Category: Softwares

  • File Recovery Software: Recurva

    Recuva
    Recuva

    Recuva is IMHO the very best Recovery Software. It is user friendly and much more effective than many other freeware I have tested. And it comes with a free version that is only missing the “support” service.

    Click to Read More

    How has never deleted files by accident and only noticed after making his Recycle Bin empty? Or how has never reinstalled Windows for formatted a drive before backuping his important files?

    With Recurva, there is still a “good” chance to recover some of the “lost files” if not all…

    Concretely, Recurva has simple wizards to

    • Undelete files on your computer
    • Recovery from damaged or formatted disks
    • Recover deleted emails
    • Recover deleted iPod music
    • Restore unsaved Word documents
    • Deep Scan for deleted files when quick methods doesn’t find them
    • Securely delete files you want to erase forever

    Recurva also comes with a portable version.

    Download: https://www.piriform.com/recuva

    Loading

  • Install and Update All Your Programs at Once with Ninite

    Ninite Installer
    Ninite Installer

    Most of my favorite freewares can be installed at once using this great free software: Ninite.

    Click to Read More

    I have just reinstalled one of my PC (not booting anymore after the update of NVidia graphic drivers). As usually, immediately after the fresh setup, I reinstall all my favorite pieces of software:

    1. Chrome
    2. VLC
    3. K-Lite Codecs
    4. Java
    5. Paint.Net
    6. FastStone
    7. Foxit Reader
    8. Avast
    9. FileZilla
    10. Notepad++
    11. TeamViewer
    12. Revo Uninstaller
    13. 7-Zip

    That could be a lot of work. Fortunately, I only have to tick those on the Ninite website and a get a “Ninite installer” customized for my own need. Running that one, all the selected apps are installed silently :p

    No registration, No Spam, No Adware, No Worm, No Crap 8)

    Ninite Selector
    Ninite Selector

    Website: https://ninite.com/

    Loading

  • Control Windows 8 from Android: Win8 Controller

    Windows 8 Controller

    This software turns an android phone into a multitouch controller for windows 8. It’s however not free except the very basic features – those being enough to take control of the mouse and access the Start Screen and the Desktop.

    Click to Read More

    Win8 Controller comes with a client part to be installed on the Android, and a server part to be installed on the remote Windows 8 PC.  Using this software you control the remote PC as if it is a tablet.

    It works quite fine for most features:

    • Move the mouse
    • Click, double-click, right-click
    • Access the Start Screen, Swipe to the left or to the right (you have put your finger at the very bottom of the Android screen), Tap or Drag tiles, …
    • Use the keyboard of the Android

    I have the following issues:

    • I can’t switch to the Start Screen touching the Android screen with four (or five) fingers.
    • I loose control of the mouse as soon as the “Task Manager” is open on the remote PC and has the focus. I re-gain the control if I run another application which fakes the focus. However, I can’t close the “Task Manager” clicking its close button.
    • Win8 Controller doesn’t run as a service and I can’t use it as long as I am not logged on the remote PC with a user. This is mainly a blocking issue on my HTPC where I have replaced the Windows Shell with Media Center. Indeed, only services can run in the background if the Shell is not run.

    Details: http://www.win8controller.com/

    Download: http://www.win8controller.com/#&download

    Loading

  • FlexRaid on Server 2012 instead of Space Storage

    FlexRaid
    FlexRaid – Software Raid and Storage Pool

    In the past, I have been using the onboard RAID controller of my Home Server’s motherboard to secured its data, a RAID 5 with 6 HDD to be more precise. But I was in a urgent need for a new solution.

    Click to Read More

    Indeed, I had several concerns:

    • If the motherboard would die, data would not be accessible anymore except with a replacement motherboard with same amount of identical RAID controllers
    • if I would be out of space, new disks could not be added to easily in the existing RAID array (mainly due to lack of space in the case). Also replacing existing disks with larger ones would be quite dangerous as duplicating the whole array before such a risky upgrade was not possible (lack of backup storage).
    • After a power failure or a BSOD, the RAID was checked (for about 12 hours), making all read access veryyyy sloooooooow.
    So, I have decided to “upgrade” my Home Server with
    • A server case able to enclose up to 24 HDD (with adequate controller cards)
    • A software RAID solution to not rely on hardware anymore
    • A software Pooling solution to be able to expand seamlesslythe storage space
    For the Home Server Hardware part, including the case, see here.

