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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2005-12-15

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!

1) Downgrading From NTFS?

Dear Fred, I am a long-time reader of your amazing newsletter. After reading the FAT32-NTFS debate, I have an interesting question: how can I convert a drive from NTFS back to FAT32?
 
I have recently bought an external 250GB harddrive. It was formatted as FAT32 at the factory. However, when installing the software for the drive, it "recommended" me to format the drive to NTFS. I did that without really thinking.
 
Now I have a problem: I wanted to use the drive on both a PC and a MAC. Right now the drive can be read, but not written, by the MAC. Is there a way to convert the drive back to FAT32? My PC uses Windows XP Home, and my MAC uses OSX.
 
Thanks for your help! ---Mark

There's no simple way, alas, but it can be done. In a test I did here, an old copy of Partition Magic 7 could convert from NTFS back to FAT32, provided the NTFS disk is straightforward (not a compressed volume, or with other advanced attributes). So, a tool like PM--- at least, the old versions that could boot from a floppy--- might help.

But if you really do need the whole drive to be FAT32, then the safest bet is probably a full backup (not an image); reformat the drive as FAT32, then restore or reinstall. http://google.com/search?q=convert+ntfs+fat

A related question:

Hi Fred, Great newsletter.  High quality content continues year after year  :-) 

Hopefully this is a quick question -- I know you get lots of mail -- am anticipating a one-word answer, yes or no.

Conversion of FAT32 to NTFS "on the fly" - no problem.  The other way round requires re-formatting.  If I use Drive Image (v.4) to make an image of an NTFS drive/partition, then re-format the drive/partition to FAT32, can I then reliably restore the image and have it running on FAT32?

Can't seem to find the answer anywhere.  Thanks.  Cheers. ---Ed S

A one word answer? No. <g>

Here are a few more words: A disk image captures *everything,* including the placement of every bit and byte on the hard drive. Restoring an image puts the disk and everything on it back in EXACTLY the same state and condition it was when the image was made--- same format, same order, same amount of fragmentation (or contiguousness), etc--- everything! That's why it's a great way to restore a munged PC: If you created an image when everything was set up right and working fine, you can restore that image and get everything back to that known-good state in a jiffy.

But if you don't want everything back--- say, you don't want all the files, or don't want the format type, or don't want some of the software on the image--- then restoring the image is the wrong thing to do. Rather, you'd want a file-oriented backup; or a tool that will let you extract individual files from an image. Images are best for fast, powerful, all-in-one restores. File-oriented backups are best for selective, partial restores.

http://langa.com/backups/backups.htm
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=backup+image&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000

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2) MS Office Update Problems

Dear Fred, I am the fallback computer tech for [a group]. They have a Dell PC that was purchased in 03 that came with a pre-installed OEM version of MS Office XP Professional. They recently tried to install MS Office XP Update Service Pack 3 from the Office Update site. During the installation process, they got the window pop up telling them to insert their Office XP CD. Of course, since they have no CD, they cancelled the installation. Now, every time they try to launch Excel, it brings up insert CD message, and Excel won't open.

I went to the MS Office update site and noticed that they have two different file downloads available. A client version for systems with a CD, and a full version for systems without the CD. Of course the client version was the default download and is the version that my [group] tried to cancel out of. I tried installing the full version but to no avail.

Since the PC has OEM software installed, Microsoft refers me to the computer manufacturer. And, since the PC is out of warranty, Dell won't help. The only advice I'm getting from the support forums is to purchase a retail copy of Office XP. I realize that the [group] may have to, but I'm hoping to avoid that if possible. I've tried Googling for a possible solution, but so far have been unsuccessful. Do you have any suggestions or advice? Thanks. ---Sam Galioto

In an OEM setup like the one you describe, the setup files for installed software (including the OS) may be somewhere on the drive. So I suggest you thoroughly explore the hard drive, including any OEM/restore/recovery partitions. You may need to turn on the "show all files/hidden files" option in Windows Explorer, if it isn't already set. (See item #2 in http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011204S0009 )

If you find the setup files, go back and re-run the Update and let it again ask you for the CD. Click OK, even though you don't have the CD. The update will try to load the nonexistent CD. Of course, it will fail, but then will present you with a dialog asking for the location of the CD or files. Browse to the location of the on-disk files you found earlier (or type in the full path) and let the Update process resume from there. It should work.

