Friday, November 8, 2013

The Best Methods for Backing up Your Computer Data


You’ll never fully appreciate why you should back up your data until your hard drive fails. You only tend to lose your data once. Then you set-up a sensible back-up procedure! 

Backing up your personal data is your highest priority. This includes data such as photographs, home videos, music, 
documents and presentations etc. When your hard drive fails (and they all fail eventually) you will want to make sure that your family pictures are safe. You probably won’t be so devastated at the loss of your old programs – these can always be purchased. 

Most backup programs make what is known as a ‘mirror image’ or ‘clone’ of your hard drive and retain all it’s information. But some – like Dropbox – are not automated and store pictures and videos etc. Just make sure you check to make sure. 


1.Backing up into the cloud or online back-up 

Firstly, it is essential that your back up storage device is kept separately from your computer. It’s not much use if it gets destroyed in the same fire or stolen in the same burglary. 

I recommend both. But I would – I’m paranoid. However, if I had to select one I’d choose to back up into the internet. The servers that you back up onto there are also backed up! And therefore there is almost no chance of ever losing your data. 

Also, it is quite simple to set-up an automated back-up. So, you don’t have to remember to do anything and the 
backup data is always current. 

The only disadvantage of backing up to the cloud or online, is the speed. It can be very slow. In fact, the initial 
back-up could age you considerably. It’s best to set it to back up at night when you’re not at your computer. You can still work while the back-up takes place but it will suck the life from your bandwidth. 
Generally, there is a monthly charge for an online backup service. This ranges from £3 per month to £10 per month. 

My recommendations for online backup services: 

1. Mozy 
2. SugarSync 
3. Norton Online Backup 
4. Dropbox
5. IBackup
6. IDrive
7. ElephantDrive
8. MyOtherDrive 
9. SOS Online Backup 
10. Carbonite 

2. Backing up to an external hard drive. 

If you’ve read any of my other articles, you’ll know how I bang on about networked storage devices and how easy they make your life. This will enable you to set up an automated back-up scheduler much like the online backup services. 
66HSRTBAXT9U
If you only have a non networked external drive, then you’ll have to remember to back up your data. You should back up every day. But to be honest, this isn’t really realistic if you’re doing it yourself. Make a routine of it and do it every Friday before you go home or finish work. Or Saturday morning while watching Saturday Kitchen! 

Most external drives come with backup software. Have a play with it. If you don’t like I recommend: 

1.Genie Backup Manager 
2.DT Utilities PC Backup 
3.NovaBACKUP
4.Acronis True Image
5.NTI Backup Now
6.Acronis Backup & Recovery
7.Norton Ghost
8.PowerBackup
9.TurboBackup
10.Dmailer Backup 
11.Argentum Backup 


They cost anywhere from £15 to £50. 

Whether online or external hard drive, all the software and services listed know which files and folders need to be 
backed up and for the most part, they only back up files that have been created or changed since the last backup. 

3.Finally 

Sleep easy knowing that your data is safe and sound.

By: Stephen Drummonsy

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Two Major Ways on How to Recover Deleted Files on a Mac

Macintosh computers, although having different operating systems from Windows, basically operate the same way. This means that Mac computers are also prone to the same computer problems that plagues Windows-enabled workstations, although the latter is hit with much more frequency.
They are not prone to human file handling errors too, however intuitive and smooth the Mac interface is. Having a trash bin sometimes does not seem to help. So as to increase the chances of deleted files recovery, first of all, it is advised not to save any more files in your Mac. The longer you use your Mac, the slimmer the chances are of retrieving those lost files.
There are basically two major ways to recover deleted files in Mac, and these involve separate software.
1) One of these is to utilize local programs in a Mac. Apple computers that are purchased after November 2007 are installed with the Leopard operating system. One of the most important utilities of the Leopard is called the Time Machine. This local program will recover your deleted files easily. The Time Machine enables you to quickly travel back to the point when your files existed, and then once selected, they will be placed back in their original folders. It is similar to the Deep Freeze recovery programs used in Windows.
Aside from using the Time Machine, you can always turn on the Backup utility of your Mac, so that the next time you accidentally delete a file, you always have a backup for it. Another program is the File Salvage, with which you can synchronize your data and let you back-up and restore data if you lost them.
2) Another method which is also advisable is to use the third party software to recover deleted files on Mac. There are both free software and paid versions of them on the Internet, and you can download them. Most of the better ones (which you have to shell out money) have slick visuals and user interfaces, and also have more powerful algorithms that can accurately restore the files to their former state.
After downloading a program like this, install it and let it run on the directory where you previously stored those files. Before running it, make sure to specify a destination folder so that the program can dump into it whatever it has found on a particular scan. In that case, there is no need to worry about how to recover deleted files on a Mac.
REMO Mac Recover is a recovery applications which employ improved and efficient scanning algorithms and retrieve files in their original form, regardless of the data loss situation. Why not Download REMO Mac Recover for a FAST way to retrieve deleted photos, pictures and files in Mac?

