Replies

Frodough

I would simply recommend buying Goodsync (https://www.goodsync.com/php/pums/rfprepay.php?lic=goodsync&lang=en) and set it up to sync to whatever internal/external device you wish (across a network as well) just set it up to sync (or backup) automatically on file change – you can also configure it to sync a desktop to Notebook(s) or Smartphones – at $29.95 it is not expensive with regard to what it can offer.

I use Goodsync to sync/backup data to my Synology NAS – which I also use for video live surveillance (Video Station) of both my houses wherever I am in the world

IMHO If you are using Word’s .pdf maker you are on a hiding to nothing as MS Word really does not create efficient .pdf’s (it produces really huge files).

You really need to use Adobe Acrobat Pro – or similar such as Foxit or PDF Converter Pro (as suggested elsewhere in this thread) then you can add, subtract, combine, insert links and manipulate .pdf’s in multiple ways with small file sizes.

You might consider creating each ‘customised’ .pdf and then storing each of them in the cloud (http://www.Pogoplug.com gives 5Gb of free secure storage) and then simply providing the correct customised link within each Word document you send out to your end user!

Jim

I use Teamviewer extensively to remotely support over 80 computers

Teamviewer effectively runs the software contained on the remote computer i.e. you see the remote desktop on the computer you are using – the only way to transfer a file from your hotel computer is to use the specific file transfer facility.

I am unable to understand how you could conceive of any malware program transferring from the (hotel?) computer to the remote computer without you physically opting to transfer it.

You can visualize Teamviewer as if you were standing in the front yard of a house watching TV through the window and sending requests to the person in the room to change the channel by sending him a text!!

I would heartily recommend Pogoplug (http://www.pogoplug.com) which is a US company – they offer 5Gb totally free but are currently running a promotion for Unlimited storage for $29.95 pa.

I have used them for 3 years with nary a problem – nice web interface with a built in slideshow viewer – folders can be either set to be completely private, private link (to send a link to your family) or completely public. Files/photos are easily downloaded if required – there is also an online .pdf viewer but is not available in public folders

The upload speed is good (but rather depends on your personal send rate) – remember most domestic customers have ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) which means that which you may have 8M/bits (or possibly much more) when downloading your upload rate may only be 256/512/768M/bits – or, more rarely, faster!

So it is pointless taking note of others saying that ‘the upload speed’ is slow without knowing what actual upload rate they have personally with their ADSL link

Michael

It was interesting to read about Satechi’s 7 Port USB 3.0 Premium Aluminum Hub as I have had quite a few problems with USB 3.0 powered hubs – specifically Icy Box 4 Port units – initially a couple of years ago Icy Box was the ONLY USB 3.0 unit I could find. Icy Box appear, on the surface at least, to be really well built and are very nice to look at BUT they have proved to be extremely unreliable – all three of them!

All (3 – I must be a sucker for punishment?) are now ‘ornaments’ and I now have a 7 port USB 3.0 hub by Anker which I could not be more happy with.

I only discovered Anker (http://www.ianker.com/) about 4 months ago and now have several devices made by them including a USB 3.0 & eSATA to SATA External Hard Drive Docking Station for 2.5 or 3.5in HDD, SSD with USB 3.0 Cable and eSATA Cable and UASP support (Chipsets: ASM1051+ASM1453) which is simply brilliant.

Anker’s after sales follow up service has been second to none!

PC

Thank you for your PatchWatch column – I find it very useful

– I did as usual and allowed all the run of the mill Windows 7 updates that arrived yesterday to install (+ reboot) but, as usual, unticked the all the Framework and Win x64 security updates pending your end of the month review. I have Windows update set to download but then let me decide on what to install.

To my surprise when I started my system (Windows 7 64bit Ultimate) this morning it told me that it needed to immediately restart as updates were pending installation – intrigued I investigated further and discovered that one of the updates yesterday appeared to have reset my Windows update option to ‘Download and install automatically’ so I have had to allow all the installations that I specifically unticked yesterday to be installed.

I have now reset it back to ‘Download and then let me decide’ but was rather annoyed by this!

Any ideas?

Paul C

I use iGoogle extensively as I like the on-screen gadgets it allows me to display – but would never personally use Google+ (or, for that matter, any other Social networking site like Facebook et al). If you are worried about Google’s privacy policy and, in particular, are a Facebook user (or possibly a member of your family is a member using the same LAN and Internet gateway) you should really have a close look at Facebook’s data collection and privacy policy – I strongly suspect that very few people actually realise just how intrusive (and comprehensive!) it is!