If you can't find the setup files anywhere, you could try rolling the system back to a known-good state via a backup, image, System Restore, or similar tool.

If that's not an option, you may be able to force Windows to forget that it's in the middle of an update: This'd take some scouring, but if you clean out all the Temp file areas ( http://langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm ); use MSConfig to disable any update-related "run at startup" items ( http://google.com/search?q=msconfig ); use Regedit to find and disable or delete any update-related in-process entries ( http://google.com/search?q=regedit ); etc.; you may be able to get things clean enough so that the update will start fresh using the "I don't have a CD" option.

If *that* doesn't work, you could try using a borrowed Office setup CD if you can locate someone else with a Dell setup of the same vintage, using the same software versions. (I don't know for sure if this would work, but I'm running out of ideas, here. <g>)

And if *that* doesn't work, then it may be time to consider switching to a different and less-restrictive office suite, such as the free, and very good, Open Office ( http://www.openoffice.org/ ).

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3) DeLorme, and More

The emails on mapping software and GPSes keeps pouring in--- I suspect Santa is going to have a sleigh-full of this stuff for LangaList readers:

Hi Fred,  I've use DeLorme Street Atlas 2005 for laptops, and now 2006. ( http://www.delorme.com/ ) You get point to point mapping, plus GPS, voice recognition, as well as F key inputs for programmed control. Download of printed materials works well, as well as setting custom points-of interest. A new function, where you can send the maps to another recipient, I haven't tried yet. Perfect? No...it still doesn't show that my street was completed where I live, in spite of me notifying them of the fact shortly after getting the 2005 version. The new version does allow me to edit in the correction. I've also seen some other minor glitches, but then again, as an ex-user of MapQuest (which I found had MANY errors), there is a lot of data to keep updated, so I don't expect perfection. Additionally, when I've contacted them for assistance, response was fast, and never more than next day turnaround. The GPS is USB, and works well, indicating how many satellites it is coordinating with, and their location on the horizon. If I decide to get the PDA version, they have an adapter for the GPS so I don't have to purchase an additional unit. Thanks for the great newsletter! ---Marc L. Rubin

Fred, For the truly OCD mapper (definitely me! -- and it sounds like you as well) you might take a look at Delorme products http://www.delorme.com/ . Being obsessive, I use XMap 4.5 ($250 with US Street Atlas included). You can purchase map data separately, including custom areas, air photo mosaics, and topos. You can register your own maps and then use them. You can display 3D, rotate, zoom, profile. You can run your GPS, and then save the route permanently. You can import GIS data -- spend a bunch more, and you can turn it into a GIS system. They have a cheaper consumer version, but who cares? This is too much fun! It has all of those routing features you like about Microsoft. Well it should; it costs 10 times as much. I like the part where you tell it your mileage and it inserts a gas stop at the right place. Its annotation tools are very thorough, and excellent for planning or note-taking. They are too inflexible, however, for web publishing (the only type allowed by the license). The good part: you can use layers and then export the layers to Photoshop. Here's an example from my web site (bottom of page): http://www.harganonline.com/portfol/portloc/core/core.htm ---Jim Hargan

Thanks, Marc and Jim. I've used DeLorme software in the past--- it's good, and worked fine going from GPS to the PC-based software. But like Microsoft S&T, it used only the generic NMEA format to communicate from the software back to a GPS, so you couldn't save a detailed route to a stand-alone GPS very well.