By Logan Yanany

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Deleting Facebook and Twitter Accounts

Ever since the arrival of social media communication, each one has defined digital lifestyle. Each technology user has been keen on marking their presence online. Another thing is keeping in continuous touch with your friend network. Some are keen on online marketing for their company or products. Even though it does seems interesting but at times things might get out of hand. Either too much of distraction, account hack or simply that you would like to actually shut it off for your own peace. Other things can be privacy concern. Whatever the reason be, if you have finally decided to shut off, kill, deactivate your Facebook and Twitter accounts then you need to know how it can be done.
There are easy to do steps like deactivating and deleting your account. A link on the given page might help you remove your social media account. However, locating that sub-menu option or sifting through the entire menu is not possible. Often due to our busy lives we tend to overlook that option that seems to be tucked away somewhere in the menu.
Facebook is easy to handle if you decide to get rid of your account. It gives its users with the power to deactivate their account. With Twitter, a user is given a 30-day time out to help a user decide if they want to deactivate their account permanently. After this given time period the account will be permanently deleted.
After all this if you have finally made up your mind to get rid of pokes, unwanted messages, retweets, then here is how you will be able to do it.
Deleting Twitter
You have an account on Twitter that you want to get rid of or delete. There can be many reasons why you have taken this decision. Probably you are annoyed by hash-tag, the retweet is tiring to go through or to get rid of slanders hurled at you for what you tweeted. Another reason can be that you want to create a new account and leave the old one. No matter what it is time that you remove it completely, here is how:
• Launch Twitter and log in your account
• After signing into your account click the gear icon
• Click Settings that will reveal a list along with the option of Deactivate my account
• If you want to remove it permanently then choose the Deactivate button that will remove your account by giving your permission to do so
Facebook Account Removal
Facebook is one of the best medium that helps you connect to people world over. However, there are numerous annoyances like people who keep messaging you, pokes that you want to get rid off or the privacy of your account is compromised. No matter whatever your reason for doing so, if you have decided to remove, delete or deactivate your Facebook profile then you need to consider a few things.
First thing that you need to consider is that your data is long retained even after you have removed your profile. Other things like your pictures, posts and messages will be still around on your account in case you decide to revive your account on Facebook.
• Deactivating your account is easy, first you need to log into your account
• Click the Gear icon to go to the Settings
• Go to next screen and select the option of Security located on the left window pane
• Facebook will ask you why you want to deactivate and you will be given various options
• Hit Confirm to deactivate
Kill your account altogether
Deactivating your account only gives you another option to log back in and revive it. However, if you are deleting your account then it is gone forever permanently. This would mean that your account cannot be revived and it is removed permanently. You will not be able to log in back but create your account from scratch.
• It is advisable to download a copy of the data that you have on your account before deleting it
• Click the Gear icon to go to Settings
• Go to Account Settings-> General Account Settings
• Download the data by clicking the link
• You will be automatically guided towards the process of data download
• You will need to fill up the form for deleting your account and hit confirm/submit
After taking the above-mentioned steps, you will be able to permanently remove your Facebook account.
Polly is known for her immense dedication towards spreading technical and technological awareness amongst masses. She is a qualified tech support engineer handling a whole team towards providing online technical support. Her keen interest in technology and gadgets has lead her to write about it and spread the word to people. She wishes that each one be aware of the prevalent technology and resolving common computer issues.

