Replies

Bluestacks is for running specific Android apps on a PC. If you just want to run a specific game, that may be a better choice. But if you want to explore or experiment with the Android OS as Fred outlined, then you need OS virtualization like VirtualBox.

Bluestacks is also only free while in Beta, per their web site.

Genymotion presents as a testing environment for developers. It allows you to emulate various OS versions, screen sizes, etc. Easy to set up perhaps but more complex than necessary for playing a game on your PC. And again, its about app testing, not Android testing.

So basically, it depends on what you need.

I can also note that some VB’s come in OVA format with the settings pre-set. Just double click the OVA file and it loads into VB, ready to go. VB has Ubuntu 13.04 in this format, for example. Much fewer than 4 clicks and it has LibreOffice and other software pre-loaded too.

I believe the snake is a constrictor. They don’t have venom. (more of the joke)

Thanks for the instructions, Fred. There was a couple of points where the choice was not obvious, so this helped.
I checked a couple of utilities to confirm I had VT-x and both said yes, but the tab was greyed out in VB. It was indeed turned off in the BIOS.

When I browsed online, I noticed some people had a conflict with Microsoft VM’s as Hyper-V may take over VT-x. In that case, it’s on in the BIOS but still unavailable in VB.
In Win7+, managing Hyper-V is a little obscure as the setting is hidden. I ran into this command line for turning it off and on (5th comment):
https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=41258

If you want to get fancier, I noticed this article on Hyper-V Manager:
http://www.altaro.com/hyper-v/hyper-v-manager-everything-you-need-to-know/
(still requires a reboot though)

This was not an issue for me but could come up if you use XP Mode or or other MS virtualization.

I’m already using VirtualBox for other OS’s so this option is good. I tried Android there awhile back but the emulation available then was lame. Thanks for the update, Fred.

Just a note – I ran into a couple of odd problems in Firefox. First the Android site Downloads page just displayed code. Then I found the download link by another route, but Google threw up an “unusual traffic” captcha that kept repeating. (probably because it was an iso file) When I copied the URL to Chrome, it threw up the Captcha but then allowed the download.

Curiously, the captcha wasn’t a safety warning but a suggestion I might be breaching terms of service. Given that I was not linking to or from a Google site, how was a breaking their terms of service??

Thanks, Lincoln
I agree. You want to backup your data in a way that makes it immediately available in the event of a problem. Simple copy or Zip are the only ways to go. Imaging is great for systems but if you need the system running to access your files, the backup has just failed you. Same with the many backup programs which store your backup in some obscure proprietary file format. It will fail you in practice.

I’d also note you want the backup to not be on the same drive as your system.

I’ve been using Cobain quite happily for some years. Its been very reliable. I do use a schedule because when I left it manual before, it got forgotten too often. I have it run at dinner time so I don’t need to leave the system on all the time. It only takes a couple of minutes to do the days changed files. I also have it automatically do a full backup every 30 days.

I’d agree Cobain isn’t wizard-based but didn’t find it hard to get to know and I like some of the options. You don’t have to manually select each folder to back up but instead add the few folders you don’t want included.

Another tool I use for the really important files where there are a lot of versions, like key documents or spreadsheets, is called File Hamster. Just add those files or folders to the list and tell it where you want them to be stored. Ever time you hit Save, it makes a copy to the alt location. While File Hamster is not presented as free, it will default to a free basic version after the trial period. Well worth paying for though.

I’ve been using a VirtualBox install of XP for some time. Mainly due to some old software I occasionally use but I can’t justify paying for an upgrade. And it’s so much easier than dual booting and such. Plus, it gives me a test ground. I have a couple of Linux builds in there too, and an Android. 😉

On PDF’s the Firefox plugin PrintPDF works fine. I’d also recommend the Mozilla Archive Format plugin. It saves web pages, with all the bits, in a single zipped file. Opens easily in a browser for later reference and without the limitations of PDFs, like breaking a web page into printed pages.

I would bet the “other company” is the issue and may have you on a spam or black list. If the ISP is not willing to talk to them about it, you’re hooped.
Others here have suggested simple tests to determine the source of the issue but what it comes down to is you’re exceeding a typical users emailing so the issue will come around again.

Long term, you’re going to want to either (as per other suggestions):
a) migrate to a newsletter service like MailChimp. (first 2,000 subscribers free but limits on total emails x email addresses until you pay) Take a look at their pricing for an idea of what it would cost you. MadMimi starts with 2500 and has cheaper tiers.
b) get your own domain and manage your email list there. Then its your new host providers limitations you’re dealing with. Some present unlimited but none want to be spammers so read the fine print. “unlimited” rarely is. You don’t want to just migrate your problem.