    For the Software part, I wanted to go with a Server 2012 Essentials because I really like

    • Its centralized PC-image backup feature and
    • Its centralized File History backup functionality.
    • I don’t want to mix OS in my network

    Server 2012 also supports pools of disks with data redundancy, a feature named Space Storage. But it has a several (big or not) disadvantages IMO:

    • Drives containing data may not be added into the pool 🙁
    • In addition, if the server dies, a disk moved into another PC will be readable but not writable, except if this other PC is also running Space Storage and all disks are moves. That could be an issue if the dead server cannot be quickly replaced.

    So… What else ? I started to look for solutions to manage pools of disks or to manage RAID, or – better – to do both: Greyhole, SoftRaid, mhddfs, UnRAID, FlexRAID, mdadm, SnapRaid, Amahi, FreeNAS, disParity, LVM, JBOD, MooseFS, GlusterFS, ZFS, Liquesce… And I finally decided to go with FlexRaid although it is not free (but not expensive either):

    • It runs on Windows Server 2012 x64 (On the opposite, FreeNAS or Unraid for example are integrated with their own OS – linux based).
    • It has a nice Web UI (based on extJS like the DSM of my Synology) which make remote management easy and comfortable, although IMO there is still place for improvement.
    • It supports both RAID software and Pooling (There are separated licences if you don’t want both)
    • It has supports for either a RealTime protection or a Snapshot mode (I.e.: RAID is nightly updated on schedule – not slowing down read/write access during the day).
    • Disks containing data can be added in the Pool at any time.
    • Disks can be temporarily removed to be accessed from within another machine. If Snapshot mode is used, data may be modified before re-plugging the disk in FlexRaid. Notice: If data are modified, they will only be protected if the disk is re-plugged in FlexRaid and if a the RAID is updated.
    • Disks temporarily removed can be re-plugged anywhere in the machine. FlexRaid does not rely on the physical location but on the disk mount point which is “memorized” on the disk itself.
    • It does not store any recovery information on the disks containing data. This information is stored on dedicated disks
    • It supports multiple simultaneous disk failures (it implements several type of RAID) depending on how many disks are assigned to store the recovery information.
    • It comes with a Wizard “for dummies” to easily create a pool of disks with a few default settings. It also supports an expert mode with more flexibility – but also with more complexity;
    • Disks can be replaced with larger ones.
    • As far as the FlexRaid configuration is backuped, the OS can be re-installed from scratch; the recovery information won’t have to be recomputed and the data are safe.
    • In case of crash, RAID validation is fast (I still have to check the speed of a recovery)
    • It has support for S.M.A.R.T monitoring with email alerts (although configuring S.M.A.R.T is not integrated in a Wizard and can require some research).

    To be honest, IMHO, the version 2.0 of this product is not yet ready for all end-users. They will have to be comfortable themselves with server engineering to solve various possible issues. Also, it seems to me that only one technical guy from FlexRaid is answering questions and offering support on the official forum. He knows very well his product, but still…

    On my own, I had a lot of issues while testing the product – mainly because I did a lot of operations like creating/deleting pools, adding/removing disks, sharing/un-sharing folders, stopping/starting the service, etc… But also because Murphy was at the party: after many various issues followed by a complete re-installation of the server, one disk used to store FlexRaid’s parity data started to die. If you intend to test it, I really recommend to do it in a VM with virtual drives that can be easily re-staged. FlexRaid has a Trial of 14 days.

    Once the dead disk removed, FlexRaid started to run fine with the following “configuration” (as named in FlexRaid) – See Attention Points before create a new configuration:

    • 3 data disks (named DRU in FlexRaid terminology – they contains the data) compound each of 2 HDD (2TB + 3TB)
      • HDD used in DRU are not using a proprietary format but simply NTFS
      • HDD can be added in a DRU with existing data
      • HDD can be of any size, but DRU have better be of the same size.
    • One parity disk (named a PPU in FlexRaid terminology – they contain the recovery information) compound of 2 HDD (2TB + 3TB).
      • PPU must be at least as large as the largest DRU
        • It has better be larger because in case of bad-sector on a HDD in the PPU, FlexRaid will be out-of-space and fail to update the parity data.
      • It’s recommended to have one PPU per 3 DRU.
    • PPU and DRU created with the wizard (Cruise Control) instead of the expert mode.
      • Merge Mode = “Auto-Folder-Priority”.
        • To optimize power consumption (most probably only one drive accessed when fetching data)
        • To keep data grouped if by any chance the disks must be moved into another PC during DRP.
      • a Snapshot mode
        • To not slow down write operation
        • As anyway, data on the Home Server does not change often at all.
    • A login/password set in “System Control Toolbox” > Login pane
    • Automatic start-up of FlexRaid storage pool 15″ after the Server boot in “[your configuration] > “Preferences and settings”
    • A Scheduled Task to Update the RAID (Parity Data) every day at 23:00.
    • A Scheduled Task to Validatethe RAID (Parity Data) every week at .
      • The Validate task does both change detection along with datarot (silent data corruption) detection through data checksum valiation.
    • A Scheduled Task to Verifythe RAID (Parity Data) every month.
      • The Verify task does bit for bit verification of the RAID.
    To be safe however, and based on the amount of disk I have, someone from FlexRaid told me I should either use two PPU of 3TB or possibly add one PPU of 5TB. Doing so, I will double the security level (the RAID could survive after 2 simultaneous disk failures) while only loosing ~6% of space (1TB). For sure, RAID updates will be slower as 2 PPU will have to be updated. But based on my experience, it’s really not that slower. It takes about 1 hour per TB of Data.
    Here is a benchmark of accessing data in FlexRaid’s pool configured with one 5TB PPU and 3x5TB DRU (And I got the same results for two 3TB PPU and 4x3TB DRU…) Clearly, FlexRaid with SnapShot mode does not really impact the performances… (Actually, one the Pool features has an impact).
    FlexRaid Snapshot Performance
    FlexRaid Snapshot Performance

    Here is the same benchmark for accessing data in an equivalent Pool with the Real-Time mode..;

    FlexRaid Real-Time  Performance
    FlexRaid Real-Time Performance

    Writing small files is not performing well in Real-Time but that’s due to the accesses to the FlexRaid Configuration Database (on C:\). If that drive is on a SSD, those performance should be quite improved (Support to store that DB on another disk is foreseen…)

    For information: it took a little bit less that 13 hours to compute the parity for about 11TB of data in this 15TB pool.

    ATTENTION POINTS:

    Before starting:

    • Drives used by FlexRaid may not be used as target for Paging or Shadow Copy.
      • However, Shadow Copy can be used as far as the volume used as target for the Storage Location is on a dedicated drive outside of the Pool.
        • Shadow Copy must be enabled:
          1. On the Start Screen type Computer and run Computer Management
          2. Right-Click Shard Folders > All Tasks > Configure Shadow Copies…
          3. Enable for all sources drives (DRU) but not for the virtual drive (Pool)
        • And the Storage Location must be configured on each disk
          • Via the Dsik Management node in the Computer Management:  Properties > Shadow Copies Tab > Settings button > Storage Area (Click details) (to be completed).
          • Configured via command lines (to be completed)
    • Recycle Bin may not be used on drives used by FlexRaid as well as in the virtual drive (pool)
      • Instead FlexRaid proprietary Recycle Bin can be enabled in the Snapshot mode only (there is no such support for Real-Time mode): Configuration > Preferences and Settings > Advanced Properties : Enable Recycle bin mode: true (and Save).
      • Also, make sure this registry folder exists or you could experience “Recycle Bin on V: is corrupted” errors
        • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\BitBucket (For 32 bit Windows)
        • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\BitBucket (For 64 bit Windows)
      • And finally disable all the Recycle Bin on the drives intended to be managed by FlexRaid (as well as on the virtual drive)
        1. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to each drive create a dummy file and then delete that dummy file. This will for sure create a Recycle Bin
        2. After doing the above for each drive, empty the recycle bin
        3. Right-click on the Windows recycle bin icon and choose properties
        4. There disable recycle bin for each of your drives
        5. Reboot
    Also notice:
    • FlexRaid web UI is not fully compatible with Chrome. Some expansible panes of this UI collapse and expand for ever one accessed.
    • The logs are full of security errors. It’s simply due to the Web Client UI session which expires… It’s not fatal.
      • To change the log level, edit the files in C:\Program Files (x86)\<FlexRAID folder>\logging.options.txt
        • FLEXRAID_LOG_LEVEL=TRACE
        • FLEXRAID_SYS_LOG_LEVEL=TRACE
      • Also change the logs location as many files will be created in TRACE level
        • FLEXRAID_LOG_FILE_ROOT=C:\FlexRaidLogs\
    • The path of the log in Log4j.properties must be like C:/FlexRaidLogs/
    • I always experience issues when trying to remove disks from PPU or DRU. The only solution I found is to delete the configuration and create a new one.
    • Once a disk is added in a PPU or DRU, it’s mounted by FlexRaid in a hidden folder under C:\FlexRAID-Managed-Pool\…
      • This folder is only accessible by the System account which is the account configured to run the FlexRaid Service.
      • After deleting a “configuration” or uninstalling Flexraid, this folder is still there.
      • To view it, you must
        1. Start Explorer, click on the “View” menu and select “Options” (on the extreme right).
        2. There, go to the “View” tab and tick “Show hidden files, folder and drives”
        3. Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files (recommended).
      • Once the folder is visible, you can change the Security and grant full access right to the “Administrators” group. Possibly use this great tip to also easily take back the ownership with a contextual menu (works only on files/folders. not on drives).
    • Hidden files are not protected as ignored by FlexRaid.
    • When deleting a “configuration”, disk that were assigned a letter before being added in a PPU or DRU will get back that letter. However, in my case, disks were mounted. After deletion of the “configuration”, they should have been re-mounted on their original folder (according to someone from FlexRaid). But this didn’t occur. I had to re-mount them myself one by one. I have not receive any valid explanation yet…
    • When managing Shares and Permissions via FlexRaid UI:
      • You must use username defined in the domain (on Server 2012 Essential, a domain is always installed by default – and mandatory for various services). However, you don’t have to prefix that username with the domain name (I.e.: <domain>\<username>)
      • Latest changes done via the UI appear sometimes to not be reflected immediately in the Windows Properties (In the “Advanced Sharing” tab of the folder). Ex.: If you delete permissions for a user. You must both
        • Close the folder Properties window if already open in Windows.
        • Navigate to the “Home” menu and back to “Server Shares” in FlexRaid UI.
        • Back to the folder Properties > Advance Sharing, the changes should now be visible.
      • Don’t forget that you need to use a domain user to access the shares from remote machine. If you try to access them from a PC not joined to the domain, you must provide a login like “<domain>\<username>”. Also remind that Server 2012 Essentials is missing “HomeGroup” support.
    Important remarks:
    • When using a “Snapshot” mode, data are in great danger as soon as files start to be modified and as long as the RAID is not updated. Indeed, as some data are modified, the information on the PPU may not be used anymore to restore files in the same range of address (?) in a DRU which would crash. Concretely, files restored using a not-up-to-date PPU will be corrupted.
      • I didn’t find any information that confirm (or not) that a disk is most likely to fail during write operations. But as I plan to often backup data on my server, I am afraid that I wouldn’t be able to restore my files after a crash occurring such an operation… So => I will investigate the RealTime mode which is still experimental
    • When using a RealTime Mode
      • Only use softwares that preallocate files to copy data into the pool (e.g.: Windows Explorer but not TeraCopy!!!)
      • There must be at least 10GB of free space on each disk going to be added in the Pool (As DRU).
      • Check that the Reserve is at least 50GB or more in the Configuration > Preferences and Settings > Run-Time Properties > General Properties: Reserve. This is the default when using the Cruise Control mode.
      • After a server crash, a Reconcile is required (Similar to a Windows Disk Scan).
      • Always stop the storage pool through the Web UI before restarting the FlexRAID service or your OS!!!
        • This can be solved using a Shutdown Task to be created in the Local Group Policies. See the script posted as comments.
      • Increase the WaitToKillServiceTimeout Registry key value to 300000 (it’s 5000 by default; i.e. Windows systems will kill the service in as little as 5 seconds which often does not leave FlexRAID with enough time to properly close up it resources).
        • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control
      • Never write directly to the “source” drives but only through the pool as Explorer writes silently data on the disks. It means that a drive may never be temporarily removed from the pool, accessed from within another PC (even for “READ” only operations) and re-plugged later in the pool.
      • There is no Recycle Bin, meaning that data are deleted permanently.
        • And unfortunately, Shadow Copies can NOT be used on the Pool… So it cannot be used either to restore deleted files.
        • Actually Recycle Bin must be disable on all disks participating in the pool as well as on the pool itself. And that must be done for all accounts connected on the server.
        • As a replacement, the undeluxe software pro can be used. It can run as a service (start with windows) and will move deleted files into a folder that can be configured to be located on a drive outside the FlexRAID Pool… As an alternative, FlexRAID will come with a universal recycle bin in a next version…
      • It could be advised – for the Real-Time mode only – to disable thumbs.db file generation although those files being hidden, they are not taken into account (I.e.: not protected by FlexRaid). In addition
        1. On the Start Screen, type and run gpedit.msc.
        2. Expand User Configuration – Administrative Templates – Windows Components.
        3. Click on File Explorer.
        4. Right-click the entry “Turn off the caching of thumbnails in hidden thumbs.db files” and choose Edit.
        5. Enable the setting.
        6. Log off and back on again (or reboot) after making these changes.
        7. Delete all the thumb.db files from you drives using this command: Del {Drive Letter}:\Thumbs.db /f/s/q/a
      • Actually the options “Restrict Thumbs.db” and “Restrict Desktop.ini” can be used in the Console for that purpose, but it is useful only when using the Real-Time RAID in Expert mode and if frequently browsing the source drives. Indeed, although we are not changing anything on the source drives, Explorer will actually update the thumbs.db and desktop.ini files as we browse. There are implications though with selecting those options as Explorer will no longer cache your thumbnails or remember certain folder view preferences.
      • Parity data are only updated when accessing the drives through the Pool. If data are modified directly on the source drives, you will have to fix that by running the Reconcile task in FlexRaid.
    • That being, the following Windows Features are safe to use with FlexRaid
      • Windows Search Service
      • Windows Backup
      • BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service)