By Polly Uma Simpson

What Are ASP Files? How to View Their Content

What Are Active Server Pages (ASP)?
ASP is a file extension which stands for Active Server Pages. An Active Server Page is a Web page where the scripts are processed by the Web server not by the client browser. The client browser only gets the results processed by the domain server outputted to his screen in HTML syntax. ASP, as it is more commonly known, is a technology that enables you to make dynamic and interactive web pages.
The default scripting language used for writing ASP is VBScript, although you can use other scripting languages like JScript (Microsoft's version of JavaScript) or install other non-native scripting engines on the server, like C#. In the beginning of every asp page you have to declare what language you are going to use to script the server-side code of your active server page.
ASP pages have the extension .asp instead of .htm, when a page with the extension .asp is requested by a browser the web server knows to interpret any ASP contained within the web page before sending the HTML produced to the browser.
As ASP was first introduced by Microsoft on its web server, Internet Information Services (IIS), that runs on Windows 2000 and all the later versions, it is this web server that ASP pages usually run best on because both were developed by the same company in order to complement and support each other as a complete web hosting/development and maintenance solution.
Other web servers which can interpret ASP pages include Apache, I-Planet, Zeus, Red Hat Secure Server, and more, however you need to install a product called Chili!Soft ASP produced by Sun which enables ASP to be used on them using various operating systems including, Linux, Solaris, and more.
Here is a list of file extensions which are configured by default to be handled by ASP.NET 2.0. 
  • .asax used for application level logic global.asax
  • .ascx used for creating web user control.
  • .ashx used to create a custom httphandler
  • .asmx used to create web services
  • .aspx used for web application pages
  • .axd is used for special webresource axd handler which allows the developer to package component and controls along with javascript, images etc..in a single assembly. The extension is also used for trace output.
  • .browser are the browser capabilities files stored in XML format. These gfiles are used to define the capabilities of the browser.
  • .config used to store the configuration of the web application. web.config and machine.config are the common examples
  • .cs used as the code behind when the language chosen is C# (CSharp)
  • .vb used as the code behind when the language chosen is Visual Basic.Net
  • .master used as the extension for the master page.
  • .resx used as an extension for the resource file of the page for internationalization and localization purpose.
  • .sitemap is used as the configuration file for sitemap
  • .skin used as the skin file for the themes
  • .svc used to define a Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) based service.
For more information on where you can find a list of thousands of other file extensions including file extension asp go to the link provided, otherwise you can also visit this authoritative web resource which sets standards for the internet: W3Cschools has plenty of information about ASP files.

By Jon Buchanon

Inkjet Printer Vs Laser Printer - How to Choose the Cheapest and Best Option for You and Your Needs.

Choosing the right printer for you or your business has never been easier, and with a little thought prior to your purchase you could save yourself not only some time but more importantly some pennies.
Deciding whether you would benefit more from an inkjet printer or laser printer is simple if you ask yourself some key questions.
Inkjet printers always used to be the most popular choice, due to the fact that they were cheaper, but also a lot smaller than laser printers. The price of laser printers has dramatically reduced in recent years making them a more affordable solution for not only businesses but also for use at home or a home office.
Inkjet printers are a far better solution for you if you print a bit of everything, from text documents to photos and images, they are without doubt a better all round printer and tend to take up less space. In terms of printing photos and images an inkjet print quality is higher and the colour definition notably better, so if you use your printer primarily for photos an inkjet should be your printer of choice.
An inkjet printer also allows you to print onto a variety of paper types, from cheap office paper all the way through to top quality glossy photograph paper.
The fact there is little to no "warm up" time required for printing jobs is another advantage of an inkjet printer.
You should take into consideration the following however. The cartridges for an inkjet printer can be costly, and the ink used is water-based, the significance of this being that your prints are more vulnerable to water damage and fading.
The ink cartridges also need frequent cleaning, and although the printer will do this automatically, it is not uncommon for cartridge cleaning accounting for more ink usage than actual printing.
Laser printers are often used within an office environment as they produce at speed, quietly, sharp smudge free prints. So if you print a lot and want top speed and don't need top quality photo prints then a laser printer could make economical sense. Although toner cartridges for laser printers tend to be more expensive than inkjet cartridges, they produce a lot more prints in comparison.
Comparison sites tend to advise that a laser printer is more economical over inkjet printers for documents that do not feature complex graphics, and if you are printing over 2000 pages per year then a laser printer makes sense - more printer equals more saving! A laser printer is definitely the answer if your savings on ink outweigh the cost of the machine, so it is important that you do not purchase just on the price of the printer alone. Look also at the price of replacement cartridges and the print yield.
If you take a few minutes to decide what it is that you will be printing, and the quantity, then the answer of inkjet verses laser should become very clear.
In short, if you print a lot of photographs, or a low quantity then inkjet will probably be more viable, but for primarily black and white text documents, or a larger quantity, laser will probably prove to be more economical in the long wrong.
Now you just have to select the right model for you...
Whatever printer best suits your needs, either Inkjet or Laser and for all of your ink and toner cartridges check out Fuss 3 Ink and Toner.

By Kerridge Bronson

Using the Linux Ls Command to See Linux File "Patterns" - Linux Commands Training Quick Tips