You could also try breaking up your list with multiple sends. That may set off the alarms less but the problem will still come up. If you show signs of spamming, the bots will shut you down automatically.

Oh – and the reason I use different software for my data backup? So I can get immediate access to my data, even if the OS is down. That’s not the case if I have the files in a Windows image that only the same OS can open.

One other point – I would not use my online backup as a sharing centre. If I want to share photos, I’d set up a shared folder for those images. Opening files can cause corruption. Rare, but possible.

Fred – I’m a little surprised. Your old backup reviews always talked about the practicalities of Restore. For example, you used to use an older version of an imaging tool because the newer was less useful for a real-world restore.

I would not put a system image in the cloud not because of time – even if it’s a factor – but due to the practicalities of restore. How can you restore a system image if you require Internet access and special software running to get to it? You need an OS running to get your OS back. Fail.

A local off-computer system image on an automated routine, supplemented by an occasional off-site copy of a full system image is the most functional solution. And you need an imaging tool that can restore from a bootable DVD. Otherwise, what’s the point?

I still use a separate data partition to most easily back up all the data on an automated routine, mainly locally. It can be sent to a different folder on the same backup location as the image. But I use different software for this. (on Win7) That can be supplemented by a secondary online backup for key files but in my tests, I would not want my data to depend on on-line backup. There are still way too many possible points of failure with it to make it any kind of primary backup. And you’re using 3 layers of encryption to store them? Good luck if any one of those fails.

Interesting article for a Canadian. I hadn’t realized the chip cards had not been rolled out in the US. They were gradually replaced on expiry a few years ago here. A lot of places don’t take cheques anymore either.

Fully agree on the travel credit card. In fact I’ve shifted to using one almost entirely for credit transactions. Especially for travel and online. It became clear using a credit card was essentially taking a debt against future earnings and was limiting my choices. You have to research them a bit though as there can be weird fees or deletion of funds after X months. But mine is a single small annual fee. Period. No interest or other borrowing costs as it’s not a credit card. But it behaves just like one at terminals.

As a related point, I mostly use Interac or cash locally. It’s a small fee to the retailer, unlike the fee + % credit cards take. For some shops, the credit card takes more profit than they do. The credit card companies have been pushing to get into the Interac market. I do not support that – again because of the excess hit to the retailer. When you add up the real costs of using credit, you’ll probably find it’s a much higher expense than you realized. Whose convenience is it really?

Hi Speedball
Not so effective if your use of secure web sites grows. You start not being able to find stuff. And if you forget to lock it up for the 5th time today, someone else will have access to everything of yours – banking, etc.

Its a software tool for software. If you have a backup system, not a problem. If you don’t, then you’re likely to, even if you write it down.

I can certainly see the advantages of using KeePass for storing passwords locally, like for software or encryption. But I use a lot of web passwords and manually cut and pasting twice or more each time is clumsy when you have something like the free LastPass available. It auto-fills web forms for you and keeps them encrypted locally and online, so your database is available on all your devices. Yes, it’s not open source, or perfect. But this may also be a good reason Fred likes Roboform.

I tried using KeePass but a text file sorted alphabetically and stored encrypted I found faster.

Thanks, Fred. I periodically run Disk Cleanup and manually delete older Update files. I got the Win7 update but wasn’t aware of the feature.
Just ran it and it found over 6 and a half GB of old Update files. Service Packs really pack it in. And no guessing. Great tip.

Now I just have to remember the extra step because its a slightly obscure thing to run once in a blue moon…

Thanks, Lincoln.
Another option you didn’t mention is getting the software with a scanner. I got Fujitsu’s ScanSnap S1300i. It’s a full duplex scanner (both sides) that makes scanning office docs from business cards to 8.5×14 docs fast and easy. Much easier than a flatbed. Auto-corrects and adjusts all the typical things. (colour or not, duplex or not, straightening, etc.) You can set it to default to various formats, and with or without OCR. I typically have it scan to PDF, then OCR as a separate step those documents that would benefit by it. (I also scan photos, notes etc) It came with ABBYY – the only limitation being that it checks the Meta tags to ensure it was scanned with the ScanSnap.

I’ve now processed thousands of pages with it – the old file cabinets, archives, shurlock books, and binders of grad work. Vastly easier than a page by page flatbed. And now all fully searchable and quotable.

I’ve also used ABBYY and Fujitsu scanners professionally in a shop that processed thousands of pages to PDF daily so I knew they were both excellent and high quality.