Fred -- Re your coverage of MS Streets and Trips, I've been an enthusiastic user of S&T for years.  A similarly wonderful companion product is MS Autoroute, with detailed street maps of Western Europe.  Considering how convoluted European streets are -- and how complicated postal codes are -- Autoroute is a wonder. Autoroute is not available on Amazon US.  It is on Amazon.co.uk, which used to ship software to the US, but sadly no more.  Froogle and other shopping sources will find suppliers for customers in the US and elsewhere. --- Peter Norton

Thanks, Peter. I've heard good things about that, too. There also are European-specific tools such as "Route66" ( http://www.66.com/route66/homepage.php?cid=US ). Although it now covers the US and Canada, Route 66 software originally focused only on Europe, and was produced in Europe by Europeans---which gave me confidence in it when I used it to plot out routes across the Alps several years ago. ( http://google.com/search?as_q=alps&as_sitesearch=langa.com ) Nice to have several choice for routing software, no matter where you're planning to drive.

(And BTW, in case you're wondering, yes, it's *that* Peter Norton. <g>)

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4) Which GPS?

A number of readers have asked which GPS I'm currently using. I didn't mention that because a choice of GPS gets into some very personal preferences. For example, many of the currently popular units have touchscreen interfaces, which make the units initially look sleek and cool. But I have an aversion to touchscreens on personal electronics: The screen takes a beating, and ends up looking like ^%$# after a while, with scratches, skin oils, and other debris and damage. Give me buttons, and a clear, clean screen, any day.

Some people also love all-in-one devices--- you know, a combined phone, camera, mp3 player, GPS, and espresso machine. But multi-purpose units (at least, those with widely-disparate functions) often are a bundle of compromises. I'd rather have (say) a great phone, a separate great camera, and a separate great GPS rather than a unit that does all three functions in a so-so manner.

That said, I'm not trying to be coy:  I think the current best general-purpose GPS is the Garmin Quest (not the Quest2, but the original Quest). http://www.garmin.com/products/quest/

It's basically a compact, pocketable version of the Streetpilot III: It has a full-US basemap (all major roads) and has 115MB of user-RAM for detailed, local-street-level data. How much is 115MB? Well, as an example, you can fit full-detail maps of all of New England (including the cities of Boston, Hartford, Providence, etc) plus all of New York City, Long Island, and the eastern areas of New Jersey. Or: If you just load the highly-detailed local maps along either side of your intended route, 115 MB is enough to carry you pretty much all the way across North America.

The Quest can be carried easily (powered by internal rechargeable batteries) or mounted in a car. In the latter case, it gives voice prompting, just as the Street Pilot III does, so you usually don't even have to look at the screen. On the other hand, it's small enough so that you can mount it near your line of sight so you can look at the maps when you want to, without blocking your view of the road.

It has a button-driven interface so you don't have to poke at and smudge the screen to use it.

I use mine in cars, on a motorcycle, and when hiking/geocaching, and even when walking around unfamiliar cities. It's nice to have one unit that does it all. Color screen, sunlight readable; reasonably waterproof... what's not to like? <g>

BTW, the Quest 2 is similar, but has full North American detail preloaded. Casual GPSers might prefer that--- you enter start and end points, and it tells you where to go, anywhere. But with the Q2, you *have* to do all your route-planning on the unit itself, rather than planning on a PC. Most of the serious GPSers I know prefer to be able to move routes around, easily remove or add via points, etc. That's harder on any unit where you do everything on the self-contained device; it's much easier when you use a PC--- with its large screen --- to plot a route, and then squirt it to the GPS unit. Hence, my preference for the original Quest.

At the other end of the spectrum, the current no-holds-barred "wow" GPS is the Garmin 2730, which also has XM NavTraffic, XM WX Weather, and XM Radio capabilities, plus more.

"XM NavTraffic is the first nationwide satellite-based data traffic information service to enable an overlay of current traffic conditions. The StreetPilot 2730 uses this data to automatically calculate and suggest faster alternative routes long before traffic starts backing up. Accidents, road construction, or other incidents affecting traffic are graphically represented as icons on the navigation map. Precise information relating to a traffic incident is also available, including the precise location of the incident, the lanes affected, and the predicted duration. Roadways are color-coded to indicate directional traffic flow speed. Additionally, the StreetPilot 2730 can also receive XM weather data. Current weather conditions for over 2,000 locations, and weather forecasts for 162 cities, are displayed on-screen. United States county storm and flood warnings are also highlighted, allowing motorists to make prudent driving decisions."