The [pattern] Part of a Linux Command
The Linux [pattern] (a.k.a. Linux shell pattern) part of a Linux command is a combination of letters and wildcard characters that are used with Linux commands to view information about Linux directories and files.
The Linux [pattern] of a Linux command does not work the same with all commands.
Linux ls Command Examples Showing Linux Command Patterns for Linux Files and Directories
The Linux commands examples that are shown below will help you to understand how a "file (or directory) matching pattern" can be used with a Linux command.
The Linux commands below will work in most Linux distributions, however, some of the Linux ls commands below may not show any Linux files in the output, depending on your Linux distribution.
The [pattern] component of a command is used to represent a file matching "pattern". It can be one or more letters, numbers or other characters and may include the * (asterisk) and ? (question mark) wildcard characters.
A [pattern] can be the name of an item (directory or file) or part of the name of an item (plus wildcard characters).
A [path] to a directory can precede a [pattern] (as shown in the second Linux command example shown below).
When a [path] is not used with a command, the command will typically display output based on the files in the current directory (as shown in the first Linux command example below).
The Linux ls command below uses the pattern of * (a single asterisk) to show all files in the current directory (and if you're working as a "regular" user and you're in your home directory, there may not be any files or directories that appear).
    ls -l *
The ls command below uses the path and pattern of "/etc/hos*" to show all files in the etc directory that begin with "hos". The [path] is /etc and the [pattern] is "hos*" (which uses the * wildcard character in the pattern).
    ls -l /etc/host*
The suffix (a.k.a. filename extension, extension) in the name of an item is the far right . (dot) and characters at the right of the . (dot).
For example, in the directory named rc.d, the ".d" is the suffix of the directory and in the file named speedbar.gz, the ".gz" is the suffix of the file.
In the Linux ls command example below, the path and pattern is "/etc/*.cfg" and path is "/etc" and the pattern is "*.cfg". This Linux command shows a listing of all files that end in ".cfg" in the etc directory, which is below the root directory.
    ls -l /etc/*.cfg
In the ls command example below, the ? wildcard character is used to represent any single character in the pattern of "host?" to show only files with a single character at the right of "host".
    ls -l /etc/host?
The Linux concepts and commands discussed above apply to Red Hat, Debian, Slackware, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE and openSUSE Linux - and also ALL Linux distributions.
And now I would like to offer you free access to my Linux Commands Training Mini-Course, a 7 Lesson, Daily Mini-Course, including the free Linux Commands ebook and Linux audio podcasts - showing you how to get started learning how to use Linux commands.
You can get your instant access at: http://www.LinuxCommandsTrainingCourse.com
From Clyde Boom - The Easy Linux Training Guy - Easy, self-paced Linux training - In Plain English!

By Clyde E. Boom

Guides for You to Free Back Up and Restore iPhone With Ease

With the terrific design and great performance, iPhone has gained many people's favor. However, it happens all the time that you deleted some important files or data loss on iPhone due to iOS updating, jailbreak, etc. How to avoid these unlucky conditions happening to you? Why not make a backup of your iPhone? In this way, you can easily restore from the backup when data loss does happen to your iPhone.
Tools You Need:
* iPhone
* A computer with the latest version of iTunes
Easy guide for you to make a backup of your iPhone with iTunes:
1. Connect your iPhone to computer via a USB cable and then launch the iTunes of the latest version.
2. Under DEVICES tab, and find the iPhone name you want to make a backup. Then right-click on it.
3. On the right-click menu, click on the Back up option.
4. You'll see a Backing up iPhone progress bar on the top of iTunes interface. Then you just need to wait patiently until the backup process finishes. Finally, you successfully backup your iPhone to iTunes.
Note: the iPhone backup on iTunes is invisible. The location of the iTunes backup is:
Windows 8: Users/ USERNAME/ AppData/ Roaming/ Apple Computer/ MobileSync/ Backup
Windows 7: C: /Users/ User name/ AppData/ Roaming/ Apple Computer/ MobileSync/ Backup
Windows XP: C: /Documents and Settings/ User name/ Application Data/ Apple Computer/ MobileSync/ Backup
After making a backup of iPhone, you can feel free to upgrade, jailbreak iPhone, or other operations on iPhone without worrying about losing data, because with the backup, you can easily restore the data on iPhone with ease. The following guide will show you how to restore iPhone from the iTunes backup file.
1. Plug your iPhone into computer using a iPhone USB cord. Drive iTunes.
2. Also right-click the iPhone name under DEVICES tab.
3. Hit on Restore from Backup option. Then a pop-up window will let you choose a backup from the previous iDevices backup. Simply select the latest backup of your iPhone.
Then you should wait until the iPhone backup is full restored.
However, this method has some disadvantages: you can't restore a certain file with iTunes backup. Once enable the restore from backup option, you have to restore the whole content of the previous iPhone backup. Besides, the recent data written on iPhone after the backup will also be erased in the restoration process. So here you are recommended to use this iPhone data recovery tool to recover deleted or lost pictures, videos, contacts, videos, music, call list, voice memos, etc. directly from iPhone. Also if your iPhone is lost or crashed, you can extract data from the previous iTunes backup and make the unreadable data readable.
Lacey Young is an amazing editor of TFISHSOFT.com and write many articles about iPhone data recovery and iPhone backup toturial. You can visit this blog to learn more, if you are interested.

By Lacey Young