can easily have in display all your hidden files in your system. First off, open your My Documents folder. Find the Tools tab at the top of this folder and click on it. A prompt would then pop out, giving you some options. You should then click on the Folder Options tab. Once this is expanded, click on the View tab, and click on the option Show hidden files and folders. Click on the Apply tab at the bottom of the prompt, then hit OK. This will then reveal all hidden files in all of your drives. You can also perform the same operation using Windows Explorer. You will have to undergo the same steps to achieve the same results. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/81379_Easy_Ways_To_Show_Hidden_Files.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:20:34 GMT There just might come a time when you would have to find Acrobat files, otherwise known as files of the PDF format. This is because the PDF format has become quite popular, especially in the production of forms, brochures, leaflets, booklets, magazines, and the like. In fact, more and more people are foregoing reading the ordinary book because reading what is known as the eBook is definitely easier to do. This is especially true if you live your life on the net, because all you have to do is download that eBook and you no longer have to literally flip through the pages of the book. With the many uses of PDF files, you just might have a lot of these files in your own system, and on the websites that you maintain as well. But when it comes to the management of PDF files, there is a degree of difficulty here. This is because the process of searching for text portions contained in these files is not that simple. You surely must have tried the Ctrl-f function that is available in MS Word and MS Excel applications. This actually allows you to find a particular word or phrase, with the application highlighting this text portion for your convenience. This is not that simple when it comes to PDF files. Whats more, the usual copying and pasting features that come with MS Word and MS Excel applications do not apply to PDF files as well. This is specifically why there is a need for the Adobe Acrobat Reader for the proper management of PDF files. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/79313_The_Convenient_Method_To_Find_Acrobat_Files.html Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:53:48 GMT A disk space shredder is your solution to ensuring that your data is wiped out securely for good. A disk space shredder can wipe information from your hard disk securely. It works by physically overwriting all files of the hard disk, thus deleting all your data and leaving no trace. These data that comprise the different information and files on the hard disk are already overwritten with random data sequences created by the disk space shredder, which makes it impossible to recover the data. In todays highly digital world, computers have played a huge role in storing a plethora of information. The role of computers has helped push what is known as information revolution. This has made information easier and more widespread to access. Computers today are being used to perform a multitude of tasks. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/78995_Wipe_Out_Files_Permanently_With_A_Disk_Space_Shredder.html Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:38:51 GMT One of the major problems that many people face with their hard disk is how to erase recent files permanently. A lot of people think that deleting files and emptying them out of the recycle bin will get rid of files for good. In fact, the recycle bin even says that it can permanently remove files once they are emptied. However, these items can still be easily retrieved with the use of data recovery programs. Taking advantage of the delete key on gets rids of the file shortcuts, making them impossible to detect by users. Files that are already deleted are still contained on the hard disk and searching them at Google can automatically display options that allow system recovery software to retrieve the data. Other than erasing files from the hard disk, a lot of people think that the best way to delete hard disk data is by formatting or reformatting the hard disk drive. Although reformatting may be more secure than simply erasing files, you should keep in mind that formatting a disk only erases the address tables. This makes it even more difficult for file recovery. A computer specialist, however, can be able to recover most of, or all data contained on the disk before reformatting. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/78987_Ways_To_Erase_Recent_Files.html Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:16:02 GMT With Vista now out for close to a year many people are now jumping on board and getting a new computer. Lets face it if your computer is over 4 years old its time to get a new one. For only 700 bucks you can get a system that is 4-5 times better then the old one. The issue many people are having is transferring files from their old XP computer to their new Vista Computer. Not to worry because this article will help you transfer your files from your old computer to the new one. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/77612_Transfer_Files_To_New_Computer.html Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:34:18 GMT A computer file shredder has the same function as with a paper file shredder. It was created to get rid of not just the file it also erases whatever reference that may be associated to the file in its directory and history as well. A lot of computer users fail to see that a just because a file has been erased does not mean that it has already been completely eliminated. The file is still present on the disc or the hard drive, only that it no longer has a name so it cannot be easily accessed anymore. Anyone who is knowledgeable in searching computer files can fairly be able to determine where the data is located on the drive and retrieve the information as well. This basically works until the data is overwritten with other files. Remember that this may not happen for a long period of time. Even if the information may have been written over once, more often than not, information found beneath the top layer may still be accessed with the use of sophisticated equipment. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/76740_Wipe_Out_Files_For_Good_With_A_File_Shredder.html Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:21:32 GMT When you want to view a certain PDF file, you actually need to have the Adobe Reader application installed onto your system. It is recommended that you have the current version of the application installed onto your computer. This ensures a more efficient search for the needed PDF files. Thus, you best get a version that is higher than 7.0 for this. When you want to find PDF files, there are very simple steps that you can follow. The first step is to open the Adobe Reader application, of course. This way, you can jumpstart your search accordingly. But you have to download the program first onto your hard drive. You can do this by inputting the exact name of the file youre downloading. After that, you should then shut down your browser window and other applications or programs that are running on your system while the downloading takes place. This ensures that all components of the application are downloaded accordingly. You should then locate the finder tab and double click on it. This will enable you to browse to find the needed file. Click on the file that you just downloaded so that you can then have it installed on the application. After this, step, you can then reopen your browser window. Viewing PDF files of your choice is then made possible. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/76739_The_Quest_To_Find_Pdf_Files_Made_Easy.html Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:21:32 GMT Acrobat files, or PDF files, are the popular formats when it comes to the submission of electronic documents on the Internet. This is because this format encompasses just about every single relevant detail in electronic documents you submit over the web. In fact, most websites, if not all, use acrobat or PDF formats for the data that being used on the sites themselves. But with the many kinds of files available on the web, it is quite hard to compare acrobat files. Most of the comparing software applications that are available today find this hard as well. When such comparison is needed, there is then a need to use what is known as word-by-word procedure. The underlying concept of word-by-word procedure is just as simple as the name of the procedure itself. The PDF files are compared word by word. The concept for this procedure has long been employed, and is particularly useful when you are comparing a couple of versions of a single document. When you compare these files word by word, you can then determine the overall number of amendments or modifications that has been made in these two versions of a single document. With this type of comparison, you can then analyze just how correct or valid these modifications are. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/76604_Software_Solutions_To_Compare_Acrobat_Files.html Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:28:55 GMT PDF files, otherwise known as Portable Document Format files, are popularly used nowadays. With industries piquing everywhere, you would find all sorts of PDF files for brochures, forms, magazines, reports, and other materials that contain designs that would be too complicated when other kinds of files are used. Because of these PDF files, online reading has also become interactive on its own. This is a huge benefit we all can enjoy with PDF files. Aside from materials usually used for media, even academic materials today are being converted into PDF format! The typical thesis, dissertation, and even the usual article are not in PDF format. Even books are in PDF format already, in the form of e-books! Now, this is actually kind of sad for the regular paper book because it has inevitably lost a large portion of its market. But since e-books indeed present more convenience for any reader, then more and more people are getting into the trend as well. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/72880_The_Easy_Way_To_Search_Pdf_Files.html Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:29:37 GMT Now compare the PDF files with ease using the file compare software. PDF formats are the most preferred formats for submitting electronic documents on the web. Most websites utilize PDF formats in the data that is available on their website. Most comparing software cannot compare PDF files easily. There are some products that contains supplement feature to compare PDF files for helping people, who desires to compare an electronic document. We need to compare PDF files when we desire to have knowledge of the modification that was made in the text of the file and whether those modifications were correct or not. Word-by-word procedure to compare PDF files is best suited for the job in hand. Word-by-word procedure to compare PDF files. The obvious and basic capability for comparing files word-by-word was initially developed for the files that had common ancestors. It can be beneficial in cases where you are having two similar versions of a document. Utilizing word-by-word comparison for finding out the total number of modifications allows in analyzing the correctness of the modifications. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/67386_Methodology_Behind_The_Comparison_Of_Pdf_Files.html Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:50:10 GMT Comparison Tools in Action. File comparison is a process where one can compare data between files and file systems. This process detects all the information regarding the files and lays out the changes which have to be made. File comparison facilities are mostly found in text editors and word processors. A MS-DOS 3.30 program is based on differentiating two files, File Merge is a X developer tool which applies graphics and Microsoft File Compare are some of the definite examples of file comparison. Currently users can download several free software comparison tools which are available on the internet. With a search engine query a person can easily find these tools which are been considered as freeware. ExamDiff tools, CFDiff tools, Compare Suite, xxDiff tools, KDiff3 Tool, GNU Difftils and WinMege tools are some of the file comparison tools which are used to compare files and file systems. Binary Compare Software. Binary Compare Software is one of the processes which is used to compare between folders and files in a digital environment. As it is a really a difficult task for the humans to go through the millions of lines of the text or content, binary compare makes this job very easy. It performs this process in a very specialized manner. It also works as a file sharing technology software which allows the user to trade MP3 or Movie files through the net. The main reason for the requirement of binary compare programs is that it is very resourceful and it successful eradicates copied files. In this process of binary compare technology the user can easily differentiate between both the files and get the required information resourcefully. One major advantage of having the binary compare option is that it compares any number of folders or files based on the parameters which differentiate between files with slight variations. Binary compare process lessens the unwanted space in a digital storag http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/66278_Compare_Two_Text_Files.html Sun, 28 Oct 2007 13:29:08 GMT After having a chance to see for myself everything the software can do, I felt compelled to write this Recover Deleted Files review. Tagged as the most popular data recovery software, in this short review I seek to take an objective look at everything the product has to offer. Hopefully, this will be a good resource for you to turn to in deciding whether or not Recover Deleted Files is something you should purchase. Personally, one of the worst things I can imagine happening is losing everything on my laptop. It would be such a huge blow to me on both a professional and personal level; I dont know what I would do. Recover Deleted Files understands, and was created for such instances where you just want to wallow in your own self pity. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/64291_Recover_Deleted_Files_Review_-_Good_Or_Bad.html Fri, 12 Oct 2007 05:29:40 GMT