That's a "wow" for sure. But it's intended only for in-vehicle use (not portable), so it's not a walking-around unit. http://www.garmin.com/products/sp2730/

And with that, let's close the topic of  mapping and GPS for a while--- we've covered  it pretty well, I think!

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5) De-Cluttering Context Menus

Hi Fred - Maybe you can help with this... I've cruised the net, looked through several years of Langa Lists and spent hours in the Windows Knowledge Base with no luck.

If you open Windows Explorer and pick a file, any file by right clicking on it - a menu opens up that gives you choices to Open, Explore, Cut, Copy, Send To, etc. Handy stuff.  But it's gotten out of hand with all sorts of programs I've installed adding their own RAR, WinZIP, ScanSoft listings. The menu list is now so long and cluttered that I have to scroll to find Rename, which is the one I use the most.

How can I get rid of some of those items? I've searched the registry for the text in the menu, I've poured through the SHELL commands,  I've looked for associations with the file name with no luck.

I have to be missing something very simple and I bet this probably affects a lot of people since most programs now do this when installing.

Thanks from a Plus reader! ---Courtney Harrington

First, let me point out an alternative: Highlight any file, hit F2, and you can then rename the file directly, without needing to call up a menu.

But to answer your specific question: Indeed, some context menu items are handled by shell commands stored in the Registry, but others are controlled other ways. There also are differences depending on whether the item you're editing is a file, a desktop item, an icon....

PC Mag has a utility called "context edit," that would probably help, but they charge for the download (which seems really cheesy to me--- PC Mag isn't exactly a struggling shareware author...). But if you want it, it's here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,9879,00.asp

If you want a purely-shareware tool, System Workshop 2.3 contains a context menu editor. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2012.html

These manual methods are free, but take more work:

PC World has limited free help:
http://pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,118255,00.asp

A generic manual (free) way is described here:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article02-026

And the free article "Hacking the Context Menu" goes into quite extensive detail:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1838905,00.asp

Hope one of those does the trick for you!

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6) Is This Newsletter Interesting? Useful?

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, maybe a friend would find it useful too! Just use the following link to recommend the LangaList---your friend may find a new source of useful information and you just may win one of three FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to the LangaList Plus! edition given each month. (If your name is drawn and you're already a Plus! subscriber, your current subscription will be extended by a full year.)

Check out the details at http://langa.com/recommend.htm . Thanks for recommending the LangaList--- and good luck!

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7) Reader Rave Re: Recovery Tool

The item "Last-Ditch Data Recovery" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-12-05.htm#2 ) brought this enthusiastic reader recommendation:

Fred: I have found and use a program called Getdataback for NTFS by Runtime Software http://www.runtime.org/  and it is fantastic. It has only failed once in more than 2 dozen attempts at recovering deleted files or even corrupted file systems as well as damaged hard drives (the time it failed was a completely failed hardware issue). We use the NTFS version, as that is what we have in our environment, but they make a version for FAT filing structures. The nice thing with them is they allow a download to try the software and allow you to see what can be recovered first. If it is what you want then purchase the program and that allows the data to be resurrected. Thanks, David Noakes

It's nice when a commercial vendor offers a free version that will at least show you if the full version will solve your problem: It eliminates the "pay and pray" method of buying software in the hopes that it might work... <g>

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8) Still *Another* Code Load Success Story

After his site was listed in the last "Load The Code" section, this reader wrote:

Fred: My recent stats:

7th: 22 Unique Visitors
8th-9th: 2218 Unique Visitors

Anyone can guess when my site ( http://gocalipso.com/ ) was in the newsletter. As a longtime subscriber, short time Plus subscriber, thank you. ---Curtis

Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join the thousands of LangaList readers who have "Loaded the Code!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see http://langa.com/link.txt )

Speaking of which: Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://langa.com/readersites.htm