    Site: http://www.flexraid.com/

    Documentation: http://wiki.flexraid.com/

    Support: http://forum.flexraid.com/ (support Tapatalk ;))

    Loading

  • Hard Drive Benchmark software: CrystalDiskMark

    Crystal Disk Mark

    CrystalDiskMark is a free utility to benchmark storage devices. Easy to use to compare disk performances, it runs on Windows 8 and older OS as well as Server 2012 (x86/x64).

    Click to Read More

    Loading

  • Hard Drive Diagnostic: CrystalDiskInfo

    Crystal Disk Info
    Crystal Disk Info

    CrystalDiskInfo is is a nice freeware utility for hard drive diagnostics with support for monitoring and mail alerting based on disks’ S.M.A.R.T info.

    Click to Read More

    It usually supports USB connection and Intel RAID. But I like it as it gives more information than some other similar tools, a.o.: the letter assigned to the disk or the disk number instead of only the disk model name. And it can also be used to monitor the machine and send mail alerts.

    Also, in addition graphs with S.M.A.R.T. information, it also show you the AAM/APM settings and let you control them.

    • AAM (Automatic Acoustic Management) to reduce noise
    • APM (Advanced Power Management) to reduce power consumption
    It has also advanced methods to search for disks (It show disk displayed as unknown by other tools)
     

    Donwload  : http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html

    HDD Scan
    Hdd Scan

    HDDScan is another nice freeware for hard drive diagnostics with support for RAID arrays, Flash USB and SSD drives.

    Click to Read More

    It can be used to :

    • Test storage device for bad-blocks and bad-sectors,
      • Verification in linear modeto determine if the drive needs data rescue, has recoverable errors or in its perfect shape.
      • Reading in linear mode is a simpler, but faster disk check.
      • Erasing in linear mode.
      • Reading in Butterfly mode (synthetic random read).
    • Show S.M.A.R.T. attributes
    • Show temperatures
    • Change some HDD parameters such as:
      • AAM (Automatic Acoustic Management) to reduce noise
      • APM (Advanced Power Management) to reduce power consumption

    I like it too, in addition to CrystalDiskInfo because it can test the disks and I noticed that it was providing some other S.M.A.R.T attributes than CrystalDiskInfo…

    Download: http://hddscan.com/

    Information about S.M.A.R.T messages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T

    Loading

  • Disable the touchpad while typing text: TouchFreeze

    TouchFreeze is a free, open-source utility for laptops that disables the touchpad as soon as one starts typing… and re-enables it when one stops.

    Click to Read More

    As many laptop users, when my palm accidentally grazes the touchpad while typing text, I experience unpredictable cursor  jumps resulting in garbled text 🙁

    TouchFreeze is very small piece of software sitting in the system tray: it simply and silently turns off the touchpad while one is typing. It works really really fine and is compatible with Windows 8 x64.

    Download: http://code.google.com/p/touchfreeze/

    Loading

  • Easy Remote Access from Anywhere: TeamViewer

    TeamViewer is my favorite free application (for non-commercial use) to remotely access my PC and home servers from anywhere (I.e.: Internet).