In 2001 I purchased and installed Muuray Hurps’ Ad-Muncher (http://www.admuncher.com/ – when the licence included free updates for evcr) it has a been a purchase that i have never ever regretted as this excellentsoftware kills vitually every advert on the internet – including all Google adverts so I really don’t care if Google ‘targets’ me personally with adverts as I will never see them.

So far with no compatibility issues whatsoever having moved it successivly from Win98 to Win Millenium to XP Pro to Win7 Ultimate 64 with nary a problem.

Since I purchased a licence Murray has changed the licencing policy so it is rather more expensive than it was but, to my mind, Ad-Muncher is worth every penny!

Yahoo offers ‘disposable’ email addresses as part of their webmail service which I have used several times to good effect – otherwise I would endorse various people in this tread that have stated that you should NEVER reply to (or try to unsubscribe from) a Spam email as it only flags an ‘active’ address to the spammer.

Yes – provided that all circuits are connected to the same junction box (fuse box)

Wendel

You suggestion that timing is the problem intrigues me as I get EXACTLY the same error as SadieAnn – it tells me that it cannot find the file (.accdb) but invariably behind the warning the dbase opens perfectly everytime – but, in my case, my database is running off the local machine?

This Access Dbase was originally created in Access 2007 but is now migrated to Access 2010 running on a blindingly fast Windows 7 64bit Ultimate 6 core machine with SSD HD’s (Average Windows score performance 7.7).

I wouldn’t have thought that timing was an issue in my case?

Paul C

Another option you might care to consider that I have used in Cyprus in a large house with 18″ thick stone walls and rebar (steel) filled concrete floors (Faraday cage effect) is to use Powerline networking.

If the whole office block is on the same mains electrical distribution it is simple to do – after experimentation with a couple of manufacturers I personally have standardized on devolo dLAN® 200 AVsmart+ adapters (http://www.devolo.co.uk/consumer/70_dlan-200-avsmart_starter-kit_product-presentation_1.html?l=en) the first one is connected to the initial router and then I have mains powered plug-in wi-fi units judiciously scattered around the house – the result is a strong wi-fi signal everywhere. The devolo units self encrypt and despite trying I have been unable to break into the network without a password.

These devolo units have performed flawlessly for the past 6 months or so

I am not sure whether devolo are available in the USA (they are German), however there are several manufacturers in the PowerLine market – the only thing that I can say (carefully!!!) about any other manufacturer is that I personally will NEVER EVER buy Belkin again!!

Autobackup

The answer is to buy decent .pdf creation software as MSWord is notoriously poor at creating .pdf files not to mention the huge file sizes it produces – if you don’t want to buy Acrobat professional to create the .pdf properly I would suggest you try the new Nuance PDF reader (FREE!!) http://www.nuance.co.uk/imaging/products/pdf-reader.asp which is a much smaller and neater download than Acrobat Reader

Another excellent alternative to MSWord is to download and install Sun Systems ‘Open Office Suite (FREE!!) a fully featured office package compatible with MSWord that has an inbuilt .pdf creator – http://www.openoffice.org/ – why pay for MSWord when you don’t have to?

In the UK a large power company recently send a 1.8Mb .pdf flyer created in MSWord to over 100,000 shareholders attached to their 1st quarter 2010 share statements – I ran it through Adobe Acrobat Pro Extended ‘Reduce file size’ and the file was reduced to 748Kb with NO discernable difference

Moral – Don’t use MSWord – use proper software!

This was an interesting article discussing a problem that I solved in a different way – I live in Cyprus with a renovated 200 year old village house with stone walls half a metre thick (20″) with iron rebar reinforced concrete floors which effectively act as a faraday cage between floors. I have now installed a pair of Devolo Powerline DLAN 200 AVsmart+adapters – one plugged into my Linksys wireless router which is itself plugged into the pass-thru powerpoint on the Devolo adapter which then uses the house electrical power ring main system (range +/-300metres) to distribute the signals about 20 metres to my new office these two ‘fixed units are allied to a single Devolo DLAN 200 AV Wireless G unit upstairs.- using one of the adapters I can plug a cat 5 cable into any power point and be instantly connected with virtually unlimited expansion if needed by just buying extra units.
Upstairs I simply bought the adapter that has an inbuilt wireless aerial (Devolo DLAN 200 AV Wireless G) so when plugged into an upstairs power point it rebroadcasts a strong wi-fi signal thoughout the upper floors. In Europe Devolo are the market leaders but I am unsure about their availability in the USA, I originally tried Belkin powerline units with VERY poor results ( I should have read the reviews on the web before buying!!), the Devolo units connected immediately with a strong signal and have worked flawlessly ever since I then. Any unit can be simply moved and plugged into any powerpoint with no further configuration needed and work instantly!!