Mike the Tek, Helpdesk
http://www.mikethetek.co.uk/

ALBA Kuechen
http://www.alba-kuechen.com/index.htm

Marv's Music
http://www.marvsmusic.com/

CompuTech Direct
http://www.computechdirect.com/

BWolfe.US web page
http://www.bwolfe.us/

ConcateNation
http://vetzine.blogspot.com/

The Law Offices of Alexander Henderson
http://alexander-henderson.tripod.com/mycard/

Celtic music and more...
http://www.domainbc.com/horizonwestmusic.htm

Deal Shooter
http://www.dealshooter.com/

Advantages Surfaces
http://www.advantagesurfaces.com/

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9) Sluggish Spin-Up

Fred, I have had a problem with my computer for some time now.  I have my system setup so my screen saver goes on after 10 minutes and then turns the monitor off after 45 minutes.  I don't have it set to turn off the hard disks or anything like that, but every time I go to use my computer again it's really slow for about 30 seconds.  Even something as simple as opening the start menu takes about 15 seconds.  I haven't been able to find any answer on what's causing this. What may be causing this to happen? ---Andrew Way

Most PCs allow for power-saving settings in two separate and independent places: the Operating System and the BIOS. Your symptoms sure sound like a drive spin-up delay, so, my guess is that there's a hard drive power-down timer that's set in your BIOS, quite separate from the OS's own power-savings settings.

I suggest you enter your system BIOS setup screens at boot ( http://google.com/search?q=enter+bios+setup ) and explore the power-saving settings. Newer PCs seem to avoid the intramural fighting that sometimes would plague older PCs when both the hardware and the operating system would vie for control of the power-saving settings; but it's probably still a better idea to let either the hardware OR the OS control things--- not both. In your case, as Windows can handle most power-saving tasks on its own, you might try turning off all hardware-level controls in the BIOS, and let the OS do it all.

BTW #1: It actually can be a good thing to let your drive spin down. It saves energy, and wear and tear on the bearings. To avoid annoying delays, I whack the mouse or the keyboard when I first get to the desk. This starts the wake-up process. By the time I get settled in the chair, put my coffee down, and am ready to resume work, the system is awake again, or very nearly so. The spin-up delays are there, but not in any way that's obtrusive.

BTW #2: If the drive itself is the problem, it may be wearing out--- wear, or a lubricant failure, can lead to high friction that makes the drive slow to reach normal speed. You might check your drive's "S.M.A.R.T." data ( http://google.com/search?as_q=s%2Em%2Ea%2Er%2Et&as_sitesearch=langa.com ) to ensure that it's still within specs.

BTW #3: In the odd chance that it's not specifically a drive issue, there's more information on the APM (Advanced Power management) and ACPI (Advanced Power Control Interface) systems here: http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020927S0028

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10) Just For Grins

Hi Fred, I found this on a board where a question was asked that any search engine would do for  http://www.googleityoumoron.com/  ---Eran Rosenmann

A little harsh, perhaps... but clever, if taken the right way. The site even offer a link generator that lets you send people directly to Google, but stopping at the "google it" page first. Example:
http://www.googleityoumoron.com/?go=bill+gates

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 40% more content including:

• Mystery Buzz From Hard Drive
    (reader sends in audio file for diagnosis by ear!)
• Improving The Success Rate Of CD/DVD Burning
    (several easy tricks make all the difference)
• A Big "Grrrrr."
    (someone tries to rip off Karen Kenworthy?)
• FireFox's AdBlock
    (easy, with this free tool)

Plus! edition subscribers not only get much more content in every issue (like the above), but also have access to a private web site with over 100,000 words of special content and features not found in *any* issue of the newsletter; along with dozens of private downloads and much more--- all for about $1 per month!

Plus! Edition info: http://langa.com/plus.htm

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(Give a HOLIDAY GIFT SUBSCRIPTION to the LangaList Plus edition!
Click <a href= " http://langa.com/plus_gift.htm ">here</a>)

The LangaList is published about 72 times a year, or about 6 times a month. See you next issue, 2005-12-19!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win a prize!)

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