    Click to Read More

    To access my PC and servers using Remote Desktop, I should define one port forwarding per machine on my router and configure Remote Desktop on each machine to listen on “its” port. Next, I should be able to remind the ports used for each machine – or create bookmarks – or … I could possibly use the “Anywhere Access” feature of Server 2012 Essentials, but it requires to setup a domain, buy and install a SSL certificates, etc…

    With TeamViewer, instead, I log onto there website with my account and see a list of my machines. I simply click on a machine in the list, “et voilà”… from a single location, easy to remember, I can get remote access to the desktop of any PC at home or transfer any files from those. Even better, it supports remote desktop on PC with mutliple screens. And finally, I can also print any documents from my home machines on the printer next to me (e.g.: at the office).

    For sure, the machine to be accessed must be up and running and TeamViewer must have been previously installed and configured to authorize unattended remote access (with a password).

    To be noticed: TeamViewer may not be installed without a licence on a Windows Server. A Server is assumed to be for “commercial” use. That’s a pity as Windows Home Server is clearly a Server for personal use only… If you try to install it, it will not let you choose the “free-flavor” setup… Interesting to note however: “Ninite“, which is a free software used to silently download, install and update softwares, is actually able to setup TeamViewer on Servers too, in the free-flavor (the only inconvenient is that TeamViewer does not appear on the Start Screen and is not searchable from the Charm Bar.

    To setup TeamViewer as a System Service:

    1. Run “TeamViewer.exe”, 
    2. Go to Extras > Options > General Tab,
    3. Enter a  Display Name
    4. Check the option – Start TeamViewer with Windows
    5. Enter a Password & confirm it
    6. Select the option – Accept incoming LAN connections

    Download: http://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/windows.aspx

    To remotely access files on one of my machines, without taking remote control of it, I could use the SkyDrive App. Maybe to be tested later…

    Loading

    ,
  • Drivers Update Monitor: My-Config

    My-Config
    My-Config

    My-Config is from far the best and less intrusive online tool I found to check if your drivers are all up-to-date. And it’s free.

    Click to Read More

    My-Config which is mainly a web based tool (online) can detect your hardware and software configuration. It find next the appropriate drivers and  search for WHQL-certified (or beta as an option) updates compatible with your computer on the web site “TousLesDrivers.com”. It comes however with an offline modules to, among other, run analysis when disconnected from Internet.

    Depending on your hardware (i.e.: if there are the adequate sensors) My-Config is also able to report on your components’ activity: voltage or temperature of the processor, of the graphics card, etc. .

    After a complete analysis of your PC, you should focus on the summary pane. This one displays the drivers for which an update has been found. Next to each one, you have a button to download the update from “touslesdrivers.com” web site.

    The other panes show information on your hardware, installed applications, running process, startup programs, …. But nothing out of the ordinary here.

    A great feature is however the “network mode“. The offline module of My-Config can indeed be installed on remote PC in your LAN and configure to run as a service protected with a password. This remote service can next be query from any PC to display its analysis report. The offline module can be configured as a service via the menu Start > All Programs > ma-config.com > Settings. In that window, select the Network mode, a password, and click “start”.

    On PC not connected to Internet, you can run an offline analysis using the offline module via the menu Start > All Programs > ma-config.com > Settings. In that window, click the “Detect” button. This is going to save an analysis report in a file. Copy this file on a USB ley and go to a PC connected to internet. Finally, upload the file on http://www.ma-config.com/en/detectoffline (see the bottom of that page)

    Notice: if you PC runs fine, there is no reason to update anything. Updates are usually more a source of issues than a real improvement for your PC (except “Security” updates)…

    To check for programs update, have a look on Sumo

    Loading

  • File Unlocker: Lock Hunter

    Lock Hunter
    Lock Hunter

    Lock Hunter is a must have for me. It helps to find which process is locking a file that you want to, e.g.: remove, replace or edit…

    Click to Read More

    I used to use Unlocker but moved to Lock Hunter when I first started with a x64 version of Windows, not supported at that time by Unlocker. Both are freewares.

    Once installed, Lock Hunter add a contextual menu “What is locking this file/folder” on the files and folders in the Windows Explorer. This menu open Lock Hunter to:

    • View the processes locking the file/folder and all its DLLs
    • Kill the locking processes or unload its DLLs
    • Unlock, delete, copy or rename the locked file/folder
    • Delete the locking processes from the PC

    The deleted items are move into the recycle bin’s, so it’s quite “safe”…

    Details: http://lockhunter.com/

    Download: http://lockhunter.com/download.htm

    If you like it, the same company has developed another piece of software (not free) to safely remove Usb devices which are “locked” (and throwing the error “device cannot be stopped” when you try to eject it via the native windows “Safely Remove Hardware” systray icon) : http://safelyremove.com/download.htm

    Loading